THE RESURRECTED LORD – TO BE IN HIS PRESENCE.
• SET THE SCENE THE RESURRECTION MORNING
It was the first day of the week the resurrection morning, the disciples were locked away in a house in Jerusalem in fear of the fellow countrymen the JEWS. For the disciples it is the fight or flight principle as Jesus has been taken and been crucified, they had taken the flight principle when in trouble run! Jesus had been arrested and crucified and had been placed in a tomb and if they weren’t careful they would be next. They had scattered.....
Their only hope, now was that things would begin to settle down –now they’ve killed their leader the authorities will just leave us all alone, lets lay low , fear has gripped them – could it be them next?
But throughout that first day of the week from morning till evening rumours had began to break into their confined space where the disciples were self imposed prisoners something unusually was taking place: That Sunday morning the women had gone to anoint the body of Jesus with oils to pay their respects to the deceased John 20:1 but on their arrival they were in for a shock.... In awe they return to the disciples.... let’s remember these women were close to Jesus and the disciples they were disciples of Jesus themselves and they returned to the men with amazing news... “the tomb stone had been rolled away and they believed that the body had been stolen but at some point two angels had appeared to them proclaiming that Jesus had risen!
John 20:1. Luke 24: 9 – 11 But the disciples did not believe as it seemed to them like nonsense to them. Yet Peter and John decide to break out of their confide, slipping out the back door and run as fast as their legs will carry them to the tomb, on arrival they find the tomb just as the women had said, Peter comes away wondering what’s going on? Luke 24:12 and John believes but doesn’t fully understand the scriptures John 20:8 as both witness the tomb stone rolled away the grave cloths folded and the body missing, you can imagine them asking themselves “ Is Jesus actually alive?” They both return to their self imposed prison conveying what they had seen . John 20:10-11.
Meanwhile Mary who had been left behind in tears believed she saw a gardener it turned out to be her TEACHER Jesus, with her heart pounding she returns to the disciples with an amazing testimony that he who she thought was a gardener was the risen Lord Jesus she exclaims! John 20:18 I have seen the Lord!
Prior to her return two other disciples not of the eleven one called Cleopas decide to go to Emmaus disappointed that Jesus had been crucified with all their hopes shattered, yet as the two walked along the road to Emmaus a strange travelling companion comes alongside them Luke 24:22 - 24 : and asks them why they are downcast? So they recount the story of the death and so called sightings of his resurrection yet it all seemed like utter nonsense to them Luke 24:1.1 Then this man opens up the teaching of the prophets say all this had to take place: On arrival they invite the stranger to share a meal together as they do so in Emmaus the eyes were opened to their mystery guest as he broke bread with them, it was JESUS!
That evening they too hurry back to Jerusalem and confirm the presence of the risen Lord was with them to the eleven disciples. And at some point in the mayhem the gospels confirm that the Lord appeared to Peter also in Jerusalem Luke 24:34. Then Cleopas and the other disciple return to the other disciples in Jerusalem saying its true Jesus is Alive! As they are sharing their account of meeting Jesus with the others, Jesus appeared to them all. Luke 24:36.
1. The resurrected Lord replaces absence with his presence. V19 -20
The disciples had spent 3 intimate years with Jesus he had been their teacher and Lord he held out hope to all of the disciples that he was the promised Messiah and yet as far as they were concerned it has all gone pear shaped. He had been captured as a result they scattered in fear for their lives as Jesus had prophesised and had gone into hiding. Jesus was no longer present V19 Fear for the Jews
Jesus presence with them:
He had protected them in the storm.
He had provided when they were hungry.
He had empowered them to minister to others.
He had taught them and they had grown in stature and wisdom, but now Jesus was absent and they were gripped with fear.
Have you ever found yourself all alone filled with fear, over a given situation in your life, our lives so often take sharp twists and can turn our world upside down.Maybe the loss of a loved one, a serious accident, a troubled relationship, a financial dilemma, a pending operation, a deepening depression, and you are held captive to fear.
You feel all alone, nobody understands.
Bob Benson says “When life caves in, you do not need reasons -- you need comfort. You do not need some answers -- you need someone. And Jesus does not come to us with an explanation -- He comes to us with His presence.”
• HIS PRESENCE IN OUR GIVEN SITUATION:
I always rememeber when I was taken into hospital as a small child, my mother was there all the way alongside, she never spoke she was just there in my point of need bringing much comfort and reassurance to my predicament at the time.
There isn’t always answers there isn’t always an explanation, as Christians, we are not immune from troubles, but there is always his presence with us….despite our troubles, Isn’t that exactly what Jesus does here v19 Jesus came and stood among them He stood among them he was alive!
We need to remember this Easter that Jesus is still present with us (Emmanuel – God with us) He has risen, he is alive! the resurrected Lord is still present with us personally and together he promises to be “ I will be with you always to the very end of an age” and the promise in our corporate life as his people:“Where two or three are gathered there am I in the midst.”
• One Sunday morning a pastor was dressing for church and had the radio on listening to a local church service. Suddenly he heard the minister say, "It’s Easter, and it doesn’t make any difference if Christ be risen or not..."
• Shocked, A.H.Ackley shouted," It’s a lie! He is risen!" His wife said," Why don’t you write a song about it?" Reading the gospels again" He is risen" and feeling God’s presence, he began writing. "I serve a risen Savior, He’s in the world today, I know that He is living, whatever men may say..."
J. B. Phillips said, “ The presence of God is a fact of life. Paul rightly said of God, "In him we live, and move, and have our being." Jesus said, "The kingdom of God is within you." We may, by defying the purpose of God, insulate ourselves from that presence. We may, by un-repented sin, cut off the sense of God, because we are clouded by a sense of guilt. We may, through no fault of our own, be unable to sense the God who is all about us. But the fact remains that he is with us all the time
2. The resurrected Lord replaces fear with his Peace v19 -21.
These men were fearful in their situation but the risen Jesus brought peace Jesus said “Peace be with you” He said it twice this was more than a mere courtesy – he desires to infer upon their troubled minds his peace: Minds gripped in fear, minds gripped in doubt, minds gripped in depression:
Jesus can replace your fears and doubt with peace? Because Jesus is the prince of peace.
The Angels proclaimed he was the one who would bring peace to earth when he was born.
Jesus proclaimed peace and rest for the soul when he ministered.
And his death and resurrection brought the certainty of peace between ourselves and God. Col 1:20 by making peace through his bloodshed upon the cross.
These disciples were assured of his presence his peace and were no longer gripped with fear but with joy v20 as the reality sunk in ... Jesus was ALIVE!
In 1871 Christian Horatio Spafford lost all his wealth in real estate after the great fire of Chicago, several months earlier his son had died . That year he planned a family trip to Europe which would coincide with a DL Moody campaign just to get away from it all. He sent his wife and four children ahead because at the last minute a business development delayed him.
However, the ship that they were on got hit by an English vessel, and it sank in just twenty minutes. All four of his daughters drowned. His wife survived though and was taken to Wales. From there she sent her husband a message with the words, “Saved alone.” Right away he boarded a ship to meet her. The captain knew his sorrow, so as they were traveling, he stopped the boat over the place Spafford’s daughters had drowned.
It was here at this point he wrote a most inspirational hymn
“When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll: Whatever my lot you have taught me to say, it is well; it is well with my soul.
It was only the sovereignty of God with his presence and peace of God in Horatio’s life that enabled Him to continue. God was with Him in the midst bringing his peace and assurance.
Horatio Spafford continued to write: Though Satan should buffet, if trials should come, let this blessed assurance control, that Christ has regarded my helpless estate, and has shed his own blood for my soul.
Can I ask you are you this morning are you at peace with God? The risen Saviours’ presence is with us, Jesus has made it possible to bring peace between ourselves and God for He has shed his blood for our souls. Yet the greatest mistake is to ignore Him, to live alone without his presence in your life, without his peace in your circumstances.
Consider the two thief’s who mocked the crucified Christ, both abandoned, fearful, suffering,without God and without peace in the world. Both thief’s were in the presence of Jesus yet only one called out to Him, to make his peace with God, “Lord remember when you come into your kingdom!”
In the same way the presence of Jesus is with us as we meet here, “where two or three are gathered there I am in the midst” but as yet is there somebody who genuinely hasn’t made their peace with God? Well now is you opportunity cry out to God... Remember me!
3. The resurrected Lord replaces doubts with faith
Do you struggle with doubts?
So many people are like Socrates who on his death bed was asked by his friends, “shall we live again?” He could only reply “I hope so” He had doubts: In contrast are you like explorer Sir Walter Raleigh who before he was beheaded, wrote in his Bible, “From this earth, this grave, this dust, my God shall raise
Maybe you have doubts? Well you’re not alone? There was a disciple missing that first Sunday evening Thomas he hadn’t seen Jesus in fact no matter what the other disciples said v25 we have seen the Lord! He struggled to believe.
There is nothing wrong with doubts as long as doubts lead to questions and questions lead to answers and answers lead to acceptance then doubts have done a good work It when doubts become a stubbornness and stubbornness become a lifestyle that doubt harms faith. The key is to let doubt deepen your faith in your search for answers.
Here we see Christian personal experience: You see Thomas had not experienced what the others had, he had honest doubts and so Jesus revealed himself in a special way to Thomas and all Thomas’s doubts were answered in one meeting, he fell to his knees and cried out V28 “My Lord and My God” Al his doubts were answered Jesus stood before Him, Thomas came to faith.
• Lloyd Ogilvie says, “The most powerful historical proof of the resurrection is the ‘resurrected’ disciples. Dull, defeated people became fearless, adventuresome leaders. Cowards became courageous; the timid became triumphant; the inept did the impossible. ‘He is risen!’ became the joyous chant of a new life without limits”. Like those first disciples, our greatest need is not just to see or hear about the resurrection, but to have the resurrection happen to us
Personal conversion is subjective :: BEING BORN AGAIN Can it happen to You ? The answer is yes? Look what Jesus said to Thomas V29 blessed are those who have not seen but believed…. Jesus is talking to us who believe today:
12 Years ago I was converted and throughthe centuries billions of people have Read Charles Finney conversion account: But these conversions are all subjective.
You might be saying it’s just wishful thinking? Well Josh Mc Dowell writes how we can examine such subjective experiences:
Imagine someone stood up and said, “ Since I have stuffed a tomato into my trainer my life has changed, I’ve got a peace, love and joy that I’ve never experienced before, not only that I can run a 100 metres in 10 seconds flat. It’s hard to argue against somebody like that if their life backs it up, especially on the running track!
There are two questions we need to apply to a subjective experience: Let’s apply it to the stuffed Tomato principle
1. What is the objective reality for the subjective experience? A stuffed tomato in my trainer has changed his life
2. How many other people have had the same subjective experience from this objective reality?
How many other people in this building? In the vicinity? In this country? 2 In this world have experienced the peace and joy and increased track speed from the stuffed tomato In their trainer? Not many!
Now let’s apply these two principles to my Christian experience First question....
1. What is the objective reality for the subjective experience? The objective reality is identified in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Who was crucified and died for our sins and rose again on the third day as an objective reality in history. I can believe that Christ is now living in me because he was raised from the dead in history.
2. How many others have had this same subjective experience from being related to the objective reality of Jesus Christ? Unlike the stuffed tomato the evidence is overwhelming: All those in this room please raise your hand and around this world of ours there will be billions of people who also have had this subjective transformation as a result of the objective reality of Jesus Christ.
This is why Christian conversion it is more than just wishful thinking, this is why it more than just a product of one’s imagination because the subjective nature of conversion can be backed up in the objective truth of History which records the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ found in this book the Bible. And He has impacted people’s lives throughout the world for centuries with the Christian experience of conversion.
Objective truth confirms the subjective experience: Read with me v30 – 31 You see this book was written with you in mind, these things are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that by believing you may have life in his name.
You see not only through personal experience but God speaks through the objective truth of the Bible when proclaimed and applied to our hearts through the power of the Holy Spirit we can come to a personal faith in Jesus Christ. ROM 10 8-11 MUST READ.
True Story: Jacob Koshy grew up in Singapore with one driving ambition: to be a success in life, to gain all the money and possessions he could. That led him into the world of drugs and gambling, and eventually he became the lord of an international smuggling network. In 1980, he was arrested and placed in a government drug rehabilitation prison in Singapore.
He was frustrated beyond endurance. All his goals, purposes, dreams, and ambitions were locked up with him in a tiny cell, and his heart was full of a cold emptiness. He was a smoker, and cigarettes weren’t allowed in the center. Instead, he smuggled in tobacco and rolled it in the pages of the Gideon Bible. One day he fell asleep while smoking. He awoke to find to find that the cigarette had burned out, and all that remained was a scrap of charred paper. He unrolled it and read what was written; “Saul, Saul Why do you persecute me?”
Jacob asked for another Bible and read the entire story of the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. He suddenly realized that if God could help someone like Saul, God could help him, too. There in his cell he knelt and prayed, asking Christ to come into his life and change him. He began crying and couldn’t stop. The tears of a wasted life washed away his pain, and God redeemed him. He started sharing his story with the other prisoners, and as soon as he was released he became involved in a Church. He met a Christian woman, married her, and is now a missionary in the Far East where he tells people far and wide, “Who would have believed that I could find the truth by smoking the word of God?”
This Easter Sunday let us always remember the Lord is not absent but present - The Lord is able to bring peace into our daily situations and with God. He is able to remove our doubts and bring faith enabling us to experience Him (new birth) Through the Word of God “ For these things are written that you might believe”. And that by believing you might have life in his name.
Aubrey Vaughan www.cbchurch.org.uk
