Introduction
1. I felt that God had gone away. I felt little hope and the joy of ministry had disappeared. I no longer had the desire, the mission to bring the good news that had motivated me into ministry. It was a dark time, one of the worst times of my life.
2. Do you know what I am talking about? Have you ever felt that God was so far away that you wondered if He existed at all? You wondered if the hope and faith you had was all a mistake? Those around you in church seemed to be singing with joy but you did not share in the joy they felt? Others told you that God was there, but you wanted to experience Him for yourself? To see His presence.
3. Perhaps you were filled with fear. Fear of what you had done in the past - that which may have made God leave you. Fear of circumstances that were pressing down on you with a weight you could not bear. Fear of life and that which lay ahead. Perhaps you locked the door - to your house or room. Perhaps you locked the door to your heart. To stay behind the protection of the door so no one can get in and hurt you again.
4. These are the feelings that the disciples may have been struggling with on that first Easter Day. Their Lord had been crucified. Their ministry had been stopped. They had heard from some of the women and from the two who had gone to Emmaus, that Jesus was alive. But was this real, was it just something they imagined?
Teaching
1. It was late in the day. It was evening. And they had not seen Jesus. They were afraid - perhaps of the Jewish leaders who might also have them killed. Perhaps even of Jesus. How we he respond to them? They had run away from Him in the hour of His greatest need. And could Peter face the one whom he had denied three times?
2. They had locked the door. Perhaps locked to the Jewish leaders, perhaps to Christ and perhaps even to keep out any hope that might end up disappointing them.
3. It is in this dark time, that Jesus comes to them. And He comes to us in our dark times as well. But we must see Him and listen to Him to receive that which He offers to us.
4. As believers, we know that He is always there.
Deu 31:6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.
5. Jesus came to them. Some wonder how Jesus went through the locked door. Others says He was with them all this time, but He revealed Himself in a way they could see Him. Spiritually He had been there but now he showed His resurrected body to them.
6. Jesus comes to us in our times of despair. And He says to us the same things He said to the disciples. Hear what the risen Lord says to you today.
7. The first thing Jesus says to the is "Peace be with you!" He says this twice. He had said this to the disciples when He last saw them before He was crucified. Jesus says to us "Peace be with you!"
8. As we said, the disciples may have wondered how Jesus would react because they had deserted him. Years ago I felt deserted by all my friends over an issue we were dealing with. The next day some of them came to apologize and say they had been wrong. They had been afraid to stand up for what they believed. To be honest I found it hard to accept their apology right away. I kept my mouth closed but there were a number of things I wanted to say. The last thing I wanted to say is "Peace be with you!"
9. The good news is that when we walk away from Jesus our Lord, when we desert Him, He comes to us not to chastise us but rather to grant us peace. You may have walked away from Him. But open your eyes and see Him standing before you.
10. Do not be afraid to confess your sin and failure. If you do, He will give you peace. Christ comes to give us peace.
11. That peace is peace with God:
Rom 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
We may have denied Him and rejected Him, but He still extends His peace. He accepts us as the father of the prodigal son accepts him. Christ does not make a list of things we must accomplish before he accepts us.
Rom 5:6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
Rom 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
12. And when we have peace with God, we will also have peace in difficult times.
John 16:33 "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
13. Today Jesus says "Peace to you." Perhaps you feel you have denied me. Perhaps life is more than you can bear. Perhaps you are afraid and have locked the door to your heart. But let me in and you will have peace.
14. And Jesus knows that when He comes to us we will struggle and have doubts. He shows the disciples His hands and His side. And later He does the same with Thomas.
John 20:27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."
15. Christ is not standing before us so we can visibly see Him. But He showed Himself to the disciples so they could tell us. And not only do we have their witness in this God’s word, but also the Holy Spirit testifies with us, as we will see.
16. Jesus gives us peace and reveals Himself to us. But He also sends us to do a task. One of the most effective ways to overcome despair is to have a purpose or task to do. When we have a job to do, we stop focussing on our own problems but we look at the needs of the job or the needs of others. When we have an important task to do, we have joy and meaning to life. Jesus says "As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you."
17. The risen Christ is giving us a job to do today. He is sending us out as He was sent by His Father. That makes this a special moment. Remember when, as a teenager, your father gives you the keys for the car for the first time. He has taught you how to drive. You’ve got your licence. And now he sends you out by yourself. He entrusts the car to you. In the same way Jesus entrusts the gospel to us.
2 Cor 5:18-20 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.
18. As Jesus went out and told people the good news, so are we commissioned or sent to do the same. As Jesus not only taught but showed the message of grace and love by the way He lived, so are we called to do the same. These things are not easy for us. But I believe when we actively seek to do them, we will live life at a level far beyond we have ever done before.
19. And we need not fear the task For Christ says "Receive the Holy Spirit." We cannot do the task we have been given. We may fear failure. But Jesus says he will equip us for the task. He breathed the Holy Spirit on the disciples. They received the Holy Spirit. Later in Acts 2 they would be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit.
20. All who believe in Christ have the Holy Spirit dwelling within them and empowering them for their role as disciples. Look at what the Holy Spirit does:
a. Luke 12:11-12 "When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say."
He gives us the words to say.
b. John 16:8 When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment:
He convicts those who hear of their sin.
c. John 3:5-6 Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
The Holy Spirit changes man’s heart, regenerates them.
d. Rom 8:26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.
The Holy Spirit makes our prayers effective.
e. And the Holy Spirit provides us with spiritual gifts to do the task and with His fruit or Christ-like qualities which enable us to reveal the grace and person of Christ in our lives/.
21. There is one more thing the risen Christ gives us this morning. He gives us the reason or motive to go out and bring the good news.
John 20:23 If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."
This sounds strange, for only God can forgive sins. Is Christ giving us this authroity?
22. The NIV Study Bible explains the text this way,
God does not forgive people's sins because we do so, nor does he withhold forgiveness because we do. Rather, those who proclaim the gospel are in effect forgiving or not forgiving sins, depending on whether the hearers accept or reject Jesus Christ.
If you tell people about this forgiveness you are extending forgiveness to them. If they respond they are indeed forgiven. However, if you don't tell them, you are NOT extending forgiveness to them. Then their sins will not be forgiven. We are extending the gift of eternal life through the forgiveness is sin.
23. What greater motive can Christ give us than this?
24. Today we celebrate the risen Lord. He is alive and He comes to us through his word and through His Spirit. And He offers us peace. He reassures us of His presence. He sends us out to proclaim His death resurrection. He equips us and He gives us a reason to go out.
25. Friends, may we hear what the risen lord says to us. May we be filled with peace and joy. Peace with God and joy in serving Him.
