Skip to content On the Road to Emmaus Mar 7 · 51 min ...more
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565K followers
Skip Heitzig ministers to over 15,000 people as senior pastor of Calvary Church in Albuquerque. He reaches out to thousands across the nation and throughout the
565K followers
The Reality of the Resurrection 0:13 Okay. Make some noise. Make some noise. Whoo. He's risen.0:25 Got it. Thank you. Have a seat. Well, happy Resurrection Day. I got to look0:37 at you for just a minute. It's been so long since we have been together doing this. It's been 2 years, and you look fantastic. What a beautiful morning0:49 God has given us. Amen? Amen. I'll tell you what, I hope some of you put sunscreen on, because it's warm out there even for this early in the morning. You're gonna1:01 notice a little drone coming by you from time to time. Just wave at it when it comes by. It means no harm. This is a friendly drone. I want you to know that. I also want you to know that as1:13 we're celebrating the Lord's resurrection here, we have brothers and sisters who are believing in Christ in the Ukraine who are meeting also worshiping the Lord and have1:24 been. I met with several of those pastors a couple of years ago, and my friend, I spoke to him just the other day on the phone. Franklin Graham has hospitals over there.1:36 And he, went over to Ukraine, went to the churches, and he said the churches he visited, all of the churches he visited in the Ukraine are packed every time they have church service.1:48 People standing room only, worshiping the Lord, trusting the Lord for the future. I was so encouraged by that. Well, as we begin this morning, and I'm so2:00 glad you came, I wanna begin with a news article that just came in from Jerusalem, from Israel, in the Associated Press. The news article says, on the eve of2:12 the annual celebration of the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, the 1000000 inhabitants of this city were shocked by the announcement that a body2:24 identified as that of Jesus was found in a long neglected tomb just outside the boundary of the city. Rumors had been circulating last week that a2:36 very important discovery was about to be announced. The news, however, far outstrips all of our wildest guesses. The initial reaction of Christians here and around the2:48 world has been 1 of astonishment, bewilderment, and defensive disbelief. We will have to wait and see just what effect this discovery will2:59 have on the 2000 year old religion. To the mind of this unbelieving writer, it appears that Christianity will have to take its place on the same level with the other religions3:12 of the world. No longer can its followers claim that unlike other religions, the tomb of its founder is empty. Evidently, a 20003:24 year old lie has come to an end. Now that is not an actual news article. That's fake news. Turn to your neighbor and3:35 say, that's fake news. Yeah. That is fake news. That never happened. But if it did, if that article were true, then that3:47 would mean that our faith is worthless and that all of this is stupid, but it's fake news. It's not real.3:59 In the world of Paul the Apostle, he would have said, we are of all men most miserable if we believe in something that didn't actually happen. But we also4:11 know that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is 1 of the best attested to facts of history. Jesus Christ basically has 3 credentials.4:23 3 credentials. Number 1, his impact upon world history. He only lived for 33 years. His ministry was only 3 years. He grew up in a very obscure4:35 village up in the northern part of Israel, a village called Nazareth. And yet the impact that Jesus made on history has been second to none. His second4:47 credential are the prophecies that he fulfilled. The old testament predicted, and those predictions came to pass. They were true. So fulfilled4:59 prophecy, Jesus fulfilled so many predictions. And then the third line of evidence is what we celebrate today and that is the resurrection of5:11 Jesus Christ. You know most most religions of the world, most belief systems are founded on philosophies, teachings, the teaching of the5:23 founder of that religious system. Of all of the religions in the world, only 4 of them are based upon actual personalities.5:35 Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism. Those 4 are based upon the personality of the founder. But of all of those 4 religions,5:47 only 1 claims a resurrection for its founder. That's why we have hope. That's why we gather here today, because of that good news.6:01 As the angel said to the women who came to the tomb, he's not here. He's not here. He has risen from the dead. That fact of history is what we6:13 celebrate. Now in our story and I want to read from the gospel of Luke this morning chapter 24 anybody here bring a Bible with them to sunrise that's a good thing to bring we're gonna look atEncounter on the Road to Emmaus 6:25 Luke chapter 24 about 2 men who were, as it says here, on the road. They were on the road to a village called Emmaus. And as they're6:36 walking along, Jesus comes walking alongside of them. And he enters into a conversation with them. They're talking about what has happened in Jerusalem, how that Jesus came into the6:48 city, how that he presented himself in the temple, how he was betrayed by Judas, how he was arrested, how he was beaten up, and how he was put on a cross, and that he died.7:00 And they are processing that. After a funeral, people who are grieving need to talk and vent their feelings out loud, and that's what these 27:12 disciples are doing after what they consider the funeral of Jesus. I think it's safe to say they were at the lowest7:33 conquering Christ. That's not what they got. They got a crucified Christ. They were expecting the lion of the tribe of Judah. They got a sacrificial lamb.7:45 And here's the thing, these disciples had left everything to follow Jesus. And to them, it's a pipe dream. It's not a reality.7:57 It all went bad. This is all ridiculous what we did. We gave our lives for this guy, and now he's dead. They may have even felt abandoned by God.8:10 And I believe I'm speaking to some people today who have had that same feeling. And in a few minutes, I believe that's going to change for some of you. In fact, I believe that8:22 some of you today are gonna rekindle your relationship with God if it's at a low ebb. And for some of you, you're gonna enter into a real relationship with God for the first time in your8:34 life. And I wanna tell you that. I want you to be ready for that because in a few moments, I'm gonna actually give you an opportunity to get up out of your seat, find an aisle, and come8:46 right down here on this field and give your life to Christ. What I wanna share with you this morning are some principles to help you relate to the8:57 risen Christ. 5 quick principles on how you can relate to the risen Christ. Number 1 is this, your God is on the move. Your God is on the move. Now some of you are9:09 saying, he's not my God. You can talk about your God but he's not my God but you see I believe that's going to change I believe before the end of the service he's going to become your God as well9:22 now let's look at this story in Luke chapter 24 verse 13. It says, now behold, 2 of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was 7 miles from9:34 Jerusalem. And they talked together of all these things which had happened. So it was while they conversed and reasoned that Jesus himself9:46 drew near and went with them. We are not told why these 2 disciples were walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus. It's a pretty easy guess9:57 though. I believe that's where they live. That was their home. They're going home. They're done. They're done following Jesus. That's past tense. It's all over. Now they're10:09 going home. They're calling it quits. But as they're talking to 1 another, they don't know it's Jesus, but he comes edging his way up to them and enters into a conversation.10:21 Now you have to understand, they are not looking for Jesus. They do not expect to see him he's the last person they expect to see he died and this whole Christianity thing is over10:34 but this brings up an important point and I want you to hear it People are not really looking for God, even though they say they are. I meet people all the time. I'm looking10:46 for God. I'm on a spiritual quest. Actually, no, you're not. You're not looking for God. The truth is God's looking for you. And the only10:58 fact that you have an inclination about wanting to look for God is because he put that in you. God is looking for you. And why do I say that? Because God isn't lost. You are.11:13 Back in the very first story in the Bible in the Garden of Eden, the Bible says Adam and his wife Eve hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God came11:24 into the garden and shouted where are you he was looking for them maybe God could say that to you this morning where are you where are you at in your life11:37 and Jesus said the Son of Man has come to seek and to save those who are lost Now listen, this sets Christianity apart from every other11:49 religion and belief system. Religion is basically man's attempt to reach God. Man's attempt to appease God by his or her own efforts. That's12:01 why religions will tell you that you have to do certain things. You have to face in a certain direction when you pray. You have to pray a certain amount of times a day. Other religions will say, you need to12:13 crawl on your knees and suffer and inflict pain on yourself, and then God will accept you. The Bible does not present that. The Bible presents a God who is on12:25 the move reaching out to us. The Bible says the eyes of the Lord go to and fro throughout the entire earth to show himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are12:37 loyal to him. I believe that God has been trying to get your attention for a long time. He wants to reveal himself to you. And that's why in a few moments I'm gonna ask you to12:49 make your move toward him in response to that. So that's principle number 1, your God is on the move.13:01 Second principle in relating to a risen Christ, your eyes aren't always right. Your eyes aren't always right. How many of you have discovered as you grow older13:12 your eyes, don't work the way they used to work? You figured that out yet? You wonder why you have to hold that book like 50 feet away to see it? Because your13:24 eyes aren't always right so in verse 15 we're told this so while it was while they conversed in reason Jesus himself drew near and went with them but13:36 their eyes were restrained so that they did not know him. So check this out. They're standing in front of him. They're13:48 having a conversation with him. They're looking at him. They're talking to him. They're walking with him. But they don't recognize it actually is him. Their14:00 eyes aren't telling them the truth. They thought he was a stranger. In fact, 1 of them will say, are you the only stranger here in Jerusalem? You don't know what has happened here? Now this brings14:12 up an important question. Why is it that they did not recognize that it was Jesus? Well, there's a couple answers to that. Number 1, they weren't looking for him. They didn't expect14:24 him to show up. Resurrection was not on their radar screen. They were not expecting to see Jesus alive again. Number 2, the crucifixion of Jesus was14:36 pretty brutal. He went through some physical changes. The Bible in Isaiah indicates they plucked out his beard and that his visage or his countenance, his appearance14:48 was marred more than any other man. So much so that people frequently did not recognize Jesus after the resurrection. Mary,15:01 in the garden of where the tomb was thought Jesus was a gardener. The disciples at the Sea of Galilee also didn't recognize him. It happened a few15:12 times. But here's the real reason they didn't recognize him. It says here in the text, their eyes were restrained. Their eyes were restrained. In15:24 other words, God kept them from recognizing Jesus. Which brings up a question, why would God do that? Why would God not want them to know this15:36 is Jesus? Well, there's a couple of answers to that. I think God didn't want them to recognize that it was Jesus. First of all, so they'd be honest. They'd be15:48 honest in their conversation about him. They would never talk to Jesus like they talked to Jesus if they knew it was Jesus. You know, we're not always honest when we talk to people. We16:00 talk to people and we frequently tell people things we think they should hear or what we want them to think about us. So we couch what we say to16:11 people so that we get a favorable reaction. We're not always honest. A lot of times I'll be having a conversation with a person, I might be on an airplane, and the person is very, very honest about their16:23 life. And they'll say even choice words to me. And then they'll say, what do you do for a living? And I'll say, I'm a teacher.16:36 Oh, really? You're a teacher. I I I I I know some teachers. What kind of teacher are you? I say, I'm a pastor of a church. Oh. 0. Sorry, reverend. Sorry for that, what I just16:48 said. And then suddenly they don't get honest anymore. I heard about a king in ancient times who would frequently dress like he was a peasant so he could walk among the people and get17:00 his earful of what they really thought of his reign. So Jesus is entering into a conversation, talking to them. They don't recognize him. He wants them to be honest.17:11 There's a second reason why I think God didn't want them to recognize him. He wanted to reveal himself to them differently. Not by sight,17:23 but by speech, but by word. He wanted his word, the scriptures, to have maximum impact, and they never would if they saw17:35 that it was Jesus. They would be so freaked out that Jesus is risen from the dead, he wouldn't be able to have the impact on them with his words. The Bible says this, faith comes17:47 by hearing and hearing by the word of God. A lot of times people say, well, if I if I could only see God, if I only had a sign, then I'd believe. First of all, that's very shallow.18:00 If your faith is based on an outward sign, Second, it wouldn't last because the first time you experience another hardship in your life and don't get a follow-up18:12 miraculous sign, your faith would crumble. God, I believe, has been speaking to you and you haven't recognized it. He's been revealing himself to you,18:23 but some of you haven't recognized it. Because what you see and what you experience aren't always the whole truth. Some of you have been going through a very dark period in your life. In18:35 fact, the world has for a couple of years. But maybe in particular, you've been going through very, very difficult times. And you have thought, you have thought God doesn't care18:48 God doesn't care about me I am forsaken by God that's a lie God cares about you and the proof of that care is that you are here19:00 today, and he is revealing himself to you through his word. He's speaking to you. He's revealing himself to you. He wants his word to have an impact on your life.19:12 So your God is on the move. Your eyes aren't always right. Here's a third principle in relating to the risen Christ. Your hope can become fragile. Your19:23 hope can become fragile. The story continues in verse 17 and he said to them what kind of conversation is this that you are having with 1 another as you walk and are sad19:37 then the 1 whose name was Cleopas answered and said to him are you the only stranger in Jerusalem have you not known the things which have happened here in these days and19:49 he said to them what things so they said to him the things concerning Jesus of Nazareth who was a prophet mighty indeed in word before God and all the20:01 people and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death and crucified him but we were hoping that it was he who was20:12 going to redeem Israel indeed besides all of this today is the third day since these things happen yes and certain women of our company who arrived at the20:24 tomb early astonished us And when they did not find his body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said he was alive.20:37 And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the woman had said. But him, they did not see.20:50 In this conversation, Jesus comes up and asks them a couple of questions. He already knows the answer to the questions. You know that, right? When he when Jesus asked people questions, it's not like he's wanting21:00 information. He already knows the answer. But he asked them anyway, So they will admit their condition and the questions draw them out. So the first question is funny. Hey, what21:12 are you guys talking about? What kind of conversation? You guys look so sad. You look so bummed out. I can see it in your faces. What are you talking about?21:25 Do you know that the Lord is interested in the conversations we have about him? Listen to this. This is from Malachi chapter 3 verse 16. Then those who feared the21:37 Lord spoke with each other. The Lord listened and a scroll of remembrance was written to record the names of those who loved to think about him.21:50 In other words, when people talk to God to each other about God, it's as if God goes, I want to really listen to what they're saying about me. He loves to pay attention to the conversations we22:01 have. So the first question is, what are you talking about? The second question is even funnier, because they say to him, well, don't you know all the things that have22:13 happened? And Jesus goes, what things? Now he's the very center of those things. He's the subject of those things that have happened in Jerusalem. This is a classic way of Jesus22:26 to draw a person out so that they will articulate what they think. It's much like what Jesus did to his disciples on 1 occasion in Caesarea Philippi. He said, who do22:37 men say that I am? And they answered, some say you're John the Baptist, some say you're Elijah, some say you're 1 of the prophets. And then he asked them, who do you say that I am? Who22:49 do you say that I am? I wanna hear it from your lips. Talk to me. Who am I to you? Who do you say that I am? Now their answer here reveals how fragile23:02 their hope had become. Because when they talk about Jesus, they're talking all past tense. He was a prophet. We were hoping that he would be the23:13 1. They're not saying he is a prophet. He is alive. We are hoping in him. They're saying it's over. Our hope is dead. When they seal that stone23:25 over the entrance to Jesus' tomb, their hopes were there too. Their hopes were dead. It was over. They're thinking, we really thought this guy was the23:37 guy. But that's over. That's past tense. We hope in him no longer. We were hoping he was the 1. Maybe23:49 that describes you. Some of you have been so deeply disappointed by a person or by circumstances in your life. Your hopes24:01 have been dashed. Your hope, which is so fragile, has been frayed and shattered and some of you are even here this morning and though you're here in reality your thoughts are24:13 this I used to believe in God I used to trust in Jesus I once had hope that he would help me, but those hopes are gone. It's a sad place to24:24 be. Thomas Jefferson was our third president. Of course, he's a great man of history. But Thomas Jefferson, though he loved Christianity and loved going to24:36 church and singing the songs, he did not believe that the miraculous parts of the Bible were true. So he rewrote the New Testament. A lot of people don't know this. He wrote his own24:48 version of the New Testament, and he deleted all of the miraculous occurrences of Jesus in the New Testament. He only focused on the moral teachings of Jesus.25:00 When he ended his new testament it concludes the closing words are these there they lay Jesus and rolled a great stone at the mouth of the sepulcher25:12 and departed Loose translation. He died. He was deader than a doornail, and he's never coming back.25:25 They closed the tomb. It's over. Thomas Jefferson, like those 2 disciples, had a past tense hope. That's why Peter, when he writes his25:37 epistle, says we have been born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead so your God is on the move your eyes aren't always right25:48 and your hope can become fragile here's the fourth principle your faith has different speeds. You may not have known that. Your faith26:00 has different speeds. For some of you, your faith is fast. For others of you, your faith is really, really slow. Listen to this.26:12 Jesus said to them, verse 25, oh foolish ones and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken.26:24 Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory? So in the conversation, they're talking to him and they're26:36 mentioning this wives tale of a resurrection. Yeah, some of these women went to the tomb early in the morning and but you know women, They're so emotional. They26:48 got tears in their eyes. You can't really believe what they say. They said they saw angels, and I love how Jesus just kind of interrupts them and says, oh, foolish ones.27:01 And slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken that was their problem they believed in some of what the prophets have spoken but not all27:13 that the prophets have spoken We do this a lot with the Bible. We believe the parts we like in the Bible. We don't believe the parts27:25 that we don't like. Your faith can be fast, your faith can be slow. It has different speeds some are quick to believe some are slow to believe years ago my dad gave me a car from27:37 from the sixties he just gave it to me it had a 4 cylinder engine it was so slow and I did everything to make it fast I put fuel additives in it. I put a little overdrive system in it27:49 to gear it differently, hoping that that would help. It didn't help. It didn't help. I'll tell you what helped. Downhill helped with the wind helped. That's the28:01 only time it got like normal speed other than that it was just really really slow some of you are slow to believe parts of the bible you love the parts where it promises you nice things where it promises you28:13 prosperity where it promises that God will bless you and care for you and protect you and give you financial help and peace and joy. You love those parts. But you're slow to28:24 believe what God says about sin. You're slow to believe what God says about heaven or hell or marriage or divorce or his coming again. Now I don't know what28:36 speed your faith is this morning, but maybe it has slowed down quite a bit from what it used to be. In fact, maybe today your faith we could say is at a standstill.28:49 You need to know if you are slow to believe, you're gonna be slow to receive God's peace and joy and comfort and all those promises.29:01 So your faith has different speeds. So your God is on the move. Your eyes aren't always right. Your hope can become fragile,29:13 and your faith has different speeds. Let me give you the fifth and final principle in relating to a risen Christ. You ready for it? Your bible should give29:25 you heartburn yeah you heard me correct your bible should give you heartburn I'm gonna finish out this little story verse29:37 27 and beginning at Moses and all the prophets this is Jesus beginning at Moses and all the prophets he expounded to them in all the scriptures the things29:49 concerning himself Then they drew near to the village where they were going and he indicated that he would have gone farther. But they constrained him saying30:00 abide with us for it is toward evening and the day is far spent. And he went in to stay with them. And it came to pass as he sat at the table with them, he took bread,30:12 blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them. Their eyes were opened, and they knew him. And then he vanished from their sight. And they said to 130:24 another, did not our heart burn within us while he talked with us on the road and while he opened the scriptures to30:36 us did not our heart burn within us while he talked with us on the road and while he opened the scriptures30:48 to us. 1 translation says, didn't we feel our hearts on fire when he spoke to us? Another translation, our hearts were30:59 glowing when he talked to us. You know, we still talk in those terms today. When a couple, when they fall in love and and they start31:11 dating and they get married and they're so in love, we we say, man, they're they're they're they're they're they got the hots for each other. Right? And31:23 then and then after a while, when they sit at the table and they don't even pay attention to each other, they're on their phones looking at that dumb little screen. Even though they're31:35 sitting right across from the other person, they don't communicate anymore and we say their love has grown cold it's grown cold we say about a person who's who's walking31:47 closely with the Lord he's on fire for the Lord Those are good descriptions. I'm praying. I'm praying. We have been praying. We walked through the entire31:59 stadium, our pastors yesterday, through every seat and prayed for every person here. I'm praying that your hearts will get on fire for the Lord, that you will32:11 get spiritual heartburn from the word of God. I'm praying for that. Today, amen,32:23 amen. Today in this day and age, we have a lot of information. I mean, you I talk about phones. You can grab your phone right now and get any bit of information about anything anywhere in the world. You can go32:35 on on your phone and be in any church service that's going on, live stream it anywhere you want. We have so much information, so many resources. You can get online32:47 and look up any Bible verse, any historical fact, any song, any video. But where is the burning? Where's the burning of heart? Where's the spiritual32:59 passion? Jesus said many are called, but few are chosen. We might also say many are saved but most are frozen.33:12 The spiritual passion isn't there. We need spiritual heartburn. Now what caused this burning of heart for them? Did they say man didn't our hearts burn within us as he33:24 looked at us with those eyes no it doesn't say that does it say didn't our heart burn within us as we talk to him doesn't say that33:36 it basically says our hearts burned when we shut up and let him talk to us when he spoke to us his word that's when our hearts33:48 burned now what was he telling them he was telling them the stuff they heard all their lives beginning at Moses and all the prophets he explained34:00 to them all the things concerning himself they'd heard all those prophets they've heard all those scriptures but they never heard it like this it's like Jesus opened the34:13 curtains and let the light flood into their souls the burning of heart the burning of heart was a new understanding of familiar34:24 things a new understanding of familiar things I want you to say that with me it was a new understanding of familiar things some34:36 of you know the Bible so well it's so familiar to you but may God give you a new understanding of familiar things So Jesus gave them a Bible studyShow more In this video 0:00 The Reality of the Resurrection6:13 Encounter on the Road to Emmaus34:38 Invitation to Faith and Renewal
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