Knowing and the Resurrection
First B Jackson
2018-04-01

Automatically transcribed. Where this and the recording disagree, the recording is the record.

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Good morning, everybody. How are you? He is risen. He risen indeed. Alright.

I like that he has risen indeed. Somebody just said, you know, this year it's... He has risen. No fooling. All right?

He's risen indeed. Welcome and I'm glad that you're here this morning. I'm gonna invite up for the last three weeks. So this is a combined service. For the last three weeks, we've had 09:00 and 11:00 services.

That's normal. The 10:00 combined service is just a combined celebration, get all of us here at one time. Florine has been leading off for the last three weeks. He's been leading off with a verse and adding a verse and adding another verse of, Were you there? I'm gonna ask him if he'll come forward and sing that.

And as he is, would you just take a minute to center yourself on Christ Jesus and listen to this and go through three verses but when he gets to that fourth verse, would you stand and sing with him? Because we're celebrating Christ's resurrection this morning.

What a privilege to be here. Amen? Amen. Amen. I love church medics.

I love to worship God through music. Thank you, Rosemary, for giving me the privilege to sing, and thank you for doing such a beautiful, wonderful job at the 11:00 worship service. Oh, I love it. Your type of music, it's so... It reached my heart, honestly.

May God bless you. Thank you. Were you there when they crucified my Lord? What a beautiful song, honestly. I love this song.

So today is not about how I sing. It's about to whom I sing. I sing for my savior, for Jesus Christ. Amen? So if I don't mistake some songs, it's okay.

It's all good. I actually told Blake that please put the lyrics over there because I don't wanna sing in tongues. I wanna make sure you understand what I'm saying. And and one more thing. I love when you are sitting down because I can see you.

Now I lost the the tone. Let me go back. We gotta laugh a little bit. Okay? We gotta enjoy the service.

Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Were you there when they crucified my lord? Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Were you there when they nail him to the three?

Were you there when they nail him to the three? Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when they nail him to the tree? I feel that, honestly. Were you there when they laid him in the two?

Were you there when they laid him in the tomb? Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble. Tremble. Tremble. Were you there when they let him in the tomb?

This is what we celebrate today. Were you there when he rose up from the there? Were you there when he rose up from the there. Hallelujah. Oh, sometimes I feel like shouting glory, glory, glory.

Were you there when he rose up from the dead? Amen. Amen. Amen. So,

announcements this morning. Y'all can have a seat. Announcements this morning. I'm going try to keep em quick. We're off duty for Monday nights.

It's not happening. Iwana is not happening tomorrow night. It'll be back on a week from tomorrow, both of those. Spring break, the youth is taking a break also. Secret Church is happening coming up on April 20.

That's a Friday night. It is really happening from 6PM to 12:50AM. So it's an extended session. If you want to know more about it, Samantha McVay, would you stand up for just a second? See that lady right there.

She'll tell you more about the secret church. Alright. Guatemala. The mission trip to Guatemala. I've heard from almost everybody.

The only people that have not yet arrived are Carl and his daughter Rachel, and they are on they are en route right now. They're on the way. He had to wait for de icing the plane this morning. They left out this morning and I leave immediately after the service but would y'all be pleased, please, remember to pray for these 33 folks from First B who are going and hoping to help at Hope of Life International in Zacapa, Guatemala. I think that's all of the...

Yes, Dawn Lottshaw. Yes. You can treat these chairs like pews and just squish together if you could. Leave leave the area on the outside edges so it's easier for people to get in. When you greet, get up and greet one another, squish together as tight as you can when you sit back down.

Would you greet one another? We'll bring you back together with a song. Alright. Vamilos. Alright.

You're gonna you're gonna lead us off? Yeah. That sound good this morning. Do you mean it? Yeah.

Wow. Amen. Amy, would you lead us off?

Yes. Thank you, lord for that. It's awesome. Ray was like, we have to do that because we're going to have a full group. You guys Like the full choir.

Let's start off with just the chorus of nothing but the blood. Thank you, Lord. I... Just looking out the window at the snow this morning, I know it's not our favorite spring day, but it's a reminder. He makes us white as snow.

I was looking out there, and I'm like, I'm I'm white as snow. So are you. So are you if Jesus is in you. So let's sing this. One more time.

You, Lord. I was just talking to, this is Didi, by the way, and Paco, and Florine, and Ray, and we were just talking this morning about how God never changes. He's the same, the same God of Moses, the same God of Abraham, the same God of Isaac is our God today. And the amazing thing is is we are his temple. If we have accepted him, we are the temple that carries this God.

And, I just, as we sing this next song, I just... It's, Lord God, give us a revelation, a new fresh revelation of who you are and who we are, God, as your chosen temple, as your chosen dwelling place, father. That the risen power of Christ lives in us, father. May we see it. May we see it.

Amen. Y'all can have a seat. Imma invite the frontline team to come forward Would you pray with me? God, I thank you for a beauty of your resurrection for raising Christ, for exalting him in due time, lord and I pray that we would continually be lifting Jesus up and we'd continually be proclaiming repentance and the forgiveness of sins in his name. Lord, may it go forward from this place to the ends of the earth and we pray that it would begin right here.

We ask you to bless lord the giver and multiply the gift to do your kingdom's work here in our Jerusalem right here in Jackson and Judea, all of the surrounding area and Samaria, those even further out and to the ends of the earth. In Jesus name, we ask your blessing humbly. Thank you, lord. In Jesus name, amen. Amen.

There is children's church today. So, if there are kids here that want to go down to kids church, it's happening. So that's the cavalcade that you're hearing going out of here. I hope. I mean, there could be pitter patter of people running out before the sermon.

That's possible too. It's Easter. Easter 2018. Knowing and the resurrection. Knowing and the resurrection.

So I have not been preaching narrative lately. It's been the, you know, didactic teaching from Paul, letters in the New Testament. What normally do is just go forward. You know, if we go forward and we're going in the chronological order that the books were written, but I'm gonna drop back into an Easter sermon, and it's really gonna be the Easter narrative, and I have a lot of slides, and there are a lot of words, but if you'll listen fast, I'll talk fast. This is a narrative from the book of Luke.

I have a draw, but it's a very fast draw. So it's a narrative from the book of Luke, and I'm gonna take a couple verses from the book of Acts, and let's get right into it. But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, first day of the week is when, by the way? Sunday, right? On the first day of the week at early dawn, they went to the tomb taking the spices that they had prepared and that they there is the women.

This field dropped back just a few verses into chapter 23. The women who had come with him from Galilee followed, saw the tomb how his body was laid, and they returned and prepared spices and ointments. This is after the crucifixion, after his burial, these women, it says, and they returned and then they rested according to the commandment on Saturday, the Sabbath and then on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb taking the spices they had prepared and they found the stone rolled away from the tomb but when they went in, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus while they were perplexed about this. Behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. Stood by them in dazzling apparel.

Actually, usually you see it more like this. They're considered to be angelic messengers. I I changed it to the ESV version just to use the word dazzling. Brightly colored, incredible, resplendent clothing these guys, messengers were wearing, and as they were frightened and they bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, why do you seek looking for it, right? Why do you seek the living among the dead?

He's not here but he is risen. Amen. Remember how he told you. Now, this is angelic messengers, right? Dazzling apparel and they said, remember how he told you while he was still in Galilee?

He knew where they had been. He knew where they meant together. Remember how he told you while he was still in Galilee that the son of man must be delivered into the hands sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise. Do you remember that? And they remembered his word.

Now, had been exposed to it. They knew it was supposed to happen. Where are they expecting it? Why did they show up with spices if they were expecting it? Right?

They had heard it. He said it multiple times. We read it in all the gospels where he's pointing towards this coming time and they remembered his words. What words that the son of man? That's Jesus.

Favorite self designation must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise. Those are his words. And returning from the tomb, they, those women, told all these things to the 11 and all the rest. Was 11. Why?

Because Judas, hang on some. He was out of there by this point. So it's all through. It's twelve twelve twelve twelve twelve all the way through Luke and then right here, it's an 11. And to all the rest, it says, the women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb how his body was laid and they saw it.

They remembered that he said that he was going to rise when they were reminded of it. By those two dazzling dressed gods. Now, it was Mary Magdalene. Okay. So, now we get to hear who the women are.

Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary, the mother of James, and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles and these were the 11, right? And all the rest. There were other people that had been with him for a while. We know that from Acts a little later. They told these things to the apostles.

Now, remember this, if you're here today and you don't really know who Luke is and you don't know what his writing style is, Luke set about to do an orderly account. This is the first little introduction to the book of Luke and he says, in as much as many have taken under compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and they were ministers of the word have delivered them to us. It seemed to me good also having followed all things closely for some time past. He was a historian. He was actually a physician.

That's what he did kind of for a living. Seemed good to me having followed all things closely for some time past to write down an orderly account for you most excellent Theophilus that you may have certainty concerning the things you've been taught. So he's saying, I compiled all these stories from eyewitnesses. It was Mary Magdalene. He knew.

Mary Magdalene. He knew. Joanne, he knew Mary, the mother of James. He knew these people and he had interviewed many of them. He had interviewed Mary.

He said, she pondered these things in her heart. He says that elsewhere. So, this is a guy writing a historical account in the first century and then, verse 11 to me seems sad but the whole thing is important. These words though and they're delivering the message just as the angelic messengers had given it to them and they remember Jesus saying it and they were communicating the message and they said, but these words, they seemed to them, the apostles, the ones who had followed him for three years. It seemed to those guys an idle tale and they did not believe them.

But Peter, impetuous Peter, he's often the first one out of the boat, right? He's jumping out. Peter rose and he ran to the tomb. He was looking forward to this. Now, this is a guy who just three days before had denied Christ.

This is the guy who had a conversation with Jesus and Jesus told him, Satan has asked to sift you like wheat but I've prayed for you but I've prayed for you and when you've come through it, you'll be of great use. Peter ran to the tomb. Stupid and looking in, he saw the linen clothes by themselves, the linen cloths by themselves and he went home marveling at what had happened. Now, this is the part that I really want to discuss right here. All that was just prologue.

That very day, two of them and this is disciples, apostles, followers of Jesus, whatever. It's not the 11 but it's two of them, the assembled ones. That very day, two of them were going to a village named Emmaus. It's about seven miles from Jerusalem. Since there's so much text, I'm trying to put little breaks in here for you.

That's 60 stadia. Stadia is about 607 feet for those math people in here, 185 meters. If you multiply six zero seven feet times 60, you get 36,420 feet. If you divide that by 5,280, you get 6.89772727 miles. That is about seven miles, Alright?

If you still don't know where it is, this is ancient Israel, you know, Judea and Galilee, the whole thing. If you look up close, you can see Jerusalem is there, and Emmaus is there, and I had in my mind for some reason that it's about the same distances from here to somewhere, and so what would that be? Here we are at First Baptist Church right there. Boy, I'm nervous. Sorry.

And there's Wilson. And if you superimpose one map over the other, Jerusalem and Emmaus are exactly the distance from here to Wilson. So they're walking from here like they're walking to Wilson, and they're walking and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. And wouldn't that be what you did? You followed a guy for a good long while, and then he's crucified.

Friday, and this is Sunday. It's after Passover. It's after the big celebration. You're walking home. Wouldn't it be something to talk about?

That didn't go like I thought it was going to. I mean, really. I'm not... I didn't mean for that to be a joke. Really, they did not expect for this to go this way.

And they had been told. And they had been told. And they had been told. And they had been told. And they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened.

And while they were talking and they were discussing these things together, praise God. Jesus himself, the risen Christ, Messiah, lamb of God, Jesus himself drew near and he went along with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And my wife said about two weeks ago, she said, I don't like that. I don't like that part of the story where it says, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him.

And I said, well, maybe we just don't need to know everything all at once. Why is it that they didn't... He didn't want them to know who he was right away? Why is it? Is it...

I said, I I chalk it up the glorified body. I'm not sure. Maybe shave the beard. I don't know. I don't know why, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him.

And that's what it says, so don't speculate any further. That's what the text says. And he said to them, and I've capitalized all the H's in here so you know who's Jesus, alright? The he is capitalized because it's Jesus and he said to them, what is this conversation that you're holding with each other as you walk? And they stood still looking sad because that's a sad conversation if the guy you've been following two or three years suddenly is just no more.

And all of the expectation of the triumphant takeover of the government and all of the expectation that you've built up as one of his followers is you might have a place in the new regime. And they just loved him. If somebody gets crucified that you love, I mean, that's horrible. It's horrific and they stood still looking sad. Then one of them named Cleopus.

So, that's how we know it's not one of the 12 or one of the 11 apostles. Then, one of em named Cleopus and I say that Cleopus, he interviewed these people. Luke says, eyewitness accounts. I'm putting it all down. I'm getting this.

This is trustworthy and he's saying that in the first century and do you think it was as skeptical in the first century as it is in the twenty first century? Oh, what a skeptical lot we are but Luke's account has remained just as it is. It's not corrupted. The Greek that was written is the Greek that we have and we have translated it over the years and translations are translations. They they are accurate.

Then one of them named Cleopus answered him, are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days? Because you'd have to be, right? Walking back to Emmaus would say, you know, if you're walking away from Jerusalem at this time, you're one of the Jews that went there for the big Passover celebration and whether you're for him or against him, Jesus was a figure that everybody knew, right? Are you not, are you the only one, the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days? And he said to him, what things?

You don't often see Jesus playing dumb, right? You do see it occasionally when he wants to teach the disciples a lesson like with the Gentile woman was there and she's asking for a little help and Jesus is saying, well, I don't know about that and all the disciples are gathered around. He's going, is it right that I should do this? I came for the lost sheep of Israel, right? And the disciples were there and they're basically racist.

And he's teaching them and she says, but even the dogs get the crumbs from the table and he blesses that woman and it teaches his disciples. Jesus doesn't play dumb off of but he is playing dumb here. And they said to him, concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet, mighty indeed and word before God and all of the people and how our chief priest, these are Jewish background guys. Our chief priest and our rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped and it says, it's past tense right there, you know.

We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. We had hoped. We put our faith in him that he was going to be the one that got us out of this present mess that we're in. Yes and besides all this, it's now the third day since these things have happened. The third day was the official end of life, you know.

I don't know if you all know this, but even up until this past couple of centuries, we have a lot better accurate measure of when someone is dead, right? There's even... There are theories about the swoon theory. He wasn't dead, he just was... Looked like he was dead, and there are all kinds of theories people bring up.

This is a sideline. Probably shouldn't throw it in, I'm gonna do it anyway. You know the phrase saved by the bell? You know what that means? Saved by the bell.

I would think it was a boxing metaphor that somebody's getting pummeled and then the bell rang and they get to sit in the corner for a little while. It's not. Even up until the seventeen hundreds, late seventeen hundreds, Pilgrim, after the Pilgrims into the Northeastern United States, there was a scare about people who were swooning but not dying, and they were afraid that they would be buried. I'm not joking. They were afraid that they would be buried alive, and so they rigged coffins that had a string and a bell.

And so if you were to wake up in your coffin, you could pull the string and ring the bell. That's the truth saved by the bell is to dig him up quick. He's alive. I'm not joking. Three days though, three days is way past the point.

In... It was official in Judaism that the third day was the day that it's no no chance. Okay. We had hoped, past tense, that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it's now the third day.

They did not see any hope anymore. Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning. Now, wait a second. They had no hope and they had heard the story from the women who heard the story from the angelic messengers.

And when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had a vision of angels who said that he was alive. They just said, we had hoped, past tense. They lost their hope and they're walking back to Emmaus. Some of those who are with us went out to the tomb and they found it just as the women had said, checking up on the women, right? But him, they did not see.

They didn't see Jesus and he said to them, oh foolish ones and slow of heart, to believe all that the prophets have spoken. You've been exposed to this. You've been exposed to the Old Testament probably your whole life. Since your opening breaths, you they're whispering in your ear the Shema. And you've heard this your whole lives and you've heard all of the Old Testament, the law, and the prophets pointing towards Jesus.

Even Moses saying, there will be one who comes along like me, the Taeb, a great prophet. Look for him. Oh foolish ones and slow of heart to believe. All that the prophets have spoken. Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?

Jesus is saying this. Jesus himself is saying this to the guys on the road and beginning with Moses and all of the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures, the things concerning himself. I think that's why he was hiding his identity from them. It's reasonable people. No matter who the messenger is, this is a reasonable thing.

If you know the prophecies and if you know the law, it should make sense to you and Jesus is saying that. There's a little break in the reading right there. So they drew near to the village to which they were going. So walking from here, Jerusalem to Wilson, Emmaus. They drew near.

They've crossed the Snake River Bridge and they're closing in on home there. So they drew near to the village to which they were going and he acted as if he were going farther. Now, had been teaching them the whole time. He had been reminding them of things that they knew but he had not yet or they did not yet recognize him. He did not yet reveal who he was.

He acted as if he were going to keep on walking and go farther. But they urged him strongly and I'm so proud of him for doing this. They've been following Jesus for so long and they had gained from him so much and even though he was no longer with him as far as they were concerned, they didn't know he was with them. They urged him strongly saying, come on, stay with us. Spend the night here.

Stay with us. For it's toward even the day is now far spent. So, he went in to stay with them. And when he was at table with them, he took the bread and he blessed and broke it and he gave it to them and their eyes were open and they recognized it. So, the story, everything that had been telling all throughout Moses and prophets, everything point forward.

Didn't you remember this? Don't you remember this? Well, yeah, that's a good point. Wow. Yeah.

That makes sense but they still had not seen him with their own eyes as far as they knew. Knowing and the resurrection, our knowing is limited, people. What we know about God is limited. What we know about ourselves is limited. What we know about the Bible is limited too.

This is Caravaggio's supper at Emmaus 1601. These guys are hanging out and they're like, but what about this? What about this? And Jesus is sitting there explaining. It's before he's broken the bread.

And they're trying to figure it out and I like the posture of what? This guy over here. And their eyes were open and they recognized him and he vanished from their sight. So, now, he's gone. Again, and they start up and they said to each other, did not our hearts burn within us?

While he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures and yes, their hearts were burning within him and they were moved but they still didn't recognize him. They still didn't get to recognize him until the proper time. And they rose that same hour and they returned to Jerusalem. Now, what did the ladies do? When they heard from the messengers, they went back to those apostles and they gathered with them.

They said, listen, this is what happened and they were not believed and then these guys, when they see Jesus, what do they do? They gather together. We're gathered together here by the way. If you didn't catch that, we're gathered together to talk about Jesus. They found the leaven and those who were with them and they gathered together saying, the Lord has risen indeed and has appeared to Simon.

Wait a second, we were coming to tell y'all that the Lord had appeared to Cleopus and the other guy and now you're telling us that the Lord's appeared to Simon and then they told them what happened on the road and how he was known to them in the breaking of bread and as they were talking about these things, Jesus himself himself, I think he's funny. Jesus himself stood among them and he said to them, peace to you. How many times did he said that to him when he was with him in the last three years? Peace to you but they were startled and they were frightened and they thought they saw a spirit. Even knowing and even having Peter who's kind of their leader, right?

See him and even having these two guys and all the women have seen him and then Jesus shows up again, scares him again. They're frightened, thought they saw a spirit and he said to them, why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your heart? It's because what they thought that they knew was being shaken and so if you're here today and you're Christian, you've grown grown up in church your whole life and you know how this is supposed to go, maybe God has something new that he wants to stretch you. And if you are an absolute devout atheist, but you love your mama, and you came with her today, then maybe there's something new.

This story... I'm trying to tell the simple story of the Easter story because even the apostles did not believe it when it went against what they thought they knew. Do you get that? Knowing in the resurrection. Resurrection is a historical fact.

The knowing it is between sets of ears right here. The knowing it and it gets to your heart. Why are you troubled? Why do doubts arise in your heart? See my hands and see my feet that it is I, myself.

Touch me and see for spirit doesn't have flesh and bones as you see that I have. Resurrection body, like I said, glorified body. That's not just a cop out. It's he's Jesus himself explains it that way and when he had said this, he showed them his hand and his feet and while they still disbelieved for joy and were marving, marveling, he said to them, have you anything to eat here? He's going to show em a different way.

They gave him a piece of broiled fish and he took it and he ate it before them and then he said to them, these are my words that I spoke. While I was still with you, they had been exposed to the truth over and over and over again. These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled and there are some gruesome things. If you don't think that there are, read Isaiah 53. Read Psalm 22 and it forecast perfectly exactly the gruesome death that he, the Messiah would die.

Everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. Then, opened their minds. Amen. To understand the scriptures and said to them, thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and on the third day, rise from the dead. And it goes further.

Now that you've got that, I know that you're scared. I know you're with me, and he explained it all again. And he said, this is what I said back then. Remember that? Uh-huh.

Okay. This is what it means. Now that you're seeing me resurrected, it's really me. Touch me. Seriously.

Let me see some fish. I'll eat something to prove that it's it's yeah, it's me. And then he goes further and he says, in repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all the nations beginning from Jerusalem. Now, the word repentance doesn't it comes up a lot in theology and it comes up a lot. I when I hit this, it's I usually would go into a Greek blah blah blah.

You know, meta no it's a turning around, a change of mind, a complete change of mind. A change of mind from disbelief to belief. A change of mind from disagreeing with God and his plan to agreeing with God and his plan, whatever it is. The repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name. I like this.

This is J. I. Packer quote. Repentance means turning from and he recognizes the limitations of our knowledge and our understanding, okay? Repentance means turning from as much as you know of your sin to give as much as you know of yourself to as much as you know of your God.

And as our knowledge grows, and I think our knowledge does grows, as we avail ourselves and as we surrender our will to the will of God, seeking him, seeking conscious contact with God as we understand him at that point, right? Our knowledge of God. As our knowledge grows at these three points, our knowledge of our sin, our knowledge of our self, and our knowledge of our God. At these three points, our practice of repentance has to be enlarged. Does that make sense?

It is progressive. You're never going to get to the place where you just got this. If the apostles didn't have it and they followed him for three years and he had to explain it over and over again, before revealing himself and then after. You're probably not going to get to that place. Sight is not what we live by.

We live by faith. Even when we don't completely understand the scriptures, we believe them and we trust them. So beginning from Jerusalem, you are witnesses of these things. You've seen them. You heard me talk about them, and you have seen them.

And so what's a witness responsible for in a court of law? Tell them what they saw, right? I've used the example a thousand times. There was a guy who became a Christian as an adult here, and his first few months, all that he could say when somebody said, man, what's what's the deal? You've changed.

He'd go, Jesus, man. That was his experience and that is exactly the experience. I don't understand it but I do know it. Experientially, all the way down. You're witnesses of these things and are witnesses responsible for telling what he knows personally and behold, I'm sending the promise of my father upon you but stay in the city until you're clothed with power from on high.

So, there's breaking the reading right there because that's the end of the gospel of Luke. End of the book of Luke. But the interesting thing is book writes... Luke writes volume two, and it's called the Acts of the Apostles. And so I'm going to scoot over into this, and the volume really does go, this is the life of Jesus, this is the life of the early church, and it overlaps a little bit.

So, here it is, the first 11 verses of this. In the first book, O Theophilus, I've dealt with all that Jesus began to do and to teach. Now, Jesus started this thing. We, church, are the continuing body of Christ. So, whatever Jesus started back then is what he is still doing now through his body, the church.

In the first book of Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day when he was taken up after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen, he presented himself alive to them after struggling by many proofs appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God, and there were plenty of others too. There's a lot of historical accuracy and a historical detail involved because a lot of these people were still alive. He presented himself alive and many proofs. We see that at the end of the book of Luke. Appearing in them for forty days, speaking about the kingdom of God and while staying with them, he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem but to wait for the promise of the father which he said, you heard from me.

For John baptized with water but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. Jesus is now telling them the front side of something that they're going to have a hard time understanding in a few more days. Do you get that? He's telling them, telling them, telling them, telling them about the crucifixion. He's actually already told them about the Holy Spirit, but now he's talking about the promise of the Father, promise of the Father, the Holy Spirit.

John baptized with water, but you'll be baptized with the Holy Spirit, not many days from now. And so when they had come together, they asked him, Lord, will you, at this time, restore the kingdom to Israel? You think they'd have it by now, right? That it's not military, that this is a heart issue, that this is individual. Now, is he going to restore?

Yes. None of those promises have been revoked. He will but that's what they're worried about. Lord, are you going to restore your kingdom at this time? And he said to him, to them, it's not for you to know the times or the seasons that the father has fixed by his own authority.

The answer to the question, why didn't he reveal himself to those guys? I don't know. It's not for me to know the times of the season that the father but those guys invited him in. They were consciously seeking Christ and they were when they asked him into the house, whatsoever you do to the least of these, Jesus said, you've also done it to me and so when they invited a stranger on the road to Emmaus to come into the house and Jesus comes in recognizing that, wow, these guys still get it. They get it.

They get what this is about. They get that it's about how you treat one another. It's about trusting me and godliness, even if they make mistakes here and there. April Fool's Day and Easter. Oh, there was a great opportunity here for this.

Really? Foolish as they can be. They hear all stuff over and over. How many times do we hear stuff over and over and over and over again and we still just don't get it? Or we just don't believe it?

Or we choose not to believe it. We'd rather believe something, oh my goodness, the History Channel. It's all about aliens. These days it's all about aliens. Aliens did this, that, and the other thing.

You'd rather believe that? Seriously? No proof whatsoever. Gospels that were written five hundred years later, three hundred years later, seven hundred years later, and they get all the time until Easter and then Jesus sells magazines at Easter. It's not for you to know the times or the seasons that the father has fixed by his own authority but you will receive this power.

When the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will be my witnesses. So, remember what it is that I've done. Remember what it is that I've said and transmit faithfully this message. You'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem, right in your local area, and in Judea. That's where Emmaus is by the way.

It's in the greater state around Jerusalem, the land of the Jews, Judea, and in Samaria. Oh, wait. Wait a second. Samaria, those are the folks that we don't really like. They're half breeds.

You remember them? Yep. You're gonna be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, and Samaria, the places that you feel uncomfortable, and even to the end of the earth where they don't speak the same language as you, where they don't dress like you, where they don't look like you, where there are cultural differences that abound. You will be my witnesses and when he had said these things as they were looking on, he was lifted up. Ascension.

But that was confusing. And a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes and said, men of Galilee, why are you standing here looking up in the sky? Why are you standing looking up into heaven? This Jesus, the same one that you've been with, that has now resurrected.

This Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven, he'll come the same way as you saw him go into heaven. Amen. Do I understand that? Not one bit. I don't get how that can be.

I mean, I've watched lots of Superman movies and different stuff and seen people fly and ascend and do things on film, but I don't believe that stuff because I've tried, you know? Jumping off a roof, you hit the ground. That's what happens. I don't know how to believe that. I'm saying the laws that I understand don't make any sense, but I trust that this is true.

Does that make sense? I think that's the last slide. This same Jesus who was resurrected and we're celebrating in 2018, the same Jesus who is risen will come back just as he left and he has not done it yet, folks, But he will. With all that I know of myself and all that I know of my own sin, I am surrendering that to all that I know of God and praying that he will use me to bring about his kingdom. Instead of looking for a position in that kingdom or looking for an overthrow of the government, I'm looking for Jesus to open my eyes.

Would you join me in that? I'm gonna invite the band back up, and if y'all would stand, we're gonna sing one. It's called Homeward Bound. I don't know if you know this one. I did not know it, but I like it.

If you'll stand and we'll sing it together. Amen. I'm glad y'all are here this morning and I'm delighted to be here. I'm going to ask God for his blessing this week and this is the benediction. Now, may the Lord of peace himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance and may the Lord be with you all.

In Jesus name, amen. Amen.