Walking With the Risen Christ — F.J. Huegel

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. Amen. We have been meditating from morning to morning on scenes from the Resurrection.

I fear that there will not be time. Tomorrow morning will be the last morning meditation to complete the series. So, this evening we are going to be thinking about one of the scenes from the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

The Risen Christ on the Road to Emmaus

I do believe, with a very special message of a practical nature for Christians, a walking with the risen Christ. Well, we have it portrayed in this scene which was brought before us this evening as the Scripture lesson was read.

We read here in the twenty-fourth chapter of the Gospel according to St. Luke that there were two. One is identified, the other is not. I'm not sure whether I can pronounce this name correctly. I've been trying to learn how to say these names in Spanish for many years.

We say Cleopas. I say one is identified, the other is not. The same day, the day of those glorious events, they went to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about three score furlongs. And they talked together of all these things which had happened.

And it came to pass that while they communed together, so it reads here in the Gospel according to St. Luke, Jesus himself drew near and went with them, but their eyes were holden that they should not know him.

A stranger comes, accommodating, adjusting his step with these two as they walked and were sad. And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these, that ye have one to another as ye walk and are sad?

And I feel sure that with somewhat of an indignant tone, the answer came, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days? Can it be? And he said unto them, What things?

And they said unto him concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death and have crucified him, but we trusted.

All hope is gone, they seemed to be saying. Ah, that rude cross had shattered their faith. We trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel. That's what we thought, how mistaken we were.

And beside all this today is the third day since these things were done. Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished which were early at the sepulchre. And when they found not his body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels which said that he was alive.

And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said. But him they saw not. Now the unknown stranger who has been walking at their side interposes, saying, O fools and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.

Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory? And then beginning at Moses and all the prophets, this unknown teacher, this stranger, expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

And they do nigh unto the village whither they went, and he made it so he would have gone further. You know the Saviour will not force himself upon anyone. We must make known our wishes that he might abide with us.

And they constrained him, saying, Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them. And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, this characteristic manner.

They had observed it in the days of the Saviour's public ministry, this way of Jesus. And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and break, and gave to them, and their eyes were opened.

And they knew him, and he vanished out of their sight. Of course, sleep was out of the question. They rose up the same hour of the night. They said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?

They rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them, saying, The Lord is risen indeed. And it appeared to Simon that they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread.

Walking With Christ Through Sorrow and Fear

Truly, this scene from the resurrection has a very special message for Christians. Is it not true that we are there in the way, walking in the way of life? Is it not true that we are often sad, especially in these days?

Ah, these tremendous days when it would seem that the enemy, knowing that his time is short, has come with great wrath. The atmosphere of the world charged with the powers of the pit, men's hearts failing them for fear of the things that are to come to pass.

Circumstances so contrary to faith and to the Christian life, all about us, day by day, pressing in upon us. Is it not true that we walk along with bowed heads, overwhelmed often with sorrow, discouraged?

Fearful, defeated, anxious, and all the time at our side walks the risen Christ? He said it. Oh, I am with you always, even until the end of the age. Only, friends, in the case of Christians, in our case, the intimacy with the risen Christ is even greater.

This which we have read took place prior to Pentecost. The Savior had not yet ascended. The Spirit, the Holy Spirit, had not yet been poured forth. It is on the day of Pentecost, when the disciples were baptized, as it is in the twelfth chapter of the first epistle to the Corinthians, into the body of Christ.

Or as it is in Romans 6, into the Savior's death brought him to a very real union with the crucified risen Lord. Did not Paul say, writing to the Corinthians, to the Colossians, if ye then be risen since, then ye be risen, as it is in the Japanese Bible, and this is a faithful rendering of the Greek.

Since then ye be risen with Christ. Seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth, for ye are dead in the Savior's death to sin, as it is in Romans 6.

You died, the aorist, in the Greek, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. When Christ, the risen Christ, who is our life, my friends, he is the soul of our souls, he is the breath of our breath, he is the beginning and the end of our aspirations, the Alpha and the Omega of our dreams.

He is the fountainhead of our existence, nearer than hands and feet, he is our life. This runs through the epistles, in the epistle to the Thesians, it appears in this fashion,. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sin, you know, from the lowest to the highest, and there are no approximations here, friends, he doesn't say little by little,.

No, even when we were dead in sin, and beyond that you can't go, nothing lower, hath quickened us together with Christ, by grace you are saved, and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, the risen Christ, the ascended glorified Christ.

The Christian finding himself where his Lord is found. In the Wymouth translation, as was said here the other evening, it reads, enthroned together with him, here it reads, seated in heavenly places, enthroned together with Christ Jesus, the Lord.

Union With Christ and the Overcoming Life

You know the Savior himself said it, as we have it in the Apocalypse, the third chapter, where we read, Behold, I stand at the door and knock, if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me, to him that overcometh.

Now, John tells us, in the fifth chapter of his first epistle, that overcomers are believers. Who is he that overcometh? Well, it's the believer, John says. This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

Overcomers are believers, when they're truly believers. To him that overcometh, to him that believeth. I will grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

Or, as it is in Romans 6, where Paul tells us that together with Christ the old man was crucified, that the body of sin might be destroyed, and where he commands us to consider ourselves in Christ Jesus the Lord, dead unto sin and alive unto God.

In the risen, ascended, glorified Redeemer, alive unto God. So, I repeat, the intimacy, the Christian's intimacy with the risen Christ, oh, it's far greater. These two lived on the other side of the Pentecost, and now the Holy Spirit has been given, whose function it is to take of the things of the Lord Jesus, to make them known, whose mission it is to bring the believer into that absolute oneness with his Savior, who said, I am the vine, you're the branches, abide in me, and I in you.

And yet, we walk as these two on the way to Emmaus, often downcast, perplexed, not knowing just what to do, sad, discouraged, defeated. Being the participants of the divine nature, one with the risen Christ, we should ask for forgiveness, and we should pray that our eyes might be opened, even as the prophet, you'll recall, Elisha, surrounded by the hosts, Syrian hosts, this lonely figure, triumphant.

And when he saw his servant overcome with fear of the Lord, he opened his eyes, and he saw the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof. All that is but a shadow as compared with our position. In union with him who said, All authority has been given unto me in heaven and upon earth, go ye, therefore.

Therefore, in view of the fact that all authority has been given unto me, and though I am with you always, go ye, therefore. We read in the life of David Livingston that he came one evening to a river surrounded by a hostile tribe.

It seemed that the end had come. They were resolved to bear down upon him with their spears, and it reads that as night fell, he was tempted to make an effort to escape in the shadows of the night, but that he said to himself, But no, no, I have the promise of the perfect gentleman, David Livingston's way of expressing it, the perfect gentleman who said, Lo, I am with you always.

And so he rested upon this fact, and this morning came, they fell away, and he was safe and could go on his journey. I was visiting some time ago in the city of Queretaro, there in central Mexico, you will recall, where Emperor Maximilian was shot.

The pastor there of the church told me this story. He said, In a village nearby, a group of fanatical folk broke into the chapel and destroyed benches, pulpits, Bibles, hymn books. These things happen in Mexico.

A dear friend of mine, Rafael Garcia, was taken out of the place where he had been preaching and taken to the mountain and murdered. This same group was waiting for the pastor, who was wont to appear in the village once a month.

They knew when he would come, and they were waiting. There's the corner where the bus stopped, and as the pastor stepped down from the, we say, camion, this crowd fell back in utter amazement. Well, the pastor didn't understand.

He knew nothing of what had taken place. He went on his way, but one of the group followed him, and upon arrival, coming up alongside of the pastor, he said, No, pastor, tell me, who was that who came with you?

Who was it, pastor? Well, I came alone. No, pastor, tell me who it was that came with you. I came alone. He was not alone. He was not alone at his side. Ah, his life, the risen Christ. Here is the secret of victory, friends, in these days.

Oh, let us remind ourselves all through the day that we are the participants of the power of the Redeemer's resurrection, that he is our life, that all authority has been given unto him. This is the secret of victorious Christian living, even in such an hour as this.

A life of fullness, rivers of living water, according to the Savior's own word, flowing from our innermost being. A life of fullness and of perennial victory springs from the realization of this fact.

Faith Rather Than Self-Effort

May I, as I close, tell you of an experience I had some years ago down in Columbia. I'd been with a group of young people. Every year, close by Cali, some four or five hundred young people from all over Columbia come for their annual spiritual retreat called Embajadores del Rey, Ambassadors of the King.

At the close of one of the meetings, a young man would come to the retreat to approach me and ask if he might speak with me alone. Of course, I was only too glad to have the young man come to my room.

And then he laid bare his heart. Ah, what a confession. He had reason to bow his head in shame. He said, if the young people knew how I'm living, they wouldn't permit me to be in their presence. But he said, I am a Christian.

He said, I love the Lord, but I can't. Well, I said, that doesn't surprise me. Paul couldn't. Well, what do you mean by that? And then I read to him Romans 7. Paul couldn't. Oh, wretched man that I am.

The good that I would do, I do not. The evil that I would not do, I do. Who will deliver me from the body of this death? I went through Romans 7 with him. That brought a certain degree of comfort to his heart.

Then I said, young man, you haven't understood. You've been proceeding on the basis of struggle, self-effort, trying to imitate the Savior. Now, you must come to understand what the Christian position is.

And then I opened up to him these passages that have to do with the union of the believer with his crucified, ridden Lord. You must accept by faith what the Lord says about your position, that you've died a sin, that you've been raised up, that you've been made to sit with Jesus in heavenly places.

Are you ready? Yes, he was ready. We knelt down. What happened didn't surprise me in the least. He began to beg for help. Oh, Lord, help me. No, no, I said. That'll never do. And then I went over the ground again.

I said, you must accept by faith this position, believe what the Lord says as to your position, the fact that in your Redeemer you died a sin and with him were raised up. To reign in life by one, even Jesus, you must believe and give thanks.

It's already yours. Are you ready? Yes, he was ready. We knelt again. No, he just begged. He took the position of the beggar before the Lord. He just begged. I stopped him again. No, I said. I went over the ground a second time.

You must believe and receive what is yours in Christ. Just give thanks for the position. For it's already an accomplished thing, only you haven't believed, you haven't understood. Well, he was ready. We knelt.

No, he begged. And I stopped him. I said, how long have you been doing this? Oh, I've been doing this for years. Where has it gotten you? No, I said, I'll offer the prayer. He repeated. Then we knelt again.

A very simple prayer of thanksgiving. Just a few words for the position of a Christian. Thank you, Father. That according to your word, the risen Christ is my life, that I've died in him to sin. Thank you, Father.

Thank you. Oh, this man. The young man arose overwhelmed with wonder. All aglow. During the rest of the conference, I just looked around to see his face. And now comes the interesting point, friends. Four years later, I was preaching again in Columbia, in Carling.

In walked a young man with a princely air. I said, I know that man. Who's that man? To close of the service, he came forward to greet me. Are you the young man of the conference four years ago? Are you the young man?

I am the young man. How goes it, lad? Victory when we believe what the Lord says and receive by faith. Even as the sinner, you know, he has to do the same thing to be saved. He just has to believe that the Savior bore all his sins in his body on the tree.

He has to believe. What the Lord says regarding the Redeemer's redemptive work consummated on Calvary, and so it is with a Christian, he must believe. What the Lord says regarding his position in union with the crucified Risen Lord.

Now, the Father says that Christians are all there. I could go on. There are other passages. If one died for all. That great passage in the 2nd epistle to the Corinthians, chapter 5, the 13th verse. If one died for all.

I'm glad it's been corrected in more recent versions. It's a mistaken translation here in the King James Version. Then we're all dead. That's not the thought of the Apostle. Then all died. Died in the Savior's death in whose resurrection you have been raised up and made to sit together with him, the Risen Ascended Lord.

That's the Apostle's thought. Will you believe it? Will you believe? This will not come to you by struggle. This will not come to you because you prayed all night with tears. No. This will come to you when you believe what God says in his holy word.

But God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sin. Now, you can't get beyond that. Pardon me for repeating it. That's the lowest place you can get. That's quickened us together with Christ.

It's already been done in the economy of God. It's already been done. And it's raised us up together by grace. We are saved. It's all of grace. Don't turn in on yourself and try to find the necessary merit in a billion years.

You would never have them nor permit yourself to be overwhelmed by your unworthiness. After all, neither merit nor demerit has anything to do with the matter. But God who is rich in mercy that he might in the ages to come show forth the exceeding greatness of his riches.

Who are not in Jesus Christ the Lord. Shall we just bow our heads for a moment of silent prayer? That each one, looking away from his self, unworthy self, or it could even be worthy self, looking away from self to Jesus, the risen Christ.

May we have a moment of silent prayer. That each one might give thanks for the position. It isn't a matter of feeling. That'll come. You can leave that with the Lord. Just give thanks because you have his word.

What's your foundation could you wish for? That together with Christ in whom you died to sin, you've been raised up to reign in life by one, even Jesus. Father, it's all so simple. Jesus the Lord stood in our shoes and now we stand in his.

He identified himself with our lot and now we are identified with his. Thou dost say it in thy word that together with him we've been raised up and have been made to sit in heavenly places. Accept our praise, his Father, in that blessed name which is above every name, the name of Jesus, our Savior and Lord.

Amen. Very precious, sister, and that's our prayer. Praise the Lord. I wonder if you would join me in a prayer this morning. I'm going to ask Brother Heater to voice it. I phoned my wife last night and all is well.

But the girl that helps her had to leave and she's alone and I could tell having a rather tough time. But the Lord will sustain. His grace is sufficient. May we just stand and I'm going to ask Brother Heater to voice this united prayer of our hearts.

I know you will all join me in this prayer through Brother Heater's lips. There is one remaining scene from the resurrection of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ, that we must consider this morning, found as it is in the closing chapter of John's Gospel.

Jesus’ Appearance Beside the Sea of Tiberias

Now, it would seem that John placed the period closing his Gospel with verse 31, chapter 20. It's very apparent as he writes, beginning there in verse 30, that he is coming to the close. He has just spoken of the Savior's appearance to Thomas.

And then he writes,. Now, I'm not going to be dogmatic, but it does seem that it was John's thought to bring his Gospel to a close at this point. However, he adds another chapter. Some feel that it was added later.

It's John, inspired by the Holy Spirit, even as he was when writing the preceding chapter. So there's nothing to shock us in this thought, if it be true. One Bible commentator feels that the chapter was added later to clear up a doubt that had come to the hearts of many believers, a certain sense of confusion regarding the Apostle.

For it seems that it was rumored about that the Savior had said to him that he should not die. Now, John very clearly states here that that's a mistake. He did not say that. He said that John would continue, would not die until he should see him again, and that was fulfilled, we know.

For on the island of Patmos, the Redeemer revealed himself to John, and the prophecy was fulfilled. It seems that that idea took root and extended itself. It's come all the way down to our own day. A doctor down in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, years ago, asked me very bluntly, is it true that John never died?

And it does appear, friends, that this chapter being added later, that John was aided to a degree in the writing. He may have become infirm. The thoughts are his. But there were those about him, beloved in the Lord, for he writes here in the closing verses of the chapter, This is the disciple which testifieth of these things.

It's John, and who wrote these things. Yes. And we know. Well, there's another hand there. We know, and Emmanuel insists, that his testimony is true. And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they should be written, everyone, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written.

Amen. Whatever it may be, having written the closing chapter later or not, we have here from John, moved by the Holy Spirit, a very lovely scene from the resurrection. And after these things, Jesus showed himself again to the disciples, and there were many other scenes, it would appear from the verse that we've just read.

At the sea of Tiberias, and on this way showed he himself, there were together Simon Peter and Thomas, called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples.

So here we have the seven that Brother Ehlers has been talking about. Simon Peter and Thomas, called Didymus, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, five, and two other of his disciples. Simon Peter said unto them, I go a fishing.

They must have been standing there beside the sea, observing how others took their ships, their wives no doubt at their side, bidding them Godspeed to press out into the sea as night was coming on. And then this longing.

Well, something of the old life. We see from this where they yet stood, the disciples, before Pentecost. Oh, that baptism of power made all the difference, infinite. Just think how Peter was until that hour.

It seems that even after the resurrection, the Savior, so to speak, was loath to call him Peter. He said, Simon, thou hast found me. Having changed his name, thou shalt be called Peter, a stone, Cephas.

And yet he did not call him Peter. I go a fishing. It would seem that the great transformation in Simon took place on the day of Pentecost. Oh, this unstable, this boastful, this impetuous Simon disappears.

And now Peter comes on the stage of history. You know, the Peter that moves in the book of Acts, well, had he met Simon on the street, they wouldn't have known each other. This Simon who could boast, oh, even though all should leave thee, I will go to prison.

I will die for thee. And then a few hours later, because a maid had pointed the finger and said that he was a follower of Jesus, could deny his Lord and then plunge into such shameful depths, denying for a third time his Lord with cursing.

I say, we see where these men still stood. Ah, yes, the great events are all fresh in their memories. They know that he has risen. The cross is before them. But they have not yet received the baptism of power.

Not yet been made real. The living, risen Christ has not yet been made real in their experience. Baptized as they were into his death and resurrection. I go fishing. They say unto him, well, he was the leader.

I have no doubt he took the helm while the others rowed. We also go with thee. They went forth and entered into a ship immediately. And that night they caught nothing. And we can be sure that this was of the Lord.

They caught nothing. And no doubt they resorted to all the means, every fishing device that they knew of. Visiting all the old resorts. It was in vain. They caught never so much as a kibber. But when the morning was now come.

Oh, how very significant this seems. When the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore. But the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. The misty morning. Then that great change of which we have already spoken.

Yes, it is the risen Christ the same. Handle me, he said to his own, it is I. And he ate before them. And yet a great change. Then Jesus said unto them, children, have ye any meat? They answered him, no.

And he said unto them, cast the net on the right side of the ship and you shall find. Now this was the only miracle the Savior wrought after his resurrection. This, oh, with what force it must have brought home to their hearts those days.

When they walked with Jesus. The days of his humiliation. That scene. For this is a repetition. We have it in Luke 5. Of how they had fished all the night and caught nothing. And of how the Savior had them launch out into the deep.

And to cast forth their nets. Then the nets, we read, broke. Not on this occasion. Cast the net on the right side of the ship and you shall find. They cast therefore and now they were not able to draw for the multitude of fishes.

Oh, there's no doubt, friends. That in the miracles of Jesus, there's a great overwhelming note. Didactic. I will make you fishers of men. And now he is illustrating. Therefore, that disciple whom Jesus loved.

Peter’s Restoration and Call to Feed Christ’s Sheep

Oh, it's John. Saith unto Peter, it is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord. He girds his fisher's coat unto him. For he was naked and did cast himself into the sea. Forgetting nets and fish and companions and boat.

He cast himself into the sea. He must, knees come immediately. Into the presence of his Lord. And the other disciples came in the little ship. For they were not far from the land. But as it were, two hundred cubits.

Dragging the net with fishes. As soon then as they were come to land. They saw a fire of coals there and fish laid thereon and bread. The breakfast was already ready. Jesus saith unto them, bring of the fish.

Well, they were allowed to add. Brother Healer has been talking about the dessert and the other dishes on the side. They were allowed to add their little dish. Bring of the fish which you have now caught.

Simon Peter went up and drew the net to the land full of great fishes. A hundred and fifty and three. Some have thought that there is something symbolic here. These are biblical numbers, you know. The hundred of the parable of the sower and the seed.

Some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred fold. Fifty, Pentecost. Three, Trinity. Surely there must be something very profound in this number. And for all there were so many, yet with nothing that broke him.

Jesus saith unto them, come and die. And none of the disciples durst ask him, who art thou, knowing that it was the Lord. Jesus then cometh and taketh bread and giveth them and fish likewise. This is now the third time that Jesus showed himself to his disciples after that he was risen from the dead.

So when they had dined, ah, now comes for Simon the solemn hour of reckoning. But in what tender passion it is done. You know the Savior couldn't pass over what had taken place there in the palace of the high priest.

He couldn't do that. Neither can mothers pass over the mischief of their children. They're false. There must be reckoning. But how tenderly it is done. Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these?

One commentator sees this in the Savior's question. Simon couldn't wait. The rest waited in the ship. Simon plunged into the water immediately, for he could not wait. He must be at once beside his Lord.

The others came later. Lovest thou me more than these? But there seems to be something deeper, friends, in the question. You will recall how Simon had boasted, though all, all should leave thee? I will never, Lord.

I'll die for you. It's very apparent that the Savior here is looking back and pointing Simon to his denial. Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my land. He saith to him again a second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?

We are told that in the original, you know, there are two Greek words, one a little weaker than the other. There is agape, isn't it, and philitheo, well, that the Savior uses the stronger term. And Peter replies with the weaker.

He must be honest. Simon. He saith to him a second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. He saith unto him the third time.

Oh, surely he hears the key. The third time. Three denials. Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things.

Thou knowest that I love thee. And it's wonderful, isn't it, that though often, even as it was in the case of Simon, our actions seemed to deny the fact. Yet in our deepest soul, we know that we love the Lord, and from our deepest selves we can say, Lord, you know I love you.

Yes, Lord, I remember. It doesn't seem to be true, Lord, but you know that I love you. You know, there was a great difference, after all, between Simon's sin and Judas' sin. Though it might appear on the surface that Simon was just as guilty, but there was this difference, infinite.

Judas' sin was a deliberate, cold-blooded, day-by-day scheming. Peter, in a moment, it didn't really represent him. Simon, a moment, taken off his guard. Well, it didn't represent him what he did. Suddenly, it comes.

He denies his Lord. There was a great difference. That wasn't planned, friends. That didn't represent Simon. That wasn't, after all, Lord, I'll know it tonight. Feed my sheep. And now we have him restored.

It appears that from the very beginning he was forgiven. You will recall what the angel said to the women when they commissioned them to go to the disciples and to tell them, the disciples, and you will recall how the angel said, You see up there in heaven, oh, friends, the whole machinery of heaven was at work to hold on to Peter.

You see? Oh, what that must have meant to him in that awful hour of shame when he must have thought it's all over. The Lord may forgive me, but the disciples never will. What it must have meant to him.

And now the Savior takes him from the past and points him to the future. And carry thee whether thou wouldest not.