The Post Resurrection of Christ — Leonard Ravenhill

I'd like to see, as you hear, Brother David away. I'm not David Wilkerson, so just get that clear in your mind right away. O Lord of heaven and earth and sea, to Thee all praise and glory be. How shall we show our love to Thee, who giveth us all?

Thou didst not spare Thine only Son, but gavest Him for a world undone. And freely with that blessed one Thou gavest all, a treasure without end, whatever Lord to Thee we lend or give us to all. We thank You for the Word that was made flesh and dwelt among us.

That majestic miracle of God contracted to a span and incomprehensibly made man. That the ancient of days became the infant of time. And He who came to destroy death suffered death for us, but rose again in majesty.

The Global Testimony of the Risen Christ

For the true testimony to Jesus Christ throughout the whole world today. In steaming jungles or in beautiful cathedrals. Even in prison cells, down in ghettos with poor needy stricken people. Some no doubt ministering in Afghanistan with the rage of war around them.

Others in Ethiopia starving literally. We take our blessings so lightly. The right to have them every morning we wake up. We would be so terrified if we found ourselves in their situation. You've told us to remember those who are in bonds as though we were with them in bonds ourselves.

Hearing the Spirit Through the Word

We come to Your Word this morning. We thank You that it's fresh, as fresh as the manna that came from heaven each day. We thank You for the bread of life. The one who is the water of life. We pray You to open our eyes that we may behold wondrous things out of Your law.

How much we need to be strengthened with might by the Spirit in the inner man. We thank You again, over and over, that the river of God is full of water. We're drinking this morning from this river and it never dries up.

Our faithfulness. We pray that we may hear, not what the preacher says, but through the frailty of the preacher, what the Spirit is trying to convey to us this morning. We give You praise in Jesus' name.

Matthew's Account of the Emmaus Road

We look at the Gospel recorded by Matthew in the 24th chapter. Matthew 24. This chapter, as you know, is a kind of summary of the post-resurrection events in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. We can't go through all of them, obviously.

But there's one of them that fascinates me this morning. Let's begin to read out verse 11. Some had been recounting what had happened, and it says their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not.

Then arose Peter and ran to the sepulchre. And stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed, wondering in himself of that which was come to pass. And behold, two of them that same day, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem, about seven and a half miles.

They talked together of the things which had happened. And it came to pass as they communed together. Now, let's remember, the whole of this nation had been in some ways devastated by a super-miracle.

The Incarnation and Resurrection of Christ

This time of the year, preachers usually preach on the Incarnation, which obviously means God coming in the flesh. Without the Resurrection, the Incarnation was incomplete. Without the Incarnation, the Resurrection was impossible.

This again is the most mystifying of all miracles. Again, as I quoted a little earlier there, Charles Wesley talks of God contracted to a span, incomprehensibly made man. The most foolish thing that men ever did was to try and put out the light of the world.

Jesus was life, and they tried to put him to death. How can you kill eternal life? The whole of Jerusalem, in every shape and form, socially, theologically, and every other way, had been devastated. First of all, by the coming of a strange man by the name of John Baptist.

It's amazing how, although he was a fulfillment of prophecy, nobody believed on him. That shouldn't amaze us. We don't believe in prophecy today. We try to explain away the things concerning the Kingdom of God.

Christ Meets the Despondent Disciples

We have two men here. I think there were two men, it doesn't say. He only named the name of one of them, Cleopas. But verse 10, verse, pardon me, 13 says, Behold, two of them went that day to a village called Aeneas, which was from Jerusalem, about three square miles, or about seven miles.

They talked together of those things which had happened. It came to pass, as they communed together, that Jesus himself, that's good, drew near, that's better, journeyed with them, that's best of all.

Why in the world did he do it? If you'd been in Jerusalem that day, you'd have seen, like pressing their noses to the gate, you'd have seen Cleopas and whoever the other person was. They were distressed, disappointed, despondent, despairing.

All their hopes had died. As you read the story, it says, we trusted. When this stranger came, they didn't turn round to look at him. The only thing heavier than their feet was their hearts. All their dreams had vanished.

This man was going to conquer the world. Jesus himself drew near and went with them, and their eyes were holden, that they should not know. He said unto them, What manner of communication are these, that ye have one to another, as ye walk and are sad?

It was obvious on their faces they were sad. One of them whose name was Cleopas, answering unto him, said, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem? The Greek there would rarely bear this interpretation.

Are you the only person in Jerusalem that doesn't know? Don't you realize that this mystery man, this miracle worker, this man who had the power of a god and spoke like a prophet, has been put to death?

Well, you know, the women always get in on the act. There they were running up the street screaming, He's risen, he's risen, he's risen. I think this was the most disappointing event in the life of Jesus.

He had told them over and over and over again that he would rise from the dead. Not one of them believed him. They always picked that on Thomas, doubting Thomas. They were all doubters. If they weren't, they would have been lined up there at a sepulcher to cheer him.

I'm sure the angels were cheering. Yet there was nobody there. Well, then the women always jump in and say, Well, remember, it was a woman who went first to the sepulcher. For what? Supposing you met somebody down the road with a big basket and say, What have you got?

Oh, I was just coming to embalm you. Wouldn't that be cheerful? Wouldn't that be a lovely reflection? That's all she was going to do. She didn't expect to see him alive. She supposed. But he wasn't there and he was.

Do you remember when his mother and father took him to the temple at twelve and they came away? Supposing he was in the company. Why? Because they'd been to the greatest religious performance of the day.

And they assumed when they came from the temple that he was with them. Just like people go to a building with stained glass windows and a priest and somebody swings some incense or nonsense or something.

And they think the Lord is there. I'm not sure if it was Madame Guillaume or it was F .W. Faber, they both write the same, who said, Could I be cast where thou art not? That were indeed a dreadful spot.

But with thee, my God, to guide the way, it is equal joy to go or stay. Jesus himself, good, drew near, better, went with them, walked with them, best of all. Their eyes were holden that they should not understand and know him.

What manner of conversation is this that you're so sad? Cleopas said, Are thou only a stranger? Are you the only one in Israel that doesn't know this? In Jerusalem? The whole city's a God. People running here and there saying he's risen from the dead.

I wonder why Jesus went to these two folk on that road. Wouldn't do him any good. Wouldn't it have been a lot better if he'd gone into the bedroom of Pilate and tapped him on the cheek and said, Well, now what are you going to do?

Or if he'd gone to the bedroom of the high priest and tapped him on the cheek and said, Well, I'm here. Or better still, if he'd appeared, which he could have done very easily because he had no problems with the resurrection body, he could have gone to Rome and start at Caesar and said, You thought you finished with me?

We're only just beginning. Isn't it wonderful that he went to these disappointed, disgusted, disillusioned men on that road and cheered them up? Isn't that just like the Lord? When we're depressed, when there seems to be no way out, and he suddenly appears in all his beauty and all his majesty.

One of them, whose name was Cleopatra, answered and said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Israel? Are these strangers, and you don't know these things, as it comes to pass? He said unto them, What things?

They said, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and in word before God and all the people. So altogether they hadn't lost their faith. I think they'd lost some of their love.

But they declared to this strange man that he was a mighty person, a prophet indeed. And in word, before God and all the people. And how the chief priests and rulers delivered him to be condemned to death and crucified him.

Now notice in that verse, he was a prophet. They're talking about the past. Look at verse 21. We trusted, they're talking in the past tense, that it had been he which would have redeemed Israel. And besides, this is the third day when these things were done.

And certain women of our company made us astonished, which were earlier the sepulchre. When they found not the body, they came saying they had seen Jesus, saying that they had seen an angel which said he was alive.

And certain of them went with us to the sepulchre and found it even, as the women had said, but then they found not. Would have been disastrous if they had. You can go to the tomb of most leaders. You can go to the tomb of Lenin.

You can go to the supposed burial place of some of the greatest characters in history. It was certainly St. Napoleon's burial place. There are places in England, in the crypt of St. Paul's Cathedral, where some of the greatest men in English history are buried.

But the whole gospel of the grace of God is based on an empty cross and on an empty tomb. Down in South America, in certain areas, they'll say that men took away our religion and they brought us religion, a dead man on a stick.

In other words, a crucifix. Why didn't Jesus do something more impressive? In one of the stories, it says he went in the room where they were gathered together. He showed them his hands and his feet. I wonder if Peter kept his big mouth shut on that occasion.

I wonder if he didn't say, this is so prosaic, this is so empty, this is so poor. Why didn't you fulfill your promise? You've told us over and over again, the day will come when all that are in the graves will hear the voice of the Son of God.

Let's go down to the village cemetery and just shout over the wall, rise! And they would all have risen. I would love to have been under company, wouldn't you? As they walked. Verse 24, certain of them which were with us went to the sepulcher and found it even as the women had said, but him they saw not.

Then he said unto them, O fools, or really, O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe. All of the prophets have spoken, ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to have entered into his glory.

And beginning at Moses and all the prophets. Now why in the world did he teach them history? Why didn't he give them the most superb interpretation of prophecy? Why didn't he say, I'm going to give you a study now for the next two or three hours on the Daniel's image.

I can explain the whole thing to you. Why didn't he unveil the future? He goes back to history. But what history? I wish I could get a tape recording of this. This was the greatest Bible school in the world.

It's called the Bible School of the Burning Heart. I promise you one thing, when you come here each Sunday, you won't get any freeze-dried sermon. Dear brother David, one of the most wonderful men in America to me today in the preaching life.

He's not the richest. Oh, in some ways he is. His spirits are well. Do you remember perhaps a few Sundays ago he preached on fresh bread, giving fresh bread each time, not only when we come to the sanctuary, but also when we come individually to the word of God.

Beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expanded unto them all things in the scriptures concerning what? Himself. If we preach the Christ-centered message, shouldn't we preach Christ-centered messages?

He knew all the answers. He knew the heart of God like no one else. He knew the future like no one else. He could have recited everything that was going to happen in the book of the Revelation. He didn't.

He refreshed their memories. He went right back to Moses, who had prophesied concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, because Moses himself, again, was a prophet. Beginning at Moses and the prophets, he expounded unto them all things concerning himself.

The Burning Heart and the Call to Spiritual Maturity

As they drew nigh to the village where they went, he made as though he would have gone further. You know, as I ponder that, I don't know, two or three o 'clock this morning, I wonder what he would have said if he'd gone further.

I wonder what he would have done in your life and mine if he'd gone further. We get stuck in experiences. We get stuck in excitement. We get stuck on pinnacles of theology. He made as though he would have gone further, and they constrained him.

What did you think? I wonder what they'll think about it when they get to the judgment seat, doctor. What do you think? That's not his specialty. He's a physician, a great physician. He made as though he would have gone further, and they had to restrain him.

His heart is burning with revelation, with love, with wisdom. Use a common word. They corral him. They get in his way. They obstruct him. Don't go any further. Stay here. The trouble with the Church of Jesus Christ today, it's halted somewhere between Pentecost and probably somewhere between the Resurrection and the Apostles.

We're afraid to go further. The devil, being a genius as he is, he's put a scarecrow in the field of Pentecostal teachings. You know what he's called? Holy Rolling. That's his scarecrow to frighten people.

He's put a scarecrow in the field of holiness teaching. What is it? Sinless perfection. He doesn't want us to go further. He's trying to obstruct every one of us lest we become mature, lest we get out of our theological playpen, on our little doctrinal fields where we love to graze too often.

I think one of the shocks when we get there to the judgment seat will be to look back and see how little we've explored of the grace of God. How little we know of the Word of God. Isn't it wonderful that when they're at their very lowest, He came, and St. Paul, that journey, his burning heart was brought over to their heart.

They constrained him. They put some pressure on him. Don't go any further. Stay here. This is gorgeous. Maybe under their branch saying if you can deal with history, you can deal with prophecy. Verse 21 says, We trusted it had been He which had redeemed Israel.

I find it almost agonizing. God knows I do. I can't prove to you that these two men were disciples. I don't think they were, but they were apostles. Pardon me. They were not apostles. They were disciples.

Steve says that's right, so that's good. That's true. Can you imagine that they had done what we think? I'm showing my contempt for radio. It doesn't want to stay on me. Okay. We trusted it would have been He that redeemed.

They'd been four years with him. They'd seen him demonstrate his supernatural power over death, over sickness, over blindness, over idiocy. He had brought everything they needed in the spiritual realm.

They'd had three years of the most marvelous teacher the world has ever known. I'd love to have heard him preach the greatest sermon ever preached by any man that ever lived. That was the Sermon on the Mount, which has all the answers to our present problems in the world.

What's the main problem in the world? In your home? In your office? In your church? It's the problem of human relationships. We can't get on with each other. Husband with wife, children with parents, deacons, what have you got?

I'm glad Dave's out today. I know one thing, he's going to disturb the devil and disappoint the deacons, so that's great. We trusted it would be He that would have smashed the power of Rome. We're tired of being servants.

We're tired of being stopped in the street and somebody saying, Drop your groceries. Okay, here you go. Drop my groceries. I didn't drop my groceries. I'm going to need some help. They were tired of being stopped in the street and a man says, you drop your burden, carry my burden.

And don't just do it under compulsion. Don't just go a mile. When this wicked, hellish man, this cursing man stops you, when you stop and say, well I've done my legal limit, I've done a mile. Say to him, excuse me sir, can I carry the second mile?

It's the only way to kill him. If he compels you to go a mile, go with him plain. If he sees you caught, give him your undergarment, which actually meant they were naked except for a loincloth. They'd heard the most fabulous teachings this world ever has heard or ever will hear.

We trusted He would have come and smashed the power of Rome and made us all free. And He did nothing in that area at all. Beginning at Moses 27, verse 27, beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded, I like that, He didn't just talk about it, He expounded the whole situation.

He took every situation and elaborated on it. That must have been gorgeous. As they drew nigh unto the village where they went, He made us as though He would have gone further, and they constrained Him and said abide with us.

It is toward evening and the day is far spent and He went in to tarry with them. And it came to pass that He sat at meat with them and He took bread and blessed it and their eyes were opened. I guess it could have been opened five miles back but they never looked at Him.

He brought bread so they saw His pierced hands. They looked a second time and recognized it was the Son of God. But their eyes were holden. They never, never, never saw Him until that moment. Very fascinating, isn't it?

Verse 31, their eyes were opened. Verse 32, they said one to another, did not our heart burn within us while we talked with Him? No, rubbish. Well, what? While He talked with us. Our trouble is so often we do too much talking.

Listening Rather Than Talking

Even when we go to pray we've got our shopping list and talk and talk and talk and don't listen. This is a scientific age. It's an age of great wisdom. I would label it for Christians and everybody it's an impatient age.

There's no time for anything. Tomorrow night at six o 'clock these ladies will be tired out pushing buttons all day. No longer bending over the old rubbing board your mother used to wash with. No longer stewing in a big hot place baking bread.

Now it's not only baking it's life. Next it'll be buttered for us. So we still have no time. What's the constant excuse? Oh, I don't have time. But if there's an accident tomorrow and somebody is beating your door down and says your son John has been knocked down by...

Oh, I'm sorry. I have an appointment at the country club and I'm playing Susanna golf. So I have to pick up an order at Dillon. You see, I've no clothes. I've only 32 dresses so I need a new one. We can always make time for the things we want to do.

My old granny used to sit in the chimney corn in England rocking away there. Wonderful old lady. One of her favorite songs was take time to be holy speak of thee thy lord. I used to love to sneak in the house smell something your precious children would never smell.

Fresh bread baking. Wasn't that gorgeous? There she was sitting dear old saint take time to be holy speak the time factor. Biggest cheat we have is time. It just says there's a time for everything. Their eyes were open in verse 31.

Verse 32 is they said one to another did not our hearts burn within us while he talked with us. Not while we talked with him. What could they tell him? They couldn't tell him they'd been faithful because they hadn't.

They couldn't tell him they believed that all he had said would come to pass. Again, why did he go talk to a pair of despondent, disgusted disappointed, depressed, disillusioned men on the road? He could have done something more wonderful.

He could have shaken Jerusalem if he'd gone to a cemetery and raised everybody from the dead. Why didn't he slip back to heaven and come with 10 ,000 of his saints as it says in Thessalonians he's going to do before too long?

Why didn't he go to the bedrooms of these outstanding persons and say you got away with it but judgment's coming? Pilate, I had to stand before you and you really killed me, but do you know what? There weren't many people there.

There were about 800 people, a thousand. Do you know one day you're going to stand before me with trillions of people looking at you? Wouldn't that be interesting to see Pilate standing before Jesus or Caiaphas or the high priest or for that matter Winston Churchill or General Eisenhower or all the great characters in Hesburgh?

The poor world out there thinks we've sold out enough. Oh, we don't go to dirty old nightclubs where you can breathe in stale beer and tobacco. No. We cut ourselves off from excitement and sensuality.

Listen brother, we've got it all coming. We've got it all coming. I'm going to heaven I don't know where you're going and let me tell you something, I'm not going for the weekend. I'm no gourmet. Doctors can tell you a lot about good food.

I like good food of course. But wouldn't that be something when we sit down with Abraham and Isaac and all those marvelous things of all the ages? I don't like many modern choruses. Some of them are like the one that says it will be worth it all when we see Jesus.

Life's trials will seem so small. You know, we used to say the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and face. I'll tell you something, at the judgment the things of earth will look strangely grim.

We wonder why we invested so much time in sawdust and tinsel and perishing things of clay. We wonder why we were not magnetized by the Son of God. After all, I can't tell anything fresh this morning. I can just try and pinpoint this miracle on this road.

The Empty Tomb and the Physical Resurrection

And again, the Son of God does not try to prove his resurrection. He doesn't try to shake the Roman Empire. God knows, I wish he'd gone on the Wednesday afternoon because every week the Sanhedrin met in the temple.

I wish he'd walked from the temple when the high priest and the Pharisees and all that other rigorous stuffy group were there. Wouldn't that have been wonderful? He'd have needed a hundred ambulances to get them home.

They'd have been shot to death. You see what's here? I thought we killed him. How can you kill eternal life? Ridiculous. Say it with me. Were open. Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked with us by the way and while he opened the scriptures?

Notice he opened their eyes before he opened the scriptures. If he doesn't open your eyes you'll get nothing out of the word of God. It's a nice history book but it won't stir you, it won't burn you, it won't quicken you.

And they rose at the same hour and returned to Jerusalem. Isn't that wonderful? There is city where they've been humiliated, where they were embarrassed, where people pointed the finger and said you gave up your business career to follow him.

We told you he'd lead you down the garden path. Is there any way to start a kingdom hanging on a cross? It's amazing isn't it, that he never appeared to anybody except his own. That's why people go to church today and get nothing because they're not his.

They're going to a ritual, a formality, a theology, a doctrine. They're saying amen to something the preacher said a hundred times and it never sparks light. It never creates hope. It never stirs them down in the inner being.

Did not our hearts burn with it while he talked to them? This is our one petition to God. That every time you come, somehow the finger of God will come into that heart of yours and kindle something. I believe as Phineas said that when the glory of God fills the temple the most exciting place in the world is the house of God.

When God is present he pulls people in from the world. When he's not, the world pulls people out of the fellowship. 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 and appeared unto Simon.

And they told what things he had done in the way. These are the same two people, Cleopatra and whoever the other one was, whether it was a man and wife we don't know. And how he was known to them in the breaking of bread.

There's an old hymn that says be known to us in breaking bread but do not then depart. Savior abide with us and spread thy table in our hearts. If ever there's a manifestation of God I think it should be in the breaking of bread.

It's too easy to do it mechanically. Too easy just to do it ceremoniously. Too easy to do it faithfully because he told us to do it. For so seldom are we overwhelmed with the majesty of the event. But this little thing in our hands is typical of that body which is broken for us.

How exciting it must have been to suddenly realize the stranger that they had ignored, he doesn't rebuke them. He doesn't say you dumb creatures. I've walked with you for two hours and you never said a word that was intelligent.

You didn't turn round. I could have been the bandit ready to club you. He doesn't rebuke them. He didn't come to rebuke them. They were loaded already. They were broken with disappointment and dissatisfaction and despair and despondency and disappointment.

They couldn't carry any more. How thrilling it must have been when he took that bread and broke it and suddenly they said peace. Well, thanks to the Lord. Does the Lord ever reveal himself like that to you?

You get a scripture that hadn't meant much to you before and suddenly it bursts open, it becomes alive, it vibrates and you wonder where you've been so long. And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them and said peace.

The Resurrection Body and Thomas's Doubt

I don't understand his next verse. That they were terrified. Why should they be terrified? They just sat down with him for a meal. Or does it mean you're the people that were there? The people mentioned I guess in where Acts chapter 1 and verse 14, that company that waited there in Jerusalem.

They were already there. Jesus himself stood in the midst and said peace be unto you. He said why are you troubled and do thoughts arise in your heart? Verse 39. Behold my hands and my feet. It is I myself and handle me and speak.

A spirit of not flesh and what? Bone. No blood. He left all his blood at the cross. He has a resurrection body. He can go through into a room without opening the door or through a window without in any way damaging it.

The final gift that we have from God is a body like unto his glorious body. That may not seem much to you athletic guys. It means a lot to me. What about you Steve? Steve God healed that precious brother of cancer and all kinds of problems.

I've been through the valley of the shadow of death so many times it's a wonder I haven't got a traffic ticket. And I tell you it's not a pleasant experience sometimes. 1950 when I jumped out of a burning hotel.

Broke my back in three places. My left leg was in three pieces. My feet were broken. Took me to a hospital covered with blood and smoke. And the doctor said throw a sheet over him. I'm one of few people who had to rehearse this funeral.

I had my hands like this. I was praying actually full of agonizing pain. They threw a sheet over me. The doctor said he won't last long. I knocked the sheet down and I said we? Oh! Oh! He said. I didn't know you were...

I thought you were dead. No. I said doctor you won't understand this. You talk about God coming to you on the Emmaus Road when you're disaster and despondent. When I was dying and distressed and my dear wife four thousand miles away.

I had no insurance. I didn't work for any denomination. My bills were piling to sky high every day. I said to the doctor when I leapt out of that window before I hit the ground Jesus said what? I said oh you were screaming.

Oh I wasn't. He not only came he spoke. What did he say? He said I shall not die but live. Three hours after as I lay in that hospital ward. I'd been meditating, opened my eyes, doctor told me the bottom of the bed was pale as death.

He said Len I don't understand this. I said doctor it's pretty bad but you know I've got a pair of crutches. He said what crutches? You can't walk. I said no I can't. I've got a pair of crutches. What are they?

The promises of God. One is I shall not die but live. And the other is ask for God His ways are perfect. And right in the sense of God's will here with a body that's destroyed almost. With the doctor giving me no hope.

With the doctor telling me that even if you recover now in 12 years you'll be just twisted, your whole body will be twisted with arthritis. You've got a very dim future. How can a Christian have a dim future?

That contradicts me in terms if you like isn't it? Can't smart doctors be dumb? Excuse me, can't they doctors? Smart doctors can be so dumb in something. This man is very precious to me. They were terrified and affrighted and supposed they had seen a spirit.

You know it doesn't pay to go to church late. One of these disciples got to church late and everybody's all excited. What are you all excited for? Uh, well, just the greatest thing in the world. Jesus was standing there a few minutes ago.

No, he was here. Wasn't he Matthew? Wasn't he standing there John? You're seeing visions, you're excited. Don't you believe? No. I'll tell you what I believe. When I put my finger into the nail plate, when he moves his robe and lets me put my hand in his side, boy, was there ever a man that was caught in a trap.

The next time he went to church, that was their church, here it is, Jesus himself comes. Thomas? Yes. Come here. Give me your finger. It's all right. I know, I know you, I know who you are. You're my master, you're the son of God.

No, no, no, that's no good. You won't accept it. Come on, you asked for it, now you get it. What's that he asked you to receive? Give me your finger. Put it in the hand. Here's my side. Put your fist in my side.

And be not faithless but believing. There's a bunch of men trying to climb the most difficult side of a mountain, Mount Ararat. It's supposed to be at the top of Noah's Ark, it's supposed to be there.

They're going to bring some pieces of wood back, and then they say if they bring wood and prove that the Ark is really theirs, people will believe in Jesus. They believe in Noah's Ark, and therefore they believe in Jesus.

Well, I've got news for you. Do you know what Jesus said? Jesus said they won't believe even though one rose from the dead. He'd risen from the dead. He led captive and He's captured. He'd given gifts and all hell had gone into pandemonium and all heaven was excited.

All the words of all the prophets, the ancients of days, whoever had predicted the birth and the resurrection of Jesus, they were all there in heaven in a great celebration and hell was mad. Scripture says He led captive and He's captured and gave gifts unto men.

And old hymn says on that resurrection morning concerning the devil and his works, He threw their empire down. The biggest noise in hell was when Jesus brought the powers of death and the gates of death and the gates of hell and the power of the devil.

The disastrous thing about it is the church doesn't believe it even today. Don't point the finger at these. We'll have some smart boys in town telling you they don't believe in the physical resurrection.

When I hear of men saying, you know, the story of Jonah, I was reading it this morning in the 12th chapter of Matthew. It's just a fish story. They're blaspheming because Jesus says as what? Jonah was in the belly of the whale for three days and nights.

So was the son of Zambia. Are you going to try to correct me? Sign 2. I'm glad I believe the book from cover to cover. Verse 40, When he hath thus shown them his hands and his feet, while yet ye believe not for joy.

What a difference the presence of Jesus made. When they saw him they were terrified. As he spoke and ministered they were flooded with joy. He had said in the 16th of John there, My peace I leave with you.

No, in the 14th, My peace I leave with you. Not peace, my peace. The peace that characterized him when they tried to push him over the precipice. The peace that characterized him when they arrested him.

The wonderful thing about Jesus was he had all power over men, over demons, over death, but he only used it when he wanted to do it. He didn't do miracles for fun. How many times did he walk on the water?