John 20, Acts 2 — Peter Brandon

I thought that the Lord would have me to share one or two thoughts from John chapter 20. John chapter 20. And we shall read from verse 19. And whilst we are finding the place let me just give a little outline.

Resurrection Appearances Transform Sorrow, Barrenness, Darkness, and Fear

There are 13 resurrection manifestations in the scripture and every resurrection appearance has attached to it a profound spiritual lesson. If you look at it very carefully you will find that all the resurrection appearances have a transforming effect.

For instance when Mary came to the sepulchre and eventually discovered that her Lord was no longer the gardener but the risen Christ he changed sorrow into joy. The disciples were totally barren. They had caught nothing and one word from that risen saviour and he changed barrenness into fruitfulness.

The two on the road to Emmaus they were actually in darkness. They kept saying we thought, we thought, we thought and one vision from the risen Lord and he changed spiritual darkness into radiant light.

And now we are going to see how the Lord Jesus changed fear into courage. And as we look at this I do trust that it might be a blessing to every heart. We will start reading at verse 19. Then the same day of evening being the first day of the week when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews came Jesus and stood in the midst and said unto them peace be unto you.

And when he had so said he showed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord. Then said Jesus to them again peace be unto you. As my Father hath sent me even so send I you.

And when he had said this he breathed on them and said unto them receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whosoever sins ye remit they are remitted unto them and whosoever sins ye retain they are retained. But Thomas one of the twelve called Didymus was not with them when Jesus came and the Lord will bless that short narrative of his word to us.

The Timing of Christ’s Evening Appearance and Mary’s Restoration

As we look at this narrative we find that it falls beautifully into four sections. First of all we see the time of his appearance. It was on that resurrection Sunday but in the evening. Secondly the place of his appearance the tomb was empty but the door was closed.

Then we see the purpose of his resurrection appearance and I am not going into the details of that. Now we should look at that in a few moments and then we shall see the complication of his resurrection appearance and that with Thomas first of all the time.

Now I want you to hear the profundity of these words at the same day the day of resurrection the same day not in the morning not in the midday but in the evening. Now this will encourage you all the sisters.

The first word that the Lord said on the occasion of his resurrection was woman. Did you know that? And the first word that came from his lips was a word of dignity. Those of you who are familiar with the root meaning of the word woman will know that it basically means a woman of a high degree.

Adam was actually a man that was red and ruddy and ugly until he was married and the moment he was married God called him an ish man. That means a man of a high degree. And therefore the word woman basically means out of man but a woman of dignity a woman of ladyhood.

Now I want you to think of the brilliance of that when the Lord Jesus said to Mary woman he was talking to a woman who had been possessed with seven devils. And if we could see her in a demon possessed state there was hardly a trace of womanhood in her.

She was a straight woman she had sold her body to sin she was under a supernatural power and she looked more like a demon than a human being. But she met the saviour and he transformed her. And now on the occasion of his resurrection he turns to her and says woman, ladyhood.

He had lifted her to a high degree but more. There is another woman that I'm speaking of in scripture that's figurative. This particular woman is the masterpiece of God and that masterpiece is the church of God.

And when Jesus Christ comes he's going to present the church to himself without spot, without wrinkle and without a blemish. Have you ever considered that? A wrinkle is symptomatic of old age and all those over 40 will bear me out on that fact.

And yet when the church is going to be presented to him the church will be presented to him in youth and more than that it will go on in perpetual youth. Why? Because after the church has been in the presence of God for a thousand years she comes out as the lamb's wife but she's still the bride.

Now you will realise that if you have been married for more than 40 years that when you got married you were a bride but you are no longer a bride. You are a wife, why? Because the signs of old age grip the body.

But after the church has been in the presence of God for one thousand years there's not a wrinkle on her without a wrinkle word without a blemish simply means this perfect health. Those of you who are familiar with the Hebrew offerings will notice that all the offerings had to be inspected and they had to be without blemish.

They had to be without defect. They had to be without fault, why? Because those sacrifices were all little voices concerning the immaculate perfection of Christ. But what a day it will be brethren and sisters when we shall be presented to him bodily without a blemish.

We have now the redemption of our soul and spirit. But in that day we shall have the redemption of the body and then without spot. Now this of course is taken from a Greek origin and quite frankly you could not be perfect in beauty as far as the Greeks were concerned if you had a spot.

If you had a mole like I have on my face it would disqualify you for beauty. And therefore the idea of being without spot is the idea of perfect immaculate beauty and beloved in that day we shall have a mole beauty that's absolutely perfect.

Now how can I put this over to you. All of us have besetting sins. Some of those besetting sins are private and some of them are public. But in that day and I want this to rejoice your heart we shall have perfect holiness.

There will be no such thing as a bad temper in heaven. There will be no such thing as irritation. In that day we shall have absolute perfection. We shall be without spot. And what a day it will be when the Lord presents his bride to himself and he calls his church woman of a high degree.

Fear, Darkness, and the Promise of Christ’s Manifested Presence

All the resurrection appearances went through that day until the evening. And I want you to see now the drama of this. The sun was setting fear was growing. The torment of being arrested was in the hearts of the disciples.

Darkness was closing in upon them and any moment they thought that they would hear an ark and they would be arrested and crucified like our Lord. And it was in that uncanny dank darkness that Jesus came.

Could the world be darker than what it is today. Beloved friends if you were in Europe and you could hear and see the paper headlines all of you would be amazed. People are becoming literally scared and frightened over the new bombs that are being produced.

And there is total confusion in Europe at this moment. And we begin to feel the darkness of this world pressing in upon our spirits the way that it's in the darkness the Lord comes now. I do not want to be spectacular but I want to say this with tremendous conviction.

If the Lord can give me the authority I believe very shortly the Lord Jesus is going to come. And I believe that soon the darkness is going to be shattered by the light of his presence. But before he comes we would like to see a manifestation of his presence in the local church where we are.

The Empty Tomb and the Closed Door: Divine Power Meets Human Fear

We would like to see in our upper room a manifestation of the glorious resurrection power. Secondly I want you to note now the place and here we see the subtlety of a beautiful contradiction not a contradiction of scripture but a contradiction in morality.

We have an empty tomb and we have a closed door. Now in that empty tomb we have the summary of divine power. The greatest manifestation of the power of God was not seen in creation. The greatest manifestation of God's power was not seen in the judgment that came because of the holy severity of God.

The greatest demonstration of power was not seen even in the time of Egypt when he brought his judgment through the medium of praying upon Egypt. The greatest demonstration of divine power was seen in the resurrection of Christ.

Now why? When Christ was raised from the dead he was called the first fruit. Now what does that mean? In the old testament when the Hebrew was going to cut his harvest he would take the first ears of corn and he would give them to the Lord and they would be weighed before the Lord.

And that was an earnest that there was going to be a mighty harvest. And when Jesus Christ was raised from the dead it was an earnest that thousands and millions were going to be raised from the dead.

And therefore it was an earnest of his resurrection. But more in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ it was an earnest that there was going to be a new heaven and a new earth. According to Romans 8.

If you could listen to the plant life and to the vegetation life as God listens to it you would hear an inarticulate groan and it would be groaning something like this. Look there is something wrong with us and we shall never be rectified until you sons of God are made perfect.

And that basically is the groaning of creation. And through the cross and through the mighty resurrection the whole of creation is going to be reconciled to God. And so we can see that the resurrection of Christ was the greatest manifestation of power.

Romans 1 teaches us he was raised from the dead by the power of God according to the spirit of holiness. Romans 6 teaches that he was raised by the glory of the father. And that means God put all the glory of his fatherhood in the resurrection of his son.

But now look at that closed door see it. Here are a number of frightened men and they are shut in because of fear tormented trembling because of fear. Now see the contrast universe an epitome of divine power.

Summary of human weakness and fear. Beloved. Can I share this with you gently. Isn't that a picture of the church of God today instead of the Lord's people being liberated free courageous powerful for God.

There is this shut in feeling. But let me explain what I mean. How many of the Lord's people would love to stand up in a prayer meeting and pray. But they can't. They are shut in to fear. Thousands of people that would love to utter a simple prayer but they can't because they feel that they are bolted in by this kind of spiritual claustrophobia.

Come. How many would love to work and just stand up and simply say thank you Lord for dying for me. But you can't shut in for fear but more. How many brethren and sisters would love to witness for the Lord Jesus.

But they can't because of fear. How right was the apostle John when he said fear has tormented. But I see something more in this. Here is a door that is bolted because of fear. Here is a door that has been opened through the mighty power of God.

How is God going to revolutionize that group of people. For instance if you were to look through the letters because in those days they didn't have windows like we. And you saw those frightened men. And someone said this to you.

You see that handful of men. God is going to use that small group of men to revolutionize the Roman world. You wouldn't believe it. But he did beloved. Think of the possibilities that there is here for God.

The Resurrected Christ Penetrates Closed Doors and Saves Closed-Hearted People

Now I do not want to say this in order to be arrogant or even to give you false hope. But there are enough believers in this room to shake the whole of Britain. If we were ready how is he going to do it.

First of all the Lord Jesus came through a closed door. Now when I read that in the scripture I smile. You see nothing can keep out the resurrected Christ. He came through the grave closed without the grave closed being disturbed.

That was news. He came out of the sepulchre without the stone being rolled away. Because the rolling of the stone away from the sepulchre was not to let the Saviour out but to let the disciples in. He went through gravity without the power of procreation.

And he went through a closed door without the door being opened. You see he is irrepressible. And this shows to us the might of a risen Saviour. Now there might be some of you that have loved ones. I believe there are and they are closed doors.

Maybe some of your children maybe some of your parents. Maybe a brother here and your wife is not saved. And there might be a wife and your husband is not saved. And sometimes you look at those loved ones and they are all bolted in.

They have dragged down the shutters of their mind. They have closed the door of their heart. And they are determined never to be a Christian. And you begin to say well how can the Lord save them. Well praise God he can come through a closed door.

Now can I prove that in scripture if you watch the movements of Saul of Tartus and if you look at him carefully in the first few chapters of the book of Acts I am referring now to the 7th chapter and probably the 8th if we could see between the lines there was a man who was a shut in sinner.

He had bolted himself up. He was determined never to believe in the Messiah. And the Lord got through that closed door and saved him. Didn't he take for instance the Philippian jailer. If you take one look at that man you can see that he is a closed door.

God used an earthquake upon him and he came through the closed door. My own father was a pantheist who was a bare fist fighter in his teens joined the army when he was 18, 19 served with Churchill in the Boer War.

He was a militant pantheist prayed and prayed for 40 years or my mother did for my father. And if ever I saw a closed door it was my dear dad. And yet at the age of 78 the Lord gloriously saved him. He came through a closed door.

Let's praise God for this irrepressible, risen, exalted Savior. And immediately he came through the closed door. I love this, the first word he said was peace. No rebuke. He didn't say well why have you let me down my brethren.

No rebuke at all the first word he said was peace. And then he did something that's infinitely beautiful. He stood in the midst for the first time in resurrection power. And you must remember this wherever we find Jehovah in the Old Testament he is in the center.

Wherever we find the Lord Jesus is in the center. There is only one period in the word of God where the Lord Jesus stepped out of the center and that was in Matthew 18 in order to allow a little child to take his place.

But now we see him in the center of his people and he's in the center for the first time in all the power of his resurrection. And obviously as he stands among his people he was saying I am he that lives and became dead and behold I am alive forevermore.

And yet at the same time he propounds to them the meaning of his passion. He shows to them his hands and his side. And therefore they see two things. They see the might, the glory, the majesty the brilliance of his resurrection.

And at the same time they see the infinite passion of the Lord. He shows to them his hands and his side. And that is the summary of Christianity. Christ died for our sins according to the scripture his hands and side.

He was buried and rose again the third day according to the scripture the resurrection. And thus we have the embodiment of Christianity in that little room and beloved. That's what he did this morning you know it moves me forgive me standing in our midst.

Isn't it beautiful showing us his hands and his side. And yet at the same time standing among us in all his resurrection glory. No wonder we can say hallelujah what a savior. But then we read this. Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord.

Resurrection Joy, the New Creation, and the Church Filled With the Spirit

Now I love my authorised when I quote the scriptures. I do not quote the old English but I still love my authorised. But I must say this the word glad there is terribly tame. The word basically means they were jubilantly happy.

Now I've got to be very careful now what I say lest you get the wrong impression. It actually means they were dancing with joy. Now I'm not advocating holy dancing or anything like that. Oh brethren. No no no no no no nor am I advertising that we should lose control and start this chandelier swinging.

Oh you haven't got that here now that is all terribly dangerous. But when they saw the Lord they were glad. Now can I ask a question why is it sometimes we are so miserable when we pray. Now there should be a time when we view the passions when we should we.

But there should be times when we are really full of joy. One little girl left the breaking of bread in breast-blessed. And guess what she said to her mother. Cheer up mummy it's all over. Now you see the little girl got the wrong impression.

Now it shouldn't be like that. Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord. You know it's thrilled my heart to hear one or two verbal amens this morning in the old days in the assembly so old Samuel Rogers used to tell me the father of E .W. Rogers.

And this is going back now a hundred years for he was 97 when he died. There were responses all over the building when the Lord's people were worshipping because every heart was being exercised and the eyes were fixed upon the Lord and they were filled with holy joy as they were worshipping the Lord.

But then we mustn't stop there. And then the Lord Jesus did something that was totally unique. Now before I get to it I want to take you back to the Old Testament when God had made man he made him in his image and in his likeness.

And if you can I want you to see Adam in his lifeless form. I want you to see almost a perfect body. I want you to see if you can the head, the arms, the legs. And as you look upon that man that comes fresh from the bench of God you say there is perfection and there is the masterpiece of God.

But remember this he was totally useless until God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. Now get this if you can there is shape and form. But what is shape and form without life? What is shape and form without life?

So he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and he became a living being or as it says a living soul. But through one man's disobedience many were made sinners. And thus the human race known as the Adamic race all fell because of the headship of man becoming rebellious.

Now note this here is the last Adam. He has died on the cross eliminated once and for all the Adamic civilization. Now he is going to form a new order. You see on the human family there is now pronounced perpetual judgment.

The world is under judgment. But now he is going to form a new society called the church of God. And what does he do? Now note this exactly what he did in Eden's garden. Now he is going to do in the upper room.

And he breathed. And this is what he was saying. My brothers my death has become your death. My burial has become your burial. My life has become your life my glory your glory. I am now your head. You are a part of my body.

This is my new society. This is my ecclesia the aristocrats of heaven. And therefore he breathed. And a new society is formed. I ask you a question. Are you glad that you are a member of God's new society?

With the very life of God within you? Members of his body? Linked with a savior eternally? And very soon we are going to reign with him. But there is another point that I want one was filled with the spirit.

Would you mind if I pointed not that I want to be rude but to make this practical and personal. You lovely young men supposing every one of you were filled with the spirit. You sisters supposing every one of you filled with the spirit.

Older brethren and sisters supposing every one of you filled with the spirit would be such a dynamic explosion that you would see holy multiplications. You say. Do you believe that brother Peter? We have seen it.

When God's people are edified they multiply. May God breathe upon us again. But there is a problem. And with this our class Thomas wasn't there. And Thomas has a nickname. And I am sure this is tinged with humor.

It's Didymus. The word Didymus means a twin. In other words what the historian is saying. What John is saying. There was only one Thomas. But there is going to be thousands of people like him. Can I prove that to you?

500 people saw the Lord Jesus on the occasion of his resurrection. There were only 120 in the upper room when the spirit came. Where were the 380? Look what they miss. Don't be a Didymus when God speaks be there.

When God is going to move in the power of the spirit say to the Lord I want to be not active. And may God before we hear the last trump send us seasons of refreshing from the presence of the Lord. But could we turn just for a few minutes to Acts chapter 3.

And we shall look at a few verses in this great chapter Acts 3. And we shall read from verse 1. Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer being the ninth hour and a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called beautiful to ask arms of them that entered into the temple.

Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an arm and Peter fastening his eyes upon him which John said look on us. And he gave heed unto them expecting to receive something of them. Then Peter said silver and gold have I none but such as I have give I thee in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.

And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength and he leaping up stood and walked and entered with them into the temple walking and leaping and praising God.

And all the people saw him walking and praising God and they knew that it was he which sat for arms at the beautiful gate of the temple and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him.

And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John all the people ran together unto them in the porch of this court. Solomon's greatly wondering. And when Peter saw it he answered unto the people you men of Israel why marvel ye at this.

Prayer, Fellowship, and the Healing at the Beautiful Gate

And why look ye so earnestly on us as though by our own power of holiness we have made this man to walk and the Lord will bless to us the reading of that short portion of his work. This is the first recorded miracle in the book of the Acts.

And quite frankly if you look at all the miracles that Dr. Luke records in the book of the Acts every one is a constitutional case of healing not one is a psychological form of healing. And I suppose this man would be called a spastic and therefore if the man lived today it would be the healing of a man who was a spastic and that is totally supernatural.

Every miracle in the scripture seems to have applied to it a spiritual lesson. He tells us that the parables were miracles in words whilst at the same time he suggests that the miracles were parables indeed.

And therefore I feel sure that there is a deep spiritual lesson in this first miracle and I believe it is a lesson in fellowship. And here in the first verse we see the composition of the fellowship Peter and John.

And whenever you read of those two people together just stop and say we are actually looking at a miracle. Peter was a doer. John was a dreamer. Peter was an extrovert. John was an introvert. Peter was a spiritual verb.

John was a spiritual adjective. And these two characters were poles apart in temperament. In fact so we are told by the psychologist 25 of the disruptions in modern society are caused through clashes of the Peter's and John's the introvert and the extrovert.

You will remember if you know your bible well that it was Peter who said to the Lord Jesus concerning John what are you going to do with this man. In other words what are you going to do with an introvert.

What are you going to do with a dreamer. And now you see these two people who are so different in temperament beautifully graced together. Now why. Because they were going up to the temple to pray. I feel sure of this dear friends that almost 15 of our problems in local church activity are caused through this great problem.

The clash between the extroverts and the introverts. I am quite sure even with theology an extrovert will see the minor point of theology in this way. An introvert will see it that way and they will clash together.

But how is it that two people so different in temperament are graced together. They went up for a prayer meeting. In prayer in the book of the Acts you will find blessing. In fact this may surprise you.

There are more references to prayer in the book of the Acts than preaching. Now let me prove my point. Acts 1 they are praying with the women. Acts 2 the church is continuing steadfastly in prayer. Acts 4 when they have prayed the place was shaken.

5 Ananias and Sapphira are judged probably in the spirit of prayer. Acts 6 the apostles appoint deacons that they might give themselves up to prayer and to the ministry of God's word. Acts 8 the apostles come down and they lay their hands upon the Samaritan converts.

And when they do so in the spirit of prayer they receive the spirit of God. Acts 9 it says of Saul behold he is praying. Acts 10 Peter is praying. Cornelius is praying. Acts 12 Peter is in prison but the church is praying.

Acts 13 the missionary enterprise began with a prayer meeting. Now can you see by those simple observations that prayer is absolutely vital. Now if we are going to see a movement of the spirit of God be sure of this it will come through the prayers of God's people.

If you want to tell the spirituality of any local church don't go to the worship meeting neither go to the ministry meeting. Go to the prayer meeting. If your prayer meeting is a live fervent spiritual activity where there are moments of joy and at the same time moments of godly sorrow.

So as people pray for the dying souls of the lost be sure of this you are in a spiritual church and let us pray that during this period God will teach us how to pray. Then you will notice it was the ninth hour and with this I am going to close because it is a warm evening.

The Ninth Hour, Christ’s Triumph, and Entering the Victory of Calvary

And I believe that if I were to go through these particular verses halfway through you would all be suffering with dropsy. So I am not going to do that and you know what dropsy is it is that nodding of the head that you get in a long exhausting meeting.

But you will notice the time it was the ninth hour. Now please remember that now what was the ninth hour. Initially it was the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice and that evening sacrifice was never a sin offering but a burnt offering.

The ninth hour was that moment when the Lord Jesus was on the cross after experiencing three hours of darkness he cried with a loud voice my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me. Now quite frankly that particular cry if it was not followed by another cry would put us evangelicals in deep water.

But immediately the Lord Jesus uttered with a loud voice so that all could hear not a soft voice a loud voice he said with the same kind of apology of triumph. That particular moment sin was dealt with to the satisfaction of God and we can say hallelujah for that that particular moment he had dealt with death and exhausted it so that a Christian will pass perhaps through the article of death but he will never taste it, why?

Because he had tasted death for every man but more. That moment he provided a reconciliation so that Jew and Gentile that were always poles apart were united in the cross in one body. That moment he provided a reconciliation so that through his death there would come a moment when God would judge sin in nature so that the whole of nature would be reconciled to God.

Satan, the sentence of eternal death for he by death destroyed him who had the power of death he than the devil. And therefore the ninth hour is the hour of triumphant victory the hour of complete. No wonder they had a prayer meeting at the ninth hour.

Now why do I mention that? Beloved. And you know when I use that term it's not a slogan we do love you in the Lord. Our prayer meetings today are marked by boredom and depression. There is a time when we should be introspective if my people that are called by my name should humble themselves.

But after that period of introspection when we have dealt with our sins God wants us to see ourselves in Christ and he wants us to appropriate all the victory of the cross come to him. We don't come to him as depressed children.

We come to him in the spirit of the ninth hour and we begin to appropriate all the victory of Calvary. I have never really mentioned this story in this country. In fact I think I've only mentioned this on two occasions in my life and I don't think it would be wise if this was publicly propagated.

A Prayer Meeting at Clonard Monastery and the Unity of Believers

But I received an invitation to give according to the invitation a lecture in the Clonard Monastery. Now the Clonard Monastery is the only monastery down Falls Road in Belfast. Clonard was the place where they actually challenged the Protestants to theological debate and quite frankly it has been I don't think it is now.

But it was then the centre of a great political organisation. So I went to my brethren in Victoria Hall and discussed the invitation and unanimously they said to me Peter your life is in jeopardy. You must never go down the Falls Road and never go into the Clonard Monastery.

So I prayed over it and I discussed it with my wife and it seemed as though it was the will of the Lord for us to go. So I wrote three letters to Mr Philip and to my wife and I left them on the bed in case I did not come back.

Of course that was all unbelief on my part and I shall never forget going down the road. Everything was blacked out and there were men and women being searched by the British Army and eventually we came to this large building.

And when we got inside there was a gigantic bingo session. There must have been 500 people and the balls were going up and down and he was saying 55, 56 stuck in the bricks and all that business and they were ticking off the winners.

So then I walked right the way down the front and I had my large Bible. I thought well I'm not going to camouflage that even in the Clonard Monastery and I went through a small door and then I was shown in a small room and I suppose there would be 50 people.

Now can I say this to the Lord's people. Don't imagine that revival will take place with masses of Christians coming together. Sometimes some of our greatest revivals begin with just a few people. Let's not get this idea that everything that's big is beautiful.

Now I begin to feel that God wants a nucleus that will really go the whole way. Well these Roman Catholics and there were a few Protestants. They had been in prayer for two and a half hours by the time I got it and then I was asked by a particular man to give an address.

Now you just imagine they had been there two and a half hours and now they were asking me to give an address and that was at half past nine or a quarter to ten at night and like a good arrogant Protestant I went in with both feet and I spoke on the once and for all offering to sin.