Hope in God!

Notes from a sermon on 7 April 2013

Luke 24 verse 13 – 35

This passage is about the latter part of the resurrection day.  The woman at the early part of the day went to the tomb and found Jesus’ body gone.  Here later on, on that same day 2 men were on the road away home again.  They had only part of the story.  We can have the crucified Saviour, the rejected Saviour, the persecuted Saviour but we also have a resurrected Saviour and a glorified Saviour and a returning Saviour for those born again of the Spirit of God.  The story is of 2 men of the wider circle of Jesus’ followers, one is named as Cleopas.  Now we see them leaving Jerusalem very down in spirit.  The Lord Jesus Christ draws alongside them and he goes with them.

First of all their hopes were dashed.  Here were 2 believers and their hopes were dashed – verse 17.  2 disciples who were under the cloud of discouragement.  Their walk had been affected by what was happening around them.  We can get discouraged and downtrodden and our walk is affected by what is happening all around us.  The Lord got alongside them and communed with them.  That is exactly what the Lord does with us today.  “He walks with me and he talks with me and the joy we share none else can share.”  In the book of Hebrews it says “let us not forget the assembling of ourselves together.”  In the book of Acts of the Apostles we read that after being arrested and imprisoned the disciples sought out their own company.  It was they that found encouragement and teaching in God’s precious word.  The problem for these 2 people is stated verse 21 “but we trusted”.  The Lord drew alongside them.  They didn’t talk right away.  He listened to them for a while.  The Lord is a great listener.  It is wonderful as we pour out our hearts to him that he listens.  He asked them what the manner of their communication was, why are you so down?  The Lord was interested in them.  Today maybe our hearts are heavy.  It is wonderful to know the Lord is interested.  They began to tell the Lord “are you only a stranger do you not know what has happened in Jerusalem?”  Jesus was taken and put on the cross.  The women went to the tomb where he was laid and now they had heard a story that Jesus was no longer there but was risen again.  They were confused and that is why they were so sad.  “We trusted, we understood that the Messiah would come and break the power of the Roman forces on us and set us free.  We thought this was the way it would be worked out.”  Don’t we feel like that at times?  We get discouraged because things don’t work out the way we expect them to.  We think God is doing nothing for us, he hasn’t answered our prayers.  We want people to believe something and some how it doesn’t work out.  We pray for healing and it doesn’t happen.  We pray to get a better job and it doesn’t happen.  How we can get discouraged as a result.  The disciples had it worked out what would happen and it didn’t work out the way they had it planned.  God’s plans are higher than ours.  His plans are still working out the way he wants them to.  It is a bigger picture.  In Acts 2 Peter preached that tremendous sermon when 3000 souls were saved as a result.  Peter is telling the people something of the Lord.  He began to preach to them about his death, burial, ascension and coming again.  It was all in the plan of God.  There is a plan being worked out today.  In Acts 4 the disciples were coming together to pray, they talked about what had happened and it led to them being arrested, beaten, ridiculed and told not to preach like that again.  They gathered together in prayer.  How important the fellowship of prayer is.  Acts 4 verse 28.  Remember Paul had a thorn in the flesh.  We are told he prayed for it to be taken away.  We don’t know how many times he prayed that prayer but he continued to bring it before the Lord.  Paul was told by God “you hold onto that, I will never let you fall.  When you stand in the synagogue I will give you grace to stand there and in the market place.”  Can we trust God for that grace today?  Are your hopes dashed today? 

Their help was at hand.  There is great consolation here just for us to consider.  In the first century the Christians got discouraged.  They walked with God in the flesh, listened to him preaching and teaching the word of God.  Here they are discouraged. Remember Paul “we are troubled on every side, we are persecuted but not forsaken, not destroyed because the Lord is on our side.”  Whenever cast down he draws alongside.  1 Corinthians 15 verse 6.  500 people saw the resurrected Saviour yet on the Emmaus road he took time to talk to just 2 people.  That is the wonder of God.  He is so concerned about you.  He can be with many today but also with you individually.  If you have taken Jesus as Saviour and Lord then he is in your home, he is walking with you and talking with you.  The Lord is concerned about those cast down.  He is concerned about you today.  Are you concerned as he is today?  Today many have their hopes dashed.  Many who are sitting behind closed doors don’t know the Saviour and his great love.  Many have their hopes dashed because their lottery numbers didn’t come up last night.  Maybe sitting with no work, a mortgage to pay, a car in the drive to pay off, they are depending on you to help them through this time.  You are Christ’s ambassador today.  It is up to us to draw alongside them.  David in Ziglag saw the smoke rising up.  Everything was destroyed yet it says “David encouraged himself in the Lord.”  John was preaching the word of God, the Roman Emperor was so annoyed with him he asks for him to be arrested.  He was put on the Island of Patmos 15 miles from Ephesus.  A rocky place, inhabitable but there we find the Lord right there with him.  Jeremiah was chosen to be prophet of God but where do we find him in Jeremiah 33?  Sitting in the prison house – “the word of God came unto Jeremiah the second time.”

The hindrances were dispelled.  Jesus opened up the word of God on the roadside.  Verse 28 and 29 as they came near the village they asked him to stay with them and teach them more.  Have you a hunger for the word of God today?  Verse 30 they ate together and talked together.  Not only broke the physical bread but broke the spiritual bread.  Then in verse 32 the word of God opened their eyes and burned in their hearts.  Do we apply God’s word as much as we should today?  We need a hunger for it. 

The horizons that were widened – verse 33.  When they listened to God’s word being opened up it brought real reward for themselves.  They had a person for now and the assurance for their future had come so they went away to spread the word of God.  We need to be careful we don’t lose out on the fellowship with the Lord.  2 Kings 7 verse 2 tells the story of 4 leprous men outside the city gate.  They decided to go down to the Syrian army.  They were starving to death, the hunger was so great.  When they went down into the camp of the Syrian army no-one was found.  God had sent a rumour through the camp of an invading army.  They were so afraid that they fled.  As the leprous men entered into each tent they found food enough to eat.  Verse 9 “we do not well, this day is a day of good tidings, we hold our peace, we are filling our bellies with this food yet up the hill there are people starving for what we have.”  What happened when they saw what God had done?  They went up and told others.  These 2 men could have been blessed in their own souls but no they wanted to go back to Jerusalem and tell the disciples he had been talking with them.  If we are saved by God’s grace will we tell someone today what God has done for us?  Wouldn’t it be great to tell others about it?