Mike Bickle emphasizes the significance of Jesus' resurrection and the ten appearances He made after rising from the dead, illustrating how these events are crucial for understanding the beauty and glory of Christ. He explains that these appearances, spread across the four Gospels, reveal profound truths about Jesus and our relationship with Him. Bickle encourages the audience to grasp the overarching narrative of these events, likening it to piecing together a puzzle, which ultimately leads to a deeper appreciation of Jesus' love and purpose for humanity. He highlights the importance of recognizing the historical reality of the resurrection and its implications for believers today. The sermon concludes with a call for personal renewal and a deeper commitment to following Christ.

In the name of Jesus, Father by the Holy Spirit, I ask you that you would Mark our hearts with the grandeur the glory of Christ Crucified and raised from the dead send it to the father Lord that we're connected to this glorious wonderful beautiful man Holy Spirit, I ask you that you'd mark us In a specific way tonight Living understanding we thank you in Jesus name. Amen Well tonight is session 26. So we're ending our studies in the life of Christ the last two semesters now our ministry schools away tonight, but they'll be checking in on this on the Archives to complete their class and to take their tests, but I wanted to go on and continue with it even though they're gone Tonight we're going to look at Jesus's resurrection and the ten appearances that he made After he rose from the dead and before his Ascension so there's ten times that he appeared between the resurrection and the Ascension 40 days later and these ten appearances Each of them have many implications now the challenge With these ten appearances is that the storyline is Spread out over four Gospels. So there's a few details on these ten appearances at each of the four Gospels that most of the ten or six or seven of the ten are in each one of those four Gospels and you got to put the thing together and It takes quite a bit of attentiveness and time to do that But the but the challenge is if we don't see the big picture of what's going on there's so much that we miss about the beauty of Jesus and So I'm wanting to present this lay this out for you paragraph B Because I have found it helpful to grasp that kind of the broad strokes The analogy that I think of is like when you're I don't know if you've ever Put a puzzle together and you put all the pieces out on the table and you turn them all over and they're just all Kind of disconnected, but then you look at the box the puzzle box and you go. Okay, that's where the red goes Okay, and you piece it together Well, I find that if you get an overview of these ten Appearances then you can read the story and you grasp the big picture of what's going on And it's worth the time to understand these ten because there's many facets of the beauty of Jesus that are connected in the details It's like you study addition and if you get become good in addition, then you learn how to do multiplication Hey, well, I can really do you know this, you know, four plus four is eight four times four is sixteen I mean, I'm really I'm really hitting it. You get good at multiplication. Then you can go to geometry then you can go to Calculus and go on and on and that's the way the study the word is But at a quick glance you think well, I don't even get what this is about. There's so many treasure Pieces of treasure so to speak or gold gold nuggets in this storyline But they're buried just a little bit beneath the surface. And so I want to give you the overview When I read these stories because I can see the big picture I can see all kinds of details and it's exciting These five chapters or yay six chapters counting Acts chapter one when you put them all together It's like this glorious unfolding of this resurrected man stepping into human history Appearing to people revealing things about his heart and things about how he sees us in our destiny with him Through this portrait of the four Gospels and Acts chapter one Well Number one under B. Well first I'll say paragraph a the resurrection and ascension is the high point of the four Gospels Where Jesus Paul said it clearest. He said by the resurrection. Jesus was publicly declared by power To be the Son of God his deity was declared Openly to the people that believe because the resurrection and ascension is a historical fact. It's not just something we believe by faith It's an it's an actual historical fact. Our faith is engaged, but it's something that really happened It's not a myth or it's not a mystical idea It's concrete reality a man rose from the dead and our story is connected to that man's story Let's go to paragraph B number one I'm gonna give you an overview a snapshot on Resurrection Sunday Easter Sunday Jesus appeared five different times on Easter Sunday First in the morning to Mary Magdalene Then maybe an hour or two later. We don't know that kind of detail but still morning He appear he appeared to the women who were putting the burial spices came to the tomb with them these devout women Then a little bit later. Maybe it's early afternoon. We don't know for sure He appears to Peter the first time then Mid-afternoon, he appears to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus then at evening time Those two disciples on the road of Emmaus. They're amazed is only seven miles from Jerusalem They would they went to Emmaus and they saw the Lord and they went back to Jerusalem to tell the apostolic company Hey, we saw him and right when they were giving the report Jesus appears to them that night So Peter saw him about I'm again just ballpark early afternoon then he saw him again that night he saw him twice on Resurrection Sunday then number two eight days a week later a Week later it says eight days, but it's eight days after the crucifixion after the Friday So it's a week after resurrection Sunday. He appears for the second time to the whole apostolic company and then number three there's this 32 day period and this 32 32 day period is after the eight days that Jesus appears which I just talked about when he appeared to the apostolic company Eight days after the crucifixion Then he appears three more times, but up in Galilee But we don't know exactly when but somewhere in that 32 day period because after 32 days is the 40th day and he's back down in Jerusalem and he's on the Mount of Olives and they watch him ascend into heaven and so that's kind of a Broad strokes and not that you grasp that just by that two-minute Explanation, but you got the notes right here paragraph C. I just say it all again I'm not gonna cover it right now, but I just give it one two, three, four, five six seven five times on Easter Sunday One time a week later on the eighth day Three times in the next 32 days up in Galilee and then finally Back down in Jerusalem on the Mount of Olives the Mount of Olives is Jerusalem or Bethany because Bethany's next door to Jerusalem He appears the last time and he ascends and the angels say the way that you saw him leave He's coming back. So those are the ten times and if you grasp those when you read Matthew 28 Mark 16 John Luke 24 John 21 and 20 and 21 and acts 1 those five chapters. I Mean those six chapters this whole thing comes together if you can stay if you could keep connected with those ten events in sequence now Maybe you know event appearance six is before appearance seven a day or two after So there's you can't be a hundred percent sure on this sequence But it's pretty much agreed upon. It's that this is the general broad stroke sequence That the Bible talks about in this six chapter narrative again, Matthew chapter 28 Mark chapter 16 Luke chapter 24 I got it all written there John 20 and 21 and then acts chapter 1 those six chapters These ten appearances you read those six chapters and the puzzle comes together and all kinds of gold Nuggets you will gain about the beauty of Jesus who you are to him and his plans for you and who he is By seeing this part of the gospel and the salvation narrative Okay, so my point being it's worth learning this it's worth taking a little bit of time and getting it down It's not so confusing. It really isn't Okay, let's look at top of page two Now we're going to mark 16 We're going to look at the events the setting before he begins to appear to people So these ten appearances but before that morning there was quite a bit of drama Before he actually appeared to Mary Magdalene who was the first one paragraph B Will start in Mark chapter 16 and all four Gospels give a little bit of this story Mark chapter 16, this is the setting before the first appearance Mary Magdalene Mary the mother of James and Salomone she's the sons of James and John the sons of Zebedee That's James and John's John the Apostle that's their mother They and by the way other Gospels tell you and some other ladies. There's a few more ladies that are involved I'm guessing somewhere between five and ten of them They brought spices to come anoint Jesus in the grave Now that's that's devout. That's sweet but Jesus said I'm raising from the dead. Why are you bringing? Ointments to anoint my dead body. I'm not dead So it was devout, but it was missing what he had told them a number of times It's interesting that the primary woman in the story Jesus's mother Mary is not in any of these scenes and That trouble some people I don't know She believes he's gonna raise from the dead. She's not gonna anoint him for his burial She believes the storyline she knows who he is Well, it's very early in the morning verse 2 And they came these five or ten ladies. We don't know the exact number and Verse 3 they said among themselves. They're walking It's I'm guessing a couple miles a mile or two from where they're at in the upper room The upper rooms a pretty big place because a hundred and twenty disciples are in the upper room in Acts chapter 1 So it's a it's a pizza. It's a property they had access to That they were hiding in you know after the crucifixion because the authorities were looking for it And so there's there's quite a a company of people there. We don't know how many people are there, but it's the Apostles Minus Judas so the 11 plus a number of other disciples. They're all hanging out in the upper room somewhere So I'm just guessing a mile or two. I mean, it's not real far, but it's probably more than a block or two away From the gray from where the tomb was So it's early in the morning and these five or ten ladies again. We don't know the exact number verse 3 They said among themselves. Hey Who's gonna roll roll the stone away? We saw them put Jesus in that tomb and those big Roman soldiers put this massive stone You know, we're how are we gonna move it how it number one we got to overpower the Roman guard Which we're not gonna do then we're gonna have to move this. I'm just making up this five ton rock It's not gonna happen. How are we gonna do it? So we're coming with oil and spices To anoint him, but we got a Roman guard. We got a big rock that we got to roll out of the way So verse 4 they get there and to their complete surprise The stones moved. I mean, I don't know how many tons it is or uh, it's big Because it says it's very large here in verse 4 You know, and I don't know how if it's a ton or two I just made up that number but it's big and the guards aren't there Like what's going on? They were all in place on Friday, but they're all gone now So this group of ladies verse 5 They go ahead and they look in the tomb And they see an angel He's called a young man, but it's clear when you put it all together. He's an angel. He has a long white robe and They're startled they they're looking for Jesus's body to anoint it but they see this man, but he has We see it in other places a countenance like lightning. I mean he has Supernatural qualities about him. So they're alarmed verse 6 He says don't don't don't be afraid. I'm on your team You're looking for Jesus. They go. Yeah They go, but remember he rose He rose from the dead. He's already risen because it we find out later that Jesus rose earlier that day Before they got here Obviously, but the angel says here's your mandate Go tell the disciples Quickly go Again, they're a mile or two away. I'm a supposing or maybe a little bit further But this month this strong angel says but go tell the disciples, but go tell Peter particularly Here's the message That he's gonna meet you in Galilee like he told you before he died on Several occasions he told them I'm going to die I'm gonna be raised from the dead and I'm gonna meet you in Galilee through the angel tells him that and and When you read the whole story together, it's like the women remembered that they said yeah, actually we recall He did tell us That he would die he would raise and go to Galilee So why are we gonna anoint him as a dead man that I guess we shouldn't be doing that right now So the Paragraph 1 it says the women went to tell the disciples But Matthew tells us this whole group of women Matthew chapter 28 verse 8 they ran so it can't be too far Unless they've been doing their aerobics every day for a few years, so they run to the upper room. That's probably up Just a little jog, but it says they ran and The angel number two he says to the ladies It's gonna be just like he told you it would be and the idea as the as the angel Reminded them that he did say in fact he would die they heard that he would raise for the day He would go to Galilee, and they're wondering angel. How do you know all this you were not there? He goes yeah, yeah, I'm real involved in the story but the idea of Just as he said to you the the mean I mean the point of that there's a master plan God's in control of the details Even though the plan has suffering there's glory in it, but God is Overseeing the details enough to declare them ahead of time That's the confidence. They are to have that this is an arbitrary. This is it The train ran off the track and no one knows what's going on this plan is unfolding According to a sovereign master plan is the idea But number three the angels told this group of ladies again, I'm picturing five to ten of them Hey ladies go tell the disciples. He's wrote. He rose and he and he'll be Galilee, but tell Peter specially now Peter obviously just denied the Lord on Friday, and so Peter is really hurting over that and So the ladies come back and say hey he rose and the angel told us something I know by the way Peter They said especially tell you he was going. Oh my goodness. This is gonna be intense Because the the message of Peter's recovery though the Lord appears to Peter. There's no conversation that's recorded to Peter but the real Restoration and establishing of Peter happens in Galilee and John 21, which we'll get out in just a little while Okay paragraph C We're still in the preliminary setting the context for these ten appearances That it says John has John and Mary I think they John had a He really saw the value of her heart and who she was because I he had the same kind of heart He probably had the same kind of connection with Mary Bethany as he did with Mary Magdalene this this this very devoted man He sees the spirit of devotion Because he says things about Mary's story in this morning that none of the others pick up And John pushes these things about Mary I think he's thinking I see her heart and I value what she did and who she is So John adds a little bit more to the story Then on the first day of the week John chapter 20 verse 1 Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early now notice Here's a little nuance that John adds that nobody else has Mary went while it was dark While the others laid the ladies wet if you read the story closely They went mark chapter 1 when the Sun was beginning to rise, but Mary went an hour earlier or whatever She went she got up and she went there right away and John he makes that point and Mary saw the stone It was taken away She got there before the others though They some of the others tell the story when Mary's in the group But John tells the part of the story where Mary gets there early and she's making some individual Decisions and actions that are different from the rest of the group. So she's with the group, but she's still Running separate from them and some of her responses. She saw the stone had been taken away She got there early. The stone was gone first thing. She did verse 2. She ran back She didn't wait for the five or ten ladies to run with her. She just took off back that mile or two Again, I won't keep saying it, but I don't really know that that's the distance. But again, it can't be too far Or these ladies wouldn't be running back and forth several times in the morning here So she ran back to Peter and to John John calls himself Humbly, but with confidence the disciple Jesus loved whenever John talks about himself. He says the disciple Jesus loved He says it five times. He goes Peter and the guy Jesus loves I mean Talk about confidence. You know what you could run with that identity if you want it that's for anyone to run with if they believe enough to run with it and So Mary verse 2 she runs to Peter and John and they said somebody's taking the our Lord away I don't know who did it meaning a grave robber or enemies to sabotage something I don't know but he's gone and so Mary runs back with Peter and John they come running back together The three of them and that other group of ladies They're kind of on their own track there as you can read the whole story. You can put it all together Paragraph D So let's take a go back an hour or two even before Mary gets there Matthew's the only one that tells us what happens Even before Mary gets there while it's still dark on on resurrection Sunday or Easter Sunday Matthew chapter 28, we know the story This is before them and women arrived This is even before Mary got there, which was maybe an hour before the rest of the ladies did something like that An angel the Lord descended from heaven came and the angel rolled the stone back that here's an interesting the angel sat on the stone and The angel didn't sit on the stone because the angel was tired The angel set on the stone. So the guards wouldn't roll the stone back in front of the tomb The guards fled because of the power of the angel, but he sent there says I'm not going anywhere This rock is staying here Now the reason the angel moved the stone was it to let Jesus out? People just kind of ponder that I don't know it was to let the disciples in it wasn't Jesus had no problem getting Through that stone. There was no problem whatsoever So this angel that's sitting on this big I'm guessing couple ton rock this big circular wheel like stone Verse three is counted. It's was like a lightning Verse four and the guards shook for fear they fled so when Mary comes and it's still dark There's no guards and there's no rock. And so that's why and she sees that she automatically runs back to get Peter and John okay. Let's look at Roman numeral three now Now we're gonna look at the ten appearances. We've got the setting in place And we'll look back at that setting a time or two for just real briefly Appearance number one is to Mary Magdalene The fact that Jesus appeared to Mary first is significant I Mean he could have gone to the Sanhedrin to Caiaphas and Annas the high priest the two high priests that were kind of Co high priest he could have went to Pilate or to Herod could have gone anywhere. He could have gone to the Apostles But he doesn't He appears first look at this mark dying to Mary Magdalene a woman that had seven demons cast out of her She was an immoral woman that was demonized and completely in bondage and torment She got set free and the spirit of devotion on this woman Like very similar to Mary Bethany these two Marys. There's a handful of Marys by the way That that kind of make the story a little challenging to follow unless you're really paying attention to the details This gives us insight on how Jesus esteems and evaluates people We would look at the mighty and the powerful He looks at the devout Jesus is moved by devotion Not by people of influence, I mean he has all authority all power He's not moved by influence and impact he's moved by devotion Here he is on the cross Almost everybody fled All the Apostles fled although John Jesus said all of them will flee and yet John we find him at the cross for part Of the time so we're not sure Exactly if John was there the whole time or part of the time, but Mary Mary Magdalene was there the whole time She was fearless. She goes so so they They associate with me so what she's the first one at the tomb She has this devotion towards him this Jesus looks at this woman whose life was over she thought addicted tormented broken lonely Shameful and he says you're the first human in history I'm gonna stand in front of I'm gonna declare how valuable you are to me, and I'm gonna declare How I respond to people that give their heart to me. I mean what a powerful story paragraph B Now John picks up the story of the appearing the appearance to Mary Magdalene So What had happened is that Mary went to the tomb? We just looked at it saw that it was empty didn't go in ran to get Peter John Peter and John they ran back Peter and John go in if you read the whole account Mary verse 11 she's still outside the tomb weeping and sorrow Peter and John go back home. They go back to their residence the place where they're staying They don't have a house in Jerusalem, but they got a place or staying Mary's still there now. That's her second time. She's been at the tomb. She's weeping She stoops to look into the tomb she had gone in yet Peter and John went in and they were pretty they were moved So she looks in there verse 12. There's two angels now Mark and Matthew say there's one angel Luke and John say there's two and It's not a contradiction Matthew and Mark when they say one angel, they don't actually say there's only one. They only describe one They don't they don't limit it to one, but they only describe the angel who's actually speaking words But Luke and John tell the bigger story and they said well, there was another one. He didn't say anything, but he was there So verse 12, she sees the two angels Then she turned she's stepping outside of the tomb as she turns and Jesus is there, but she didn't know it was Jesus. We know the story well But verse 15 Jesus asked her two questions Now remember whenever God asks a human being a question. It's not because God needs an answer It's because the human being needs the answer When God asks you a question, he wants you to think it through so your heart can get aligned with his answer says woman verse 15, why are you weeping and the obvious reason is my Savior died and Then his next question is so you have a Savior that's defeated by death. Is that what you have? Why are you crying is he a is he God? Does he have power over death? Think it all the way through Mary. What's going on right now? I See your devotion, but I want you to line up with what I've declared to you because I've made it clear All of them are unbelieving. So there's a tenderness and there's a pastoral kind of a Pressing her but it's to deliver her He says you've got a Messiah who dies that's true. But at one who stays dead. That's not who I am Who are you looking for a Messiah conquered by death or a Messiah who conquers death? so Mary's like Yeah, great question and that questions relevant today What kind of Messiah are you seeking one that is? Disconnected from your life and your issues are one that's actually informed and involved that has power I Mean you could go on and on with that that point there Verse 15. She's supposing him to be a gardener. She said sir Somebody took him but took him somewhere. Help me. Help me. Help me verse 16 He says in a familiar tone Mary you know how good friends they have that that kind of language where they could say it and the other person is just absolutely Mary he said she looked oh my goodness. I know that voice. I know that tone. I know that way She said Rabona which means teacher and that must have been her term she used many times. Oh, you know Oh, yes, oh we're back. Yes so verse 17 She hangs on to him and for dear life and she's all I love y'all. Oh, and then she goes he goes, okay Okay Mary okay. I love that you love me, but I've got to ascend to my father But I've got a command for you I Want you to go tell the brethren? That group of five or ten ladies has already gone to the brethren and they didn't believe him They didn't believe the five or ten ladies. He goes. I want you to go to him and Tell them I'm ascending to the father, which means I've conquered death I'm Getting into my position in the heavenly realm With all authority and all power over everything as a man I mean this God he always as the second person of Trinity Jesus has always had all power and authority But when he ascended to the father, he received all power as a man No, man has ever had all power. He had to go through the cross obediently to receive that Position at the right hand of the father Now you read commentaries and there's all kinds of ideas as to why? Jesus saying you can't Hang on to me because I'm ascending to the father some say well Maybe he had certain properties in his resurrected body that until he got to heaven You know if she touched him she had melt or something. I don't know, you know, they say we're not sure Something about until he went to heaven you can't touch it and others have All kinds of different ideas, here's my theory it's just a theory I think He just has urgency. I think he's saying Mary. There is a Thousand dominoes going down right now that I'm attending to and though by the Holy Spirit I could be with you everywhere but my physical body could only be in one place at one time as a because his physical resurrected body by the Holy Spirit He could have connection and knowledge and involvement with all of us anywhere at any time by the Holy Spirit That's why I said it's to your advantage that the Holy Spirit's coming because then I could be with you everywhere But he's saying no, I've got to go to the father. There's a whole bunch of things to set in order You don't quite understand I want to get to the ladies that five or ten that the angel visited that on their way to the Brethren, I want to get to the brethren after that. I've got a bunch of things to do So we've greeted each other we've connected you've embraced me But there's a lot going on right now, and it's not in the same way It used to be you can't have my physical presence Directly and only in the way you could before it's now different It's by the Holy Spirit, and I will be with you, but I really need to go That's what I think it is again. That's just my theory. It's just practical that he has urgency because there's there's not a few things to set in place to all the heavenly dynamics and all the issues of the spirit realm and who he's going to appear to it and the and the Consequences and the impact of that he grasped all of it. That's what I think is going on Roman numeral for the second appearance So now it's me. I'm just saying it's an hour later. I don't really know of course But it's not a day later. It's still Sunday morning Now he's going to appear to this group of five or ten ladies That are in route to the Apostles The angels said to these ladies Go quickly Tell the Apostles that I better visit them and so this group of ladies remember in Matthew chapter 28 They're running to the Apostles this you know. I'm sure they're just jogging I Could just picture this group of five or ten ladies running through town With but they got urgency. I mean they really are gripped So the angel says just to kind of get you back to that story Matthew 28 He said to the women ladies he's not in the tomb you don't need to put oil on his body or spices He's not going to decompose There is no decay none of that's happening. There's no need for this Go quickly. That's a little bit of the spirit of To Mary Magdalene don't cling to me There's a series of events that one is connected to the other that only the Lord fully understands, but the angel gets it He goes go quickly. There's a time sequence that the the Lord's working on here Go right to them and tell them he's risen Look at verse 9 as they went So they're in this one or two mile track to the upper room Jesus appears to them when they're on their way He looks at him. He goes rejoice, and they got their you know their oils and their spices to keep his body I mean because his body it's for decomposed bodies in a tomb And you know I'm imagining they might go mmm. Okay. Love we don't Oops get rid of that He goes rejoice It's over. We did it. I'm alive. I'm yours you're mine, and they're just like absolutely Overcome as they're looking at him they fall at his feet and they worship him and then they run to the group of guys The Apostles and some of the others that are in the upper room again that upper room is probably a pretty good sized room I could hold 120 eventually for the ten days before the day of Pentecost okay, so paragraph B Jesus told the ladies go tell the brethren he's gonna meet you in Galilee Now in first ten there's this thing about meeting in Galilee He told him that before he died and I got all the verses there some of the verses there There's something special about Galilee And you know there might be five or six or seven points you could make about it, but in Galilee Jesus restores Peter the John 21. It's when they're fishing up at the Sea of Galilee It says the Sea of Tiberius, but that's the same as the Sea of Galilee. That's just the Roman name when they're fishing at the sea that's when Jesus recovers Peter to his leadership role to feed the flock So there's something about that, but he wants to do it in Galilee not in Jerusalem There's something about Galilee because it's up there in a mountain in Galilee when he gives the Great Commission go to all the nations Paragraph C. There's something about Galilee That is so significant that Isaiah the prophet 700 years before Jesus when Isaiah described the Messiah They said he's gonna he's gonna go to Galilee of the Gentiles Galilee is somehow connected to Gentiles It's Jewish But it has a unique connection to the Gentiles so much so it's called Galilee the Gentiles meaning there's a Dimension of I am the Lord of all the nations. I'm not just the Savior of Israel. I'm the Savior of the nations It begins in Israel But it's for the nations It's for every tribe and tongue and there's something about Galilee that Isaiah the prophet 700 years before Jesus He said the Messiah would headquarter in Galilee in essence and you can read that verse. I Wonder if it's related in some if there's any I don't really know the Area of Armageddon is that area right there? When the Antichrist will gather all the armies of the earth to that very area So that's very spot that very Geographic area right there He'll gather the armies of the earth to destroy Israel and Jesus will destroy them. I Don't know. There's there's I'm sure there's several layers of Implications as to why he presses the Galilee because Jerusalem is most important to him. It's called the city of the great king Jerusalem is where it begins Jerusalem is where the throne is Jerusalem is where the epicenter is but there's something about Galilee of the Gentiles is very critical That he chose that as the place for the Great Commission and he chose that as the place to recover Peter the chief Apostle to recover his apostolic leadership and Then of course Peter in Acts chapter 10 he is the first the Apostle who goes to the Gentiles to Cornelius and he opens the gospel to The Gentiles through Cornelius in Acts chapter 10 turn to page 4 appearance number three Now I'm guessing It's early afternoon still it's the third appearance. It's still Easter Sunday. It's still resurrection Sunday he appears to Simon Peter and There's no conversation There's no data. It's just simply he appears to him. There's no message that we have But somewhere in the Lord's comfort of Peter he Met him and we don't have details of what happened, but I just got a little bit there I don't want to go into the details right now For time's sake let's look at Roman numeral six Appearance number four Now it's mid-afternoon. I guess it's enough for the two disciples of the road They these two disciples were a part of the apostolic company They make that point pretty clear in verse 22 and verse 24 of Luke 24 because we're in Luke 24 right now These two disciples are with the apostolic company They hear the testimony of the women who come back from the tomb They hear the different stories now. They're going home to Emmaus, which is only a seven miles. So, you know It's an hour, you know, it's an hour walk or whatever it is and Hour to what depending on what a pace they're going at and so they're walking verse 13 and So these two men again, they're part of the apostolic company. They even say they are we're part of that group They say to Jesus in verse 22 of Luke chapter 24 It's the same day. It's Resurrection Sunday They go to a village and the village is Emmaus just seven miles down the road Verse 15 and while they were talking This man approaches these two men and these two men are really engaged because they're they're really bought into who Jesus is in terms of their distro disciples So Jesus draws near but verse 16 their eyes are restrained. So they don't know him They can't they don't see who he is. It's interesting. I have the verse here mark 16 verse 12 Says that Jesus appears to them in another form Meaning he I mean he's just Jesus the man and But he's he's veiling Who he is and he has the ability in his resurrected body to disguise and veil his glory So he appears in a form other than his resurrected glory and You know, maybe he has a hood on maybe I don't know how they're not grasping who he is. He's just walking alongside them But in a again a different form his resurrected Gloria or Part of who what he would make himself recognizable is veiled from their eyes Paragraph B. They're having this long conversation that you know this hour to walk Verse 22 they're telling Jesus now they go. Yeah These women in our company talking about the women the five or ten women who went to the grave who Jesus appeared to He goes there's these ladies are really neat ladies and Jesus thing. Yeah, I know these ladies I just talked to them an hour or two ago He doesn't of course say any of that They went to the tomb of This man who died they don't even know they're talking to Jesus and their story verse 22 totally astonished us We were blown away by their story Jesus well, tell me what they said verse 23 well They said they saw angels they saw a couple angels and the angels said Jesus is alive. It's like it was fantastic story so a few more of the guys in The company verse 24 they went down to the tomb Anyone to see Jesus if he was alive Well, they didn't see him. They saw the empty tomb just like the women described Verse 25 Jesus breaks in Oh Foolish Slow of heart to believe What the prophets have spoken Now he's not like angry like scolding them and He's actually speaking verse 25 a message Related to Jesus's first coming that is a very similar message related to Jesus's second coming the prophets the Old Testament The scriptures well now we have old and new have laid out many many clear things About what the Messiah would be like back in that day for the first coming but also now for the second coming but people naturally Cultivate their own image and their own narrative in their own storyline and the storyline didn't agree with what the prophetic testimony is in the scripture And he says foolish of heart That you would all get together and come up with ideas that you think would somehow replace the biblical storyline Because it's clear what the storyline was And it was declared to you, but you didn't move your heart didn't move towards it, and I believe it's a very similar Exhortation I take personally I go Lord. I don't want to be that I want to see what the scripture says I wasn't there for your first coming, but I'm in the generation. That's leading up to your appearing again I may not see it But I believe that there's people in the earth today that are alive that might very well see it in their day And we've got to believe what the scripture says that's why we have to have clear training with the scripture says So we're not taking our natural narrative and our cultural storyline, but we're taking the biblical one Because the Jesus of American culture is not the Jesus of the Bible and He's coming back Starring as Jesus when he returns. He's not coming back as the American Jesus I'm gonna give you a praise God for that one. Okay, no I'm verse 27 and Then he Expounded the all the scriptures to him he went from Genesis to Malachi. He says I'm here I'm in Genesis. I'm an exodus. I'm a Leviticus. I'm in Numbers. I'm in Deuteronomy. I'm in Judges I'm in Kings Chronicles Song of Solomon Ecclesiastes Proverbs Psalms Isaiah Jeremiah, I'm right through Ruth Esther. I'm there in every one of these books He shows he gets a snapshot of himself from all of the scriptures paragraph see Well they get verse 28 near to their village and Verse 29 they go. Hey, well, you know, it's late. You know, maybe it's six seven eight at night by now That's late why don't you stay and have eat with us so he did that he said at the table with him verse 30 He broke bread. He blessed it and when he broke the bread and blessed it Their eyes opened they went wait wait, we know who you are we've seen this before Then he vanished because he has all the supernatural abilities and qualities of a resurrected body And I love what verse 32 they said did not our hearts burn When he spoke to us from the Bible, I mean beloved think of it There's nothing better than Jesus preaching Jesus from the Bible You can't get any higher than that And their hearts on fire, but I think Jesus preaching Jesus is going to happen in the generation the Lord returns. I believe there will be supernatural encounters I believe there'll be Holy Spirit counters when the truth the written Word of God truth will come to another degree of Clarity and weightiness and Gripping and burning of our heart and I believe that in that generation when all the God's people see dreams and visions It's what acts chapter 2 says all flesh every believer will operate in the realm of the Spirit that's gonna happen before the Lord returns and Of course, whatever they experience in the Spirit has to agree with the written Word But the written Word will come alive at a whole nother level of meaning When angels of the Lord and the spirits moving at a whole nother level in our lives So I like that verse 32. I go Lord. I'm signing up for more of that and not that you need a Supernatural counter your heart can burn by the Holy Spirit when you just rely man Just just studying this stuff this week and talking to Jesus about it I mean my heart was touched so many times this week I go Lord. I got a little bit of this happening right now. The Lord says all you just wait I just may just really surprise you someday and really show you what it means to have a heart really on fire Top of page 5 Well, let's go to the fifth appearance so now The two disciples on the road of Emmaus verse 33. We're still in Luke 24 After Jesus vanishes they go. Hey, we've just eaten dinner We're totally excited. We've seen the resurrected Christ Our friend because they've been one of the disciples for a while They rose up that hour. They returned and walked seven miles back to Jerusalem They know where the the house is. They're all hiding in the upper room place. They pound on the door. They peek in there 11 say oh What are you guys doing back? We thought you left for the day. Oh, you're not gonna believe what happened and Those who were with them gathered because there's more than the eleven apostles. There's those who were with them in addition and they said The Lord is risen. We saw him with our eyes and we know that he appeared to Peter to Simon and Peter is In the room, he's one of the eleven. He might have said something like he did peer to me How do you know that? Well, he told us he appeared to you We know that he appeared to you. He appeared to us This is real and the and the company is going the company of the Apostles going Well, there's no way that they could know that Jesus appeared to the Peter unless Jesus told him. How did you know that they said Jesus told us? We saw him with our eyes and they're looking I'm going really because the eleven haven't seen him yet Only Peter of the eleven and the and the company those five or ten ladies and Mary Magdalene And right when they're talking I love this verse 36 Now as they said these things there's something about talking about the resurrection They're talking about the resurrection and there's this grace of God. I'm not making an equation I don't want you to run away with some kind of equation if you talk about the resurrection you're gonna get a visitation, but it's in context of talking about it where the Resurrected Christ actually appears to them shows himself into greater light to them. I Shows himself, but I think that even talking about the resurrection studying the record resurrection We see more of the resurrected Christ I'm not saying an open vision, but there's more revelation that comes when we talk about this subject That's why getting these ten appearances and getting kind of the broad strokes of these six chapters down So we could read them and meditate and you and then you're familiar with them and you're not lost in the details It all makes sense when you're reading and the different Chapters have little different nuances and different details. It's beautiful. I love it. Anyway verse 36 Jesus stood in front of him now. It's the first time he's appeared to all the Apostles the 11th. It's Peter's second time He has seen him today They're terrified they said okay, you look like Jesus, but I Mean you cast out devils you walked on water you we saw the Mount of Transfiguration There's is this really you is this something else besides you? Are you an angel a few people seen angels today? Are you an angel? Are you a spirit? Mary saw an angel the women saw an angel That's happening today a lot Who are you? Paragraph B Jesus says in verse 39 behold my hands Handle me touch me Put your hands on me An angel a spirit doesn't have flesh and bones now Jesus has flesh, but it's supernatural flesh. It's not corruptible flesh Paul says Flesh and blood does not inherit the kingdom. He means corruptible Defiled flesh human flesh, but resurrected flesh there is that's what he's talking about. It's a whole different quality He says touch me verse 40. He showed him his hands and feet He goes well, let's go all the way here verse 41 you got food They go no he goes yeah They gave him fish and some honeycomb. He ate it I Love it. I can't read this verse without saying what Alan Hood always says he goes he ate the fish Then he disappeared he walked through the wall Alan said did the fish go through the wall the fish in his stomach paragraph see John Tells the same story of this first gathering with when Jesus appears to the 11 plus the other group John paragraph see John 20 verse 19 on the same evening meaning resurrected resurrection Sunday the doors were shut They're locked because you know the city's looking for them because they want to exterminate this cult in this this potential revolt in the city Jesus came stood in their midst meaning he walked through the wall is the meaning the doors are all locked he walked through they go Wait, how'd you get through here? He goes same way. I got through the stone. It's not a problem Verse 24 Thomas was the only one of the 11 that was not there Thomas when he hears the story he goes. I want unless I touch him. You know the story. I won't believe Roman numeral 8 Appearance 6 it's another week later Verse 26 it says after 8 days, that's 8 days after the crucifixion which is Sunday morning is day 1 is 3 days after it now We're at the 8-day mark It's the next Sunday His disciples were in saw again inside This time Thomas is there. This is the second time now. He's appearing to the whole group This is typical John John makes this point every time the doors were shut and Jesus walked through the walls It's like John had a point about that. It was this is my favorite part What do you want? I love it when you do that walk through the wall thing Beloved you're gonna have a resurrected body like he has You'll have supernatural properties like he does forever and forever. You'll have a physical body with flesh and bones You will eat you will learn you will have a work you will have friends you will meet new people You will learn knowledge. You will have responsibility and authority you will effect change on the earth Like you do now, but in a far more substantial way Well verse 27 Thomas is oh my goodness. Jesus says Thomas. I'm gonna I'm gonna run I'm gonna Give you the same Situation I gave them a week ago last Sunday when I told him to handle me I'm going to you handle me remember back in Luke 24 verse 39 He told him the week earlier on resurrected Sunday touch me see if I have if I'm a spirit He says you touch me down, so he did it Thomas was overwhelmed Alba page 6 he says you're my God He called Jesus God now. That's normal to us, but that that was huge because they they were just this idea that he was deity the Genesis 1 God, I mean that was a You know you'd be a Messiah, but God the Genesis 1 God, that's a whole nother level Thomas the unbeliever says this appearance 7 Now 7 8 9 the next three appearances are all up in Galilee It's after the eight days after the crucifixion, but before the 40th, so there's After eight days, but the 40 days is what he ascends, so there's that 32 day gap And he visits them three times in Galilee the first time Roman numeral 9 There's seven of them, and they're fishing you know the story Paragraph B This is when Jesus reinstates Peter to his leadership role He's appeared to Peter a couple times But he's saying Peter Because Peter went fishing This is one of my favorite stories of Peter He's gone fishing, and I don't think he's going recreational fishing I Think Peter's saying I am an abysmal failure I Have denied him. I can't even live with myself I mean I know he loves me, and I love him, but I can't be responsible. I'm not trustworthy So when he went fishing all night long that wasn't our Sunday afternoon recreational fishing I think Peter's saying I got to go back to what I could do So very paragraph B verse 15 Simon said Jesus says Peter Simon or Peter Do you love me more than these? And one group of commentators sees pointing at the fish Do you love me more than this lifestyle and occupation you couldn't do? without my help Can you overcome Your shame and your failure by believing what I say about you and let that go and shepherd my people And forget the fishing thing right now Do you love me? He goes Lord. You know I do he goes then take responsibility for my people don't be a fisherman I mean being a fisherman is a good thing if God calls you to it But if you're called to be an apostle And it's because of shame and failure and just disgust with yourself you think I'm not gonna do this again the pain of this Is so great. I'm not gonna do it and Three times you know the story he says do you love me and every time Peter goes yes? And Jesus was washing away the shame and the residue of three failures of denying him And he established him back in his role here in Galilee Galilee Parents number eight they're still up in Galilee. This is one of the most remarkable things ever in history Jesus appears to 500 people at one time there's never been anything like this he's standing in a resurrected body 500 people all different storylines and connections, and they all see it together Nobody's tricking anybody That must have been such a a boost of Morale and faith. I mean all the storylines going out of that I can imagine the the attacks against that or people going. Oh wow who came up with that story I mean, this is such a remarkable reality, but I'm not gonna spend more time on that then appearance number nine It's the third appearance is still up in Galilee He's on a mountain, and that's when he says you're gonna disciple all the nations So he tells them this isn't just about us for and no more This is about the earth filled with the glory of God But when you disciple the nations, you know the story well verse 20 paragraph a hair Matthew 28 verse 20 Teach them everything I command you don't just teach them the things that Give them confidence. They're gonna get more things teach them whatever. I've said that they should do I find this to be one of the most challenging, but most important verses as a leader I don't want to just teach what excites people to how they get more More money and more friends and more influence and more comfort now There is a little bit of that in the Bible, but the Bible isn't mostly about that But the gospel that's going around the Western world is profoundly about how to get more money more friends more influence and more comfort now Jesus had teach them Everything I taught you the Sermon on the Mount all of it That's why I don't want to shy away from subjects that aren't Popular because I look at this verse like a little Lord. This is really important That's why I want to teach on eternal rewards in the eternal perspective. He taught on it. You taught it. I want to teach it Paragraph parents number 10 the final one He's back down in Jerusalem now. It's day 40 40 days after the crucifixion And he's caught up to heaven Now this is the most glorious thing where's your team go ahead and come on up Paul develops this more in Ephesians chapter 1 verse 20 to 23 Ephesians 1 I don't have that on the notes, but Paul describes Jesus a man at the right hand of the Father. I Mean a human has all authority in heaven and hell Sitting at the right hand of God the Father the majesty on high he's lobbying for the human race He's calling forth the glory of God in the context of people that will say yes to him I mean a human is on the throne Beloved that's good news for the human race Well Ephesians 1 Paul describes all the authority that says it that's what's happening right here And they watched him paragraph B They watched him go up and beloved a billion saints are going to watch him come down and that glorious day when the trumpet comes and he catches up all the Saints and and every eye sees him and he comes marching into Jerusalem to Drive darkness out of the earth and throw Satan into prison and fill the earth with the glory of God and work together with him forever and forever Amen Let's stand. Oh Lord. We love your we love your leadership. We love who you are I'm gonna pray for people tonight. You're like Peter You said Lord, I don't know I've blown it it didn't have to be some big scandal of sin. I just I just don't Follow through I don't stay steady. I don't press into what I think you want me to it and The lies start piling up. You know what? It's too late. It's never gonna happen The Lord's kind of looking at another person for my calling. I Don't know. It's probably over Beloved that's a lie And the Lord says do you love me more than? Indulging in the sorrow of your own failures That's what Peter was doing. He was indulging in the sorrow of his own failures. It's just like, you know I'm just gonna coast and kind of fade out into the shadows. He goes no You're gonna believe me. You're gonna stand stalled tall and you're gonna do what I say and you're gonna touch my people Well, Lord, I can't I'm too much of a failure Peter You had more confidence in your commitment to me than in my commitment to you well love it I got good news. We could have more confidence in his commitment to us than in our commitment to him He says I'm with you. I want you should you love me rise up push delete Let go press in and start taking care of my people Stop indulging and all your sorrows and pities of failures and how bad you are How you're the scum of the earth don't forget it get into the gospel Well, Lord I ask right now across this room for a spirit of grace Lord that there would be a new beginning a new beginning tonight for everyone in this room The enemy is attacking you with accusation and condemnation which he does everybody he does everybody night and day just so you know But you're saying man, I just need a renewing I just need a Re-establishing a realigning of my heart in that the resurrected Christ is I tell you he's here in our midst to touch us You would like prayer would invite you to come up on that issue right there that your hearts would get realigned in confidence Because the enemy wants to wear us down with accusation. I mean even the most godly among you The enemy lies it says no no, you're never gonna make it Here we are Lord we thank you for the resurrection stories We want to talk about the resurrection so we can see more about the resurrection I want to understand the glory of the resurrection more Holy Spirit, I just invite your presence Right now I invite the power of the Holy Spirit the Lord says the devil's a liar The devil is a liar New beginning it's not over. He says do you love me more than these? than another lifestyle Do you love me enough to trust me and go forward with me? even in your weakness What we ask you release your glory But release your glory even now I ask Lord in this room tonight mark ours Holy Spirit Come and touch our hearts even now I ask the Lord says today is a new day Today is a new day come Holy Spirit come and release your power even now I Let us feel let us see what you see and feel what you feel Holy Spirit But I ask you for the spirit of grace right now for burning hearts all over this room But I ask for burning hearts all over this room Oh Oh We love you The Lord says feed my sheep Take care of my people The ones and twos he's put around you the fives and ten I'll feed her I will speak the truth I will speak All that we love you Jesus Oh, we love you We will speak Yes, Lord, here we are Oh Oh Release your fire right now all over this room. Lord. I ask your manifest glory right now You make my heart alive Holy Spirit here we are Holy Spirit we believe you We Come with hearts wide open Oh You haven't gone too far But I ask for a spirit of renewal, I ask for strength in the inner man might in the heart Clarity on the mind I take authority over torment on the mind heaviness the spirit of heaviness I speak peace Lord release a wave of refreshing even tonight Oh You would release that all over this room a heart after God Women after God's own heart men after God's own heart like David But I just release that just release that spirit that grace package on people's lives right now They asked for that grace package that dimension of grace release it now Women after God's own heart establish them tonight Renew them recover them rescue them tonight Man after your own heart rescue them tonight Let us be After your heart We want to fool After your heart We want fullness let us be Oh You