Leaving God's Center

Let's turn to the twenty-fourth chapter of Luke's Gospel. To save time, let's read a few of the verses and then comment on the others as we go along. On the thirteenth verse of Luke, of Luke twenty-four, And behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about three storey furlong.

And they talked together of all those things which had happened. And it came to pass that while they communed together in reason, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were holden, that they should not know him.

And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have? One to another, as he walked, and are sad. And one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered and said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem? Hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days? And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet, mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death and have crucified him. But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel.

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

And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulcher and found it even that the women had said, but him they saw not. Well, we'll read the rest as we go on. Now this is a well-known scripture, but I believe it's a real heart-warming scripture that never can be exhausted.

And as I was thinking tonight what to speak on, I had several subjects before me. In my prayer, the Lord directed me, as you remember, to say Jesus himself drew near and went with them. And I thought maybe that is the subject for this evening.

Because there's so much in this chapter that it's hard to really get all the wonderful gems out of these verses. Now notice how the verse, how this chapter, this wonderful chapter, which includes, I believe, maybe seven openings, which we won't go into tonight, but you can search them for yourself. And I believe that when we get to the 13th verse, we read, Behold two of them.

Now two speaks of testimony. The figure two speaks of testimony. And tonight we're trying, by the grace of God, to be a testimony to God's truth in our meeting.

A little testimony. Maybe very weak, but we don't go by our weakness. We go by the one who's in the midst.

Two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem above three score furlongs. And notice how God mentions that. This is important because, you see, they were leaving Jerusalem.

That was God's center, wasn't it? That was the center. That's where the temple was. That's where God had placed his name.

But now Christ was rejected. But nevertheless, in the meantime, it was owned until the apostle Paul, in the book of Acts, he turned to the Gentiles. You'll find in the 13th chapter of the Gospel of Luke how that the servant asked for one more year.

Three years they had come looking for fruit, which was Israel. But there was no fruit for God in Israel. And the servant asked for one more year.

That was a fourth year. And I believe that from the crucifixion on to when Paul turned to the Gentiles, that was that year, that the Holy Spirit tried to find fruit for God in Israel, but he could find no fruit. Israel as a nation, as a testimony for God, had failed.

And so the apostle says, we turn to the Gentiles. You know, in the 7th chapter of Acts, when Stephen was martyred, he really went back to heaven with a message for the Lord saying, we will not have this man to reign over us. But these two were leaving Jerusalem that was then the center, I believe, at that time, God's center.

And you know, when they left there, God measured the distance. He really measured the distance. And he tells us it was about three, four furlons from Jerusalem to Emmaus.

They were going on to Emmaus. And many Christians are doing that today. They're leaving the center, God's center.

Now, I believe it's important in saying this, to say this tonight, beloved friends, by the grace of God that it's not us. This is where Christians go wrong. They say, you people think you're right.

But it's not a question of us. They might give an illustration. They might go to, let's say, a Roman Catholic priest.

And they might say to him, I have the word of God. And the word of God tells me this and tells me that. And he might say, but we don't believe that.

We believe you have to do this, you have to do that, you have to go to purgatory and so on. And we say, but we tell you no. Absent from the body, present with the Lord.

And he replies, that's what you think. You think you're the only people in the world that are right. That's not the question.

That's got nothing to do with it, beloved friends. It's what God says. And what was always stressed is it's not what we say, it's what God says.

God has a ground of gathering. And that ground of gathering is not yours and it's not mine. It's God's.

It's God's ground of gathering. And this truth in this book is God's truth. It's not your truth.

It's not my truth, except we can indeed read it and enjoy it and seek to walk in it. But it really belongs to God. And as a dear brother said, once, if we all leave, the Lord will raise up others to be on his ground of gathering.

The Lord restored that ground of gathering some 150 or 160 years ago. And the testimony is going to last till the end. There may be divisions and people may leave the meeting and go other places, but it will still remain because 1 Corinthians 11 and verse 26 says, For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye shall show the Lord's stead till he come.

That means that when Christ comes, there's going to be a testimony in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. But here these people were. Now they left this place and they were going down to Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about three or four furlongs.

I understand that's about seven miles. They were going seven miles away from Jerusalem. Now there's many Christians that haven't gone very far from the truth.

Maybe they teach the same things as they were taught by those that were gathered to the Lord's name. They teach exactly the same thing and they preach the same way, the same gospel, and maybe people get saved there. But that's not our business.

I believe that the Apostle Paul really makes it straight for all of us as Christians when he said in Philippians, I think it's chapter one, Nevertheless I rejoice because Christ is preached. Even if he's preached through strife and vainglory, I'm glad that Christ is preached. And brethren, may we have hearts like that to be able to say if Christ is preached, if Christ is exalted, if Christ is lifted up, let us be glad.

Let us be glad. And all I remember hearing recently at a Bible conference, something that was a real blessing to me, when they came down, maybe I mentioned this yesterday, but I forget, but I'll mention it again, but when they came down from the mass transfiguration, they brought a boy to the Lord Jesus. And they said, we brought this poor boy possessed of a devil to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.

So the Lord said, bring him to me, and he healed him. In the very next chapter, the disciples come back to the Lord and they said, we saw one, we saw one casting the demon out in thy name, and we forbade him because he followed not us. And the Lord said, forbid him not.

Forbid him not. He that is not against me is for me, or worse than effect. And the point is this, beloved friends, the Lord didn't say to his disciples, if that man has the power to cast out demons, he must be a good man.

Leave me and follow him. Follow him. And beloved friends, that's what they do in prison.

That's what they do in prison. They hear about a great preacher, and they say, this must be a man of God. He must be.

God is blessing him. And that's true. But the Lord didn't tell the disciples to go and follow the man that was being blessed.

He didn't tell them to follow him. He doesn't tell you, he doesn't tell me to follow the man that is being blessed. If God is blessing his servants, that's his business.

It's not your business. And it's not my business. And we can pray that Christ is preached, even though we can't agree with everything that they teach regarding the church.

But if they preach well and speak well of Christ, then we should have large hearts to pray God for us. But God measures the distance. You know, if you and I get away from the Lord, God measures the distance.

And the devil is very clever. And one of the cleverest things he does, beloved friends, I speak for myself, and that is he tries to turn us against our brethren. And you'll notice that all those who leave the meeting, in my experience, for 45 years or more, every one of them, without exception, attacks those who are gathered to the Lord's name.

They find fault with them. They lay accusations against them. They say unkind things about them.

And then they leave the meeting. Oh, beloved, if you do, the Lord is going to measure the distance that you go away. He measures the distance here.

And it says here in the 14th verse, and they talk together of all these things that should happen. You see, they're occupied with things. They're occupied with things.

And notice what happens later. And it came to pass, while they're communing together in reason, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. Now the Lord comes as a perfect stranger, and he begins to walk down the road with these two disciples that have left Jerusalem.

And isn't that nice? Isn't that encouraging when one of us gets away and gets cold in our souls, Jesus himself draws near and goes with us. God himself measuring the distance, Jesus himself drawing near and going with us. Now in the 15th chapter of Luke, where we have the prodigal, it tells us that he was a great way off.

Now you notice there's no measurement given. It doesn't say he was about three square furlongs away from his father's house. It just tells us he was a great way off and his father's son.

Now I like to think of this like this, beloved friends. When it comes to a man, I believe we use in the gospel as a sinner coming back to God, a poor lost sinner, who can measure the distance that the sinner is away from God? Well, I'll tell you what I believe. The Lord Jesus measured the distance.

But nobody can measure that distance but him. In those three hours of darkness, alone with God, the blessed Son of God, the Savior, our Savior, he measured the distance. You and I were away from God and he bridged by his finished work, his precious blood, his glorious resurrection, he bridged the distance and brought us back into the presence of our God and Father.

And so it tells us Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were holding that they should not know him. Isn't this often true with us? Doesn't the Lord often draw near if we don't recognize that the Lord is drawing near? Don't we, because of our bad state, we're in a community, we're unhappy with our brothers and our sisters, maybe we're missing the mark, and we don't realize that Jesus is drawing near to us.

Our eyes are holding and all of a sudden he speaks to them and he says unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another as ye walk and are sad? Now notice those words. Notice the Lord knew everything above them. He knew that we're sad.

As ye walk and are sad. Now are we like this, beloved friends? Are we walking today as Christians and yet we're sad? Why are we sad? Well, they answer his question and they say in the 18th verse, One of them whose name was Cleopas answered and said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem? Yes he was. He was only a stranger in Jerusalem.

He was just passing by. He was just passing through this world on the way to glory and he was only a stranger in Jerusalem. I think I can find the scripture.

The 16th chapter of John. Yes, the 16th chapter of John. Here is the whole summary of John's gospel in one verse.

I like to point this out to the unbelievers here tonight who I know are reading and studying their Bibles. John 16, 28. I came forth from the Father and I'm coming to the world again.

I leave the world and go to the Father. Now there we have the whole summary of the gospel of John in one verse. See how wonderful the word of God is.

But now they say, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem? He has not known the things which are coming to pass there in these days. And he said unto them, what things? See here were two men. Apparently they were disciples of the Lord.

Those who followed the Lord were disciples. They weren't apostles, but they were disciples. For a disciple is a follower of Christ.

An apostle is one who receives a direct call from God. The apostle Paul received a direct call from God. And the twelve apostles received a direct call from the Lord Jesus.

But a disciple is a little bit different. And so he takes them up on the very thing that they were occupied with. What things? You see they were occupied with things.

And this is sometimes told with us, beloved brethren. We're occupied with things instead of being occupied with Christ. They were occupied with things.

Now the things they were occupied with were good things. They were occupied with the crucifixion. They were occupied with the Lord's rejection.

They were occupied with the fact that the one they trusted was now dead, they thought. They were all good things, but they were things, it's the same. And he said, what things? And they said unto him, concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet, mighty indeed in word, before God and all the people.

What a contrast from the confession of Simon Peter. Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. They say, concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet, mighty indeed in word, before God and all the people.

Was he more than a prophet? Indeed he was. He was the eternal Son of God. But they say he was a prophet.

You know, it doesn't take us very long to get away, does it? It doesn't take us very long to start sliding away from the truth of God, and then we start getting occupied with things, and then we start to lose the value of who the Lord Jesus really is. He was only a prophet to them. And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death and crucified in the north.

But we trust him. We trust him. It has been he which should have redeemed Israel.

And besides, all this today is the third day since these things were done. Now, here are these two people, probably a man and his wife, but we're not told. Nevertheless, they say, we trust him.

Now, maybe they might as well say, but I trust in the Lord. We trust him. Now, you never trust the Lord for nothing.

Any person that trusts the Lord will always find the Lord to be faithful. Oh, beloved, let you and let me trust the Lord. We trust him.

We trust him. But now they said three days have gone by. Then they go on to say, in the 22nd verse, yea, and certain women also our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre.

And when they found not his body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive. Now, they thought he was dead. And what a contrast, beloved, with Mary of Bethany.

Mary of Bethany. What a contrast. Was Mary of Bethany at the tomb of Jesus? No.

Not according to the Bible. The Bible doesn't mention that Mary of Bethany was at the tomb of Tom. Which is very strange, because if ever a person loved the Lord Jesus, it was Mary of Bethany.

But she didn't have to go to the tomb for two reasons. First of all, she had anointed the Lord Jesus, his head and his body and his feet, before he died. And secondly, she knew that the grave would never hold the Prince of Life, the one who had raised her brother from the dead, after he was dead four days, could not remain dead.

So why go to the tomb? It would be empty. So she wasn't there. And I want to say this to young Christians here tonight.

And I'm not asking anybody to take their place at the Lord's table. It's the Lord's table. I just want to say this in passing.

You will never break bread in heaven. Never. Because the most interesting thing is remembering the Lord in heaven.

You've got to be like Mary of Bethany. You've got to break bread before you leave this world. You've got to remember the Lord in the sea of his rejection, because you'll never remember the Lord in heaven.

He will be there with us. That's what Mary of Bethany did. She said, if I want to anoint this blessed person's body, I've got to do it before he dies, because I'll never do it after, because he's going to be raised from the dead.

Well, then it says, going back to our chapter, in verse 25, Then he said unto them, O fool, have slow heart to believe all the prophets have written. Now notice, the Lord Jesus referred these two to the Word of God. Isn't this wonderful? He doesn't start speaking to them about all kinds of other matters.

He doesn't start to explain to them anything about what he was or what he had done, but he refers them to the Word of God. You've got a problem tonight. You've got something that's really testing you and bothering you and causing you to lack sleep.

The Bible has the answer. It's all found in the Word of God. Oh, my dear friend, a young person came to me in Montreal and said to me, I want to ask you a question.

And I said, before you ask me the question, I want to ask you this. You've asked many others this question, haven't you? And they said, yes, we have. We've asked at least four.

And I said, you've got four answers, haven't you? And if I give you my answer, you'll have five answers. Don't ask people their opinion. Go to the Word of God.

The Word of God will give you the life. The Word of God will give you wisdom. The Word of God will give you the truth.

Don't go to this brother and that brother and this brother and that brother unless you know they're really men who are spiritual men who have the love of Christ before them who honor the truth and who are going on the truth and who are not dividing the people of God. Never go to a person or a people who are dividing the people of God because they never can give you the answer. Because they just haven't got the answer.

They haven't got the answer because they're not going by the Word of God, they're going by their opinions and their likes and their dislikes. And they have set some man up to be their example and they're going to follow that man and not the man. And so the Lord Jesus refers them to the Word of God and it says and began at Moses and all the prophets he expanded unto them and all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

Now this is what they needed. They didn't need to be told what a great temple it was in Jerusalem. They didn't need to be told how much it cost to build that temple.

They didn't need to be reminded that Solomon built the temple. They didn't have to be told and be reminded that Solomon was the son of King David and his name stood for peace and he was the king who represented Christ and so on. The Lord spoke about himself.

This is what you need tonight. This is what I need. His himself.

No other man. Remember when the Lord Jesus when the blind man went to the Lord Jesus and they brought him and the Lord touched his eyes and then he said I see man as trees walking. Well that's what a lot of people do.

They see man as trees walking. Oh they say this man is so important. This man is so great.

He's so mighty. He's like a great tree. There he is.

He's miles ahead of all his brethren. He's like a great tree. What does the Lord do? He touched his eyes again and then he saw all men clearly.

In all eyes he saw all men clearly. But he saw the man. He saw Jesus the man.

He saw him clearly when the Lord touched his eyes and we need to get our eyes touched brethren so we won't look upon the man as mighty and big and great. Oh beloved Christians don't get occupied with men. They'll lead you astray if you do.

And it's very dangerous to absolve a brother and tell a brother he's a great man. First of all you're telling a lie because there's only one great man who ever lived in the whole world and that was the Lord Jesus. No other man.

Every other man has lost his reputation and the one who had a reputation the Lord Jesus made himself of no reputation. Every man since Adam's day has lost his reputation but one. That's Christ himself.

He had a reputation but he made himself of no reputation. And so here now he opens to them all the scriptures. Can you imagine that stuff? Can you imagine them walking down the road and this stranger talking to them and probably saying to them well Adam he speaks of the last Adam.

Then he goes on to talk about Abel and Abel's offering. Be the type of the Son of God the Lord of Glory. And then he goes on to the 22nd chapter and he tells them about Isaac.

He tells them about Isaac when he laid him on the altar. Then the ram caught him the thickest. And he goes into the book of Exodus Leviticus and Numbers and Deuteronomy and Joshua and judges until their heart was just burning.

Their heart was just burning as Jesus walked with them and talked with them above himself in all the scriptures. Old Testament scriptures not new. There was no Old there was no New Testament here in these days but there was the Old Testament.

And Christ is found from the very first chapter of Genesis right through to the end of Malachi as Christ. Because when God gave us the Bible he really gave us the story of two men. The first Adam lost.

The last Adam Christ himself. Not the first man and the second man but the first Adam and the last Adam. You see there was only two.

And the whole Bible concerns those two men. The first man God never trusts. The second man God exalts to the highest heaven.

The first man always fails. And God never oh the French never, never, never puts anything vital into the first man's hands. He just cannot do it because whatever he touches whatever he uses whatever he says it's always mixed up and wrong.

Did you ever think about the last Adam when he was here the Lord Jesus. He spoke words of life and power and he never had to say and I speak reverently pardon me I made a mistake. He never had to say let me start that sentence again please I used the wrong words there.

He never had to do that. Everything he said was one hundred percent perfection. He never made a mistake.

He never sinned. He couldn't sin because it was God himself manifest in the flesh. Oh dear young Christians the devil tonight is really attacking and it's alarming to find that even real Christians are sinning.

And while Jesus never sinned he could have sinned if he wanted to. That is blasphemy. It's not true.

The Lord Jesus Christ never sinned and the Lord Jesus Christ could never sin because he was God. God has been in the world he made walking as a man and he couldn't sin. I think I've told you before I want to repeat this for the benefit of the young people.

Young Christians please lay hold by faith on these words. I'm going to tell you. The spirit of God has taken the trouble or he has used his power to bring before us a free formal testimony about the Lord Jesus Christ and his sinless, holy, blessed life.

First of all he chooses a man of action the Apostle Peter who, word of God he did no sin. And then he chooses a man of education a very, very clever man the Apostle Paul and he says he knew no sin. And then he chooses the beloved Apostle John who is the man who lay at the Lord's bosom the man of communion and he says in him was no sin.

Threefold core God says is not easily broken. But then the Lord adds his testimony and says which of you convinces me of sin? So there's four. A fourfold witness to the blessed Lord Jesus Christ.

And how glorious that is. And I just say to you young Christians do not believe men who tell you that Christ could have sinned if he wanted to. They think they're smart.

They think they're really being clever and they'll use the temptation to say oh, he's really being clever and they'll use the temptation to say well, why was he tempted? He said, oh beloved his temptations only prove that he was a sinless one. He was tempted at all points like as we are yet without sin. And so it says in the 28th verse and they drew nigh unto the village.

What a difference from the village to the city. They drew nigh unto the village whither they went. And he made as though he would have gone further.

He would have gone further. But they constrained him saying, abide with us for it is toward evening and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them.

Now beloved notice this. The ministry of Christ by himself was beginning to take effect on these two. Because now they opened their house to him.

Not only did they walk with him and hear his words but now they opened their house to him. And they constrained him. They didn't just say well if you want to come in it will be alright with us.

But if not we don't mind go right ahead. Oh they constrained him. They begged him.

They invited him. Do we do that with Jesus? Do we do that with the Lord Jesus? Do we constrain him to come into our houses to be with us? And it says and he went in to tarry with them. And it came to pass as he sat at meat with them he took bread and blessed it and prayed and gave to them.

Now notice what happened next. Not only was their house open but their eyes were open. Not only did the Lord Jesus by his conversation open their house but now he opened their eyes.

And their eyes were open and they knew him and he vanished out of their sight. What a strange thing for the Lord to do. Why didn't he stay there? Oh they were in the wrong place.

They were in the wrong place. Jerusalem was the place they were told to tarry. They were told to tarry at Jerusalem.

But you see they had left Jerusalem. They had gone to Emmaus. And the Lord reveals himself to them then he vanishes out of their sight.

Now I think this is very very strange because very very strange because you would have thought the Lord would have gone in and he would have stayed with them and kept on talking. The minute they saw who he was he leaves them. And they never see him again till they go back to Jerusalem because the Lord didn't stay there.

Now I want to ask you honestly like sincerely brethren let us be honest. Let us not go by any of men's opinions. Let us go by the word of God.

Are all Christians in the right place? Is it just a thing in the Bible that it's the church of your choice? No. You cannot find at any place in the word of God that any Christian has got the right to go to the church of his church choice or her choice. We are to be guided by the word of God.

Maybe I know it sounds if people say it's legal and people say there's not many in all go to these meetings but that doesn't matter. That's got nothing to do with it at all. It's the Lord in the midst.

It's the Lord in the midst. It doesn't matter where you go it's the Lord in the midst. There are all Christians.

I want to be careful what I say. The Lord is with all his people all the time. Every born again believer can say the Lord is with me.

Day and night the Lord is with me. I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. That's true.

That's certain. That's scripture. That's what the word of God says.

But there is, I believe, a ground of gathering that belongs to God. It's his. He reveres it.

He values it because it is his beloved son. And collectively I don't believe that all Christians claim the divine presence. I believe we have to go by the word of God.

We have to go by the word of God. And you know people will say this makes us very proud. Well if it does there is something wrong with us.

Because we fail very much. Christians tell me you know there is so much failure in your meeting. There is so much failure.

But God knows that. And there always has been failure. There was failure in the very beginning.

There was failure in Corinth. But it was God's assembly just the same. He addresses the Epistle to the Corinthians to the Church of God which is at Corinth.

Oh there are some people there who say that's a mistake. You shouldn't have done that. Why the Lord couldn't be there with the saints at Corinth? Why there was all confusion there.

There was sin there. There was evil. There was all kinds of things going on.

There was divisions and all these kinds of things. But God says it's the Church of God which is at Corinth. You see there are Christians who leave the Lord's table.

And the Lord remains there. And I said to one of them one day there's only one thing I can say about you and that is this. That while it's good enough for the Lord it's just not good enough for you.

This is a very solemn thing beloved friends. The Lord vanished out of their presence and they didn't see Him any longer in Emmaus. He just wasn't there.

It was the wrong place. They had left the right place for the wrong place. One of them might have said well Jesus was with us.

He was talking to us. He ministered the word. He warmed our hearts.

And it says in the next verse, the 32nd verse and they said one to another did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us by the way. Now notice there's another opening. While He opened to us He opened to them the scriptures.

And it had an effect on them beloved. Because it says in the next verse, they rose up the same hour and returned to Jerusalem. The very place they had left they returned to that very place.

Why? Oh because He had ministered Himself to them. And I believe they came to the conclusion our house was open. Our eyes had been opened.

Our hearts had been warmed up and opened. And He's not here anymore. Where is He? He must be back in Jerusalem.

And so they went back. Now earlier in the chapter they said in verse 29 abide with us for it is toward evening and the day is far spent. Hearts were opened and their hearts were warmed even though the day was far spent.

This had no effect on them at all. They returned to Jerusalem. They rose up the same hour that is to say the very same evening that the day was far spent.

They went back to the very place where they should have remained. Brethren get that. They should have remained there.

But they left the place and it was the opening of the scriptures. It was the Lord Himself that brought them back to the place they had left. And it says here, And they rose up the same hour and returned to Jerusalem and found the eleven gathered together and them that were with them.

Only a handful. Only a handful. Where were the great crowd? They were in the synagogue.

They were in the temple. They were with the priest and the high priest and so on. There was only a little crowd.

Just a few people. Eleven apostles and some of the others that were with them. And there they were gathered together and what is it saying? They had a glorious message.

The Lord is risen indeed and appeared to Simon. Oh, how could they say that? Well, he appeared to them, he appeared to the two on the way to Emmaus and he also appeared to Simon. Now, what about Simon when he had just denied the Lord? He had denied the Lord.

But the Lord didn't just go after the two. He also we get away, no matter what we get, it's not nice that Jesus comes after us. And you know, Simon Peter had a private meeting with the Lord Jesus and God never tells us one thing that took place at that meeting.

And I believe it was a very reverent occasion. And the spirit of God as much as I said, it's so reverent that I'm not going to even mention what took place. But I believe that we can really think that what really meant it when he said, I will lay down my life.

He loved the Lord and the Lord knew it. And I believe that there were many tears shed when Peter stood in the presence of his Lord. And when the Lord restored Peter, and later in the 21st chapter of John, he restored him publicly because Peter really insulted his brother Apostle when he said, though all men deny thee, yet will not I. In other words, he said, these men might deny you, but not me.

I'll never deny you. I want to draw your attention to the 22nd Luke because without going into the details, we haven't got time, but I think that you'll find, I'll give you the verses, you young men, you young brothers can enjoy these verses. In verses 31 of Luke 22, verses 31 and 32, I think you'll find seven things that prove that Simon Peter was not a tare, but he was weak.

Seven reasons why Peter was really a true disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so the Lord appeared to Simon, and notice what happens here, and they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in the breaking of bread. And as they thus spake, Jesus himself, the very person that met them on the road to a mess, Jesus noticed himself, the very word, Jesus himself drew near and went with him.

Jesus himself stood, now notice where he stands, in the mist. You see, the Lord is always in the mist. If you read the book of Genesis, chapter 1, you'll find the fourth day, that's in the middle of the seven days, the middle of the week, in the midst.

There you have the sun and the moon and the stars. Christ himself, where is he? He's in the middle of that seven days a week. When you come to the doctors in Luke chapter 2, in the temple, where was the Lord? Where was he sitting? In the midst of the doctors.

There he was, in the midst. When you come to the cross, where do you find him? In the midst of the thieves. On the Mount of Transfiguration, where Moses and Elijah appeared, where is the Lord? He's in the midst.

When you come to the 20th of John and the 24th of Luke, where is the Lord? He's in the midst. When you come to Matthew 18 and 20, where is the Lord? In the midst. When you come to the fifth chapter of Revelation, where is the Lord? He's in the midst.

Isn't this wonderful? How perfect, how beautiful the Word of God is. And as they thus spoke, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and said unto them, Peace be unto you. But they were terrified and afraid.

And suppose that they had seen the Spirit. Is it possible that two in the weight of Emmaus were also afraid? But it isn't half the Holy Spirit here as we have tonight. They were terrified and afraid, it is said.

And they suppose that they had seen a Spirit. Now notice this verse. And he said unto them, verse 38, Why are ye troubled? And why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold, my hands and my feet, it is I myself.

Handle me and see, for a Spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. Notice now, it didn't say flesh and blood. He had shed his blood on the cross.

But now he was a risen Christ. And he says, Handle me and see, for a Spirit. You see, it wasn't a Spirit.

There was someone teaching Christendom that when the Lord arose, he arose in a spiritual way. No, that's not true. He arose as a man, a real man.

He had flesh and bones. And it says, in verse 38, in verse 40 rather, And when he had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet. Now, this is Luke's gospel.

If you were to read in the 20th of John, you see that he showed unto them his hands and his side. But Luke's gospel where he's the man, Christ Jesus, why he showed them his hands and his feet. Because he is the Son of Man.

He walked this world as a man, as a real man. So he showed them his feet where he walked this world. How beautiful are the feet of them that bring good tidings, the gospel of peace and so on.

So he showed them his feet. But in John where he's the Son of God, he shows them the side that was pierced. John is the only apostle or the only gospel writer that mentions the pierced side of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In fact, he's the only one of the four writers in connection with the cross that mentions the blood. No other writer, Matthew or Mark or Luke, do not mention the blood of Christ at the cross. Only John.

And so in John he showed them his hands and his side. He said, Peace be unto you. And here was the foundation.

Here was the basis of their peace. The hands and the feet pierced and the side pierced. He could say peace be unto you.

There's peace now. He had made peace by the blood of the cross. Then it tells us in verse 41, And while they had believed not for joy and wonder, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? Have you here any meat? O brethren, how wonderful it is to be gathered to the precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ and be able to come to the Bible readings and get meat and get food for our souls.

Now I know there's people who tell me they don't get any meat. They tell me that sometimes in Montreal, young people, you know, have wandering feet and they want to go into the camp and they want to go back to the systems. And you'll notice, beloved friends, without exception hardly, that those who go back into the systems of man, I shouldn't say to go back, but go to the systems of man, are always the children, nearly always, of those who are gathered to the Lord's name.

Those who have been delivered out of man's systems never want to go back again to that slavery where the Holy Spirit is not acknowledged and where there's one man in charge of everything. They just don't want to go back there because they have been delivered. It would be the same when the Roman Catholic who got saved was rejoicing in the Lord and saying to them, why don't you go back to the Catholic Church? Oh, they'd say never.

Back to that slavery, back to that darkness? No, sir. I have been delivered from that. So how nice this is.

He says, have you here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish out of a honeycomb. Now, I heard a brother once speak on this, and he pointed out that the piece of the broiled fish would be the endless resources of God. I like that.

And then he spoke of this honeycomb of being one, just one, bringing out the truth of the oneness of the body of Christ, the piece of the honeycomb, the oneness. Well, I enjoy that, and I pass it on to you. And notice now, he took it and it eats before them.

Here was a man who had been in his grave, a man who rose from the dead, a man who had the marks of his passions on his body, and he sits there before his disciples, and he eats before them. He eats. He eats the broiled fish and the honeycomb, and he says unto them, these are the words which are spoken to you, that I will get with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses and in the prophets and the psalms concerning me.

Now, the Lord puts his seal of approval on all the Old Testament. Now, if you want to look in the Bible and trace the Lord's word, you'll see that nearly every event in the Old Testament, the Lord put his stamp of approval on it, and clearly in that story of Jonah, that the modernist preachers just laugh at it, mock at it. Christ said that the whale swallowed, or the great fish, swallowed Jonah.

I don't have to read any books about how a man can live in a whale's belly. I don't need that rubbish. I know that the whale swallowed Jonah because my Savior, who never told a lie, said so.

I don't have to look up in the mountain and try to find Noah's ark in the ice. I don't need that. I read my Bible and I read that Jesus said, the flood came and destroyed them all.

And he spoke about the ark. So I don't care whether they find an ark in the ice or whether it's so many years old or not. There was a flood because my Savior said so.

I don't have to read any books to prove it or find dead bones on the top of mountains. I just don't need that. Neither do you.

Our Lord said so, so it was that happened. There was a flood. And the Lord put a stamp of approval on the whole word of God.

And then it says, that opens the door And he said to them, blessed is written, blessed is the hope of Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day. And the repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations. Notice, the beginning of Jerusalem.

The beginning of Jerusalem. Could the apostles go to Jerusalem, enter into the city, and meet the Roman soldier of Pyrrhus to his side and say, he loves you. He sent me here to tell you, he died for you, he wants you, he loves you, he told me to tell you that he was willing to forgive you and take all your sins away.

And then go to the other Roman soldier that clapped at the crown of thorns and say, soldiers, he sent me to tell you, he wants you, he loves you, he died for you. And then go to all the other men and cry that away with them, crucify them and say, he told me to come right to Jerusalem where he was cast out of the city and tell you, he loves you, he wants to forgive you, he wants to save you. What a wonderful savior.

Then he said, he said, he said, he said, he said, he said, he said, he said, he said, he said, he said, he said, he said, he said, he said, he said, he said, he said, he said, he said, he said, he said, he said, he said, he said, he said, he said, he said, he said, he said, he said, he said, he said, he said, That's what the disciples did. When the Lord said, when you shall betray me, they didn't say, Peter didn't say, I know who it is, it's John, he's the bomb. They said, Lord, is it I? Is it I, Lord? I could do that, you know.

Lord, is it I? And when he told them to go and prepare in the upper room, the Passover, did they just go off? They said, no, Lord, we're well bound that we prepare. You see, they sought the Lord's mind. May the Lord help us then, not, beloved brother, to look at each other like we find in the book of Genesis, when poor Jacob was hungry and there was no more corn.

And he said to his son, why look ye one upon another? Why, there's a man down there in Egypt, he's got corn for us. He didn't know it was Joseph, a picture of Christ, but they were looking at each other. That's what we do sometimes.

And well might the Lord say, why look ye one upon another? There's a true Joseph of God's right hand. He's got the corn, he's got the food for us. Look at him, get your eyes on the true Joseph, and may the Lord bless his word.

Shall we pray?