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Open your Bibles to the Gospel 
of Luke in chapter 24. Also, good evening to everyone. 
It's good to be back in the house of the Lord with all of you. Luke chapter 24, there we have 
the account of the resurrected Savior, that blessed narrative 
concerning the one victorious upon Calvary's cross, who, as 
promised, was resurrected the third day appeared to his disciples 
and gave them many joys and many instructions prior to his ascension. We're going to focus specifically 
on verses 36 to 53, but we'll read the chapter in its entirety 
to set context and to put us in the right place regarding 
this narrative. So this is Luke 24, beginning 
at verse 1. This is the word of the triune 
God. Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, 
They and certain other women with them came to the tomb, bringing 
the spices which they had prepared. But they found the stone rolled 
away from the tomb. Then they went in and did not 
find the body of the Lord Jesus. And it happened, as they were 
greatly perplexed about this, that, behold, two men stood by 
them in shining garments, Then, as they were afraid and bowed 
their faces to the earth, they said to them, Why do you seek 
the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen. 
Remember how he spoke to you when he was still in Galilee, 
saying, The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful 
men and be crucified, and the third day rise again. And they 
remembered his words. Then they returned from the tomb 
and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. 
It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and 
the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles. 
And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did 
not believe them. But Peter arose and ran to the 
tomb, and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves. 
And he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened. 
Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a 
village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem. 
And they talked together of all these things which had happened. 
So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus himself 
drew near and went with them. But their eyes were restrained, 
so that they did not know him. And he said to them, What kind 
of conversation is this that you have with one another as 
you walk and are sad? Then the one whose name was Cleopas 
answered and said to him, Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem? 
And have you not known the things which happened here in these 
days? And he said to them, What things? So they said to him, 
The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who 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 crucified him. But we were hoping that it was 
he who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today 
is the third day since these things happened. Yes, and certain 
women of our company who arrived at the tomb early astonished 
us. When they did not find his body, they came saying that they 
had also seen a vision of angels who said he was alive. And certain 
of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just 
as the women had said, but him they did not see. Then he said 
to them, O foolish ones and slow of heart to believe in all that 
the prophets have spoken. Ought not the Christ to have 
suffered these things and to enter into His glory? And beginning 
at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded to them in all the 
scriptures the things concerning Himself. Then they drew near 
to the village where they were going, and He indicated that 
He would have gone farther. But they constrained Him, saying, 
Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And He went in to stay with them. 
Now it came to pass, as he sat at the table with them, that 
he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then 
their eyes were opened, and they knew him, and he vanished from 
their sight. And they said to one another, 
Did not our heart burn within us while he talked with us on 
the road and while he opened the Scriptures to us? So they 
rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven 
and those who were with them gathered together, saying, The 
Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon. And they told 
about these things that had happened on the road, and how he was known 
to them in the breaking of bread. Now as they said these things, 
Jesus himself stood in the midst of them and said to them, Peace 
to you. But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed 
they had seen a spirit. And he said to them, Why are 
you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your 
hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Handle 
me and see. For a spirit does not have flesh 
and bones, as you see I have.' When he had said this, he showed 
them his hands and his feet. But while they still did not 
believe for joy and marveled, he said to them, Have you any 
food here? So they gave him a piece of broiled 
fish and some honeycomb, and he took it and ate it in their 
presence. Then he said to them, These are the words which I spoke 
to you while I was still with you, that all things must be 
fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses and the prophets, 
and the Psalms concerning me. And he opened their understanding 
that they might comprehend the Scriptures. Then he said to them, 
Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ 
to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that 
repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name 
to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses 
of these things. Behold, I send the promise of 
my Father upon you. But tarry in the city of Jerusalem 
until you are endued with power from on high. And he led them 
out as far as Bethany, and he lifted up his hands and blessed 
them. Now it came to pass while he blessed them that he parted 
from them and carried up into heaven. That he was parted from 
them and carried up into heaven. and they worshiped him and returned 
to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple 
praising and blessing God. Amen. Well, let us pray. Heavenly 
Father, we thank you for this, the reading of your scriptures 
and this engagement that we have now in worship, the preaching 
of your word. We do pray that you would bless 
us now as we engage in this. Help us to have our minds tuned 
to the Holy Scriptures. Give us your Holy Spirit, Lord 
God, that we may lay hold of its truth. Help us to lay hold 
of our blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and to rejoice 
in the Christ to whom the Word points. Do be with us now, and 
in this exercise of worship, Lord God, may you be glorified. 
And we pray in the name of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. 
Amen. Well, let's just remind ourselves 
that the tenor and the flavor of the Holy Scriptures, and in 
this case, the Gospels, it comes to us in not the tenor or flavor 
of a once upon a time. We've noted this before, the 
historicity of the gospel accounts. Our Bibles are inspired, they 
are inerrant, they are infallible, and so the gospel accounts, like 
every other portion of Holy Scripture, come to us with the weight of 
that inspiration, that infallibility, and that inerrancy. In fact, 
just turn with me for a moment as we work through a bit of a 
short introduction here to our subject matter, to the beginning 
of Luke, to see how our Bibles come to us. Notice in Luke 1, 
beginning at verse 1, our Bibles don't come to us in that flavor 
of once upon a time. They don't come to us in that 
manner of fable and fiction, but rather certain history. Notice 
Luke 1, beginning at verse 1, in as much as many have taken, 
in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been 
fulfilled among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses 
and ministers of the Word delivered them to us, it seemed good to 
me also, having had perfect understanding of all things, from the very 
first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, 
that you may know the certainty of those things in which you 
were instructed. So Luke begins his gospel, not with once upon 
a time, but with the historicity, that is, the certain historical 
fact that what he is writing about truly did take place. The 
second volume that Luke writes, the Book of Acts, remember that 
Luke is the author of the Gospel of Luke and also the Book of 
Acts, he begins in a very similar way his second volume, the Book 
of Acts. Notice in Acts 1.1, The former 
account, that is Luke, the former account I made, O Theophilus, 
of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day 
in which he was taken up, after he, through the Holy Spirit, 
had given commandments to the apostles whom he had chosen, 
to whom he also presented himself alive after his suffering by 
many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days, 
and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. We ought 
to rejoice as Christians that when we come to the Bible, we 
come. to the certainty of God's truth 
and God's word. These things did take place. 
The narratives did take place. Now, our Bibles come to us in 
many other literary flavors. We have poetry, we have song, 
we have words of wisdom, we have prophecy, we have apocalyptic 
literature. Here in the Gospels, we have 
narrative given with a theological purpose. And in this narrative 
given with a theological purpose, the Gospel of Luke, it sets forth 
at the end our passage this evening, the certainty of the resurrected 
Christ. We have the word of God that 
declares two men with certainty a resurrected champion, our Lord 
Jesus Christ. And so in verses 36 to 53, we 
want to look at the blessings of the resurrected Christ. The day of days had come, that 
hour of hours, where the Son of God, who took upon himself 
man's nature for our redemption, gave himself up upon Calvary's 
cross. He had completed that once for 
all, that obedience unto cross death vocation that he was charged 
with by his father. He had performed that perfectly, 
and now he has been raised from the dead. Isn't it a joyful sight 
for the Christian to see that one who was the man of sorrows, 
no longer now the man of sorrows, but having gone through that 
veil of victory, he is now the champion of that victory, resurrected 
the third day. and about to ascend, but before 
he does, he gives his disciples some blessings, some preparatory 
things in order for them to go about and to preach this crucified 
Jesus, to proclaim this resurrected Christ. And so, we want to look 
at three things this evening. First off, the comfort of the 
resurrected Christ. That's seen in verses 36 to 43. The teaching of the resurrected 
Christ in verses 44 to 49, Thirdly, the ascension of the resurrected 
Christ from verse 50 to verse 53. So first off, the comfort 
of the resurrected Christ. We want to notice first his salutation, 
and it's very simple. Notice verse 36. Now, as they 
said these things, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them and 
said to them, peace to you. He gives them a salutation. That 
simply means to speak or to give an utterance of greeting. You 
know as we type emails or write letters. We don't write letters 
as often as we used to we should write more letters It's a it's 
a wonderful exercise. You know try and write letters 
take out a pen and a piece of paper and write a letter It's 
a it's a wonderful exercise, but we begin our emails With 
a salutation dear so-and-so you know I bring you greetings I 
hope this letter finds you well and that sort of a thing here. 
We have the resurrected Christ giving a a salutation, and he 
says, peace to you. And you may have heard before 
that this is a very usual greeting in the first century context. It might be tantamount to our 
modern day hello, how are you, that sort of a thing. But, as 
given by the resurrected Christ, it doesn't come as empty and 
as vain as our sort of cordial greetings come in our modern 
day context. It is, as Gil writes here, notice 
what what Gill notes with regards to this greeting, he says, peace 
be unto you, is an usual form of salutation among the Jews, 
expressive of all prosperity in soul and body, inward and 
outward, spiritual and temporal, and here may have a special regard 
to that peace he said he gave unto them and left with them 
upon his departure from them, and which he had obtained by 
the blood of his cross and now preached unto them. So while 
it might be a standard idiomatic greeting in the first century 
context, it's spoken by Christ and it comes with the weight 
of glorious theology and blessed truth. Remember that Christ is 
our peace according to Paul in the letter to the Ephesians. 
In Ephesians 2.14 it says, and he himself is our peace. It says 
later on in that same passage that he makes peace and it says 
in that same passage a third time that he preaches peace. And so Christ is the author of 
peace. And so giving this salutation, 
it is right and true for him to say peace to you. Again, it's 
not an empty cordiality and it's not an empty convention. We as 
men, sinful redeemed men with remaining corruption very often 
engaged in empty cordialities. It's something that we ought 
to try and do less of. We'll greet somebody and we'll 
say, hey, how are you? and they'll say good, and then 
they'll say how are you, and we'll say good, and then we'll 
just, and then we'll leave each other. It's a very, very, it's, 
you know, it's customary, but it just seems very, very empty. 
I mean, it's nice that we do it, but we ought to hope and 
pray that it would be filled with a true cordiality and a 
true feeling for that other person, and hopefully that's reciprocated. 
But with Christ, there are no empty words. With respect to the tongue of 
the Lord Jesus Christ, there is no vanity. and he comes with 
this blessed salutation, peace to you. It points back to that 
John 14 declaration that he gives peace and he leaves peace with 
them. And these disciples receive this 
salutation, peace to you, and it comes with that weight. You 
know, we think of Christ, we ought to think of him as we just 
noted, that he is our peace. We ought to think then of Romans 
5, 1, Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace 
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We ought to think of 
that Colossians 1 20 reality that he has made peace through 
or by the blood of his cross. And so he gives this blessed 
salutation. He then goes on with, secondly, 
a demonstration. And there are four quick things 
we want to observe here. He goes and he engages in a demonstration 
to his disciples. And first we see his display 
of divinity. Notice the language at verse 
38. And he said to them, why are you troubled and why do doubts 
arise in your hearts? We see here Christ giving a display 
of his divinity. Now, we could say with this first 
clause, why are you troubled? That anybody may have been able 
to see by their outward appearance because they're engaged in terror, 
fright, and they're supposing that they had seen a spirit. 
That's a, you know, it's a fair conclusion. But Christ goes on 
to say, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? This is a display 
of divinity. The book of Revelation describes 
Jesus Christ in one of the letters to the seven churches as he whose 
eyes are as a flame of fire. That speaks to his omniscience. 
He is the one who knows the thoughts and the intents of the hearts 
of men. And so Christ comes here with 
a comforting posture and delivery And he says, why are you troubled? 
And why did doubts arise in your hearts? This should have, though 
it didn't immediately, but this should have comforted the disciples 
because they would realize, okay, this isn't just some spirit. 
This really is the Christ because he knows the thoughts of our 
hearts. No one else can know the thoughts of our hearts, save 
God himself. Christ here gives a display of 
his divinity secondly he appeals to sight notice what he says 
he says Behold my hands and my feet that it is I myself Remember 
that this is all under the topic of the comfort of the resurrected 
Christ that is Christ giving comfort to his disciples and 
so to To put an end to the terror, to put an end to them being frightened, 
and to put an end to this supposition that Christ is just a spirit, 
he says, behold, look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. He wants to lift them up from 
out of this position of terror and fright. He wants to correct 
their misunderstanding that he is just a spirit. And so he says, 
behold my hands and my feet. And of course, we should know 
that he's not just saying behold my hands and my feet, generally 
speaking, because humans have hands and feet and spirits don't. But he wants them to look at 
the print of the nails on his hands, the print of the nails 
on his feet, and his wound, the wound in his side. He's saying, 
look, that one crucified, that man of sorrows acquainted with 
grief, that one who was lifted up upon that Roman gibbet of 
execution has been victorious over death and hell and has now 
been raised the third day and he stands before you. I am that 
crucified one. I am that Christ. Behold my hands 
and my feet. And he appeals next to their 
touch. He appeals to their sight and 
now to Notice, handle me and see, for a spirit does not have 
flesh and bones as you see I have. We should note that we aren't 
to think, I don't believe, that Christ is engaging here in sharp 
rebuke of his disciples. We're not to envision, and we 
should never vainly envision Christ anyway, but with eyes 
of faith, we're not to suppose that Christ is somehow glaring 
at them with eyes of flame, with wholesome indignation of some 
sort, behind a furrowed brow and waving his finger and saying, 
why don't you believe in me? Christ is with the calmness and 
the peacefulness of the resurrected Savior coming to them in their 
particular frame, knowing that they are but dust, and wanting 
them, again, to rise up from out of their trepidation and 
their fear. And so he says, look upon me, and then he says, handle 
me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you 
see I have. We should see here the kindness 
of our Savior. The kindness of our Savior. He 
doesn't wag the finger and rebuke them with sharpness, but rather 
he's giving them a blessed demonstration that he really is the Christ, 
victorious at the cross, and now victorious in the subsequent 
resurrection that he promised. He appeals to their sight, he 
appeals to their touch, and notice he goes on and he appeals to 
human action. But notice in between here, verse 
40, when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his 
feet, but while they still did not believe, for joy and marveled, 
he said to them, So he engages in this demonstration, he engages 
in this post-crucifixion, post-resurrection demonstration, and he does so 
in kindness, but his disciples are still shaken. His disciples 
have still not yet arrived at the point of fully embracing 
the truth of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. But 
while they still did not believe for joy and marveled, he said 
to them, and notice what he says, he says, Have you any food here? So they gave him a piece of broiled 
fish and some honeycomb, and he took it and ate it in their 
presence. We are to understand that Christ 
is not hungry here. Christ is resurrected. He has his glorified body. It 
is pre-ascension, yes, but it is post-resurrection, and Christ 
is not suffering from hunger here. He's not asking for food 
so that his body might be sustained because he needs no sustentation. He says, have you any food here? 
And he subsequently eats the food provided so that he could 
further demonstrate that he is not a phantom, he is not a specter, 
he is not a spirit or a ghost, but he is the resurrected Christ. 
Very God and very man, yet one Christ. And so he goes and he 
furthers this blessed demonstration to show that he is that same 
Christ who was before them, that same Christ who was crucified. Spurgeon notes, this was an exceedingly 
convincing proof of his unquestionable resurrection. In very deed and 
fact, and not in vision and phantom, the man who had died upon the 
cross stood among them. It's a blessed truth. What we're 
to realize here as well, brethren, is something that the old church 
used to say. They used to have these particular 
idioms, the ancient church. And one of the idioms that they 
had was, if Christ was a phantom, then our salvation is a phantom 
also. It speaks to Christological error 
in the early church and some of which still sadly survives 
to this day. But there was a rejection of 
the physical in the early church. There was a Gnosticism which 
rejected the truth that Christ really did come in the flesh. 
It saw all physical reality as ungodly and wicked. and so could 
not ascribe physicality to Christ. They wouldn't say, they would 
not affirm that Christ took on himself our humanity for our 
redemption, but only appeared to be human. And so we need to 
understand though, that if Christ is a phantom, then our salvation 
is a phantom also. Why? Because another one, the 
unassumed is the unhealed, another idiom. If Christ, did not assume 
humanity, then we are not healed. Because that which is healed 
must be assumed. Christ needed to assume humanity 
because humanity needed to be healed. If he didn't actually 
assume humanity, if he actually did not take to himself man's 
nature, then man is not redeemed, then man is not saved. And so 
Christ in this glorious demonstration is asserting the veracity that 
is the certain truthfulness of salvation. That he really did 
assume humanity. He really was delivered up upon 
Calvary's cross. He really did cry upon that cross 
in his assumed humanity, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken 
me? And in victory over death and 
hell and the devil, he now on the third day or later, as the 
resurrected Christ, has appeared to these and has shown forth 
this demonstration that he is very God and that he is very 
man, the one who redeems his people. from their sins. Well, 
secondly then, the teaching of the resurrected Christ. Notice 
that Christ goes on to speak here and goes on to engage in 
other things, and we want to note the teaching of the resurrected 
Christ, first by noting his reminder in verse 44. Then he said to 
them, these are the words which I spoke to you while I was still 
with you. So, It's the nature and the frame 
of man, it's our condition, even in our redeemed condition, that 
we need reminding. A reading of the Bible itself, 
Old and New Testaments, will see that the Christian needs 
reminding. And these disciples were reminded 
on more than one occasion, that it was announced to them on more 
than one occasion that the Christ would suffer that he would be 
delivered up by the hands of wicked men, he would be crucified 
and put to death, but he would rise again the third day. In 
fact, there are three places in the gospel of Luke where we 
find this, and you can turn to Luke 9 with me to see the first 
one. Luke 9 at verse 21. And he strictly 
warned and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, 
The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the 
elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be 
raised the third day. Luke 13 and verse 32. Luke 13 at verse 32. Notice the same language. And 
he said to them, Go tell that fox, Behold, I cast out demons 
and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be 
perfected. Nevertheless, I must journey 
today, tomorrow, and the day following for it cannot be that 
a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem." Hopefully you 
love it too. I love it when the Savior here 
says, go tell that fox, speaking of Herod. Christ wasn't afraid 
to, He didn't shy away from the opportunity to deliver wholesome 
rebukes of the religious leaders of His day, those errorists, 
those in opposition, those enemies of God. And He says, go tell 
that fox, And notice he speaks with regards to his power in 
the casting out of demons, the performance of miracles, and 
then also the third day I shall be perfected, the announcement 
of his resurrection. And as we'll have occasion to 
note later, that announcement to an enemy is an announcement 
of they're all dread. That means outside of Christ 
and in unbelief, they are to dread the resurrection. They 
are to dread the ascension because the one delivered up by their 
wicked hands is the one promised by their old covenant scriptures 
to be the Messiah, the Redeemer of men. And so they put him to 
death and the resurrection punctuates the fact that they have put to 
death the Lord of glory. The subsequent ascension even 
more punctuates the fact that they have put to death the Lord 
of glory. They're all dread that Christ 
on the third day would bring about perfection and notice in 
at Luke 18 33 another instance of the announcement the third 
in the gospel of Luke the announcement of the death and resurrection 
of Christ at verse 31 of Luke 18 actually then he took the 
12 aside and said to them, Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem 
and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the 
Son of Man will be accomplished. For he will be delivered to the 
Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. They 
will scourge him and kill him and the third day he will rise 
again. And so when we get to chapter 
24 and we see Christ say that these are the things that I spoke 
to you when I was still with you. Delivering this reminder, 
we can see why he has to remind them that he beforehand spoke 
to them about this. It's because there were a number 
of occasions where he did so and yet they still did not fully 
embrace the reality and the theology of the resurrection. Notice verse 
34 in fact though, if you're still at Luke 18. But they understood 
none of these things This saying was hidden from them, and they 
did not know the things which were spoken. So in a sense, I 
guess we kind of have to cut them a little bit of slack here, 
because by divine design and by divine providence, there was 
the intention that post-resurrection, by the instruction of the risen 
Christ, they would be brought to the fullness of the knowledge 
of that crucifixion and that resurrection. as the risen Christ 
would prepare them and equip them for their going about the 
earth preaching the glories of Jesus Christ and his gospel. 
So back to Luke 24 we see this reminder given and then secondly 
under the teaching of the resurrected Christ we notice now his instruction 
So notice again at verse 44, then he said to them, these are 
the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that 
all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law 
of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms concerning me. And he opened their understanding 
that they might comprehend the scriptures. He gives them instruction 
that all things might be fulfilled which were written concerning 
me. You see, he gives them a post-resurrection 
Bible study. What a glorious thing it must 
have been to receive a Bible study from the resurrected Christ. 
Isn't that amazing? Jesus Christ sits with them after 
eating broiled fish and honeycomb, and he gives them a Bible study. 
But you see, it's a very important value that he gives them this 
Bible study because he is preparing them for they're going about 
in preaching Christ to the nations. And so what better way, what 
one of many great ways to prepare his disciples is by opening up 
the scriptures to them and showing them from the law of Moses, from 
the prophets and from the Psalms, those things concerning Christ. Nehemiah Cox wrote these words 
with regards to this particular reality and the reality that's 
in view is and it's something we noted this morning But all 
of the all of the Old Testament all of the old covenant streams 
of revelation find remember their confluence in Christ they find 
their terminus, that is their ending point in Jesus Christ. 
All of the washings, all of the ceremonies, all of the sacrifices, 
all of the prophecies, all of those things find their end, 
their scope, and their terminus in Jesus Christ, and that's what 
Christ is saying here. Remember the old covenant scriptures, 
these things spoke concerning me, that one that would come 
in the fullness of the times, born of a woman, born under the 
law to redeem those who were under the law. It spoke of a 
crucified Messiah, of a resurrected Messiah, and of an ascended Messiah. And so he opens up the scriptures 
to make known these things. And Nehemiah Cox writes, in all 
our search after the mind of God in the holy scriptures, we 
are to manage our inquiries with reference to Christ. You see, 
our Bibles aren't just a slapping together of ancient dusty tomes 
put together in order to bring out some sort of ethical morsels 
for modern-day man. These 66 books of the Old and 
the New Testaments, inspired, inerrant, and infallible, were 
delivered by God so that they might, chapter after chapter, 
page after page, point forward to Christ upon the cross working 
out the salvation of men. That's why, as we noted this 
morning from Genesis 3.15, that promise of the hero born of woman 
who would crush the serpent with his heel, all of biblical revelation 
following that leads up to this particular point. A resurrected 
Christ equipping his disciples who would then ascend, not the 
disciples but Christ, who would then ascend and send forth his 
spirit that they might have the power wherewith to go out to 
the nations and preach the glories of that resurrected Savior. And so he gives them a Bible 
study, he teaches them, he instructs them, and that instruction comes 
by opening up the Scriptures and showing that all of the Scriptures 
point forward to Christ. He is the sum and substance of 
biblical revelation. He is the sum and substance of 
Old Testament revelation and New Testament revelation, to 
be sure. Turn to Acts 3 for a moment, because we want to see that in 
the pages of Holy Scripture, we find this very thing. We want to remark as you're turning 
to Acts chapter 3 that Christ in his earthly ministry spoke 
these these very things he said to his Religious opponents the 
Jews of his day you search the scriptures for in them you think 
that you have eternal life But these are they that testify of 
me Abraham rejoiced to see my day. He saw it and was glad We 
see here in Acts 3 the proclamation of the Apostle Peter notice at 
verse 18 But those things which God foretold by the mouth of 
all his prophets that the Christ would suffer he has thus fulfilled 
Repent therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted 
out so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of 
the Lord and that he may send Jesus Christ, who was preached 
to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration 
of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all his 
prophets since the world began. For Moses truly said to the fathers, 
the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet, like me 
from your brethren, him you shall hear in all things whatever he 
says to you. And it shall be that every soul 
who will not hear that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from 
among the people. Yes, and all the prophets, from 
Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have 
also foretold these days. You are sons of the prophets 
and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying 
to Abraham, And in your seed all the families of the earth 
shall be blessed. To you first, God, having raised 
up his servant Jesus, sent him to bless you in turning away 
every one of you from your iniquities. You see, what has been called 
the apostolic kerygma, that is the apostolic pattern of proclamation 
in the book of Acts, is to set forth Jesus as this very thing, 
the promise of the prophets, the promise of the Old Testament. 
And because he is the promised one of the Old Testament and 
the only name under heaven by which we might be saved, therefore 
Jews believe on him. Even you who put him to death 
and who shed his blood believe on him. That self-maledictory 
curse that you pronounced upon yourself and your children is 
not valid if only you believe in the risen Christ. And you 
Gentiles believe on this one, whom the oracles of the Jews 
have spoken of. The apostolic kerygma in the 
book of Acts, that is, the pattern of apostolic preaching is clear. 
This Jesus is the sum and substance of old covenant religion. One 
more text in the book of Acts, Acts 26, you can turn there as 
well. Acts 26, and notice there at 
verse 22. Having obtained help from God, 
to this day I stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying 
no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would 
come, that the Christ would suffer, that he would be the first to 
rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jews, to 
the Jewish people, and to the Gentiles. You see, Paul would, 
in one sense, be wondering, why am I being persecuted? Now, he 
knows why. Unbelief and the prophetic announcements 
that these would be blind, that seeing they will not see and 
hearing they will not hear. He realized that. But as he's 
preaching to them, he's speaking to them, and it's almost as if 
he's flabbergasted in a sense. I speak to you no other things 
than those which the prophets and Moses said would come. And 
what are those things? That Christ would suffer, that 
he would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim 
light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles. Blessed truth. Christ gives them this Bible 
study in order to equip them. He gives them this Bible study 
showing forth the reality that the old covenant scriptures spoke 
concerning his death and resurrection. John Owen wrote so many years 
ago on this particular topic, and this is a wonderful quote. 
The great design, whose lines are drawn in the face, and whose 
substance lies in the bowels of the Old Testament, and which 
is the spirit that enlivens the whole doctrine and story of it, 
the bond of union wherein all the parts of it do center, without 
which they would loose scattered and deformed heaps, is the bringing 
forth of Messiah, the Savior of the world. Without an apprehension 
of this design and faith therein, neither can a letter of it be 
understood, nor can a rational man discover any important excellency 
in it. Him it promiseth, Him it typifieth, him it teacheth 
and prophesieth about, him it calls all men to desire and expect. Do you see what he's saying here? 
He's saying that if we don't understand that Christ is the 
sum and substance of the Old Testament Scriptures, then neither 
can a letter of it be understood, nor can a rational man discover 
any important excellency in it. So shame on those so-called Christians 
who would say that there is no announcement of Christ in the 
Old Testament. Or who would say that Christ is not the sum and 
substance of the Old Testament? That yes, Christ is a topic therein, 
but he is just one among many other topics. You know, the people 
of the Jews, for example, as being another one. Now make no 
mistake, the people of the Jews are central in Old Covenant revelation, 
but for the purpose of pointing forward to and bringing forth 
the Christ. He is the sum and substance of 
Old Covenant revelation and John Owen, is absolutely correct. Moving on then, thirdly, to the 
teaching of the resurrected Christ. In the teaching of the resurrected 
Christ, we have thirdly, His enabling grace. So back to Acts 
24. Excuse me, Luke 24. If there's 
a deacon around, could you please get me more water? Having not 
preached in four years, my voice is and muscles aren't conditioned 
very well. So please forgive this raspy 
voice. Maybe it sounds better, I don't know. Luke 24, going 
back there, we want to note His enabling grace. Notice as He 
continues here, as Jesus continues here, verse 45, excuse me, and he opened 
their understanding that they might comprehend the scriptures. 
It's a very simple statement here, and he opened their understanding 
that they might comprehend the scriptures. Now, I say enabling 
grace here because this isn't speaking to amazing and victorious 
grace, that which brings a dead sinner from the deadness of sin 
to life in Christ. So, we don't have a salvific 
or a soteriological passage here. and he opened their understanding. 
Very similar language is used of Lydia in the book of Acts. 
God opened her heart that she might understand or receive the 
things spoken by the apostles. That isn't this language here. 
He opened their understanding. They had already been brought 
forth from death to life in Christ. Amazing and victorious grace 
has already changed their hearts and brought them forth. This 
is the language of simply opening their already grace-filled hearts 
with understanding to better understand the revelation of 
Christ as it pertains to the resurrection. Because remember, 
they were terrified, they were frightened, They had supposed 
they had seen a spirit. For joy they did not believe, 
but marveled. And so he needed to open up their 
understanding so that they could fully embrace the blessed truth 
that the crucified one has been resurrected. And so he gives 
them this enabling grace. And we see as well these preparatory 
words. Fourthly, under the teaching 
of the resurrected Christ, we see his preparatory words. Notice at verse 46. Then he said 
to them, thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for 
the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day. He wants to stress, he is stressing, 
the settled and necessary reality of the death and resurrection. 
That these things had to take place. Thus it is written, and 
thus it was necessary. So, based upon the foreordainment 
of God, remember that Christ is delivered up, according to 
Acts 2.23, by the predetermined plan and foreordination of God, 
to be put to death by wicked hands, but to rise the third 
day. So by the plan of God, the very plan of God himself, by 
virtue of the covenant between the Father and the Son, that 
pre-temporal covenant of redemption, whereby they set forth to save 
a multitude which no man can number from every tribe and tongue 
and people and nation, it was necessary for the Christ to come, 
to give himself up, but to be raised the third day. And of 
course, thus it is written. It was necessary because the 
old covenant scriptures themselves testify to the very fact. He 
emphasizes the settled and necessary reality of his death and resurrection, 
and then he stresses the post-ascension mission of the church. Notice, 
and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in 
his name to all nations beginning at Jerusalem. You see, he's preparing 
them here. We've already noted that he's 
equipping them. He's now preparing them for their mission. It has 
all been a preparation. He is preparing and equipping 
them for going out among the nations and preaching the glory 
of Jesus Christ. It would be a blessing and a 
comfort here to know that Because of the settled and necessary 
reality of the resurrection that they're going forth and preaching 
repentance to all nations Will not be done in vain It won't 
be vanity as they go out in their persecuted It won't be vanity 
as they go about and are opposed, besieged on all sides by evil 
and opposition. They're going to go forth, but 
they're going to go forth in the power of the ascended Christ 
who sends forth his spirit that they might victoriously proclaim 
the riches of Jesus Christ to all that will hear. It's a blessing 
and it would come to them as a blessing. Christ goes on and 
he strengthens their unique position for proclamation. Notice, and 
you are, verse 48, and you are witnesses of these things. Now, 
this could be taken two ways. This could be taken, and you 
will be the witnesses to me as you go about proclaiming Christ. 
That's, I think, a legitimate understanding because they do 
that. Subsequent revelation shows us 
the book of Acts is all about that. It could be that that's 
referring to their going out and being witnesses by the proclamation 
of the gospel. But it's probably the second 
thing that they are the peculiar recipients of the revelation 
of the resurrected Christ. That is, they were eyewitnesses 
of his majesty in the resurrection. In fact, Peter uses that language 
touching upon the thing that we started this evening with. 
He says, for we did not follow cunningly devised fables when 
we made known to you the power and the coming of the Lord Jesus 
Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. And so that speaks 
to this, the apostles were such a prerequisite for being a true 
apostle was that they had laid their eyes upon the resurrected 
Christ. And so he says or he speaks with 
regards to their unique position for proclamation and that being 
that they are the eyewitnesses to his majesty in the resurrection. Just quickly as we move towards 
a close, nearer to a close on this hot evening, you can turn 
with me to Acts chapter 10. Acts chapter 10, on this point of the disciples, 
the apostles, being in a unique position for proclamation, Christ 
strengthening them for such, in Acts chapter 10, we have at 
verse 40, Him, God raised up on the third day, and showed 
him openly, not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before 
by God, even to us who ate and drank with him after he arose 
from the dead. And he commanded us to preach 
to the people and to testify that it is he who was ordained 
by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him, all the 
prophets witnessed that through his name, whoever believes in 
him will receive remission of sins." And then we want to notice 
here Lastly, under his preparatory words, he encourages them with 
the coming and promised power from on high. Verse 49, Behold, 
I send the promise of my father upon you, but tarry in the city 
of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high. So you 
see, he equips them and he prepares them by the word. which is very 
important, and then he promises them the Spirit. You see, these 
two elements are absolutely necessary for Christianity. These two things 
are absolutely necessary for salvation. What are we brought 
forth by? We're brought forth by Word and 
Spirit. By God's word, he brings us forth 
by the power of the Holy Spirit, that one who gives us the assurance 
of the truths laid therein in the word of God. And then how 
is it that the church goes out and proclaims Jesus Christ? It's 
according to the word and by the power of the Spirit of God. 
And so he gives them the Bible study. He equips them with biblical 
truth concerning himself. And then he says, I will send 
the promise of my spirit upon you. I don't send you alone into 
the world. You know, that was the promise 
of Christ. It's unto your benefit that I depart from you. It's 
for your benefit that I go to my father. Why? Because if I 
do not, then the spirit of truth, the comforter, another comforter 
will not come to do the work. that you require to provide the 
power and the vigor that you require to proclaim Jesus Christ 
and Him crucified. So word and spirit is given by 
Christ in the teaching that He gives His disciples. And then 
lastly, we'll close with this, the ascension of the resurrected 
Christ. Notice this blessed language here at verse 50, And He led 
them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed 
them. This speaks to, it's obvious, a pre-ascension blessing by God, 
but we ought not to skip past this, just to see a note that, 
okay, Christ blesses them, what else can we learn as we proceed 
from 51 through to the end of the chapter? We want to make 
a note here, and he led them out as far as Bethany, and he 
lifted up his hands and blessed them. You know what this speaks 
to? It speaks to Christ as the better 
than Aaron priest, who is blessing his people by virtue of the sacrifice 
that he just rendered. To see this, we can turn to Leviticus 
for a moment. In Leviticus chapter 9, Christ 
is acting, as we noted this morning, acting as that blessed high priest, 
that blessed high priest, who is the perfect high priest, unlike 
the priests of the old covenant, he does not need to go in daily, 
he does not need to go in annually to render up sins for himself 
and for his people, but rather he offered up a once for all 
sacrifice for sin that abides forever. Notice at Leviticus 
9 at verse 7, And Moses said to Aaron, go to the altar, offer 
your sin offering and your burnt offering and make atonement for 
yourself and for the people. Offer the offering of the people 
and make atonement for them as the Lord commanded. Now move 
to verse 22. Then Aaron lifted his hand toward 
the people, blessed them and came down from offering the sin 
offering, the burnt offering and peace offering. So going 
back to Luke 24, the better than Aaron high priest Christ is blessing 
his people. He's lifting up his hands just 
like that Aaron, though by virtue of a better and more abiding 
sacrifice. The blood of bulls and goats 
could never take away sins. But this man, after he had offered 
that precious blood of his own, this man has blessed us by that 
blood, this man has blessed us by that sacrifice, and in or 
following upon the heels of the offering of that sacrifice, he 
gives that Aaronic, but better than Aaronic, blessing to his 
gathered apostles. Don't just skip past this without 
relishing in the glory of Old Testament connectivity here. 
Christ had offered the sacrifice, and then blesses them. And Gil 
makes this observation. He says, Isn't that great? He's 
asking for the blessing from God and he's holding out his 
hands so that those under which his hands are lifted might receive 
the blessing that descends from on high, based upon his perfect 
sacrifice. Verse 51, we see his ascension proper, now it 
came to pass while he blessed them that he was parted from 
them and carried up into heaven. You see, there isn't a lot of 
expansion upon the ascension here, but that doesn't mean that 
we aren't not to, that doesn't mean that we're not to reflect 
upon the glory of the ascension at this particular point. Victorious 
Christ, victorious at Calvary, raised the third day, is now 
ascending to his Father. What does this punctuate? It 
punctuates the veracity of the crucifixion, that is, that it 
truly did take place. But not only that, that for which 
it took place was executed perfectly, the forgiveness of sins. Christ 
really did secure the salvation of a multitude which no man can 
number. The resurrection punctuates that, but the ascension all the 
more punctuates it as he goes to the father, the one from whom 
he was sent. He was carried up into heaven. 
Our minds ought to be drawn to Daniel 7 and that promise of 
that one like the son of man who ascends to the ancient of 
days to receive glory, dominion, and a kingdom. This is what we 
should see in the ascension. The victorious Christ is going 
to receive the glory, the dominion, and the kingdom that he was promised. After perfecting the work of 
salvation, after executing perfectly that obedience unto cross-death 
vocation, he is now going to receive the reward for his mediatorial 
perfection by God the Father. He'll be crowned, the great coronation 
of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords upon his ascension. And notice, lastly, worship and 
devotion. Worship and devotion. We see 
here in verse 52, and they worshipped him. and return to Jerusalem 
with great joy. And we're continually in the 
temple, praising and blessing God. Amen. You know, doesn't 
this drive a nail in the coffin of any theology that opposes 
the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ? You know, the madness and the 
colossal folly of Jehovah's Witnesses, the blasphemies of anyone who 
would steal from Christ the dignity of his deity, they worshiped 
him. Worship is saved solely and alone 
for God. No other is to be worshipped. 
No other is to receive glory like God, and yet here they worship 
Him. Why? Because He is very God of 
very God. Light from light, true God from 
true God, begotten, not made, one in being with the Father. 
And this One who assumed our humanity ascended to the right 
hand of the Majesty on high, and they rightfully Worship him 
and notice the devotion. They're continually in the temple 
praising and blessing God. Isn't that to be the character 
of the Christian? We're continually in the temple 
praising and blessing God. Now there is no longer a temple, 
but you know what I mean. We come to the house of God and 
we worship Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and we rejoice in so blessed 
of Christ. Worship and devotion. The simplicity 
of biblical worship as we noted this morning. sweet contemplations 
of our God, sweet contemplations of our Christ, and continually 
in the church, blessing His great name. We are to find, brethren, 
in closing, great hope in the resurrection. We, too, are comforted 
by this same resurrected Christ. He might not be appearing before 
us in His resurrected glory, But know this, the Bible is true 
when it says that he walks among his lampstands, that he is in 
the midst of his churches. He's here right now, brethren. 
And he comforts us with this truth. You see, we are of all 
men the most pitiable if Christ did not rise again from the dead. 
Our faith is vanity if Christ did not rise from the dead. But 
verily and truly, He did rise from the dead. He gave many proofs. He comforted His disciples. And 
by virtue of divine revelation, the Spirit of God, and the abiding 
presence of Christ in His church, He comforts us with that same 
certain hope of His blessed resurrection. We are to know the Word of God 
as Christ gave this Bible study to His disciples. We're to avail 
of the same thing. We come to the Scriptures and 
we find that page after page, chapter after chapter, they point 
to the blessed Christ working out the salvation of men. And 
our religious affections are to land upon Christ Jesus our 
Savior. We're not to be carried away 
and stolen away by so many other things to the sacrifice and to 
the detriment of focus upon Jesus Christ? There are so many rabbit 
trails of meaningless things, so many, you know, fables and 
fictions and genealogies and all things that can steal away 
our Christian hearts when we are to be solely and alone focused 
upon him who gave himself for us. Let's rest upon our crucified, 
our resurrected and ascended Christ and therein find the sub 
and substance of biblical religion. Well, let us pray. Heavenly Father, 
we thank you for your word. We rejoice in its truth to us. 
We thank you so much for this account of our resurrected Savior. 
We do pray that you would fill us with hope, that you would 
fill us with comfort, that you would fill us with that Christian 
joy as we cast our eyes of faith upon him who was lifted up to 
your right hand. We pray that we would reflect 
so often upon our Savior, upon the glories of our triune God. 
We pray that you would cause us by your word and by your spirit 
To all the more grow in the grace and in the knowledge of Jesus 
Christ our Savior. And might we look forward to 
the next day, that is the next Lord's Day. Lord God, as we come 
together again as the assembly of the faithful, that you might 
cause us to have hearts that draw near to you in that boldness 
by virtue of the finished work of Jesus Christ the Lord. Do 
go with us now in this week, help us to conduct ourselves 
in a manner worthy of the gospel of grace. And it's in the name 
of Jesus Christ we pray, amen. Well, let's stand and sing a 
doxology this evening. We're gonna sing 402, stanza 
number five. That's 402, stanza number five. ♪ Honor to the Father ♪ ♪ Honor, 
honor to the Son ♪ ♪ Honor, honor to the Spirit ♪ ♪ Ever free and ever one ♪ 
♪ One in might and one in glory ♪ ♪ One in deepest love ♪ The Lord bless you and keep you 
the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you 
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. 
Amen. Well, let's be seated We'll have 
a brief time of prayer and when the pianos finished you're dismissed. 
I