The Road to Joy

Today we're going to be looking at the road to joy.

I want you to turn with me in your Bibles to Luke 24, the last chapter in the book of Luke.

And it's one of an amazing stories in the Bible.

In fact, it's a story where Jesus comes alongside of a couple that had just left Jerusalem and they were on their way back home to Emmaus.

And Emmaus was about seven miles west of Jerusalem.

So they were walking on a journey.

And while they're walking, they're discussing all the things that happened in the previous three days in Jerusalem, from Good Friday to resurrection morning.

And we know that there's 11 appearances of Jesus after he raises himself from the dead in the scriptures.

And one of these appearance takes place as this couple is walking back to their home in a mess.

And it's kind of exciting because Jesus disguises himself.

He doesn't allow them to know who he really is when he comes upon them on the road.

In fact, the only other mention of this episode is in Mark 16.

In fact, in Mark 16, it even says that Jesus took on the form of somebody else.

It didn't look like him.

So, with that said, it's an interesting story, and it's one of the first appearances Jesus appears after the resurrection.

And that's why I've titled it this morning, The Road to Joy.

Because all of us are on a road this morning.

We're all on a path.

We're all on a journey.

I got to thinking about this a while back, and uh it was kind of interesting because I thought about when I read this story in Luke, it reminded me of one of my favorite movies.

Now, some of you young people may not remember this movie.

I grew up on this movie, The Wizard of Oz.

Anybody remember The Wizard of Oz?

I'm not talking about the young one, the new one.

I'm talking about Dorothy in Kansas and Tudo.

All right.

Todo.

I thought, well, I was wondering if you're listening.

I remember as a little child watching this almost every January after the first of the year, it would come on.

And uh I can remember two of the songs that I loved in that film.

The one song was Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

That reminds me of heaven.

And the other one was done and sung by the Monctions.

Follow the yellow brick road.

I remember that.

I mean, follow the yellow brick road.

And these little people told Dorothy that if she would follow the yellow brick road, that she could find the answer to all her problems and the way back home.

If she could go and find the wizard, the wizard would help her solve all her problems and get her back home.

Remember that?

I mean, it was an interesting story and plot.

Well, I got to thinking about that.

And I see right here in the Word of God that these two folks, this couple, they were on a road.

They were on a road to Emmaus back home.

But they were seeking answers to the problems and to their dilemma that they were in.

They didn't understand all the things that had happened in Jerusalem.

They didn't understand why Jesus had to be crucified.

They had a whole different concept.

They thought that Jesus was the Messiah, which he was, but they thought he was going to come and set up his kingdom and do away with the Roman tyranny and set up an earthly kingdom, and everybody was going to live happily ever after.

But that was not God's purpose.

Jesus didn't come to set up an earthly kingdom.

God came.

God sent his only begotten Son so that he could set up an eternal kingdom.

So we see that lives of many people have been changed throughout history because of the roads and the paths they have taken.

Your life has been changed by some of the roads and paths that you've taken.

I can know of three or four paths that I've taken that changed my and Susan's life drastically.

And one of those roads were coming here and starting this church six and a half years ago.

I was thinking as I was talking to Bob McKay back there, and we were talking, there were there were four, there were four basically, well, actually six people.

Christy and David, Lee and Susan, Bob and Jewel and Carrie and uh Sonia and Carrie.

That was six of us.

Right back.

Eight, excuse me.

Thank you, honey.

It's pretty bad when you have a teacher on the front row.

You don't miss anything.

She corrects you.

Help me.

Thank you, honey.

But we sat way back there.

I remember I'm looking now, and four, eight of us.

Eight of us.

And now to see what God's done, it was a path that we decided to take that God had sent us on, and it drastically changed our life.

I was thinking in the Word of God.

There was, hey, and the lives of many had been changed throughout history because of the road they took in their travels and the life of a man that was beaten by robbers.

On the road, what, to Jericho.

But his life was changed and saved by the Good Samaritan.

I think about a man named Paul who was on the road to Damascus.

And his road, hey, changed him drastically when he met Jesus and got saved.

And I also was thinking about some other roads, however, that have led to people's deaths and destruction.

I was thinking about, we all know it, it's famous.

For example, Elm Street in Daley Plaza of Dallas, Texas, was the road where President John F.

Kennedy was assassinated on November the 22nd, 1963.

And I thought about that.

Many have chosen roads that lead to wickedness and death and destruction.

Paths that they have taken.

And in this final chapter in Luke, Luke spends a great deal of time on the events that took place in the lives of these two people who followed the Emmaus road.

These events of the crucifixion of Christ were three days past, and these folks were troubled.

They were hurting about what had taken place in Jerusalem at Calvary.

Their lives were about to be changed.

Their confusion was about to be turned into clarity.

And their sorrow was about to be transformed into joy.

Because they met Jesus as they followed their road to Emmaus.

Spiritually speaking, each and every one of us need to follow the road to Emmaus.

Amen.

Every one of us.

We all need those moments where we meet the Lord and allow the Lord to speak to us from his word and what?

Change our hearts.

In fact, you're going to see in this passage, after he opened the word of God to Cleopas and his wife, that their hearts burned with fire because of the word of God.

Oh, how exciting! This Emmaus Road will provide very important lessons for us about faith and God's care and brokenness and trials and the word of God in our lives.

It'll teach us that that's our hope.

So let's begin this road's journey.

Number one, look at verses 13 through 14 in Luke 24.

And behold, two of them went the same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about three score four longs, about six or seven miles.

And they talked together of all these things which had happened.

Now, this intricate details of this story are not recorded in any other gospels.

Mark touches on it just for a moment.

But as the story here begins, we are introduced to two people.

Two people.

And in verse 18, we see verse 18 that, and these, and one of these people's names was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Are thou only a stranger in Jerusalem?

And hast thou not heard of the things that have happened?

And then if you drop down to verse 29, 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.

We see, and that's why most theologians believe it was Cleopatra's wife, because after they had got arrived in Emmaus, and after God has a confrontation with them and their hearts are set on fire, they no doubt get saved here, get radically changed, and they want more of Jesus.

See, let me say something.

When you really get saved, I'm about to have a spell thinking about it.

When you really get saved, you want more of him.

You want more.

You don't want a little, you don't want a little dabba, do you?

You want more than you can handle.

And they said, We want more.

And the word constrained there literally means they grabbed him and held him by force and said, Come eat with us.

I guess somebody grabs me and holds me and says, You gonna eat with me?

I say, Well, what's for supper?

Amen.

So we see right here these two people, and the word they're talked is from the Greek word homile, which we get our word in the preacher realm of homiletics.

And it forms our English word homiletics, and it means to commune and to discuss.

And it's also in the perfect tense, which means they were continually talking and discussing what had happened these past three days when Jesus shows up.

Which brings me to the second point.

Not only do we see the contemplation of the past, but notice the concealment of the Lord in verses 15 and 16.

Look at what it says.

And it came to pass that while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near and went with them.

But their eyes were holden that they should not know him.

Now, the word reason together there, the word reason is taken from the Greek word pseudo-zaetheo.

Pseudo-Zatheo.

And it literally means to seek, it means to examine, it means to discuss, it means to question, it means even to dispute.

Now, my wife and I, we don't have fights.

We've never had a fight.

Somebody says, that's not true.

Either you're a liar or you're a wimp.

But you didn't hear me.

We've had some discussions or some disputes that you could hear a couple of blocks.

But here we see they're discussing, they're they're they're talking, they're questioning, they're pondering all the facts that had happened.

They were very concerned about the vent the events in these last few days.

And here's what I love about it.

They are trying to find clarity and understanding.

They desire to know the truth.

Now, what's this?

Ah, this is exciting, church.

When you and I desired to know the truth about Jesus, is he real?

Is he really the Son of God?

Was he really crucified?

Was he really dead in the tomb?

Or was he just asleep and kind of unconscious and then came alive and and and left?

And all the different, we call them the swoon theories.

All that.

They were seeking to know the truth, and they were they had hearing all they had they had been hearing all these different ideas of what had happened about the resurrection.

Could it be?

I preached a couple of years ago here ten facts about the resurrection that prove it.

But they've discussing all these things, and then all of a sudden, somebody starts walking up beside them.

Now you've got to realize this was not uncommon back in Jesus' day.

When they were walking on roads, going to different cities, they would join up with other people walking and start talking.

Start telling people what was going on in the region because they didn't have television, they didn't have newspapers, they sure didn't have cell phones.

I mean, timing happens, you know it within five minutes.

So they that this was not uncommon, and all of a sudden, Jesus comes up and they're seeking the truth.

They're talking, and you know what I saw here?

It's interesting that Jesus draws near to them when they are seeking the truth about him.

Ladies and gentlemen, that's why you want to come to church.

Ladies and gentlemen, that's why you want to be in a Bible study.

Ladies and gentlemen, that's why you want your kids in a wana.

That's why you want them involved in studying the Word of God.

Because when you are interested in knowing the truth about who Jesus is and what he wants for your life, he'll show up.

He'll show up.

He's not interested in showing up if you're not interested in him.

But if you're interested in him, oh my goodness.

Look what happens.

He shows up.

They desired understanding the understanding of who he was.

What a great truth.

God reveals his truth, his wisdom, his understanding to those who want to know the truth and seek it.

And this is why many lack, they don't have spiritual understanding and discernment today, because they don't take time to seek God's word.

That's why the scripture very plainly says in 2 Timothy 2.15, study to show thyself to approve unto God a workman that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Oh, folks, it's so wonderful.

It's so unbelievable.

There are wonderful treasures and insights in the scriptures that can be learned if we'll take time to study the word and hear it preached and taught.

I love what he says in Psalms 51, verse 6.

Psalms 51:6

Look at what he says.

Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts and in the hidden part.

Thou shalt make me know wisdom.

Wow.

Jeremiah 29, 13 says, You shall seek me and find me when you shall search for me with all your heart.

What unbelievable dynamic truth.

Jesus drew near at a critical time in their conversation.

He drew near to, and he draws near to us, especially in critical times in our lives.

Listen to me.

Jesus draws near to us when we know him and we're walking with him in critical times of our life.

And I got to thinking about that, and I kind of started jotting down some things in my notes that the times that he had drawn near to me and Susan and in our lives and in our journey with our kids.

And I wrote down a few that I wanted to give to you.

This is worth you being here.

One, Jesus draws near when we have concerns about finances.

Anybody in here have concerns about finances?

Hello?

We all do.

And notice what he says in Hebrews 13, 5.

I love this.

The writer of Hebrews said, let your conversation, your behavior be without covetousness.

That's the key.

And then the other key is, and be content with such things as you have, for he said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.

He says, Be, hey, don't seek after stuff that you really don't need or can't afford.

Hello?

But be content with where God has placed you and what God has given you and what you have and be thankful and be content.

And God shows up every time.

Hey, he draws near, secondly, when contemplating the unknown.

You ever been to a place in your life?

I know I've been there several times.

And you really just don't understand, or you really don't know what to do.

Well, that's when he draws near.

Look at what he says.

What a beautiful scripture.

He told, he draws near to Moses when he had given Moses this task of delivering the people.

Moses was hysterical.

He said, How can I deliver these people?

I stutter, I die, I can't talk.

I mean, he went on and on with excuse after excuse.

And God's answer was very simple.

God assured Moses when he confronted the Pharaoh of Egypt.

He says, I will be with thee.

That's all I had to say.

I'll be with you.

I got good news for you and I that know him.

He's with us in every critical unknown situation we walk into.

He's there.

He'll never leave us nor forsake us.

Never, never.

Then, something else.

Jesus draws near when you and I are facing concerns in our life.

Jesus draws near.

The familiar words of David continued to comfort the weary and not just the weary, but he strengthened and weak those that were weak, and those that were confounded, and those that didn't understand.

And notice what he says.

Yea, though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will feel no evil, for thou art with me.

Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.

Wow.

Boy, is that not true?

You hear that read a lot at funerals.

Because it's so true.

But he also says he'll draw near when we're confused, and there's calamity in our life, and we're being robbed of our peace and joy.

Hey, Jesus draws near.

Notice what he said to Isaiah, when thou pass through the waters, he's talking about trouble waters.

I will be with thee.

And through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee.

When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned.

Neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

Hallelujah.

What comfort! Oh my goodness, that's unbelievable.

The words of the psalmist also provide comfort during these times.

He shall call upon me.

Now watch what he says.

Ye shall call upon me, and I will answer you in time of trouble.

Man, what truth.

Psalms 91:15.

Psalms 91:15

And then Jesus draws near when we feel like we're cast aside and we're alone.

Paul felt the sting of rejection.

Paul felt that loneliness.

Nobody was there with him when he's writing the prison epistles.

And when he's talking to his young mentoree, his young disciple Timothy.

Notice what he said in 2 Timothy 4, verse 16.

2 Timothy 4:16

He said this to young Timothy At my first answer, no man stood with me, but all men forsook me.

But then look at verse 17.

He says, But, notwithstanding, the Lord stood with me and strengthened me.

Hallelujah, hallelujah.

All you need is the Lord.

When everybody walks out, Jesus walks in.

Amen.

And so we see this unbelievable.

Jesus draws near when we feel like we're cast aside and we're alone.

And then also Jesus draws near when we are feel like we're a little cowardly and fearful.

And life leaves us shaken, and our life is filled with grief and pain.

Jesus draws near.

Listen to the words of Isaiah again.

Comforting the people of Israel.

He says, Fear thou not, for I am with thee.

Notice the next statement.

He says in Isaiah 41, 10, be not dismayed.

That word dismayed means don't be discouraged.

Don't be down and out.

Don't be down.

Hey, don't be dreadful.

That's what dismayed, literally, the Hebrew word there means.

For I am thy God.

I will strengthen thee.

Yea, I will help thee.

Yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

Ladies and gentlemen, when you don't know where to go, he's got you by his right hand.

He's got you.

He's there with you.

When you're laying in that bed and you don't know whether you're going to live or die.

He's got you.

He's with you.

He's right there.

Oh my goodness, he's there.

Jesus draws near when conflict stings our life.

Hey, do you ever have you ever had any conflict?

Now we're in a Baptist church.

Baptists don't have conflict.

That's a lie.

Huh?

Hello?

You ever had conflict in your life?

Every hand ought to go up.

If you don't have conflict right now, you're going to have it before you get home.

You're going to have conflict with this message before you.

Amen?

You have conflict.

Well, now watch this.

I thought about, man, my life has been.

Hey, you know, in my ministry, people either loved me or they hated me.

There was no in-between.

When I showed up, you either pucker or duck.

That was true for a long time, wasn't it, honey?

I mean, I stirred up everything.

Well, I did.

I just believed in the truth.

And man, I believe at University of Alabama, no other preacher would debate them, so they always call me.

I'd show up in a heartbeat.

Let's get it on.

I know the truth, and truth should set you free.

I wasn't scared of the word.

Hey, I wasn't scared of anybody in academia.

First of all, I'm pretty smart myself.

I've gone through all the academic or academic circles and hoops and all that.

But let me tell you what I did have confidence in the Word of God.

That's the answer, not my papers and my doctrine.

The answer's right here, the B-I-B-L-E.

And if you know the book, you don't have to be scared of anything.

David's a lawyer.

You know the truth, you don't have to be scared of a lawyer.

Not that you have to be scared of David.

People get scared of lawyer.

Listen, listen.

When I when Dr.

Falwell asked me to take over the seminary, a huge seminary, graduate level.

You got to understand something.

I didn't even like school.

And now I'm going to head one up.

I used to tell Susan, honey, I don't know about this.

I mean, she's the brainiac of my bunch.

She graduated Sumakung Law.

Didn't pay.

Just smart, smart.

I graded, hey, I graduated, thank the Lord.

She graduated Sumakung Law.

And I thought to myself, my goodness, I'm going to be debating all these PhDs and all these, oh my goodness.

And now I'm the dean.

I'm going to be some of them's boss.

You know, it didn't take me but about six months to realize they were smart in philosophy.

They were smart in a lot of their subjects that they had their PhDs in.

But you know what?

I realized that when everything would come up, I would start quoting scripture to problems and answers.

And they'd kind of look at me and say, that's good.

And I started thinking, huh?

The word works.

The word has the answers and the problems.

So all of a sudden, I wasn't intimidated anymore.

In fact, every once in a while they'd say something.

I said, Well, you know what the word said?

And they said, No, what does it say?

I said, I'd quote it.

The word, folks.

It's the word that sets our hearts on fire.

The word.

So that's it.

That's what he's saying.

I love it.

Oh.

He shows up when we're contrite and crushed.

Oh, Jesus draws near when your heart is contrite and crushed.

But the Lord draws near.

Listen to what David said.

The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart and a contrite spirit.

Psalms 34, 18.

Thank God that he draws near to us during these times.

As Jesus spoke with this couple, they did not know it was the Lord.

The eyes, now look at the word, was holding, so that they would not know him.

What does that word mean?

The word holding.

It's from the Greek word critio.

And it literally means to be sieged, to restraint, or to hold in check.

The imperfect tense indicates the Lord continually did this.

He continually not allowed them to recognize him.

There's a reason for that.

He wanted to teach them some truths that they would not have listened to if they had realized it was Jesus.

They would have been so enamored and so overstrucken that they would just, oh.

So he wouldn't reveal who he really was.

Not at that time, not right then.

Why did the Lord keep those from recognizing him?

He had some things he wanted to teach him, which brings me to the third point.

The concerns of Jesus and Cleopas.

Look at verse 17 through 20.

And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another as ye walk and are sad?

Uh-oh.

Jesus knows our hearts.

Jesus knows our attitudes.

Jesus knows our feelings.

Jesus knows what we're thinking.

Hello?

You okay out there?

I'm already in trouble.

He knows.

He even called him out.

He said, not only you're confused and don't know, understand what you're talking about, you're sad about it.

You're sad about it.

And then watch this, verse 18.

Is this not normal?

You're going to get excited.

Is this not how we react when we're caught?

Or when we're kind of convicted?

Or we know we're wrong, but we don't want everybody else to know we're wrong?

Watch what happens in verse 18.

And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, the husband, answered and said unto him, Now, the Lord is in a light, kind of firm way rebuking them because of their unbelief.

Okay?

Not harshly, and I'm going to show you the difference here in a minute.

This is really good.

But he's kind of getting, he's almost saying, I've told you all this.

Even the disciples.

Do you you know what's the amazing thing about the resurrection?

Even the disciples and everyone he had told time and time again that he was gonna, hey, the temple was gonna be destroyed, he's gonna raise it in three days, and he had to go, he had to suffer, he had to cross, but in the third day he's gonna raise.

Nobody believed him.

No one believed him.

So now watch what happens.

He's kind of confronting Cleopus and his wife, and notice what Cleopas does.

And he said unto them, Are thou only a stranger in Jerusalem?

And then he said, Oh, then he says, and know that you don't know the things which are come to pass there.

And then he said, Are you crazy?

Do you not know anything?

I mean, it's been, I mean, people got out of the graves and walked down the streets in Jerusalem.

I mean, it made worldwide news.

The resurrection.

So Cleopas turns it back and says, Well, what are you just crazy?

You don't know anything.

Haven't you heard what's going on?

And look what Jesus said.

Jesus always has an answer to your excuse.

Oh.

That's what he said.

And he said unto them, What things?

He answered a dumb question with a dumb answer.

Never really wasn't dumb.

I mean, here's a man that knows all things.

He's omniscient.

He knows everything.

And they ask him, do you not know anything?

And then he just turns around and says, okay, Smarty, what things?

You know why?

He wanted to hear their hearts for what they really knew about him.

Well, that's good.

Tell me about all these things.

He wanted to know where they were in their relationship with him.

Even though he already knew it.

But he wanted them to say it.

He wanted them to omit it.

It's called confession.

Can I get an amen?

If we confess our sins.

He is faithful and just to what?

Forgive us.

If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in thy heart that God has raised him from the dead.

Thou shalt be saved.

So he's wanting to confess.

He's bringing that confession out.

What a powerful statement here.

That first Easter Sunday was a day of sadness for all the followers of Christ.

There were a lot of followers there.

But a lot of the followers were not believers.

Did you know you can follow and not believe?

They were following him, but once he was dead and buried, they didn't believe.

And he had told them he was going to die.

He had to die for them, and he's going to be buried for the third day and he's going to raise.

And all of a sudden they come to the grave and they say, Where is he?

Somebody's stolen his body.

No.

You don't have a wrapped napkin of the face folded laying there.

Not if somebody stole the body.

Hello.

You with me?

Now notice, it gets better.

Because they did not believe Jesus would rise from their grave, his grave, as he said, the root problem of their sadness, write it down, was their lack of faith and their unbelief.

What brings sadness and heartbreak and discouragement in our lives is unbelief.

We really don't believe what God's word says.

How can you really be scared to die if you really believe you're not gonna die?

Hello.

I am the resurrection and the life.

He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.

Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.

Believeth thou this.

John 11, 25 and 26.

Amen.

We gotta believe.

We gotta believe.

No, notice what he says.

There's great truth here.

Unbelief does not make a person happy or joyful.

On the contrary, it brings defeat and misery.

Especially to those folks who die without putting their faith in Jesus Christ for their salvation.

They'll be miserable for eternity.

How would you like to spend eternity in hell?

That's miserable.

Well, that's what happens if you don't put your faith and trust in Jesus.

Now notice something.

Your only hope for heaven is trust in Christ for your salvation.

Without him, you'll spend eternity in hell.

Listen to what he says in Revelation 21:8.

Revelation 21:8

But the fearful, unbelieving, and the abominable murderers, whoremongers, and sorcerers, and adulterers and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

This is what Jesus said.

Matthew 25, 46.

And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal.

When the Christian is full of doubt and unbelief, the joy is subdued.

There's no joy.

That is why it is vital to trust God by faith.

Hebrews 11, 6 says, without faith, it is impossible to please God, for he that comes to God must believe that he is, that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Wow, that's good.

Church, that's good.

I never cease to be amazed at what God can do when we trust in him.

William Carey, I know a lot of people don't know who William Carey is.

Who knows who William Carey is?

A few.

Well, he turned out to be a fantastic missionary.

But he started out as an impoverished English shoemaker.

He trusted Christ as his savior and became a Baptist layman.

A lay preacher, exactly.

Now watch this.

The man wrote a book on foreign missions.

I mean, he is one of the founders of what we call abroad missions.

Listen to what he said.

Most Christians in his day thought missions was only for apostles, and that God would save others in his own good time.

Kerry preached a moving sermon before a group of pastors and said, this is where missions really got started.

One year later, and in fact, he said, he preached a message, and here's what he said.

Attempt great things for God, expect great things from God.

Now watch, attempt great things for God, and expect great things from God.

Now this was in 1793.

Carrie and his family sailed to India from that point on.

In five years, he had translated the New Testament into the Begaili language.

By the end of his career, he translated the entire Bible into three languages, founded a college that still exists today.

Thank God that this man got an education that he could use for the glory of God.

Now watch this.

Kerry faced great difficulties in his ministry.

He had no converts.

Listen to this.

No converts for seven years.

Not one.

Not one.

I don't think I could do that, Rick.

Seven years.

Now watch this.

Hey, his wife died.

His warehouse fire destroyed 30 years of translation work.

Through it all, he never gave up the faith.

His secret was accomplishing great things.

Was that truth?

And he says, I can plod, I can persevere in any definite task God's given me.

Because God knows what I need and will provide.

Wow.

Is that not awesome?

To this he says, I owe everything.

Which brings me to number four.

The conversation with the woman is recalled.

Look at verses 21 and 24 through 24.

But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel.

And besides all this, today is the third day since these things were done.

In other words, remember what I told you at the beginning of the message?

Oh, Jesus was supposed to come, set up a kingdom, do away with all the Romans, win the battle, run the Romans out, set up an earthly kingdom.

That's what everybody thought, even the disciples.

Verse 22, yea and certain women made it, hey, went to the grave.

They were astonished because 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, He's not here, for he is risen.

He is alive as he said he would be.

Wow.

Is that not awesome?

Clepus explained his reason for sorrow.

So went through all that.

That brings me to point number five.

After he's telling him why he's sorry, that Jesus was supposed to set up the kingdom, do away with the Romans, and we were all gonna live happily ever after.

But that didn't happen.

Now he's dead, now we don't even know where his body is.

His body's no longer in the tomb.

Oh, we don't know what's going on.

We don't know if we're gonna be killed.

We don't know what's oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

They're dismayed, they're discouraged, they're doubtful, they're they're down and out.

Then look at verses 25 through 27.

The comments of Christ about the scriptures.

Now we get into the heart of the message.

Then said he, Jesus unto them, Oh, ye fools.

Uh-oh.

Remember I told you he was softly rebuking them?

Now I know my grandmother says you never call somebody a fool.

Or you got a bad spanking.

I'm talking about a bad spanking.

When we got spankings, we remembered them.

Now they won't do what you won't spank anybody like I got spanked.

They'd call it child abuse.

I was abused.

But guess what?

It worked.

My granddaddy, he believed in the hey, not spoiling the child.

He believed in the rod.

Boy, he knew how to use it.

He believed, he believed in woodshed revivals.

He'd take me to the woodshed.

He'd do all the preaching and I'd do all the shopping.

Woo, Papa, how ours.

But notice what Jesus says.

Then he said of them fools, you're slow to heart to believe, there it is.

All that the prophets have spoken.

In other words, you didn't believe what they said.

You didn't believe what Jesus said.

You didn't believe what the prophets say.

Ladies and gentlemen, let me help you right quick.

And I didn't even put this is extra.

There's 300, every word in this book's of God, and it's true and it's real.

330 prophets, excuse me, prophecies were written down and predicted in the Old Testament, and every one of them fulfilled.

And on the day of the resurrection, there were over 25 prophecies fulfilled that day.

It's real.

It's real.

And then notice what Jesus said.

Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory, he had to suffer for you.

And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expanded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

That's the way you preach.

Verse by verse, exalt Jesus.

When I taught homiletics, I told the preachers, I'm gonna teach you how to preach like Jesus.

We're gonna learn how to preach like Jesus.

Hey, chapter by chapter, verse by verse, why do you think we've studied chapter by chapter chapter?

By chapters, verse by verse in our Sunday school.

And why does your pastor preach through books as the way Jesus preached?

He started at Moses, Genesis, the Torah, and went all the way through the book of Revelation.

And I got to thinking about that.

Look at this.

Look at what he says here.

Now, it's a mild rebuke to them.

He rebuked them for their foolishness.

The word fools is not the same word that's used in Matthew 5.22.

Listen to what he says.

Jesus says in Matthew 5.22.

But I say unto you that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.

And whosoever shall say to his brother, Rakah, shall be in danger of the counsel.

But whosoever shall say, Thou fool, that's where Mama says, You don't say that, shall be in danger of hellfire.

That's why.

You don't call somebody a fool.

Mama, you say that.

You want to go to hell?

No.

No.

Well, don't call anybody a fool.

But now watch.

Watch.

The word fool in Matthew 5.22 is from the Greek word moros.

Alright?

Guess what?

That's where we get our English word moron.

Hello.

Moron.

So don't call him a fool.

Call him a moron.

Don't do that either.

I wasn't gonna, I was just, you know, don't do that either.

I'm with you.

But that's what it means.

A moron.

You know what that word moron means?

Morley, worthless sandrel.

One who lacks character.

Don't call, Jesus didn't call him that.

In Luke 24, 25, it's a milder word.

And it is the word, ready?

Ano atos.

Anoatos, which means one who is unwise, senseless, and lacking in understanding.

That's a little milder.

You're just senseless.

Doesn't sound too good to me, but that's the word.

Jesus began to give them an understanding, though, by expounding the scriptures to them.

Beloved, it is the scriptures that give us wisdom, understanding, and clarity about Jesus Christ.

From Genesis to Revelation, the word of God points to Christ.

Are you ready for this?

Don't miss this.

Are you ready?

Here's hand me my paper, baby.

Here's what he said.

Let me get, I gotta, I gotta get fired up.

This is gonna be good.

Here's what he did.

Are you ready?

Okay, emergency SOC.

I'm okay.

I'm okay.

All right.

I I get they think I'm correct.

All right, what's this?

The foreshadows of Christ are found in the historical books, Genesis to Esther, the foreshadows of who he is.

The feelings of Christ are expressed in the poetic books, Job through the Song of Solomon.

The foretellings of Christ are revealed in the prophetic books, Isaiah through Malachi.

The facts of the Lord and his ministry are recorded in Matthew through, hey, Matthew through John.

And then the fervent followers of Christ are seen in the book of Acts.

And then the fruits of following Christ are in the epistles of Paul, Romans through Jude.

And then the future of Christ is found in the book of Revelation.

Is that not good?

Or now, I don't think he quite took that time, but he spent all night with him, so he may have gone through all that with them.

But he also could have done this.

In Genesis, he's the promised seed.

In Exodus, he's the Passover lamb.

In Leviticus, he's the escapegoat.

In Numbers, he's the brazen serpent.

In Deuteronomy, he's the lawgiver.

In Joshua, he's prophet, priest, and king.

In Judges, he's the judge of all the earth.

Hey, in Jude, he's the king's redeemer.

In Samuel, the Norner of Kings, the kings, king of kings, Lord of lords.

Chronicles, the great historian.

Ezra, the rebuilder of the temple, Nehemiah, the rebuilder of the wall, Esther, the savior of the Jews, Job, a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.

Psalms, the song of all the ages.

Proverbs, the wisdom of God, Ecclesiastes, the great preacher, the song of Solomon, the wonderful counselor, mighty God, Prince of Peace, everlasting father.

Hey, Jeremiah the weeping prophet, Lamentation's the street preacher.

Hosea the stern, but forgiving lover, the minor prophets, the star in the Bethlehem sky.

In Matthew, he's the king of kings.

In Mark, suffering, servant, Luke, son of God, John, son of man, acts, power of the church.

Romans, the dynamite of the gospel.

Christian is the redeemer of the carnal nature.

Galatians, the torn veil, Ephesians, the heavenly one.

Philippians, the all-sufficient one, Colossians, the preeminent one, Thessalonians, the great appearing one, Timothy, the coming God, Calebs, the blessed home, Philemon, the forgiver of all the way were slaves.

Hebrews, the best of them all.

James, true religion.

Peter's your foundation.

John blessed is huge.

Jude, the one who keeps us from following.

The book of Revelation, the one seated on the white horse, coming back for the church, whose name is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

That's what he preached.

That's what he preached.

Woo Woo.

I need a water break.

Amen.

Amen.

Number six.

One a little bit more than I'm through.

Glory.

So you're Pentecostal.

Guilty.

Number six.

Can you imagine?

After he got through preaching like that.

You know what they did?

They grabbed him.

I bet the Holy Spirit jumped all over them so much.

They couldn't help themselves.

They just grabbed him.

He said, You can't go.

He said, I got, I'm going.

No, you can't go.

You can't go.

You can't go.

We want more.

We want more.

This Easter, I hope when you leave here, you're going to leave with saying, I want more.

I want more.

It'll change your life.

In fact, when you read after verse 30, it'll set your heart on fire.

The word of God has set your heart on fire.

It opened their eyes that they might know him.

Their hearts were set on fire.

And you know what they did?

They immediately took off and went back and told the disciples and told the ladies that, hey, had said we don't know where he is.

If I could sing, I would start singing this song right now.

They ran back.

They went back into the Jerusalem, saying, He's alive.

He's alive.

He's alive.

Not because, hey, we heard so, we saw so.

We saw him.

He spent the night with us.

He ate with us.

He broke bread with us.

Oh, church.

Oh, church.

Next Sunday we'll break bread together.

In the Lord's Supper.

Just like he did here.

I grabbed him.

And they said, stay with us.

Stay with us.

There's another whole message.

I could go there.

On God uses, he breaks the bread.

There's another beautiful sermon there.

God gave me it, but I don't have time to preach that one.

I'm hungry.

Because it's so good.

I'm gonna preach that another time.

You know what it?

God breaks us just like he broke the bread.

So that he'll use us in a great way.

We've got to be broken before we can be used.

That's a good message.

Broken but used.

Stay tuned.

It's coming.

But this morning.

Do you know him?

Do you really know him?

Or are you just following him?

See, there's a lot of us here today that's just following him.

We really don't know him.

These were good people.

They would consider themselves as followers of Christ, but they didn't really know him until he opened their eyes.

And once he opened their eyes, and they knew that he was the Messiah, the true King, the true Savior.

The Bible says their hearts burn within.

His word was in my heart as a burning fire.

Shut up in my bones.

Jeremiah said, even when I didn't want to preach, I couldn't help but preach.

See, when you really are set on fire for God and know him, you gotta tell somebody.

You gotta go tell your friends, you gotta go tell your loved ones, you gotta go tell your neighbors, you gotta go tell your family.

Got to go tell your husband, you gotta go tell your wife.

You gotta tell them what Jesus did.

Remember the demonic man, he got saved and said, Jesus, I want to go with you in Mark 5.

You know what he said?

No, you can't go with me.

You don't need to go with me.

You need to go back and tell everybody you know the things that I've done for you.

The woman at the well, she got radically saved.

Her heart was set on fire.

She went back and told the whole city.

In John 4.

So this Easter morning.

Do you really know him?

Are you on that Emmaus road to joy?

Are you on that Emmaus road to joy?

Do you have joy in your heart today?

The joy of the Lord is your strength, Nehemiah 18.

Do you have that joy?

Jesus said, These things have spoken unto you that my joy might remain in you and that your joy might be full.

John 15, 11.

Oh, do you know him?

Do you have that joy?

Or are you on a road to destruction, a road to dismay and defeat and downwardness?

You can change that today.

You can change it right now.

You can get off the road to, hey, the off the bad path to the right path.