OH 20:1-23{UK 24:13-36{I am bringing before you some very familiar Scriptures; indeed they are so familiar that it is well if our very familiarity with them has not hindered us from realizing the importance and blessedness of that which they speak of. We have often been reminded that the first day of the week—the resurrection day—imparts its own peculiar character to Christianity; nor did it close without presenting in pattern the assembly—the saints gathered, the Spirit given, and the Lord in the midst.
My object in adverting now to this day, is to bring briefly before you the activities of the Lord in resurrection. Does it not awaken at once a lively interest in our hearts, when we ask, how was the blessed Lord engaged on that memorable day? We have often, it may be, meditated with profound delight on His activities in the days of His flesh. We have followed Him through the day of His activity as Jehovah's Servant on earth, from its sunrise at the baptismal waters of Jordan to its sunset in that awful hour of the power of darkness, when the night came of which He spake, when He could no longer work.
Blessed, indeed, for us to know that the night did not overtake that peerless Servant Until His work was done! I speak not-for the moment-of atonement, but of all these ceaseless activities of grace, in which He was the Servant of Jehovah's pleasure, and the Son of His Father's love as a Man upon the earth.
Then I trust every heart in this company has fingered with adoring thoughts of faith and love in presence of the work accomplished on the cross. There we see the One of whom we can say, through grace, that He is " all our salvation," accomplishing the work which gives Him title to be thus known by our poor hearts. There we see our sins and our whole state as children of Adam brought before God, and we see a divine Savior under judgment and in death, that He might settle every question that sin had raised between God and our souls, and that He might so deliver us as to make Himself the object of our faith and the One in whom our hearts should find their every blessing and joy forever.
But " the first day of the week " finds Him in a new condition. The " days of His flesh " ended; all His earthly associations with Israel and with men in the flesh entirely broken. He now conies forth in resurrection to be the Source and the Giver, and to present in His own person the character of blessings altogether new. I am increasingly persuaded, my brethren that the Holy Ghost would lead our hearts affections to that Risen One: and in order to this my present object is to bring before you His gracious activities as the Risen One. Have you thought of the round of service that occupied Him on that eventful, day? We may truly say that it was a busy day for our blessed Lord.
A Sorrowing Heart.
His first action—and surely love would have it so—was to meet and satisfy the longings of a heart that had no object but Himself. A heart like Mary's had the first claim, we may say, on the attention of the Lord. And, beloved, to such a service as this His heart would joyously turn. His own precious words were-oh! that we may treasure them in our hearts-" He that loved' me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him and will manifest myself to him" (John 14:2121He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. (John 14:21)). With what delight did His eye rest upon that early visitor to His empty tomb! She loved Him, awl her love called forth the expression of His. She wept for Him; she sought Him; she loved Him; and He loved her and manifested Himself unto her.
Now, beloved christians, are our hearts turning from everything that is here because of the treasure we have in Himself? There is such a thing as turning from the world as philosophers and monks turn from it, in disgust when it has disappointed and vexed us, or when our power to enjoy its things is gone, or in a religious way to build up a religious character for ourselves. But the Lord looks for something different to this. He looks—yes, He is looking now—for the heart that longs after Himself. Has the treasure we have found in His love really separated our hearts from everything here.
I do not ask whether you understand church truth, or dispensational truth or resurrection truth. You might know a great deal about these things, and yet be like the disciples of whom we read in John 20:8-108Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed. 9For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead. 10Then the disciples went away again unto their own home. (John 20:8‑10). They saw. Yes! it was as clear as noonday that the Lord was risen. They believed, too, that He was risen. But though the intelligence was right and the faith was, right, there was something else that was singularly wanting—perhaps I ought to say, dormant. Can you understand the lack of that wanting element? Have you no key to it in your own experience which compels you now to own in your conscience that their condition is but a picture of your own? Indeed, my brethren, we see many things clearly enough; we can perhaps define them with mathematical accuracy; in a certain way we believe them; and yet our practical every-day life is but little affected thereby. We still live in the narrow, selfish circle of our own things and our own interests. " The disciples went away again unto their own home."
It was far different with Mary. Hers was a widowed heart. The sunshine of her life had gone. As someone has said, all the world was a blank to her because He was gone. Neither apostles nor angels could fill the void in that bereaved heart. Christ had made Himself everything to her: with Him she had all, without Him, she had nothing. It is easy to speak with cold criticism of her lack of intelligence; but, my brethren, it might be well for some of us if we could part with some of our intelligence, and receive in exchange a little more of that whole-hearted and self-forgetting affection for Christ which made her homeless and without an object in the world where He was not.
It was to a heart like hers that the Lord delighted to manifest Himself. A single word sufficed to dispel the sorrow of that broken heart, and to fill it with immeasurable satisfaction and delight. It was that one word " Mary." It was not any communication made. It was nothing but Him self, and the consciousness of His presence and love borne into her heart as the well-known Shepherd's voice called His sheep by name. Divine communications of the most wonderful nature followed, but there must be a suited condition of heart to receive divine communications, and that condition of heart was found in Mary. That one word from His lips filled and satisfied her heart. She had reached Himself and that was everything: It was to a heart like that the blessed Lord could make communications which surpass all human thought-to such a heart he could unfold what divine love would do for its own delight in the blessing of its objects.
Her love would have kept Him here and been content to follow Him still as the Messiah upon earth; rejected and dishonored indeed, but still to her the chiefest among ten thousand and altogether lovely. But His love had its own secrets, and He tenderly set aside her thoughts that He might replace them by His own. " Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father." His death has proved there was nothing for Him here, but it bad also proved that there was nothing for Mary here. Now He leads her heart to a new world by telling her that He is going there. She had known Him here and lost Him; now He reveals Himself to her in connection with a scene where nothing can ever break the link with Himself. He is going to His Father, but He is going as the Leader of a chosen race." He has those in this world whom He owns as His brethren, His Father is their Father, and His God is their God, and His love would have them to know this new place of association with Himself as the Risen One. What a revelation to the sorrowing heart that yearned after Himself She had found Him in resurrection, in a new condition where the links could never be broken, and she had learned that she was one of a company whom He owned as His brethren—all of one with Himself. Every longing in her heart was more than satisfied. Beloved brethren, is it so with ourselves? If not, depend upon it we have not really taken in the thoughts of His love, and it may be the Lord has not found in Ile that freshness of affection for Himself that would set Him free to communicate those thoughts to us.
A Soiled Conscience.
But it is not with all as it was with Mary. Alas! how few there are whose hearts are wholly absorbed by Christ! There are many whose hearts are not free because their consciences are burdened. They are not right with the Lord. They are under a cloud. They can say—
"What happy hours I once enjoyed,
How sweet their memory still!"
But their spiritual joy has fled. Instead of holy thirsting after Christ, and the joy of His love, there is nothing in their soul's secret history but sadness and reproach. How is it? In some way the flesh has been allowed, the Spirit has been grieved, the Lord dishonored, the conscience is soiled, and the matter has never been bottomed with the Lord. On that resurrection day while Mary's heart was being made glad as we have seen, there was another disciple who was under a cloud. Poor Peter! Who can tell the agony of that fervent spirit since the hour when the Lord turned and looked upon him, and he went out and wept bitterly?
I may here remark that there are two things to which almost every fall can be traced. One is spiritual indolence and the other is self-confidence. David is an example of one, and Peter of the other. It was the time " when kings go forth to battle "why then was David tarrying at Jerusalem? A pernicious indolence clogged his footsteps and you know the consequences. No doubt' the palace royal was more congenial to flesh and blood than the battle-field, but, tarrying there threw David into temptation he would never have had if with purpose of heart he had been acting as a king. If the Lord has called you to any service and you neglect it, you are sure to get into trouble,. Lot is another example of spiritual indolence. The mountain life with its daily exercises, and its constant demand for the energy of faith, was too laborious for him His eye rested upon well-watered plains. The dwellings of Sodom seemed more secure than the mountain tent, and he went down to the city whose sin was "pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of-idleness." You may shrink from the troubles of faith, but if you shirk them you will have the troubles of sin, which are much worse to bear. If you look back to see where you have dishonored the Lord I think you will see that it was-when you had been neglecting the word of God and private prayer, and your heart was not going diligently after the things of the Lord.
In Peter we see self-confidence. He loved: the Lord, and he was confident in the strength of his love, and he needed to learn what a bruised reed he was. He did learn it, as we-know, in a most humiliating way, and bitter was the lesson to his soul. Who can tell what scalding tears coursed down his cheeks! and what bitter self-reproaches he heaped upon himself! But was he forgotten by the Lord? Nay. Mark 16:77But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you. (Mark 16:7), reveals a precious touch of grace; " tell His disciples and Peter." Why should Peter be specially, mentioned? Would it not have been enough to have said " his disciples "? Ah! Peter might have said, "I cannot call myself a disciple any longer. I have denied Him. Such a name is not for me." So it must needs be that Peter has special mention. Then furthermore Luke 24:3434Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon. (Luke 24:34), tells us of the Lord's second appearance in resurrection; "The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon." We know not what passed at that private interview, but I will venture to say that there was so much confession on Simon's part, and so much tender and gracious love on the Lord's part, that when the Lord and Simon met again within the closed doors in the evening no uneasiness or shyness remained to hinder Simon -from enjoying the presence of his Lord.
If there is a Peter here tonight—one who has failed and dishonored the Lord—I can tell you that dishonored Lord loves you still, and it would give His heart great joy to remove the soil from your conscience and to make you happy in His love. Is there a shadow between your heart and Himself? has something been allowed to get in, so that instead of being happy with the Lord you are ill at ease? You feel that there is a reserve and you are reluctant to go straight to Him and have it all out. The Lord would have that reserve banished from your heart, and this is the great object of His present dealings with you. He makes, you conscious of your sin, but He does not fail to assure your heart of the constancy of His love. Look at all those links in the chain of His gracious dealings with Peter (1) the prayer, Luke 22:3232But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. (Luke 22:32); (2) the warning, verse 34; (3) the counsel, verse 46; (4) the look, verse 61; (5) the message, Mark 16:77But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you. (Mark 16:7); (6) the private interview, Luke 24. 34; (7) the full restoration, John 21:15-1715So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. 16He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. 17He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep. (John 21:15‑17)Every link bears the stamp of divine and changeless love. The Lord would not rest until He had His poor disciple alone with Himself to have it all out. It is to this end that He is speaking to you. Satan would keep you away from Him, and use the failure to create and widen a breach, between you and the Lord. The active grace of the Lord comes after you now, as it went after Peter, that the breach may be completely healed. Get alone with Him and have it all out. Make a clean breast of the whole matter; go to the very bottom of it with Him; and you will find that he will remove the shade from your heart and the stain from your conscience, and give you a deeper sense of His love than you ever had before.
But the Risen One has now before Him another service. He first satisfies a sorrowing heart; then relieves a soiled conscience; And then He has to think of.
Straying Feet.
Mark how the Holy Ghost introduces the subject! " And, behold, two of them went that same day to Emmaus " (Luke 24:1313And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. (Luke 24:13)). It is as though the Holy Ghost marveled at such a thing. They were true disciples—they loved the Lord—they were not happy in going away—they had heard that He was alive-and yet they went! While He was with them He kept them, as He said; but now that He was gone and nothing remained for sight, they sorrowfully decided that the best thing they could do was to go back, as I suppose to their own borne.
We may be under influences of a natural kind which keep us outwardly right, without being at all in the faith of God's purpose. Then when the influences are removed wt. drift back to our own things. How often we see saints whose feet are kept right so long as certain influences are acting on them, who turn into a wrong path as soon as those influences are removed. I do not mean going into sin, as men speak, but going back to think only of their own things. It was so with Paul's converts. When he was put in prison he had to say that all in Asia had turned away from him, and that all were seeking their own things and not the things which were Jesus Christ's.
The fact was that the two whose course we are now considering were disappointed. Things had not turned out as they expected. Disappointment is a fruitful source of backsliding. Then let us be quite sure that our expectations are according to God's purposes. If we expect on the line of God's purpose we shall never be disappointed. These two had been looking for earthly blessing in connection with a living Messiah, and when all hope of this had been withered by His death they were sad and disheartened. Their expectations were on a wrong line, and the blessed Lord goes after them and speaks to their hearts that He might lead them on to the line of God's purposes in resurrection. Think of Rim, just risen from the dead, walking eight miles with those two wanderers that He might conduct their hearts into the wonderful secret that God was going to establish everything in resurrection. In short, He was leading their hearts to Himself in that new condition into which He had entered as the Risen One. With what surprised burnings of heart did they hear of the wonderful change in God's Program which even Old Testament Scriptures had announced beforehand. As their feet paced the road to Emmaus their hearts and minds were being conducted by the wondrous Stranger along a moral road which ended in the revelation of Himself in resurrection.
Do not let us suppose that the journey is one which only they needed to take. It is equally necessary and important for ourselves. It is so easy and natural for our hearts to connect the blessings of God with ourselves as men in the flesh, instead of seeing that the blight of death is upon everything that is of that order. We have to learn that all the blessings of God's present grace are wrapped up in One who is risen from the dead, and in order to reach them and have the joy of them we must reach HIM who is no longer to be known after the flesh. If all expectation of blessings of a natural order is blighted by His death, He reveals Himself in resurrection as the Source of infinite blessings of a spiritual order. When at length He made Himself known as the Risen One to the opened eyes of the two disciples it dawned upon their hearts that there was a new order of blessing infinitely surpassing all the earthly blessings for which they had been looking. Instinctively they turned at once to seek the company of their brethren. His death had broken all the earthly links that had held them together, and had put them outside everything that was recognized by men; but now His resurrection had put a new complexion upon everything, and they hastened to be found with the company which had been gathered, as someone has beautifully said, by the message sent by the Risen One to His brethren. His gracious service had accomplished its end.
Thus, at the close of that memorable day, were the brethren gathered together. Gathered upon the new ground that Christ was risen, and gathered as the brethren of the Risen One, He could have His own joy in being in their midst. I do not enter now into the wonderful character of that gathered company. You may perhaps feebly conceive what it was to Mary, to Peter, and to the two disciples of Emmaus to know the Lord in His new condition as the Risen One, and to be found in a company to whom He could manifest Himself! But what was it for HIM to gather His own company thus for the first time around Himself as the Risen One! In the midst of that company His heart could let itself freely out. HE was in the peace of accomplished redemption, for all the judgment of sin was fully borne; God was glorified; His work was finished; the storm that had bowed His blessed head was hushed forever. HE was now in cloudless peace, but it was the peace which lie could share with this gathered company. He could impart to them the same peace that He was in as the Risen One. Then if He had been quickened out of death by the Spirit, He would associate this gathered company with Himself in life, breathing upon them the Spirit of Life. To that company He could declare the Father's name; in their midst He could sing praise to God; and He could entrust to them the maintenance of His interests and glory, as the Father's interest and glory had been entrusted to Him. It was a company gathered BY and FOR Himself; His own company, or, as lie Hays in Matt, 16.— " MY assembly."
Now do we know anything of being gathered by the Risen Lord, and upon such ground as this May we better understand that it is the purpose of Ills love to have us here for Himself, and that all the wonderful grace that meets us in our need-whether it be that of the sorrowing heart, the soiled conscience, or the straying feet—is bent upon dealing with us in such a way as to free us for Himself and for His own company! May we know truly what it is to be gathered together to His name!