Sunday
Morning Bible Study
November 6, 2005
Introduction
We’ve been walking through the account of Jesus’ last days. We’ve seen Him as
an innocent man being put on trial and condemned to death. We’ve seen Him be beaten,
crucified, and die. We’ve seen Him buried.
And last week we read what happened early on that Sunday morning – a
group of women went to the tomb and found it empty. An angel told them that Jesus had risen from
the dead and that they should tell the disciples. The disciples didn’t believe the women, but
two of them, Peter and John, ran to the tomb and they too found it empty. Then later that morning Jesus appeared to
Mary Magdalene. When Mary told the
disciples, they still didn’t believe.
:12 After that, He appeared in another form to two of them as they walked
and went into the country.
Luke tells us the story in Luke 24.
(Luke 24:13-35 NKJV) Now behold, two of them were traveling that
same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem. {14} And they
talked together of all these things which had happened. {15} So it was, while
they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them.
{16} But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him. {17} And He
said to them, "What kind of conversation is this that you have with one
another as you walk and are sad?" {18} 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 there in these days?" {19} And He said
to them, "What things?"
I find it interesting how Jesus handled these fellows. He knew the answer to their question better
than they did. Yet He let them go on and
talk.
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, {20}
"and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to
death, and crucified Him. {21} "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.
{22} "Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb
early, astonished us. {23} "When they did not find His body, they came
saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive. {24}
"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." {25} Then He said to
them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the
prophets have spoken! {26} "Ought not the Christ to have suffered these
things and to enter into His glory?" {27} And beginning at Moses and all
the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning
Himself.
Wouldn’t you love a CD of that Bible Study?
To hear Jesus Himself explain the Old Testament Scriptures.
Note how Jesus deals with their unbelief.
He opens the Scriptures.
{28} Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and
He indicated that He would have gone farther. {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 stay with them. {30} 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. {31} Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished
from their sight. {32} 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?" {33} So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the
eleven and those who were with them gathered together, {34} saying, "The
Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!" {35} And they told about
the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the
breaking of bread.
Mark tells us how the disciples respond to their story …
:13 And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them
either.
:14 Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He
rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe
those who had seen Him after He had risen.
He rebuked – oneidizo – to
reproach, upbraid, revile
There are several different Greek words used in the New Testament that are
translated as “rebuke”.
This particular word is used ten times in the New Testament. It’s usually
used to describe how we are “reproached” or “rebuked” by those in the world. This
is the only occurrence where this particular Greek word describes Jesus
rebuking His disciples. There’s
something here to pay attention to.
Lesson
Unbelief and Hard Hearts
Why would He rebuke their unbelief and hardness of heart?
Because these are two areas that are critical for Christians.
Hard Hearts
How does a heart grow hard? Disappointment
Disappointment in others, being unwilling to trust or risk loving another
person.
Jesus said that the reason God allowed Moses to make a law
concerning divorce was becase of “hard hearts” (Mat. 19:8).
Hard hearts can develop in relationships, in
marriage. It is hard hearts that lead to
divorce.
Disappointment in God, things not turning out the way you wanted them to.
The Israelites wandering in the wilderness had hard hearts
because they had run out of water, they had difficult times. Psalm 95:8 tells us that they developed “hard
hearts” and complained against God.
For the disciples, they had just gone through the biggest
disappointment ever. They had expected
Jesus to become King and take over the world.
They had been trusting in Him and He had let them down. He had died.
And it seemed as if He wanted to die.
He didn’t even resist.
God wants us to have a soft heart.
His “New Covenant” was built around a new, soft, heart.
(Ezek 36:26 NKJV) "I will give you a new heart and put a new
spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give
you a heart of flesh.
When a person becomes “born again”, God gives their heart
a fresh start.
Unbelief/Faith
God wants us to have “faith”
I don’t think God wants you to be “gullible” and simply believe
everything. I think its fine with God
that we learn to “test” things, that we ask questions. One of the things the bugs me most about
Christians is how quick we are to spread these stupid Internet rumors. I wish we’d learn to be a little more
skeptical at times.
But the disciples aren’t being healthily skeptical here.
Their first idea that Jesus had been raised from the dead
should have come when the women first reported that the tomb was empty and that
an angel said that He was risen.
Their second idea should have come when Peter and John
confirmed that the tomb was empty.
Their THIRD idea should have come when Mary came back a
second time and said that she had actually SEEN Jesus.
And now this FOURTH witness has come when the two fellows
came back from Emmaus reporting that they had been walking and talking with
Jesus.
That goes beyond healthy skepticism and enters unbelief.
What is faith?
I think that sometimes we have this notion that “faith” is some kind of
magical fairy dust that Christians are supposed to carry in their pockets. We think that if we could only have enough of
this “stuff”, then all our problems would go away.
That’s not what the Bible teaches. This is what the Bible says …
(Heb 11:1
NKJV) Now faith is the substance of
things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
(Heb 11:1 NLT)
What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is
going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see.
It’s counting on something that you don’t see. It’s trusting in something that doesn’t make
sense.
Faith may indeed make your problems go away, but if it
doesn’t, faith will help you go through your problems.
God likes it when we have faith.
(Heb 11:6 NKJV) But
without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must
believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Faith produces something
It produces works. It’s what makes a
Christian keep going.
The disciples were going to have plenty of difficult times
in their lives. They would be facing
unbelievable persecution. They were
going to go through many things that would indicate that they should just
“quit” and walk away. But they would
need to keep going. They would need to
keep telling people about Jesus. And
that would require faith – trusting in Jesus despite what their circumstances
would tell them.
Hebrews 11 contains all sorts of examples of what people did through
“faith”.
(Heb
11:7-16 NKJV) By faith Noah, being
divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark
for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became
heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
Noah’s faith didn’t make the flood disappear. But it did make him get up and build a big
boat. And his boat rescued his entire
family. Yet he built the boat without
ever having seen rain in his entire life.
He trusted in what he didn’t see.
He trusted in what God said.
{8} By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to
go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out,
not knowing where he was going.
Abraham didn’t know where the “Promised Land” was. He didn’t have friends come back from Canaan
to tell him there was land for sale. God
just said, “Go”. And he went.
{9} By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as
in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with
him of the same promise; {10} for he waited for the city which has foundations,
whose builder and maker is God. {11} By faith Sarah herself also received
strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age,
because she judged Him faithful who had promised. {12} Therefore from one man,
and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in
multitude; innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore. {13} These all
died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off
were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and
pilgrims on the earth.
They never saw a kingdom established. They never saw descendants as innumerable as
the sand. They lived on God’s Promises.
{14} For those who say such things declare
plainly that they seek a homeland. {15} And truly if they had called to mind
that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to
return. {16} But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country.
Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city
for them.
God was very pleased with these men and women who desired
to trust and obey God, even though they didn’t understand and even though their
circumstances told them to quit.
God prepared a city – God prepared heaven for these
people.
Faith is a part of salvation.
(Eph 2:8-9 NKJV) For by
grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the
gift of God, {9} not of works, lest anyone should boast.
For a person to know God, to find forgiveness for their
sins, and to be assured of eternal life in heaven, they have to trust
Jesus. They have to trust that He died
for their sins. They have to trust that
His death was enough to make the way to heaven for them.
How do we build our faith?
Through the Word.
Jesus dealt with the disciples on the road to Emmaus by
teaching them the Scriptures.
(Rom 10:17 NKJV)
So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
When you get the Bible into your heart, you will realize
that God is someone you can count on.
Through obedience. Through “going”.
Every time we take a step of “faith” and do something that
stretches us a little, I believe our faith is stretched as well.
That’s why the writer of Hebrews has this clear link
between men and women of faith, and the things they did as a result of faith.
For many of you, you have found that when you take one of
those uncomfortable “steps of faith”, your faith grows.
It may have been stepping out and going to Russia. It may have been stepping out and talking to
or praying with a friend.
God is looking to use those who will trust Him. He’s looking for those who will “go”.
:15 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel
to every creature.
This is what we call the “Great Commission”.
Matthew gives us a little fuller rendering of it:
(Mat 28:18-20 NKJV) And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying,
"All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. {19} "Go
therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, {20} "teaching them to
observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always,
even to the end of the age." Amen.
Lesson
The Great Commission
It started with the disciples. This
was Jesus’ parting instructions to them, to preach the gospel to the whole
world.
But it wasn’t just about preaching the gospel, it wasn’t just about driving
around in a truck with a loudspeaker and reading Bible verses to people.
It was about making disciples. A disciple is a learner, a follower. The twelve were disciples, and they weren’t
supposed to be the last disciples, just the first disciples.
A disciple is one who “observes all things He has commanded”.
And that includes the Great Commission. Which means that more people become involved
in God’s purpose to reach the world.
Paul wrote to Timothy,
(2 Tim 2:2 NKJV)
And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit
these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.
For our church, I see our purpose contained in three statements:
Winning the Lost, Equpping the Saints, Sending the Servants
Winning the Lost
God loves this world we live in.
Jesus was the friend of sinners.
And God wants us to have the same kind of heart He does, to reach a lost
world for Him.
For some of us, this is not a “fun” thing.
Some of us are more introverted than others. Some of us have a hard time talking to
strangers. Some of us struggle with
knowing what to say to a non-Christian.
But whether we are a person who is gifted as an evangelist, or a person who
struggles with evangelism, the overall purpose of the church is the same – to
win lost people.
Some may be good on the front lines – and we need to give
them all the support we can. Others of
us may not be the greatest at witnessing, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t
be helping to move the church in the right direction. And that doesn’t mean that we can’t be nice
people out in the world. That doesn’t
mean that we can’t learn to be a better friend to the fellow at work or the
neighbor next door, that one day we might be able to invite them to church, or
be the one person they can talk to with a problem.
Evangelism doesn’t always have to be talking to strangers
and debating the issues.
I think a lot might happen if we simply started praying
for the people we have relationships with that don’t know the Lord.
Equipping the Saints
Once a person comes to the Lord, they become a “saint”. I don’t mean they become perfect, but they
become someone who has been forgiven and someone that God wants to work in.
But in my mind, a “saint” isn’t the end of the line. I don’t think God’s heart is just to fill up
the church with people who say “that sinner’s prayer”, and that’s all there is
to it.
God wants us to grow as Christians.
God wants us to learn to follow Him.
God wants us to be disciples.
And that requires training. One of
my life verses comes from:
(Eph 4:11-12 NKJV) And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some
prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, {12} for the
equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body
of Christ,
As a pastor/teacher, one of my responsibilities is to
“equip the saints” for the work of the ministry. The “ministry” is not the pastor’s job alone,
it belongs to all of us. Reaching out to
people, comforting the hurting, praying for the sick, are all things that we
all are called to do. And part of my
job, as well as yours, is to help others learn to do the ministry.
The way I look at it, my goal is to take a “saint”, and
help them grow to be a “servant”.
Too often the disciples themselves got caught up in
wanting to become “important” in the church.
They argued over who was going to be the “top dog”. But Jesus would take the fellows aside and
let them know that they had it all wrong.
If they were to really grow as Christians, the goal is not to become
“more important”, the goal is to become a “servant”.
He said,
(Mark 10:45 NKJV)
"For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve,
and to give His life a ransom for many."
Sending the Servants
There is still one more step in the health of the church.
God doesn’t want the church filled with servants who just come and listen
to the pastor tell them how to be a better servant.
God wants a church made up of servants who learn to go.
Jesus told the disciples to “go” into all the world.
We need to “go” as well.
For some of us, God’s purpose is more toward “equipping”
other saints. These are the folks who
will do well with ministering mainly within the church, helping others to grow
in Christ and find their ministry. Some
might serve as servants in the cleaning ministry, as running the sound board,
leading small groups, Bible teachers, Sunday School teachers, Worship leaders,
things that help to build up other believers.
For some, they live to reach non-Christians with the
gospel. They thrive in meeting new
people, handing out tracts, or speaking to groups of people about Jesus. They may go to Mississippi,
Mexico, Russia,
Korea, or to
McDonald’s down the street. But we need
to be sending them.
And the cycle begins all over again in winning the lost, equipping the
saints, and sending the servants.
Where are you today?
Are you in that place where you need to take that first step of trusting
God? Are you ready to open our heart to
Jesus?
Are you ready to take that next step in your walk – to “go”?