[0:00] Thank you so much for that song. If you would, would you turn back with me there to where Ben was speaking from? I don't know. Ben, we might just have you preach. Like, that is good.
[0:11] That is powerful. And that is the essence of what's going on here in Luke chapter number 24. Now, before we get to the message, there's a couple things I want to mention. First of all, thank you, Ben, for that offering devotion.
[0:22] Thank you, Dylan, for leading the music this morning. It has been good already to just sing praise to our God. Are you with me? It is good to just worship and to thank him for who he is.
[0:35] And I've enjoyed the music so much this morning. A couple things before we jump in. I feel like I'm giving you a lot of announcements, but there's a lot going on. Of course, it's summer. Next Sunday, we will not have service Sunday evening because that Saturday, we're having our first of July celebration.
[0:54] So on Saturday at 630, there's going to be a cookout here, a lot of activities, bounce house for the kids. There's yard games, a service, and then, of course, fireworks Saturday night. So if you've not already signed up for that, please go over to the church app on your phone, or you can go to the website, click on events, and you'll be able to sign up there.
[1:16] Our space is probably going to be limited because of parking, so please go ahead and sign up so we can make sure that we have food and space and everything prepared correctly for that. Tonight, we will have service, and Pastor Greg will be preaching.
[1:30] He just came back from preaching a kids' camp up in Illinois. It's Indiana, Illinois. I get those mixed up sometimes. You'd think being from the Midwest, you wouldn't mix those up, but sometimes I do.
[1:42] But he's going to be preaching tonight and sharing a little bit of an update about the camp he was at this week. God really seemed to use him in that camp in preaching and teaching these guys who come from sometimes difficult situations.
[1:58] They were together for camp. He said there were only three fights this week, so it was a good week of camp, but the Lord really used that, and that's going to be tonight. And finally, before we turn to our passage, we have Pastor Rich is with us.
[2:10] If you wave to us real quick, our preacher, he's traveling through, and you know the walls. Your church supports the walls, and so thank you for being with us this morning. Thank you for partnering with our church as we're sending missionaries around the world.
[2:22] I appreciate that so much. One other thing. I said one thing. I promise this is the last thing before we go to Luke. This week, please be mindful that this week we have two families that are heading back to the field or heading to the field.
[2:36] Of course, we have Kyle and Hannah. We had their send-off service on Thursday night, and tonight will be their last service that you get to spend with them. So please make sure to get to chat with them because it's probably going to be a while before we see them again here in person.
[2:50] And then also the Elrod family, they're heading back to India on Tuesday. So be praying for them. Send them a text. If you have their number, if not, we can get you that contact information, and we just want to love on them.
[3:01] Pray for them as they're heading back to the field. All right. Everyone good? Did we miss anything? All right. Let's go to Luke chapter number 24. As you're turning there, we are going to be starting out in verse number 28.
[3:16] And as we open up this passage, the title this morning is this. Jesus will come to you. Jesus will come to you. And the thing that just astounds me about this passage is how personal it is.
[3:31] You know, we've been on the road to Emmaus a couple weeks highlighting Jesus' emphasis on all Scripture. Right? Jesus took those disciples in their confused, fearful, sad state, showed them the Old Testament and said, listen, I'm right there in the Old Testament.
[3:49] I'm here. And you can believe that all that has transpired, his suffering, his death, it was all according to plan.
[4:00] All Scripture brought them from confusion to clarity. But then the amazing thing is it doesn't stop there. Right? Because he takes God's word. He takes the word. He explains it to them.
[4:12] But then something happens. He shows himself to be there with them. Now, that might sound like, of course he does. If he's there sitting with them, then he's there with them.
[4:23] But this was all done on purpose. Because one of the things that we can't miss in this story is that up to this point, they have not known that it's Jesus.
[4:36] They were spiritually unable to understand and recognize who they were talking with. To them, this was just some man walking along the road with them. So I went hiking with my uncle on the Appalachian Trail one time years and years ago.
[4:51] That is such a cool experience. We were out there for like six days, you know, carrying everything on our backs. And it's amazing, you know, sometimes you'll be hiking along the trail and for hours and hours and hours there'll be nobody.
[5:02] And then you'll come across somebody. Maybe they were stopping for a rest. They had lunch. And then you get to walk together for a period of time. And you might walk with somebody for, you know, an hour, for, you know, a couple hours, a whole day.
[5:14] But you talk and there's this thing about walking with somebody and talking with them and hearing about them and discussing the trail and where they've been and where they're going and all these things.
[5:26] And that's kind of what's going on. To them, Jesus is just a stranger even though they knew him. And then all of that changes in a moment. And it teaches us about the way that Jesus comes to us.
[5:38] And he comes personally to us. Do you know one of the worst things in, I think we could say in life, and one of the worst things even in the Bible is being alone. Being alone.
[5:50] Do you remember back in Genesis? God made everything. And every day he made things and they were always what? They were always good. Okay, can you say that with me for a second?
[6:00] They were good, right? He divides the light and the darkness and he makes the land and plants and life springs out of the earth. And it's all good. But then there's one thing that is bad.
[6:13] He looks at Adam and he says, Adam is alone. And that's not good. And that is one of the things that is amazing about the story is that it's intensely relational.
[6:24] It's very personal. Jesus comes to them and for a time they don't know him. They don't understand him. They don't understand that it is him. But then he becomes personal to them.
[6:36] Isn't that one of the things that we long for is that sense of togetherness, that sense of relationship. There's times, I mean, I personally, I consider myself a little bit of an introvert, right?
[6:47] You got that introvert-extrovert scale. I can do alone and I can enjoy alone for a little while. But you probably know that if you're alone and then you're alone and then days and weeks and time goes by, that gets old real fast.
[7:03] We want togetherness. Even our tech companies, they put features into their phones to make you feel like you're together, right?
[7:13] Whether it's the virtual reality stuff or, you know, when you're texting somebody. How exciting is it when you see the little bubbles, you know, doing their thing that someone's texting back. It's like, there's that connection.
[7:24] I tell you, the one that always gets me is in the Apple Photos app. You ever have those things pop up and it's like it creates this little story or this little montage. And one of them is called Together over the years.
[7:36] And I try to avoid clicking on it because it's pictures of, you know, our family and our kids and those moments when they were little and now they're growing up. And it's just like, give me a break.
[7:46] I can't handle this. I've become more emotional about those type things. But together, together. And what Jesus is doing is he's coming to them and he's explaining things to them.
[7:57] But then it all becomes personal. He was together with them. And that's the key to this whole Christian life. You see, this is not just a mental project.
[8:10] This is not school. We do study, but this isn't school. When we study the scripture, it's all about a person and about our relationship with that person. And so that's the thing I really want you to look at as we read through this passage and see that God, he comes to you.
[8:28] And he wants to be very real to you. And if this thing of Christianity is a mental thing, if it's just a package of ideas, that's not what Christianity is at all.
[8:42] It's a relationship. Jesus comes to us and he is real. And he is here today. And he can be present in your life today if you'll invite him in. Would you read with me in Luke chapter 24?
[8:54] Let's start there in verse 28. And we'll read on down to 43. Look with me what the scripture says. Now, if you mark in your Bible or you highlight or something, this is a phrase that I think is key to the whole thing.
[9:15] Abide with us. Stay with us. For it is toward evening and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them. And it continues. And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread and blessed it and break it and gave to them.
[9:33] And their eyes were opened and they knew him and he vanished out of their sight. Now, that cracks me up a little bit, right? It's like they sit down at the meal. He breaks the bread and they're like, oh, whoa, wait a minute.
[9:46] It's Jesus. I can't believe it. Why didn't I recognize you before? And then, boom, he's gone. It's like, Jesus, you waited all this time to let them see who you are and then you just vanished.
[9:56] Like, what is going on? Well, let's keep reading. He goes on and it says, and their eyes were opened. They knew him. He vanished out of their sight. And they said one to another, did not our heart burn within us while he talked with us by the way and while he opened to us the scriptures?
[10:13] And they rose up the same hour and returned to Jerusalem and found the eleven gathered together and them that were with them saying, the Lord is risen indeed.
[10:24] And hath appeared to Simon. And they told what things were done in the way and how he was known of them in breaking of bread. And as they spake thus, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them and saith unto them, peace be unto you.
[10:38] Did you notice what happened? He vanishes. These disciples go back to Jerusalem and then they start talking and discussing all the things that have been happening. And then, boom, Jesus is back with them.
[10:49] It's like, Jesus, what are you doing? He's over here. He's over there. Where is he going to be next? But look what happens. He says, peace be unto you. But they were terrified and affrighted and supposed that they had seen a spirit.
[11:02] And he said to them, why are you troubled? Well, that seems like should be an obvious answer, right? You just keep vanishing and going from one place to the other like this is a little freaky. Jesus, what is going on here?
[11:13] Why are you doing all of this? He says, why are you troubled? And why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet that it is I myself.
[11:24] Handle me and see for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as you see me have. And when he had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet.
[11:35] And while they yet believe not for joy and wondered, he said to them, have you here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish and of a honeycomb.
[11:45] And he took it and did eat before them. Jesus will come to you. Would you bow with me? Father, we come to you this morning. And Lord, I pray as we read your scriptures, as we study them together, Lord, that you would open our eyes, help us to understand your word and help us to understand the reality of who you are.
[12:08] You are present. You are personal. You are real. And Lord, I pray that this morning believers would be encouraged knowing that you are so real.
[12:20] Lord, sometimes we think of you in terms of time past or of the future. But Lord, you are here right now in our midst.
[12:34] God, I pray if there's someone here that's not saved, that they would turn to you, that they would open the door of their hearts and let you come in and be with them.
[12:45] Jesus, we pray all of these things in your name. Amen. Amen. The first thing I'd like to point out to you is this. If you're taking notes, Jesus, how does he show himself to us? How does he come to us? He comes to us through the scripture.
[12:57] That's where we've been and that's where we have to start. When we go back to verse number 32, this is what has been happening the whole time. They've been walking with Jesus. Just to kind of recap the story, we start with Cleopas and the other, not names, but it could be a friend or Cleopas' wife.
[13:13] And they've been walking seven miles from Jerusalem to Emmaus. And on that journey, that's where they meet Jesus and they don't know it's Jesus and they're talking with him. Now, this is one of the things that if you've not noticed this, think about this for just a second.
[13:29] This is wild. Why does Jesus take like the hard way, right? You ever been with somebody and maybe you're working together at your job or even your family? This happens to me all the time in the kitchen where it's like, I'm thinking, you know, here's the easy way to do something.
[13:45] And then Lauren's like, I want to do it this way. And it's like, why do you want to do it the hard way? Why do you want to make it so difficult? Or it's vice versa where I'm just like, I have in my mind, this is how I'm going to do it. And then you realize like, oh man, I'm making this way harder on myself than I need to.
[13:58] Jesus is kind of doing that. He could have just showed up and said, all right, guys, here I am. I'm alive. It's all good. But he doesn't do that. What does he do? He goes back and explains and explains and explains.
[14:10] And the scripture says he went to the prophets. That's in your Bible. You have all those people like Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel, all those guys. And he says in the Psalms, that's right in the middle of your Bible, all those songs, the songbook of Israel.
[14:22] And he says in Moses, that's the first part of your Bible where you get Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, all of that. He went back to all of that and he starts picking out passages and say, listen, here is the Messiah.
[14:35] He was going to suffer. He's the suffering servant. He is in the scriptures. It's like he's doing this the hard way. But why is he doing this? Because we find out something in the Bible that the scripture, what does this book do?
[14:48] What does this book do when you read it and you hear it? Romans 10, 17 says this, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
[14:59] What was Jesus trying to do? He was trying to grow their faith, to strengthen their faith, to give foundation and basis to their faith. They didn't know what to believe. You see, they were off base.
[15:10] They thought Messiah is going to come. That was Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah, the King. He's going to come. He's going to throw off the Romans and he's going to establish a kingdom.
[15:22] But he said, listen, I need to strengthen your faith and inform your faith. The King was going to come and suffer and die. And he would come back one day and establish all the kingdom.
[15:32] But he said that was not today. And so he's strengthening their faith. And so when we come to the scripture, one of the things that we need to remember about the scripture, this, like I said a moment ago, this is not a school exercise.
[15:47] This is not a project. This scripture, this book, what does it point to? It points to a person. It points to a person. In the beginning of the Bible, it points to Jesus.
[16:00] In the middle, it points to Jesus. In the prophets, it points to Jesus. Do you get the theme here, right? It points to Christ. And so as you get into the scripture, as we study the scripture together, one of the big questions that we should always be asking is, how does this lead us to Jesus?
[16:17] How does this show us Jesus? Because it does. And that's what he's doing. He shows himself to us in the scripture. Isn't that amazing? Jesus could have done a lot of different things, but he shows up, opens the scripture and says, here is the Messiah.
[16:34] Here is the Messiah. Now, what is our response? And this is the key. This is where the whole thing starts. How does Jesus come to us? It starts with faith.
[16:45] It starts with believing God's word. And I know this may sound like we've rehashed this and we've rehearsed this many times, but it bears repeating. This is the foundation of the whole thing.
[16:56] The whole Christian life rests upon faith in God's word. It's not a matter of necessarily what you feel. You know, there was someone I talked to one time and I was asking about his faith in God and about his relationship with Jesus.
[17:12] And he told me this. And this just kind of blew my mind a little bit. He said, you know what? Me and God, we've got an understanding. We've got an understanding.
[17:23] I've talked to him and we've got an understanding. I'm good with God. We've got it worked out. What does that mean? You decided that you can come to God in your own way and God is okay with that.
[17:42] The scripture says no. It says no. You're not going to get an understanding with God unless it is his understanding of what it is to be in relationship with him. And so we must come to the word. We must see Jesus in the word.
[17:54] And we must believe. We must believe. And the question that I have for you this morning, the first one is this. Do you believe God's word? Do you believe God's word? That's where you've got to start.
[18:05] Let's get to the second thing. How does Jesus come to us? Jesus comes to us through our invitation. Through our invitation to him. Notice what happens, right? They're walking down this road. And once you get to verse number 29, look what happens.
[18:19] This is wild. Okay, let's back up 28 actually. And they drew nigh unto the village whither they went. And he made as though he would have gone further. So remember what's happening here.
[18:29] You have Cleopas and the other. They have been walking with Jesus for some time. This is a seven mile journey from Jerusalem to Emmaus. And then Jesus, they arrive in town and then Jesus, again, they still don't know that it's Jesus.
[18:43] Their eyes are still like covered. They can't recognize him for whatever reason. And Jesus is like, all right, have a nice night. I'm going to keep on going.
[18:54] And that's kind of what's happening here. But there's something that's been going on in their hearts. Do you remember where we read it said their hearts were burning in them? They were like, there's something about this man. There's something about what he's saying.
[19:06] What he's been explaining to us is truth. And I just want you to come be with us, right? Can you stay with us? And that's what they say.
[19:17] Did you notice what it said there in verse number 29? But they constrained him saying, abide with us. For it is toward evening and the day is far spent.
[19:27] It was both a kind of a practical thing of like, hey, man, listen, why are you going to keep on traveling? It's getting dark. The day's done. Let's go. Let's have something to eat.
[19:37] Let's find a place to lodge, right? Because it's not like you can just look up on your phone. Where is the closest hotel in Emmaus? Near my location. No, you've got to go in town and start talking to people like, hey, do you have a room that I can stay in?
[19:49] Is there a place that I can rest tonight? They get some food and they say, abide with us. It's practical, but it was also spiritual. They're also, it's relational. They're like, we need you to come be with us.
[20:03] You know that word abide? What does that mean? Abiding. It's stay with me. That's what they were saying. Why don't you stay with us? Come with us.
[20:13] Come eat a meal with us. It was that invitation that we're, we want to be together. And notice what Jesus does. He stays with them. He's like, okay, you know what?
[20:24] I was acting like I'm going to keep on going, but you want me to stay with you? I'll come in. I'll come sit down with you at the table. Let's have a meal together. Think about that for a second. This is like really simple and it's easy to overlook.
[20:38] What does it mean to have a meal together? You know, in our minds, oftentimes we just think about either food as fuel, right? Or food as pleasure, as enjoyment. Like we're going to sit down and have a good meal together.
[20:50] We're going to have a great cut of meat. We're going to throw something on the grill and we're going to have a steak, right? And we can all look forward to having that for lunch. I don't know. What are you having for lunch? We did some steaks earlier.
[21:01] It's like, you know what? That's just on my mind for some reason. I'm going to enjoy that. Hopefully it's going to fill me up. I'm going to go take a nap this afternoon. But that's not the only essence of a meal. A meal is the idea of we are coming together around this thing that we all do all the time, right?
[21:19] We all got to eat. And so when we share a meal together, we are entering into this relationship around food and we are building and informing relationships around food.
[21:31] How often do we do that, right? Your family gets together at Thanksgiving and Christmas and birthdays and lots of other times in between. Or if you meet somebody new and you want to get to know them, hey, let's go drink a cup of coffee, eat lunch.
[21:45] There's a relational component. That's what they're doing. They're saying, hey, why don't you come be with us? Why don't you come be with us? And Jesus says, yes, I'll come eat a meal with you. And that is the time when they know it's him.
[22:00] That's pretty amazing. Let's continue reading. It goes on in verse number 31, excuse me, verse 30. And it came to pass as he sat at meat with them, as he was sitting down at this meal, he took bread and he blesses that bread and he breaks that bread and he gives it to them.
[22:18] And then in that moment, what does it say? Their eyes were opened and they knew him and he vanished out of their sight. In that moment, when they're around the table, probably, you know, this is ancient Jerusalem.
[22:33] They're probably not sitting at chairs. They're probably lounging, you know, on the ground, maybe a low table. And Jesus, he's blessed the bread. He's broken the bread and he's handed out. Why was it that in that moment, in that time, it was, that was the time when they recognized him and they knew that it was Jesus, this one that they had known for so long and that they had, they were, they had been confused about, but they were getting clarity.
[22:59] Why was it that in that moment, Jesus revealed himself to them in a personal way? I think it was because they invited him in. They invited him in.
[23:10] Abide with us. You know what happens when we give that invitation, that welcome to Jesus of Jesus, come into my life. Jesus, save me. You know what he does?
[23:20] He says, okay, yes, I will come to you. And it's personal. It's personal. This is why becoming a Christian or being saved or believing in Jesus, these words that we use.
[23:35] Your parents can't do it for you. Your spouse can't do it for you. You can't have a relationship with Jesus based upon someone else knowing Jesus. You know, I think even me growing up, there were like, there were people that I noticed that were like, man, that person knows Jesus.
[23:51] That person loves Jesus. But here's the thing that I found out when I was 15 years old. I had to be that person. I couldn't just come to church and enjoy all the things and be wowed by the message and all these things.
[24:03] I had to call upon Jesus for myself and invite Jesus for myself. That word abide, that was one of John's favorite words. 18 times in the gospel of John, he uses the word abide or abode.
[24:19] And there's other times when he uses dwell. Let me give you a couple of these as we go through this. John 12, 46. Listen to why Jesus came. Jesus, it says, Jesus said this, I am come a light into the world that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.
[24:38] Should not remain in darkness. Should not stay in darkness. Should not live in darkness. See, why did Jesus come? Because we were in darkness and we were darkness. But Jesus came to give you light.
[24:50] To give you the light of life so that you could know God so that you wouldn't be separated from God. That's why Jesus came. John 14, 16 says, and I will pray the Father and he shall give you another comforter that he may abide with you forever.
[25:07] He's talking about the Holy Spirit. He says, I'm going to go to the Father. I'm going to pray the Father. I'm going to ask the Father that he would give that Holy Spirit that would come and live within you. Friends, Christians, you know this, right?
[25:20] That if you're saved, where does the Holy Spirit live? Y'all be doing this. Now, we don't often think about that in tangible terms, right?
[25:32] Because it's like, yeah, the Holy Spirit is spiritual. How is he confined to a location? But the Scripture tells us that the believer is sealed with the Holy Spirit.
[25:43] Scripture tells us that the believer is the temple of the Holy Spirit. And so it specifically says that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. And so if you're a believer, you are never, ever alone.
[25:58] The Holy Spirit lives, dwells, abides in you. How incredible is that? That ought to encourage us. We ought to draw upon his help, rely upon him, because he is available and is desiring to work in our lives.
[26:16] But oftentimes, we live like that's not even true. We go through our days trying to do it ourselves, trying to manage things ourselves, trying to make decisions on our own, trying to gather the strength to accomplish what we need to do when we should be relying and being filled with the Holy Spirit of God on a daily basis.
[26:32] Let me give you two more. Jesus answered, and this is John 14, 23. Jesus answered and said to him, if a man love me, he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with him.
[26:49] If you know Jesus, if you love Jesus, if you heard his words, if you've believed his words, Jesus, the Father, the Holy Spirit, he's made his abode, his dwelling place, his home with us.
[27:02] Can you let that sink in for just a second? Understand that the one who made me, the one who made me, the one who made you, the one who made everything around us, lives with us and dwells with us.
[27:15] You think about that for a while, it might just start to blow your mind about how amazing that is. John 15, 4. Let me give you one more. Now, abide in me, and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can ye except ye abide in me.
[27:34] And so the question is this, will you give an invitation to welcome Jesus into your life? They were walking with him. Jesus was going to go on, but they said, abide with us. Stay with us.
[27:45] We want to know you. And when they sat down to that meal, they knew him. Let me give you one last thing before we close out. Jesus, he comes to us and he shows us that he's alive.
[27:56] He shows us that he is alive. Friends, we got to stop treating this, what we've read, as a story. Sometimes I avoid using that word. This is not a story like once upon a time.
[28:08] This is an account. This is a record of Jesus physically showing up with his disciples. Okay, so we're going to read a couple verses right around verse 36 before we close out this morning.
[28:20] So we've had these two walking down the road to a mace, seven miles. They've sat down with this meal with Jesus. They recognize that it's him. He's alive.
[28:31] They've been feeling that there's something about this man the whole time, something about the words that he's been speaking and explaining to them. And then he vanishes. And they're like, we got to tell somebody.
[28:42] We've just seen Jesus alive. I mean, how wild is it that this person we just had a funeral for, he's alive and eating lunch with us. Well, not lunch, dinner at this time. Okay, he's eating dinner with us. That's amazing.
[28:53] And so what do they do? They're like, we got to go. All right. So we leave the hotel wherever we're at and we're going to go seven miles back to Jerusalem. We're going to find the 11. Those were the apostles. Those were the disciples, Jesus' core group.
[29:04] And they're like, guys, he's alive. We found him. We saw him. And he explained all these things to us. And as they are all discussing these things, did you notice what Jesus did again? He showed up right in the middle of them.
[29:16] Doesn't say that he knocked on the door. He just showed up right there in the middle and he says, peace be unto you. Now, why did he have to say, peace be unto you? Because as the scripture says, they were terrified, right?
[29:29] This is the guy we just had a funeral for. He's been in the ground. He's dead as a doornail. But we've been hearing these things about people seeing him alive. And it's like, okay, hold up a second.
[29:40] What's going on? And then all of a sudden, Jesus shows up there in the midst. And they're like, what? What is happening? This has to be a ghost. And that's what they say.
[29:50] He said, he must be a spirit. And then it says, they believe not for joy. They're like, this is too good to be true. I can't even believe what my eyes are seeing. But what does Jesus do?
[30:03] He comes to them and he proves to them, I'm not a ghost. You're not hallucinating. You're not having a dream. I am alive. And what does he say?
[30:13] He says, here I am. Look at my hands. Look at my feet. Look where those nails went into my body. Handle me. See me. Notice.
[30:24] Realize that I'm really alive. And he gives them really like three evidences that he was truly alive. He was visible. They saw him. They touched him.
[30:36] He was tangible. And can I point out one more thing that just, it like ties this whole thing together, at least in my heart and mind. They ate with him. It was personal and relational.
[30:47] Again, this thing of eating has shown up. He breaks bread. And those two disciples are like, wow, it's you and you're alive. He comes back to them, you know, a couple hours later, right?
[30:58] Because they've had to walk seven miles back to Jerusalem. And he says, all right, guys, do you have any food? This is, this is, you can like chuckle a little bit as I say this.
[31:09] Jesus is saying, hey, can you got a, we got a late night snack here. Can someone run to Crystal and get something for me? Of course, it wasn't Crystal. It was something far better. He says, they gave him a piece of broiled fish and honeycomb.
[31:22] Late night snack, right? If you're an ancient Israelite. And he's eating fish and a honeycomb together with them after dark, sitting together in this room. He shows them, I am alive.
[31:37] And he comes to them. He comes to them. And he eats with them. So where does this leave us? Well, there's some questions that I think you need to answer.
[31:47] Number one, do you believe the word? Jesus comes to us through the word. He's all over it. Do you believe it? Have you known Jesus personally? Have you invited Jesus into your life?
[31:59] And do you believe that he is alive? You see, one of the things about this Jesus that we find in the Bible is that he is inviting you to be with him.
[32:11] To be with him. You know, the last book of the Bible, Revelation, it begins and ends with invitations. I want to read three more verses to you, and then we'll close out.
[32:22] Revelation 3.20. Here's the first one. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door. Can you read these next few words with me?
[32:33] Ready? I will come in. I will come into him and will sup with him and he with me. This is Jesus speaking through the pages of Scripture to you and me.
[32:46] If you, he stands at the door of your heart. And if you will open to him and invite him in, he will come in. And what does he do? He eats a meal with you. He sups with you.
[32:56] He dines with you. He wants you to be with him. And he wants to be with you. There's one other invitation that Revelation 22 gives. Revelation 22.17. Listen to this. This is another.
[33:06] And again, notice, these are all centered around food. It's like, God, why do you use food terminology to talk about our relationship? Because it just makes sense.
[33:17] Right? Someone that you want to know and that you want to be with, you sit down and have a hamburger with. And that's essentially what's going on here. Revelation 22.17. And the spirit and the bride say, come.
[33:29] And let him that heareth say, come. And let him that is a thirst, come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
[33:40] Is your heart thirsty? Do you want something more than what this world around us has to offer? You've been going after maybe success, accolades, wealth.
[33:55] You've been going after pleasure. You've been going after relationships. There's all kinds of things that we pursue and we seek after that we try to use to fill our souls.
[34:06] And what Jesus is saying is, listen, is your heart thirsty? Here is living water. Come and take it. Come and drink it. Come enjoy it. Let me give you one more verse.
[34:17] John 4.14. This is what Jesus said to a woman that was thirsty in many different ways. She was physically thirsty, but she was also hungering for satisfaction in her heart and life, for relationship.
[34:34] And listen to what he says to her. But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst. That's living water. But the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
[34:50] Is your heart thirsty? This morning, you can have that living water. Would you bow with me? Father, we come to you. And Lord, all I can say is, wow, thank you for your love for us.
[35:04] The fact that you desire and make the way for us to have a relationship with you. At this time, the music's going to begin to play.
[35:16] And if you're a Christian, if you're a believer, the question I want to ask you is, are you abiding with him? Are you dwelling with him? Jesus said to those closest to him, hey, abide in me and I in you.
[35:32] Do you know that he wants to be present in your life? Are you allowing his Holy Spirit to fill you? And are you aware of the fact that right now, if you're saved, if you've believed in Jesus, he is present right now in your life.
[35:52] That's what the scripture says. Would you meditate on what it means that he is as real as us sitting down and having a meal?
[36:03] As believers are praying, as Christians are praying, I want to ask you, it might be that in your heart, there's something that's stirred up a little bit. You might be a little bit uncomfortable right now because you're not sure about whether or not you're saved, about whether or not you are going to heaven when you die, whether or not you have this kind of relationship with Jesus.
[36:23] Well, can I tell you this? Friend, it's not about a feeling. It's not about an understanding with God. It's about believing what God tells us in his word and then inviting Jesus to be your Savior, of opening the door of your heart and letting him come in.
[36:47] If that's you this morning and you want that relationship with God, you want to know Jesus as your Savior, for him to forgive your sins, you know, all you need to do right now is believe that he is alive, that he died for your sins and call out to him, call upon him to save you.
[37:08] You might pray something like this. The words aren't what, it's not a magical incantation. It's the cry of your heart. You might pray something like this. Dear Jesus, I believe that you're alive. I believe that you died on the cross for my sins and that you will forgive me.
[37:23] You will save me. You will come and be with me if I call upon you. Jesus, right now I open the door of my heart and I ask you to come in. It might be that this morning, just now, you've prayed something like that.
[37:39] You've called on Jesus. Jesus, man, that is the most wonderful thing that you can ever do in your life because from this moment on, he's with you and he lives in you.
[37:51] It might be that if this morning that you prayed and you called upon Jesus, I'd love to meet with you at the back. There's a next steps table and there's some resources that we can put in your hands and they'll help you go a little bit deeper in what it means to know Jesus and walk with Jesus.
[38:07] We'd love the opportunity. Father, we come to you this morning and we thank you for the work that you're doing in our hearts and lives. Lord, we love you. We love you. And we thank you for living water.
[38:19] We thank you for the bread of life that is given to us. We praise things in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.