Sermon in Seattle 08.04.2007

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, let us quiet in prayer and thanksgiving.

Dear Heavenly Father, as you have given us grace to once again gather on this Easter, we pause in our sometimes busy life to give thanks unto you, dear Father, that you have prepared Easter for us, your grace children. You have given us confidence and trust to know that our Lord and Savior, Jesus, is truly risen, suffered death, shed his blood, gave his innocent body to be torn asunder on Calvary's cross, pierced by the sword, by the spear, shedding his blood, dying, descending into hell, but yet rising victorious on that first Easter. His victory today is our victory.

Speak to us, dear Father, today about that great victory that is ours through your love and grace. Speak to all those who are yet on the outside of your kingdom that this victory can be theirs also, to believe, believing this gospel and hearing this gospel of the forgiveness of sins in your name and blood.

We thank you, dear Heavenly Father, for the many, many blessings that we have received from you. It is spiritual, first of all, but also temporal. That we are given to live in a free country and that we can yet proclaim sin as sin and grace as grace. You have given us, in our everyday lives, also in our life of faith. We pray for a continuance in this. But again we say, not your will, not our will, but yours, dear Father. Give us the ears and the hearts of disciples to hear and to seek what you have to give us today, and in this trust we say our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.

I will read from the twenty-fourth chapter of Luke from the thirteenth to the thirty-fifth verse, and we hear these words in Jesus' name and we pray that God who knows all, sees all, knows our very thoughts before they are formed, will give us this morning of his word and his spirit according to his will and as he sees fit.

And behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about three score furlongs, and they talked together of all the things which had happened. 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.

And he said unto them, What manner of communication are these that ye have one to another as ye walk and are sad? And one of them whose name was Cleopas answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days? And he said unto him, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty indeed in word before God and all people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned and have crucified him. 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. Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulcher, and when they found not his body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels which said that he was alive. And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulcher and found it even so as a woman had said, but him they saw not.

Then he said unto them, O fools and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

And they drew nigh unto the village whither they went, and he made as though he would have gone further. But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us, for it is towards evening and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them.

And it came to pass as he sat at meat with them, he took bread and blessed it and brake and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened and they knew him, and he vanished out of their sight.

And they said one to another, Did not our hearts burn within us while he yet talked with us by the way and while he opened to us the scripture? 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 and hath appeared to Simon.

And they told him what things were done in the way and how he was known of them in the breaking of bread. Amen.

This narration I'm sure is familiar to all of you. It is today one of the assigned texts for Easter, and it has been remembered, heard, discussed, and spoken of many times in this church as well as in my home church there in Saskatchewan. But even though it is ever old, this happened nearly two thousand years ago, it is still ever new in our hearts, the children of God of this day. We who are the travelers to Emmaus today, two thousand years later.

I think this is a very apt or a close parallel in our lives. I think of myself first of all when the phone call came last fall if I would, or was it by letters, that I would attend these Easter services, be your guest speaker this weekend. At that time it was easy and exciting for me to say yes, I would attend God willing, of course, and it has been a pleasure and a support to my week with faith and I dare to say for my dear wife also to spend these few days in your midst among old friends. Many of you younger faces I don't know unless I recognize you from your family looks, but it is a long time ago Irene and I were a young couple the first time we visited here in Seattle in 1959 I believe. The greater portion of you brothers and sisters here today weren't born yet at that time. The congregation was small. God has given it growth like he has given growth in our area as well.

But as the time approached, I still desired to come here, but there was always that, would I say, suppressed or nagging fear and doubt when we carry this sinful flesh. Would God give words? What text would I choose? So on and so forth, like all servants of the word experience when they're before the sobriety, the soberness of God's undying word, that we would not corrupt this word in any way or that our own carnal mind would not come in between God's pureness of God's word and his instruction unto salvation and comfort of faith and rebuke and chastisement if God sees it necessary.

Doubt entertains us, you as well as I, as it did these travelers on the road to Emmaus.

This very same chapter speaks of these women who went to anoint the body of Jesus where he was in the grave in a sepulcher, and he was not there any longer. And the angel, the men that stood there told them that he is not here, he has risen, like he already had told you. And he tells the disciples and us many places in scripture that these are going to be fulfilled when God's time is come. That's why he came to this world, into this world. This is why he was born into this world and this was his purpose here. Now the time had come and they believed this and they ran and told the others that were gathered.

And it says that they were gathered in fear of the Jews. We have the blessedness of being able to gather in total freedom protected by the laws of the land to speak this precious word of God. But it says that their words seemed to them as idle tales and they believed them not. Their world had come to an edge, their Lord and Savior whom they trusted and at many times understood that he was the Savior.

As when Peter or Jesus, it says scripture tells us how some people that were in some way following Jesus, but when they listened to his sermons and his speeches, he said that they took, they said that these are hard words, who can withstand them? And they left, left off following Jesus.

I remember that time we remember that time when he asked his disciples, Will you not also go? Peter, who was the vocal one, the rambunctious one of those twelve, answered them and said, Where would we go? For thou hast the words of everlasting life.

Now these travelers that were going to Emmaus, it does not say why they were going to Emmaus and we don't need to conjecture why, but they were separated, those two on that road leading away from where the others were gathered. But we see what thoughts were going on in their mind. They were among those others that did not believe the report of those women that Jesus is truly risen.

And this is where Jesus comes to them and begins to talk to them. And it says that 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.

How many times are our eyes holden that we don't, in a spiritual way, see the obvious and the most important thing? Our minds, our hearts may be wrapped up in the pursuits of our school work, our studies. There are maybe some of you in university here that are approaching your final exams like one of our sons is in the process right now. These things seem so important, they're almost overwhelmingly important. We forget the very most important thing of all.

This is although we are to work and we are to study and we are to fulfill our calling, our temporal calling on this earth, this is according to God's will. But there's one thing, not always dear brother and sister, needs to come first and that is the happenings of this Easter weekend that we have been reminiscing about and speaking about, and that is faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus and to maintain this living hope of salvation in our hearts by and to the gospel of the forgiveness of sins in Jesus' name and precious blood that we have received as a gift of faith upon him.

These two brothers, and we say they were our brothers, but in heavy doubts, were discussing these things, that where do we go from here? Our Savior, this prophet, as they were understanding even at that time, has been taken away from us.

And Jesus, and it says that it came to pass that while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus drew near and went with them, but their eyes were holden that they should not know him.

And he said unto them, What manner of communication are these that you have one to another and walk and are sad? One of them whose name was Cleopas answered and said, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days? And he said unto them, What things?

They were knowledgeable not long ago how Peter had made this declaration that thou art Jesus Christ, Son of the living God. Again, they had lapsed back when they were in their own worries and discomfort that, I guess, Jesus, he was gone from us now. He was a prophet but he is gone and could not believe that he is truly risen like he always said he would arise on the third day.

And how the chief priests and our rulers have delivered him to condemnation and death and have crucified him. 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. Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulcher, and when they found not his body, they came saying that they had seen a vision of angels which said that he was alive.

And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulcher and found it even so as a woman had said, but him they saw not.

This all had taken place exactly as Jesus had predicted and said that it would happen, but yet they did not believe.

How many times have we been taught these and reminded these things over and over again, but these same doubts come into our hearts to claim us? That is this truly God's kingdom wherein we have been traveling many of us from our earliest childhood, having had the blessedness of being born into a believing home with a believing parent or believing parents, others having come into this kingdom by and through the grace of the gospel.

Like the apostle Paul says about those that began to follow us and the Lord Jesus, how one cannot follow the Lord Jesus except in his kingdom. But yet these doubts continue to come to us in our trials of this journey.

But here again, let us be comforted by this what Jesus tells these two doubting ones there on that road. He said, O fools and slow of heart to believe all that which the prophets have spoken. Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and enter into his glory?

And then he begins from the scripture and uses God's word, God's word to explain scripture as God's children do. They use God's word and scriptures to explain salvation and how we believe and where the road is to heaven.

Beginning at Moses and all the prophets, the New Testament as we know it was not in existence yet at that time. It was being lived but it had not been recorded.

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

And they drew nigh unto the village whither they went and he made as though he would have gone further, but they constrained him saying, Abide with us, for it is towards evening and the day is far spent. And he went into tarry with them.

And it came to pass as he sat at meat with them, he took bread and blessed it and brake it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened and they knew him and he vanished out of their sight.

He didn't vanish very long when we read further on this in the same chapter immediately after this text it said that Jesus appeared when they had gone back to the other believers, the other disciples. He appeared in their midst and said, Peace be unto you.

But he vanished out of their sight and now when they begin to discuss with another different tone of voice altogether, they say that they said one to another, Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked with us by the way and while he opened us the scripture?

Did not our hearts burn? I think every one of you brothers and sisters here this morning have experienced the same thing many times. Coldness and weakness feeling, there is just if there is any, there is a little glimmer of faith left but still that desire is with you like it is today that you have wanted to come to this place of worship to hear what God has to say through his spirit to each and every one of you.

And this is the only place when we are in the comfort of the children of God in the unity and fellowship of God's children that we can be, we can allow God's word to open us and warm our hearts like it has done to me this weekend to be in your fellowship here.

When Jesus, when the truth and the blessedness of our living hope of salvation comes into our hearts like it came to these two brothers here, it made their hearts burn and it burns in love to our Savior, Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father and our brothers and sisters in this most precious faith.

We had this and this gospel belongs to everyone that hears it and has the desire to believe it.

I may have remembered this sometime before here in your midst but it was such a memorable occasion for me in our home congregation when I was asked to perform the sacrament of baptism to a little child.

The mother, the believing mother, made this request that I would come to their house, their apartment to baptize their firstborn child. The husband, the father, was not believing. Those people that I knew would be there were total strangers to me, almost all of them.

To say that I was nervous would be an understatement because we always seek this comfort and fellowship amongst our own. But my wife was there and one other brother and his wife who were the sponsors of that child, the godparents, they were there also.

The mother was very touched. It was probably the first, maybe the first baptism she had witnessed and she was very touched by the ceremony of the sacrament of baptism.

And as it is instructed in the manual of sacred acts, we either read from the manual of sacred acts or we speak extemporaneously and even though I had thought that because of my nervousness I would just read from the book which would be easier, but still I could not keep from speaking about this preciousness of God's kingdom for all those that had probably never heard God's living word spoken in their entire life.

And I spoke what words God gave me to speak, reminding the listeners, the hearers in that room, that this kingdom of grace is the kingdom of God, is a kingdom of grace where the forgiveness of sins is offered unto all hearers who find themselves to be sinful and want to be at peace with God.

And I even mentioned how this gospel is preached from wall to wall and if there was someone here that has sin on their conscience and wanted to be freed of that sin, this gospel of the forgiveness of sins in the name and blood of Jesus belongs to you personally. All you need to do is believe.

And whatever I spoke, whatever God gave me to speak about this preciousness of this kingdom, and we sang a couple of songs out, and then the ceremony was over.

And the mother of that little child came up to me and said that her mother came to her and told her who was in darkness, came to her and told her that I believed the words that that man said during that baptism rite. And I believed this gospel.

And the daughter came to me and said that, more or less, is this acceptable or where do we go from here? And I told her absolutely. This gospel is for everyone who wants to believe it and accept this into their hearts. Your sins are forgiven in Jesus' name and precious atonement blood.

And so we believe this gospel is the gospel of salvation that is preached from God's kingdom.

I spoke to that mother afterwards and comforted her. And yet, like the Apostle Paul says, forget not the laying on of hands. I personally preached that gospel to her that you can believe just as you are, that your sins are truly forgiven in Jesus' name and precious atonement.

And she is believing. Yesterday I saw her and greeted her at our services a couple of weeks ago. She was there with her daughter. She lives a long ways from our area.

But here again, the blessedness of internet services come into being. She listens to the services from different various places to her internet connections and she is comforted by that word.

The temptations, the electronic temptations of this world, we understand and God has revealed them to us, that they are great. And there are warning flags continually coming up in a spiritual way that we avoid.

And we want to consider these things concerning the dangers for ourselves and our children. But along with this has come blessings of God, where one can be comforted when they cannot be in the fellowship for whatever reason, in the fellowship of God's children.

These, I don't know if this is broadcast via the internet today. But to think that this word of God travels so far all over the world.

My son who is in Finland, finishing up his university studies there in Odo, he called us just last Sunday, and he had listened and heard the sermon in English of a certain brother that was, whose turn was, was there to speak in outlaw.

It is just so marvelous that this word of God travels the whole length and the breadth of the world today.

We know that the time is short, but God is still doing his work in the world, continues to do his work.

The call of the gospel is still going out to all who are wanting and searching for a kind and loving God.

God hates sin, but he does love the sinner.

Today, dear brother and sister, just as you are, just as you find yourself, you can believe all sins forgiven in Jesus' name and precious blood.

This gospel has carried you today. It will continue to carry you onto that time when faith has turned to see and we can be all together in the glory of heaven, celebrating that glory and grace that God has given us through his Son from everlasting to everlasting.

Be comforted, dear brother, believe sins forgiven in Jesus' name and precious atonement blood.

My wife and I are leaving very shortly for Longview and visit with some of the family there before we return home, but I want to thank you, dear brothers and sisters, that you have kept us well here these past few days.

And I will carry your greetings back to Saskatchewan with me when I go.

And I leave you in God's tender care and peace. What other care have we got on this earth except this care? In Jesus' name, amen.

Amen.

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for these past days that you have been able to comfort us and bless us through your everlasting gospel.

That you have allowed us to remain on this earth to this time in our lives and to this time upon earth.

We pray that you would keep us, and that you would keep our children and our children's children in this precious faith until that time that we'll all be together in the glory of heaven.

The Lord bless us and keep us. The Lord make his face shine upon us and be gracious unto us. The Lord lift up his countenance upon us and give us peace in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.

On departing, will you yet preach this gospel to me? I want to believe with you, and I want to continue traveling with you.

And nothing will separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus as long as we remain faithful, obedient children.

In Jesus' name and blood, all sins are forgiven. In Jesus' name and blood, all sins are forgiven. In Jesus' name and blood, all sins are forgiven. In Jesus' name and blood, all sins are forgiven.

In the wonderful God and Savior that we have that continues to care for us and the Holy Ghost. Each and every one of us is in all.

What a blessed kingdom we have, through the love and the grace of God, been allowed to enter.