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Luke chapter 24 starting at verse 13.

Now that same day, two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them, but they were kept from recognizing him. He asked them, what are you discussing together as you walk along? They stood still, their faces downcast.

One of them named Cleopas asked him, are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days? What things he asked about Jesus of Nazareth, they replied. He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel.

And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning, but didn't find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the woman had said, but they did not see Jesus.

He said to them, how foolish you are and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory? And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the scriptures concerning himself. As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going further. But they urged him strongly, stay with us, for it is nearly evening, the day is almost over.

So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened up the scriptures to us? They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem.

There they found the 11 and those with them assembled together and saying, it is true, The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon. Then the two told them what had happened on the way and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread. While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, peace be with you. They were startled and frightened thinking they had saw a ghost. He said to them, why are you troubled and why do doubts rise in your minds?

Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself. Touch me and see. A ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have. When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.

And while they still did not believe, because of joy and amazement, he asked them, do you have anything to eat? They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence. He said to them, this is what I told you while I was still with you. Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets and the Psalms. Then he opened their minds so that they could understand the scriptures.

He told them, this is what is written. The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations beginning at Jerusalem. You are the witnesses of these things and I'm going to send you what my father has promised, but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high. When he had led them out of the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven.

Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and they stayed continually at the temple praising God. Hello. Okay. Here we go. It's good to be with you this evening.

Well, I'll take those off. So down here for two weeks now, so that's obviously going to be a joy for somebody. But, nonetheless, yes, good to be with you this morning, sharing in fellowship. Always good to be up out with like minded believers, leaders who teach the Bible so well, and it makes it easy, actually, for a guy like me to come and then teach the Bible because, actually, you know, you get good Bible teaching. And for one Sunday, you can put up with a dud because, you know, normal service will be review resumed.

You know? We pray for the church. We've known the church for many years. Obviously, we have connections through some of our family, as you know. But, nonetheless, we have prayed for the church and continue to do so.

I'm grateful for all that the Lord is doing among you, delighted about authentic and how God is obviously blessing that venture that has taken shape the last two years. So that's good. That's enough. It's a bit warm, and, you're right. But here we go.

I'm gonna get you involved to start with. I'm gonna ask you to have a little conversation around the tables. If you're not comfortable about talking, that's fine. You can just sit and listen to everybody else not talking. But, you know that's right.

So here's the question. I'll have three questions, but you can choose one rather than do three. You're faced with a young Christian, and they ask you, there's a long road ahead. And what are some of the signs that I need to look for that I'm actually maturing in the love for Jesus? What are some of the signs that there is a maturing love for Jesus?

It takes years. It's not a five week wonder. Or you might like to think through somebody saying something like this, well, I just don't feel it. I don't feel Jesus. I'm flat.

What do I do about it? Or the third question is the deeply spiritual person who comes along and says, well, I'm just looking for a spiritual experience that will just jettison me. I don't know where to, but nonetheless, you know how it is, the quick fix. You know? The thirty second lift rather than the stairs.

So maybe five minutes talking about what's what should we expect to see the signs of a maturing love in our lives and each other's lives? How do we help each other with that? Or we're not feeling it. What do you do about that? If you draw your conversations to a conclusion, I'm sure they were very interesting, and I'm not gonna ask you, what you talked about because tonight's teaching is trying to think through a little bit, not everything that could be said, but something I think that needs to be said.

So I'm gonna use the word affection this evening significantly. Need to understand that that's not simply emotions, though it involves emotions. Jonathan Edwards would say that true Christianity before God consists of the affections. He doesn't mean a moderate liking. That's what we mean, isn't it?

Well, you know, have an affection for it, but I wouldn't say I love it. It's not what meant. Edwards means a dominating delight, a dominating desire that shapes a deeply committed obedient life over the long term. I'll say it again so we get it. Edwards means a dominating delight and a dominating desire in Jesus that shapes a deeply committed obedient life over the long term.

Emphasis on the long term. So what we want to see this evening to keep it simple and to keep it clear is Jesus on the Emmaus Road dealing with the unbelieving emotion of the two people on the road in order to reignite believing affections for Him. And I want us to see that what He does on the Emmaus Road is the same approach he's using now for us. Because what does he do on the Emmaus Road? He doesn't say, hello, I'm alive.

He doesn't say it. He doesn't ever say it on the Emmaus Road. He does it in the upper room in verse 36 onwards. But what does he do? Verses 25 to 27.

How foolish you are and slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken, Old Testament. Did you not know did not the Messiah have to suffer these things, I. E, be crucified, and enter his glory? And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. And what was the impact upon these two Emmaus Road followers?

They were clearly depressed. The text tells us they were downcast. They were disappointed, as we will see. But after this Bible study, verse 32, look at it. They were a bit fired up, weren't they?

To say the least. This is their reaction not simply to seeing Him. They've recognized Him now, verses 30 to 31, but verse 32, notice what they say. Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the scriptures to us? Now I don't think they had indigestion, and I don't think they were taking Gaviscon.

This is an indicator that their affections reignited. The message, if I can paraphrase verse 32, may happen to help us here. Didn't we feel the fire as He conversed with us on the road as He opened up the Scriptures to us? And we know that He will do exactly the same thing in the upper room in verse 36 onwards when He comes to His disciples. Yes, and He says, Hello, I'm alive.

Look at my body. I'm eating fish. And then he says to them, is what I verse 44, This is what I told you while I was still with you. Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets and the Psalms, Old Testament. Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.

And he told them, this is what is written, Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations beginning at Jerusalem, and you are the witnesses of these things, end quote. So you see. You see why that's appropriate to us. We cannot see the risen Lord Jesus, can we? Not with our physical eyes.

So how do we know He's risen? How do we know that He died on that cross and really finished God's work for us to have eternal life? How do we know that He's reigning in heaven? Psalm two. How do we know?

You can't see. Well, Jesus shows us on the Emmaus Road. It's remarkable, isn't it? Just read the Old Testament, he says. Well, we've got something better than the Old Testament, though we do have the Old Testament.

Praise the Lord for the Old Testament. We've got the New Testament too. We've got the whole story in. No excuse for anyone in the room not to engage with Jesus and allow Jesus to engage with us. But if we're honest, we don't always feel it, do we?

You go to your Bible to read it in the morning if you do or whenever you read it, and you go, oh, crumbs. Do I have to? Read it the other day, and I didn't get anything out of it. Do I have to go to church? I'd rather be in the park or on a beach.

It's gotta be better on a beach than in church, isn't it? Don't we agree? No. We don't agree. You mustn't always agree with me.

I want to be I want you to be disagreeable some sometimes. But we don't always feel it. We must be honest about that. So I have three things to say. Okay?

Number one, the mood in the church in Jerusalem and on the Emmaus Road was one of unbelief regarding the apparent resurrection of Jesus. These two depressed followers reflect the mood of most of the gospel church in Jerusalem. They're walking back to Emmaus about seven miles from Jerusalem and they're talking together about the events of Good Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. And we know that they are depressed because when Jesus comes along and asks them what they're talking about and they say, do you not know about all that's happened in Jerusalem? Look at verse 18, but look at verse 17, the bet the end of it, they stood still and their faces downcast.

Now that's depression. They're not feeling it. And if they're going to roll with their emotions, they're never gonna feel it. As someone has said, they did not doubt their doubts. They believe their doubts to be the truth.

Now, we all have doubts. So let's go there now. I want to say four things in this section. Jesus begins to deal with the emotional unbelief that is gripping the church and gripping these two people on the Emmaus Road. There's strong emotion here, but it's unbelieving emotion.

Do you understand that sometimes our emotions in relation to Jesus aren't could be actually unbelieving? Now I know we have emotions and they're up and down, and I know they're flat. They're just about life in general. Never mind Jesus. And I know what it has been to suffer from depression, so I'm not unaware of the issues.

But the strong emotion here is one of unbelief. And unless they deal with it in the truth, they're never gonna come out of it, which is what Jesus does. In verses 22 to 23, they say that although Christ was a powerful prophet, it looked like the enemies had won. They crucified him, and they were desperately disappointed because they thought he was the great king going to lead them to salvation. Looking outside, looking around the world, looking what's going on in the church, sometimes these can be powerful emotions that depress us.

What do you do? How easy, thirdly, to forget Scripture and interpret life from a merely human standpoint. It's what they're doing in verses 19 onwards. Yes, they've heard about the resurrection of Jesus, but they think it's nonsense. They didn't believe it, and they're interpreting everything now from a mere human standpoint without any reference to Scripture, without any reference to Jesus.

And when you do that, and we all do it, it only breeds insecurity and a sense of futility, which isn't gonna help the emotions, is it? And then fourthly, they denied the king because of the cross. Do you that's an absolutely staggering thing to say, but I think it's true in Luke 24. They had gone badly wrong at the center, the real center, not my made up center, not my preferred center. They had gone wrong because what Jesus does in correction is to say, did not the Messiah have to suffer and enter His glory?

He's correcting them. Mr. Keller would tell us, we have to have a Jesus who disagrees with us. You happy that Jesus should disagree with you? That the Word of God should come to us and speak to us and say, no, Morris, I think you're wrong about that.

I was a pastor for several years. I studied the Bible. I tried to study the Bible. I still do. But sometimes I'll be sitting at my desk and I'm going through a text and I'm working at it, and then it hits me.

Oh, Lord. Have I been wrong about that? That's a maturing moment. Hear me. That's a maturing moment.

Well, so these followers, their hearts did not burn with faith and affection. They're trudging home to Emmaus, to their happy place and their forever home. Maybe they were done with the church and finished with the kingdom. History is littered, my friends, with churches and Christians that have lost Christ and the gospel. Conversation today about churches that never preach the gospel.

This church preaches the gospel. You should be very thankful for that. You can trust your leaders. Churches have emptied and lives have got filled with other things. Distraction, the affections were not inflamed with faith and love.

And so therefore the emotions have to be more easily satisfied with created things because that's what we'll do, isn't it? If our affections for Christ are not being shaped and satisfied and cultivated, we will go in our emotions to somewhere that we might feel happy and you'll go to a created thing, won't you? Yes, you do. So do I. That's what Jesus is doing in the Emmaus Road.

Well, Bunyan was studied this week, and I have to end this section with mister Bunyan. I believe there were in interpreter's house, there was a fire. Was there not? And a person pouring water on the fire. Was you got a problem, Dean?

My It nephew, was it? Okay. Thanks very much. That's all I okay. And why didn't the fire go out?

Because Satan was pouring water on the fire. Why doesn't it go out? Somebody tell me. Somebody who was there. Somebody who saw it.

Come on. There's kids in the room. They were pouring oil at the back of it. It's a brilliant, brilliant picture. And the spirit will pour the oil of affection for Christ through the word.

I will get to that in a minute. We're going there. Believing affections get attacked by Satan, but are sustained by the spirit in gospel truth centered on Jesus. Alright. That's point number one.

He dealt with the unbelieving emotions, and he still does. Maybe he wants to deal with yours tonight and mine if I have them. Point number two, Christ opens the Bible and opens their minds to understand the truth. Verses twenty five and twenty seven and indeed verses 44 to 48. He does it twice.

And we're told that the entirety of the Old Testament centers on the Lord Jesus Christ, on His suffering, and then He enters into His glory as King forever and forever where He is now. And Jesus makes these two Emmaus Road disciples. They may have been husband and wife. One was called Cloapas. We don't know what the other one was called, but He makes them spend two hours in Bible study.

Is that the answer to affections? I've been in two hour Bible studies, and some of them have driven me mad. So it all depends what you're doing in the Bible study, isn't it? 10,000 steps in biblical truth through the Lord Jesus. This was deliberate.

As we have said, they were kept from recognizing Jesus. I think that was a supernatural thing that occurred so that they would be trained because they weren't gonna have Jesus all the time. He was going back to heaven. So he did, didn't he? At the end of chapter 24, he goes to heaven, doesn't he?

He's going to send the spirit, which he did. So how were they how was he going to interact with them? How were they going to interact with him? Well, through the Scriptures. If they read their Bible truly, then as Jesus said, they would not have been slow to believe.

Verse 25. Indeed, he calls them foolish. Pantsy getting that in a pastoral encounter. You foolish person. What does he mean?

Does he mean they're stupid? Well, he could have meant that, but I think he was saying you're just unwise in God. All you had to do was open the Old Testament. These were Jews. They knew the Old Testament.

Yeah. But it is through this teaching that they say, as he opened the Scriptures to them and opened their minds to the Scriptures and helped them to understand the Scriptures, that eventually their affections were reignited with living hope. Now what I don't want you to hear from me this evening is that if you just press the button of a scripture, the affections just get reignited immediately. Oh, that's the fast track stuff. That's the thirty second lift to the top.

No. No. Jesus will ask us to walk the stairs. But somewhere on the stairs, maybe on the 15th Floor, we'll turn the corner and the emotion or the affections will suddenly reignite. So as our minds are enlightened in the truth, eventually, affections are enlivened.

And it's one of the prayers of my life as I read scripture and as I engage with scripture as I am now. Enlighten my mind, but please enliven my affections. And sometimes it doesn't work for a while, but eventually it does because this is an educationary process. This is learning about growing up. This is the life of faith.

So, Jesus preaches himself. I would love to do it, but I'm not going to. But he sets before them that the entire saving plan, from the Old Testament in relation to himself. But let me make just two points. We need enlightened minds so our intellect understands scripture.

We need to keep on praying that the Lord will show us what scripture is saying to us. It is almost it seems to me arrogant to believe that I can just pick up the Bible, open it, and because I've been educated, not against education, that I can just simply understand it. Do we not realize that sin has affected our minds? And do we not also realize that Satan interferes with our minds? But the second point I want to make is it's more than intellectual knowledge.

We must come through the truth to faith in Christ and love for him in obedience because love is obeying Christ as our Lord. It's more than intellectual knowledge. I've got people there are there are Christians who have lots of intellectual knowledge about the Bible, but they're not really, truly trusting in Jesus and having a deep love for Him in their lives. So we need to understand there's two kinds of knowing. Bunyan would pick this up.

I'm not going with him because I haven't got time. So I'm gonna go with C. S. Lewis. If you've read meditation in the tool shed, you'll know where I'm going here.

And if you haven't, well, you're gonna find out. There's two ways of knowing. So Lewis is in a tool shed. It's all dark. There's a crack above the door and there's a there's a shaft of light comes in.

And as he looks at the light, he can see dust and little insects and maybe other things. There you are looking at the light, looking at it. He can give the facts. But if he steps into the light and looks along the shaft of light, he can see outside and he sees the sun and the blue sky and the green leaves. Now that's a whole different set of knowledge.

That's the knowledge we're after. It doesn't alter the facts. The facts of dust and little insects are still there, but that's only looking at the light. We're looking from within the light. And here it is.

I'm gonna get excited now. We get to see God in the face of his Son through the person of the Holy Spirit. That's the greatest thing about being a Christian. Can I ask you a question? What would you trade your relationship with God for?

Because you believe there's something more glorious instead. Because if you think there is something more glorious than God, then you will trade this glorious God for something in the created world. Some good gift, but it will become a replacement god, to quote Keller. But the disciples on the Emmaus Road are profoundly in love with Jesus. Did not our hearts burn within us?

Third and finally, we're we're actually actually is a finally. Spiritually, they were spiritually energized to serve the Lord in mission. They were spiritually energized. On the basis of verse 32, they got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. That's seven miles, and it's without a car and not even a bike.

Maybe roller skates would have done something. You gotta be pretty energized, haven't you? So, it is true in a sense that we do want spiritual experience of Christ because it will energize serving Him. I've got Christians who want to discuss things for about nine years, you know, and they stand there and they talk a bit more and they speculate a bit more, and they never do anything. They never serve Jesus.

They never get to know him. But when the affections are being shaped towards Christ and for Christ, then we serve him. Sorry. I I am getting excited. I must stop.

Yeah. Serve the Lord in going to church. That's where they go, to Jerusalem, the seven miles. The church must know that Jesus is alive. Brothers and sisters, we've seen the Lord.

And while they were making that declaration, verse 36, Jesus comes and stands among the church in his risen power and says, peace be to you. And then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures too. The church must be word centered if it's going to be truly Christ centered. And when the church is truly word centered, as you I know you are, and seeking to truly center on Christ, then we will be assured and confident in following the king. And we will know what we must do when our emotions are unbelieving or our emotions are just not feeling it.

And when truly our affections are I mean, we should come to church whether our affections are engaged or not. But when they are engaged, you'd walk 500 miles to church, wouldn't you? And then 500 more. See? I know culture.

But it's not just to the church, is it, as we finish? It's to the nations. Go to the nations. I'm opening your minds to understand the scripture says Jesus to his upper room disciples so that you can go and preach me, that the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.

I'm going to send you what my father has promised, but stay in the city until you've been clothed with power from on high. Mission. Mission is the church on fire with radical affection for the risen Lord and a love for the rebellious world, Where we hold out the only forgiveness of sin, one at the cross. When we tell, people of a richness of relationship with God, with the bigness of a new world coming in because Jesus reigns as he does at the end of Luke 24. And do you notice, verse 53, that he's gone to heaven and they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and they stayed continually at the temple praising God.

Oh, wow. How can you do that? The Lord is gone, but he's gone to be installed as king, and they still have him in his word. Were not our hearts burning within us when he talked with us on the road and opened the scriptures to us. Now our affections aren't always aren't always up.

They aren't always hot. We need to pray about that. I'm gonna give you an opportunity to pray around tables in a moment. Restore me, Lord. Teach me, Lord.

Lead me in the gospel, Lord. Reignite my affections. If that's appropriate, then that's what we should pray, isn't it? A maturing love takes a long time. Jonathan Edwards, whom you're never going to read, I know, wrote a book on spiritual affections.

He was a man who knew what he was talking about as he had lived through great movings of the spirit in the church, so he knew what he was talking about. He gives you 12 maturing signs. If you want them, I'll send them to you. I'm not going to go through them. It's there's 12 of them.

But we need to be those who understand that there are signs that help us to show us, yes, we are maturing. We need to tell each other that too because I can deceive myself into thinking I'm not maturing. The ultimate sign that Edwards gives is a Christ centered life lived out in holiness for the Lord. He spends 78 pages on holiness. And the ultimate sign above all others, and there are others, is that sign.

And that just takes time to shape us to become more like Jesus until the day when we see him. We were walking to the restaurant today, and, and brother Pete helped me because I've got a stick, and I'm limping along. You know? Slow slow boat I am. And he says, there it is, Morris, in yellow.

Just keep your eyes fixed on that, and then you'll be there. And the ultimate maturing sign of a real love developing is actually the new world becomes exceedingly attractive. I don't think at 18 I gave a toss about the new creation. I was young. I was playing football or trying to.

I was fit, or I think I was. Maybe I wasn't. But now as a 69 year old man, the new creation has a significant impact in my thinking. And no, you won't always be young. And no, you won't always be fit.

Well, let's take a moment to pray maybe around the tables so that at least if in quiet, maybe, if you want, you prefer, or maybe with others to, respond to maybe some of the things that I've tried to say to you. So take a few moments. We're not gonna keep this over and then we're going to sing our final song, together.