The First Appearance of the Risen Lord to the Eleven

The First Appearance of the Risen Lord to the Eleven

A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, APRIL 10, 1887,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"And as they thus spoke, Jesus, Himself, stood in the midst of them and
said unto them, Peace be unto you. But they were terrified and
frightened, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And He said unto
them, Why are you troubled? And why do thoughts arise in your hearts?
Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I, Myself: handle Me and see,
for a spirit has not flesh and bones as you see I have. And when He had
thus spoken, He showed them His hands and His feet. But while they
still did not believe for joy, and wondered, He said unto them, Have
you any food here? And they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish, and
some honeycomb. And He took it and ate in their presence. And He said
unto them, These are the words which I spoke unto you while I was yet
with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the
Law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning Me."
Luke 24:36-44.

THIS, beloved Friends, is one of the most memorable of our Lord's many
visits to His disciples after He had risen from the dead. Each one of
these appearances had its own peculiarity. I cannot, at this time, give
you even an outline of the special colorings which distinguished each
of the many manifestations of our risen Lord. The instance now before
us may be considered to be the fullest and most deliberate of all the
manifestations, abounding beyond every other in "infallible proofs."
Remember that it occurred on the same day in which our Lord had risen
from the dead and it was the close of a long day of gracious
appearings. It was the summing up of a series of interviews, all of
which were proofs of the Lord's Resurrection. There was the empty tomb
and the grave clothes left there–the place where the Lord lay was
accessible to all who chose to inspect it–for the great stone which
had been sealed and guarded was rolled away. This, in itself, was most
impressive evidence. Moreover, the holy women had been there and had
seen a vision of angels who said that Jesus was alive. Magdalene had
enjoyed a special interview. Peter and John had been into the empty
tomb and had seen for themselves. The report was current that "the Lord
was risen, indeed, and had appeared unto Simon." It was a special thing
that He should appear unto Simon for the disciples painfully knew how
Simon had denied his Master and His appearance unto Simon seemed to
have struck them as peculiarly characteristic–it was so like the
manner of our Lord.

They met together in their bewilderment–the 11 of them gathered, as I
suppose, for a social meal, for Mark tells as that the Lord appeared
unto them "as they sat at meat." It must have been very late in the
day, but they were loath to part and so kept together till midnight.
While they were sitting at meat, two Brothers came in who, even after
the sun had set, had hastened back from Emmaus. These newcomers related
how One who seemed a stranger had joined Himself to them as they were
walking from Jerusalem, had talked with them in such a way that their
hearts had been made to burn and had made Himself known unto them in
the breaking of bread at the journey's end. They declared that it was
the Lord who had thus appeared to them and, though they had intended to
spend the night at Emmaus, they had hurried back to tell the marvelous
news to the eleven! Hence the witnesses accumulated with great
rapidity–it became more and more clear that Jesus had really risen
from the dead! But as yet the doubters were not convinced, for Mark
says, "After that He appeared in another form unto two of them, as they
walked and went into the country. And they went and told it unto the
residue: neither believed they them."

Everything was working up to one point–the most unbelieving of them
were being driven into a corner! They must doubt the truthfulness of
Magdalene and the other saintly women. They must question the veracity
of Simon. They must

reject the two newly-arrived Brothers and charge them with telling idle
tales–or else they must believe that Jesus was still alive, though
they had seen Him die upon the Cross! At that moment the chief
confirmation of all presented itself– "for Jesus, Himself, stood in
the midst of them." The doors were shut, but, despite every obstacle,
their Lord was present in the center of the assembly! In the Presence
of One whose loving smile warmed their hearts, their unbelief was
destined to thaw and disappear! Jesus revealed Himself in all the
warmth of His vitality and love–and made them understand that it was
none other than Himself and that the Scriptures had told them it should
be so. They were slow of heart to believe all that the Prophets had
spoken concerning Him, but He brought them to it by His familiar
communion with them. Oh, that in a like way He would put an end to all
our doubts and fears!

Brothers and Sisters, though you and I were not at that interview, yet
we may derive much profit from it while we look at it in detail,
anxiously desiring that we may in spirit see, look upon and handle the
Word of Life manifested in the flesh! Oh, to learn all that Jesus would
teach us as we now, in spirit, take our places at that midnight meeting
of the chosen ones!

In this wonderful manifestation of our Lord to His Apostles, I notice
three things worthy of our careful observation this morning. This
incident teaches us the certainty of the Resurrection of our Lord.
Secondly, it shows us a little of the Character of our risen Master.
And, thirdly, it gives us certain hints as to the nature of our own
resurrection, when it shall be granted us. Oh, that we may be counted
worthy to attain to the resurrection from among the dead!

I. First, then, let us see here THE CERTAINTY OF OUR LORD'S
RESURRECTION. We have often asserted and we affirm it yet again, that
no fact in history is better attested than the Resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead! The common mass of facts accepted by all men as
historical are not one-tenth as certainly assured to us as this fact
is! It must not be denied by any who are willing to pay the slightest
respect to the testimony of their fellow men, that Jesus, who died upon
the Cross and was buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, did
literally rise again from the dead!

Observe, that when this Person appeared in the room, the first token
that it was Jesus was His speech–they were to have the evidence of
hearing–He used the same speech. No sooner did He appear than He
spoke. He was never dumb and it was natural that the great Teacher and
Friend should at once salute His followers, from whom He had been so
painfully parted. His first words must have called to their minds those
cheering notes with which He had closed His last address. They must
have recognized that charming voice. I suppose its tone and rhythm to
have been rich with a music most sweet and heavenly. A perfect voice
would naturally be given to a perfect Man. The very sound of it would,
through their ears, have charmed conviction into their minds with a
glow of joy had they not been frozen up in unbelief. "Never man spoke
like this Man."

They might have known Him by His speech, alone. There were tones of
voice as well as forms of language which were peculiar to Jesus of
Nazareth. What our Lord said was just like He–it was all of a piece
with His former discourse. Among the last sounds which lingered in
their ears was that word, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto
you: not as the world gives, give I unto you"–and now it must surely
be the same Person who introduces Himself with the cheering salutation,
"Peace be unto you." About the Lord there were the air and style of one
who had peace, Himself, and loved to communicate it to others. The tone
in which He spoke peace tended to create it! He was a peacemaker and a
peace giver–and by this sign they were driven to discern their Leader.

Do you not think that they were almost persuaded to believe that it was
Jesus when He proceeded to chide them in a manner more tender than any
other chiding could have been? How gentle the words when He said, "Why
are you troubled? And why do thoughts arise in your hearts?" Our Lord's
chidings were comforts in disguise! His upbraiding was consolation in
an unusual shape. Did not His upbraiding on this occasion bring to
their minds His question upon the sea of Galilee when He said to them,
"Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?" Did they not also
remember when He came to them walking on the water and they were afraid
that He was a spirit and cried out for fear–and He said to them, "It
is I. Be not afraid"? Surely they remembered enough of these things to
have made sure that it was their Lord had not their spirits been sunken
in sorrow! Our Lord had never been unwisely silent as to their faults.
He had never passed over their errors with that false and indulgent
affection which gratifies its own ease by tolerating sin. No, He had
pointed out their faults with the fidelity of true love. And now that
He thus admonished them, they ought to have perceived that it was none
other than He. Alas, unbelief is slow to die!

When Jesus came at last to talk to them about Moses, the Prophets and
the Psalms, He was upon a favorite topic. Then the 11 might have nudged
each other and whispered, "It is the Lord!" Jesus had, in His latter
hours, been continually pointing out the Scriptures which were being
fulfilled in Himself and, at this interview, He repeated His former
teaching. This is assuredly none other than He who always spoke His
Father's mind and will–and constantly did honor to the Holy Spirit by
whom the sacred Books were inspired! Thus in His tones and topics our
Lord gave clear indications that it was He who had suddenly appeared in
that little assembly.

I want you to notice that this evidence was all the better because
they, themselves, evidently remained the same men as they had been.
"They were terrified and frightened, and supposed that they had seen a
spirit." And thus they did exactly what they had done long before when
He came to them walking on the waters! In the interval between His
death and His appearing, no change had come over them! Nothing had
happened to them to elevate them, as yet, out of their littleness of
mind. The Holy Spirit was not yet given and, therefore, all that they
had heard at the Last Supper and seen in Gethsemane and at the Cross
had not yet exercised its full influence upon them. They were still
childish and unbelieving! The same men, then, are looking at the same
Person and they are in their ordinary condition–this argues strongly
for the correctness of their identification of their well-beloved Lord.
They are not carried away by enthusiasm, nor wafted aloft by
fanaticism–they are not even, as yet, borne up by the Holy Spirit into
an unusual state of mind–they are as slow of heart and as fearful as
ever they were. If they are convinced that Jesus has risen from the
dead, depend upon it, it must be so! If they go forth to tell the
tidings of His Resurrection and to yield up their lives for it, you may
be sure that their witness is true, for they are not the sort of men to
be deceived!

In our day there has been a buzz about certain miracles of faith, but
the statements usually come from persons whose impartiality is
questionable–credulous persons who saw what they evidently wished to
see. I know several good people who would not willfully deceive who,
nevertheless, upon some points are exceedingly unreliable because their
enthusiasm is prepared to be imposed upon. Any hawker of wonders would
expect them to be buyers–they have a taste for the marvelous! As
witnesses, the evidence of such people has no value in it as compared
with that of these 11 men who evidently were the reverse of credulous
or excitable. In the Apostles' case, the facts were tested to the
utmost and the truth was not admitted till it was forced upon them! I
am not excusing the unbelief of the disciples, but I claim that their
witness has all the more weight in it because it was the result of such
cool investigation. These Apostles were, in a special manner, to be
witnesses of the Resurrection and it makes assurance doubly sure to us
when we see them arrive at their conclusion with such deliberate steps.
These were men like ourselves, only perhaps a little less likely to be
deceived–they needed to be convinced by overwhelming witness and they
were so! And afterwards they always declared boldly that their
crucified Lord had, indeed, risen from the dead!

Thus far in the narrative they had received the evidence of their ears
and that is by no means weak evidence. But now they are to have the
evidence of sight, for the Savior said to them, "Behold My hands and My
feet, that it is I, Myself." "And when He had thus spoken, He showed
them His hands and His feet." John says, "His side," also, which he
especially noted because he had seen the piercing of that side and the
blood and water flow out. They were to see and identify that blessed
body which had suffered death! The nail prints were visible, both in
His hands which were open before them, and also in His feet which their
condescending Lord deigned to expose to their deliberate gaze. There
was the mark of the gash in His side–and this the Lord Jesus
graciously bared to them, as afterwards He did more fully to Thomas,
when He said, "Reach here your hand and thrust it into My side." These
were the marks of the Lord Jesus by which His identity could be
verified.

Beyond this, there was the general contour of His Countenance and the
fashion of the whole Man by which they could discern Him. His body,
though it was now, in a sense, glorified, was so far veiled as to its
new condition that it retained its former likeness. They must have
perceived that the Lord was no longer subject to the pains and
infirmities of our ordinary mortality–otherwise His wounds had not
been healed so soon–but there remained sure marks by which they knew
that it was Jesus and no other. He looked like a lamb that had been
slain–the signs of the Son of Man were in His hands and feet and side.
Their sight of the Lord was not a hasty glimpse, but a steady
inspection, for John, in his first Epistle writes, "Which we have seen
and looked upon." This implies a lengthened looking and such the Lord
Jesus invited His friends to take. They could not have been mistaken
when they were afforded such a view of those marks by which His
identity was established. The same Christ that died, had risen from the
dead! The same Jesus that had hung

upon the Cross, now stood in the midst of those who knew Him best! It
was the same body and they identified it– although a great change had
doubtless come over it since it was taken down from the tree.

Furthermore, that they might be quite sure, the Lord invited them to
receive the evidence of touch or feeling. He called them to a form of
examination from which, I doubt not, many of them shrank. He said,
"Handle Me. Handle Me and see; for a spirit has not flesh and bones, as
you see I have." Writers have remarked upon the use of the word,
"bones," instead of, "blood," in this case. But I do not think that any
inference can be safely drawn from there. It would have been barely
possible for the disciples to have discovered, by handling, that the
Lord had blood, but they could, by handling, perceive that He had bones
and, therefore, the expression is natural enough, without our imputing
to it a meaning which it may never have been intended to convey! The
Savior had a reason, no doubt, other than some have imagined, for the
use of the terms, "a spirit has not flesh and bones as you see I have."
The Savior had not assumed a phantom body–there were bones in it as
well as flesh–it was, to the fullest, as substantial as ever. He had
not put on an appearance, as angels do when they visit the sons of men.
No, His body was solid substance which could be handled. "Handle Me and
see that it is I." He bade them see that it was flesh and bone, such as
no spirit has. There were the substantial elements of a human frame in
that body of Christ which stood in the midst of the eleven. Jesus
cried, "Handle Me and see."

Thus our Lord was establishing to the Apostles, not only His identity,
but also His substantial corporeal existence– He would make them see
that He was a Man of flesh and bones–not a ghost, airy and
unsubstantial. This should correct a certain form of teaching upon the
Resurrection which is all too common. I was present some years ago at
the funeral of a man of God for whom I had much respect. In the chapel
a certain excellent Doctor of Divinity gave us an address, before the
interment, in which he informed us as to the condition of his departed
friend. He said that he was not in the coffin–indeed, there was
nothing of him there. This I was sorry to hear, for if so, I was
ignorantly mourning over a body which had no relation to my friend. The
preacher went on to describe the way in which the man of God had
ascended to Heaven at the moment of death–his spirit fashioning for
itself a body as it passed through the air!

I believed in my friend's being in Heaven, but not in his being there
in a body. I knew that my friend's body was in the coffin and I
believed that it would be laid in the tomb–and I expected that it
would rise again from the grave at the coming of the Lord. I did not
believe that my friend would weave for himself a filmy frame, making a
second body, nor do I believe it now, though I heard it so affirmed. I
believe in the resurrection of the dead! I look to see the very body
which was buried, raised again! It is true that as the seed develops
into the flower, so the buried body is merely the germ out of which
will come the spiritual body–but, still, it will not be a second body,
but the same body, as to identity. I shall enter into no dispute about
the atoms of the body, nor deny that the particles of our flesh, in the
process of their decay, may be taken up by plants and absorbed into the
bodies of animals and all that! I do not care one jot about identity of
atoms! There may not be a solitary ounce of the same matter, but yet
identity can be preserved–and it must be preserved if I read my Bible
right!

My body today is the same as that which I inhabited 20 years ago and
yet all its particles are different! Even so, the body put into the
grave and the body that rises from it are not two bodies, but one body.
The saints are not, at the coming of their Lord, to remain disembodied
spirits, nor to wear freshly created bodies, but their entire manhood
is to be restored and to enjoy endless bliss! Well said the Patriarch
of old, "in my flesh shall I see God." "He which raised up the Lord
Jesus shall raise up us, also, by Jesus." I cannot see how the doctrine
of Christ goes beyond the doctrine of Plato and others if it is not a
doctrine which respects this body! The immortality of the soul was
accepted and known as a Truth of God before the faith of Christ was
preached, for it is dimly discoverable by the light of nature. But the
resurrection of the body is a Revelation peculiar to the Christian
dispensation–at which the wise men of the world very naturally
mocked–but which it ill becomes Christian men to spirit away!

The body which is buried shall rise again! It is true it is sown a
natural body and shall be raised a spiritual body, but it will be truly
a body and the same it which was sown shall be raised! It is true it is
sown in weakness and raised in power, but the same it is thus raised.
It is true that it is sown in weakness to be raised in power and sown a
corruptible body, to be raised in incorruption, but in each case it is
the same body, though so gloriously changed.

It will be of a material substance, also, for our Savior's body was
material, since He said, "Handle Me and see that it is I, for a spirit
has not flesh and bones, as you see I have." Still further to confirm
the faith of the disciples and to show them that their Lord had a real
body–and not the mere form of one–He gave them evidence which
appealed to their

common sense. He said "Have you any food here? And they gave Him a
piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. And He took it and ate in
their presence." This was an exceedingly convincing proof of His
unquestionable Resurrection! In very deed and fact, and not in vision
and phantom, the Man who had died upon the Cross stood among them!

Let us just think of this and rejoice! This Resurrection of our Lord
Jesus is a matter of certainty, for, if you spirit this away, you have
done away with the Gospel altogether! If He is not risen from the dead,
then is our preaching vain and your faith is also vain! You are yet in
your sins! Justification receives its seal in the Resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead–not in His appearing as a phantom, but in His
being loosed from death and raised to a glorious life! This is God's
mark of the acceptance of the work of the great Substitute and of the
justification of all for whom His atoning work was performed.

Note well that this is also our grand hope concerning those who are
asleep. You have buried them forever if Christ was not raised from the
dead! They have passed out of your sight and they shall never again
have fellowship with you unless Jesus rose again from the dead! The
Apostle makes the resurrection of all who are in Christ to hinge upon
the Resurrection of Christ. I do not feel it necessary, when I talk
with the bereaved, to comfort them at all concerning those that are
asleep in Christ, as to their souls–we know that they are forever with
the Lord and are supremely blessed and, therefore, we need no further
comfort. The only matter upon which we need consolation is that poor
body which once we loved so well, but which now we must leave in the
cold clay. The resurrection comes in as a final undoing of all that
death has done. "They shall come again from the land of the enemy."
Jesus says, "Your dead men shall live, together with My dead body shall
they arise." If we question the Resurrection of Christ, then is the
whole of our faith questioned and those who have fallen asleep in
Christ have perished! And we are left just where others were before
Christ brought this Divine Truth of God to light. Only as we are sure
of the Resurrection of Jesus can we cry, "O death, where is your sting?
O grave, where is your victory?"

II. Secondly, will you follow me while I very briefly set forth OUR
LORD'S CHARACTER WHEN RISEN FROM

THE DEAD?

What is He, now that He has conquered death and all that belongs to it?
What is He, now that He shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore?
He is much the same as He used to be! Indeed, He is altogether what He
was, for He is "the same yesterday, today and forever."

Notice, first, that in this appearance of Christ we are taught that He
is still anxious to create peace in the hearts of His people. No sooner
did He make Himself visible than He said, "Peace be unto you." Beloved,
your risen Lord wants you to be happy! When He was here on earth, He
said, "Let not your hearts be troubled." He says the same to you today.
He takes no delight in the distresses of His people. He would have His
joy to be in them, that their joy may be full. He bids you rejoice in
Him always. He whispers to you, this morning, as you sit in the pew,
"Peace be unto you." He has not lost His tender care over the least of
the flock–He would have each one led by the still waters and made to
lie down in green pastures.

Note, again, that He has not lost His habit of chiding unbelief and
encouraging faith, for as soon as He has risen and speaks with His
disciples, He asks them, "Why are you troubled? And why do thoughts
arise in your hearts?" He loves you to believe in Him and be at rest.
Find if you can, Beloved, one occasion in which Jesus inculcated doubt,
or bade men dwell in uncertainty! The apostles of unbelief are
everywhere, today, and they imagine that they are doing God a service
by spreading what they call, "honest doubt." This is death to all joy!
Poison to all peace! The Savior did not do so! He would have them take
extraordinary measures to get rid of their doubt. "Handle Me," He says.
It was going a long way to say that, but He would sooner be handled
than His people should doubt! Ordinarily it might not be proper for
them to touch Him. Had He not said to the women, "Touch Me not"? But
what may not be allowable, ordinarily, becomes proper when necessity
demands it. The removal of their doubt as to our Lord's Resurrection
necessitated that they should handle Him and, therefore, He bids them
do so.

O Beloved, you that are troubled and vexed with thoughts and,
therefore, get no comfort out of your religion because of your
mistrust–your Lord would have you come very near to Him–and put His
Gospel to any test which will satisfy you. He cannot bear you to doubt!
He appeals tenderly, saying, "O you of little faith, why do you doubt?"
He would at this moment still encourage you to taste and see that the
Lord is good. He would have you believe in the sub-

stantial reality of His religion and handle Him and see! Trust Him
largely and simply, as a child trusts its mother and knows no fear!

Notice, next, that when the Savior had risen from the dead and a
measure of His Glory was upon Him, He was still most condescendingly
familiar with His people. He showed them His hands and His feet and He
said, "Handle Me and see." When He was on earth, before His passion, He
was most free with His disciples–no pretense of dignity kept Him apart
from them. He was their Master and Lord–and yet He washed their feet!
He was the Son of the Highest, but He was among them as One who serves!
He said, "Suffer little children to come unto Me." He is the same
today–

"His sacred name a common word

On earth He loves to hear;

There is no majesty in Him

Which love may not come near." Though He reigns in the highest heavens,
His delights are still with the sons of men! He will still permit us to
sit at His feet, or even to lean our head upon His bosom. Jesus will
listen as we pour out our griefs. He will regard our cry when we are
not pleading about a sword in our bones, but only concerning a thorn in
our flesh. Jesus is still the Brother born for adversity. He still
manifests Himself to us as He does not unto the world. Is not this
clear and also very pleasant to see, as we study this interview?

The next thing is that the risen Lord was still wonderfully patient,
even as He had always been. He bore with their folly and infirmity,
for, "while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered," He did not
chide them. He discerned between one unbelief and another and He judged
that the unbelief which grew out of wonder was not so blamable as that
former unbelief which denied credible evidence. Instead of rebuke, He
gives confirmation. He says, "Have you any food here?" And He takes a
piece of broiled fish and some honeycomb and eats it. Not that He
needed food. His body could receive food, but it did not require it.
Eating was His own sweet way of showing them that if He could, He would
solve all their questions. He would do anything in His great patience
that they might be cured of their mistrust! Just so today, Beloved,
Jesus does not chide you, but He invites you to believe Him. He invites
you, therefore, to sup with Him and eat bread at His table. "He will
not always chide, neither will He keep His anger forever," but in His
great mercy He will use another tone and encourage you to trust Him.
Can you hold back? Oh, please, do not do so!

Observe that our Savior, though He was risen from the dead and,
therefore, in a measure, in His Glory, entered into the fullest
fellowship with His own. Peter tells us that they did eat and drink
with Him. I do not notice, in this narrative, that He drank with them,
but He certainly ate of such food as they had, and this was a clear
token of His fellowship with them. In all ages eating and drinking with
one another has been the most expressive token of communion and so the
Savior seems to say to us, today, "I have eaten with you, My people,
since I have quit the grave. I have eaten with you through the 11 who
represented you. I have eaten and I will still eat with you, till we
sit down together at the marriage supper of the Lamb. If any man opens
unto Me, I will come into Him and will sup with Him and he with Me."
Yes, the Lord Jesus is still wonderfully near to us and He waits to
grant us the highest forms of fellowship which can be known this side
the gate of pearl! In this let our spirits quietly rejoice.

Let me call your attention to the fact that when Jesus had risen from
the dead, He was just as tender of Scripture as He was before His
decease. I have dwelt for two Sunday mornings [Sermons #1955–Jesus
Declining the Legions and #1956–On the Cross After Death] upon the
wonderful way in which our Lord always magnified the Scriptures. And
here, as if to crown all, He told them that, "all things must be
fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses, and in the Prophets,
and in the Psalms concerning Me. And He opened their understanding that
they might understand the Scriptures and said unto them, Thus it is
written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the
dead." Find Jesus where you may, He is the antagonist of those who
would lessen the authority of Holy Scripture!

"It is written" is His weapon against Satan, His argument against
wicked men! The learned at this hour scoff at the Book and accuse of
Bibliolatry those of us who reverence the Divine Word! But in this they
derive no assistance from the teaching or example of Jesus. Not a word
derogatory of Scripture ever fell from the lips of Jesus Christ–He
always manifested the most reverent regard for every jot and tittle of
the Inspired Volume. Since our Savior, not only before His death, but
after it, took care, thus, to commend the Scriptures to us, let us
avoid with all our hearts all teaching in which Holy Scripture is put
into the background! Still the Bible and the Bible, alone, should be
and shall be the religion of Protestants–and we will not budge an inch
from that standpoint, God helping us!

Once again, our Savior, after He had risen from the dead, showed that
He was anxious for the salvation of men, for it was at this interview
that He breathed upon the Apostles and bade them receive the Holy
Spirit, to fit them to go forth and preach the Gospel to every
creature! The missionary spirit is the spirit of Christ–not only the
spirit of Him that died to save, but the spirit of Him who has finished
His work and has gone to His rest. Let us cultivate that spirit, if we
would be like the Jesus who has risen from the dead!

III. I can stay no longer, because I would draw your attention, in the
third place, to the light which is thrown by this incident upon THE
NATURE OF OUR OWN RESURRECTION.

First, I gather from this text that our nature, our whole humanity,
will be perfected at the day of the appearing of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ, when the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we that
may then be alive shall be changed. Jesus has redeemed not only our
souls, but our bodies! "Know you not that your bodies are the temples
of the Holy Spirit?" When the Lord shall deliver His captive people out
of the land of the enemy, He will not leave a bone of one of them in
the adversary's power. The dominion of death shall be utterly broken.
Our entire nature shall be redeemed unto the living God in the day of
our resurrection! After death, until that day, we shall be disembodied
spirits, but in the adoption, to wit, the redemption of the body, we
shall attain our full inheritance! We are looking forward to a complete
restoration. At this time the body is dead because of sin and,
therefore, it suffers pain and tends to decay, but the spirit is life
because of righteousness. In our resurrection, however, the body shall
also be quickened and the resurrection shall be to the body what
regeneration has been to the soul! Thus shall our humanity be
completely delivered from the consequences of the Fall. Perfect manhood
is that which Jesus restores from sin and the grave–and this shall be
ours in the day of His appearing.

I gather next that in our resurrection our nature will be full of
peace. Jesus Christ would not have said, "Peace be unto you," if there
had not been a deep peace within Himself. He was calm and undisturbed.
There was much peace about His whole life, but after His Resurrection,
His peace becomes very conspicuous. There is no striving with scribes
and Pharisees; there is no battling with anybody after our Lord is
risen! A French author has written of our Lord's Forty Days on earth
after the Resurrection under the title of, "The Life of Jesus Christ in
Glory." Though rather misleading at first, the title is not so
inaccurate as it appears, for His work was done and His warfare was
accomplished–and our Lord's life here was the beginning of His Glory.
Such shall be our life–we shall be flooded with eternal peace and
shall never again be tossed about with trouble, sorrow, distress or
persecution! An infinite serenity shall keep our body, soul and spirit
throughout eternity.

When we rise again our nature will find its home amid the communion of
saints. When the Lord Jesus Christ had risen again, His first resort
was the room where His disciples were gathered. His first evening was
spent among the objects of His love. Even so, wherever we are, we shall
seek and find communion with the saints. I joyfully expect to meet many
of you in Heaven–to know you and commune with you. I would not like to
float about in the future state without a personality in the midst of a
company of undefined and unknown beings. That would be no Heaven to me!
No, Brothers and Sisters, we shall soon perceive who our comrades are
and we shall rejoice in them and in our Lord. There could be no
communion among unknown entities. You cannot have fellowship with
people whom you do not recognize and, therefore, it seems to me most
clear that we shall, in the future state, have fellowship through
recognition–and our heavenly resurrection bodies shall help the
recognition and share in the fellowship. As the risen Christ wends His
way to the upper room of the eleven, so will you, by force of holy
gravitation, find your way to the place where all the servants of God
shall gather at the last. Then shall we be truly at home and go no more
out forever.

Furthermore, I see that in that day our bodies will admirably serve our
spirits. For look at our Lord's body. Now that He is risen from the
dead, He desires to convince His disciples and His body becomes at once
the means of His argument, the evidence of His statement! His flesh and
bones were text and sermon for Him. "Handle Me," He says, "and see."
Ah, Brothers and Sisters, whatever we may have to do in eternity, we
shall not be hindered by our bodies as we now are! Flesh and blood
hamper us, but "flesh and bones" shall help us! I need to speak,
sometimes, but my head aches, or my throat is choked, or my legs refuse
to bear me up–but it is not so in the resurrection from the dead! A
thousand infirmities in this earthly life compass us about, but our
risen body shall be helpful to our regenerated nature! It is only a
natural body now, fit for our soul, but hereafter it shall be a
spiritual body, adapted to all the desires and wishes of the
Heaven-born

spirit–and no longer shall we have to cry out, "The spirit, indeed, is
willing, but the flesh is weak." We shall find in the risen body a
power such as the spirit shall wish to employ for the noblest purposes.
Will not this be wonderful?

In that day, Beloved, when we shall rise again from the dead, we shall
remember the past. Do you not notice how the risen Savior says, "These
are the words which I spoke unto you, while I was yet with you." He had
not forgotten His former state. I think Dr. Watts is right when he says
that we shall, "with transporting joys recount the labors of our feet."
It is rather a small subject and probably we shall far more delight to
dwell on the labors of our Redeemer's hands and feet–but still, we
shall remember all the ways whereby the Lord our God led us–and we
shall talk to one another concerning them. In Heaven we shall remember
our happy Sabbaths here below, when our hearts burned within us while
Jesus, Himself, drew near. Since Jesus speaks after He has risen of the
things that He said while He was with His disciples, we perceive that
the river of death is not like the fabled Lethe, which caused all who
drank thereof to forget their past. We shall arise with a multitude of
hallowed memories enriching our minds! Death will not be oblivion to
us, for it was not so to Jesus. Rather shall we meditate on mercies
experienced and, by discoursing on them, we shall make known to
principalities and powers the manifold wisdom of God!

Observe that our Lord, after He had risen from the dead, was still full
of the spirit of service and, therefore, He called others out to go and
preach the Gospel–and He gave them the Spirit of God to help them.
When you and I are risen from the dead, we shall rise full of the
spirit of service! What engagements we may have throughout eternity we
are not told because we have enough to do to fulfill our engagements
now, but assuredly we shall be honored with errands of mercy and tasks
of love fitted for our heavenly being. and I doubt not it shall be one
of our greatest delights, while seeing the Lord's face, to serve Him
with all our perfected powers! He will use us in the grand economy of
future manifestations of His Divine Glory. Possibly we may be to other
dispensations what the angels have been to this. Be that as it may, we
shall find a part of our bliss and joy in constantly serving Him who
has raised us from the dead!

There I leave the subject, wishing that I could have handled it much
better. Think it over when you are quiet at home and add this thought
to it, that you have a share in all that is contained in resurrection.
May the Holy Spirit give you a personal grip of this vital Truth of
God! You, yourself, shall rise from the dead–therefore, be not afraid
to die!

If any of my Hearers have no share in our Lord's Resurrection, I am
truly sorry for them. O my Friend, what you are losing! If you have no
share in the living Lord, may God have mercy upon you! If you have no
share in Christ's rising from the dead, then you will not be raised up
in the likeness of His glorified body! If you do not attain to that
resurrection from among the dead, then you must abide in death, with no
prospect but that of a certain fearful looking for of judgment and of
fiery indignation. Oh, look to Jesus, the Savior! Only as you look to
Him can there be a happy future for you. God help you to do so at once,
for His dear name's sake! Amen.