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Luke 24.
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I would love to read the whole
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of verse 13-35,
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but for the sake of time
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let's pick up in verse 25.
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I think we are probably familiar
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with this account of Jesus
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meeting the two disciples
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on the road to Emmaus.
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In verse 15, we see that Jesus Himself
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drew near and went with them.
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I'll read v. 25 down through 32.
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"And He (Jesus) said to them,
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'O foolish ones,
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and slow of heart to believe
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all the prophets have spoken.
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Was it not necessary that the Christ
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should suffer these things
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and enter into His glory?'
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And beginning with Moses
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and all the prophets,
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He interpreted to them
in all the Scriptures,
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the things concerning Himself.
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So they drew near to the village
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to which they were going.
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He acted as if He were going farther,
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but they urged Him strongly,
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saying, 'stay with us.
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For it is toward evening
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and the day is now far spent.'
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So He went in to stay with them.
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When He was at table with them,
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He took bread and blessed and broke it
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and gave it to them,
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and their eyes were opened,
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and they recognized Him.
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And He vanished from their sight.
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They said to each other,
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'Did not our hearts burn within us
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while He talked to us on the road,
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while He opened to us the Scriptures?'"
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So, commonly, there's rich content shared
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about Jesus opening the Scriptures
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to His disciples.
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But that's not what I want
to focus on this morning.
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I want to just look at two things really
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from verses 28 and 29,
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which I'll re-read.
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"So they..." this is Jesus
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and the two disciples,
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"drew near to the village
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to which they were going.
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He (Jesus) acted as if
He was going farther,
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but they urged Him strongly, saying,
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'Stay with us.'"
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And I think the encouragement here
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is two-fold.
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Number one, it struck me as I was reading
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verse 28,
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to see that Jesus acted
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as though He was going to go
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on down the road to the next village.
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In some sense, it looks
like He was putting on.
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And we say why?
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Why is Jesus acting as if
He's going to go on farther?
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We see clearly when we read v. 29
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why Jesus was acting as if
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He was going to go on down the road.
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He was provoking within His people
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a desire to cry out to Him,
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to entreat Him to stay.
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And this is remarkable.
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This is the warm, relational Jesus Christ
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that so desires the hearts of His people
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that He will even act in such a way
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to draw out our affections to Him.
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And this is happening today.
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If you're a believer here,
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in my life and your life,
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there are things that our kind,
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dear Savior does
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to draw out our affections toward Him;
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to stir up our love toward Him;
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to drive us into the
mode of entreating Him.
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He wants communion with His people.
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He had no intention of
going on down the road.
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He wants to be with His people.
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And that is remarkable.
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If that doesn't fuel prayer,
I don't know what does.
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He is delighting in the prayers
of His people this morning.
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Think of Jacob wrestling
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with the Angel of the Lord.
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What is that about?
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The Angel of the Lord -
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this pre-incarnate Christ.
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He's not wrestling with anyone.
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He's not challenged.
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He's not actually kept by Jacob.
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What does He say? "Let me go."
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He could withdraw at any moment.
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Why "let me go"?
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Because He was aiming
for a response in Jacob.
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"I won't let you go, unless You bless me."
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You remember Samson's dad?
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Manoah in Judges 13.
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And the Angel of the Lord visits.
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What is happening here?
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There's this encounter -
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this divine encounter,
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and Manoah comes to the
point where he says,
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"Please let me detain you
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and make a meal for you."
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I'm not even going to eat the meal,
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but I'll be detained.
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The Syro-Phoenician woman
in the New Testament.
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That whole encounter?
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Boy, that kind of reads
confusing at first, doesn't it?
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Jesus seemingly insults her.
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Jesus seemingly ignores her.
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Why? What is He doing?
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He is cultivating in the
heart of His people
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this strong desire to seek Him.
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So, I think that's one thing we glean
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from the text.
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And secondly, you just can't get away
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from this phrase in verse 29.
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"They (the two disciples)
urged Him strongly."
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Urged Him strongly.
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All I'll say about it for the sake of time
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is we ought to be those that ask much
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and ask often.
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We ought to be those that lose nothing
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because we're not asking.
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So, let's storm that gracious throne
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this morning.
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Let's boldly entreat our kind,
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warm-hearted Savior.
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Let's pray.
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Father, there is none like You.
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Divine Son, our
tender-hearted High Priest.
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There is none like You.
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Holy Spirit, our Help and Comforter.
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There's none like You.
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We desire Your presence.
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We want to detain You this morning.
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We want You to draw near this morning.
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We need Your help.
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We need Your presence.
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We need You to do what You did
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for those two disciples
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on the road to Emmaus,
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and open our eyes
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to the precious truth of Your Word.
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So, come, and infiltrate
this time of prayer.
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Manifest Your presence to us,
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in Jesus' name.