TOPIC:‌"Great Truths Christians Must Remember"

                  by Rev. Dr. Reg Dunlap

 

TEXT:‌St. Luke 24:1-12

 

‌‌"And they remembered His words" (Luke 24:8)

 

‌Here in this final chapter of Luke's Gospel we find the disciples are making their way early in the morning to the sepulcher to anoint the dead body of Jesus for burial. They were very despondent and discouraged as their Lord had been put to death, thus shattering their hopes and dreams. As they reached the sepulcher they found the stone rolled away, and entering in two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning spoke to them: "Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen" (vv. 5, 6).

 

‌And at that moment it dawned upon these disciples the words that Jesus had spoken about His suffering, crucifixion and resurrection. Listen to the words of the angels in verse 6: "Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, 'The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and crucified, and the third day rise again.'" (NKJV). And then St. Luke makes this very interesting comment in verse 8: "And they remembered His words." I believe it is time for us to recall some of the great teachings of our risen Lord. Perhaps some of us have forgotten them, or maybe even repudiated them, but today the Holy Spirit wants to quicken our memory by bringing them once again to our remembrance. Let me mention four areas of Christ's teaching that He wants us to remember.

 

I.

 

‌First of all, we must remember and never forget what Christ said about the CHARACTER of GOD. Turn with me to John chapter 4 verse 24 where Jesus said to the Samaritan woman: "God is a Spirit; and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth."

 

‌Now what do those words of Jesus mean? What was He trying to get across to the Samaritan woman? Simply that God is not a stone. God is not flesh. God is not air. God is not earth. God is not one spirit among many. God is a living, intelligent Spirit. He is a living person without a material body. He cannot be seen because He does not possess bodily parts nor is He composed of material elements. But though God is without composition, He is a Being of thought, of purpose, of will, and of feeling. He is capable of thinking, speaking, acting, creating, forgiving and loving. He is a divine personality and free from those limitations which characterize us humans.

 

‌But though God is a perfect Spirit we must never allow ourselves under any circumstances to think of Him in an abstract way - disassociated, distant, and detached. He is a living, invisible Reality who came close to us when He manifested Himself in the person of Jesus Christ. He is a personal . . .