19 Then the same day at evening, being
the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were
assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith
unto them, Peace be unto you. 20 And when he had so said, he
shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when
they saw the Lord. 21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so
send I you. 22 And when he had said this, he
breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive
ye the Holy Ghost: 23 Whose soever sins
ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they
are retained.” (John
20:19-23)
Those wicked of this world seek to separate themselves from the reality of a
Living God. But the day will come when that separation will become real and
eternal. At that day they will run to the mountains and plead for the mountains
to fall on them to relieve them of their misery of separation from God, for to
be separated from God is no less than Hell itself. A kind and consoling word
will never be uttered in Hell. Since there is a separation from God, there is
no mercy. To the reprobate sinner, there remains only a certain fearful
looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the
adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three
witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought
worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood
of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done
despite unto the Spirit of grace? (Heb
10:27-29) I speak often with men, women, and young
people who argue for a different kind of mercy than God offers – a mercy that
ignores the Law of God, and attempts to adjudicate intentional sin by false
claims of love and mercy[1].
Yes, God forgives, but He does not condone habitual and intentional sin that
goes without repentance.
Willful sin is an affront to a Holy God. If God condemns adultery in the most
explicit terms; it is an offense to the Holy Spirit for a professing Christian
to indulge in that sin. If God condemns homosexuality in the most explicit
terms; it is an affront to the Holy Spirit to persist in the sin after
forgiveness of the same by God. But it is happened unto them according to
the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that
was washed to her wallowing in the mire. (2
Peter 2:22) I do
not say these warnings out of any malicious umbrage to the sinner, but out of
warm affection and regard for their souls that may yet be saved by a solemn
warning believed[2]. The heart
of man desires, continually, to sin; and he will invent many and varied
justifications for his sin, but God will not honor those gossamer and flimsy
veils for unmitigated sin at the Judgment Seat. It is God’s Law, or Mercy, by
which we shall be judged. If we choose Law, we perish. If we choose mercy, we
will be changed into souls with a humble regard for God’s Sovereignty, and a
heart of contrition for all sin.
What has this to do with our Easter message today? It is germane in many
points. We may presume, erroneously, that God is not privy to either our
outward sins, or those of the thoughts of our hearts; but He has constant
access to every single act and thought of every person born of woman.
As a prelude to today’s text, two of the disciples were walking to a little
village named Emmaus – about 8 miles from Jerusalem. “And, behold, two of
them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem
about threescore furlongs. And they talked together of all these things which
had happened. And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and
reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them.” (Luke 24:13-15) We
are told that these two men were lamenting the events of the crucifixion and
debating how such things could have happened. They did not recognize Jesus who
joined in their conversation. Even if we do not know Him, God is always near
and aware of our words and deeds. In fact, these two disciples did not
recognize Jesus until He broke bread and gave them. Then their eyes were opened
to recollect that same moment of the Last Supper when Jesus broke bread and
gave them. Communion with God opens the eyes of the disciple to Christ, but the
lost remain blind to His mercy and grace. That leaves only the Law by which
they must be judged. After this incident, the two disciples return to Jerusalem
and report their experience to the others in the Upper Room. It is at this
point that today’s text comes into account.
Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the
doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came
Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace
be unto you. That
same day at evening was still the first day of the week (Sunday): the day that
Mary Magdalene and the others came to the tomb before daylight and found it
empty. The same day the two men had an encounter with Christ on the Road to
Emmaus. This represents a building block of evidence testifying to them of the
reality of the resurrection. Men can witness amazing events, yet a moment later
question if they were imagining or not. But a preponderance of evidence will
remove such doubts. The events of the past hours had struck terror into the
hearts of the disciples. Rumors were rampant, and they knew not what to
believe. They closed the door and barred it out of fear in the room in which
they were hiding. Suddenly, without so much as a squeak or breeze, Jesus was
standing right in their midst. He is always in the midst of His people.
Peace be unto you. His
salutation to us is always designed to instill confidence and comfort. And when he had so said, he shewed
unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw
the Lord. There may have been
a roomful of ‘doubting Thomases’ there that day for it seems they were
convinced by the wounds Jesus revealed to them. To suffer the pains of the
cross were evidence enough that a man had died of the torture, but to see the
gaping wound in His side made by the Roman spear removed all doubt – “He who
was dead is now ALIVE!” Ghost spirits do not have bodies that can be touched,
or wounds which can be seen to open up the vail of the heart itself.
Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto
you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. God sent His
only Begotten Son into the vineyard, but the workers of the vineyard (Jewish
rulers) murdered Him outside the gates of the Vineyard (Jerusalem). He endured
ridicule, torture, slander, and treason of his friends; yet, He never failed of
love and will. He was rejected, but never discouraged. He wants us to be
likewise the same teachers of truth that He taught. Are we able? If
we stand up strongly on the clear Word of God, I can assure you that we will be
denounced as “narrow-minded bigots,” “loveless,” and “incorrigible fanatics.”
The world has no choice but to so label us, for, if we are right (and we are
because God is right), they have no standing or justification for their pursuit
of sin. The world has thrown quite a drunken party. It has become wild with
decadent indulgences – but the building is aflame, and all in the world who
remain at the party will perish. We sound the alarm – not out of pride or hate –
but out of a deep and loving concern for their future souls. But most will
never heed our warnings of “FIRE!” They will accuse us of being ‘alarmists.’
The party continues, but perhaps only a few souls will recover their balance
and hear the warning. So we persevere.
And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Life is imparted by that Breath of God.
It was so for Adam in the Garden, and it is so for every mortal born into the
world. But the greater gift of life of God is that eternal life imparted when
the Holy Spirit has breathed on us and quickened our souls to life in Christ.
(Ephesians 2:1-5). But the general benefits of the Holy Ghost, like unto all
who come to Christ, is not intended here, I do not believe. I believe here is
intended the gifts of the Holy Ghost that will enable the apostles to continue
under austere and challenging circumstances in the early age of the Church. His
following remark lends credence to that supposition:
Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted
unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained. Jesus does not mean to grant a sacerdotal mystery in this
last sentence. No man, or priest, can forgive sins – or even grant forgiveness
of sins on behalf of God. We are to preach and teach the Gospel – precisely the
same Gospel that we have heard and read in the Words of Christ. Those who hear,
believe, and repent of sin, shall be saved by our preaching and teaching. Their
sins have been remitted by our preaching of that sound doctrine and truth of
the Gospel. Many will not receive the truth. In fact, their hearts may be hardened
against that truth. What hardened their sinful hearts? Our preaching of truth
hardened their hearts so that they will have no excuse at the Judgment. They
will not be able to proclaim, “No one ever told us!” The Word of God is a two
edged sword. For the word of
God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even
to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and
is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any
creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened
unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. (Heb 4:12-13) Being a discerner of the
intents of the hearts and thoughts of men, it has a dual purpose – either to
convict of sin, or to condemn in sin. It most often, unfortunately, condemns of
sin since the greater numbers of mankind will always choose the broad road that
leads down to destruction.
BEWARE that easy and downward sloping path.
Choose the Narrow Way that leads up to
God.
[1]
A word often used is fairness when one wishes to justify
behavior in conflict with Scripture.
Search the Bible cover to cover, you will never find this word fairness. There is right and there is wrong, fairness does not exist.
[2]
The only thing worse
than turning your back on a one who sins, for we are all sinners, is to tell
them their actions are justified and thus they may sin on with a clear
conscience. For the one is merely
damaging to the person who turns their back, the other condemns both.
