Sermon Tone Analysis

4~/15~/01 \\ \\ A CASE OF HOLY HEARTBURN \\ LUKE 24:13-25 \\ \\ \\ INTRODUCTION: \\ Dr. Ray Summers, the well-known New Testament scholar, called this incident the most beautiful of all the post \\ resurrection experiences.

He makes that observation because of the context and the outcome of the encounter.

\\ \\ It all began with two heavy-hearted disciples making their way home to Emmaus from Jerusalem.

It is the third \\ day after the crucifixion of Jesus or the afternoon of Resurrection Sunday.

Their hopes had been crushed by \\ the recent events in the city.

The outlook has never been darker for them.

As they make this seven-mile \\ journey to Emmaus, a Stranger joins them on the road.

This Stranger enters into their conversation and leads \\ them through a most unforgettable experience.

They will later discover that the Stranger is none other than the \\ risen Christ Himself.

It is their testimony after they made the discovery that the walk with Him was a time when \\ their hearts burned within them.

The imagery of burning would suggest that their hearts were warmed with \\ hope, and joy, and love.

They suddenly found their whole perspective on life being transformed by the time \\ they were spending with this unknown stranger.

I have called this, "a case of holy heartburn."

I believe that we \\ can learn from this incident that it is possible for all of us to know that inner spiritual heartburn that meant so \\ much to those two walking the road to Emmaus.

I want us to read and study this passage in search of a fresh \\ case of holy heartburn.

\\ \\ I.

A SURE CURE FOR DESPAIR.

\\ The two disciples embody despair.

When Jesus met them along the way, their hearts were downcast.

The \\ heartburn that they received as a result of time spent with Him became a sure cure for their inner despair.

\\ \\ 1.

The downcast face - the sign of despair.

\\ In Luke's report of the incident, which was probably based on a conversation that he had with Cleopas, he \\ reports that when they began their conversation with Jesus, "They stood still, and their faces downcast."

Jesus \\ sought to enter into their conversation and immediately became aware of the despair that was in their hearts.

\\ The word "downcast" literally means "dark-faced."

Their face was darkened by sorrow, by perplexity, or perhaps \\ even by impatience with the interruption by this unknown stranger.

To put it in a modern idiom they were "long \\ faced."

They actually looked like their best friend had died.

\\ \\ When we become sensitive to people around us, it is amazing how much of a message you can read in their \\ faces.

Their face will often tell the story of their hearts.

You can tell by the face that the heart is cold, empty, \\ broken, and hopeless!

\\ 2. The loss of hope - the essence of despair.

\\ As Jesus began to question them about their conversation, they indicated they were downcast because of what \\ had just happened in Jerusalem.

Under His probing, they began to recount to Him the events of the recent days \\ in Jerusalem.

Unknown to them they were recounting His story.

As they reported the death of the one they had \\ believed to be the Christ, they made this observation, "But we had hoped that He was the one who was going to \\ redeem Israel."

In that one statement, they tell it all.

Because of wrong ideas about the mission of Jesus, they \\ had embraced a false set of hopes.

These hopes and dreams had been utterly shattered by the death of Jesus \\ in Jerusalem.

They interpreted this to mean that whatever His mission might have meant, it had ended in failure.

\\ Their long faces and inner despair meant that all hope was gone.

\\ \\ Can you imagine what they must have felt?

For them it meant that there was no hope of Israel ever being \\ saved.

For them it meant that the nation would have to suffer the consequences of its sin.

For them it meant \\ there would be no coming of the kingdom of God and no casting off of the oppression of the Roman rulers.

For \\ them it meant the nation of Israel would never accomplish its national destiny.

It was a dark, dark moment for \\ them.

\\ \\ Is that not the essence of despair?

Is not despair the moment when all hope is lost?

Is it not having all your \\ dreams shattered with no expectation that anything will ever be different?

\\ \\ 3. The heart of unbelief--cause of despair.

\\ The Stranger surprised them by His response to their sad story.

"He said to them, how foolish you are and how \\ slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!

Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and \\ then enter His glory?”

With this word, He puts His finger upon the source of their problem.

They are at a point of \\ despair because they have within them an evil heart of unbelief.

They have just acknowledged to Him that there \\ had been a report that Jesus had been raised from the dead.

Some women actually claimed to have seen Him.

\\ Instead of reaching out and grasping such a truth and pressing it to their hearts in faith, they had rejected it as \\ an idle rumor.

Furthermore, in His word to them Jesus indicated that they were ignorant, foolishly ignorant, of \\ the Holy Scriptures.

Their hearts had been slow to receive what God had been revealing to them through the \\ Scriptures through the ages.

Indeed, the things that happened in recent days were in direct fulfillment to words \\ that God had given to His people in the writings and proclamation of the prophets.

\\ \\ Is not despair always the result of a heart of unbelief?

How can a person ever despair if they believe God? How \\ can they ever be without hope if they have a sure word from God? \\ \\ When they had spent the time with Jesus and had the evil heart of unbelief removed from them, then their \\ hearts did burn within them.

The holy heartburn was the quickest cure for the spirit of despair.

If you find \\ yourself tonight in the grips of hopelessness and despair, the quickest cure I know is to have a fresh encounter \\ with the living Christ.

\\ II.

THE RESULT OF TIME SPENT WITH THE RISEN SAVIOR.

\\ In this inspired record of the events of that Sunday afternoon, we have Jesus the risen Christ spending time \\ with two long faced, heavy hearted disciples.

The result of the time spent with Him is a case of holy heartburn.

\\ We need to look deeply at the time these two spent with Jesus the risen Christ.

\\ \\ 1.

A time of personal conversation.

\\ The walk that Jesus had with these two disciples began with Him listening to them.

They poured out their \\ disappointment and hurt to Him in very meaningful words and He listened patiently.

When they had finished \\ their words of despair, then he began to explain to them things concerning Himself that were found in all of the \\ scriptures.

We are not sure how far along they were in the journey when Jesus joined them.

But we do know \\ this, that when they arrived at their home, they felt that they had not spent enough time with Him.

When He \\ acted as though He would go on, they urged Him to spend the night with them at their house.

\\ \\ If there is one moment in all of history that I would desire to recapture and listen in on the conversation that \\ took place, this would be my selection.

Oh, how wonderful it would have been to have been the fourth person in \\ the traveling party that walked toward Emmaus.

Do not discount the personal conversation aspect of this.

In \\ conversation there is giving and receiving.

There is speaking and listening.

Can you imagine it -- the risen Son \\ of God listens to the whimpering despair of two broken-hearted disciples.

And then they have the privilege of \\ listening to Him.

They speak and He listens.

He speaks, and they listen.

I fear that many times we are guilty of \\ speaking but not listening.

We blurt out our words of disappointment and despair to the risen Christ but never \\ give Him an opportunity to respond to what we say.

Maybe we should build into our time of conversation with \\ Him which we call personal prayer, as much time as we to listen as we take in speaking.

\\ \\ 2. A time of spiritual illumination.

\\ It is of interest that when they spoke of the burning heart they specifically spoke of the way He opened the \\ Scriptures to them.

Luke reports to us that in that extended journey toward Emmaus, that He was spending His \\ time explaining to them, "What was said in all the scriptures concerning Him."

He must have spent some time in \\ the Mosaic law and indicated to them how He was the fulfillment of the sacrificial system that was set forth in the \\ law.

He must have spent some time in the prophets: maybe especially Isaiah 53 identifying Himself as the \\ suffering Servant who suffered for the sins of His people.

In fact, if He had had the time He could have spent \\ some time in each of the Old Testament books because there is something about Him in each of those books.

It \\ was as their hearts began to be open to the scriptures that they found themselves with a burning heart.

Such a \\ holy heartburn is a wonderful thing.

It is something to be desired.

My memory is flooded with experiences where \\ in my personal time spent with Jesus, He began to open the scriptures to my understanding.

From the Holy \\ Scriptures He began to show me things about Himself that I had never known before.