And so here it was, it was the day that Jesus rose from the dead,...

Scripture this passage relates to: Luke 24 : 13 - 33 The Road to Emmaus

"And so here it was, it was the day that Jesus rose from the dead and they had given up. They were on their way home. They were shattered beyond description. I mean, what would you do if you had put all of your hopes in this one man? He was the anointed of God. He was going to redeem Israel. He was going to take back the land for the people and so on, and they killed Him. They killed Him. So they just gave up. It was a washout. It was through. They were going home.

"And yet who should they meet on the road but Jesus Himself? And it says that they didn’t recognise Him and we seem to attribute it that God didn’t allow them to recognize Him. But I don’t buy that one bit, because the original text doesn’t say that. It just says that they didn’t recognize Him. Do you know why they didn’t recognize Him? Because He was the last man they expected to see on that road. Granted, I don’t think He looked the same. But they never expected to meet Jesus. It was their own lack of faith that blinded them from seeing Him.
"So Jesus comes up to them and “What’s happenin’ fellas? What are you talkin’ about?” and he [Cleopas] says “Are you the only one that doesn’t know about these things?”
Jesus says “What? What are you talking about?”
“Jesus, the Nazarene, mighty prophet, mighty man of God in word and deed. In fact, we all thought he was the Messiah and they killed him. And that was three days ago. His body is gone. We found His body is gone but they haven’t found Him.[Cleopas said]” And the Bible says that they stood there looking sad.

"Now,...that’s a lot like us, people. You see, [for] those guys, this should have been the greatest day in their lives. The Messiah had just risen. He had come to do THIS! Heaven had just opened. It was the beginning of the Kingdom of God that would be displayed through men, not just Jesus. And their work was today really beginning and they thought it was over. They were going this way and Jesus said “Why aren’t you going that way? You ought to be going IN to Jerusalem!” They didn’t get it. And so they rebuked God. “Don’t you know Jesus died?” They rebuked God. But He was patient. He didn’t smite them with fire. He was gentle with them. And He said “Oh foolish men, slow to hear all the prophets had said. Didn’t you know these things were going to happen? Weren’t you told so many times?” Yeah, they were.

"But see, those two guys are like us. As you sit here tonight many of you have trouble. You’ve got problems. You brought them in this room with you tonight. And sometimes we would think if only, only Jesus would come to my house. If once I could sit down and counsel with Jesus. If I could just see Him once. If I could just hear His voice once, I’d be transformed. No you wouldn’t. You’d be just like these two men on the road to Emmaus. You wouldn’t get it. The presence of Jesus would not change your life.

"Believe me? It’s true.

"You see, because Jesus, His presence, is here right now. His presence is inside your bodies right now. It hasn’t changed you. Oh, you’re going to Heaven, but it hasn’t changed you. We came into this room tonight with problems. Jesus is right here. Jesus might have said to you tonight “How’re you doing?” “Are you the only one in Adelaide who doesn’t know the trouble I’ve got? I haven’t paid all my bills! The kids are sick! My husband’s been angry with me for the last two weeks! Don’t you know!?! I’m upset! And He says Oh foolish foolish people. Didn’t you know this stuff was going to happen? Didn’t I tell you? Jesus Christ is right here next to you tonight. He’s right here with you. The King of the Universe and He knows you by name. He knows everything about you. He has rescued you. He has written your name in His book. He is counting the days until He gets to take you home face to face. He loves you so much. Do you realise how precious you are to Him? You don’t realise that or you wouldn’t be so upset about the problems in your life.

"You don’t know what a glory you are to Him. You might think “Well, I don’t do anything. I’m not very useful to the Lord. I’m not very powerful. I’m not, you know, a real disciple.” Do you know how much He loves you? You see, what you were created for has already happened. It’s already done. You see, when you became a Christian you fulfilled the Lord’s will for your life. He didn’t die so that you might be discipled. He died so that you might go to heaven. Right? He opened the way for Heaven. When you said Jesus come into your life, that day, whenever it was, IT WAS FINISHED. And the only reason you’re here now isn’t to grow closer to the Lord, or to be more obedient to the Lord, or to become more of a disciple. No! The reason you’re here right now, today, is that the joy and the love and the fullness of God would spill out of you and flow all over others, because you are now the Jesuses in this world. You have the good news of God beating in your breast. He just wants to show you off!

"You’re not supposed to work your way. It’s already done. You’re going to heaven. You don’t see it like all of creation sees it. That shekinah glory of God that blinded Paul on the Damascus road and knocked him flat on his back, knocked Daniel down a couple of times and Ezekiel and John and so on. That same shekinah glory of God dwells in your breast. And every spiritual being throughout eternity can see it. All of the host of Heaven, the saints and the angels, and all of the demonic realm, even Satan himself, they all can see that and it scares the demons no end. They know you from a non-Christian. You blind them with the glory of God. It’s not just a little angel that hangs around you to try to protect you. It’s the spirit of the living God who makes your body His home. Every time your heart beats you’re giving glory to God, you know why? Because God’s saying “That one is mine”. Every time you hear that heart beat “That one is mine. They have said ‘yes’ to me. They’re going to be in Heaven with me”. "

Quoted Section from message by Pastor Brent Rue titled "Letting God Love You", preached somewhere in Adelaide in the mid/late 90's???? Write me a comment if you would like to read the entire sermon and I'll e-mail you the 16 page Word document. An mp3 version of a similar message is available from www.brentrue.com, but appears to be preached several years later than my transcript (so it has a slightly different perspective).

Pastor Rue shares a life-changing concept that God used with me,... but it's 12:45am here so I won't elaborate. I just really felt that God wanted me to post something of this, the "most important teaching" Ps Rue's ever done, here, on Resurrection Sunday.