How to Defeat Your Greatest Enemy

This is North Way tape number 483. This message on Christian hope was given by Pastor Jay Passavant of North Way Christian Community on March 30th, 1986. Okay. Luke chapter 24. Would you follow as I read? Beginning in verse 13. Now Jesus has already appeared to the women at the tomb. And now this, I trust, familiar but profound encounter of the disciples on the road to Emmaus. Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. And as they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them. But they were kept from recognizing him. He asked them, what are you discussing together as you walk along? And they stood still, their faces downcast. One of them named Cleopas asked him, are you the only one living in Jerusalem who doesn't know the things that have happened there in these days? What things, he asked. You see Jesus is playing along with them, obviously. About Jesus of Nazareth they replied. He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God in all the people. And the chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death and they crucified him. But we had hoped, did you say those words? But we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning, but didn't find his body. They came and told us that they'd seen a vision of angels who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the woman had said, but him they did not see. 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? And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the scriptures concerning himself. As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther, but they urged him strongly, stay with us for it is nearly evening. The day is almost over. And so he went in to stay with them. And when he was at the table with them, he took bread and gave thanks and broke it and began to give it to them. And then their eyes were opened and they recognized him and he disappeared from their sight. And they asked each other, were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the scriptures to us. And they got up and returned at once to Jerusalem and they found the eleven and those with them assembled together and saying, it is true. The Lord has risen and has appeared to sign them. Then the two told what had happened on the way and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread. Would you pray with me? Father God, what man is worthy of eternal things, Lord? Father, I confess before you and these that have assembled, Lord, that without the anointing of your Holy Spirit on your word in these next moments, Father, all this will be for naught. But I pray God that you would use the words that you've put in my heart, Father, that you'd use your eternal word that you have written from the foundation of the earth to change our lives today, Father. Every one, Lord, not one would leave this place without a touch of your Holy Spirit, your eternal life in Jesus name. Amen. One plane ride I will never forget occurred about three, no, actually it was about five years ago now. And it wasn't a plane ride that was memorable because of bad weather or crowded conditions or delays or all the kinds of things we associate with memorable plane rides. In fact, it was really a nearly perfect flight on a day much as glorious as this one. But I remember so clearly sitting on this little DC-9 and Carol was with me and I was seated at the window and she was next seat or might even been one over and both of us were teary-eyed. Both of us were silent and both of us were numb. We had just gotten on the plane following our third trip to New York City where we had agreed to take a small church outside of the city to become the pastoring couple of that church. And we had hoped that the acceptance of that invitation would have brought peace to our hearts. We had hoped that the saying of yes to that welcome by the people in New York City would have spoken to the unsettledness that was deep inside of us. We had hoped that this would have been the answers to the prayers that many of God's people were praying on our behalf. We had hoped but it was not to be. I was praying that when I get on that plane I would in all the hopefulness of God hear God say, this is it. I was praying that I'd hear the the minstrels begin to sing in my ear. Rise up, O men of God. This is where I've called you. Or something like, you know, every place in which your foot shall tread. But all I heard was the tones of go now to dark Gethsemane or something like that. There was no hopefulness being fulfilled in me. There was no peace. That I was coming into. Have you ever had that experience where you've counted on something and you hope with all of your heart and you were disappointed. It didn't come to pass. Have you ever been in a situation where though you've wanted it with all of your heart, it didn't happen. And hope, you see beloved, is so crucial to life for all of us. Hope in big things and even hope in little things. I want to see your hands here. How many of you failed your driver's test one time? Yes. How I remember the pressure when I was 16 and all of my buddies when it came your turn to take your driver's test and the stigma was if you failed once you were out. You couldn't be with that. You know, you might as well have been facing the firing squad. I just remember that pressure. God, I really hope this works. All my questions down. And we all know the disappointment at some point in our life of wanting something to happen so bad, hoping for it, but not seeing it come to pass. Proverbs 13 12 says that hope deferred makes the heart sick. Isn't that true? That is hope that's put off. It causes you to grieve inside. That's what that's saying. And I want to share with you today, beloved, in the moments ahead, what I see to be the power of the Easter message. And that power is this, that God has spoken a word of eternal hope to all of his creation. And it's not just some kind of starry-eyed optimism that we who are deluded to think that religion is the answer to all men's problems just kind of hang on to. But it's a hope, beloved, that carries with it the power to transform us in every circumstance. Beloved, the world does not know the hope that we're talking about. And I don't know about you, but I just, I just grieve over Easter time, I guess even way more than Christmas. Now, I get USA Today as a paper just to get my fast food information, like you might as well, and I have to commend them that in their Friday edition they gave the whole editorial page to spiritual content, and they asked different people to write about, well, what do you see Easter to be, and what are you going to preach about in Easter Sunday? These are different spiritual leaders, and I commend them for that. But you know what was on the front page of USA Today? Bunnies and eggs, and I don't know anyone that was ever redeemed by a bunny. I don't know one person that found life in the Easter egg hunt at Hill's Department Store. You see, we're so watered down, we're so lost that our secular media just, they've lost the power of the hope that God has spoken in the Easter season. I want to say four things about this hope. The first one is, as we see in these disciples, there can be, for each one of us, an area in which hope is unfulfilled. Look with me at verse 21. There, Cleopas and the other disciple, they say this, we had hoped that this was the Redeemer of Israel. Hope unfulfilled. We don't know how much those words meant to those early disciples. Church, the Jews had labored in slavery. At that time, they were subject to the Roman government. They were under a bondage. They were told what to do and when to do it. They were paying taxes to the Roman government. They were slaves with a limited amount of freedom to govern themselves. And those little words, we hear centuries of frustration. We'd hoped that he'd been the one to redeem Israel, but he wasn't. So they thought. You see, the church, this church right now is full of people who in one area of your life, at least today, it's fair to say that there's hope that's not been fulfilled. There are men here on the board of Eden Christian Academy who right now would say, well, our hopes have not been fulfilled in relationship to God's provision. There are people here in relationship today with a spouse, a husband or wife, who would say, my hope has not been fulfilled like Frank and Beth's. There are people here today who would say, I've been searching for God, but my hope's not been fulfilled. I talked with a young man a few weeks ago, grew up in a church environment, a denominational church. It doesn't matter what kind of church it was. But he thought he was doing what was right, going through the religious forms, attending services and doing all the things that this particular church told him to do. But he never found God. And he was sharing with me, I don't know if I dare believe again my hope has not been fulfilled. And I'm talking here today, beloved, about good, sincere people like you. People who really want to know God. I'm thinking of a couple that I know want to serve God. In fact, some years ago they believed that God had told them through prayer and seeking him that they were to come here to Pittsburgh from another state and establish a church. And beloved, now it is a few years later and nothing's happened. And I sat with them in my office and I felt the grief that they feel. I felt with them the sorrow over the lack of fulfillment of their hope. I sensed in them that they were that far from giving up. Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever felt it's really just not worth it anymore? I'm a failure and God hasn't stepped in and I don't know what's going to happen. And why bother going on with it all? Hope unfulfilled can leave us in a point of desperation. And it's a very fine line that once you cross over into hopelessness, beloved, you risk leaving it all. There's nothing more to live for. Without hope, we perish. Do you know that hell is described in the Bible as a place where there is no hope? That's the description of hell. That's the definition of hell. And people today, perhaps you're here today and you're living in a hell because you feel there's no hope for me. I want you to see these disciples. It wasn't enough for them. Look with me at your scriptures. Verse 22 says, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb earlier this morning. They didn't find his body. They came and told us about this vision. They say earlier in verse 19 that Jesus was a prophet and done powerful things in word and deed. I want to say number two about hope. Unfounded hope is hope that is based on other events and other testimonies. Now listen, it is not enough it will not work if your hope is built on someone else's word, on someone else's miracle, on someone else's experience. You see, these disciples had seen Jesus feed the 5,000 with a few loaves of bread. They'd seen Jesus Christ reach out his hand and touch blind Bartimaeus, a man born blind and watched his eyes open to see for the first time in his life. They had been there most likely when Lazarus came from the tomb, having been dead for four days. They had seen more than probably any of us will ever see in our lifetime. But beloved, they still could not believe. Do you see what I'm saying? You see, our hope is not based on the miracles that we see. Our hope cannot be based on what we hear about. Our hope must have a deeper basis. I rejoice with you. You know, I heard a testimony the other day a particular family in our church needed over $3,000 to finish a project they believed the Lord had called them to do in order to open up ministry in their home. And God had already supplied a miracle amount of money, several times more than that for them, and it came down to it and they were facing a deadline on a Sunday. And they knew the next Monday that the job was completed and the people who owed them the money were going to show up and ask for it. And I heard this brother say, I didn't know what to do. So I went to a prayer meeting that was taking place after worship. We do those kind of crazy things here. We pray after we worship as well as before. And do you know that God moved in the heart of a particular person at that prayer meeting without anyone saying, would you please to sit down and write a check for the exact amount that they need? You see, now that says to me, God is moving. I could give you testimony after testimony. Last week we heard from Michael Gere and how God healed him in the last few weeks from rheumatoid arthritis. You heard today how a lovely young couple was on the brink of separation and divorce. And I can look out and see others of you that I know had that same experience. But church, that's not enough. That is not the basis of our hope because some of you are here and you know people just like Frank and Beth. They might be in your family. They might be acquaintances, but you still say to yourself, that's not for me. It hasn't worked for me. It's not enough to carry me through. And your hope is flickering today, and you're feeling like, I'm going to give this up. It's not working. I don't know what to do next. And no matter how good these things are, beloved, it is not enough to build your hope on what someone else experienced. You see, the hope that we have to share, beloved, must be, number three, an unconquerable hope. A hope that cannot be defeated. And as much as I love the healing testimonies and the provision testimonies, we all know that there is a power at work today that might cause those things to go back. And so our hope has to be based on something that cannot fail. It's got to be a hope that can never be overcome. What is the basis of this hope? What can it be? You see, the people that we know in the world who receive everything that the world has to offer, they'll tell you even that can make for defeat. I was really touched by the testimony of a football player by the name of Mike Barber. Those of you who followed the Steelers in the late 70s and around that period, remember that he was a tight end for the Houston Oilers. He was really a good football player. And when we played him, he was always right in the middle of things with our guys. I remember thinking, frequently, he was in the fights and stuff that happened during the game. And I tuned in on the 700 Club just a few weeks ago and saw that man on there and heard him say that at that pinnacle of his career, when he was probably the number one celebrity on the Houston team at that point and in the city, you know, interviews and had his own show and all that on TV, he said at that point in his life, when he had everything going for him, everything underneath was falling apart. He'd left his wife. He didn't have really a friend he could turn to. Everything was down. All on the surface looked great. Inside, it was all rot. And he didn't know where to turn. He didn't know what hope he had. Who's heard the name John Paul Getty? Very interesting article about a biography on J. Paul Getty. Said to be the richest man in the world at one time. You read this, I'll tell you, it almost made me cry when I read this article in Time magazine, but March 17. How this man, with his billions of dollars, let me just read the description, the summarization that the article says. Getty, who died in 76 at age 83, simply emerges as a supremely selfish man and a consummate bottom-liner who subjected all his passions to cost analysis. In order of all his importance, his preoccupations were the oil business, sex, and bargain hunting for art. And he even looked the part of the Scrooge that he so well played. And it's a sad story, you see, because money and pursuit of wealth and importance and influence just does not make it in the world today. Our hope has to be built on something that's not going to be transitional, something that can't fade away, something that can't die. Beloved, what is it? What is it that happens in us? Death, you see, is at work in creation. Now hear me, when I talk about death, ultimately, you all know what I mean. But the Lord really made it clear to me as I was preparing this week that many of us are laboring against a spirit of death in our relationships, in our aspiration and vision for life, in our self-worth, in the hopefulness of the promise that things would ever change. You see, death has been loosed into creation and the Bible says that all of creation is groaning under the decay of it. Isn't it fascinating that everything in life is decaying away? Did you know that? When you go out to your neatly waxed car here in a few minutes, it is not going to be as neatly waxed as it was yesterday when you did it. The wax is being eaten away. And soon, the metal will be eaten away. And it won't be long before it'll be useless. Do you know all of life is like that? You know what that is? That is the curse of death. Scientists call it the second law of thermodynamics. But what it is, it's the bondage to decay that's been loosed in the world because of the fall of man. Now listen, this death will ruin your life. It will take from you that which you want so much. Do you know what the Greek word for death, thanatos, means? It means to be separate. And so death really is a separation. When I say that there's death at work in us, I'm saying we're separated from the power of God. And that separation is what can ultimately destroy us. It's amazing how when we talk about physical death, the way we try to cover it up. Out in Glendale where Fred and I and other ones who went to seminary out in Fuller visited at many different times. There's the famous Forest Lawn Memorial Park. And a guy by the name of Hubert Eaton there has become a millionaire covering the whole idea of death with nice little words. So that death is called leave-taking when you go in to make your arrangements. The corpse is called the loved one now departed. And it's said that your loved one will now go into the slumber room where skilled cosmetologists will make them presentable for their final appearance. You know, we do all kinds of things because we don't want to face the fact that it's all crumbling away. I read also of a guy who put a little window in his coffin. Little eight-inch window. And he's got a little alarm bell hooked up in there. So that if by chance death really didn't happen once he was in there, he could push the alarm bell and someone would come and find him. He also plans to have an electric light burning inside his grave for one week after his burial. At the week's end the guards will check to see if he's really dead and put out the light. Why? Why would people do such? Because they don't want to face the fact that death comes. Death comes. No matter what we try to do, death comes. And hope cannot be built on anything that allows death to come. Do you hear what I'm saying? Hope must not be built on anything that is subject to death because death is our greatest enemy. But beloved, there is one today that we know without a shadow of a doubt has overcome that one great enemy. There is one whose name we name who when it appeared all hope was gone, when he had faced mocking and scourging and beating and crucifixion and death, came back again from that grave and the Bible says that he held in his hands the keys to death and hell. It's of him that the Bible says that death could not hold him in Acts 2.24. It's of him that the Bible says he now holds the power of death in his hands. You might want to say hallelujah there. You see he's destroyed death and the one who's overcome death is the one who will never again be conquered by it. It is on him that our hope must rest today. As the hymn says, my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. You see that is the foundation of hope that never can be defeated, that can never be taken away from us. That is the only thing that we can turn to when we face all of hell and death and whatever realm we see it and know that it can never be taken from us. And our hope, beloved, then isn't just a good wish but it's based on fact. Now people say, and I don't have time today to talk much about the proof of the resurrection, but let me just say this. I challenge you today. I don't care how many PhDs you have. In fact, Simon Greenleaf, who was known to be one of the most brilliant men in the 1800s, in fact established, founded Harvard Law School, began to investigate the claims of Christ and the resurrection of Jesus. And he came and said later on, after having investigated it, that no fact in history is more provable than the resurrection of Jesus. I want you to know something. We are so easily pulled away from that. You see, all we hear about are the bunnies and the egg hunts. But there is a truth that history was split by Jesus Christ. History. Why do we say this is 1986 AD? Because history was divided by the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It's a fact of history. There's no other way to explain the church. There's no other way to explain that the Apostles transformation. There's no other way to explain what's happening right now in our lives. He's alive. He's risen from the dead. Hallelujah. And so Peter the Apostle writes and says, praise be to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy has given us new birth into, now listen, a living hope through the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. I want to ask you today, is your hope alive? Or is your hope somebody's testimony? Is your hope somebody else's experience? Do you know something? Sometimes other things, other reports and events and all that, they cause us to start expecting God to do a certain thing in a certain way. I don't believe Frank and Beth ever would have thought God would have done it that way. But he did. How many of you have found in your own experience that God never works, it never seems to work the way you expected him to? And so don't let yourself start saying, well I heard it, I heard these people say that, you know, this is what happened to them, and that's what's gonna have to happen to me. God may have another whole path for you, church. Beloved one, don't, listen, you can be like these disciples. They were so occupied in their thinking and what they expected, they didn't recognize Jesus. Why didn't they recognize him? He was right there. I submit to you, one reason was they were looking for him in a way that they weren't prepared to see. One of the greatest obstacles to receiving hope, to receiving the living life, is an expectation that this is the way he's going to come. I want to submit to you, you'll be surprised at what God will do if you let him come in his own terms. And so, in conclusion, our hope must be unlimited. We don't have a hope that can only go so far. We have a hope, beloved, that will never fail no matter what the circumstance. You see, I love the disciples when they say, well, you know, he was a great prophet. I mean, he was to be the Messiah. He did all these things, and here he is, the greatest miracle of all, standing right there, and they don't see him. They don't recognize him. They were blinded to him, and what changed them forever is when they were able to see who Jesus really was, right there with them. That transformation took place when they had eyes to see him. Then it was no longer we had hoped, but what does it come out to be down in verse 29? It's true, it says in my Bible, the Lord has risen. Now that can be, for each one of you this morning, your testimony. Do you know that? That can be your testimony, not, well, I'd hope for things to get better. I'd hope for my marriage to make it. I'd hope to find a career that I loved. But your testimony can be, it is true. He has risen, and because he's risen, hope abides eternally in you, not just for what comes after death. As glorious as that is, how many of you are here today and say, I need resurrection now. I need something today. I just don't want you to look, you know, 50 years down the road. Today is the day we need to receive the resurrection power of Jesus. It's a choice that you make, beloved. Will you fight decay and death in your own strength, and be swallowed up by it? Or will you come to Jesus, and let him swallow up death, and impart in you a new and living hope? You say, how can I be confident today as I am that God is with his people? How can I know that in the midst of the greatest responsibilities I've ever faced as a person, that God's in control? How can I sleep when I know that we've got all these commitments coming in this building, and we don't have all the money in? How can I face the next day when I know that people are depending their very lives, in some cases, on what I have to say? How do I do that? Because I have a living hope, and my eyes are on him, and he's the source of everything I have to give. If he fails, beloved, I'm done for. But I know something. He'll never fail. He's not going to fail you. He's not going to fail the Eden Christian Academy Board. He's not going to fail the home group leader who doesn't know what to do next. He's not going to fail the people that are looking for that seed of life to come in them for a new baby. He's not going to fail the ones who don't have the money to pay the bills. He's never going to fail, because he conquered our greatest enemy, and he's alive forevermore. Glory to God. So what is your response to be? And this is my conclusion. What should we do then? These disciples gave a pattern, and I just want to share this today. Rather than me saying today, I want to give you an invitation. I want to ask you to do what these disciples did. Look with me in your Bible. Verse 29 says, But they urged him strongly. They invited Jesus to stay with him. With them. And as we spend these last minutes together on this glorious day, those of you who need a touch of living hope today, I'm going to invite you to invite Jesus to stop where you are, and to cause you to be revealed in seeing him. For him to make himself plain to you. Right where you are today. For you to make an invitation to him. Let's bow our heads and pray. Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus, it may be that we don't recognize you today, Lord. It may be that we have never seen you in your glory and in your power. Lord, we may be here today with no real idea as to what to do next. But God, we need a touch of living hope today. Hope that that which you have put in us, Lord, of desire, of dreams, of fulfillment, of a purpose in life, of satisfaction in a marriage, that that hope could come to life once again. I just want to ask right now, as we have our heads bowed, how many people are here today who would say, Jay, I know an area in my life where hope is just about out. And I need God to come in right now and establish a living hope in my life, in my circumstance, in this situation. Just let me see you put your hand up right now. Signal me. I need that. Yes, yes, yes. Scores of hands. Yes, yes. Thank you, Father. Lord, I pray now for these that have raised that hand, Lord, that the living hope of the Lord Jesus Christ would be born right now in them, God, and that they would be able to recognize you in their life and in that circumstance, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. You are present with us, my God. Hallelujah. Let's welcome Him together. Let's just softly and quietly sing this chorus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. He died. He died. He died for me. He rose again. He rose again. He rose. He rose. He rose again. He lives in me. He lives in me. Hallelujah. Now he's coming back. Let's stand as we sing. Let's sing Jesus again. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. I can hold you with his spirit and his love. You can come now as we're singing. Let him fill your heart and satisfy your soul. Oh, let him have the things that hold you. And his spirit like a dove will descend upon your life and make you whole. Jesus. Jesus. Oh, Jesus. Come and fill your life. Jesus. Oh, Jesus. Jesus. Come and fill your life. My beloved, there's a number of us right now that need to do something specific. If you come up, there's plenty of people here. Those of you that a moment ago signaled me and said, I want to start a walk with Jesus. The most important thing you can do right now is to cement that decision. If you meant it, all we want to do is to pray with you and cement that decision. We're going to sing one more time. And if you were with somebody, they'll come up with you and pray together. If you weren't, I just want you to come. There are people right here that will pray with you and get you established on your walk with God. If I could face tomorrow Because He lives All fear is gone Because I know He holds the future And life is worth the living Just because He lives Let's sing it once more with conviction and truth. Because He lives I can face tomorrow Because He lives All fear is gone Because I know He holds the future And life is worth the living Just because He lives.