You know, first it was conference calls, and then it was video conferencing, and now it's holograms. That's right, a new technology is emerging whereby a speaker or a seminar presenter or a musician on stage can be streamed through the internet and appear in front of an audience thousands of miles away in the form of a three-dimensional hologram where the person looks in every way like they're actually there, just like Princess Leia's message to Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars.
Now, the reason I bring this up is because right after his resurrection, the Lord Jesus appeared to his disciples in such a way that they thought he was a hologram or maybe even a ghost.
Now, Jesus wasn't a hologram. And he wasn't a ghost. It's just that he had a completely different kind of body than he had had before the resurrection. A completely different kind of body than the disciples had ever seen. And this is what we're going to talk about today.
Remember, we're in a series entitled People Jesus Met. And today, Jesus meets his disciples in a closed room. And we want to go back and see what happened 2,000 years ago. And then we want to bring all of that forward to today and talk about, well, so what difference does that make to my life here in the 21st century? Our passage is Luke chapter 24.
And here in Luke chapter 24, The Lord Jesus has risen from the dead, and that very same afternoon, Sunday afternoon, he's appeared to two men walking on the road to a little village named Emmaus, just outside of Jerusalem. And when they realized it was the Lord, they got so excited that they ran immediately back to Jerusalem to look for the disciples and tell them. And that's where we pick up the story. Here we go: Luke chapter 24, beginning at verse 33.
So the two men rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem and found the disciples. And the disciples said to the two men, The Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon Peter. Then the two men began to relate their experience on the road that is to Emmaus and how Jesus revealed himself to them. And while they were all still talking about this, Jesus Himself stood among them and Said, peace be with you.
Now, in John's Gospel, John tells us something very important about this gathering on Sunday night where Jesus suddenly appeared. John chapter 20, verse 19 says, On the evening of that first day of the week, that is Sunday night, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish authorities, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, Peace be with you.
Now, friends, why is it so important for us to know that the disciples were hiding in a locked room?
Well, the answer is because it explains what happens next. Luke 24, verse 37. But the disciples were terrified. And frightened and thought they were seeing a ghost. Remember, the place where they had gathered was the place that they had picked for security reasons.
There was only one way in, and that was the front door, and it was locked, and yet suddenly, here was Jesus standing right here in front of them, and he had not come through the front door. One moment he wasn't there, and then the next moment he was there.
Now, the disciples were not rocket scientists, but they were smart enough to know that people just can't pass through walls, people just can't appear out of nowhere like this, and suddenly the Bible says they were more afraid of whatever this was in the room than they were the rabbis they were hiding from. Verse thirty eight, Then Jesus said to them, Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your mind? Look at my hands and my feet. It is, I myself touch me and see.
A ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see I have. And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. You say, Lon, what was this all about, showing them his hands and his feet? I don't get it.
Well, friends, the reason Jesus did this is because his hands and his feet still bore the nail scars that he had received on the cross. And he showed them to his disciples to serve as living proof to the disciples that this body standing before them was not a ghost or a spook or a hologram. Rather, it was truly the body of Jesus Himself.
So, here in Luke chapter 24, we learn that after his resurrection, Jesus still had. the same body that he had always had. Or Diddy? You say, what do you mean by that?
Well, friends, did Jesus have the exact same body that he had had while he was here on earth before his resurrection from the dead? I mean, we just saw here in Luke 24 that this body, the one Jesus has now after the resurrection, could osmose through walls, that this body could go right through locked doors. And we know from other passages in the Bible that the body Jesus had after his resurrection, John 20, verse 26, could appear and disappear at will, Acts chapter 1, verse 9, that this body could levitate and fly through space, that this body, Revelation chapter 1, verse 16, shined with the brilliance of the sun, and that this body, Revelation 1, verse 18, was a body that would never die again. It was an immortal body.
Now every law of Newtonian physics says that it's impossible for a body to do all of this, that it's impossible for a body to be like this. But remember, Newtonian physics is describing our earthly bodies. The point Is that the body that Jesus had after the resurrection was not an earthly body? It was a radically different body. It was a transformed body.
It was a transcendent body. It was a transposed body. It was a transfigured body. It was a transmogrified body. It was a trans-everything body.
Philippians chapter 3, verse 21 calls it a glorious body. And in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, the Bible says that it was an incorruptible body, a spiritual body, a heavenly body, an imperishable body, and an immortal body. And here's the really great news. Friends, really great news is the Bible says that if you know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, you're going to get one of these bodies too one day. 1 John 3, verse 2 says, Dear friends, now, as believers, we are the children of God.
And we know that when he, the Lord Jesus, is revealed at the second coming, we shall be like him, for we shall see him just as he is. You say, well, maybe that means we'll be like him spiritually, and maybe it doesn't mean that we'll get new bodies.
Well, you can hold that position if you want. It's wrong, but you can hold it.
Now, because Philippians chapter 3, verse 20, makes it clear what John's talking about. That verse says, For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we eagerly await our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, watch, who by the power He has at His disposal will transform our lowly bodies so that they will become like His glorious body. That is like the body He had after the resurrection. That is like the body that He ascended into heaven with. Is like the body that He's coming back in to rule and reign over the nations with majestic power.
This, the promise of a new body, is the promise of the living Christ to every single one of His children, to every single follower of Christ. And what a glorious promise it is. Amen. Wow, what a promise.
Now That's as far as we want to go in our passage, because we want to stop now and we want to ask our most important questions.
So, this really works better if we all take a deep breath before we do this.
So, all of you at Loudon, and Prince William, and Bethesda, and in the Edge, and on the Internet, and here at Tyson's, are you ready? Here we go, deep breath. One, two, three. Yeah. You say, Lawrence, so what?
Say, all right, this is great. I appreciate everything you're saying here. But you know what? When I walk out Monday morning to go to work, to go to the office, to go to school, I mean, what did you do? How does this make any difference in my life?
I don't see it.
Well, let's talk about that. You know, I was talking to a gentleman in the lobby not too long ago, and he was telling me about some number of health problems that he'd been struggling with, some kidney problems, some circulation problems. And he was telling me that now his eyesight was failing.
So I put my arm around him and I prayed with him. And then when we were done, I said to him, I said, Hey, I said, you know, the good news is that one day you and I are going to have new bodies that will never wear out, that will never break down, and will never grow old. And that is the great news of the Bible. And I want to use the rest of the time I have to tell you five great things the Bible teaches about these new bodies that you and I as followers of Christ are going to get one day. Here we go.
Number one, this new body we're going to get, number one, is going to be a body that we are going to love. Yeah. Hey, when you were growing up, What was the one thing about your body that, more than anything else, you really wish you could have changed?
Well, I'll tell you what it was for me: it was my curly hair. I hated my hair. I grew up in the early 60s, in the mid-60s, I was in high school, where women would iron their hair with an iron on an ironing board to iron every curl and wrinkle out of their hair. Guys would let their hair grow long and straight as an arrow, and I had this mess. Because when I grow my hair long, guess what?
It doesn't grow down, it grows out. That show you a picture of what happens when I grow my hair long. This is me in college. You say, well, Lawn, I can see why Brenda fell for you. Yeah.
Yeah, I can too, honestly. Huh. I hated my hair. I didn't want that hair. And I don't know, but I'll bet you every one of us here had something about our body that we didn't like growing up, and maybe we still don't like it.
Friends, the Bible teaches us, though, we're getting new bodies. And it does raise some interesting questions these new bodies were getting, like, if I went bald in my first body, will my new glorified body have hair? Or, how about this question? If I had six children in my first body, will my new glorified body be my pre-childbirth body or my post-childbirth body?
Well, I can't answer those questions for you. I don't know. But what I can tell you is that whatever your new body looks like, you're gonna love it. Number two. Second thing about these bodies that the Bible tells us is that they're going to be imperishable bodies.
1 Corinthians 15, verse 42.
So it will be with the resurrection of the dead, the Bible says. Our old body is sown, meaning buried, perishable, but it will be raised imperishable. It is sown in dishonor, but it will be raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, but it will be raised in power. The Bible is just telling us here what we already know, that these earthly bodies we are living in are perishable, that they're weak.
Ah, but friends, our new bodies are going to be completely different. They will be powerful bodies, the Bible says. They will be imperishable bodies, the Bible says. They will be bodies that are not subject to exhaustion, bodies that are not subject to aches and pains, bodies that are not subject to injury or bacteria. Or viruses or cancer or decay of any kind, which means that in heaven there will be no wheelchairs.
It means that in heaven there will be no respirators. In heaven there will be no insulin shots. In heaven there will be no hearing aids or pacemakers. In heaven there will be no antibiotics or anticonvulsants or chemotherapy or radiation. Friends, in heaven there won't even be Tylenol because you won't need it.
Praise the Lord. And you know what else won't be in heaven? There won't be any handicapped parking spaces in heaven either. And there won't be any access ministry in heaven either. And there won't be any Jill's house in heaven because these are perfect bodies we're getting, and we won't need any of this in heaven.
Praise God for that, huh? Amen. Now, number three. These bodies we're getting, number three, are going to be spiritual bodies. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 44 says, Our old body is sown, buried, a natural body, but it will be raised a spiritual body.
You know, you've probably heard the old saying: if we could kick the person most responsible for our troubles, we would not be able to sit down for a week. And you know, Pink, the singer, said it this way: She said, I'm a hazard to myself. I'm my own worst enemy. And this is true for all of us. We're all our own worst enemy.
Ah, but folks, these new bodies that we're going to get are going to be different bodies. They are going to be bodies with no sin nature like our present bodies have. They'll be spiritual bodies. They'll be sinless bodies. And think what that means.
It means that in our new bodies, there are those bodies we'll want to do right instead. Of wanting to do wrong all the time, our new bodies, they won't fight back when we try to obey God. They'll actually cooperate with us when we try to obey God. And we won't constantly be sticking our new foot in our new mouth in heaven. Won't that be wonderful?
How refreshing will that be? Hey, number four, these bodies that we're going to get, these new bodies, are going, number four, to be sexless bodies. Jesus said, Matthew chapter 20, verse 30, he said, 22 rather, verse 30, he said, For in the resurrection, people will neither marry nor be given in marriage. Instead, they will be like the angels in heaven who are sexless beings. Here in Matthew chapter 22, Jesus tells us that in heaven there is no marriage, there is no sex, and there is no dating.
In heaven, there are no boyfriends, there are no doubts. No girlfriends, and there are no online dating services in heaven. In heaven, there is no testosterone, there is no estrogen, nobody's from Venus, and nobody's from Mars in heaven. Romantic relationships, as we know them here on earth, simply won't exist in heaven. And hey, just think what that'll mean.
It'll mean that not only is heaven a beautiful place, but heaven will also be a lot less complicated place. Amen and amen to that.
Okay, now, number five and finally. These new bodies that we're going to get, the Bible says, are bodies we must have in order to live in heaven. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 50 says, Now I tell you the truth: flesh and blood, these bodies we're living in now, cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor can these perishable bodies inherit the imperishable. 4, verse 53, in order for us to go to heaven, this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must be clothed with immortality. The point is that you and I simply cannot go to heaven in the bodies that we have now.
Nobody can. The bodies we have now are designed for living here on earth. But to live in heaven, we have to have a heavenly body. To live in glory, we have to have a glorified body. And you know, I meet people all the time, and I'm sure you do too, who are consumed with the idea of getting to heaven by means of their own good works and their own religious activity and their own good deeds and human kindness.
Now, friends, is there anything wrong with good deeds and human kindness and good works? No, not a thing. But the real question is: where do these people plan to get a heavenly body, a glorified body, without which nobody can get into heaven, nobody can get into glory?
Well, all the good deeds in the universe aren't going to get you a new heavenly body, my friend. The only way to get one of these new bodies is for the living, risen Lord Jesus Christ to give you one. And the Bible's clear. He is only giving them. The Bible is unequivocal about this.
He's only giving those bodies out to people who have embraced Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior and trusted what Christ did for them on the cross.
Now if you're here today, And you're trying to get to heaven through your good works, your human effort, your religious activity. I'm just telling you, the Bible says it's a dead-end street, my friend. That you can't get a new body that way, and you can't get into heaven without a new body. The only way to get a new body is to have it given to you by the risen Christ, and He gives it out to people who have given up their human works and their religious activity and all their human effort to try to get them into heaven and have instead thrown their trust 100% on the blood of Christ shed on the cross. That's who He gives these to.
So let me just say: if you're here, friend, don't spend July following a dead-end street to heaven. Do it the way God tells you. You say, well, Lawn, these new bodies, I'm just curious. How exactly is God going to do this? I mean, what's the mechanism He's going to use to suddenly change these bodies into brand new bodies like you're talking about?
Well, friend, how in the world do I know? I don't have the slightest idea. You know what? And I'm not worried about it either. I tell you, Jesus made me a promise he's going to do it.
Jesus knows how to do it, he doesn't need my help. He knows how to do it all by himself. And my job's not to try to figure it out or understand it. My job's to believe him and to trust him and say, Thank you, Jesus. I'm looking forward to my new body.
Right? Right? So, friend, don't worry about it. If you're a follower of Jesus, believe him, trust him, say thank you, Jesus, and look forward to your new body. Amen.
Alright, now let's summarize. What did we learn? We've learned five things about our new glorified body. Number one, that we're going to love them, friends. Number two, that they're going to be imperishable, perfect bodies.
Number three, that they're going to be spiritual, sinless bodies. Number four, that they're going to be sexless bodies. And number five, they're going to be bodies specifically designed for us so that we can live in heaven for all of eternity with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now you say, well, Lon, this is all wonderful, but all of this pie in the sky stuff still doesn't help me one bit when I go to work tomorrow morning.
Well, friends, let me show you one other thing that's going to happen when we get our new bodies. 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 10 says, For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. This is believers in heaven, that each of us may receive what is due him or her. for the things that he or she did while in their earthly body, whether good or bad. Hey, look, if the only thing that was going to happen to you and me after we died is that somebody was going to blow us out like a candle, Then I would say, you know what?
Live any way you feel like living. That makes perfect sense. But the Bible tells us this isn't what's going to happen. The Bible says, as followers of Christ, we're going to be resurrected. And the Bible says, as followers of Christ, we're going to get new, glorified bodies.
And the Bible says that in our new bodies, each of us is going to stand before the Lord Jesus Christ in heaven and give an account of how we lived in our earthly bodies.
Now, I don't know about you, but knowing this for me, friends, has enormous bearing on how I live my life here and now. It means that with the Holy Spirit's help, I am trying my very best to do those things every day in my earthly body that I will be happy to see again, that I will be proud to see again. Again, when I stand before the Lord in my new glorified body. I remember when my daughter Jill was at her worst in the early years, and Brenda and I took her up to Hopkins there, and that was her main treatment center for a number of years. And the first time we were up there, the doctor, Dr.
Eileen Vining, great friend of ours now, came into the room with all the ducklings. You know what I mean by all the ducklings? You know, the nurses, the residents, and they all filed in, and she introduced them all to us. But there was one lady in there that didn't have a title.
So I turned to her and I said, well, ma'am, I said, I don't mean to be offensive here, but you're not a doctor. You're not a resident. You're not a therapist. You're not a nurse. Who are you?
And she said, I'm here. to keep your marriage from breaking up. And I said, really? She said, yes, sir. She said, in over fifty percent of married couples with a child with a disability, the husband runs out, and I'm here to help that not happen.
You say, well, Lon, tell me, in the 19 years Jill's been alive, have you ever felt like just running out?
Well, friends, I'm not proud to admit it, but yes, I have. Especially in the early years when things were horrible. There were days I would get in the car to drive my kids in the carpool and fantasize about just keeping going west and go to California and never come back. You say, Well, Lauren, why didn't you? You say, Oh, I know, don't tell me.
It's because you're a true. Humanitarian. All I know is because you're true. Man of God. No.
Friends, I am a sinful, selfish rascal. And don't you believe anything different? And let me tell you why I didn't do it. I might have done it under different circumstances, but let me tell you why I didn't do it. The reason I didn't do it is because I believe the Bible.
And I believe it when the Bible tells me that I'm getting resurrected. And I believe it when the Bible tells me I'm getting a new immortal body. And I believe it when the Bible tells me that I'm going to stand in the presence of the living Lord Jesus Christ one day and give an account of every action I took here on this earth. My friends, that gives me motivation. Motivation to try to do what's right down here and to live in such a way that I won't be ashamed of it when I see it again up there.
And that's exactly what kept Brenda in our marriage. The very same thing. And friends, this ought to be motivation for every single follower of Jesus Christ. We have friends, we have relatives, we have co-workers who are telling us all the time, don't obey God, don't do it God's way, do it some other way.
Sometimes we ask ourselves, hey, do I really need to do it God's way? It'd be a lot easier if I could do it some other way.
Well, I hope our study of the Word of God today has helped resolve this conflict for you and has given you a good answer as to why we do it God's way. And so, my friends, let me leave you with the real question that you and I ought to always be asking ourselves, and that's this. is what I'm about to do.
something that I'm going to be happy to see again. When I'm standing in my new glorified body before the living risen Christ of the universe. I'll tell you what, you ask that question before you do stuff, and a lot of times Things look a lot different after that question. Let's pray together. Lord Jesus, thanks for reminding us today that this world is not all there is.
That you are going to resurrect every one of us who knows Christ, give us a brand new body, and then we're standing in front of you. And so, Father, I pray that not only would we be excited about these new bodies, but also, knowing all of this, I pray it will motivate us to live here on this earth in a way that honors Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit to the best of our ability.
Now, we won't be perfect, but Lord, give us a zeal to live in such a way that when we stand before you, we will be proud to present our life to you. Father, if there are people here who are contemplating, even today, doing something that they know displeases you. May the Holy Spirit give them the discipline and the power and the motivation not to do it. And, Father, if some of us here have already done things that we know displease you, may the Holy Spirit give those people the courage to repent. And to go back.
and make it right with people. and then to live more carefully. going forward. Lord, there is no more practical everyday Monday to Friday truth anywhere than what we've talked about today.
So use it in our lives. And change the way we live here on earth. Because we were here today and we sat under the teaching of the eternal Word of God. And we ask these things in Jesus' name. And God's people said, Amen.
