You are Witnesses of These Things Luke 24:35-48 This is the second to the last messages from the gospel of Luke. Two weeks later when I preach, that s it. That will be the end of a seven-year journey through the gospel of Luke. This is continuing after the two disciples encounter with Jesus on the road to Emmaus. Introduction There are different kinds of encounters of the resurrection with different disciples of Jesus Christ in this resurrection account in Luke 24. The first is the women who encountered the angels and the Word of God is used to remind them. The second encounter is what we talked about last night, the despondent disciples [we don t know if it was a couple or just two disciples] on the road to Emmaus and Jesus encounters them and also Scripture is used to explain to them about the resurrection of Jesus. And here in this account, those two disciples who were on the road to Emmaus came back and talked to the immediate disciples of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem. He explained to them his passion and resurrection in the dynamic context of the Old Testament of the Scripture. That s what we see in this context. They were so confused. Same thing in our lives. We get so confused in our lives and some of you are confused already. You are confused in general. So many decisions to make, so many things to do [should I do my project first or study for my finals], should I pray or should I play. Different kinds of confusion. Decisions that you have made and decisions you have to make for next year: who to live with all those things. The disciples were in this kind of context. Even when they encountered the people who met the resurrected Jesus, even when they heard their words, even when we look in this context when they see Jesus visibly, they were still confused. One of the strongest proof of the resurrection is the fact that the disciples were so prone to not believe it at first. If the gospel writers in the first century were to write something to make sure that people believed in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, they would not write those kinds of things about the disciples. Though they were doubting, though they were confused, they were honestly asking questions and they overcame and ultimately became the witnesses that will transform the world. If you are confused, if you have doubts, if you are confused about life and making decisions in your life, don t worry. You will overcome those things and we will talk about how to do that. You will overcome those things so that you can become witnesses for Christ and be used for the glory of God. I don t know if you know the man named Brennan Manning. He passed away very recently. He was an American author, friar, priest, contemplative and speaker. He was an ordained a Franciscan priest. He influenced many people through his writings. This quote is probably one of his most famous ones. It is so good and piercing to all Christians. "The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle, that is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable." This is so profound and so deep. He s saying that people do not believe in Christ because of us. If they believe in God and God is alive and God is working in their lives, how can they be like that. That is what is an unbelievable world finds unbelievable. This quote was so influential in the 80 s and early 90 s. I don t know if you know the musical group named DC Talk. They wrote this song called What if I Stumble. It s a great song. You can google it and you can find it. They were influenced by this quote and wrote this song. What if I stumble? What if I fall? The conclusion of this is that God still loves us and if we are in Jesus Christ, we are secure in his arms. How can we, in this state of constantly falling and constantly doubting and constantly confused, in this weak state live for God and be witnesses? The ones changed the first century were in the same condition as well. You have to understand that it was never those great people, but it is the great God. He uses weaklings. Ones who are confused. Ones who are doubting. Ones who fall. I love the Bible because it talks about their falls, but it also talks about their rise. They died, but they are risen again to live for the Lord and to represent Him. And that s what we need to do through this passage. So four things here that will describe their confusion, their encounter, revelation, and then overflow. Though they are confused, they will encounter the risen Lord and the risen Lord will be revealed to them through His Word and then they will overflow with His presence and power. I. Confusion [35-38] We will be confused in our lives and the disciples were also confused when you look at verse 37 and 38. Let s analyze confusion. A. Confused disciples [37-38] Luke 24:37 They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. They saw Jesus and they think that he was a ghost. Let s do an analysis of this. First is the mind.
1. Mind- thinking This word thinking refers to not just thinking anything, but it refers to the subjective judgment [more in his mind trying to judge trying to discern which may or may not conform to the fact. They were thinking. A lot of times we do that. We see the facts and we think, we make judgment, we make discernment and many times we make a wrong discernment and so we get confused. Then what happens to our emotions? 2. Emotion- frightened Verse 37 says, they were startled and frightened. The root word is phobia. They get into phobia [in fear] because of wrong thinking. Here s a little insect that you can step on and kill and we are so afraid of it because of our thinking. We think it can do some harm. A mouse is on your lap and you scream. Why? Because of our thinking. Wrong judgment. Most of you can kill a mouse but you have a phobia. It s just irrational but that s how we think. We make a wrong judgment. We think that those things can harm us. 3. Train of thoughts- do doubts rise in your minds Verse 38, Why do doubts rise in your minds? Think about that. The word is translated in the NIV as doubts but the root word is dialoguing [dialogismos]. The word dialogue comes out of that. As he makes a wrong judgment, his emotion, and what happens is you dialogue it becomes bigger and you argue and you think and then doubts rise in your minds. It becomes what I call train of thoughts. Just like a literal train and there s a track, thoughts are like that. We constantly go to this train of thought and it becomes a smooth track and in our minds we have a train of thought. We have a habit of thinking a certain way that affects us negatively. Our sinful addictions are like that. Phobias are like that. We have a train of thoughts in our minds, and we ve gone through it so many times the track is smooth. We don t even know where they are going but we are going that way. Whenever we have our sinful addictions it s always like that. We have a train of thought that we need to break and that we need to fight so that it will not stimulate our desires and sinful nature. It s all because of misinformation and wrong thoughts about God. It is always theological. They were thinking that Jesus was a ghost. 4. Jesus- ghost The word is ghost, but it literally spirit. It means that they thought that he was just a spiritual spirit [the body separated from a spiritual being]. They really thought that he was a spirit living on the earth like a dead person. Here is Jesus and he died so they thought that he was a ghost, a spirit of Jesus without his physical body. Here s Jesus coming to them and they thought that he was some kind of being who is coming to harm them. That s why they re afraid. Misinformation and wrong thoughts wrong thoughts about Jesus and about God. All of our confusion, at the root of it is always theological. You have to understand that. It s a foundational problem. Here is someone who loved them and died for them, and they are thinking of him as someone who is coming to destroy them. Think about that. Many times we are like that about God. Our problems are always theological because we are spiritual beings. Then everything makes sense when we see ourselves as spiritual beings. 5. Confusion (vv. 36, 37) I wrote a few things here to describe the disciples confusion that correlates with us. i. Does He exist? Some of you are going through this. That s kind of what the disciples were thinking. Does Jesus really exist right now? ii. Is He powerful? Is he powerful enough to resurrect himself. That s the confusion that we have in our lives. Is God powerful enough to do this? Some of think you believe in the omnipotence of God in certain aspects, but to convert my brother? My dad becoming Christian? Overcoming this problem that I have? He s not powerful enough. iii. Is He loving? You might believe in the sovereignty of God, but you might not believe that He is loving enough. That s why a lot of you blame God. God, you can do this, why don t you do this? At the root of it, yes He s powerful but He s not doing this because He s not loving enough. He s not caring or at least He doesn t know what He s doing. I know better, what ought to be done. But He s not loving enough. iv. Does He love me? Ok, he s loving. He loves everyone else but me. There are actually people when I counsel them, who really think like that. v. Is He with me now? That s what the disciples were thinking. Is that Jesus with us? It s a ghost. Is He with me now. He is with you by the Spirit in your heart.
vi. Am I in His plan? You might believe in the sovereignty of God but am I included in there because you might not think that you are good enough. Am I good enough? That s really the question that you are asking. Am I in His plan? You might believe in it because you ve heard it so many times at CFC, that there s the sovereignty of God in redemptive history but you might think, I don t know if I m included in there. I m saved but am I in His plan? vii. Will He guide me/will I be able to discern? You might think that He will guide me, but maybe I m so stupid that I can t hear it that I won t be able to discern the way that He is guiding. That s why I m going to fall off of the cliff. viii. Will He use me? If you are in Christ, the Bible doesn t say that there s not enough work and too many workers. The Bible never says that. The key verse in Matthew 9, there s so much to do and not enough workers. Of course the quality of workers that Jesus wants CFC to produce [Matthew 9:37-38]. ix. What s going on? I put this here because if you are struggling with some of these questions, you re wondering, What s going on? We have to understand according to Scripture, once we are saved, we are heading toward eternal blessing in Jesus Christ, then we are always in between. God is always doing something good for you, even if you think that He is taking away everything. He is taking away so that He can give you good, better, and the best. To these confused disciples there s a comforting Jesus. B. Comforting Jesus [35-36] Jesus says in verse 36, Peace be with you. Peace be with you. Wholeness. Blessing. Shalom. Wholeness will be with you. This is not a normal Jewish greeting, but when he says this he s blessing them. Peace be with you. He s saying, I am the prince of peace. I will be with you. Luke 2:14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests. When Jesus comes, there s peace, wholeness, completeness. Everything just seems right. Who was Jesus giving comfort to? These past failures. The disciples all failed Jesus. They all denied Jesus. They all ran away. 1. Even with past failures 2. Even with present doubts and fears 3. Even with constant confusion To these disciples with past failures, to these disciples with present doubts and fears, to these disciples who now have been and will continue to have constant confusion, Jesus comforts them. We will be confused in our lives just like these disciples. Then what do we have to do? We must experience Jesus we must encounter Jesus as Jesus is giving Himself to us. We will be confused in our lives so we need to constantly encounter Jesus experience Jesus. II. Encounter A couple questions here. A. Do we need to see, touch, and hear, to believe? It seems like the disciples needed to. Luke 24:39 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. May I remind you that it never says that the disciples touched Jesus. It never says that He did not either. The point is not that you need to see and touch to believe. Even in those days some saw and did not believe. And in the history of mankind, some never saw and still believed, just like us. The point is not that you must see to believe. The point is to meet Jesus, to experience Jesus, to encounter Jesus, and you can do that without seeing. Does it mean that a blind person or a deaf person can never meet Jesus? Why does he say look and touch Jesus? He s saying these things so that the disciples will know that He s not just a spirit, but with his physical presence, to talk about the resurrection. We need to experience and encounter Jesus. We need to have a personal encounter with Jesus Christ and that goes for every single one of you. You may have gone to church all of your life, you may have gone to CFC all this year, but you must have a personal experience and encounter with Jesus Christ. Just like I cannot drink water for you, I cannot eat for you, I cannot breathe for you, you need to do it to live spiritually. B. Why did He show his hands and feet? Luke 24:40 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet.
Why did he tell them to touch it? So that they would know that he has a physical body. Why did he show his hands and feet? To talk about the message of his death. Remember that I died for you. Why not knees or toes, but hands and feet? Because there are nail marks in his hands and feet. He s pointing out his death. He s reminding them of his death. C. Why did He eat? Some might say, Well he was hungry. That might be true but I believe that it is really emphasizing the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ. Luke 24:43 and he took it and ate it in their presence. He s not a ghost. He has a true physical body and this was a resurrection that all the believers are headed to when Jesus Christ returns. So what is Jesus doing? This is basically saying, You need to experience me. You need to encounter me. The way to do that is to see my death and my resurrection. What does it mean that he died for us? That means that we are justified in Jesus Christ. We are forgiven. All of our doubts, all of our failures are forgiven in Jesus Christ. Even if you fall, even if you stumble you will be forgiven in Jesus Christ because you are forever justified in Jesus Christ because Jesus died for you and Jesus died as you. Relax, even if you fall and even if you stumble. The lowest place that you can fall on is on the rock solid foundation the justification of our Lord Jesus Christ. Why is he reminding them of his resurrection? For our glorification. Putting Luke and Romans together. For our growth, we are becoming more worthy in Jesus Christ. We are becoming more like Jesus Christ. The worth of Jesus Christ is coming to our hearts and we are becoming more like Jesus Christ. We are growing. We are becoming more powerful and becoming more beautiful. Not so that we be something worthy but that people would see his worth through us. That s what he s doing. Jesus is talking to them, You can experience me you need to experience me as you meditate on my death and resurrection. Remember we talked about this in Luke 16:31, If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead. Luke is saying even if a dead person comes to other people and says, Believe in Jesus. There s a chance that a lot of them would not believe, which is what happened. There was a few resurrection that Jesus caused in his lifetime. He himself was raised and many people did not believe. If they do not believe in Scripture, they would not believe even if someone rises from the dead. More powerful than miracles and physical resurrection is the written and spoken Word of God that has power to raise the hearts of people from death in their heart to spiritual resurrection. Word of God is more powerful than their impressions [what they can see, what they can sense]. Our senses are not as trustworthy and reliable. We need to see and hear and think, but so that our hearts can be affected. It has to be a spiritual interaction of spiritual work through the Word of God, which we will talk about in the next point. We will be confused but we must experience Jesus. How can we experience Jesus? Through the Scriptures. III. Revelation A. The Scriptures is about Jesus Luke 24:44 He said to them, This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms. These three works summarized the Old Testament. All of those things are about me. How is the Law about Jesus? 1. The Law People, when they think of law, thought about the first five books which we call the Pentateuch [the first five books written by Moses]. If you think about the law, you can generally separate these laws into three laws: ceremonial laws, civil laws, and moral laws. How is ceremonial laws about Jesus? Ceremonial laws is about the sacrifice. Jesus is the sacrifice. Ceremonial laws is about the temple [how to build the temple]. Jesus is the temple, the meeting place with God. There are priests mentioned in the ceremonial laws and Jesus is the priest who gives a sacrifice in our behalf [the sacrifice of himself]. But he s also the priest that cleanses our sins. He is the priest. All of the ceremonial laws are about the coming Jesus. What about the civil law? The Israelites had to follow the civil law, the national laws for the Israelites. Jesus is the true Israelite, the true human, the true Adam [the last Adam] that fulfills all of these laws. He is qualified to die in our behalf so that he can cleanse all of our sins who failed in keeping these laws. The moral Laws are mainly summarized in the 10 commandments. The first four commandments are about our relationship with God and the last six are about our relationship to people. Basically Jesus says, Love the Lord your God [the first four commandments] and love the people as yourself [last six commandments] Jesus summarized the law into Matthew 22-
Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, mind, strength [vertical] and love your neighbor as yourself and one word summarizes that. Love. Jesus is love. The law is about Jesus. 2. The Prophets The prophets spoke about God to the people who were lost. Jesus is the Word of God [personified]. Especially in the book of prophets, usually this is what happens. The Israelites sin. They go into exile. Why physical exile? To show them what they are like spiritually. Then what happens? Under that exile, the Israelites repent and cry out. Then what happens? A deliverer comes to save them. As the prophets talk about this deliverer, they were pointing forward to the deliverer that was coming for our sinful slavery and bondage, who is Jesus Christ. 3. Psalms All the poetic songbooks are under this category of Psalms. Psalms are messianic songs about Jesus. Many Psalms talk about Jesus who is coming. Basically they are songs about Jesus. What about Proverbs? Proverbs are books under these Psalms. Proverbs is about wisdom. As we know in Scripture, Jesus is the Wisdom of God. What about Ecclesiastes? Basically it says, Vanity, vanity, vanity, vanity meaningless, meaningless, meaningless until the last chapter, it says, meaningful. Why? That s basically what it is. Ecclesiastes is talking about vanity in the first Adam [meaninglessness]. But only in Jesus Christ [the last Adam] is meaningfulness. What about Song of Songs? Is it just about sex? Yes it is about sex but it s basically about Christ s relationship to the church love relationship marital relationship. It s a love song of Jesus to us and our love song to Jesus. That s what Song of Songs is about. Psalms are music of Jesus. Proverbs are wisdom of Jesus. Ecclesiastes is philosophy of Jesus. Song of Songs are love songs of and love songs to Jesus. When we get to the Word of God we can experience and encounter Jesus Christ. B. Through the Scriptures Jesus speaks to us Luke 24:45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. Can this be our prayer today? We need to pray this. I really pray that God would open your mind so that you can understand the Scriptures. Lord, may this happen. How can this happen? Naturally and supernaturally. 1. Natural Through the means of explanation of the Word of God. That s what the whole context is. That s what happens to the disciples going to Emmaus. As Jesus explained the Scripture [this is what it means into their system and language and way that they can understand], it became meaningful. It opened their minds. Then what happens? They were encountering Jesus as who He is. Not just encountering Jesus physically, but as he was explaining the Scripture of who Jesus is and what ought to happen spiritually. That interaction was happening because they were understanding the Scripture. They were seeing Jesus the way they should have seen him before the worry. It happened through the means of the word. You have to study the Bible. You have to understand the Scripture. You can t just do osmosis. You have to study the Word of God. You have to be able to explain it to other people. There s a natural way that your mind will be opened but as that happens a supernatural interaction will take place. 2. Supernatural The Holy Spirit has to work through the understanding of our minds and through the explanation of the Scripture. The Holy Spirit has to use those and the Holy Spirit does use the understanding of the Scripture to make you come alive and make you strong in your heart and in your mind. In the future when you choose a church, choose a church that explains the Scriptures. Not just a church that gives a sermon but please make sure in your life that there is always some place [if you go to a small church and they don t really explain the Bible and you don t have a source of feeding], make sure that there is some source of feeding [internet, going to a Bible study] explanation of Scripture. Luke 12:12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say. He s saying to the disciples, when the hardship comes and they witness, the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say. We think that the Holy Spirit will instill something in our minds that was not there before. That s not true. That can happen, but when we look at Acts 2, we see what happened to Peter. What Peter does is he understood the Scriptures. If you read his sermon, it s all an explanation of the verses that he knew. He was understanding it deeper and he s able to explain those verses to the people in a great historical and redemptive sermon in Acts 2 so that it would pierce the hearts of
the people. When it says that the Holy Spirit will teach you it doesn t mean that He will instill information in you that you don t have in your mind, but if you keep on meditating on the Scripture He will help you to understand the Scripture in a powerful way so that you would use those things to pierce the hearts of people. People shallowly look at it and say, We don t have to prepare a sermon and actually use this verse to prepare a sermon, which is the exact opposite of the intent of what Jesus meant to say. John 14:26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Jesus is speaking to the immediate disciples, many of whom will write the Scripture. This verse is about the writing of the Scriptures, the New Testament. He s saying to the disciples, what you have seen and what you have understand, you will write. When you do that, the Holy Spirit will help you so that you will write without any mistakes. We have the copy of that, which is the New Testament. I m pulling the verses that Luke connects the Holy Spirit and the Scripture. Acts 1:16 and said, Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus Luke is talking about Old Testament verses that David wrote about the prediction of Judas. He s saying that the Holy Spirit spoke through the mouth of David. The Holy Spirit was there to give God s Word, as David was thinking through in his mind. The Holy Spirit guided it so that there would not be a mistake. Acts 4:31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. What a prayer meeting. The Holy Spirit uses the verses and the Words in our minds and hearts and when we speak, He uses those words. When we explain the Scripture to others, the Holy Spirit uses those words to powerfully pierce the hearts of people. Acts 10:44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. When he was explaining the Scripture into the minds of people naturally, there was a supernatural interaction that took place when we naturally read and study the Bible. Though it seems boring, it s the only way for us to live and encounter and experience Jesus Christ. With those verses [all the verses that Luke is writing], going back to this verses of Luke 24:45, He opened their minds. When Jesus was naturally explaining the Old Testament verses, he opened their minds so that they can understand the Scriptures. What we talked about last week, their hearts were burning in them. This is my prayer for you this week. Lord, may this happen at CFC. We will be confused in our lives, then we must experience and encounter Jesus. How does this happen? When we experience Jesus through the Scripture. When we naturally meditate, memorize, study, explain the Scripture, supernatural interaction happens by the means of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit uses all those verses so that we can experience and encounter Jesus Christ. I pray you live with that the rest of your life because the Word of God lasts forever and we will use the Word of God in heaven. Then we are sent to be witnesses of these things, and overflow will take place. IV. Overflow [46-48] To be witnesses we need to know the Scriptures. Luke 24:48 You are witnesses of these things. A. Know the Scriptures [46] Luke 24:46 He told them, This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, B. Know the Gospel [46] - the death and resurrection of Jesus That Christ will suffer and rise [v46] death and resurrection. We need to know the Gospel. The simplest form of the gospel is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The gospel is justification and glorification in Jesus Christ through his death and resurrection and the benefit that we receive. That s the gospel. C. Speak of repentance and forgiveness [47]
Luke 24:47 and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. They need to repent. They need to turn around. Change of mind has to take place so that they can be forgiven. Justification will take place [v47]. Don t be afraid to offend them. Somewhere in your life you need to offend them, not with your personality but with the gospel, the message of the cross. Build enough relationship before that so that that kind of offense will not hinder your relationship with them. D. Be a witness wherever you are-be mindful of all the nations and be faithful in Jerusalem Why? Because verse 47 says, preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. The gospel must be preached here and there. Jerusalem means now [where we are] and to all nations [to the end of the world]. The gospel must be preached glocally [local here and globally there]. Be mindful of all nations but be faithful in Jerusalem. Be witnesses wherever you are because you can only speak to someone besides you. E. Make other witnesses [47] Verse 47 says, will be preached. It will be preached by somebody [you as well as the ones you preach to]. Ultimately they will become preachers. This is the concept of becoming workers and producing workers. Make other witnesses until they can preach and until they can be a personification of the gospel. F. You are witnesses of these things [48] It says you, the church of Jesus Christ. You is not the Western-American concept like the songs that we sing [I worship you]. Rarely does the Bible talk in a personal language. It s almost always a corporate language [y all]. He s speaking to the church of Jesus Christ. Then it says are. That is our identity. This is not a suggestion but this is who you are. It says witnesses [ marturas ], meaning it s someone who has seen [as used in a legal sense] but it is also someone who dies for a cause. The word martyr comes out of the word witnesses. It is someone who sees to the point of death and speaks to the point of death. You are witnesses of these things. What things? The gospel. Experiencing and encountering the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. You are witnesses of what you have experienced in your life so that you go forth and overflow with him. Just share him to others. You have to know the Scriptures. You know the gospel. As you build a relationship with him, speak of repentance and forgiveness, that they can be forgiven in Jesus Christ. Be witnesses wherever you are. Be mindful of Jerusalem [wherever you are] but also of all nations [all over the world]. As you do that, make others witnesses so that they can go on and do the same thing that you have been doing because you [as a church of Jesus Christ] are witnesses of these things. Let me ask you, Where is the mission field? I would say a heart without Jesus. Who is a missionary? A heart that is burning with love for Jesus. That s a missionary. Yesterday I was preparing the message and I wrote something [I don t know if it s a poem or what]. This just came and so I wrote some things down. I was just thinking about this idea of love. This is a sinner s love [worldly love]: Let s go to Jesus love: I'm in love. Everything looks so beautiful. But time has wings. When a sinner loves another sinner, there is pain. Being a sinner means, "I want what I want." Wanting to get replaces willing to give. Love is pain. I m in love. Though everything is not as it seems. Time is a process. When the Sinless loves a sinner, there is pain. Being the Lover means Not my will but yours be done. Wanting to save enemies replaces wanting to be with the Father. Love is stain. Now let s talk about our love [the follower s love the Christian s love]: I m in love. He makes all things beautiful in His time. Time is hope. When a sinner is loved in Christ, there is no end.
Being filled with love means, I will overflow. Dying to give replaces living to get. Love is gain. Love means we gain Christ. Our love for the world means that they gain an infinite Savior s love and power in Jesus Christ. I got this Brennan Manning s youtube clip when he preaches about God s love. I like it so we ll see this clip. I was listening to this and thinking that he experienced Jesus and he s witnessing about Jesus. He s overflowing. Whatever we can do that matters in eternity is by the grace we receive from God. If we do not receive, we can do nothing. But if we receive, we can do everything. That is why any ministry is an overflow. Just as the Niagara Falls might flow down to feed one lily, more of his grace always flows for our overflow. When He fills, we spill. When someone is blessed and encouraged by another human being, all he is doing is simply being the cup for the others to drink from, as his cup overflows. This is the dynamic of the redemptive history. That s what s been happening from generation to generation. He is the source, from whom all blessing flow. Therefore, God alone deserves any, every, and all the glory that exists. Let us receive so that we can give.