Commissioned to Preach, Part 2

Let's pray together father. We thank you for today. It's a beautiful day to worship the king It's a beautiful day Lord to receive From you those things that you want us to learn and know and understand and today as you look once again that Luke's gospel We pray that you would do a mighty work in all of our hearts to move us on toward maturity in Christ That we'd understand our responsibility our duty our privilege to be ambassadors For your kingdom we pray in Jesus name. Amen You find ourselves in Luke chapter 24.

We're almost done. I'm Guaranteed a bonus if I complete this before Christmas That's not true, but I thought I'd throw that out there to you Anyway, just to let you know we will be done by the end of this month I promise with loose gospel because in December we do a whole series on the anticipation of the coming King How it is people lived in anticipation and some did not and why didn't they live in anticipation of the coming King But that will be for December in the meantime, we're gonna finish Luke chapter 24 So let me set in mind the text we're covering Luke 24 verses 44 down through 49 Now he said to them these are my words which I spoke to you while I was still with you That all things which are written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures and he said to them Thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and rise again From the dead the third day and that repentance for forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name To all the nations beginning from Jerusalem You are witnesses of these things and behold I am sending forth the promise of my father upon you But you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high this is Luke's rendition of the Great Commission These men were commissioned to preach Matthew Mark Luke and John all have something about this Commission to help us understand the great responsibility the church has to Proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ our Lord This helps you understand the reason God left you here after He saved you He didn't leave you here primarily to worship him Didn't leave you here primarily To have fellowship one with another He didn't leave you here primarily for any other reason than to share the gospel Because the one thing that you can do now that you will not do in heaven is evangelize Because everybody there will be glorified born again citizens of God's kingdom and The fellowship in heaven will be beautiful the fellowship here is Okay, it's not the greatest Because we have sin We're carnal.

We're fleshy our worship here is okay But in heaven, it'll be perfect worship. It'll be continual worship, right? Our love for one another here is just okay but in heaven It'll be perfect We are left here to promote the gospel to share with people The good news of Jesus Christ our Lord So every gospel ends with something about this Commission and Acts begins the book of Acts begins With the Commission that the Lord gives to his men Before he sends up into heaven and of course Luke is the only one who records of the gospel writers to record the Ascension we'll talk about that next week But we've been commissioned to preach as these men were commissioned to preach we talked to you last week about the foundation for the Commission the foundation is biblical and Scriptural that's what Jesus says he says These are my words which I spoke to you while I was still with you That all things which are written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be Fulfilled he gives them a sweeping testimony of the Old Testament To show them that everything that the minor prophets the major prophets Moses the Psalms all spoke about Centered around him and his coming and his dying and rising again You see these these men were to go in and proclaim to Jewish people That they just killed their Messiah How are they gonna prove to those in Jerusalem that they had just killed their Messiah?

except by going back to the one standard the one objective standard that everybody held dear which was the law and the prophets and the Psalms And so they would have to know exactly what was said And so our Lord would spend time addressing this talking to them and when you read through the book of Acts and you read the the epistles of Paul and you read Peter and you read John They know the Old Testament They know it inside and out and they preach the gospel Based on the writings of the prophets the writings of Moses that they might be able to take Jewish people back to the Old Testament because Christianity is rooted in Judaism Judaism is the root Christianity is the fruit and so to understand Christianity you need to understand Judaism because the Messiah Was a Jew That's pretty simple, isn't it?

And so we need to understand what the Bible said about the coming of the Messiah And so he takes them back and it shows that to them That's why the foundation for our Commission is Biblical is scriptural. It's based on what the Bible actually Does say and then it says these words and then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures in that just beautiful I love that because I can't open your mind boy. I wish I could open your minds. I wish I could do that Because I do surgery on every one of you this morning Okay, but I can't do that only God can do that and That's really freeing to all of us.

Is it not? Because it's God who opens the heart. It's God who illuminates the mind and he wanted to make sure they grasped it and so he would preach to them teach them the truth concerning what the Old Testament said and Then he would open their minds so they could fully grasp that truth Come to an understanding of what the Old Testament said and so the foundation scriptural and biblical then comes the presentation The presentation is simply Christological Theological and absolutely essential What do you present to people?

He tells them he says Thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and rise again from the dead the third day It speaks about the identity of the Messiah and the ministry of the Messiah Once you know the Old Testament you can identify who that Messiah is and then you identify the Excuse me the ministry of that Messiah that he came to suffer die and rise again once you understand the identity and the ministry of the Messiah you can then better understand the Responsibility and the duty of those who present the Messiah He says it this way and that repentance for forgiveness of sins Should be proclaimed in his name to all the nations beginning from Jerusalem Wow this is the presentation Once you present the identity and ministry of the Messiah you must present then the Responsibility of Each and every man and that is what?

to repent That they might receive the forgiveness of sins everything about the ministry of Christ centered around forgiving sinners Zacharias we read it last week in Luke chapter 1 way back nine years ago when we began in Luke's gospel How Zacharias would sing that song that would talk about how the Messiah was going to bring forgiveness to his people It was all about the forgiveness of sins. And when John the Baptist came on the scene, he said repent and receive the forgiveness of sins and Jesus would follow John the Baptist and say repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand that you might receive the forgiveness of sins And then the apostles were sent out to preach about the forgiveness of sins You see the message that we have to give to people Frees them from sins condemnation You know, we need to understand that We need to come to grips with the fact that we are presenting a gospel that sets people free from the condemnation of sin It's a message of freedom but Forgiveness is Conditional And this is where the evangelical world sometimes messes it up forgiveness is not unconditional Could you imagine if forgiveness was unconditional?

Everybody who ever lived would go to heaven that's called universalism Everybody goes to heaven no matter how you act no matter what you do It makes no difference whether you you believe in Christ or not It makes no difference whether you're an axe murderer or not it makes no difference whether you live in sin for all your life or not See that would make forgiveness unconditional because Jesus just forgives everybody. I Mean when he was on the cross, he said father forgive them for they know not what they do Does that mean that everybody who crucified him everybody in Jerusalem?

Received the forgiveness of sins answer. No Because it's all based on one condition that you repent of your sins Love is unconditional The love of God is unconditional God doesn't love you because of Something you've done God doesn't love you because you're handsome or you're pretty you're rich or you're wealthy. God doesn't love you because you're smart God doesn't love you because you're athletic doesn't love you for any other reason other than the fact that he chooses to love you and His love is completely unconditional and God's love for man Never changes because it's steadfast.

It's new it's grand But his forgiveness is Conditional It's conditioned on Repentance as though he says when you go out you tell them who I am You tell them what I did and then you tell them this is their responsibility. You must repent in order to receive the forgiveness of sins believing in Jesus is Not enough The demons believe in Jesus and they have a better theology than you and I will ever have They have a accurate pristine theology They know everything about Jesus So they know exactly who he is and what he did Believing in Jesus is not enough Accepting who Jesus is is not enough You must turn From your sin Those in Thessalonica, they turn to God From idols in order to serve the true and living God.

That's what repentance is it's a hundred and eighty degree turn from the presence and power of sin in one's life You are turning from those things that have enslaved you in order that you might serve a new master Repentance is a turnabout and it Causes the door to open for regeneration Justification sanctification and glorification Now they all happen at one time, but without the repentance There is no forgiveness and without the forgiveness. There's no entry into glory But there comes a point of repentance where a man turns from his sin It's not just feeling sorry about my situation It's not weeping over the fact that that I'm a sinner It truly is a change of heart a change of direction a change of life.

That's what repentance is But you need to understand this It is a saving work of God and because it is a saving work of God Repentance like grace and like faith is a free gift of God Please don't assume that when God demands a man repent that a man says, okay I must muster up enough energy to turn from my murderous ways my lustful ways my sinful ways and somehow follow Jesus Now repentance in the heart of a man is granted to him by God That motivates him to turn That moves him away from his sinful habits and sinful patterns It's God who does the work So if God does the work it really doesn't make any difference what God calls for, right?

If any man come up to me, let him deny himself. Let him take up his cross. Let him follow me Okay, how does a man do that? How does a dead man do that? Because we're dead in our trespasses and sin So how does a dead man? Decide to follow Jesus How does a dead man repent of a sin? How does a dead man take up a cross? Only if God grants him the desire to do so Because it's a gift of salvation, how do we know that? Well remember in Acts chapter 11 when Peter was preaching Trying to help those in Jerusalem to understand that the gospel had gone to the Gentiles The response of the Jerusalem Council was this And when they heard this they quieted down and glorified God saying well then God has granted To the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life Isn't that good?

God has granted to the Gentiles. This is a gift from God God allows Gentiles now to repent that they might receive life Over in 2nd Timothy chapter 2 verse number 25 or 24 it says and the Lord's bond-servant must not be quarrelsome But be kind to all able to teach patient when wrong With Gentiles correcting those who are in opposition if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth and they may come to their senses and Escape from the snare of the devil Having been held captive by him to do as well in other words God Grants man repentance so that now he can escape From the clutches of Satan's will in order to fulfill God's will listen Salvation is a supernatural work Salvation deals with the spiritual realm and only God conquers in the spiritual realm And so the only way for a man to escape the snares of the devil is because God in his sovereignty Allows him to repent of a sin because he grants them the desire to turn from his sin.

He's recognized He's recognized the identity of the Messiah and the ministry of the Messiah That's why faith cometh by hearing in hearing by a word concerning the Christ Who is the Christ? What did he do in the response of that? What do I do? I have a responsibility To repent that I might receive the forgiveness of sins and this is exactly what they preached Acts chapter 2 verse number 37 on the day of Pentecost It says now when they heard this they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles brother What shall we do?

And Peter said to them repent and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins What do you do you gotta repent that you might receive the forgiveness of your sins it says over in Acts chapter 4 Acts chapter 4. I'm sorry Acts chapter 5 these words I'm sorry, that's not what I want to ask 10 my bad in Acts chapter 10 It says that's not what I wanted either What it was so good is right at the tip of my tongue too, here's the point read the book of Acts yourself it's there Anyway, the point being is that all through the book of Acts Peter Stephen Philip Paul all preached Repentance that you might receive the forgiveness of sins See that that's what they preached They didn't they didn't preach anything other than the fact that they might come to the the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord it is so important to realize That that when the Word of the Lord speaks it speaks to them.

It says in Acts chapter 5 verse number 31 the Savior is going to grant repentance to Israel and forgiveness of Sins it's all about the forgiveness of sins. It's all about what God grants his people You see we're not we're not offering people anything else other than the forgiveness of sins we're not offering you a better marriage we're not offering you a Prosperous life. We're not offering you a healthy life. We're offering you the forgiveness of sins We're giving you the gospel so that you can be set free from Satan's domain So now you can live in God's kingdom That's what the gospel is and that's what God's called us to do.

That is the purpose for your existence That's why you are left here on earth that you might do that Whatever the sphere of influence you have whether it's in your home whether it's in your school whether it's in your work whether it's in your play wherever you are each and every day your responsibility in that sphere of influence is to be a representative of God's kingdom and promote his kingdom telling people how they can be a part of the kingdom of God if they repent that they might receive the forgiveness of sins That's the presentation That's what we do.

We present the Christ. That's why our presentation is Christological It's centered on the Christ Who is he? He is God He became man He lived and died and rose again the third day He's coming back again.

We present Christ This was his ministry that he came to die for your sins in mine Because this is the only way you get to heaven he is the way the truth in the life No man comes to the father, but by me And so it becomes a very unique presentation I cringe when when these when these churches offer to people things that the Bible doesn't offer them or Guarantees them things the Bible doesn't guarantee them. I can guarantee you one thing I can guarantee that you can receive the forgiveness of sins based on what you do with the Christ That's one thing I can guarantee you Because the Bible guarantees that and so that's the gospel.

That's what we've been called to preach and That's the presentation And that's exactly What they would end up doing now look at what it says.

This is so good it says Thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and rise again from the dead the third day and that repentance for forgiveness of sins Should be proclaimed in his name In his name Now that's very very important Because everything is done in accordance with who he is When you speak of someone's name you are speaking of someone's character Okay, the name Describes Who he is?

You know at Christmas. They have these books that come out called the names of Christ Christ doesn't have names plural He just has a name And it manifests itself in different ways, but he only has a name singular There are not names plural of Christ in the scripture How do we know that and his name shall be called? wonderful Counselor mighty God Prince of Peace Everlasting Father Not that his names are But that his name is called this say He is called the God of the name the Hashem. That's that that's who he is.

He has one name He doesn't have many names and in that name are many facets For instance there is pardon in the name, right? You should call his name Jesus God named his son You should call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins Okay, so there is pardon in the name. That's why he's called Jesus Acts 2 18 Peter said it repent and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ Because of the forgiveness of sins Okay, so when you speak of the name it speaks of the character of the person and Jesus always lives up to the character of his name That's very important If you have the name Mary Okay Mary's name means bitter Okay So some of you live up to that name Others of you don't which is a good thing see But in the Bible times they named you Elijah Jehovah is my God Well, you need to live in light of the fact that Jehovah is your God if your names Elijah and we'll talk about Elijah in in January when we talk on Wednesday nights about this man Who was one just like us?

Elijah's name means Jehovah is my God Elijah was to act every day as if Jehovah was his God His name was to indicate the way he lived his life. Well Jesus his name Indicates the way he lived his life He offered forgiveness and in that name There is pardon in that name There is peace Peace in that name He is called the prince of peace. He's called in Judges 8 the Lord our peace And the Bible says in Isaiah 26 He will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee because he's the God of peace So not only is there pardon in his name, but there's peace in his name the only way you can ever receive the peace of God is to receive the forgiveness of God and Once you've been forgiven of your sins now, you're at peace with God.

You've been reconciled to God and Christ says I give you my peace Not as the world gives goodbye unto you, but my peace I give unto you you can actually experience the peace of Almighty God What kind of peace is that?

It's the peace that when there was a storm on the Sea of Galilee Everybody was afraid except Jesus. He was asleep That's the kind of peace he offers Complete tranquility no matter what the circumstances around you you can sleep at ease at peace Because you've experienced the peace of Almighty God that happens because you've received the pardon of God the forgiveness of God So there's pardon in his name there. There is peace in his name. There is power in his name It says in 1st Samuel 17 verses 42 to 45 when David slew the giant He said he did it in the name of the Lord.

There is power in The name that's why he's called El Shaddai the Mighty God the Mighty God Over in Colossians 3 17 and whatever you do in word or in deed Do all in the name of the Lord Jesus do all in accordance with who he is Do all that you do Consistent with the name of Jesus that he is the God who pardons. He is a God who grants peace He is a God who is all-powerful There's also protection in his name. Did you know that there's protection in his name? Proverbs 18 verse number 10 the name of the Lord is a strong tower the name of the Lord is a strong tower the righteous runs to it and Is safe There is protection in his name.

Oh, by the way, not only is there protection in his name. There is perception in his name Did you ever run to a tower climb the tower? And what do you see? You see things from a different perspective than you do while you're on the ground, right? Because you see the whole thing not just part of what's happening So there's protection in his name there is Perception in his name you perceive things differently because you run to the strong tower no, he's a strong tower a shade and a place of protection for you, but it helps you perceive things from a godly perspective The Bible says in Psalm 91 verse number 1 verse number 14 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty I will say to the Lord my refuge and my fortress Because he has loved me.

Therefore. I will deliver him. I will set him securely on high because he has known my name There's protection in the name there's perception in the name There is power in the name. There is peace in the name. There is pardon in the name there is Provision in the name it says in Genesis 22 verse number 14 the Lord God is your provider Your provider it says over in John 16 23 and 24, whatever you ask my father in my name He will give it to you The provision that God offers comes to his name And that provision is always in line with his perfect will there is praise in his name over in Psalm 8 verse number 1 Oh Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth?

Oh magnify the Lord with me Let us exalt his name together There is praise in the name of God. Why do we praise him because of his name? We don't praise him because of his names Plural we praise him because of who he is his character his nature That's why the Bible says a good name is better than a good ointment Ecclesiastes 7 1 Proverbs 22 1 says a good name is more desired than great riches in the name of Jesus Is the greatest of all names?

And then no, he's a praise name there is preeminence in the name because every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord at the name of Jesus every knee will bow There is preeminence in the name There is no one who stands above all other than the Lord Jesus Christ. There is even persecution in the name Because Christ said to Ananias you tell Saul how much he must suffer for my name sake and The Apostles of Acts 541 counted it worthy to suffer for his name And Paul in Acts 21 said I'm going to Jerusalem and don't weep for me because I'm going to suffer in his name in fact If you read the book of Acts the followers of Jesus became known as the followers of the name The name What name the name of Jesus if you go to a Jewish house and you say have you met?

the name They know exactly you're talking about the Lord God Jehovah They know exactly you're talking about because there's only one name and it's the Lord God of Israel and Jesus is that God But there's also punishment in the name. Did you know that? There's punishment in the name Xs 20 verse number 7 you shall not take the name of the Lord your God In vain You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes his name in Vain The word vain means empty Feudal Meaningless It doesn't mean just swearing.

It doesn't include that but you can treat the name of the Lord with frivolity and not sincerity and You will not go unpunished God is concerned about his name it's his character that's at stake and He doesn't want people fooling around with his name And so it's imperative to understand Christ says when you go out you're gonna go out in in my name You're gonna preach repentance that men might receive the forgiveness of sins in My name because I am a God who forgives so they went out and they evangelized in the name Of the Lord in fact over in 3rd John 7 3rd John 7 these words are recorded for they went out for the sake of the name accepting nothing from the Gentiles everything was about the name of Jesus And so they evangelized in the name they baptized in his name They preached in his name Because they had all received forgiveness Because there was pardon in his name They all had peace because there's peace in his name They all had power because there's power in the name They all were protected because there is protection in the name everything about the book of Acts Speaks about the name of Jesus and the power and the protection and the preeminence of that name in the life of these men As they went out and did what they were called to do and you know what sometimes think about it Sometimes we don't experience the peace in his name Nor the protection in his name nor the provision in his name Nor the power in his name because we don't proclaim his name Do you think about that?

We want God to do for us, but we're not going to do for God And so we need to go back and ask ourselves. What are our priorities? Are we living for the glory of his name? So the fund the fundamental or the fund the foundations, excuse me for the Commission was biblical and scriptural the presentation Christological theological and essential and Then there's the mission in the Commission The mission that's point number three and the mission is local global and cross-cultural he says that Repentance for forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all the nations beginning from Jerusalem so it's going to be local in the beginning and Then it's going to go cross-cultural and then it's going to go global Hey, can you imagine what these men must have been thinking?

How's that gonna happen? And they understood Jerusalem and that's what they did I mean when they were with Jesus that they they went out to the lost sheep of the house of Israel Christ said he's come to the lost sheep of the house of Israel And when they sent the men out they went to the Jewish people and preached gospel but That door would soon close to the Jewish people and God blinded their eyes And that would move these Jewish apostles To go to the Gentile world They had a trouble doing that They had a hard time doing that.

It wasn't difficult. So what did God do? God moved them through persecution And persecution began in Jerusalem and it began primarily under one man named Saul who became the greatest proclaimer to the Gentile world Say but God through persecution Moved them out and Philip would go to Samaria He would preach and they would begin to move but it wasn't till Peter received that vision and acts 10 from the Living God there in Joppa Where he understood that the gospel was to go to the Gentile nations as well And sure enough It did Went to all the world and the funny thing about this is that the Old Testament prophesied That the gospel would go to the nations It did So what they were doing was fulfilling Scripture The Bible says in the book of Romans the 15th chapter Christ has become a servant to the circumcision on behalf of the truth of God to confirm the promises given to us our fathers Really?

Yeah, and for the Gentiles to glorify God for his mercy as it is written Therefore I will give praise to you among the Gentiles and I will sing to your name So Paul is affirming the fact that what was happening in the Old Testament was prophesied that the gospel would go to the Gentile world That's why even Solomon said at the dedication of his temple in second first Kings 8 Considering the foreigner who is not of your people Israel when he comes from a far country for your names sake For they will hear of your great name in your mighty hand and for your of your outstretched arms and when he comes and prays toward this house here in heaven your dwelling place and Do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name To fear you as do your people Israel and that they may know that this house Which I have built is called by your name Solomon said the foreigners gonna come the Gentiles gonna come the nations are going to come and they're gonna call on your name And sure enough that's gonna happen specifically in the millennial reign of Christ and Nations to tell nations will swarm to Jerusalem to Mount Zion to hear about the name of the Living God you see Paul would go to the Gentile nations He would preach the gospel and they would fulfill the Word of the Lord the mission It began in Jerusalem.

It was local But it couldn't stop there It had to move Beyond their boundaries and they were a little uncomfortable with that And you know, I have found like they found that whenever we are uncomfortable with doing something God makes it really uncomfortable for us And so through persecution He spread them all around They moved out of Jerusalem so the Gentile world would hear the gospel and Praise the Lord it happened that way Because now we have come to hear the gospel We have received the forgiveness of sins But you know what?

there is There is something you need to understand and that is The provision that's pointing before Looked at the foundation Then we looked at the presentation then we looked at the mission and then The provision the provision is Supernatural, it's supernatural Christ says this in Luke 24 verse number 49 and behold I am sending forth the promise of my father upon you But you are to stay in the city until you are clothed From power on high Listen the provision for all this is supernatural It's not human ingenuity It's not man's natural wisdom It's not the things that I can conjure up This is all a supernatural provision given to us by God He says listen, you will soon be clothed with power from on high and in Acts 2 when the Holy Spirit came They they were clothed with power from on high and all of a sudden everything about their lives changed Because they were in dwelt with the Spirit of God Listen, God's not asking you to do something that he doesn't provide for you the means to accomplish it God is only asking you to do that which he provides the power To accomplish it comes to his spirit, right?

And so we can say all we want well, you know I don't I don't talk so good about Jesus or I'm not very good up in front of people or I don't know what to Say about the gospel. Let me tell you something Jesus provides the power through his spirit He gives us the provision And if the Spirit of God is in you, okay, and you're a born-again believer You have all the resources all the tools you need to present that same Jesus to others that they might repent and receive the forgiveness of sins Because you've experienced saving grace You've experienced the truth of the gospel because you have you can share that truth with others This is what God does with these men and none of these men had PhDs None of them none of these men were world-class athletes None of None of these men were wealthy rich and had mansions in Samaria or Jerusalem or the Upper Galilee?

They were just normal ordinary run-of-the-mill people boring vanilla just like you and me That's it And God says I'm gonna clothe you with power from on high and God took really ordinary men and did extraordinary things Because of the power of a spirit Same thing he wants to do in your life in mind And we trust that he will let's pray father.

We thank you for today You are a great God you alone are worthy of praise and our prayer today Is that we would adhere to the message of the gospel and that Lord? We would take it to the ends of the world and that Lord We would depend upon the Spirit of God to accomplish that great work. Thank you Lord for your word In your name we pray amen