The Echoes of Easter Pt 6
"His Commandments in the Gospels"
ALL THE DIFFERENCE
All but four of the major world religions are based on mere philosophical propositions. Of the four that are based on personalities rather than philosophies, only Christianity claims an empty tomb for its founder.
In 1900 B.C. Judaism's Father Abraham died. In 483 B.C. Buddhist writings say Buddha died "with that utter passing away in which nothing whatever remains behind." June 6, 632 A.D. Mohammed died. .
In 33 A.D. Jesus died but came back to life appearing to 500 people over a period of 40 days.
"And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith." (I Corinthians, 15:14).
Source: SermonCentral staff. Citation: McDowell, Josh. Evidence that Demands a Verdict. Page 180. San Bernadino, CA: Here's Life Publishers, Inc., 1979.
Luke 24:44-49
Luke 24:44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. 45 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, 46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: 47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 And ye are witnesses of these things. 49 And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.
Introduction: Let's begin our study with a question.
I. The Prophecy Fulfilled vs 44-45
a. The Pentateuch
Genesis provides us with several definitive passages concerning the coming of Messiah: The first Messianic prediction, which was uttered immediately after the fall of Adam, is also the most indefinite. Opposed to the awful threatening there stands the consolatory promise, that the dominion of sin, and of the evil arising from sin, shall not last forever, but that the seed of the woman shall, at some future time, overthrow their dreaded conqueror. With the exception of the victory itself, everything is here left undetermined. After the destruction of a whole sinful world, when only Noah with his three sons had been left, the general promise is, to a certain extent, defined. Deliverance is to come from the descendants of Shem; Japheth shall become a partaker of this deliverance; Ham is passed over in silence. From among the posterity of Shem, the Lord sets apart first the family of Abraham, then that of [Pg 12] Isaac, and lastly that of Jacob, as the family from which salvation is to come.
In Genesis 49:10 for the first time, the person of the Messiah is brought before us; here also the nature of His kingdom is more distinctly pointed out by His being represented as the peaceful one, and the peacemaker who will unite, under His mild scepter, all the nations of the whole earth. Judah is, in this passage, placed in the center of the world's history; he shall obtain dominion, and not lose it until it has been realized to its fullest extent by means of the Shiloh descending from him, to whom all the nations of the earth shall render a willing obedience. www.biblehub.com
Genesis 49:10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.
b. The Prophets
Isa 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Isa 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Isa 9:7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
Isaiah 53:3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. 8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. 9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. 10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. 11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
c. The Psalms
Psalms 22-24 are all considered Messianic in nature and each has specific references to the coming of the anointed one. In these three Psalms we see:
The Messiah on the cross for the sheep: The Savior's Cross: The Good Shepherd dying for the sheep
Psalms 22:1 To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar, A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?
The Messiah caring for the sheep: The Shepherd's Crook: The Great Shepherd caring for the sheep
Psalms 23:1 A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
The Messiah coming for the sheep: The Sovereign's Crown: The Chief Shepherd coming for the sheep
Psalms 24:7 Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. 8 Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. 9 Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.
Application:
II. The Preaching in Focus vs 46-47
a. A chosen method
1 Corinthians 1:21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
b. A challenging message
What is the content of the message?
...Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: 47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 And ye are witnesses of these things.
c. A comprehensive mission
Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Here in Matthew's gospel the Lord commands the Apostles to make, mark, and mature disciples beginning at Jerusalem and to "...all nations..."
III. The Promise of the Father v. 49
a. The promise of enduement
Just what was is "...the promise of the my Father..."?
Joel 2:28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: 29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.
John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; 17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
John 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
John 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
b. The place of enduement
Isn't odd that God would chose this place, Jerusalem, to be the center of outreach activities for the early church, the place where Jesus was crucified, the place where the Lord had so many enemies.
c. The purpose of enduement
What does the word enduement mean? It means to endow/give somebody or something with an ability or quality. Encarta Dictionary Luke uses this expression and then defines what is meant in Acts 1:8 "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."
THE VACUUM SALESMAN
A vacuum salesman down in rural Tennessee. He had a his vacuum cleaner and all of this tools and everything, and he went out there and he told a lady, "I've got the most exciting vacuum cleaner you have ever seen. It will clean your house from top to bottom...you only have to pay so much down."
And the lady said, "It sounds real good."
He said, "You see that big pile of dirt right there on the floor with all those fur balls and bugs and things." He said, "My vacuum cleaner will just pick up all those things up just like that and if they don't, I'll eat it."
She said, "Well, you might as well get your knife and fork, because we do not have any electricity out here!"
Power is the one thing nations, politicians and businessman covet. But the power that we need is not an earthly power. God has promised believers Spiritual power.
Vance Havner once rightly said, "We are not going to move this world by criticism of it nor conformity to it, but by combustion within it of lives ignited by the Spirit of God."
(From a sermon by Donnie De Loney, Pentecostal Power, 5/22/2012)
Conclusion: "I'm back"-- He was saying, "You've a reason to cross deserts, mountains, and oceans telling my story." Several times during the days after the resurrection Jesus reminded his disciples that they would be carrying his story to the whole world. It was something they couldn't keep to themselves. Jesus' story would be "...preached in his name to all nations, starting at Jerusalem." Luke told the story of the earliest days of that adventure in the Book of Acts. It only begins to tell of the churches determination to take the story of Jesus to the whole world. The reality of the resurrection pushed those story-tellers into an often hostile world. Within a few decades, Christianity had spread throughout the Roman world and beyond. Those who spread the faith could not promise riches to those who believed. They did not use the power of the sword or the gun to force belief. They had the story of Jesus, a man who had defeated the power of death. Jesus took forty days quietly, but unquestionably, confirming that He was, indeed, back. Then He left--we call it the Ascension--but not before making a promise: "Someday, I'm not saying when, you'll hear me say, 'I'm back.'"
May this day be a blessed reminder not simply that something happened, but that Jesus walked out of a tomb and said, "I'm back." James Hickman
EVERY DAY IS A CELEBRATION
I have a habit that may seem strange to some: I tape football games and watch them again--and again and again, if the game turns out right. Super Bowl 32 is one of my favorites, the one where the Broncos defeated Green Bay 31-24. (I'm a Bronco fan.) The first time I saw the game there were some tense moments: every turnover was nerve-wracking, every mistake was a potential disaster. Now the setbacks don't bother me; I know how it ends. With every play I savor the victory that I know is coming. It may seem crazy, but there's a sense in which a well-played game is a form of art.
Have you ever watched a movie that you've already seen? Maybe the first time it was suspenseful, but not so the second time because you know how the story ends---you know the good guy doesn't fall off the cliff and the bad guy eventually gets caught. But you still enjoy the movie. In fact, since you're not all tied up in the plot, you begin to appreciate other aspects of the film: clever dialogue, outstanding camera work, the use of a special effect, and so on. Since you know the ending you can enjoy the movie on a whole different level.
That's how we can enjoy life--as if we we are viewing it for the second time. We don't have to sweat the outcome because we know God's ultimate outcome. We need not wonder if he will take care of us, or if he will make cause all things to work together for his good. We know the outcome. And we know that since Jesus conquered death, we can, through him, conquer life. And in the process, we can enjoy the journey. Every day is part of the celebration--even the tough days. That's God's promise.
And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. (Romans 8:11)
SOURCE: Steve May in "The One Minute Newsletter" from www.sermonnotes.com.
