Christ’s Commission

We encourage you, if you have a copy of the Word, to turn to Luke 24, Luke 24, for the penultimate time. Many of the Psalms express anticipation of a day when the nations will be reached, the joy of the truth going to them, yet with little understanding at the time of how that may come about. But after the resurrection, things become clearer. So we have gotten as far as verse 43. Our Lord revealing Himself, showing Himself to be truly risen, possessing a human nature raised from the dead, and He proceeds from that place of confidence in what He has accomplished to give encouragement.

So this is two aspects in terms of the commission itself, and then the confidence of Him ascending to heaven. We’ll see that in due course at the close of our study. So we’re looking at verses 44 through 49, and we’ll read only those verses this evening. Luke 24, verse 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. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures, and said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. 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.”

We’ll end the reading there at verse 49. And once again, this is the word of the living God that you’re to receive, you’re to believe, and is to order the very steps of your life. And the people of God said, Amen.

Let’s pray. Lord, help us. Please help us, please help us to take to heart these words. If we would just read them over and over again, what an impression they might make. So as we stop upon them tonight, as we give consideration to what Thy Son declared on that occasion, we ask that we may put ourselves right there and see the enduring application. Help us to take to heart what is before us. May it stimulate us, may it motivate us, may it shape and guide our lives. We acknowledge our shortcomings as we have read repeatedly in this chapter of the ignorance of Thy people. We confess we too can fall into a place of not understanding. Please gift us with understanding. We ask that this which we have considered will not merely be a sermon, but a message. And to that end, we plead for the power of the Holy Spirit. Please, Lord, may the Holy Ghost fall on all who hear the word. Save the lost, restore the backslidden, feed Thy sheep and lambs, empower the preacher now. We pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Have you ever had the experience of having to wait for something you were convinced was the will of God for your life? Now we’ve all had the experience of waiting, but have you had the experience of waiting to the point that you begin to doubt whether or not you’ve gotten it right? Maybe you’ve misunderstood. Maybe you’ve picked up on wrong cues or you’re assuming things that you ought not, and you begin to doubt. Doubt what it is that you thought God was saying or revealing or indicating He was going to do or not do, whatever the case might be. It can be very challenging to go through that experience, and I’ve been there on numerous occasions where I’m absolutely convinced, and solely based on the weight, I have been brought to a point of beginning to wonder, maybe this is not the case at all.

Solomon observed, “Hope deferred maketh the heart sick.” Well, for the disciples, things have not happened or unfolded in the way that they imagined. It has been a turbulent time for them, to say the least. The emotional experience of watching the Messiah crucified at Calvary, and then to discover the testimony of those who say He’s alive, and to witness the same. The bewilderment, the stunning experience of what is going on as well as trying to assimilate all the details and the events. Everything they thought they understood about the Lord Jesus, everything they thought they knew concerning the Scriptures, everything they imagined would unfold in the future, it’s all been upended and they’re trying to recalibrate in the moment. What has God done? What is happening here? What does this all mean?

Now the Lord Jesus is here to straighten things out, to give them some understanding of what is about to take place and a little more understanding about what is going on. I mean what would you ask if you were in their shoes? What would you be inquiring about? What fears would you be feeling at this moment? I mean, you’re so confident that this is the one, and then he dies. You’re so confident that he’s dead and it’s over, and then he rises from the dead. You’re so confident that the Scriptures indicate that it’s going to look like this, and it’s not going to look like that at all. Your confidence is shot right through. How can you go forward without any confidence?

And so what our Lord Jesus does is He instills fresh confidence in His people, addressing the uncertainties, the things that they weren’t clear about and what He intends for them to do. He opens their minds, He teaches their hearts, He reveals to them the centrality of what they are going to declare in coming days and so on and so forth. And as we look at the verses before us this evening, verses 44 through 49, I’ve titled the message simply, Christ’s Commission to the Church. Christ’s Commission to the Church. He’s giving them a message. He’s saying to them, here is what I want you to do. Here is what lies before you.

And I have three heads here to pull our thoughts together in relation to these verses. We’ll see first of all the confidence of the church, then we’re going to see the reliance of the church, and then the expanse of the church. Confidence, its reliance, and then expanse. And I trust we’ll be able to see what is contained in these verses through that outline.

First of all, the confidence of the church, verse 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.”

There’s some disagreement about the timing of this interaction specifically, but a number, like Calvin, support the idea that it correlates with John 20, on the occasion when our Lord, as John records, breathes on His disciples that they might receive the Holy Ghost. But whatever the occasion, there are a number of things to see here in verse 44. First of all, confidence in the testimony of the Scriptures. The confidence of the church, first, is directed to a confidence in the testimony of the Scriptures. Our Lord Jesus affirms everything that is declared about Him in the law, the prophets, and the Psalms. And these things must be fulfilled. It is not a matter of negotiation. It is something that must occur. What has been revealed concerning Him, and He gives the tri-part, the three-fold aspect of how the Jews would understand the Scriptures: the Law and the Prophets sometimes being used to refer to all the Scriptures, the Psalms referring more specifically to the poetic portion of the Scriptures and sometimes referred to in that way.

Whatever the case, all of the Old Testament is being wrapped here around the arms of Jesus and His language. He’s putting His arms around all of the Old Testament and saying, these things must be fulfilled. Look at that. Must be fulfilled. Non-negotiable. These things must be fulfilled. And the language actually, it may not be immediately obvious, but it forms a kind of rebuke that Jesus is issuing to His disciples. The sense of the waste of His previous effort to reveal to them these things. It’s been entirely lost on them. And now he’s putting it before them again.

Go back to Luke 18. As you see one example in which He made plain to them what is happening. Luke 18. And this goes back as far as Luke 9 when the Lord Jesus began to very explicitly reveal what He was about, His purpose in going to Jerusalem to die and so on. But in Luke 18, verse 31, then He took unto Him the 12. He’s isolating them, and said unto them, “Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man shall be accomplished.”

What things? What specific things? “He shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on. And they shall scourge him, and put him to death, and the third day he shall rise again.” And they understood none of these things. This saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken. But it’s nonetheless revealed to them. I mean it’s been given to them. Our Lord has stated it and as I say when you come to Luke 24. And he’s stating the language of verse 44, there’s a form of rebuke here. “These are the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you. I told you this, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses and in the prophets and in the Psalms concerning me. I told you this. Why do you not understand?”

Now we’ll get to some of that in just a moment as to the need to understand what the problem is. But the language that is used in verse 44 reinforces the unity of the Scripture, doesn’t it? The Old Testament Scriptures, the Scriptures as they were understood to be the complete canon at that time, the Old and New Testament, the complete Scriptures in the hands of the Jew, the entirety of the Scriptures have a theme, have a focus, have a message, that no matter who the author is, the human author is, that they’re all dealing with the same theme. They’re all pointing to the same thing. This encourages us in our own study of the Scripture.

Now when we say to you to look for Christ, we are not saying that just to be, it’s not something we’re inventing. It’s not something that has originated with us. It originates in the Scriptures testified by the Lord Jesus Christ that when you’re reading the Old Testament scripture, don’t turn it into a mere book of moral living. There’s ethical application. There are things that certainly guide and instruct our lives. But if you only see that, and you do not see the centrality and the focus of the message upon Jesus Christ, you are missing the primary point.

If the primary point of the Old Testament Scripture is just for you to change the way you’re living, then it is nothing more than an instrument for man to reform himself. But if the central message is that man cannot reform himself, man cannot save himself, man can do nothing to reconcile himself to God, it must be accomplished by another, then you need to see that. And that’s the central message. From Genesis through Revelation, it is Jesus. You need to see Him in every page. You need to look for Him in every book. You need to see what is revealed concerning Him everywhere. This is what Jesus is emphasizing. This is what He taught. This is what He is underlining again to His disciples. There’s a continuity. A continuity for them to comprehend in all of the Old Testament Scriptures. You see the focus concerning me.

This brings us to see the confidence in the centrality of the message, not just the testimony of the Scriptures, but the centrality of its message. It’s concerning me. Let’s underscore the point we’ve already been making. Concerning me. I can take you through every book of the Bible and show you me. Don’t miss it. You will find more strength to your soul, more encouragement for your walk with God when you see Jesus Christ in the Scriptures than anything else you’ll discover.

I’m amazed at times at the, again, the interest people have in quirky areas of biblical study, and it screams of carnality. That if you had a week-long study of the personal work of Christ, no one will show up. But if you find some obscure point of application about Christian living, some weird position, some strange doctrine, you’ll have people coming in their droves, and it speaks to the carnality of man. Why is it that we’re not interested in the plain preaching of Christ crucified? Why is it that that’s not enough? Why is it the men are always seeking to make the Bible about some strange new thing? And we are warned in the New Testament not to avoid people who spend their time twisting and arguing and giving themselves to strange points of view that have nothing to do with the gospel.

Now I’m not saying the gospel message is the only thing scripture addresses. I’m not saying that at all. Please don’t misunderstand. But I’m saying there’s a centrality. Study, study what Jesus repeatedly puts before, especially in this chapter. Go back over the things we’ve considered and ask yourself, what’s He most concerned that people know? It is Him in the word revealed.

So when you’re not sure what to say or what to talk about when you’re witnessing to people, just make your way to Jesus Christ. Make your way to the cross. Make your way to the central message of the Scriptures. We are to look for it. We are to meditate upon it, we are to see again, whether it be those very descriptive and illuminated passages such as Isaiah 53 or Psalm 22 and other portions or other areas where we see little hints here and there. Keep looking for it, keep studying it. This is a confidence of the church.

It’s not only in the testimony of the Scripture, but the centrality of its message. 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.” The Scripture must be fulfilled. Its testimony will be upheld. And the central message of the church that gives her confidence to go into the world is that it is about Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

But note also the reliance of the church. Not only the confidence of the church, but the reliance of the church. Upon what does the church rely? Well, a couple of things here. First of all, there’s a need for divine illumination. Verse 45, “Then opened He their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures.” They need divine illumination. They need the Lord to open their understanding. Now, when you read this, and I’ve already said that verse 44 forms a kind of rebuke, you might say, well, it doesn’t seem fair for Him to rebuke them about something they can’t help. I mean, if He has to open their understanding then, it’s up to Him, not up to them. But you have to be careful. The corruption of human nature that prevents man from understanding what is plain is not God’s fault. The corruption over human nature is our fault.

The corruption of human nature that prevents us from understanding what is clear is our problem. And we bear the guilt of it. And it lingers. It’s not completely dealt with in our conversion, in our regeneration. You can see that. These people believe. They have a saving knowledge of Christ. They still struggle with their understanding. And so it sticks to us, this corrupt nature that prevents us from fully understanding. And you battle with it every day, and you must be conscious of it every day. If you’re not, you’re going to fall into pride, and you’re going to assume things about your own knowledge that you have no right to assume. You need the Lord’s help all of the time, as do I. We need divine illumination all of the time. Psalm 146:8, “The Lord openeth the eyes of the blind.” That’s true physically, and it’s true spiritually. The Lord openeth the eyes of the blind. We can’t do it ourselves.

And you struggle with this and I do every day. All that we might see. The Lord is not being unfair here. God is not at fault for the corruption of human nature. We’re dealing with this handicap, struggling with this constant problem, every one of us. The Spirit transforms our minds. He works to illuminate our hearts, teaching us what we must do, how we may obey. But it is not established by human effort. It comes by divine grace. So you need to ask for it. You should be praying for the Lord to teach you. Teach me, Lord. Teach me today. I mean, I have a task of endeavoring to be plain and explain the Scripture to you. And yet, with all my labor, I know that there is a work that I cannot accomplish that the Spirit must do in your life and in your heart. It is the same thing I must have as I study for myself, but it must also be present in the transmission of the message. That the Spirit needs to be at work here.

Like the presence of God by His Spirit in the church, it must, must be the experience of this body. It should be something we’re praying for all the time. Lord, come by your Spirit. To have message after message brought and people not understand, not know what the implications are, miss the connection. Constantly see how it might apply to someone else and not themselves. So often is the case. Oh brother so-and-so needed to hear that. Very good. What did you need to hear? That’s what you need to take home and pray over. We fight this need for the Lord to illuminate so we might understand the Scripture. And notice how the enlightenment is tied to the Scripture. “Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures.”

I may have shared this before. I’m almost 100% sure I did some time ago. But I’ll say it again. As I was going over this and thinking, it couldn’t help but bring this experience to mind. When I was in Australia, I was still in South Australia, but I was sent to the Tasmanian church for two Lord’s Days. And as many of you know, eventually, I’d end up being sent there and spend eight months in Tasmania. But I was sent just for two Lord’s Days. I was on my own. Melanie was still in Port Lincoln in South Australia. And so you’re, I mean, you’ve not much to do. And exploring doesn’t feel the same when you’re on your own, as many of you are probably aware. So I didn’t really do a whole lot of exploring of the area. I did a little. But one Friday night, I went to McDonald’s and was getting something to eat, and there was a young man there. It wasn’t a Friday night, actually. It was a Wednesday night because it was after the prayer meeting. So I was dressed for prayer meeting, and I went after the prayer meeting to McDonald’s to get something to eat.

And there was a young man there, seeing me, of course, dressed in a suit and tie and so on, and said, “What are you here in business or what are you doing?” or whatever and he’s inquiring, and I told him, “No, I’m here ministering in a church nearby,” and explained. He said, “Oh, I’m a Christian.” I said, “Good. Where do you go?” and he told me, “I go to this church such and such,” and gave the name of it, and he said, “Actually, we have special meetings this weekend on Friday night and Saturday night and Sunday. You’ll be very welcome to go.” And so he gave me the name of the church.

There’s nothing immediately alarming in the name of the church. It was more contemporary, but I thought, “Well, I’ll go. I’m not doing anything on Friday night, so I went.” I walked in, and there weren’t that many people there, and there was a visiting preacher, and it was immediately apparent to me that this was a charismatic church. You know, you have this pause. It’s like, do I stay here for what’s about to ensue, or do I leave? And I thought, well, I have nothing to do. This is a workshop here. I’ll sit right at the back and just watch what happens. And so I did, and I’ll not go over all the nonsense that went on that night. But afterwards, after all the nonsense was passed, the pastor of the church came and sat beside me, introduced himself, and so on, and we talked, and we talked for a little while.

And obviously, I’d been watching things, and I had some questions for him, which I put to him, and in response, I would be quoting Scripture and saying things. And after, there was a certain point in the conversation where he just turned to me and he says, he said to me, “You really know the Bible.” And I said, “Well, that’s all we have.” And he said, “Well, we have the Spirit.” And I said, “But the Spirit has nothing to say but what the Bible says.” And he just looked at me with this kind of, you know, deer-in-the-headlights kind of stare, not knowing how to respond. And I always remember that. It’s like, there’s this pastor, he doesn’t get it. He doesn’t get it.

You have it right here. Then opened He their understanding, that they, what, get some revelation that is different from the Scripture? That they might understand the Scriptures. Don’t spend your mornings praying for some insight from God that’s separate from the Scripture. Then show me something, Lord, I want some kind of new experience. Don’t go to that Sarah Young idea that God is speaking to you in some way separate from the Word. We read the Scripture. We study the Scripture. It’s the Scripture the Spirit wishes to illuminate in your mind and heart. Because that’s where the mind of God is revealed. This is what they needed to know. I mean, did these people know the Scripture? In a sense, they knew the Scripture. I mean these people, these men, most of them had never known a day where the Scripture wasn’t in front of them. They knew the Scripture, but they didn’t on the other hand as well. It’s the same for you. I mean all the words on the page you’re familiar with, the stories you know, the books of the Bible you know, but do you really know?

So the reliance of the church is, first of all, to see this need for divine illumination, all of the time, not just for the unsaved, that their sins be revealed to them that they might repent and believe the gospel, but all of the time, to grasp the fullness of the gospel, to apply it in our daily lives. These disciples will not do the will of God if they are devoid of the Spirit illuminating in their hearts the Word. The believers’ need for divine illumination. Our reliance on the Lord to illuminate is something that must be acknowledged and prayed over.

But also, the believers’ need for divine empowerment, not just illumination, but empowerment. And here’s where we skip to verse 49. What’s the reliance of the church? Yes, to have our hearts and minds illuminated, but also to have our lives empowered. “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.”

It always amazes me that those who come to a conclusion that the Christian has everything he needs all the time. He has all the power he needs presently, in a moment, no matter what, whether he asks for power or help or not. He’s just going around as full of the Spirit as he’s ever likely to be. No! No! Anecdotally, you should know that to not be the case, that you need power from God. We live these powerless lives, and Jesus is saying to His disciples, “I send the promise of my Father upon you. You need power. You can’t do this yourself. You need power. Supernatural strength needs to be clothed upon by God the Spirit.”

So this divine empowerment, there are two things. First of all, it’s promised. It is a promised empowerment. “I send the promise of my Father upon you.” The promise of the Holy Spirit. Promised where? Well, passages in Isaiah. Joel, Joel comes to mind very evidently, doesn’t it? Whenever Peter stands up in the day of Pentecost and everyone’s wondering, “What’s happened here?” These last days, the Spirit will be poured forth.

So it’s promised. Our Lord Jesus gave indication of the Holy Spirit coming in John 14, places like that. So the Spirit’s coming fulfills what was promised in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, you will find people who were filled with the Spirit, many of them. Bezalel is the first one. He was the first one to be filled with the Spirit. in the construction of the tabernacles, the first one explicitly referred to as being filled with the Holy Spirit. But you have many other instances of people being filled with the Spirit of God, the judges full of the Holy Spirit, God coming upon Samson and others, the Spirit of God coming upon them, the Spirit coming upon kings and prophets and so on and so forth.

And so you ask, what’s distinct? The distinction is this, that the power of the spirit that was reserved, the power of the spirit that was more concentrated on individuals for specific tasks and was not widely available or enjoyed through all believers in the Old Testament era is now broadly to be accessed and enjoyed by every believer. The difference is not that there was no spirit and now there is a spirit, the difference is an extent. The Spirit now extensively can be enjoyed by anyone who seeks for it. The promise of the Father is to be asked for by every single person.

Mom, raising your children, feeling the difficulties and challenges, what do you need? To be more patient when they’re testing that patience? Power. You need power from God, the Holy Spirit. Producing more of the fruit of the Spirit. But the specific power here, though that applies, is in relation to testify. Sharing the gospel. Explaining to your children the love of God in Christ. Helping them to understand. As they ask questions, what do you need? Not just the right answers, you need the Holy Spirit. And He is available, He is there. There’s a promise.

The promised empowerment that the church might enjoy. It is to be different. This age, this current age, here, now, is to be different. Every believer is to seek for the Holy Spirit, which brings us to this next sub-point here. It’s not only a promised empowerment, it’s a petitioned empowerment. Jesus tells them, “But tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high.” Now, He doesn’t say anything here about prayer. Not a word. He doesn’t say anything about prayer. He says, “Wait until.” Wait until. Now, there is something for you to learn here and for me to relearn.

When God says wait, He does not mean you idly wait, like you’re waiting for a train to arrive, or your Uber to arrive, just kind of idly waiting. Waiting, when God speaks of waiting, it is always waiting in communion. Always. When you’re waiting on the Lord, you’re waiting in a posture of prayer and communion. And the disciples knew this, so when you go to Acts 1, and you pick up where Luke has left off here in verse, chapter 24, and the sequel comes, part two of his work comes in Acts 1, and he picks up where he left off, and you find then the disciples in Jerusalem, about 120, in an upper room, doing what? Just waiting? Praying. They’re praying. They understood. Tarry until means pray until. Go and read it for yourself. Go to Acts 1. See them praying. See them meeting together for prayer.

The waiting is never just waiting. The waiting is always a prayerful waiting. And so they’re petitioning for it. In the city of Jerusalem until he be endued with power from on high.

Think about what they could imagine. Think about what very naive Christians might come to this passage and imagine when they read that. Well, He said the Spirit’s going to come. I don’t need to do anything. It’s going to come. That’s not the conclusion they drew. He says He’s going to send it. Well, if He’s going to send it, I don’t need to do anything. He’s going to send it. No! He’s going to send it, so ask for it! Seek for it! Knock until you obtain it!

There’s so many areas of the Christian life where this needs to sink in. God’s going to go, He’s going to do it, and then we don’t pray. This is not Christian living. The disciples knew tarry until meant pray until. So that’s what they did. And that’s what we find them doing. They’re waiting, praying, seeking, and then the Spirit comes. Little tongues of fire sat upon each of them and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and speak in unlearned languages. You say, well, maybe that’s a one-off event never to be repeated. Yes, it’s true. You can’t replicate Pentecost. But just because you can’t historically replicate Pentecost or its theological significance in terms of the fulfillment of Pentecost and what that feast indicated and how you have the sense of harvest through what they’re celebrating, and then a harvest of souls that come in, the reversal, indication of the reversal of the curse that came by God at the Tower of Babel, indicating again the gospel is going to go to all nations, the indication that the church is to infiltrate all nations.

God is going to gift them in order to better accomplish that within the first number of decades. Just because we can’t replicate the exact historic event does not mean we cannot learn from what happened. What happened? They tarried, their waiting was a prayerful waiting, and it was followed by the endowment of power. This is why The Free Presbyterian Church in its history, when it would do something like a gospel mission, nearly always without any variation, will have seasons of prayer before the mission. Why? Because they need power to execute on the plan to reach their neighborhood and so on. It’s not just the preaching of the gospel, it’s the praying for power.

Why does a denomination have weeks of prayer? Why? You know, there are different ways to build a church. Men have always had ingenious ways of advancing their little kingdoms, of advertising their cause. But the Lord made The blueprint very simple. Don’t get smart. Ask and go. We need to relearn that here. Our prayer meetings need a fresh charge of the need for the Spirit and His power upon all that we do. Sometimes I wonder, would we notice if the Holy Spirit refused to show up?

It is a promised empowerment. It is a petitioned empowerment. It must be sought. Some of you feel a call to ministry, feel a burden to preach. Or anyone here, should you ever feel that burden come upon you, it is to be on your knees waiting before God. If you don’t know, if you refuse the discipline of waiting, if you don’t know what it’s like to your friends to be going out, or other people planning this thing and that thing, and events and so on, and you’re saying, “No, I don’t know what it’s like to be on your knees waiting before God. I have an appointment with the Lord. I’m shutting myself away. I work Monday to Friday, and Saturday is my time where I need to be before God, waiting on Him.”

If language like that does not resonate, you’re probably not called. We all need power though. You need it. I need it. This is the one thing. As 2025 swiftly rolls around, this is the need for this church, the Holy Spirit. I’m convinced of it.

So we have the confidence of the church, the reliance of the church, we have then also the expanse of the church, the expanse, verses 46 through 48, the expanse of the church. Here our Lord says what’s going to result in the expanse of this group. He said unto them, thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem, and ye are witnesses of these things.

The expanse of the church. First, it expands by the content of the gospel. It expands by the content of the gospel, verse 46. Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day. That’s the content of the gospel. The gospel is good news. Good news is about what God has accomplished. This verse is about what He has accomplished. He sent His Son, Messiah has come. Why? To suffer. A cosmic event where God makes atonement for the sin of man through the offering up of His Son. Where the answer for an impossible scenario of reconciling sinners to God is answered through the sacrifice of the Son of God.

He must suffer. Then He must rise from the dead the third day. He must defeat death. He must overcome the curse. He must show His power to deliver us from what damns and judges and brings condemnation. And He does so by rising from the dead. This is, men and women, the gospel. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness. He’s the fulfillment of it. He brings it all to pass. Everything the Old Testament Scripture was pointing to, Christ came and fulfills. And man’s righteousness, the utter lack of his righteousness and the need for righteousness is acquired through Jesus Christ and faith in Him. This underscores then what the church is all about.

To expand the church means we focus upon this. We focus on this. What He spoke to them, what He declared to them. Again, take it in context of what He’s sending them to do. To go to all nations, it begins here, the content of the gospel, what is written, that Messiah must suffer. And so this is what Paul did, when he would go to the synagogue first, heading into a new city, and he finds a synagogue there, and he goes in, and he opens the scriptures, and argues the case, that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, and the Messiah should suffer. Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, and of course, they’re looking at him, saying, “Well, He died. What’s that got to do with the Messiah?” And so he proves the point. “Well, look, this is what the prophet said. Messiah must suffer.” This is how we are reconciled to God. There must be this aspect. Before glory, there is the cross. Before the elevation, there must be the humiliation. And so here, is the content of our message. This is what you go out and declare. Do not deviate from it. Christ underscores this foundation of what they are to herald to the world.

Through His death, sin can be atoned for. Men can be reconciled to God and so on and so forth. That there’s no righteousness, there’s no ability of man to reconcile himself to God, there’s no new life for man unless this happens. So this is the content of the gospel. The church expands by pushing out this content, the content of the gospel, but also expands by the application of the gospel. Verse 47, “And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name.”

The application of the gospel is distinct from its content. And here is what they’re being told, repentance. Repentance isn’t, strictly speaking, the gospel. Repentance is man’s response to the gospel. The good news is, there’s hope for man in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The response to the message is repent and believe. That is the other part. You can’t just herald the content of it. You can’t make it plain to men that this is what Christ has done. You need to then apply. You need to say to those before you, this is what you must do. It’s not the gospel, strictly speaking. It is their response to it. And you need to make it plain. As do I. Don’t get up here and just say to you, look, here, this good news of what Christ has done. I go after your conscience. You need to believe. If you don’t, you’ll perish. You need to repent of sin. If you don’t, you’ll be lost. So the church is ordered by Jesus Christ to go, here’s the content, and apply. That’s how the church expands. If she goes and does this, she knows what the Lord Jesus has accomplished, and she is sent out to explain it and to apply it.

Repentance. This is so necessary. Repentance marks the indication that new life has been imparted. And it has to be new life first. We must get this. There must be new life and then repentance. Man can’t repent. Man of his own nature. I mean think about it. Man can’t understand. If man can’t understand unless Jesus by the Spirit opens the understanding, how can he ever repent by his own power? It’s not possible. You need to get this order right, otherwise you’ll batter your head against the wall saying that I need to, it’s all about me. No, it’s not about you. This is where prayer comes into it, because we don’t sit there and try to formulate the perfect arguments. We pray because we need God to do a work that man cannot accomplish, neither us nor the subjects we’re addressing. And so what are we to do? We’re to look for Him to do a work, and repentance is the indication that the Spirit has done a work. And here’s a man, and the Spirit begins to work, and he’s regenerate. There’s a regeneration that takes place, and through that regeneration, there’s like, “My sin! Look at the awfulness of my sin! I need a remedy for it!” And he runs to Jesus Christ.

I don’t know how you flip this around and make any sense of it. You go out to men and say, by your own effort, turn from your sin, and then you’ll be saved. How? When they can’t even understand. If they can’t understand, how can they respond in their own power? If the understanding is a problem, then the response most certainly is as well. I hope you follow that. I hope that makes sense to you. So we go and we preach and we beg the Holy Spirit to be at work, right? We need that empowerment. The Holy Spirit to come upon us to empower us. And as we preach and call people to repentance, the Spirit will be at work. They turn from their sins, pricked in their hearts, recognizing their shortcomings and acknowledging it. We can tell them, “This is how you’re forgiven.” Look, this is how you’re forgiven. Remission of sins, pardon of your sins. You want them put away? It’s through Jesus Christ. His work, so you’ve given the content. So what? The Son of God came and lived and died and rose again. So what? Well, the so what is, your sins can be forgiven. That’s what it’s all about. Apply it then to the individual.

Also, it expands by the breadth of the gospel. Not just by the content of the gospel and the application of the gospel, but by the breadth of the gospel. Because this is to go. “The repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” It’s for everyone. All people groups everywhere all over the world. This message is to break down the long-standing barriers between Jew and Gentile. That middle wall of partition as Paul puts it in Ephesians has to be broken down or has been broken down by Christ and needs to be explained then as we go and cross those barriers to bring the gospel to everyone.

The Jews knew from the Old Testament Scriptures that the Gentiles would come in. They had no idea how that would be accomplished. Now it is being laid out before them. Now there are still many kinks in relation to their understanding regarding this, but that will be worked out more in due course. But it begins at Jerusalem, the Lord honoring the Jew to whom was given the oracles of God, honoring them first, keeping the message there first, but from there pushing out to the farthest corners of the globe.

Isaiah 49:6 says, “It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel. I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.” Passages like that instill such hope. Yes, to the Jew first, but also to the Gentiles. And here we are, Gentiles. Redeemed by the same message brought in, these promises given to us so that we can be of the seed of Abraham by faith, Galatians argues.

So the breadth of the gospel. Go out. Go out everywhere and anywhere. Wherever you find a man, preach the gospel to him. Mark’s gospel ends, “Preaching the gospel to every creature.” That’s the call. Preach it to every creature. Find a man, preach the gospel to him. No limits. Find yourself sitting beside someone from a different background, different language. Still, try. Preach the gospel to him. Don’t be afraid. It’s to go everywhere.

And finally, it expands by the heralds of the gospel. The heralds of the gospel, verse 48, “And ye are witnesses of these things.” It’s not going to go out by itself. There needs to be witnesses, mouthpieces, instruments in the hand of God. These disciples had a key role. They were foundational in the furtherance of that message initially. But their job is not isolated to them. Every Christian has some kind of responsibility here to get this message out. God uses heralds, people who explain, people who witness, people who share, people who talk, people who gossip the gospel. Get it out there, men and women.

Euangelion, it’s good news. And if you can’t explain it, you can give a piece of paper or a card that explains it for them. “Here, read this.” You can do that. Every last one of us can do it. That’s how many of us began. We couldn’t explain it, but we could give out things that could. Tracts, literature. “Here you are, read this please.” Encourage people, and eventually ourselves learning more and more how to articulate the gospel ourselves. How to ask questions about the individual that you’re before, so you can get some sense of context of where they are, and then you can get the message, angle the message, move the message in to the specific needs of their hearts. It’s the same message, but sometimes it needs to come from different angles and different ways by a perception of the person before us. We learn that over time, acquire it as a skill with practice. Don’t sit there and say you can’t do it. That’s like me saying I can’t play the piano. Well, sure I can’t, but if I had ever had any hope of playing the piano, I’d have to practice. I can’t just sit there and by some strange osmosis be able to play the piano if I just look at it long enough. I need to practice. It’s the same for you when it comes to witnessing. If you don’t share the gospel, you’ll never learn to share the gospel. You have to do it. Throw yourself out there. Just confront people. Put yourself in the spot. Make a fool of yourself. You’ll learn. It’s the only way. You’ll hit wrong notes, just like when you’re learning piano. You’ll hit many wrong notes. And sometimes you’ll have someone more mature say to you, “It’s not really the helpful way to, maybe next time you want to go at it this way.” But that’s how you learn.

God is looking for heralds, He’s looking for heralds tonight. He’s looking for heralds here in Greenville, people who share the gospel. He wants to flood the city with people who are bold and confident and repeatedly share this message to men and women and boys and girls. And again, I’m so thankful for all the ministries that go out from this place and the people involved. There are many things going on and there’s great diligence. Ministries like Generations, ten years of faithfully going in there, that takes stickability. Ten years going in there, week after week, bringing the gospel to them, that’s good. This is what it takes. God is looking for it. “Ye are witnesses.” “Ye are witnesses.” You, you, you’re a witness. Open your mouth. This is how the church works. Expands, the expansion of the church by its content, the content of the gospel, the application of the gospel, the breadth of the gospel, and the heralds of the gospel. It will not do it without that.

This contains, this is it, right? You’ve got what to say, you’ve got how to apply it, and you have of course then to whom you apply it, and then who does it? Who’s to do it? You and me, all of us, go. There’s the mission of the church. Go! The Lord help us.

There’s no greater joy than sharing the good news. Think of it. If you had all the wealth that could ever be acquired in order that you might remove poverty from man forever, would you just harbor it all for yourself? Or would you say, “I think there’s a way in which we might be able to help people.” Now there’s more when it comes to dealing with poverty than just giving out money. I get that. But try to follow me in the simplicity of the illustration. You have a message that deals with a problem far worse than physical poverty. The problem of sin. It’s going to damn man forever. It’s one thing to die hungry. It’s another thing to, after death, to be starved of salvation and to be judged for your sin forever. And you have the answer for that. You have it. Go. Go with literature that explains it. Go with ways in which you might share it.

To you is the word of this salvation sent. Yeah, maybe you’re not saved at all. You can’t go. You don’t desire to go because you’re not saved. Why not get saved tonight? Why not respond to this message? Jesus Christ died and rose again and you can enjoy the benefits of that here, right now, like many others. The benefits are available to you. What must you do? Repent. By faith take Jesus for the remission of your sins. You do that.

And for the rest of us who are saved, let us go. Let us not be silent. There’s literature there. There are things available. If there’s anything more I can provide, you just ask. Because I will never stand in your way when it comes to your desire to share the gospel. Go. and pray for power. May the Lord be with us.

Let’s pray. I’m always concerned for the boys and girls. Some of you may not be saved yet. Let me encourage you to think, consider, encourage you to ask yourself, why am I not saved yet? What more does God need to say to you? Do you know you’re a sinner? Do you know Christ died for sinners? And do you know that any sinner who comes to Him, He will never cast out?”

Simple, isn’t it? You know you’re a sinner, you know Christ died for sinners, and you know if any sinner comes to Him, He will never cast them out. That means you. Seek the Lord. If I can be of any help to you, let me know.

Lord, bless Your Word. We pray now for the ministry of the Spirit. We trust that He has been at work in the preaching. We ask that He will most definitely be at work after the preaching. Do Thy work, O God. Extend Thy kingdom. And help us to have the confidence of the testimony of Thy Word and the centrality of the message to go and preach Christ and Him crucified. Bring people along our path, even this week. And perhaps this very month there’s a little more openness. May thy church take advantage of that openness. May it please thee to have mercy upon multitudes. Bless our fellowship, strengthen us for the week ahead. May the grace of the Lord Jesus, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Spirit be the portion of all the people of God now and evermore. Amen.