The Twelve Sent Out - Luke 9:1-6 - April 16, 2023

 Luke 9:1-6 The Twelve Sent Out

Good morning! Turn with me in your Bibles to Luke chapter 9. Today we are going to look at verses 1-6, and that’s on page 866 in the pew Bibles.

So here we are, national let down Sunday. The week after all the pomp and pageantry of Easter, those who are brave enough to go back to church after their typical yearly visit experience the let down from the heights of the Easter production value to the mundane regularness of a typical Sunday service.

It’s also national let down day for pastors, who saw their congregations swell in number last weekend and now have to deal with the let down of going back to the regular size crowd of faithful family members.

I don’t know if that’s the case here this morning, I certainly don’t feel that way but if you think of it pray for the church and her pastors today that may be experiencing this annual phenomenon. 

Our particular church family has another reason to feel let down today, as today marks my eleventh anniversary here as pastor!

I can say that it has been the great privilege of my life to serve the Lord Jesus here in this place and to serve you wonderful people who truly have become my family. I am so grateful to the Lord for bringing us here to you and sustaining us and empowering us to do the work that He has called us to.

And that’s really the topic of our text for this morning, the Lord Jesus sustaining and empowering His disciples to do the work to which He has called them. So let’s look at the text.

And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. 3 And he said to them, “Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics. 4 And whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. 5 And wherever they do not receive you, when you leave that town shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them.” 6 And they departed and went through the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

Let’s pray.

One of the great challenges of interpreting Scripture is identifying which parts are descriptive and which parts are prescriptive. That is to say, which parts are merely informational and which parts are instructional.

This idea will be extremely important for us to have a handle on as we continue to look into the works of Luke, especially when we get to the book of Acts.

There is a great deal of debate about what certain things meant to them then as opposed to what they mean to us now. But as I have said before, the Scriptures will never mean what they never meant. The meaning doesn’t change, only the application of the principles will change.

So as we examine this text before us today we have to consider which parts are descriptive and which parts are prescriptive, which parts are there for our information and which parts are there for our instruction. After all, we want to do what the Bibles tells us, right?

So there in verse one, Jesus calls together the Twelve and gives them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.

Jesus gives the Apostles the might and the right to heal, the power over demons and disease, and the authority to remove both from people. And He gave the might and right to heal people as an authenticating sign for their preaching of the gospel.

This was Jesus’ seal of approval on their proclamation. Just as He had proclaimed the Good News of the kingdom of God and accompanied His Word with signs and wonders so would the Twelve Apostles on this trip around Galilee.

I wanted to think that this was like the disciples earning their wings. When I was learning to fly radio controlled airplanes years ago, our club required that each new pilot be able to take off and land three times in both directions, right to left and left to right regardless of the direction that the wind was blowing. After I was able to do that solo I got a little pin that represented my wings. I’m sure the other pilots in the room had similar experiences with much bigger and more expensive aircraft.

The problem with this idea is that it implies that Jesus sent the disciples out to prove themselves, to show that they had what it took to be preachers of the gospel. But nothing could be further from the truth. 

In fact, the truth is that it was the exact opposite. 

As we have seen over and over in the last few chapter of the book of Luke, the disciples were totally powerless and were utterly dependant on Jesus’ almightiness.

Jesus Himself gave them the power and authority to cast out demons and heal the sick, signs to accompany their preaching of the kingdom of God, it wasn’t up to them, the resources weren’t theirs.

All they had was trust in Jesus. And as it turned out, that was all Jesus wanted them to take with them.

3 And he said to them, “Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics. 4 And whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. 5 And wherever they do not receive you, when you leave that town shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them.”

Now here is where people have gotten hung up on the descriptive versus prescriptive argument.

Jesus instructed the disciples to not stop at the general store and grab a bunch of extra stuff for their trip. If they didn’t have a staff or a walking stick, don’t go get one, don’t pick up a new backpack and stuff it full of bread and clothes and money.

So the question is, is this prescriptive for all gospel preachers? Is this a rule for taking a vow of poverty? 

I think we look at this today and say, obviously not, this is not a prescriptive pattern for ministers to follow, who would think that it was? Ever heard of a vow of poverty? Thousands of would be ministers of the gospel have renounced all earthly possessions based on these verses.

There’s nothing wrong with renouncing earthly possessions but it would be incorrect to base that philosophy on these words of Jesus.

This was particular to the disciples in this text for two reasons. 

One, this was to be a short trip. Whether it was days or weeks we aren’t sure but we do know that the distance they traveled was not that long , they started in Galilee and ended in Galilee and were in the villages of Galilee the whole time, this is not a huge area.

Not only was this a short trip but it was a training exercise for the disciples. They were to take nothing with them so that they would learn to not only trust Jesus’ word but to rely on Him fully for their own provision as well as the hospitality of others.

Were these permanent commands for the disciples and therefore us to follow? No.

Later in Luke 22:35-36, [Jesus] said to them, “When I sent you out with no moneybag or knapsack or sandals, did you lack anything?” They said, “Nothing.” 36 He said to them, “But now let the one who has a moneybag take it, and likewise a knapsack. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one.

So was this all just descriptive, are there any prescriptions for us to follow? I’m glad you asked!

Though this assignment from Jesus to the disciples was a temporary one it would later become a permanent one, not only for them but for the whole church, and not just a fixed area but to the ends of the earth.

After His resurrection Jesus said to them in Matthew 28:18-20:

18  …“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

The assignment became permanent but so also did the power to perform it. Just before Jesus ascended back to the Father He said to the disciples:

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

So what did the disciples do on that first trip in Galilee that is prescriptive for us the whole church to follow?

Go and preach the Good News of the coming of the kingdom of God through faith in Jesus just like they did, have compassion, exercise mercy like they did, recognize our full dependence on the Father for everything like they did, trust Jesus and obey Him, just like they did.

People started doing that and it turned the world upside down, if we all did the same I bet it would happen again.

Amen.

Easter Sunday, April 9, 2023 - Reality and Relevance of the Resurrection - 1 Corinthians 15:3-26

 1 Corinthians 15:3-26 Reality and Relevance of the Resurrection

Good morning and welcome! We are so glad to have you all here this morning with us as we celebrate the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ!

We are all here this morning, whether it’s your first time visiting, or you have been coming here Sunday after Sunday for a long time, we are all here today because it is by far the most important day on the church calendar, a special reminder of the most important day in the history of mankind, the day that Jesus rose from the dead.

JP Lange wrote, “[The resurrection of Jesus] is not a point on which we are at liberty to form any opinion we may choose without prejudice to our own salvation.”

What we believe about the resurrection of Jesus matters. So, with that in mind, let’s pray.

It seems to me that looking over the Easter sermons I have delivered over the years the focus has been squarely on the reality of Jesus’ resurrection, or at least trying to convince people of its reality.

I’m not a lawyer, and I’m not going to pretend I’m any kind of legal expert, but I do know that eye witness accounts help to establish facts in any given case. And if eye witness accounts from two or three people are enough to prove the facts then the eye witness accounts of over five hundred people make the case iron clad. This is the case with the death and resurrection of Jesus.

This morning I’d like to turn your attention to 1 Corinthians 15:3-26, that’s on page 961 in the pew Bibles so you can see it for yourselves.

1 Corinthians was the first of two letters written to the Corinthian church by the Apostle Paul about twenty years after the death and resurrection of Jesus. 

The city of Corinth was at the heart of an important trade route in the ancient world. Like many cities that thrive on trade, Corinth had a reputation for sexual immorality, religious diversity, and corruption. The church that the Apostle Paul planted there floundered under all of these influences and began to divide over various issues. Many people compare the church in Corinth to the church in America but you can decide that for yourself after reading it.

Paul wrote toward the end of his letter, in chapter 15:3-11:

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas (that’s Peter), then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

Paul was writing this letter to the church, not just the those who gathered regularly on Sunday mornings, but to those who put their trust in Jesus, not those who agreed with the facts that Jesus lived and died but those who were dependant on His death and resurrection for the forgiveness of their sins.

The reality of Jesus’ death and resurrection was already established and remains so to this day. Those who choose not to believe this are rejecting facts, rejecting reality, and most importantly rejecting the Savior Jesus.

As I said at the beginning, the resurrection of Jesus is not a point on which we are at liberty to form any opinion we may choose without jeopardizing our own salvation.

The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is at the very heart of the Christian faith, it is the central point of the Bible, without the resurrection of Jesus there is no forgiveness of sin, without the resurrection of Jesus there is no church, without the resurrection of Jesus there is no hope for the future or hope of life beyond death.

In other words, the resurrection of Jesus is extremely relevant.

Paul goes on to write,

12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

There is so much to unpack here but I’ll try to be brief. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead proves that those who have faith in Jesus will one day be raised from the dead too. The resurrection of Jesus gives us hope for the future because of the forgiveness of our sin, it gives us hope for the future that lies beyond this life, beyond the death of these natural bodies.

Verses 17-19 point out the wonderful benefits of the resurrection of Jesus for those who trust in Him in the negative: 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

But let’s turn it around and read it in the positive. “Since Christ has been raised from the dead, your faith is fruitful and you are no longer in your sins. And those who have fallen asleep in Christ are alive. Since in Christ we have hope in this life and beyond, we are of all people the most joyful!

And Paul conforms this in verses 20-26.

20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

We are all by nature children of Adam, and as such we have inherited his sinful nature, the nature that chooses sin over and over. The Bible makes it clear that the wages of our sin, what we earn, is death.

But God offers forgiveness for our sin freely, He offers salvation from eternal death freely through faith in Jesus. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

We have hope for this life and beyond because Jesus was raised from the dead. Jesus is the firstfruits from the dead, alive forevermore, and the promise for us that belong to Him through faith is that when He returns we too will be made alive forevermore. Jesus will destroy every other rule and authority and power and that will include death itself.

There are a lot of people in the world, perhaps even you this morning that think that the idea of Jesus being raised from the dead is ridiculous, they scoff at the fact that we are gathered here this morning. 

There are those in the world that think the resurrection of Jesus from the dead is at least reasonable, after all, lots of people were killed for talking about it. It seems unreasonable that anybody would give their life up for a fairytale.

But I’ll say it again as I have tried to represent it in every Easter sermon I’ve preached so far, the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is a reality and it is a reality worth staking your life on.

Alistair Begg posed three questions regarding the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead: Is it ridiculous? Is it reasonable? And most importantly, is it relevant?

I believe that the passage we’ve looked at answers all three questions but let me drill down on the last one: is it relevant?

That is if to say, what difference does it make that Jesus was raised from the dead?

Simply put, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead gives us a way to be connected with God the Father and satisfy the deepest longings of the human heart.

When tragedy strikes and we are shaken to our core we all look to God because we are made in His image and are made to long for Him, whether we are shaking our fists in anger or asking Him why He allowed such tragedy to happen, at our core we go to God because He is the answer to the deepest longings of the human heart.

What difference does it make that Jesus was raised from the dead? It is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that provides forgiveness for our sin. His sacrifice provides our salvation through faith in Him. It is the gift of God by faith.

And because we have been forgiven through faith in Jesus, in His life, death, and resurrection, we no longer have to fear death any more than we have to fear falling asleep because we know that on the other side we will be with Him forever. Christ is the firstfruits from the dead and when He returns we who belong to Him will be raised too. No guilt in life, no fear in death, this is the power of Christ and His resurrection.

You have to ask yourself the question: is the resurrection of Jesus ridiculous, is merely reasonable, or is it truly relevant?

If you have never accepted Jesus as your Savior, never accepted the fact that His death on the cross was for your sin, but want to, it’s as simple as asking God for forgiveness in prayer, declaring that Jesus is Lord and believing in your heart that God raised Him from the dead and you will be saved, forgiven, and adopted by God as His child.

Would you all stand with me as we pray?

Palm Sunday 2023 Matthew 21:1-11 Who is This? - April 2, 2023

 Palm Sunday 2023 Matthew 21:1-11 Who is This?

Good morning! It’s Palm Sunday in case you weren’t aware. It’s kind of a festal Sunday, the Sunday before Easter, or Resurrection Sunday, it’s a kind of preparatory festival, getting ready for the most important Sunday on the Church’s calendar.

And so with that in mind we are going to lay aside our study in the Gospel of Luke for a few weeks. This morning we are going to look at Matthew chapter 21, and verses 1-11, and that’s on page 826 in the pew Bibles.

Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” 4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, 5 “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’ ” 

6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. 8 Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” 10 And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”

Let’s pray.

One of the main difficulties with preaching on festal Sundays like Palm Sunday, and Christmas Sunday, and Easter Sunday is that we get kind of dropped into the middle of an ongoing scene and we have to do a little work to get caught up with the context.

One of the reasons that I prefer to preach expository book by book and verse by verse is that each week we know where we have come from and where we are going. Each sermon builds on the previous text but that isn’t our luxury today.

Today we find Jesus coming from Bethany on His way to Jerusalem. What had happened in Bethany is very important because it has great effect on the context in which we find Jesus.

Can anyone think of a famous family that lived in Bethany? Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.

Bethany was where Jesus was coming from on His way to Jerusalem and that’s important because the folks from Bethany that knew that Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead were most likely part of the crowd shouting their loud Hosanna.

The timing of Jesus’ trip from Bethany to Jerusalem is also important.

Does anybody know what festival the people in Jerusalem were preparing for? Passover.

This meant that there were upwards of 2 million people in and around Jerusalem. The road from Bethany was most likely lined with tents of families that had come to the holy city to celebrate Passover. This would also contribute to the festal atmosphere around the city and these worshippers were also part of the crowd that followed Jesus into the city shouting their loud Hosannas.

Of course Jesus was also followed by the crowds from Galilee as well as His disciples. They had seen His miracles and heard His teaching and they helped initiate this scene that we see played out before us.

But even though they had witnessed the things that Jesus had done and had heard Him talk about the kingdom of God, some form the very beginning of His public ministry, I don’t think that anybody besides Jesus had any idea what was really going on. Not a clue.

I’m not going to try and imagine what the disciples who were sent after the donkeys were thinking, I’m certainly not going to try and imagine what the donkeys were thinking, we only have a faint idea of what this mixed bag of festal crowd members was thinking. I do know that they were all clueless except for Jesus.

So let’s not be like them. They didn’t know what was happening really, but Jesus did, and do you know why? Because He wrote the book, this book, the Bible, Old and New Testaments, so He knew the significance of these events even if everybody around Him didn’t. 

That’s one of the advantages that we have over the crowd and even the disciples, we have the book so we can look up the answers. So let’s look at a few that point out the significance of the day and its events.

First, it was the Sunday before Passover. Exodus 12:1-3 says, The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2 “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. 3 Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household.

On the tenth day of the month, in preparation for Passover, each family selects a lamb that will be for them the Passover Lamb. Palm Sunday was the tenth of the month and Jesus is our Passover Lamb.

In verse 2 Jesus sends two disciples down into the village to fetch two donkeys for Him to ride into the city. “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.”

Jesus didn’t ask for the donkeys because it was such a long ride from Bethany to Jerusalem, He wasn’t worn out, He was fulfilling prophecy. The prophecy is found in Zechariah 9:9 and Matthew quotes it in verse 5.

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

The donkey itself is significant too. Entering the city on a donkey was a simple way to symbolize the truth that Jesus did in fact come as King of Israel. 

When Solomon became king after David, King David commanded that he ride his favorite mule during the inaugural procession into Jerusalem in 1 Kings 1:33. Now, a far greater "Son of David" rides triumphantly into the city of kings on a donkey.

6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. 8 Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”

Why did the crowd shout Hosanna? What does that even mean? Where does it come from?

Good news, it comes from the Bible, the word is defined for us, and the reason the people were shouting it is given to us, all in Psalm 118. 

Psalm 118 was one of the Halel Psalms that were sung specifically when entering Jerusalem, it wasn’t at all random that the crowd just started shouting this at this particular moment, but for the first time they had the right person there in their midst to apply it to.

I’ll read just a portion of it and tell me if anything here sounds familiar.

19 Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. 20 This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it. 21 I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. 22 The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. 23 This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. 24 This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. 25 Save us, we pray, O Lord! O Lord, we pray, give us success! 26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord. 27 The Lord is God, and he has made his light to shine upon us. Bind the festal sacrifice with cords, up to the horns of the altar! 28 You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God; I will extol you. 29 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!

Jesus would enter Jerusalem through the gate called Beautiful and go cleanse the Temple of the money changers.

Jesus is the Cornerstone of the Church, the stone that the builders, the Jewish leaders, rejected.

Save us, we pray, O Lord! Know what the Hebrew word is for this expression? HOSANNA!

The Lord is God, and He has made His light, Jesus, to shine on us.

Bind the festal sacrifice with cords, up to the horns of the altar. Jesus is the festal sacrifice, the Passover Lamb, given for us.

And though the crowd that day was participating in the fulfilling of prophecy verse ten proves the point that nobody but Jesus knew what was really happening.

10 And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”

The city was jammed with people getting ready for the nation’s greatest feast and all of a sudden there is this great procession down the Mount of Olives, through the gate called Beautiful on the east side of the city with people singing and shouting Hosanna and the whole parade is being led by a man on a donkey’s foal. It only stands to reason that people would ask, “who is this?”

And those in the crowd said, “This is the Prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Were they wrong? No. Were they right? Not completely. Their explanation of who this was and their expectations of what He would do fell desperately short.

The crowd said that Jesus was a prophet, Jesus was saying “I am so much more, I am Messiah.”

The hopes of friends and foes alike were fulfilled by Jesus though not in the ways that they thought. 

Jesus suffered death a few days later that He might gloriously conquer it. 

In Jerusalem He didn’t receive a throne as the disciples would have wanted but instead received a cross that He might rule from the throne of the hearts of all that would believe in Him.

The crowd shouted, HOSANNA, save us! And that’s exactly what He would do on the cross, not save us from our circumstances but save us from our sin.

Amen.

Psalm 24

1 The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, 2 for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers. 3 Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. 5 He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation. 6 Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob. 7 Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may 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 gates! And lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. 10 Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory!