The Gospel Continues

[0:00] Go ahead and take your Bibles from Mark 16 this morning, Mark 16, as we get started here.! If you find that Mark 16 should be easy. Your Bible should open up to Mark pretty easy by now.

[0:12] Yeah, we've been in it for quite a few weeks here, but you know, as we come here to the end of the book of Mark, and you know, we've been following the Lord through His earthly ministry and, you know, all the things that have taken place, the battles with the religious leaders and the training of the Twelve and the other disciples that were there with Him, those that were learning from Him and had understood who He is.

[0:39] And we find here that all the works that He performed, I mean, you think about all the things that Jesus did there. When you talk about healing the sick, He cast out devils, He raised the dead, and among many other miracles.

[0:54] I mean, the list of miracles you find within the Scripture is quite a few. And we know, as we look at each of those as we walk through, as Mark talks about that reality of the action involved, because Mark focuses on the actions as they move forward.

[1:12] And moving forward is exactly what we're going to be looking at today, because as the Gospel of Mark draws to the end, you find the same thing in the other Gospels.

[1:23] It's very simple. It's a forward-moving. It's a continuation. And the Gospel continues even today. You know, the Gospel didn't stop when Jesus went back into heaven.

[1:36] The Gospel, the same Gospel, has been preached from that time forward. And we find here that the disciples, they traveled over mountains and through valleys.

[1:47] I mean, you think about they seen Him calm the storms, and the lives changed. And we find that Jesus traveled to Jerusalem, and He was crucified that day because of our sin.

[2:01] He became sin for us. He became the one who took our sin upon Him. He took our trespasses, our violations against God. He did all these things.

[2:11] And we saw here the dynamic. He was crucified. He was buried. And then we learned the third day that He rose again, and He was 40 days among His disciples, teaching them and giving them what was needed as they were moving forward.

[2:30] It was the last session of the class, you might say, the final exam to push forward with the Gospel, to continue forward. Because when Jesus ascended into heaven, it didn't end.

[2:43] It was just a bigger push forward. A bigger push for the reality of the Gospel. And we know the disciples had seen the empty tomb. You know, they'd sat with the resurrected Savior.

[2:55] There was no doubt that Jesus was alive and well. And He talked with them. He had eaten with them. He instructed them in the truth about the plan to redeem mankind. You'll see that Jesus was very clear about His plan to move forward and why He did these things.

[3:11] As we're going to look this morning, and this morning we're going to talk about Jesus ascending to glory and what that means. Because I want you to understand, when Jesus went to glory, it made way for another important thing to take place, and that was for the Holy Spirit to come.

[3:27] And the Holy Spirit plays an important role in not only our salvation, but also an important role in the Gospel going forward. Because the Bible makes it clear it's the power of God.

[3:40] The power of God rests in the Holy Spirit of God. Acts 1.8 makes it clear that you'll have power from on high. That dynamic is the Holy Spirit as we see.

[3:52] And we understand that this was the final gathering of the 11. We know that it was on the Mount of Olives from the other Gospels, and that's where we find ourselves here this morning, as He has given them the instruction to go.

[4:08] But let's take a look here. If you found Mark chapter 16, let's look together here and stand together in honor of reading of the Word of God. And we'll read here the last verses here of the Gospel of Mark.

[4:19] We'll pick up here in verse 15 again. And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned.

[4:32] And these signs shall follow them that believe. In My name shall they cast out devils, they shall speak with new tongues, they shall take up servants, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them, and they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

[4:46] So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, He was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the Word with signs following.

[5:04] Amen. Let's pray. Heavenly Fathers, we take a few moments this morning to look into Your Word, Lord. We pray that You just stir our hearts towards You, the reality of not just Your resurrection, but Lord, also the importance of Your ascension into glory, Lord, the dynamics around it, you know, the true reality of the gospel, being able to go forth with Your power to it.

[5:29] And Lord, we're going to see here this morning the impact of that from the Word of God. And Lord, I pray just challenge us to grab a hold of that truth here today, realizing that same power that the apostles had as they went forth is the same power that's within every believer today.

[5:45] Lord, we pray just have Your hand upon each one today in a mighty way. And Lord, we just ask it in Your precious name. Amen. You may be seated. You know, as we look here, I want you to see here that what we just read is not the end.

[5:58] You know, oftentimes we think this was the end. You might say the final thing of Jesus' earthly ministry in phase one, because we know He's coming again. We know Christ is coming again.

[6:09] The Bible makes it clear He will come again. And so His ascension is important in all those things. And what we just read, though, is the continuing of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[6:22] For the gospel to go forth, the good news that God has fulfilled all that is needed to reconcile anyone that would come to Him by faith.

[6:33] When we recognize that the beginning of Mark opens, you know, if we go back to the beginning of Mark in Mark chapter one, He starts this, simply this, He says, the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

[6:45] The beginning of the gospel of who? Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And it goes through all the things in the book of Mark, and then it concludes here very simply, so after the Lord was spoken unto them in verse nine, He was received up into heaven and sat on the right hand of God.

[7:02] I want you to look here this morning. It's important because it ends with a charge to continue. You know, Jesus said there's yet two things that will happen so that the gospel will continue as planned.

[7:15] First, He was going to go to the Father. You know, Jesus needed to ascend to the Father, and we'll look at that in just a moment here, a little more detail, of the importance of that, that He would go to the Father, but also that as we look here this morning, that He had to go to the Father.

[7:34] This happened 40 days after His resurrection, and we refer to this as the ascension of Jesus to glory. It's mentioned specifically in detail in Acts chapter one, and that Jesus was received up, and you know, the disciples always love that passage there in Acts chapter one, because the disciples, as they're looking, Jesus going to heaven, all they're doing is rubbernecking going.

[7:56] If you read that passage, it's kind of funny, because the angel looks at Him and says, what are you doing just staring up into heaven? You know, I just appreciate the reality of that, because you know, that's kind of human nature. I don't know about you, but if I saw Jesus rise off the ground into heaven, I'd probably be standing there for a few minutes too looking up.

[8:12] You know? But we're going to see here that we look at, we understand that event, but what did it mean? Because the ascension of Jesus is an important element, because Jesus had stayed 40 days to complete the task of training His disciples for what lied ahead.

[8:31] You know, His return to glory was essential for the work to continue. It was essential for the work to continue. He even told them it was going to be essential for it to continue. It was essential in Jesus' own words.

[8:44] So we're going to look this morning as this dynamic, the essential things about why He had to return to heaven, because it was important, because it did this.

[8:55] One thing, it made clear His purpose to His followers. It made clear His purpose. You know, some may wonder why Jesus didn't just stick around after the resurrection.

[9:06] You know? Have you ever asked yourself that? Why didn't Jesus just stay here after He resurrected? He's alive, He's already interacting with the disciples. He's interacting with others.

[9:18] You know, wouldn't it be great if Jesus was still here? You know, we can look at it in that dynamic, but I want you to grab ahold of something. He went away for a reason, because what we have was part of the plan, the plan that was going to empower us to accomplish way more than what that would have happened on its own with the restrictions of a physical body.

[9:39] And we're going to look here at this new dynamic. And the disciples, Jesus had to go away because, you know, the problem was the disciples were looking for a new king. They were looking for the restoration of the kingdom of David.

[9:52] They were looking for that restoration. You know, Acts chapter 1, turn over there quick this morning. Acts chapter 1 in verse 6, the Bible tells us this, therefore we're come together. They asked Him, saying, Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?

[10:07] Now, I want you to see here, even in their mind, they're still looking at this dynamic. Jesus is resurrected. It might be the time. Even though Jesus had told them what was going to happen, but, you know, oftentimes we're just like the disciples.

[10:19] God's Word tells us something and we kind of just brush over it. We don't grab a hold of the truth of what God's Word says. But notice what Jesus says, and He said of them, It is not for you to know the time or the seasons which the Father has put in His own power.

[10:34] Now, look at verse 8, but ye shall what? Receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and in the uttermost part of the earth.

[10:47] I want you to see here, Jesus departed that the disciples might get active doing what they ought to do. Because, in other words, they were going to be anchored. I want you to see, Jesus told them, No, guys, that's not the time or the season.

[10:59] I'm not going to sit on the throne right now. That's in the Father's hand. I want you to get out there and get busy. I want you to continue the gospel. I want you to continue.

[11:11] I want you to move forward. You know, the disciples were still focused on that physical kingdom, and they wanted to know what to expect. And when Jesus departed for glory, there's no doubt that the time was not now.

[11:25] You know, I want you to say, Jesus, we're going to look a little later here, that Jesus promised He's coming back, but the time was not then. There was a reason for that because the gospel had to go forth.

[11:35] They had to continue. The focus was to go into all the world with the gospel, establishing churches for the purpose of training and encouraging the saints for the work of God.

[11:47] You know, I want you to know this morning that Jesus departed for the purpose of making things clear to His disciples. I think He made it clear to them that, now is not the time I'm going to sit on the throne.

[11:58] There's work for you to be doing, though, while I'm away. That the gospel is going to continue. But I want you to see here also it made the coming of the Holy Spirit possible. Think about Jesus when He was speaking to His disciples.

[12:13] One of the last things He told them before He goes to the cross, you find in John 16. You know, this section of John is Jesus telling His disciples right before He goes to the cross, He's filling in all sorts of information to them.

[12:26] He's giving them all sorts of things and they're trying to process because it's really a pretty large information dump when you think about what's contained in chapters 14 through 17 in the Gospel of John.

[12:40] There's a lot of information got dumped in a matter of a few hours on the disciples. He told them all sorts of things that was going to take place but when Jesus went to glory it made way for them.

[12:51] Let's look over to John chapter 16. John chapter 16. Notice what Jesus tells His disciples. He says this, Nevertheless, I tell you what? The truth.

[13:03] It is what? Expedient for you that I do what? I go away. It's expedient. It's beneficial. For if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you.

[13:21] I want you to see here the Comforter is speaking of the Holy Spirit. If Jesus didn't go back to glory, Jesus says, If I don't go back to glory, the Holy Spirit is not going to come and do what it's supposed to do.

[13:34] To do what He's supposed to do in our lives. Because I want you to know as we look at this that the Holy Spirit is needful. It's part of God's redemptive plan.

[13:46] The Holy Spirit is essential to our salvation. It's an essential element but I want you to see here He made the coming of the Holy Spirit possible.

[13:57] He went back to glory and He says, I'm going to send the Holy Spirit to you. Remember that Jesus told His disciples the importance of the Holy Spirit in the gospel continuing.

[14:09] The Holy Spirit will be with and work within all the saints at the same time. Look back a little earlier into John chapter 14. John chapter 14, look down at verse 12.

[14:22] John 14 in verse 12 the Word of God says this. He says, Verily, verily, I say unto you he that believeth on me the works that I do shall he do also and greater works than these shall he do.

[14:35] Why? Because I go unto the Father. I want you to see here Jesus was already preparing His disciples for the importance of His ascension. The importance of Him returning to heaven.

[14:47] He said, guys, it's expedient for you. It's beneficial for you because it's going to magnify the work. Notice this. Greater works. It's a greater impact.

[14:59] You know, that's pretty simple dynamics. You know what? When you have more people doing something, more work happens. I mean, that's pretty simple to understand. The more people you have doing something, the more things happen.

[15:10] Jesus said we're going to do greater works not because of ourselves but because of the Holy Spirit that dwells within us. Because as a believer, I want you to understand you get the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation.

[15:25] You can't lose it. He doesn't run away. He never leaves you. He never forsakes you. He is always with you. The Holy Spirit is important. You know, and just for a side note here quick, I want you to understand something because sometimes people lose sight of the purpose of the Holy Spirit.

[15:41] The Holy Spirit came once but empowers everyone that believes. Now you say, preacher, why did you go there for a moment? There's a new movement out that they want a new fresh Holy Spirit to fall.

[15:54] It's being promoted in Christian circles. I want to tell you, you ought to know right away, when they say, I want a new Holy Spirit, what are they saying? I don't like the one that we already have.

[16:06] Or they don't believe in the one we already have. They say the one that we have isn't powerful enough to do what he said he wants. You know what they want? They're looking for another spirit. And it's not the Spirit of God.

[16:17] It's something that's being pushed right now. So I want you to understand to be aware that this dynamic, it sounds good. It's in many songs that people, modern songs that people sing, but it's false.

[16:32] Be attentive. We ought to have discerning ears to the truth of what's going on. But I want you to see here, it also, when Jesus went into heaven, it was to make the plan clear.

[16:45] You know, the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers today is part of God's plan. Salvation was a work of God. Salvation is totally by God.

[17:00] He designed it, he planned it, he fulfilled it, and he's going to keep the promise of it. everything to do with salvation is of God.

[17:12] We didn't do any part of it. What God gave to us is nothing of what we did. The work of the Holy Spirit is important though because salvation was the work of God.

[17:23] It included all of them, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Because you consider here that the Father sent the Son to die upon the cross for our sin. The Son goes away and the Holy Spirit sent.

[17:34] I want you to understand all of God is involved in our salvation because there is no distinction. God is one, but we recognize this is that trinity that's a fancy theological term that gets thrown around, but it's that God is three, but he's one.

[17:52] God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, they are one. There's no separating them in that sense, but they are distinct. Now, I want you to understand this picture of what's happening because the Holy Spirit is the one that makes it personal.

[18:10] The Holy Spirit is the one that makes salvation personal to us. Take a look over into John chapter 16 again for a moment. Here's Jesus is instructing his disciples.

[18:21] Notice what he says, Nevertheless, I tell you the truth, expediently for you I go away. If I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you, but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he has come, he will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment, of sin because they believe not on me, of righteousness because I go to my Father and ye see me no more, of judgment because the prince of this world is judged.

[18:48] I want you to understand he's talking about the Holy Spirit's interaction with individuals. You know, the Holy Spirit interacts with even a lost person. That's the conviction.

[18:58] His job is to convict a sinner that they have fallen short of the glory of God. Through the word of God, the Holy Spirit convicts an individual. Conviction is important because you know, if somebody doesn't understand they're truly a sinner and if separated from God, it's impossible for them to be saved.

[19:16] Because if you don't recognize where you stand with God, there's no way you're going to correct your standing with God. You know, it's like anything else. If you have the wrong starting point, you'll never get to where you think you want to go.

[19:27] If you want to be right with God, it starts with the reality that I'm a sinner that's fallen short of the glory of God. That comes from the truth of God's word. It comes from the understanding and the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

[19:40] But I want you to see it not only made the plan clear, but it also made the Lord's plan complete. You know, look at verse 19 and he said this and he said, after the Lord has spoken, he was received up into heaven and sat on the right hand of God.

[19:57] Jesus sat on the right hand of God. He went to heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. You know, I want you to understand this morning that Jesus isn't up there taking a vacation.

[20:08] He went to the right hand of the Father and he's still doing today for us. There's many things that him going to glory did.

[20:19] When he sits there at the right hand of the Father, I want you to understand the first dynamic we can look at is the fact that he was a conqueror. He came and he conquered death and sin.

[20:30] He conquered it completely and he sits down on the right hand of the Father. He says, it is complete. I am victorious. He has completed all those things.

[20:42] Look over to Colossians chapter 2 this morning. Look down at verse 13. It says, and you being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh hath he quickened together with him having forgiven you all trespasses, blotting out the handwriting of ordinance that was against us which is contrary to us and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross and having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

[21:14] When Jesus went to heaven it was a matter of triumph. triumph. He was victorious. He sat down at the right hand of the Father and said that part of the job is totally complete.

[21:25] It is accomplished. You know, what a wonderful thing that Jesus is a conqueror of sin and death. You know, our very salvation rests on that fact that he is the victor but he was also now a guarantor.

[21:40] The guarantor, you know, we find here, look up to Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 6 it says this, he says, who hath raised us up together and made us to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness towards us through Christ Jesus.

[22:03] Now, I want you to see here something very important. He is the one that guarantees that when you're saved you're going to go to heaven. You know, I want you to understand, that's good news. You know, this world offers a lot of guarantees but there's no guarantee better than Jesus' guarantee.

[22:16] He said it and it's going to happen. It's a truth that we can grab a hold of. Look over to Colossians chapter 1 and verse 22. He says this, in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and blamable and unreprovable in his sight.

[22:31] I want you to understand that he is the guarantor that when you get to heaven that your sin is no longer on the books. It's been wiped out. It's been taken care of. He's blotted those things out. Have you ever thought about the sin of your life when you get saved Jesus looks at your sin and says paid, paid, paid, paid, paid.

[22:53] He is the one that guarantees our access because he's the one that took it upon himself. He's the one that provided and when he went to heaven as a guarantor before the Father but he also is our advocate.

[23:08] You know, I want you to understand we need an advocate with the Father. An advocate with the Father is essential. You look over to 1 John 2. 1 John 2 in verse 1 the word of God tells us this, my little children these things write unto you that you sin not and if any man sin we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous.

[23:29] You know, we need Jesus advocating on our behalf. There's a lot more we could go into here but I want you to understand it's important why did Jesus go back to heaven? because he's now our advocate.

[23:41] He is there as our representative before God. But notice he says and he is a propitiation for our sins and not ours only but also the sins of the whole world.

[23:51] What he did was sufficient for everybody. You know, I want you to understand when Christ paid for sin it was full and it was complete and there was nothing else needed.

[24:05] but notice turn to Romans chapter 8 for a moment. Romans chapter 8 verse 34 the word of God says this who is he that condemneth is it Christ that died yea rather that he is risen again who is even at the right hand of God who also does what maketh intercession for us.

[24:24] You know that's what an advocate does he makes intercession for us. He's there representing on our behalf of our needs the things that are going on.

[24:35] He is there beside the Father. But I want you to see Hebrews chapter 7 verse 25 he says this wherefore he is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him seeing he ever liveth to make what?

[24:48] Intercession for them. You know if you're saved you have an advocate in heaven. You know one of the main purposes of an advocate is somebody that's on your side that's there for you. That's a powerful reality.

[25:00] That if you've called upon him as Savior you have an advocate with the Father. But also Jesus' ascension made way for him to come again.

[25:12] You know the Bible makes it clear Jesus is going to come again as a coming Savior. He was going to be a Savior that's going to come victorious. The first time he came as a lamb in the manger a babe born helpless and we find that as he was the Lamb of God that took away the sin of the world as he died on the cross that day.

[25:32] He took all the sin that ever has happened and ever is going to happen until the end of time and he took it upon himself to make provision to say it's enough to cover everything.

[25:44] What Jesus did was complete but it's a coming Savior. You know look back over to Acts chapter 1 where we talked a little earlier because as Jesus goes up into heaven and he's there notice this and it says in verse 11 which also said ye men of Galilee why stand ye gazing up into heaven?

[26:01] Notice what the angel says this who? Which Jesus? Same Jesus. You know the same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as you've seen him go up into heaven.

[26:19] You know what from the very time he went into heaven it was already the declaration that hey I'm coming again. He had told him that many times. You know look over to John chapter 14 remember this is another section there where Jesus is preparing his disciples for the end and he looks at them and tells them this he says let not your heart be troubled you believe in God believe also in me and my father's house there are many mansions if it were not so I would have told you I go to do what?

[26:47] Prepare a place for you. Jesus went to heaven to prepare a place for all those who will call upon him. He says I'm preparing a place I'm expecting you you know as a believer that I get you excited that God is expecting you one day in heaven.

[27:06] It's always good to be expected and prepared you know he's not going to be caught flat footed he says I'm preparing a place he said no no verse 3 and if I go and prepare a place for you I will what?

[27:19] Come again and receive you unto myself that where I am you may be what? also Jesus ascended into heaven because he's coming back because in the meantime he's doing some other things that are important he's given to us all these things and as we see and understand when Jesus returned to glory he opened the door for all that will trust in him in his finished work by faith it results in our course in this life because notice something happened because Jesus went to heaven the disciples weren't there and Jesus said okay you guys know all this now sit around and keep talking about it start a school and educate everybody that isn't what he told them is it?

[28:04] look back up at verse 15 he says go ye into all the world and do what? preach the gospel to every creature it's a universal mandate that others hear the gospel you know we ought to understand the importance of that and the commission that they were sent because it leads to the action of the saints Jesus' ascension to heaven leads to the action of the saints the saints ought to have some action you know the problem is sometimes we enjoy sitting more than we do working but salvation puts us to work when you're saved you now have a charge from your savior you have a responsibility as we work together to go forth to go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature because notice the commission and they went forth the disciples waited in Jerusalem I want you to understand until Pentecost now Pentecost comes 50 days after the feast of unleavened bread and it's recorded and that day is recorded in Acts 2 where the Holy Spirit came and empowered them for the task that they were going to go do the Holy Spirit was endowing them with power from on high because we cannot complete the task

[29:24] God's given to us without God working with us our task is not just our task God says I want you to work me he says I'm not sending you out there just for the fun of it I'm not sending it out there hoping you got enough energy in yourself to accomplish it he says I want you to understand I'm going to give my spirit that makes a difference they went forth under the authority of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit I want you to understand the God himself empowered the gospel he is the one I didn't just complete it I empowered it to go forth throughout all the world the gospel of Jesus Christ the one and only gospel notice what it says in Acts 1 8 but ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you and ye shall be witnesses unto me as a believer I want you to understand God empowers you to tell others you say well preacher that's kind of scary you know what the Holy Spirit gives you what you need if you seek him he says

[30:25] I will give you all it's already there you know the good thing I want you to understand that if you're saved you have all the power you need to fulfill everything God's wanted you to do the problem is most of us don't want it because what God asks us to do sometimes makes us uncomfortable have you ever thought how scary it is to think about these 12 who had never traveled much outside of about 100 miles of their home I doubt they even made it 100 miles from home up to this point and God looks Jesus looks at them and says you're going to go now to all the world I imagine they had some pretty bright eyes looking like what you're asking us to do what you're instructing us to do what to go to all the world and he's going to empower us to do so you know I want you to understand that after the day of Pentecost untold thousands heard the good news not only that day but they continue to hear and throughout their generation all the way to our generation you know I want you to understand we're here today because of what happened because Jesus died on the cross he was buried he rose again he went to glory the Holy Spirit came and empowered his gospel the truth to go forth to everybody have you ever stopped and said we are the product of what took place if you're saved it's because somebody took the gospel to you you're saved because somebody took the gospel to somebody else you're saved because that somebody that took the gospel to you that they got from somebody else got shared from somebody else now you might not be able to assemble the tree of where the gospel you heard came from but I guarantee you there's untold thousands and millions of people who have shared the gospel throughout generations that led to you and I being able to know who Jesus Christ is how did they accomplish that the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives to say this is what

[32:30] God would have the untold thousands matter of fact look at Acts chapter 17 as they begin into this generation there notice what happens here is when they found them not they drew Jason the certain brethren into the rulers of the city and notice their accusation these that have turned the world upside down are come hither also in less than their lifetimes by the power of the gospel being equipped with the power of the Holy Spirit they turned the world upside down now I want you to hear that that means it shook everything that was happening it altered culture it altered the way people reacted it altered the dynamic of everything why?

[33:15] because it altered our relationship with the living God when you're changed by the gospel of Christ you're changed there's a distinction there's a difference how did this happen?

[33:27] simply by sharing the gospel Mark 16 15 look back up there go ye into all the world and preach the gospel you know look here again at verse 20 in our text it says and they went forth and did what?

[33:42] preached everywhere what were they preaching? they were preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ they were letting people know that understand of the gospel you know it's the gospel starts with the fact you have to understand where you are with God like I said earlier if you don't realize that you're separated from God we have a lot of people today that don't think they have that bad of a problem with God you talk to them they'll say I'm just fine you know we had some this week as we're out talking in the neighborhood I'm just fine I don't need God or I'm okay with my God but until they realize what Jesus did for them but they're not going to know unless somebody tells them unless somebody engages them the gospel to go forth is engagement I want you to understand there's many ways we can engage with the gospel you know we have tracks you have verbal you have all sorts of social media I mean things are endless of ways of letting people understand the gospel where they are with God and then what Jesus did because you know what Jesus did makes no sense if you don't realize where you are if you don't realize you're a sinner oh that's nice that Jesus did that that was good of him and they look at it and say I really don't need that but when you realize you're a sinner and the Bible says that we are condemned on our way to hell but there's one who came to rescue that made a way you know we preach the gospel of Jesus Christ you know look over to Acts chapter 20 for a moment

[35:13] Acts chapter 20 and we find here in Acts 20 is recorded for us part of that message that went forth and notice here and this the apostle Paul says how I kept nothing that was profitable unto you but have showed you and have taught you publicly and from house to house testifying both to the Jews and also the Greeks what did he testify repentance towards God and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ repentance and faith it's not our job to save anyone it's our task to let them know there's a Savior you know that's the other thing I think sometimes gets us scared of sharing the gospel well what if they reject well that's not not your job to make them accept you know the reality is somebody convinced against their will is of the same opinion still you know you can strong arm somebody into doing something but that doesn't mean their thought about it changed you know you can make kids behave but they'll sit there and in their mind they're not behaving you can make a kid behave on the outside but on the inside they're rebellious you know what the same reality is with God people can clean themselves up make themselves look good to everybody else around them but on the inside

[36:26] God says there's still a problem you're a rebellious sinner that has rejected the truth of God's word now I want you to see here this morning as they sent them forth notice here in verse 20 again and he says and they went forth he sent them and they went and they preached everywhere now this next part is important for this whole thing because the Lord what working with them the co-laboring you know they had a commission but they also I want you to understand they had a co-laborer the Lord doesn't send us forth to do his job without working with us he is there with us working we are his co-labor the Lord working with them the Lord continues to work with us in our task it's his work and we get to labor alongside look over to 1 Corinthians chapter 3 1 Corinthians chapter 3 in verse 9 it says this for we are laborers together with God ye are God's husbandry ye are

[37:26] God's building now I want you to understand we are laborers together with God God doesn't send us out to die on a hill by ourselves he says I'm with you and you do it through God's plan God's plan always involves a local church God's plan is many things that we have revealed in scripture here but I want you to understand how is it possible remember he is our intercessor how is he working with us he's the one in heaven he's our advocate with the father he's the one that's making intercession for us he is the one that is there on our side he is the one that intercedes for us on our behalf and he is the one there with the father that's one the one that steps in when we don't know what else to do I mean sometimes God just makes himself mighty says Lord I don't know what to do and God shows up that's the term we use but you know what God was already there God just said I'm going to take action it's just that now we see

[38:26] God taking action you know that's sometimes our problem we don't really see it so we don't say it must not be so I want you to understand when you trust God God does mighty things we are labors together with him look over to Romans chapter 8 Romans chapter 8 look down at verse 26 the word of God says this likewise the spirit also help with our infirmities for we know not what we should pray as for we ought but the spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered and he that searches the heart know what is the mind of the spirit because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God the Lord working with us Jesus is working in heaven and the Holy Spirit is working here he is alive and well it says here the Lord working with him now notice the last part of that!

[39:14] and confirming the word with signs following the confirming of the word now I want you to understand the word of God is shown to be true over and over again now this is one of these passages that sometimes people take out of context look back up at verse 17 and 18 quick because I want you to see here of what's going on and understand context is important and Jesus said this that these signs shall follow them that believe in my name shall they cast out devils they shall speak with new tongues they shall take up servants and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover now I want you to get people today say look there are supposed to be signs following to confirm the word of God I want you understand it was needed in that day but it's not needed today because we have everything we need to fulfill the gospel the word of God makes it clear turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 13 I want you to understand God said these things were going to happen when you look at the early part and read through the book of

[40:15] Acts every one of those things took place why were they taken place to confirm what they were saying why because the word of God was not complete yet the word was not complete to us I want you to understand it's been complete in heaven Jesus is the word he's the living word but God's plan completely revealed to us is through the truth of scripture we have that today to confirm we can look at God's word and confirm those things but notice in the days of the apostles all this wasn't available to them we live in a generation that we're really spoiled I mean you think about there's no place you go that you probably don't have access to a Bible how many have a Bible on their phone I mean every one of them has a Bible we all have hard copies and digital copies and all sorts of different copies of all sorts of different stuff they did not the signs were the validation that these things were of

[41:17] God but look here in 1 Corinthians chapter 13 look at verse 8 it says charity never faileth but whether there be prophecies notice they shall fail whether there be tongues they shall cease whether there be knowledge it shall vanish away for we know in part it shall prophesy in part now which is perfect is come then that which is in part shall be done away the reason we don't have signed gifts today is we don't need them we have the word of God complete and when we see God's word in action when we see it truth manifest in our life the reality of the truth of God's word it confirms that it is the power of the word of God confirms that it is it's a powerful dynamic you know we see the validation of the word of God through lives that are transformed by faith you know he changes the life and confirms his word through making them a new creature you know we don't need all these fabulous things that people want to have you know there's some strange people you go to

[42:27] Tennessee there's people who want to handle snakes! in church you know what they base it on a simple verse right there you know what when you take God's word out of context it gets you in trouble when one of them gets bit I just think to myself what an idiot God doesn't tell us to be idiots you know when these things happened the apostle Paul was bit by a deadly snake and he shook It was a sign to everybody else Paul didn't need it to confirm when spirits were cast out I want you to understand those were all things that confirm what the apostles were doing but I want you to understand today we have the complete word of God we have the validation of the word of God through the lives that are changed 2 Corinthians 5 17 that says we become a new creature in Christ you're changed you're transformed you're different than you were before the Bible says you've been made alive he confirms his word by keeping his promises and when we ask according to the will he answers in a mighty way

[43:33] God confirms when we pray and God answers prayer that's a confirmation of the word of God because God says call unto me he said ask me if you ask anything in my name you know!

[43:47] what God is saying he says you do this I'm going to show myself I'm going to confirm what I promised you I'm going to give you what's needed to understand to answer in a mighty way you know this morning we see the ascension of Jesus to glory was not the end but the next step in the proclamation of the gospel throughout the world the gospel of Jesus Christ Jesus today is still in heaven at the right hand of the father either seating for us and the spirit is still confirming the word in our lives as lost sinners and transforming the redeemed Jesus is preparing for the next phase though you know one day he's coming for his saints what's he doing in heaven he's preparing to come get those that have called upon him what a wonderful thought to realize but until then his instructions still stand go ye into all the world and preach the gospel you know this morning you're either a lost soul that needs to call upon the savior or a saint that needs a mission engaged if you're lost it means you need to come humbly!

[45:00] before the Lord recognizing you're a sinner to call upon the savior it means you need to commit yourself to a life of service for him if you're his you have a responsibility to the savior you