WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.240 We hope that you enjoy this teaching from Christchurch. 00:00:05.240 --> 00:00:11.580 This material is copyrighted and no unauthorized duplication, redistribution, or any other 00:00:11.580 --> 00:00:15.419 ! use of any part is permitted without prior consent from Christchurch. 00:00:15.419 --> 00:00:22.640 Please consider donating to this work in the San Francisco Bay Area online at Christchurcheastbay.org. 00:00:25.920 --> 00:00:26.940 Good morning. 00:00:26.940 --> 00:00:33.179 My name is Hannah Sue and I am part of the North Berkeley Community Group. 00:00:33.179 --> 00:00:41.060 Today's scripture is a reading from the Gospel according to Luke, chapter 24, verses 32 through 00:00:41.060 --> 00:00:44.100 53. 00:00:44.100 --> 00:00:49.000 They asked each other, were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road 00:00:49.000 --> 00:00:51.560 and opened the scriptures to us? 00:00:51.560 --> 00:00:55.000 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. 00:00:55.000 --> 00:00:59.399 There they found the eleven and those with them assembled together and saying, it is true, 00:00:59.399 --> 00:01:03.240 the Lord has risen and appeared to Simon. 00:01:03.240 --> 00:01:08.319 Then the two told what had happened on the way and how Jesus was recognized by them when he 00:01:08.319 --> 00:01:09.120 broke the bread. 00:01:09.120 --> 00:01:16.240 While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, peace 00:01:16.239 --> 00:01:18.239 peace be with you. 00:01:18.239 --> 00:01:22.039 They were startled and frightened thinking that they saw a ghost. 00:01:22.039 --> 00:01:26.479 He said to them, why are you troubled and why do doubts rise in your minds? 00:01:26.479 --> 00:01:28.479 Look at my hands and my feet. 00:01:28.479 --> 00:01:31.479 It is I myself. 00:01:31.479 --> 00:01:32.479 Touch me and see. 00:01:32.480 --> 00:01:36.079 A ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see I have. 00:01:36.079 --> 00:01:40.420 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. 00:01:40.420 --> 00:01:46.560 And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, do you 00:01:46.560 --> 00:01:47.600 have anything here to eat? 00:01:47.920 --> 00:01:52.560 They gave him a piece of broiled fish and he took it and ate it in their presence. 00:01:52.560 --> 00:01:57.159 He said to them, this is what I told you while I was still with you. 00:01:57.159 --> 00:02:03.040 Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets and 00:02:03.040 --> 00:02:03.680 the Psalms. 00:02:03.680 --> 00:02:07.840 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the scriptures. 00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:11.560 He told them, this is what is written. 00:02:11.560 --> 00:02:18.400 The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and repentance for the forgiveness 00:02:18.400 --> 00:02:23.680 of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 00:02:23.680 --> 00:02:26.159 You are witnesses of these things. 00:02:26.159 --> 00:02:31.120 I am going to send you what my father has promised, but stay in the city until you have 00:02:31.120 --> 00:02:33.840 been clothed with power from on high. 00:02:33.840 --> 00:02:39.920 When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. 00:02:39.920 --> 00:02:44.960 While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. 00:02:44.960 --> 00:02:48.560 Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. 00:02:49.280 --> 00:02:53.000 And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God. 00:02:54.000 --> 00:02:55.719 This is the gospel of the Lord. 00:02:56.439 --> 00:02:58.060 Praise to you, Lord Christ. 00:02:58.719 --> 00:03:00.400 Good morning, Christ Church. 00:03:00.400 --> 00:03:07.840 What a joy it was to celebrate Easter last Sunday and to continue that celebration today 00:03:07.840 --> 00:03:15.280 as we just enter into the joy and the fullness of joy that Christ is risen from the dead. 00:03:16.719 --> 00:03:20.319 For the sake of time, we are just going to jump right in. 00:03:20.319 --> 00:03:25.080 We are picking back up where we left off at the end of Luke's gospel last week. 00:03:27.000 --> 00:03:32.439 These are his final words of his story of Jesus that he has given to us. 00:03:32.439 --> 00:03:40.520 And what we see here in this story is that the resurrected Jesus, this is Easter Sunday night. 00:03:40.840 --> 00:03:44.340 Okay, last week we looked at Easter Sunday morning, afternoon, and evening. 00:03:44.439 --> 00:03:45.639 This is Easter Sunday night. 00:03:46.479 --> 00:03:51.300 And the resurrected Jesus is inviting us. 00:03:51.300 --> 00:03:57.579 He's challenging us along with these disciples to do two things. 00:03:57.580 --> 00:04:13.260 These are two things the resurrected Jesus really, really wants for his people, for his disciples, 00:04:13.420 --> 00:04:18.080 is to doubt your doubts and to proclaim the biblical gospel. 00:04:19.139 --> 00:04:22.020 So first of all, what does it mean to doubt your doubts? 00:04:24.379 --> 00:04:25.280 Think about it. 00:04:25.279 --> 00:04:33.519 How would you react if the person that you saw die three days earlier? 00:04:34.039 --> 00:04:37.339 And you didn't just see them die like in their sleep. 00:04:37.479 --> 00:04:42.500 You saw them die in the most horrible, grotesque way. 00:04:43.139 --> 00:04:50.299 You saw them die three days earlier, and now here they are unmistakably alive and standing before you. 00:04:50.619 --> 00:04:51.979 How would you react to that? 00:04:51.980 --> 00:04:59.600 No wonder Jesus' first words to these disciples is, shalom, peace be with you, 00:04:59.660 --> 00:05:03.819 because their reality has been shattered. 00:05:04.680 --> 00:05:08.879 They are, it says that they're startled and that they're terrified. 00:05:09.939 --> 00:05:12.879 And they're thinking to themselves, this must be a ghost. 00:05:13.259 --> 00:05:14.600 This must be an apparition. 00:05:14.600 --> 00:05:21.160 It must be some sort of disembodied spirit that's making a momentary visit to us right now. 00:05:22.220 --> 00:05:29.260 And Jesus says to them in verse 38, he says to them, 00:05:30.740 --> 00:05:35.060 why are you troubled and why do doubts rise in your minds? 00:05:35.060 --> 00:05:35.180 Doubts. 00:05:36.180 --> 00:05:41.000 And that word doubts in Greek is dialogizmi, which is where we get the word dialogue. 00:05:42.420 --> 00:05:46.879 And I just want to clarify that Jesus is not against them thinking. 00:05:47.360 --> 00:05:51.779 He's not against us questioning and deliberating and reasoning. 00:05:52.720 --> 00:05:52.959 Right? 00:05:53.000 --> 00:05:59.160 The life of the mind where we dialogue within ourselves and we puzzle out all these enigmas and riddles with logic. 00:05:59.160 --> 00:06:03.200 If you know anything about the Old Testament, anything about the teaching of Jesus, 00:06:03.939 --> 00:06:07.960 there's a very strong and clear link between our head and our heart. 00:06:09.220 --> 00:06:12.560 So what is Jesus challenging in these first skeptics? 00:06:13.600 --> 00:06:20.379 What he sees them doing in both their head and their heart is they're disputing an inconvenient truth 00:06:20.379 --> 00:06:23.780 that does not fit the dominant paradigm. 00:06:23.779 --> 00:06:24.379 Right? 00:06:25.719 --> 00:06:29.919 Because we all know what they knew, that dead people stay dead. 00:06:30.899 --> 00:06:34.259 And that that is an ironclad rule without exceptions. 00:06:35.699 --> 00:06:36.819 And so here they are. 00:06:36.919 --> 00:06:43.199 They're interpreting the data of Jesus standing before them. 00:06:44.239 --> 00:06:48.699 And they're interpreting that data within the worldview categories that they have. 00:06:48.779 --> 00:06:53.219 They're interpreting that data within the plausibility structures that they know. 00:06:53.220 --> 00:06:57.320 And so they think to themselves, well, this is either an immaterial spirit 00:06:57.320 --> 00:07:07.040 or it's some sort of revived corpse like Lazarus who had been, you know, temporarily brought back to life 00:07:07.040 --> 00:07:08.380 and would one day die again. 00:07:08.480 --> 00:07:11.260 Those are basically the two options in their mind. 00:07:12.240 --> 00:07:16.780 And Jesus is patiently helping them to realize that he's neither this nor that. 00:07:16.779 --> 00:07:19.879 And he says to them in verse 39, he says, 00:07:20.879 --> 00:07:30.799 Now why does Jesus present to them his hands and his feet? 00:07:30.800 --> 00:07:36.800 Because he's saying, look, this body that you see before your eyes, 00:07:36.900 --> 00:07:40.860 this body is continuous with my crucified body. 00:07:41.860 --> 00:07:42.020 Right? 00:07:42.340 --> 00:07:48.439 Here are the marks of the wounds where the iron nails went in and they fastened me to my cross. 00:07:48.519 --> 00:07:54.580 And these, by the way, are also the signs of my victory over sin and death. 00:07:54.579 --> 00:07:58.779 And then Jesus goes on and in verse 41 it says, 00:07:59.139 --> 00:08:02.379 While they still did not believe, they still did not believe, 00:08:02.979 --> 00:08:05.919 because of joy and amazement, he asked them, 00:08:06.439 --> 00:08:08.120 Do you have anything here to eat? 00:08:08.740 --> 00:08:12.439 And they gave him a piece of broiled fish and he took it and ate it in their presence. 00:08:12.500 --> 00:08:15.500 And I imagine when that happened and Jesus swallowed that fish, he said, 00:08:15.839 --> 00:08:16.199 Ta-da! 00:08:16.199 --> 00:08:20.360 Because think of all the sadness. 00:08:20.899 --> 00:08:22.039 Think of all the heaviness. 00:08:22.879 --> 00:08:25.819 Think of all the grief that they've been in the last few days. 00:08:25.920 --> 00:08:28.719 This is a moment of incredible comic relief. 00:08:28.879 --> 00:08:30.500 The resurrection is funny. 00:08:31.740 --> 00:08:35.539 It's funny because everything's changed. 00:08:36.559 --> 00:08:42.159 And Jesus is giving them convincing, irrefutable proofs that he's alive 00:08:42.159 --> 00:08:48.659 with a real material body that has flesh and bones that you can see and touch, 00:08:48.939 --> 00:08:51.579 that bears the scars, that eats the fish. 00:08:52.659 --> 00:08:54.240 And yet this is a new body. 00:08:54.379 --> 00:08:58.399 It's a glorified body that's full of the life of the age to come. 00:08:59.459 --> 00:09:02.980 It's a body that's no longer subject to decay and death. 00:09:03.059 --> 00:09:05.399 It's a body that's incorruptible and immortal. 00:09:06.259 --> 00:09:11.120 It's a body that is, in fact, the first fruits of God's new creation. 00:09:12.159 --> 00:09:12.799 Right? 00:09:12.939 --> 00:09:18.279 This is a transphysical body that seemingly can pass through grave clothes. 00:09:18.480 --> 00:09:19.600 It can walk through walls. 00:09:19.759 --> 00:09:22.379 It can appear and disappear at will. 00:09:22.879 --> 00:09:24.360 This is crazy, y'all. 00:09:25.000 --> 00:09:25.659 Isn't it? 00:09:26.159 --> 00:09:28.980 I mean, if you're a Christian and you believe this, this is crazy. 00:09:30.279 --> 00:09:31.539 But what if it's true? 00:09:32.799 --> 00:09:41.100 And if it's true, then you need a new worldview to map out this new reality. 00:09:41.100 --> 00:09:41.540 Right? 00:09:42.019 --> 00:09:47.960 When you think about all the popular beliefs of folks that we know here in the Bay Area, 00:09:48.639 --> 00:09:50.600 they kind of boil down to a few things, right? 00:09:50.779 --> 00:09:53.420 Some people say, well, this life is all there is. 00:09:53.840 --> 00:09:55.100 And when you die, that's it. 00:09:55.159 --> 00:09:57.980 You just live life the best that you can. 00:09:58.940 --> 00:10:02.460 And other people say, you know, if there is a God, he's remote. 00:10:02.460 --> 00:10:06.600 And we don't really have to deal with them very much. 00:10:07.560 --> 00:10:10.500 And other people say, well, all religions are basically alike. 00:10:10.900 --> 00:10:13.340 Just be good and love other people. 00:10:13.340 --> 00:10:21.540 But if Jesus Christ is the resurrected Son of God, then none of those beliefs are true. 00:10:21.539 --> 00:10:28.519 If Jesus has been raised from the dead, then this life is not all there is. 00:10:29.980 --> 00:10:36.779 If Jesus has been resurrected, then either you have to deal with him or live in denial about him. 00:10:36.779 --> 00:10:44.799 If Jesus has been raised from the dead, then salvation can only be through him because no one else has come back from the dead. 00:10:46.259 --> 00:10:55.439 You see, the resurrection is this paradigm-shattering historical event that forces us to embrace a brand new worldview. 00:10:55.440 --> 00:11:03.000 And Jesus is engaging these first skeptics with incredible patience. 00:11:03.120 --> 00:11:05.420 He's just working with their unbelief. 00:11:05.540 --> 00:11:06.700 And he gives them the evidence. 00:11:06.840 --> 00:11:07.680 He gives them the data. 00:11:08.540 --> 00:11:12.980 He gives them time and opportunity to explore the evidence and consider the data. 00:11:14.240 --> 00:11:20.180 And then at some point, Jesus is basically like, look, your doubts about me right now are real. 00:11:21.100 --> 00:11:22.680 But I am more real. 00:11:22.679 --> 00:11:28.739 And this is what he says to Thomas, right, in the Gospel of John. 00:11:28.859 --> 00:11:32.639 He says to doubting Thomas after giving him all the proofs that he needed. 00:11:33.239 --> 00:11:37.719 He finally challenged Thomas and he said, Thomas, stop doubting and believe. 00:11:38.959 --> 00:11:40.579 Thomas, stop being an unbeliever. 00:11:40.679 --> 00:11:41.500 Become a believer. 00:11:42.620 --> 00:11:46.039 Stop trusting in all the things that you supposedly know. 00:11:46.959 --> 00:11:50.740 And start putting your faith in this strange new reality. 00:11:50.740 --> 00:11:56.680 And what we find in the New Testament is the apostles working out this new model of knowledge, 00:11:56.799 --> 00:12:03.580 this new structure and future of the universe, and how that bears on life in the present. 00:12:03.700 --> 00:12:08.899 So if you're here today and you're exploring Christianity, I know this is strange. 00:12:09.060 --> 00:12:10.500 I know it's absolutely weird. 00:12:10.500 --> 00:12:16.500 But I just invite you to explore the evidence and consider the data and to wrestle with the notion 00:12:16.500 --> 00:12:22.879 that if Jesus is really, truly risen from the dead, then that means everything he said is true. 00:12:24.059 --> 00:12:29.279 And that means that he has the power to fulfill every single promise he ever made. 00:12:29.279 --> 00:12:35.500 And it also means that he's the one person in all of human history who's worth following and trusting 00:12:35.500 --> 00:12:38.679 and worshiping with all your heart and with all your life. 00:12:40.519 --> 00:12:43.659 So I want to encourage you to take the risk to doubt your doubts. 00:12:44.699 --> 00:12:50.819 And to call out to Jesus if he's there and ask him, if you're real, if you're alive, reveal yourself to me. 00:12:50.820 --> 00:12:56.620 And if you're there and you're full of this new and abundant life of God's new age, his new creation, 00:12:56.940 --> 00:12:58.720 would you fill me with that life? 00:13:01.180 --> 00:13:06.980 And if you're a Christian, if you believe in your heart that God actually raised him from the dead, 00:13:07.060 --> 00:13:12.220 that he really walked out of the tomb, that he was seen by hundreds of people, that he talked to them, 00:13:12.300 --> 00:13:15.400 then as we said last week, everything is going to be okay. 00:13:15.399 --> 00:13:21.819 And the reason we know everything is going to be okay is that the resurrected body of Jesus 00:13:21.819 --> 00:13:25.179 is the beginning of God's new creation. 00:13:27.159 --> 00:13:35.459 Jesus, with his resurrected body, is God's pledge that the whole material order is going to be resurrected. 00:13:36.819 --> 00:13:41.740 There are plenty of other religions that talk about a future afterlife. 00:13:41.740 --> 00:13:48.159 They talk about a non-material reality that will be a consolation for the world that we've lost. 00:13:49.320 --> 00:13:56.039 But Christianity, as far as I know, is the only religion that says not just there's going to be resurrected bodies, 00:13:56.320 --> 00:14:02.100 but there's going to be a whole resurrected world that's going to be cleansed of all sin and death 00:14:02.100 --> 00:14:04.639 and cleansed of all evil and sorrow. 00:14:06.580 --> 00:14:09.139 And friends, have you worked out what that means? 00:14:09.139 --> 00:14:12.259 If that's true, do you know what it means? 00:14:12.319 --> 00:14:14.879 It means that you no longer have to have FOMO. 00:14:16.480 --> 00:14:16.699 Right? 00:14:16.759 --> 00:14:22.240 You no longer have to live in the fear of missing out anymore because you're not going to miss out on anything. 00:14:23.319 --> 00:14:31.899 The resurrection means not only a restoration of the life that you are going to lose, 00:14:31.899 --> 00:14:37.899 but what the resurrection means is the gift of the life that you never had but that you always wanted. 00:14:39.699 --> 00:14:45.399 We have the hope of a new bodily existence in a newly remade world, 00:14:45.559 --> 00:14:49.079 and Jesus' resurrected body is the preview of coming attractions. 00:14:49.080 --> 00:14:53.120 The apostle Paul says in Romans 6, he says, 00:14:53.259 --> 00:14:57.060 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again. 00:14:57.960 --> 00:15:00.139 Death no longer has mastery over him. 00:15:01.320 --> 00:15:03.639 And he says in 1 Thessalonians 4, he says, 00:15:04.040 --> 00:15:06.240 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, 00:15:06.320 --> 00:15:11.139 and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 00:15:11.139 --> 00:15:15.840 And these disciples there on Easter night are staring at Jesus, 00:15:15.980 --> 00:15:23.799 and they're staring at the prototype of incorruptible, immortal physicality that's awaiting every single one of us. 00:15:25.840 --> 00:15:30.019 Can you imagine waking up in the morning and feeling awesome? 00:15:31.299 --> 00:15:36.419 Because your resurrected body is like Jesus' awesome resurrected body. 00:15:36.919 --> 00:15:38.620 It's a body that will never die again. 00:15:38.620 --> 00:15:41.899 And it's a body where death no longer has mastery over you. 00:15:43.060 --> 00:15:44.740 No more deterioration. 00:15:45.620 --> 00:15:47.440 No more getting old. 00:15:48.159 --> 00:15:49.779 No more slow decline. 00:15:50.480 --> 00:15:51.720 No more pain. 00:15:52.220 --> 00:15:54.159 No more debilitating injuries. 00:15:55.460 --> 00:15:56.799 No more disease. 00:15:57.779 --> 00:15:58.460 None of that. 00:15:59.480 --> 00:16:01.960 Now, some of you in your teens and your 20s are looking at me like, 00:16:02.039 --> 00:16:02.820 What are you talking about? 00:16:03.720 --> 00:16:06.500 And I'm just telling you, when you hit the age of 46, 00:16:06.500 --> 00:16:08.759 everything will start falling apart. 00:16:10.720 --> 00:16:12.320 But you see, if this is true, 00:16:12.720 --> 00:16:13.480 if this is true, 00:16:13.960 --> 00:16:19.259 it's no wonder that the early Christians were absolutely fearless and absolutely courageous. 00:16:20.399 --> 00:16:24.440 It's no wonder they stopped living for just this life and this age 00:16:24.440 --> 00:16:26.679 and started living for the life and the age to come 00:16:26.679 --> 00:16:31.320 because they knew this is what is going to happen to us. 00:16:31.320 --> 00:16:35.879 And therefore, we can take courageous risks to live like Jesus. 00:16:37.000 --> 00:16:41.700 We can take courageous risks to live this spirit-filled, Jesus-shaped life 00:16:41.700 --> 00:16:43.900 because we know he's going to come back 00:16:43.900 --> 00:16:45.879 and he's going to establish the kingdom of God 00:16:45.879 --> 00:16:47.960 and he's going to make everything new. 00:16:48.980 --> 00:16:50.340 So what do we have to lose? 00:16:52.080 --> 00:16:53.560 What do we have to lose? 00:16:53.559 --> 00:16:58.239 So Jesus is saying to those disciples who he's going to send out as apostles 00:16:58.239 --> 00:17:01.019 in that upper room on Easter Sunday night, 00:17:01.339 --> 00:17:01.979 he says to them, 00:17:02.379 --> 00:17:03.439 Doubt your doubts. 00:17:04.379 --> 00:17:05.079 Doubt your doubts. 00:17:06.359 --> 00:17:07.639 But then he says to them, 00:17:08.259 --> 00:17:08.639 he says, 00:17:08.779 --> 00:17:10.139 Proclaim the biblical gospel. 00:17:11.440 --> 00:17:12.819 Proclaim the biblical gospel. 00:17:13.000 --> 00:17:14.940 And this is where we read in verse 44. 00:17:15.119 --> 00:17:15.419 He says, 00:17:15.420 --> 00:17:18.580 This is what I told you while I was still with you. 00:17:18.700 --> 00:17:20.820 Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me 00:17:20.820 --> 00:17:22.940 in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the Psalms. 00:17:23.680 --> 00:17:26.360 And then he opened their minds so they could understand the scriptures. 00:17:27.720 --> 00:17:28.060 Right? 00:17:28.100 --> 00:17:29.519 We went over that last week. 00:17:29.840 --> 00:17:31.519 So I won't cover new territory. 00:17:32.600 --> 00:17:34.660 But what Jesus begins to say is, 00:17:34.759 --> 00:17:37.759 Look, here is the biblical gospel. 00:17:37.759 --> 00:17:41.160 Here's the good news that flows out of the Bible 00:17:41.160 --> 00:17:46.019 and out of the way that I've fulfilled the message and the story of the Bible 00:17:46.019 --> 00:17:47.220 in my death and resurrection. 00:17:48.540 --> 00:17:53.720 And he gives them this multifaceted diamond called the gospel. 00:17:54.640 --> 00:17:56.340 And I want us to look just for a minute 00:17:56.340 --> 00:17:59.300 at some of the different facets of that diamond's brilliance. 00:17:59.540 --> 00:17:59.940 He says, 00:18:00.040 --> 00:18:00.500 First of all, 00:18:00.920 --> 00:18:03.800 I'm sending you, my disciples, 00:18:03.800 --> 00:18:05.740 out into the world with a mission 00:18:05.740 --> 00:18:09.900 to take the good news, 00:18:09.900 --> 00:18:12.560 to take the gospel event to the world. 00:18:12.620 --> 00:18:15.980 And that gospel event is his crucifixion and his resurrection. 00:18:16.120 --> 00:18:17.300 He says in verse 46, 00:18:18.100 --> 00:18:18.519 He told them, 00:18:18.720 --> 00:18:19.360 This is what is written, 00:18:19.460 --> 00:18:22.920 The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day. 00:18:23.940 --> 00:18:26.220 What Jesus is telling us here is that the gospel, 00:18:26.500 --> 00:18:29.680 the good news is not a philosophical idea, 00:18:30.460 --> 00:18:32.680 and it's not moral advice. 00:18:33.180 --> 00:18:36.000 The gospel is a historical event. 00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:39.980 It's a historical event when the Messiah took our place. 00:18:40.859 --> 00:18:42.319 He died the death we should have died. 00:18:43.039 --> 00:18:48.539 He bore all of our cursedness and our condemnation on his cross instead of us. 00:18:49.420 --> 00:18:52.140 And he atoned for our sins. 00:18:52.359 --> 00:18:53.839 He became sin. 00:18:54.339 --> 00:18:59.539 He embraced death so that he might triumph and conquer over these things. 00:18:59.539 --> 00:19:02.519 And the resurrection, as we said last week, 00:19:02.579 --> 00:19:07.299 is the proof that these sufferings and the substitutionary death of the Messiah 00:19:07.299 --> 00:19:10.159 was vindicated and approved by God. 00:19:11.139 --> 00:19:14.779 The resurrection is the proof that Jesus' cry on that cross, 00:19:14.899 --> 00:19:15.740 it is finished, 00:19:16.680 --> 00:19:17.720 that in that moment, 00:19:17.799 --> 00:19:21.720 he actually paid our cosmic debt in full once for all. 00:19:21.819 --> 00:19:23.859 He won redemption for us in that moment. 00:19:23.940 --> 00:19:25.559 That's what the resurrection tells us. 00:19:25.559 --> 00:19:28.619 And he says to his apostles, 00:19:28.859 --> 00:19:32.579 you are the original eyewitnesses of this historical event, 00:19:32.659 --> 00:19:36.700 and I am sending my church with the mission to share this gospel event. 00:19:37.980 --> 00:19:39.240 But then Jesus goes on, 00:19:39.299 --> 00:19:41.319 and he tells them not only about the gospel event, 00:19:41.399 --> 00:19:44.179 he says your mission has to do with the gospel offer. 00:19:45.039 --> 00:19:47.960 The gospel offer of the forgiveness of sins. 00:19:48.159 --> 00:19:49.119 Verse 47. 00:19:49.119 --> 00:19:56.500 And repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations beginning at Jerusalem. 00:19:57.839 --> 00:20:02.779 The central meaning of salvation is the forgiveness of our sins. 00:20:03.959 --> 00:20:09.659 Jesus says what people need primarily is not so much to be instructed, 00:20:10.500 --> 00:20:17.299 it's not so much to be improved or to be made better or to be reformed or to be topped off in some way. 00:20:17.299 --> 00:20:21.779 What we most need is to be forgiven. 00:20:23.740 --> 00:20:29.279 We need to have those sins that are separating us from God to be removed. 00:20:30.539 --> 00:20:35.240 And the good news here is that though we cannot remove our sins for ourselves, 00:20:35.379 --> 00:20:39.339 God himself is able and he's willing to remove them. 00:20:39.339 --> 00:20:48.759 And there's absolutely no greater gift than this full and perfect pardon that reconciles us with the creator God. 00:20:49.899 --> 00:20:54.779 That transforms us from being a rebel into being a son or a daughter of the father. 00:20:55.959 --> 00:20:56.240 Right? 00:20:56.319 --> 00:20:58.439 That brings us into the family of God. 00:20:58.519 --> 00:21:01.099 That puts us into a right relationship with God. 00:21:01.099 --> 00:21:05.899 That brings us at home and at rest in the healing heart of the love of God. 00:21:05.980 --> 00:21:09.759 That enables us to speak to God in the most intimate of terms. 00:21:09.959 --> 00:21:11.000 Abba, Father. 00:21:11.079 --> 00:21:13.379 That's what the forgiveness of sins means. 00:21:13.500 --> 00:21:15.319 That's the gospel offer. 00:21:15.319 --> 00:21:24.700 Jesus says, you've got to go out with my mission and take out the gospel event and the gospel offer. 00:21:25.240 --> 00:21:27.980 And then he says, you've got to give people the gospel demand. 00:21:28.679 --> 00:21:31.419 The gospel demand, which is repentance. 00:21:33.019 --> 00:21:38.919 The resurrected Jesus says, you can't have the gospel offer of forgiveness without the gospel demand of repentance. 00:21:38.920 --> 00:21:39.200 Repentance. 00:21:39.960 --> 00:21:40.860 Verse 47. 00:21:41.039 --> 00:21:42.620 It's a word in Greek. 00:21:42.800 --> 00:21:46.000 It's metanoia, which means to change your mind. 00:21:47.500 --> 00:21:52.039 See, Jesus gives both the invitation of forgiveness and the challenge of repentance. 00:21:53.120 --> 00:21:59.300 He says, if you want God to turn from your sins and forgiveness, you've got to turn from your sins and repentance. 00:22:01.240 --> 00:22:07.279 You can't have reconciliation with God unless we turn from our rebellion against God. 00:22:07.279 --> 00:22:18.099 There is no possibility of peace without the decommissioning of weapons and the laying down of our arms before God and surrendering all of our self-seeking and all of our self-determination. 00:22:19.799 --> 00:22:19.899 Right? 00:22:20.279 --> 00:22:31.980 Metanoia, change your mind, means that sinners will not be forgiven if they persist in clinging to their old mind and to the old life of sin that flows from the old mind. 00:22:32.500 --> 00:22:34.259 You need a completely new mind. 00:22:34.259 --> 00:22:44.160 Jesus goes on and he says, it's not just about the gospel event and the gospel offer and the gospel demand, but he says there's also the gospel authority. 00:22:45.200 --> 00:22:54.140 Verse 47, he says, repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all the nations beginning at Jerusalem. 00:22:54.140 --> 00:23:04.480 There's an amazing passage at the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles where we see Jesus' disciples going out in his name. 00:23:04.580 --> 00:23:14.380 And it says in Acts chapter 4, it says, salvation is found in no one else, but there is no other name given under heaven by which we must be saved. 00:23:14.380 --> 00:23:18.460 Now perhaps you've heard Christians say this. 00:23:19.040 --> 00:23:25.720 You'll hear Christians say, preach the gospel at all times and if necessary, use words. 00:23:26.400 --> 00:23:27.740 Has anyone ever heard that? 00:23:28.540 --> 00:23:31.600 Preach the gospel at all times and if necessary, use words. 00:23:32.140 --> 00:23:37.500 That is both well-meaning but also wrong-headed. 00:23:37.500 --> 00:23:54.099 Jesus would say, if you don't use words, especially the word of my name, you're not giving people the opportunity to call upon the only name that God has given whereby anyone can be saved. 00:23:55.920 --> 00:23:59.900 In his name is all about the authority of Jesus. 00:23:59.900 --> 00:24:00.100 Jesus. 00:24:02.500 --> 00:24:05.980 And also in his name is a summons for us to pray. 00:24:07.280 --> 00:24:07.440 Right? 00:24:07.560 --> 00:24:20.000 Jesus says in the gospel of John chapter 14, he says, I will do whatever you ask in my name so that the Father may be glorified in the Son and you may ask me for anything in my name and I will do it. 00:24:21.019 --> 00:24:26.920 And what he's saying about sharing the gospel in his name and in his authority is he's saying we need to call upon the name. 00:24:26.920 --> 00:24:36.640 And we need to call upon his authority, the authority of the resurrected Lord to advance the gospel here in Berkeley and in the East Bay. 00:24:36.740 --> 00:24:41.900 We need to call upon him to glorify the Father by bringing people to his Son. 00:24:42.720 --> 00:24:51.120 And if we don't pray like that, if we don't call on his name, if we don't seek his authority, we shouldn't be surprised if it's not happening very much. 00:24:51.119 --> 00:24:58.759 See, Jesus sends them out with the gospel event, the gospel offer, the gospel demand, the gospel authority. 00:24:59.559 --> 00:25:01.279 And then he tells them the gospel audience. 00:25:01.459 --> 00:25:04.059 And he says the gospel audience is all the nations. 00:25:05.699 --> 00:25:12.819 And the word he uses here is he says, I'm sending you out to the ethnos, which is where we get the word ethnic. 00:25:12.819 --> 00:25:24.059 And what he's saying, the resurrected Jesus is saying on Easter Sunday night, is he's saying this message and this movement is for the whole human race. 00:25:24.179 --> 00:25:30.939 It's for the whole human family in all of its diverse multitude of tribes, nations, peoples, and languages. 00:25:30.940 --> 00:25:44.559 And what I'm sending you with is to transcend and to transform all of those ethnic cultural particularities to make them more fully the way God intended them to become. 00:25:46.559 --> 00:25:47.039 Right? 00:25:47.200 --> 00:25:52.799 Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin, not just of this people or that people, but of the whole world. 00:25:53.799 --> 00:26:00.700 And therefore, Jesus is sending out his apostolic church as a missionary society for the whole world. 00:26:01.920 --> 00:26:08.000 And this is why when you read the Acts of the Apostles, you read early church history, what does the church do? 00:26:08.059 --> 00:26:10.160 The church goes east to Persia and India. 00:26:11.080 --> 00:26:12.720 The church goes south to Africa. 00:26:12.880 --> 00:26:14.519 The church goes north to Eurasia. 00:26:14.519 --> 00:26:18.779 The church goes west to Greece and Italy and Spain and out beyond. 00:26:20.700 --> 00:26:26.779 And what they did when they got to these nations is they said to these nations, your understanding of God, your understanding of the world, 00:26:26.779 --> 00:26:32.879 your understanding of the world, your understanding of the world, your understanding of salvation is insufficient and it's incomplete. 00:26:34.639 --> 00:26:42.920 And there's absolutely nothing in the New Testament that suggests that these nations can get along all right with the religions they already have. 00:26:42.920 --> 00:26:51.539 There's nothing to suggest in the New Testament that there's any other name other than Jesus' name by which people must be saved. 00:26:52.320 --> 00:26:54.600 And so that's what compelled them to go out. 00:26:54.599 --> 00:27:02.079 And we tend in that story to focus on those amazing missionaries that went to the ends of the earth. 00:27:02.240 --> 00:27:07.779 Sometimes we forget those ordinary everyday Christians just like us. 00:27:08.259 --> 00:27:09.439 They didn't go to the ends of the earth. 00:27:09.599 --> 00:27:10.819 They just went next door. 00:27:10.819 --> 00:27:17.980 And they said to their friends and neighbors and coworkers, come sit at my table. 00:27:18.659 --> 00:27:19.720 Come break bread with me. 00:27:20.519 --> 00:27:22.379 And they engaged in simple conversations. 00:27:23.539 --> 00:27:28.019 Simple conversations that became serious conversations that became spiritual conversations. 00:27:29.059 --> 00:27:33.439 And they waited and they prayed and they trusted in God to open hearts and open doors 00:27:33.439 --> 00:27:39.659 where they were able at some point to share with them the unsearchable riches of Christ. 00:27:40.819 --> 00:27:53.419 The last thing Jesus tells his disciples about is not just the gospel event, gospel offer, gospel demand, gospel authority, gospel audience. 00:27:53.519 --> 00:27:55.740 But he tells them about gospel power. 00:27:57.279 --> 00:27:58.939 And it's the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:28:00.200 --> 00:28:02.119 And he says to them in verse 49, he says, 00:28:02.119 --> 00:28:10.059 I'm going to send you what my Father has promised, but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high. 00:28:10.819 --> 00:28:23.220 And when Jesus says that, he's telling Peter and James and John and all the rest, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, all of them, 00:28:23.220 --> 00:28:33.440 you are not yet fit to go with your own meager resources in all of your human weaknesses. 00:28:35.200 --> 00:28:41.759 You must wait to be clothed with power from on high from the Holy Spirit. 00:28:41.759 --> 00:28:51.240 See, when you become a Christian, you receive the Holy Spirit, but each and every single one of us needs a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit and his power. 00:28:53.079 --> 00:28:53.279 Right? 00:28:53.339 --> 00:29:01.559 All of us as a community, we need the fresh filling of the Holy Spirit if we're going to be a gospel-sharing, biblical gospel-proclaiming church. 00:29:01.559 --> 00:29:10.119 A church that neglects the Holy Spirit is going to be predictably ineffective in sharing the gospel. 00:29:11.019 --> 00:29:16.740 Because the Holy Spirit is the one who convicts us in the first place that we are sinners. 00:29:16.740 --> 00:29:27.059 And it's the Holy Spirit who opens blind eyes so that they can see that Jesus is the heaven-sent Savior that sinners need. 00:29:28.200 --> 00:29:35.079 And it's the Holy Spirit who draws people to Jesus and enables them to repent and to believe. 00:29:35.079 --> 00:29:46.720 And it's the Holy Spirit who implants life into dead souls causing that miracle of regeneration, that miracle of new birth from above to take place. 00:29:47.839 --> 00:29:54.000 And what Jesus is telling his disciples there on Easter Sunday night, and what he's telling us, 00:29:54.039 --> 00:30:01.019 is that if you think you can do any of this with your own power, without the Holy Spirit, you're crazy. 00:30:05.079 --> 00:30:07.559 Imagine this moment. 00:30:09.179 --> 00:30:15.720 The resurrected Jesus on Easter Sunday night is standing before you telling you, 00:30:16.539 --> 00:30:23.679 doubt your doubts and go out to all the nations to proclaim the biblical gospel. 00:30:25.039 --> 00:30:28.220 This is what we call the Great Commission. 00:30:28.220 --> 00:30:37.259 It's the one central, supreme, essential, non-negotiable task that Jesus has given to his church. 00:30:37.339 --> 00:30:39.799 It's a mission that's greater than any for-profit company. 00:30:40.620 --> 00:30:43.380 It's a mission that's greater than any non-profit organization. 00:30:44.019 --> 00:30:47.559 It's a mission that's greater than any government or military institution. 00:30:48.440 --> 00:30:48.720 Why? 00:30:48.960 --> 00:30:53.460 Because it's a mission that the resurrected Jesus himself gave to his church. 00:30:53.460 --> 00:30:59.000 We all have our own, like, little passion projects, don't we? 00:31:00.920 --> 00:31:05.120 Friends, this is the big passion project of our resurrected Lord. 00:31:05.200 --> 00:31:09.200 It's the one job that he's given us to do. 00:31:11.559 --> 00:31:18.340 Jesus came to procure salvation, but it's not much use procuring it unless he has a community that is willing to proclaim it. 00:31:18.339 --> 00:31:19.339 Right? 00:31:20.559 --> 00:31:27.379 God has sent us to the Bay Area as a missionary society where the news of Jesus is so distorted. 00:31:28.220 --> 00:31:29.939 It's so misunderstood. 00:31:30.359 --> 00:31:31.480 It's so caricatured. 00:31:31.539 --> 00:31:33.119 It's so, frankly, unknown. 00:31:34.980 --> 00:31:44.679 And like this little group of disciples there on Easter Sunday night who've been told by the resurrected Jesus to wait for the power of the Holy Spirit to come upon them, 00:31:44.680 --> 00:31:53.799 we are also being sent out where God has put us in the lives of people as his agents and as his messengers of good news. 00:31:54.240 --> 00:31:57.080 It's the most amazing privilege that you've ever been given. 00:31:57.220 --> 00:31:59.779 It's the most incredible responsibility that you'll ever have. 00:31:59.779 --> 00:32:08.200 We've been commissioned, just as they were, to proclaim to all different kinds of people among the nations, 00:32:09.180 --> 00:32:15.200 repentance and forgiveness of sins on the basis of the name of Jesus, 00:32:16.019 --> 00:32:22.000 who died and was raised to life according to the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament 00:32:22.000 --> 00:32:27.160 and in the power of the Holy Spirit given to each one of us. 00:32:28.700 --> 00:32:29.559 That's our job. 00:32:29.779 --> 00:32:32.440 That's our job. 00:32:33.819 --> 00:32:41.420 And the only way we'll do that is if we actually know and we come and meet with the risen and living Christ, 00:32:41.519 --> 00:32:45.119 which is what this table has meant for us to do. 00:32:46.339 --> 00:32:51.399 So, friends, I invite you to just prepare your hearts as we come to this table. 00:32:51.859 --> 00:32:53.720 In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 00:32:54.559 --> 00:32:54.799 Amen. 00:32:54.799 --> 00:32:54.940 Amen.