Through history, God has repeated his promises so that we His people would keep them in the forefront of their thinking. Man’s rejection of the knowledge of God has never nullified the promise that all mankind will know that God is the Lord. Think for a moment of the Lord’s words to Moses: “I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them [the Israelites], and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord” (Exodus 14:4). The worst assault on the people of God turned out to be the way God was going to reveal who He really is to a wicked ruler and his nation. It was the same turn of events with the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar. He had succumbed to pressures from his administration to throw three men into a fiery furnace, but God revealed Himself in a fourth man that is “like the son of the gods” (Daniel 3:25). From this, Nebuchadnezzar wrote to “all peoples, nations, and languages, that dwell on the earth…the Most High God…His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and His dominion endures from generation to generation” (4:2-3). God speaks through Isaiah and says, “all flesh shall know that I am the Lord your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob” (49:26). We must not allow the present rise in persecution in many places to cloud our vision of what God is yet going to do through it. Yes, we suffer with such “as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body” (Hebrews 13:3). Though the suffering of God’s people is real and painful, through it, He is going to be known in every nation (people groups – ethne) on earth. Let’s be concerned about His glory being revealed even through our suffering.
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As we look down the corridor of human history and the development of nations, one of the most significant events was the Tower of Babel. The pride of man thought they could achieve what Satan promised in the garden; “you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 1:5; 11:3-4). In this they did three things that resulted in total failure: 1. They made bricks to build a city and a tower (11:3). 2. They exalted man by trying to reach heaven their way (11:4). 3. They wanted to make a name for themselves and avoid scattering (11:4). Two things took place at the same time that turned their plans upside down: 1. God confused their language so they could not understand each other [judgment] (11:7). 2. “The Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth” [preparing for a promise] (11:9). At the end of Moses’ life, he looks back and declares; “When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when He divided mankind, He fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God” (Deuteronomy 32:8). Consider in this verse the sovereign actions of God to make sure that a divided people because of sin, would ultimately serve His plan and purpose for His glory. Paul stands in the Athens Areopagus and proclaims; “And He [God] made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place.” Then Paul gives the reason why God took this path of dividing up the nations; “that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward Him and find Him” (Acts 17:26–27). The gospel is that appeal to every nation. You and I are the messengers. Why must we have an urgency in our hearts and ministries of finishing the task of reaching every people group around the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ? The answer is simple. It was always God’s plan from before the beginning of the world. He first communicated the promise to Abraham: “I will bless those who bless you…and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3).
This promise was further revealed in amazing clarity to Paul. The idea of the Gentiles hearing and believing the gospel was not clear to even Peter. Paul declares that “the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (Ephesians 3:3–6). Notice that Paul calls this promise and idea of God a “mystery” or secret, a “plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things” (3:9). God kept much of His plan secret until the coming of the Holy Spirit so that it could be fulfilled in His power as far as the ends of the earth. When we think that this is the wisdom of God revealed to the right people at the right time, we must be like Paul who said, “I bow my knees before the Father” (3:14). There is no other response. This will lead us to devote our lives to finishing the task. Forgive me for not posting yesterday. We were traveling and returned home after mid-night.
I have been deeply challenged this week as I spent time with missionaries and ministries who are focused on reaching the unengaged unreached (UUPG) and unreached (UPG) people groups of the world with the power of the gospel in the name of Jesus. While many of the discussions and presentations centered around using technology in the process, collaborating together through shared resources, my heart began thinking about the urgent need for prayer. One hundred and twenty disciples knew how critical prayer was, even before the Holy Spirit descended on them and filled them. It was not a short prayer meeting, mostly taken up with talking about what they were going to pray for and them rushing through the list. It was a TEN DAY prayer service. What would happen in our effort to spread the gospel to the UUPG’s if we linked our hearts, minds and voices with the heart of God for the world? The answer will only be known when we disconnect from the noise of this world and connect with the heartbeat of God for the world. The moment was a difficult one. After three and a half years of being with Jesus, learning from His teaching, watching His miracles and being part of His ministry, eleven men called disciples, were ushered into a season of dramatic changes. How would they manage to continue on with life and His work when their mentor was leaving? Would they be forced to do everything without Him?
“Behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). Wait! What is this “promise of my Father?” Just a few days before, Jesus gave these men clear and detailed instructions right after the Passover meal about “another Helper to be with you forever…the teacher…the Spirit of truth” (John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7). He also promised them in 14:18 that “I will not leave you as orphans” or helpless or as a friendless person. The “other Helper” would be one just like Jesus, and actually better by virtue of being with them all the time and never susceptible to death. BUT THAT IS NOT ALL! He promised that with the coming of this Helper, they would also be “clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). It is not human power because it comes from heaven – God’s power. By ‘clothing’ us, it will impact the whole person and all we do. Let’s put these things together. This Helper will be just like Jesus who will never leave them as they are fulfilling the Great Commission – spreading the gospel wherever they are and wherever they go. He is the one who will also fill them with power (divine ability) to fulfill the command to “GO” with His message to all the nations. “WAIT!” Why? Notice that Jesus commanded these eleven men to “stay in the city until you are clothed with power.” Why should they have to wait? Couldn’t Jesus just give them the power right then? NO! It is absolutely necessary that they learn and we learn the essential quality of dependence if we are going to experience God’s power working in us through the Holy Spirit. The word “witnesses” in Luke 24:48 is a very interesting word. It is a ‘nominative verb’ which means that the person is taking on all the qualities and characteristics of someone who fully represents the message they are proclaiming. This is both challenging and exciting! It is challenging because we must examine our lives to see if we are blurring the message by the way we live, what we say and how we say it.
In another way, being a witness for Christ and His message of the gospel is very exciting. Going back to Acts 1:8, Jesus again clarifies how we will become effective witnesses for Him. “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses.” Our witness is only effective if we are speaking and presenting the message of the gospel under the direction, control and power of the Holy Spirit. The proof of this principle is clearly seen on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came upon those who were gathered and waiting for Him to fill them with His power (Acts 2:1-4, 4:8,31; 9:17; 13:9, 52). This becomes the normal way to witness for and about Jesus. Even though Simon believed and was baptized, he tried to buy this power with money (8:14-24) and was rightly rebuked by Peter. Any attempt to do the work of God with human means is “wicked” and must be repented of immediately. God wants your witness pure and free from any taint of human effort that is not under the control and direction of the Holy Spirit. Will you let God purify your life today and make your witness clearly a powerful representation of Christ and His message of saving grace to a lost world? As we have been looking at Luke 24:45-47, we noticed that Luke records how Jesus “opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.” This comes before His giving instructions from the Scriptures on what the disciple’s role will be after His departure and the coming of the Holy Spirit. I cannot emphasize too much the importance of our understanding being opened and enlightened before any ministry or work for God is done!
Paul knew how important this is. He prayed for the Ephesian saints that “the eyes of [their] hearts [be] enlightened…to know what is the hope to which [they have] been called” (Ephesians 1:18). We will never be effective in proclaiming the gospel unless it has become a personal light in our souls. There is another reason why we need enlightening in our hearts. The gospel is a “mystery” that cannot be humanly understood (3:3-4, 6, 9). As it is revealed to us and in us, the Spirit will help us proclaim it to others. Going back to our verses in Luke 24, Jesus gives the map for proclaiming the message of the gospel. They were standing in Jerusalem and He tells them that it was going to begin right there. In Acts 1:8, Jesus expands the circles of their influence from Jerusalem to “both/and Judea both/and Samaria both/and to the end of the earth.” NO PART OF THE EARTH ESCAPES THE MESSAGE! Where do you live? That is your “Jerusalem.” From there, God wants you to be part of fulfilling the Scriptures; telling others “Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins [is] proclaimed in his name! Will you pay your part so others hear, believe and are saved? Recent events surrounding the death of a young man, John Chau, have evoked much comment from many sources, some very critical of his passion and sacrifice. In the light of this event and the many before him who have sacrificially given their lives so those at the “ends of the earth” may hear the gospel, consider again the words of Jesus; “That repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem” (Luke 24:45–47). Jesus is clearly saying that the message of His death and resurrection provided a way for mankind to repent and receive forgiveness. He wanted this message to be “proclaimed” so that all “ethne” would hear, receive, believe and confess (Romans 10:8-17). This divine purpose and plan includes every people group from one end of the earth to the other. John Piper once wrote of another missionary martyred in a hostile field, “The whole point of [his] life is that there is something worse than death. So, he was willing to risk his own life to rescue others from something far worse. And he could risk his own life because he knew his own risking and dying would work for him ‘an eternal weight of glory’” (2 Corinthians 4:17). These are persons who also took seriously Hebrews 12:2; “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God”. Will we do the same? As we continue to look at these verses in Luke 24, there are other details that stand out as part of our mission in spreading the gospel. Most of us who are involved in mission work and preaching the gospel readily agree with God’s purpose in the suffering of Jesus and the fact that He rose again on the third day. But “repentance?”
Sadly, we are seeing a trend in some segments of Christendom where the mention of “sin” and “repentance” is being left out of messages because ‘they make people uncomfortable.’ Jesus included this important principle of repentance in His ‘eye-opening conversation.’ “Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem” (Luke 24:45–47). What is “repentance?” It is the change of my mind toward my sin so that I see how violation of God’s holiness is in agreement with how God views my sin. I/we will never have a full or sufficient understanding of how our sin has required judgment, but our repentance is necessary in order to receive forgiveness from God which He freely gives through His Son Jesus. This is the message the disciples preached and the message we must preach. We often ponder in this ministry how the Early Church was so successful and powerful in spreading the gospel in the face of many obstacles. In this blog, I want to draw your attention to some of Jesus’ final words to the disciples who seemed discouraged with the events in Jerusalem.
“Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem” (Luke 24:45–47). Let’s take a moment to unpack these verses. 1) Jesus “opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.” With this divine help, none of us will grasp the plan and purpose of God. Jesus had personally come alongside Cleopas and his friend, walked with them, and discovered in their conversation how they looked at the current event in Jerusalem. Understanding the Scriptures is not a human intellectual exercise of the mind. It is the work of the Holy Spirit who continues the work of Christ here on earth. 2) It is so vital to link what God is doing with Scripture, which Jesus did. We can easily twist current events through our human lens and miss the divine purpose. If we are going to shape our life and ministry so that it becomes effective and produces results for God’s glory, we must base our message of the gospel in what “is written” about Christ. It is evident that part of the Spirit’s inspiration of the New Testament writers was their 937 references to the Old Testament. What is the purpose of having our understanding “enlightened?” We want first, our hearts to join God in what He is doing. After this encounter with Jesus, they wait in prayer in Jerusalem for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to make them effective. Do we do this before launching into ministry? |
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