The resurrection had occurred. Jesus had appeared to His disciples for 40 days. Now, He was about to ascend to the right hand of the Father. The disciples present Jesus with a dumb question: "Will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" They hadn't quite gotten the point yet. Jesus answered: "It is not for you to know the
times and seasons, which the Father has put in His own power." In other words, what God is going to do now is none of your business, you have to leave "Father things to the Father." Jesus wasn't being a smart-aleck here. He wanted them to know that instead of trying to do something about that which they could do nothing about, they should do what the Father willed them to do. What was that? Let's look at verse 8: "But you shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." What were they to do after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus? They were to be His witnesses to the entire world. And the book of Acts tells us a portion of how they went about this. What we need to understand is that this was not just the marching orders for those disciples but all who would become followers of Jesus Christ. We are to be witnesses where we are - in our own "Jerusalems." We are to make sure that the witness is sent out in concentric circles to the rest of the world. A church that is not a missionary church, in every sense of the word, is a dying church. Our main post-resurrection task is to be witnesses. Worship is important. Fellowship is important. Choirs are important. Congregational singing is important. But we must realize that as important as these things are, they are not our main task. We need to tell others about Jesus and give so that those whom God has called to go to other places can tell others about Jesus. Are you a witness? Is your church a witnessing church? Bro. Joe
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The crux of this text is in verses 32-33: "But He shall be delivered unto the Gentiles and He shall be mocked and spitefully entreated and spit on. 33. And they shall
scourge Him, and put Him to death: and the third day He shall rise again." None of what happened to Jesus in the passion narratives in the gospels was a surprize to Jesus. He knew why He had come to earth. When He was twelve years old and was missed by His parents, they found Him in the temple debating and discussing with the "doctors." When they scolded Him for scaring them like this, Jesus replied: "Why were you looking for me. Don't you know that I must be about my Father's business?" (Beauchamp's translation.) He was aware that His purpose was far above anything in this world, and that the entire world depended on Him to do it. He told His followers that He would be arrested, beaten, crucified and on the third day He would arise. He knew exactly what He had to do in Jerusalem. When Peter said that he would keep Jesus out of danger, Jesus answered him, "You do not know the things of God." Jesus was not just warning His disciples about coming danger, but was sharing with them the will of the Father. He knew that He had to die and why He had to die. He had to die to save us from our sins.He also knew that after He died, He would rise from the dead. He knew that his resurrection was as important as His crucifixion. A dead Jesus couldn't save anybody, but the risen Christ could save all who would come to Him by faith. In John 10:17-18, Jesus told those who came to hear Him: "Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. 18. No one taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself, I have power to lay it down; and I have power to take it back again. This commandment have I received of my Father." Jesus knew why He was here. He carried out what He came to do, die on the cross and rise again. He won the victory. Let's praise Him for it! Bro. Joe In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul wrote that more than 500 people saw the risen Christ. That is good internal evidence, but you have to believe that the Bible is true to believe it. Have no doubt that I believe it, but we also need some external evidence that might not convince the hardest unbeliever, but if one will think about it this evidence will be convincing. First, either the apostles, and others, were terribly stupid, or they told the truth. What do I mean by stupid? If they pulled some sort of trick to convince people of Christ's resurrection, then they had an enormous death wish. Why in the world would they go through the years of persecution that they did if what they claimed was based on a lie. They were common men, but they were not stupid men. If there had been a dead body of Jesus after the third day, it would have been found and the apostles would have been the laughingstocks of their time. However, if they had lied about the resurrection, we would not have heard about it. The idea of a Christian church would have died with Jesus. Which brings me to the second point. Last Sunday, in celebration of the resurrection, for we celebrate the resurrection every Sunday not just on Easter Sunday, millions of people across the world met to worship at the feet of Jesus. The modes of worship were not the same. Some celebrated in quietness and some celebrated by shouting praises to Jesus and waving their arms in worship. If all of this is based on a lie, then why, 2,000 years later, are we still worshipping Him? Surely, somewhere along the line in the past 2,000 years, this would have all ceased if Christ is dead. Third, every time someone accepts Christ as Savior, His continuing life is validated. A dead Christ could have sent no Holy Spirit to convict and convert a sinner. There is plenty of internal and external evidence. Rejoice in that fact and rejoice in the living Christ. Bro. Joe
"Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour (brawling), and evil speaking (slander), be put away from you, with all malice. 32. And be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you."
There are a lot of angry, bitter people in the world today. We live in an angry, bitter world. This anger and bitterness is really showing up in our politics. I guess it always has, but it seems extreme today. This is true of the world, but what about churches? One would think that bitterness, anger, brawling, slander and malice would have no place in Christ's church. Just keep in mind that Ephesians 4:31-32 was written to believers in the Ephesian church. So this is nothing new. However, it does seem extreme today. Frankly, it is rare in some churches for a pastor to leave happy - or on his own. People spew hatred and bitterness against fellow church members, and they do this out in the community for non-christian people to hear. This is a poor witness. A lot of times pastors do not help themselves because they can get bitter and let it show as well as their members. What is the remedy? I don't know if there is a remedy for the world, which is subject to Satan's whims. But there should be a remedy for Christ's church, and Paul gives the answer here. He writes to put all these negative things off and "be kind one to another, tenderhearted (compassionate), forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you." It takes less stress and emotion to be kind and compassionate than it does to be angry and bitter. And what about "forgiving one another"? We have every reason to be forgiving, for "God for Christ's sake has forgiven (us)." We have been forgiven and we are commanded to be forgiving. Think of what a witness your church would be if the members were kind to each other, compassionate toward each other and willing to forgive each other. If this is the case in your church, praise God. Let's pray for this to become a reality in all of our churches. Bro. Joe |
AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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