A lesson this morning will be
taken from Luke chapter 24. We've been going verse by verse
without going back and checking, I think, almost every book of
the New Testament. I just don't know. I keep looking
at these last verses and I wonder if this will be my last lesson
on it or if the Lord will give me one more to kind of sum it
all up. But at any rate, these are the
last verses of chapter 24 of the Gospel of Luke. Let's read
these verses together. Luke 24, beginning with verse
44. And He said unto them, These
are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you,
that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law
of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms concerning
me. Then opened he their understanding,
that they might understand the scriptures. And he said unto
them, thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer
and rise from the dead the third day. Now this, all of this, he's
telling them, came from Genesis to Malachi. This was the message,
from Genesis to Malachi. No New Testament. All Old Testament
scripture. And, he said, not only was he
to suffer and die and be raised from the dead, but, or and, that
repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name
among all nations beginning at Jerusalem. And you're witnesses,
he said, of these things. You've been with me. I called
you by your name, and you've been with me for three and a
half years. You're my witnesses. You're going to witness not only
what I preached, and I'm going to give you an understanding
of it, but when I'm gone, you're going to preach this, and you're
going to preach it in all nations. You're witnesses of these things.
And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you. I'm not
sending you out alone or without any help. But I'm going to send
the promise of my Father upon you. But tarry ye in the city
of Jerusalem until you be endued with power from on high. And he led them out as far as
Bethany, And he lifted up his hands and blessed them. And it
came to pass while he blessed them that he was parted from
them and carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned
to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple
praising and blessing God. Amen. Quite a while back, we were meeting
down at the old building down on 53rd. And my daughter Melissa,
my oldest daughter, was visiting with us and had my two granddaughters
with her. And they were too young back
then to come into the regular service. And we just had a little
place where we fairly shipped back, kind of like this, just
a little spot in the back. And so all the ladies would usher
the ones too young to be in the service, they would usher them
back there. And when the oldest of my two granddaughters went
by, she stopped and was looking at me. And when I looked over
at her, she said, Paul, I said, what, honey? She said, are you
going to say the words? And boy, it pierced me like a
knife. And I thought about the weight, the weight of being one who's
going to testify of these things. I'm going to stand before men
and women whose souls lie in the balance, and I'm going to
tell them what God said. Now, if you don't think there's
a weight involved in that, you try it. You try it. I said, I sure hope so. I sure
hope so. But our Lord did more than hope
to speak. He said, these are the words.
I hope to say the words. But he said, and at my best,
all I can do is tell you what he said. at my best, just tell
you what he said. These are the words, he said. He didn't say these are the words
that are in the book, you go figure them out, he said these
are the words that I speak unto you. He had the book, he had
the scrolls, he read the scrolls, but he told them what the scrolls
said. He told them what the scrolls mean. And to those men chosen of Him
personally and taught of Him and chosen to be His witnesses,
He says, these are the words. And our Lord did not, as most
people seem to believe, leave His apostles to interpret, discern,
or theoretically define the gospel of Christ. He never left this
world to do that. No committee, no school board,
no denominational treaties. Christ alone will reveal his
gospel. He is the gospel. Isn't that
what he said? They were confused. We don't
know where you're going, we don't know how to get there, and you're
telling us you'll know and all that. He said, I am the way,
and the truth, and the life. And no man cometh unto the Father.
but by me. Christ alone will reveal his
gospel, and these are the words, now watch this, he said, which
I spake unto you while I was yet with you. And if the Lord
will allow me this morning, in this brief space of thirty minutes
or so, I want us to consider five things that come to pass
as our Lord ushers in the gospel age. He's about to leave this
earth and be carried up into glory. He's about to receive
his coronation as the King of Glory. He's going to take his
seat at the right hand of God. And before he leaves, he looks
eyeball to eyeball with these witnesses and he tells them five
things, five things, that have happened and will yet happen
that this gospel age be ushered in. Now the first of these things
is this, it's the doctrine of Christ. Not doctrines, the doctrine
of Christ. That is the teaching of Christ. And anybody who's ever read the
Word of God knows that these men were familiar with the Old
Testament. These Jews were taught from the
time they were children. Their fathers and mothers and
grandmothers, Timothy's mother and grandmother, both of them
read to him, read the scriptures. And Paul knew that. And he said,
you've known the holy scriptures which are able to make thee wise
unto salvation. These men knew the Word of God. They were familiar with it. I
might select a passage out of Nehemiah or somewhere and read
it to you this morning. You'll say, well, I never heard
that before. You won't do that with these men. These men knew
the Old Testament Scriptures. If you quoted something, they
had either heard it read or read it and heard it expounded. Genesis
to Malachi. They knew and confessed the Holy
Scriptures to be the Word of God. That's what they believed. They believed this was the Word
of God. Our Lord said to the Jews, the
scribes, the most taught of the bunch, the Pharisees, He said,
you search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal
life. They knew that this was the Word
of God. And he said, and they are they which testify of me,
but you won't come to me that you might have life. It seems obvious to me that they
understood that God's providence arranged to have these various
men speak in the power of the Holy Ghost and compile all their
writings and preserve them both for themselves and for all future
generations. They didn't throw them away.
They didn't let them get lost. They kept those things. Those
old scriptures were hand transcribed. They knew its history, they knew
its letter, but its meaning and message was hidden from their
eyes. You won't come to me, he said,
that you might have lied. Well, what do men find when they
read the scriptures? They find the law. It says don't
do this, do this. And so they look at that law
and they try to keep that law, but they never find any peace
in it. They're constantly disturbed. They can never arrive at any
peace because peace isn't in the law. The truth is nobody
can enter into the real message of this book unless God himself
gives them an understanding. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians
chapter 2. I want you to see this in the
Word of God. I'm not up here trying to give
you opinions. I'm not up here offering you
theories that I come to believe after studying. I want you to
see this is the teaching of the Word of God. There were then
and are now men who have dedicated their lives to understand the
Scriptures. They study hermeneutics. What
on earth is that? That's the study of interpretation.
They study that. That's on their degree. See,
I passed this class. They study philosophy and history
and archaeology and theology. They study Greek and Hebrew and
Chaldean. But it's a funny thing to me,
those who are so versed in Greek never seem to understand that
the Lord said to the Greek, It's foolishness. Understanding Greek
is not the same as coming to Christ. It's not the same as
understanding the truth. They study all these things.
They become proud that Scripture said, knowing nothing. They dote over questions and
stripes of words. This was written by Paul. He
was a Pharisee of the Pharisees. He knew what he was talking about.
And when he talked about them, he could slice them up like a
cake. He knew exactly what he was saying. He said, they're proud knowing
nothing. They dote over questions and stripes of words. They become
disputers with men. And in spite of all that energy,
all the energy spent, have corrupt minds which are destitute of
truth. That's what Scripture says. 1
Timothy 6, verses 4 and 5. In 1 Corinthians 2, verse 1,
Paul said, And I, brethren, when I came unto you, came not with
excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony
of God. For I determined not to know
anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. And
my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's
wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and power. We preach
the gospel, dogmatically declare what this book says, but then
I have to wait for the Holy Spirit of God. If He don't move, it'll
go right in one ear and right out the other. And he said, I do these things
that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in
the power of God. That word power has a threefold
meaning. Here's what it means. Ability. That's the first thing it means.
Ability. Paul thanked God. Thanked God for the Colossians. Because God had made them meat. That means he gave them the ability
to enter into this inheritance. He tells us in verses 6 through
13 of 1 Corinthians 2, he tells us that not even the princes,
that is the scholars, the advantaged, the highest qualified of men
ever entered in to an understanding of message. But He revealed them
unto us by His Spirit, who worked in them through their preaching
and in their hearts, and caused them to be believing sinners. Verse 14, look at this. But the natural man, that man
in whom God is not doing any work, the natural man, be born,
raised in this world the way every one of us was. He may have
had disadvantage or he may have been disadvantaged. It doesn't
make any difference. The natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God. He'll receive religion. He'll
get religion. He'll make a profession of faith.
He'll come to the front. He'll sign a pledge card. You
tell him he has speaking tongues, he'll speak in tongues. He'll
do anything you tell him except bow to the things of the Spirit
of God. He won't do that. He won't do
that. Natural man receiveth not the
things of the Spirit of God. Why? There's foolishness to it. You mean, preacher, you're telling
me I have to hear a man to be saved? No, that's what God said.
That's what He said. I didn't. I didn't tell you what
He said. How should you hear without a
preacher? Ain't that what it says over in Romans 8? You better
do. I didn't say it, he did. Of his
own will begat he us with the word of truth. Whose will? God's
will. I don't want it that way. I know,
but it ain't your will that counts, it's his. He doeth according
to his will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants
of the earth. None can stay his hand or even question what he
doeth. And why would you want to? He's all wise. We're idiots. Huh? That's right. We're ignorant. That's what he tells us. None
that understand that. Ain't that what it says? So we're talking about ability
and the second thing we're talking about when we talk about the
power of God is we're talking about permission. The right and
privilege. To as many as received him, to
them gave he power, the right and privilege to become sons
of God. You can't make yourself a son
of God. Can you? No. How are you going
to do that? You can't make yourself my son,
let alone a son of God. It has to do with ability, it
has to do with permission, and it has to do with legal right. If I set up a trust for my children,
and I fill it out, they have a legal right to what I have.
Otherwise, it goes probate court, and they go in there and try
to figure out who gets what. But when these things are written
down, now you've got a legal right. They're spiritually discerned.
The opening verses of the last book in the Bible say the revelation
of Jesus Christ, and that's exactly what it is. It's a revelation. I can only compare my own experience
as the Lord through his servants opened my understanding that
I might understand the scriptures, but that's what he tells these
Then, then, he said, you remember what was written over here in
the book of Nehemiah? That was concerning me. You remember
that sacrifice that Abraham took up on that mountain, that ram
caught in the thicket? That was me. He went all through
the Old Testament and all the types and all the pictures and
all those things, and he showed them where they were fulfilled
in him. Then opened he their understanding that they might
understand the Scripture. You'll never understand the scriptures
apart from Christ. You can't do it. What is the doctrine of Christ?
Well, it has to do with all things being fulfilled which are written
in the Law of Moses and in the Prophets and in the Psalms concerning
him. Luke 24, 46. He said, under them,
thus it is written, thus it behoove Christ to suffer and to rise
from the dead the third day. I'm telling you to read about
his death and count how many times he said, for it is written. He said this for it was written. He did this for it was written. They laid their hands on him
and put a crown on his head and smacked him and spit on him because
that's what was written would happen. Thus it is written. And thus
it behooved Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the
third day. The doctrine of Christ is the
teaching of salvation in a person. I tell you, if you don't learn
anything else here this morning, learn this. Salvation's in a
person. It's not in a bunch of accumulated
facts. It's not in understanding Calvinism. Salvation's in Christ. Calvinism just tells you who
he is. It tells you what happened in a simple outline. The doctrine
of Christ is the teaching of salvation in a person, a substitute. Now let me ask you something.
Here's a substitute. He dies in my room instead, and
God kills him. And then he raises him from the
dead, and he justifies me. Am I justified? Have my sins
been put away? Well, he killed his son, my substitute. He's not going to turn around
and kill me too. That would make the death of his son a shame,
wouldn't it? Sure it would. And see, this
is the difference between what I'm preaching and what this world
is preaching. This world is preaching an attempt to save you. Christ didn't attempt anything.
He said, I came and my name is going to be called Jesus because
I shall save my people from their sins. No ifs, ands, or buts about
it. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies and Christ
that dies. The doctrine of Christ is a teaching
of salvation in a person, a substitute, a representative man. He is the
head of the body, the church. That word head has to do with
being a federal head. Just as Adam was the head of
all humanity, Christ is the head of all his elect. And just as
they all fell in Adam, all that was representing Christ were
going to be made alive. There's no other way you can
read that. It don't add up. Read it. And then secondly, not only is
he going to teach us the doctrine of Christ, that's going to be
established right then, right there, before he sends them out
into this world. And secondly, our Lord establishes
his death. And nothing is so distorted,
so twisted, so misinterpreted as the death of Christ. He said
it behooved Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the
third day. It behooves Him. Why? Because
God is God. And He can't just forget sin.
He can't just take an eraser and wipe away. Your sins have
to be paid for in order for God to continue to be God. God is
the God of perfection. His justice is perfect justice.
And holiness has to do with all of the character of God, all
of it being manifested, and all in perfect harmony. That's holiness. Christ didn't die to make salvation
possible. 1 Thessalonians 5, 9, it says,
for God hath not appointed us to wrath. If you knew what that meant,
you'd be jumping up and down. He hadn't appointed. Oh, that's
the best news I ever heard. God hath not appointed us to
wrath. but to obtain salvation by our
Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep,
we should live together with Him. What's that talking about? That's talking about an eternal
union. God chose a people and He put
them in His Son. They're in Him. Listen to this
scripture. It's 1 Corinthians. Chapter 1,
I think, verse 30. Of Him, of God, are ye in Christ
Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption, that according as it is written, he that glorieth
let him glory in the Lord. We don't have anything glory
about that. a law singer, he binds you, he's made preparation
for you, he's made provision for you, he's arranged his providence
for you, he put you in his son, in the fullness of the time when
that was come, God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made
under the law to redeem them that were under the law, that
we might receive the adoption of children. We're going to receive
what God predestinated. having predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to
the good pleasure of his will. By way of his death, he both
honored and exalted the law, satisfied divine justice, and
put away our sins. Who is he that condemneth? It
is God that justifies. and Christ that died were sanctified,
the scripture said, through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once for all and perfected forever in that sanctification. And there's no other way to perceive
the death of Christ except for his elect, particular redemption. That's what we believe. The death
of Christ was according to the will of God. Now what Christ
said, nevertheless, not according to my will, but thy will be done,
he said. His death is set forth as necessary
for the salvation of sinners. He died the just for the unjust,
that he might bring us to God. And his death was in all points
according to the Scriptures. Thirdly, here's the third thing,
verse 47. And that repentance and remission
of sin should be preached in his name among all nations beginning
at Jerusalem. Now I hope you'll listen to me.
Just listen to what I've got to say here for a couple of minutes.
Our Lord did not say that he died so that we could tell sinners
to repent. God told sinners, he commanded
sinners to repent from glory. He didn't have to become a man
come down here and accomplish this work and rise and go back
to heaven to tell the sinner to repent. That's not what he
did. Rather, he tells us that he died
that we might proclaim repentance. There's a difference. When God
commands all men everywhere to repent, he commands all men everywhere
to turn to him. That's what he's talking about.
But here our Lord, by virtue of His death, commands us to
preach repentance. That is, to proclaim the turning
of sinners to Him. Is there a difference? It's a
monster difference. By virtue of His sin-atoning
sacrifice, I am to proclaim liberty to the captives. You remember
when he read that verse in Isaiah 61? He read it over there in the
book of Luke, and he said, this day is the scripture fulfilled
in your ears. He hath anointed me to preach
deliverance to the captives. You can read about it again in
Zechariah 9, verses 11 through 12. It's the opening of the prison
to them that are bound, preaching the acceptable year of the Lord,
the year of jubilee, the year of acceptance, all debts forgiven. And the word repentance simply
defined means reversal. This repentance that we preach,
what am I preaching? I'm preaching a total reversal.
Old things, he said, are passed away and behold, all things have
become new. That's a reversal isn't it, Brian? Old restraints, old debts, old
principles, old ideas, old doctrines, the old man. There's a wonderful example of
what I'm saying declared in John's Gospel in chapter 1. He came
into the world, and the world was made by Him, but the world
knew Him not. He came unto His own, His own
people, His own temple, His own pictures, everything that was
written, He come to them. They wouldn't have Him either.
But to as many as received Him. Whoa, now wait a minute. The
world wouldn't receive Him. and his own wouldn't receive
him, how come these did? To as many as received him, to
them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on his name who were born, not of blood, not
of the will of the flesh, not of the will of man, but of God,
of God. Here's another one, Barabbas. He was bound and held in chains,
but the king sent an envoy to him with a message. He's already convicted. He's
not waiting around to see if he's going to be convicted. He's
already convicted. He's not out here in a vacuum
and then one day they're going to come put chains on him. He's
already in chains. He's bound. He's in prison. He
can't go anywhere except those four walls. He can do whatever. He's free. You want to talk about
free will? There it is. You're free to go
anywhere in that prison cell you want to go. After us. This is Barabbas. This man was
arrested, charged, convicted, and awaiting crucifixion. He's
bound, held, and chained, but the king sent an envoy down.
And they had a message. They unlocked his chains. And they took him by the arm.
And no doubt, now, he knows what's coming. Crucifixion. And he can
hear them out there. He can't hear every word they're
saying, but he can hear them when that crowd raises their
voice. And they're out there crying, give us Barabbas! Crucify
him! Crucify him! And they come get
him by his arms. I can just imagine. Your legs
would be limp, wouldn't they? You're going to the crowd. And
they come outside that building, and they let go of his arms,
and they said, you're free to go. This is a trick, right? No. You're free to go. Why? Another's
been chosen to die in your stead. You see what I'm talking about?
We preach a total reversal. I preach redemption accomplished.
Well, we're not waiting around to see if God's going to save
us. He saved us in His Son. He made provision for me in His
Son. And I guarantee you this, every man that Christ died for
is going to be brought to hear the Gospel and empowered to hear
it. Now that's just so. His death is not going to be
made a sham. And for anybody to be lost for
whom Christ died, What a smear on the name of God. It ain't
going to happen. It ain't going to happen. Oh, Barabbas, you're free to
go. What are you preaching? I'm preaching you're free to
go in Christ. That's what I'm preaching. What
do I have to do? You don't have to do anything. He did it all. He did
it all. By virtue of His death for His
people, a complete reversal has been manifest. He quickened us
together with His Son, raised us up together with Him, made
us sit together in heavenly places in Christ. Where are you at this
morning? I'm seated with Him. I'm just
waiting for the physical part. Spiritually, I'm seated with
Him. And he did it, he said in Ephesians
chapter 2, that in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding
riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. And then fourthly, what an example. He told me, he said, I know I'm
past my time, but I've got to finish this message. He said, now you go down to Jerusalem,
you wait there till you be a dude. with power from on high. What's
in Jerusalem? What's in Jerusalem? This is
a bunch of people who rejected the Son of God plotted and planned
his death, actively engaged themselves in his conviction and judgment,
and stood around and gloated until he died. And then after
he died and God raised him from the dead, they paid men to lie
about his resurrection. These are Jerusalem sinners.
You want to talk about sinners? I'll tell you the depth of sin
is religious men who pretend to love God. That's the pitch. That's why Paul said, I was the
chief of sinners. He wasn't just making a statement.
He was a Pharisee, and a Pharisee is a chief of sinners. Ignorant. They all gathered themselves
together to celebrate the ceremonial law and the feast days, believing
they'd done God a service in killing the Son of God. And on
the day of Pentecost, the man they crucified sent the Holy
Ghost upon his church and upon these witnesses. And the very
first to experience the power of his gospel were these God-hating
men. 3,000 souls heard the gospel
who actively participated in his death. And God saved every
one of them. Huh? 3,000 of them. And you read
not very far after that where he saved thousands more. Oh, what an example he set before
us. To this slaughterhouse of murderers
and thieves and liars, our Lord will have the first proclamation
of mercy. Oh, the riches of his grace and
the boundless love of Christ. And then finally, lastly, he
declares a glorious end. Read with me again these last
verses. He led them out as far as Bethany, verse 50, lifted
up his hands and blessed them. Somebody told me a few weeks
ago that message really blessed me. Can you imagine how blessed
they were when the Son of God raised up his hands and blessed
them? And it came to pass while he
blessed them, he was parted from them and carried up into heaven,
and they worshiped him. That's what worship is, isn't
it? We worship him. And returned to Jerusalem with
great joy and was continually in the temple praising and blessing
God. May the Lord be pleased to make
it so in the hearts of all who gathered here today, especially