Okay, now we're ready to go. I'm taking the title for the
message from Luke 24, verse 44. And He said unto them, These
are the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you. You remember the Lord spent three
years of His public ministry when He called them out. The
apostles were with Him. night and day, all the time,
and he was constantly preaching to them. Just think of all the
things that they saw and what they experienced. These are the
words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you, that
all things must be fulfilled which are written in the law
of Moses." No doubt he preached to them out of the books of Moses
and in the prophets. No doubt he took them through
Isaiah 53 and all the prophets of Jeremiah, prophecy of Jeremiah. And then he preached to them
through the Psalms. Many times he did that. And then
he says, all this is all about concerning me. So the title of
the message is going to be, All Things Must Be Fulfilled. All things must be fulfilled. All things that were written
in the Old Testament Scripture concerning the Messiah, the Christ
of God now, the Christ of God must fulfill every promise and
picture. And truly, Every Old Testament
type, shadow, and picture, and promise concerning the coming
of the Messiah, His priestly work, His redeeming blood atonement,
His glorious resurrection, all those things were written of
Him many hundreds and even thousands of years before he came, but
we must know and we must realize that the Lord Jesus Christ has
fulfilled every one of those types, pictures, and shadows.
And in doing so, in doing so, what did he do? In doing so,
He accomplished our salvation. He accomplished our salvation.
You remember we read several times in 1 Corinthians 15 that
He died for our sins according to the Scriptures. That He was
buried and rose again the third day according to the Scripture.
All things that He did. You remember He said, that must
be about my father's business? And then He said this, And he
said, I have finished the work the Father has given me to do. So we came on business, the business
of accomplishing salvation, and doing so according to the very
Word of God that was written of Him. Now, today, we conclude
our study through the book of Luke. We started in January 2016, and today, Lord willing, we'll
finish our study. We have brought through the book
of Luke 172 messages from this series in the last three years. And they're all, as far as I
know, they're all posted on Sermon Audio. And you can go there and
go back and listen to this scripture, that, they're all right there.
They're easy to be found. Just look at the index and you
can click on any of those. Now, it's been a delightful journey
for me. and I trust it has been for you.
We know that all scripture is given by inspiration of God,
and it is profitable for you, for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction in righteousness, that we might
be mature believers resting in the Lord Jesus Christ. These
words The instructions that the Lord gives here to his disciples
are some of the last words that he speaks as the risen Lord before
he ascended to the right hand of the Father, having accomplished
all of salvation for us. He prayed in John 17, Father,
he said, I've glorified thee on the earth, I've finished the
work you gave me to do. As the risen Lord met with his
disciples that third morning, he showed them his wounded hands,
his feet, his side, he spoke peace unto them, We have peace
with God only in Christ. He sat down and ate with them
some broiled fish, as it says there in verse 42, and some honeycomb. Not that he needed food to sustain
his body, but rather to further convince his disciple that he
was a real man resurrected from the grave. He said, I'm not a
spirit. Flesh and bones are standing
right before you. Totally different, but still
flesh and bone. And then, we read here, in verse
44, these are the words, and he said unto them as he ate dinner
with them, He took it and did eat some brawled fish and honeycomb,
verse 44. 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, written
in the prophets of God, and written in the Psalms, and they're all
about Christ. He said, they're all concerning
me. And then, verse 45, He opened their understanding. Now, the
Lord our God must take the Word of the Lord and open our understanding
to what the whole message of the Word of God is about, or
we shall never understand the meaning of Scripture. Now, we
might get the facts, we might get the history right, but we'll
never understand the message of the Word of God unless He
gives us understanding, unless He enlightens our mind. A couple
of reasons why. The carnal mind will not receive
the things of God. Foolishness unto the carnal mind,
unless he takes the things of Christ and reveals them unto
us. The other thing is this. By nature,
our understanding is darkened. We're ignorant. We're fools. Slow of heart to believe the
Word of God. And of course, we know from Romans
8 that the carnal mind is enmity against God and will not have
God to reign over them. Now, let's look at this statement
here. The Lord preached the gospel to them from the Old Testament. He said, all these things must
be fulfilled which are written in the law of Moses in the prophets
and the Psalms concerning me. When we talk about the law of
Moses, now you have the book of John right there close. Turn
to John chapter 5. John chapter 5. What is Genesis,
Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and Numbers, the book of Numbers,
those five books? What are they all about? Well,
notice John chapter 5 verse 39. John 5.39, search the scriptures,
for in them you think you have eternal life. Now talking about
the Old Testament scriptures, that's all they had in that day.
There they which testify of me, and you will not come to me that
you might have life. I receive not honour from men,
but I know you, that you have not the love of God in you. I
am come in my Father's name, and you receive me not. If another
shall come in his own name, him you will receive. How can you
believe which receive honour one of another, and seek not
the honour that cometh from God only? Do not think that I will
accuse you to the Father. There is one that accuseth you,
even Moses, whom you trust, now watch this, for had you believed
Moses, you would have believed me, for he wrote of me." Now,
the Lord, all the way through those three years in his ministry,
he went through the writings of Moses, and he showed them
how Christ, the Messiah, must fulfill all those types, pictures,
and promises. And then, He said in our text,
and in the prophets concerning me, I want you to find the book
of Acts now, the book of Acts, in chapter 10 in the book of
Acts, the prophets of God. What did the prophets of God
speak about? Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, what
did all the prophets of God speak about? Well, here's what it is. Look at verse 42, and he commanded
us, Acts 10, 42, to preach unto the people and to testify that
it was he which was ordained of God to be judge of the dead
and of the quick, living and the dead, the quick and the dead,
to him That is, to the Lord Jesus Christ, give all the prophets
witness that through His name, whosoever believeth in Him shall
receive the remission of sin. What did the prophets speak about?
They all talked about the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, stay in the
book of Acts and turn to Acts chapter 13. So, in the Law of
Moses, Moses wrote about me, the Lord said. And then the prophets
of God, all the prophets of God speak about the Lamb that was
slain, behold the Lamb of God. And then in the Psalms, now in
Acts chapter 13, look at verse 33, or verse 32, we'll begin
there, Acts 13, 32, this is Paul's first sermon. After his conversion, we declare
unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto
the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us, their children,
in that he raised up Jesus again, as it is written in the second
psalm, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee." Now,
no doubt the Lord Jesus did the same thing as Paul did. Verse
34, and as concerning that he raised him up from the dead,
no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I'll give
you the sure mercies of David, wherefore he all sayeth also
in another psalm, thou shalt not suffer thy holy one to see
corruption. Talking about his body, Psalm
16. That his body, when it's dead,
died because of our sin, and was put in the grave. His body
didn't corrupt because he had no sin. Even though he was made
sin, having put away our sin, his body saw no corruption, and
he came forth the third day with a perfect raised body. His glorious resurrection. Now, then, look back at the text
now. Luke 24, 45, then He opened their
understanding that they might understand the Scripture. Now,
wouldn't that be a miracle of God's grace this morning if the
Lord would be pleased to open our understanding? Oh, that He
may do that for us right now. That is what the Holy Spirit
does when He takes the Word of Truth and gives us an understanding
of the Word of God. Now, if you hold your place here,
I want you to find, you can mark this in your Bible, right before
the revelation in 1 John 5. I quote this verse often. But he must take the word of
truth and give us an understanding. The written word speaks of the
living word, and God the Holy Spirit takes the word and gives
us understanding. 1 John 5.20 We know that the
Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that
we may know him that is true, And we are in Him that is true,
even in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and this
is life eternal. So He must give us an understanding
as to who He is, God our Savior, and as to what He has done, accomplished
all of our salvation. The Word comes unto us, not in
word only, but it also comes in power. And He gives us understanding
of the Word of God. Now, back to Luke 24. Luke 24. And here's what He says unto
them in verse 46. And He said unto them, Thus it
is written, and thus it behooved, or became necessary, must for
the Lord Jesus, Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the
third day. He reminds them again that the
Lord Jesus Christ must suffer. He must suffer for our sin. Now,
let's look at this just a minute. Back in Luke 24, verse 7. Turn
there. Luke 24, verse 7. Remember the... The messenger, the angels at
the grave of the risen Lord, told the women, saying, verse
7, the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men,
and be crucified, and the third day rise again. This is a must. Now, in Luke 24, look at verse
25. He said unto them, the risen
Lord, to those two men on the road to Emmaus, O fool, slow
of heart, to believe all that the prophets have spoken, ought
not. Now if you look at those two
words, ought not, it's the exact same word that's rendered in
the original, must. Christ must suffer these things
and enter into His glory. And beginning of Moses and all
the prophets, He expounded unto them and all the Scriptures the
things concerning Himself. He went right back to the Old
Testament, and Moses, and the prophets, and the Psalms, and
expounded unto them the truth of God. Now, this is a must. The Lord Jesus Christ must die
for our sin and he must be raised again. The death of Christ, crucified,
was necessary to our salvation. His flesh and blood offered as
a substitute, as a sacrifice for our sin, is the means of
our redemption. It is a means of our forgiveness
and pardon of sin. Without the shedding of His blood,
without His sacrifice, we have no forgiveness of sin. That's why Peter said, we are
redeemed. We are redeemed in whom we have
redemption. We are redeemed with the precious
blood of Christ. Now, sin demands a payment. I
can't pay it and you can't. Collectively we can't. The Lord
Jesus Christ by the one sacrifice put away sin by the sacrifice
of Himself. Without the death of Christ,
His blood being shed for the atonement for our sin, God's
law could never have been satisfied. You remember He satisfied both
precept and penalty in His life and His death. God's law could
never have been satisfied without Christ crucified. Sin could never
have been pardoned without Christ crucified. Sinners could never
have been justified before God without the shedding of His blood. And God could never have shown
mercy unto us without Christ dying for our sin. We'd have
no redemption, no reconciliation, and no regeneration, not before
God. That's why Paul said, I'm determined
to know nothing among you but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. You see, through the crucifixion
of death, God's holy character has been satisfied with the offense
of sin. God, as holy as He is, must punish
sin. In Christ crucified, we see the
only way God can be just and holy and punish my sin, and because
the full payment was made, He can justify the ungodly through
the Lord Jesus Christ. We studied that in Romans 3,
how God can be just and the justifier. How he can be a just God and
Savior through the Lord Jesus Christ dying for our sin. Now,
you see why he said this is a must. There's no other way. There's
no other way for sin to be put away. If righteousness comes
by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. The only way God can
be just and the justifier is through the sacrifice of Christ,
our substitute, who made satisfaction of God's law and justice for
us. Now we say that often, but it's so needful to repeat over
and over again, the only way that God can justify us justly
and not violate His holy character, is for the Lord Jesus Christ
to pay our sin debt. But not only is His death necessary,
look what it says there, He must suffer. He suffers for one reason,
because of our sin, but also he must be raised up the third
day. Now we've been over this ground
before, but it bears repeating. Not only is his death for our
sin necessary, but how about his resurrection? How about his
resurrection? When He by Himself purged our
sin, He sat down on the right hand of God, delivered for our
offenses and raised again for our justification. His resurrection
and His ascension to the throne of God declares everything He
said was true and everything He did was successful. Now, if there's no resurrection,
if the Lord Jesus Christ was not raised up from the dead,
He's an imposter and we're yet in our sin. And we better start
looking for a Messiah. You see, He is the Messiah, Son
of God, and He accomplished our salvation. Now that all boils
down to verse 47. This is really key right here.
He must suffer as a substitute to put away our sin. He must
be raised up showing that He justified us. by His bloody death
and His resurrection declared that He is successful. Verse
47, that repentance and remission of sin should be preached in
His name. Now, what should we preach? He
tells us here what we should preach. Repentance and remission
of sin. Now, I want to show you something
interesting. Turn back to Mark. We studied all the way through
the book of Mark, but look at chapter 1. When the Lord went
through that 40 days of temptation in the wilderness, and when He
defeated Satan, did not succumb to temptation, tempted in all
points like as we are yet without sin. Look at Mark chapter 1 verse
14. Now, after that John was put
in prison, Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom
of God, saying, the time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand,
repent and believe the gospel. Same message. He does not change. That repentance and remission
of sin should be preached in His name. Believe on the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Now, what should we preach? Well,
we preach Christ. We preach not ourselves, but
the Lord Jesus Christ. And in preaching the Lord Jesus
Christ, we declare repentance, and we declare the remission
of sin. A lot of people have some strange
ideas about what true biblical repentance is all about. The
word means repentance as it's defined in the Bible. It means
a change of mind. When it says that God repented,
He had a change. He's going this way, and now
He's going this way. So repentance means a change
of mind. One time, One time we thought
everything wrong about God and the Gospel. When repentance is
granted and when repentance is given, the Lord Jesus Christ
gives us right thoughts of Him and of the Gospel. Someone said
this, repentance is taking God's side against ourselves. A repentant
heart says this, when God declared from His Word, guilty. A repentant
heart says, you're right, I'm guilty. Taking God's side against
oneself. When the Word of God declares
that salvation is all of grace, not of works, a repentant heart,
one who's been granted repentance, said, that's so, that's true. Salvation is of the Lord. So
that is repentance. Now, stay with me. Both repentance
and faith, where do they come from? Both repentance and faith
are gifts of God. Every good and perfect gift comes
from above. Faith and repentance are both
gifts of God. Now, you know this scripture
very well. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourself. It is a gift of God. But you're
probably not. So familiar with this verse about
repentance. Turn back to the book of Acts.
The book of Acts chapter 5 verse 29. We'll read two places here
in the book of Acts what the Word says about repentance. Now
we know faith is a gift of God, right? Repentance is a gift of
God as well. Acts chapter 5 verse 29. Then
Peter and the other apostles answered and said, we ought to
obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised
up Jesus, whom He slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted
with His right hand to be Prince and Savior, for to give repentance
to Israel and the forgiveness of sins." So we only have repentance
because He died for our sins, and we are witnesses of these
things, and so is also the Holy Ghost whom God has given to them
that obey Him. Now, turn to Acts chapter 11.
Here's another scripture about repentance. We know faith's a
gift of God. We know that repentance is a
gift of God. Acts chapter 11, look at verse
18. When they heard these things,
they held their peace. This is Acts 11, 18. They held
their peace, glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles
granted repentance unto life. So repentance is what? True godly
repentance is the gift of God. Now, both faith and repentance
are given of God. Both acknowledge the truth of
salvation. In 2 Timothy 2, 25, it says that
repentance acknowledges the truth of God. So if you've been given
godly repentance as a gift of God, you say amen to everything
He says in His Word. You acknowledge that God is God,
God is sovereign, the salvation of the Lord. Same thing with
faith in Titus 1, 1. Both faith and repentance both
acknowledge The truth, as it is in Christ, that salvation
is all of God. Now, so repentance and faith,
when you find one, you find the other. Pastor Mahan used to put
it this way, when you find faith and repentance, it's like a piece
of paper. It has two sides. When you have
a repentant heart, you have a believing heart. They both are gifts of
God. They both come at the same time,
simultaneously. When God changes your mind, He
also gives you a new heart to believe the gospel. Now that
leads us to this, that what should we preach? We should preach repentance
and remission. Now know this, repentance does
not put away sin. Faith does not put away sin. The remission of sin, neither
repentance nor faith put away sin, that's only done by the
blood atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. He appeared once in the
end of the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.
Now, Paul preached in Acts chapter 20. In Acts chapter 20, he preached,
let's turn and read that, Acts chapter 20. I could quote it
to you because I've got it written down here, but I want you to
see this. In Acts chapter 20, Paul said in verse 20, Acts 20,
20. He said, I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you,
but I've showed you and I've taught you publicly from house
to house. publicly and privately, from
house to house, Acts 20, 21 now, testifying both to the Jews and
the Gentiles, the Greeks, repentance toward God, that's a change of
mind, toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, faith
and repentance come together. They're both given at the same
time. Repentance toward God, acknowledging that God is God,
absolute sovereign. And faith toward our Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, you have in Luke 24, you
have the book of John right there. Let me show you what the Lord
says about faith. Turn to John chapter 3. Believing
the Gospel. Believing the Gospel. In John
chapter 3, Luke verse 36. He that believeth on the Son, everlasting life. He that believeth. That's faith, is it not? And
he that believeth not, the Son shall not see life, but the wrath
of God abideth on him. Now, turn to a couple pages over. Turn to John chapter 5. John
chapter 5 verse 24. Repentance and faith are the
gift of God. Both repentance and faith acknowledge
salvation of the Lord. John chapter 5 verse 24, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, faith comes
by hearing, hearing by the word of the Lord, and believeth on
him that sent me, that's repentance, hath everlasting life, and shall
not come, into condemnation, but it's path from death and
life." Repentance and faith come together. Now, one other scripture.
Turn to John chapter 6, verse 35. John 6, 35. I am the bread
of life. He that cometh to me shall never
hunger. He that believeth on me will
never thirst. Look at John 6, verse 40. This
is the will of Him that sent me, that everyone that seeth
the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life. Now,
I would say faith is very important, is it not? He that believeth
on the Son hath everlasting life. How about repentance? Remember
our study from Luke 13? Our Lord said, except you repent,
you'll perish. Now, John 6, verse 47. John 6,
verse 47. Barely, barely, I'm saying to
you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am the bread of life. So repentance,
is it necessary? Absolutely. Where does it come
from? It's a gift of God. What does it acknowledge? The
salvation of the Lord. Same thing that faith does. Now, repentance does not produce
salvation. Faith does not produce salvation.
Both acknowledge that Christ is everything in salvation, that
Christ is all and in all. Do I have saving faith? Ask yourself
that question. Do I have true repentance, a
godly sorrow? If I have true repentance and
true faith, I freely and openly and publicly acknowledge that
salvation is all of Christ and all in him. That's what faith
and repentance is all about. True faith and true repentance
both quickly and readily and openly confess that salvation
is all of grace, that salvation is of the Lord. Faith and repentance
cannot be separated. They come together and given
at the same time. Now, I had this in the bulletin
last week, and I trust that you read the bulletin. This is an article by Brother
Henry Mahan, and I think it puts it in language that we can understand
what faith and repentance, how it acts. Know this, first of
all, that repentance and faith is not an isolated act. It's
a continual life. It's a continual being. It's
a state of being. But here's the article. Repentance
is a hand that releases the idols. You may return to God from your
idols. Faith is an empty hand that reaches
out to Christ as the gift of His grace. Repentance is a godly
sorrow over sin. Faith receives a full pardon
from Christ. Faith receives a pardon. Repentance
cries, God be merciful to me a sinner. Faith embraces the
Lord Jesus Christ as all my salvation. He's my Savior. Repentance is
a genuine hatred for the pollution of sin. Faith is seeking cleansing
from Christ and in Him. Repentance is the leper covering
his mouth and crying, unclean, unclean. Faith is the leper coming
to Christ and saying, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. Now, I want you to turn and read
this scripture with me. On 1 Thessalonians. I think we
have that given in one verse. 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 verse
9 and 10. For they themselves show of us
what manner of entering in we have into you, how you turn to
God. Now repentance is a turning and
a changing. And you turn to God from your
idols to serve the living and true God. That's repentance.
And verse 10, "...and to wait for His Son from heaven." That's
faith. Trusting the Lord. "...whom He
raised from the dead, even Jesus, who has delivered us, and to
wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead,
even Jesus, who has delivered us from the wrath to come." That's
faith and repentance given in those two verses. Now, in closing,
let me give you this. And verse 49, and behold, he
said, you are witnesses of these things. You go and preach these
things among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. Verse 48 and 49,
and you are witnesses. And behold, I send the promise
of my father upon you. You tarry in the city of Jerusalem
until you be endued, empowered, enclothed with God the Holy Spirit."
Now, what is this promise of the Father? Well, it's the promise
of the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles in a most unusual
way with unusual gifts to enable them to preach the gospel with
power and evidence that were sin of God. Now, let's stay with
this thought a minute. Turn to John 14. John 14. Here's the Lord giving them that
promise before He went to the cross. John 14. Verse 16, I will
pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that
He may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom
the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth
Him, but you know Him, for He dwelleth with you, and shall
be in you, And then, in the same chapter, John 14, verse 26, "...the
Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send
in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things
to your remembrance. Whatsoever I have said unto you,
peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you, not
as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid." So, the promise of the Father. Look
back to Luke 24, verse 49, They went, and we're going to
see all through the book of Acts. In the book of Acts, we see the
apostles doing exactly what God sent them to do. He said, go
into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
And you wait until you be endued with power from on high. We read
in the book of Acts where the Lord repeats that. You shall
receive power after the Holy Ghost has come upon you. You
shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria,
and we're even enjoying these things right now. The uttermost
parts of the earth, that includes Zebulun, Kentucky. Where in the
world is Zebulun, Kentucky? Well, the outermost parts of
the world. It's the center of our universe
right here, is it not? He said to those disciples, you
go and preach the gospel to every creature, knowing I have all
power in heaven and earth. I'm with you always. You go and
preach the gospel. Now, verse 50, 51, 52, and 53. This is what we read of in Acts
chapter 1, and this took place 40 days after his resurrection. He led them out as far as Bethany,
and he lifted up his hands and he blessed them, and it came
to pass while he blessed them, he parted from them, carried
up into heaven. In the book of Acts, in a cloud.
Now, these things are beyond reason and beyond the natural
part of the laws and physics of this universe, but the Lord
is a law unto himself. The Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man
mediator, got on top of that cloud and went to the very throne
of God, wherever that is, and he sat down on it. Literally,
the God-man mediator is seated on that throne. And when we're,
when this thing is all done, when it's all wrapped up, he
said, I go away to prepare a place for you. I'll go away and I'll
come again to receive you to myself that where I am, there
you may be also. We're going to behold the same
very hands that Thomas looked at, that Peter and John, the
same very hand, nail print in his hand. We're going to see
him as he is. And we're going to be just like
him. Now, the way this is ending here,
it gives us, I looked up this, I was thinking about this word
segue, segue. which means proceed to what follows. So, we're going to segue from
his ascension to Acts chapter 1 and the whole book of Acts,
28 chapters, and we're going to segue, which means to proceed
to what follows. What follows? Well, they did
exactly as they were told. They were told to wait in Jerusalem
until the Holy Spirit came and blessed them with unusual gifts,
unusual power, and then Peter stood up and preached the Gospel.
And when he preached the Gospel, I don't know how many thousands
were there, but 3,000 heard the message and were converted from
one sermon.