Luke 24:44-49 says,...

Today's verses are Luke 24:44-49 which read,

44 - Now He said to them, "These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled."

Here is Jesus affirming all of the Old Testament - the Law, the Psalms, and the the Prophets - and affirming again that He is the Christ, the Messiah, who is speaks of.

45 - Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,...

This is something that Jesus does for us as we read and study the Scripture that never makes it old.  I pray this for you and us so that we would follow and fulfill Scriptures instruction with ever present fervor.

46, 47 - ...and He said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations beginning from Jerusalem.

Jesus gives us the gospel, the simple message and mission of Jesus that continues to this day.  He came and lived and died and rose again for the purpose to save sinners.

48 - You are witnesses of these things.

The disciples are the hearers of this and probably some others but it is also to us who have experience the calling of God and heeding His voice and humbly bowing at the feet of Jesus.  We are witnesses of the fact that Jesus died and rose again and we have received this forgiveness that has been proclaimed.  The word for witness is where we get the word martyr so it is someone who would die for this message of Jesus coming, living, dieing, and rising again.

49 - And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high."

The promise of the Father is the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples and all who call on the name of the Lord for salvation by faith.  The Holy Spirit will give the power that will enable you to see God's use you in sometimes very miraculous ways. 

This is Jesus speaking in this passage and He is directly giving us our marching orders and also those things to be affirmed by Christians and the Church.
 
  • The Bible
  • The teaching of the Bible
  • The gospel message of Jesus
  • The resurrection of Jesus from the dead
  • The need for the repentance of sins
  • The proclamation of the gospel message
  • The depth of our commitment to this message
  • The Holy Spirit's presence and power to fulfill
I guess we need to get going.

Pastor Adam
A simple man serving a great God and the local pastor of Stillwater Community Chapel (stillwater-chapel.org). We are in our 38th year of full time ministry. God directed us to this local body of believers on the Western Range of the Rockies to grow with them in mission and mindedness of Christ.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Connect a bit of Scripture with a bit of life - Spurgeon

     I heard this phrase today along with another that if you connect a bit of Scripture with a bit of life, it will end up effecting all of your life.  This came up in my study of the book of James and specifically the verses dealing with not just being a hearer of the Word but also be a doer of the Word.  It is all about application.  I can't look at preaching the Word without giving steps of applying the Word.  It really is an incomplete sermon if I don't.      Many times I think it has to be big and many points and given cute aliteration that makes it snappy and I think easy to remember and fun to write down.  Reality is, if I would make it a bit of Scripture connected to a bit of life and just that it would probably accomplish much more.  How much time I spend on the opening statement and lame joke and research and introductions and how many points and the closing statement and so little time on connecting the bit of Scripture to the bit of life.      So I guess I ha
Read more

Galatians #15 - Galatians 6:11-18 - "On The Road Again..."

Image
  Another week closer and it involves some more travel for the Wolfgangs.  I feel like the Willy Nelson song, " On the road again... "  I don't know if I agree with the next line though. " ...I can't wait to get on the road again. " One of the members of the church in Wisconsin calculated that I will travel well over 10,000 miles to make this transition.  Traveling mercies prayers please. Last Sunday we will look at Paul's final words to the churches in Galatia.  He brought them the gospel (good news) message of Jesus and what resulted were churches forming throughout the region.  The letter is to defend that message that our salvation comes from and is in Christ alone.  Christ's sacrifice on the cross was sufficient for the forgiveness of our sins.  The summary statement of the letter is found in  Galatians 6:15 (LSB) .  " For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. "  Translated another way earlier in  Ga
Read more

Sermon prep and maybe a video...

     James 4 has brought up some interesting study.  First, "the quarrels and fights among you."  Those are usually worse than you think even though we try to minimize them.  The source is simpler than you think because it is coming from within you.  The solution is easier than you think because the solution that James gives is that we need to humble ourselves before the Lord.  Any sincere resolution is specific and brief.  Beware of lengthy resolutions that usually include explaining it away or excusing some of the behavior.      As I have seen before, the words are a sign of the heart.  I read this week that if we have a critical heart we usually start by speaking evil of another to ourselves.  Then we progress to speaking evil of another to that person with a running tally in our heads of all their wrongs.  Finally, we speak evil of another to others and broadcast in a way that we are thinking that we are helping.  Giving judgment is always easier than giving mercy.  I
Read more