[0:00] The first point is this, the first line of the parachute is, well it's really the risen Jesus.! Three points are going into one main point of the passage.
[0:14] And the main point of the passage is there in verses 47, let me just show you that. The big point of this is that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all the nations beginning from Jerusalem.
[0:25] And so if you think of that at the heart of the parachute, if we can use that, you've got three lines going in. The first line is this, the risen Jesus. The risen Jesus should be preached.
[0:36] Verses 36 to 43. It's been a big day for the disciples. Jesus died a couple of days before, they're in the upper room. They've been hearing stories about Jesus' body being risen from the dead.
[0:48] And just when the barbecue fish is about to be ready and done, Cleopas and his friend, partner, companion, first into the room and say, we've met Jesus.
[0:59] He is alive if he was with us seven miles away in Emmaus. And then suddenly, it says behind closed doors, Jesus stood in the middle of them.
[1:11] Right in the middle. Now I just need to pause here for a minute and say what is very important about this passage is Jesus' resurrection is not resuscitation. It's great to people who were here for the first time.
[1:24] It's great to people who are back with us tonight. Jesus' resurrection is not resuscitation. It's not Jesus has survived death to live a little bit longer in this world to die again.
[1:36] No, this is a resurrection. And a resurrection body. And his body has a different relation to space and time. So in the same way this morning when we looked at the passage before, he suddenly disappeared in Emmaus.
[1:49] He now suddenly appears in the upper room. And the resurrection body doesn't obey the old rules. But his new body has got flesh and bones. And Jesus is at pains to point out his identity.
[2:03] That he is the same person. Look at verse 39. See my hands and my feet. That it is I myself. Touch me and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.
[2:18] Handle me. See me. So the resurrection of Jesus is not a ghost. And it's not a zombie. And it's not a hallucination.
[2:29] It's not a vision. It's the same Jesus. The same Jesus that was born in Bethlehem. The same Jesus who went on the mountainside and fed 5,000 people.
[2:40] The same Jesus who was nailed to the cross by his hands and by his feet. That is the man standing before them. Flesh and bones. But these are flesh and bones of the new creation.
[2:53] He's risen from the dead. And as they are fluttering and gasping and touching his hands and touching his feet. He says look. Give me something to eat. And they give him a piece of barbecue fish.
[3:06] And he ate it. They give him a piece of barbecue fish in the attic. And one of the commentators said scholars have had intergestion ever since. That is a wonderful, wonderful lie.
[3:17] It really is. Because there are people out there who would call themselves Christian ministers. Who would call themselves bishops. Christian theologians. That want to say to you today. The resurrection is not a bodily thing.
[3:28] It's a spiritual thing. It's just a mystical, mythical, spiritual thing. And the disciples are having a kind of group hallucination.
[3:39] But if you say that it is just spiritual. You have to kiss goodbye. The new creation. Because the resurrection is the beginning of a new world. Jesus is the firstborn from the man and the dead.
[3:53] God has taken the flesh and the bones of Jesus. In his earthly life. And he's raised them to a new existence. A resurrection life. And now with his flesh and bones.
[4:06] They have the capacity to stand in front of God. And to bear the glory of God. There is a man in heaven tonight. To live for eternity. And it means that something has happened in this world that has never happened before.
[4:20] The old creation. In this passage. Meets the new creation. The old creation has met its Lord. Now of course the old creation when he was born.
[4:32] They knew he was the son of God. But now the old creation meets its future for the first time. In the resurrected flesh and bones of Jesus. A new body.
[4:43] A deathless and glorious body. Not the fruit of some natural process in this creation. But the first. For the first time the old creation.
[4:55] Has not just seen the end of the beginning. But it's seen the beginning of the end. The worst thing that the world can throw at you is death. And Jesus just overturned it.
[5:08] Let me put it a different way. In the resurrection. God gives Jesus a different name. So do you remember Philippians chapter 2. That God exalted him.
[5:19] And gave him a name that is above every name. That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow. And every tongue confess that Jesus is. But what is his new name? His Lord. Before the resurrection.
[5:32] Jesus was the son of God in weakness. But now he is raised. He is Lord of all. And as you go through the book of Acts. Luke's volume 2.
[5:43] As you go through the life of the Christians in the book of Acts. Again and again. They refer to the name. So the name. The name which means Jesus Christ is Lord. And that has huge implications for you and I.
[5:56] It means that the Christian faith is not a private. Individually experienced thing between me and Jesus. I hope you know that when we come to the Lord's table. It isn't just you and Jesus.
[6:06] It is us. We are the body of Christ. It is a public thing. It is not a private. Individually experienced thing.
[6:17] Between me and Jesus. It is not me when I die. Just kind of flipping off and going to heaven. It is about Jesus taking this creation. And transforming it. Through his death and resurrection.
[6:28] Into the new creation. And that is why Jesus says. Now God wants to proclaim repentance and forgiveness of sins in my name. The reason I have this name.
[6:40] Is that so repentance and forgiveness of sins will go forward. It is not that the new creation is over here. And repentance and forgiveness of sins is over there.
[6:51] They are part of the same thing. So repentance is calling on Jesus by his new name. It is chastening the new life of God.
[7:06] It is chastening of the new life of God. It is calling on him as Lord. It is chastening the forgiveness of the resurrection. That is the first line of the parachute. There is Jesus. There is a second line.
[7:17] The second line is the written scriptures. The written scriptures. Now it is interesting. Even after they see Jesus eat. They do not believe. And again I think that Luke is playing with the image here.
[7:30] Isn't he? The image is that the picture of Jesus eating. It must trigger us. Back to the heavenly feast that we saw this morning. The purpose of redemption. Now if your disciples didn't believe that you had risen from the dead.
[7:44] And you are standing there in a new resurrection body. I think I would probably show them some tricks. Wouldn't you? I would show them some of the things that I can do.
[7:54] If I had come back from the dead. I can disappear. I can go through locked doors. But Jesus doesn't do that.
[8:05] Does he? Jesus doesn't say I am going to set up some kind of invitation. Enormous spiritual internet connection. That you can somehow download all my goodness and thoughts. Now look what he does.
[8:15] Verses 44 and 45. And he said to them. These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you. So undramatic. That everything written about me.
[8:29] In the law of Moses. And the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. While I was with you this is what I said.
[8:41] Now that I'm raised in a new relationship. I'm no longer going to be with you physically. But the way that God is going to direct you. The way that God is going to speak to you. The way that God is going to guide you.
[8:53] Is through everything that is written. And he casts his mind back. Over the whole of the Old Testament. Moses. The prophets. The Psalms. And he says it is one story.
[9:04] And it has one focus. And one purpose. And one goal. He says it is all about me. And so. It's not a matter of an occasional proof text.
[9:15] In the Old Testament. That points to Jesus. Jesus is saying. That the deepest intention. Of every one of the Old Testament books. Is him. So why did God create the world?
[9:28] Well he had Jesus Christ in mind. Jesus the goal and the purpose of creation. Why did God promise. Blessing through Abraham. It was so Christ would come into the world.
[9:41] Jesus Christ fulfills the law. Jesus Christ fulfills the sacrificial system. Jesus Christ fulfills the prophets. Jesus Christ fulfills the kingship. Jesus Christ fulfills the ark.
[9:53] And the temple. All the Old Testament. The Old Testament is God. Getting ready. The world. For his son. But they don't understand it. And they don't understand it.
[10:06] Until he opens their minds. And then the puzzle starts coming together. And then Jesus says. If you want to summarize it all. If you want to summarize the scriptures. From beginning to end.
[10:16] You want the kind of bullet points here. Are the three points. Look down at verse 46. There are three verbs. That should happen the same way. Thus it is written. Verve number one. That the Christ should suffer.
[10:28] Verve number two. That he should rise from the dead. Verve number three. Repentance and forgiveness of sins. Should be preached in his name. To all nations. He says.
[10:38] You want to boil it all down. From God's perspective. Here are three things. Three things about this world. The cross. The resurrection of Jesus. And now the announcement. The proclamation of repentance.
[10:49] And forgiveness of sins. And what this means is this. That the first word of the gospel. Is forgiveness. The first word.
[11:01] Is that Christ has died. And that Christ has risen. Isn't that amazing news? That God is willing. To offer you. The gospel tonight. God is willing.
[11:13] To offer you. Freedom. The first word of the gospel. Is comfort. Comfort my people. Let me put it to you this way.
[11:25] If God requires repentance. And forgiveness of sins. To be announced. It means that the gospel. Has got two sides to it. So on the one hand. What this table says to you tonight.
[11:37] Is that you are more sinful. And more evil. Than you ever dreamed. And you even know. You are more sinful. And more evil. Than you ever know. But on the other side.
[11:48] It says to you. Doesn't it? You are more forgiven. And more accepted. Than you ever possibly imagined. And some of us tonight. In this room. Are thoroughly convinced.
[11:58] Of our own sinfulness. And you don't need anybody else. To remind you. That you failed. But you find it very difficult. To grasp the freedom. Of God's forgiveness. Completely. Other of us.
[12:11] May think. Well it's just God's job. To forgive me. And I've. You've never really. Taken responsibility. For your sin. And you don't know. The joy. Of repentance. And freedom. Of forgiveness. In Luke's gospel.
[12:25] The characteristic. Of forgiveness. Is always freedom. And liberty. And release. And God does not give it to you. Because you deserve it. Or because you're sorry.
[12:35] For your sin. He gives us forgiveness. For one reason alone. For Christ's sake. And he. Delights to give us forgiveness. To free us from the bondage.
[12:46] To sin. And that is why. Repentance. Is. Is not. This terribly. Difficult. Joyless. Negative.
[12:57] Groveling. Over the things. That I've done. There is a real sense. In which repentance. Is joyful. It is running. Through the door. And saying. Yes. This is what I want.
[13:08] Father. And I think. That is the. The tragedy. Of liberal. And wishing. Washy. Evangelical. Charismatic. Theology. Because what it has done.
[13:20] And what they are doing. Is replacing. The freedom. Of forgiveness. With an acceptance. And tolerance. And approval. Of my sin. And let me say to you.
[13:31] That is a wicked. And an evil. Thing to do. It says. God accepts me. Just as I am. And I'll be okay. Can you imagine. What it would be like. On the day of judgment. For the people. That have sat in churches.
[13:42] And they've been told. It is alright. To live morally. As you want. It is absolutely fine. The urges. That you have. They're not sinful. Just go with it. It's okay. God loves you.
[13:52] Don't worry about it. And on the day of judgment. That they would be. In the British shop. Wouldn't they? And the teachers. Of God's word.
[14:03] Who have said that. Well they would be judged. More severely. But in Luke's gospel. We have learned. That sin is a spiritual sickness. That leads to death. My sin.
[14:15] Is a spiritual sickness. That leads to death. And sin is me. Wandering off. And going my own way. Until I am utterly lost. And sin is a slave. Becoming a slave.
[14:25] To the opinion of others. And a slave of Satan. And sin is having. Other things. In the place of God. And worshipping. God's gift.
[14:36] Good gifts. That he's given me. Instead of him. It's living upside down. But here is the announcement. Of the gospel. God does not. Accept me. Just as I am. But he accepts me.
[14:48] Just as Jesus is. He accepts me. Just as Jesus is. Jesus comes as the divine doctor. To bring us healing.
[15:00] He comes as the son of man. To seek. And to save. The lost. He comes bringing freedom. And reversal. And forgiveness. Because it is. His good pleasure. It's a great picture.
[15:11] Isn't it? Here are the disciples. They are confused. They are unsure. They are uncertain. They face insecurity.
[15:22] What does Jesus do? He shows them his resurrection body. And he takes them to the word of God. And throughout the history of God's people. When the church faces uncertainty.
[15:33] And confusion. And insecurity. Where do we go? Where do we go? We go to the word of God written. And it says to us.
[15:44] Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ will come again. And that it announces to us. Repentance and forgiveness of sins in his name.
[15:55] So here are the first two lines of the parachute. The first is the risen body of Jesus. The second is the written scriptures. And the third line is the living church. Listen again to verse 47.
[16:06] And that repentance and forgiveness of sins. Should be proclaimed in his name. To all nations beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold I am sending the promise of my father upon you.
[16:19] But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high. Now amongst vital believing Christians. There are. There are two views. I'm speaking broadly.
[16:30] There are two views as to what the purpose of the church is. What is the purpose of the church? What is the vision of the church? One says the purpose of the church is to worship God.
[16:41] And to glorify God. To magnify God. And exalt God. It's to worship. The other view is the purpose of the church's mission. So the church is in itself by its definition a missionary organization.
[16:53] You've heard it. The church exists for the benefit of those outside. We are missionaries. By virtue of following Jesus Christ. And at this point in the Bible. Jesus is changing.
[17:06] The direction of mission. So in the Old Testament. Mission in the Old Testament. The nations came into Jerusalem. But now the mission changes direction. And we are sent out to proclaim repentance and forgiveness.
[17:20] In the book of Acts. That is what happens. As the gospel goes outward and outward and outward. What I want to say to you is both. That's good. And the two views.
[17:32] Worship and mission. They are not mutually exclusive in any way. And Jesus is a wonderful way of bringing them together. So if you listen carefully.
[17:42] He is saying that the purpose of God. And the purpose for his church. Is repentance and forgiveness of sins in his name. So there is ministry and there is mission. There is an inward focus.
[17:54] And there is an outward side to this. Let me speak about these two together. So the missional. I don't like that word at all. But the missional application. Of repentance and forgiveness.
[18:06] Well of course isn't it? Jesus is the greatest missionary. Jesus crossed the biggest cultural gap that the world has ever seen. He came from the glory of heaven to first century Israel.
[18:19] And throughout the gospel Jesus has been deeply purposeful. From Luke 9.51 isn't it? He set his face towards Jerusalem. Because he knew that he was going to the cross. And three times in this chapter.
[18:32] We have heard that this Christ must suffer and die. He must suffer and die. He must suffer and die. That is why he came. And that is the purpose of God the Father. And that is what God wanted.
[18:42] So that forgiveness and redemption. Is not some accidental byproduct of his death. But it has been planned for all eternity. It is his mission.
[18:53] And now he says. That same must. That drove me. Must drive you. Must drive you. And if you are a Christian.
[19:06] It means that the death and resurrection of Jesus. Is the most necessary thing that's ever happened. And so you cannot. You cannot.
[19:18] You cannot. And you will not. Keep it to yourself. Will you? So when the women discovered that Jesus was risen from the dead. They spontaneously ran. And they told people.
[19:29] As did Cleopas. It's the pattern of Luke 24. They did not do an evangelism training course. They did not do the introduction of Christianity. Explore. They did not do evangelism exposure.
[19:40] They just loved Jesus. And they told people about him. The mission of the church is not complicated. It is not complicated.
[19:52] It is to bring the entire world to repentance for sins. And forgiveness in his name. It is not to bring people into our church building. As lovely as our church building will be. It is to go out to the Ealing.
[20:04] Paragirl. Grief. Where you work. Where you live. Who you mix with. Who you go to the pub with. With this message of forgiveness. And the reason for that is because we know that there is no other name. There is no other way of forgiveness.
[20:16] There is no other way to reverse the curse. And we know that all those who are investing their lives in having the best life now. Well they are just building people.
[20:28] Again and again. So repentance and forgiveness of sins means the living church lives for mission. But it also means that the living church lives for ministry.
[20:40] For worship. And it is very important for us to see that. Repentance and forgiveness of sins in Jesus name. Is not just about mission to others. Is it? So repentance and forgiveness of sins.
[20:53] We immediately think. Ah. Outsiders. Missionaries. Booktamer. But it is not just that. It is not just the ABC of Christianity.
[21:04] How do we. How we become Christians. Is the source of our ongoing growth. Is it? Is it? And spiritual change in our lives. Until we come to the kingdom fully. So this.
[21:16] The most godly. And the most saintly Christian. Is someone who is doing nothing more. Doing nothing other than growing deeper in repentance.
[21:28] And stronger in their grasp of the reality of forgiveness of sins. That's a long sentence. Let me say that again. The most godly. And saintly Christian.
[21:40] Is someone who is doing nothing other than growing deeper in repentance. And stronger in their grasp of the reality of forgiveness of sins. And to be honest.
[21:53] As you do that. Mission will happen won't it? And the more godly you become. The deeper you have a sense of your own sinfulness. And at the same time. The greater you grasp.
[22:05] The absolute acceptance and approval of God through Jesus Christ. Now that can apply to any area of life. Let me give you a couple of applications. Take marriage for example.
[22:17] What makes a Christian marriage work? Is it scoring. Or is it 98% on your compatibility marks? What makes a Christian marriage work?
[22:29] It's not finding your soul mate. In the end. It is repentance and forgiveness of sins in Jesus name. So in marriage. You have two very sinful people commit themselves. For one flesh friendship.
[22:41] For the rest of their life. To the glory of God. And my purpose in marriage is redemption. It is redemption for my partner. And that cannot happen unless I am willing to repent.
[22:53] And I am willing to forgive. And I am not really going to repent. And I am not really going to forgive. Unless I grasp that Jesus has really forgiven me. And I can repent to him.
[23:03] So lots of marriages we know. Don't we? They settle into a pattern of pretense and defence. This sort of mutual deal. Where I won't hurt you too much.
[23:13] If you don't hurt me too much. It's a cold war. It's easier to focus on the kids or the jobs. When the kids leave home. The marriage disintegrates. Or when work goes wrong. And stress comes there.
[23:25] It cracks. The only place of real change. Is this virtual dynamic. Repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
[23:36] In Jesus name. And it has to be in Jesus name. Because the only place where I can know. That I'm completely accepted. And completely forgiven. Is not because of my performance. Or lack of performance. It is in Jesus Christ.
[23:49] And when I start to understand that. I'm free. I'm free to forgive. Take conflict. Most of us here. Hate conflict. And those of you who don't.
[24:01] We really wish you did. But of course. Not all conflict is wrong. Is it? Jesus lived a life full of conflict. How do we deal with conflict?
[24:14] We deal with it in a godly way. And the answer is not to know. That I am right on everything. And everything else is wrong. Nor is it to master. The techniques of conflict. The heart of being godly in conflict.
[24:27] Is repentance and forgiveness of sins. In Jesus name. If I'm accepted by God. Not because of what I've done. If I'm accepted by God. Not because of what you think of me.
[24:40] But because of his delight. I can risk being wrong. Can't I? And I can stand up to your disapproval. Because my approval. And my acceptance.
[24:51] Doesn't ultimately depend on what you think. Therefore I can speak kindly. And I can act in a godly fashion in conflict. I can have a repenting heart. Or I can know that God delights in me.
[25:04] You can apply this in every area of life. To bitterness. To anger. To jealousy. My point is simply this. When we become Christians. The gospel of repentance. And forgiveness of sins. In Jesus name.
[25:14] Is not something that you give away to other people. It is the deepest power of change. And that is something that we grow into. More and more and more every day.
[25:25] The Christian life is a lifelong. Process. Of growing in repentance. And understanding God's forgiveness. And we learn and we relearn. And we learn and we relearn.
[25:37] I think that's partly why Jesus mentions the Holy Spirit. In verse 49. He says you will be clothed in power. And that is not just a mission. It means being clothed. With repentance and forgiveness of sins.
[25:49] So there is the third line of the parachute. The first is the resurrection. The second is the scriptures. And the third is the living church. Now how do you finish the series on Luke?
[26:03] Well I want to say thank you for the privilege of being able to work in this book. And the only thing I think I want to finish with is I want to point you to how beautiful Jesus is. And I want you to see how Luke shows you how different he is.
[26:18] So that you go away from the table tonight with a picture of his goodness and kindness and his grace. And his compassion. And the more you read Luke's gospel the more it just feeds your faith.
[26:29] There are treasures on every line. Don't tell me that you've studied it. There are treasures on every page. So do you know that what Jesus said to his disciples when he came into the room.
[26:42] What does he say? He says peace to you. These are people that have betrayed him. That have abandoned him. They've let him down.
[26:53] They've denied him. But what does he do? He comes with forgiveness. He wants to overcome their sin. And he delights at mercy. And it means that God is far more ready to forgive than we are to be forgiven.
[27:07] He's so different to us. Do you notice in verse 47. He says where does repentance and forgiveness of sins first get preached in Jesus' mind? It is Jerusalem. The very place he was rejected.
[27:20] And tortured and executed. And that means for us that there's not a single person who's gone too far for the grace and forgiveness of Jesus. There's no person too evil.
[27:32] There's no person who's gone too far. And the compassion of Jesus is astounding. Look at how the gospel finishes. It finishes with blessing doesn't it? And he led them out as far as Bethany and lifting up his hands he blessed them.
[27:47] While he blessed them he parted from them who was carried up into heaven. He goes the same way he came. Bringing blessing. And leaving blessing. And that is what he's come to do isn't it?
[27:59] He's come to reverse the curse. He's come as the friend of sinners. And you will never find a heart more tender. More loving.
[28:10] More patient. More compassionate. More kind. And he was gracious in his coming. He was gracious in his life and in his teaching. What he did.
[28:22] He was gracious in his death. He's gracious in his resurrection. He's gracious in his ascension. And he remains the same yesterday, today and forever. And it fills us with great joy.
[28:36] And so let us sing. Thank you.