Purpose of Church
Notes
Transcript
Proof of Christ
Proof of Christ
Luke continues his gospel by writing a second account to Theophilus. We do not know who he is but is possibly a Christian or one who is seeking. Luke tells the rest of the story after Christ’s resurrection at the end of the gospel of Luke.
To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.
Jesus presented Himself to the Apostels after his resurrection for the purpose of starting the new testament church. They would need more instruction in order to carry out their mission. This is why Jesus presented Himself alive, gave them convincing proof, and spoke of things concerning the kingdom of God.
Presented Himself Alive
Presented Himself Alive
Jesus showed himself alive because the apostles knew that he died on the cross. This would prove His resurrection. Not only this but the word in Jerusalem was that someone stole the body of Jesus and that He had not been resurrected. Matt. 28:12-13
Matthew 28:12–13 (NASB95)
And when they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, and said, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep.’
The word around town was that the disciples stole the dead body of Jesus. By Jesus presenting Himself alive, it proved the claim of the elders wrong. Jesus did die, was placed in a tomb, and on the third day rose from the dead. Now He is presenting Himself alive.
Jesus does the same thing in our lives. He proves Himself to be alive. He does not appear in person like He did with the disciples, but reveals himself as a living Savior to our dead soul.
For example, before I came a Christian I had heard about Jesus from some friends and a neighbor. However, he was no different to me than Christopher Columbus, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Henry Ford, or any other historical figure. He was just another part of history that had no impact on my life.
However when I was 15 years old Jesus began to show himself alive in my life. It came through conviction of sin. For some reason the things I had done all my life seemed somewhat wrong and I began to feel convicted.
Rick Addison shared the gospel with me and my feelings began to make sense. I started to understand the concept of sin. Then I began to realize the affect of sin in my life. (destruction, death, and hell). I was fearful of this and wanted to get rid of my shame and not end up in hell.
I was told that Jesus would rescue me from hell. It was very clear to me that I was a sinner and desired salvation. This was a false salvation because I wanted Jesus to save me from hell but let me keep on living my life the way I wanted.
It wasn’t until I was 19 that Jesus proved himself alive to me. He did this by not only forgiving me of sin, saving my soul, but most importantly bringing me into a living relationship with Him.
Today that relationship is growing every day. My faith and understanding of my Jesus continues to develop.
One day my faith will become sight and I will no longer walk by faith but by sight. This will happen when the Lord calls me home. The culmination of my relationship will be complete!
Jesus Gave Convincing Proofs
Jesus Gave Convincing Proofs
Scripture doesn’t record all of these however it does record some. John records one of the proofs in John 20:26-27
John 20:26–27 (NASB95)
After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then He said to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.”
Thomas would not believe unless he saw with his own eyes and touched the resurrected Jesus. Jesus did not deny him this opportunity. Instead He allowed Thomas what was necessary to believe.
There are some here today that could possibly be like Thomas. You could be saying unless Jesus does something I will not believe. I am not going to say that Jesus will give you what you are looking for or not, but I will say that He has given you enough proof already to believe. It will require faith to believe.
Jesus Spoke of Things of the Kingdom of Heaven
Jesus Spoke of Things of the Kingdom of Heaven
Jesus revealed that God can now have reign over the human heart. Matt. 6:33
“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
We can now know kingdom matters and what is important in life. We can focus on eternal matters and not just temporal ones. We can know the mission of God.
for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
When God is reign of your heart the things of the flesh become secondary and the things of the spirit become primary. This can only happen when we give God reign over our hearts.
Many people today have not given God reign over their hearts. The proof is in what they value. When you value the things of this world over the things of the kingdom, then God does not have reign over your heart. Subsequently, this person will live for the world and have the frustration of the dissatisfaction of the world.
A person who gives God reign of their hearts lives for the kingdom of God. How do we do this? 2 Cor. 5:16-21
Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer.
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,
namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Our purpose is to reconcile people to God by sharing the gospel and making disciples. How can we do this?
Power of Christ
Power of Christ
Acts 1:4–5 (NASB95)
Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
Jesus promised that the disciples would receive the Holy Spirit. They would not or could not accomplish what His charge to them apart from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
We will see in a few weeks how the indwelling of the Holy Spirit helped them accomplish the mission that Jesus charged them with. They could not have done it without Him.
We are the same way. Christ has a mission for you. It can only be fulfilled by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
John 14:16–17 (NASB95)
“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.
Jesus promises the indwelling of the Holy Spirit for all who believe in Him. He will be our helper. He will help us accomplish the mission of Christ.
John 16:13–15 (NASB95)
“But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. “He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. “All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.
The Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth. We will be able to discern what is false from that which is true. That uncomfortable feeling you get before making a decision is the Holy Spirit’s caution.
The Holy Spirit will disclose to you what Christ desires. He takes what Christ desires and makes it known to us. This is done by the illumination of the Scriptures. God will make the Scripture applicable and obvious to the circumstance you find yourself in.
We need the Holy Spirit to accomplish the works of Christ. Eph. 2:10
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
In order to walk in the good works Christ has prepared for us, we must be able to discern the voice of the Holy Spirit. Do you recognize the voice of the Holy Spirit? How can you know? The Holy Spirit will always speak to the purpose of God.
Purpose of Christ
Purpose of Christ
Jesus tells the disciples what the purpose of His mission and the mission of the church. Acts 1:8
but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
We are to be witnesses of Christ in all places.
To be a witness of Christ we must tell others what we have experienced. Our salvation is a good starting point. This affords us the opportunity to share the gospel. It must not stop their. We must continue to tell others what Christ is doing in our lives currently.
We are to be witnesses in Jerusalem (Our own backyard), Judea (domestic missions), Samaria (different people groups), remotest part of the world (Foreign missions).
God has given us a sphere of influence in our lives. It is our purpose to be witnesses to them. I cannot reach them like you can.
We can form partnerships with local ministries and organisations that help fulfill the great commission, but the greatest impact is in your own sphere of influence.
Our mission is to partner with other churches in parts of the US that do not have a robust church presence.
Another aspect of being a witness is stepping out of our comfort zone and reaching people that are different from us. This means culturally, politically, socioeconomically, educationally, and many other differences.
Finally, we are to support foreign missions. This begins with prayer, then giving, then going!