THE LAST WORDS OF JESUS

#258                                        THE LAST WORDS OF JESUS

Scripture  Acts 1:6-11, NIV                                                                                       Orig. 10/15/1961

                                                                                                                     Rewr. 1/1975; 12/2/1988

Passage: 6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

Purpose: Preaching to my people early in Advent season of the need to commit ourselves to Christ that the world may come to know that He is Saviour.

Keywords:        Christ, Saviour             Obedience                   Witness            Commitment

Timeline/Series:           Early December          

Introduction

            Of the several history books I have in my library, there is one on the U.S. presidents.  It is a paper-back, and the content relative to each of these men is kept deliberately brief, yet some fascinating data is included.

            One of the most interesting segments of the book is found in the index, dealing with the last words spoken by these great Americans.  It probably revealed the character of these men better than any other individual event.  Several used that time to speak lovingly of their wives.  Not a few left messages for posterity that addressed some unfulfilled challenge.  For them death had come too soon.  Others left commentary on their own character by speaking contemptuously of one of their contemporaries.

            Many of us carry etched in our own memories “the last thing” someone said to us.  It may have been the word of a loved one lost to death.  Or, it could be no more than the statement of a friend who has departed on some extended journey.  Perhaps few other things draw the intensity of interest like the last thing that someone says.

            How can it be a bad idea, then, to examine the last thing Jesus said?  That doesn’t make it any more important, but it is deserving of our special attention.  If we are interested in “last words” from “important” people, then this text should speak volumes to us.

            Jesus’ cousin John advised the people to hear Jesus. He himself baptized only with water.  Jesus would baptize with “fire.”  A noteworthy doctor named Luke spent much time telling of the miraculous deeds done by Jesus.  An angel visitor, finding the disciples fussing over Moses and Elijah, instructed them to “hear” Jesus.  His mother said what few mothers would dare to say, “Whatever he says to you, do it!”

            So, look with me this morning at the “last” word of Jesus.  It is still time to “hear” him.

I.          It Was a Word Denoting Privilege.  V7f, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.  But you shall receive [power]. . . .”

            There were things that were perceived as not in their best interest.  The burdensome gift of foreknowledge for instance:  A desire to know the future is still problematic?  How much proof do we need that Jesus was all he claimed to be?  As Christians, are to walk by sight, or by faith?  Indeed, we do know the answers to such questions:  Our interest is not eternal, our interest is material—we want what will help outwit the other side.  It still is not in our best interest to know what the plans of God are.

            We are quick enough to claim our privileges, but on our own terms, which, of course, God has not promised.  Psalm 103:17, “The mercy of the Lord  is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him.”  The Hebrews perceived of the kingdom in political terms:  God would invade history in a holocaust of power; their people would hold upper hand. 

            Jesus’ attitude of the kingdom was somewhat different.  We know it best from “Lord’s Prayer.”  “Thy kingdom come.  Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth.”  It is for us to yearn for God’s will among men as it surely is among the angels. 

            It is our privilege, brethren, to receive what God wills to provide.  We are to be open and receptive.  We must distinguish between preoccupation and privilege.  C.S. Lewis depicts the sorrows into which Christ continually comes with his “land of Narnia” where “It was always winter, never Christmas.”

II.         It Was a Word Declaring Power.  V8, “But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you.”

            O, for the reality of such power.  Need I remind you that electrical energy existed from the dawn of time.  Harnessing that power did not arrive until the 19th Century.  Atomic power arrived a century later.  Brilliant scientists are seeking now new ways to harness the sun’s power.  The lights shining so conveniently above us now will be seen as necessities when we return to this place in the evening.  The power awaits only the flick of a switch.

            Such power in the spiritual plain was always the work of God.  It appeared.  It vanished; totally at the discretion of God.  Say at Gideon’s rout of Midianites; Judges 6:34, “The Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon and he blew a trumpet.”  Seen also in its negative aspect.  Isaiah 63:10, “They rebelled and vexed his Holy Spirit: Therefore he was turned to be their enemy.”

            But  in this New Testament day, the power has come, and it has come for God’s own people.  John 14:16, “I will pray the father and  he will send.”  John 14:26, “The comforter which is the Holy Ghost, will teach you all things and remind you of what I said.”  John 16:13, “When the Spirit of truth is come, He will guide you to all truth.”

            You see, it is an intentionally narrow kind of power.  Our freedom  in Christ is not for what we want.  Our freedom in Christ is for what we ought.  Through 12 chapters of Acts, the world was virtually untouched by gospel.  But Peter’s experience in a dream of clean/unclean food changed all.  Acts 11:9, “What God has cleansed, call not common.”

            This one concept of power changed the ending of the Book of Acts.  Acts 28:31, “Proclaiming the Kingdom of God, and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness, unhindered.” Akolutōs [Greek: freely, without hindrance].

III.       It Was a Word Documenting Purpose.  V8b, “. . . and ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” 

            So, we are to be in fact what we are in purpose, witnesses.  What the church was not before Peter’s Joppa experience, what they clearly have become according to the text cited (Acts 28:31), we are to be today as well.  From the Greek martus, from which comes martyr:  A martyr  is not so much one who announces some intention, but one who when the time comes, has put first Jesus.

            What is important if one would be a witness?  We witness to what we know by faith.  John Bunyan tells  of a time in his adult life when a lack of certainty worried him.  He knew Jews, Moslems, who were satisfied that their religion was best.  He became a witness when he put away “I think so” and was able to declare, “I know.”

            We witness, not only in words, but by deeds as well.  The story of India’s Mahatma Ghandi tells of a man intrigued by Jesus Christ, but skeptical because of Christians he had known.  The real witness is one who pays no regard to the price that must be paid.  On Earlham College campus in Richmond, Indiana,, is a building with a great lobby.  Over the fireplace is a quotation said to be from the log of one of the ships which brought Quakers to America.  It reads, “They gathered sticks and kindled a fire, and left it burning.”

Conclusion

            Man tells of loss of son, and of people suddenly reluctant to talk about him.  He wanted friends to talk about this special person.

THE FIVE “R’s” OF A WINNING WITNESS

#509                             THE FIVE “R’s”  OF A WINNING WITNESS

Scripture  Acts 1:8, NIV                                                                              Orig. 6/30/1968 (12/1976)

                                                                                                                                 Rewr. 1/11/1987

Passage: 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Purpose: To observe Witness Commitment Day, and to call my people to a deeper understanding of their need to express their faith in regular witness.

Keywords:        Conversion      Repentance     Salvation         Sin       Witness            Revival

Introduction

            We are beginning to receive information from the Internal Revenue Service.  We are getting tax booklets that define our responsibility.  We may be getting reminders that there is additional material that we may order to assist with everything but paying our taxes.  This material is a witness to us that tax-time is here again.  Once a year we are affirmed as dues-paying citizens of a free republic, the greatest country of all.  None of us want to be anywhere else.

            When we fill out that tax form in a few weeks, the form itself will be a witness.  It will witness our material well-being, or lack of it.  It will also be a witness to the level of our faith.  Do we take God’s Word seriously?  Do we give earnest consideration to the blessings that  have come to us from God?  It also may witness whether we are honest persons or not.

            An IRS deputy tells of an occasion which he was witness to in pursuit of his job.

            “Some guy with an income less than $5,000 claimed he gave $624 to some church.  It was within the 20% limit, but it looked mighty suspicious.  I dropped in on the guy and asked about his return.  I thought he’d become nervous like most of them do, but not this guy.  He came back at me about the $624 without batting an eyelash.

            “‘Have you a receipt from the church?’ I asked, figuring that would make him squirm. ‘Sure,’ he said, and he went off and brought the receipt.

            “Well, he had me.  One look and I knew he was on the level.  I apologized for bothering him. . . .  [As I was] leaving, he invited me to his church.  ‘Thanks, but I belong to a church myself.’  The he said the strangest thing.   ‘Excuse me,’ he said, ‘that possibility hadn’t occurred to me.’

            “As I rode home, I kept wondering what he meant by that last remark.  It wasn’t until a Sunday or so later, when I was in church and started to put my usual dollar in the offering plate that it came to me.”  (Pulpit Helps—1/1977)

            We are witnesses, you and I.  We need to renegotiate the terms of our witness, and offer a more positive face to unbelieving friends and acquaintances.  To that end I share “The Five ‘R’s’ of a Winning Witness.”

I.          Realize—that Man in His Natural State is Separated from God.

            The Old Testament concept of sin is shared by those who knew its power, and the grace of God’s forgiveness.  Psalm 32:1 (David), “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.”  Proverbs 11:3 (Solomon), “The perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them.”  Isaiah 59:2 (Isaiah), “Your iniquities have separated between you and God.”

            These were men who had walked under the heavy burden of personal sin, but who had experienced God’s forgiveness.  Realizing that through which they had been, they were bound to witness to others of the way out.

            This ancient concept of sin, and separation, was not altered by the teaching of Jesus, nor by the instrumentality of the church.  John 3: 19 (Jesus), “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”  Luke 15:17f  (Jesus), Parable of prodigal son/loving Father.  Romans 3:23 (Paul), “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”  And, risking misunderstanding here, I remind  you that Jesus knew about sin from personal experience.  Hebrews 4:15 reminds us “He was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”  He knew that sin separated.  That was reason enough to dread the cross.

II.         The Next “R” is to Recognize that We Cannot Save Ourselves.

            A story was told in “Reader’s Digest” a while back entitled “The Trail.”  It was the story of a man who went back to a wilderness trail that he had traveled with his wife.  He was in a state of agitation because of her death.  She had been killed in a needless accident.  While on the trail, there came a sudden worsening of the weather, and he suddenly became resigned to his own death on the trail, rather than to struggle to safety and survival.  Suddenly, as his strength was ebbing, he heard a cry for help.  Managing the strength to reach the victim, he found a boy injured in a snowmobile accident.  He cared for the boy through the night, and with daylight, managed to get the boy to safety.  Visiting the boy in the hospital he  heard him say, “‘Thank you for saving my life.’ I did not say so to him, but it was he who saved my life.”

            How often has the word of a friend turned us from despair to destiny?  Why should it seem so unbelievable that God chooses to arrange our salvation through another?  John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh to the Father but by me.”  Ephesians 2:5, “Even when we were dead in sins, [God] hath quickened us together with Christ.”

III.       Next Comes Repentance.  I John 1:9, “If we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin.”  Luke 13:3, “Except ye repent, ye shall all . . . perish.”

            We must not overlook any important aspect of repentance.  One can easily claim to be a Christian:  Brought up in home/church; taught the language; participate in the extraneous.  With glibness we measure ourselves by our functions rather than scripture.  We may even know 4 Spiritual Laws.  Can we point to an experience of “repentance” with life-changing emphasis?

            Nothing brings sin home to us like repenting of it.  It’s like living in a house with dirty windows, refusing to go outside because it looks so dismal.  Finally, being forced out, we discover that the bleakness is over us, not the world.

IV.       Hence Comes the Two-Fold Stage of Request and Receive.

            No because of what we are, but because of what God is that they can’t be separated.  To come to His altar, to seek His grace, . . . is to receive His bestowal.  Romans 10:13, “For whoso shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved.”  John 1:12, “But as many as received Him, to them God gives the power to become His children.”

            We must be reminded where that altar is:  Not the place where we stand, [but rather] a place for which we are reaching.  Just as marriages are not sanctified by a place, but by a vision for which we are reaching, by two who together are seeking the will of God in communion with each other.

            May it be stated as simply as ever it can be, “to seek . . . is to receive.”  The burden that is upon the preacher is that of proclaiming unadulterated truth with simplicity.  The story is told of Andrew R. McCheyne:  Talking with a fellow preacher he asked what he had preached the Sunday before.  “That the wicked shall be turned into hell.”  McCheyne replied, “Were you able to preach it with tenderness?”

V.         Finally, is the Certification that the Believer Rejoices in His Salvation.

            To hear gladly is to believe gladly. Mark 12:37, those who heard Jesus “heard him gladly.”  Likewise, those who believe in Jesus, “believe in Him gladly.”

            The very word “gospel” is from a Greek word meaning “good news.”

            Christmas brought and brings a proliferation of the word joy, in a form that rolls out as “jolly.”  Anyone can be jolly: the clown beneath his external hilarity .. . , even Santa Claus, behind grandfatherly beard, and pink cheeks—may be grieving to death or loneliness.  But Christian  joy is something else—not a mask (Mardi Gras) or cloak (expensive furs); it is an inner presence that no misfortune can conceal.

Conclusion

            A message preached years ago carried a story of an event of early WWII vintage.  Protectionism was running scared, especially on the West Coast.  Threats were seen everywhere.  A bottle washed ashore.  Inside, a message, but sun and salt had bleached the words.  Suspicion developed immediately.  FBI, and Secret Service were called in.  Every skill applied. Finally, “two quarts of milk, no cream.”

            What is the real message, told by our inner lives, though we try to conceal it from the world?  What kind of witness do you want to be?

McCheyne: https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/he-died-early-in-the-smile-of-god