House of Hope Online

April 14, 2024

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Last week, we saw Jesus immediately after the resurrection go back to His life’s work of salvation for all who call upon His name.  After conquering death, He returned to revive His church, as the disciples were reeling from what had just taken place, and some were having doubts because they hadn’t yet seen Him.  He returned to teach, build faith, inspire, and equip His disciples to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth, beginning from Jerusalem.

We saw last time in Luke 24:13-53 that He joined two men traveling the road to Emmaus, and as He spoke with them and taught them, their hearts began burning within them.  We discussed 12 lessons from this encounter and His appearance to the eleven remaining disciples.  These lessons are summarized below:

1. Jesus will travel the road of life with us.
2. We may not recognize Him in our circumstances, but He is near.
3. Even when our faith is weak, He will listen to us and reason with us to build faith.
4. We need revelation to understand the scriptures, especially prophecy concerning Him.
5. If we ask Him into our lives, He will stay with us.
6. Communion will open our eyes to spiritual discernment.
7. A visitation from Him will set our hearts on fire for Him and His words.
8. A visitation from Him will cause us to give testimony that bears witness to Him.
9. Fear comes from unbelief.
10. All things written about Jesus in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.  This confirms He is coming again.
11. Repentance for the forgiveness of sins must be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
12. A visitation from the Lord , a revelation of His word, and an impartation of His guidance and purpose for our lives, will produce in us great joy (Luke 24:52), and will lead us into continual praise (Luke 24:53).

How Do We Proclaim the Gospel?

The most important lesson from last week was number 11.  Jesus said that repentance for the forgiveness of sins must be proclaimed to all nations.  So, how do we do that?  Let’s review what He said in Luke 24.

Luke 24:

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.”

 45 Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,

 46 and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and rise again from the dead the third day;

 47 and that repentance for forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

 48 “You are witnesses of these things.

 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.”

 50 ¶ And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them.

 51 And it came about that while He was blessing them, He parted from them.

 52 And they returned to Jerusalem with great joy,

 53 and were continually in the temple, praising God. (NASB)

Notice that Jesus said He would send forth the promise of the Father upon them, but they are to remain until they are clothed with power from on high.  In other words, the promise of power from on high is a promise of the Father and it will enable us to proclaim repentance for the forgiveness of sin.

We also see this promise of power in John 15.

John 15:

 26 ¶ “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, [that is] the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness of Me,

 27 and you [will] bear witness also, because you have been with Me from the beginning.

The Helper is sent by Jesus, but comes from the Father, and proceeds from the Father as the Spirit of Truth.  That is a significant promise from Jesus, a promise that has already been fulfilled.

Fulfillment of the Promise of Power

Jesus’ promise was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost, as we see in Acts 2.

Acts 2:

 1 ¶ And when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.

 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent, rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.

 3 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them.

 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.

There are some interesting takeaways from the move of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost.

1. The disciples saw tongues of fire separating and distributing themselves and resting upon each person.  It is important to understand that all the tongues came from the one and only Holy Spirit.
2. It is significant that God used tongues of fire.  The tongue is used to communicate.  Fire is what burned within the men when Jesus spoke on the road to Emmaus.  Father God wants us to know that the Holy Spirit will speak to us and burn within us.
3. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit.  The baptism of the Holy Spirit is available to all of us.
4. The Holy Spirit gave them utterance.  This is why Jesus said: “…stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”  The Spirit will give us utterance as well when we proclaim repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
5. The only way we can have unity and like-mindedness is through the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit came as one tongue of fire that separated and rested upon each of them.  Multiple tongues but all coming from one fire, one Holy Spirit.  Acts 2 goes on to tell us that even though the speakers were all Galileans, there were men in attendance from all the nations under heaven and they each understood in their own native language.  The Holy Spirit transcends language and cultural divides, and can unite peoples from all races and economic backgrounds.  The world struggles with these differences but God doesn’t.
6. And finally, at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit distributed itself (see verse 3).  We also see this characteristic of the Holy Spirit in 1^st Corinthians 12.

1^st Corinthians 12:

 4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit.

 5 And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord.

 6 And there are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all [persons.]

1^st Corinthians 12:

 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.

Wait for the Power to Proclaim

So again, we can see why Jesus said: “…but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”  He wants us to proclaim repentance for the forgiveness of sins, but He also instructs us to wait upon the Holy Spirit to empower us and to give us utterance.

I really feel like this is an important message for us today.  How do we speak to people who think differently than we do, and how do we explain the Gospel.  Today many think that acceptance of sin is the way to make people feel included and worthy, but here is what Jesus said in Matthew 28.

Matthew 28:

 19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,

 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you…”

To make disciples of all the nations, we must teach the Gospel, the Good News about the forgiveness of sins available to all who repent.  If you love others, you will teach them the truth about observing all that Jesus commanded us.  To do that, you will need the power from on high that Jesus promised.  You will need the Holy Spirit to give you utterance to teach others in love, and to teach them in a way they will understand, despite our many differences throughout the nations.

Let us pray.

Father God, we praise You for the promise of power.  Help us to focus on Jesus’ instruction to proclaim to a lost world the repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  Help us to be about this important work.  Show us opportunities to minister, and show us your Holy Spirit’s power to reach others in a way they will understand.  Make us an instrument of Your work.  In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen.