The Gospel of John: The Risen King reveals Himself to His Apostles (1)

First Baptist Church Leominster

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1 & 2 Matthew chapter 1 Matthew chapter 1 the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David the son of Abraham Abraham was the father of Isaac and Isaac the father of Jacob and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar and Perez the father of Hezron and Hezron the father of Ram and Ram the father of Amminadab and Amminadab the father of Nashon and Nashon the father of Salmon Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth and Obed the father of Jesse and Jesse the father of David the king and David was the father of Solomon by the of Uriah and Solomon the father of Rehoboam and Rehoboam the father of Abijah and Abijah the father of Asaph and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram and Joram the father of Uzziah and Uzziah the father of Jotham and Jotham the father of Ahaz and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh and Manasseh the father of Amos and Amos the father of Josiah and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the deportation to Babylon and after the deportation to Babylon Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud and Abiud the father of Elohim and Elohim the father of Azor and Azor the father of Zadok and Zadok the father of Akeem and Akeem the father of Eliud and Eliud the father of Eleazar and Eleazar the father of Methan and Methan the father of Jacob and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary of whom

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Jesus was born who is called Christ so all the generations from Abraham to David were 14 generations and from David to the deportation to Babylon 14 generations and from the deportation to Babylon to the

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Christ 14 generations now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way when his mother

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Mary had been betrothed to Joseph before they came together she was found to be with child from the

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Holy Spirit and her husband Joseph being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame resolved to divorce her quietly but as he considered these things behold an angel of the

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Lord appeared to him in a dream saying Joseph son of David do not fear to take Mary as your wife for that which is conceived in her is from the

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Holy Spirit she will bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus for he will save his people from their sins all this took place to fulfill what the

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Lord had spoken by the prophet behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and they shall call his name

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Emmanuel which means God with us when Joseph woke from sleep he did as the angel of the

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Lord commanded him he took his wife but knew her not until she had given birth to a son and he called his name

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Jesus let's pray our Heavenly Father we thank you for this time together we thank you that we could gather as your church to exalt and to lift your name on high and Lord the highest name there is his

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Jesus Christ and Lord we love this time of year when we remember the incarnation of Christ we remember his condescension his coming in entering into history becoming a man a flesh and bone breathing man we thank you

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Lord for what this means we thank you that by his life many of us have life he was our substitution he was the propitiation of sin and Lord the incarnation is such a wonderful doctrine it is a great great mystery for which we are so thankful and we pray

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Lord that we would reflect upon these things that we would reflect upon who you are and what you've done help us

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Lord to understand these things and help us to live them out and be with us now Lord as we continue our worship through the sermon help us to hear the words that Pastor Lars has to say we pray that the spirit would take those words and implant them deep within our hearts help us to live them out to your praise glory and honor thank you

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Lord in Jesus name amen well let's turn in our

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Bibles to John 20 please we hope before long that we'll be baptizing we're making arrangements now if any of you are interested in this matter and I would encourage you to come and speak with Mayor Pastor Jason shortly so we can get this process moving even if you have questions you're not sure about it for yourself nevertheless come to us so we can talk with you well we are presently considering the

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Apostle John's record of our Lord's resurrection appearances in which he revealed himself to his followers and he only revealed himself to his followers he didn't reveal himself to non -disciples after his resurrection and of course according to John the

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Lord first met and spoke with Mary Magdalene to which we gave our attention last

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Lord's Day and before us today however is the account of Jesus showing himself to his

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Apostles and Jesus first appeared to ten of his Apostles who were gathered together on the first evening of that first Lord's Day and that's recorded before us in verses 19 through 23 and then we read that he appeared a week later to all 11 of the

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Apostles including Thomas Thomas wasn't with them that first Sunday evening he met with them the following Lord's Day evening and that's what we have recorded in verses 24 through 29 and then

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John provided a summary and concluding statement at the end of this chapter some regard chapter 21 is somewhat of an epilogue but he gives a concluding statement that he wrote the selection of signs that he did in his gospel in order to show forth the

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Lord Jesus Christ and that people would believe and have salvation through faith in him that's the verses 30 and 31 so let's read this entire passage before us

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John 20 19 through 31 then the same day at evening being the first day of the week when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the

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Jews Jesus came and stood in the midst and said to them peace be with you when he had said this he showed them his hands and his side and then the disciples were glad when they saw the

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Lord so Jesus said to them again peace to you as the

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Father has sent me I also send you and when he had said this he breathed on them and said to them receive the

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Holy Spirit if you forgive the sins of any they are forgiven them if you retain the sins of any they are retained now

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Thomas called the twin one of the twelve was not with them when

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Jesus came the other disciples therefore said to him we have seen the Lord so he said to them unless I see in his hands the print of the nails and put my finger into the print of the nails and put my hand into his side

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I will not believe and after eight days his disciples were again inside and Thomas with them

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Jesus came the doors being shut and stood in the midst and said peace to you and he said to Thomas reach your finger here and look at my hands reach your hand here and put it into my side do not be unbelieving but believing and Thomas answered said to him my

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Lord and my God Jesus said to him Thomas because you've seen me you have believed blessed are those who have not seen yet have believed and truly

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Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples which are not written in this book but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the

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Christ the Son of God and that believing you may have life in his name and so Jesus appeared to his disciples and so John records this event really to his apostles and in doing so revealed

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Jesus replacing the fear that characterized them with faith in him faith took away their fear faith cast out fear and he pronounced to them the peace of God this peace of God was theirs due to God's forgiveness of their sins through faith in Jesus Christ and John then recorded

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Jesus commissioning his apostles imparting to them the Holy Spirit and giving them authority to pronounce salvation and judgment to the world to which he was sending them and so he commissions them as well as equips them with the

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Holy Spirit so as we look over these verses we may easily discern two major parts verses 19 through 23 and then verses 24 through 29 and then additionally again we have the word of John in verses 30 through 31 and so here's an outline it's a little more detailed than we normally use but an outline that might aid us in the consideration this passage we have

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Jesus appeared to ten of his apostles verses 19 through 23 and this can be broken down in verses 19 and 20

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Jesus appeared and pronounced to them the peace of God and then secondly

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Jesus said before them their mission for God thirdly Jesus bestowed upon them the spirit of God and then fourthly

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Jesus declared their authority in their service to God and then the second division

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Jesus appeared again to his apostles a week later at this time including

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Thomas and so first here we have a note regarding the absence of Thomas from their first meeting and then secondly

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Jesus again appeared to them and again pronounced to them the peace of God as a recurring theme here a point of emphasis and then

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Jesus addressed Thomas directly and Thomas responds to Jesus in faith and then

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Jesus pronounced those as blessed who believe apart from seeing that includes you and me doesn't it we're believing on Christ you're more blessed than Thomas who saw him and put your his his fingers you know in the in the prints of his hands and his hand in Jesus's sight you're more blessed than he because you believe without seeing he was blessed you're more blessed is what

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Jesus declared that's wonderful and then John gave an announcement regarding the signs of Jesus and the limited record he had provided for them in his gospel there were seven signs and he chose seven for the reason to generate or produce faith in those that would read of them today we're only gonna have time

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Lord willing to address the first portion of this passage under Roman numeral one where Jesus appeared to ten of his apostles and then next time

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Lord willing we will pick up with verse 24 Jesus appeared again to his apostles but including

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Thomas and so let's work through these verses verses 29 to 30 should be verses 29 to 19 pardon me to 23 not 29 to 33

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Jesus appeared to ten of his apostles we had seen that the first witness of course and I put witness in quotes to the resurrection of Jesus Christ was the empty tomb itself wasn't it in which the grave clothes of Jesus had remained but the empty tomb itself did not result in the faith of the

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Apostles to the resurrection of Christ except for John when he saw the grave clothes in there in the empty tomb he believed he believed in the resurrection of Christ the others didn't immediately and even our

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Lord's appearance to Mary Magdalene had not convinced them through her witness of his resurrection they were mystified by it the men of that day and I suppose most men of most days didn't give a lot of credibility to the women's witness they should have listened to her that's actually declared in Luke 24 isn't it yeah the women told you and you didn't believe him

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Jesus rebukes them for their for not believing their witness but here we read that Jesus showed himself alive to his

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Apostles the first Sunday the first Lord's Day and it was a transformative encounter they would not only be an occasion for solidifying their faith in their risen

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Lord but it would also be the occasion in which he commissioned them and empowered them to witness to the world of salvation through faith in him so there's a great deal of information and of importance contained here in these verses first Jesus appeared and pronounced to them the peace of God verses 19 and 20 actually verse 19 then the same day at evening being the first day of the week when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear the

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Jews Jesus came stood in the midst and said to them peace be with you

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John provided a time reference which is commonly done in narrative portions of Scripture the same day at evening being the first day of the week however if John were only concerned about giving a time reference it would have been sufficient for him to simply have written the same day at evening but he added more information he included the detail the first day of the week this is what he had written when he opened this chapter in verse 1 now the first day of the week

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Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early and so this phrase once again signals a new creation begun with the coming forth of Jesus from the dead in his glorified body the first day of the week again we have the parallel between John's gospel and the

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Genesis account of creation in Genesis 1 and 2 as one express this matter this pericope or episode begins with a temporal designation that explains that the events to follow are taking place on the same day as the previous events in chapter 20 though now in the evening as we discussed before the phrase the first day of the week makes this more than a chronological marker for simultaneously echoes again the

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Gospels creation motif it is no wonder that the earliest

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Christians were convinced that this day Sunday the first day of the week was the most appropriate day for the gathering of the church not only was it the day of the resurrected

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Lord the day creation itself was reclaimed by God but according to this pericope it was also the day the church met for the first time and while such a designation is a theological deduction it is interesting that the gathered disciples also qualified as a congregational quorum or minion of ten men

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Judas wasn't there he had killed himself and Thomas wasn't present but there were ten of them this was a minion according to Jewish regulations in other words you needed ten men in order to have a formal religious gathering in which

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God would bless it you needed a ten men in order to form a synagogue and here you have ten men and they're gathering here it's and so ten should probably not be viewed as just a incidental description of a number of them but it had meaning itself

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Matthew Henry whom I so appreciate wrote that by Jesus Christ rising on the first day of the week he sanctified

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Sunday as the Christian Sabbath and this is the common understanding of Reformed people

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Protestants in the past Sunday is the Christian Sabbath here is a

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Christian Sabbath observed by the disciples and owned by our Lord Jesus the visit

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Christ made to his disciples was on the first day of the week and the first day of the week is

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I think the only day of the week or month or year that is ever mentioned by number in all the

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New Testament and this is several times spoken of as a day religiously observed in other words

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New Testament talks about Christians gathering the church's gathering on the first day of the week though it is said here expressly verse 1 that Christ arose on the first day of the week and it might have been sufficient to say here verse 19 he appeared the same day at evening yet to put an honor upon the day it repeated being the first day of the week not that the

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Apostles designed to put honor upon the day they were yet in doubt concerning the occasion of it but God designed to put honor upon it by ordering it that they should be all together to receive

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Christ's first visit on that day thus in effect he blessed and sanctified that day because in it the

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Redeemer rested. Clever. I had an elderly man call me two weeks ago

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I didn't call him back he said he was 80 years old a radio listener and he says

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I wouldn't mind talking to you about it if you care to call I just never read anywhere in the

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New Testament clearly it was 7 day Adventist background where you know Sunday is to be the day of worship well it's everywhere and it certainly is suggested here.

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Now we read that when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled Jesus appeared to them standing in the midst they had the door locked because they were afraid of the

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Jews after all the Jewish leaders had arrested crucified their master and it was likely that they the

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Jews would also do the same to the disciples. John declared this indirectly when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the

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Jews this is why they shut the door presumably locked it and so one can understand why the disciples would be very cautious and fearful for what had transpired in recent days one wrote

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God's people have often been obliged to enter into their chambers and shut their doors as it were for fear of the

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Jews persecuted is allotted to them it is for all Christians they who live godly shall suffer persecution is what the

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Apostle wrote persecution is allotted them and retirement from persecution is allowed them it's okay for Paul to escape from a basket lowered down the wall of Damascus and go off to Tarsus there's an occasion when a strategic retreat is appropriate and proper and then where shall we look for them but in dens and caves of the earth it's a real grief but no real reproach to Christ's disciples thus to abscond there's a there's a time when we should perhaps flee the

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Lord told the Jewish believers when you see Jerusalem surrounding the army you know it's around where I was flee and they did that in AD 70 the

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Jewish Christians and Josephus writes none of them perished in the destruction of Jerusalem and by the

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Romans in AD 70 because they fled as the Lord Jesus had instructed them to do and so they were afraid they locked the doors where they assembled and then

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Jesus appeared to them standing in the midst they had locked the door because they were afraid of the

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Jews but then the Lord appeared and so the

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Lord met with them even though their solemn assembly was reduced to privacy no doors can shut out

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Christ's presence from them wrote one the Lord graciously meets with his disciples whenever they gather in his name and of course he's done that with his people for his people throughout this last 2 ,000 years why had they gathered

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John doesn't say why they gathered perhaps it was due to the events of the day that had transpired the tomb was empty his grave clothes remaining

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Mary testified that that's Mary Magdalene testified she had met and spoken with Jesus moreover he she conveyed a message to them from Jesus Jesus had instructed her go to my brother and say to them

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I'm ascending to my father and your father to my God and your God we may assume that she did so she conveyed that message to them and so maybe they gathered for prayer maybe they gathered to you know compare notes with one another consider what's all this mean who knows again to cite

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Matthew Henry here is a Christian assembly solemnized by the disciples and also owned by the

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Lord Jesus probably the disciples met here for some religious exercise to pray together or perhaps they meant to compare notes consider whether they had sufficient evidence of their master's resurrection to consult what was now to be done whether they should keep together a scatter they met to know one another's mind strengthen one another's hands and concert proper measures to be taken in presence of critical juncture this meeting was private because they durst not dared not appear publicly especially in a body or group they met in a house but they kept the door shut that they might not be seen together and that no one might come among them but such as they knew for they feared the

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Jews who would prosecute the disciples as criminals that they might seem to believe the lie they would deceive the world with that his disciples came by night and stole him away but even as they gathered secretly securely and privately

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Jesus came and stood in the midst it's clear that Jesus had suddenly physically appeared to them one moment they were alone the next moment

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Jesus was standing alongside them as one wrote as his resurrection body passed through the grave closed verses 6 through 8 so it passed through the locked doors and simply materialized it must have not only surprised them but it must have startled them

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I would think but in order to quench their fears the first words that came forth from Jesus was the declaration peace be with you and John's point of emphasis in this passage was not just a miraculous way that Jesus appeared to them but what he said to them this is the point of emphasis peace be with you and we may conclude this by the fact that Jesus repeats it three times in these few verses before us verse 19

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Jesus came stood in the midst said to them peace be with you verse 21 so Jesus said to them again peace to you and then a week later verse 26 after eight days his disciples were again inside Thomas with them

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Jesus came the doors being shut stood in the midst and said peace to you and let's remember the last time

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Jesus had seen these men they scattered didn't they they forsook him abandoned him his sheep had scattered he was left to deal with his prosecutors persecutors and tormentors alone but our

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Lord gave no reproof no word of reproof to them or rebuke of their defection in their departure peace be with you the first words as one wrote that our

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Lord spoke to the disciples afford a beautiful proof of his loving merciful tender thoughtful pitiful and compassionate spirit he said peace be with peace be unto you that expression in my opinion must on no account be taken as a mere formal salutation without meaning it was intended to reassure and cheer the minds of the disciples by exhibiting at once his mind towards them not a word of reproof or rebuke or fault -finding or blame falls from our

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Lord's lips notwithstanding all their sad faint heartedness and desertion on the preceding

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Thursday night all is forgiven and forgotten the very first word is peace this was almost the last word that our

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Lord had spoken on Thursday night before he prayed these things I've spoken that in me you might have peace this was the last legacy he had left his disciples peace

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I leave with you my peace I give unto you let your hearts not be troubled can we doubt that this comfortable word would cheer and calm the minds of the little company when our

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Lord suddenly appeared this whole section of John's gospel is permeated with this idea isn't it peace be unto you and so it is if you're a disciple of Jesus Christ that is a true believer but you've defected and departed from the

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Lord for a time when he comes to restore you he does so in mercy and kindness and speaks to you in gracious words declared peace to you he welcomes all that come and return to him humbly and in faith through these words our

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Lord Jesus took a commonly heard greeting peace and infused it with deep far -reaching spiritual importance by this word

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Jesus declared that all of the fruit and effects of his life and death had now come to them and was their present possession peace unto you it took his death in order to confer and to assure these benefits for his people the death of the testator of the will must take place before the inheritance can be distributed to the heirs who are stipulated in the will book of Hebrews it took his death to secure these benefits for his people for Jesus Christ is both the testator and the executor of his will in which his people or his heirs do inherit all that he has now one would think that as soon as Jesus spoke these words peace be unto you that their fear would have dissipated but this is not what occurred

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John simply records what happened after Jesus said these words to them we read in verse 20 when he had said this he showed them his hands and his side and then the disciples were glad when they saw the

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Lord but we read in Luke 24 actually details that John chose not to include there we read of two disciples who had met

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Jesus they didn't recognize him as he traveled on the road to Emmaus and after Jesus departed those two disciples returned to Jerusalem that very

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Sunday night that first Lord's Day and they met with these disciples and they were standing here when

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Jesus appeared in the midst John only talks about the ten but the two were there there were others there too according to Luke here's the account in Luke 24 so they that's the two disciples rose up that very hour returned to Jerusalem found the eleven and those who are with him now there were only ten here the eleven probably carries the idea of the apostolate band collectively entirely rather than being a precise number of individuals that were there found the eleven that was the twelve was a technical name and of course

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Judas was gone now he found the eleven but there were others there too see we read that in verse 33 the two disciples so they rose up that very hour returned to Jerusalem found the eleven and those who are with them gathered together there were others with the disciples here on this occasion along with the ten and then the two joined them

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John was focusing on the Apostles saying the

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Lord has risen indeed has appeared to Simon and they told about the things that had happened on them happened on the road and how he was known to them in the breaking of bread and now as they said these things

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Jesus himself stood in the midst of them and said to them peace to you this is what

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John records for us that we've already read but notice the reaction in verse 37 but they were terrified and frightened and suppose they had seen a spirit he said to them why are you troubled why did doubts arise in your hearts behold my hands and my feet that it is

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I myself handle me and see for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see

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I have a week later he would challenge Thomas to do that but he actually exhorted his disciples to do that on this first evening well when he had said this he showed them his hands and his feet but while they still did not believe her joy and marveled he said to them have you any food here so they gave him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb he took it and ate in their presence well he must be a man he he's physical he ate you know he's here it's him again we may be thankful we have four

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Gospels that give us a more full picture but recognize the Holy Spirit used

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John to give us the details for a purpose and it was primarily a message to the

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Apostles but again the emphasis of John is on our Lord's words peace be with you verse 19 this was the customary way that the

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Jews greeted one another it was an expression that connoted the desire that the peace of God would be experienced and enjoyed to the one you addressed peace be with you it carried the idea that God would bless that one with peace which is set forth in the

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Old Testament by the word Shalom rest peace

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Shalom carried the idea of a secure and blessed existence without danger or threat but through the person and work of Christ this idea of peace or Shalom encompasses a far greater blessing even a spiritual well -being and security a state of blessing before a

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God that could not be shaken interrupted or diminished peace be unto you and nothing was going to unsettle that even if the

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Jewish soldiers and not priest came bursting in at that moment that peace would still be theirs it was viewed as an essential blessing of the coming

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Messianic Kingdom peace in the Old Testament when all of Israel's enemies would be overthrown and would no longer trouble or pose a threat to Israel's well -being it would signal a restored relationship that's a covenant a restored covenant with God which was the blessing of the promised kingdom in Jesus's pronouncement he informed his disciples that the long -desired anticipated age of peace had arrived to his death and resurrection from the dead this was an announcement of the establishment and their enjoyment as citizens of the kingdom of God the days before the centuries before Jesus minister on the earth was not a time of peace between Israel and God but rather was a time when

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God had been warring against his people since the days of the Old Testament prophets because Israel had broken its covenant relationship with God that God had established with Israel at Mount Sinai the curse of God had come upon them they had transgressed the law the transgression of God's law was upon them and therefore the curses of God were upon the nation of Israel they didn't have peace with God they were cursed of God God had turned against them

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God no longer regarded them and treated them as his people God began to speak to them frequently not as my people but this people you tell this people that I was going to judge them but God had promised that he would raise up for himself a faithful servant who would redeem his people unto himself he would be a suffering servant who would bear their sins atone for their transgression against their covenant and thereby restore them to God's favor bringing them into a state of true peace with himself and so this is what we read in the fourth servant song of Isaiah Isaiah 52 13 through all of chapter 53 53 12 and so here's a portion of that very familiar prophecy which had been written declared 700 plus years before Christ he was oppressed and he was afflicted yet he opened not his mouth describing

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Christ on his cross he was led as a lamb to the slaughter as a sheep before its shearers is silent so he opened not his mouth he was taken from prison and from judgment who will declare his generation for he was cut off from the land of the living notice for the transgression of my people he was stricken that transgression was a transgression against God's covenant with them through Moses my people transgression of my people he was stricken and they made his grave with the wicked but with the rich at his death there's a prophecy 700 years in advance that he'd be buried in the in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea the rich man because he had done no violence nor was any deceit at his mouth and yet it pleased the

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Lord that is the God the Father to bruise him he's put him to grief when you make his soul an offering for sin he shall see his seed that's his spiritual descendants he shall prolong his days that is he'll live everlastingly he'll come forth from the dead and the pleasure of the

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Lord shall prosper in his hand he shall see the labor of his soul and be satisfied by his knowledge my righteous servant shall justify many for he shall bear their iniquities and therefore

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I'll divide him a portion with the great he should divide the spoil with the strong victorious

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King because he poured out his soul unto death he was numbered with the transgressors he was hung between two thieves he bore the sin of many and he made intercession for the transgressors a prophecy of Jesus's prayer father forgive them they know not what they do and then in the following chapter

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Isaiah 54 we read of the announcement and celebration of what the suffering servant achieved for his people through his sacrificial death for the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed but my kindness shall not depart from you nor shall my covenant of peace there it is be removed says the

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Lord who has mercy on you and then a bit farther God declared no weapon formed against you shall prosper every tongue which rises against you and judgment you shall condemn this is the heritage of the servants of the

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Lord and their righteousness is from me says the Lord he replaced these

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Apostles fear of the Jews with faith in him peace be unto you you've arrived the kingdom is here you're favored and so in this upper room our

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Lord announced and pronounced to his disciples at his kingdom terrorized by a people at peace with God and God at peace with them had been established to his death and resurrection for he himself is our peace according to the

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Apostle John recorded that Jesus showed his disciples the nail marks in his hands and his side that had been pierced he showed them his hands and his side he had died but here he was standing before them standing with them but it's coming forth from death unto life must have also convinced this man these men that the

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Lord had indeed overcome the world the world did everything it could to bring an end to Jesus and it failed as one put it he then displays to them his wounds less to I to establish his identity than that their joy might be filled by the sight of the signs of his victory over the world death could not hold him and this side of Jesus's wounds convinced them it was the

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Lord in his own body he showed them the wounds he received from his cross and thus he proved his love for them that he had died for them but he also showed his wounds that even death itself would not prevent him from achieving his father's will in fact it was the very means by which

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God's peace was secured for them through our Lord's death and resurrection he conquered and overcame death itself why should they fear death has no power no more has no power over their master and he's assured them that because of his death death would never have power over them it takes away the greatest fear that has ever been disaster characterized by man the fear of death that Hebrews says that all their life was they were tormented people are tormented by the fear of death shouldn't he so for the

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Christian if he's thinking rightly believing rightly many witnesses had seen

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Christ die upon his cross just a few days before him and now they're shown that this same man is standing before them and the body which had been abused battered and crucified and the marks of his crucifixion remain on him and they'll forever be so ever -present reminders of what he endured for our redemption he has marks in his hands and his side now as he sits enthroned in heaven and when he returns a second time these marks will be evident for even those who pierced him will look upon him and recognize him as such when

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Jesus ascended into heaven not long after his appears he would even then enter the throne room of God bearing the marks as a sacrificial lamb

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John described him as such in Revelation chapter 5 and so because he lives will live also it wasn't long before this before Jesus went to his cross and he told his disciples a little while longer and the world will see me no more but you will see me and because I live you will live also and when he was standing there in their presence that's what he was conveying to them

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I'm alive yeah you're gonna live also peace be unto you the world was conquered death itself was conquered and these people are now enjoying the peace of God and the response was they were convinced and the disciples were glad when they saw the

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Lord and because we read these words and believe their truthfulness and knowing we stand in faith before our

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Savior just as they did standing and hearing his words we too are assured we presently enjoy the peace of God through his death on our behalf because he lives we also live it had not been long before this occasion

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Jesus told his disciples again a little while longer the world will see me no more but you will see me and because I live you will live also and that word is just as true and valid for you and me today as believers that it was for those ten standing there on that night well after this declaration

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Jesus then gives them a mission verse 21 Jesus again mentions the peace he had conferred upon them but here he couples it with a commission of his

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Apostle to bring salvation to the world verse 21 says so Jesus said to them again peace to you as the

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Father has sent me I also send you he couples this message of peace with a mission to what purpose did

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Jesus commission these men here the world words of Donald Carson here it is the perfect obedience of the son that's especially emphasized and obedient that has already been a paradigm for the relation of the believers to Jesus he believed his father you and I are to believe

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Jesus Jesus sent by his father into the world by means of the incarnation with the end of saving the world they must also be sent back into the world in order to bear witness along with the paraclete the

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Holy Spirit though obviously there's no mention of the incarnation along the lines of chapter 1 verse 14 in other words he sent us into the world just as he was sent into the world but obviously his being sent was in the form of the incarnation that's not the way you and I are sent into the world that's what

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Carson is saying and therefore any parallel must certainly be derivative insofar as Jesus was entirely obedient to and dependent upon his father who sealed and sanctified him and poured out the

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Spirit upon him without limit so far also does he constitute the definitive model for his disciples they have become children of God the

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Spirit has been promised to them and will soon be imparted to them they have been sanctified by Christ and will be sanctified by God's Word and as they grow in unqualified obedience to and dependence upon their

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Lord and so now they were on the one hand no longer to fear they were no longer however to cower together and close confined quarters fearful that harm might come to them rather they were to go forth into the world as heralders of his kingdom carrying forth this message of peace with God through faith in him and the

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Greek word that we that's translated as Apostle in our English translations the word apostolos carries the idea of one being sent that's what

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Apostle means Jesus declared that the father had sent him and that's why

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Jesus in the book of Hebrews is referred to as the Apostle Jesus the Apostle of our confession because the father had sent him into the world and now

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Jesus is sending these men his Apostle sent ones into the world notice

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Jesus Christ claimed to have the same sending authority as his father the father sent me I send you he's claiming equal authority with the father amazingly this alone speaks of equality him being the son of God called again on Matthew Henry he had a power to send them equal to that which the father had sent him here the force of the comparison seems to lie by the same authority that the father sent me do

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I send you this proves the Godhead of Christ the commissions he gave were of equal authority with those which the father gave and as valid and effectual to all intents and purposes equal with those he gave to the

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Old Testament prophets and visions the commissions of Peter and John by the plain word of Christ are as good as those of Isaiah and Ezekiel by the

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Lord sitting on his throne they equal with that which was given to the mediator Christ himself for his work had he an incontestable authority and an irresistible ability for his work so had they for theirs or thus as the father has sent me as it were the recital of his power by virtue of the authority given to him as a mediator he gave authority to them as his ministers to act for him in his name with the children of men so that those who received them or rejected them received or rejected him and him that sent him there's a lot packed in these few verses isn't there but it would be important for us to know that Jesus was not telling these men that they are going to replace him but rather they were going to continue him being sent he's sending them on his behalf and so we included this paragraph here we should understand that Jesus is continuing his work but here he's calling forth his disciples to work with him in this worldwide mission of saving the lost from their sins and it's overtly stated in the manner that that Jesus spoke these words

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John recorded the words of Jesus very precisely when Jesus said the father has sent me the perfect tense of the verb sent is used and the verbal idea conveyed by this perfect tense is that God the father had sent him in the past but that state of having been sent continues in force

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Jesus is acting as the one who has been sent on a mission and that to the entire world and here he's calling forth his disciples to join him in this mission in John 17 18

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Jesus prayed to his father as you sent me into the world I also have sent them into the world he's still going to the world and now he's called his disciples to go with him to be sent along with him and so as again

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Donald Carson wrote it's probably wrong to think of the disciples simply replacing Jesus now that he's returning to his father the perfect tense as the father is sent may suggest at the risk of pedantry that Jesus is an ongoing state of sentness just as he ascends to his father does not mean he's no longer the sent one par excellence thus

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Christ disciples do not take over Jesus's mission his mission continues and is effective in their ministry the apostles were commissioned to carry on Christ's work not to begin a new one

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Luke opens the book of Acts you know he wrote the gospel

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Luke and then the book of Acts is volume two and Luke talks about all the works of Jesus during his earthly ministry in Acts 1 opens with these are the works that Jesus continued to do the whole book of Acts is

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Jesus working in history and he's working in history now and he chooses to use us in this work it's a wonderful work that we're doing we're fellow workers with God in Christ but how should they go forth here they were haunted and frightened few in number with little strength little influence but the

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Lord would not only commission them but he would empower them for their work and so we read how

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Jesus bestowed upon them the Spirit of God in verse 22 after he declared he was sending them into the world we read and when he had said this he breathed on them and said to them receive the

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Holy Spirit and so Jesus commissioned them go to all the world and then he empowered them by giving them the

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Holy Spirit the son's mission in the world is entrusted to them since he's returning to the father but as the son had received the

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Spirit in unrestricted fullness for the discharge of his own mission so net so they now receive the

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Spirit for the discharge of theirs at an earlier stage in Jesus's ministry the evangelist had said the

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Spirit was not yet present because Jesus had not yet been glorified now the time for imparting the

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Spirit has come let's understand the Holy Spirit was at work in saving people in the

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Old Testament clearly everybody in the Old Testament that was saved was born again they were regenerated but the

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Spirit Holy Spirit coming upon his people to empower them for witness was something new to be given to all people on all flesh of course we read in Acts 2 now at this event questions are commonly posed such as this how does this imparting and power to the

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Holy Spirit relate to what it would occur some weeks later on the day of Pentecost some suggested this empowering of the

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Spirit was to enable his disciples to live for him to understand and receive his post -resurrection instruction that would continue for 40 days before he descends into heaven 10 days before Pentecost it would seem that John was showing the connection of the death and resurrection of Jesus with the promised age of the

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Holy Spirit it's set forth by the Old Testament prophets again it indicates that the

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Messianic Kingdom age had dawned upon the world this is not a replacement of Pentecost but it does anticipate

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Pentecost and show forth the need for it perhaps it could be said that here

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Jesus empowered his apostles on the day of Pentecost empowered his entire church along with the

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Apostles they're empowered here he empowers his entire church on the day of Pentecost the point is this the one

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Jesus calls forth to a task he enables and empowers that one to fulfill his will he gets people then enables them to arise when the occasion warrants it but this again may be another allusion to the new creation look at the words carefully he breathed upon them and the

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Holy Spirit came in them and then they were as it were enlivened

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Matthew Henry Christ here seems referred to the creation of man at first by the breathing of the breath of life into him

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Genesis 2 7 God breathed into that fashioned dust of the earth a clay figure like God's the potter and Adam's the clay he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and he became a living soul now these became living disciples ready to go forth is what was being said and to intimate that he himself was the author that work and that in other words the author of giving life to Adam back there and that the spiritual life and strength of ministers and Christians are derived from him

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Christ depend upon him as much as the natural life of Adam and his seed as the breath of the

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Almighty gave life to man and began the old world so the breath of the mighty Savior gave life to his ministers and began a new world the new creation but Jesus not only gave the disciples a commission and then empowered them but he also gave them authority to fulfill his mission and that's what we have in verse 23 he declared their authority in their service of God we have the words of Jesus if you forgive the sins of any they are forgiven them if you retain the sins of any they are retained sadly these words have been twisted over the centuries of course by those liturgical denominations that want to infuse forgiveness the power to forgive sins into the hands of their priests and it's built wrongly on this verse one question that might be asked is this were these words to the

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Apostles as the Apostles or to the institution of the church is going forward and the answer should probably be both one particular branch of the power given them by the

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Commission particular eyes for 23 whosoever's sends you remit in the due execution of the powers you're entrusted with they are remitted to them and they may take the comfort of it and whosoever sins you retain that is pronounced unpardoned and the guilt of them bound on they are retained and the sinner may be sure of it to a sorrow now this follows upon their receiving the

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Holy Ghost for if they had not had an extraordinary spirit of discerning they had not been fit to be entrusted with such an authority for in the strictest sense this is a special commission to the

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Apostles themselves and the first preachers of the gospel who could distinguish who were in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity at Simon Magus and X and who were not by virtue of this power

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Peter struck Ananias and Sapphira's dead and Paul struck Elias blind and yet it must be understood as a general charter to the church and her ministers not securing an infallibility of judgment to any man or company of men in the world but encouraging the faithful stewards of the mysteries of God to stand to the gospel they were sent to preach for that God himself will stand to it the

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Apostles in preaching remission must begin at Jerusalem though she had lately brought upon herself the guilt of Christ's blood yet you may declare their sins remitted upon gospel terms and Peter did so in other words he declared your sins are forgiven you when they believed on Jesus Christ being risen for our justification sends his gospel heralds proclaim the jubilee begun what we're enjoying this church age is the promised jubilee your jubilee that's what

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Jesus announced in Nazareth today this is fulfilled in your ears he's preaching the gospel to the poor he's releasing the captives a year jubilee has come to the coming of Christ and God will never alter his rule of judgment or vary from it those whom the gospel acquit shall be acquitted those whom the gospel condemns it shall be condemned which puts immense honor upon the ministry and should should put immense courage into the ministers and that's what we do as a church when somebody comes forward and says

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I have I am a sinner I confess my sins I turn from them I believe that Jesus Christ is

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Lord and he's my Lord my purpose to follow him in faith and obedience we declare to you your sins are forgiven you with absolute conviction and assurance and with biblical work with the authority of Jesus Christ himself this is authority similar to what we read of the authority entrusted to churches it's what

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Jesus first said to Peter on this rock on this confession that I am the Christ the

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Son of the Living God I'll build my church gates of hell will not prevail against it I give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven

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Jesus said whatever sins you for you know you declare remitted they're going to be forgiven you know but whatever sins you declare retained they are going to be retained

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God honors and acknowledges the authority of the church and and and people when they declare the

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Word of God he honors that declaration because it's in accordance with his word we're just conveying the message and then of course he gave that authority to the church in Matthew 18 when you have a sinning brother against another brother and he refuses to repent of that even though you take a couple witnesses to validate it you bring it for the church and then

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God promises Jesus said as surely say to you whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven whatever you lose on earth will be loosed in heaven he recognizes the the declarative authority of the church he works through them and acknowledges them but the idea that somehow gives this this authority to forgive sins to particular men like priests that somehow you have to I've always envisioned this

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I can't imagine these people who teach this and believe this can you imagine if I had the power and you

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I convinced you I have the power to either forgive your sins or not to have you forgiven of those sins what kind of power that would give me to be able to control you and your lives that's what went on for 2 ,000 year or not 2 ,000 year but many many centuries until it was broken by the

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Protestant Reformation basically you don't need the Pope in Rome you put faith in Christ and your sins are forgiven you know that broke the power of Rome and it was this notion that somehow a man was given authority to forgive your sins and therefore you better jump through his hoops and do what he pleased and that caused

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Kings to rush down to Rome and bow down and kiss his ring lest he excommunicate them that power of Rome was broken and it was a power wrongly based on this passage he doesn't confer this authority except through himself and his own word as his people declare it and as his churches declare

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I won't read that quote from Leon Morris but he stresses it the fact is

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God alone forgives sins who can forgive sins but God he's given authority to his churches to declare that those who truly repent of their sins and believe on the

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Lord Jesus as their Lord and Savior have their sins forgiven them but again of those who fail or refuse to repent of their sins fail or refuse to believe on Jesus as Lord and Savior the churches have the authority and responsibility to declare to them they remain in their sins and they're damned by God for those sins through salvation and none other than Jesus Christ and him alone and so may our

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Lord empower us with his Holy Spirit that we would both proclaim faithfully his gospel to the world in which he sent us and he may give us the grace of wisdom to know to whom we may declare the forgiveness of their sins by God and to know to whom we should declare that they remain lost in their sins and that ability needs to be restored to the churches today to declare both who truly are in Christ and those who are still outside of him and that is not a clear message being proclaimed in my opinion may

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God help us to be true and faithful in these matters let's pray thank you father for your word thank you our

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God that you've called us to be fellow workers with Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior as father you sent him into the world he has sent us may you fill us with the

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Holy Spirit our God and help us our God not be characterized by fear but filled with faith that we would see people about us

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Lord in their lost condition how can we withhold Lord the glorious gospel which can rescue them from eternal damnation eternal punishment in hell be merciful to our loved ones our