New Covenant Community Luke 6 Vs 12 19

Well, good morning and welcome to Faith Bible Church. We see many faithful here and we see a good group of visitors this morning and we want to welcome you.

We hope that you feel welcome here at Faith Bible Church. We thank the Lord for his blessings for this week and we'll open up in a word of prayer.

Thank you, Heavenly Father, for the blessings that you have given to each one of us.

We thank you even as we've learned in Sunday school the promises that you have given to us that we can depend on and realize that you are always true to your word and we thank you for that,

Lord. We thank you for those that are here today at Faith Bible Church. We pray that you might give a blessing to each one from the things that we learn from your word and also from the time that we praise you in song.

We look forward to a blessing from you, Lord. We thank you,

Heavenly Father, for the beautiful country that you have given to us. We realize,

Lord, that our leaders need your counsel and your guidance. We would pray, Heavenly Father, for our governor, for our president, for our

Congress, and we would pray, Heavenly Father, that they might learn to lean on your counsel and we just uphold this country before you and we thank you for it and the blessings that we've been able to enjoy and the freedoms that we have here.

We would pray now that you would be with Pastor as he brings your word today. Give him liberty.

Say the things that you've laid on his heart from your word and we would thank you for that and we pray in Jesus' name, amen.

Good morning. I love the Lord our God and Jesus Christ is God and to him we sing and let's stand and sing together.

Good morning, everyone. Today's scripture reading is going to come from the book of Matthew, chapter 28, verse 16 through 20.

Verse 16, then the 11 disciples went away into Galilee to the mountain which

Jesus had appointed for them. When they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted.

And Jesus came and spoke to them saying, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the

Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you and lo,

I am with you always, even to the end of the age, amen. All power belongs to the

Lord. And let's stand and sing to our Heavenly Father. Please turn with me to Luke chapter six, verses 12 through 19.

Luke chapter six, verses 12 through 19. Now it came to pass in those days that he went out to the mountain to pray and continued all night in prayer to God.

And when it was day, he called his disciples to himself. And from them, he chose 12 whom he also named apostles,

Simon, whom he also named Peter and Andrew, his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, Matthew and Thomas, James, the son of Alphaeus and Simon called the

Zealot, Judas, the son of James and Judas Iscariot, who also became a traitor.

And he came down with them and stood on a level place with a crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all

Judea and Jerusalem and from the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him and be healed of their diseases, as well as those who were tormented with unclean spirits.

And they were healed. And the whole multitude sought to touch him for power went out from him and healed them all.

This is the word of the Lord. Let us pray. Father, we're thankful that we get to participate and partake in your son's new covenant community.

We pray that we would seek Christ even today to find healing, to find freedom in Christ from sin, because he is the one who has conquered all and who has purchased us from the enslavement of sin so that we may be freed children of God.

Father, we specifically pray for Richard, that you would help him get well in the hospital.

Give the doctor's wisdom to treat him and please surround him with the beloved people of your church in Jesus name, amen.

This short section is a bridge between the previous section and then the section that's coming, which is

Jesus teaching. Now what came before was that Jesus had challenges from the

Pharisees and scribes regarding his ministry, his new covenant ministry.

They first challenged him on how come they're not fasting.

Your disciples are not fasting. And then they started challenging him on how come your disciples are eating on the

Sabbath, right? It was back and forth and Jesus' response really was that what he is bringing is completely different from what came before.

He gets to set the standard for the new covenant ministry that he is establishing here.

And this section is the bridge between that, the challenges to the new covenant and also in between the teaching of the new covenant.

How is the new covenant different? How is it fulfilling the old covenant? Now this section, the focus is really on the establishment of the new covenant community.

The focus is Jesus establishing his people. The first part establishes the apostles, the 12 and of course the number is significant because in the old covenant there were 12 tribes of Israel and here we will have 12 apostles of the new covenant.

And then it broadens the scope as we get to verses 17 through 19 which multiple, more people gather around him to experience

Jesus' new covenant ministry. So the main point, the main question that this text asks us this morning is what characterizes

Jesus' new covenant community? What characterizes Jesus' new covenant community?

This is an important question to ask this morning because there are similarities between the old covenant and the new covenant.

We worship the same God and the same God is utterly gracious in delivering his people.

And the same God requires his people to respond in faith and obedience.

But there is a characterization of the new covenant community that we get to find out how it started and what does it entail.

So the first point, how does Jesus establish his new covenant community?

Jesus prayerfully chose his apostles to establish the new covenant community.

Before we begin, I would like to define the term covenant. Covenant is a treaty and it's a treaty and promise in which

God makes with his people to form a relationship. And in our world, we still have something called a covenant and we see that in the marriage union, it's a covenant, it's a treaty, it's a promise of giving oneself to the other.

And the marriage union covenant reflects God's relationship with his people.

And the new covenant implies that it is fulfilling, it is coming after the old covenant and in Christ, he establishes it.

Christ establishes the new covenant ultimately through his bloodshed on the cross.

So, first, Jesus prayerfully chose his apostles to establish the new covenant community.

After a series of direct challenges against Jesus, he went up a mountain to commune with God the father, to pray to God the father.

Now, it came to pass in those days that he went out to the mountain to pray and continued all night in prayer to God.

Now, it is not clear which mountain Jesus went up, but it is clear what he is doing.

Jesus prayed through the night. Jesus spoke to his father through the night.

This is significant for several reasons. First, this shows a glimpse of the triune nature of the triune

God that we worship. God the son, Jesus, and God the father spoke to one another.

This means that there are two distinct persons, which also means any groups of people, any cults that believe in only the oneness nature of God, such as oneness

Pentecostalism, for example, are not following what scripture says about who

God is. After all, only a lunatic would go up the mountain to talk to himself all night.

We have to believe in the triune nature of God.

Second, when looking at the structure of Luke chapter six, there are two reasons for Jesus' long prayer through the night.

First, this comes at the response of the Pharisees and scribes' challenges against Jesus, first on the fasting and then the

Sabbath. This shows that Jesus' response to direct oppositions was not holding it in, and it also wasn't letting it out to others as gossip.

But going to God, when Jesus was challenged, when he faced trials in ministry, he went to God first and foremost, and he spent time with him.

In the song which we sang, Sweet Hour of Prayer, imagine what kind of sweetness that entailed, the

Son of God speaking to the Father all night. Pretty convicting when it's hard for us to pray daily, even an hour.

Second, Jesus' long hours of prayer is followed by the establishment of the apostleship.

And when it was day, he called his disciples to himself, and from them he chose twelve, whom he also named apostles.

Just as God chose twelve tribes to represent the nation of Israel under the old covenant,

Jesus, through the guidance of God the Father, chose the twelve apostles to represent the new covenant people, the church.

This all -nighter prayer shows us that Jesus himself put a lot of effort and time before choosing the twelve apostles, which also means

Jesus did not mistake when instituting the church. And the fact that he seeks

God the Father for guidance shows that Jesus' commitment to the Father and his communion with the

Father was not only crucial to ministry, but it characterized it.

Every step of the way, he prayed. It's not that he didn't know, it's that he wanted to commune with his

Father before an important step in the redemptive history. Now, verses 14 to 16 give us the list of his apostles, and I would like to say a couple of things that we do find out about these apostles from Scripture or church history.

Simon, whom he also named Peter, and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called

Azelot, Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who also became a traitor. The first one on the list is probably the most prominent apostle,

Simon Peter. He is one of the main leaders of the apostles. The top three whom

Jesus interacted very closely are Peter, John, and James, and Peter is one of them.

And Simon is the only one said to be named Peter. Peter means rock, right?

It alludes to his leadership position, which he does take in the beginning of Acts. He's one of the main apostles who is preaching the gospel publicly along with John.

Now, second, Andrew, not much is known about Andrew other than the fact that Andrew is

Simon Peter's brother and also a fisherman. James and John are also fishermen and they're also brothers.

They worked with Peter before following Jesus. We saw this previously in Luke. And when comparing, what's interesting is when you compare the scenes of crucifixion, we actually find out that James and John's mother,

James and John Zebedee, their mother is Salome, who is Mary's sister.

So, if you look at John 19 .25, Matthew 27 .56, Mark 15 .40

and compare the women who are there, the names all line up. And Salome is

Mary's sister, Mary, mother of Jesus' sister, which means James and John were

Jesus' cousins. James will be killed for his faith in early in the book of Acts, while John will outlive everyone else among the apostles.

Philip is the apostle who brought Nathanael to Jesus. When we look at John 1,

Bartholomew is another name for Nathanael. Matthew is

Levi, the tax collector. Jesus, choosing a social reject like a tax collector, actually shows what kind of community he has formed.

It's a compassionate and accepting community. Christ's new community does not discriminate based upon one's background.

Because we have to know that Matthew would have been a social reject for working for Rome.

But after Jesus called him out, called him to join him, he drops everything and joins

Jesus. Thomas, also known as Didymus, is known for not believing the resurrection of Jesus until he saw

Jesus physically. And church history tells us that he went to India or Persia and he was martyred there.

He was killed for his faith there. Not much is known about James Alpheus.

Simon the Zealot was a radical nationalist who directly opposed Rome. The Zealots actually were the ones who fought against Rome and were brutally killed when they rebelled.

And that was the cause of Rome just bringing down the whole

Jerusalem. The temple was destroyed because of that. They were even more zealous for the political restoration of Israel than the

Pharisees. And what's interesting is, note that Jesus chose a state -sponsored tax collector,

Matthew, and a radical nationalist, Simon, to be part of the same group of people.

The Twelve Apostles characterize the reconciling nature of the

New Covenant people. No amount of enmity can come between their devotion to Christ.

Christ unifies even those who would naturally be against each other.

He's the ultimate reconciler. Not much is known about Judas, the son of James.

However, Judas Iscariot is possibly the most famous Judas in the

Bible. He betrayed Jesus for money. He betrayed Jesus with a kiss.

And considering Jesus' prayerful night before, we know that even Judas Iscariot was chosen with a purpose.

Jesus chose Judas with his death in mind because that's what his ministry entails.

Ultimately, his ministry entails of him dying for his people, for the forgiveness of their sin.

Now, from a brief view of this group of people, one may question, how can the world be saved through these

Twelve proclaiming the Gospel? How can the fate of the Church, how can the fate of the

New Covenant community hang on these Twelve people? Consider what kind of people presidents and kings choose to assemble, choose to choose when they assemble their cabinet, right?

After their inauguration or coronation, they choose their advisors. Harvard educated multiple degrees and from elite pedigrees.

Not so with Jesus. Remember, before he chose the

Twelve Apostles, Jesus' main priority was the communion with the

Father, following God's will, not the world's plan.

No worldly king or leader would choose any of these

Twelve. None of them. But Jesus did so.

Because God's plan is greater than the world's plan. But how did that turn out?

The fact that we're meeting nearly 2 ,000 years later for Jesus' sake is a testament to the accuracy and faithfulness of Jesus' path.

Jesus meticulously and purposely chose these seemingly insignificant fellows and established his

New Covenant people. After all, we don't have a weekly gathering for Julius Caesar or even

George Washington. And this ought to give us more confidence in the

Church. Not because the Church is perfect, but because the perfect Christ sovereignly instituted it.

Historically, tyrants and empires sought to extinguish Jesus' New Covenant people.

Rome. And when Rome failed to make Christianity go extinct, they joined them.

Kings and presidents come and go. Some are good, most are wicked.

Some may come alongside the Church. Some directly challenge it.

But one thing is certain, and it's that even the gates of hell cannot overcome the

New Covenant community that Jesus has set up. Pastors and seminaries come and go.

They go woke and they go broke. But Jesus' Church will continue on comprehensively because it's comprehensively provided and protected by Christ himself.

That's the confidence we have this morning. The Congress, the state legislature may pass on as many laws and regulations as they'd like to insult

Christ and the Church. Make the gathering of God's people nearly impossible.

Yet, the Church will continue even if the U .S. government doesn't.

Second, Jesus comprehensively restores the New Covenant community from the influence of sin.

Jesus comprehensively restores the New Covenant community from the influence of sin.

The next three verses summarize Jesus' ministry. And he came down with them and stood on a level place with a crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all

Judea and Jerusalem and from sea coasts of Tyre and Sidon who came to hear him and be healed of their diseases.

As well as those who were tormented with unclean spirits and they were healed.

Now this portion of Luke is Luke's description of what we famously know as Matthew's Sermon on the

Mount. The Sermon on the Mount, of course, was not just a chapter long.

I'm sure it took many hours. And Luke and Matthew will give us, right,

Luke will give us next week what the summary of it, summary of that sermon is so that we can know what

Jesus said. Because we don't have an audio tape of that. Now, one thing that many liberal theologians try to argue is that well how come

Luke says on a level place while Matthew says a mountain?

Seemingly, it's contradictory. A level place and a mountain? How can you have both be true?

And they would attack the validity of scripture. However, a level place can actually mean a plateau.

On top of a mountain, there can be a plateau which is leveled. It's flat.

That's geologically possible. Not only that, if we consider that Jesus was praying at the top of the mountain, he came down to the side of the mountain and settled there to teach.

He didn't go all the way down. So, we can actually read

Matthew and Luke together and not have them contradict each other. But they rather show different camera angles of the same event.

Now the first part of verses 17 to 18 describe what kind of people that Jesus attracted.

There are three types of people. His apostles, whom he just chose, they came down with him. His disciples, which is a greater number of people.

And a great multitude of people who are not his disciples. The apostles are the closest in the circle.

And then we branch out to the disciples who have seen and heard him teach and preach.

And probably have seen his miracles and they're following him. And then the crowd, the third group is new.

They have heard about Jesus, yet they have not committed to him. And we find that they have come from all the surrounding regions.

Judea is the southern part of Palestine. Jerusalem is the capital city.

While the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon are the northern parts. That's the modern day

Lebanon. Luke highlights that Jesus' ministry was expansive geographically.

Jesus was not just a local, he was just not on the local news.

But his reputation and reach, his reputation and report, they reached out extensively.

And Jesus' ministry was not only geographically broad, but functionally broad as well.

These people came to hear Jesus teach, which we will get to next week.

The content of the message. Now they also came to be healed of their diseases.

Some also came because they're tormented with unclean spirits. Whether they're lacking in the knowledge of God or needing to be healed physically.

Or needing to be freed spiritually. Jesus compassionately met all of their needs.

Note that each need listed here is actually the effect of sin. Because of sin, people are ignorant of who

God is. Because of sin, people are separated from God. So Jesus taught them.

Who can better reveal who God is than God himself, made incarnate.

Because the world is fallen, people get sick. Death is a part of the reality.

So Jesus undid the touch of death.

He healed them. Because of the sinful rebellion by the angels, people were oppressed by demons.

So Jesus freed them. It did not matter what the circumstances were and who had the disease.

Jesus healed them indiscriminately. The crowd's access was not limited by their status.

Right? Oh, you're not one of my disciples. I don't know who you are. You haven't been following me. Get in the line.

Get in the back of the line. Try again next time. Right? And they're also not limited by their condition.

Oh, I only heal minor conditions. You gotta go somewhere else for your disease.

No, Jesus' compassionate care was comprehensive. It was comprehensive in doing the full restoration that God planned to do through Jesus Christ.

Anytime Jesus heals, anytime Jesus casts out demons, it is a sample, it's a

Costco sample of what Jesus will ultimately do on the cross in undoing the full power of sin and death.

That's His business. Jesus' main business is undoing sin. Jesus' main business is restoration.

From sin. And verse 19 shows the detail of the crowd's interaction with Jesus.

And the whole multitude sought to touch Him, for power went out from Him and healed them all.

The crowd's access to Jesus was not limited by their number. Jesus restored them all.

No matter how long it took, Jesus stayed for them. Jesus was accessible.

The crowd's access to Jesus was also not limited by their status. Remember, the 12 apostles just got chosen.

You think, you would think there's a hierarchy here. The crowd could touch

Jesus. The 12 apostles were not the only ones with the backstage pass.

They all sought to touch Him and they were all healed. And the crowd's access to Jesus was not limited by their resources.

Unfortunately, there's so many ministries that limit people from hearing the gospel, hearing scripture, because of their lack of access, lack of resources.

They don't have the ability to purchase a book or a program or have the speaker come and speak.

That was not so with Jesus. He was available to any and to everyone who wanted to seek

Him. He made Himself available. Jesus restored all of them freely.

He was not a televangelist who promises healing and only allegedly two people get healed.

And no one had to pay for it. He healed freely. It was a gift.

And this is important today because Jesus' ministry of restoring those who are enslaved by sin and under the influence of sin has not changed one bit.

Just as He was accessible to all sorts of people, Jesus still is welcoming to all.

His business still is to restore people from sin.

That's His ministry. Are you enslaved by all sorts of sinful desires?

Jesus can free you. Do you feel trapped by an ongoing sin?

Jesus can free you. Do you long for a day when pain and sickness will be no more?

Jesus will fully restore you personally, physically when

He comes back. Jesus is capable. That's what

He does. If Jesus had a business sign, restoration from sin would be bolded and highlighted.

And for those who seek Christ to be freed from sin and effects of sin, you have come to the right person.

You have come to the right ministry. Jesus takes

His ministry so seriously that He sought to restore people from sin by dying on the cross.

He completely frees His people at the cost of His life.

That's how seriously He takes His duty. He bore your sin on the cross so that you wouldn't have to bear it anymore, so that you wouldn't have to be enslaved anymore, so that you could be freed.

And this is important because in the modern church, we often blunt the consequence, the result of the cross.

Oh yes, that condition, no, no, you got to go to a psychiatrist for that.

Depression, you need medication. But what about Jesus?

Isn't that a human condition? Isn't that the effect of sinfulness of the world? The pain of loss,

Jesus can't handle that. The fear of loss, anxiety, potential fear of the future,

Jesus can't handle that. In this text, we see a summary of His new covenant ministry.

And all is repeated many times. Jesus' new covenant ministry and community is full of fully restored people, which

He died to establish. That's what characterizes

His new covenant community. People who are restored from sin and effects of sin.

People who are freed from the bondage of sin. And the healer is

Christ alone. Let us pray. Father, we're thankful that we get to be part of the new covenant community in which

Jesus had shed His blood to establish. And Father, we pray that you would help us to seek

Christ, seek Him when we're in need of healing, when we're in need of freedom.

That we would not seek anyone else, no pastor, no books, no doctors, but we would seek

Him to be freed from sin and the effects of sin. Knowing that He is fully capable, but more so He is fully willing.

That's what He came to do. Let us trust the expert. In Jesus' name.