Trinity Bible Church Sermons 2n3t5

The introduction of Acts ends with a surprising scene. In the wake of Christ’s ascension, intriguing attention is given to the apostles returning to Jerusalem, praying as they wait for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and seeking to replace Judas Iscariot—the apostate apostle. This peculiar age appears obscure to many. How does it connect with Christ’s ascension? How does it relate to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit? What significance does it have in the book of Acts? Why does it take up so much space and form the conclusion to its introduction? This sermon seeks to unfold these and related observations in this important age to show that the ascended Christ is reigning from above.

The interval of time within which we now live is designated for proclamation. Christ is worthy of witness and the knowledge of His supremacy must shine forth in this dark world. The introduction to Acts is mounting. A most significant event is now observed: Christ’s ascension. The apostles are eyewitnesses to this dramatic exaltation of Christ. By it, His supremacy is formally sounded. Founded upon the apostles, the church is charged with the high privilege and responsibility of making much of this Christ.

The Church is chosen. The Bride is predestined. She is loved now with an everlasting love, and what she will be has not yet appeared. While Christ’s electing and prevailing love is her secure foundation, she is still in the making. She has not yet arrived. The local church that understands these marvelous spiritual realities will increasingly delight in making much of Christ, which constitutes her magnificence.

Christ is worthy of witness. This is the formal and functional theme of Acts. The entire drama of the book traces the unfolding providence of the apostles bearing witness to Jesus as the Christ. The apostles are a unique and instrumental selection of eyewitnesses assigned to testify that Christ has died, that Christ is risen, and that Christ will come again. Many are the implications of these grand realities. Such are the teachings of the apostles. Whatever the apostles did or taught, their defining appointment was bearing witness to the glory of Christ. What is recorded in these pages is foundational to the church in every age, calling for a living and reverberating echo of the apostolic witness.

Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again. These matchless truths must flood the earth. Christ is Lord and is worthy of witness. In the opening scene of Acts, all attention is directed to the risen Christ. He is King of the cosmos and is depicted as commanding and commissioning a military assignment. He reigns and is in sovereign control over all despite His physical absence, and He is on a conquest. His appointed apostles, somewhat like chosen generals, are charged with the humanly impossible task of standing in the stead of Christ as His witnesses to the end of the earth. The gospel will go forth.

The resurrection of the crucified Christ is the central icon of hope. “He is risen!” expresses the exultant exclamation of His redeemed throughout the ages. But how was the revolutionary reality of this event first perceived and proclaimed? Did the Jews anticipate the resurrection of a murdered Messiah? Did the Hebrew Scriptures foretell that the Christ would be raised from the dead? Was this some imaginary invention or newly devised doctrine? The apostles boldly proclaimed that Jesus is the Christ who was not only crucified but raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. Contained in this short clause is a wonderous wealth of substance and relevance for the past, present, and future.

Of all the sacrificial ceremonies presented in the Old Testament, none are more significant and expressive of the purpose and meaning of the cross than that which is dramatized on the Day of Atonement. It was designated the holiest day of the year. In it all the sacred sacrifices came to a climax. It was central to the sacrificial system and the people’s communion with God. The life-giving presence of the Holy One was impossible without the work performed on this singular day of the year. And the high point of that day was also the most intriguing and extraordinary. Here in striking symbolism a unique dimension of the cross is graphically depicted.

The pen is laid down. The inspired letter is finished. Three verses close Romans in an impressive economy of words, centering on Christ, celebrating the gospel, and commending all glory and honor and praise to God. “Now to Him … be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.” This models more than epistolary etiquette. It calls for more than momentary adoration. It demonstrates a deeper principle and beseeches a broader, more defining reality. Doctrine is purposed for doxology.

What is the outgrowth of the gospel? In a word, the church. As Paul begins his official valediction of this monumental letter, a Christ-centered farewell emerges intertwined with personal greetings that celebrate the gospel. This portion of sacred Scripture offers much more than an inspired list of names. It is written and preserved for our good, with powerful relevance in every age of the church. It extols the glories of Christ in a most tangible demonstration of gospel outgrowth.

Paul closes his magisterial letter with an overflowing heart. He ties up threads and offers explanations for why he is writing, his plans, and his needs. But more than all this he beams with a heart for Christ. This age puts on display the multifaceted glory of making much of Christ. The wonder and beauty of Christ compels each otherwise disted line. Christ is worthy of every detail of our lives and pursuits. He is worthy of every heart and hand. He is worthy of more than the nations and all creation combined. Christ rightly known cannot be contained. Here is a powerful example and encouragement to make much of Christ together in the local church and unto the nations.

Paul brings his magisterial letter to a close with a conventional mixture of greetings, warnings, and prayers. It also features a series of significant reminders. He begins his personal conclusion with insights into his “priestly” ministry. Paul is not a priest. He is not a mediator between God and man. Christ alone is that mediator (1 Timothy 2:5). But Paul’s calling and appointment are revisited and explained. He is divinely appointed as a minister to Christ to the nations in the priestly service of the gospel of God. All is emphatically to make much of Christ. To this, Paul solicits the church in Rome to see and the same.

The last major section of exhortation is drawn to a close. Paul has extolled the person and work of Christ for God’s glory and the joy, peace, and hope of His redeemed. His thesis in this section has been that all who are justified by faith are welcomed in Christ for the purpose of worship. As he opened this section so now he closes it with a catchword for what Christ has done for us. We are “welcomed” in Christ for worship. There is a strong corporate dimension to the joy, peace, and hope that Christ has won for us. This closing crescendo celebrates the work of Christ in the gospel, freely reconciling sinners to God and one another, resulting in joy and peace that abounds in hope (15:8-13). The foretaste of a glorious and eternal worship in God’s presence breaks into the here and now through the hope that is in Christ.

Let us live daily for Christ, living in Him. Such a life requires casting off sins and sinful practices, and even expectations, traditions and comfort, striving daily to follow in His footsteps wherever His places us and in whatever circumstances through fixing our eyes on Him alone.

Jesus Christ uttered a few final words as He hung on the cross at His crucifixion. Among other words Jesus said, “It is finished.” Many have wondered what *actually was finished* when He uttered those words. Scripture is very clear what Jesus was saying at that time. Every word Jesus spoke is eternal and every word He spoke has eternal significance.

Unity is an important subject. Many reasons are advanced for it. Many also are the purposes. Paul brings his pastoral address on the conscience to a unifying conclusion with a wonderful emphasis on Christ and the organic outworking of the gospel applied. Here Christ is exalted, to God’s glory and the encouragement of the redeemed.

Chapter 4 begins with one of Peter’s most cherished themes: the sufferings of Christ. Our Lord suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous (3:18). Peter again urges believers to willingly follow Christ’s example of unjust suffering. We are to arm ourselves with Christ’s way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. Suffering for doing good, instead of sinning, is to be the hallmark of true believers who by the gospel will live in the spirit even though they die in the flesh.

The church’s unity is the organic outworking of the gospel applied. It revolutionizes our relationships, especially in the church. The historically pressing issue that Paul deals with in Romans 14 has to do with certain Christian consciences being bound to the law of Moses and the resulting challenges that presents in the New Covenant church. In the opening of Romans 15, Paul summarizes his address on these matters of conscience. His primary burden is that Christ would be central in the church. To this end, he urges the church to prioritize apprehending and applying the beauty and glory of Christ in the gospel. Masterfully, he redirects both the “weak” and “strong” in conscience to the perfect law and liberty that is ours in Christ. Christians may not be under the law of Moses, but they certainly are under the law of Christ.

Paul has been onishing his readers to live the redeemed life that is in and for Christ. In chapter 14, he addresses the particulars that are primarily concerned with challenges in transitioning from Old to New Covenant worship. The particulars serve the purpose. Paul’s address concerning the weak and the strong in faith is for the purpose of directing the church in blood-bought worship. His call to live in harmony is a call to put on Christ for reconciled worship. His exhortations to unity and peace are to extol the gospel in worship. His meticulous onitions regarding matters of conscience, liberty, and love are all to promote Christ-centered worship that overflows in joy and peace, abounding in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit (15:13). This sermon seeks to capture the main issue that Romans 14 is addressing, namely matters of conscience. It summarizes and clarifies what is and is not in view, and how matters of conscience apply to us today, to make much of Christ for God’s glory and our joy in Him.

The church can be divided by distractions. The peace and joy, the righteousness and witness of the gospel in the redeemed life can be robbed when priorities are not maintained with deliberate focus of heart. When Christ is decentralized, for any reason, the church suffers. This happens when Christians judge one another in matters of conscience. To assert one’s own liberty at the expense of love is to act contrary to the character of the kingdom of God. In these verses Paul adds to his pastoral onition regarding Christian liberty and love the importance of living conscious of the kingdom of God.

In love, Christ suffered condemnation in the place of and for the redeemed. His death purchased our life, His captivity to wrath our liberty from wrath. With this in bold relief, Paul returns to his onition regarding how we ought in Christ’s church to welcome and love one another in Christ. Love, not license, is the Christian hallmark, because Christ and Him crucified is our Lord. Disagreement can painfully challenge a right demonstration of Christian love. Especially when disagreements are based on conscience. Here, Paul calls for Christian love within the church, one to another, addressing the place of Christian liberty and love.