After the Resurrection

“After the resurrection : Now What?”

Pastor Hideki

Introduction

Historically, the resurrection account is the most recorded historical event of the mankind. You can not deny the fact that Jesus indeed rose from the dead. Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead. He still had a body as he rose from the dead. It was not a spiritual resurrection, but rather a bodily resurrection. As Jesus said to Mary the Magdalene, “ Do not cling to me for I have not yet ascended to My Father.” He had a body so that Mary the Magdalene was able to cling to Him. In the early 1^st century, the idea of Gnosticism became popular among Christians. Gnosticism denies the physical resurrection of Christ. Jesus  had foreseen the problem of the heretical concept of Gnosticism. (The idea holds that anything material including flesh cannot be holy.  Therefore Jesus, being God must be a spiritual being since the body could not be holy. Jesus must not have had a physical body since He is a holy God). He revealed Himself to the Disciples who stated their disbelief of His resurrection. Jesus himself appeared to the Disciples, even cooking for them and then eating the fish he had cooked with them. There is no doubt that Jesus rose from the dead with a resurrected body. Jesus is Holy - the Son of the living God. The resurrection proved that Jesus was both a Human and God, so that He was able to die and He was God who rose from the dead.

Now What? So Jesus rose from the dead. What was His purpose?  The resurrection was his final conquest. He was born as a man to die and rose from the dead as the God of the living. He achieved His objective and fulfilled the prophecies. When Jesus ascended to heaven, the Apostles were panicked and did not know what to do for 10days. They prayed and stayed in the same house. They were afraid of what the people would do to them as His followers. What had happened to Jesus could now happen to them. They witnessed two miracles about Jesus – the Resurrection of Jesus and His ascension to heaven after 40 days during which Jesus stayed on earth with the Disciples.  After those 40 days following His resurrection, He was taken to heaven. They witnessed His returning home in the most unique way. (Acts 1:9) He was taken by God the Father as he flew away - a grand exit from the earth. That is why Jesus does not have a tomb. He is sitting at the right hand of the Father.

He was sent back to heaven so that Jesus can send the Helper - the Holy Spirit.

Now this is the era of the Holy Spirit starting with Peter who spoke and converted 3000 people at the first meeting.

Let’s take a look at his sermon. The first sermon that preached the gospel of Jesus Christ in Acts 2:14-42

Peter preached to the people and 3000 were converted.

There was an Early 19^th century man, Whitfield. What a masterful man he was, and what a man of God and what a powerful preacher. And Whitfield, you know, preached in Bristol to 20,000 people regularly, often daily. Sometimes when Whitfield got up in the morning, there'd be 10,000 people outside waiting for him to begin. Often he preached to 40,000 people. It is said that near Glasgow, Scotland he preached to as many of 50,000 to 100,000 people. Now this was without any...this was without any preparation. This is without any publicity. This are just people drawn to the power of the word of God.

There was no PA system while He was preaching the Word. What a powerful preacher He was. The Japanese need a preacher just like Whitfield. Of course the power comes from the Holy Spirit. He was a powerful preacher because He did not make any compromise when he comes to preaching. No compromise with the world, no compromise with the flesh, no compromise to the devil. He stands on the truth of the Word of God and declared it with fire and power. That is the power of preaching. Peter had that power when He spoke with the crowd.

V37 when they heard Peter’s preaching, they were cut to the heart

“Cut” (katenygēsan) means “to strike or prick violently, to stun.” The convicting work of the Spirit (cf. John 16:8-11) in their hearts was great.　Their question had a ring of desperation about it (cf. Acts 16:30). If the Jews had crucified their Messiah and He was now exalted, what was left for them to do? What could and must they do? Peter spoke the word and the word cut their heart by the power of preaching. I wish I had a gift of the power of preaching. Peter preached and people of Jerusalem humbled before Peter ask What shall we do NOW? This is that beautiful spirit of genuine compunction and childlike docility, which, discovering its whole past career to have been one frightful mistake, seeks only to be set right for the future, be the change involved and the sacrifices required what they may.

V38 Peter responded with conviction

1.Repent (metanoēsate) means “change your outlook,” or “have a change of heart; reverse the direction of your life.” This obviously results in a change of conduct, but the emphasis is on the mind or outlook. The Jews had rejected Jesus; now they were to trust in Him. Repentance was repeatedly part of the apostles’ message in Act

2.Baptized in the name of Jesus whom they had crucified 50days ago.

For the remission of sins, we need to receive baptism. Baptism means Dipped or immersed. As Baptists, we hold to the tradition of immersion in Baptism, just as Jesus was dipped into the Jordan river before His public ministry. We should imitate His baptism. There are other acceptable ways to baptize believers, as I would rather be flexible than legalistic.  It is a visible seal of the remission of sins

3. Receive the Holy Spirit. After Baptism by immersion, you are eligible to receive the Holy Spirit. Peter demanded public baptism so that those who opposed Jesus or went against Jesus will know the true repentance by act not by word. This finalizes the seal of the New Covenant with Christ. Receiving the Holy Spirit is the closing chapter made clear. Jesus did everything which He was assigned to do.

Here are some lessons from Acts 2 which we need to learn:

We recognize the power source as we share our faith with the people. 

God is the One who brings conviction, not you.

God is the One who speaks to our hearts and cuts them with the spirit of conviction.

God is the One who gives you the power of the Holy Spirit to finish the work

God is the One who receives credit (glory) for your work so that No one can boast

As we recognize God’s work in our lives, and as we repent of our sins, we will be able to bring others to Christ.

We are all perhaps Pentecostal Christians (though we do not speak in tongues, it is not the performance that requires) We are all spirit filled Christians when we receive Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. If Jesus is in your heart today, so is the Holy Spirit. If you know that the Holy Spirit dwells in your heart, you have the power to preach and bring people to Christ. It is not you that do the work. It is the Holy Spirit who dwells in you that enables you and gives you the power. Let the Holy Spirit demonstrate what He can do as you share the gospel.

Illustration

Theodore Epp, founder of Back to the Bible radio ministry, realized something was wrong when he stopped receiving critical mail. Convicted that he was not challenging the flock enough, he changed his preaching. "I'm afraid that when I'm pleasing everybody, I'm not pleasing the Lord," he later said, "and pleasing the Lord is what counts."

This is not to suggest that a pastor is only successful when he is upsetting people! But he must be certain that he is first and foremost faithful to the One he serves. He is fulfilling a divine commission when he preaches. Just as an ambassador is entrusted not with his own message but with his superior's message, so the minister is entrusted with the Word of God. Before it is delivered, therefore, every message should be laid at the foot of His throne with one questions: "Is it faithful to You, my Lord?" Or as one German pastor would always pray in the pulpit, "Cause my mind to fear whether my heart means what I say."