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The First Sunday After Easter
Jesus Establishes His Church
April 19, 2009

TEXT:  (John 20:19-23 NKJ) 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 Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, "Peace be with you." 20  When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 So Jesus said to them again, "Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you." 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."
 
This is the evening of that first Easter Day—and even in this seemingly simple presentation of Christ to His disciples—we see a purpose and a lesson—Jesus enters the room where His disciples are gathered—and He offers them peace—and if we look at the list of the fruits of faith in Paul’s letter to the Galatians—we find that peace is on that list
 
(Galatians 5:22 NKJ) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
 
We can be quite sure that another of these fruits of the Spirit was present in the hearts of the disciples—and that is joy—surely the disciples were joyful that they were seeing Jesus—it is interesting that Jesus speaks to the 11 of peace—because the era of persecution would now begin—Christians would be hunted and executed for having faith and believing in Jesus as the Christ—I would hardly call that peace
 
Christians will never experience worldly peace in this world—the devil is the prince of this world—the devil torments us and tempts us—he tries to steal our souls from the hand of God—we are in constant battle with Satan—but the peace that Jesus is speaking of is an inner peace—a peace of knowing we have salvation—a peace of knowing that no matter what they might do to this body—we will be resurrected—just as Jesus was resurrected—and we will go to heaven—just as Jesus returned to heaven
 
On this first Easter evening, Jesus shows His disciples His wounds—and speaks the words that we will focus on today
 
(John 20:21 NKJ) So Jesus said to them again, "Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you."
 
To understand what Christ accomplished with the resurrection—we need to examine what Jesus said before He was arrested and crucified—we go back a few chapters in John’s Gospel—and look at Jesus’ words as He prepared the disciples for His death—resurrection—and ascension
 
(John 16:7-11 NKJ) "Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. 8 "And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 "of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 "of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 "of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
 
God established a form of government for man and beast in this world in the Old Testament—He structured the order of things immediately upon man’s creation
 
(Genesis 1:28 NKJ) Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."
 
Later, with the giving of His Law through Moses—God taught His people about civil authority and the moral law—God directed His people—He showed them how they should live—and if they strayed from His way—they were punished—sometimes through death
 
Unless Jesus completes God’s plan—and returns to heaven to sit with God as our intercessor—not much has changed—Jesus must return to heaven—then He will send the Holy Spirit and we will have the power to defeat death—temptation—and even defeat the devil himself—this world changed drastically when Jesus walked out of that tomb
 
God the Father sent Jesus to be victorious over death—Jesus defeated death—through this victory He glorified God and was glorified by God the Father—and Jesus prepared the way for us to follow Him—even to our victory over death—that brings us right back to the peace that we have—the peace of knowing that we no longer have to fear death—fear sin—or fear the devil
 
The Old Testament makes us conscious of our sins—but because Jesus redeemed us—He removes the consequences of our sins—because He justified us before God—and made us righteous in the eyes of God
 
Jesus’ kingdom began with His crucifixion and resurrection—it is not an earthly kingdom—it is a spiritual and heavenly kingdom—and it begins for us when this body dies—when our life in this world ends—we are promised the resurrection from the dead to follow Jesus at the end of time
 
Jesus came to this world to establish the office of His spiritual kingdom—which would stand to protect those who believe—from sin—from death—and from the devil
 
Jesus’ kingdom will have no end—hear these words of the angel Gabriel as he speaks to the virgin Mary about her bringing forth the Son of God called Jesus
 
(Luke 1:29-33 NKJ) But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. 30 Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 "And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. 32 "He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 33 "And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end."
 
 
Jesus’ kingdom continues after His resurrection—and even after His ascension into heaven—because He establishes the office of Apostle—and the successors of the apostles—that’s what He means when He says “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you."
 
Let’s go back and remember why the Jews wanted to kill Jesus
 
(John 5:18-24 NKJ) Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God. 19 Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. 20 "For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel. 21 "For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will. 22 "For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, 23 "that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. 24 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.
 
God the Father sent the Son—and now the Son is sending His apostles—and the apostles will send the other ministers of the Word—and the Word will go everywhere—and condemn—or save—Jesus established the office of the preacher with that sentence—as the Father sent Me, I also send you.
 
Jesus started this conversation by speaking peace unto His disciples—that peace extends to all believers—but Jesus didn’t come to bring peace to this world—only to those who believe on Him—to all others there is a war—a war between good and evil—and that war must continue until Judgment Day
 
(Matthew 10:32-40 NKJ) "Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. 33 "But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven. 34 "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. 35 "For I have come to`set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law'; 36 "and`a man's enemies will be those of his own household.' 37 "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 "And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 "He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it. 40 "He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.
To prepare His soldier-Apostles for this war—Jesus does not arm them with swords and spears—He does not give them armor—but instead He merely breaths the breath of the Holy Spirit upon them—and He arms them with His Word—that is, the things He taught them
 
When the Word is preached—it is as if Jesus Himself were standing before you preaching it—not that I consider myself equal to Jesus as a preacher—but that Jesus Himself instructed us—He who receives you, receives Me—its not that I am like Jesus as I stand before you—but it is the message that is like Christ—who is the Word
 
My responsibility as your preacher is to preach the Word just as it was given to us—in purity and in truth—not to add to it—not to take it out of context—if you reject the Word—you reject Jesus
 
The office of the Apostles established by Jesus—passes on to the successors of the Apostles—today’s ministers of the Word—the preachers—ministers of the Word—we are part of the army fighting in this world’s war of good and evil—and we are armed just as the Apostles were armed—we have the power of the Word—and we have the power of the Holy Spirit—the resurrected Jesus gave it to them—and it has been passed on from generation to generation ever since
 
At the time Jesus gave the power to conduct their preaching and teaching war against evil—the New Testament existed only in their experiences—and their memories—and eventually it was written down for us in what we know as the Bible—specifically the New Testament
 
When Jesus said "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."—He is ordaining these men to the task of preaching the Word
 
When the Law is preached—it tells man what sin is—and that sin condemns them to the eternal death they deserve—when the Gospel of God’s grace and forgiveness is preached—and man repents and asks forgiveness from our gracious God—their sins are forgiven—just as Jesus here promises
 
When Jesus was condemned—died—and was resurrected—everything in this world changed--once the Word is preached—everything changes—the truth of the Word convicts the heart of the sinner—and one of two things have to happen—they confess their sins before God and He grants them forgiveness for Christ’s sake—or they remain eternally bound in sin unto death and condemnation
Thank  God if you are a confessed and forgiven sinner who is going to heaven—and fear God if you are a condemned unrepentant sinner going to the eternal torments of hell—we’ll close with the words of Jesus
 
(Mark 11:24-26 NKJ) "Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. 25 "And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. 26 "But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses."
 
ALL GLORY BE TO GOD!