The Text

“And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things.” — Luke 24:44–48

Introduction

The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are the outworking of God’s eternal purpose, the reason for human history, the focal point of the Holy Scriptures, and the object of saving faith. The sacred text we have just read makes four things clear. First, the resurrected Jesus told His disciples that His death and resurrection were the fulfilment of the Old Testament Scriptures. Second, Jesus enabled the disciples’ minds to understand those Scriptures in the light of His death and resurrection. Third, He said that the Old Testament Scriptures gave testimony to His death and resurrection, as well as to the proclamation of repentance for the pardon of sins, beginning at Jerusalem and spreading to all nations. Fourth, Jesus announced that His disciples were now witnesses that He was the living fulfilment of what those Scriptures predicted.

Luke’s inspired and infallible account is crucial. All four Gospels end with a commission — but only Luke’s Gospel gives us the Christ-authorized, Christ-centred, and Christ-revealing message for the forgiveness of sins. Most would probably agree that the churches in our country appear tragically unhealthy — some weak, some diseased, some rotting cadavers. One of the primary reasons is that few of them proclaim the biblical gospel. If by God’s grace we would build biblical churches, we must declare on the streets, in our homes, and from our pulpits the gospel of Christ.

We will consider three things: the nature of Christ’s gospel, the content of Christ’s gospel, and the health of our churches in relation to Christ’s gospel.

I. The Nature of Christ’s Gospel

According to our text, the gospel of Christ is, first of all, a divine message. “These are the words which I spake unto you,” said Christ. As prophet, priest, and king — the mediator of the new covenant — Jesus delivered, embodied, and fulfilled God’s message. This message did not originate in the sinful minds of men, nor in the deceptive minds of devils. It comes from heaven with all eternal authority. We should therefore never change it.

It is also an inscripturated message. The gospel is not religious fiction or oral tradition. The Holy Spirit inspired the holy Scriptures, and the gospel of Christ is the infallible record of God’s eternal purpose to save sinners through Jesus Christ.

It is a revelatory message. The risen Christ opened their understanding. Until that moment, the disciples had heard Scripture, grown up with Scripture, and thought they understood it — but they did not grasp God’s eternal purpose in the person and work of Jesus Christ until Christ gave them understanding. We can hear the gospel preached by the greatest of preachers, but unless God gives us understanding of the revelation it contains, it will do us no saving good. As Christ said to Peter: “Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.”

It is a necessary redemptive message. Christ said, “Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer” — the word behoved means it was necessary. It cannot but come to pass, and it cannot but meet the need of sinners. Sinners will not be saved apart from it.

It is a universal message. Repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, fulfilling the promise to Abraham. Christ was slain and has redeemed sinners to God by His blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation.

It is an historical message. “Ye are witnesses of these things.” As the resurrected Christ stood before His disciples, those people were eyewitnesses of God’s glorious grace and the fulfilling of the covenants. This was not hysterical imagination — it was a historical act of redemption, fully accomplished by the Son of God and applied by the Spirit of God.

In summary: the gospel of Christ is divine, inscripturated, revelatory, redemptive, universal, and historical. It is heavenly information for the salvation of souls, and the only Christ-authorized message for the salvation of sinners.

II. The Content of Christ’s Gospel

If we carefully examine this inspired passage and then read Luke’s sequel — the book of Acts — we find that Peter, Paul, and others were faithful to the authorized message. They did not veer to the right or to the left. They preached what the resurrected Christ appointed them to preach.

We are generally told today that the first and most important thing to tell people is that God loves them. In the book of Acts — the book of the Evangel — those who faithfully did what Christ appointed them to do never once used the word love. Not once. This does not mean we should never mention the love of God — but it points us to what those directly taught by Christ preached faithfully to the world.

The gospel begins with the God of the Bible. The gospel that Christ authorized doesn’t begin with men or their condition — it begins with God. One of the greatest tragedies of today’s so-called gospel is its man-centredness. But in Acts, the gospel of Christ begins with God: who He is, what He is like, what He requires of us, and what He accomplished through Christ. Peter spoke of God 29 times in his Pentecost sermon. Paul referred to God 28 times in his message at Antioch Pisidia, and 20 times on Mars Hill. The holy God of Scripture is the starting point and defines the context out of which we must preach the gospel of Christ.

The gospel addresses the sinfulness of man. Telling people they are wrong is not popular today, let alone telling them they are sinners worthy of God’s eternal condemnation. But because we do not preach the holy God, people do not feel a need to be right with Him. Human beings made in God’s image have broken His law and desperately need forgiveness of their sins. Jesus said repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name — not a patch-up for mistakes, but pardon for sins. Peter did not avoid this on the day of Pentecost: “Him ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.” He was not concerned about hurting feelings. He was concerned about eternal souls and about being faithful to what his Master commanded him to preach.

The gospel proclaims Jesus Christ and His work of redemption. The biblical gospel presents who Christ is and what He has done to save sinners, and these two must always be together. The apostles throughout Acts applied the title Lord to Yahweh, the God of Israel, and to Jesus interchangeably — establishing His deity and lordship. Lots of people like a Saviour. Unfortunately, not many people want a Lord. But God has already made Him Lord. You bow to Him or you do not. He is not waiting for you to let Him do something. He lets you live in His world, breathe His air, hear His gospel, and come to Him.

And we must never stop at the cross. Many good men who love the cross leave out the resurrection. The resurrection is preached more than the cross in some places throughout the book of Acts. We serve a living Saviour — risen, reigning, governing the universe at this moment, interceding for His people. It is not only that He died, but that He died and rose again. Get people to the cross — but do not stop there. Get them to the right hand of the Father.

The gospel calls for repentance and faith. The first three elements are declarative — they state the way things are. But the call to repentance and faith is imperative — it is a command. We don’t offer repentance; we call men, women, and children to repent of their sins and believe on the Lord Jesus. These are His words, not ours. Repentance and faith are two sides of the same coin: to be distinguished, but never divided. Peter preached repentance at Pentecost and three thousand were saved. He preached faith to Cornelius’s household and the whole household was saved. Paul described his own preaching as “repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.”

III. The Health of Our Churches and Christ’s Gospel

Without the gospel of Christ, there can be no true conversions. Paul wrote: “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.” By distorting the biblical gospel, we lose a proper view of salvation, the Christian life, evangelism, and the focus of preaching. We lose Christ-centred worship. Our churches are sick because they need the glorious balm of the gospel, and many have never been cut a day in their lives over their sins.

Telling people, “Let Jesus come into your heart” — that is not preaching the gospel of Christ. “Make a decision and you will get born again” — that is not the gospel. We must tell people their lost condition and that without being born again they will never see the kingdom of God — but that in itself is not the gospel. The gospel is declaring the God of the Bible and His claims upon us, telling men their condition before God, telling them what God has done to save people from their sins, and calling them to repent and believe on Him.

Without the gospel of Christ, we fill Christ’s churches with religious goats, not sheep. Jesus did not say go and get decisions — He said go and make disciples, which comes from preaching the gospel of Christ.

“All persons throughout the world, professing the faith of the gospel, and obedience unto God by Christ according unto it, not destroying their own profession by any errors everting the foundation, or unholiness of conversation, are and may be called visible saints; and of such ought all particular congregations to be constituted.” — 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith

So let us faithfully preach the gospel of Christ — for the salvation of sinners, for edifying and maturing the saints, and for the glory of God in building biblical churches. May we look to Christ by faith and live.