LUKE 24:

45 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, 46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: 47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 And ye are witnesses of these things. 49 And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.

    This is a command that was given directly to the first church by the risen Lord. He was speaking to the company of eleven disciples which made up the nucleus of the first church. Jesus doesn't mean that the church was to begin at Jerusalem but He meant that the world wide scope of the Great Commission was to begin at Jerusalem. The church had already been doing local mission work for some time. Jesus gave His last instructions to His church before He ascended into heaven. Usually the last words of a person are the most important words ever spoken by him. It is certainly true in this case. He gave the church specific commands that are easily understood. The first church was not left to make up their own gospel. Neither was it left up to the church to draw up her own map of procedure in spreading the gospel. The church at Jerusalem was commanded by the resurrected Christ what to preach- "repentance and remission of sins should be preached..." She was told how to preach- "...in his name..." She was told where to preach- "...among all nations,..." She was even told where and when to begin to preach- "...beginning at Jerusalem..."

    This was all in accordance with the scriptures. Verses 45-47 The gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus according to the scriptures. Jesus never did anything outside the scriptures. Everything thing a church does today should be according to the scriptures. In order to carry out the Word of God the first church had to begin at Jerusalem by preaching repentance for the remission of sins in the name of Jesus. Today we hear a lot about church programs. Here Jesus laid out the program for every church in the scriptures. God is a God of planning and order. He does nothing on the spur of the moment. Neither does He change His plans or devise new plans as He works. But He works in accordance with His plans which were born in eternity. God works His eternal plan and He works it in and through New Testament churches in this era. God doesn't trust man to devise His own program in carrying out the Great Commission. He only leaves the unimportant things up to man. He didn't just send His Son into the world to die but He also send Him for the purpose of calling out, establishing and instructing His church. When Jesus ascended into heaven He left behind a well established church and a well instructed church.

I. WHAT TO PREACH "...repentance and remission of sins..."  

     Every truth in the Bible is important and should be preached. The whole counsel of God should be declared in it fullness. But there is one truth that stands out above all others and that is repentance. It is the first truth that is to be preached. John the Baptist preached repentance for the remission of sins. His messages were built around this subject. "...Repent ye for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." Jesus begin His ministry by saying, "...the kingdom of God is at hand, repent ye, and believe the gospel." Peter preached repentance on the day of Pentecost- "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins,..." Men need to hear all the Word of God but first they must be called to repentance. Without repentance men are doomed. "Except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish." This is a doctrine that is neglected by too many today.

    Today men are preaching an only believe gospel. We leave the impression that all people have to do is to believe in Christ. Do not misunderstand salvation comes at the point of faith and only by faith in Jesus Christ. But men will never place their faith in Christ unless they repent of their sins. Repentance and faith go together. They are inseparable. Acts 20:21 "Testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ." Today about all repentance means to many is a change of mind. Men change their minds about fifty times a day but that doesn't mean that they have repented. Repentance means to turn away from sins, to forsake sin, to be sorry for sins. It doesn't mean being sorry that you got caught in your sins. It’s the church's duty to preach repentance above all things because that is what man needs to do above everything else. If you have not repented you do not have the remission of sins.

II. HOW TO PREACH "...in his name..."

    Repentance for remission of sins is to be preached in the name of Jesus. You can preach in the name of Mary, the name of Mohammed or Allah, and the name of Buddha but men will never be saved until they hear it preached in the name of Jesus. Acts 4:12 "Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." It is important to preach repentance but it is just as important for it of be preached in the name of Jesus.

    In His name means by His authority. Acts 13:38 "Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethern, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:" To do something through someone means to do it by his authority. The membership of a church gives to missions through the church. We give in the name of the church. We give by the authority of the church. The church is appointed by Jesus to preach the gospel. She is authorized to preach repentance. Only a local New Testament church has the right to preach. There are many self authorized evangelists in the world today without any authority from Jesus. Others may preach but they do not have the right to do it. No religious organization outside a New Testament church has the right or authority to preach.

    Many have gone out on their own but the correct method is to send out missionaries from a local church. Romans 10:15 "And how shall they preach, except they be sent?" In the book of Acts we see the churches as they sent out Paul and others. They didn't get mad at the church and take out on their own. Neither did they build churches out of excluded members nor split churches. How men today need to obey the direct commands of Jesus.

    In His name also means by His power. Verse 49 They were not to begin the world wide scope of the Great Commission until Jesus had given them the power they needed to carry out His commands. On the day of Pentecost He poured out the Holy Spirit on the church at Jerusalem and endued them with the power they needed to preach the gospel unto every creature. It takes the power of God to preach to most creatures. Many times we go in our own power and when we do we fail. We must depend upon the power of God if the message of repentance is to have any effect. All will be vain unless the Holy Spirit comes down and blesses the Word of God as it is presented.

III. WHERE TO BEGIN TO PREACH. "...beginning at Jerusalem..."

    This was all in accordance with the Old Testament scriptures. The out pouring of the Holy Spirit of the day of Pentecost was the fulfillment of a prophecy in Joel. Joel 2:32 "And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call." Since the empowering of the church was to take place at Jerusalem the church was to begin its world wide mission work at Jerusalem. "... beginning at Jerusalem." It was to begin with that small faithful remnant whom the Lord called. They were faithful to the command of the Lord and filled Jerusalem with their doctrine.

    "...beginning at Jerusalem..." implies that mission work today is to start at home. Parents are to begin with their children. Children are to begin with their lost parents. Churches are to begin mission work in their own locality. First of all the local vineyard is to be kept. Too many times the statement in the Song of Solomon is true about us. "...they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept." How many times are we more concerned with foreign missions than members of our own household or our next door neighbor? Supporting mission work at other places doesn't do away with our responsibilities in our own locality. "...beginning at Jerusalem..." doesn't mean starting new mission work on the local level but it means that we are to be a witness for Jesus in our own community. While it is important to support other works let us be keepers of our own vineyard at the same time.

IV. WHERE TO PREACH "...among all nations..."

    That first church was responsible for evangelizing the entire world. The same is true today. Another account of the commission says "...ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Sameria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." In Jerusalem means at home. All Judea could be applied to state missions, Sameria to interstate missions, and among all nations to foreign missions.

    Missions are to begin at home but they are not to stay at home. The church at Jerusalem obeyed Christ up to this point but they kept on tarrying in Jerusalem when they should have been going out into the world with the message of repentance. God had a way of remedying this. He allowed persecution to scatter the Jerusalem church. As a result of persecution the gospel was spread all over the face of the known earth.

    I wonder if we are really obeying the Lord today. It seems like we are spending the Lord's money in only a few places and leaving large portions of the earth without the gospel message. Someone once said that we are high farming on a few patches and leaving the great field unsown.

    May we recognize the importance of sending out the Word of God to a lost and dying world. But let us also realize that Jesus gave specific instructions of how to do it. May we be faithful in carrying out this great work according to the scriptures.