My God and My Country

Word of God

Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God

Matthew 4:4

The Gospel According to Luke 24:47-49 

47 And that repentance, and remission of sins should be preached in his Name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 Now ye are witnesses of these things. 49 And behold, I do send the promise (John 15:26; Acts 1:4) of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.

Brethren:


And that repentance and remission of sins, which are the sum of the Gospel ministry; see ( Acts 20:21 ) the doctrine of "repentance" is not of the law, which neither requires, nor admits of it, but of the Gospel. The Persic version calls it, "the Gospel of repentance"; a doctrine preached by John the Baptist, Christ, and his apostles; and the thing itself is a blessing of the covenant, a gift of God's grace, and in the hands of Christ to bestow; and therefore the doctrine of it is published in his name, as well as remission of sins; which, though it springs from the free grace of God, is procured by the blood of Christ, and through him it is preached. These two are joined together, not because repentance is the cause of pardon; for repentance makes no satisfaction for sin, or atonement for it; nor does the law at all regard it: tears of repentance will not wash away sin; notwithstanding these, iniquity remains marked before God; Christ's tears themselves did not take away, nor atone for sin; his blood must be shed, and it was shed for the remission of it; and that is the only meritorious cause it. Indeed there is a notion that repentance atones for sin; but it is a very bad one, and has no countenance neither from the law of nature, nor the law of Moses: but these two are put together, because there is a connection between them, as there is between repentance, and life, and salvation: repentance issues in these things; and to whomsoever the grace of repentance is given, to them the forgiveness of sins is applied; nor need any truly repenting sinner despair of the pardon of his sin: and indeed, there is no true evangelical repentance without views, or at least hopes of pardoning grace, and mercy; for that is attended with faith in Christ, and is heightened by the discoveries of forgiving love: such who have the fullest view of the remission of their sins, have the clearest sense of sin, and have the most sorrow for it, and loath themselves on account of it, and are ashamed of it, and do most frankly confess it, and most thoroughly forsake it. And now it was necessary, according to Old Testament prophecies, that both these should be preached in his name; in the name of the Messiah; by his authority, and as coming through him; since the remission of sin is by his blood(Acts 10:43); and he is exalted as a prince(Isaiah 9:6; Revelation 19:16), and a Saviour(Psalm 17:7; Isaiah 4311, 45:21, 62:11, 63:7-9; Luke 1:46-48; John 4:42) to give both repentance and forgiveness of sins to all the Israel of God, whether Jews or Gentiles; and therefore it is fitting and proper that these should be preached,  among all nations (Matthew 24:14); of the world, where God's elect are; that so they may be brought hereby to repentance, and receive the forgiveness of their sins.

Beginning at Jerusalem; from whence, according to the Old Testament, the word and doctrine of the Lord were to go forth, ( Psalms 110:2; Isaiah 2:3 ) and is particularly mentioned, because the Gospel was to be first preached to the Jews, and be the power of God unto salvation to them; and because that in Jerusalem lived those who had been concerned in crucifying Christ, to whom repentance and forgiveness must be preached; and which would be a great encouragement to the vilest of sinners, to hope for mercy and forgiveness, since such received both. [Therefore] ye are witnesses of these things. As they were witnesses of the truth of his humanity, having seen, and heard, and handled him, both before, and after, his resurrection from the dead, and of all that he did, of all the miracles that he wrought in Jerusalem, Judea, and Galilee, and of his transfiguration on the mount; so likewise of his sorrows in the garden, and of his sufferings in the palace of the high priest, and in Pilate's hall, and on the cross; and of his death, which was the death of the cross; and also of his resurrection from the dead, in the same body, to whom he showed himself alive by many infallible proofs; by showing them the print of the nails in his hands and feet; by being handled by them; by eating and drinking in their presence; and by conversing with them for the space of forty days ( Luke 24:13-31; John 20:27): and their business was also to testify the doctrine of repentance, and remission of sins, in Jerusalem, in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth, which they accordingly did. (Acts 1:8, 2:30-32, 10:39, 41, 20:21 ).

And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you. By which is meant the promise of the Spirit, called the promise of the Father, because he was promised by the Father to be sent, and poured on the saints in the times of the Messiah, ( Isaiah 44:3; Joel 2:28 ) and because Christ promised to pray the Father for him, and to send him from him; and that the Father should send him in his name, who would fit and qualify them for, and assist them in bearing a testimony for him; since he would teach them all things, lead them into all truth, take of the things of Christ, and show them to them, and bring to their remembrance all things they had seen and heard: and this promise of the Father was to be sent in a very short time, in ten days time (Acts 2:1), as accordingly it was; and might be very properly said to be sent "upon" them, since, when he was sent down, he sat upon them in the appearance of fire(Acts2:3); and this being a marvellous thing, as well as of great moment and importance, it is introduced with a "behold", as a note both of admiration and attention.

But tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem. For the space of ten days; here they were to continue during that time, and not depart thence; yea, they were to sit there, as the word used signifies: they were to sit still, and be silent; they were not to begin to preach; they were only to attend to prayer and Christian conversation, and to wait for the Spirit, the promise of the Father; and who also is designed in the following clause: “until ye be endued with power from on high”(Acts2:4). The Spirit of God is a spirit of might, and of power, as well as of knowledge, of understanding, of counsel, of love, and of a sound mind; whereby they were to be fortified, and inspired with courage, and greatness of soul, so as to look their greatest adversaries in the face with boldness and intrepidity, and freely, and without fear  (Job 36:4-6; Psalm 23:4), speak unto them; and whereby their ministrations would be succeeded to the conversion of many souls; and accordingly so it was: for after the Spirit was poured out upon them, they who before were timorous and fearful, came forth publicly, with undaunted courage, and resolution, and boldness, to the amazement of their adversaries; and their preaching was with the demonstration of the Spirit, and of power; who may be said to be "from on high", since he descended from heaven upon them; and they may be said to be "endued", or "clothed" with him, since there was such an extra ordinary and plentiful effusion of his gifts and graces on them: and now they were to wait in Jerusalem for this, that in the place where the Spirit had been dishonored and blasphemed, and the unpardonable sin against him had been committed by the Scribes and Pharisees, the might be in a most visible and signal manner honored; and also, because the doctrine of the Lord was to go out of Zion, and the word of the Lord out of Jerusalem.