R1102 What Jesus Gives Us, Pt.1

God has an encouraging word for Dr. Don Wilton.

Hold your Bible at Acts Chapter 1. Because I want to say something to all of you today. I'm going to call you out today because God is calling me out. I preached a message entitled My Prayer for You, for Me.

What is that prayer? That we would be the people of God doing the work of God by the power of God. I don't want to be anything other than God's man doing God's work by God's power.

I'm praying for you that you would be God's woman doing God's work by God's power. Guys, I don't want ho-hum life anymore. I want life to be full and meaningful and Jesus says that I can have this.

And in the book of Acts we discover so many things, the power of the Gospel. I wish that you would just let go and take hold of what God has made available to you and to me. You don't have to settle for second best. You don't have to tunnel underground anymore. You don't have to wake up day after day after day saying there's an emptiness in me.

I'm looking for more. You don't have to keep looking for all the answers in the wrong places. God will give you everything necessary to turn your life upside down. And here in the book of Acts, this is an amazing situation here because in the opening verses of the book of Acts we discover what Jesus gives us. Now I want you to just get a hold of this, what Jesus gives us. Did you know that it is far more than what you and I can do for Jesus than what Jesus does for us? What he does for us puts what we can do for him in the shade. And right here in the opening verses of the book of Acts when we try to understand the power of the gospel, we uncover what Jesus gives us. Now I'm not preaching on, there's a lot of things. He gives us something to say, he gives us something to do, he gives us someone to see and he gives us someone to have. That's what he does. We're not going to cover that all today, I promise you.

I'm going to focus in on something that's incredible because guys, get this, get this. Here's Jesus, this is the scene. Jesus Christ has just spent 30 odd years on earth. I remember he was born in Bethlehem and he grew up as a boy and then he began to minister and teach and we know all the stories. In fact, Luke who wrote the book of Acts, by the way, Luke was a physician. He was a doctor and Luke wrote the book of Acts and he actually talks about the gospel of Luke because he says in the opening verse, in my former book, he's talking about the gospel of Luke. Remember there are four gospels in the Bible, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and the book of Luke is all about the birth of Jesus and how Jesus was baptized in the River Jordan and then how he went around.

He grew up and he went around healing the sick, teaching, preaching, doing all the things that he did, interacting with the disciples and the book of Luke tells us about all the actions and activities that Jesus did when he was on this earth and now Luke writes the book of Acts and he's reporting about the end of Jesus' life on earth because when Jesus got to the end of his life, they took him out of the garden of Gethsemane, they beat him to a pulp, they marched him down the Via Dolorosa, they put him on trial in front of Pontius Pilate, they took him and they crucified him upon a cross and when Jesus was crucified on the cross, he took upon himself your sin and my sin and he died. Now I want you to just think about that for a moment. Death is always so final.

It really is. Now folks, watch this. Most people in the world, you look at death and you say, wait a minute, Jesus died, it's over. You can only just imagine how Satan must have licked his chops.

Satan looked at this lot and said, man, we finally got him, this upstart, this Jesus. I mean we managed to kill him. He's dead. By the way, Jesus didn't go to sleep, he didn't swoon, he didn't take a nap, he didn't take a siesta. When he died, he was stone graveyard dead.

He died completely. The reason Jesus died, he gave up the ghost was because Jesus had to die in order to conquer sin and death and the grave. Death is the consequence of sin. The Bible says the wages of sin is death.

Jesus comes, he's the son of God, God sends him to this world because he loves us and Jesus takes upon himself the sin of the world and he dies and when he dies on the cross, he takes all of our sin upon us and he dies and he goes down into the pit of hell itself and he leaves our sin there. By the way, where is all dead sin that is still alive? It's in hell. Where is all dead sin that is still alive?

It's in hell. That's why when Jesus died, he took all our sin and he went down into the pit of hell and he unloaded our sin. He took our sin off himself and he unloaded and people out there all said, he's dead, it's over. But guess what happened?

It wasn't over. The Bible says that God, by his power, raised up Jesus from the dead and he brought him back to life. That's the resurrection. Jesus came back to life and when Jesus was brought back up out of the grave, when he came back out of the grave, he didn't come back out of the grave with my sin still in his backpack. He didn't come back out of the grave with our sin still in his arms, in his heart because Jesus, when he died, he crucified our sin and he came back to life which means that when I now put my faith and my trust in Jesus Christ, I am giving my heart to Jesus and when I give my heart to Jesus in repentance of my sin, I am accepting the fact that Jesus Christ has paid the price taking upon himself my sin so that when I give my heart to Jesus, I can say I am crucified with Christ because my sin has been crucified with Christ and I'm raised up to walk in newness of life, all my sin is declared stone graveyard dead because Jesus crucified my sin and I am accepting the sacrifice of Jesus into my heart and into my life.

Well, you would have thought that was it. Here in the book of Acts, the Bible tells us that was not it. Now folks, this is a very important question here.

It's a very important statement. This is Jesus. He came in obedience to God the Father. He came down to this earth, ministered to us, took upon himself the sin of the world. Then he went in obedience to the cross. He did everything that God wanted him to do. He died.

He died the worst kind of death. He was crucified between two thieves. He cried out to God the Father in agony, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Because in that moment of death, God the Father who is righteous and wonderful and magnificent could no longer look upon his son because his son became sin for us even though he himself knew no sin. He became every expression of our sinfulness because he was paying the penalty for our sin and then God by his power raised Jesus from the dead quite frankly. I think Jesus had done everything that was necessary and I think Jesus had every reason to come back out of the grave, walk out of that tomb and go straight back into heaven to be with God the Father.

Everything was done but he didn't. You know what Jesus did when he came back to life? He spent 40 days on the earth appearing, the Bible says, to over 500 people. There was a bunch of people that Jesus after he came out of the grave, he appeared to them and he began to give them something. Let's read about it, Acts chapter 1. This is what Luke says, Dr. Luke says, in my former book Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach.

There's the book of Acts, the book of Luke. Until the day he was taken up to heaven, watch this, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen, after his suffering, did you see that guys? After his suffering, Jesus showed himself to these men and he gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of 40 days and spoke about the kingdom of God, hello. He spoke to them about the kingdom of God.

Now folks, I want us to understand something here today. When I began to read that I said, surely the Lord Jesus had a lot to tell them. Why the kingdom of God? And if in fact he did tell them about the kingdom of God, what was it that he was giving to them? Jesus was giving you and me something to say after Jesus went back to heaven. So let me complete the story. Jesus appeared to over 500 people for 40 days.

Then we'll read about it in the next couple of weeks. Jesus went up back onto the mount of ascension and he stood there and all of a sudden he began to take off, literally he began to ascend. The Bible says that he ascended up into heaven and a cloud hit him from the sight of the disciples and he went to be seated at the right hand of the father at the throne of God.

He went back to be seated on God's throne. Now who is God? God is king. What is God? God is sovereign as king. It means that he is all powerful. He has all authority and all control. He is the God of the universe and Jesus Christ went back up and he was seated at the right hand of the father which is in heaven now making intercession for us.

But before he went, he gave them something to say. Now folks, last week I said that the whole study in the book of Acts is going to help us to understand three things. Number one, it's going to help us to understand that Jesus Christ has all authority. Number two, this study on the power of the gospel is going to help us to understand that the church has all of Christ's fullness and number three, that we are the church. Now guys watch me, this is so important and I know these things are not easy to understand.

I'm going to repeat them over and over and over again. Here's Jesus Christ. He's the son of God and Jesus came to this earth as God. He never stopped being God.

God gave to him all power and all authority. When Jesus went back to heaven, all the fullness of the Godhead, all of Christ's fullness was invested in the church. No wonder Jesus turned to his disciples at Caesarea Philippi and he said, I want you to build my church and when you establish my church on the rock, the rock being Jesus Christ, I want you to know because you build the church on the rock who is Jesus Christ that not even the gates of hell will be able to prevail against the church. Why are the gates of hell unable to ever break down the church?

Because Jesus Christ has all authority, God is in charge and because he has invested all of who he is in his church and guess what, you and I are the church. You're listening to Dr. Don Wilson. He'll be back in just a moment with the rest of today's program. Don't go away, but you need to know that this message as well as many more resources are on our website as well at TEWonline.org. That's TEWonline.org. It's also the place you'll discover great resources like this. What an incredible privilege to be the friend and pastor of Dr. Billy Graham for so many years. That's why I have just written Saturdays with Billy. This is not a biography. It is my experience with this most precious man who has changed my life and the lives of thousands of people around the world.

You want to get a copy right now, Saturdays with Billy. Again, that's just one of many great resources on our website, TEWonline.org. Now back to today's great teaching with Dr. Don Wilson.

Watch this. Jesus has all authority. All of his authority is vested in the church and we are the church. Now here's Jesus and he comes to this point in his life.

He has been on the earth. He died on the cross. He was raised from the grave and he starts to walk all over the place showing himself to over 500 people and guess what he gives them? He gives them something to say. And what he gives them to say is right there in verse 3. He spoke about the kingdom of God.

Now folks, let's just get a hold on this. There are two kingdoms. There are two kingdoms according to God's word that belong to God.

Everybody ready for this? What was Jesus trying to tell us when he gave us something to say before he went back to heaven? He spoke to them concerning the kingdom of God and there are two kingdoms. Number one, there's God's everything kingdom. Write that down. God's everything kingdom.

Now just hold that thought for a second. When God spoke about the kingdom, he was speaking first of all to Jesus Christ about God's everything kingdom. If you want to get a good old fancy word, if you love writing down fancy words, it's God's universal kingdom. Listen to what the Psalmist said in Psalm 103 verse 19. That's what David said.

I love this passage. This is what David said. David said that the Lord has established his throne in the heavens and his sovereignty, watch this guys, rules over all. That's God's everything kingdom. God's everything kingdom that Jesus was talking about is the absolute biblical spiritual fact that God owns everything. All right, anybody today worshiping would like to stand up and tell me that you own anything as far as God is concerned. Anyone like to tell God that you own everything that you have? When Jesus comes into your heart, one of the things that happens folks is you realize that everything that you have and everything that you are belongs to him, right? This is God's everything kingdom.

Our money, our motor cars, our studies, the trees, the mountains, the rivers, the countries, the states, the affairs of mankind. If God owns everything, it means that God is involved in the affairs of man. And the question is, if I believe that God has established his throne over the universe and that he is sovereign, why in the world are so many of us holding on to so much? When I study these things, folks, I come to grips with the fact that God sits upon his throne.

The universal kingdom that Jesus Christ was trying to tell these people about before he left them in his bodily presence. He was looking into the faces of you and me and he was saying, if there's anything that I bid you with everything at my disposal as a believer in Jesus Christ is that you need to understand that God, God owns everything. He is sovereign. He is Lord. He is king. Don't hold back on God.

Give him everything. You know there are hundreds of young people here today. I love you so much. I'm so proud of our students. Karen and I came over here last night to be with Seth and with such an incredible.

It was just wonderful here in the hangar with all the students at Winter Jam and to see what was going on and the reports that are coming on and the way you guys are living out your life and your conduct and your value system and your self-worth. If you ever gave to me the privilege of walking up to you and you were to say to me, Doc, if you had one thing that you could say to us and there was nothing else that you could say to us as a teenager, as a student, what would it be? I think folks in my heart right now, look into your heart and I'd say, just let go of everything because God owns it anyway. That's God's everything kingdom.

But the bottom line is when Jesus looked at us, he gave us something to say and what he gave us concerned the kingdom of God and on the one side of the kingdom of God, which is everything about God, is that the kingdom of God has to do with God's everything kingdom, God's universal kingdom because he's God. He owns everything. He's in charge.

He made it. He hung the stars in place and he made us in the image of God. He's God and what he wants of people today is that we say, I don't have anything. I am nothing. I don't own anything. It all belongs to you.

It all belongs to you. You know what I'm praying for you and for me, that we would be the people of God, doing the work of God by the power of God. This kingdom is a two-sided kingdom. It's all part of the same scheme because God is one God. And Jesus spoke about the kingdom of God in verse three, on the one side, he was talking about God's everything kingdom, but on the other side, he was talking about God's every one kingdom. If God is the God of everything, ladies and gentlemen, he's the God of every one. God's every one kingdom. It's not just about the fact that God made the trees and owns them. It's about the fact that God made me and has a personal relationship with me.

Someone said to me recently, Don Wilton, what's the difference between Christianity and every other religion that you could possibly name? One difference, and that is that Jesus Christ has a personal relationship with me because he loves me. That is God's every one kingdom. The Bible says that in times past, God spoke by means of the prophets, but in these last days, he has spoken to me through his son and because Jesus Christ came to this earth, I can enter into a personal one-on-one relationship with Jesus Christ. He becomes my Lord and my savior.

He belongs to me and I belong to him and I have a personal relationship with him. That's why Jesus spoke to them concerning the kingdom of God. He gave them something to say. What a powerful teaching from Dr. Don Wilton. You've been listening to him from the pulpit and now as he steps into the studio, open your heart to what he wants to share next. Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ? Why don't you pray this prayer with me right now? Dear God, I know that I'm a sinner and I know that Jesus died for me on the cross. Today I repent of my sin and by faith, I receive you into my heart. In Jesus' name, my friend, I welcome you today into the family of God.

This is exciting news. If you just gave your life to Jesus, Dr. Wilton wants to pray for you and to put resources in your hands that will help you grow. Call us at 866-899-WORD and share with us your decision. That's 866-899-9673. These free resources will help you develop a consistent walk with Christ that will bless you tremendously. Again, 866-899-9673 is the phone number or meet us online at our website, www.tewonline.org. That's www.tewonline.org. We would love to connect with you.