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Series C – Seventh Sunday in Easter – Sunday, May 8, 2016 | Pr. Chris Rosebrough

Welcome to the Teaching Ministry of Kongsvinger Lutheran Church. Kongsvinger is a beacon for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of Northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone, and now, here’s a message from Pastor Chris Rosebrough:

Time Stamp	Transcript
0:22	The holy Gospel
0:29	According to Saint John chapter 17 verses 20-26
0:34	Jesus said I do not ask for these only but also for those who will believe in
0:39	me through their word that they may all be one just as you father are in me and I in
0:46	you that they also may be in us so the world may believe that you have sent me
0:53	the glory that you have given me I have given to them that they may be one even
0:59	as we are one i in them you and me that they may become perfectly one so that
1:06	the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you have loved me father I desire that they also whom you
1:14	have given me may be with me where I am to see my glory that you have given me
1:20	because you loved me before the foundation of the world o righteous father even though the world
1:26	does not know you I know you and these know that you have sent me I made known
1:32	to them your name and I will continue to make it known that the love with which
1:38	you have Loved Me Maybe in them and I in them in
1:44	the name of Jesus all right tough text see if we can dig into this one
1:51	Jesus says in the gospel text today he’s praying this is his high Priestly prayer
1:56	this prayer takes place on the night that Jesus is betrayed it’s Thursday evening hours
2:03	away from Jesus’s arrest and he’s praying it’s interesting to note who
2:09	he’s praying for and what he says here’s what he says in this prayer I do not ask for these only talking about his
2:16	disciples who would become the apostles he says this but I also pray for those
2:23	who will believe in me through their word in other words Jesus here is praying for
2:31	me he’s praying for you did you see that and he’s praying this that they may be
2:38	all one just as you father are in me and I in you that they also may be in us so
2:44	that the world may believe that you have sent me now real quick we got to do a little
2:49	theological work here we’ll do a kind of a planned bunny trail we’ll Circle back
2:54	and look at a little this prayer a little bit more but this next section will title this everything you didn’t
3:00	know that you needed to know about Apostles all right it’s kind of important I I apologize for the
3:06	complexity but I think you’ll see the importance of it as we unfold today apostles now I don’t know if you know
3:13	this but there are people nowadays claiming to be Apostles all right I was reading a book by a gentleman by the
3:19	name of C Peter Wagner I’m actually writing a a theological paper on Apostles right now and see Peter Wagner
3:26	is one of these guys who claims that Apostles have been restored to the Earth and he literally makes the claim no joke
3:32	that it is sinful if if you are a Christian leader if you have not submitted yourself to the authority of
3:39	your local apostle so I did some research and our local Apostle is a
3:44	woman who well lives in Devil’s Lake all right well let it be known I have not submitted to
3:52	her all right and I have no intention of doing so and I think it’s kind of ironic
3:57	well not really so that she lives in Devil’s Lake but
4:02	so just so you know I will not be submitting to her for good reason all right when we look in the Bible
4:09	we see the word Apostle appearing several times in fact many times in the New Testament and it’s important for us
4:15	to understand what is meant by an apostle we think when we think Apostle we generally think well Peter James John
4:23	Paul right these guys are Apostles well yes indeed they are but then you also
4:28	have other people who are outside of that Circle who are also called Apostles and we think well what’s with that well
4:36	back in the day apostle was a very commonly used term and it references in
4:42	our new testament people who well don’t have an extraordinary status as well as
4:47	those who have an extraordinary status and it all comes down to the question of who sent you
4:53	who sent you so think of it this way the word Apostle in Greek is Apostle loss pretty simple right okay it’s in fact
5:00	you can say the word Apostle in English is just kind of a transliteration of the Greek which makes it very helpful but
5:06	always the question comes up is what does it mean well an apostle is a messenger a delegate an Envoy so if he
5:13	were to show up if you lived in the ancient world and show up at somebody’s door and say hello I’m Apostle so and so
5:18	they would ask you well who sent you because an apostle is one who’s speaking
5:24	on behalf of another person all right and so when we look at the apostles you
5:30	know the twelve right well those are ones who are sent by Christ
5:36	the rest well they’re sent by people all right let me kind of explain this we’ll do a little bit of a Biblical survey
5:42	here we’ll look first at kind of like the ordinary Apostles ordinary kind if
5:48	you want to look on second Corinthians chapter 8 verse 23 the Apostle Paul says this he says as
5:55	for Titus he is my partner and fellow worker for your benefit you’ll notice that Titus
6:01	has an entire epistle written to him that we have right and he says as for our brothers they are and here’s how the
6:09	ESV translated they are messengers of the churches the glory of Christ
6:15	well the Greek there for Messengers is apostolas it’s actually the plural apostoloid
6:22	right so it says they’re Messengers they’re Apostles but who sent them well the churches sent them not Christ so in
6:30	other words Titus and these other apostles who are mentioned here are of the ordinary type right another example
6:37	of this is found in Philippians chapter 2 and where Paul says I have thought it necessary to send to you this is verse
6:43	25 epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and fellow Soldier and your
6:49	Apostle and minister to my need now he was sent by the church at
6:54	Philippi to be a one who helps the needs of Paul
7:00	but again that’s the ordinary kind of apostle right there’s also the
7:06	extraordinary type and the extraordinary types are those well the one who sent
7:12	them is none other than Jesus himself let me give you an example of this that we have in scripture we’ll give you kind
7:18	of two places to look if you remember Paul’s letter to the Galatians the churches in galatia where the heresy of
7:25	judaizing had taken root and the judaizers came in and said that Apostle
7:30	Paul man he’s just an apostle he’s not really an apostle he’s not like Peter
7:38	James and John we that Apostle Paul well you remember he was murdering Christians
7:44	he’s really not like the other Apostles right so Paul begins his letter to the
7:50	churches in galatia with this sentence Galatians 1 1 Paul an apostle not from
7:57	Men nor through man but through Jesus Christ and God the Father
8:04	who sent Paul Jesus did right
8:09	who sent Titus well the church sent Titus you see the difference now Paul actually makes these
8:15	distinctions quite clear in First Corinthians 15 verses 3 through 10 and we’ll kind of take a look at this real
8:21	quick and note something important Paul says in first in First Corinthians 15 3-10 I delivered to you as of first
8:28	importance what I also received that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scripture that he was buried he
8:34	was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures and that he appeared to cephas and then to the 12.
8:42	a little bit of a note here all right remember in our first reading from the book of Acts Matthias is chosen to fill
8:49	the vacant office you know left vacant by Judas right how many of Jesus’s 12 did Jesus appear
8:59	to after his resurrection well if you do the math Judas is dead 11 but notice it
9:05	says here that well Jesus appeared to the twelve
9:10	who’s number 12 answer Matthias although we don’t hear of him ever again in
9:16	scripture except in Acts chapter 1 when Paul writes this in the year 50 A.D
9:21	he considers Matthias to be one of the twelve so it’s fascinating to note that
9:27	so Jesus appeared to Peter then to the twelve then he appeared to more than 500 Brothers at one time most of whom are
9:33	still alive though some have fallen asleep then he appeared to James and then all the other Apostles no other
9:38	Apostles would be the ordinary kind not the twelve and last of all as to one untimely born well Jesus appeared also
9:45	to me for I am the least of the Apostles unworthy to be called an apostle because
9:50	I persecuted the Church of God but by the grace of God I am what I am and his grace towards me was not in vain so
9:57	notice Paul makes these distinctions regarding ordinary Apostles versus well
10:03	those Apostles sent by Christ himself now you see you’re thinking wait a second here Pastor Roseboro I know how
10:11	to do math and again I must reiterate math is evil okay I know how to do math and if you add up
10:17	the names of the 12 apostles and you throw Paul at the end then you get 13
10:23	names yeah I know it’s kind of weird how that works isn’t it when you count up the names of the 12 tribes of Israel how
10:30	many names do you have 13. is it how is that possible well remember
10:36	Joseph Joseph was split into two tribes the half tribe of Ephraim in Manasseh and so it’s kind of a weird thing that
10:43	happens here in the Old Testament there’s 12 tribes 13 names in the New Testament there’s 12 Apostles and 13
10:49	names weird how that works but that’s how that works because there
10:56	are 13 that Christ sent interesting to note that okay
11:02	so all of that let’s look again at our first reading from acts 15 kind of note
11:08	something important here about Apostles and then we’ll see the important stuff that Jesus gets to acts 15 acts 1 verse
11:16	15 in those days Peter stood up among the brothers the company of persons was in all about 120 quick note here Jesus
11:24	did not leave a mega church which is kind of this it’s actually
11:30	important to note that Jesus when it came to discipleship was about quality
11:36	quantity well I’m not very impressive by any standards right 100 Jesus spends three
11:44	years traipsing about the Judean Countryside preaching teaching healing people and at the very end the total
11:51	number of Believers in him 120
11:58	right so don’t let a small Church fool you right all right he says this so
12:06	Peter stands up he says Brothers the scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the
12:11	mouth of David concerning Judas no that’s right David prophesied about Jews who became a guide to those who arrested
12:18	Jesus he was numbered Among Us and was allotted his share in this ministry note
12:23	here there were some people who were actually baptized by Judas right now this man acquired a field with
12:30	a reward of his wickedness that would be the 30 pieces of silver that were given to him to betray Christ
12:35	and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and his bowels gushed out and all the Junior High kids said ooh
12:43	so it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem so that the field was called in their own language
12:49	akadama that is the field of blood for it is written in the Book of Psalms may his Camp become desolate and let there
12:56	be no one to dwell in it and let another take his and the Greek word is
13:01	actually here in the ESV correctly translated also from the Hebrew let
13:07	another take his office yes there are offices in Christ’s Church
13:15	all right so we had a vacant office and it had to be filled so one of the men
13:20	who has accompanied US during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out Among Us beginning from the baptism of
13:27	John until the day when he was taken up from us one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection so
13:33	two qualifications for the apostleship that had to be filled that vacant office
13:40	somebody who was there eyewitness ear witness to Jesus’s
13:45	preaching Teaching Ministry from the time of his baptism till his resurrection they have to be there for
13:51	the whole time and be a witness to the resurrection but the third qualification by the way is not specifically mentioned
13:57	by name but it’s right there this has to be one whom Christ has chosen and we
14:03	read so they put forward to Joseph called bar sabbas who was called Justice
14:09	and Matthias so they prayed and they said you Lord you know the hearts of all
14:15	show which one of these you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and
14:20	apostleship from which Judas had turned aside to go to his own place so they pray believing that Jesus is going to
14:28	choose one of these two men to fill the vacant office how are they so confident
14:33	well there’s a prophecy regarding Judas in the Psalms they know that this is what they must do since Jesus has now
14:40	ascended to Heaven they are prayers go to him they know that he hears them and
14:45	he’s going to answer by way of casting lots you can say throwing the dice
14:51	so they threw the dice comes up Matthias right Jesus chooses
14:58	Matthias through the casting of lots and even the Apostle Paul in First
15:04	Corinthians 15 recognizes the Matthias is one of the twelve
15:10	right chosen by Christ himself strange way to be chosen yep that’s how
15:15	it worked so the cast lots fell on Matthias he was now numbered with the 11 Apostles now filling the out the number
15:22	12. but there were 13 names I know it’s weird how that works right so why is
15:29	this important I mean everything you ever needed to know that you didn’t know that you needed to know about Apostles right well why is this important well
15:36	let’s come back now we’ll do a little bit of work here in John chapter 10 Jesus tells the
15:43	parable of the sheep where he says my sheep hear my voice right my sheep hear my voice I’m the
15:50	Good Shepherd and he says that his sheep hear his voice well the question is have any of you actually heard Jesus’s
15:56	Audible Voice any of you had Starbucks with Jesus you know no every time I invite him to
16:03	Starbucks he just never shows up right none of you have well how then are you
16:08	to hear the voice of Jesus if you’re one of his sheep it’s a decent question is it not
16:14	now don’t get stumped on this the answer is through the ones he sent his Apostles Jesus says
16:21	in John 13 20 amen amen I say to you whoever receives the one I send
16:28	receives me whoever receives me receives the one who sent me
16:34	okay so how do we receive the ones Jesus sent I’ll explain a little bit more Luke
16:40	10 16 says this of the disciples the one who hears you you Disciples of
16:47	mine here’s me the one who rejects you rejects me and the one who rejects me
16:53	rejects him who sent me ah now this is starting to get important
16:59	right the way you hear the voice of Jesus is
17:04	not him whispering in your ear the still Small Voice that the prophet heard right
17:10	no the way you hear the voice of Jesus is through
17:16	the ones he sent the ones who hears the apostles hears Jesus
17:22	the ones who hear Jesus hears the father see how it goes all the way up the chain
17:27	of command even within the trinity and so now we come back to our text from
17:32	the Gospel of John Jesus prays I do not ask for these only but also for those
17:39	who will believe in me how through their word
17:48	now a little bit of a note here we don’t think this way I’m reading from the Gospel of John who wrote this
17:55	John did John was one of the guys Jesus sent
18:01	and so I’m hearing and you are hearing Jesus’s exact prayer
18:08	through what John is writing in other words if you really want to get technical you know who’s discipling you
18:15	today John is you can’t see him
18:22	but he’s here today discipling you through the gospel that he wrote because
18:27	he’s one of the guys that Jesus sent you receive him by receiving the words
18:32	that he gives regarding Jesus you hear Jesus through him and by hearing Jesus
18:38	through him you also are hearing none other than God the father as well fascinating how that all works which by
18:45	the way all then plays into with this wonderful doctrine that we lutherans like to you know to trumpet and that is
18:51	solo scriptura where else can you go to hear Jesus’s voice
18:57	to hear his words you can go no other place than to the apostolic teaching in
19:03	your new testament right Jesus sends the prophets of the Old Testament to tell everybody he’s coming
19:09	he sends the apostles the ones he sent to tell us that he has come and to tell
19:15	us what he has done for us and now with all of this we see that what is it that
19:20	John is telling us Jesus is praying for you he’s praying for me let’s pay
19:26	attention to what Jesus prays for us it says I do not ask for these only but also for those who will believe in
19:32	me through their word so that they may all be one just as you father are in me and I in
19:40	you and they also may be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me
19:45	and this is an important prayer and why why
19:51	because sin separates us from God but sin also separates us from each
19:56	other Paul writes all have sinned and falls
20:02	short of the glory of God that’s me and that’s you but not only do we fall short of the
20:07	glory of God sin divides us separates us from each other I mean if you want an example of that
20:13	just look how well politics is a unifying factor in the United States
20:18	right we all know what it’s like come Thanksgiving when this relative’s a
20:24	Democrat that one’s a Republican and the rule is not being enforced that
20:30	says no politics no religion at the Thanksgiving table we’ve all been there we’ve all experienced it
20:37	did you feel United after that experience or divided right
20:43	and politics is just one way in which we are divided from each other look at the strained relationships that
20:49	occur when people decide to chase after sin look at The Angst that it creates in
20:55	Godly Parents look at the look at your own sin and how
21:00	it strained relationships that you’ve had over the years of your life friendships
21:07	literally destroyed family relationships totally strained all of this is a result
21:14	of sin but notice what Jesus prayer is for us it’s that we be one that we be United
21:21	often wonder if hell itself involves complete separation not only from God we know
21:27	that but also from others I wonder if the sufferings of hell are experienced in complete seclusion and isolation from
21:34	others who are also in hell that would make sense
21:39	it would make sense because I get the feeling that as people go from bad to worse in their sufferings
21:46	in hell they wouldn’t even be able to get along with another Soul there
21:52	so hell itself has to be so wide that everybody has their own space and nobody bumps into each other
21:58	totally isolating but see the cross the Forgiveness of sins
22:04	reunites us with God and because of mercy and forgiveness it makes it possible for us even in this
22:11	life to begin the experiencing the unity and Oneness that we will experience on
22:17	that great day when Christ returns in glory and we become inhabitants of the New
22:22	Jerusalem and on that day everybody will be a Lutheran so
22:29	just like put that in there yeah so Jesus continues to pray and this is
22:34	fascinating he says father I desire that they also whom you have
22:40	given me that’s us that’s us listen to this that they may be with me where I am
22:49	in this prayer Jesus says he desires that you be with him and he says this I
22:58	want them to see my glory that you have given me because you love me before the foundation of the world in other words
23:04	Jesus Wills he desires for you and for me to be with him he loves us and he
23:10	wants us to see him in his glory
23:18	if you think about that that’s some really good news and the reason why is because when we
23:23	sin when we screw up when we do that thing we know we ought not to do what
23:29	ends up happening you feel guilty you feel
23:35	the twinges of God’s Wrath maybe even a little bit more than that and you should because the law says guilty guilty
23:44	guilty cannot save you it condemns you and you feel that condemnation when your conscience Bears witness that what
23:49	you’ve done is wrong and as a result of that you are tempted to say
23:55	God ain’t going to be happy when I he sees me Jesus is not going to have any kind
24:00	words for me when I stand before him but here Jesus prays for you and he says
24:08	that he desires for you to be where he is he desires for you to see his glory
24:14	and that is only possible because Christ has gone to the cross and all of your sins have been washed
24:20	away he continues o righteous father even though the world does not know you I
24:27	know you and these know that you have sent me Jesus is sent by the father and he sends
24:33	his Apostles I make known to them your name and I will continue to make it known
24:38	that the love with which you have loved me may be in them and I in them
24:44	glimpses of the Kingdom to come is the unity
24:49	of the Saints no more bickering and we’re fighting no more separating
24:57	what exactly is the love with which Jesus loved us by the way how did Jesus loves us love us
25:05	well Jesus’s apostles his ones that he sent tell us that Christ went to the
25:10	cross and the question is why did he go to the cross one of the answers given by those he
25:15	sent is this that we were all born in slavery to sin slavery to death slavery to the devil
25:23	and incapable of freeing ourselves and make no mistake about it brothers
25:28	and sisters sin is slavery it is not freedom
25:35	and you know this experientially you know this Paul says in Galatians 4
25:42	when we were children we were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world but when the fullness of time had
25:48	come God sent forth his son born of woman born under the law to redeem those
25:55	who were under the law what is redemption what is it
26:01	it’s very important word by the way you know when I was a kid we used to redeem Blue Chip Stamps does anyone
26:09	remember those you can redeem them for like Chinese made in merchandise but
26:15	right and at the time that was not a good thing you’re just saying those things would break pretty quick
26:22	Redemption here is not talking about the thing that we talk about like when we talk about Blue Chip Stamps Redemption
26:27	is a slave term it’s a slave term you have to go back to the 19th century
26:34	all right all of us were born if you would Africans
26:43	but not Africans born in Africa we were born or hauled off to America
26:49	chains on our hands and our feet big shackle on our necks
26:55	some good scars on our backs from the crack of the whip
27:02	incapable of saving ourselves of freeing ourselves Christ comes into our situation and says
27:10	I’ll buy that one and that one’s you
27:15	but it’s more than that because God is Not and Christ is not the kind of person
27:21	that says I’ll just be a Kinder Master to you I won’t beat you as much instead
27:27	not only does he purchase you he redeems you and the Redemption here is not the
27:32	price of paying for a slave it’s the price of paying for that slave’s freedom
27:39	and having then been set free he says come to my home come to my home
27:47	he feeds you he clothes you gives you your own room and then writes
27:53	you into the will and he always refers to you as son or daughter
27:58	and never treats you any different than any of his biological children because you are now his son or daughter
28:06	that’s what a Redemption is right so we talk about slavery and freedom
28:13	let’s keep our categories right Jesus was born under the law to redeem
28:19	those who were under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons and daughters and because you are Sons God
28:27	has sent the spirit of his son into our hearts crying Abba Father so you are no longer a Slave
28:34	you’re not you are not a slave you are a son
28:39	and a daughter and if a child of God then you are in heir through God
28:46	and this is good news now Paul then in chapter 5 gives us a
28:52	very Stern warning and here’s what he says starting in verse 13.
28:59	you were called to Freedom you were called to Freedom Brothers do not use your freedom as an
29:06	opportunity for the flesh but through love serve one another Paul is literally saying here you’ve been set
29:13	free you’ve been redeemed you’ve been adopted you’re in the will
29:19	don’t go back to slavery that’s what he’s saying
29:24	for the whole law is fulfilled in one word love your neighbor as yourself
29:30	that’s what Freedom looks like and what is sin it’s serving yourself
29:38	to the detriment of your own neighbor it’s the ultimate selfishness
29:44	Paul says walk by the spirit then and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh for the desires of the flesh are
29:49	against the spirit the desires of the spirit are against the flesh these are opposed to each other to keep you from
29:54	doing the things that you want but if you are led by the spirit you’re not under the law and then he says this now the works of
30:01	the flesh they are self-evident and here they are sexual immorality impurity sensuality
30:09	idolatry sorcery enmity strife
30:14	and by the way sexual immorality pretty simple if you want to just boil it down
30:19	anything other than sexual relations between a man and a woman in marriage
30:25	is sexual immorality enmity strife these are often caused by a Breaking of
30:32	the eighth commandment lying and gossiping against our neighbor divisions rivalries anger dissensions Envy
30:40	drunkenness orgies that’s slavery that’s not freedom and
30:46	Paul says I warn you as I warned you before that those who do such things
30:52	will not inherit the kingdom of God and we even heard this in our in the
30:58	Book of Revelation today we heard from revelation 22 Christ himself reiterates this fact
31:08	and why is it because we’ve been set free
31:13	why would we live as slaves anymore why that doesn’t make sense
31:19	so this is why we warn people to repent and to be forgiven and walk in true
31:26	repentance to walk in Freedom so you brothers and sisters you have
31:31	been purchased off the slave block your chains have been removed from your hands your feet and your neck
31:37	you’ve been purchased by God himself redeemed
31:42	written into the will and he now calls you son and daughter you are the children of God
31:48	and you are Heirs of the coming Kingdom all of this is yours now
31:54	this is the result by the way of the message preached to you by the
32:00	ones whom Jesus sent today you have heard John preach you’ve
32:05	heard Paul preach and hearing Paul and John you have heard Christ
32:10	by hearing Christ you have heard the father you have heard of your sin you’ve heard
32:16	of slavery and you’ve heard of Christ’s Redemption and setting you free and adopting you
32:22	and you also have heard the stern warning to continue to walk in Freedom and no longer live as slaves
32:28	so that we do not miss out on the inheritance in that glorious New Jerusalem that is coming down
32:34	and yet there are some who have squandered this gift by refusing
32:40	to live is free instead returning back to Egypt and living as slaves
32:47	let us pray that Christ continues to sustain us in the faith and the gifts that he has given us
32:53	so that we will not well walk away from such a great inheritance only to be slaves again in
33:01	the name of Jesus amen [Music]

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