WEBVTT 00:00:05.200 --> 00:00:08.140 Hey friends, here we are another week, another 00:00:08.140 --> 00:00:12.759 episode of the Semi -Seminarian. This week we 00:00:12.759 --> 00:00:16.079 continue our Bible study series, which we're 00:00:16.079 --> 00:00:19.859 calling the Bible for Grownups. This week we're 00:00:19.859 --> 00:00:22.460 going to begin a brand new book of the Bible. 00:00:22.519 --> 00:00:25.839 We're going to begin looking at the Acts of the 00:00:25.839 --> 00:00:29.660 Apostles, and we're going to focus at the very, 00:00:29.719 --> 00:00:33.380 very beginning of this work on the importance 00:00:33.380 --> 00:00:38.450 that Luke puts on the eyewitness accounts of 00:00:38.450 --> 00:00:42.130 the resurrection, something that is so incredibly 00:00:42.130 --> 00:00:45.789 important to the Christian faith. Anyway, I hope 00:00:45.789 --> 00:00:49.170 you enjoy, and I'll see you on the other side. 00:00:53.189 --> 00:00:57.090 We want to start looking tonight by actually 00:00:57.090 --> 00:01:00.929 rewinding and going back to Luke chapter 24. 00:01:01.770 --> 00:01:04.230 The last chapter of Luke. Now, that's not the 00:01:04.230 --> 00:01:07.489 next page from Acts because Luke doesn't come 00:01:07.489 --> 00:01:10.310 after or before Acts. John does. So you'll have 00:01:10.310 --> 00:01:13.629 to skip the Gospel account according to John 00:01:13.629 --> 00:01:15.510 and go to the Gospel account according to Luke. 00:01:15.650 --> 00:01:19.609 Then we'll go back. These two books, Luke and 00:01:19.609 --> 00:01:21.629 Acts, were originally written on one scroll. 00:01:22.030 --> 00:01:26.530 This is one long book in two sections. Okay, 00:01:26.549 --> 00:01:33.439 so I want us to end Luke. So we can begin Acts. 00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:37.319 And by looking at that last part of that last 00:01:37.319 --> 00:01:39.640 chapter of Acts, it will kind of give us a running 00:01:39.640 --> 00:01:44.519 start as we jump into Acts. The last chapter 00:01:44.519 --> 00:01:47.299 of Luke, which is 24, and I'm going to begin 00:01:47.299 --> 00:01:50.340 with verse 13 and read to the end of the chapter. 00:01:51.760 --> 00:01:54.340 Just because that's just kind of where I felt 00:01:54.340 --> 00:01:58.599 like was a good spot to jump off point. I was 00:01:58.599 --> 00:02:00.980 also going to say that this... Lesson probably 00:02:00.980 --> 00:02:02.900 won't go the whole hour. This is one of those 00:02:02.900 --> 00:02:09.319 things where there's so much to have in our heads 00:02:09.319 --> 00:02:11.979 as we begin to explore what's going on in the 00:02:11.979 --> 00:02:14.560 Acts of the Apostles that it's one of those deals 00:02:14.560 --> 00:02:17.699 where if I just kind of focused on the introduction 00:02:17.699 --> 00:02:20.680 with chapter 1, it may not be in an hour, but 00:02:20.680 --> 00:02:23.180 if I added chapter 2 of Acts to chapter 1, it 00:02:23.180 --> 00:02:26.360 would be two hours. So we're just going to take 00:02:26.360 --> 00:02:29.490 it in small bite -sized pieces. Chapter 2, for 00:02:29.490 --> 00:02:31.710 those of you that have any real familiarity with 00:02:31.710 --> 00:02:34.830 the Bible at all, is going to begin with the 00:02:34.830 --> 00:02:38.229 day of Pentecost. And that's a big, big deal. 00:02:38.349 --> 00:02:39.889 And I don't want to rush through that at the 00:02:39.889 --> 00:02:44.090 end of the night. I want to focus on Pentecost. 00:02:44.110 --> 00:02:47.810 So our next session together will start with 00:02:47.810 --> 00:02:50.870 the beginning of chapter 2. So today, tonight, 00:02:51.110 --> 00:02:54.909 beginning with chapter 24 of Luke, verse 13. 00:02:55.849 --> 00:02:57.969 And I'm really not going to provide too much 00:02:57.969 --> 00:03:00.729 commentary. This isn't a Bible study about the 00:03:00.729 --> 00:03:02.969 gospel according to Luke. This is just to set 00:03:02.969 --> 00:03:05.650 us up for Acts chapter 1. So I'm just going to 00:03:05.650 --> 00:03:07.949 kind of brush through and read this, just so 00:03:07.949 --> 00:03:10.389 we can kind of get the narrative, the literary 00:03:10.389 --> 00:03:13.310 narrative in our head. Now that same day, two 00:03:13.310 --> 00:03:15.469 of them were going to a village called Emmaus, 00:03:15.469 --> 00:03:18.370 about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking 00:03:18.370 --> 00:03:20.349 with each other about everything that had happened. 00:03:20.810 --> 00:03:22.870 As they talked and discussed these things with 00:03:22.870 --> 00:03:25.889 each other, Jesus himself came up and walked 00:03:25.889 --> 00:03:29.210 along with them, but they were kept from recognizing 00:03:29.210 --> 00:03:33.650 him. He asked them, what are you discussing together 00:03:33.650 --> 00:03:36.569 as you walk along? They stood together, their 00:03:36.569 --> 00:03:40.330 faces downcast. One of them, Cleopas, asked him, 00:03:40.430 --> 00:03:43.550 are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does 00:03:43.550 --> 00:03:45.710 not know the things that have happened in these 00:03:45.710 --> 00:03:49.460 days? What things, he asked. About Jesus of Nazareth, 00:03:49.580 --> 00:03:52.639 they replied. He was a prophet, powerful in word 00:03:52.639 --> 00:03:55.659 and deed before God and all of the people. The 00:03:55.659 --> 00:03:58.340 chief priests and our rulers handed him over 00:03:58.340 --> 00:04:01.039 to be sentenced to death and they crucified him. 00:04:01.620 --> 00:04:04.360 But we had hoped that he was the one who was 00:04:04.360 --> 00:04:08.240 going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it 00:04:08.240 --> 00:04:11.120 is the third day since all of this took place. 00:04:11.599 --> 00:04:15.909 So this is resurrection day. In addition, some 00:04:15.909 --> 00:04:19.529 of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb 00:04:19.529 --> 00:04:22.610 early this morning but didn't find his body. 00:04:23.310 --> 00:04:27.089 They came and told us that they had seen a vision 00:04:27.089 --> 00:04:29.970 of angels who said that he was alive. And some 00:04:29.970 --> 00:04:31.870 of our companions went to the tomb and found 00:04:31.870 --> 00:04:34.389 it just as the women had said, but they did not 00:04:34.389 --> 00:04:37.449 see Jesus. He said to them, how foolish you are 00:04:37.449 --> 00:04:40.290 and how slow to believe all the prophets have 00:04:40.290 --> 00:04:43.379 spoken. Did not the Messiah have to suffer these 00:04:43.379 --> 00:04:46.480 things and then enter His glory? And beginning 00:04:46.480 --> 00:04:48.839 with Moses and all the prophets, He explained 00:04:48.839 --> 00:04:51.000 to them what was said in all of the Scriptures 00:04:51.000 --> 00:04:54.040 concerning Himself. If you think my Bible studies 00:04:54.040 --> 00:04:57.939 are long, as they approached the village to which 00:04:57.939 --> 00:05:00.360 they were going, Jesus continued on as if He 00:05:00.360 --> 00:05:02.779 were going farther. But they urged Him strongly, 00:05:03.019 --> 00:05:06.199 Stay with us, for it is nearly evening. The day 00:05:06.199 --> 00:05:09.439 is almost over. So He went in to stay with them. 00:05:10.160 --> 00:05:12.779 When He was at the table with them, He took bread, 00:05:12.939 --> 00:05:16.040 gave thanks, and broke it, and began to give 00:05:16.040 --> 00:05:20.319 it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and 00:05:20.319 --> 00:05:23.319 they recognized Him, and He disappeared from 00:05:23.319 --> 00:05:26.259 their sight. They asked each other, were not 00:05:26.259 --> 00:05:29.180 our hearts burning within us while He talked 00:05:29.180 --> 00:05:30.959 with us on the road and opened the Scriptures 00:05:30.959 --> 00:05:35.360 to us? They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. 00:05:36.100 --> 00:05:39.800 There they found the eleven, and those with them 00:05:39.800 --> 00:05:43.300 assembled together, saying, It is true. The Lord 00:05:43.300 --> 00:05:46.500 is risen and has appeared to Simon. That's Peter. 00:05:47.259 --> 00:05:50.100 Then the two told what had happened on the way 00:05:50.100 --> 00:05:52.699 and how Jesus was recognized by them when he 00:05:52.699 --> 00:05:55.439 broke the bread. While they were still talking 00:05:55.439 --> 00:05:57.399 about this, Jesus himself stood among them and 00:05:57.399 --> 00:06:00.120 said, Peace be with you. They were startled and 00:06:00.120 --> 00:06:03.079 frightened, thinking they had saw a ghost. He 00:06:03.079 --> 00:06:05.699 said to them, Why are you troubled? And why do 00:06:05.699 --> 00:06:08.970 doubts rise in your mind? Look. And my hands 00:06:08.970 --> 00:06:12.670 and my feet. It is I myself. Touch me and see. 00:06:13.310 --> 00:06:16.050 A ghost does not have flesh and bones as you 00:06:16.050 --> 00:06:20.629 see I have. When he said this, he showed them 00:06:20.629 --> 00:06:22.490 his hands and feet. And while they still did 00:06:22.490 --> 00:06:26.269 not believe it because of their joy and amazement, 00:06:26.290 --> 00:06:28.769 he asked them, do you have anything to eat? They 00:06:28.769 --> 00:06:31.350 gave him a piece of broiled fish and he took 00:06:31.350 --> 00:06:33.860 it and ate in their presence. He said to them, 00:06:33.879 --> 00:06:35.720 this is what I told you while I was still with 00:06:35.720 --> 00:06:38.339 you. Everything must be fulfilled that is written 00:06:38.339 --> 00:06:41.379 about me in the law of Moses, the prophet and 00:06:41.379 --> 00:06:43.500 the Psalms. Remember, that is the way that a 00:06:43.500 --> 00:06:46.660 Hebrew would describe the whole of Hebrew scripture. 00:06:46.980 --> 00:06:50.339 That includes everything, the Torah, the writings 00:06:50.339 --> 00:06:52.939 of the prophets, the writings, the books of wisdom, 00:06:52.959 --> 00:06:56.240 including the Psalms and the Proverbs. When he's 00:06:56.240 --> 00:06:58.980 using this terminology, he is saying the whole. 00:06:59.819 --> 00:07:04.319 of Hebrew scripture is about me. Then he opened 00:07:04.319 --> 00:07:06.699 their minds so they could understand the scriptures. 00:07:06.879 --> 00:07:09.639 He told them, this is what is written. The Messiah 00:07:09.639 --> 00:07:12.620 will suffer and rise from the dead on the third 00:07:12.620 --> 00:07:14.740 day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins 00:07:14.740 --> 00:07:17.579 will be preached in his name to all nations, 00:07:17.660 --> 00:07:22.519 beginning in Jerusalem. You are witnesses of 00:07:22.519 --> 00:07:27.120 these things. I'm going to send you what my Father 00:07:27.120 --> 00:07:31.540 has promised, but... Stay in the city until you 00:07:31.540 --> 00:07:35.120 have been clothed with power from on high. When 00:07:35.120 --> 00:07:37.480 he had led them out of the vicinity of Bethany, 00:07:37.600 --> 00:07:40.060 he lifted up his hands and blessed them. And 00:07:40.060 --> 00:07:42.860 while he was blessing them, he left them and 00:07:42.860 --> 00:07:45.839 was taken up into heaven. Then they worshipped 00:07:45.839 --> 00:07:47.920 him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. 00:07:48.199 --> 00:07:52.399 And they stayed continually at the temple, praising 00:07:52.399 --> 00:07:56.439 God. So when is this? What time period is this? 00:07:57.240 --> 00:08:00.160 Not what time of day, but anybody want to take 00:08:00.160 --> 00:08:05.360 a... Not that, not necessarily. This is basically 00:08:05.360 --> 00:08:11.319 in 30 A .D., okay? Biblical scholars agree that, 00:08:11.420 --> 00:08:15.079 at least the agreement is right now, that Jesus 00:08:15.079 --> 00:08:19.139 was crucified in the year 30 A .D., and that's 00:08:19.139 --> 00:08:21.120 due to some corrections in the Julian calendar 00:08:21.120 --> 00:08:23.740 that later scholars had made. We think that Jesus, 00:08:23.879 --> 00:08:27.500 we grew up thinking Jesus was 33 years old whenever 00:08:27.500 --> 00:08:30.920 he was crucified. They believed that to be true. 00:08:30.980 --> 00:08:36.220 It's just that later calculations of the Julian 00:08:36.220 --> 00:08:38.500 calendar found that that calculation was three 00:08:38.500 --> 00:08:42.080 years off. So Jesus wasn't born in zero or one. 00:08:42.100 --> 00:08:45.360 He was born in negative three. But in 30 AD, 00:08:45.419 --> 00:08:50.000 or three, but in 30 AD is when this event happens. 00:08:50.679 --> 00:08:56.200 It's specifically the springtime. So why is the 00:08:56.200 --> 00:09:02.740 book of Acts, why is this ending of Luke's first 00:09:02.740 --> 00:09:07.840 volume, why is this so important to us as Christians? 00:09:08.740 --> 00:09:13.080 I just completed a two -day Twitter fight over 00:09:13.080 --> 00:09:16.159 what is inconsequential and consequential to 00:09:16.159 --> 00:09:20.480 our faith. is a fairly famous progressive Christian 00:09:20.480 --> 00:09:23.679 author that I decided yesterday to pick a Twitter 00:09:23.679 --> 00:09:27.200 fight with. Her name is unimportant, but her 00:09:27.200 --> 00:09:30.700 original tweet said this. If you believe in the 00:09:30.700 --> 00:09:34.159 resurrection, you're a Christian. If you don't 00:09:34.159 --> 00:09:36.600 believe in the resurrection, you're a Christian. 00:09:37.440 --> 00:09:41.039 If you say you're a Christian, I believe you. 00:09:42.360 --> 00:09:47.299 My response to that is... Resurrection is necessary. 00:09:48.879 --> 00:09:54.860 Then what happened was I got lit up by people 00:09:54.860 --> 00:09:58.799 with all sorts of name -calling and honestly 00:09:58.799 --> 00:10:02.519 assumptions being made about what I must believe 00:10:02.519 --> 00:10:05.700 on other subjects regarding Christianity. In 00:10:05.700 --> 00:10:09.600 the end, though, due to not wanting to be confrontational 00:10:09.600 --> 00:10:11.820 but wanting to have a dialogue, I ended up with 00:10:11.820 --> 00:10:14.299 several new followers, even made a few friends. 00:10:16.720 --> 00:10:20.220 As disciples, as disciples of Christ, the ones 00:10:20.220 --> 00:10:23.700 in parentheses, as disciples of Christ, we need 00:10:23.700 --> 00:10:26.480 to be constantly, we should be searching for 00:10:26.480 --> 00:10:30.419 that value that we hold most in common. Right? 00:10:31.440 --> 00:10:34.539 Two -fourths, four -eighths, eight -sixteenths. 00:10:35.120 --> 00:10:39.279 Spiritually, we as disciples, we need to be looking 00:10:39.279 --> 00:10:44.299 for that lowest common denominator. All of these 00:10:44.299 --> 00:10:47.879 fractions have different values, but they hold 00:10:47.879 --> 00:10:52.659 some denominator in common too. Despite the numerical 00:10:52.659 --> 00:10:56.659 differences, they can all be made in common by 00:10:56.659 --> 00:11:00.159 the number two. And there are countless ways 00:11:00.159 --> 00:11:03.960 by which we as Christians can measure ourselves. 00:11:04.809 --> 00:11:07.669 The way that we baptize. At what age you can 00:11:07.669 --> 00:11:10.769 baptize, right? Is it okay to baptize children? 00:11:11.070 --> 00:11:14.230 You must be at a certain age of accountability 00:11:14.230 --> 00:11:17.529 to be baptized. What is the age of accountability 00:11:17.529 --> 00:11:20.210 if you're going to baptize somebody? Do you dunk 00:11:20.210 --> 00:11:23.309 somebody or do you sprinkle somebody? Right? 00:11:23.649 --> 00:11:27.389 Communion. Big, big difference. All different 00:11:27.389 --> 00:11:31.659 types of values when it comes to communion. When 00:11:31.659 --> 00:11:34.159 do you take it? Who can take it? Who can't take 00:11:34.159 --> 00:11:39.259 it? How do you take it? You can go to a Disciples 00:11:39.259 --> 00:11:41.139 of Christ church in Stillwater. It's an independent 00:11:41.139 --> 00:11:43.200 Disciples of Christ church in Stillwater and 00:11:43.200 --> 00:11:46.940 they'll do it shot style, right? Same folks. 00:11:47.879 --> 00:11:50.620 Just even the way, the style that they take communion 00:11:50.620 --> 00:11:53.639 is different. What about the apostolic age? The 00:11:53.639 --> 00:11:56.320 belief that we are still in the apostolic age 00:11:56.320 --> 00:11:59.480 today where people can still speak in tongues. 00:12:00.120 --> 00:12:03.419 And there are still prophetic voice out there. 00:12:03.519 --> 00:12:06.779 Those are signifiers of the apostolic age. Some 00:12:06.779 --> 00:12:09.720 people say that once the church was birthed, 00:12:09.720 --> 00:12:13.299 at some point in what we find in the story of 00:12:13.299 --> 00:12:15.899 Acts, the apostolic age ended and those things 00:12:15.899 --> 00:12:19.559 went away. Right? Those are different values. 00:12:19.919 --> 00:12:22.940 You can believe that or not believe that, but 00:12:22.940 --> 00:12:26.279 there is still some common denominator that we 00:12:26.279 --> 00:12:31.879 can share as Christians. And it's in my study, 00:12:31.940 --> 00:12:35.980 based on my opinion, I believe the lowest common 00:12:35.980 --> 00:12:39.299 denominator that we can hold and still call ourselves 00:12:39.299 --> 00:12:44.039 Christians is the resurrection. Pretty much anything 00:12:44.039 --> 00:12:48.279 else is on the side and open to debate when it 00:12:48.279 --> 00:12:51.419 comes to liturgy or worship style or individual 00:12:51.419 --> 00:12:55.159 preference of belief. As long as you believe 00:12:55.159 --> 00:12:58.360 in the resurrection, That on the third day, God 00:12:58.360 --> 00:13:01.519 had the power over life and death. And raised 00:13:01.519 --> 00:13:04.320 Jesus from the dead. And Jesus then ascended 00:13:04.320 --> 00:13:07.600 into heaven. As long as you believe that, everything 00:13:07.600 --> 00:13:11.919 else can be a matter of taste. Essentially. That's 00:13:11.919 --> 00:13:14.759 why we have different churches. Because of this 00:13:14.759 --> 00:13:17.299 difference of taste. And the reason why I think 00:13:17.299 --> 00:13:22.059 that that is the whole of the common denominator. 00:13:22.659 --> 00:13:26.610 Is because in the resurrection. And the point 00:13:26.610 --> 00:13:30.029 of Acts, the reason why I'm even talking about 00:13:30.029 --> 00:13:33.590 this, the point of Acts is that Acts becomes 00:13:33.590 --> 00:13:35.929 the eyewitness account to that resurrection. 00:13:36.570 --> 00:13:40.549 Bless you. And ultimately, because, bless you, 00:13:40.649 --> 00:13:45.950 because Acts is a narrative of the eyewitness 00:13:45.950 --> 00:13:48.789 account of a resurrected Jesus and the resulting 00:13:48.789 --> 00:13:52.889 church that was birthed out of it, right? Ultimately, 00:13:52.929 --> 00:13:55.860 Acts... tells us something about God. It tells 00:13:55.860 --> 00:13:59.019 us that God does not ask us just to have faith 00:13:59.019 --> 00:14:03.759 in faith alone. God doesn't ask us to just believe 00:14:03.759 --> 00:14:10.120 in Jesus. God gives us an eyewitness account. 00:14:10.740 --> 00:14:15.559 God gives us evidence of Jesus' resurrection. 00:14:16.740 --> 00:14:20.720 Right? And the reason why it's that denominator. 00:14:21.940 --> 00:14:25.340 resurrection that ties us all together is because 00:14:25.340 --> 00:14:29.480 the whole of everything, when we talk about the 00:14:29.480 --> 00:14:32.240 resurrection and what it means, well, what does 00:14:32.240 --> 00:14:34.399 it mean? Well, first of all, it means that God 00:14:34.399 --> 00:14:38.379 is the creator because God has the power over 00:14:38.379 --> 00:14:42.899 life and death. God can bend and shape the power 00:14:42.899 --> 00:14:47.440 of physics and biology. in such a way that he 00:14:47.440 --> 00:14:51.799 can, in some miraculous, mysterious way, reanimate 00:14:51.799 --> 00:14:56.580 a dead being. Right? You cannot be the creator 00:14:56.580 --> 00:14:59.580 of the universe if you don't have the power of 00:14:59.580 --> 00:15:02.759 life and death. You might be an incredibly powerful 00:15:02.759 --> 00:15:05.600 being, but you're not the creator of the universe. 00:15:06.240 --> 00:15:08.820 So I think that that teaches us that resurrection 00:15:08.820 --> 00:15:12.600 one, it shows that when God makes a claim that 00:15:12.600 --> 00:15:14.799 he's the creator, the resurrection backs that 00:15:14.799 --> 00:15:19.940 up. The other thing about the resurrection is 00:15:19.940 --> 00:15:22.740 that in some mysterious way, because we can't 00:15:22.740 --> 00:15:26.299 really understand the Trinity, that Jesus was 00:15:26.299 --> 00:15:31.919 both God and man, right? That Jesus had divine 00:15:31.919 --> 00:15:35.240 characteristics and he had human characteristics. 00:15:35.639 --> 00:15:39.580 But what we believe about Jesus is that it was 00:15:39.580 --> 00:15:44.879 nothing less than God. Now, how to explain God 00:15:44.879 --> 00:15:50.039 in heaven and God in a bod, I can't do. But I 00:15:50.039 --> 00:15:54.960 do believe that it is God in a body. And the 00:15:54.960 --> 00:15:59.639 reason why I have to is because if the divinity 00:15:59.639 --> 00:16:03.379 was anything but God in the body of Jesus, then 00:16:03.379 --> 00:16:05.820 God doesn't love us as much as He says He does 00:16:05.820 --> 00:16:08.659 because the sacrifice He made on the cross isn't 00:16:08.659 --> 00:16:11.360 as valuable to Him as He promised us it was. 00:16:13.159 --> 00:16:17.779 Right? So that, how much God loves us is assured 00:16:17.779 --> 00:16:22.039 to us in the resurrection. Another thing I think 00:16:22.039 --> 00:16:24.539 that is assured to us is God's faithfulness. 00:16:25.320 --> 00:16:30.480 That God won't give up on us even in times when 00:16:30.480 --> 00:16:34.139 we've given up on ourselves. God doesn't give 00:16:34.139 --> 00:16:37.059 up on his son even though his son has died and 00:16:37.059 --> 00:16:41.940 laid in a tomb. God has the to restore life, 00:16:42.159 --> 00:16:46.120 not to just Jesus, but to us as well, even when 00:16:46.120 --> 00:16:52.039 we think we are beyond restoration. So God leaves 00:16:52.039 --> 00:16:56.559 nothing to chance. God leaves us eyewitnesses 00:16:56.559 --> 00:17:02.740 to this account. And we recognize as the result 00:17:02.740 --> 00:17:09.230 of the Acts of the Apostles, That God knows that 00:17:09.230 --> 00:17:11.809 it's not just enough for us to believe in belief. 00:17:12.769 --> 00:17:16.470 But we had to trust in something that people 00:17:16.470 --> 00:17:19.930 saw and felt and experienced for themselves. 00:17:20.829 --> 00:17:23.329 So, let's talk a little bit about the author 00:17:23.329 --> 00:17:27.150 of Acts. The author of Acts is Luke the Evangelist. 00:17:27.910 --> 00:17:30.750 Again, Luke wrote the gospel according to Luke, 00:17:30.769 --> 00:17:33.890 and he wrote the Acts of the Apostles. And modern 00:17:33.890 --> 00:17:37.509 scholarship is in agreement that these two are... 00:17:37.660 --> 00:17:42.079 actually one long work. Luke was a Greek physician 00:17:42.079 --> 00:17:48.539 who came from the Greek city of Antioch in Turkey. 00:17:48.940 --> 00:17:53.039 At that time, it would have been Assyria or the 00:17:53.039 --> 00:17:58.059 Assyrian Empire, but Antioch, Turkey in modern 00:17:58.059 --> 00:18:02.109 geopolitical terms. Although some scholars and 00:18:02.109 --> 00:18:04.650 theologians also believe that he might have been 00:18:04.650 --> 00:18:08.450 a Jew, a Hellenistic, in other words, a Greek 00:18:08.450 --> 00:18:13.829 city -dwelling Hebrew or Jew. Now, Luke was not 00:18:13.829 --> 00:18:17.670 a disciple of Jesus. Luke was actually a disciple 00:18:17.670 --> 00:18:20.930 of Paul. The way that Mark was a disciple of 00:18:20.930 --> 00:18:24.769 Jesus, Mark was a disciple of Peter. Luke was 00:18:24.769 --> 00:18:28.460 a disciple of Paul. One of the ways that we can 00:18:28.460 --> 00:18:31.079 be affirmed of this is he repeatedly uses the 00:18:31.079 --> 00:18:35.099 word we in describing the Pauline missions during 00:18:35.099 --> 00:18:38.500 this book, the Acts of the Apostle, indicating 00:18:38.500 --> 00:18:40.680 that he was personally there during those times. 00:18:41.160 --> 00:18:44.480 So Luke, as he's writing Acts, would use the 00:18:44.480 --> 00:18:48.759 pronoun we to describe he and Paul. There's a 00:18:48.759 --> 00:18:51.299 Willie Nelson song in there. Me and Paul. He 00:18:51.299 --> 00:18:54.140 and Paul. Originally written by Luke. A lot of 00:18:54.140 --> 00:18:59.150 people don't know that. So, and so what Luke 00:18:59.150 --> 00:19:02.329 is writing in the Acts of the Apostles is the 00:19:02.329 --> 00:19:07.009 first 30 years of life in the church from the 00:19:07.009 --> 00:19:09.990 resurrection. Okay, now I've given you a little 00:19:09.990 --> 00:19:13.750 sheet there and it has, at least up to the book 00:19:13.750 --> 00:19:17.150 of Acts, it has what is the most recent scholarship 00:19:17.150 --> 00:19:20.710 with regard to the dates of the writing of the 00:19:20.710 --> 00:19:22.410 various books of the New Testament. You'll see 00:19:22.410 --> 00:19:26.170 that James, the letter to the church in Jerusalem, 00:19:26.750 --> 00:19:30.130 It was written by Jesus' brother, James, somewhere 00:19:30.130 --> 00:19:35.329 between 44 and 49. Then the Pauline letters come 00:19:35.329 --> 00:19:37.990 in, Paul's letters to his churches. He first 00:19:37.990 --> 00:19:41.859 writes to the folks in Galatia. And then Mark 00:19:41.859 --> 00:19:46.099 is 50 to 60, Matthew's 50 to 60. Also, to be 00:19:46.099 --> 00:19:48.839 completely honest, those two could be flipped. 00:19:49.019 --> 00:19:52.279 The scholarship out there today about actually 00:19:52.279 --> 00:19:55.819 which one came first, Mark or Matthew, is just 00:19:55.819 --> 00:19:58.920 about a coin toss in what you study and find. 00:19:59.019 --> 00:20:01.460 They're both written within that same time period, 00:20:01.519 --> 00:20:04.799 very, very close to each other. And then Paul, 00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:09.230 yes, Paul writes two letters. to the folks in 00:20:09.230 --> 00:20:13.569 Thessalonica, two letters to the folks in Corinth. 00:20:13.609 --> 00:20:16.950 He writes a letter to the church in Rome. And 00:20:16.950 --> 00:20:22.630 then Luke writes his first book, the gospel according 00:20:22.630 --> 00:20:25.630 to Luke. But what we see here right off the bat 00:20:25.630 --> 00:20:30.109 is we have these two early gospel accounts of 00:20:30.109 --> 00:20:32.450 Mark and Matthew, whichever one comes first. 00:20:32.930 --> 00:20:38.019 And so if Jesus dies, and is resurrected in 30 00:20:38.019 --> 00:20:42.940 AD, then about 20 years at the earliest, 30 years 00:20:42.940 --> 00:20:46.380 probably at the latest, between 20 and 30 years 00:20:46.380 --> 00:20:49.819 after the resurrection and ascension, we have 00:20:49.819 --> 00:20:53.539 the first writing down of the life of Jesus. 00:20:53.839 --> 00:21:00.099 But what you'll notice in the next 30 years is 00:21:00.099 --> 00:21:04.519 for that first... that first 30 -year period 00:21:04.519 --> 00:21:07.539 there, from 30 to 60, to where Luke writes his 00:21:07.539 --> 00:21:11.440 first gospel account, you'll see that with the 00:21:11.440 --> 00:21:13.579 exception of Mark and Matthew, they're all letters. 00:21:14.259 --> 00:21:19.339 Two churches. That existed. And what that shows 00:21:19.339 --> 00:21:24.299 us is the dramatic growth of the church without 00:21:24.299 --> 00:21:29.690 something that we call the Bible. God isn't asking 00:21:29.690 --> 00:21:32.190 these people to believe that Jesus loved them 00:21:32.190 --> 00:21:36.809 because the Bible told them so. These letters 00:21:36.809 --> 00:21:38.730 are written to people who have formed churches 00:21:38.730 --> 00:21:42.609 in these places in the Mediterranean Rim because 00:21:42.609 --> 00:21:46.089 they've encountered people who were eyewitnesses 00:21:46.089 --> 00:21:50.349 to the resurrection. It's powerful stuff. So 00:21:50.349 --> 00:21:54.430 by about 60, 30 years after Jesus' ascension, 00:21:54.450 --> 00:21:56.869 we have the gospel according to Luke. Then we 00:21:56.869 --> 00:22:02.529 have more letters written by Paul. And then finally, 00:22:02.650 --> 00:22:07.869 we see after he completes his gospel account 00:22:07.869 --> 00:22:12.130 in 60 or 61, that he writes the Acts of the Apostles 00:22:12.130 --> 00:22:15.390 thereafter. So if the accounts that we find within 00:22:15.390 --> 00:22:19.150 the Acts of the Apostles is basically from 30 00:22:19.150 --> 00:22:25.349 to 60, then what we definitely know is that... 00:22:25.630 --> 00:22:28.609 If 62 is the earliest date for the Acts, then 00:22:28.609 --> 00:22:31.970 Luke is writing these events after the fact. 00:22:32.410 --> 00:22:35.750 And that's important. Because as we go through 00:22:35.750 --> 00:22:38.470 the Acts of the Apostles, it's going to feel 00:22:38.470 --> 00:22:43.750 very much like a diary narrative. It's going 00:22:43.750 --> 00:22:46.809 to feel very much like, this happened yesterday, 00:22:47.009 --> 00:22:50.970 and I want to write it down, Luke says. These 00:22:50.970 --> 00:22:53.789 events, some of the events that we talk about 00:22:53.789 --> 00:22:57.789 tonight, Luke would have begun writing down 30 00:22:57.789 --> 00:23:07.769 years later. So what the Acts shows us as a title 00:23:07.769 --> 00:23:11.490 is that what we're going to examine are those 00:23:11.490 --> 00:23:14.230 close individuals, those that were close to Jesus, 00:23:14.289 --> 00:23:16.690 not the whole of his followers. Remember, there 00:23:16.690 --> 00:23:20.809 would have been perhaps 100, 150. Followers of 00:23:20.809 --> 00:23:22.289 Jesus that would have followed Jesus everywhere 00:23:22.289 --> 00:23:25.069 he went. But then there's this inner circle of 00:23:25.069 --> 00:23:28.970 just this dozen group of folks that were apostles. 00:23:29.190 --> 00:23:31.950 The ones that were instructed to go out into 00:23:31.950 --> 00:23:36.470 the world to start these churches. So a more 00:23:36.470 --> 00:23:41.069 accurate account though is probably the Acts 00:23:41.069 --> 00:23:43.210 not of the apostles but of Jesus through the 00:23:43.210 --> 00:23:45.750 Spirit. Because the story that we're going to 00:23:45.750 --> 00:23:48.559 find throughout the Acts. of the apostles is 00:23:48.559 --> 00:23:50.859 actually that the Holy Spirit becomes the energizing 00:23:50.859 --> 00:23:53.859 agent that drives the apostles to do something 00:23:53.859 --> 00:23:57.220 that they had never done before. And the Holy 00:23:57.220 --> 00:24:00.680 Spirit is the only consistent character through 00:24:00.680 --> 00:24:03.940 the whole of the book because apostles will come 00:24:03.940 --> 00:24:07.019 and go. Apostles will be there and then die. 00:24:07.099 --> 00:24:10.660 Stephen, we're going to find very early on in 00:24:10.660 --> 00:24:13.490 the account. Stephen gets into hot water with 00:24:13.490 --> 00:24:15.150 the authorities very quickly and ends up getting 00:24:15.150 --> 00:24:18.009 killed. So Stephen's going to go pretty quickly. 00:24:18.769 --> 00:24:22.450 But the Holy Spirit stays throughout the whole 00:24:22.450 --> 00:24:25.829 of the narrative of the Acts of the Apostles. 00:24:25.869 --> 00:24:29.950 So let's begin just here again. We're just going 00:24:29.950 --> 00:24:33.089 to focus on the first chapter 9. So that's just 00:24:33.089 --> 00:24:35.970 kind of a setup to where we are. We're in 30 00:24:35.970 --> 00:24:41.150 A .D. And what this is going to do over these 00:24:41.150 --> 00:24:43.410 next few weeks is we're going to look at the 00:24:43.410 --> 00:24:46.269 next 30 years of the growth of the church. So 00:24:46.269 --> 00:24:50.609 this is immediately after Christ's death, resurrection, 00:24:50.869 --> 00:24:54.690 and ascension. In my former book, Luke says, 00:24:54.970 --> 00:24:58.849 Theophilus. Theophilus means a lover of God. 00:24:59.650 --> 00:25:03.329 It is likely that this person is some rich believer. 00:25:04.200 --> 00:25:10.460 that had enough money to actually fund the writing 00:25:10.460 --> 00:25:13.640 of this account. So he's writing, Luke is writing 00:25:13.640 --> 00:25:17.759 his account of the story of Jesus for this patron, 00:25:17.940 --> 00:25:21.519 Theophilus, who's paying for it all. So in my 00:25:21.519 --> 00:25:25.500 former book, in Luke, I wrote about all that 00:25:25.500 --> 00:25:29.799 Jesus began to do. Now he's writing here in Acts 00:25:29.799 --> 00:25:31.839 and saying whenever I wrote my gospel account, 00:25:32.279 --> 00:25:34.259 that ended with his death and his resurrection, 00:25:34.440 --> 00:25:38.019 that part was the stuff that he had just begun 00:25:38.019 --> 00:25:42.299 to do. The implication here that Luke is giving 00:25:42.299 --> 00:25:44.460 us right off the bat that he's going to tell 00:25:44.460 --> 00:25:47.519 us about in Acts is even though Jesus died and 00:25:47.519 --> 00:25:50.220 was resurrected, the story of Jesus isn't over. 00:25:50.960 --> 00:25:54.019 The implication is that Luke is the beginning 00:25:54.019 --> 00:25:58.799 and Acts is a continuation of the work of Jesus. 00:26:00.599 --> 00:26:04.160 Scripture continues. And to teach until the day 00:26:04.160 --> 00:26:06.460 he was taken up to heaven after giving instructions 00:26:06.460 --> 00:26:09.380 through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had 00:26:09.380 --> 00:26:13.359 chosen. After his suffering, he presented himself 00:26:13.359 --> 00:26:16.880 to them and gave many convincing proofs that 00:26:16.880 --> 00:26:21.160 he was alive. He appeared to them over a period 00:26:21.160 --> 00:26:24.880 of 40 days and spoke... Someone just remember 00:26:24.880 --> 00:26:27.940 40 days when we stop again and talk. appeared 00:26:27.940 --> 00:26:30.180 for 40 days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 00:26:30.259 --> 00:26:33.180 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, 00:26:33.240 --> 00:26:36.900 he gave them this command. Do not leave Jerusalem, 00:26:37.119 --> 00:26:41.059 but wait for the gift my father promised, which 00:26:41.059 --> 00:26:44.579 you have heard me speak about. For John baptized 00:26:44.579 --> 00:26:46.740 with water, but in a few days you will be baptized 00:26:46.740 --> 00:26:49.940 with the Holy Spirit. Let me just stop right 00:26:49.940 --> 00:26:54.819 there. So resurrection happens on Easter, which 00:26:54.819 --> 00:26:59.150 is just a few days after Passover. So we have 00:26:59.150 --> 00:27:02.730 from, it's actually, I just realized that this 00:27:02.730 --> 00:27:05.130 isn't from Easter. This should be from Passover. 00:27:05.450 --> 00:27:08.309 So from Passover, forward in the calendar 49 00:27:08.309 --> 00:27:12.569 days, the next day is the day of Pentecost. So 00:27:12.569 --> 00:27:17.049 Pentecost is another one of these Jewish festivals 00:27:17.049 --> 00:27:20.539 that Jews from... Jerusalem and around Jerusalem 00:27:20.539 --> 00:27:24.000 would be required to come to Jerusalem and offer 00:27:24.000 --> 00:27:28.400 a sacrifice. This time, the sacrifice isn't the 00:27:28.400 --> 00:27:31.079 Passover lamb, but it's the first fruits of the 00:27:31.079 --> 00:27:34.240 early summer harvest. Remember, the climate is 00:27:34.240 --> 00:27:37.480 different in the Mediterranean than it is here. 00:27:37.740 --> 00:27:41.460 And so by June, they would have already had a 00:27:41.460 --> 00:27:46.680 first crop. Pentecost is a Jewish festival. that 00:27:46.680 --> 00:27:50.160 asks people to come back to Jerusalem seven weeks 00:27:50.160 --> 00:27:56.900 after Passover and offer a new sacrifice, the 00:27:56.900 --> 00:27:59.140 sacrifice of the firstfruits. That's what the 00:27:59.140 --> 00:28:01.359 festival is called, the Festival of Firstfruits. 00:28:02.019 --> 00:28:06.980 Pentecost, that word, means 50 days. 50 days 00:28:06.980 --> 00:28:12.000 from Passover, 49 days. Passover, 49 days, or 00:28:12.000 --> 00:28:16.769 49 days, the next day is Pentecost. However you 00:28:16.769 --> 00:28:19.750 want to calculate. Now just stay where you're 00:28:19.750 --> 00:28:22.029 at, but I just want to go back and compare first 00:28:22.029 --> 00:28:26.049 paragraphs. Theophilus writing the story about 00:28:26.049 --> 00:28:27.869 Jesus and what he's doing. I just want to go 00:28:27.869 --> 00:28:32.230 back and read the first paragraph of Luke chapter 00:28:32.230 --> 00:28:35.490 1. Many have undertaken to draw up an account 00:28:35.490 --> 00:28:37.170 of the things that have been fulfilled among 00:28:37.170 --> 00:28:40.769 us, just as they were handed down to us by those 00:28:40.769 --> 00:28:44.950 who were the first eyewitnesses and servants 00:28:44.950 --> 00:28:48.490 of the word, with this in mind, since I myself 00:28:48.490 --> 00:28:52.109 have carefully investigated everything from the 00:28:52.109 --> 00:28:55.890 beginning, I too have decided to write an orderly 00:28:55.890 --> 00:29:00.029 account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that 00:29:00.029 --> 00:29:05.150 guy, so that you may know the certainty of the 00:29:05.150 --> 00:29:08.809 things you have been taught. Luke is very concerned 00:29:08.809 --> 00:29:13.329 in both the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles, 00:29:13.759 --> 00:29:16.200 in the beginning of the gospel according to Luke, 00:29:16.299 --> 00:29:21.119 and telling the reader two things. One, this 00:29:21.119 --> 00:29:25.740 deals with eyewitness accounts. And two, I am 00:29:25.740 --> 00:29:31.359 only dealing in facts so that you can have certainty. 00:29:32.180 --> 00:29:37.660 Luke is laying out a case here for the truth 00:29:37.660 --> 00:29:43.609 of Jesus Christ. Okay? Now, in Acts there, We 00:29:43.609 --> 00:29:46.950 have also that promise, going back to Acts now, 00:29:47.089 --> 00:29:49.849 we have the promise right off the bat of the 00:29:49.849 --> 00:29:53.170 coming of the Holy Spirit. Now, I want to stop 00:29:53.170 --> 00:29:55.750 just for a second and compare the Holy Spirit 00:29:55.750 --> 00:29:57.670 in the Hebrew Scriptures, the Holy Spirit in 00:29:57.670 --> 00:29:59.829 the Old Testament, versus the Holy Spirit in 00:29:59.829 --> 00:30:02.450 the New Testament. So, the Holy Spirit existed 00:30:02.450 --> 00:30:08.349 during the time of the Old Testament, right? 00:30:09.470 --> 00:30:11.549 When did the Holy Spirit come into existence? 00:30:13.420 --> 00:30:16.940 No, right off the bat in Genesis 1, right? Whenever 00:30:16.940 --> 00:30:21.099 God is talking to we, right? He's talking, the 00:30:21.099 --> 00:30:23.680 Spirit is there. The Spirit hovered over the 00:30:23.680 --> 00:30:27.099 waters, right? The Holy Spirit is a part of the 00:30:27.099 --> 00:30:31.259 Godhead, pre -created, uncreated creator. So 00:30:31.259 --> 00:30:34.680 the Holy Spirit has been around since forever, 00:30:34.900 --> 00:30:39.599 okay? And the Holy Spirit acted in the Old Testament 00:30:39.599 --> 00:30:43.500 just like it acts. In the New Testament, but 00:30:43.500 --> 00:30:46.920 it acts in a different way. Does anybody know 00:30:46.920 --> 00:30:52.259 the difference, the distinction? Okay. When the 00:30:52.259 --> 00:30:54.960 Holy Spirit acts in the Old Testament, he works 00:30:54.960 --> 00:30:58.519 and covers the body of the nation of Israel. 00:30:59.359 --> 00:31:03.140 The Holy Spirit dwells for the benefit of the 00:31:03.140 --> 00:31:08.059 nation in the Ark of the Covenant. The Holy Spirit 00:31:08.059 --> 00:31:10.779 in the Old Testament, there's a Hebrew word that 00:31:10.779 --> 00:31:14.160 is Shekinah. Anybody know that word, Shekinah? 00:31:14.200 --> 00:31:17.539 It means the manifestation, the physical manifestation 00:31:17.539 --> 00:31:23.680 of God. So smoke or fire or wind, the Shekinah 00:31:23.680 --> 00:31:26.940 glory, that's the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. 00:31:27.599 --> 00:31:32.960 The transition from the temple system to the 00:31:32.960 --> 00:31:37.130 body becoming the temple system. is that the 00:31:37.130 --> 00:31:41.910 Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit, whatever, continues 00:31:41.910 --> 00:31:46.529 to dwell in the temple, but the temple isn't 00:31:46.529 --> 00:31:49.849 someplace you go. The temple is you yourself. 00:31:50.670 --> 00:31:54.430 So the residence of the Holy Spirit stays the 00:31:54.430 --> 00:31:58.170 same in that the Holy Spirit is always contained 00:31:58.170 --> 00:32:03.079 in the temple. The difference is... That Jesus 00:32:03.079 --> 00:32:05.759 has changed the temple from a place that's a 00:32:05.759 --> 00:32:09.900 building to ourselves. The Holy Spirit now acts 00:32:09.900 --> 00:32:15.380 for the benefit of the individual. Not only to 00:32:15.380 --> 00:32:19.759 the nation of Israel. Big, big difference. So 00:32:19.759 --> 00:32:23.119 the Holy Spirit coming to the individual is actually 00:32:23.119 --> 00:32:27.819 promised. Stay where you're at. I'm just going 00:32:27.819 --> 00:32:30.079 to read. I just have a little bit tonight from 00:32:30.079 --> 00:32:32.690 the Old Testament prophecies. I'm going to read 00:32:32.690 --> 00:32:35.950 a portion from Isaiah, a portion from the prophet 00:32:35.950 --> 00:32:41.049 Ezekiel, from his very, very weird chapter 36. 00:32:41.049 --> 00:32:42.930 If you want to go home and read Ezekiel chapter 00:32:42.930 --> 00:32:47.069 36, this is like Old Testament prophet at Woodstock. 00:32:47.069 --> 00:32:50.750 This is crazy, trippy stuff. And then Joel chapter 00:32:50.750 --> 00:32:54.109 2. All three of these. They're going to tell 00:32:54.109 --> 00:32:55.690 us about the promise of the coming of the Holy 00:32:55.690 --> 00:32:58.509 Spirit. So beginning with the 14th chapter of 00:32:58.509 --> 00:33:01.930 Isaiah's prophecy in the 32nd chapter, Isaiah 00:33:01.930 --> 00:33:04.329 says this, The fortress will be abandoned, the 00:33:04.329 --> 00:33:07.269 noisy city deserted. Citadel and watchtower will 00:33:07.269 --> 00:33:09.930 become a wasteland forever, the delight of donkeys, 00:33:09.930 --> 00:33:13.329 a pasture for flocks, till the Spirit is poured 00:33:13.329 --> 00:33:16.990 upon us from on high. And the desert becomes 00:33:16.990 --> 00:33:19.170 a fertile field, the fertile field seems like 00:33:19.170 --> 00:33:24.309 a forest. Ezekiel 36, verse 25 says, I will sprinkle 00:33:24.309 --> 00:33:27.690 clean water on you and you will be clean. I will 00:33:27.690 --> 00:33:29.849 cleanse you from all of your impurities and from 00:33:29.849 --> 00:33:33.289 your idols. I will give you a new heart and put 00:33:33.289 --> 00:33:40.210 a new spirit in you. I will remove from you your 00:33:40.210 --> 00:33:42.769 heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 00:33:43.970 --> 00:33:48.750 And I will put my spirit in you and move you 00:33:48.750 --> 00:33:51.869 to follow my decrees. Be careful to keep my laws. 00:33:52.450 --> 00:33:55.349 Second chapter of Joel, prophet Joel, in the 00:33:55.349 --> 00:33:58.170 28th verse, says, And afterward I will pour out 00:33:58.170 --> 00:34:00.670 my spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters 00:34:00.670 --> 00:34:03.670 will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, 00:34:03.789 --> 00:34:06.190 and your young men will see visions. You've probably 00:34:06.190 --> 00:34:10.510 heard that portion of Joel before. So, promise 00:34:10.510 --> 00:34:13.909 fulfilled. The Old Testament prophecies. Looking 00:34:13.909 --> 00:34:17.809 at verse 6 of Acts, Then they gathered around 00:34:17.809 --> 00:34:21.320 him and asked, Lord, Are you at this time going 00:34:21.320 --> 00:34:24.920 to restore the kingdom of Israel? Okay, we recognize 00:34:24.920 --> 00:34:29.019 we've got this whole Messiah thing wrong. We 00:34:29.019 --> 00:34:31.659 now understand the implications of the resurrection. 00:34:32.500 --> 00:34:36.260 And we feel like you are still promising a restoration 00:34:36.260 --> 00:34:40.420 of the kingdom of Israel. Okay, so we admit we 00:34:40.420 --> 00:34:43.239 got the resurrection bit wrong, the Messiah bit 00:34:43.239 --> 00:34:45.800 wrong. But what about the kingdom of Israel? 00:34:46.340 --> 00:34:50.050 Is now when you're going to do that? He says 00:34:50.050 --> 00:34:52.769 to them, it's not for you to know the times or 00:34:52.769 --> 00:34:55.489 the dates the Father has set by his own authority, 00:34:55.570 --> 00:34:58.489 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit 00:34:58.489 --> 00:35:01.650 comes on you. And you'll be my witnesses where? 00:35:01.809 --> 00:35:06.550 In Jerusalem, right? And then in Judea and Samaria, 00:35:06.630 --> 00:35:12.070 and then to the ends of the earth. Judgment comes 00:35:12.070 --> 00:35:16.429 from the temple first, God says in the Old Testament. 00:35:17.000 --> 00:35:22.739 This whole thing starts at the heart of my people, 00:35:22.860 --> 00:35:26.940 Jerusalem. And you're going to bear witness to 00:35:26.940 --> 00:35:32.199 my resurrection first to the people in Jerusalem. 00:35:32.340 --> 00:35:37.619 And then concentric circles outward. First to 00:35:37.619 --> 00:35:41.320 the Jews in Jerusalem. Second to Jews that may 00:35:41.320 --> 00:35:45.659 not live in Jerusalem but live in Judea. Right? 00:35:46.030 --> 00:35:51.190 And then non -Jewish adjacent territories. Samaria, 00:35:51.190 --> 00:35:54.690 which are old Semitic cousins of the Jewish people. 00:35:55.429 --> 00:35:58.070 They're the Jews that basically were left behind 00:35:58.070 --> 00:36:03.309 during the exile. So Jesus is saying, we're going 00:36:03.309 --> 00:36:05.289 to start in Jerusalem and we're going to work 00:36:05.289 --> 00:36:08.469 our way out. But we are going to go to the whole 00:36:08.469 --> 00:36:16.480 of the world with this message. Verse 9. It's 00:36:16.480 --> 00:36:18.800 really small. After he said this, he was taken 00:36:18.800 --> 00:36:21.519 up before the very eyes. Eyewitness account. 00:36:21.900 --> 00:36:24.900 And a cloud hid him from their sight. They were 00:36:24.900 --> 00:36:27.780 looking intently up into the sky as he was going, 00:36:27.900 --> 00:36:30.800 when suddenly two men dressed in white stood 00:36:30.800 --> 00:36:35.719 beside them. Men of Galilee, they said. Why do 00:36:35.719 --> 00:36:38.900 you stand here looking at the sky? The same Jesus 00:36:38.900 --> 00:36:41.340 who's been taken... from you into heaven will 00:36:41.340 --> 00:36:44.639 come back in the same way you have seen him go 00:36:44.639 --> 00:36:48.360 to heaven. This is a fulfillment of the prophecy 00:36:48.360 --> 00:36:52.059 of Daniel. In the seventh chapter of his prophecy, 00:36:52.280 --> 00:36:55.519 the seventh chapter of Daniel deals almost exclusively 00:36:55.519 --> 00:36:58.219 with this prophetic character called the Son 00:36:58.219 --> 00:37:02.159 of Man, of whom Jesus referred to himself. In 00:37:02.159 --> 00:37:04.960 Daniel 7, verse 13, it says, In my vision at 00:37:04.960 --> 00:37:08.460 night I looked, and there before me was one like 00:37:08.460 --> 00:37:11.480 the Son of Man. coming with the clouds of heaven. 00:37:11.860 --> 00:37:15.260 He approached the ancient of days, which is an 00:37:15.260 --> 00:37:18.159 awesome name for God, if you ask me. He approached 00:37:18.159 --> 00:37:21.599 the ancient of days and was led into his presence. 00:37:21.960 --> 00:37:24.539 He was given authority, glory, and sovereign 00:37:24.539 --> 00:37:27.480 power. All nations and peoples of every language 00:37:27.480 --> 00:37:30.340 worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting 00:37:30.340 --> 00:37:33.320 dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom 00:37:33.320 --> 00:37:37.679 is one that will never be destroyed. Okay, so 00:37:37.679 --> 00:37:42.929 the ascension. To Jesus. Of Jesus to heaven. 00:37:43.690 --> 00:37:47.010 Again, it's a call back time. The Old Testament 00:37:47.010 --> 00:37:52.070 to the new. Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem. 00:37:52.230 --> 00:37:55.130 They have been told, go back to Jerusalem and 00:37:55.130 --> 00:37:59.010 wait. Okay. How long does anybody know? How long 00:37:59.010 --> 00:38:02.070 did Jesus before his ascension? How long did 00:38:02.070 --> 00:38:05.309 Jesus appear to people? 40 days. That's right. 00:38:05.349 --> 00:38:09.289 You got it right. Right. 40 days. How long is 00:38:09.289 --> 00:38:13.809 it from Passover to Pentecost? 50 days. So if 00:38:13.809 --> 00:38:16.550 Jesus was with them 40 days, and he told them 00:38:16.550 --> 00:38:18.949 to go back to Jerusalem and wait, it took 10 00:38:18.949 --> 00:38:21.730 days. They're going to wait in Jerusalem for 00:38:21.730 --> 00:38:26.170 10 days. We want to keep a clock in our head 00:38:26.170 --> 00:38:29.550 in time. Time's important here, I think, to really 00:38:29.550 --> 00:38:32.730 grasp how quickly Christianity begins to spread. 00:38:33.610 --> 00:38:35.929 In the ancient world, given there's no internet, 00:38:36.070 --> 00:38:38.670 there's no TV, there's no satellite phones, given 00:38:38.670 --> 00:38:42.710 all of that, I want us, as we go through the 00:38:42.710 --> 00:38:45.510 book of Acts, I want us to focus or think about 00:38:45.510 --> 00:38:48.889 time. Because time is really, really, I think, 00:38:48.929 --> 00:38:51.829 important here. Because I think it is illustrative 00:38:51.829 --> 00:38:55.210 of the tremendous power of the Holy Spirit at 00:38:55.210 --> 00:39:00.030 work here. So the apostles, after the ascension, 00:39:00.150 --> 00:39:04.110 they return. To Jerusalem from a hill called 00:39:04.110 --> 00:39:07.210 the Mount of Olives. Okay, so we know where that's 00:39:07.210 --> 00:39:09.650 at. We know that they're walking back to the 00:39:09.650 --> 00:39:11.409 house. We're going to find out here in a second 00:39:11.409 --> 00:39:13.929 is that same upper room where they met with Jesus 00:39:13.929 --> 00:39:18.789 on the eve of his crucifixion. And we know that 00:39:18.789 --> 00:39:21.809 the walk from the Mount of Olives back into the 00:39:21.809 --> 00:39:25.190 city is, according to scripture, a Sabbath's 00:39:25.190 --> 00:39:31.530 day walk from the city. Anyone? No. A Sabbath's 00:39:31.530 --> 00:39:34.969 day walk. You are permitted to walk a certain 00:39:34.969 --> 00:39:38.070 distance from the city walls and not break the 00:39:38.070 --> 00:39:39.909 Sabbath because you're not supposed to travel 00:39:39.909 --> 00:39:43.550 or walk or do work or create or destroy on the 00:39:43.550 --> 00:39:48.289 Sabbath. Right? You are not to do work. But the 00:39:48.289 --> 00:39:51.250 reality of the human existence is there are going 00:39:51.250 --> 00:39:52.869 to be times even on the Sabbath where you're 00:39:52.869 --> 00:39:56.590 going to have to have kinetic motion with your 00:39:56.590 --> 00:40:01.130 body. So the rabbis decide, how long can you 00:40:01.130 --> 00:40:05.730 walk with it not being work? And I have no idea 00:40:05.730 --> 00:40:09.610 how they came up with it, but it is a rabbinic 00:40:09.610 --> 00:40:14.269 law that a Jew might travel up to 2 ,000 cubits 00:40:14.269 --> 00:40:19.949 on the Sabbath from the walled limits of a town. 00:40:20.690 --> 00:40:24.590 Thank you. It is about five -eighths of a mile. 00:40:27.480 --> 00:40:33.219 A little over a half of a mile. And we know that 00:40:33.219 --> 00:40:35.760 it's about that distance, right? Because we've 00:40:35.760 --> 00:40:38.719 talked about that's halfway. The Mount of Olives 00:40:38.719 --> 00:40:42.539 is halfway between Bethany, where Martha and 00:40:42.539 --> 00:40:48.219 Mary and Lazarus lived, into Jerusalem. They 00:40:48.219 --> 00:40:50.039 went back and forth over the Mount of Olives. 00:40:50.099 --> 00:40:54.380 Man, that was the jam, right? Okay, when they 00:40:54.380 --> 00:40:56.780 arrived, they went upstairs to the room where 00:40:56.780 --> 00:41:00.019 they were staying. They were staying in the place 00:41:00.019 --> 00:41:02.519 of the upper room where they had the Last Supper. 00:41:03.380 --> 00:41:06.199 Those present were Peter, John, James, Andrew, 00:41:06.460 --> 00:41:10.539 Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James 00:41:10.539 --> 00:41:13.519 the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and 00:41:13.519 --> 00:41:16.320 Judas the son of James. They all joined together 00:41:16.320 --> 00:41:19.300 constantly in prayer along with the women and 00:41:19.300 --> 00:41:23.179 Mary, the mother of Jesus. and with his, Jesus' 00:41:23.380 --> 00:41:27.000 brothers. In those days, Peter stood up among 00:41:27.000 --> 00:41:32.480 the believers, a group numbering about 120, and 00:41:32.480 --> 00:41:35.800 he said, Brothers and sisters, I think that's 00:41:35.800 --> 00:41:38.880 important, the scripture had to be fulfilled 00:41:38.880 --> 00:41:41.860 in which the Holy Spirit spoke long enough through 00:41:41.860 --> 00:41:46.219 David concerning Judas, who served as guide for 00:41:46.219 --> 00:41:50.280 those who arrested Jesus. He was one of our number. 00:41:50.880 --> 00:41:56.219 And he, Judas, shared in our ministry with the 00:41:56.219 --> 00:41:59.840 payment. For his wickedness, Judas bought a field. 00:42:00.099 --> 00:42:03.480 There he felt headlong his body burst open and 00:42:03.480 --> 00:42:06.639 all of the intestines spilled out. Everyone in 00:42:06.639 --> 00:42:08.539 Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that 00:42:08.539 --> 00:42:12.079 field in their language Akadama. Akadama, that 00:42:12.079 --> 00:42:16.840 is the field of blood. So Peter said, it is written 00:42:16.840 --> 00:42:19.460 in the book of Psalms, may his place be deserted. 00:42:20.079 --> 00:42:22.619 Let there be no one to dwell in it. That's from 00:42:22.619 --> 00:42:26.420 the 69th Psalm. And then Peter says, may another 00:42:26.420 --> 00:42:28.420 take his place of leadership. That's from the 00:42:28.420 --> 00:42:32.239 109th Psalm. Now, I did some research on this 00:42:32.239 --> 00:42:34.079 to try to figure out why was it so important 00:42:34.079 --> 00:42:37.039 for Peter to quote the Psalms here in making 00:42:37.039 --> 00:42:40.940 this decision. And it basically is that most 00:42:40.940 --> 00:42:43.480 people seem to think that for the disciples, 00:42:43.699 --> 00:42:46.619 that they would have thought that David, King 00:42:46.619 --> 00:42:49.000 David, would have somehow prefigured Christ. 00:42:50.059 --> 00:42:52.780 And that's not too surprising because the prophets 00:42:52.780 --> 00:42:57.679 also anticipated a Messiah in the image of David. 00:42:57.960 --> 00:43:01.420 So they just kind of connected David and Jesus 00:43:01.420 --> 00:43:05.139 together as the prototypical kings. So they just 00:43:05.139 --> 00:43:08.239 looked to the words of David in the Psalms for 00:43:08.239 --> 00:43:11.719 wisdom. Therefore, it is necessary to choose 00:43:11.719 --> 00:43:13.920 one of the men who have been with us the whole 00:43:13.920 --> 00:43:17.139 time the Lord Jesus was living among us. Beginning 00:43:17.139 --> 00:43:20.920 with John's baptism, to the time when Jesus was 00:43:20.920 --> 00:43:25.000 taken up from us. For one of these must become 00:43:25.000 --> 00:43:28.400 a witness with us of his resurrection. Okay, 00:43:28.440 --> 00:43:31.659 there's only 11 of us now, and Jesus picked 12 00:43:31.659 --> 00:43:35.440 for some reason. And if we're going to continue 00:43:35.440 --> 00:43:38.880 working like Jesus intended us to work, we need 00:43:38.880 --> 00:43:44.619 to pick a new number 12, right? Now, Peter lays 00:43:44.619 --> 00:43:48.619 out some requirements. in how they're going to 00:43:48.619 --> 00:43:52.000 pick who this person is. Here's his rationale. 00:43:52.179 --> 00:43:56.559 One, whoever they pick needs to be someone who's 00:43:56.559 --> 00:44:02.380 always been with us. Two, he defines always. 00:44:03.440 --> 00:44:07.420 Between some significant starting point, something 00:44:07.420 --> 00:44:11.519 that's significant to them all, the baptism of 00:44:11.519 --> 00:44:15.659 Jesus by John, and the ending point being the 00:44:15.659 --> 00:44:20.159 ascension. So obviously the baptism of Christ 00:44:20.159 --> 00:44:23.840 by John in the Jordan was of superior importance 00:44:23.840 --> 00:44:27.760 to them all, as was the ascension. Because whenever 00:44:27.760 --> 00:44:30.920 he talks about you being with us the whole time 00:44:30.920 --> 00:44:33.920 we were followers of Jesus, that's how he defines 00:44:33.920 --> 00:44:40.800 always. The third rationale here is why. Why 00:44:40.800 --> 00:44:45.360 would that be important? Because Peter's trying 00:44:45.360 --> 00:44:46.940 to tell us the same thing Luke's trying to tell 00:44:46.940 --> 00:44:51.880 us. We need eyewitnesses to the resurrection. 00:44:52.820 --> 00:44:56.440 This is not about evidence. I'm not looking for 00:44:56.440 --> 00:44:59.159 the best public speaker we've got. I'm not looking 00:44:59.159 --> 00:45:02.280 for the most charismatic or maybe the one of 00:45:02.280 --> 00:45:04.480 these disciples because some of these disciples 00:45:04.480 --> 00:45:08.000 have their own sets of followers now. I'm not 00:45:08.000 --> 00:45:10.880 looking for maybe the most influential of the 00:45:10.880 --> 00:45:16.050 other. followers of us i'm not looking for the 00:45:16.050 --> 00:45:20.150 richest one who has the most resources the most 00:45:20.150 --> 00:45:23.210 important qualification to peter of who they 00:45:23.210 --> 00:45:25.670 were going to select was that person had to be 00:45:25.670 --> 00:45:27.969 an eyewitness to the same things we have been 00:45:27.969 --> 00:45:33.070 eyewitnesses to so let's look at the starting 00:45:33.070 --> 00:45:36.530 and ending points for this time period what's 00:45:36.530 --> 00:45:39.670 significant about both of them what happens in 00:45:39.670 --> 00:45:45.300 both of them The heavens open up. They witnessed 00:45:45.300 --> 00:45:50.739 with their own eyeballs heavens opening up. They 00:45:50.739 --> 00:45:55.820 witnessed what it was like in a heavenly plane. 00:45:56.659 --> 00:45:59.460 Right? The other thing that's important in both 00:45:59.460 --> 00:46:02.400 accounts is it wasn't just this small group of 00:46:02.400 --> 00:46:05.900 people that saw it either. Right? It was a larger 00:46:05.900 --> 00:46:09.070 grouping of people that witnessed this too. Remember, 00:46:09.150 --> 00:46:13.289 whenever John was baptizing out in the Jordan, 00:46:14.309 --> 00:46:17.730 Mark begins his gospel account with that. He 00:46:17.730 --> 00:46:20.309 doesn't start with Christmas. He actually starts 00:46:20.309 --> 00:46:24.929 with the baptism of Jesus. And right off the 00:46:24.929 --> 00:46:27.389 bat, Mark says that John was out in the wilderness 00:46:27.389 --> 00:46:30.389 baptizing people, and he says all of the people 00:46:30.389 --> 00:46:33.250 of Jerusalem were coming out to be baptized. 00:46:33.989 --> 00:46:36.809 So there were crowds and crowds of people coming 00:46:36.809 --> 00:46:40.280 out. to be baptized by John in the Jordan River. 00:46:40.380 --> 00:46:43.360 So that day when Jesus got into the water and 00:46:43.360 --> 00:46:46.400 the heavens opened up and the Spirit like a dove 00:46:46.400 --> 00:46:49.099 descended upon Him, it wasn't just this group 00:46:49.099 --> 00:46:52.019 of 10 or 12 dudes that saw it. There was a whole 00:46:52.019 --> 00:46:56.460 bunch of people that saw it. So the most important 00:46:56.460 --> 00:47:00.760 qualifications here for start and end of being 00:47:00.760 --> 00:47:04.360 an eyewitness is you were with us when we saw 00:47:04.360 --> 00:47:08.570 heaven. Open up. And you weren't the only ones 00:47:08.570 --> 00:47:10.349 that saw it. There were other people that could 00:47:10.349 --> 00:47:13.190 attest to it too. So it doesn't come off like 00:47:13.190 --> 00:47:19.889 some sort of conspiracy. So, verse 23 says, So 00:47:19.889 --> 00:47:24.690 they nominated two men, Joseph, called Barsabbas, 00:47:24.710 --> 00:47:29.210 also known as Justice, and Matthias. And they 00:47:29.210 --> 00:47:33.119 prayed, Lord, you know everyone's heart. Show 00:47:33.119 --> 00:47:35.860 us which of these two you have chosen to take 00:47:35.860 --> 00:47:40.340 over this apostolic ministry. Which Judas left 00:47:40.340 --> 00:47:44.619 to go where he belongs. Then they cast lots and 00:47:44.619 --> 00:47:48.440 the lot fell to Matthias. So Matthias was added 00:47:48.440 --> 00:47:52.760 to the eleven. And that's where we'll end the 00:47:52.760 --> 00:47:55.980 introduction to Acts tonight. Because we now 00:47:55.980 --> 00:48:01.480 sit on the precipice. of one of the most important 00:48:01.480 --> 00:48:05.900 events in the history of the world. The moment 00:48:05.900 --> 00:48:09.019 when the Holy Spirit actually descends upon the 00:48:09.019 --> 00:48:13.800 apostles. A wind rushes through the entire city 00:48:13.800 --> 00:48:17.659 of Jerusalem, scaring people to death, making 00:48:17.659 --> 00:48:22.500 the apostles act like these people thought they 00:48:22.500 --> 00:48:26.159 were drunk. And then something very strange occurred. 00:48:27.780 --> 00:48:31.000 everybody could understand in their own language. 00:48:32.380 --> 00:48:36.059 And what is the significance of that? Not just 00:48:36.059 --> 00:48:39.400 being a really cool trick, but what does the 00:48:39.400 --> 00:48:42.039 ability to hear that message that Peter preached 00:48:42.039 --> 00:48:45.519 that day in our own language, what does that 00:48:45.519 --> 00:48:51.219 say about God and his relationship with us? If 00:48:51.219 --> 00:48:53.699 you'll come back next time, that's what we'll 00:48:53.699 --> 00:49:01.659 talk about. Well, there you have it. This episode 00:49:01.659 --> 00:49:06.719 sets us up for next time when we focus on the 00:49:06.719 --> 00:49:10.900 beginnings of the church on that day of Pentecost. 00:49:10.900 --> 00:49:14.440 I hope you'll come back. and experience that 00:49:14.440 --> 00:49:17.480 with us. Hey, listen, before you go, however 00:49:17.480 --> 00:49:19.500 it is that you listen to the podcast, if you 00:49:19.500 --> 00:49:21.920 like what we're doing here at the Semi -Seminary, 00:49:22.039 --> 00:49:24.139 and if you take the time to subscribe to the 00:49:24.139 --> 00:49:26.760 podcast, that'll let you know when new episodes 00:49:26.760 --> 00:49:30.059 are coming out. Also, however you listen to us, 00:49:30.119 --> 00:49:33.539 if you take the time to rate, review, and comment 00:49:33.539 --> 00:49:35.940 on the podcast, we'd greatly appreciate it. It 00:49:35.940 --> 00:49:40.420 helps get the word out to more people. Anyway, 00:49:40.440 --> 00:49:43.739 until next time, friend, be blessed and be a 00:49:43.739 --> 00:49:43.980 blessing.