Latest / Journey Elgin / Journey Through Scripture - Acts 1-2
Transcript
- Phillip Thomas: Hey, it's good to see you today. My name is Philip Thomas, Pastor of Journey here in Ellegan, Texas. And welcome to our Journey Through Scripture podcast. We've just finished up with the death and resurrection of Jesus. So we have now completed the gospels. Remember, we're going in a chronological order. ⁓ so sometimes we skip around a little bit. ⁓ we're gonna be in the book of Acts for a while. ⁓ so that's where we're gonna be today. We're probably gonna look at Acts chapter one and two. ⁓ but Coming out of the gospels, ⁓ we are now kind of a a transition period for sure in the in the New Testament. ⁓ we are entering into the church age. ⁓ remember ⁓ Jesus, whenever he's talking to his disciples in Matthew, the Great Commission, go and ⁓ take make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, ⁓ take that to the ends of the earth, the Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Well, the rest of Scripture. is about how that message is being taken out, ⁓ that the church begins to grow. And the church grows rapidly. ⁓ and it's important to kind of understand why that is. We we are going to start seeing persecution, and we see persecution early on from ⁓ the the Jews, that you know, especially the Jewish ⁓ religious leaders. ⁓ and then later we will see persecution from the Romans, but in the time in between ⁓ there's actually ⁓ widespread and a quick growth of ⁓ Christianity because Rome, they actually saw this ⁓ this group of Christians, this new way, they just considered that as a sect of Judaism. And Rome did not really care about your religion. ⁓ Rome embraced multiple religions, gods and goddesses and worshiped them in different ways. ⁓ and really the the thing that was most offensive to them about r Judaism as well as Christianity is that the fact that they said there was only one God. and ⁓ so Rome didn't necessarily have a problem with Christians. It had it had ⁓ come more or less ⁓ accepted ⁓ the Jews as long as they didn't cause problems, right? So we and we saw how that impacted Pilate. ⁓ you know, Pilate just didn't want to cause a riot. ⁓ within the Jewish people. ⁓ so the Rome would would let countries and people that they captured would let them worship how they wanted, ⁓ to a point. ⁓ and Christianity would get to that point that it started ticking Rome off. ⁓ but for a while the the Christianity was allowed to spread very quickly and it did. ⁓ and that is what the book of Acts ⁓ chronicles. And ⁓ as we get into Acts, it's important not to kinda understand ⁓ that this is the second volume. Volume one is the Gospel of Luke. ⁓ and then volume two is Acts. So the same writer of Gospel of Luke also wrote Acts. ⁓ Luke we know was a companion of Paul ⁓ or it certainly appears that way. and and so we he he was intimately involved with with this process. He saw it play out. He was a historian. And and so now he is ⁓ writing both the gospel message, so the story of of Jesus and who Jesus is, what he did, ⁓ talking about his death and resurrection. And then he is chronicling the ⁓ spread of the church. ⁓ and so we're we're ⁓ jumping right in in the book of Acts. ⁓ this is kind of the start of ⁓ as I said earlier, the church age. That is a time period of about thirty AD to one hundred AD, ⁓ some somewhere in there, ⁓ ballpark. ⁓ so by the time we get to Revelation, Revelation was ⁓ probably written maybe somewhere in the nineties. ⁓ we we're not not fully sure e exactly, but ⁓ that that may be a a good estimate. ⁓ and so What we what we have here is it's an interesting time period. It's also a time period that is verified ⁓ in in history through all kinds of archaeological finds ⁓ that verify these accounts. ⁓ the book of Acts has lots of places, lots of encounters that that Paul, mainly Paul has with ⁓ different cities and things like that. All of these, so many of these have been verified through through archaeology, through history, ⁓ that's just shows how accurate ⁓ Luke ⁓ is as he is writing this. And again, it's always important ⁓ to know that these are not just stories. These really happened. ⁓ and of course that includes the resurrection. And ⁓ Acts starts off, Luke, one of the things that's very important to him is that people knew that the resurrection happened. And it he starts off in the Acts chapter one, and he says ⁓ he was taken up this is ⁓ verse two, he was taken up out ⁓ he was taken up after he, through the Holy Spirit, had given commandments to the apostles whom he had chosen, to whom he also presented himself alive after his suffering by many infallible proofs. being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things per p pertaining to the kingdom of God. Right. So it was important that they understand that this this really did happen. It was ⁓ an e an event, the resurrection happened. It is what inspires all this. If the resurrection did not happen, if it was something that was made up ⁓ by men, it would not have spread acl across the known world the way that it did. ⁓ it just just wouldn't happen. And this was a ⁓ a powerful event. The power of the resurrection, the power of the Holy Spirit is what powered the church growth, the first church growth ⁓ movement. ⁓ so as you ⁓ continue to read in Acts chapter one, again, we're just gonna read Acts chapters one and two today. ⁓ you have ⁓ the disciples kind of picking up where they left off. They are ⁓ Jesus is with them and Jesus is about to ascend. ⁓ verse seven it says, And he said to them, It is not for you to know the time or seasons ⁓ which the Father has put in his own authority, but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. So there's J Jesus is saying that, is said that in Matthew, said that similar thing ⁓ in Luke. And then in verse nine of Acts chapter one says Now when he had spoken these things, while they watched, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight, and while they looked steadfastly towards heaven, as he went up, behold, two men stood by him in white apparel, said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into the heavens? Now the same Jesus who is taken from you in heaven will so come in like manner as you saw him go into heaven. All right, so I I love the visual of this. ⁓ you have all the disciples and followers of Jesus. ⁓ as Jesus ascends, they naturally are watching him look up and he just go disappears into the sky. Obviously you would just be sitting there in in awe, right? And then these two angels show up and said, ⁓ what are you staring at? Well, what do you think we're staring at? Right? But the the angels remind them and kind of snap them out of it. ⁓ hey, pay attention. You have work to do, right? The what the same way that he left, he will come back. All that's going to take care of itself. Don't worry about that. You do what you've been called to do now, which is to take this message to Judea, to Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Right. And so they go back into Jerusalem. They gather ⁓ together as the disciples. And ⁓ in Acts chapter one, ⁓ verse eight, ⁓ starting in verse 15, ⁓ it starts ⁓ they they're kind of discussing what to to do and they want to add a twelfth apostle. Remember, so there's always been twelve apostles, ⁓ but one of them, Judas, betrayed Jesus, and ⁓ now they need another ⁓ apostle. I love how ⁓ Luke just kind of inserts there in verse 18. Says, now this man purchased a field with the wages of of iniquity, and falling headlong He burst open in the middle and all his entrails gushed out, and it became known to all the dwelling in Jerusalem, so that a field is called ⁓ in their own language ⁓ field of blood. So he just kind of casually throws out there what happened to Judas, ⁓ maybe as a ⁓ a reminder. and again, Judas hung himself ⁓ at his guilt and and shame. So you have ⁓ Judas is has died that now they want to take ⁓ another ⁓ twelve is a ⁓ a big number, you know, numbers had importance. ⁓ the number seven is very ⁓ important is kind of a a holiness completeness number. Same thing with the number twelve. Also it it connects all the way back to ⁓ the twelve tribes of Israel. ⁓ it now you have the twelve the tw the twelve tribes of Israel connected to the twelve sons of Jacob. ⁓ now you have the twelve apostles ⁓ who connect to the new Israel, right? So of what God is now doing as as ⁓ in in the kingdom of God, that its foundation is still ⁓ twelve, just as the old was. There's a connection between the old and the new. ⁓ the new is not a replacement of the old, it's a continuation. There's a a ⁓ a a connection there. And so they select, ⁓ they kind of pray, they narrow it down to two people, they end end up ⁓ selecting ⁓ Matthias, Matthias, and he is becomes the twelfth apostle. And really we don't hear much more of him, but obviously he had a big part. I thought it was interesting ⁓ the qualifications. they wanted somebody that had been with them, right? So it wasn't it's not like it was only the twelve following Jesus. There were other people ⁓ who were there. They were just the main ones. But so they wanted someone who had who had been with them, who had experienced ⁓ Jesus. ⁓ but they must have but been a witness of his resurrection. All right, someone who had seen Jesus. Now that that's important. Why is it? Why would it be important for one of the disciples to be someone who had experienced the resurrection? Not like we've experienced the resurrection. I believe I've experienced the power of the resurrection. ⁓ I believe the Holy Spirit l lives in me, that that I will be with ⁓ with God forever because I've accepted ⁓ who Jesus is, what he has done for me. I do believe that. However, I did not see with my own eyes Jesus rise again. ⁓ it was important that w the one of the disciples and and the replacement disciple had seen Jesus rise again, seen him resurrected. Why is that? Because the disciples knew, ⁓ I think, ⁓ that this was going to be a tough road ahead. It was going to be difficult. And if you weren't completely bought in, right, ⁓ you you eventually would quit. and i as you look at the history of all the disciples They end up being martyred for their faith. They are killed for their faith. Well, I I'm sorry, it if if this was something that they knew to be false, or even if it was something that they just believed to be true, there would be some that under the threat of death would probably renounce and would say, you know what, I I I'm I'm I'm backtracking. ⁓ but the disciples, they knew. That what they said and what they were preaching and what they were proclaiming, they knew it was true because they had seen Jesus resurrected. All right. ⁓ as you can continue on, ⁓ we get to chapter two, and this is ⁓ talks about Pentecost. ⁓ Pentecost is is ⁓ during the the festival of the first fruits. ⁓ it's ⁓ 50 days after Passover. It was celebrating the wheat harvest. So ⁓ so Jerusalem would have been packed. ⁓ the disciples are are there and you ⁓ they're gathered in a room and there's a mighty rushing wind, fills the whole house where they were sitting, ⁓ divided, and and then there were what appeared as ⁓ tongues of fire ⁓ on each one of ⁓ And then they began speaking ⁓ with ⁓ with other tongues as the spirit gave them utterance. ⁓ and then other people who were there that were from all you know, ⁓ all across the the region were able to understand in their own language. So the the miracle of the power here is is not necessarily that they were speaking another language, but they were being heard in another language. ⁓ and and it w obviously was a ⁓ a big commotion and a big to do. And ⁓ people thought that they were either prophesying or they thought, ⁓ maybe they've been drinking too early, right? ⁓ Acts chapter two. I s I love how it says ⁓ verse seven. Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to each other, Look, are not those ⁓ are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear each in our own language in which we were born? ⁓ right, and ⁓ and then it just com ⁓ goes down a a list of where people ⁓ were from. And ⁓ and then the people said Well, maybe they're just full of new wine. Right? So they maybe they've just been drinking a lot. And that's when Peter stands up, ⁓ verse fourteen, and and he says, We are not drunk as you suppose. In verse fifteen. ⁓ it's only the third hour of the day. Right. So he's saying, Hey, even even to us, we didn't start drinking this early. and and then Peter gives a a wonderful sermon again of of making sure To make the point that look, this is the continuation of the old testament. He he uses a passage from Joel, ⁓ verse 17, it says, And it and it shall come to pass in the last days that I'll pour out my spirit ⁓ on all flesh. Your sons and daughters shall prophesy. See, many of the the people that they had not ⁓ there had not been a prophet. The the spirit had not been moving for years and years and years until Jesus enters the scene. And and many thought that it wasn't going to happen again. And here Peter is connecting, says, No, now this is that time that was talked about all the way back in Joel, that the Spirit of God is moving again. ⁓ He is using ⁓ prophets again. ⁓ God is moving, he is doing something new. So again, he's connecting. He's not trying to replace ⁓ the old testament, it is the fulfillment. ⁓ of the old testament. And then he ⁓ he also ⁓ connects Jesus with David ⁓ in Psalm. ⁓ Psalm uses Psalm 16, verses eight through eleven there in verses ⁓ twenty-five through twenty-eight. ⁓ that ⁓ Jesus is connected. He is in the line of David. ⁓ and then he he continues on and ⁓ just kind of talks about what had been done to Jesus. And how he had ⁓ been ⁓ crucified, ⁓ how he had been raised ⁓ to God ⁓ and now sits at the right hand of God, ⁓ and now he sends his Holy Spirit. ⁓ and ⁓ I I love it says ⁓ verse thirty six, therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Again, everything is connecting Jesus as the Messiah. That had been talked about in the Old Testament. and then verse 38. Then Peter said to them, Repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. Right? What is the the heart of the message, the gospel message, is to repent, to change of our ways, to to start living differently, to start living godly, ⁓ to repent. And to ask for forgiveness. ⁓ that is something that is inherent to the message ⁓ of the gospel. ⁓ and then the church begins to grow. So it it grows very quickly. ⁓ that day. Many ⁓ believe. ⁓ verse 40 says, and with that many other words, he testifies and exhorted them, saying, Be saved from this perverse generation. ⁓ and then the there were thousands that were added that day. And ⁓ verse forty-two, they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, so the teaching and fellowship. So they continued to learn, ⁓ they continued to fellowship with each other, ⁓ they broke bread together, they prayed together, and then it says, ⁓ then fear came upon every soul, or they were they were in awe at what the disciples, the apostles were able to do for the many wonders and signs of the apostles. And then For this time period they're here they're all had come in. So many of these people had come into Jerusalem for this festival. Now they're there and they they started sharing all that they had ⁓ in common. ⁓ I've I've heard this passage used to you know say, well maybe this is ⁓ you know a a collective ⁓ you know supports a a collective government system. ⁓ I I I think that's definitely a stretch. It's just saying what what had happened? All these people had come into Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, were planning on going back at home, but had an unbelievable experience, and they all stuck together because this is a new movement. And so they started sharing what they had with one another. And the church begins to grow ⁓ from from there. All right. We're going to stop right there. And we will continue on Thursday. Read Acts chapter three through five. Acts chapter three through five. All right. I hope you're you're ready to begin the the chronological walk through the church age. All right. Acts chapters three through five. See ya then.