Acts 1:13 When they had entered the city, they went up to the (a)upper room where they were (b)staying; that is, (c)Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James. Gathering in the upper room v.13 (a) upper rooms were generally larger in size because of the structure of the houses back then. The lower levels had more walls and smaller rooms to support the weight of the second and third stories above. Upper room rooms like this were usually on the third floor and reached by outside steps. They were often used as dining rooms, as study places for students, or were sublet and rented as I believe is the case with the apostles. This might be the same upper room that the disciples and Jesus had their Last Supper, Lk 22:7-13; it is interesting to think that maybe Jesus rented this room not just for the night, but for the next couple of months in anticipation of the events that would follow. v.13 (b) the disciples were obeying the Lord’s command to wait in the city until they receive the Holy Spirit and are clothed with power from on high, Lk 24:49, Acts 1:4. v.13 (c) this is the same list of apostles as in Lk 6:14-16 with the exception of course of Judas Iscariot. There is however a change in the order and placement of the names. In the Bible, it is very common that the order of a name in a list, like a genealogy, is not necessarily the order from oldest to youngest, but instead the order is made by importance. We see that here, as compared to the list in Lk 6-14-16. In the list in Acts, Peter and John have been elevated to a high standing as leaders among the apostles, thus they are listed first instead of with their brothers as we see in the list from Luke. The amount of persecution they were experiencing is more than can be imagined. The Pharisees wanted to kill them and Romans wanted to arrest them for causing a disturbance. They had just spent forty days on and off with Jesus after the resurrection, but they did not yet have the power of the Holy Spirit to give them confidence and boldness. My guess is they were following the Lord’s command to stay in Jerusalem, but still being very discreet and quiet; probably still behind locked doors. Jesus had spent the last 40 days opening their eyes to the scriptures; showing them that His suffering that had just taken place was, in fact written hundreds of years before as prophecy. He was building their faith and confidence in the word; giving them insight and understanding to His plan. So that when the power of the Holy Spirit would come, they would already have the word in their hearts to boldly preach the gospel of Christ, even unto persecution, arrest, tribulation and even death.
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Acts 1:12 Then they (a)returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a (b)Sabbath day's journey away. Returning from the ascension v.12 (a) the disciples, probably more than just the twelve, were in Bethany, on the Mount of Olives, where He ascended into heaven, Lk 24:50. Before that, Jesus had met them in Galilee. Many people confuse the great commission in Galilee as His ascension, but it is clear that the ascension took place in Bethany, Lk 24:50, and the great commission was in Galilee, Matt 28:16-18. v.12 (b) a Sabbath’s day journey was 2,000 cubits, about 3,000 ft., according to Num 35:5. The Mount of Olives was within this travel limit, Acts 1:12, but Luke 24:50 states that He led them to Bethany and was ascended into heaven; according to John 11:18, Bethany was about 9,000 ft. from Jerusalem. So we have a discrepancy of 6,000 ft. Any time you come across something that seems like a contradiction in the Bible, use it as a chance to dig deeper because the Word of God does not contradict itself. John 11:18 is focusing on Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. Mary, Martha and Lazarus lived in Bethany and this was a common place for Jesus to stay when He was in Jerusalem. The town of Bethany was not big, but was at least bigger than 2 miles. I believe that Mary and Martha’s house was in Bethany, two miles from Jerusalem, while the Mount of Olives and the place of the ascension and Bethpage, were within a Sabbaths day journey from Jerusalem, but still within the borders of the town of Bethany. So when the Bible states that Bethany is two miles from Jerusalem, Jn 1:18, and also states that the disciples were a Sabbaths day journey away from Jerusalem, but still in Bethany, these statements agree because the town of Bethany was bigger than two miles. Acts 1:9-11 And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a (a)cloud received Him out of their sight. 10 And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, (b)two men in white clothing stood beside them. 11 They also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, (c)will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven." The Ascension v.9 (a) This wasn’t an ordinary cloud. I believe this was the presence of God, presented in a cloud just as He did with Moses, Ex 19:9, 16-19 ; a cloud representing the Glory of God, Ex 24:16, 40:38.
The text says the cloud received them out of their sight. Jesus didn’t just ascend into the clouds so high that they could no longer see Him. I think the cloud, the Glory of God, actually took Him into another dimension and vanished out of their sight. v.10 (b) the text says these were two men, not two angels. Could these be the same two men that Luke writes about in his gospel at the empty tomb?, Lk 24:4. I am convinced that these two men were Moses and Elijah. God set up a meeting between Jesus, Moses and Elijah on Mount Hermon to discuss Jesus’ departure from this world, Lk 9:28-31. I believe these two men at the tomb and at the ascension were Moses and Elijah as well. Moses and Elijah have a meeting with Jesus to discuss His death and resurrection, we call this the transfiguration, but it really was a secret meeting to review the plan of redemption for man. Moses and Elijah become witnesses for Jesus in both post-resurrection events. They are there to tell the women at the empty tomb that Jesus had risen from the dead. And here they are giving the disciples hope for the return of Jesus Christ. I also believe that the roll of these two men being a witness for Jesus doesn’t stop there. They will be the two witnesses in Revelation preparing the world for the return of Jesus, Rev 11:3-12, Zech 4:2-3, 11-14. v.11- (c) the return of Jesus will be in a similar fashion to how He was taken up. We know Jesus was taken up in the cloud of the glory of God into heaven escaping the physical eyes into another dimension. In the book of Revelation, John describes Jesus coming back at His second coming. He says “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True”, Rev 19:11-16. Again, this confirms that heaven is a place outside of our dimensionality and just like Jesus was taken into that other dimension by the glory of God, He will come back from heaven in the same fashion, only we, His Bride, will be with Him too!, Jude 14, Rev 19:14. Acts 1:8 but you will receive (a)power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My (b)witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth." The Power of the Holy Spirit v.8 (a) the apostles had already received the Holy Spirit and were born again back in John 20:22. This is now when they were baptized in the Spirit and received power. This Greek word is δύναμις, dynamis. This is where we get the English word dynamite. This is the power of God; His strength, force, might and ability. God has given us this power thru His Spirit. v.8- (b) This is the main reason for this endowment of the power of the Spirit; to be His witness to the world. Jesus gives specific instructions to the progression of the dispersing of the gospel; first to Jerusalem, then Judea, then Samaria, then the rest of the world. Again this goes back to God’s plan. It was always the Jew first and then the Gentile. Jesus followed these same orders, going to Jerusalem, Judea, then Samaria and then the Gentiles, and now He is relaying these same marching orders for His disciples. The way it plays out is fascinating because the disciples didn’t take these orders and make a plan to spread the gospel in this fashion. It was the hand of God that directed them thru the chaos of life and thru this, fulfilled His plan. After Jesus ascended, they waited in Jerusalem, as Jesus instructed. They really did not know what they were waiting for. They knew Jesus promised they would receive the promise of the Father and be baptized in the Holy Spirit, but I don’t think they really knew what all that meant; but they were faithful and patient and on the day of Pentecost they were filled with the Holy Spirit, just as Jesus had promised. This day, the Feast of Shavout (weeks), was established thousands of years prior, as the exact point in time the Holy Spirit would be given to the Church. The Day of Pentecost There is some discussion as when the Day of Pentecost actually took place. There are three events that decide the date of the Day of Pentecost; the Passover being the starting point. Passover is always on the 14th of Nissan. The High Sabbath, always the day after the Passover, the 15th of Nissan, is called the Day of Unleavened Bread. This is a High Sabbath and no work can be performed, Lev 23:5-7. And the third event called the Feast of Firstfruits. The Feast of Firstfruits is always the day after the first weekly Sabbath that followed the Passover. In the year of Jesus’ death and resurrection, since Passover was on a Thursday, the first weekly Sabbath was on the 16th of Nissan, making the Feast of Firstfruits just a few days later on the 17th of Nissan, Lev 23:10-15. Leviticus 23:15 tells us from the day after the Sabbath, count 50 days to the day after the seventh Sabbath, this is the Day of Pentecost; basically 50 days from first weekly Sabbath after the Passover or 49 days from the Feast or Firstfruits. Jesus was crucified on April 10th, 32AD and rose from the dead and presented Himself to the Father on the Feast of Firstfruits, 17th of Nissan, Sunday, April 13th. On the Feast of Firstfruits, the priest is to sacrifice a male lamb and bread made from the firstfruits of the land as a grain offering and wine as a drink offering. All this is done and presented as a wave offering to the Lord, Lev 23:10-13. This is fascinating because Jesus is all three, the Lamb, the body, and the blood. He presented Himself and His blood in heaven, in the holy of holies not made with hands, to the Father as the final sacrifice for sin, Heb 9:11-28. The wave offering of the firstfruits was a foreshadowing of Jesus presenting Himself as the Lamb slain to the Father. The Day of Pentecost is always 49 days from the Feast of Firstfruits. In the year 32AD, the Holy Spirit came down on Sunday, June 5th. After the apostles received the Spirit they immediately start to preach the gospel in Jerusalem with boldness. In a matter of days, thousands of Jews receive Jesus. Persecution from the Pharisees arises. Peter and John are thrown in prison, but the hand of God releases them, finally Stephen is stoned to death and this forces the disciples to disperse and travel to other places in the world. It is this persecution that leads to the spread of the gospel in the exact order that Jesus commanded. This is what I think is so amazing. Even thru all the chaos, because of this persecution, it actually enables the disciples to reach out to other parts of the world, Acts 8:4, 11:19-21, to the Jew first in Jerusalem and Judea, then Samaria, then the Gentiles in the rest of the world. Satan was trying to stop the spread of the gospel by killing Stephen, but instead it actually launched the gospel to the whole world!
Acts 1:6-7 So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, "Lord, is it at this time You are (a)restoring the kingdom to Israel?" 7 He said to them, "It is not for you to (b)know (c)times or (d)epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; Restoring the kingdom v.6 (a) This was a valid question that the disciples had. This is the main reason that many of the Jews missed Jesus as the Messiah. It is prophesied that the Messiah will come and set up His kingdom and restore Israel to their land, Is 11:11, Jer 29:14, 31:8-10, Ezek 36:19,24,28, 37:11,12,21,25, Zech 2:12, 8:7-8,22, 12:6, Amos 9:15. What they didn’t realize is Jesus must come twice; once to reconcile man to the Father and redeem man from sin and death. The second time will be to set up His kingdom and reign on this earth for a thousand years. This is known as the restitution of all things. What no one knows, not man, not the angels, not even Jesus Christ Himself, at least at that time, but the Father alone knows when Jesus’ return will be, Mk 13:32. The disciples assumed that since Jesus had now accomplished His mission, He would set up His kingdom and start to reign. What they didn’t realize, because it was kept a mystery from the foundation of the world, is there will be an entire dispensation of time before Jesus will come back to reign. Jesus will not be alone. He is coming back with His saints, the body of Christ, to reign of the earth, Jude 14, Rev 19:11-20:6. v.7 (b) Jesus didn’t deny the fact that He will restore the kingdom. He just told them it not for us to know the times, but we do know some signs leading up to the return of Christ. Now don’t confuse the rapture with the second coming. In the rapture, Jesus never touches the earth, we, His saints, will be caught up in the air with Him. There are no signs for when this will take place. The rapture can happen at any time. The second coming however is very well documented and we know exactly what must take place before He returns and us with Him. This is how you can always differentiate the rapture versus the second coming. A good rule of thumb when it comes to studying your bible on end time events is, there are no predetermined events that must take place before the rapture happens, and if the bible lists certain events that must take place, then it is talking about the second coming. This is very helpful when studying the Olivet discourse, Mk 13, Matt 24. v.7 (c) χρόνους- chronous- duration of time or delay. This is referring to the length or duration of time of this current dispensation we are living in now. No one knew it was going to be 2,000 years and we still don’t know. Jesus could come back tomorrow or it could be another 2,000 years. One thing we absolutely know, Jesus is coming back! This word is plural; telling us there are many ages to come in our future. We know of at least two; the age of the Church, and the Day of the Lord, but according to Ephesians there will be more than that, “that in the ages to come, He might show us the surpassing riches of His grace to us ward who believe,” Eph 2:6. We don’t know what God has planned for us, but we do know it will be great. He is going to take the rest of eternity to show us how magnificent He is! v.7 (d) καιροὺς, kairous- a definite, specific point in time, an appointed time. This is referring to a specific appointed time that the Father has fixed by His own authority. The Father has designated a fixed point in time when Jesus is coming back; one that only the Father knows and has pre-arranged before the foundation of the earth. This word is also plural; meaning there are more than one fixed points in time that the Father has pre-ordained. One is the rapture of the Church, no one knows this date except the Father. Then there is the return of Christ after the tribulation. After this, there are countless other specific points in time that God has pre-arranged since before the foundation of the world. He has appointed these specific moments in time thousands of years in advance. Nothing is a surprise to God and His plan will be fulfilled, and what is absolutely astounding is He wants to fulfill His plan with us! God created this plan of redemption and at the same time He made us an integral part of that plan; even to the point that He required His word, His plan to be written by us thru the Holy Spirit; and now that His word is complete and His Son has established Himself as the chief cornerstone of that plan, we now have the responsibility of being the light in this world and preach the gospel to anyone who will listen. He gave us this responsibility so that we would be one with Him. He is with us every step of way, He wants to spend time with us. The Father is pleased to fulfill His plan with us. His enjoyment is spending time with us and He doesn’t want to wait until we go to heaven, He wants to be with us now, He wants every one of our decisions to be based on Him. This is walking in Him and in His light. If we surrender ourselves to walk in His plan, there is no reason to fear, because He knows how this plan will end. He has already foretold it in His word. Our hope is in Him and even in the end, if we give our lives to Him, our death is gain and we will spend eternity with Him. So fear not little flock, for it is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom!
Acts 1:4-5 4 Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had (a)promised, "Which," He said, "you heard of from Me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be (b)baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." v.4 (a)The promise of the Father was the gift of the Holy Spirit which comes thru the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Because Jesus reconciled man to the Father, the gift of the Spirit can now be freely given to all who believe. Hebrews 11 is the great “hall of faith”, men who laid down their life for God, but because man had not been reconciled with the Father yet, none of these great men of faith received the promise of the Holy Spirit, Heb 11:39. This promise was made to the disciples and all believers just before Jesus was crucified, Jn 14. It was also foretold to John the Baptist, “He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remain upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit,” Jn 1:33. Now that Jesus accomplished reconciliation for His people, and because Jesus conquered sin and death and all power is now been given to Him in Heaven, the earth and under the earth, the Spirit is now able to move freely on the earth and dwell in all those who believe in the name of Jesus. Receiving the Holy Spirit is done in two parts: The first is to be baptized in the name of Jesus. This is different than the baptism that John preached. John proclaimed baptism of repentance to make ready the way of the Lord to the forgiveness of sins. This baptism is an outward expression of ones willingness to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. This baptism by water is a symbol of Christ’s death for us. Those that were baptized by John or according to his teachings, were only preparing themselves for the Messiah, Mk 1:3-4. This baptism by water alone does not forgive sins. It must follow with the baptism of Jesus, the acceptance of Jesus Christ into your heart, the receiving the Holy Spirit to be born again. This is the act of accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior. At this moment, your old spirit is made new with the Holy Spirit and you are made a new creation. From this point forward your spirit is now made perfect and sinless, washed by the blood of Jesus, Rom 10:9-10, Acts 19:5. We see another example of this when Ananias healed Paul of his blindness. Ananias told Paul to be baptized and his sins would be washed away by calling on His name, Acts 22:16. This is the baptism in the name of Jesus.
v.5(b)The second step is to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. This is when the power of the Spirit will come upon you, Acts 1:8. Your spirit is already re-born and made new, now is the point you are endowed with the power of the Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. From this point on, you are led by the Spirit of God and can now walk in the power and the gifts of the Spirit, Rom 8:1, Gal 5:25. It is Jesus who baptizes us in the Spirit. What does it mean to be baptized, since Jesus isn’t physically here to do the baptizing? Jesus promised that He would ask the Father to give us the Comforter; that the Spirit would be with us forever, Jn 14:16. Jesus is at work in both steps. The first step, to be baptized in His name, you are washed by the blood of Jesus and all your sins are forgiven. Your spirit is made perfect and you are reconciled with the Father. The second step, to be baptized in the Spirit, you receive the power of the Spirit given to us by Jesus and His covenant with the Father. This enables you to perform His will in you. Being filled with the Spirit makes it possible for us to have a relationship with the Father. Once you are baptized in the power of the Spirit, it is the Spirit of God that bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God, Rom 8:14-17. The word baptized means to be engulfed by something whether literal or figurative. By receiving and being baptized in the name of Jesus, we are engulfed and washed by the blood of Jesus and our spirit is replaced and made new by the Holy Spirit living within us. This is what it means to be born again. Old things are passed away, behold all things are become new, 2Cor 5:17. After the resurrection, Jesus appeared to the disciples for the first time that Sunday night; He breathed on them and said “Receive the Holy Spirit,” Jn 20:22. Right then is when they were born again and made new. Jesus breathed on them the breath of life eternal and they were made a new creation. Fifty days later on the day of Pentecost, they received the power of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues by being baptized in the Spirit. This is different than being born again and made new. At Pentecost, they were endowed with the power of the Spirit to be effective witnesses for Jesus. We see this two-step process in Samaria. The apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the Word of God, but the Holy Spirit had not yet fallen on them, Acts 8:14-17. They had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Were these Samaritans born again? Yes, of course, they believed in the Lord Jesus, but they had not received the power of the Holy Spirit yet. Peter and John hear of this and travel to Samaria to lay hands on them to receive the power of the Spirit. An example of all three baptisms:
Paul came to Ephesus on his third missionary journey and found some disciples that had been taught by Apollos. Now these disciples were baptized into the baptism of John and nothing more. Paul explains to them that the baptism of John was only for the baptism of repentance; telling people to believe in Him who was coming after Him. This baptism of repentance just prepares the way of the Lord into your heart, it doesn’t actually remove sin. When the disciples heard this they were baptized in the name of Jesus. This is now the point that their hearts are changed and they became a new creation. Then after this, Paul laid his hands on them and the Holy Spirit came upon them and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying. This was the endowment of the power of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues, Acts 19:1-6. Now that Jesus has come, the baptism of Jesus is usually the first step, and then baptism with water of repentance follows. The baptism into water by John the Baptist was something done to prepare the way of the Lord. It prepared the hearts of those expecting the Messiah. This submersion into water was a prophetic act of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection. Now that the Lord has come, this baptism is now done after we accept the Lord Jesus into our hearts. It becomes an outward expression of our belief in what has been accomplished in Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection. We see this example with the Ethiopian. Phillip preached Jesus to him, the Ethiopian confessed Jesus as the Son of God, and then was baptized into water as an expression of his faith and a symbolism of Jesus’ death for us, Acts 8:35-38, Rom 6:3. Acts 1:3 To these He also (a)presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of (b)forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God. v.3 (a)Jesus showed Himself to those that believed in Him. This fulfilled the promise that He made to His disciples and anyone who would put their hope in Him, "that He would manifest Himself to those that believe in Him", Jn 14:21. Peter confirms this and gives us a better insight to these forty days when he explains to Cornelius that Jesus was raised from the dead on the third day and was granted by the Father that He become visible; not to all people, but only to those that believe on Him, Acts 10:40-41. I find this fascinating because this explains why people did not recognize Him after the resurrection. He had the ability to only reveal Himself to those whom He wished to be revealed, to those who believed in Him. It is quite possible, and I believe it to be a fact, that no one saw the resurrected Jesus if they did not believe. Thomas may be the one exception to that, but still Thomas believed Jesus to be the Messiah, he just could not believe that He had risen from the dead unless he was to see it for himself. The story of Thomas is more than just a man that didn’t believe Jesus was raised from the dead; it was a foreshadowing to the end of this age when there will be us, the Church, who believed in Jesus without seeing Him, and there will be others who only believe because they saw Him coming out of the heavens and will be reigning as King over His kingdom here on the earth. Those people who only believed by seeing will still spend eternity with Jesus. But even better are those who believed without seeing, these are they that will be blessed, Jn 20:29. The following is a list in order of the appearances of Jesus after the resurrection:
v.3 (b) Forty days is an interesting number. We see this appear all over our bible; specifically in some sort of a preparatory state. For example:
Acts 1:2 (a)until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the (b)Holy Spirit (c)given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen. v.2 (a) Luke is recapping his first volume, the book of Luke, telling Theophilus that his first writings of Jesus were about the events while He was on the earth up until He was taken up. Now his second volume, the book of Acts, is the continuation of the orders given by Jesus to His Church after He had ascended into heaven to be with the Father. v.2 (b)Jesus was given the full measure of the Holy Spirit, and thru this in-dwelling of the Spirit, Jesus was one with the Father. Jesus said only what He heard His Father say, and He only did what He saw His Father do. He did everything by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus even said “I can do nothing of Myself, but the Father that dwells within Me, He does the works,” Jn 5:19, 30, 8:26, 28, 12:49-50, 14:10, 24. Luke makes reference to this oneness that Jesus had with the Father when he says He gave orders and chose the apostles by the Holy Spirit. v.2 (c)given orders- three times, after the resurrection, Jesus gave orders to His apostles. Twice to preach the gospel to the world, Matt 28:19, Mk 16:15, and once, which I believe, He is referring here to “stay in the city until you are clothed with the power from on high,” Lk 24:49. This was the order Luke was referring to; the first order of business, to receive the promise of the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, there is no preaching the gospel to the world. Notice the difference in behavior of the apostles before and after the in-dwelling of the Spirit. Compare the two events; after Jesus was resurrected and presented Himself to His disciples, He told them to meet Him in Galilee. The apostles did as He said, but they were lost and had no direction from the Spirit because they had not yet been empowered with the Spirit. When they arrived in Galilee, the only thing they thought to do was to go back to fishing, Jn 21:3. But now compare their actions after they receive the Holy Spirit. Immediately they start prophesying and Peter preaches a marvelous and Spirit filled message that leads three thousand people to Jesus in one day, Acts 2:37-41. Ac 1:1 The first account I composed, (a)Theophilus, about all that Jesus (b)began to do and teach, (a)Theophilus- This is Luke’s second book of a two volume set. His first book, the gospel of Luke, was a prequel to his second volume, the book of Acts.
Luke mentions his first account, the gospel of Luke, as a record of all things Jesus began to do and teach. In his first book, Luke addresses Theophilus as “most excellent”. In the Greek it is κράτιστε, kratiste, a term belonging to or a characteristic of a high ranking dignitary or official. This word is used three other places in the new testament, all addressing Roman government officials, Acts 24:3 addressing Felix and Acts 26:25 addressing Festus. The books of Luke and Acts were trial documents meant to defend Christianity. These documents were written to Theophilus, a Roman official whom Luke wrote to defend Christianity. Theophilus could have even paid for these documents as well. It is a common belief that Luke’s writings were designed to defend Paul, and Christianity, against the charge that it was an illegal, anti-Roman religion. These were presented as legal documents in the defense of Paul to Cesar in Rome. Luke always portrays Rome as the good guys. Luke was writing these documents to be presented to Cesar, so the last thing he needed to do was give fault to Rome in any way. When a riot broke out or there was some form of chaos, the blame was never cast on Rome. The book of Luke was written as an account of the beginning of Christianity, addressed to Theophilus, “so that you might know the exact truth about the things you have been taught,” Lk 1:4; this prequel transitions seamlessly into the book of Acts; both the gospel of Luke ending and the book of Acts beginning with the ascension of Jesus. (b)began- ἤρξατο, ērxato- to take the first step or steps in carrying out an action. Jesus’ intentions were for us to continue what He started. Only Jesus could be the Lamb of God who could take away the sins of the world; so now that He has accomplished this, He took the first step in the redemption of man, making it possible for man to be saved by His blood; it is our duty now, by the Holy Spirit, to preach the message of the gospel of Christ and bring those in the world to salvation thru Jesus, Matt 28:19, Mk 16:15. Jesus had much to say to the disciples, but He couldn’t because He first had to defeat sin and death on the cross and make the Holy Spirit available to all who believe, Jn 16:12. Jesus’ whole purpose for His coming was to redeem man and lay the foundation for the body of Christ, His Church; in which He is the chief cornerstone in this construction, Eph 2:20-21, 2Cor 5:17-21. Stand Apart from this WorldThe power of the baptism of the Holy Spirit is available so we can be His witnesses to the people of this world, Acts 1:8. It is the Spirit that gives us power to be strengthened according to His might; filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding; to know the mystery of His will and the hope of His calling and the riches of the glory of His inheritance that He has given to us; for the purpose of attaining all steadfastness and patience and endurance and giving thanks to the Father with joy even in the midst of persecution and sufferings and reproaches and tribulation and the plundering of your property. We joyfully stand apart from the world in the confidence of knowing that we have a better possession and a greater reward in heaven, Col 1:9-12, Eph 1:9, 17-20, Heb 10:32-36. Colossians 1:9-12
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April 2020
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