[MUSIC] Welcome to Expound, our
verse-by-verse study of God's word. Our goal is to expand your
knowledge of the truth of God by explaining the word of God
in a way that is interactive, enjoyable, and congregational. So turn in your Bibles to the
book of Acts, Acts chapter 1 and we'll get started. Yeah, all right. Let's pray and
we'll get started. Father, thank you
for the word of God that does the work of God in
the hearts of the people of God. We come, Lord, tonight
and we bring ourselves. We bring our attention, our
minds, to engage in the words that we hear, the
words that we read, the thoughts your
Holy Spirit is going to give us, the questions we're
going to be wrestling with-- some hopefully that
will be answered. And as we bring
ourselves, we do so, Lord, because that's our
reasonable service. That's the smartest thing to do. It's the wisest thing to do. Because we remember Paul wrote,
in view of God's mercies, present your bodies as living
sacrifice, holy and acceptable which is your spiritual act of
worship or reasonable service. Lord, here we are. We pray that you would feed
us and teach us, but more than that equip us to be
vessels to speak your word, to share truth, to encourage
others, to have knowledge, but then, Lord, to act on it. For we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. So, my wife hates it when
a movie gets suspended. That is, you go through
a movie or a series, let's say it's, you don't
know it's a two part. You just think it's a one
part, and the characters are introduced, the
theme is unfolded. You start following it, and then
just at the climax of the story those three dreaded words appear
on the screen, to be continued. It's like, oh, great. I got to wait a week or
sometimes years, really, because they put out
the sequel to the movie. Well, we sort of
get that feeling as we go through the gospel
accounts of the life of Jesus. I mean, we are introduced
to the Messiah of Israel, he's been predicted
in the Old Testament. He's introduced
the main character. We see all the promises
made in the old covenant, the Old Testament, are being
fulfilled before our eyes. We see what he does. We hear what he says. We're getting into the story,
but then this main character predicts that he
is going to die. And so we go, oh, man that
adds tension to the story. But then he says, but I'm
going to rise three days later. So we go, OK, well that's-- I'll hang for that. So we finally come to that
final passion week when Jesus is handed over, betrayed,
dies on a cross, but then is does raised from the dead. And it's awesome,
it's so awesome. But then he leaves. He, like, ascends into heaven. And the gospels close most
of them with the idea that, and he vanished out of
their sight the end. So we look at that
and go, now what? OK, that was an amazing
thing that happened, but what's going to happen next? And so we have the sequel
to the gospel accounts in the book of Acts. In fact, the Gospel of Luke is
Volume one and Acts is volume two of Dr. Luke's-- I'll explain that in a moment-- Dr. Luke's two volume
series, part one and two of the origins
of Christianity and the development
of the early church. Volume 1 was the
Gospel of Luke, it parallels the gospel of
Matthew and the gospel of Mark. John is its own
entity, as we saw, very different from the three
so-called synoptic gospels because of their similarity. But the sequel is
in the book of acts, because it says in verse one,
the former account that I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus
began both to do and teach, until the day in which he
was taken up, after that he through the Holy Spirit
had given commandments to the apostles
whom he had chosen. Now you'll notice
how Luke begins. And Luke is the author
of the book of Acts. He doesn't really show
up on the scene, , where you actually see him in
the story until chapter 16. I'll explain that in
a moment, but he is the author of the book of Acts. This is his second volume. This is a sequel to
the Gospel of Luke. You notice that he is writing
to a fellow named Theophilus. So keep a marker here, and go
back to Luke chapter one, Luke chapter one. Gospel of Luke chapter one,
verse one: in as much as many have taken in hand
to set in order a narrative of those things
which have been fulfilled among us, just as those
who, from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers
of the word, delivered them to us. It seemed good to
me also, having had perfect understanding
of all things from the very first, to write to you an
orderly account most excellent Theophilus. Same author, writing
to the same person. That you may know-- verse four--
the certainty of those things in which you were instructed. The question that scholars
have wrestled with is, well, who is Theophilus? And because the name
Theophilus is a Greek name that means lover of God
or one who loves God, some commentators
have said, well, Luke is writing to all
people who love God. It's a general form of
greeting to all lovers of God. And if you love God you
are Theophiloi that's the plural of Theoophilus. So all you Theophiloi out
there, this is written to you. That's one thought. The other thought, the other
idea-- and I lean toward-- this is that because that is
an actual name he he's writing about or writing to and he
seems to be writing to a person, rather than to a group
of people generically-- is that Theophilus was
the master, the patron, the master of Luke. Now you say, no, wait a
minute the master of Luke? I thought Luke was a doctor. See, he was. But 2000 years ago doctors were
different than doctors today. 2000 years ago doctors
weren't, you know, living in the nice big house. and because they
practice medicine collect a larger income
than a lot of folks. They were slaves 2000 years ago. They were owned by people. So times have changed, right? Where doctors used to
be owned by people, now you sort of feel like,
well, my doctor sort of owns me, with the medical bills
that I'm getting. But nowadays the
doctors and the patients sort of feel like they're
both owned by the insurance companies. But that's a whole other issue. I won't get into that. But Luke, as a doctor, very
smart, very articulate. And one of the stylistic things
I love about Luke's writing, he writes in a classical Greek. In fact, I will just
say for the record it's a Greek that I have
trouble understanding. I took some Greek,
and we started with a simple gospel, John. Actually we start
started with first John, and then I read
the Gospel of John. That's easier to manage. By the time you get
to Luke's gospel, he writes in a higher form
of syntax and grammar. And it's like, oh my
goodness, who is this guy? He's a smart guy. And he writes as a smart guy,
but he will describe things. He'll notice things. He'll observe things--
especially about the healings of Jesus-- that only a doctor would notice. Yet he reveals just by
his style of writing that he has a medical
background, that he is predisposed to
medical terminology. Because some of his terminology
is ancient medical terminology. Back to Theophilus,
Theophilus was probably the wealthy, master
patron that owned Luke-- employed Luke if that
is easier for you to get your head around-- but that Theophilus came
to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, as master. And though Doctor Luke was
working for Theophilus, Theophilus released
Luke to become a friend and traveling
companion with Paul. And so in Acts chapter
16, we're going to read how that the narrative
changes from the third person to the first person. Now, I'll tell you why this is
important, because in Acts 16 Paul gets a vision of
a man from Macedonia. All the doors are closed. One night he gets a vision,
doesn't know which way to go. The man from Macedonia
says, come over to Macedonia and help us. So Paul wakes up the
next day and says, I think God wants us
to go to Macedonia, because I had a vision
from a man from Macedonia. So he goes. And the story doesn't
show that he finds a man, he finds women meeting
at a river in Phillipi. Lydia-- the Lord opens up her
heart-- she gets converted, the philippian jailer
gets converted. But immediately after that in
the Book of Acts chapter 16, instead of saying they
did this and he did that, suddenly right
after that incident it says, and we went here and
we went there and we did this. And from that point on,
Luke includes himself in the writing in the first
person, not the third. So because of
that, some scholars have come to believe that
the man from Macedonia that Paul saw in the
vision is Doctor Luke. Certainly it fits the
timing of the narrative. We don't know for sure, but it's
an interesting and fascinating thought. That it was Luke who was
saying, come over to Macedonia and help us. Now, Luke was a Greek
physician, and he probably met Paul at least
in Philippi if he wasn't the man from Macedonia. But Theophilus said, you're
released from service. What I want you to do is follow
Paul around, help him out, and I want you to write to me
a full account of the history of this movement. And so he's filling him in. He's not sitting
down going, today I'm going to write scripture. He's writing one dude, his boss. But the Holy Spirit
used it to give an accurate account of the life
of Jesus, the Gospel of Luke, and then the account
of the early church. So that's a little bit
of background to Luke. That's important in verse one. The former account that
I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus-- key word here--
began to do and teach until the day he was
taken up, after he through the Holy Spirit
had given commandments to the apostles
whom he had chosen. The word, began, suggests that
the work of Christ is not over. This is what Jesus
began to do and to teach that's the Gospel of Luke this is what Jesus
continues to do and teach. Well, how does he do that? He left he, ascended
into heaven. He's out of here, he's gone. How can Jesus continue
to do and teach anything if he left in the
ascension into heaven? Answer, the Holy Spirit
that he promised. I'm leaving. It's expedient that I
go, because if I don't go I can't send the helper to you. If I send the helper he's
going to teach you all things. He's going to instruct,
and he's going to be another helper-- as
we mentioned the last three weeks-- just like
I have been to you. He'll be another helper,
one like I have been. So the implication is
that the book of Acts is not a closed book. When we get to chapter 28 and
the book closes, that's fine. But it's still going on,
because Jesus is still working throughout history
in the lives of his people. The Holy Spirit
is still present, infusing us, indwelling
us, empowering us. So I love the thought
that the book of Acts is what Jesus continues
to do, continues to teach, through the apostles. Now the book is called
the Acts of the Apostles. That's what it says on
the top of our bibles, though the title
is not mentioned. That is not the
title in verse one, it's the title that has
been given to the book. It's a good enough
title, I suppose. But I prefer looking at it, not
as the Acts of the Apostles, but rather as the Acts
of the Holy Spirit. Because it says, which he began
to do and to teach until he was taken up after he,
through the Holy Spirit, had given commandments to the
apostles whom he had chosen. So the finished work of
Jesus was on the cross. The unfinished work
of Jesus continues through the new generation. This one, and then
the next one, and then the next one, all the way
down to our generation. So you become those,
we become those through whom the Holy Spirit
in dwells and empowers. To whom-- verse three-- to whom he presented himself-- that - his apostles-- to whom
he also presented himself alive after his suffering by
many infallible proofs. Being seen by them
during 40 days, and speaking of the
things pertaining to the Kingdom of God. Now, here's a bit of
information Luke or Matthew or Mark or John
does not include. They just say that Jesus took
them to the Mount of Olives. He blessed them, and he
ascended into heaven. And they returned to
Jerusalem with great joy. But now we're given a
little more coloring into a time period,
a 40 day-- actually you find out it's a 50
day time period-- because between the Passover and
the next feast, Pentecost, there's a period of 50 days. But 40 days after Jesus
rose from the dead until the time he
ascended into heaven, he is teaching his disciples. He continues teaching
them, and speaking to them about things pertaining
to the Kingdom of God. And being assembled
together with them, he commanded them not to
depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the
promise of the Father. Which he said, you
have heard from me. Now, notice in those verses
that we read that little phrase, many infallible proofs. The disciples were
convinced that Jesus was who he said he was. That he was the Son of God,
that he was God the Lord. Principally, because of his
Resurrection from the dead, as well as what he
claimed himself to be. But then after Jesus
rose from the dead, they saw for 40 days
infallible proofs. Things that they
experienced subjectively, but because they
were the only ones to see and experience them,
they were objective, hence infallible. And what do I mean by that? You see, if one person
experiences something, or claims to experience
something, how do you know? So if somebody
says, I saw a banana flying through the sky
and flowers growing out of it, interesting. Thank you for sharing. But you'll dismiss
it out of hand, because those
things don't happen. But if you get two and three
and four and 12 saying, we saw exactly that at
exactly the same time. You go, OK. Because if one person says
he saw or she saw one thing you'd say, well, that
could be a hallucination. Now, psychologists will tell us
that hallucinations can happen, but they can't happen
to a group of people. A subjective experience-- if
everybody sees the same thing and experiences the same thing
at the same time-- it's not a hallucination,
it's not the product of one's private imagination. Now you have
something objective, because there are several
eyewitness accounts. So Jesus appeared and
taught his disciples, but Paul said, not only that,
but he appeared to over 500 after his resurrection
at one time. So you can say, well, Peter
saw a hallucination and John he saw a hallucination. But if all 12 said,
I saw it, too. And then you get
500 that say, we saw him show up on this day at
this place saying these things. Well, now you have
something not subjective as much as objective. Infallible proofs. So the infallible proofs
involve the senses. Them seeing them, hearing
them touching, them tasting. Example, on one occasion--
actually on a couple of different occasions-- Jesus showed up in the room
they were meeting without going through the door or a window. He didn't crawl
through a window, he didn't knock on the
door, he just appeared. They saw that together. On another occasion, he
ate a meal with them. So they tasted what
he gave to them. On another occasion
he spoke to them. So they're hearing with their
ears words that he is saying, and they're being corroborated
because many people are seeing it and hearing it together. Thomas even touched
the wounds of Jesus after the resurrection. These are infallible proofs. Now John, the apostle
John, was one of them. And this is what John refers
to in first John chapter one, verse one when
he says, that which was from the beginning,
which we have heard, which we have seen with our
eyes, which we have looked upon and our hands have handled
concerning the word of life. And what we have seen and heard,
we testify unto you, said John. So for 40 days Jesus showed
up, taught them, ate with them, hung with them, et cetera. But one occasion is
given in verse four, being assembled together with
them he commanded them not to depart from
Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father. Which he said, you
have heard from me. For John truly
baptized with water, but you shall be baptized
with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. OK, stop right there. Go back in your mind. Go back in your knowledge. Go back in your thinking to
the end of the gospel accounts. When Jesus said to his
disciples go into all the world. Go into all the world,
and and preach the gospel to every creature. So we call that the great what? Commission. The great commission
is Jesus saying go. Now, I just want
you to put yourself for a moment in the
disciples' sandals. For somebody to say,
I've got an idea. I've got a mission. I've got a task
I want you do do. I want you to go somewhere. You might say,
well, I have a job. I'm busy. I have a wife. I have kids. I have plans. I can't just go. But if somebody who
was dead that you loved is now alive after three days,
and you see that person alive. And now you realize,
oh my goodness, this is everything he
claimed he said he was. He is God in human flesh. It is the living Lord
risen from the dead, just like he said,
controlling nature. When he says go, you're going
to be pretty zealous to go. Because now you have found
a whole new way of life. You're going to
follow him you're going to do what he says. There's nothing more exciting
than following that guy. So you can imagine that
when Jesus tells them, we're not over here yet boys. I want you to go
to all the world, and I'm putting
you on a mission. You have to imagine their
excitement was at an all time high. They were ready to go. They were ready to
conquer the world. Their zeal was over-the-top. However, with their
zeal over the top, in all of that
excitement they could be tempted to just
bolt out the door and go do what Jesus told
them to do in the work, in the energy of
their own flesh. So Jesus says, go,
but don't go yet. You see, and that's
what he says. But wait, he says
in Acts chapter one. Verse four, being
assembled together he commanded them not to go. Not to depart from
Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the
Father which he said, you have heard from me. Now, why does he
tell them, wait? For the Holy Spirit to
baptize them in the body. Fill them with the boldness. Give them the necessary
equipment to do the job. If you wanted to be a
pilot in the Air Force, would it be silly if the Air
Force said, OK, now that you've graduated from flight school you
have to purchase your own jet aircraft. You'd say, well, I can't. I didn't sign up
for this, I kind of thought you would provide
the equipment to do the job. Or if you're a soldier on
the infantry and they said, you know, there's a
really good deal on m-16s, but you have to buy them
yourself and the body armor and helmets. No, that would never happen. They will give you the equipment
to do the job they're asking you to do for your country. So Jesus is commissioning them
to go out into all the world. But don't go yet, wait,
he says, until you be filled with power from on high. The filling of the Holy
Spirit, the necessary equipment to do the job. Therefore, verse six, when
they had come together they asked him saying,
Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? And he said to them,
it is not for you to know times or seasons
which the Father has put in his own authority. I love these guys. They're so human. I don't know if you
caught this or not, but in the normal
flow of chapter one this is called an interruption. It's a non-sequitur. It's bringing an
issue up that isn't related to the main subject
that was being discussed. OK, I've told you to
go into all the world, but now wait until you get
filled with the Holy Spirit. Hey, let's set the date
when are you coming again? When's the power
thing going to happen? Are you going to restore
the kingdom of Israel now? I mean, what does that
have to do with anything Jesus is telling them? About this much, zero. OK, so they're so human, and
this is what I love about them. Because they're really good at
interrupting, or non-sequiturs. They're really good at it. So like at the Mount
of Transfiguration Moses and Elijah's
transfigured with Jesus, and they're watching it. And Peter goes it's
good that we're here. Let's build three
condominiums right now. And God the Father has to
interrupt Peter's interruption by saying, this
is my beloved Son. Listen to him. Be quiet and listen to him. But that's m and that's
not the only time. There was the time
Jesus mentioned that he was going to the
cross to die on the cross. And so they asked
him, who's going to be the greatest
in the kingdom? What? Were we talking about the
kingdom and the glory? I thought we were
talking about the cross. Yeah, but they're
thinking the kingdom. So that's it. That's the interruption. That's the non-sequitur. And why I'm bringing
this up is because I have a good friend
who likes to say this, he goes, people change,
but not that much. And so here you see
the same apostles, yes, after the Resurrection. Yes, they are going to be
filled with the spirit, but they are who they are. They're still growing. They're still imperfect. Does that give you a little
bit of encouragement? I hope it does. These guys were
far from perfect. Now, having said that and
having to sort of ditch them I have to say this, I
understand their question. There's part of me that says
I want to give them a break, and I understand why
they would ask that. Because Jesus keeps
promising that he's going to send the Holy Spirit. I'm going to send the
Holy Spirit, that's the promise of my Father. That's the other helper. He's been saying that
before his death, and now after his resurrection. So in their minds-- they're Jewish--
they were raised believing that the messiah is
going to come and establish a kingdom. There are several passages
in the Old Testament that describe the kingdom-- like Isaiah 35 and others-- that
describe the kingdom of Messiah on earth. Incredible promises, but there
are a couple in particular-- Ezekiel 36, Joel chapter two-- that talk about the coming of
the Holy Spirit in conjunction with the kingdom of
Messiah on the earth. That he would pour
out his spirit on the inhabitants of Israel. And so when Jesus keeps saying,
the Holy Spirit's coming. I'm sending the Holy Spirit. Perhaps-- I want to give him
a little bit of a break-- perhaps they're
thinking actually of these two promises
of scripture, Ezekiel 36 and Joel 2, and
going, oh, Holy Spirit, kingdom of God on earth. Are you going to now restore
the kingdom to Israel? So in fairness I want to
cut them a little slack. I don't know if they're
just interrupting and doing their thing, or they're actually
engaged as deep Bible students. Just from what I know about
them probably the first, not the second, but maybe. But then comes the
answer of Jesus. His answer is basically this. It's not about when,
it's about what. You're worried about
when is the time. When is the kingdom
going to be restored? I want you to forget
the when, and I want you to think about though
what it is I want you to do. I have a job for you to do. And that's been Luke's
theme since the beginning in verse one. This is what Jesus began
to do and to teach, but now he's going to do
it through the Holy Spirit through the lives
of the apostles. So he says it's
not for you to know times or seasons
which the Father has put in his own authority. But-- shifting gears-- but
you shall receive power. Dunamin is the word we talked
about last time, or dunamis. When the Holy Spirit
has come upon you, epi and you shall be
witnesses to me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria,
and to the end of the earth. So many of us do want
to know what's next. And I just told you about
that little Bible study on YouVersion
version, What's next? What's next? What's next? It's good to be
informed, but not so much that all you care
about is information, and not the transformation
that comes in your own life to do what God wants
you to do right now. You see, I came out
of the Jesus movement. And some of us, frankly, thought
Jesus was coming by tomorrow. I mean, if he didn't come by
tomorrow or maybe next week, that's the latest. I mean, we expected Jesus
to come at any moment. And I like that thought
of the imminence of Christ, return of Christ. I still hold to
that, but the danger was I saw a lot of my
friends quitting their jobs, getting lazy. Jesus is showing up, you know,
maybe a month, but not longer than that. And trying to set the date-- but when Jesus talked about
his return, his kingdom, he didn't expect his disciples
to check out, strum a guitar, sit on a hill side,
eat bird seed, and wait for Jesus to show up. He wanted them to be
busy about his business. Occupy until I
come, our Lord said. So once again he says, but
you shall receive power. That's why you need to stay,
until you get this power. When the Holy Spirit,
the powerful one, has come upon you. And you shall be
witness-- now watch this-- to me in Jerusalem, in
all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. Please notice verse
eight, Luke is giving us the words of Jesus. Jesus is providing for us the
outline of the book of Acts. Luke will follow this as the
outline for his entire book. So chapters one
through chapter seven is the gospel witness
going to Jerusalem. Chapters eight and
nine, the gospel witness going to Judea and Samaria. Chapter 10 through chapter
28, the gospel witness going to the ends of
the earth, all the way to the heart of the
world at that time, Rome. If you were looking for a
theme for the book of Acts I can give it to you in one
phrase, from Jerusalem to Rome. It's how the gospel message
goes from the backwaters of the Roman Empire-- Israel at the time, Jerusalem-- and makes it to the very heart
of the Roman Empire itself. So Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria,
unto the ends of the earth. So the message of
Acts is showing us how the powerful
message of the gospel goes out in ever
widening circles. That's the outline, and
I see a pattern here. When it comes to how the
Lord has operated in my life, he's operated the same way,
in ever widening circles. It started with
me getting saved. I tell my family, my
friends, and then the Lord gave me a little more
influence and a little more. But even geographically,
see I started and I was saved in California. That's my Jerusalem. Southern California is my
Jerusalem, that's my hometown. But then the Lord moved me to
what is, or was, my Samaria. New Mexico was like
off the grid for me. I don't even know what that was. But the Lord moved me from
Jerusalem, through Judea, all the way out to
Albuquerque, New Mexico, which was my Samaria. But now it's not my Samaria. Now it's my Jerusalem. And so from this point,
this is our Jerusalem. In ever widening
circles the gospel should go out from you,
from us, in the same way. Thorugh parts of this state,
through neighboring states, to the ends of the earth. So I love the fact
that many have left to start churches in
different parts of the world. Usually, at first,
just start starting with areas around here,
but then widening out. And radio has taken the
message in various places. So the Lord may move you
to another place, that will become your Jerusalem. And you will be
responsible before God to take the message
to your Jerusalem, your Judea, your Samaria, and
to the ends or the uttermost parts of the earth. Now, if you think
about Jerusalem as the starting point, the
United States of America is about uttermost parts
of the that you can get. We're about as far away from
the original starting point of Christianity as you can get. Please remember that when
your friends or relatives say, well, Christianity is
a Western religion. Really? Do a little bit of
historic research, and you'll find it's an eastern,
oriented, oriental religion that has come by God's
grace to the uttermost parts of the earth. So that was the starting point:
Jerusalem, Judeah, Samaria, and the uttermost
parts of the earth. Something else to keep in mind. The book of Act records
the events that take place during a 30 year period. Thirty years of church history
in this book: AD 33 to AD 63, about 30 years. I bring that up because you can
read through the book of Acts in a single setting,
or a few days if you want to spread it out. But you're going to read
about miraculous things that occur in this book. And you might be
tempted to go, man, there are so many miracles
in the book of Acts. We need to get back
to the book of Acts, which in many cases
I would agree with, some cases I wouldn't. Some cases we're already
there, I'll explain that. We need to get back
to the book of Acts, and we need to see
the miracles they saw. Listen, you're reading a period
of 30 years of church history. The book of Acts records
about 30 miracles, that's an average of
about a miracle a year. It's important to
remember that, because I think we see a miracle a year. So don't think, man, we're
not seeing enough miracles. I need my daily miracle. They didn't have daily miracles. Miracles are the sovereign
work of God in his own timing, and for his own pleasure. So 30 years, 30 miracles,
easy to average that out. Now verse nine. Now, when he had spoken these
things while they watched-- front row seats, man-- he was taken up. And a cloud received
him out of their sight. That really was out of sight. And while they looked
steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men
stood by them in white apparel. Who said, , men of Galilee
why do you stand gazing up into heaven? So you can picture, right? They're just going,
wow, that's awesome. You know, I think he's gone now. Yap. You see him? No, I don't. They're just, yeah,
there he goes. He's gone. This is the last time
they're seeing him, so their heads are upward. Men of Galilee, why do you
stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was
taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner
as you saw him go into heaven. Jesus Christ will
return as he left. He will return personally. He will return visibly. He will return wonderfully. He will first come
for his church. We call that the rapture,
first Thessalonians chapter four, in
which Jesus comes close to the earth
in the clouds. Not all the way
down to the earth. We will rise to meet him. So think of it as a
near flyby of Jesus. But one day he is coming all
the way back down to the earth. Revelation chapter
19, the second coming when every eye will see him. Every eye, not just the
church taken up to meet him, every eye shall see him. And will come with him
at that second coming. Now, his return, according
to these two men, is like his leaving. It's personal, it's
visible, and Jesus left from-- as we read down in
verse 12-- the Mount of Olives. When Jesus comes back,
his second coming, he's going to touch down
on the Mount of Olives. The same mountain he left
on he's coming back to. Zechariah chapter 14 says that. It says, in that
day his feet will stand on the Mount of
Olives, and the mountain will be cleft or divided
into two and move, half of it to the north, half of
it to the and a and huge valley will be produced in Jerusalem. That's Zechariah 14. So it's awfully awesome to
stand on the Mount of Olives and gather believers together
with open Bibles and think, this is where Jesus
ascended into heaven. This is where Jesus
is coming back to. The Mount of Olives is just
to the east of Jerusalem. We call it the Mount of
Olives, but it's really a hill. It's 400 feet taller
than the valley. But before you go, oh, well
that's how much of a mountain. I mean, have like
the Sandia mountains, that's really a mountain. Yes, but try walking
up the Mount of Olives. I tried to bicycle up
the Mount of Olives. I brought a bicycle there once,
had it in the lowest gear. Kept lifting the front
end of the ground. I just couldn't. You couldn't make it up. I had to carry it
up, roll it up. It's so precipitous. It is so steep that it
feels like a mountain. It's a hill, but it's that
mountainous area of Judeah where it's just steep going. But we always love
to gather people, because it's a couple
hundred feet taller than the Temple Mount. So you get a commanding view
of the city of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives. Here's a funny thing though,
I'll warn you in advance. If you ask people
in the area, hey, where's the spot where Jesus
ascended into heaven from? They'll show you three
different places, depending on which church
tradition you want to believe. One church says
it's in this spot. Another church says
it's in that spot. One church has-- I even
saw this recently-- a stone in the center of
the church that they claim has the footprint that
Jesus left when he launched. Before he launched, he
stepped on that rock and it mysteriously and miraculously
left a footprint. I've looked at it and
go, that's a footprint. OK, maybe it just eroded over
time, but they claim it is. The problem with all
of these churches, you want to know
what the problem is? They're all wrong. You say, how do you know that? Well, this is the advantage
of reading the Bible. Because when you read
the Bible and you come to the Gospel of Luke,
the author of Acts and Luke tells us Jesus took
them as far as Bethany, and that's where he launched. Now Bethany is on
the Mount of Olives. So there's the mountain, and
there's Jerusalem over here. So here's the
mountain, he didn't launch from the
very top, but just on the other side going
down toward the east, toward the Dead Sea, is
the village of Bethany. where Lazarus, Mary,
and Martha lived. Where Jesus hung out. More of a private setting. And that's where he
took his disciples, to the familiar place
where Lazarus, Mary, and Martha lived. And Luke says that's where
Jesus ascended into heaven. So it's funny to
listen to their spiel, and then they show
the footprint. But you can walk
away going, I don't need to see it or pay
the money to go see it. So go to Bethany
and check that out. Verse 12-- boy, we're
not getting far-- then they returned to Jerusalem
from the Mount of Olivette, or the mountain
called Olivette-- Mount of Olives-- which is
near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey. What does that mean? It means 2000
cubits or less, that was a sabbath day's journey. Now, you're listening
to that going, well, that didn't help me,
because I don't do cubits. I'm not into metrics
or ancient metrics. So 2/3 of a mile is 2000 cubits,
that's a Sabbath day's journey. You know the law of the Sabbath. On the Sabbath, you
were forbidden to work. You can't work on the
Sabbath, it's the day of rest. You couldn't work,
but you could walk. But you couldn't walk if you're
walking turned into work. So you can't work,
but you can walk, but you can't walk so far
that it constitutes work. So they had to come
up with a distance. They came up with 2000 cubits. Now, here's the tradition,
I can't prove it it's just a Jewish tradition. It is believed that the 2000
cubits for the Sabbath day's journey was established in
the layout of the Tabernacle in the Old Testament. Remember the Tabernacle,
the tents of Israel around the central sanctuary? It was believed
that the farthest tent in the camp of Israel
away from the Tabernacle in ancient times
was 2000 cubits. And so that was the distance
that the furthest inhabitant of the camp had to
walk on the Sabbath to worship the Lord
in the sanctuary. So the idea of 2000
cubits or 2/3 of a mile has been established. Don't know for sure,
that's just the tradition. So Jerusalem is a
Sabbath day's journey according to that tradition. And when they had entered,
they went into the upper room where they were staying. Peter, James, John, notice
who's first on the list? Peter always is
first on the list. Don't get mad at Peter
for that, whoever wrote the names of the
apostles in any of the times and places they're
mentioned Peter is always mentioned first. And who is always
mentioned last? Judas Iscariot, but
he's not mentioned here because he's out, as we
will see and have seen. Peter, James, John, Andrew,
Philippi, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James the
son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and
Judas the son of James. Judas Iscariot is not mentioned. Peter is mentioned, and
Peter does have a leadership role in the early church. He's the guy on the
day of Pentecost who preaches the first message. He is filled with his spirit. He speaks boldly. So he has a leadership role. However, Peter's
leadership role is going to diminish
throughout this book. You'll see Peter prominent
at the beginning, but you will not see
Peter as the first pope. Just got to warn you if
you're looking for that, you won't find it. What you're going to find is
Peter's submitting to James. By the time we get to Acts
chapter 12, 13, 14, and 15, James becomes the
leader, the spokesman, of the early church
pre-Paul the Apostle. So Peter's the initial leader. James becomes the
leader everybody looks to make the final call. James, interestingly,
is the brother of Jesus. That James, not this James. In the lineup of
apostles, there's a James who is one of the
blood brothers of Jesus, the half brothers of Jesus. He's going to become the first
real leader that everybody looks to in Jerusalem. So Peter has a leadership role,
his role is going to diminish. Then notice what
it says, these all continued with one accord
in prayer and supplication with the women, and Mary,
the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. Now, there's a lot there. I just want to touch
on a couple of things. Mary is mentioned specifically. Rightfully so, mother
of the messiah. Then says the women. What women? Well, you know
don't you, the women who were there at the
resurrection, and at the cross, and now with him in Jerusalem. So there's Mary the
mother of Jesus. There's Mary Magdalene. There's Mary the wife of Clopus. There's another Mary, and
there's-- as you can see Mary was a very popular name, they've
got four Mary's going on-- the other Mary was
probably Mary and Martha-, because they were in Bethany
and they were worshipping there. And a girl, a
woman, named Salome, who is mentioned in
the New Testament. At least those women were
present in this upper room. Then it mentions
also his brothers. You read about
Mary in this verse. Look at it and notice
it well, because it is the last mention of Mary
on the pages of scripture. After this, she fades
away from holy writ. She's not mentioned
by any other writer as living somewhere
or doing anything. So all we have is tradition. Some say she died
in Jerusalem, others say she followed John to
Ephesus and died in Ephesus. We don't know. But this is the last
mention of Mary. She fades from the story. So evidently, the early
church didn't venerate her like they did later on. Even Jesus didn't venerate her. When Jesus was teaching in
a house they came to him and said, your mother and your
brothers are here to see you. And he says, well, who are
my mother and my brothers? That's a weird thing to say
about your family waiting outside to see you. He said, well, who are my
mother and my brothers? Then he looked and
pointed to them and he said, whoever listens
to God's word and does it, the same as my mother, my
brother, and my sister. On another occasion
in Luke chapter 11 somebody came along
and tried to worship Mary. They tried to venerate her. They saw Jesus and
this person said, blessed is the womb
they gave you birth. And blessed are the
breasts that nourished you. And you know what Jesus
said to that person? He said, well, really
blessed are the ones who hear the word of God and do it. That's what he said. So Jesus didn't give
any undue adulation and worshipped her
as the mother of God or the other traditions
that develop later. Now, later on a
tradition developed. I have to tell you this,
because look at what it says in verse 14, with his what? Brothers Well, who are his brothers? Well, if you were to read
Mark chapter six four of them are mentioned. James, Joses-- another
name for Joseph-- Judas-- different than the
other two Judases that are disciples-- and Simon, the half
brothers of Jesus. So after Jesus was born, he was
conceived-- she was a virgin, he was conceived by
the Holy Spirit-- when Jesus was born,
Joseph and Mary had normal marriage
physical relationships and they had children. At least four other boys, and
then it says and his sisters. They're not even
mentioned by name, but a whole slew of kids
Joseph and Mary had. And yet, in the 14th century,
this weird doctrine developed called the perpetual
virginity of Mary. And that is that Jesus
was born, conceived in the womb of a Virgin. Mary had birth, delivered
Jesus, and then she the rest of her life
state of perpetual virgin. There is even the belief
within the Catholic church that when Jesus
was born, he never came through any human open--
any natural bodily opening. He didn't traverse
a birth canal. So that was never even
used in the process. That's just-- I don't
know where that came from, but it's a tradition
from the 14th century. So here his brothers
are mentioned. They're mentioned by
name in Mark chapter six, These are the half
brothers of Jesus, who was conceived by a virgin. And in those days Peter stood up
in the midst of the disciples, all together the number
of names was about 120. And he said, men and
brethren this scripture had to be fulfilled, which
the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David
concerning Judas. Who became a guide to
those who arrested Jesus. I just got to tell you. I know I get-- I go slow through
some of these things, but you notice a verse like
this and you marvel at Peter. This dude is just a
fisherman, but listen to what he says
concerning the scripture. Does not have a
formal education. Does not have a
learned education. A fisherman, a common
person, but the things that he believed about the
scripture-- and not only that-- how he used
the scripture. He's going to quote from two
psalms, Psalm 69 and Psalm 109, and take a portion of it and
place it together to show that it has been fulfilled. Now, where does
he get that from? How was he able to do that? Well, let me suggest
a couple of things to clear that up in your mind. Number one, in Luke chapter
24 after the Resurrection it says that Jesus opened their
understanding that they might comprehend the scriptures. That would do it. Have you ever read something
and all of a sudden you go, oh, I get it. Now I see it. Well, Jesus did that for
his earthly followers so that they could understand
the Old Testament scripture and how it is
fulfilled in Christ. So he opened up
their understanding that they might comprehend
the scriptures number one. Number two, Jesus had been
hanging out with them 40 days teaching them stuff
about the Kingdom of God. He's given them
personal Bible studies. That would expand their
knowledge a little bit. Since Jesus ascended
into heaven, about 10 days since
Pentecost-- or it's about 10 days as this
scene developed-- they've had some time to search
the scriptures for themselves. So Jesus opening up their minds,
Jesus personally teaching them, searching the scripture
has formed now for Peter, he has a theology, a theology
of fulfilled scripture. So to me it's impressive,
because that's a short lead time for a
fishing dude from Galilee. A simple man, a blue collar
worker, to be able to get this. He wasn't Doctor Peter. He was just Peter,
but he's Peter filled with the Holy Ghost,
and post Resurrection of Jesus. So it's marvelous. And I just want you
to notice in verse 16 how he regards the scripture. Number one, the Scripture
has to be fulfilled. This is Peter's saying,
whatever scripture you find in the Old Testament
it has to be fulfilled. Number two, it
has human authors. David wrote a couple of Psalms. He says, David
wrote these things. But a third thing he noted, it's
inspired by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit inspired-- did I say Peter or David-- David, that's what I
meant to say, good. See, a senior
moment right there. So Holy Spirit inspired
David, and the Scripture has to be fulfilled. So now he's quoting it. For he was numbered
with us and obtained a part in this ministry. Now, this man purchased
a field-- this is Judas-- with the wages of iniquity. And falling headlong, he
burst open in the middle and his entrails gushed out. Quite a speech Peter, thank you. TMI, too much information. Couldn't you just say he died? He committed suicide. No, Peter's a fisherman. He's just like a man of
the earth saying, yeah, did you hear what happened? Is guts gushed out. Some of the other guys, the
other fisherman like James and John are going, awesome. That's so graphic,
that was good. Maybe some of the women,
Mary Magdalene and Salome go, oh, it's horrible. Now, do we have a discrepancy? Because the gospel
accounts tell us that Judas went out
and hung himself. Now he says that his guts, his
entrails gushed out when he got slammed on a rock. No, there's not a
discrepancy he hung himself. The rope broke. The breaking of the
rope caused the fall. The fall-- the
impact of the fall-- caused the opening of the
body cavity and his guts, his intestines were
all over the rocks. TMI. And became known to all
dwelling in Jerusalem. So the field is called, in
their own language, Aceldama, that is the field of blood. For it it is written
in the book of Psalms-- he continues-- let
his dwelling place be desolate and
no one live in it, and let another take his office. Therefore, of these men who
have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in
and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John to
that day when he was taken up from us, one of these
must become a witness with us of his resurrection. And they proposed
two: Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed
Justus, and Matthias. The early church,
the first meeting that they had to deal
with after the ascension, was the shocking report
of Judas Iscariot. Shocking because
they are dealing with the suicide of an apostle. Here you have a
follower of Jesus, one whom Jesus chose to follow
him closely, intimately. He had the opportunity that
only 12 human beings ever had, and he was an unbeliever. He was an unbeliever. He is called the
son of perdition. Jesus said, have not I chosen
12 of you, and one of you is a devil? For it says Jesus knew
who would betray him. But now they're
dealing with this, and they feel the
need to replace Judas in his apostolic office. And a guy named Matthias
is going to be chosen. Why do they feel the
need to replace Judas? I've often struggled with this,
but I think I have an answer. Here's my take on it. Jesus made a promise
in Matthew 19. He said, when the
son of man comes in glory in the
regeneration, you who have followed me will sit
on 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel. That's an important
messianic kingdom promise. I think they're wondering,
how is that ever going to be fulfilled
with this guy who committed suicide
who we find out as an unbeliever and a betrayer? So that has to be fulfilled. That's a scripture promise. That's Old Testament, but
that's also in New Testament, Jesus promised it. How do we do that? So Peter felt the need
to get him replaced. And they proposed to,
verse 23, Joseph-- I already Matthias--
mentioned Matthias-- verse 24. And they prayed. And they said, you, O Lord,
know the hearts of all-- the hearts of all. Show us which of
these you have chosen to take part in this ministry
and apostleship from which Judas, by transgression,
fell that he might go to his own place. And they cast their lots,
and the lot fell on Matthias. And he was numbered
with the 11 apostles. Two things, was he
the right choice? As the next apostle,
was he the right choice? Number two-- I forgot
what number two was Ah. Yeah. Are there apostles today? Is the office of an apostle
still a valid office? That's the thing. See, now I'm asking
you those questions and I'm noticing when I said, is
he the right choice, so going, yes, some going, no. There's Paul the Apostle
was the right choice. When it says the office of an
apostle, is that still valid? Some are going, yes,
some are going, no. But those are two
important issues. Unfortunately, we're
a minute over time. And so next week,
I'm going to answer the question is the apostolic
office valid for today, or did it end with the
12, and was Matthias the right choice or not? Fair enough? It's a cliffhanger. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for your Holy Spirit
working through ordinary men and women in Jerusalem, going
to Judea, through Samaria, all the way to the
ends of the earth. Lord, thank you that we, too,
can be filled with your spirit. The helper can work
in and through us, and your word can go out in our
community, in our Jerusalem, in our Judeah, our
Samaria, all the way to the ends of the earth. May it be so. May you use us, Lord, as we
go back out with our family, with our friends, at our
workplace, at our college. In Jesus' name. Amen. [MUSIC] For more resources from
Calvary Albuquerque and Skip Heitzig, visit calvaryabq.org. [MUSIC]
