David Pawson - The Acts of The Apostles [1] - Unlocking the bible

you when other Bible is made up of the words of men and the word of God it has many human authors one divine editor and the one were not always aware of the other in fact I don't think any of the authors really realized they were writing the Bible or that the Holy Spirit would put together what they were writing with so many others most of them were responding to an immediate need for example Paul's little letter to the Philemon that's a lovely little letter it's all about a runaway slave who came all the way from Philippi to lose himself in the metropolis of Rome and found himself friends with Paul and came to know Jesus Christ as Savior and Paul now said I'll have to send you back an hour Kubby cover it with a letter I know your master you Philemon and he wrote that little letter dear Philemon if if your slave has pinched any money from you I'll repay it myself but he said you'll find him useful now now wonder if you realize the significance of that because the slaves name was Anissa mmus which means useful I think it was just a nickname given by the master but he said Paul writes he may have been useless to you but now you'll find him useful it's a very human little letter but it's a picture of salvation Jesus came to make us useful to God again and send us back to our Lord and Master it's a little picture of what salvation is all about recycling people making them useful again but you see that's just a little human letter a little human letter and most of the books of the Bible were written for a very human reason but they were also edited for a divine reason and therefore we can study them at these two levels and I call them the historical and the existential level the historical level why was it written what was the human reason behind it the existential level why is it in our Bible and why does God want us to know about this and I'm going to approach acts in those two ways and this first talk we're going to look at Acts historically and then in the second talk we look at it exits 10 Ashlin ask why has the divine editor put it in the Bible for us but let's ask first why did the human author write it what was the reason behind it now Luke is the only Gentile author in the entire Bible there are 40 different writers in the Bible 39 of them were Jewish Hebrew thinkers Luke of course got most of his material from Hebrews but he was a Gentile and we need to know a little about him just to get the feel of this author first of all he was a doctor that's rather important it reveals God's sense of humor actually but here is this doctor now medicine was fairly well advanced you've all of heard of Hippocrates and the Hippocratic oath that's about four hundred years before Christ and medicine was highly developed they had careful training mind you their ideas are a bit weird they believe that health is a matter of balancing the four bodily fluids phlegm blood black bile and yellow bile and if you got those four in balance you're a healthy person that's how they operated but it did train medics to be observant to be analytical to be very careful in their records and in their practice and all this comes out in Luke's Gospel and his book of Acts for he wrote these two volumes and he wrote them for the same reason indeed for the same person as we'll see in a moment but you get this very careful observation very careful records very accurate records more accurate than any other writer in the Bible perhaps he's so careful to get things down as they really happened the medical terms keep coming in which proves he was a doctor and you get medical terms constantly but the important thing is that God with his sense of humor used a doctor to describe the virgin birth to us I think that's delightful and to get all the details from Mary you see Matthew gives us Joseph's angle on Jesus birth and indeed Joseph's genealogy it certainly wasn't Jesus genealogy in Matthew not physically because if it had been Jesus could never be king of the jews because Jeconiah is in there and Jeconiah was cursed and told by god no son of yours will ever be on the throne of David but that was Jesus legal genealogy in Matthew in look we've got his physical genealogy through Mary but Jesus was in fact the son of David legally through his dead and physically through his mother and he got it twice so he was doubly eligible but Luke as a doctor talked to Mary and so you get Mary's angle on the birth and the intimate details you get details of Jesus circumcision things like the swaddling clothes that's just died APA's and nappies to you and may but its swaddling clothes these little details are there that the kind of thing a doctor would be interested in and also God used this doctor to attest the healing miracles of Jesus and the early church hasn't it interesting to get a doctor to do all that some doctors are pretty skeptical even Christian doctors are skeptical about healing miracles but God chose a doctor to record all these things he was not one of the twelve he'd never met Jesus personally so he had to depend on eyewitnesses but doctors are pretty good at finding things out and questioning people now the second thing is he's a Gentile a native of Antioch which was the Paris of the ancient world that's how it's described it was right at the eastern end of the Mediterranean and well north of the promised land and was almost certainly the far country that the prodigal went to that's where everybody went to spend the money and have a gay time and it was known as a pretty immoral town and yet there was the first Gentile Church the first gathering of Christian believers that was entirely Gentile so of course they couldn't be called Jews what could they be called and it was there that the nickname Christian was invented but be it noted the Christians didn't use that name of themselves and I wish we could drop it up it's a misleading term and much rather say disciple or believer which is the two things in the book of Acts they called themselves but Luke records faithfully that they were first called Christians at Antioch his hometown and Luke's interest can be summed up by saying use he was interested in how this new religion began among the Jews but finished among the Gentiles it is a unique thing for a religion to jump ethnic barriers like this most people were born into their national religion and stayed in it but here's a religion that has jumped from one people to another and he's concerned about this you could almost call the book of Acts A Tale of Two Cities or how they brought the good news from Jerusalem to Rome but it's from the Jewish capital to the Gentile capital this was his interest and he has faithfully recorded how that all happened now thirdly he was a traveler and a very experienced traveler so he left his practice and there are two points of interest in his travels number one who he went with and the answer is he traveled with Paul and from time to time in the narrative of Acts he changes to the first-person plural we we set sail from and he's just in his own way saying like that Welsh Communion what's his name I was there max voice I was there by the way when these videos go out across the world you can always say I was there and we have the proof on this camera over here so he was there he doesn't say specifically Luke went he says we went it's just his quiet way interesting that all the New Testament writers push attention away from the selves if you want to know about Matthew you have to read mark when Matthew revised mark he cut all the information about himself out isn't it interesting mark we owe mark to Peter really but we have all the bad things about Peter and Mark but doesn't draw attention to himself Luke does the same thing John did the same thing he's talks about the disciple whom Jesus loved and all the authors of the New Testament turn attention to Jesus again and again away from themselves so does Luke doesn't draw attention to himself we but he traveled with Paul and it's interesting that whenever Paul had to take a seat Ernie Luke went with him now I have a bit of a theory about that none of its right but Paul had his physical problems and Luke always travelled with him when he went by si not always by land but every voyage don't if you ever noticed that every voyage this doctor went with Paul to see him through the voyage and one of the descriptions of one voyage the shipwreck is one of the best bits of literature in the ancient world it's the most vivid description of that storm and the eventual wreckage on the shores of Malta so he traveled with Paul especially on his voyages from choies to Philippi the voyage to Jerusalem from Caesarea to Rome the doctor went with him and I'm sure looked after his physical needs but this meant that when Paul was under arrest Luke was hanging about doing nothing and it meant he was two years in Jerusalem and two years in Rome and I believe it was during those two periods that he wrote first the gospel and then volume to the book of Acts now that's my theory but it fits because in Jerusalem he had two years when he could talk to Mary to many others who were still around who knew firsthand and could get all the information that he later got but when he was in Rome he could ask Paul frequently now what did you do when I wasn't with you in such and such a place so I believe he wrote the two volumes during those two periods of two years whether I'm right or not doesn't really matter except as we shall see in a moment well secondly where did he travel not just who did he travel with but where and I've already said that he went on every voyage but that he had these two periods in Jerusalem and Rome why would he use those two periods right those two volumes that's the question well we'll answer it in a moment let's now look at the next thing we know about him he was a writer and a very skillful writer already told you that account of the shipwreck has been acclaimed as one of the masterpieces of literature from the ancient world whether it was in the Bible or not it it would still be a masterpiece and would be quoted as good literature a man of no mean ability had a good vocabulary excellent style he can hold your interest he keeps the pace up its pace that keeps people interested keeping the moving keeping the plot going and one of you has already told me you found it much easier to read through acts than through Matthew though acts is longer but it holds your interest skillfully written and it keeps you going all the way he's a writer and a historian and the key to being a good historian is to know what to leave out and he's left out a whole lot he knows what to select he knows just what to include what to say and what not to say accurate factual above all he's a man who does his research and a good writer will spend a lot of time on research before he puts pen to paper so he's got his facts at his fingertips and he knows what he's going to say finally Luke is an evangelist no question about it that his one desire was to get folk saved salvation is a key word in both volumes comes again and again salvation of save runs all the way through I hope you're underline Bibles hope you wreck them man's got to that awful position where I've got to buy a new one and I hate it you know it's like getting a new pair of slippers for Christmas and by Boxing Day you're back into the old ones and you know when you're under lot underline things in color you know don't be afraid of messing your Bible up but color the words that stand out and in Luke and act salvation and save keep coming out he wants to get people saved and he's got a particular interest as a Gentile in all flesh in the Gospel of Luke he quotes that prophecy of John the Baptist and all flesh well Isaiah but John the Baptist quotes it all flesh shall see the salvation of God and you could say that's the theme of the Gospel of Luke all flesh shall see the salvation of God and all flesh includes Samaritans Gentiles women the poor Luke in his gospel really direct salvation at all these different groups of people the theme of Acts is the Holy Spirit will be poured out on all flesh on Jews Samaritans to the ends of the earth so all flesh is his interest here is this Jewish religion which look-sees is for everybody in the whole wide world and so he sees Jesus in his gospel as the savior of the world the book of Acts we have a different emphasis he's interested in the whole inhabited earth but in Greek that phrase is one word iq many from which we get the word ecumenical but IQ many means the whole inhabited world not the whole church the whole world and luca's ecumenical he wants to see salvation go to the whole world but he knows he's not a preacher he is a writer and so his way of spreading the gospel is to write now what's your way God has given you a way in which you can do it I know some artists who do it purely by cartoons that's their way of saying it you might find that's your way he's been sketching me while I've been speaking but find a way to communicate find your way and looks as my way is writing that's what he did as well as being a medic to the greatest missionary what a minister that was you know Jesus said if you give a cup of cold water to a prophet you get a Prophet's reward that's a lovely promise isn't it if you help a ministry along you get the same reward as that ministry so we can all do something and we can all get a big reward but Luke was the medic attendant for poor especially when he was overcome with seasickness now that the reader let's come at it from another angle now I've tried to talk about the writer but now let's talk about the reader and you notice I don't say readers Luke wrote these two volumes for one men now that's incredible his name is Theophilus which means mr. God friendly but we'll call him Theo for short now who was Theo and why would this doctor write so much for one man mind you of course one soul is worth saving it's worth every effort to win one person but having said that this is an awful lot of trouble I think it's spent a total of four years doing his research and writing these two volumes all for one men when it seems a little doubtful stewardship to say the least the time and energy involved who was this men now there are two series and what I'm going to tell you now is speculation but it fits sometimes we can take the evidence and deduce something from it the first theory is that Theophilus is an imaginary figure it's like we might say I'm writing this book for the sincere Inquirer dear mr. sincere Enquirer and the Theophilus is a made-up name god friendly to mean somebody who's interested in the face who's wanting to find God is looking for God well then here's an account of how you may through Jesus well that's a nice theory I don't think it fits all the facts I believes the officer Theophilus was an individual that mister God friendly really did exist and we've got to ask why would look right two volumes for just one men must be a very good reason and this is where we move into theory and speculation as I've admitted but nevertheless was he a publisher for example because then he would spread all this as quickly as possible was he a teacher so did Luke see him as a very good potential convert because he was a good communicator and could spread it well possible but there's one possibility that really does fit he is obviously a man of some importance some public office because he gives him a title as well as a name he says most excellent mr. God friendly and only a few people held that title in the ancient world and the possibility is this that he was a lawyer even perhaps a judge but certainly a lawyer and that would earn that title now why would Luke want to give a lawyer such a full account first of Jesus then of Paul the answer is he's the lawyer who's going to defend Paul at his trial in Rome and the lawyer has said now Paul if I'm to defend you I wanted a full brief I want to know about this Jesus you say you follow and how this new religion started I want you to tell me everything that will help me in presenting your case and I want you to give me all you can about your own life and how you've got on with Roman authorities everywhere what you've been charged was before what your previous trials have been about I want to know everything I can and I think dear dr. Luke said Paul I'll ride that down for you leave that to me I'll do the research when he was in Jerusalem he researched the life and death of Jesus and in Rome did all the research and writing down of Paul now if this is right it would explain so much in both volumes to put it very simply it explains why in both volumes the Romans are entirely sympathetic to this new religion you never get a Roman criticizing other Jesus or Paul and in fact at their two trials in Jerusalem both in the trial of Jesus and in the trial of Paul there are three statements that they are totally innocent Pilate three times says this man is innocent three times Roman authorities say Paul is innocent we could let him go free if he hadn't appealed a room you follow this so that in fact both volumes say the trouble that Christians have caused is not because of anything they do it's because the Jews have always stirred it up not the Romans in Rome eyes both Jesus and Paul were totally innocent now can you see how the brief is building up and it explains a whole lot more for example we call the ax the ax the apostles it isn't at all two thirds of it is about Paul and as soon as Paul is converted everybody else disappears from the scene and the whole thing is about Paul you see Peter's only mentioned to lead up to Paul then as soon as Paul comes Peter's forgot the whole thing is to defend Paul and say to the Roman authorities there is nothing seditious or subversive about this new religion it is always sympathetic to the authorities Paul is a Roman citizen Jesus was innocent by Roman law it was only because of Jewish pressure that Jesus was crucified only because of Jewish pressure that Paul's ever got into trouble as far as the Romans now you see the key is that in Rome Paul was on trial in a place where the Jews could not twist the verdict in Jerusalem they could but Paul is now in Rome and the Jews can't interfere with justice beginning to get the feel of something so that if this is the briefing of Paul's lawyer to defend them it all fits and I'll tell you what really does fit the fact that Acts finishes so abruptly if you ever noticed it it seems to suddenly stop no conclusion it stops with Paul awaiting trial now it raises another interesting question was this brief successful did the lawyer get Paul off and the answer is all the evidence points the fact that he did and that Paul was released from that first trial the letters he later wrote in Titus contain details which do not fit into his life before that trial there they clearly imply that he had later freedom and was later re-arrested and then found guilty and beheaded there is even a strong tradition that he reached Spain which was his ambition he wanted to reach Spain and plant churches there some of the ancient churches in Spain claimed that Paul was there found we can't say for certain but the evidence of tradition points to the fact that Paul was released at his first trial but then reread and later beheaded so it looks as if Luke's work was not wasted having said all that if Luke wrote it prime ly to save Paul's life and save this great missionary this apostle for more ministry then he succeeded but having done that aren't we grateful to God that Luke ever did the research and gave that brief because otherwise we would have none no account of the early church and it fills a vital gap between the Gospels and the letters and is indeed essential to understanding the whole New Testament so there it is I mean the fact that Paul gives his testimony three times in the book of Acts you must have noticed that and yet none of the other apostles give their testimony so why is Paul's testimony so wonderful or so important well because it's Paul who's on trial and it's vital that they hear what he said at every one of his previous trials so that it all can be used in evidence for him and not against him well I'll leave you with that speculation but it seems to me that it the two volumes answer perfectly the questions of a lawyer who said who started this new religion how did Paul come to be involved and how have Roman authorities reacted to it elsewhere and those are exactly the questions a lawyer would want to have answered in his brief weave my wife and I have seen people through court and we sat in barristers chambers and they're exactly the kind of questions they want to know and we've got it here well at whether that's so or not nevertheless Luke must have had a wider audience in mind and I hope that what he'd researched would reach a wider audience Sun indeed it has even the court hearing would be heard in public so the public would hear all these facts they'd be brought out in the court but there was in those days journalistic reporting of cases so that again I'm sure dr. Luke hoped that the journalist would get some of this down and get it out of headlines would appear about this new religion but above all the trial was in the capital of the Gentile world what happened in Rome's spread everywhere so that this was a key trial Christianity was on trial for the first time in Rome not Paul Christianity so it's a vital case and thank God for this doctor who said our brief the lawyer I'll tell him everything I can find out accurately I'll get all my dates right I'll get on my titles right I'll get everything absolutely right so he says they awful as many have written about these things but I wanted to get it accurately down I wanted you to have the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth and here it is Oh Theophilus right well let's look at the thing from a historical point of view now you could call his two volumes Christianity the history of Christianity parts one and two and that's how I'm going to treat them now superbly written history covering a period of thirty three years from the beginning of Jesus public ministry through to Paul's imprisonment or house arrest in Rome it's full of facts but it's also full of feelings he's got a good bedside manner this doctrine there's a sensitivity to people the way he talks he's sensitive to people I'm sure that's how he got the details out of Mary who was very discreet and kept all these things in her heart but talking to a family doctor should you pour them out and say well this is how it happened now the structure of the book is an important clue to it and once we've decided wire book was written the next question you usually ask is what is the structure of the book the skeleton the framework how does he build it up and try and take the skin and flesh off the book what is that what are the bones of it and here we have three different series and you can take your pick the simplest theory is that the structure of the book of Acts is that it's in two sections and the Peter and Paul are the heroes and that these are the two most important characters in the history of the early church Peter the Apostle to the Jews and Paul the Apostle to the Gentiles and indeed that is a good division and there is a remarkable parallel between what Luke says about Peter and what looks as about Paul it's almost as if Luke says I'm going to say exactly the same thing about both of them because the biggest danger in the early church was that there would be two denominations a Jewish church and a Gentile church and both Paul and Peter were concerned that that should never happen and Luke seems to have shared this burden and so he says I'm not gonna set Peter and Paul against each other because they are both exactly the same here are some of the similarities they both did miracles they both saw visions they both suffered for their faith they both made long speeches they were both filled with the spirit they both preached with boldness they both preached to Gentiles and Jews though Peter primary preached to Jews and Paul primary to Gentiles they were both imprisoned and miraculously set free they both heal the sick they both healed a congenital crippled they both exorcised demons they both had extraordinary means of healing Peters shadow and Paul's hankies they both raised the dead they both declared judgment on false teachers they both refused worship and so I could go on when you put them side-by-side you find that Luke puts exactly the same things against Peters name and against Paul's name it as much as if he's saying there's nothing to choose between them so don't follow one of the other don't set them over against each other and of course they both died in Rome Peter and Paul the two greatest figures in the early church Acts of the Apostles where are all the apostles they're an interim it's the Acts of the Apostles Peter and Paul and so that danger in the early church of to two denominations the book of Acts holds them together holds Peter and Paul together and says nothing to choose between their both did exactly the same things for different people well that's one way of approaching the book of Acts to divide it into two sections first twelve chapters Peter second section Paul and you notice that Paul has the larger section now that's one way another way is divide it three ways geographically first way is divided two ways between two people the second waste of it divided geographically between three areas and right at the beginning of Acts there is the statement you shall be my witnesses beginning in Jerusalem Judea and Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the earth the ends of the earth and it's almost as if Luke is following that order in the way he develops his theme it's very beautifully put together so it starts in Jerusalem chapters one to seven chapters eight to ten take it further into Judea and Samaria and then it spreads from there to Europe and the ends of the earth so that's a possible structure but I want to take it in a little more detailed way I've put some verse references here and if I read you those you would I think begin to understand something let me just try and go through them quite quickly acts 6:7 says this so the word of God spread the number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith chapter 9 verse 31 says then the church throughout Judea Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace it was strengthened and encouraged by the Holy Spirit it grew in numbers living in the fear of the Lord 10 to 12 24 and I read this but the Word of God continued to increase and spread 16 verse 5 reads like this so the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers and verse 20 of chapter 19 reads in this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power now did you notice the similarity between those everyone states and the church grew and the church grew and the church grew and there are altogether five of those statements through acts it's as if that marks the end of a section do you follow me it tells us a lot of things that happened and then he summarized it so the church grew and spread more information and the church grew and spread more information the church grew and spread that's his real theme the growth and spread of this new religion around the Roman Empire and when you look at what is said before each of these summaries you find a very clear spreading ripple and each section is a wider Ripple and belongs to that wider Ripple and I think that's his basic structure that's how he's thinking it's as if a stone has been thrown in the pond which is the death and resurrection of Jesus and now the ripples and at the end of each ripple he just summarizes it so the church grew and spread then he tells us of another ripple out the church grew and spread a very clear historical approach and I think it opens up the book of Acts very well and this explains the selection of events it's obvious that he hasn't told us everything you couldn't the world would not contain the books of everything the early church had that done and said was written so why is he selecting what he does he selects the key events which produce the next ripple and every time he highlights something that suddenly spread the gospel feather you understand now what was the first great event to spread the gospel day of Pentecost with all the nationalities gathered for the feast and the stone is thrown in the Holy Spirit comes on 120 people in the temple by the way not the Upper Room because they never moved they didn't rush out preaching they just stayed where they were a seated 11 of them stood up with Peter and that's all they didn't move it was in the temple the house of God and they were there for the morning prayers at 9:00 o'clock there in Solomon's porch if you want to see the exact spot it's where the mosque a laxer is today on the south end of the temple area the musk elack's a mark Solomon's porch where the Christians met for the prayers nine o'clock in the morning in the house of God the wind blew and that was the stone in the pond it's going to reach the ends there were people from Rome and Cyrenian Libya and all over the world there and they heard it they said the drunk and Peter showed him masterly preachers touch by getting up and saying we're not drunk the pub's aren't open yet it's only nine o'clock in the morning don't get drunk at this hour but you see the very sign of all the different languages was the reversal of the Tower of Babel God gave all those languages at Babel to confuse mankind now he's giving all the languages to draw them together and reverse Babel somebody once told me there's no mention of tongues in the Old Testament of course there is avaible was the first time that God gave different languages but for a very different purpose it was judgment then now it's mercy but that was the first stone in the pond the first event which caused the ripples then of course the widows complained about not getting a fair share of the food was a key event for spreading the church interestingly enough what the church today would do theydo point a committee of women for the catering but the church early days was much more sensible they appointed seven men to serve tables and you know why they did because these were widows without a men and they needed men to look after them so they appointed seven men but out of those seven men came Stephen and most great Christian ministers begin as Christian servants Paul began as a deacon looking after the funds with Barnabas we need to remember this that those first seven men chosen to serve tables it seemed an insignificant event but for Luke he could see that that was absolutely significant and it led to Stephens martyrdom which scattered the Christians which seemed a disaster but actually were just spreading the ripple it all began with appointing a man to look after tables see he's only choosing those things that led to these bigger ripples and well I'm getting excited about it let's say the Samaritan conversion that was crucial when Philip one of those seven deacons went to Samaria a revival broke out crucial event now the gospel was touching Samaritans and you know Peter and John came down to pray that the Samaritans would be baptized in the Holy Spirit I think that's incredible the last time Peter and John were there they pray that God would send fire from heaven to burn them all up now they're asking for fire from heaven for different reason shows what a change has taken place in their hearts it was crucial and that Ethiopian eunuch what's so important about him he was going to take the gospel to Africa the first African see these are not just haphazard conversion stories these are vital events which at the time seemed small but looking back caused another ripple to spread out so Luke is very careful he doesn't tell us every conversion in the early church there were hundreds thousands but he picks out those that in the light of their effect was so extraordinary and then there was the factor of the fact of patron in Cornelius house Peter having to eat non-kosher food didn't like that one bit yet how significant that was and the council at Jerusalem in acts 15 met to decide whether Gentiles had to become Jews before they could follow Jesus the council said no which is why you didn't have to become a Jew to follow Jesus the big issue now is the opposite do Jews have to become Gentiles to follow Jesus the answer is also no let Jews remain Jews and follow Jesus let Gentiles be Gentiles and follow Jesus well the book of Acts finishes with Paul saying lo I turned to the Gentiles if the Jews won't have it he always went to the Jews first but if they wouldn't have it he said all right the Gentiles will that's how the good news came to us because we're the Gentiles who believe we'll finish the talk there you

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Keywords: David Pawson (Person), The book of acts

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Length: 39min 44sec (2384 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 05 2013