122. Beginner Bible Course: Introduction to the Book of Acts

EPISODE 122:  A simple Bible overview:  INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF ACTS

Welcome to the book of Acts...

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Acts or the acts of the apostles in the introduction to the new Testament. I mentioned there were four clumps or styles of literature. The first club was narrative. The four gospels here. Jesus is introduced as the promise savior with the next book, the acts of the apostles, or we'll just call it acts. We moved to clump to the genre of history. Enacts, Luke explains in space and time. The spread of that salvation brought by Jesus, how it moved from Jerusalem like ripples throughout the Roman empire. During our study of acts, we'll also be launching off into the letters. The third clump, these 21 letters explain how the salvation brought by Jesus is applied to our everyday 24 seven lives, both as individual followers of Jesus and as clumps of followers called the church.

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When we're done with acts and the letters we'll look at the fourth clump prophecy here is a description of our salvation completed. We'll learn that Jesus is not finished with our salvation just yet. There's that whole righteous King thing for the remaining episodes. We'll move through acts. And as the good news of salvation spreads to cities across the known world, we'll look at these letters of instruction written to these cities or to individuals about how to apply that salvation to our jobs, our homes, our relationships, our churches, axes history written by a historian. Luke Luke tells us axes part two of his two volume set their dovetail together.

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The book of acts begins with Luke saying in my first account about all Jesus began to do and teach, and then seamlessly lays out the next 30 years of history of how Jesus doing and teaching spread throughout the world. As he read the book of acts, read it like a history manual. Look at the times, places, rulers and events. Many of these have been verified by archeologists. The actual title in the manuscripts is the acts of the apostles who are apostles. Apostles are the disciples. The word means sent ones in Mark three 14. Jesus said that he chose 12 men that they might be with him and that he might send them forth to preach or proclaim for three years.

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He was with them. Now he's left. And in the book of acts, he's sending them for

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They're sent ones, apostles,

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Some have noted. It could just as well be subtitled the acts of the Holy spirit while the old Testament and the gospel writers hinted about the Holy spirit. The Holy spirit takes a prominent place in this historical account in spread of salvation. X covers 30 years of time. These are transitional years. We're going to meet key figures in the spread of salvation. Of course, Peter, the rock, James Jesus', brother, Phillip and Stephen and Barnabas. The last half of acts. Well, it's pretty much one amazing guy. Saul of Tarsus, who becomes Paul, the apostle he's the guy who writes more than half of the 21 letters at the back of the new Testament.

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So let's get started in the first chapter of this history book we learned in the last episode, the disciples and others are near Jerusalem by Bethany. The 11 disciples are there along with many others. Luke tells us Jesus has been popping in and out for about 40 days. Some of the disciples have seen and talked with Jesus on four or five separate occasions on this last get together. Jesus tells them to wait in Jerusalem for the full coming of the Holy spirit. I say full coming because in the upper room, when he visited them with Thomas, after his resurrection, he said received the Holy spirit. And he breathed on them. That was a down payment.

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We also learn before Jesus left, the disciples asked him, when are you going to do that King thing? Messiah part two. Jesus tells them I'm not going to answer that that's the father's decision, but here's what I will tell you. And what Jesus tells them is the theme. Verse of acts. This one, you're going to want to know acts one eight. You shall receive power after the Holy spirit has come upon you and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea and Sumeria. And to the ends of the earth. We should note a couple things. Jesus said, don't do anything until the Holy spirit comes. Remember he's the helper through him.

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I will be in you. And as I told you in my vine talk, apart from me, you can do nothing. Jesus told the disciples in the upper room the night before he died, the Holy Spirit's job is to remind them what Jesus said to help them understand and have confidence. In those words, his job is also to convict those who will hear the gospel, that there is a Holy God that they are sinners. And because of that, sin, there is a chasm between them and the God who made them and loves them a chasm that can only be bridged by the shed blood of Jesus. Jesus wants to make sure they get that. Wait for the spirit. Stay put.

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The second thing to note in that verse is you shall be my witnesses. I think Jesus was being intentional there. He didn't say defense attorneys, Jesus doesn't need us to defend him. And he certainly didn't call us to be prosecuting attorneys. Don't try to pound the square peg of the gospel into the round holes of skeptics, who aren't ready to receive it. The Holy spirit needs to work on those hearts. Paul will tell us in the letter to the Romans, it is the kindness of God that leads people to a change of mind about Jesus, to repentance. He also didn't call us to be judge and jury. I tell my students, please don't do this.

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This isn't our job to determine if people are in or out of Jesus' kingdom. We don't see hearts. Jesus said, judging is my responsibility. Instead, he calls us to be witnesses. And what does a witness do? They tell the truth and nothing but the truth. They just report what they've seen and know. Just tell the story, tell it off and tell it. Honestly, that's the job of apprentices of Jesus sent ones apostles and the rest of us. The third thing to note is how the gospel will spread. This is basically the outline of acts Jerusalem, then Judea, then Samarria then to the ends of the earth.

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I tell my students, if Jesus were speaking this first to them, he'd say you shall be my witnesses in Rochester and Olmsted County and Southeast Minnesota into the ends of the earth. This is like the ripples that happen in a pond. When you throw a rock in Jerusalem was the point of impact. Then the ripples float out there, County Judea, their adjacent areas, Samaria, and ultimately to the ends of the pond. We're told in chapter one, this group goes back to Jerusalem and they wait, who's waiting the disciples. Now call the apostles. But there are other men and women they're 120 and all who are these other men and women?

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Well, some of them were the 70 who were in the outer circle of Jesus' followers. And that is those that didn't bail on him when he gave his I'm the bread of life, eat my flesh talk at Capernum. Do you remember that? Luke tells us the group also included his mother and his brothers. That's right. The brothers who thought he'd gone a little loopy. Now they've gone all in and believed. How did that happen? We get a clue from Paul's letter to the Corinthians first Corinthians chapter 15. This is the passage I cited in the last episode, Jesus appeared to Peter and then to the 12 down his list is, and then he appeared to James.

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That's his little brother. What brought Jimmy around? It sounds like seeing his big brother raised from the dead. And Jimmy's not the only little brother who came around. We're pretty sure Jude. The last letter written in the new Testament was also Jesus' little brother. So there they are back in Jerusalem, assembled together, apparently in some large room doing what waiting Luke tells us. They didn't have to wait very long, 10 days, but for men sitting around doing nothing for 10 days can be rather maddening in acts chapter one. Peter has an idea. He picks up two obscure verses in Psalms.

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One of those verses from Psalm one Oh nine, is this, let another man take his place. Peter concludes that's a prophecy about Judas. Who's hanged himself. Actually here's the place. Luke in acts one tells us Judas threw himself off a high place. And his bowels gushed out. This is pointed to by skeptics as a contradiction to what's reported by Matthew, the Judas hanged himself. I addressed this in episode five, does the Bible contradict itself anyway, back to Peter. Peter gets the idea. We've got nothing to do. So let's do something. Let's fill this vacancy in the apostles.

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Let's find another man to take his place and fulfill prophecy. So they put forth two men who had been hanging around the whole time. Since Jesus baptism. Again, probably two of those 70 in the outer circle, they likely put their names on two stones and threw them into a hat or basket. They pray. We don't know these two men's hearts, but you do. You make the decision. They dumped the rock side of this hat and they believe God's choice is the first one to fall out. The name on the rock that fell out first was Matthias. Now there are 12 disciple slash apostles. Again, Mathias. We never hear his name again in the new Testament.

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Another man later in the new Testament is called an apostle Paul. So with Paul, there are now 13 though. Some would claim he was an apostle to the Gentiles. So that's different. I'll apologize to Peter in the rest when I get to heaven. But my guess is they would have been better off to just wait on this too. But Hey there guys. And when there's a world to win out there and you're told to just sit around and wait. Well, men, aren't very great at that. As I mentioned, they really didn't have to wait very long. 10 days, 10 days later or 50 days from the morning, Jesus was raised from the dead. There's a major festival in Jerusalem.

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It's the festival celebrating the first fruits of the wheat harvest. We're about to see a harvest, a harvest, indeed, a bumper crop you might say, and we'll look at what happens on day 50 Penta cost in our next wordpicture.