Charging the Gates Introduction
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Charging the Gates: A Study in Acts (The Acts of the Apostles).
Charging the Gates: A Study in Acts (The Acts of the Apostles).
Read ; .
In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
After three months we set sail in a ship that had wintered in the island, a ship of Alexandria, with the twin gods as a figurehead. Putting in at Syracuse, we stayed there for three days. And from there we made a circuit and arrived at Rhegium. And after one day a south wind sprang up, and on the second day we came to Puteoli. There we found brothers and were invited to stay with them for seven days. And so we came to Rome. And the brothers there, when they heard about us, came as far as the Forum of Appius and Three Taverns to meet us. On seeing them, Paul thanked God and took courage. And when we came into Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier who guarded him.
What an exciting book of the Bible. Written by Luke, probably around AD 61-62 while he was with Paul in Rome. It is full of action, suspense, miracles, disappointments, victories, and most of all, it is a record of the work of Christ through His people after He had been crucified, risen and ascended to His Father in heaven.
Illustration of the unstoppable sprinkler system:
This past Friday (May 31), I had one of craziest mornings I have ever had. Easy morning got up early to study and relax and get to work early cause a I had a huge day ahead of me. It had rained all night and there was still a slight sprinkle coming down outside. The sun was just beginning to come up and I went over to the window to look out in the back yard and I found that my sprinkler system was spraying in the back yard. The whole back half of the yard was flooded due to the rain and my sprinklers. I had not programmed it for Friday, so I was confused. So, I went out to the garage and turned the system off. I went back to the window and was shocked to find they were still spraying. So, I went back to the control box and checked all the programs and made sure everything was completely off. They kept spraying! So, finally I just unplugged the entire system. That’s when I kind of lost it, they were still spraying! How can this be? I figured I need to find the valve and manually turn it off, but where was it. So I go out and scrape around in the mud in the flower beds to see if I could find it. Nothing. So, I decided to cut the water off from the backflow device but I wasn’t 100% sure where it was, but I thought it was probably this red valve near the water meter down in the ground. I turned it to the right a full turn until it got tight and checked on the sprinklers and they were still on! After an initial freak out and a small panic attack about being late for work and missing some key appts, Loree suggested cutting off the main water supply to the house until I could get someone out to look at the system. So that worked! They finally shut off! I was soaking wet, covered in mud, humiliated, and defeated!
Well, I got a repair man out to help me and everything is back to normal. Except my pride.
Later that day I am thinking about this Bible study and asking God for an illustration that introduces it well, that might give a picture of the book of Acts, it hit me! What had happened that morning is the perfect illustration I was looking for! (Be careful what you pray for!)
No matter what I did to the sprinkler system, they kept right on spraying water all over!
That is exactly what Jesus said would happen to every Christian.
The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
35 The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? 36 What does he mean by saying, ‘You will seek me and you will not find me,’ and, ‘Where I am you cannot come’?”
37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”
John
[On the seven days of the Feast, a golden flagon was filled with water from the pool of Siloam and was carried in a procession led by the High Priest back to the temple. As the procession approached the watergate on the south side of the inner court three blasts from the šôp̄ār—a trumpet connected with joyful occasions—were sounded. While the pilgrims watched, the priests processed around the altar with the flagon, the temple choir singing the Hallel (; cf. Mishnah Sukkah 4:9). When the choir reached , every male pilgrim shook a lûlāḇ (willow and myrtle twigs tied with palm) in his right hand, while his left raised a piece of citrus fruit (a sign of the ingathered harvest), and all cried ‘Give thanks to the Lord!’ three times. The water was offered to God at the time of the morning sacrifice, along with the daily drink-offering (of wine). The wine and the water were poured into their respective silver bowls, and then poured out before the Lord. Moreover, these ceremonies of the Feast of Tabernacles were related in Jewish thought both to the Lord’s provision of water in the desert and to the Lord’s pouring out of the Spirit in the last days. Pouring at the Feast of Tabernacles refers symbolically to the messianic age in which a stream from the sacred rock would flow over the whole earth (cf. J. Jeremias, TDNT, 4. 277f.).[1]]
When the Living Water, Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit, is filling our life, we cannot help but spread that Living Water around to those around us. We spray living water on them so to speak. And there is absolutely nothing anyone can do to stop us. It frustrates the world so much because no matter how hard Satan and his world system have tried to stop the flow, Christianity has kept spreading and growing and souls are saved, lives are changed, and the world has become a better place everywhere Christianity has entered in.
That was what happened with the sprinklers! No matter what I did, they kept spraying and spraying. I was shocked, frustrated and freaking out. I was soaked, covered in mud and at my wits end. It didn’t make sense! That is exactly how the world feels about us. Nothing they try works.
That is exactly what the book of Acts is about! The early disciples and followers of Christ were filled with Living Water and could not help but spread it to those around them. They were arrested, beaten, shipwrecked, stoned, killed, rejected, and mocked. It did not matter. They kept on spreading the Gospel to a lost and dying world.
Now with my sprinklers, nothing I did would stop the spray, at least not until the source of water was cut off. With the sprinklers, I did it. But in the Christian life, only each person themselves can do that. We can choose to live outside God’s will, rebel, ignore him and His Word and His Church and consequently, that flow of Living Water is cut off at the source. Then there is no spread of the Gospel, no power in prayer, no miracles, no power in Christ.
This can happen to us individually and as it does, it can happen to the local church.
“When a church loses touch with its God-given purpose, its energies quickly become institutionally focused and self-serving rather than self-giving” (Gerald D. Wright, Missiology, 19).
Motif: The light goes out, the water stops flowing.
The purpose of the study is to learn how Christ, through the Holy Spirit, works in the lives of His people to spread the Gospel throughout the world, to teardown Satan’s stronghold, and to establish His church. As we learn these facts, the intent is not just to gain a head knowledge about it, but to allow His word to motivate us to action, convict us of any sin, and teach us strategies that we might use in the 21st Century to continue the spread of the Gospel.
Before we actually get into the book of Acts itself, we need to set it up. What’s going on and what has led up to this point that we just read in Acts chapter 1.
First, Acts is unique in that the phase of the kingdom of God that it describes is still going on.
Ask: When you think about the Bible and all the stories it contains. Is there a story you would have liked to have lived in. Is there a time period in the bible you would like to have lived?
· Eden
· 10 commandments
· Jericho
· Elijah and fire from Heaven
· Birth of Jesus
· Jesus and feeding the 5000
· Peter walking on water
· Resurrection
But we are living I the best time in all world history—the age of the church. Jesus’s church.
· Heaven and earth meet at the tabernacle and then the temple
· Heaven and earth meet in Jesus (new temple).
· Heaven and earth meet in us (We are the temple) as HS indwells.
We are on mission! As we allow HS to work through us (obedience, ministry, witnessing, etc) Heaven on earth; light in the dark, glorifies God!
My Notes: Design of the study is to approach the book chronologically, following the book as it is written. But there may be times we focus on a specific geographic church area. In other words, we will study the church in Jerusalem. How did it start and what all happened there? What was it like to be a member of the church in Jerusalem? We might follow the Jerusalem church throughout the book and try to see it from the perspective of the Christians in Jerusalem. When possible, we will also look at Paul’s letters. Did he mention Jerusalem? Can we learn something about that church from Paul?
Outline:
A place for notes:
I. Introduction: The Battle Cry
A. The Great Condition ( )
In addition to the water metaphor, Christ also used the idea of light: .
14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.
14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
“The entire tapestry of the purpose of mission can be viewed as an expansion of the metaphor of God’s people as the light of the world” (Gerald D. Wright, Missiology, 21).
Rooted in Old Testament prophecy: ; 49.6
6 “I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations,
6 he says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
Continued by Paul: ; .
Is.
6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,
6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Let’s explore the metaphor of light as it relates to Christian living and our mission and purpose in life.
Motif: The light goes out, the water stops flowing.
· Light and Knowledge
o Darkness=ignorance (Stumbling around in the darkness); you are in the dark about what is going on. Fits the world in need of Christ.
o An essential aspect of missions is proclamation of the Gospel.
6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
o An essential aspect of missions is proclamation of the Gospel.
o “If the church is to fulfill its mission as light of the world, it must be faithful and clear in proclaiming the gospel and imparting the information essential to an understanding of salvation and an experiential knowledge of God through believing in the Lord Jesus Christ” (Wright, 22).
· Light and Good deeds
o Proclamation is more than words
o Jesus proclaimed God’s kingdom in word and deed. (parables and miracles).
o OT Isaiah: ; ).
7 to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.
1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
o It is the proclamation in deeds that validates and authenticates the proclamation in words and vice versa.
o Light denotes good deeds; darkness denotes evil deeds.
o
19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.
o Good deeds (ministry to the hurting, humanitarian aid, medical missions, social ministry or some form of compassionate action, glorify God. BUT...Christ must also be proclaimed through the actions that demonstrate the power of God and of the Gospel. (see )
4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
o “Word and deed clarify and define each other. Either one without the other is shallow and impotent, but together they shine as light in a dark world. Both must be exercised under the empowering Holy Spirit” (Missiology, 23).
· Joy and Hope
o Light is joy and hope, darkness=gloom and despair. ()
2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. 3 You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil. 4 For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. 5 For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire. 6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
o The mission of the church and of Christians, as the light of the world, is not only to spread the knowledge of God through proclamation accompanied by the deeds of light but also to bestow joy and hope, dispelling darkness of gloom and despair.
· Light and Spiritual Warfare
o All of this presupposes a kind of spiritual warfare, a confrontation between light and darkness. Those who live in darkness are in bondage to the powers of this dark world, against which Christians must wrestle. Darkness is in part the result of a rejection of God’s glory () and in part a work of the “god of this age” who has blinded the minds of unbelievers (). All through the NT Christians are reminded that they have been delivered from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light and are to walk in the light, shunning every form of compromise with evil and darkness. (Read ; ; ).
21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
18 to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. 1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,
o Prayer is critical: . Prayer is the primary instrument by which God’s available power is appropriated in the life of the missionary.
13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,
· Light and Culture
o On one hand, missionary service demands cultural adaptation that aims to permeate and transform culture. It also requires confrontation with culture. Interestingly this tension is depicted in the biblical imagery of light, for light both transforms and exposes.
o Light confronts the deeds of wickednesss, stripping away the protection of darkness.
· Community of Light
o The calling to be light is also a calling into the fellowship of light (, ; ; ).
8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
8 At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. 9 Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. 10 Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. 11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
· God’s nature
o God is light ()
15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ”)
15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ”)
15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ”)
5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ”)
o He dwells in light ()
16 who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.
o Jesus declared Himself to be the light of the world ().
12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
o It is only because Christ is the true light that Christians are light. Christ is the light, and Christians become light as they are properly related to him.
B. The Great Confession: :
13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ. 21 From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.
· Turning point in Jesus ministry-focused less on the crowds and more on preparing His disciples for their mission and his departure.
· Why there? (need map)
· Jesus asked: Who do people say that I am? Who do you say that I am?
· The –the—the. NOT ONE OF MANY.
· We have to choose!
o Moses (what is your name) Exodus 3
o Joshua (choose this day)
15 And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
o Elijah (How long will you limp along)
21 And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word.
o Isaiah (I saw the Lord...send me!)
8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”
o Peter (follow me; we left everything).
o Bartimaeus
o Others did not: .
57 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 59 To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 60 And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61 Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” 62 Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Definition of Christian theology: “Christian theology is disciplined reflection on God’s revelation for the purpose of knowing and loving God and participating in His mission in this world” (Bruce Ashford and Scott Bridger, Missiology, 31).
In other words:
When we understand the Good News of Jesus Christ and when that message is making an impact on our life, we cannot keep silent. We have to tell.
Repeat with I and YOU.
Let’s be honest. Isn’t it tempting to meet certain people or see them on the news and think, “They are beyond hope.” But the truth is that no one is beyond the reach of Christ and the power of the Gospel and the Holy Spirit’s work in their lives. It is easy to get discouraged in ministry because we may buy into the lie that it’s just hopeless and too overwhelming. But you know, God teaches us in the Bible, through the prophet Ezekiel, that the main problem is that we have forgotten what God did in us. We have forgotten just how wretched we are without Christ and God’s grace. We are wicked to the core and capable of the most heinous evil without the grace of God. If God’s grace is lifted out of our lives for a moment, we would drift away from God to evil. We need to let God open the grave of our lives so we can be reminded of all the evil there that Christ died for and through the work of the Holy Spirit we are being made holy. When we realize just how much Christ has done for us and what he is doing in us even now, we can’t help being motivated to spread the Gospel and shine His light to a hopeless, dark, and dying world.
And that is exactly what Christ commanded his followers to do and that is exactly what they did and continue to do today.
C. The Great Commission
(; ; ).
17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Given on a mountain in Galilee.
· () Some doubted...
· So, assures them of His CONTINUING PRESENCE (20) and COMPREHENSIVE AUTHORITY (18).
· (19). So they can carry out their mission to the world.
o Emissaries in His name
o Go and make disciples: to bring men and women into the same committed, obedient relationship with Jesus that they themselves share (19; cf. ; ; ; ).
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
52 And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”
57 When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus.
21 When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch,
Here is Luke’s account of another Commission given at Christ’s ascension on the mount of Olives or Olivet.
44 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
o Jesus is central (46-47).
o Takes place after Jesus has ascended to the Father (49).
o Followers are to proclaim the three-fold content of the commission which is based on the written word: Suffering (and death) of Christ; Resurrection on the 3rd day; repentance and forgiveness that His finished work provides.
o “to all the nations”- mission is universal in scope.
· Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria (and Galilee see but by the time Luke wrote this, Galilee had been integrated into Roman province of Judea) and to the ends of the earth.
31 So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.
o In Greco-Roman literature, “ends of the earth” means farthest regions of the earth.
§ Western end-Gaul or Germania on the Atlantic Ocean, as well as Britannia (annexed in AD43 by Emp Claudius),
§ Further south—Spain or the city of Gades.
§ Northern end- Scythia.
§ Southern end-Ethiopia (today Sudan).
§ Eastern End-Beyond India to the silk people (China).
§ NOTE: Luke mentions an Ethiopian (), Paul mentions Scythians (); Paul plans to go to Spain; Thomas according to tradition when to India.
26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. 27 And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” 30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth. 33 In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.” 34 And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. 36 And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?” 38 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.
11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.
Now that brings us back to .
1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. 4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
Just a word of warning on this topic from Oswald Chambers:
From Oswald Chambers: [ Our work begins where God’s grace has laid the foundation; we are not to save souls, but to disciple them. Salvation and sanctification are the work of God’s sovereign grace; our work as His disciples is to disciple lives until they are wholly yielded to God. One life wholly devoted to God is of more value to God than one hundred lives simply awakened by His Spirit. As workers for God we must reproduce our own kind spiritually, and that will be God’s witness to us as workers. God brings us to a standard of life by His grace, and we are responsible for reproducing that standard in others. Unless the worker lives a life hidden with Christ in God, he is apt to become an irritating dictator instead of an indwelling disciple. Many of us are dictators, we dictate to people and to meetings. Jesus never dictates to us in that way. Whenever Our Lord talked about discipleship, He always prefaced it with an ‘IF,’ never with an emphatic assertion—‘You must.’ Discipleship carries an option with it.]
1 Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest: Selections for the Year (Grand Rapids, MI: Oswald Chambers Publications; Marshall Pickering, 1986).
[1] D. A. Carson, The Gospel according to John, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; W.B. Eerdmans, 1991), 321–322.