Bible Study: April 14, 2021

I don't know how it didn't go on. Maybe we went through the book of Revelation and James to have a review session after those so that we would capture some of the important things that we had talked about and learned. But we won't make that mistake with with Acts. And seeing how well last week went, I think what we will do is probably every four or five Bible studies have a review session like that where we have some questions and and go back over some of the things we've talked about so that we can discuss them and kind of cement them in our our minds.

I think it was profitable for me last week. I hope it was for you as well. These books are for us here to learn and to pattern our lives after. So we'll try to work that in. We'll try to work that in every every month or so.

But tonight we're going to begin the book of Acts. And the the timing on this is actually quite good. With us looking at Pentecost here and in a month away, you know, as we'll be talking about the beginning of the church, as God sent the Holy Spirit, we'll be talking about those very same things leading up to the day of Pentecost.

And we'll begin to see how the church started and the type of things that they did. You know, tonight we're going to look at the first we're going to look at the first chapter. We won't get through the whole chapter because we're going to fill in the blanks a little bit as we've gone through the days of Unleavened Bread and talked about the Passover, talked about Jesus Christ and the resurrection and him fulfilling the wave sheep offering.

Then there was the transition, if you will, from the time that he was resurrected until the day of Pentecost. And you didn't spend a lot of time with the apostles during those 40 days that he was on earth. And during that time, what I'm sure he was doing was preparing them for what they were going to be doing as the church began.

They didn't fully understand everything that was going to happen as they began the church that Jesus Christ actually talked about in Matthew 16, but they would learn it as they went along. And Jesus Christ would reinforce for them, you know, how they would operate. So let's go to Acts 1. I'm going to read the first three verses, and in the first three verses we're going to see the lay of the land, if you will, for the book of Acts, at least for the early parts here.

We'll learn something about why the book of Acts was written as well in the first verse here. Acts 1 verse 1 says, the former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach until the day in which he was taken up, after he, through the Holy Spirit, had given commandments to the apostles whom he had chosen, to whom he also presented himself alive after his suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.

And so as the book begins, we have Luke, who is the, you know, really the undisputed author of the book of Acts. Every scholar agrees it's Luke that wrote this book.

We see him addressing it to a man by the name of Theophilus, and he's talking about how this former account that he has sent him as well. He talks about Jesus Christ instructing the apostles, giving them commandments, talking about the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. While Jesus Christ was with them in the three and half years of his ministry, he would have spoken of all these those things, but he also spoke of many things during that ministry that they just didn't understand. You know, we can go back and we can look at the times when he said, I will suffer, I will be killed, I will rise after three days, and that just seemed to go over the apostles head.

They just couldn't fathom what he was talking about as he did that, as he would talk about those things. And some of the things that we read in the Bible may go over our heads as well, but after the events of the days of Unleavened Bread, after they saw Jesus Christ resurrected from the dead, after they saw him, and as he spent time with them for 40 days, he took the time to, if I can use the term, fill in the blanks for them.

He instructed them, he let them know more about the kingdom of God, he would have instructed them, and how the church would operate, and the differences between his church and Judaism, which the true Christians of that day came out of Judaism.

As we go through the book of Acts, we're going to find it was a surprise to them as Jesus Christ began to call, or as God began to call, gentiles, and they began to understand the truth. They didn't see that coming, but they handled it well. They realized this is God's church, and as Jesus Christ said, he died for all of mankind. That would include, certainly, people not just of the Jewish descent. So, you know, in the first three verses here, we learned something, but there's this man, Theophilus, that's mentioned here, and if you look up his name in the concordance, it means friend of God.

So whether he was a real person or who he was is a matter of conjecture. There are some commentators who think they know he is, and even Josephus weighs in on who Theophilus is. And it's not the first time he's mentioned in the Bible. As Luke is writing this, he's sending this letter, if you will, to Theophilus, and he's saying, here, I'm going to give you this account.

I'm going to let you know firsthand what happened here during the time that the Christian church began. These are all the events. Luke, we're going to see, was there with Paul throughout this period of time traveling with him, so he would have had firsthand accounts of everything. Let's look first at Luke. He is mentioned in a few places in the Bible, not just in Acts, but let's go to Colossians 4.

We can see as Paul began to travel around and the Gentile churches were beginning to be raised up, and Luke is mentioned, as in some of these places with him, Colossians 4.

You can find everything by Colossians. There he is, Colossians 4. And in verse 14, you notice he's writing to the church of Colossae there. He says, Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas, greet you. So, he was there with him as he was writing this letter. We learn a little bit about Luke's heritage, I guess. We'll back up a few verses here in Colossians 4. Commentators will say that he was a Hellenistic Jew. Some say that he was a Greek convert to Christianity. I don't think we'll know officially which he was until Christ becomes, and we can ask him the question. But they do point to a few verses here that give us a clue that he may have just been a Greek convert. In verse 10 of Colossians 4, he's wrapping up his letter here. It says, Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, greet you, and mark the cousin of Barnabas, about whom you received instructions. If he comes to you, welcome him. And Jesus, who is called justice, these are my only fellow workers for the kingdom of God who are of the circumcision. They have proved to be a comfort to me. So what he's saying there is, here's these guys. They greet you. They are the only ones of the Jewish persuasion, the Jewish race that are here with me. They are of the circumcision. And then in verse 12, he says of Papyrus, who is one of you, a bondservant of Christ, greet you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. I bear him witness that he is a great zeal for you, and those who are in Laodicea and those in Hierapolis. Luke and Demas greet you. So Luke, Luke is thrown into the category, if I can put it that way, of he's not of the circumcision, but he's there in the category of one of you, as he talks about, as he talks about a Papyrus here. So that could be an indication that he was a Greek. Makes no difference one way or the other. His book, the epistle, the letter, the book, or whatever we want to call it that he wrote, stands as the word of God. Over in 2 Timothy, someone had a question?

He had an I in mail with Dr. Candidus. He is trauma.

Okay, okay. Over in 2 Timothy, 2 Timothy 4, Paul is in prison at this time, and as we read through the book of Acts, we'll see that Luke carries through all the detail of what happens in Paul's journeys and everything until he's in prison. And he never does say what the outcome of that whole situation is, which kind of gives us a clue as to the dating of the book. In 2 Timothy 4 and verse 11, you see here that Paul, as he's writing to Timothy, says, only Luke. Now, let's read verse 9 because we learned something about Demas, who we just heard about in Collision sources. Be diligent to come to me quickly. For Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world and has departed for Thessalonica. Cretians for Galatia, Titus for Dalmatia, only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry. So we can see Luke was there, Luke was there through the process, Luke was there at the time that Paul was in prison, and then the book of Acts ends fairly abruptly with Paul being in prison. It gives us a clue that the book was probably written somewhere in the early 60s AD before the temple was destroyed, before Peter was martyred in 68 AD because there's no mention of that either.

So we find something about Luke. Now, Luke also, of course, wrote the book of Luke. Let's go back to Luke 1. Now we learn in Collision that he's the physician. I think everyone was aware of that.

I know we have some nurses and some who have worked in the medical profession on the line with us, and I know as I worked, I always was impressed with doctors and nurses because they did such good job of documenting everything they did. Every time you go to a doctor, they are there writing down every single thing it seems like you say, they say, they suggest, you reject. I mean, when they go back and look at their notes, they know exactly where they were in that. It may well have been a training of physicians back then that they would just document, and you could rely on their notes. Anyway, Luke, in the first few verses of this, the Gospel of Luke, according to him, we read down through verses 1 through 3. He says, "...inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us." You know, there's three other Gospels, and Luke now is going to give his account of Jesus Christ. He has gone back and through conversations, looking at documents, whatever he did, he's putting together a history of Jesus Christ. He does it a little differently than Matthew, Mark, and John. All the Gospels come at the life of Christ from a little different. The commentators say that Luke is the most historically and chronologically true in detail of all the four Gospels. Again, maybe a testament to his documentation abilities, but also as he is proving this. He is detailed because he's writing this to someone, and he's proving to himself what the truth is as well. "...inasmuch 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 to 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, that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed." So here we have his Gospel account of the life, times, miracles of Jesus Christ that is also addressed to Theophilus. Here's an orderly account of what happened. I'm sending this to you, Theophilus, so there is some matter of speculation among the scholars of who Theophilus is and why Luke was writing this. Anyone ever hear anything about Theophilus? I can't say that I had before I looked into this a little bit, so...

Well, no one knows for absolutely sure. Some of the commentators will point to Josephus, who does mention Theophilus, and he indicates that he was a member of the of the Caiaphus family. He would have been in the priesthood in Jerusalem, and that perhaps he was beginning to question about Christianity. What happened back then? Tell me about this Jesus Christ. As they say, that he served in the temple from 37 to 41 AD. That would have been six to ten years after the whole event of Jesus Christ with his arrest, crucifixion, burial resurrection. And that he might have been questioning what is the truth. Theophilus had heard everything that went on during that time. Luke and him, they have known each other well, and he knew Luke is a historian who would look up the facts and document it fully for him. And so Luke sets out to do that. So in the book, or the Gospel of Luke, that's what he says he's doing. I'm here to give you the facts. This is what happened in this man's life. This is an account from the time that he was born until the time that he ascended into heaven.

So that is plausible. Does it make any difference whether that's if Theophilus really was that, or if he was just another man who Luke knew who he was trying to set in order? The purpose of the book and the book of Acts is written to Theophilus to set the record straight. And the book of Acts does serve as a transition book. Let me put up a slide here for you.

I took this from the open Bible commentary. I thought they did a good job of just giving an outline of the book of Acts and why it's so significant in the Bible. We just have gone through the book of Hebrews, and it transitions us from Judaism and the Old Covenant into the New Covenant, from earthly high priests to our eternal high priest Jesus Christ. Well, the book of Acts transitions us from Judaism into Christianity as well. Here's what they say about the book of Acts. The book traces the beginning and growth of the New Testament church. It traces important events in the early history of Christianity, from the ascension of Christ to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, to the rapid progress of the Gospel, beginning in Jerusalem and spreading throughout the Roman Empire. And then look at the number of transitions that were occurring during this time, as people came out of Judaism into Christianity, as they came out of the gentile religions into Christianity. Acts is a pivotal book of transitions from the Gospels to the Epistles. We have the four Gospels that talk about the life and times of Jesus Christ. Now we're going to move into the Epistles of Paul and the other apostles. It's a book of transition from Judaism to Christianity. It tells us how the church is set up, what are the obstacles that they faced, how was it taught, how did they build these two totally different groups of people that had no use for each other into one body. Transitions from law, which is the old covenant way, to grace. Transitions from Jews alone, to Jews and gentiles. A tough pill for the Jews to swallow. They always only saw themselves as the people of God, and now God was calling these other people and making him part of the body.

It's a big transition in their lives and a big difference from Judaism. And from the kingdom, they always saw Israel being just another physical kingdom that Jesus Christ was going to come, and set up his kingship there on earth to a church. He would be starting a church, and he would work through that church to prepare and develop people for to become the first fruits that you and I are part of. So the book of Acts is going to take us through some interesting transitions. We will learn something about ourselves through that as well, and as some of the newer ones among us listen in. They'll understand some of the transitioning that occurs as we come out of the world and come out of our old religions into the truth of God. I will remember some of the things that we went through as well, and some things that maybe we have yet to do. So the book of Acts is going to be quite a journey over the period of years that the book covers here, but I thought this evening where the best place to start with the book of Acts is at the end of the book of Luke. There are many scholars who say that they think that the book of Luke and the book of Acts was originally one long transcript. I don't know if I agree with that. I think that probably the reason we have two manuscripts is because Luke did do the study of Jesus Christ and document everything fully. Then as he followed Paul through the beginning of the New Testament church and the Gentile areas and worked with Peter and the others there in Jerusalem and documented it well, it was another one that he sent on to the Theophilus who at some point opened up those manuscripts so everyone could see the detail of what had gone on.

So let's look at Luke 24 because we've covered during the holy days that we've been through the life of Jesus Christ, the death of Jesus Christ, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but Luke is the only gospel who tells us anything about what Christ did between the time that he was resurrected and the time he ascended into heaven. Matthew, Mark, and John reference him appearing to the other 11, but they don't give any detail about what went on during that time. So let's look and see what Jesus Christ did because just like his life, his death, his resurrection is so key to us, he is key in the beginning of that New Testament church.

He took the time to be with those apostles for the 40 days to be sure that they knew that they were doing and to instruct and prepare them. It's the same thing that Jesus Christ is doing with us today. He makes sure his people are prepared for what they are going to do. He just didn't leave the apostles there all by themselves to fend for themselves and determine what's going on. Of course, they would have the Holy Spirit, but he laid the plan for him.

Let's look at Luke 24, beginning in verse 13 here, and go through some of this as we see Christ now resurrected, beginning to work with the people, and some of the key things he did even early on in that day of his resurrection. Verse 13 that talks about these two men who were on their way to Emmaus says, Behold, two of them were a group of someone. Behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem.

And they talked together of all those things which had happened. They can imagine in Jerusalem what it would have been like to do with everything that had gone on. Here's Jesus Christ right before the the peace that the Jews were keeping a day late as they didn't keep pass over at the same time that Jesus Christ did. Here they had this man, Jesus Christ, who was arrested, who laid in the tomb for three days and three nights, and then who was resurrected in the talk of the town as he's come back to life. He's come back to life again. You can imagine what the talk was.

So it's no note but all mystery that these people, these two guys, as they're walking here, that that's what they're talking about. They were on their way to Emmaus, and they talked together of all these things which had happened. So it was while they conversed and reasoned, just what you and I would do, well what about this and what about that? Do you think this is what happens? And there was some speculation, well, what do you think all this means? What is all this about? So it was while they conversed and reasoned that Jesus himself drew near and went with them, but their eyes were restrained so they didn't know him.

Tells us something about God. There are times when he reveals himself to us. There are other times that he hides his identity from people, and at a certain point in time he will make it known. Just like sometimes we understand right away when we read a verse or a scripture or something, other times we look at it, we may read right over it, and it isn't until a year later, years later, that, oh, look at that verse. That's exactly what that meant. Now I know what he's talking about. I just, you know, maybe we may just look over it time and time and time again until God opens our eyes to see.

But anyways, they're walking along. Christ comes up with them and is walking with them, and he mentions to them, what kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk in our sad? And then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said, are you the only stranger in Jerusalem?

And haven't you known the things which happened here in these days? Don't you know what's going on? How, where have you been? Where have you been? Haven't you listened to the talk of the town? And Christ says, well, what things? And they said to him, the things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet, mighty indeed in word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death and crucified him.

They let him know this is what happened during that time. This is the news of the day. But we, they tell us, they're believers, we were hoping, verse 21, that it was he who was going to redeem Israel. So there they were, and it's like, you know, we, we, so we know that they're part of the disciples of Jesus Christ. We were hoping that he had come and he was going to be our king. We thought he was going to take the kingdom back.

We thought that Israel, Israel would be, you know, delivered from Roman rule, and he would set up the kingdom. We were told he was the Son of God. He revealed that to Peter and the disciples, and yet he died. We didn't expect that. Even though he told us that, you know, and they may have had some of those words rattling in their minds as they went through that three and four day period, he told us that. But we don't get it. Why would he die if he is the one who's going to redeem Israel? We hope, we were hoping that it was him.

Now we get into Acts 1, we see that even as Jesus Christ was about to ascend, you'll remember that even then, the apostles didn't understand that Jesus Christ, his purpose and his mission was not to establish the kingdom at that time. It was going to be somewhere somewhere down the road.

We were hoping it was he who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened. Now I can pause for a moment. We'll go back to Luke 18.

And perhaps, and I'll fill in some of the blanks, you know, here a little bit, and may or may not be what happened. The apostles, the disciples who were gathered together there, you know, we see that 120 of them were there on the day of Pentecost, and we get to Acts 2. As they were together, and as they spoke, they probably talked about a number of things, as you can imagine, about Jesus Christ and some of the things that he said. And as they watched him be arrested, as they watched him die. And now they have this, you know, on the third day, him being resurrected, there's these reports coming back to them. There was a lot of chatter and probably people saying, well, do you remember when he said this? Do you remember when he said that? What does that mean? I wonder what he meant. Maybe some of them thought back to Luke 18 and in verses 31 through 33, you know, what he told them at that time. He says, he took the twelve aside and he said to them, behold, we're going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished. He will be delivered to the Gentiles. He will be mocked. He will be insulted and spit upon. They will scourge him and kill him, and the third day he will rise again. Now they've lived through. You know, they've lived through him being arrested. They have lived through him being mocked. They've seen him insulted and spit upon. They saw him scourged. They saw him die, and now they're on the third day as they walk along to Emmaus. And it's like, and now here's this third day, and he said, on the third day he will rise again. What can that mean? They just perhaps did not get that really. Indeed, Jesus Christ was going to come back to life again. It's not something that the physical human mind would even grasp. It's like when you're dead, you're dead. And so as they talked about those things, and as they walked, and as they're talking to Jesus Christ, they say, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened. We've watched all these other things that he told us were going to happen, and now we're here on the third day since those things happened. Verse 22, and certain women of our company who arrived at the tomb early astonished us. You remember Mary Magdalene, when she went to the tomb and she didn't find Christ there, she never dawned on her that he had been resurrected, that he came back to life. She just assumed someone had stolen his body and moved it somewhere else. Maybe she thought that the Romans moved it somewhere else because they just didn't want the Jews to have any idea or his people to have any idea where he was anymore. Never dawned on her he was resurrected until she was told that.

So he says, now we have this happening on this very day, certain women have come back, they astonished us when they didn't find his body. They came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said he was alive. How can that be? And certain of those who were with us, so we know that these are believers, we know that these are disciples, these are people who would have been talking with the apostles and those who, you know, some of many of whom, or the 120 of which who were there gathered in Acts 2, certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said. But him they did not see. So everything was exactly as it was recorded and Christ is listening to them talk. They're trying to put all the pieces together. They're trying to understand what has gone on here and what all of it means. And Christ says to them in verse 25, O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken.

You know, even in late Luke 18, he told them all the things that the prophets of old said are going to be fulfilled. And so he's kind of letting them know, you're still not believing. I told you that all the things that are written in those prophets and you know the Bible really well. They knew it much better than you and I know it. And part of the first thing he's going to do as we go through this is see that he's going to begin to open the scriptures to them so they understand that everything that was prophesied of the Messiah really did happen. So he says, you're slow to believe. Ought not, verse 26, the Christ who have suffered these things and enter into his glory. That was what the Bible said would happen. It said the Messiah would suffer. It said that it said that he would be enter into his glory. This had to happen. This is part of the plan of God. And then verse 27, it says, beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

Now that had to take quite a while. We know there's a lot of prophecies about Jesus Christ. And as he went through the books of Moses, as he went through the prophets, one by one it says he went through all the scriptures and began to show them this is what this means. And you've seen it fulfilled.

This is what was said. You've seen it fulfilled. The scriptures are accurate. The scriptures are the Word of God. You are living in the time that those scriptures prophesied of. They had to be fascinated by what he was saying. It doesn't look like they really understood and grasped everything he was saying, but it was an interesting conversation even though it wasn't sinking in really into their head. They were hearing words and it made sense, but it hadn't actually at that point come to the point where they knew what they knew and it would change their lives and they simply got it, that the light bulbs would go on. Verse 28 says they drew near to the village where they were going.

Christ indicated that he would have gone farther, but they constrained him saying, stay with us. It's toward evening and the day is far spent. He was going to keep walking. They said, no, no, no, you know what? Just stay with us. Have some dinner with us. Spend the night here.

I'm sure they found him fascinating and they wanted to hear more about this man and the insight that he seemed to have and some of the answers that he had that seemed to make sense about what had happened here in Jerusalem during those days. So he did go in with them and it came to pass in verse 30. It came to pass as he sat at the table with them that he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. At that time, verse 31, their eyes were opened and they knew him.

Now we can pause at that verse a little bit and think about that verse. They didn't know Christ when they saw him. They didn't know it was Christ as he was expounding all of the scriptures, but when they sat there at dinner and he broke the bread and he blessed it and he gave it to them, their eyes were opened. This is Jesus Christ. Now perhaps, just perhaps, I don't think Cleopas and we don't know who the other person is here, I don't think they were at the supper with Jesus Christ that night, but probably at that last Passover service where Jesus Christ instituted the new covenant way of keeping Passover. But probably they had heard and talked about, you know, after supper we ate the Passover meal and then Jesus Christ, after supper, he got up, he took this towel and he began to wash all of our feet. And he told us that we wouldn't understand what he's doing right now, but he says we have to serve each other. We have to serve each other the way he was going to suffer us. And then he made this comment that he was going to eat this Passover before he suffered. And he did suffer that night. And then while we sat down again, he took bread, he blessed it, and he gave it to us. And he said, take eat, this is my body that is given for you.

And then he likewise tells us in the Gospels, we do it every Passover, he took the wine, blessed it, and said, you know, this is my blood that is shed for you. Perhaps, just perhaps, as they saw Jesus Christ take the bread, blessed it, and broke it, God used that motion and that time to open their eyes like, oh, this is exactly what happened at that Passover service. This is exactly what we were told. We know who this man is. This is Jesus Christ. Perhaps, perhaps we have those words listed in there for that reason to show what it was. Now we can go back to the Mary Magdalene, not that we're going to go back to there. But you remember when she was there at the tomb, and she was wondering where did the body go, and Jesus Christ, you know, was there. And he, and at first he spoke to her and she didn't recognize. When she looked at him, she didn't know who he was.

And, you know, and then he said her name, Mary, and she recognized his voice.

And then she knew exactly, she knew immediately who he was. And sometimes we won't know by seeing, right? It's like Mary understood, you know, when it says, for instance, to John 10, my sheep know my voice. She knew his voice. That was what she, she knew it was. These men, as they saw what Jesus Christ did as he sat down there at dinner with him, God used that time to open their minds. They got it. They understood who he was. And everything became clear at that point, and they would have spent the time thinking about what he had told them all the way going through those scriptures of Moses and the prophets. But as soon as they recognized him, in verse 31, he vanished. He vanished from their sight. He was there to walk with them, to talk with them, to open their minds to the scriptures, and then to reveal himself to them that it was him. It was him, and then he just disappeared. Again, if we put ourselves in those men's shoes, imagine what we would have thought. Imagine how we would have felt when we recognized who we were sitting with. Now what he had done, and then he just, he just vanished. In verse 32, they look at each other and they say, didn't our heart burn within us while he talked with us on the road? Now will he open the scriptures to us? How come we didn't understand at that time? Look at the insight he had. He laid out every one of those prophecies for us, and he said, look, Jesus Christ fulfilled that. Jesus Christ fulfilled that. He is the Messiah. Why didn't we get it at that time? Well, they got it now. They understood it now, and they understood who was teaching them, because part of what Jesus Christ would do here is to open the minds of the disciples, who he was, and how those scriptures had been fulfilled. He would teach them during those 40 days the things that they would need to do so they could teach others when the time came for the church to start and the Holy Spirit would come upon them. And so again, you can imagine, oh wow, Jesus Christ was walking with us. Why didn't we know that? They couldn't sit there and enjoy dinner anymore. They wanted to go back to Jerusalem. They wanted to tell the whole world, Jesus Christ is alive. We spoke with him. So they rose up that very hour, and they returned to Jerusalem. They found the 11, and those who were with them gathered together, saying, the Lord is risen indeed. He has appeared to Simon. And they told about the things that had happened on the road and how he was known to them in the breaking of bread. It was that significant. That was a big piece of, you know, when he broke the bread, when he broke it, and he blessed it, and he handed it to us, we knew what he was doing, and we knew who he was.

And the apostles had to be stunned and excited at the same time as they would hear these things.

Well, Jesus Christ had vanished from the two men. They had traveled all day to Emmaus, but in that very hour they went all the way back to Jerusalem because they were excited, and they wanted to tell everyone about what they had seen. You know, just like we're excited when we learn the truth of God, and we just we can't wait to serve him and do the things that he wants us to do. We're zealous to do whatever he calls us to. So they went back. In verse 36, as they're talking about these things that happened, Jesus Christ appears. He appears in the room with them. As they said these things, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and he said, peace to you. Peace to you. You know, he didn't knock at the door. Didn't knock at the door and say, let me in. He just all of a sudden, they're all listening to Cleopas and his friends say what had happened, giving the detail, and then all of a sudden, boom, Jesus Christ is there.

You know, baby Jesus Christ, he thought, well, you've been hearing what I have done. They told you that all of a sudden I vanished. Well, here I am. But look at verse 37. The apostles, they were terrified. They were frightened. They suppose they had seen a spirit. It's the same thing you and I would have done. You know, sometimes we look at what's going on, you know, it's like how could they have not known that was Jesus Christ? You and I would have done the same thing. It'd be like, whoa, where did where did you come from? All these stories we heard about ghosts and ever. Here we have someone appearing to us. They didn't know what to make of it. It takes some time, sometimes for us to absorb what it is that we're seeing and what we're living through and what we're understanding. They were terrified. They were frightened. They suppose they had seen a spirit. And Christ said to them, why are you troubled? Why do doubts arise in your hearts? So he called them. He called them out and he said, you know, you've heard what these men have said. I told you what was going to happen.

It happened. I told you I would rise again. These men told you they had seen me. Peter said that he had seen me. Mary said that she had seen me. Why do you doubt? Why did doubt arise in your hearts? Believe me. Trust in me. It doesn't make physical sense. But believe me, God can do anything. Things that defy our imagination and that we cannot even understand until it happens and we absorb it. Just like the Israelites at the Red Sea, not one of them there could have imagined that that Red Sea would just part. And they would be delivered from the Egyptians. God can do everything and has a solution that our minds can't even comprehend. And then he shows himself to them. He wants them to know it's him. Behold my hands. Behold my feet. It's me. Handle me. We know this is later in the day. They had a long walk to Emmaus and now he's telling the disciples, touch me. Handle me and see. For spirit doesn't have flesh and bones. As you see, I have. So we see Jesus Christ. He was resurrected to eternal life. He is a spirit being, but he has the power to manifest himself as a flesh and blood human being. As he appeared to the apostles there, there he was. You know, touch me. Feel me. I'm the guy you knew. I'm the guy you spent three and a half years with. I'm the guy you ate with, walked with, did everything with. It's me. And you can see my body. You can see, as you'll say, the holes in my hands, the holes in my feet. You know it's me. When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. But while I still didn't believe for joy and marveled, he asked them a question that is interesting. He says, do you have any food here? So they didn't, they still didn't believe. They couldn't comprehend it, but they were extraordinarily happy. At some level, they knew it was Jesus Christ. They were happy to see him. It's him, but their minds hadn't yet absorbed. This really is him. He's alive. He's back. We know it. We don't get it yet. We'll get it. We will get it, but we don't get it yet. And so they were besides themselves with joy. They just hadn't been able to process it all yet, and they marveled at what had happened. And then Christ asked them, do you have any food here? I think that's an interesting question for Christ to ask. Anyone ever think about why would Christ ask the question at that point, do you have any food?

We know he wasn't hungry. It wasn't that. Why would he ask that? Does anyone have any idea or any thoughts on that? Well, Mr. Shaby, I would think that would prove that he is physical, that he is a human living he's taken in, and that it's not some manifested spirit. Yes, Savior. There's one thing, though. He didn't say flesh and blood. It said bones.

But there's a difference, because life is in the blood, right? In his case, he's spirit, but he's appearing as flesh and bones, because evil ones can appear as flesh and bones. They can only do upper mission. You notice that. You never see a scenario where they always do possession, because God has not permitted them to appear as flesh and bones, as he has permitted angels to.

Are you talking about demons, that demons don't? Yes. Oh, yeah, I agree with you. Sometimes people will ask that, and I will tell them, you find me an example in the Bible where a demon showed himself as a man, and I'll change my thinking, but God does not allow that to happen. You're right.

Because in Christ's case, he does not blood anymore, because he's no spirit. Okay, right. That is blood. So flesh and blood bones, as you see I have. Okay.

Well, I think Fred has it. I mean, sometimes food can kind of break, soften the atmosphere, if you will, a little bit, right? I mean, sometimes when you're sitting down over a drink or over a sandwich or something, you can have an easier conversation, and the conversation flows a little better than when you're just standing there. Here they were in the situation where they're all standing around, listening to two, and then Jesus Christ appears, and they have this happening. And I have to wonder if Christ did that to show, you know what, let's soften the time here. Let's get some food here and relax a little bit so we can talk. And that may be one of the elements of hospitality. You know, as we go into the book of Acts and we see the New Testament church, it talks about them breaking bread. And they have conversations that aren't just, you know, for a few minutes after Sabbath services, they actually spend some time together, they actually have meals together. It's a conversation, a conversation where they can discuss things without any rush and enjoy in a more relaxed fashion. And that may be just one of the times of the culture that was there that we can understand, that we can understand as well.

So he says, do you have any food? So they give him, they give him a piece of a boiled fish and some honeycomb. And maybe someone's looked at, is there any kind of meaning to the fish and the honeycomb? I don't know. You can read some commentaries and they make some things out of it. Or if it was just, you know, I don't know if there's anything to that, God will show us what it is, but I think it's what they had on hand there to eat. And Christ took it and He ate it in their presence. Again, it was like, as Fred said, I am human. I'm here. You see, you've eaten with me before and I'm eating with you again. And it was a relaxed atmosphere. And then He began talking to them. And of course, we have just a few of the words that He said over those 40 days.

But He spent 40 days with them teaching, training, showing what the New Testament church was, talking about the differences between it and Judaism, how it would be established, how what the Kingdom of God was, and all these things. And as we go into the book of Acts and we see the apostles setting up the church, if you will, as you're doing those things, you know, God is leading them through His Holy Spirit, but they're also remembering the words of Jesus Christ. This is how it will be. It's His church. And today He leads us, and He leads His church too. We have to remember that. He will lead us into what He wants us to do. Verse 44, it says, Christ said to them, These are the words I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms concerning me.

When the Bible says it, it has to be fulfilled. You've lived through it. You know, we live in a time where there are prophecies that haven't been fulfilled that will happen before the return of Jesus Christ. You know, many believe that in our lifetimes we will see those things happen and those prophecies fulfilled. And like the apostles back then who lived through that time will understand, oh, that's what that meant. Maybe things will not be in exactly the way we think it will be. And as we look at the world around us, or the way things are opening up, you know, we can see some possibilities out there of where some of the things that are spoken about a revelation will occur. And perhaps some of the rudiments of those things happening in ways what we wouldn't have even thought a year ago. And you see some of the positioning among some people, among some corporations, and understanding the power they have in this world, or the power that they are likely to continue to try to increase as they force people into their way of thinking.

Food for thought, and you know, we'll see how everything goes. But here they found themselves in a time where all these prophecies that they had read all their lives were being fulfilled. You and I are living in a time very similar to that.

Jesus Christ gave us those prophecies. They're in the Old Testament, and they're certainly in Revelation as well. So he said all these things had to be fulfilled. And all, you know, in all the Old Testament, and he opened their understanding that they might comprehend the scriptures. You know, it's just one thing.

You and I have had the great tremendous blessing of God that that he opens our minds to understand the scriptures. I think if every single, I spoke to every single one of you, we all have a story where we would sit down with someone, and we would show them the scriptures, and it seems so clear about things, and yet they don't get it. They don't understand that they don't see it at all.

And there's a lesson to us. Until God opens minds, we don't, we wouldn't understand either. But here he was at this point, he opened their understanding that they might comprehend the scriptures. Now it all made sense. We've lived through some dramatic times. Now we get it. The plan of God was there before the formation of the earth, and we have seen, we have seen it happen in our lifetimes here, that Jesus Christ the Messiah came.

He lived, he died, he was resurrected, and now, now he will be at, you know, God's right hand as he would have said to them in 40 days. He opened their understanding, and he said to them, thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day.

It had to happen exactly the way, you saw it in the Old Testament, the Bible, the scriptures as they had them, had to happen exactly the way I told you back in what we would call Luke 18 verses 30 to 32. I told you these things would happen. You can see why it's necessary. And he explained to them why it was necessary. Why do we need a Savior? How would our sins be forgiven? How would our, you know, the blood of the blood of goats and lambs and sheep, they can't pay the price for sin.

It took Jesus Christ's sacrifice to pay that penalty. He would probably have explained to them about that Passover and those things when he said, you know, you don't understand now what I'm doing, but as they ate that last Passover supper with him, and then he introduced to them after fulfilling what the Old Covenant was in that Passover meal, he showed them, you know, that physical meal is going to be replaced with a spiritual meal.

I, you know, maybe it maybe didn't use words, I will be the Passover lamb, but this is the bread to eat. This is the blood to drink. This is the feet to wash. You keep keeping the Passover on the same day, but from here on out, it's a spiritual meal that you will be keeping as you follow me, not the physical meal of the Old Covenant. And so by the very next Passover, when they did that, Jesus Christ had been sacrificed. He had come to Passover lamb, and they would have been keeping the Passover in that way going forward.

I think he would have given them all that understanding and talked about so many things as he opened, and his guide opened their minds to understand, because it was going to be these people who would go out, and they would open up a whole new world, if you will, to understanding the Christian way of life, to understanding the Bible, to understanding the way of God.

Not only the Jews who had to come out of their religion and become Christians, but the Gentiles who had to give up everything that they knew and had lived with, and learned this as well. Very difficult thing, and they were well-equipped.

Well-equipped as Christ worked with them while he was on earth, and then as he continues to work with them as the head of the church. And he says, it was necessary for Christ to suffer, to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. That repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

Now, too, maybe that, at all nations, kind of went right over their heads as they were sitting there listening to him, because as we get into the book of Acts, when you see Peter and God beginning to call some of the Gentiles, it was like, oh, oh, he has opened their minds. He is calling them. They are part of our body. Christ said that, you know, but we just kind of thought it was going to be at Jerusalem, but he really did mean to all nations, and you are witnesses of these things, he says.

So Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ well-prepared them. You know, it would be fitting at this point to go back and look at some of the the words, the parting words that Matthew, Mark, and John gave, gave, are recorded of Jesus Christ as well. They don't give us the detail that Luke did, but let's go back to Matthew 28 before we finish up there and Luke and go back to Acts and see the words that they recorded that were, that they took as this, this is what he said as he, as he was leaving us. This is the, the parting, parting message, if you will. You see in Matthew 28, it talks about him being resurrected. It talks about, you know, the disciples seeing them. Verse 17, it just says some of them doubted, but then Jesus Christ wraps it up and he said, and it, Matthew just takes it to the very end. Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. Lo, I'm with you always, even to the end of the age. You know, we, we know those verses, we know those words, we could, we could repeat them verbatim, you know, but look what he told them in that. You go out and you make disciples.

Whatever, whatever that means, a very interesting thought process. How do you make disciples? Jesus Christ knew how to make disciples. You know, a question we might ask is, do we make disciples the way Jesus Christ did as a church, not us individually, I guess, but go, therefore, make disciples of all the nations, baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. And we know the things that he commanded them. Jesus Christ set the example. He obeyed all the laws of God. He never said that any of the laws of God were done away with. In fact, he expanded them, not only the physical adherence to the commandments, but the spiritual as well. Teach them the same thing I've taught you.

When God teaches us, as he taught them, our job is to, to teach others, and his church is to teach others the thing of Jesus Christ. Teach them to observe all things I've commanded you. And he reminds them, I'm there with you. I might not be there in physical flesh and blood like I am right now, but I will always be with you. Same thing that he told them on that night of Passover, what he said, I won't leave you orphans. It's good for you that I go and then that the Father would send the Comforter to you. Let's look at the end of Mark. Mark has, Mark has Mark has some words too. In verse 14 of Mark 16, again, it says, you know, he just kind of says, he appeared to the 11, they sat at the table, he rebuked their unbelief. They didn't believe those who had seen him after he had risen. And he said, go into all the world, preach the gospel to every creature, every creature. Let everyone hear you are witnesses to me. You know what the truth is. Your job is to spread the gospel to all the world. Jesus Christ said that the gospel will be will be given to all the nations before the end comes. Go into all the world, or yeah, go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved. Now, every time I find myself doing this slide, every time we read the word believe in the New Testament, almost always is the word, PISTOUO. It's a deeper believe than the world, you know, there's a billion people in the world who believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. There's a billion people on earth that believe Jesus Christ died and was resurrected. But there's only a handful of people who believe it so deeply that they would change their lives to follow Him and love Him the way that He said to love Him. And that's by turning their heart and their whole life around to serve Him. So when you read believe in the New Testament, it's that type of life-altering soul-altering belief that makes you change from where you were to follow Him because it's such a deep and abiding belief. He who believes and is baptized, and we know that genuine repentance precedes baptism. He who believes and is baptized, it's that outer symbol, outer ceremony, a symbol of our giving up ourselves and yielding to God, putting to death the old self. He who believes and is baptized will be saved. But he who doesn't believe in the way the Bible says believe will be condemned.

And then he says some of the things that the disciples would see really coming up in the next few months and years. And these signs will follow those who believe. In my name they will cast out demons. You know, there's 70 who had been sent out that already had seen that happen, and in their name they could cast out demons. And as we get into Acts, we'll see that demons were cast out in His name. They would see that those things would happen. They will speak with new tongues.

As the Day of Pentecost came on in Acts 2, indeed when the Holy Spirit came, they were out. And everyone was hearing of the people that were gathered in Jerusalem for that festival. They all heard in their own language as they were given the gift of languages. They will speak with new tongues. They will take up serpents. You know, later on in the book of Acts, we'll see where Paul is bitten by a viper, and it has no effect on him. So that the natives of the land there are just kind of like in awe. The snake bit you and it had no effect on you. They will take up serpents, and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them. You know what he's saying there is, you are my people. You will do what my will is, and people, nothing will hurt you. Nothing will hurt you along the way. Trust in me. We can look at the two witnesses, you know, somewhere in the future, and we know the whole world wants them dead. They don't want to hear the message. All the beast power wants and the powers that be. They want this dissenting opinion, this dissenting voice out there. They just want to kill it. They don't want to hear it, and they do everything in their power to kill those two witnesses. Nothing can hurt them until God allows them to be killed.

But then, three days later, they are resurrected, and God says, come up here.

If God can protect them from the power of the entire world that wants those two dead, he can protect us from everything, anything, from serpents, from poison, from pandemics, through viruses, our faith, and we have to believe. We have to believe in him. We have to look to him and realize his will will be done, and there isn't man that will, any man or anything that comes up that can harm us if that is against God's will. It will be by no means hurt them, he says in verse 18.

They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover. And indeed, as we go through the book of Acts, we see the apostles beginning to perform some mighty miracles of healing, not them, but God through them and through their belief and faith doing that. Perhaps in the future, God will do that more and more as we move closer to the time of Jesus Christ's return.

We know the things that Jesus Christ said will mark the time of his return, you know, are given to us in the Olivet prophecies. Those will certainly happen. So, in verse 19, he says, So then after the Lord had spoken to them, he was received up into heaven, and he sat down at the right hand of God.

And they went out, and they preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word through the accompanying signs.

So what they said, what he said would happen, they actually saw it happen, so they knew God was with them, and this was his way. Let's look at John. Now, John doesn't even have a wrap-up comment from Jesus Christ, but he does have this discourse with Peter that's interesting at the end here, after he's revealed himself to them. And John gives a little detail as he comes to them, and, and as they fish, and he tells them to cast the net on the other side, and they realize it's him, and all this. But as you get down into chapter 21, in verse 15, Jesus gives instructions to Peter, and remember when he started his church, he said, you know, he would be the rock, you know, the main rock, if you will, of the church. But Peter, Peter, you'll be the little rock. You'll be the little rock.

So he has this conversation back and forth with Peter, and in it, I think he gives, here's what the church should do. Here's what my church will do, and as you set it up, verse 15 says, will they eat and breakfast? Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me? And that's the Greek word agape. Simon, son of Jonah, do you agape me more than these?

Peter said, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. Philia is the way Peter responded. Yes, Lord, you know that I brotherly love you. And Christ said to him, feed my lambs. Make sure that the people that I entrust in your care, the flock that is entrust in your care, you feed them.

Feed them spiritually. Make sure they are well-nourished. Keep them healthy, and keep them healthy and directed toward me. Feed them the food that I've given you. Let them eat to the same flesh that you I have instructed you to eat. Verse 16, he said to him again a second time, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me? And Peter answered, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. And he said to him, tend my sheep. Take care of them. Don't just let them wander. Look at their needs. Love them. Make sure they have what they need. Make sure that they're staying as a group, that they're part of the flock, that you go after the ones that are lost and that may be wandering off. Bring them back in. Keep them together. He's saying, lead them to me. There's years and years and years here, but lead them to me. This is what you do, church. This is the ones that are shepherds. This is what you do.

Keep the people together. Feed them well. Take care of them. Lead them to me. And then he said to Peter a third time, yes, someone has a comment. Can I say something here? Absolutely. You know, we can notice also here that he did not chastise Peter for rejecting him during the crucifixion. Instead, he invited him in. Feed my sheep. Yep. Peter learned a lot through that experience, didn't he? So that later he was willing to give his life. You know, we do the same things. We can make a mistake, but we come back stronger when we recognize it and determine that won't happen again. So yeah. Yeah, he still sees Peter. You know, that's the one who he's directing here as he gives these messages to him. So verse 17, he says to Peter the third time, this time he uses Philia, not agape, Simon, son of Jonah, do you Philia me, the brotherly love? Peter was great because he said to him the third time, do you love me? And he replied, Lord, you know these things or you know all things. You know that I love you. And Jesus said to him again, feed my sheep.

Keep that flock well nourished. Follow what I did. Jesus Christ, as he was here on earth, he shepherded his flock. He brought them and he said not one was lost except the son of perdition that the scriptures might be fulfilled. It's the same will that he has for us that we would all work together and have you know to see that the people that God calls in are part of the family and we keep everyone focused on who we are, what we're doing, who's leading us, what we're supposed to be doing and having our vision and our focus on the on the kingdom.

Okay, let me see where we are time wise. Let's go back to Luke 24. Then we're going to go back into Acts 1. Luke 24. As he wraps up, as Luke wraps up his account of this thing, we're in verse 48 and verse 49. You know he has he records Christ's words. Behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you. But tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are imbued with power from on high.

He doesn't tell them how long. He just says, you know, you wait here. You wait here. He's opened their minds for the scriptures. He doesn't give them the Holy Spirit at that time, but he says, you wait. You wait right here in Jerusalem. The promise of the Father, the promise that I talked to you about that night on Passover, that he doubtless reminded them again of the 40 during the first 40 days he was there, what the Holy Spirit would do, the power that it would give them, and that it how it would live in them as opposed to just be with them as it was then.

And in verse 50 it says, he led them out as far as Bethany. He lifted up his hands and blessed them, and it came to pass while he blessed them that he was parted from them and carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him. They returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. You can imagine the excitement. You can imagine the zeal. You can imagine the energy that was there as that time was, the same energy that God would have us had as we understand his will and as we're close to him and the mission that he has for us. Let's go to Acts 1 and we'll look at a few verses here before we wind up. All that is important background to set the stage for what's going to happen in Acts. Luke is writing this, but Luke also gives us that Jesus Christ was there and he was instructing. The apostles were ready. They didn't understand everything, just like you and I don't understand everything today, but God brings them along and Jesus Christ would open their minds to do the thing that they needed to do just as he does for us today. We read verses 1 through 3 earlier in Acts 1.

And in verse 4, it says, being assembled together with them, Christ commanded them to not depart from Jerusalem but to wait for the promise of the Father, which he said, you've heard from me.

For John truly baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. Well, here's a New Testament, a New Covenant idea, if you will, or practice of the church. You know, the Old Covenant, we know that circumcision was the sign of the covenant, but as John came to prepare the way for Jesus Christ and preached a message of repentance, you remember people flocked to him, that they were baptized in the Jordan.

And Jesus Christ says, you know, John truly baptized with water. He didn't say it was a meaningless exercise. John truly baptized with water. Baptism is a necessary part of our conversion and commitment to God. That'll be spoken more in Acts 2 as Peter speaks and people are cut to the quick. Baptism is that outward symbol of us yielding to God and being willing to have our old selves buried. And everyone that was there with Jesus Christ there that day, they were baptized by John. They had submitted to that baptism of repentance that John you know that John was offering at that time. But he says, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. Water baptism, complete immersion necessary, but not the total thing if you're going to have the Holy Spirit. Now we'll see that a little bit in Acts 10, but let's go to Acts 19 and see that the apostles understood what he was saying. They had been baptized and on the day of Pentecost they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

As you know, when we get to that chapter and we've been through it many times before, you can see God in essence laying his hands on those apostles. The wind, the sound of the wind, the doves that would light on their or the tongues of fire that would light on their heads. They knew the Holy Spirit that God was giving them the Holy Spirit. It was a part of the baptism. And here in Acts 19, as we read through the first six verses, we see how that was orchestrated with the church, the way the practice that we follow today. Acts 19 verse 1, it happened while Apollos was at Corinth that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples, he said to them, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?

They said to him, we haven't heard so much as to whether there is a Holy Spirit. Ah, okay, okay, well, you know, that's one thing. And he said to them, well then, into what were you baptized? So they said, into John's baptism. We weren't baptized in the Jordan-War River. We went through that. And Paul said, John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on him who would come after him that is on Christ Jesus. And when they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. So Paul sets the example there, ah, you have to be baptized, but you also have to have hands laid on you.

There's the physical baptism, water baptism, but then there's the spiritual putting of the Holy Spirit into you. And that's where Jesus Christ, back here in Acts 1 verse 5, he's letting them know, you've been baptized, you've been following me, the Holy Spirit has been with you, your minds have been open to understanding, but you have not yet been baptized with the Holy Spirit. That will happen not many days from now. Perhaps they still didn't understand. He never once told them, wait until Pentecost. You know, he didn't say, wait there for 10 days or however many days it was. Wait till Pentecost, that's when it's going to happen. You know, good for the disciples, good for the disciples that 120 of them were sitting there where they needed to be on the day of Pentecost, that they didn't decide to take a day off, or they were too tired, or they were afraid of something. They were all in one accord in one place. Imagine if one of them wasn't there on that day of Pentecost, and they would have missed out on the Holy Spirit being given to the church at that point, and the church beginning. Well, to their credit, they were all they were all there following what what God had said all in one accord in one place. Didn't know it was going to happen that day, but it did. Verse 6, Acts 1, therefore when they came together, they asked him saying, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? They still didn't get it. They got it. You know, it's like, okay, well now you've been here with us for 40 days. We get this. Is this the time that you're going to take over the kingdom? Physically, you're going to restore it? And he answers them the same thing he would tell us today. It's not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father has put in his own authority, but he's telling them you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, someplace that the Jews didn't really want to go, and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. It's going to be a worldwide work. I didn't come to die just for the Jews. I came to die for all mankind, and the church going forward will be comprised of Jews, yes, but people from every tongue, tribe, nationality, background, ethnicity, anyone that God calls, they will become one body. It's not just for the physical nation of Israel any longer. You shall receive, and you will take this message, the same commission that we have today, you will take it to the ends of the earth that everyone hears the truth in the gospel. And when he has spoken these things, while they watched, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight.

You can imagine, again, if we're there watching Jesus Christ ascend into heaven, and while they looked steadfastly toward heaven, as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel and said, men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who is taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw him go into heaven.

Well, indeed, what they said is exactly what Jesus Christ said the way he would return. We'll finish there at verse 11. Let's go back to Matthew 24, because it is all of that prophecy where they asked them, what will be the sign of the end of the age? What are the things that will happen at the end of the age? And Jesus Christ recounts those for us in Matthew 24 and the other gospels that relate these things as well.

And in verse 30 of Matthew 24, it says, the son, the sign, or then the sign of the son of man, will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. As you see him go up into heaven, so he will come down from heaven. Daniel 7, last verse for tonight, then we'll open it up for discussion. Daniel 7 verse 13. I was watching in the night visions, and behold, one like the son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He came to the ancients of days, and they brought him near before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and his kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed. That's the God we worship. That's the Jesus Christ, who is our captain, our forerunner, our mediator. That's Jesus Christ, our elder brother, who has paved the way and who we follow. So let me pause there for any discussion, comments, observations, anything at all. Mr. Shabey, I had a couple of observations going back. I think it's very interesting that two of them were walking together, and you know how everything has to be verified by two witnesses. Well, he had two witnesses right there to verify what was going on in the first place, which is very interesting, and I think it's really neat that. And also, part that struck me is when you're talking about how when Mary heard his voice, and then she got it, and then when he broke the bread, or you know, did that, then they got it, and how you're talking about how God can flip the switch in your mind in different ways. And to me, those are examples of how God flips the switch and opens our minds to understand something in a different way. And it could be one way could be completely different. It could be different for me, and then a completely different way for Robin, completely different for you, and for everybody else as well, because that shows that God knows us individually, and he knows what it takes to open our minds on an individual basis, because God the personal God, he knows us better than we know ourselves. That's just a couple of observations that I thought were pretty interesting there. But we know when we know, right? When that light bulb, when that light switch goes on, we know, we know that it's of God. Yeah, very good. Hi, Mr. Shavey. I'd like to share something. There was about this note on Theophilus. He was mentioned twice in Luke and in Acts. There's a Bible commentator in the 17th century. His name is John Bengo, and he put out some interesting idea or understanding. He said, Theophilus, when Luke was mentioned, wrote to him in Luke, he was called noble or excellent. That means that, according to the commentator, Theophilus was a high official in Alexandria. And then later on in Acts, he wrote to him again, but this time, I guess he retired, but Theophilus, and so he was in private life, so he did not address him as excellent and noble. But the implication on that is, Luke had given an orderly proof of the Bible to this very high official, so that this learned man from Alexandria knew exactly what Luke was up to, putting in order the acts of Christ and the acts of the apostles in writing, in the matter that this noble man, high official, would understand.

So that was an interesting thought, and I guess that's why today also it translates to us. There's a written record, well-ordered written record, that a lot of high officials know whether they understand it or not, but there is living proof left through the ages. And when we read Theophilus today, that is what the commentator was trying to imply. That was in the 1700s, and I think it's still true today. Go ahead. God graciously had Zephaniah say the same thing. He said, remember it reads most noble. And I looked at the Greek, and the Greek is cratistos, and it means a high official in the Roman society, and it's used three times for three individuals. Theophilus, Felix, and Festus. But when we hear Josephus talking about it, he may have been of the...

That's interesting. That's where the whole thing came from. So that may be a switchable thing by Josephus's part. So sometimes he's not part of the Bible. But yeah, so to compliment what Eldred said right here, when Zephaniah said that, I looked at it, and yeah, the high official in the Roman Senate, so forth. Whoever he was, we'll find out. But you know what?

God commissioned Luke, and he did the work, right? He went there, and he wrote down all the... he got the proof that he laid it out for him piece by piece. So that's... and it's there for us today.

There were many nobles that were called, even the House of Caesar.

You know, there are a lot of people in access, and people from the House of Caesar, God called a few of them. So some nobles were called. Not many, but some. Yeah, whether theophilus actually did anything with it, we don't know, right? We don't know that he actually converted, or did he just look at it and say, yeah, this is true, kind of like Nebuchadnezzar. Okay, that's God, and went on with his life. Who knows? So...

One more observation, if anybody's not going to say anything. Okay.

And it's regards to a verse that people sometimes get confused with, because of translators, and it's the part where it says, and it's been three days since these things happened.

If a person just reads it, they say, right, it's the first day of the week, that will be that, I mean, Christ rose on Sunday. But it's, they call it a... Greek scholars call it a idiomatic expression, and it should be translated. But as of today, the third day has already passed. Talking about him saying, I will be raised the third day. We didn't see it happen, did it really happen?

You're referring to Luke 24-21, where he says, this is the third day since these things happened?

And it should be, what did you say? That today... It's been three days since?

It has already been. It has already been three days? Yes. Okay. Because remember, he was raised on Sabbath evening.

Sunday, you're talking about three days, so you have to understand the threshold. Yes, yes, yes.

The Protestants take that and blow it out of the water. Yeah, exactly.

I see why that is probably, that is likely an inappropriate thing that went right by me. Yep. Today is the third day. Yeah, Mofatraz. Okay. Mofatraz. Sorry, Mofatraz. Mofatraz. Mofatraz. I'm going to circle that, because I'm going to make that note in my Bible, so good point. Okay. Okay, anything else? Anyone?

Okay, so next week we will continue in Acts 1, and we'll progress toward, through the church there.

There's an awful lot in Acts. There's an awful lot in Acts, and a lot of things we'll have to discuss. So we'll leave it there for tonight. Thank you all for joining. We will continue next week. I'll see some of you in Jacksonville this week, those of you in Orlando. While the rest of you will hopefully see back here next Wednesday. Remember Orlando, you're at one o'clock this week. Jacksonville, you're at 1130 this week. So, okay. Okay, good night, everyone. We will see you later.