Preparing for the Promise
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Preparing for the Promise
Acts 1:1-5
Acts 1:1-5
I love reading books. One of my favorite authors is Tom Clancy. His books grab my attention, and when I finish one, I look forward to the next. The same goes for Homer. I enjoy classic authors and their vivid imaginations. Luke has the same talent as these authors, but his writings are inspired by the Holy Spirit. They contain truths not only for the audience he was writing to but also for us today.
His first volume is called The Gospel of Luke. However, when he wrote it, both volumes were published and read together. The original title was “History of Christian Origins.” It wasn't until the middle of the second century A.D. that it was changed to “The Acts of the Apostles.” After the publication of John’s Gospel, the four canonical Gospels were collected into one volume and began circulating as the fourfold Gospels. Around the same time, another collection of Christian documents was also taking shape— the collection of Pauline Epistles. The Gospel and The Apostle, as they were called, make up the majority of the New Testament. But there would be a hiatus between these two collections were it not for the second volume of the History of Christian Origins (ACTS).
Who is Theophilus? Why did Luke write to him? First, the name Theophilus means in Greek ‘friend of God.’ Theo, meaning God, and philo, meaning friend. Theophilus seems to be a man of importance. Some believe he was one of the men who sat on the council for Paul’s trial. Luke was writing to educate and possibly even persuade Theophilus with these writings. Luke believed in presenting truths with facts that he researched.
Throughout our journey in this series, we explore the history of the church fathers—how they boldly lived for Christ and why they did so. We also examine how the Church was founded and the structure it was given. Additionally, we look at the purpose of the Church and the role of every believer within it. Most importantly, we discover what we need to do to grow our faith in Christ and in the Church.
The first five verses are the three criteria: Preparing for the Promise. The first criterion is believing in Jesus’ teachings. The second criterion is believing in His death, resurrection, and ascension. The last criterion is submitting to His authority.
Believing Jesus’ Teachings:
Believing Jesus’ Teachings:
Luke wrote to Theophilus to support his understanding and belief in Christ for Paul’s sake. In Luke’s first work, “The Gospel of Luke,” he provides an account of everything Jesus taught and did, including His miracles. Luke uses the Greek word for ‘began,’ “ἤρξατο” (from the root αρχο), meaning to start an action, process, or state of being. The Greek word for ‘to do’ is ποιέω, which means to do or to perform. We see this word used in Matthew 6:1. The Greek word for ‘teach’ is διδάσκειν, which means to inform, teach, impart knowledge, or instruct, as shown in Matthew 7:29.
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.
for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.
John MacArthur explains what Jesus did and taught this way. Jesus instructed His disciples through both actions and words. His miracles were meant to strengthen their faith; His parables aimed to clarify spiritual truths for them; His teachings were designed to shape their theology. He revealed to them the truths they would need to continue His work.
Luke states that Jesus did this until His ascension. Until that moment, Jesus was teaching and performing miracles. This helped strengthen the apostles’ belief in who Christ is. But His teaching did not stop there. The Promise (Holy Spirit) would continue His teachings in every believer.
Growing up, I would teach my children by explaining and demonstrating what I meant. For Brook, I could usually explain it to her and show her, and she would usually understand—the gist of what I meant. For Mady, I would do each step like with Brook, but then I would have her do it while I watched. She learned through practice.
What I taught them is what I learned from my dad, and what he taught me is what he learned from his grandpa and dad. These teachings started in Christ but were never meant to end there. They are meant to be passed down from believer to believer.
How much greater is Jesus than us? He wants to strengthen our faith in Him so we will live for Him as He has commanded. They and us were preparing for the Promise. Jesus knew that for some, He could simply explain; for others, He had to show; and for yet others, He needed to teach, demonstrate, and make them do it for the concept to sink in. But it was never meant to stop passing it on from generation to generation.
We see the disciples’ belief in Jesus through their actions; they lived by it. They were not just hearers of the Word, but doers as well, James 1:22.
But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.
To live out this principle of believing in His teachings, it should be evident in our own lives. God’s Kingdom revolves around Jesus Christ and His teachings. We see Christ throughout the scriptures from Genesis to Revelation. We either believe in His teachings or we don’t.
This leads to the second criterion of Preparing for the Promise: believing in His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension.
Believing in His death, Resurrection, and Ascension:
Believing in His death, Resurrection, and Ascension:
The final result of these appearances was that the apostles became completely convinced of their Lord’s physical resurrection. That confidence gave them the courage to preach the gospel to the very people who crucified Christ. The change in the apostles from fearful, hesitant skeptics to bold, powerful witnesses is strong evidence of the resurrection. ‘Alive’ comes from the Greek phrase “ζῶντα ζάω,” meaning to live, to come back to life, to live again. Jesus did not stay dead but came back to life to give us life in Him (Colossians 3:4; Galatians 2:20; John 11:25).
Have you ever noticed that this resurrection happened over a forty-day period? How important is that forty-day period? It rained for forty days and forty nights, but on day forty-one, God caused the heavens to close, as Genesis 7:4 describes. Moses spent forty years tending to his father-in-law's sheep, but in the forty-first year, God called him. Moses fasted for forty days and forty nights on Mount Sinai, but on day forty-one, God gave Moses the commandments, as seen in Exodus 34:28. Israel wandered in the desert for forty years, but at forty-one years, they crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land, as mentioned in Deuteronomy 8:2. When Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, He handed them over to the Philistines for forty years, but in year forty-one, the Lord rescued them. Elijah stayed in a cave on Mount Horeb for forty days and forty nights, and on the forty-first day, God spoke to Elijah, according to 1 Kings 19:8. Jesus fasted for forty days and forty nights, but on the forty-first day, He began His ministry.
“For after seven more days, I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights; and I will blot out from the face of the land every living thing that I have made.”
So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.
“And you shall remember all the way which Yahweh your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.
So he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God.
Forty days proved to them and everyone who saw Him that He was not a phantom. He also ate with them to strengthen their faith that He had risen. On the forty-first day, they are in the upper room, obeying Christ and waiting for the Promise to arrive.
I think about restoring cars when I was younger. I would look at this mangled wreck of what once was a muscle car and wonder what we were going to try and do. But long hours and tons of sweat, including hammering, bondo, and paint with some new parts, brought back their shine and glimmer. Most people, looking on Jesus with His body in a mangled state, found it unrecognizable to His own thoughts, wondering how He was ever coming back. They lost hope. But Jesus knew His mission, and when He was risen back to life, He wanted His disciples to have that shine and glimmer of light and hope that only comes from Him.
Paul wrote in detail about the order in which Christ showed Himself to His disciples, as recorded in 1 Corinthians 15:5-8. Jesus’ appearances after His resurrection include: 1. Mary Magdalene, Mark 16:9-11; 2. The other women at the tomb, Matthew 28:8-10; 3. Peter in Jerusalem, Luke 24:34; 4. The two travelers on the road, Mark 16:12-13; 5. Ten disciples behind closed doors, John 20:19-25; 6. All eleven disciples (including Thomas), John 20:26-31; 7. Seven disciples while fishing on the Sea of Galilee, Mark 16:15-18; 8. Eleven disciples on Mount Galilee, Matthew 28:16; 9. A crowd of 500, 1 Corinthians 15:6; 10. Jesus’ brother James, 1 Corinthians 15:7; 11. Those who watched Jesus ascend into heaven, Luke 24:50.
and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.
Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers and sisters at one time; most of them are still alive, but some have fallen asleep.
Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.
Last of all, as to one born at the wrong time, he also appeared to me.
I can believe in someone’s teachings but not believe in them. We, as followers of The Way (Christians), cannot say we believe in Christ and His teachings but not believe in the death, burial, resurrection, and ascension.
This leads us to our last criterion: Submitting to His Authority.
Submitting to His Authority:
Submitting to His Authority:
They believed in His teachings, death, burial, and resurrection, but they also submitted to His authority. Our children could believe in what we teach them and believe in all that we do. However, if they do not submit to your authority, they will not follow what we show them but will rebel against us. They could do the first two but not the last, and that cancels out the first two. Remember the parable of the two sons, where the father asks his two sons to work in the vineyard? Matthew 21:28-31. Who submitted to the father’s authority?
“But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in the vineyard.’
“And he answered, ‘I will not’; but afterward he regretted it and went.
“The man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered, ‘I will, sir’; but he did not go.
“Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you.
Can we ask ourselves a question? How many of us truly submit to Christ as the authority over us? Remember the parable we just read. One gave lip service, the other showed works. The first believed but did not submit to his father’s authority. That son nullified his lip service and was disobedient. The latter demonstrated his obedience through submitting to the father’s authority. Remember what James said about faith with or without works? James 2:14-17
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?
If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food,
and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?
So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
I have said many times that Jesus cannot be Savior without first being Lord over your life. Most people do not want to submit to His Lordship, so they ignore the Call of the Father. Children today are not submitting to their parents, and adults are not submitting to authority above them, which is why we're seeing certain outcomes in our society today. But for followers of THE WAY (Jesus), submitting to Him is not optional. Matthew 7:21-23
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
“Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, in Your name did we not prophesy, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name do many miracles?’
“And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’
Application:
Application:
1. How can we believe His teachings if we are not devoting ourselves to them?
2. If we do not believe that He died, was buried, raised from the grave, and ascended into heaven, we won’t believe anything He has commanded us. We are not saved without this belief. Romans 10:9.
that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
3. We can believe in the first two, but not submit to His authority; our faith is dead.
