WOW, through the four gospels in the New Testament and onward to the Acts of the Apostles…
Saint Luke, the author of the third Gospel, wrote also this history of the primitive Church. Opening with the story of the Ascension and Pentecost, this book records the important events of the early Church: the mass conversions after Pentecost; the persecution by Herod; the conversion of Saint Paul; his three missionary journeys; his arrest and final trip to Rome
Am I a witness of his resurrection? Are you?
I am excited to learn more about the disciples now turned apostles!
How can their example impact my heart through Christ and the rest of my life here and beyond too!
Saint Luke wrote and told us more about the times after the gospels… In the former book, O Theophilus, I spoke of it all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day he was taken up, after he had given commandments through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. To them also he showed himself alive after his passion by many proofs, during forty days appearing to them and speaking of the kingdom of God. And while eating with them, he charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, “of which you have heard,” said Jesus, “by my mouth: for John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days hence.”
Disciples: “Lord, wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom of Israel?”
Jesus: “It is not for you to know the times or dates which the Father has fixed by his own authority; but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you shall be witnesses for me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and even to the very ends of the earth.”
And when he had said this, he was lifted up before their eyes, and a cloud took him out of sight.
Two men in white garments: “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up to heaven? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven, shall come in the same way as you have seen him going up to heaven.”
Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey. And when they had entered the city, they mounted to the upper room where were staying Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James (the son of Alpheus), and Simon (the Zealot), and Jude (the brother of James, which one?)—numbered Eleven in total.
All these with one mind continued steadfastly in prayer with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.
In those days Peter stood up in the middle of the brethren (now the number of persons met together was about a hundred and twenty) and he said:
“Brethren, the Scripture must be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit declared before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who was guide of those who arrested Jesus; inasmuch as he had been numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry. And indeed bought a field with the price of his iniquity and, being hanged, burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out… became known to all the residents of Jerusalem… the Field of Blood… for it is written in the book of Psalms, ‘Let their habitation become desolate and let there be none to dwell in it.’
And, ‘His ministry let another take.’
Peter: “Therefore, of these men who have been in our company all the time that the Lord Jesus moved among us, from John’s baptism until the day that he was taken up from us, of these one must become a witness with us of his resurrection.”
And they put forth two: Joseph and Matthias. And they prayed and said:
“Thou, Lord, who knoweth the hearts of all, show which of these two thou hast chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas fell away to go to his own place.”
And they drew lots between them, and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
WOW, all this from 120 believers! Christ’s ascension but with the promise of The Holy Spirit. One hundred twenty believers with The Holy Spirit and the example of love left behind by Jesus and God’s Will and Power!
Matthias is the Twelfth Apostle!
Then The Holy Spirit came, and there was a spiritual awakening, and Peter stood up, rose to the occasion, and like Christ, used the occasion as the first biblical evangelical service to convert three-thousand souls:
And when the days of Pentecost were drawing to a close, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a violent wind blowing, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them parted tongues as of fire, which settled upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in foreign tongues, even as the Holy Spirit prompted them to speak.
Now there were staying at Jerusalem devout Jews from every nation under heaven. And when this sound was heard, the multitude gathered and were bewildered in mind, because each heard them speaking in his own language. But they were all amazed and marveled, saying:
“Behold, are not all these that are speaking Galileans? And how have we heard each his own language in which he was born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phyrgia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya about Cryene, and visitors from Rome. Jews also and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians, we have heard them speaking in their own language of the wonderful works of God.” (Counted total of 17 different peoples by location and languages spoken).
And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another:
“What does this mean?”
But others said in mockery:
“They are full of new wine.”
But Peter, standing up with the Eleven (why not twelve as Matthais had been added?), lifted up his voice and spoke out to them:
“Men of Judea and all you who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. These men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says the Lord, that I will pour forth of my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. And moreover upon my servants and upon my handmaids in those days will I pour forth of my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth beneath, blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the day the Lord comes, the great and manifest day. And it shall come to pass, that whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’”
“Men of Israel, hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth was a man approved by God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did through him in the midst of you, as you yourselves know. Him, when delivered up by the settled purpose and fore-knowledge of God, you have crucified and slain by the hands of wicked men. But God has raised him up, having loosed the sorrows of hell, because it was not possible that he should be held fast by it.”
“For David’s says with reference to him, ‘I saw the Lord before me always, because he is at my right hand, lest I be moved. This is why my heart has made merry and my tongue has rejoiced; moreover my flesh also will rest in hope, because thou wilt not abandon my soul to hell, neither wilt thou let thy Holy One undergo decay. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou wilt fill me with joy in thy presence.’”
“Brethren, Let me say to you freely of the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this very day.”
“Therefore, since he was a prophet and knew that God ‘had sworn to him an oath that of the fruit of his loins one should sit upon his throne,’ he, foreseeing it, spoke of the resurrection of Christ. For neither was he abandoned to hell, nor did his flesh undergo decay. This Jesus God has raised up, and we are all witnesses of it. Therefore, exalted by the right hand of God, and receiving from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured forth this Spirit which you see and hear. For David did not ascend into heaven, but he says himself, “The Lord said to my Lord: Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thy enemies thy footstool.’ Therefore, let all the house of Israel know most assuredly that God has made both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
Now on hearing this they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles:
“Brethren, what shall we do?”
Peter: “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For to you is the promise and to your children and to all who are far off, even to all whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”
And with very many other words Peter bore witness, and exhorted them, saying:
“Save yourselves from this perverse generation.”
Now they who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
And they continued steadfastly in the teaching of the apostles and in the communion of the breaking of the bread and in the prayers.
And fear came upon every soul; many wonders also and signs were done by means of the apostles in Jerusalem, and great fear came upon all.
And all who believed were together and held all things in common, and would sell their possessions and goods and distribute them among all according as anyone had need.
And continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread in their houses, they took their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and being in favor with all the people.
And day by day the Lord added to their company such as were to be saved.
To this day there are over two billion believers in Christ… which is meaningless unless you are one of them!
The Acts of the Apostles are to witness to Christ and to save your soul!
Day 108: Reading The Bible with a TROML Perspective; The Acts of the Apostles are to Witness to Christ and to Save Your Soul!
Read and inspired by the New Testament, The Acts of The Apostles Chapters 1-2.
Bible Notes:
Saint Luke, the author of the third Gospel, wrote also this history of the primitive Church. Opening with the story of the Ascension and Pentecost, this book records the important events of the early Church: the mass conversions after Pentecost; the persecution by Herod; the conversion of Saint Paul; his three missionary journeys; his arrest and final trip to Rome
Acts Chapter 1: Appearances of the risen Christ; Promise of the Holy Spirit; The Ascension; Return to Jerusalem; The fate of Judas; Need for a successor; Manner of his selection; Matthias chosen.
In the former book, O Theophilus, I spoke of it all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day he was taken up, after he had given commandments through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. To them also he showed himself alive after his passion by many proofs, during forty days appearing to them and speaking of the kingdom of God. And while eating with them, he charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, “of which you have heard,” said Jesus, “by my mouth: for John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days hence.”
Disciples: “Lord, wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom of Israel?”
Jesus: “It is not for you to know the times or dates which the Father has fixed by his own authority; but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you shall be witnesses for me in Jerusalem and in all Hudea and Samaria and even to the very ends of the earth.”
And when he had said this, he was lifted up before their eyes, and a cloud took him out of sight.
Two men in white garments: “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up to heaven? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven, shall come in the same way as you have seen him going up to heaven.”
Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey. And when they had entered the city, they mounted to the upper room where were staying Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James (the son of Alpheus), and Simon (the Zealot), and Jude (the brother of James, which one?)—numbered Eleven in total.
All these with one mind continued steadfastly in prayer with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.
In those days Peter stood up in the middle of the brethren (now the number of persons met together was about a hundred and twenty) and he said:
“Brethren, the Scripture must be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit declared before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who was guide of those who arrested Jesus; inasmuch as he had been numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry. And indeed bought a field with the price of his iniquity and, being hanged, burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out… became known to all the residents of Jerusalem… the Field of Blood… for it is written in the book of Psalms, ‘Let their habitation become desolate and let there be none to dwell in it.’
And, ‘His ministry let another take.’
Peter: “Therefore, of these men who have been in our company all the time that the Lord Jesus moved among us, from John’s baptism until the day that he was taken up from us, of these one must become a witness with us of his resurrection.”
And they put forth two: Joseph and Matthias. And they prayed and said:
“Thou, Lord, who knoweth the hearts of all, show which of these two thou hast chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas fell away to go to his own place.”
And they drew lots between them, and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
Wiki: “Theophilos”, as it appears therein, means friend of God or (be)loved by God or loving God in the Greek language.
Disciple—one of the 12 personal followers of Christ; one of the 70 followers sent forth by Christ. Luke 10:1 (72 in my Bible!); any other professed follower of Christ in His lifetime; any follower of Christ; (initial capital letter) a member of the Disciples of Christ; a person who is a pupil or an adherent of the doctrines of another; follower: a disciple of Freud.
Apostle—any of the early followers of Jesus who carried the Christian message into the world; (sometimes initial capital letter) any of the original 12 disciples called by Jesus to preach the gospel: Simon Peter, the brothers James and John, Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alpheus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot, Judas Iscariot; the first or the best-known Christian missionary in any region or country; Eastern Church. One of the 70 disciples of Jesus (72 in my Bible); he title of the highest ecclesiastical official in certain Protestant sects; (among the Jews of the Christian epoch) a title borne by persons sent on foreign missions; one of the 12 administrative officials of the Mormon Church.
Acts Chapter 2: Descent of the Holy Spirit; All nations understand; Peter’s discourse; Christ’s death and Resurrection; David’s prophecy of Resurrection; But David died and was buried; David’s prophecy concerned Christ; Three thousand converts after Peter’s sermon; Fervor of the early church.
And when the days of Pentecost were drawing to a close, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a violent wind blowing, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them parted tongues as of fire, which settled upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in foreign tongues, even as the Holy Spirit prompted them to speak.
Now there were staying at Jerusalem devout Jews from every nation under heaven. And when this sound was heard, the multitude gathered and were bewildered in mind, because each heard them speaking in his own language. But they were all amazed and marveled, saying:
“Behold, are not all these that are speaking Galileans? And how have we heard each his own language in which he was born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phyrgia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya about Cryene, and visitors from Rome. Jews also and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians, we have heard them speaking in their own language of the wonderful works of God.” (Counted total of 17 different peoples by location and languages spoken).
And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another:
“What does this mean?”
But others said in mockery:
“They are full of new wine.”
But peter, standing up with the Eleven (why not twelve as Matthais had been added?), lifted up his voice and spoke out to them:
“Men of Judea and all you who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. These men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says the Lord, that I will pour forth of my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. And moreover upon my servants and upon my handmaids in those days will I pour forth of my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth beneath, blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the day the Lord comes, the great and manifest day. And it shall come to pass, that whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’”
“Men of Israel, hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth was a man approved by God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did through him in the midst of you, as you yourselves know. Him, when delivered up by the settled purpose and fore-knowledge of God, you have crucified and slain by the hands of wicked men. But God has raised him up, having loosed the sorrows of hell, because it was not possible that he should be held fast by it.”
“For David’s says with reference to him, ‘I saw the Lord before me always, because he is at my right hand, lest I be moved. This is why my heart has made merry and my tongue has rejoiced; moreover my flesh also will rest in hope, because thou wilt not abandon my soul to hell, neither wilt thou let thy Holy One undergo decay. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou wilt fill me with joy in thy presence.’”
“Brethren, Let me say to you freely of the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this very day.”
“Therefore, since he was a prophet and knew that God ‘had sworn to him an oath that of the fruit of his loins one should sit upon his throne,’ he, foreseeing it, spoke of the resurrection of Christ. For neither was he abandoned to hell, nor did his flesh undergo decay. This Jesus God has raised up, and we are all witnesses of it. Therefore, exalted by the right hand of God, and receiving from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured forth this Spirit which you see and hear. For David did not ascend into heaven, but he says himself, “The Lord said to my Lord: Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thy enemies thy footstool.’ Therefore, let all the house of Israel know most assuredly that God has made both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
Now on hearing this they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles:
“Brethren, what shall we do?”
Peter: “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For to you is the promise and to your children and to all who are far off, even to all whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”
And with very many other words Peter bore witness, and exhorted them, saying:
“Save yourselves from this perverse generation.”
Now they who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
And they continued steadfastly in the teaching of the apostles and in the communion of the breaking of the bread and in the prayers.
And fear came upon every soul; many wonders also and signs were done by means of the apostles in Jerusalem, and great fear came upon all.
And all who believed were together and held all things in common, and would sell their possessions and goods and distribute them among all according as anyone had need.
And continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread in their houses, they took their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and being in favor with all the people.
And day by day the Lord added to their company such as were to be saved.
Wiki: “As of 2010, Christianity was by far the world’s largest religion, with an estimated 2.2 billion adherents, nearly a third (31 percent) of all 6.9 billion people on Earth.
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