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LESSON 2
"SETTING THE
SCENE!"
ACTS 1:1-26
Introduction
We begin this study with a brief introduction to The Book of Acts,
examining the date of writing, the authorship, and the purpose and
theology of the author.
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1. |
The Date of
Writing: It is the consensus of many that the best
date for the writing of Acts would be shortly after the writing
of The Gospel of Luke, since Luke and Acts are tied together by
two interesting literary devices or formulae (Lk 1:1-4 and Acts
1:1-5, and the common addressee, Theophilus. Read these
two paragraphs carefully). A date sometime between AD 65
and 70 seems the most likely. |
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2. |
The Author:
Although the author does not identify himself, most scholars are
comfortable accepting Luke, the physician and companion of Paul
as the author. |
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3. |
Purpose of Theology
of the author and The Book of Acts: |
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a. |
Since Acts is so
closely associated with The Gospel of Luke, it is best to see
Acts as a sequel to the Gospel message. Luke's Gospel was
written with a Gentile audience in mind. It seems best to
see Acts as an explanation of how the Gospel message was taken
to and received by the Gentile world. We will notice
shortly that Jesus had instructed his Apostles to be his
witnesses (a synonym for the messengers who would be able to
witness to his ministry leading up to his death, burial, and
resurrection, and saving power) beginning in Jerusalem, then in
Judea, Samaria, and to the end of the earth (the whole
world). The purpose of Acts, then, must include the spread
of the Gospel message to the Gentiles throughout the world, even
ultimately to the "capital of the world", Rome. |
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b. |
Another purpose for
Acts should include an explanation that Christianity is no real
threat to the Roman Emperor or Empire. At the end of Acts
Paul is in Rome under house arrest in his own house, but with
the freedom to preach and teach, even in Rome! |
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c. |
A third reason for the
writing of Acts would be to explain what the Gospel message is
in practical terms, and how it was received by many, even by
Saul of Tarsus who early in Acts is the enemy of Christ and
whose purpose was to stamp out Christianity. Luke explains
how Saul was converted and became Paul, the great Apostle to the
Gentiles. In acts we see Jews Greeks and Romans all
becoming Christians the same way according to the same
Gospel. Acts demonstrates the universal message of the
Christian faith. |
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d. |
A fourth reason for
Acts could be to explain the role of the Holy Spirit in God's
plan. We will notice some interesting statements regarding
the role of the Holy Spirit in Acts! |
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e. |
Some have suggested
that one of Luke's purposes was to explain why Jesus did not
return immediately. The Gospel message needed to be taken
into all the world and disciples made among all nations (Mk
16:15, 16; Matt 28:18-20). |
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f. |
Another purpose would
be to demonstrate the purpose and mission of the church, which
was to take the Gospel message to all nations, not only to the
Jews. In this we will learn that the same Gospel saves
both Jew and Gentile in exactly the same way. No changes
were permitted to the Gospel preached by the Apostles!
Read Acts 14:24-15:35 regarding the significant discussion by
the Apostles, Elders, and church in Jerusalem. |
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4. |
Jesus'
Instructions to the Apostles |
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Wait
in Jerusalem |
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a. |
Read
Acts 1:1-5 carefully |
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b. |
Jesus
appeared many times to the Apostles whom he had chosen,
instructing them on issues relating to the kingdom of
God. They obviously anticipated the imminent
arrival of the kingdom of God in a special manner
(notice Acts 1:6). |
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c. |
Their
instructions were to wait in Jerusalem for the coming
promised Holy Spirit. Obviously the coming of the
kingdom anticipated by the Apostles was related in some
way to the pouring out of the Holy Spirit. |
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d. |
At
the baptism of Jesus and the beginning of Jesus'
messianic ministry John the Baptist had said that Jesus
would baptize with the Holy Spirit. The beginning
of Jesus' ministry was accompanied by the pouring out of
the Holy Spirit on Jesus. The beginning of the
Apostles' ministry was to be accompanied by the pouring
out of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit must,
therefore, have something to do with the redemptive
ministry of Jesus and the Apostles. We will learn
about this in the next lesson. At this point we
merely wish to point out the essential and increasing
involvement of the Holy Spirit in the plan of salvation
God had determined for Jesus, the Apostles, and the
church. |
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5.
Jesus' Ascension |
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| a. |
Read
Acts 1:1-3 |
| b. |
Obviously
the Apostles anticipated some form of arrival of the kingdom of God, and that it would break in in an unusual
manner. Jesus had given considerable instruction
regarding the coming and nature of the kingdom. |
| c. |
Jesus had instructed
the Apostles to wait on God's introduction of the
kingdom, for it is only God who can initiate and bring
in his kingdom. After all, it is God's kingdom! |
| d. |
The coming of
the Holy Spirit in an unusual manner would be the sign
of the breaking in of the kingdom, but the Apostles were
to wait patiently for God's action. |
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When God gave
the sign for the breaking in of the kingdom by pouring
out his Holy Spirit, the Apostles were to begin witnessing
to Jesus death, burial, and resurrection (note the
Apostles were Jesus' witnesses, not God's witnesses or
Jehovah's witnesses). They were to begin this
witnessing in Jerusalem, then to spread out into Judea,
Samaria, and to the end of the earth. |
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The pouring
out of the Holy Spirit would be the sign of the breaking
in of the kingdom, and for the beginning of the
Apostles' ministry of witnessing to the whole world. |
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After giving
his instructions, Jesus ascended into heaven. He
was gone! The ministry of the Word or Gospel was
now that of the Apostles and soon to become that of the
church. But Jesus is to come again! However,
before he comes again the Apostles and church must take
the Gospel to all nations and to the whole world!
In Acts we see the beginning of this world wide ministry
of witnessing to Jesus. It was one of Luke's
purposes to explain the on-going ministry of preaching
the Gospel to the whole world. |
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6.
The
Apostles Return to Jerusalem and Wait for the Holy Spirit |
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a. |
Read
Acts 1:15-26 |
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b. |
Luke
lists the names of the 11 Apostles. Judas is dead! |
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Besides
the Apostles, there were also a number of other disciples
present (Acts 1:15 says at least 120 disciples present, among
them some women and the mother of Jesus. Jesus' brothers
were also present). |
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Following
the leadership of Peter who reminded the group (120 plus) of a
scripture that was fulfilled in the death of Judas, after
invoking the Holy Spirit and engaging in prayer, the group
selected Matthias as a replacement of Judas. Matthias was
numbered among the twelve Apostles. |
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The
conditions set by Peter for the selection of an Apostles
included having been with Jesus from the beginning of his
ministry and baptism by John, and covering that ministry until
the ascension of Jesus. This would include being witness
to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. |
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d. |
7.
Major
Lessons to Learn from this Chapter. |
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a. |
The
Apostles of Jesus were to witness (preach and teach) beginning
in Jerusalem and then spreading out through Judea and Samaria,
eventually to reach the ends of the earth. Theirs was to
be a world-wide mission to include both Jew and Gentile. |
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b. |
The
Apostles were to wait for a signal from God, namely, the pouring
out of the Holy Spirit. |
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c. |
The
kingdom of God would break into human experience in an unusual
manner with the pouring out of the Holy Spirit. |
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d. |
The
preaching of the Apostolic message regarding Jesus death,
burial, and resurrection, and the breaking in of the kingdom of
God, both were to be related in a striking manner with the
pouring out of the Holy Spirit. |
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e. |
Jesus
appeared to the disciples on many occasions after his
resurrection as he taught them of the nature and coming of the
kingdom. |
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f. |
The
resurrected Jesus would return again. |
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g. |
Someone
needed to take the place of Judas' Apostleship since he had
betrayed Jesus and had died. |
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h. |
The
conditions or qualities necessary for Apostleship were that the
one chosen to take Judas' place had to have been with Jesus from
his baptism by John, throughout Jesus' ministry, and witness to
Jesus' resurrection. |
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Summary and
Discussion
1) What relationship does the Gospel of Luke have with
Acts? How do we arrive
at this conclusion?
2) Whom do we assume wrote Luke-Acts?
3) When do we assume that Luke wrote Acts? Where or
how does the narrative
in Acts end?
4) Discuss some of the reasons Luke may have had in
writing Acts.
5) In Acts 1:1-5, what did Jesus tell the apostles to do?
6) In Acts 1:8, what did Jesus tell the apostles to do?
7) What was the pouring out of the Holy Spirit to
indicate?
8) What was Luke's purpose in recording Jesus' instruction
in Acts 1:8?
9) What were the "qualifications" Peter gave for
the selection of a replacement for
Judas?
10) What major lessons can we learn from this chapter?
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