Amen. Acts chapter 1 verses 1,
2, 3, and 4, and we may get to verse 3 today. I'm hoping that
we do, as we have already done several weeks of laying out a
basic introduction to the book of Acts. I want to encourage
you that as you listen to the study, as we start going through
the book, I'm going to be moving faster than I did over the last
several weeks, because I really do want to at least get three
quarters through the book by next year this time. So we are
going to be moving until we come to some difficult territory where
we actually have to slow down. But if you see me picking up
speed, follow the principle, get the CD, listen to it 10 times. and the points that you miss
by virtue of human weakness and the fact that it's 8.30 at night
and you got issues on your heart and mind that don't allow you
to give 100% attention to the study, go back and listen to
it. But ask God, as we're getting
ready to get into this, to make you a person who loves God's
word. Ask God to help you to be that,
a person who loves God's word. If that can occur in your life,
God will let you in on the secret things of His will and His covenant
and His purpose. You'll experience a greater satisfaction
in your walk with the Lord. Acts chapter 1, verses 1 through
4, and then we'll back up and deal with the points latent in
our outline. The former treaties have I made,
O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and to teach,
until the day in which He was taken up after that he, through
the Holy Ghost, had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had
chosen, to whom also he showed himself alive after his passion
by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, speaking
of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God, and being assembled
together with them commanded them that they should not depart
from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the father, which
said he, you have heard of me. Thus is the reading of God's
word. The first thing I want to call your attention to is
the book of Acts should be understood by every believer in this study
as the account of our practice. The account of our practice. The word acts means practice. The Greek term praxis is a verb
that means to repeat a process over and over and over and over
again. The literal phraseology is the
praxis of the holy apostles. That was the final title given
to the book of Acts under which there was some controversy as
to how it should be titled. As I shared with you in our opening
studies, the book of Acts and the book of Luke is a combined
series. Only the book of Acts was affirmed
in his title several decades after the book of Luke. And they
finally, the church finally reckoned with after the internal evidence
demanded it, that the book of Acts in terms of its historiography,
in terms of its Purpose for instructing you as to what occurred is a
series of practices engaged by the church Modeled by the Apostles
transferred by Jesus Christ So when we use the term the acts
what we are talking about is the practice I got that The practice
like everyone who possesses a particular discipline or field of experience
as they engage in that discipline or field of experience, they
are a practitioner of that field. Is that true? That's what this
is. This is totally what the book
of acts is about. what it means to practice your
calling. And it's going to be critical
to our church to understand that because we get a chance to determine
whether or not we are following the model laid out in the book
of Acts. And as we go verse by verse,
exegetically developing the text, you'll see how critically important
it is for our mind to be apprehended by this truth. We are called
to practice who we are in Christ. That's what the book of acts
is about. So Daniel chapter 11, the book of Daniel chapter 11,
and you, you see this in the top of your outline, Daniel chapter
11, verse 32 through 35 speaks to us about the time in which
the, uh, The early church would suffer persecution, the early
Hebrew people, 500 years before Messiah came, during the time
of what is called the Maccabean period. They suffered persecution
by what is called a pre-incarnate Antichrist person, Antiochus
Epiphanes. He was a Syrian out of the Alexandrian
Quaternium and ultimately he started persecuting the church
and destroying the church and desecrating the temple and there
was a group of believers who rejected his attempt to destroy
the temple and they were called the Maccabeans. And what Daniel
says in Daniel chapter 11, which is very important for you and
I, this is a carryover prophetic statement that really is worth
our recognition. And it goes like this in Daniel
chapter 11, verse 32, uh, through 35, listen to these words and
such as do wickedly against the covenant. You can use, you can
understand that term covenant in relationship to the gospel
shall, shall he corrupt by flatteries and such as disrespect the gospel,
shall the wicked one corrupt by flatteries. Now watch this,
ladies and gentlemen, but this is what we call a contrasting
what? Conjunction. But to the opposite, watch this,
the people that do know their God shall be what? Watch this,
and they shall do what? It's very important for you to
get that because we get ready to unpack that in the opening of
our text. What Daniel under inspiration of the Holy Ghost does is he
tells us that during tribulation, when the church is under assault
by the enemy, by the wicked one, there are flatteries that enter
into the church with the objective of corrupting the gospel. This
has happened in the church age ever since its inception. Both
the Jewish church and the New Testament church have experienced
the infiltration of false prophets and false teachers with the objective
of corrupting the true gospel. You guys know this. False brethren
creeping in unawares, Paul says in Galatians. Jude says they
privately enter in bringing damnable doctrines. Peter said the same
thing in second Peter. And this becomes an opportunity
when these kinds of assaults on the church occurs for God
to separate the true believer from the false believer. This
is second Corinthians chapter 11. When Paul was dealing with
the heresies that entered into the Corinthian church, you know
what he said in second Corinthians chapter 11 heresies must be among
you in order for God to make manifest those who are approved
as second Corinthians 11 19. So notice what it says in such
as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries,
but the people that do know their what shall be what and do exploits
a knowledge of God avails them to the strength necessary for
them to do what God has called them to do, even in the face
of assault and attack. Thus, Acts chapter one, verse
one. Listen to what the writer says.
The former treaties have I made, O Theopolis, of all that Jesus
began both to do and to teach. We must unpack this verse in
two parts. First point, Jesus Christ is
the subject for Theophilus. Jesus Christ is the subject for
Theophilus. I would have you to back up and
consider as a Privileged third person as you read verse one
of the book of Acts to recognize that Theophilus has a personal
tutor a personal teacher a personal paraclete teaching him about
Jesus Christ Theophilus is highly privileged in that he has a personal
tutor, a personal teacher, a personal didoskelon teacher, master, tutoring
him about Jesus Christ. Do I have to say that a third
time? The Lord Jesus Christ has plainly told you and I that we
shall all be taught of God. Everyone that comes to the Father,
comes to the Son is taught of God. If you will, Theophilus
is in a very privileged situation because he models for us one
of the covenant promises that God made. And that's this, they
shall all know me from the least to the greatest. And they won't
be asking their neighbor saying, come let's know the Lord for
they shall know me every one of them personally from the least
to the greatest of them. And if you mark the name Theophilus,
what you understand is that that name, when it's broken down,
is understood in two parts. Theos is the Greek term for what?
God. Y'all know that, right? Theos.
Phileo is the Greek term for what? Love. Deep and profound,
affectionate love. You know what that means? That
Theophilus really, by definition, is nothing other than a lover
of God. A lover of God. Now I want you
to grasp it now as the text opens up. Luke has been compelled by
God to give a full expose in teaching to one man whose name
is Theophilus. Theophilus has the privilege
of sitting under the physician who has the qualifications to
lay out the gospel of the person in work to him in a very precise
manner by which he will come to know God and the gospel of
God in a most certain fashion. Thus in your outline, Jesus Christ
is the subject for Theophilus, who is a lover of God, i.e.,
all believers love God. All believers love God. We are in our PowerPoint. If
you guys don't have our PowerPoint, then that's understandable. All
believers love God. So let's work with that proposition
for a moment. Is it possible to be a believer
in Jesus Christ and not love him? Is it possible in your experience
that you would meet people for whom it would be questionable
that they love God, even though they say they know him? What
a contradiction in terms! And yet, what I'm getting at
is, it should be a very clear a priori assumption on the part
of a Christian that when you meet another Christian, what
you are meeting is a Theophilus. You are meeting a person who
is a lover of God. Well, how come it's not the Greek
term agapeos? Well, because the Greek term
agapeos does not carry the relational connotation of love that phileo
does. Agapeo carries the greater responsibility
and covenant obligation that is described in Christ dying
for our sins, a person laying down his life for his neighbor,
but Phileo deals with the affection that one person has towards another
as if they are family members. Thus the gospel of John chapter
five, Jesus says this, the father loveth the son. And the son loveth
the father. I've argued many times that when
you make the distinction between Greek terms in the area of love,
agapeos, eros, aristes, and the Greek term phileo, do not subordinate
those terms as if there is a hierarchy of quality. There is a distinction
of quality, but not a hierarchy. Are y'all following what I'm
saying? There's a distinction of quality because the words
mean things distinct than the other. But don't fail to comprehend
the beauty of phileo because the term phileos actually has
to do with relational love. It goes deep into the affection
of the person with whom you have relationship. And by the way,
I would say this, you and I cannot have a functional relationship
with God where we don't have a sense of emotional and psychological
commitment to Him. If it's merely on a business
level, on a more objective level, then we are going to struggle
with our God because what is required for a person to enjoy
another person is a psychological and an emotional attachment to
them. Am I making some sense? This is why God sent his darling
son into the world to bridge the gap between a God who by
nature is transcendent and unreachable in order for human beings who
are fully sensory oriented people to have a real viable, tangible
relationship with God by the Holy Ghost the person of the
Lord Jesus Christ. So what Romans chapter 5 says
is this, that God has poured into the heart, that's Romans
5 verse 5 and 6, the love of God, he has shared it abroad
in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. Y'all remember that text? Now
this is the reward of the relationship that occurs when God brings you
into union with God through faith in Jesus Christ. You know what
he does? He pours his love into your heart. He pours his love
into your heart. The Holy Ghost sheds the love
of God into your heart so that you love God naturally. Is that true? Before you and
I were born again, if you were born again, you didn't love God.
You didn't even know God. Because see, to love him is to
know him. This is why the knowledge factor is critical in our text.
But once you came to know God, didn't you come to love God?
because the same God that revealed himself to you by the Holy Ghost
is also pouring into your heart the love of God by which there
can be a real relational dynamic between you and God. Now this
is the struggle with people who merely obtain a basic objective
knowledge of God and it's not really rooted in saving faith.
When it's rooted in saving faith, there's a real dynamic of love
towards God. Is that true? A real dynamic
of love towards God. And this is where in the scriptures
the analogy of the husband and the wife comes in. Three covenants,
right? Father-son covenant, king-servant covenant, and then what? Husband-wife
covenant. And love doesn't get any more
powerful than a husband and a wife. Is that true? This is where we
almost get almost crossed the line over into the profundity
of intimacy between the husband and the wife When we're talking
about the relationship between Christ in the church and the
believer in Christ And I'm here to tell you the job of the Holy
Spirit is to through a knowledge of God bring you into an affectionate
love for Christ That brings about satisfaction in your soul when
you say, you know him And in fact, that kind of filet-os is
designed by virtue of the presence of Christ in the person of the
spirit of God to move you and I out into acts of obedience. Am I making some sense? In other
words, I am not going to practice. I am not going to practice what
God has called me to do unless the practice is premised by what? Because faith only works by what?
Y'all know that by now, don't you? So then this is where we
are going to enjoy the study. So I want the lens of our perspective
to narrow in on first and foremost, two people. You ready? Luke and
Theophilus. And they are having a conversation.
About the greatest subject on planet earth and that's the lord
jesus christ now when we broaden the lens out We can see that
luke and theophilus serve as a model for us and christ By
means of the spirit of god. Here's the proposition then all
believers love god That love is poured poured into our hearts
by the holy ghost. It's commanded in the law It's
commanded in the law, isn't it? I'm going to drive this home
so you can think I can rush past it if you want to, but I'm going
to drive this home. God doesn't command anybody else
in the world to love him, but his people. I'm going to drive
this home because there is no proper relationship with the
true and the living God that is not predicated upon or based
upon love. Every time God reveals himself
to his people, to his chosen, to those he calls, and the moment
he says to you, obey me, you know what he is already presuming?
A relationship based upon what? You better know that. If you
love me, what? That's right. And so when God
tells you to obey him, he's already saying that I have established
with you a love relationship The motive for which I'm asking
you to do what you do is because I have entered into a love relationship
It's called a covenant with you that you might be blessed by
Our relationship together. And so I want you to think this
through the proposition all believers Love God is commanded in the
law, but it's also imparted in conversion It's commanded in
the law imparted in conversion go with me in your Bibles the
Hebrews chapter 18. I want you to see this Hebrews
chapter 8 I'm using Hebrews 8 because Hebrews 8 is the closest text,
but it's all through the Old Testament, too. I remember Years
ago hearing a teacher say this When you read the Ten Commandments
nowhere, do you read in the Ten Commandments? I where God calls
upon the people of God to love him. Well, that's, that's a very
shallow understanding of Exodus chapter 20 verses one through
19, because the whole premise upon which God is giving those
precepts is in order to express the character and nature of the
love already established. Am I making some sense? the whole
character of it. And yet what happens is, if a
person is going to make that statement, then they're going
to have to fight against everything that comes in the book of Exodus,
Numbers, Deuteronomy, Leviticus, where God plainly says, you shall
love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
You shall love the Lord your God. You shall love the Lord
your God. You shall love the Lord your
God. Sound like God wants you to love
him, doesn't he? Because he does. Because he does because you were
made to love God You were made to love God God created you to
love him But as thankfulness is a revelation soul Love is
a revelation As thankfulness is a revelation love is a revelation
So I want to work this a few more minutes. Is that okay? like
You may think that it's unfair for God to say to you and I just
love him just why I love you God because I'm God Well, if
you understood what was meant by the phrase because I'm God
you would understand that a revelation of God would provoke in you a
love for God Because he is so glorious in his person that to
see him is to love him. He is presuming that he is the
most lovable thing in the universe. And thus he has a right to simply
tell you, love me, love me. Love me. See, what I'm trying
to do with my brothers and sisters that are in class tonight is
help you get out of the fog of this very narcissistic, humanistic
ideology in our present culture that you are the foundation of
love. You are the point of interest.
God made us so that we might know that he's the point of interest.
And that the greatest and happiest life that a man or woman can
have is a life where God has revealed himself to them a saving
relational way by which they can naturally enjoy a love relation
between them and God you're gonna have the highest quality of life
where you become a lover of God Hebrews chapter 8 verse 10 listen
to this are you there for this is the covenant that I will make
with the house of Israel after those days said the Lord I will
put my laws into their what is that an act of love and I will
write them in their hearts." Is that an act of love? Now stop
right there. You see what God did? He told you to love Him and then
He qualified you to love Him. Because see, we understand that
on a functional level, when you love someone, it means you do
them well, you do them good. Because love never works ill
towards his neighbor. Is that true? Love never... Don't
tell me you love me and you beat me down and you're ripping me
off and you're stealing from me, you're lying about me, you're
slandering me. No such definition of love exists
anywhere in God's universe. But notice what God does for
you and I. God says, love me and then He changes your heart.
and pours into your heart a disposition to love him. He makes it easy,
doesn't it? He said, love me. Here, let me
help you do that. Here, let me help you love me.
So this is what I meant by a revelation. This is what I meant by a revelation.
There's a day when you did not love God. And then there was
a day when you did, and that was a revelation. You didn't
earn it, you didn't work for it, you didn't pay for it, you
didn't negotiate for it. Just one day you realize you
love God. You love God. I'll put it in
their minds and I'll put it in their hearts and I will be to
them a God and they shall be to me what? This is what is meant
back in Daniel 11, and they shall do exploits. Go with me back
to our text. Let's continue working. Acts
chapter 1. You can read the rest of the points on your own in
your outline. All believers love God. Every believer is a Theophilus. Point number B, in your text,
believers are taught personally of God. Believers are taught
personally of God. That's God's promise, John 6,
45. I quoted it. And they shall all be taught
of God. Everyone, therefore, that has heard and learned of the
Father comes to me, Jesus said. Now watch this, ladies and gentlemen.
When you meet a person who says they are a believer, you can
assume two things. They love God and they are what?
Taught personally of God. And if they're accurately taught
of God, watch this. If they're accurately taught
of God, God teaches them in a manner that brings them to Jesus Christ.
When you are brought to Jesus Christ and you see him for who
he is, as Theophilus is about to experience in his tutelage
under Luke. When you see him for who he is,
you will also know God in the truth because Christ is the revelation
of the invisible God, right? And that's the goal of God. God
would have us to know him, but God would have us to know him
in his son, Jesus Christ. This is John 6, 45, 1 John chapter
2, 27. You remember what that text says,
and you have an unction, right? the Greek term Haggaiosmos, an
anointing. And that anointing teaches you
everything that you need to know. It is the personal abiding presence
of the Holy Ghost. And it goes on to say, so that
you need not that any man teach you, watch this, how to love
God. Like another person can't teach
you how to love somebody. You got that? See, he teaches
you all things. What is he teaching you? How
to love God. That's what the Holy Ghost is
doing. He's teaching us how to love God. First John chapter
226. But the anointing which you have
received of him abides in you, and you need not that any man
teach you, but the same anointing teaches you of all things, and
is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, you
shall abide in him. Why am I saying he teaches you
how to love? Because I quoted Romans 5, verse 5 and 6. that
the Holy Ghost has shed abroad in your heart the love of God.
Effectively, Christian doctrine amounts to this, a revelation
of the love of God in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ for
you, making such an impact in your life that you respond in
kind. Christian doctrine amounts to
this, The work of the Holy Ghost is to reveal to you and I the
person and work of Jesus Christ, which is summed up according
to first John chapter five as the love of God. Is Christ the
love of God to you? Then what will happen is that
love poured into your heart by the ministry of the Holy Ghost
will in turn prompt in you a love towards Christ. This is what
we call the kind begets kind principle. This is the kind begets
kind principle. It's the love of Christ poured
in your heart. It causes you to love him back and it causes
you to love him back the same way he loved you. Got that? This is why as we go through
the book of Acts, what you are going to understand is that the
book of Acts with regards to the church is merely an extension
of Jesus Christ and the earth doing what Christ did when he
was here for 30 odd years. Y'all got that? What we are seeing
are going to see in the book of Acts is simply a perpetuation
of the precise ministry that Christ himself engaged in until
he was taken away. I want you guys to get that.
So the next point in our outline is Luke is a type of the spirit
of God. Theophilus is a type of all believers. Does that follow for you guys?
Yes, it does. And when the spirit of truth
has come, he shall do three things. He shall teach you. That's John
14. He shall guide you, that's John
15, and he shall show you, that's John 16. When the spirit of truth
has come, whom I will send to you from the Father, he will
teach you, John 14. He will guide you, John 15, and
he will show you. Remember, we learned this about
a month or so ago in 1 John, teach, guide, show. That's a
comprehensive knowledge of your Savior. That's the ministry of
the Holy Ghost. He will teach, guide, and show. Now, watch how
profound this aspect of what I'm trying to get across in verse
1 of Acts chapter 1 is in Luke's gospel. Luke chapter 1. I just
want you to see one more set of statements in Luke chapter
1. I told you when we were going through the overview of the book
of Acts, that Luke's gospel and the book of Acts are really co-joined
accounts, and Acts chapter 1 verse 1 sort of explains that, but
Luke 1 verse 1 describes it in detail, verses 1 through 4. For
as much as many have taken in hand to set in order a declaration
of those things which are most surely believed among us, even
as they deliver them unto us, and Luke now is talking about
men and women who were witnessing to Christ, but specifically the
apostles and other writers who were delivering or declaring
orally through tradition, or in some cases writing the testimony
of Jesus Christ, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses and
ministers of the word, there it is, it seemed good to me also
having had, now listen to what he says, perfect understanding
of all things from the very first. Can y'all see that phraseology?
Okay, stop for a moment. Luke is either exaggerating by
using such hyperbole with regards to his personal capacity to fully
understand all things from the start, or he was admitting that
he was under the guidance and unction of the Spirit of God.
so that he was qualified to tell the truth, the whole truth and
nothing but the truth. Y'all got that? And the latter
is true. While Luke was a physician and
while Luke was a learned man, and he was, he wasn't so learned
that he could state that intrinsically by his own capacity, he could
explain everything in detail from the birth of Christ to the
death of Christ. That would be ludicrous. But
now if Luke is under guidance of the Holy Ghost, who is himself
omniscient, the Spirit of God could speak through Luke and
say through Luke that what Luke is about to write is truthful,
is faithful, and is edifying. Here's what Luke says, It seemed
good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from
the very first, to write unto thee in order most excellent
what? He uses an adjective here. The
word is most excellent. Do you see that? Now, I'm just
gonna touch on that for a moment. The reason I had you to go to
Daniel chapter 11, and you and I read Daniel 11, 35, where it
says, and the people that do know their God, their God shall
be what? Strong and do what? Exploits. You see the word excellent
there? That word excellent, most excellent
is a title or a phrase for a dignitary. Most excellent. However, the
term most excellent in its Greek origin is rooted in a word that's
translated Kratos. And you know what Kratos means?
Power. Might. Watch this. Authority. Majesty. So now, not only is Theophilus
a lover of God, but he's a dignitary with might. and power, and authority,
and majesty. He's a person of position and
of rank in the Greek culture. And that's exactly right. For
the same phrase is used of Festus and Felix in the book of Acts,
where Paul spoke of Felix, he said, O most noble Felix, Acts
chapter 23. O most noble, most excellent,
Festus it was a title given to people who had a position of
what? Authority they had a position
of power. They had a position of Majesty
and may I assert that with regards to every Christian believer it
is true whether you recognize it or not that you have a position
of authority a position of power a position of majesty a position
of rule. Kratos is the Greek term. Kratos,
be strong. Isn't that what Daniel chapter
11, 35 said? And the people that know their
God shall be what? They shall be strong. They shall operate
in their authority. They shall operate in their majesty. They shall operate according
to the power invested in them. They will walk in the might wherewith
God has made them strong. Be strong in the Lord and the
what? Of his what? in the power of his might, in
the authority of his Kratos. Be strong in the Lord and in
the authority of his creatures. So I'm extracting from this personal
conversation between Luke and Theophilus certain attributes
that I see are transferable to the believer. And I don't think
that this is a stretch of the imagination. This is the context.
Luke is writing to Theophilus. The Spirit of God is writing
to us in the book of Acts. Let's go back now and work through
our subsequent points. So if you have bought into the
proposition that every believer is taught of God, every believer
is a lover of God, every believer wants an authority, possesses
a position of dignity and majesty, you are, after all, seated in
heavenly places in Christ Jesus, you are, after all, kings and
priests of God, you are, after all, sons and daughters of God,
is that true? And therefore, the knowledge
that you possess is an eminently more majestic and profoundly
important knowledge than all the knowledge in the universe.
Do you accept that proposition? Now, listen to me, child of God.
If you don't, you are failing to comprehend the high calling
that God has brought you into in the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And I thank God for the way he opens up the book of Acts.
I thank him for this application because it makes sense to me
that God has been pleased to Reveal his covenant to us again. Psalm 25 14 The secret of the
Lord is with them that fear him and he will show them his covenant. Not everybody knows God You do
know that right not everybody loves God You do know that right
not everybody is taught of God You do know that, right? When
you hear people open their mouth, you know, in many cases, less
than five seconds in, they don't know God. Not everybody walks
in authority. You know that, right? Not everybody
walks in the freedom and the liberty and the power of the
sons of God. You know that, right? But if you do, then you must
understand you have been privileged by the grace of God to do so.
So don't take lightly the knowledge of God. This is why Paul says,
I count all things done for the excellency of the knowledge of
Christ. Because of the high calling that
is attached to that knowledge, I press toward the mark of the
high calling of God. I press towards it because I
want to apprehend that thing for which I have been apprehended
of God. You know what's profound about
that? Paul had a whole lot going on even before he met Christ.
But when Paul became a real Theophilus, all that he thought he knew was
nothing but fodder for the fire compared to the knowledge of
God and the gospel of his grace. You and I ought to be thankful
that we live in a free country where we can study the word of
God unmolested, unhampered, because with that access, we actually
can grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord and be
most effective. All right, let's continue to work. Verse two,
making some headway. I'm sorry, back at verse one.
2.2 verse 1 part B. Well, we'll love we'll be able
to get to a Diversity tonight the scope of Luke's account now
listen to what Luke says My first word started off with my talking
to you O Theophilus about all that Jesus began to do and to
teach Until the day in which he was taken up That's the way
that phrase would close out. So he gives us the span of his
account. All that Jesus began to do and
to teach the scope of Luke's account. All that Jesus began
to what do and to teach that should be in your outline from
his birth to his death. Uh, Jesus began something through
his actions and his teachings. That's what Luke is saying. Luke
is saying now, my point is to help you understand that when
our Lord came into the world, now listen to me, saints. When
Jesus came into the world, he started something. I'm writing to you to share with
you all that Jesus began. Our course is our Greek term
and it means to initiate something, to start something. You know
how like you start your car, right? You get that thing started.
Well, the engine keeps running after you start it. You ain't
constantly starting a thing. You initiate it and then it keeps
running. Here's what Luke is saying. I'm
going to tell you how it started and what it is doing since it
got started. Which means what luke is going
to be doing between the book of luke and the book of acts
is simply demonstrating a continuous process that christ engaged in
in his incarnation And at the point of his death and departure
that which he started continued You guys got that that which
he started continued it's very uh very remarkable when we use
that phraseology the scope of his uh, Luke's account all that
Jesus began to do and to teach it's in a tense that says he
started it and it didn't end It's in what we call the present
infinitive and it goes from his birth. You can see this in Luke
chapter 3 Don't go there and to his death. He began this process
and through these two things that Jesus did he created a what
we call a recapitulation process and What were the two things
that Jesus did? This is going to be very simple
to receive, but it's going to be profound if it makes its impact.
Who was Jesus Christ in his earthly calling? He was a mere man. He
was Jewish. He was a Hebrew. He grew up in
obscurity and simplicity. His family struggled, they weren't
wealthy or anything, but we understand according to the revelation of
scripture that he was a carpenter. Now carpenter in those days,
that wasn't large living either, nor is it that much in our day,
a little bit better for some countries, but he was just a
basic poor carpenter in his human vocation. But where our Lord
started his real work was at his baptism. At his baptism,
his father revealed him to be the son of God. From his baptism
to his ascension, his work started. Are you guys following me? And
the work that Jesus did constituted fundamentally two things that
Luke says. He acted and he taught. All that Jesus began to do, see
the word do? And what? Teach. So what you
and I are to capture by that is this, if we can ascertain
the fundamental mission of Jesus Christ, once the spirit of God
initiated him into his work, we can ascertain what was that
which perpetuated itself after he left. If we can grasp what
Jesus did, then we can know what Jesus was doing after he left,
we can know what Jesus is doing now, since he left, if we can
grasp what he did. Let me tell you what Jesus was
according to the purpose of God upon his baptism. Jesus was a
preacher. You got that? He was a preacher. God called his son into the world
to be a preacher. His job was to preach and to
teach. That was one primary function
that Jesus engaged in every day of his life. Stay with me now,
but I want to make sure this gets driven home to the church.
The role that Jesus occupied Upon God revealing him at his
baptism. This is my beloved son in whom
I am well pleased Was to be a preacher of the Word of God Christ was
a preacher and a teacher of the Word of God and he was an itinerant
Preacher and teacher of the Word of God. You know what that mean?
He went everywhere preaching and teaching y'all got that well,
what was the Son of God and Here he is, the second person of the
blessed triune God here. Creator of the universe, sustainer
of the universe. The most glorious object in the
eyes of the Father and of the Holy Ghost before the world began.
Such a satisfying entity in the eyes of the father that the father
delighted in him before the world began as the most Satisfying
object in his presence since there was nothing but the father
son and the Holy Ghost here this glorious person the Lord Jesus
Christ comes into our world assumes our nature lives our life in
obscurity and then when he breaks out He doesn't break out as a
politician. I He doesn't break out of some
dignitary, some wealthy, large mogul of a businessman. He's
a preacher. You got that? Stay with me now. God is a preacher. God incarnate is a preacher. Y'all stand with me. You know what that means? Preaching
is exceedingly important to God Preaching is exceedingly important
to God Since that was the office that he assigned to his son by
which he would manifest his glory to the world Preaching and the content of
his preaching was teaching by which men and women would come
to know God. Would you stay with me for a
moment? So you might grow up and you might want to be a doctor.
You might want to be a lawyer. You might want to be a dentist.
You might want to be this, that, the other thing and all that's
fine. But the world goes to hell in
a hand Basket without the preaching of the gospel The world goes to hell without
preaching Are you guys following me? You know what God was saying
to his son? I'm gonna make you the beginning
of a ministry that will continue to the end of the world and and
that ministry will be the means by which I will call all my people
from every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue, from every pit, from
every trap, from every gin, from every snare, from every bondage,
from every darkness, from every form of hell, will I go get my
people through this means, the preaching of the gospel of the
glory of God. Are you guys hearing me? Preaching
is what Christ did. And he didn't stay in one place.
He went everywhere preaching, didn't he? We call him an itinerant
preacher. You know what's interesting?
This world is so backwards. This world is so messed up because
it talks bad about our preachers. Ain't no doubt about it. Uh,
and especially itinerant preachers. It just talks about, you know,
the itinerant preachers kind of like the lowest level of vocation
in the eyes of the word. Isn't that true? Like you just
scrape it. Do you know heaven is filled with the labors of
itinerant preachers? Do you know God loves preachers? He loves itinerant preachers.
He loves the men and the women that traverse this globe to reach
centers for Christ. Are you hearing me? He preached
and he taught and he did good. Got that? He preached and he
taught and he did good. He preached and he taught and
he did good. He went everywhere preaching
and teaching and doing what? Everywhere preaching, teaching
and doing good. See, now we have God incarnate
modeling for us what our practice is. Somebody got that revelation,
didn't you? We'll be moving on, but I want you to stay right
there. I want you to grasp what Luke is saying. O Theophilus,
O lover of God, O one who is taught by the Spirit of God,
O one in whom the love of God is deeply permeating your heart,
pulsing through every fiber of your being, you who are being
taught about God. Here's what you are being taught.
All that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day in which
he was taken up. until the day in which he was
taken up. Go with me in your Bible to Acts chapter 10. I think
I'll sum it up there in the book of Acts chapter 10. That's a
real good place to do it. Listen, Acts chapter 10, this
is how the apostle Luke puts it. I mean, apostle Peter puts
it. This is the final point on this. Acts chapter 10, as Peter
is speaking to Cornelius's house, the group of Gentiles that were
targeted for the gospel, here's what he says. I'm going to start
back at verse 36. Are you there? Let me start at verse 34 because
Peter now has a very clear Peter who would be one of the pillars
of the Apostles has a very clear vision now, you know, some of
our some of my upline pastors who are Hundreds of years old
I'm talking these old brothers hung out with Noah and Abraham
my upline pastors these old cats. I mean, when I look at them,
I'm just like, man, I'm sitting with brothers that hung out with
Methuselah and David. Here's what they say. And I want
you to get, this is really true. This is what they say. They say
there are two kinds of knowledge and they are both essential to
true. There's the knowledge that you
are taught by somebody telling you, and then there's the knowledge
that you only come by experience. I want you guys to get that.
There's the knowledge that you are taught by somebody telling
you something about something. That's testimonial knowledge.
It's essential. It's critical. That's the principle
I've told you about how God has humbled us as creatures in order
for us to be taught. Virtually every discipline in
the world is taught by the pattern of didactics. Sit down and get
taught by somebody who got taught by somebody else who got taught
by somebody else who got taught by somebody else. That's the
way it works. That's why God's a teacher. But then there comes
the time when what you were taught becomes experientially affirmed
And then it takes that teaching to a whole nother level of comprehension
Our lord had told the apostles All sorts of things in the three
and a half year ministry that he was with them I'm gonna do
this. I'm gonna do that. I'm gonna
do the other thing They were sitting there falling asleep
on the master kind of like y'all doing on me. I Mean, you know,
they're just human. They're just human. Listen, they're
just human And our master said it over in John chapter 15. Don't
worry about it. You can't bear everything now,
but there's a day coming When the immediate presence of God
called the Holy Ghost and will take you and bring you into a
dimension of comprehension through experience where everything I'm
telling you will be clear. This is what happened to our
brother Peter. Peter could not comprehend him being called to
go into Gentiles homes. Jews don't do that. That wasn't
a category for him. That wasn't a reference point
somehow when Jesus said all nations He couldn't get that but here
he is standing in a Gentile home And you know what? He says God
has revealed to me He has revealed to me that he is no respecter
of persons Well Peter brother you were hanging out with God
for three and a half years and Didn't you see that? I mean y'all
went to the hood. Y'all went to the red light district
The lord jesus was touching prostitutes prostitutes You know masters
rabbis didn't let women touch him Our master is doing a whole
new thing in an old system And didn't y'all get it back then
the answer is no they didn't get it. They didn't get it Like
a lot of times people don't get it when i'm teaching it They
just don't get it. And until the spirit gives it
to you, you won't get it. Am I telling the truth? It can
be told you, but it won't come until God and his providence
brings you right to that moment. Brother Mack, make sure you see
me afterwards to join him. Say something about your sister.
You got that? Yeah, I'm getting old now. Five
times you came into my presence. Listen, here's what Peter said
in Acts chapter 10 verse 34. Then Peter opened his mouth and
said, of a truth, I perceive that God is what? See, that's
not new to you and me, but Peter had a revelation. He had a revelation
because he's standing among Gentiles of whom formally he would have
called unclean and not properly ready to be in his presence because
of their status as Gentiles. But you remember that dream he
had? Peter was like me. He liked to eat. And when you
don't feed him, he falls asleep. He slept a lot. Remember that?
Peter slept a lot. But the Lord gave him a revelation. I'm going
to talk about that when we get to verse nine. Peter understood
at that moment that he's standing before Cornelius what that vision
meant. Rise, feed or slay and eat. Lord,
I don't eat anything unclean or uncommon. So Peter, don't
you call what I have clean, unclean or common. He still didn't get
it. Now he does because knowledge
is being mixed with experience. Remember what the Lord said to
Peter in John chapter 21? Peter, when you were young, you
did what you wanted to do. You went where you wanted to
go. You ran your own life. But when you get older, mature,
this is covenant maturity, someone else is going to take you by
the hand and lead you where you don't want to go. And who is
that one leading him by the hand? The Holy Ghost. Taking him places
that his own rational mind would have never allowed him to go
to. Cuz God is no respecter of persons here. He is Telling these
Gentiles it but in every nation he that feared him and worketh
righteousness is accepted with him The word which God sent unto
the children of Israel preaching peace by Jesus Christ He is Lord
of what? See Peter got it now The word
I say you know which was published throughout all Judea began at
Galilee after the baptism of John preached How God now watch
this here it is. Here's what Luke said and here's
what Peter said in their corresponding the Resume of our Savior how
that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with
what? who went about doing good and
healing all that were oppressed of the devil for God was with
him. And we are witnesses of all things
which he did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem,
whom they slew and hung on a tree. What is Peter doing? He's reciting
what Luke said was the manner of our Lord Jesus Christ. which
pattern was transferred from the Lord Jesus to the apostles.
Peter is doing exactly what our Lord Jesus did. This is what
God is calling the church to, to do exactly what he did. Go back to Acts chapter one.
The practice is what I'm talking about. The practice. We're talking
about practicing what our master practice, him being the head,
we being the body. Now Luke says, until the day
in which he was taken up, I wanna deal with that word taken up
next week when we get to verse nine, a very powerful concept
under that, after he through the Holy Ghost had given commandment,
had given commandment unto the apostles whom he had chosen. Luke uses this phrase, after
he through the Holy Ghost had given commandment unto the apostles
whom he had chosen, And he was speaking to an ordination process,
an ordination process that instructs us as to how God works in transferring
his purpose of redemption from the son to the apostles and to
the church. He's speaking to a process of
transfer by which the ministry of Christ was transferred to
the apostles and then transferred to us, the church. You probably
recall when Jesus was with the apostles in the upper room. This is the gospel of John chapter
20. It's the gospel of Luke 2. And in that account of John chapter
20, verse 22, Jesus breathed on the apostles and said what? Receive ye the Holy Ghost. You
guys remember that? He breathed on them and said,
receive ye the Holy Ghost. I am confident that that is an
account that Luke is recalling. So in your outline under verse
two, part B, an apostolic charge through the spirit, an apostolic
charge through the spirit, It was a symbolic act that took
place in John chapter 20, verse 22, a symbolic act. The act itself
didn't impart the spirit of God. It prophesied the impartation
of the spirit of God. The act itself being symbolic,
like all things symbolic in the word of God has an inherent meaning
that you and I have to comprehend, but the substance is not in the
act. Y'all got that? Let me say it
again. This Sunday, we'll be partaking
of the Lord's table. Those of us who are believers
in the house, the Lord's table is a symbol of the death of the
Lord Jesus Christ. It affirms His incarnation. It affirms His atoning work at
Calvary Street. It affirms our justification. It affirms our union with God
through Him because when we eat the bread and drink the cup,
we are declaring that we live only by the merits of Jesus Christ. That Christ is in me, the hope
of glory, and I am in Christ. The union between the believer
and Christ. Y'all got that? But the bread and the wine have
no value in themselves. So now, whenever we're talking
symbols, we're talking about something that points to something
else. So when our Lord said, when the text is in John 20,
22, he breathed on them. He didn't literally breathe the
Holy Ghost on them. Please understand that. He was
acting symbolically as both the mediator of the new covenant
Y'all got that? The mediator of the new covenant
and affirming that he had risen from the dead by which as he
had promised to them before, when I go to my father, when
I go to my father, I'm going to send the comforter to you.
But if I don't go to my father, you can't get the comfort. Isn't
that what he said in John chapter 16 verse 7? We're going to see
that a little bit later on down the line. So, so follow this
and Jesus did this frequently. And this is the nature of what
we call a prophetic perfect voice or a prophetic future voice where
God will act symbolically with his people about something that's
going to come way down the line. In this context, he was simply
saying to his apostles, you guys are going to be privileged to
be the next stage of the work of the triune God in the salvation
of my people. That's why in John chapter 20
verse 21, if the text is up there, he says for as the father has
sent me so I Send you and he breathed on them and said receive
ye the Holy Ghost Yeah, Joshua 22 what's that all
about? Okay, there we go. Do you see a John 20 21 then
said Jesus to them again? Peace be unto you Asked my father
at what that was his apostolic calling even so I do what? So
from one apostle to another apostle the transfer of authority is
taking place symbolically y'all got that from one apostle Hebrews
3 1 to another set of apostles a Transfer of authority is taking
place symbolically Christ is letting them know you are designated
to receive what I received in order for you to do what I did
and I've been telling you what Luke said all that Jesus began
to do and teach Would then be transferred from him in terms
of his personal incarnation to them in terms of his Nucleus
of his body the church and through the Apostles there would be this
reverberation throughout the church of men and women brought
into this apostolic power Through the apostles, there will be a
reverberation through the church of men and women brought into
this apostolic power. So in our PowerPoint outline,
the symbolic act, the rite of conference, and then the character
of the commission, the character of the commission. This is really
interesting. Let me just, I'm going to stop right here. I'll
need you to go in your Bibles. You can leave the PowerPoint
up there. You go in your Bibles to John chapter 20. John chapter
20. We're gonna stop right here,
but I want you to see it. Because in this act, what we
get to discover and to mark out is symbolically what is going
to take place starting in Jerusalem, starting with his apostles and
is presently operating in our world today. I mean, even among
us right now. a wonderful reality that I'm
going to close with right here. Um, all right, let me start at
verse 21. Then said Jesus unto them, peace
be unto you. He had just come into, he just
had just come into their presence. This is what verse 19 says. Then
the same day at evening being the first day of the week, when
the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled for
fear of the Jews, they're afraid. Jesus stood in the midst of them.
That was a miraculous act. Y'all got that? He didn't knock
on He didn't knock on the door. Nobody opened the door for him.
He stood in the midst, right? He's in his post-resurrected
glorified state, right? So he stands in the midst of
them and he says unto them what? Peace be unto you. That also
is a requisite given to his apostles as a consequence of his atoning
work. This is the way he talked to everyone after his resurrection.
that he confronted. Peace be unto you. This is part
of the nature of the kingdom of God, right? The kingdom of
God is what? Righteousness. What? And what? So righteousness
was established by his death. The thing that he speaks to them
now is shalom, right? Shalom. So get rid of the fear.
Get rid of the fear. You got to get rid of the fear.
There's no way you are going to be able to take on the calling
that I'm about to bestow upon you. If you're going to operate
in fear, you got to get out of the fear. Isn't that right? Peace
be unto you. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid
of them. Don't be afraid of me Stop the
fear. There's no basis for so now here's
what he says in verse 20 peace be unto you as my father Hath
sent me. This is a past tense. He's done. His work is done Even so send
I you future tense. You got that I And when he had
said this, he breathed on them and said unto them, receive ye
the Holy Ghost. I love it because what he's saying
to them is this, between this point in which I am talking to
you now, and the day in which the reality of the outpouring
of the Holy Spirit comes upon you, the only thing I want you
to focus in on is the covenant blessing that God the Father
had made to Abraham to be given to you so that the world might
come to know who Jesus Christ is. In other words, the third
person becomes the singular concern of Christ for his disciples.
The third person. See, you, you understand that
when you get back to Acts chapter one, as Jesus is doing this 40
day manifestation of his post resurrected, uh, uh, appearance,
the disciples are thinking all kinds of crazy stuff. Do you
understand that? So now hang with me. Just give
me a few minutes before I close it out on this last beautiful
truth. I mean, here you are with the
master three and a half years. He was getting down. Preaching,
teaching, healing. He did all things well. I mean,
that trip blew them away. By the time they were done with
that three and a half year excursion, do you know they were wore out?
Wore out. Wore out. He wore those boys
out. Peter said, I'm going back fishing.
You gotta be wore out. You understand that? He destroyed
all of their assumptions about what Messiah was like. He completely
offended all of their notions, offended all the notions about
Jewish superiority. He demolished all of their assumed
rights as a group of special elite people, demolished it.
Then he destroyed their carnal expectations of exaltation before
suffering, because where he led them was to Calvary, not to Rome. He utterly demolished all of
their false notions about how it is that God works. And so
they couldn't reach down to grab enough humility to keep them
sane. See, it takes humility to accept
the fact that you were wrong on all sorts of points about
the very man that you're hanging with. See, there was times when
the disciples said to themselves, Who is this man? Are you hearing
me? He wore him out. Listen, and
after you go on a roller coaster ride with God for three and a
half years, all I need is one honest person in the house. Don't
you want to take a break from God? See, give me one honest
person. I only need one. Ah, see, a few
people going to get saved now. You religious folk thinking you
can hold on. You can't hold on. You can't hold on. God throws
you off that horse, boy. You ever watch the bull riding
the horse? God throws you off that horse. You can't ride that
horse. He has to knock you down and
then pick you up. You're not gonna walk with God,
serve God until he shows you that all power belongs to God.
And that the carnal mind has no capacity to grasp spiritual
things until it is able to walk in a humility before God that
says, God, I don't know until you teach me. And that's where
the disciples had come to. So he met them in their apostasy. He met them. That's how good
my God is. Isn't he good? He met them in
there. Listen, I don't know the man.
That's bad. I don't know him. They all forsook
him. Peter cussed. Don't identify
me with that man. Peter said, I'm going fishing.
They said, we're going with you. They were offended. Isn't that
what the text says? Smite the shepherd and the sheep
shall be what? See, I don't want you to have
a false notion about how God works. He's the same yesterday,
today, and forevermore. This is how he works. He must
humble you before he exalts you. You cannot have the truth of
the gospel until he lays you low. God resists the proud, gives
grace only to the humble. Only the humble can walk with
the high and the lofty God that sits on the circuit of the universe.
This God looks for the one who is of a broken and a contrite
heart. And the broken and the contrite heart simply says, God
teach me because I don't know. Are you hearing me? So he gingerly
comes to his disciples that are all discombobulated. And the
first thing he says to them is peace. See, because when your
life is tore up, that's the thing you need. Is that right? That's
it. And you really need it from God.
Because a human being can't give you enough peace when your life
is all tore up. See, I know I'm telling the truth to a few folks.
If you ever been going through some difficulty, the one thing
you're grasping for from God is what? That's true. See, because
if God gives us peace, I'm talking about in our emotions. I'm talking
about in our mind. I'm talking about in our heart.
Even in the midst of a storm, then we already know by knowledge
of God's Word that all I got to do is wait on God. Is that
true? If I can just wait on God. But see, it takes a lot of grace
to wait on God. And you can't do that when you don't have no
peace. You're gonna be grasping for all kind of false refuges
when you don't have no peace. The hooks and the crooks gonna
be able to get you. Am I telling the truth? So God,
give a brother peace in the midst of this storm. Because I don't
know where I'm at and I don't know where I'm going. So this is what he's doing with
Peter, James, John, and the 11 that are in the upper room hiding. And the other brother that killed
himself, they were just as bad as him. Are you with me? So see, we don't
get to make the apostles any more human than Judas Iscariot. And in their own emotional, psychological
assessment of themselves, They were just as bad as Judas. They
were just as bad as Judas. Only Judas didn't have enough
sense to wait. We'll deal with that when Peter
explains that in the latter part of chapter one, but God kept
his hand on him. You know how when God keeps his
hand on you, even though it's all messed up, anybody know what
I'm talking about? It's so ugly, right? Ugly, it's so ugly. You don't
want nobody to see it. You don't want nobody to see
you You don't want nobody to see it. You don't even want the
angels to see it You don't want the devil's to see it's so bad
But God still has his hand on it see that's what's going on
with the disciples and Then he appears to them and speaks peace
to him and this is wild He says, as the father has sent me, he
didn't miss a beat in commissioning those same men who rejected his
glory, rejected his testimony. He didn't miss a beat giving
them their confirmation of apostleship. He didn't miss a beat. How come?
Because he never depended upon them in the first place. You got that? Didn't he already tell him? Say,
Peter. Remember Peter? Lord, I'm down
for you. You know. I've been questioning
these other cats you chose for the last three and a half years,
but you know I'm down for you. Peter. Peter. You're going to
be the first one running, brother. Doesn't the Lord know us? See,
it's not by power nor by might, but by what? This is why he's
saying to the disciples, don't get distracted by Jewish kingdom,
as it were, authority over the Roman Empire. Don't get distracted
about who's going to be on my left hand and on my right hand.
Don't get distracted by all that stuff. I want you to stay on
point. All I want you to do for the next 40 days, if you can,
Keep your mind on the promise of the father y'all got that
Keep your mind on that's why I'm breathing on you Because
I want you to keep your mind on the promise Now what you and
I are going to be working through for the next couple weeks is
the obedience of faith in waiting on God The obedience of faith
and waiting on God so that the reward of the promise being bestowed
upon us is the consequence of the obedience of faith in waiting
on God. God rewards the obedience of
faith, doesn't he? All right, let's close in prayer.
Father, thank you for this time. Thank you for your word. Thank
you for your saints, too, who have come out tonight. Give us
everything that's necessary to practice what we've been called
to be, and that is the church of the living God. Give us the
grace to communicate the gospel. to every nation, kindred, tribe,
and tongue. We are just like Peter, James, John, and the rest,
weak, flawed, impotent, uncapable in ourselves to do this. This
requires your immediate presence, your immediate power, your immediate
grace. It requires you, oh God, to work
in our life to do your will. And so we are waiting on you.
We are submitting to you. We are recognizing that this
is your plan, your purpose, We're asking that you bless your church
all over the world who calls upon your name out of a pure
heart and grace her to do what only the church is called to
do. And that is to preach and to
teach Jesus Christ and him crucified that men and women might have
a right relationship with you. We ask your blessings on our
departure. We ask that you prepare us to
worship you on Sunday with everything that's in our heart and our soul.
We pray this in Jesus name. Amen. God bless you.