MANY INFALLIBLE PROOFS, Acts 1:1-8

____________________________________

SERIES REVIEW: This is part six of a seven-part series of Bible studies relating to some of the events that followed the resurrection of the Lord and leading to the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

The series contains: 1) WHO WAS JUDAS, A Warning About the Company We Keep, 2) TIME OUT FOR A TUNE UP, The Need For Spiritual Refreshment, 3) HEARTS ON FIRE, Personal Communications on the Road to Emmaus, 4) MOTHERS OF THE APOSTLES, The Importance of Family Fellowship, 5) COME AND DINE – GO AND PREACH, Personal Preparation for Service, 6) INFALLIBLE PROOFS, Accumulated Evidence for the Christian Faith, 7) CAN WE HAVE ANOTHER PENTECOST?, Power for Progress.

I. THE SETTING: Acts 1:1, 2

A. The "former treatise" mentioned in this text is the Gospel of Luke. Luke wrote more content than any other New Testament writer did. Paul wrote more books, thirteen. However, Paul’s writings were less in volume.

B. Theophilus was most likely a well to do Roman official who commissioned an official investigation of what Jesus did and taught and the actions of the apostles as leaders of the Christian church, Luke 1:3 cf. Acts 1:1.

C. What Jesus did on earth did not end with His ascension. He continued His work on earth through Holy Spirit empowered believers. This constitutes the book of Acts.

D. Both the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts have the same writer, Luke, the same subject, Jesus and the same reader, Theophilus.

E. The apostles were a first generation, hand picked group of men who by the nature of their calling had to be eyewitnesses of the ministry of Jesus, beginning at the baptism of Jesus and continuing to the ascension, 2:21, 22. By the biblical standard for qualification the office of apostle, it is impossible for any apostles to have continued past the first generation. The teaching of apostolic succession through the laying on of hands is without scriptural support and contradictory to the standard set by the apostles and the Holy Spirit’s inspiration of the passage.

II. THE SIGHTINGS: Acts 1:3; I Corinthians 15:6-11

A. The actual sighting by the disciples of Jesus following His resurrection and the boldness of their continuing ministry, even to their deaths, is the subject of the book of Acts. Nothing less than the resurrection would have produced the change in the disciples. They went from fear and failure to unreserved dedication.

B. The "infallible proofs" would include everything the Lord did following his resurrection. This would include His appearances, walking with believers, talking to them, eating with them, being seen by them, etc.

C. Luke’s use of the word "passion" is the Greek word, "pascho" used only here in the scriptures and means, to experience extreme pain, suffering and is a word that is connected to the concept of the Passover when both animals and humans died.

D. God picked a physician, Luke, Luke 1:27; Acts 1:3, Colossians 4:14 to write the report on both the virgin birth of Jesus and His death and resurrection from the grave. It would be expected that a physician would be able to tell that a dead person was not alive. Luke said that Christ was alive following His death and burial and demonstrated the post-resurrection life by so many proofs that it would be unquestioned and unthinkable to object to it. The word "infallible" is used interchangeably with the word convincing and covered a period of forty days and many witnesses. On one occasion, the witnesses numbered over 500 at one time, I Corinthians 15:6.

E. The message of the gospel during the life of our Lord and immediately following was the gospel of the Kingdom. While the gospel is always an action of God’s gracious forgiveness of sin through Christ, it does have different motivations for trusting the message. In that period, the motivation was the possibility of an immediate kingdom. The kingdom is 1) literal 2) earthly and 3) futuristic. The kingdom offer seemed to continue until the rejection of the Holy Spirit’s ministry through Stephens.

III. THE SITUATION AND THE SIGNIFICANCE: Acts 1:4, 5

A. In the final instruction given to the disciples by the Lord, they were told to wait in Jerusalem until they were indwelt by the Holy Spirit.

B. This indwelling (baptism) of the Holy Spirit was announced by John the Baptist, promised by Christ, but not yet experienced. In the Old Testament and the Gospels, the Holy Spirit came upon believers to empower them for certain tasks then left at will. Only following the payment for sin would the Holy Spirit indwell believers.

C. The coming of the Holy Spirit had nothing to do with their prayers or any other function of the believers. He came as a result of waiting for a particular day—"not many days hence".

D. The baptism of the Holy Spirit had nothing to do with human emotional experiences, such as mystical sound and uncontrolled bodily functions as currently being taught. It had to do with a day and a purpose. The day was Pentecost and the purpose was to place believers in Christ as a functioning body, I Corinthians 12:13.

IV. THE SEARCHING: Acts 1:6

A. The disciples were most concerned about the earthly kingdom they anticipated. They wanted to know if the Lord would overthrow Roman rule now that He was resurrected. If so, they would need to prepare for war.

B. Jesus did not take away their hope for a kingdom, not did He redefine it. We are left with the understanding that it was possible at that time. Why Jesus taught about a nationalistic kingdom for Israel and not the church is not clear. The kingdom was the hope of Israel while the hope of the church is the rapture, Titus 2:12.

C. The power promised to the disciples that would come by waiting was not to be used for warfare, but rather for witnessing.

D. Why the Lord’s forty-day conference with the disciples related to the kingdom and not the church can only be understood by the kingdom being possible and the church then would be non-existent. Nothing is said in either the Old Testament or the Gospels about the church or its functions. This is the message of the Epistles.

E. The restoration of Israel as a literal kingdom is very much a clear Biblical teaching. The church is not the replacement of Israel as often taught, nor does it fulfill the many prophecies relating to the kingdom. "Kingdom now" preaching is filled with a lot of promises, which are unsupported by the scriptures. Yet, these empty promises of earthly kingdom prosperity often just end up empty. Holding out a hope that is unscriptural is as unconscionable as it is unchristian. This continues because of the theological confusion that makes the church the kingdom.

V. THE SEASONS: Acts 1:7

A. When the kingdom of Israel will be restored is left without answer by the Lord. It is still unanswered and still very much a part of the plan of God the Father.

B. The restoration of Israel with kingdom conditions may be studied in the following few passages: Isaiah 1:26; 9:7; Jeremiah 33:15-17; Daniel 7:3-14; Hosea 3:4,5; Amos 9:11, Zechariah 9:19 and many others.

C. The restoration of Israel to kingdom conditions is still a prophetic promise of God the Father.

VI. THE SERVICE: Acts 1:8

A. In contradiction to the kingdom concern, the Lord recommissioned the disciples to the task He had earlier given to them, being a worldwide witness to the gospel, Matthew 28:18-20.

B. The point of the passage is that being a witness to the gospel needs supernatural power. This power was to be received by the disciples within days and attempting to serve God with the natural energy of the flesh would be without profit. This supernatural power came with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.

C. "Witness" is from the Greek word "martus", the word for which we get "martyr." It implies being a judicially truthful witness that is willing to stake their life on the validity of their statement.

D. The witnesses were responsible to take their message simultaneously to Jerusalem, their immediate location, Judea, their country, Samaria, Gentiles and to the full extent of the world.

APPLICATION: The accumulated evidence of the resurrection of Jesus from the grave is the message to be presented by all believers, everywhere and at all times. A witness rejecting the resurrection is not the gospel of God’s forgiveness and saving grace.

GAA/ May 28, 2006