Tag Archives: Old Testament

Introduction to the Book of Acts – A History of the Early Church

The Book of Acts

A history of the Early Church

The book of Acts also called The Acts of the Apostles was written by Luke, the same author of the gospel of Luke. Both documents were adressed to a “most excellent Theophilus” who may have been a high ranking Roman government official. The book of Acts was written sometime between 61 and 64 AD. The book ends with Paul’s house arrest in Rome in 61AD. The book makes no mention of Paul’s death or Nero’s persecution nor of the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD. This places the date of this book at least before 70 AD. Luke was a very accurate and detail oriented historian and would have included these events if they had happened at the time of writing. The book of Acts is a condesned history of the early Apostolic church, it is an eyewitnmess account of the spread fof the gospel from Jerusalem to Rome. The recurring theme in the book is the empowerment of the early believers from the Holy Spirit and it is this same Holy Spirit that empowers believers yet today. While being a historical narrative it also is theologically profound. We as believers do not have “blind” faith, but a FAITH that rests on the facts of history. The life, death and resurrection of Jesus are historical facts recorded by Luke in the gospel that bears his name. The book of Acts gives believers the reassurance that our faith in Christ is based on and rests on historical facts.

1 Corinthians 15:17

New Living Translation (NLT)

17 And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins.

Acts 1:1-5

New Living Translation (NLT)

The Promise of the Holy Spirit

1 In my first book[a] I told you, Theophilus, about everything Jesus began to do and teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven after giving his chosen apostles further instructions through the Holy Spirit. 3 During the forty days after his crucifixion, he appeared to the apostles from time to time, and he proved to them in many ways that he was actually alive. And he talked to them about the Kingdom of God.

4 Once when he was eating with them, he commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before. 5 John baptized with[b] water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

Luke 24:36-53

New Living Translation (NLT)

36 And just as they were telling about it, Jesus himself was suddenly standing there among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. 37 But the whole group was startled and frightened, thinking they were seeing a ghost!

38 “Why are you frightened?” he asked. “Why are your hearts filled with doubt? 39 Look at my hands. Look at my feet. You can see that it’s really me. Touch me and make sure that I am not a ghost, because ghosts don’t have bodies, as you see that I do.” 40 As he spoke, he showed them his hands and his feet.

41 Still they stood there in disbelief, filled with joy and wonder. Then he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he ate it as they watched.

44 Then he said, “When I was with you before, I told you that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. 46 And he said, “Yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day. 47 It was also written that this message would be proclaimed in the authority of his name to all the nations,[a] beginning in Jerusalem: ‘There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.’ 48 You are witnesses of all these things.

49 “And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.”

The Ascension

50 Then Jesus led them to Bethany, and lifting his hands to heaven, he blessed them. 51 While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up to heaven. 52 So they worshiped him and then returned to Jerusalem filled with great joy. 53 And they spent all of their time in the Temple, praising God.

Footnotes:

  1. Luke 24:47 Or all peoples.

2 Peter 1:16

New Living Translation (NLT)

16 For we were not making up clever stories when we told you about the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We saw his majestic splendor with our own eyes

It is in the first cahpter of this book that is recorded Jesus ascedning into Heaven, Jesus is the prominent figure of this book. The central theme of the all the sermons, defenses, and the life of the church throughout this book is that of the Resurrected Christ. It is in this book that we meet Saul of Tarsus, and learn of his dramatic conversion experince and how he becomes the Apostle Paul, and of his missionary ecxperinces and influenc over the early church.

Outline of the Book of Acts

              1. The apostle’s witness in Jerusalem

              2. The Early Church’s Witness to All of Judea and Samaria

              3. The Witness to the End of the Earth

The Gospel of Personal Finance and Credit

Now we come to number three- reduce or eliminate the use of credit. In many situations it may not be feasible for a family to totally eliminate the use of credit but in each situation it is possible to reduce the use of credit. The family that is in financial bondage HAS to STOP the use of credit if they are ever to find fianancial freedom. Lets look at Proverbs 27:12

Proverbs 27:12

New Living Translation (NLT)

12 A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions.
The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.

We see from this verse that one who proceeds in the face of future trouble is described as simpleton.

Now we come to the fourth and that is to seek God’s plan for living within the budget. Many times people think that generating extra income will help, such as the wife working- this is usally NOT the case. Most of the time the problem is caused by overspending -not insuffient income. ( The federal government is a good example of this- they do not have a revenue problem but a spending problem on a much larger scale than a family, but the prinicple is the same) Many times more income will actually compound the problem and make it worse. With the increase in income may come an increase in spending and there will be an increase in the use of credit also. ( See how this track? This is the trap the federal government is caught in- and it has gone on from both parties for decades) We need to put God’s plan for our budget into action first! How do we do that?

a. Extra Income- consider this only after correcting buying habits. Working Moms sometimes contribute little income but sacrifice much in family guidance.

b. Before purchasing an item, give God a chance to provide it-

If the purchase is in line with God’s will He may manifest Himself in our finances by providing from a totally unexpected source.

2 Chronicles 16:9

New King James Version (NKJV)

9For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.”

God searches over the whole world to find those who are loyal to Him and He will show just what He can do for those who are.

Psalm 37:7

Good News Translation (GNT)

7 Be patient and wait for the Lord to act;
don’t be worried about those who prosper
or those who succeed in their evil plans.

We see from Psalm 37 the practice of being patient and waiting on the Lord.

 

The rest of the story of losing memory – almost there – almost got it by heart!

Lets continue on with the next three :

It is too Early for Phil to Care!( do you see what I did there?)

Ephesians

Philippians

Colossians

 

And here we go again with those 1 and two books!

1 Thessalonians

2 Thessalonians

1 Timothy

2 Timothy

 

The we have the end of the T books with

Titus

And then there’s that fella

Philemon

And then we have Hebrews ( that is who brewed up all that tea above!!)

And that is all the Pauline Epistkles(Just for convience sake we are going to include Hebrews in the Pauline Epistles).

 

James stands all alone – lonely James!

 

And now we go one one and two books and then to a 123 book!

 

1 Peter

2 Peter

1 John

2 John

3 John

And then we go see (Hey Jude!)

Jude

and finally we get the end and have a

Revelation!

 

 

That is all the New Testament books! Now we jump back to the Old Testament to the prophetic books! They aredivided into the major and minor prophets. Lets tackle the the major prophets first!

 

Isaiah

Jeremiah

Lamentations

Ezekiel

Daniel

 

Notice there are four major prophets but five major prophets book, that is because Jeremiah also wrote Lamentations and it was oiginally all one work.

 

More memory please! Need more memory- a few more books to know their order!

It has been a few days since we have touched on memorizing the order of the books in the Bible. By now you should have the historical books of both testaments down. The next section in the OT are what is called the poetic books and the next section in the NT are the letters or epistles. There are five poetic books in the NT and 21 letters in the NT. The first thirteen letters are the Pauline Epistles (the letters written by the Apostle Paul) They are in order of the length of the letters with Romans being the first and longest and Philemon being the last Pauline Epistle and the shortest. The other letters were written by the Apsotles John, Peter, and James. There is doubt as to actually wrote the letter titled Hebrews. Lets look at the OT poetic books first:

 

Job

Psalms

Proverbs

Ecclesiastes

Song of Songs ( aka Song of Solomon)

 

Lets keep doing this in fives!

Romans- there is the longest because there were a lot of Romans!

( 1 and 2 book again!)

1 Corinthians

2 Corinthians

Galatians – glad you done with these five?

 

The rest in awhile !

 

 

 

A short Review and Some Memory Tips!

The Bible is God’s Word. The Bible was written by over 40 different authors over a period in excess of 1500 years yet there is a continuity throughout that could have only been concieved of by one mind- that would be the mind of God. The authors penned their words under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. They were allowed to use their own style and own rhetoric but the words are God’s. They were allowed to write when they wanted and what the wanted under the direction of the Holy Spirit. The Bible is without error, without contradiction, and is Absolute Truth. From the first book of Genesis to the last book of Revealtion, the Bible is about Christ Jesus. He is the main character of the entire book- the Bible is the totality of the Revealtion of God speaking to man, through the person of Jesus who is the Christ. The Bible is divided into two main section, the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament is the account of the beginning of the nation of Israel, through which God chose to bring the Savior into the world. In Genesis we see sin entering into the world and the effects of that first sin on all of mankind and the need for a redeemer. In the New Testament we see the arrival of the Redeemer and the prohecies of His return and the final defeat of satan. The Old Testament and the New Testament are the major divisions of the Bible. The Old Testament is the promise of a Savior and the New Testamentis the fullfillment of that promise. Each testaments is further divided into books which are divided into chapters which are divided into verses. The Bible is actually a compilation of 66 book in the recognized Protestant Canon. The Old Testament is also the Jewish Bible. Jesus called the Old Testament “the scriptures” and the “Word of God”. Both the Old and New Testaments openm with historical books and close with prophetic books. There is only one prophetic book in the New Testament and that is the book of Revealtion, which is also the last book in the Bible. The Old Testament contains 39 books. There are historical books, the law, the books of wisdom or poetry and then the major prophets and closes with the minor prophets. There are about 400 years between the Old Testament and the New Testament. This 400 years period is called “the silent years”because Israel had no prophet to reveal the message of God. This period ended with the appearance of John the Baptist. The New Testament contians 27 books, the four gospels, the Book of Acts which is a history of the early church, the Pauline Epistles ( that is a fancy word for letters) and the General Epistles, these epistles or letters are written to various churches and address the problems that the early church encountered and are the beginnings of today’s church doctrines. The New Testament closes with the book of Revealtion. Each book in the Bible was orginally a seperate document and when reading and studying the Bible this must be kept in mind. It is a good idea to memorize the books of the Bible and it is not really that hard- that way you not fumbling through the pages to find the verse you want- once memorized you will be able to turn right to it. The best way is memorize the books of the Bible by sections and we will look at those here:

Lets take a look at the books of the Bible and how they are arranged. Again, each testament opens with historical books and closes with prophetic books. Lets begin with the Old Testament books:

Genesis

Exodus

Leviticus

Numbers

Dueteronomy

Joshua

Judges

Ruth

1Samuel

2Samuel

1 Kings

2 Kings

1 Chronicles

2 Chronicles

Ezra

Nehemiah

Esther

Job

Psalms

Proverbs

Ecclestiaes

Song of Solomon

Isaiah

Jeremiah

Lamentations

Ezkeil

Daniel

Hosea

Joel

Amos

Obadiah

Jonah

Micah

Nahum

Habakkuk

Zephaniah

Zecharia

Malachi

Now that is quite a list to memorize! Lets see if we can’t brak it down a little bit. Remember the Old Testament is divided into the historical book, the poetic books and prophetic books. Lets start with the first five books , which are historical books but they also have some other distinctions. The Jewish people called and still call the first five books of the OT the Torah, which is Hebrew for “law” Since the contain the laws that God gave to Moses. These same five books are also called the Pentutach which is Greek for “five books.” So to beging with we need to memorize just five books, called the Torah or the Pentutach.

These five books are also historical books, and they are:

Genesis

Exodus

Leviticus

Numbers

Dueteronomy

That is the first five books of the Old Testament – now lets jump to the historical books of the New Testament – of which there are a total of five historical books in the New Testament and they are the four gospels and the book of Acts. Here they are in order:

Matthew

Mark

Luke

John

Acts.

Matthew, Mark and Luke are called the synoptic gospels and are about the life and teachings of Jesus. The gospel of John is more theological than the synoptics-more about that later for now focus on memeorizing the order of the books. The book of Acts is a history of the early church. Again the historical books of the New Testament are”

Matthew

Mark

Luke

John

Acts

Now you have the order first five books of each testament memeorized. And now we will jump back to the Old Testament, there are a few more historical books in the OT than in the New.

The Torah of Pentutach

Genesis

Exodus

Leviticus

Numbers

Dueteronomy

Now we have JJR ! That would be the books of

Joshua

Judges

Ruth

Then we go to the 1 and 2 books!

1 Samuel

2 Samuel

Now Samuel anoitned David as King so we go to

1 Kings

2 Kings

and then things got a little crazy and we go to

1 Chronicles

2 Chronicles

Then these two gusy just hang out on their own

Ezra

Nehemia

And in this case ladies are last!

Esther

That is all of the historical books of the Old Testament and all of the historical books of the New Testament.

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Mighty Michael the Archangel ( Nope not Archie Andrews nor Bunker!)

The only Archangel identified in scripture is Michael, and it appears that this Archangel’s main duty was to care for the Jewish people, that is the nation of Israel.  ( Dan12:1)

Daniel 12:1

New King James Version (NKJV)

Prophecy of the End Time

12 “At that time Michael shall stand up,
The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people;
And there shall be a time of trouble,
Such as never was since there was a nation,
Even to that time.
And at that time your people shall be delivered,
Every one who is found written in the book.

And  is appears from Jude 9 that Michael the Archangel had a dispute with satan.

Jude 1:9

New King James Version (NKJV)

9 Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”

 

 The prefix “Arch” indicates a chief  or great angel.  The archangel Michael is the highest ranking angel  in heaven and is the angel above all angels.  His name means “who is like unto the Lord”.  He protects God‘s children no matter who or where they are. In the Old Testament  God calls the Archangel Michael the prince of His chosen people.( Dan  12:1 ; Dan  10:21) Michael is God’s messenger of law and judgement.  (Rev 12:7-12) Michael is the angel that lead the holy angels to victory in the heavenly war and defeated satan and his rebellious band of angels and chased them out of heaven. Michael is the one that will announce the second coming of Christ and will once again defeat satan and his rebels in that last great battle of Armegeddon. 

Lets step back now for a moment and consider the ranks of angels. This might be conjectural or not but here is the rankings in order from the highest rank to the lowest rank of the angelic army:

1. Archangels ( though the Bible never uses this term in the plural- so there is most likely only one Archangel and that is Michael.)

2. angels

3. seraphim

4. cherubim

5. principalties

6. authorities

7. powers

8. might

9. dominion

Colossians 1:16

New King James Version (NKJV)

16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.

 

Romans 8:38

New King James Version (NKJV)

38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,

 

 

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1 Peter 4:5-6- A toughie Verse!-And then some!

5 They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For this reason the gospel was preached also to those who are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

The tough part of this passage is ” the gospel was preached also to those who are dead”.  The verses after that SEEM to indicate  a chance to turn to Christ after death. This is found no where in scripture.  So we need to take a closer look at the verses before and after and try to tie them together so that this statement is consistent with the rest of scripture.  As we look back at verse 5 -”They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.”  Remember the “they” are those who are not saved and “they” will be judged by Him(God) and will give an accounting of themselves to God.  God is judge of the living and the dead.  Verse 6 opens with the Phrase”for this reason the gospel was preached also to those who are dead”  There are at least four views on what this verse means. 

1. The dead could be those who lived in pre-Christian times and this is Christ offering them salvation. – this not likely since no where in scripture is anyone given a “second chance”  to accept Christ after death

2. That this refers to Christ preaching to only the righteous of Old Testament times.

3.  That Peter is speaking of the gospel which was preached to believers who are now dead. They died just like others but are now living with God.

4. That Peter here is referring to the spiritually dead and the gospel was being preached to them so that they could become spiritually alive.

 

I think the last view is probably the most likely.  based on the verses that  precede it and on the verses that follow it , they put it right in proper context. With many difficult passages you may have to read back as much as two chapters and as far ahead as two chapters to see the passage in proper context. It has often been said that to properly interpret and understand the Bible you need to keep three things in mind, context, context, and context.

Ok, now that we have that somewhat cleared up this move on to Verses 7-11.

7 But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. 8 And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.”[c] 9 Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. 10 As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 11 If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

But the end of all things is at hand;-Christ could return at any moment. It could be tonight, it could be before I finish this post- it could be tomorrow, it could be next week, next month, or it may not be for another 2,000 years, the point is we have been in the last days since the resurrection. We should be ready to give a reason for the way we have lived our lives because we will have to give an accounting to the Lord.  Will He say to you,”Well done, good and faithful servant!” or will He say to you,”Depart from me, I never knew you”?

therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers-We should curb our sinful desires and be sober minded and disciplined in our lives so that we can offer up powerful and effective prayers. Doing this in anticipation of the Lord’s return. 

And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.- Peter here is quoting from Proverbs 10:12.  Peter is in no way suggesting that our brotherly love for one another atones for our sins, but the idea is that love does not stir up sin. We show our love for one another by sincerely forgiving our brothers and sisters in Christ past sins and by not openly discussing those sins. 

9 Be hospitable to one another without grumbling-In NT times being hospitable meant housing and feeding those who were traveling and their stay could have been two or three days long. This was to be done with no charge.  Sometimes this meant a personal sacrifice and at tines those who provided this kindness to strangers complained about them behind their backs. This is a charge from Peter to serve others cheerfully.

10 As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. -Each and every believer has been given gifts or skills , talents and abilities to serve God with. A steward is a manager or trustee that is held accountable for how these gifts are used. We are the managers of our gifts and we will be held accountable by the One who has blessed us with our gifts.  

11 If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.-Those who teach God’s truth should do it in a reverent manner so that those who hear will respect God’s Word. We do not do the will of God through our own power or strength but it is through the power of God that He works His will through us.

We will pick up next time in Verse 12.

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http://www.blogtalkradio.com/universallifechurch/2012/01/23/universal-life-church–sunday-1

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A Bit More of 1 Peter(Into chapter 2! and a little about Peter too!

4Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious,5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.6Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture,

“ Behold, I lay in Zion
A chief cornerstone, elect, precious,
And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.”

Jesus as a living stone is superior to the OT temple. This is also a subtle attack on the idols that were made of wood and stone that were worshiped by gentiles before coming to Christ. Jesus is greater than the traditions handed from the early fathers, Jesus is greater than the temple in Jerusalem, Jesus is greater than any of the idols that were worshipped by the Gentiles. Jesus is the cornerstone of this new building of God, which is the church. The English word church is derived from a Greek word -kuriakos, which means, belonging to the Lord. But it stands of another Greek word ekklesia which denotes an assembly. Church in modern usage is applied to local congregations as well as the individual believer. Also the church is all believers. The church is not a political,social, or economic entity. It is a called out assembly of believers. Jesus is the foundation or the cornerstone of the church. The church is the body of Christ. The church is the spiritual house referred to in verse 5. The church receives its life from Christ through the Holy Spirit. The church is nourished through the reading of God’s Word through which that life is manifested.

7Therefore, to you who believe,He is precious; but to those who are disobedient,

“ The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone,”

8and

“ A stone of stumbling
And a rock of offense.”[e]

They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.
9But you area chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;10who oncewere not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

A little more about Peter, Peter knew first hand the effects of persecution, he had himself been beaten often and jailed , and seen had seen fellow Christians die and the church scattered.  It is because Peter knew Christ and nothing could shake his confidence in that he knew no matter what his salvation was secure. Peter wrote these letters to the scattered church that was suffering for there faith, to give comfort, guidance, and hope, and urged them to remain loyal to the Lord. Peter commands those that were suffering under Nero’s persecution, to continue to live holy lives, to reverently fear and trust God, to be honest and loving.  And to become like Christ.  Jesus is the cornerstone on which the church is built, and as such the those who have come to Christ are a part of God’s Holy Priesthood. Jesus was rejected by men and as Christians( Christ-Ones) we will be rejected too. Those who reject Christ , their rejection iof Him will cause them to stumble and fall.  

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