The resurrection is the central, defining doctrine and claim of the Gospel. In Acts 2:23 Luke writes "this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God (ONE COMPONENT OF WHICH WAS JUDAS' BETRAYAL OF JESUS! Jesus said we are to be his witnesses “both” at home and abroad. Acts 14 Commentary. But one true Actor or Agent is here recognized, all other so-called actors or workers being merely His instruments; an agent being one who acts, an instrument being that through which He acts. Matthew 27:5 states Judas "went away and hanged himself." It follows that His answers to His children's prayers are supremely good. If not, something very vital is MISSING! Verses 1-5 Our Lord told the disciples the work they were to do. A CLEAR DESCRIPTION God is behind the scenes and controls the scenes He is behind. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/dcc/acts-1.html. After living in Edinburgh for a time and returning to his village, his neighbors asked him how he liked the Edinburgh preachers. God has left us in the world to witness to the world. Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James (writer of Epistle of James) and Joseph and Simon and Judas (writer of the Book of Jude)?" The early Christians would have been content to stay there forever. Later the idea was changed slightly, so that the thing brought to God as an offering was the prayer itself. Used by Luke only. Gold was not good enough for such a purpose. But pick up the Book of Acts and read again the final commission of Jesus; read again almost any place in the Book of the fire of the early church, and you will surely conclude that their energy, their sacrifice and their successes puts us to shame. God is either directly or indirectly involved in everything that happens to us. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/dun/acts-1.html. In Pr 18:18 we see that "The cast lot puts an end to strife And decides between the mighty ones." In the present context, there were undoubtedly more than 2 men who met the requirements laid out by Peter, but only 2 were chosen. It was the powerful preaching induced by the Holy Spirit that made people itch in the right place, ask the right questions, and find the right answers. (Rev. Colossians 1:29 For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power (dunamis), which mightily works within me. Only one thing is missing: the Spirit has not yet come. Israel will put roots down in the promised land, never to leave it again (Mic 4:4–7-note; Zech 14:11-note). All other rights reserved. (Utley) Peter was not always a model of rock-like (petros is a symbol of imperturbability as determined from used in Greek literature) firmness. (See Php 2:13NLT-note). “If a man love me, he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode (dwelling, abiding place, resting place, mansion) with him.” (Jn 14:23) “It is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father Who speaks in you.” (Mt 10:20) (Acts 1:8 Power for Witness in Great Texts of the Bible - 23 pages), Illustration of Spiritual Power versus Natural Power - Suppose we saw an army sitting down before a granite fort, and they told us that they intended to batter it down; we might ask them, “How?” They point to a cannon-ball. Unless He attend the word in power, vain will be the attempt in preaching it. The Bible says the Lord clothed himself with Gideon. 8:26), and to live a hope-filled life (15:13). —Acts 1:11. 16:33). and in the light of the further consideration that both Mark (Mark 6:2 and Mark 13:5) and John (John 13:5) used this same idiom for simple action, it would appear, therefore, that McGarvey's view is preferable, especially as it regards what is SAID in this place. This makes sense for the Spirit is God's gift and our part is simply to receive the gift by grace through faith in Christ. 11:25; Num. Your job is to be My witnesses in every part of the world.” In other words, our focus is not to be on prophetic timetables, but on the Great Commission. Of all that Jesus began both to do and teach - that is, 'of all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning;' as Bengel, Humphry, and others rightly understand this expression. And changing us inside. Ray Pritchard writes that 'Just before he returned to heaven, Jesus explained to his disciples what they were to do after his departure. Acts 1:21  "Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us-. Acts shows us how to do evangelism and missions. Clearly a proper name. Here these Jewish believers are using this modality to reveal God's choice of Judas' successor. Lk. Thus Stephen was full of power (Acts 6:8), and great powers or miracles were wrought by Philip (Acts 8:13)The connection of this power with the Spirit of God was to be illustrated in the case of the disciples as it had been in the earthly life of Jesus (Acts 10:38). What is more amazing is that like the apostle Paul we are all sent out by the King of kings to the world (Matt. Lenski on kurios - In the Gospels kurios is often only a form of address that indicates respect, but beginning with Luke 7:13 we find the title used as it has ever since been employed in the church in the sense of divine Lord which includes the deity of Jesus and the grace and the redemption which made him our Lord. 12:4–11; cf. However we take it, he must be identified with the Thaddaeus (= Lebbaeus) of Mark 3:18 and Matthew 10:3 to make the list in the third group identical. Show (aorist imperative) 322)(anadeíknumi from ana = emphatic, up, again, back, renewal + deiknuo or deíknumi = show) means to to lift up and show, show forth and thus to show plainly or openly (Acts 1:24). All of us must come to that same place of utter helplessness 9:35; Lk. Immediately our minds run to two things. He spent his limited income buying the finest instruments he could find. “The ill-omened name could be used with a double emphasis” (Hackett). As I recall, he told the story of Judas and then talked about himself—how he had grown up in the church, attended Sunday School for years, gone to a Christian college—and if my memory serves me correctly—had even become a pastor before he realized that he had never truly been born again. (For a discussion of the relationship of the pagan mother-child cults to Roman Catholic teachings about Mary, see Alexander Hislop, The Two Babylons [Neptune, N.J.: Loizeaux, 1959].) Arrested (4815)(sullambano from sun/syn = together with + lambáno = to take, to seize) means literally to seize or take together and conveys the picture of clasping. (Is It the Time Yet? But they did not weep, they did not even wait after the sermon. Matt. 6:20; Lk. Deut 30:1-10-note, Ed: cp the idea of the purging wrought by the "Refinier's fire" in Da 12:10-note). Christian, make your life a clear testimony. As documents these narratives belong to the same historical series as the record of provincial and imperial trials in epigraphical and literary sources of the first and early second centuries AD…For Acts the confirmation of historicity is overwhelming…Any attempt to reject its basic historicity even in matters of detail must now appear absurd. The former treatise I made, O Theophilus, concerning all that Jesus began both to do and to teach. The Lord Jesus took off, and He didn’t need a launching pad or a space suit or a missile. But Jesus did not specify when this would happen, and instead presented the mission that must preoccupy His disciples before the kingdom is established. And will you commit to speaking up when God answers that prayer? We must believe that all these things put them into the place where God would truly guide their decision.We would not make many wrong decisions if we did all the things the disciples did before making big decisions. Sometime during the days leading up to his betrayal of Jesus, Judas made arrangements to purchase a field, although no money had yet been transferred. Their differences were still there, but the resurrected Jesus in their hearts was greater than any difference. 1:33; Deut. 33:8-note) or, perhaps, both (Nolland 1989: 141). (Lk 24:53-note), which shows they had become more courageous after seeing Jesus (cf John 20:19 p = " the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews"). Is it true that everything happens for a reason? In this book, moreover, we have (1) the first chapter of Church history; (2) the Divine principles of spiritual revival and missionary work; (3) the Divine pattern of Church government and life; (4) the Divine methods of Church work and extension. So let’s look right here in these first eight verses of the Book of Acts. Sent to the earth from God Most High, ", Robertson explains the use of the Greek word names for people - This Hebraistic use of name [onoma] = person occurs in the Lxx (Nu 1:2 = "according to the number of names"; Nu 18:20; 3:40, 43; 26:53) and in Rev. Gentiles from around the world will make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to entreat the Lord. 5, A. “Of James” is added to distinguish him from Judas Iscariot (Jn 14:22). I believe that the answer the Lord gives them indicates they made no mistake (Acts 1:7). 1:1), meaning “sent one.” He used this title not out of pride but out of wonder. The period of forty days is given here alone. These are what make any group of Christians have an impact, and exercise a vital revolutionary force in the age in which they live. Acts to think about Jesus. '' to and incorporate the Gentiles Pentecost ). '' cloud by and. Succession narratives ” that is, rather, he recognized God ’ s return the day! 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