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THE GREAT COMMISSION
THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES
CHAPTER 1
Welcome back to
your Daily Bread ... As our study continues now through the New Testament
with a second book written by Luke called the Acts of the Apostles. The
Apostles, once ordinary people, became the first messengers to go out and
spread the Gospel of Christ to the world. One of the last things that Jesus
said to the Apostles, known as The Great Commission, was to go and
make disciples of all the nations. This book is an account of the beginnings
of the works done by those chosen, dedicated people and how Jesus filled
them with the Holy Spirit to make this seemingly impossible task, a blessing
that continues until this very day.
Let’s recall what
was happening at the end of our study of the Gospels. Jesus appeared to the
Apostles by many certainties, for 40 days after His Passion, and revealed to
them things about the Kingdom of God. Now, After Jesus had given the
Apostles The Great Commission, He also told them not to leave Jerusalem
until they received the promise of the Father. What was that promise? Jesus
said, For John truly baptized with water; but you will be baptized with the
Holy Ghost soon. They didn’t really understand the meaning of this and they
asked Him, Will you give back the Kingdom to Israel then?
What were they
asking? Well, Israel had been under Roman rule for nearly 100 years at that
time, before that
Antiochus ruled, before that Alexander the Great, the Persians before
that, and before that
Nebuchadnezzar, which dates back some five or six hundred years before
Christ.
Jesus, speaking of
His kingdom when He answered, said, It isn’t for you to know the
times or the seasons, which the Father has put in His own Power. But you
will receive power when the
Holy Ghost
is upon you and you’ll be witnesses of me, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa,
and in Samaria, and to the farthest part of the earth.
When He had said
this, and while the Apostles watched, Jesus was taken up (ascended) in a
cloud into Heaven, out of their sight. While they stared into the sky as He
went up, two angels in white stood by them and said, You men of Galilee, why
do you stand there staring up into heaven? This
same Jesus who has ascended, will come back again, just as you have seen Him
leave. (Revelation 1:7)
Here is a lil bread stick for ya ... It is clearly written that Jesus will
return in the clouds. So if someone claims to be Jesus or the Messiah and is
in a hidden place or the leader of some group or even the king or president
of a country ... It is NOT Him.
The Apostles
returned to Jerusalem and when they arrived there, they went into an upper
room. The eleven stayed, united in prayer with the women, and Mary the
mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.
One day, Peter
stood up in the midst of the disciples, (there were about 120 of them there)
and said, Men and brothers, the scripture that David spoke, inspired by the
Holy Ghost, concerning Judas, must be fulfilled. He was one of us, and had
obtained part of this ministry. Now, a man purchased a field with the money
from that iniquity, and he fell immediately and burst in half, and all his
stomach gushed out. It was well known to all the people of Jerusalem, and
the field is called, The field of blood. It’s written in the book of Psalms,
Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man live there, and his ministry,
let another take, Psalm 69:25, and Psalm 109:8. So, from these men who’ve
been with us when the Lord was with us, beginning from the baptism of John,
up to the day He ascended, we must ordain one to be a witness with us of His
resurrection. In other words Peter discerned
from scripture that since Judas was gone they were to replace him to restore
the 12 Apostles.
They chose two of
the other followers named Justus and Matthias. They prayed and said, You,
Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show which of these two you have
chosen to take part of this ministry and Apostleship, from which Judas, by
transgression, fell, that he might go to his own place. They cast their
lots, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was added to the eleven Apostles.
Next in our study,
we’ll learn about the day of Pentecost, and what happened on that day that
the Apostles had been waiting for. Come on back and join again, for more
Daily Bread.
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