Outbless Weekly
Outbless Weekly is a podcast of the bible study hosted by Michael Metcalf who studied at Calvary Chapel Bible College and has been a volunteer bible teacher for over 20 years. Michael teaches verse by verse, book by book as the Holy Spirit leads. Listen to the Outbless Weekly Podcast as we travel through the bible. You will quickly learn the bible in-depth and begin to deepen your understanding of God's amazing Word. You may also contact Michael at mm@outbless.com
Outbless Weekly
Acts, Chapter 1 - Jesus Taken Up Into Heaven
Acts, Chapter 1 - Jesus Taken Up Into Heaven
1 In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen.
- In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up into heaven.
- it seems this book was written by doctor Luke; Therefore, this would be a follow on to the book of Luke.
- Theophilus means "friend of God" or "loved by God."
- Luke tells us that in his former book that he wrote all that Jesus began to do and to teach not some. in other words in Luke's mind it was a complete work with sufficient information for us to understand the whole story.
- He told us about the day he was taken up to heaven
o this is a major event worthy of study, prayer and contemplation
o notice this: after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen
o Jesus didn't go back up to heaven before he gave these instructions!
3 After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.
- Here Luke tells us that after His suffering
o we must never forget the suffering that Christ went through for us
o they put a bag on top of his head and they beat him until he was almost unrecognizable
o they pulled out his beard from his face and his neck
o they flogged his back with the cat of nine tails
§ it was said that 40 lashes with a cat of nine tails would be sufficient to kill someone
§ with each slash the pieces of bone that were attached to the leather whip would rip out chunks of muscle eventually nerve and then even finally get to the very bone in your back
§ then they drove nails through his feet and his hands on the cross
§ that is a lot of suffering my friends| Jesus must really love us more than we can ever know in this life.
- he presented himself to them and gave them many convincing proofs that he was alive.
o so after the suffering Jesus rose from the dead
o and he gave many convincing proofs that he was alive
o this means in the flesh not as a spirit
- He appeared to them over a period of 40 days and spoke about the Kingdom of God
o imagine all the things that he could do in 40 days after being risen from the dead
o This is why Luke says he provided them many proofs
o It is said that over 500 people saw Jesus or interacted with him after he was risen from the dead
§ this is significant because in a federal court of law in the United States of America it would only take two witnesses to establish a fact; there would be no question about the facts should there be 500 witnesses!
4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
Intro to Outbless Weekly
Thanks for listening to Outbless.com
