WEBVTT 00:00:00.140 --> 00:00:03.009 Hello Mercy Church family, happy 2024. 00:00:03.009 --> 00:00:07.182 Welcome to the first week of our new study for our Pray 365. 00:00:07.182 --> 00:00:15.771 If you're new to Mercy Church, our Pray 365 is a program we put together to read the Bible together daily in our own individual quiet time set aside for God. 00:00:15.771 --> 00:00:20.600 But corporately, as a body, we are reading, studying and praying over the same scriptures together. 00:00:20.600 --> 00:00:25.251 Each week throughout 2024, we will read and study one chapter of the Bible. 00:00:25.251 --> 00:00:37.112 If you go to our website, wwwmercychurch and click on the Pray 365 button, you will find a calendar of how the passage is divided up into seven parts for daily reading throughout the week. 00:00:37.112 --> 00:00:41.273 Also, you can find us on our social media under Mercy Church, colorado. 00:00:41.273 --> 00:00:47.651 Once a week, on Mondays, we will post the readings for the entire week and we will also send it out in our weekly emails. 00:00:47.651 --> 00:00:50.270 The full year calendar is found on our website. 00:00:50.270 --> 00:00:54.966 In addition to the passage reading, there will be a weekly podcast going over this week's reading. 00:00:54.966 --> 00:01:04.323 The podcast will be one podcast, but there will be seven chapter markers and, if you like, you may divide it up into seven days worth of listening Each day or chapter marker. 00:01:04.625 --> 00:01:10.346 I'm going to talk about a different topic this particular chapter covers to give you a more in-depth understanding. 00:01:10.346 --> 00:01:13.320 At Mercy Church, we are trying to do church differently. 00:01:13.320 --> 00:01:16.328 Our mission is to help people find and follow Jesus. 00:01:16.328 --> 00:01:25.903 Nowhere, nowhere, is our mission more prevalent than the Book of Acts, which is the exact mission of the early church and the entire mission of the Book of Acts. 00:01:25.903 --> 00:01:35.512 We help people find and follow Jesus through our core principles, the first of which is to be rooted in prayer and scripture, and we do this through our Pray 365. 00:01:35.512 --> 00:01:43.222 Our goal is to transition you from weekly acts of corporate worship to daily moments of personal fellowship with Him. 00:01:43.222 --> 00:01:47.396 Welcome to week one, our first topic for day one. 00:01:47.736 --> 00:01:50.046 I'm going to give you an introduction to the Book of Acts. 00:01:50.046 --> 00:01:53.501 We are beginning this study in the New Testament, in the Book of Acts. 00:01:53.501 --> 00:01:58.052 For the purpose of understanding, I would like to divide up Bible history into four parts. 00:01:58.052 --> 00:02:01.245 The first the Old Testament, pre-jesus. 00:02:01.245 --> 00:02:05.981 The second the Gospels, the time when Jesus physically walked the earth. 00:02:05.981 --> 00:02:07.965 Number three the church period. 00:02:07.965 --> 00:02:10.692 This is the time after Jesus ascended into heaven. 00:02:10.692 --> 00:02:12.485 This is the period we are still in. 00:02:12.485 --> 00:02:15.377 This is the period that begins in the Book of Acts. 00:02:15.377 --> 00:02:18.448 The last period is the time after Christ returns. 00:02:18.448 --> 00:02:24.307 This is the future and many of the prophecies of what will happen are scattered throughout the Bible. 00:02:24.307 --> 00:02:26.537 This also includes the Book of Revelation. 00:02:27.038 --> 00:02:30.409 The official title of this book is the Acts of the Apostles. 00:02:30.409 --> 00:02:32.156 There are no frills to this book. 00:02:32.156 --> 00:02:38.693 It tells simple stories of normal, everyday people who believe and were powered by God to go to the ends of the earth. 00:02:38.693 --> 00:02:41.146 These people are no different than you and I. 00:02:41.146 --> 00:02:50.376 Acts shows us what the Big C Church not a specific church, but the corporate church body would and could accomplish if done properly. 00:02:50.858 --> 00:02:56.935 And just a span of 30 years, from 33 AD, which marks the death of Jesus, to 64 AD. 00:02:56.935 --> 00:03:02.252 In those 30 years, a movement was born and turned into the largest religion that the world has ever seen. 00:03:02.252 --> 00:03:06.911 Today, over 2 billion people claim to be Christian, beginning with 12 people. 00:03:06.911 --> 00:03:08.475 They revolutionize the world. 00:03:08.475 --> 00:03:14.951 This is what the good news of Jesus Christ can do when it's powered by the Holy Spirit and placed in human hands. 00:03:14.951 --> 00:03:25.810 This is the entire point of the Church to love Jesus so much and be so thankful for what he has done in our lives that we can't help but share it with every person that we know. 00:03:25.810 --> 00:03:30.127 And even further, it makes us want to go out and tell people we don't know. 00:03:30.127 --> 00:03:36.334 Like the Lady in the Well, she told everybody in the entire city when she realized that Jesus was the Messiah. 00:03:37.116 --> 00:03:40.046 Let me ask you today what has Jesus done for you? 00:03:40.046 --> 00:03:42.334 Do you know it in your heart of hearts? 00:03:42.334 --> 00:03:44.762 Have you made Jesus the Lord of your life? 00:03:44.762 --> 00:03:52.788 If you haven't turn to our podcast Basic under Mercy Church, colorado, listen to the episode number one, made in his image. 00:03:52.788 --> 00:03:57.663 It will help you understand God and Jesus and what it means to make him Lord of your life. 00:03:57.663 --> 00:04:00.513 Don't start 2024 off without him. 00:04:00.513 --> 00:04:04.123 Jesus gave all of us a mission when he ascended into heaven. 00:04:04.123 --> 00:04:09.622 All of us who are called by his name should be actively helping people find and follow Jesus. 00:04:09.622 --> 00:04:12.068 It's not just the job for the disciples. 00:04:12.068 --> 00:04:17.425 It's not only a job for pastors or chants and I or people who go to Bible college. 00:04:17.425 --> 00:04:23.791 Somehow today in our modern American Christianity, we have forgotten our true mission is to evangelize the world. 00:04:23.791 --> 00:04:26.701 God doesn't want anyone to be lost, left behind. 00:04:26.701 --> 00:04:33.745 He wants everyone to know we walk this earth predestined with a purpose to go into all the world and share him. 00:04:34.165 --> 00:04:37.276 The book of Acts is essential to the Bible as a whole. 00:04:37.276 --> 00:04:43.983 It stands as a bridge between the life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and what's next for those who call him Lord. 00:04:43.983 --> 00:04:51.406 Within the pages of Acts, the disciples, who had sat at his feet and learned from Jesus Christ for three years, had to learn to live without him. 00:04:51.406 --> 00:04:54.173 Now Jesus didn't leave him alone. 00:04:54.173 --> 00:05:02.869 Within the pages of Acts, jesus sends the Holy Spirit to his followers, and this is the pivotal moment that God's followers had been waiting for for thousands of years. 00:05:02.869 --> 00:05:04.713 Moses bargained with God. 00:05:04.713 --> 00:05:09.512 He told God that he would rather have his presence than all the riches of the promised land. 00:05:10.021 --> 00:05:12.047 Exodus 33, starting in verse 12. 00:05:12.047 --> 00:05:17.079 Moses said to the Lord you have been telling me, lead these people, but you have not let me know whom. 00:05:17.079 --> 00:05:18.023 You will sin with me. 00:05:18.023 --> 00:05:21.196 You have said I know you by name and you have found favor with me. 00:05:21.196 --> 00:05:26.350 If you're pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. 00:05:26.350 --> 00:05:28.966 Remember that this nation is your people. 00:05:28.966 --> 00:05:33.021 The Lord replied my presence will go with you and I will give you rest. 00:05:33.021 --> 00:05:37.831 Then Moses said to him if your presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. 00:05:37.831 --> 00:05:47.281 How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us, what else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth? 00:05:47.281 --> 00:05:53.646 And the Lord said to Moses I will do the very thing that you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name. 00:05:53.646 --> 00:05:59.949 Moses said I would rather remain in the wilderness with you than go to the promised land without you. 00:06:00.531 --> 00:06:05.105 If you haven't had a chance to listen to our Holy Spirit series, go back and listen on our podcast. 00:06:05.105 --> 00:06:12.934 Before Jesus ascended into heaven, the Holy Spirit would only come upon certain people for certain jobs and only for specific times. 00:06:12.934 --> 00:06:16.197 David begged God not to take his presence away. 00:06:16.197 --> 00:06:22.750 Psalm 5111 says do not cast me away from your presence and do not take your Holy Spirit from me. 00:06:22.750 --> 00:06:29.889 In Acts, the Holy Spirit came to dwell in his people permanently, and not just specific people, but all his followers. 00:06:29.889 --> 00:06:37.954 It is here that we begin to get a full understanding of the deity of the Holy Spirit and the fullness of the Trinity Father, son and Spirit. 00:06:37.954 --> 00:06:39.680 All God, but separate. 00:06:39.680 --> 00:06:40.362 In persons. 00:06:40.362 --> 00:06:47.144 The Holy Spirit arrives with power and in fire and he activates a boldness within the believers and does not hold back. 00:06:47.144 --> 00:06:54.326 The early church welcomes him in all his manifestations and gifts and fruits and miracles and signs and wonders. 00:06:54.326 --> 00:06:58.161 There is nothing he can't do and he burns through all of them. 00:06:58.161 --> 00:07:04.033 He lights the disciples on fire and they evangelize to the ends of the entire earth. 00:07:05.000 --> 00:07:10.564 Without the Book of Acts we would have no idea how the Holy Spirit came to first dwell within the believers and what it means. 00:07:10.564 --> 00:07:30.615 Within the Book of Acts we see the catalyst of the Holy Spirit and the mission of Jesus Christ, transition the disciples from passive students and witnesses of the life of Jesus to the active revolution and new movements of faith that will conquer the world, the light that came into the darkness, settled into the heart of man and set the world on fire. 00:07:30.615 --> 00:07:38.824 Within these chapters the early church is founded and built in one place, and then another, and another, and another and another. 00:07:38.824 --> 00:07:42.641 Without the Book of Acts we would never know how the early church began and how it was built. 00:07:42.641 --> 00:07:49.603 Acts introduces us to the apostle Paul, who began as Christ's worst enemy and ended up as his staunchest follower. 00:07:49.603 --> 00:07:57.589 Without the Book of Acts we would have a bunch of letters from Paul but no idea who he is or how he came to be a Christian and apostle. 00:07:57.589 --> 00:08:07.713 The Book of Acts also shows the process of how the kingdom of God spread from being the faith of one culture, one nation the Israelites to the Gentiles, to the entire world. 00:08:07.713 --> 00:08:13.653 What began as faith of one race the children of Abraham, isaac and Jacob spread to all people of faith. 00:08:13.653 --> 00:08:16.701 Now any person who believes in Jesus will be saved. 00:08:16.701 --> 00:08:22.084 Without the Book of Acts it would have been really difficult for the Jewish Christians to accept the Gentile believers. 00:08:22.084 --> 00:08:29.798 Thanks to the events that happened in Acts, all Christians now understand that Jesus Christ's sacrifice is for all people who believe. 00:08:29.798 --> 00:08:33.653 The Book of Acts connects the Gospels with the rest of the books of the Bible. 00:08:33.653 --> 00:08:38.312 Without the Book of Acts, we would have the Gospels and a bunch of letters from churches. 00:08:38.312 --> 00:08:42.870 We would have no idea how they connect, no idea how they got from one place to another. 00:08:42.870 --> 00:08:45.942 There would be a great big gap in our understanding. 00:08:46.442 --> 00:08:52.846 The Book of Acts is one of the most crucial foundational books of the Bible and it is the foundational book of the church. 00:08:52.846 --> 00:08:55.456 It is the fifth book of the New Testament. 00:08:55.456 --> 00:08:59.972 The first four books of the New Testament are known as the Gospels Matthew, mark, luke and John. 00:08:59.972 --> 00:09:02.764 They are the eyewitness accounts of the life of Jesus. 00:09:02.764 --> 00:09:07.113 Acts is the first book of the New Testament that follows the Gospels. 00:09:07.113 --> 00:09:14.208 It is the first book of the Bible after Jesus ascends into heaven and the disciples and early Christians have to do life without him. 00:09:14.811 --> 00:09:19.890 The setting for the Book of Acts begins in Israel but later follows Paul on his travels all the way to Rome. 00:09:19.890 --> 00:09:22.640 It spans a period of time of about 30 years. 00:09:22.640 --> 00:09:26.453 Let's begin in chapter one and we can discuss more as we go. 00:09:26.453 --> 00:09:28.780 Acts, chapter one, starting in verse one. 00:09:28.780 --> 00:09:39.583 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 after giving instructions to the Holy Spirit, to the apostles he had chosen. 00:09:40.668 --> 00:09:45.482 So the Book of Acts is written by Luke, who is also the author of the Gospel of Luke. 00:09:45.482 --> 00:09:48.190 Luke is a physician and a Gentile. 00:09:48.190 --> 00:09:50.015 Gentile just means non-Jew. 00:09:50.015 --> 00:09:52.081 Luke was a companion of Paul. 00:09:52.081 --> 00:09:57.173 Paul talks about him in his letter to the Colossians, colossians 4, starting in 14. 00:09:57.173 --> 00:10:01.859 Our dear friend Luke the doctor, and Damas sends greetings. 00:10:01.859 --> 00:10:06.325 Paul also talks about traveling with Luke in 2 Timothy and Philemon. 00:10:06.325 --> 00:10:11.446 Throughout this book you will see that Luke often says we, we got ready to leave from Macedonia. 00:10:11.446 --> 00:10:13.052 We sailed from Philippi. 00:10:13.052 --> 00:10:14.517 We would sail from Italy. 00:10:14.517 --> 00:10:16.663 Luke was with Paul on these journeys. 00:10:17.446 --> 00:10:19.933 Luke is an eyewitness for much of Acts. 00:10:19.933 --> 00:10:22.240 The Gospel of Luke is a different case. 00:10:22.240 --> 00:10:28.562 The Gospel of Luke is actually a compilation of eyewitness accounts telling the story of Jesus and the miracles he had done. 00:10:28.562 --> 00:10:31.469 Luke provides this account to Theophilus as well. 00:10:31.469 --> 00:10:35.105 Besides, dr Luke was also a historian. 00:10:35.105 --> 00:10:42.567 The Book of Acts is the only historical account we have of the events that happened on the day of Pentecost and much of the early church. 00:10:42.567 --> 00:10:46.124 There are four books of the Bible that tell the same story of Jesus. 00:10:46.124 --> 00:10:50.841 We, however, only have one that meets out the early events of the church. 00:10:50.841 --> 00:10:54.254 Luke writes both of his books with incredible accuracy. 00:10:54.735 --> 00:11:04.551 About a hundred years ago there was a man by the name of Sir Michael William Ramsey who set out to disprove the Book of Acts historically by going place to place, as stated by Luke in Acts. 00:11:04.551 --> 00:11:06.557 He thought the Book of Acts was ludicrous. 00:11:06.557 --> 00:11:07.500 But guess what? 00:11:07.500 --> 00:11:09.905 The man could not disprove Luke's accounts. 00:11:09.905 --> 00:11:12.893 Everything he found was historically accurate. 00:11:12.893 --> 00:11:15.466 Michael himself actually became a believer. 00:11:15.466 --> 00:11:18.761 He called Luke one of the greatest historians to ever live. 00:11:18.761 --> 00:11:22.172 Luke was also called an evangelist, a beloved doctor. 00:11:22.172 --> 00:11:25.482 He was believed to be a Gentile from Syria. 00:11:25.482 --> 00:11:27.630 He was not one of the original apostles. 00:11:27.630 --> 00:11:31.544 He was taught about Jesus by those who were eyewitnesses of Jesus Christ. 00:11:32.307 --> 00:11:36.400 Let's look real quick at Luke, chapter one, luke one starting in verse one. 00:11:36.400 --> 00:11:46.301 Many have undertaken to draw up an account of things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who, from the first, were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. 00:11:46.301 --> 00:11:58.384 With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught. 00:11:58.384 --> 00:12:06.553 So the point of Luke's research for the gospel of Luke is to prove by firsthand accounts that Jesus is who he says. 00:12:06.553 --> 00:12:12.106 He is To prove the certainty of the things that have been taught, and Luke presents his evidence. 00:12:12.106 --> 00:12:16.825 So then, what's the point of the book of Acts of the apostles? 00:12:16.825 --> 00:12:20.475 To let theophilus know what happens next. 00:12:20.475 --> 00:12:24.224 The book of Acts is the bridge from the works of Jesus to the church. 00:12:24.224 --> 00:12:26.227 So who is Luke writing to? 00:12:26.227 --> 00:12:27.551 Who is theophilus? 00:12:27.551 --> 00:12:28.692 No one knows. 00:12:28.692 --> 00:12:31.893 There are people, it could be in the Bible, but no one is really certain. 00:12:32.434 --> 00:12:39.033 Luke was believed to have resided in the city of Antioch in Syria, because Luke uses the term most excellent, theophilus. 00:12:39.033 --> 00:12:42.972 He is believed to be a high-ranking Roman official in the city of Antioch. 00:12:42.972 --> 00:12:49.475 What we do know is that Luke wrote to a well-educated, higher-ranking, influential Gentile believer. 00:12:49.475 --> 00:12:59.201 The books of the Bible began as letters written on long scroll-like paper, and this means the book of Acts would have been close to 35 feet long. 00:12:59.201 --> 00:13:04.722 These letters and books would have been passed on from church to church and read at each. 00:13:06.105 --> 00:13:12.650 If you are breaking up the study by days, this marks the end of day one, part two, the ascension. 00:13:12.650 --> 00:13:19.491 Luke begins the book of Acts at the same spot where he ends the book of Luke, which is the ending of Jesus' ministry. 00:13:19.491 --> 00:13:32.749 He wants to show theophilus, us, what happened at the end of Jesus' ministry, and the goal throughout the book of Acts is to show how Jesus' ministry is expanded and continued throughout the world. 00:13:32.749 --> 00:13:36.774 First let's take a look at the last scene of the Gospel of Luke. 00:13:36.774 --> 00:13:40.653 Turn in your Bibles to Luke 24, starting in verse 50. 00:13:40.653 --> 00:13:45.576 When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, jesus lifted up his hands and blessed them. 00:13:45.576 --> 00:13:48.812 While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. 00:13:48.812 --> 00:13:55.231 Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and they stayed continually at the temple praising God. 00:13:55.231 --> 00:13:58.634 The ascension is when Jesus is raised up into heaven. 00:13:59.125 --> 00:14:02.774 Jesus had been preparing his disciples for this moment for quite some time. 00:14:02.774 --> 00:14:10.331 In John 3, verse 13, he says no one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of man. 00:14:10.331 --> 00:14:16.427 In John 7.33, he said I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me? 00:14:16.427 --> 00:14:27.767 In John 14.12, he says truly, truly, I say to you whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do, and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. 00:14:27.767 --> 00:14:35.912 And then in John 16.28, he says I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father. 00:14:35.912 --> 00:14:40.716 Over and over again, jesus tells his disciples I am going to the Father. 00:14:40.716 --> 00:14:48.692 He will be separated from his followers for a definitive amount of time, to only be ended upon his return to this earth. 00:14:49.125 --> 00:14:52.854 John 14, starting in verse 1, let not your hearts be troubled. 00:14:52.854 --> 00:14:57.014 Believe in God, believe also in me and my Father's house, or many rooms. 00:14:57.014 --> 00:15:00.894 If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you. 00:15:00.894 --> 00:15:09.274 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you myself, and where I am, you may be also, and you know the way to where I am going. 00:15:09.274 --> 00:15:12.511 Thomas said to him Lord, we do not know where you are going. 00:15:12.511 --> 00:15:13.775 How can we know the way? 00:15:13.775 --> 00:15:16.953 And Jesus said to him I am the way and the truth and the life. 00:15:16.953 --> 00:15:19.110 No one comes to the Father except through me. 00:15:19.110 --> 00:15:21.993 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. 00:15:21.993 --> 00:15:25.333 From now on, you do know him and have seen him. 00:15:25.333 --> 00:15:27.711 Now let's turn to Acts, chapter 1. 00:15:27.711 --> 00:15:36.765 Luke again tells the story of Jesus' ascension, but has some new information for Theophilus s, not found in the first letter, acts 1,. 00:15:36.765 --> 00:15:38.513 Let's start again in verse 1. 00:15:38.924 --> 00:15:45.010 In my former book, theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day he was taken up into heaven. 00:15:45.010 --> 00:15:54.836 After giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen after his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. 00:15:54.836 --> 00:16:12.154 He appeared to them over a period of 40 days and spoke about the kingdom of God On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave this command do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about, for John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. 00:16:12.154 --> 00:16:17.589 Then they gathered around him and asked Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel? 00:16:17.589 --> 00:16:20.980 He said to them it is not for you to know the times or the dates. 00:16:20.980 --> 00:16:30.796 The Father is set by his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. 00:16:30.796 --> 00:16:35.895 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes and a cloud hid him from their sight. 00:16:35.895 --> 00:16:43.067 They were looking intently up at the sky as he was going when suddenly two men dressed in white stood behind them, men of Galilee. 00:16:43.067 --> 00:16:45.614 They said why do you stand looking up into the sky? 00:16:45.614 --> 00:16:52.490 The same Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven. 00:16:53.625 --> 00:16:59.830 After his resurrection, jesus appeared to the disciples over a period of 40 days until he ascended into heaven. 00:16:59.830 --> 00:17:03.052 Luke isn't the only person to record the Lord's ascension. 00:17:03.052 --> 00:17:09.136 Mark also talks about Jesus' ascension in his gospel, mark 16, verse 19. 00:17:09.136 --> 00:17:14.769 After the Lord Jesus has spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. 00:17:14.769 --> 00:17:21.712 Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his words by the signs that accompanied it. 00:17:21.712 --> 00:17:26.536 So Jesus was taken up into heaven and is sitting at the right hand of God. 00:17:26.536 --> 00:17:31.125 The book of John says this John 16, starting in verse 11,. 00:17:31.242 --> 00:17:41.056 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb and as she wept she stopped to look into the tomb and she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 00:17:41.056 --> 00:17:43.031 They said to her woman why are you weeping? 00:17:43.031 --> 00:17:47.214 She said to them they have taken away my Lord and I do not know where they have laid him. 00:17:47.214 --> 00:17:51.835 After this, she turned down and saw Jesus standing, but did not know that it was Jesus. 00:17:51.835 --> 00:17:54.571 Jesus said to her woman why are you weeping? 00:17:54.571 --> 00:17:57.910 Whom are you seeking, supposing him to be the gardener? 00:17:57.910 --> 00:18:03.452 She said to him sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you have laid him and I will take him away. 00:18:03.452 --> 00:18:04.826 Jesus said to her. 00:18:04.826 --> 00:18:10.277 Mary, she turned and said to him an Aramaic, rabboni, which means teacher. 00:18:10.277 --> 00:18:20.674 Jesus said to her do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father, but go to my brothers and say to them I'm ascending to my Father and your Father to my God and your God. 00:18:20.674 --> 00:18:26.410 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples I've seen the Lord and that he had said these things to her. 00:18:26.924 --> 00:18:32.482 It is very important that after the resurrection, jesus appears to many people. 00:18:32.482 --> 00:18:33.847 To prove his resurrection. 00:18:33.847 --> 00:18:36.311 He did this over a series of 40 days. 00:18:36.311 --> 00:18:39.933 Paul provides us with the list of whom Jesus appears to. 00:18:39.933 --> 00:18:42.790 First, corinthians 15, starting in verse three. 00:18:42.790 --> 00:18:56.932 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised again on the third day according to the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas and then to the twelve. 00:18:56.932 --> 00:19:04.973 After that, he appeared to more than 500 of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 00:19:04.973 --> 00:19:12.313 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles and, last of all, he appeared to me also as to one abnormally born. 00:19:13.365 --> 00:19:17.595 After Jesus appeared and proved his resurrection to his followers, it was time for him to go. 00:19:18.749 --> 00:19:19.664 But why? 00:19:19.704 --> 00:19:20.930 Why is it important that he go? 00:19:21.565 --> 00:19:24.330 In John 16, he tells us this starting in five. 00:19:24.811 --> 00:19:26.115 But now I'm going to him. 00:19:26.316 --> 00:19:26.856 Who sent me? 00:19:26.856 --> 00:19:29.031 And none of you asked me where are you going? 00:19:29.031 --> 00:19:34.269 But because I've said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart and taken complete possession of them. 00:19:34.269 --> 00:19:44.435 But I tell you the truth it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the helper, comforter, advocate, intercessor, counselor, strength and her standby will not come to you. 00:19:44.435 --> 00:20:02.395 But if I go, I will send him the Holy Spirit to you to be in close fellowship with you and he, when he comes, will convict the world about the guilt of sin and the need of a Savior, and about righteousness and about judgment, about sin and the true nature of it, because they do not believe in me and my message. 00:20:02.395 --> 00:20:07.616 About righteousness, because I'm going to my Father and you will no longer see me. 00:20:07.616 --> 00:20:13.776 About judgment and the certainty of it, because the ruler of this world, satan, has been judged and condemned. 00:20:14.144 --> 00:20:17.314 I have more things to say to you, but you cannot bear to hear them now. 00:20:17.314 --> 00:20:31.076 But when he, the Spirit of Truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth, full and complete truth, for he will not speak on his own initiative, but he will speak whatever he hears from the Father, the message regarding the Son, and he will disclose to you what is to come in the future. 00:20:31.076 --> 00:20:39.740 He will glorify and honor me because he, the Holy Spirit, will take from what is mine and disclose it to you, all things that the Father have our mind. 00:20:39.740 --> 00:20:44.554 Because of this, I said that he, the Spirit, will take from what is mine and will reveal it to you. 00:20:44.554 --> 00:20:52.210 So it's important to understand that Jesus died, was buried, was resurrected and all of this was witnessed. 00:20:52.210 --> 00:20:54.351 Then the Father raised him up. 00:20:54.924 --> 00:20:58.356 Paul explains it like this 1 Corinthians 3, 14,. 00:20:58.356 --> 00:21:10.116 I hope to come to you soon, but I'm writing these things to you so that, if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of truth. 00:21:10.116 --> 00:21:22.695 Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness he has manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by the angels, proclaimed among the nations believed on in the world, taken up in glory. 00:21:22.695 --> 00:21:27.136 And Peter explains it like this 1 Peter 3, 18,. 00:21:27.136 --> 00:21:57.160 For indeed, christ died for sins once and for all, the just and righteous for the unjust and the unrighteous, the innocent for the guilty, so that he might bring us to God, having been put to death in flesh but made alive in the Spirit, in which he also went and preached to the spirits now in prison who were disobedient, when the great patience of God was waiting, in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons Noah's family were brought safely through the water corresponding to that rescue through the flood. 00:21:57.160 --> 00:22:15.830 Baptism, which is an expression of a believer's new life in Christ, now saves you, not by removing the dirt from the body, but by an appeal to God for a good, clear conscience, demonstrating what you believe to be yours through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God. 00:22:15.830 --> 00:22:22.996 That is the place of honor and authority, with all angels and authority and powers made subservient to him. 00:22:23.865 --> 00:22:26.773 I want to emphasize that Jesus did not raise himself up. 00:22:26.773 --> 00:22:29.010 God raises Jesus up in glory. 00:22:29.010 --> 00:22:42.070 God, through the power of the Holy Spirit, raises Jesus from the dead and then raises him up in glory into heaven at his ascension and seats him at his right hand and gives him all power and authority over all things. 00:22:42.070 --> 00:22:50.856 Hebrews 9.24 says for Christ has entered not into holy places made with hands, which are the copies of the true things, but into heaven itself. 00:22:50.856 --> 00:22:59.056 Now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf, jesus goes to prepare a place for us and intercedes to the Father on our behalf. 00:22:59.056 --> 00:23:01.451 He is our door to the Father. 00:23:01.451 --> 00:23:13.789 Once Jesus is gone, he plans to send, as does the Father and advocate, the Holy Spirit to convict the world of sin and to guide us and reveal to us through the things of God, and to dwell within us. 00:23:13.789 --> 00:23:20.037 Now God and all three persons reside within us through the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:23:20.037 --> 00:23:24.974 This marks the end of day 2.3, the Kingdom of God. 00:23:25.805 --> 00:23:28.313 Let's go back to Acts 1, starting in verse 1. 00:23:28.313 --> 00:23:35.269 In my former book Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven. 00:23:35.269 --> 00:23:44.685 After giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen after his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. 00:23:44.685 --> 00:23:48.153 I want to touch really quickly on the Kingdom of God. 00:23:48.153 --> 00:23:50.332 Jesus speaks a lot about the Kingdom of God. 00:23:50.332 --> 00:23:54.767 The very first thing he began to teach was this Matthew 3.2,. 00:23:54.767 --> 00:23:58.636 Jesus says repent, for the Kingdom of heaven has come near. 00:23:58.636 --> 00:24:08.694 In fact, the entire point of all his teachings and his life, his death, his burial, his resurrection is so that we might join him one day in the Kingdom of God. 00:24:08.694 --> 00:24:13.016 Remember Jesus said previously I go to prepare a place for you. 00:24:13.016 --> 00:24:14.911 My Father's house has many rooms. 00:24:14.911 --> 00:24:19.113 That is the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of heaven, and Jesus is king. 00:24:19.113 --> 00:24:20.988 Luke 4.43,. 00:24:20.988 --> 00:24:29.054 But he said I must proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God to other towns also, because that is why I was sent. 00:24:30.025 --> 00:24:33.592 What is the Kingdom of God, or, as Jesus called it, the Kingdom of heaven? 00:24:33.592 --> 00:24:37.595 Let's turn to Daniel 2.44,. 00:24:37.595 --> 00:24:42.569 And in the day of those kings, the Kingdom of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed. 00:24:42.569 --> 00:24:45.057 Nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. 00:24:45.057 --> 00:24:51.067 It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever. 00:24:51.067 --> 00:24:56.015 The Kingdom of God is a Kingdom of heaven that will never be destroyed and will last forever. 00:24:56.884 --> 00:25:01.175 Jesus tells us this in a conversation with Pilate, matthew 18. 00:25:01.175 --> 00:25:02.989 Let's begin in 33. 00:25:02.989 --> 00:25:08.429 So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him Are you the king of the Jews? 00:25:08.429 --> 00:25:13.375 Jesus answered Do you say this of your own accord or did others say this to you about me? 00:25:13.375 --> 00:25:15.308 Jesus answered Am I a Jew? 00:25:15.308 --> 00:25:18.834 Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. 00:25:18.834 --> 00:25:20.048 What have you done? 00:25:20.048 --> 00:25:23.273 So Jesus answered my kingdom is not of this world. 00:25:23.273 --> 00:25:29.148 If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. 00:25:29.148 --> 00:25:31.414 But my kingdom is not from the world. 00:25:31.414 --> 00:25:34.553 Then Pilate said to him so you are a king? 00:25:34.553 --> 00:25:37.134 And Jesus answered you say that I am a king. 00:25:37.134 --> 00:25:41.973 For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world to bear witness to the truth. 00:25:41.973 --> 00:25:45.012 One who is of the truth listens to my voice. 00:25:45.012 --> 00:25:48.713 The kingdom of God is not physically located in this world. 00:25:49.244 --> 00:25:57.662 In Luke 17, 20, being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, jesus answered them the kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed. 00:25:57.662 --> 00:26:01.271 Nor will they say look here it is, or there, for behold. 00:26:01.271 --> 00:26:03.537 The kingdom of God is in the midst of you. 00:26:03.537 --> 00:26:10.258 The kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom and we must be born again to become part of his kingdom. 00:26:10.258 --> 00:26:14.472 Jesus tells Nicodemus in John, chapter 3, starting in 3,. 00:26:14.874 --> 00:26:20.051 Jesus replied I tell you the truth unless you are born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God. 00:26:20.051 --> 00:26:22.057 What do you mean, exclaimed Nicodemus? 00:26:22.057 --> 00:26:25.273 How could an old man go into his mother's womb and be born again? 00:26:25.273 --> 00:26:31.698 Jesus replied I assure you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and spirit. 00:26:31.698 --> 00:26:36.756 Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. 00:26:36.756 --> 00:26:39.993 So don't be surprised when I say you must be born again. 00:26:39.993 --> 00:26:46.192 The wind blows wherever it wants, just as you can hear the wind, but can't tell where it comes from or where it is going. 00:26:46.744 --> 00:26:49.433 So you can't explain how people are born of the spirit. 00:26:49.433 --> 00:26:51.886 How are these things possible, nicodemus asked? 00:26:51.886 --> 00:26:56.958 Jesus replied you are a respected Jewish teacher and yet you don't understand these things. 00:26:56.958 --> 00:27:02.317 I assure you, we tell you what we know and have seen, and yet you won't believe our testimony. 00:27:02.317 --> 00:27:08.653 But if you don't believe me when I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 00:27:08.653 --> 00:27:10.930 No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. 00:27:11.211 --> 00:27:13.256 But the Son of man has come down from heaven. 00:27:13.256 --> 00:27:22.556 And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of man must be lifted up so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life. 00:27:22.556 --> 00:27:24.711 For this is how God loved the world. 00:27:24.711 --> 00:27:31.188 He gave his one and only Son so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 00:27:31.188 --> 00:27:35.134 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world. 00:27:35.134 --> 00:27:40.855 Through him, we have to be reborn spiritually to be able to enter the spiritual kingdom of heaven. 00:27:40.855 --> 00:27:44.554 Jesus is the door to the kingdom, daniel 727. 00:27:44.554 --> 00:27:51.712 And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the most high. 00:27:51.712 --> 00:27:56.615 His kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom and all dominions shall serve and obey him. 00:27:57.244 --> 00:28:01.095 In order to enter into the kingdom of heaven, we have to make Jesus the Lord of our life. 00:28:01.095 --> 00:28:05.335 Making Jesus the Lord of your life is more than just saying a few words and we are done. 00:28:05.335 --> 00:28:07.151 We have to become his followers. 00:28:07.151 --> 00:28:08.609 We have to put him first. 00:28:08.609 --> 00:28:10.329 His salvation is a gift. 00:28:10.329 --> 00:28:17.772 Jesus says this, luke 1232, fear not, little flock, for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 00:28:17.772 --> 00:28:21.114 Through our actions, we prove that we have made him Lord and Savior. 00:28:21.114 --> 00:28:28.390 Matthew 633 says but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 00:28:28.390 --> 00:28:37.795 There will be people who will not inherit the kingdom of God and will mourn on the day that Jesus returns, because they did not truly make him Lord of their life. 00:28:37.795 --> 00:28:42.115 They said the words, but they continued living for themselves and their desires. 00:28:42.605 --> 00:28:45.751 Jesus explains it like this in Matthew 7, 21,. 00:28:45.751 --> 00:28:52.768 Not everyone who says to me, lord, lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one that does the will of my father, who is in heaven. 00:28:52.768 --> 00:29:01.034 Many will say to me on that day Lord, lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles? 00:29:01.034 --> 00:29:03.650 Then I will tell them plainly I never knew you. 00:29:03.650 --> 00:29:05.273 Away from me, you evildoers. 00:29:05.273 --> 00:29:13.053 Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 00:29:13.053 --> 00:29:21.654 The rain came down and the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against the house, yet it did not fall because it had its foundation on the rock. 00:29:21.654 --> 00:29:28.696 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 00:29:28.696 --> 00:29:36.632 The rain came down, the streams rose and the winds blew and beat against that house and it fell with a great crash. 00:29:37.757 --> 00:29:42.535 I am going to finish the kingdom of God with what Jesus says in Matthew 25. 00:29:42.535 --> 00:29:44.122 Let's start in 31. 00:29:44.122 --> 00:29:49.679 When the said of man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 00:29:49.679 --> 00:30:00.683 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep on his right but the goats on the left. 00:30:00.683 --> 00:30:08.545 And the king will say to those on his right Come, you are blessed by my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you before the foundation of the world. 00:30:08.545 --> 00:30:10.540 For I was hungry and you gave me food. 00:30:10.540 --> 00:30:12.601 I was thirsty and you gave me drink. 00:30:12.601 --> 00:30:14.461 I was a stranger and you welcomed me. 00:30:14.461 --> 00:30:16.301 I was naked and you clothed me. 00:30:16.301 --> 00:30:17.820 I was sick and you visited me. 00:30:17.820 --> 00:30:19.842 I was in prison and you came to me. 00:30:19.842 --> 00:30:32.682 Then the righteous will answer him saying, lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and didn't give you drink, and when did we see a stranger and welcome you, or naked and cloth you, and when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you? 00:30:32.682 --> 00:30:39.185 And the king will answer them Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these of my brothers, you did it to me. 00:30:39.185 --> 00:30:41.962 Then he will say to those on the left depart from me. 00:30:41.962 --> 00:30:48.883 You cursed into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels, for I was hungry and you gave me no food. 00:30:48.883 --> 00:30:50.981 I was thirsty and you gave me no drink. 00:30:50.981 --> 00:30:57.682 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me. 00:30:57.682 --> 00:31:05.744 Then they will also answer saying, lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you? 00:31:05.744 --> 00:31:16.505 Then he will answer them saying truly I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me, and these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. 00:31:16.505 --> 00:31:23.121 This is the end of day three, point number four a preview of the Holy Spirit. 00:31:24.042 --> 00:31:24.744 Let's keep reading. 00:31:24.744 --> 00:31:25.767 Let's go back to Acts. 00:31:25.767 --> 00:31:27.058 Let's start in verse one. 00:31:27.595 --> 00:31:33.740 In my former book, theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day he was taken up into heaven. 00:31:33.740 --> 00:31:44.145 After giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen after his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. 00:31:44.145 --> 00:31:48.224 He appeared to them over a period of 40 days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 00:31:48.224 --> 00:32:02.546 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them a command do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my father promised, which you have heard me speak about, for John baptized with water, but in a few days you'll be baptized with the Holy Spirit. 00:32:02.546 --> 00:32:06.443 I know that we have talked a lot about the Holy Spirit over the past year. 00:32:06.443 --> 00:32:09.282 I think we spent 16 weeks on the topic. 00:32:09.815 --> 00:32:11.280 I'm going to touch briefly on this. 00:32:11.280 --> 00:32:16.960 First, let's see what Jesus has to say about the Holy Spirit Luke 11, 13,. 00:32:16.960 --> 00:32:25.105 If you, then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him. 00:32:25.105 --> 00:32:34.726 This is the moment that Moses and David and the people of Israel had been waiting for for thousands of years, the moment when God would dwell within his people. 00:32:34.726 --> 00:32:53.304 As Jesus prepares for his death, burial and resurrection, he says this, john 14, starting in 15, if you love me, you will keep my commandments and I will ask the Father, and he will give you another hope, or to be with you forever, even the spirit of the truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. 00:32:53.304 --> 00:32:56.383 You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. 00:32:56.383 --> 00:32:58.380 Let's move down to verse 25. 00:32:58.380 --> 00:33:01.207 These things I've spoken to you while I'm still with you. 00:33:01.207 --> 00:33:09.682 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 00:33:10.674 --> 00:33:13.483 All three parts of the Trinity have a role in salvation. 00:33:13.483 --> 00:33:16.281 The Father sets destiny in motion for us. 00:33:16.281 --> 00:33:17.545 Before the beginning of time. 00:33:17.545 --> 00:33:21.505 He came up with the plan and sent his son, jesus, to die on the cross for us. 00:33:21.505 --> 00:33:25.765 Jesus dies on the cross for us and conquers sin and death in our place. 00:33:25.765 --> 00:33:29.364 The Father offers us his gift of grace and mercy. 00:33:29.364 --> 00:33:30.678 Now is our part. 00:33:30.678 --> 00:33:40.346 Once we accept his gift, we are saved and given eternal life and, as a guarantee of our future salvation, the Holy Spirit is deposited within us. 00:33:40.346 --> 00:33:47.501 The Holy Spirit guides us through our life until our physical bodies die and our spirits and souls receive our reward. 00:33:48.434 --> 00:33:57.825 John 15, 26 says but when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. 00:33:57.825 --> 00:34:00.481 The Holy Spirit guides us through this life. 00:34:00.481 --> 00:34:01.898 He lives inside of us. 00:34:01.898 --> 00:34:05.103 He doesn't just come in a moment or for a period of time. 00:34:05.103 --> 00:34:11.637 Jesus told his disciples that it was for their benefit that he go away so that we can receive the Holy Spirit. 00:34:12.394 --> 00:34:21.324 In John 16, starting in verse 4, jesus says this I did not say these things to you from the beginning because I was with you, but now I am going to him who sent me? 00:34:21.324 --> 00:34:23.722 And none of you asked me where are you going? 00:34:23.722 --> 00:34:27.204 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 00:34:27.204 --> 00:34:35.480 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you, but if I go. 00:34:35.480 --> 00:34:40.824 I will send him to you and when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment. 00:34:40.824 --> 00:34:43.284 Concerning sin, because they do not believe in me. 00:34:43.284 --> 00:34:47.202 Concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you will no longer see me. 00:34:47.202 --> 00:34:51.324 And concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. 00:34:51.324 --> 00:34:54.583 I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 00:34:54.583 --> 00:35:04.199