Tag Archives: Acts 1-3

Daily Bible Study

November 12, 2023 Bible Study — It Is Not for Us to Know the Dates or the Times

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Acts 1-3.

I truly believe that the Church in America has lost something by its diminished interest in eschatology.  On the other hand, I remember from when I was growing up that many in the Church also tried to read the eschatological prophecies so as to determine WHEN Christ would return.  In today’s passage, Jesus tells the disciples, and through them, us, that it is not for them, or us, to know the times and dates.  So, we need to study the eschatological writings in the Bible, we need to see what God has told us about His plans for the end of this world, but we also need to recognize that they were not written to allow us to figure out exactly when Jesus will return.  We also need to welcome the Holy Spirit into ourselves and use the power He gives us to be Christ’s messengers to the ends of the earth.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

November 12, 2022 Bible Study — Preach The Word Of God, The Spirit Will Determine Who Can Understand

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Acts 1-3.

I have often tried to picture what happened on that day of Pentecost described here from the perspective of those outside of the house where the believers were meeting.  Sometimes I imagine that the people were drawn by the 120 different believers speaking loudly at the same time.  However, currently I believe that people were drawn to the area by the sound of violent wind which Luke describes.  I think people gathered expecting to find destroyed buildings, and perhaps people in need of rescue.  When they got there they bewildered by what they heard: they heard a bunch of people speaking in their native tongue (these were people from all over the world who spoke different languages in their homes).  Until recently I always assumed that different ones of the believers were speaking in different languages.  Recently someone pointed out to me that the wording suggests that each of the listeners heard each of the believers speaking in their native tongue.  I was unsure of it at the time, but as I read the passage today I believe that he was correct.  It seems to me that the disciples were speaking in their native tongue (my understanding is that would have been Aramaic).  So, from this perspective, the believers who were sharing the Gospel were completely unaware that they were speaking in anything other than their native language.  The Spirit had not caused them to speak any differently than they normally did, it was those hearing them whom the Spirit changed.  Which gives yet another reason to speak the Gospel to those around us, the Spirit changes those who hear the word of God.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

November 12, 2021 Bible Study — The Working Of The Holy Spirit

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Acts 1-3.

On the day of Pentecost, the Believers were gathered together in one place when the Holy Spirit descended upon them.  The first thing of importance I want to note is that when they began speaking in tongues, it was in languages they had never learned but understood by people who were nearby.  I am not quite sure what happened here, but whatever it was it attracted to attention of people outside of the building they were meeting in.  As I tried to understand it today, it struck me that as people came to investigate the loud wind they heard, different ones among the disciples began explaining to them, in their native language, what had happened.  Before long, people began to notice that the speakers were all from Galilee and one or more of them was speaking in every language represented by those who came to investigate (or maybe just to gawk).  Which attracted still more people so that  things became very chaotic.  At which point, Peter and the Eleven (side note: even though they had appointed Matthias to replace Judas Iscariot as one of the Twelve a few days earlier, it was still “the Eleven”) stood up to bring order to what was going on.

So, points about this rather chaotic event I want to point out.  When the Holy Spirit caused the disciples to speak in tongues it was in order for them to speak to those who were present.  When things became chaotic, the leaders worked together to make things more orderly.  Finally, Peter promises that everyone who repents and is baptized in the name of Jesus Christ will receive the Holy Spirit, not just those present, but their children and those far off, all who God will call.  This always reminds me of how weak my faith is.  This account, and other passages in the New Testament, convince me that the Holy Spirit will work miracles through those who receive Him in accordance with their faith.  I have never witnessed anything close to the working of the Holy Spirit described here and elsewhere and I know that is because I lack sufficient faith to truly believe it can happen to me.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

November 12, 2020 Bible Study We Must Not Be Afraid To Tell People That They Are Sinners (And So Are We)

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Acts 1-3

Today’s passage contains two sermons by Peter.  The first was on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples.  The second was in the Temple after he and John had healed the man who had been lame from birth.  What struck me about both of these sermons was that Peter made no attempt to avoid offending his audience.  On the day of Pentecost, Peter told his listeners, “you nailed Him to the cross and killed Him.”  Then, after healing the man who had been lame, he told them, “You rejected this holy, righteous one and instead demanded the release of a murderer.  You killed the author of life,…”  He did not sugar coat it.  We, also, should not sugar coat the Gospel message that all people are sinners who deserve death.  It is only after people admit their sins that they can repent of them.

Daily Bible Study

November 12, 2019 Bible Study — The Disciples Get a Clue

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Acts 1-3

I am not sure I ever thought about the fact that even after Jesus’ death and resurrection, the apostles still thought He was going to overthrow the Roman Empire and re-establish the Kingdom of Israel.  Yet, a short time later, on the Day of Pentecost, Peter preached a sermon which appears to show that he understood that the Kingdom of Heaven was outside of geopolitics.

I had never before really thought about what happened on the Day of Pentecost from an outside perspective.  In the past I always thought about what happened from the perspective of those gathered, but today I wondered what drew the crowd?  It would be easy to think that the crowd gathered because they heard the disciples speaking in various languages, but that makes me wonder, how did they hear that.  However, the passage tells us that the Holy Spirit coming upon the disciples generated a loud noise (the description suggests that it would have sounded like an explosion).  Which leads me to think that the crowd came to see what caused the noise and began asking the disciples what had happened.  The disciples all began answering in the native tongue of their interlocutors.  However, the members of the crowd would have had trouble understanding the answers they received, because, to be perfectly honest, the disciples would not have fully understood and the would not have known how much the person they were speaking to knew of the backstory.  Finally, Peter realized what was going on with the mixed messages being given and got everyone’s attention in order to give a coherent explanation (the Holy Spirit played a significant role in both Peter’s understanding of what was going on and in the explanation he gave).

Daily Bible Study

November 12, 2018 Bible Study — Do We Need to Be Afraid of Offending People?

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Acts 1-3.

    When Peter proposed that someone be chosen to replace Judas Iscariot, he did so to a group of about 120 believers. That group nominated two men from among them, men who had started following Jesus when He was baptized by John and were still among His followers. Then they prayed for God to show them which of the two should be selected and cast lots. This was all done at one meeting. This suggests to me that perhaps we spend too much time selecting people for leadership roles in the Church. However, what I really wanted to point out by discussing this is that 120 believers represented to bulk of Jesus’ followers when the Holy Spirit came upon them. I have confidence that Peter would have wanted the overwhelming majority of Christ’s followers to have a say in who was selected to replace Judas. The importance of this number is that it puts what happened on the Day of Pentecost into perspective. On the Day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit added more than ten new followers for each person who was following Christ that morning. When we ask the Holy Spirit to work, this is the sort of results we ought to be prepared for.

    In today’s passage we have two examples of Peter’s outreach sermon. One on the Day of Pentecost, when we are led to believe that the Holy Spirit was specifically guiding his words. The second a few days/weeks later in the Temple after healing the cripple. In both cases, Peter made no attempt to sugarcoat the guilt of those to whom he was preaching. In both cases, he declared that his listeners were guilty of Jesus’ crucifixion. He made no attempt to avoid offending them. In no uncertain terms he told them that they were guilty of rejecting and sending to His death the one whom God had sent as the Messiah for whom they claimed to be looking. There may be times when we are called to use softer techniques, but this passage, and other passages in the New testament, make it clear that most of the time we should confront sinners with their sin (as long as we remember that we are no better than they). Perhaps a better way to express the lesson I take from these two sermons by Peter is that we should not be afraid of offending people.

Daily Bible Study

November 12, 2017 Bible Study — Aftermath Of The Resurrection

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Acts 1-3.

    The first thing I want to point out is that between His resurrection and His ascension, Jesus ate food on a regular basis (Luke mentions “Once when He was eating with them…”). That tells us that Jesus’ resurrected body was a physical body. When the disciples asked Jesus when He would overthrow the Roman Empire, He told them the dates and times for that were not for them to know. This clearly tells us that we cannot learn the date of Jesus’ return by studying prophecy. Another thing which Luke lets drop as if it was a minor point is that there were others among Jesus’ disciples aside from the Twelve, who had started following Jesus when He was baptized by John and were still among His followers after His resurrection. We do not know how many, but we know it was significantly more than two (if it had only been four or five, it seems to me that they would have just drawn lots between all of them rather than nominate two for selection between).

    I want to bring to your attention, and mine, that the disciples experienced the power of the Holy Spirit in a way which no one could miss. There were some who dismissed it a them being drunk, and I am sure there were those in the crowd who thought they were crazy, but the key thing is that people outside the room knew that something was happening. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, people notice.
    In this passage we have two speeches by Peter where he called on the people listening to repent. After each speech we are told that many people joined the disciples in worshiping Jesus. In both speeches Peter accused his listeners of being responsible for Jesus’ death. He does not sugar coat it. He makes no caveat that some of them were not present in the city at the time (although many of those present would not have been). In the second speech Peter allows that they acted in ignorance, but under Jewish Law ignorance was no excuse for sin. Peter was not afraid to call those he was calling to repentance sinners. He was not afraid that they would be offended. There is a time and a place for tact. When we are calling people to repentance is not that time or place.

Daily Bible Study

November 12, 2016 Bible Study — The Good News: A Sequel

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

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Today, I am reading and commenting on Acts 1-3.

    I want to start by making a comment on my title. The Book of Acts (also known as the Acts of the Apostles) is really just a continuation of Luke’s first book, “The Gospel of According to Luke”. By writing this book Luke tells us that he thinks we need to know more than just what Jesus said and did. We need to see how those who had seen those things first hand applied them.
    After Jesus ascended into Heaven, the remaining disciples regularly gathered for prayer and worship. At one of these gatherings Peter proposed that they needed to select someone to take Judas Iscariot’s place among the Twelve. Those gathered agreed with Peter and nominated two men. They chose between the two men by “casting the lot”. In this way they allowed the Holy Spirit final say in choosing Judas’ successor. There was a time when congregations in the Mennonite Church selected their pastors in this manner, and while there were flaws in the system I think it provided for a better system than our current one where we select our pastors from among those who seek the position.

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    I firmly believe that Peter selected the time he did to propose replacing Judas because most, if not all, of the remaining disciples were present. By Luke’s count that means there were around 120 such disciples who chose to continue to pursue following Jesus’ teachings. That is not a very large number to start a religious movement. I was going to go a different direction when something very significant struck me about those 120 believers. “They all met together and were united in prayer.” Right there Luke tells us something important about this small group. First, they all met together on a regular basis. Second, they were united in prayer. I know that I do not pray enough. Even worse, I do not pray enough with other believers. This small group of believers had lost their leader. All most people knew about them was that He had been executed by the Roman authorities. Then, all of sudden something changed. The Holy Spirit descended upon them and 3,000 people joined their group in one day. They did so, at least in part, in response to Peter’s sermon. Peter did not cut them any slack in that sermon, “you nailed him to a cross and killed him.”
    So, the lessons I take from this: we need to meet regularly and pray, we need to rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to make change, and we need to not sugarcoat the sins our audience (or ourselves) have committed.