FOR EVERYONE!

ACTS 2: 14-21

In the last days…I will pour out my Spirit on all people …And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Here Peter lets the crowd know that what they are observing is a sign the Holy Spirit is working through them.

He also gives them the good news. The Holy Spirit of God is now available – not only for the apostles – but for everyone!

I will pour out my Spirit on all people

And this also means a close personal relationship with Jesus isn’t just for these first students of Jesus.

When Jesus came to earth He was called Emmanuel, God with us. The first students of Jesus enjoyed a close personal relationship with God Himself in the Person of Jesus.

Then, before Jesus ascended He promised His students that His physical absence would not end their close connection. He would be with them forever through the Holy Spirit whom the Father would send.

Peter informs the people that this has been God’s intention all along. In fact, the prophets foretold of a time – in the last days - when God’s Spirit would be with all people.

That Day has come! Because Jesus has come and died for the sins of the world! He rose from the dead. And He ascended into heaven.

The Holy Spirit has come to create the more intimate spiritual relationship Jesus promised to the apostles, now open to all.

Only because of Jesus - everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Saved from sin! Cleansed and made a temple of the Holy Spirit Himself.

What incredible news the apostles shared with the world for the first time that special Sunday morning nearly 2,000 years ago!

A SIGN!

ACTS 2:1-13

All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Now fifty days after His resurrection, Jesus sends the Holy Spirit as He promised. He will enable them to recall with unerring accuracy everything Jesus taught them during the past three years.

This very day the Spirit will help them share this good news about Jesus and 3,000 people will believe and be baptized.

But first a sign! A sign for the people this message is from God! The apostles begin to speak in foreign languages they never studied.

The timing is perfect. The city of Jerusalem is filled with pilgrims from around the world who have come to celebrate the Passover and have remained for Pentecost.

The sign is perfect for the situation, because of the different dialects in the crowd. How better to show the credibility of these witnesses than to allow them to speak in each of those languages?

Utterly amazed, they asked: “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language?”

It must have been a most amazing event. These uneducated Galileans speaking in all those different languages at the same time! And it must have been confusing for some also, for in this large crowd some of the languages were naturally unknown to many of the people.

Perhaps this is why some accused the apostles of gibberish – Some… made fun of them and said, "They have had too much wine."

But many heard the apostles speaking their own native language. They understood this would be impossible without Divine Intervention. How else could these witnesses speak in a language they had never studied?

This sign prepares the people to listen with a degree of trustful expectancy to the message they are about to hear.

BLIND FAITH ?

ACTS 1:12-26

May his place be deserted…May another take his place of leadership.

Judas could have been with the other eleven apostles, waiting for the promised Holy Spirit. Empowered to be one of the chosen witnesses of the Teacher!

Now another must take his place of leadership. But not just anyone!

Hearsay evidence is unacceptable. To be an apostle – a replacement for Judas – the person must be an eye-witness of Jesus. Someone who accompanied Jesus from the time of His baptism until the day of His ascension!

Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time… For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.

Faith in Jesus is based on facts. Details, particulars, specifics, the whole story! And these can only be corroborated by those who actually saw and heard Jesus.

How do we know Jesus lived? How do we know what He said and did? How do we know He rose from the dead?

The same way we know anything about anyone in the past. Exactly the same way we know what Socrates said or what Napoleon did.

Why do we believe - have faith - that these two men existed and said or did anything when no person alive today heard or saw them?

The historical record! Contemporaneous accounts recorded by eye-witnesses!

This is how we believe what we do about Napoleon and Socrates.

And this is the same sure foundation upon which faith in Jesus rests today. Eye-witness accounts, recorded testimony on Jesus’ life and teaching by those who actually saw Him after His resurrection and gave their lives for their testimony!

Belief in Jesus is not BLIND FAITH!

WITNESSES

ACTS 1:6-11

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

It’s no exaggeration. The faith of every student of Jesus in the world today is built on the foundation of the testimony of these Witnesses.

These first students are the ones who were with Jesus. Saw His miracles, heard His teaching and more importantly witnessed His death and resurrection.

Now to them He assigns the task of establishing the credibility of faith.

They will need special supernatural help for this unique task. That’s why Jesus tells them – you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you.

To preach Jesus' message with perfect recall and to put into writing the life and teachings of Jesus with precision, they must be inspired by the Holy Spirit.

Then to be credible witnesses, they must have the Spirit’s help to personally live out their lives in faithfulness to the Teacher.

Finally, they must put the ultimate stamp of authenticity on their message through a willingness to die for the truth of what they said. These witnesses must seal their testimony in their own blood!

All this they did! And for this, every student of Jesus today is in their debt. For without the acts of the apostles, there would be no reliable foundation for our faith today.

But how would those who first heard these eye-witnesses know if their testimony was true or not?

Why could their contemporaries be expected to believe even before the life of Jesus was accurately recorded? And prior to the time when these witnesses would confirm their testimony by dying for it?

For that first generation, Jesus gave His messengers power to perform miraculous signs and wonders to immediately show the power of heaven was behind their message – you will be my witnesses.

THE PROMISED HOLY SPIRIT

ACTS 1:1-5

Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about…the Holy Spirit.

Now Jesus will return to heaven.

Will His departure signal the end of the University of Jesus?

How will the Teacher/student relationship continue when Jesus is no longer physically present with them?

Here the Teacher reminds His students of something He told them earlier. When He spoke of a time when He would temporarily leave them, but quickly return to live with them representatively through the power of the Holy Spirit!

As Jesus promised, they will not be orphans (without the Teacher). He will continue to be with them forever. The Teacher/student relationship will carry on through the presence of the Holy Spirit.

This Gift from heaven, The Promised Holy Spirit, will empower them to follow the Teacher more closely than ever before. For to become more like the perfect Son of God must require Divine Help!

Such radical transformation is only possible because the Teacher will come into their hearts, re-shaping and strengthening them to be more like Him.

While Jesus physical presence with His students was intense, now the Teacher will create a closer connection than ever before through the internal presence of the Holy Spirit.

The Teacher will no longer be with them, but in them!

Soon they will have this Gift of Heaven on the inside. The Holy Spirit will help them change their hearts and lives. They will actually begin in earnest the process of becoming more like their beloved Teacher.

They won’t have long to wait - For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

INTRODUCTION

ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

Through the pages of this book, we are able to observe how those first students of Jesus – in the physical absence of the Teacher - continued to enjoy a close relationship with Him.

A personal connection with the Teacher was sustained – as it is today – by the presence of the Holy Spirit. The Living Presence that Jesus promised to send into the life of every student!

The Book of Acts also chronicles how the church grew. How those first students of Jesus actively recruited other students to enroll in the University of Jesus.

It is the story of how they proceeded to accomplish Jesus’ final instruction – Go into all the world and make students in all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Therefore the book is best understood and interpreted as an inspired account of how those first students – in the bodily absence of Jesus – not only maintained a relationship with Him but also enlisted other students in the same process.

Acts shows how those closest to Teacher, both in time and in personal relationship, viewed their responsibilities as His students.

Like the story of Jesus in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, the framework of Acts is a narrative. Yet is more than a history of the early years of Christianity. It is how every student of Jesus will follow the Teacher until His glorious final return.

A modern-day student of Jesus might well conclude the Book of Acts shows how students of Jesus can continue to listen to the Teacher who is now reigning from heaven.

Acts might also be styled: The Teacher/student Relationship Continues by the Power of the Holy Spirit!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

THANKS TO ALL OF YOU WHO VISITED THIS SITE DURING THE PAST YEAR AND READ THROUGH MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE AND JOHN.

A YEAR WITH THE TEACHER IN THIS ONLINE CLASSROOM HAS BEEN CHALLENGING AND REWARDING.

SPENDING TIME WITH THE TEACHER ALWAYS CHANGES US.

BEGINNING TOMORROW WE BEGIN THE BOOK OF ACTS. I PLAN TO CONTINUE WITH THE PARADIGM OF THE TEACHER/STUDENT RELATIONSHIP - THE UNIVERSITY OF JESUS.

THIS YEAR WE WILL NOT FOLLOW A RIGID DAILY READING SCHEDULE AS BEFORE, BUT I WILL DO MY BEST TO POST EVERY DAY AS MY SCHEDULE PERMITS.

GOD BLESS EVERY STUDENT OF JESUS!

AND MAY MORE ENROLL IN THE UNIVERSITY OF JESUS THIS YEAR...