#1026 Pentecost, Part 1

1026 Pentecost, Part 1 Transcription

Today is Pentecost and if you take your Bibles and go to the book of Acts chapter 1. I don't expect to get past 4 or 5 verses this morning, so you'll have to come back to hear the rest of the teaching. But in Acts chapter 1, we have the record beginning of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, which is known as power from on high.

Acts 1:1 The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,

In verse one says, "The former treatise have I made O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,". The word "treatise" here in verse one is the Greek word logos.

Mattew 5:37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

So just say yes or no. Don't be playing around is what it means. The word "communication" here is also the Greek word logos. In Acts One it was translated "treatise" and in Matthew here, it's translated "communication" but it's the same Greek word.

Mattew 7:24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

So you see the word logos means "communication" means "spoken". In Matthew 7:24 it's the word "sayings". The word "sayings" here is the Greek word " logos". So you have "treatise", "communication" and "sayings" all from one Greek word, and one more in Matthew chapter 8 verse 16.

Mattew 8:16 When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick:

So you can see that the word logos means it's a word: words that are spoken, sayings, communication. Why they translated it "treatise" in Acts one, I do not know.

Acts 1:1 (BBE) I have given an earlier account, O Theophilus, of all the things which Jesus did, and of his teaching from the first,

Acts 1:1 (NIV) In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach,

Acts 1:1-2 (KJV) ¹The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, ²Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen:

Go back to Acts now, chapter 1. The word "Theophilus" means "friend of God". Some teach that it was written to an individual named Theophilus. It is probably true that it's written to all that are friends of God. So it takes it out of a personal epistle and makes it a personal letter. It makes it bigger.

"My friends: friends of God." This is what Luke is saying. Luke wrote the book of Acts. God authored the book of Acts, but Luke wrote the book of Acts. And here we have a key to understanding what the Scripture is trying to teach us in Acts one.

One of the things Luke started to write about in his first book - in his former treatise - he's telling us now that he's going to continue to shed more light on what was communicated in that former treatise. And that former book, the former book he talking about is the the gospel of Luke: that's the former book; that's the former writings.

And he said that he's going to talk about the things that Jesus began both to do and to teach. To do and to teach. Now in order to see the former treatise have I made, the former writings; "treatise" is the word logos. The former sayings, the former communication about what Jesus began to say and do. Where would you go to find that? The gospel of Luke. Luke wrote Acts. Now he's referring back to something that he wrote before. The only thing that Luke wrote before was the gospel of Luke.

So he's now going to elaborate on that which is written in the gospel of Luke. He's going to pick up where he left off in the gospel of Luke because of a significant chain of events that has taken place. The significant chain of events that had taken place in the gospel of Luke was the death and the resurrection and the ascension of Jesus Christ. So go to the gospel of Luke chapter 24, because we're interested in "the former words that I wrote about"; the former communications I wrote about. That's what were looking for here. So let's go see.

Luke 24:49-53 ⁴⁹And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high. ⁵⁰And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. ⁵¹And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven. ⁵²And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy: ⁵³And were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen.

In Luke 24: 49 - 51, Luke is describing the ascension. So what then did the disciples do? In verses 52 - 53, they return to Jerusalem. Then they were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God.

The Bible teaches that they went to Jerusalem. And once they got to Jerusalem on the day of the ascension, were they continually in the upper room? It doesn't say that. It says they were continually in the temple. Now go back to Acts 1:1.

Acts 1:1 The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus [friends of God], of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,

"The former treatise have I made friends of God of all that Jesus began both to do and to teach." What we just read is what Luke wrote about towards the end of his gospel with regards to what Jesus began to do and teach.

Luke 24:49 And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high

And what Jesus began to do; you didn't finish it. He began to do was to say, "Go unto Jerusalem and wait there until you receive what? The promise from the Father. God authored the book of Luke. And that's all God told Luke at that time. And the reason; one of the reasons why God told him that at that time is because the promise of the father had not come yet. And you can't talk about or give something that is not available yet.

If you want to 2023 Mustang that's electric you can't get one till 2023, right? You see, it wasn't available yet, but he knew about it because God gave him revelation. He didn't know what it was. He didn't know the scope of it. But he knew that whatever it was, it was called "the promise of the father."

Acts 1:1-2 ¹The former treatise [conversation, words] have I made, O Theophilus [friends of God], of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, ²Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen:

On the day that he was taken up, the context of what he was doing and teaching was talking to the disciples about the promise of the father. And he told them to go to Jerusalem to hangout there for it. Then it says that he gave these commandments through the Holy Ghost unto the apostles whom he had chosen.

How many apostles did he give this commandment to? 11… Why 11? Because this was after the resurrection. It was the day of the ascension. Pentecost had not come yet. It was the day of the Ascension and there were 11 original apostles at that time. They received these last minute details and instructions on what to do and where to go to receive the promise of the father.

Acts 1:3 To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:

By context, verse two, says the whom are "the apostles whom he had chosen". Acts 1:3 says, he was seen of them 40 days.He showed himself alive to these 11 apostles. Now there were other people, other disciples, other believers who saw him. We know that the Word says that there was more than 500 at one time. But here he was specifically concerned with his apostles (those 11 that he had chosen).

And he was teaching them, the Bible says, and speaking to them during those 40 days that he spent with them. The Bible says that he was speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. See, and everybody just about, misses this. They see a lot of other things which is true, but they miss the big picture. They missed the point. The Bible says he showed himself after his passion by many infallible truths being seen of them 40 days.

For 40 days he taught them. He spoke to them about the things that pertain to the kingdom of God. Today nobody knows what the kingdom is, let alone could they teach about it for 40 days. Could they speak about it intelligently for 40 days about the things of the kingdom of God?

And yet when Jesus Christ rose from the dead. When God raised him from the dead, and he did what he had to do. When he went back in the ministry for those 40 days, do you know what he did? He went right back into teaching about the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. That's what he did. Isn't that amazing! That's how important it is; and yet we lack the understanding.

Do you know that Luke uses the phrase "the kingdom of God" 32 times in his gospel? That's more than twice as many times as in any other gospel! The next one close to it is the gospel of Mark where it's used 15 times. John only uses it twice; and the phrase "kingdom of God" does not appear in the gospel of Matthew. Instead, it's the phrase "kingdom of heaven" which means the same thing.

The gospel of the kingdom of God, the gospel of the kingdom - Listen to me carefully - was the central theme that Jesus Christ taught and spoke of throughout his ministry. I'm going to say that again, the gospel of the kingdom was the central theme that Jesus Christ said and spoke about throughout his ministry.

Matthew 4:23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.

Jesus went at throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the what? gospel of the what? kingdom.

Luke 8:1 And it came to pass afterward, that he went throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him,

Later on in Luke 8:1 in the expansion of his ministry and of his activity, this continues. Now he's got 12 apostles, right? And they join him and they are going throughout the cities and the villages. And they're preaching what? the gospel of the kingdom of God.

Luke 9:1-2 ¹Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases. ² And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.

In Luke 9:1, he called his 12 disciples together and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases and he sent them to preach what? the kingdom of God and to heal the sick." See it? Isn't it amazing? He starts his ministry with the gospel of the kingdom. He takes his ministry with his 12 to the cities and the villages and preaches the gospel of the kingdom. And then he sends his 12 out to do his work, which was to preach the gospel of the kingdom of of God.

Acts 1:3 To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:

And when you get to Acts 1:3, Luke reminds us of the former treatise and how that he shewed himself alive his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them - being seen of his apostles - for 40 days and during those 40 days, he taught them. He spoke to them about the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. He goes right back in Acts chapter 1 and picks up where he left off. And where he left off was preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God.

Do you know what that tells you? That tells you that Acts chapter 1 begins right where Jesus left off. And that in the first chapter, in the opening verses of the chapter of Acts, that the theme talked about is the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God and then, like Jesus Christ who opened his ministry preaching the gospel of the kingdom went around teaching the gospel of the kingdom with his 12. Then empowered the 12 to go out and preach the gospel of the kingdom themselves and heal the sick.

The book of Acts starts out with the teaching of the kingdom that Jesus said. And it goes throughout the book of Acts. The teaching of the kingdom and then when you get to the last verse in the book of Acts, It ends with the preaching of the kingdom. That's why I told you the central theme that Jesus Christ taught was the gospel of the kingdom.

Acts 8:12 But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

Look at Acts chapter 8 verse 12. You know, Philip was an evangelist. When they believed Philip what did they believe Philip? Well, this what it says. Because he was what? "preaching the things concerning the kingdom of what God, and the name of Jesus Christ…" so on and so forth. So what was Philip doing in the book of Acts? Preaching the what? kingdom of God.

Acts 19:8 And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God.

Acts 19 the apostle Paul, I would say he's a big shot, right? "And he (Paul) went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months…" Jesus taught them 40 days. Paul's in there for three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of what? God. Pretty essential to Paul's ministry, right? He had to know little bit about the kingdom to be able to teach for three months.

Acts 28:30-31 ³⁰And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, ³¹ Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him.

What was Paul doing for two years in his own hired house and receiving all that came through his doors? Preaching what? the kingdom of God and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no man forbidding him. Do you see it? He just continues were Jesus left off right through the book of Acts. Why doesn't the church do this? Why doesn't the church continue where our Lord left off and present the gospel of the kingdom?

The world, for the most part they don't know the gospel of the kingdom.

Acts 1:3 To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:

We are back to Acts 1 again in verse 3. "To whom also he showed himself alive," Who are the "to whom"? The 11. In this particular context: "after his passion by many infallible proofs." If you read about it, he shows them. He says, "Look at my hands." If you look at Luke 24, he'll show it.

Luke 24:39-42 ³⁹Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. ⁴⁰And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet. ⁴¹And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? ⁴² And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb.

"Look at my feet. You got any food?" That's what I'd have been saying. And you know what they said? "Yeah wait. Here is a little broiled fish and a piece of bread." He knew what it was. There were no Burger Kings around. That's why. So they give him some fish and bread instead. See?

Acts 1:3 To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:

"To whom he showed himself by many infallible proofs, being seen them for 40 days, and speaking of the things pertaining of the kingdom of God." Jesus picks up right where he left off before his crucifixion.

Up until the time of his crucifixion, he was preaching about the kingdom of God. He gets crucified he gets raised he goes and do some things down below; and does what he has to do as far as being presented as the first-fruits etc., etc… And then he goes back 40 days right to the teaching of what? The kingdom of God. The kingdom of God. See it? It's amazing, isn't it. And just about everybody misses it.

Alright. This is Luke; this is Luke telling you what he said in his former book. What happened in the former treatise. What happened? The words of Jesus., the communication of Jesus; and you read about that in Luke 24.

Acts 1:4 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.

Now, the timing of this verse 4 in Acts 1 is the day of the Ascension. Go to Luke 24 and look it up for yourself. This is the timing of the verse; and Luke says "The former writings in my first book I started to tell you about Jesus. I started to tell you about the things of the kingdom. I started to tell you about, you know, what happened on the day of the Ascension. How he gathered us together; how he began to teach us about the Holy Spirit - about the promise of the father.

And he said, "Now you go to Jerusalem and wait there because you're going to receive the promise of the father. And when he was done, he raised his hands. He blessed them, and he was what? Carried up into heaven, and he what? Ascended. This is what Acts is telling you. Luke is reiterating what had happened on the day of the Ascension. You got it? It's that simple.

Jesus didn't suggest in verse four. Jesus commanded his apostles two things. "Being assembled together with them, commanded them…" He commanded them. He didn't say, "I think this be a good idea if you did this." You know what he said? "You need to do this," he commanded them. And he commanded them to do two things.

Number one he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem. Go wait in Jerusalem, hang out on the corner, do whatever: go to Jerusalem. That's what he said. And number two, that they should wait in Jerusalem until they receive the promise of the father; the promise of the father.

Now guess what. This is 40 days after the resurrection. Okay, he says go wait in Jerusalem and stay there until you receive the promise of the father. Did he tell them that they were going receive the promise of the father in five days waiting in Jerusalem? Did he say two weeks? Did he say a year? He didn't tell them how long.

Do you know what he told them? Go wait. Go wait where? Jerusalem. How long do I have to wait for? That's what some of us would say, because we need to know all the details of life. No you don't. Go wait. That's what he said. "But Lord…" "Don't but me! Go wait." "But…" "Okay. You want something else? Go wait in Jerusalem." Do you know what else? That's all they needed to know.

That's all they need to know. Could been a day. We know that the day of Pentecost came 10 days later. But they didn't have the book. They were living it. That's why it's called the Acts of the apostles. They're living this in real time.

Does that verse, tell you what the promise of the father is? It just tells you there is a promise of the father and you are going to get it where? In Jerusalem. Verse four again. "And being assembled together with them." When was he assembled together with them? On the day of what? the Ascension.

And 40 days earlier and he was teaching them the things that pertain unto the what? the kingdom of God. Okay? Being assembled with them on the day of the Ascension. He said these are the last words he said to his apostles while he was on planet Earth pertaining to this promise of the father.

Now you've got to understand he's leaving. So whatever he's going to say, it's got to be important, right? If you knew that you were leaving and you wouldn't see them again for a while. Wouldn't you want to tell them the most important thing you could possibly tell them? Right? Don't you think these words mean something? Sure!

This is what he said. He commanded them. You know why? Because he didn't want them flip-flopping around doing what they thought they should do. These guys were apostles. They cast out spirits. They healed the sick, Okay? They had some power they knew some Bible, but in this particular area they needed to listen. And they needed to listen to "Go to Jerusalem and wait there until you receive what? the promise of the father which you have heard of me."

I've taught you about this. When did he teach them about it? Well, specifically, the 40 days that he was resurrected. After that, he taught the things pertaining to the kingdom of God and on the day of the Ascension and throughout his ministry. Especially in the book of John you'll see it.

Acts 1:5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.

Verse five. "For John. .." Okay, who's John? John the Baptist. That's what it's talking about not talking about John who wrote the gospel of John. He's talking about John the Baptist. This is what he said. "John used to baptize with water, but… You know what the word "but" means? "But" sets in contrast. There's a difference.

John did it this way. But now it's going to be done a different way. That's what he's saying. "John baptized with water, but ye…" Who are the ye? the 11 apostles at this time. "…shall be". Shall be is what tense? Absolute future. "…Shall be baptized" with water? It doesn't say that. It says what? "Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost not many days hence."

Did he tell them in that verse how many days they were going to receive the promise of the father? No. He just said what? "Not many days". Well, is it going be five days, Lord? Is is going to be six days? I gotta make my schedule. I got to know what I'm doing. What did he say? "Not many days hence." Hence, that's what he said. Not many days hence they will be baptized with the Holy Ghost. That was his answer.

Now listen: so whatever it is to be baptized with the Holy Ghost equals what ever the promise of the father is. Or let me say it another way. Whatever the promise of the father is; it's equal to be baptized with the Holy Ghost… with the Holy Ghost.

And that's as far as we will go today.So what have we learned? By way of review. We saw the word "treatise" here in Acts chapter 1 was a translation of the Greek word logos. Luke told us that his first or his former book - referring back to the gospel of Luke - that he began to mention "the promise of the father". He wrote aforetime to friends of God. (Luke 24:49)

Now Luke begins the book of Acts by direction of God (who wrote who authored the book), but Luke wrote it. He picks up right where he left off in Luke 24. And he's going to add more light. He's going to add further understanding to exactly what the promise of the father is. And as you go through the record, he's going to add more light. He's going to add further understanding to exactly what the promise of the father is.

Okay? And as you go through the record, you not only learn in verse 8 that the promise of the father is going to be endued with power; you're going to be endued with power. He's going to teach them and us where it happened. He's going to teach us who were there when it happened. He's going to teach us how it happened. He's going to teach us what was the sign, the phenomena.

"I began to teach you this on the day of the Ascension," is what Luke said. "Now I'm going to give you the rest of the story." We saw that Jesus spent 40 days after his resurrection speaking and teaching that those things pertaining to the kingdom of God. We noted that the phrase "kingdom of God" is used 32 times in Luke's gospel. We saw that Jesus opened his ministry with the teaching of the kingdom of God. And his last-minute instructions to his apostles on the day of the Ascension was once again pertaining to those things concerning the kingdom of God.

We noted that the book of Acts begins with the teaching of the kingdom of God. It's throughout the book of Acts. The teaching of the kingdom of God and the last two verses in the book of Acts. It ends with the teaching of the things pertaining to what? the kingdom of God.

Verse 5 tells us that John baptized with water, but now Jesus said you're going to be baptized with Holy Spirit. But they had to wait and they had to wait where? in Jerusalem. How long that they have to wait? No one told them; just wait, just wait. There's a different baptism coming now. And not many days hence they were going to be baptized with Holy Spirit.

We saw that whatever it is to be baptized with Holy Spirit equals whatever the promise of the father is going to be. We saw that the day that this was taught was the day of the Ascension. 10 days later, we have the day of Pentecost when the promise of the father would come. We know that the promise of the father would come in 10 days.

All that they knew was to tarry "not many days hence." And that's all you need to know sometimes. God tells us what we need to know. God doesn't necessarily tell us what we want to know. Okay? You know why God does that? God does that to teach you a lesson. He does it to teach you how to trust him. Because if you had everything written out in your life, in your book, about and in everything, there's no need for God.

Like I always tell people: you make your plans; you do everything; you write it all down. And then something called life happens and it disrupts your plans. It interrupts your plans. And sometimes you are interrupted by God. See, you think you going somewhere. God wants you to go somewhere else.

It's a big cane they used to use on the Gong show wrapped around your neck, see? Come here, boy! Then you "get gonged". See? This is what Jesus said, "go to Jerusalem and wait." And that's all Jesus told them. And do you know what the apostles did? They went to Jerusalem and they what? waited. And what did they receive? The promise of the father. They simply obeyed. They didn't question. They didn't get any more information. They obeyed.

And I always tell people that when you start walking for God, you don't need to know where you are going. All you need to know is the first step. Because when you get to the corner and you look around, that God will give you the second step. But you will have to obey. If you got going to be obedient in taking the first step you're not going to ever get there. It is none of your business what lies in store for you. All you have to do is live one day at a time every day for God.

Do you plan? Yes. Do you act smart? Yes. But you know what? God interrupts you. God's got other plans; and you've got to be flexible. And you can't get upset when he says, "Hey, Get me a hot dog instead of a cheeseburger." "Say it's not so, Lord." But if that's God's will, do you know what you're eating? Hot dogs.

Proverbs 3:5-7 ⁵Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. ⁶In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. ⁷Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.

We close in Proverbs chapter 3:5. See, if you don't trust in the Lord, if the Lord said, "go to Norristown and wait." If you can't trust those two little simple statements he's not going be able to direct your paths. In other words you've got to let go.

"I want to be in control; I need to be in control. No you don't. Do you want God to direct your life or do you want to direct your life? See how's that been working out for you with you directing your life up until now? Not too good, huh? So maybe a little more trust and a little less rebellion?

Verse 7 says, "Be not wise in thine own eyes, fear the Lord and depart from evil." What's the evil? It's being wise in your own eyes. That's the evil. Respect God. Listen to the New Jerusalem of Verse 7.

Proverbs 3:7 (New Jerusalem) Do not congratulate yourself on your own wisdom. Fear Yahweh and turn back on evil.

Proverbs 3:7 (New Living Translation) Don't be impressed with your own wisdom. Fear the Lord and turn your back on evil.

That's where you get full of pride and you know everything You don't want to do that. Trust me. God knows more than you. So that's part one. I hope you can come back and get the rest of the series because it's an interesting teaching.

So father, thanks for your Word. We love you very much and we thank you for the great truth and accuracy that you've taken the time to place in your Word. And yet the great simplicity and what you make it available to us. May you bless your people this day. This day of Pentecost, the birthday of the church. May we celebrate the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. That's in his precious name, I pray. Amen.

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