Philippians 3:20

The dilemma

• All of us are guilty of sin, and sin will keep us out of Heaven.

• Romans 3:23

• Isaiah 59:2

• I John 2:1-6

The danger

• We may grow discouraged or unfruitful.

  • Mark 10:22

  • Matthew 27:5

• We may be drawn to a false doctrine to find assurance.

  • Miraculous experience.

  • Martin Luther

The resolution

• Our confidence comes from obedience to a God who is patient and forgiving!

  • Psalms 130:3-4

  • Acts 2:41; 16:32-43

  • I Corinthians 1:1-9, 18, 30; 11:1-2; 15:1-2 – Salvation is conditional. Keep improving!

  • Colossians 1:9-10; 2:20-22; 1:5, 13-14, 21-23; 2:13-14; 3:4, 13 – The Colossians could have hope of salvation even though they had room to grow.

  • I Thessalonians 4:13-18; 5:8

  • I John 1:6-10; 2:25-29; 4:15-17; 5:4-5, 10-13 – We can know God and have confidence in the day of Judgment.

  • Revelation 2:4-5, 19-23

• The apostle Paul

  • I Corinthians 9:27; II Timothy 4:8

Writer: Luke

• II Timothy 4:11; Philemon 1:24

• Luke 1:2 – Not a personal eyewitness of Jesus

• Colossians 4:14

• All early records unanimously name Luke as the writer of Luke and Acts.

• Three indicators that Luke wrote both Luke and Acts

Theophilus

• Nothing is known about him. The name means “friend of God.” Theophilus could be a specific person or a general term for any friend of God.

Summary:

• Acts covers about 30 years of the earliest history of the church.

• https://overviewbible.com/bible-length-infographic/

• The book of Acts has been shown to be extremely historically accurate. Acts 13:7

The apostles wait with great anticipation - Acts 1:1-12

• John 14:16-17, 26; 15:16, 26-27; 16:13; 17:18; 20:21; Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-16; Luke 24:47-49

• Acts 1:1-12 reviews and continues this great anticipation.

Carrying out the great commission – Acts 1:8

• Jerusalem – Acts 2-7

• Judea and Samaria – Acts 8-12

• Remotest part of the earth – Acts 13-28

• Isaiah 2:1-3 – This is the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy.

Jesus ascends into Heaven – Acts 1:9-11

• Jesus left as part of the divine plan. He did not fail but left on His own terms.

• Acts 7:55 – Stephen later saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

Bible contradiction? Acts 1:8

• http://apologeticspress.org/AllegedDiscrepancies.aspx

Selecting a new apostle – Acts 1:15-26

• The new apostle had to be an eyewitness of Jesus.

“Witnessing”

• The word “witness” is used many times in the New Testament, but people use it in a different way today. The apostles were witnesses of things they had seen with their own eyes.

• The apostles were the prime witnesses.

  • Luke 24:46-48; John 15:26-27; 19:35; 20:30-31; 21:24; Acts 1:8, 22; 2:32, 40; 3:15; 4:33; 5:32; 8:25; 10:39-42; 13:3

• The apostles could tell people what they had seen with their own eyes.

  • I Peter 5:1; II Peter 1:16-19; I John 1:1-4; 4:14; Revelation 1:1-2

• Matthias qualified as an apostle because he was an eyewitness. Acts 1:21-22

• Paul became a witness because Jesus appeared to him.

  • Acts 9:3-5; 18:5; 20:21, 24; 22:14-15; 23:11; 26:16, 22; 28:23; I Corinthians 15:15

The apostle Peter

• Fisherman to fisher of men

  • John 1:35-42

  • Matthew 4:18-20 – start of the process

• Hot and cold

  • Mark 8:31-33

  • John 13:6-9

  • John 13:31-38; Matthew 26:74-75, 57-58

  • First gospel sermons in Acts 2 and Acts 3

  • Withstood persecution of the council – Acts 4:1-31

  • Influences others into hypocrisy – Galatians 2:11-14

• Was he the rock on whom the church was built?

  • John 1:42 – Peter or rock?

  • Matthew 16:13-20 – Is Peter this rock?

  • From Peter himself: I Peter 2:4-8

  • Backed up by Paul: I Corinthians 3:9-11

• Was Peter the “Head Apostle” or “Chief Apostle”?

  • Hebrews 3:1 – Someone greater than Peter

  • Galatians 2:6-10 – not exclusive

• Peter not always “preeminent”

  • James took front and center in much of Acts

    • Acts 12:17; 15:13; 21:18

  • Who sends the boos on a mission? Acts 8:14-15

  • No doubt, Peter was a prominent apostle

  • No indication that he ruled over them

  • With no position held, it couldn’t be passed down

Apostolic succession

• Several schisms teach and follow this

  • Roman Catholicism

  • Eastern Orthodoxy

  • Mormonism

• Hinges on two ideas

  • Peter was the head apostle

  • His authority was passed on to subsequent generations

  • New apostles replace those who pass on or step down

• Matthias

  • Added to the eleven to make twelve again

  • Criteria defies continual replacement – Acts 1:21-22

    • Be a witness “with us”

    • Must have been present along with apostles

• What about Paul?

  • Special mission, special apostleship

  • Mission determined by God, not man

  • Appointment directly from Jesus

• Some call selves apostles but are not – Revelation 2:2

Veneration

• Adulation bordering on worship

  • To apostles

  • To select or prominent saints

  • Special places of worship

    • Bearing saints’ names

    • Some containing their remains – Matthew 23:27

  • Contrast with apostles’ attitudes

    • Where did early church gather in Jerusalem?

    • What made place of worship holy? Matthew 18:20

    • We keep the things we do and places we do when we do them by the authority of Jesus Christ

  • Would the apostles approve?

• Scriptures to consider

  • I Thessalonians 2:5-7

  • Acts 14:11-18

  • I Corinthians 15:9-10

  • II Corinthians 11:7-15

  • Acts 10:25-26

  • Matthew 17:4-5

Peter in tradition

• Executed in Rome by Nero

  • Crucified upside down

  • Same time as Paul’s execution

  • Remains in St. Peter’s Basilica along with Paul’s

• Count Joseph’s Commission in the fourth century

  • From Emperor Constantine

  • Martyrium built on site of Peter’s and Andrew’s home

The apostles – in closing

• Single most convincing evidence

  • Never sought power or wealth

  • Unfailing witnesses of the gospel

  • Endured much discomfort and cruelty

  • Died for the faith, what they knew to be true

    • Deaths often by cruel means

    • Could have renounced faith

• Why would they do this for a lie?

James 4:7

To keep people out of the church

• Acts 2:47

• Colossians 1:13

• Acts 20:28

• The devil knows the value of the church in man’s salvation.

• Revelation 2:9 – The devil has his churches. If he can keep men there, he can keep them from salvation.

• Jesus’ first objective is to get men out of the devil’s domain and into His church. Hebrews 7:25

To get men back into his service

• II Peter 2:20-22

• II Corinthians 2:11 – The devil has many devices to get people back into his domain:

  • Trying to keep people ignorant of God’s word

  • Trying to interest people in worldly enterprises

  • Using church trouble and division to get people back into his service

  • Using evil companions to tempt people back into his service (I Corinthians 15:33)

  • Tempting people to serve themselves instead of God even as they worship

  • Tempting people with pleasure

  • Using our stinginess

  • Using chronic grouchiness and backbiting to get us away from Christ

  • Encouraging us to be adept at excuses instead of working like we should

  • Encouraging people to have a “rule or ruin” attitude within the church

I Peter 5:8-9 – Let us recognize our weak points and strengthen them.