King James Bible Study – “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34
Date: Sunday, November 17, 2019
Chapters: Acts 1-2
Message: True Discipleship
Hello My Friend,
I knew when I woke up this morning quite distracted and tired from literally waking up every hour in the night that God was leading me to an important topic of discussion, and that is Christian discipleship. Disciple; A follower of the doctrines of another. Hence the constant followers of Christ were called His disciples as they professed to learn and receive His doctrines and precepts. Now, there is a grave misconception among the Church that leads one to believe that all one needs to do to be considered a Christian is get saved. Let me tell you, getting saved does not make one a Christian, Yes, it the beginning, but to be a Christian entails that you are a follower of Christ. Jesus Himself said, “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.” – Luke 14:26.
“he cannot be my disciple.” Of course, we ought to know that this simply means that Christ needs to take first place in our lives. The Book of Acts contains twenty-eight chapters, the author is Luke, and it was written to all believers, addressed specifically to Theophilus, which means, lover of God. The timeline for these events took place approximately between 34AD and 65AD. The purpose of the book was to explain the work Christ continued to do through the Apostles and disciples after His ascension in the form of the Holy Spirit. What we are to learn from the book is that true evidence of the Holy Spirit is directed by the power of God in all believers, for it is He who gives them the power to become disciples of Christ; hence, His witnesses. Jesus remained on earth for forty days after His resurrection, before His ascension He spoke to the Apostles.
“The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, Until 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: 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, 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. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” – Acts 1:1-8.
“The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus,” This is Luke, and he is referring to what he witnessed while walking with Jesus, and the vow he made to do what Jesus had instructed them to do after His passion (Luke 1:1-4). “unto the apostles whom he had chosen:” Remember, Jesus choose you, and it is solely based upon your faith and willingness to follow Him after you are saved (John 15:16). “and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem,” Jesus instructs them to go out into all the world and teach what they witnessed concerning His passion because even He does not know when God, the Father, will send Him back. Let me tell you, the truth we know today about Christ was given to us by God fearing, saved, born again disciples of Christ, and it can be traced all the way back to one of these Apostles. After Jesus ascended, the Apostles, disciples, including James, Jesus’ earthly brother, and Mary, gather together in prayer, and to choose another Apostle to take the place of Judas, whom it was also confirmed that he committed suicide after betraying Jesus.
“These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,) Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus. For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry. Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out. Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection. And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen, That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place. And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.” – Acts 1:14-18,21-26.
“must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection.” The person replacing Judas was to be a saved disciple, who had walked with Jesus from the time He began His ministry, which incidentally, was when Jesus was baptized Himself, and the Holy Spirit came upon Him (Matthew 3:16). Jesus, requires the same from His disciples today, the second we get saved, we are to be a witness of how He saved us. And the first step to being a disciple is water baptism, which is merely a public profession of our putting our faith alone in Jesus Christ as our Saviour. “Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” – Acts 8:35-37.
Remember, Jesus told them to stay in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit arrived. Well, since when did Jesus do anything ordinary, He chose the Day of Pentecost, also known as the feast of weeks, which took place the second day after Passover, to send the Holy Spirit. These were devout Jews from all over the world gathered together. “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?” – Acts 2:1-6,8.
It was an incredible sight, people began speaking in their own language, but everyone knew exactly what they were saying, this by the way, is what speaking in tongues truly is. Those who were not saved yet thought they were all drunk, but Peter stood up, and explained to them what had happened. “But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” – Acts 2:14-21.
“that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” This is the Gospel in a nutshell, all we need to do to witness to someone is tell them what Jesus saved you from, and that they too can be saved the same way. But Peter had to reach these devout Jews in a way that was different than your average Gentile, so, God led him to preach about David, by whom Christ would descend through, centuries later.
“For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.” – Acts 2:25-31,37-38,41.
“Repent, and be baptized” This means they were to turn away from their belief that their righteous would save them, and turn to their belief in what Christ did for them. Baptized, meaning a spiritual baptism in which the Holy Spirit would fall upon them. “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized:” They were not baptized with water, rather the Holy Spirit. “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.” – I Corinthians 12:12-13.
Today’s Prayer: Jesus, Thank You for saving me the second I received You as my Saviour. I never truly understood the impact the Holy Spirit had in my life until I dedicated my life to You, and got baptized to prove it. We have not chosen You, but You have chosen us to not only preach the Gospel to the lost, but live it as we walk with You and follow the path that You showed us to take when You were here. Lord, I do want to be a faithful disciple, lead me and guide me, unleash the power of the Holy Spirit in me to be that faithful witness, and teach me how to approach all who You lead on my heart to witness to. I love You, Lord and ask this in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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