Acts: The Resurrection & Prophecy (1 of 2)‏

Hello Friends!

Dr. Luke, the author of the book of Acts, has given us the account of the "post resurrection" days of Jesus Christ, His departure for the heavens and the history of the early church with all of its problems and blessings as the followers of Christ move out to spread the message to all the world. The book of Acts is not a book of doctrine but instead a record of the events of the "first century church". Acts 2 records the beginning of the "church" when on the "Day of Pentecost" those who believed were "added to the church", those whose belief led them to salvation in Jesus Christ.

 

Let’s search the Scriptures together to see what the Lord has to say about these very important and often controversial passages of Scripture…
 
Acts: The Resurrection & Prophecy

As a prophecy student and lover of God’s Word, I especially like the first seven verses of Acts because they focus our attention on what Jesus Christ thought to be a priority for Himself as He spent "forty days" with His disciples "after" His resurrection from the grave. In fact, the Scriptures reveal that Jesus Christ was seen by over 500 of His followers at one time! We also see that Jesus showed Himself to be "alive" – in His physical, glorified body – leading up to His departure for Heaven to be seated at the right hand of the Father:

…to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God – Acts 1:3

This passage also reveals to us the subject of the teaching that Jesus gave His disciples for that almost 6-week period – focusing on "the things pertaining to the kingdom of God" to come. In fact, when asked by the disciples, Jesus said He could not tell them when He would set up the kingdom, for the "day and hour no one knows". The Lord told these inquisitive young men that "only" His "Father" knew when that day would be:

But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be – Matthew 24:36-39

It is very interesting to me that Jesus invested the last six months of His life here on earth teaching prophecy to His disciples. Then, within only 40 days after His resurrection, He again focused on prophecy! It is also interesting to note that the last book of the Bible – Revelation – includes the letters to the "seven churches" of Asia Minor and each of these letters contain prophetic truth that the believers in the Lord Jesus – the true Church – need to know. For further study and understanding of these letters of warning and comfort from Jesus Christ to these seven churches, please read chapter 1, verse 4 through chapter 3, verse 22 in the book of Revelation.
 
Remember, about 30% of the Bible is prophecy and that seems to indicate to me the emphasis that the Lord puts on prophecy and knowing the "truth of prophecy" for all those who follow Any individual Bible study should include a study of prophecy. The study of prophecy will help us to better understand the current events of our day. The study of prophecy also gives us as believers an assurance that the Lord is still in charge of all world affairs and has everything under His Sovereign control – He see everything and knows the end from the beginning!
 
Jesus understood this, of course, so He taught His followers what the future would hold and what would give evidence of the time of His return. With the understanding that the Lord could return at any time, we see that these disciples went forth to turn the world of their day "upside down" with the Gospel of Jesus Christ:

But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too…” – Acts 17:6

The Lord's men, with only a promise that He would return went into action. Remember, they did not have a New Testament Bible from which to preach and teach. They were living and writing it for us – the Christian Church!
 
How much more evidence we have that His return is so much closer than two thousand years ago. In fact, we must be like the first century Christians and get in the action for the Lord – right now... 

Keep looking up and sharing the Gospel while there is still time… Hallelujah and Maranatha – come quickly Lord Jesus!

We are not guaranteed tomorrow – tomorrow may be too late! If you haven't yet made that most important decision of your life, won't you make Jesus Christ your personal Lord and Savior today - before it's too late? Today is the day of Salvation!

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Blessings!
Shane K. Morin <><

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