 Alright, so just in continuation with the background of the book of facts, we've looked at what we, the themes that we will find in this book, but I also quickly want to show you a map. This is, okay, I will share my entire screen. Sorry everyone, I'm not able to share. There seems to be some issue. Okay, please excuse me on this one. I'll try and share it in the next class. So I basically wanted to show you the map of the seven churches in Asia Minor, which is talked about in the book of Revelation. And you will notice that all these seven churches are in the legions where Paul did his ministry. So you see, whatever happened in the book of facts, right? It's not, it wasn't really forgotten, but God chose these seven churches to talk about in the book of Revelation and you know, also John wrote more about this later on. So the book of Acts that way is very significant. Even the episodes, when we study the episodes, we will relate it to one or the other churches that the people in the book of Acts planted. So this is the significance and the importance of this particular book. So how does this book begin? I told us that the book of Luke, he ended with the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and the commissioning of the disciples. So how does it pick up from Acts of the Apostles onwards? So let's begin from Acts chapter one and verse one. And then I'll try and expound as much as possible from this chapter. You could also, if you are able, you can open up and your word and go to the book of Acts there and begin with chapter one. So obviously, I'm not going to go through all of David Kuznick's content, but then you know, some key things that he has mentioned, I do will mention in my explanation here. So in Acts chapter one, it begins with the former account I made Otheophilus of all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day in which he was taken up after he through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom he had chosen. We see that Jesus, even after his resurrection, ministers to his own people. So primarily, his ministry was to the disciples and the believers. So Luke wrote about this. So he refers to a former account I made, that is the book of Luke that he's talking about, where the rest of Jesus's ministry is recorded. And he also has mentioned the name of the audience, which is Theophilus. And I talked about Theophilus. So he was probably a believer and he could have been an official who was associated with the trial of Paul. So that is who Theophilus is. And he tells Theophilus that, you know, I wrote an account about Jesus. And now he is writing about what Jesus, the resurrected Christ is doing and has done. So of all that Jesus began both to do and teach. Now, this is very beautiful. Now, he talks about the ministry of Jesus and it's a takeaway for us as believers and those who are in the ministry. There is an integration of doing and teaching. You know, just one wouldn't suffice. We need both. We need to do or demonstrate the works of God as much as teach the word of God. And that is the proper way of doing the ministry that God has called us to do. So we also see here that the Lord Jesus, you know, he made that effort to serve his people. The resurrected Christ, he could have just been happy. Sometimes you wonder, Lord, why did the resurrected Christ choose to be on the earth for, you know, scriptures say 40 days, he was around. Lord, what did you want to accomplish through him walking the earth? But it just tells us that God cared so much about his own people. But he, first of all, revealed to them his glory through the resurrection. But he also ministered and strengthened his own people before the moment of ascension. So this is how Luke writes. I'm going to read that verse one again. The former account I made, O theophilus, of all that Jesus began to do and teach. So this is, you know, his earthly ministry as well as his resurrected ministry, until the day in which he was taken up, who was taken up, Jesus was taken up. So it's talking about a definite ascension of the Lord Jesus and Luke is giving witness to this event. After he through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom he had chosen. So he's saying that Jesus ministered through the Holy Spirit. Okay, amazing. Right. So this is another account where we understand the setting of the Trinity. And there is a Trinity. Jesus by the Holy Spirit, Jesus through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles. So the Godhead is working in harmony and in agreement. That is very obvious in the very beginning of this book. So Jesus working with the Holy Spirit gave commandments or big ministry to the apostles whom he had chosen. So the apostles, again, they were chosen by the decision of the Lord Jesus and we know how he prayed and picked these 12 men and he equipped them during his lifetime here on the earth, preparing them for something that was to come. So it's amazing that the intention which God had was to do more than demonstrate his glory and power and make his disciples dependent on him. We are dependent on him, but there's also that element of empowering us that is seen in them through the ministry of Jesus. So those three, three and a half years seems like a very short time, isn't it, that Jesus is working with these disciples, but he taught them, he built them up, he did his ministry, he demonstrated the works of the supernatural, but he prepared them to carry on when he's gone. So it's an example of exemplary leadership that in just three, three and a half years he has picked the people that he trusted to be the future leaders and that he equips them enough to hand over the work to these 12 men who he had chosen. So the first two verses, simply talk and describe the, talk about and describe the ministry of the Lord Jesus. So before he ascended, verse 2 says that he gave commandments to the apostles. So what kind of commandments did he give? Of course, we know about the great commission, we know that he told them to demonstrate the power of the kingdom, these sons will follow those that believe they should lay hands on the sick and they shall recover. So the fulfilling the great commission and how to fulfill the great commission was some of the commandments that he gave his disciples. Now let's move to write along, verse 3, to whom he also presented himself alive after his suffering by many infallible proofs being seen by them during 40 days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. So here, since it's referring to the 40 days, it's most definitely the period of his resurrection and we are told that Jesus presented himself to his disciples and he gave them sufficient proof, infallible proofs. So that shows us the heart of God towards us that, you know, God is, he's sort of on a convincing mode. So he provides sufficient clarity to his, at one point they were grieving disciples because, you know, Jesus, we expect with you to be some sort of a political leader and, you know, demonstrate the kingdom that you were talking about, but even you died and you went through such a difficult trial, so the disciples would have been disappointed in a way. However, that sorrow was quickly turned into joy because as Jesus had spoken to them, he resurrected on the third day. But even after that, you know, God cared enough to provide many proofs to not just the disciples, but other believers as well. If we look at 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 6, you know, that scripture, I will quickly read it out for us. It says, after that he was seen by over 500 brethren at once of whom the greater part remained to the present, but some have fallen asleep. So Jesus was seen by more than 500 people after his resurrection and, you know, that in itself is very encouraging. That there was evidence of the resurrection of Christ and not only that, an additional truth that we can make note of is these people who saw Jesus, you know, at his resurrection, if they were, if they were young people, the book of Acts is only over a span of 30 years, isn't it? So when Luke was writing about all that the Holy Spirit did through the early church, these people who saw the resurrected Christ were probably alive, you know, and they could affirm that what Luke had written as a historical account is correct. So the resurrection of Jesus, it's a historical fact. And Luke as a physician, who we would expect him to be very logical and intellectual, a man like Luke, he's talking about the resurrection of Christ. So it's not a myth, it is a historical fact. And Luke records here that he gave infallible proofs being seen by them during 40 days and also Apostle Paul writes about it in 1 Corinthians 15, that indeed the resurrected Christ was seen by many people. Now what did Jesus do during that phase when he was ministering in his resurrected body? We are told very clearly that he was speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. So whenever it comes to subjects like this, the ministry of the resurrected Christ, people can come up with all kinds of stories and obscure things that don't have secondary information that affirms what they are saying. So Luke has put it down very clearly and he has mentioned here that the subject that Jesus thought was not a new subject. Jesus, even during his earthly ministry as a human being, he was talking about the kingdom of God, he was wanting people to repent, he was talking about heaven and hell, he was talking about many other subjects like good stewardship, his teachings revolved around all of this. After his resurrection, he continues to talk about the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. So that way, it does not give opportunity for people to come up with, if I may use the word weird teaching and say that, oh, this is the hidden revelation and Jesus was actually talking about X, Y and Z during his days of resurrection because the Bible very clearly says that he was speaking about things pertaining to the kingdom of God, which is a repetition of what he did during his earthly ministry. So let me just pause for a moment and check with all of us, are you doing okay? You could give me some feedback, whether the base is okay, you're able to get what I'm saying or if there's any challenges that you're encountering. Okay, so I can see here on the chat that you are doing fine. Okay, praise God. Let's continue if you have any questions or you just want to interrupt to tell me anything about the way I'm, you know, the format that I'm using, please let me know so I can always correct to make it better for your learning. All right, so moving ahead, right, so we've seen, we've talked about these 40 days. Okay, so again, this is very interesting, 40 days, what 40 days, Jewish festivals of the Passover and then, you know, the day of Pentecost, the duration in between this 50 days. So 40 days after Jesus's resurrection, he appeared to more than 500 people, including his own disciples and then, you know, he ascended. So there were about 10 days between the ascension of Jesus and the day of Pentecost where the outpouring of the Holy Spirit took place. So Acts chapter one, Acts chapter two, the period is something like 50 days, 50 days or, you know, one and a half months is the duration that we are talking about. So moving on to verse four here. So I said that Jesus continued to minister during his period of resurrection to his own disciples. So that's what is happening from verse four to verse eight and being assembled together with them, he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem but to wait for the promise of the Father which he said, you have heard from me for joy truly baptized with water but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. So Jesus already equipped the believers with the word of God. The believers, the disciples, they were also we would say born again because in John chapter 20, we see him breathe on them. So after his resurrection, after the work of the cross, he breathes on them and he says receive he the Holy Spirit. Till that time the disciples were not born again but once the Holy Spirit came to dwell within them, they were now born again. But even after being born again and even after being equipped with the word, what is this that the resurrected Jesus is talking about? He's telling them don't depart from Jerusalem but wait for the promise of the Father. So there was something more which was required for them to accomplish the commandment of the Great Commission. What was that? The promise of the Father and he explains himself, this is nice because scripture is interpreting itself which he said you have heard from me for joy truly baptized with water but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. So Jesus is telling them that the promise of the Father equals the baptism of the Holy Spirit which is to he gave them an estimate. He said not many days from now so they knew that it is going to take place in a matter of days and this is a requirement for us to continue to do the work that God wants us to do. The baptism in the Holy Spirit. The baptism in the Holy Spirit even for believers it's very interesting. Why is Jesus doing this? Isn't the word enough? Isn't them being born again enough? What do you see here? He's telling these people no you need something more and that is the baptism in the Holy Spirit and I want you to wait for it in Jerusalem. Don't step out just yet wait for this to happen verse 6 therefore when they had come together they asked him saying Lord will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? So you know the disciples many of us can relate to this isn't it? Here Jesus is saying something so important and we have our own questions. Is it related to what he said? He talked about the promise of the Father the baptism in the Holy Spirit and here is you know the set of disciples asking him another theological doubt. They say Lord will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? So they had their own perception of what might take place probably after the baptism in the Holy Spirit and here is the answer that Jesus gave them and said and he said to them it is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in his own authority. So it helps us understand as believers. Yes we are asking so many different questions but God has chosen to reveal what we need. There are if you want to term it as unrevealed you know unrevealed mysteries that even if we approach God with those questions he feels that hey you know you really don't have to whatever I have told you till now is sufficient for you so you can work with that. He had spoken so much with the disciples about the kingdom of God and how the kingdom comes and how they need to move with the authority which is given to them so he had actually already spoken about the kingdom and he had made statements you know about the kingdom being with them and the kingdom coming but still the disciples had a doubt about the literal kingdom of Israel. Now obviously they knew from scripture that there would be a time when the literal kingdom of Israel would also be restored but for some reason you know Jesus did not find it important to answer their question with the kind of clarity that they wanted at that point in time. So he simply tells them it is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in his own authority. So there are certain things that the Father alone knows and if we go searching for those mysteries answers to those mysteries it's likely that we may not you know get the information. So for us to know everything is not possible it's only what God has chosen to reveal to us and in this case the disciples were not given the date and time of the restoration of the kingdom of Israel. So he comes back to the point he was making about the promise of the fag which is most important for the disciples at that in that season okay probably even they did not understand the importance of it but he goes back real focus and he says okay that you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth. So I'll quickly share with us okay right yeah so the word witnesses there in the Greek it is the word martyrs okay martyrs it refers to a martyr you shall be my witnesses in all of Judea, Samaria even to the ends of the earth. So interesting it's the word martyrs from the Greek which means a martyr. So what does Jesus say? So is he saying that those who follow him those who are baptized in the Holy Spirit will all become martyrs in the case of the disciples most of them it happened isn't it but the point that Jesus was making it's not the not a little martyr that's not what it means it simply means surrender you know a martyr what what is the characteristic of a martyr a martyr gives it all for the cause and in the same way he is letting the the disciples know that when the Holy Spirit comes upon you you shall be my witnesses in that manner that life that is yielded to the work of the Holy Spirit where the power of the Holy Spirit is revealed to such an extent. So you know it's surrender it's surrender to the power of the Holy Spirit and that's what Jesus was telling them that when you wait in Jerusalem you know another few days you shall you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. So the disciples needed to be baptized in the Holy Spirit or in other words they needed a separate experience of the baptism in the Holy Spirit to bear witness to the resurrection power of Christ to the ends of the earth and Jesus knew that very well and he knew that that was the subject of importance at that point in time and he's telling them please wait receive this then you will be able to do what I asked you to do without that it'll be very difficult for you to be a witness for me. So he speaks to them about the baptism in the Holy Spirit and later on verse 9 Luke writes now when he had spoken these things while they watched he was taken up and a cloud received him out of their psyche we could just talk about the theological aspects of this one scripture okay basically it's about the ascension of the Lord Jesus after he had spoken of all the important things which he wanted to know when somebody is leaving home or you know out to going to travel they they usually let us know give us those important instructions isn't it because they know that these things are very important okay the keys are kept here switch off the lights do this do that and more so when someone's completing their journey if someone's leaving an organization or if someone knows that they're at the end of their life here or not they will reveal what is most important to the people who are left behind and we see that Jesus continued to talk about the things pertaining to the kingdom he did not find it so important to talk about the timing of the restoration of the kingdom of the nation of Israel but instead he focused on the baptism in the Holy Spirit and it was that important for the ascending Christ to make mention of this to his disciples and so once he had spoken about these things scripture say while they watched he was taken up quite dramatic a cloud received him out of their sight so you know we can imagine this right Jesus he just spoke to his disciples he was with them and then you know he's being lifted up okay it's supernatural and they are watching Jesus being taken up and finally cloud comes and receives him and he disappears and they understood that you know Jesus in his resurrected body has now entered a different realm or a different soul and we know from the rest of scripture that but he seated at the right hand of the Father until the day that he comes back so he's still there but just that he's not here on earth in his resurrected body he is up there in heaven now we might ask why is it that God even thought of letting the disciples see the ascension of Jesus why not maybe after all the meetings that Jesus had for the disciples he could have just disappeared isn't it and the disciples could have said oh I think Jesus has ascended okay and that would have been fine with all of them because Jesus would have told them that one day I'm going to the Father but God is very wise in the way he orchestrates you know events the ascension of Jesus before the eyes of the disciples ensured that they all had evidence to what had taken place otherwise you know the disciples could have come up with all kinds of parallel stories and said oh no Jesus is here Jesus is there yeah sorry I can hear somebody okay right so to avoid that it was a very clear event the ascension of Jesus and being received up by the cloud and while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up behold two men stood by them in white a bell who also said men of Calilee why do you stand gazing up into heaven this same Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will soon come in like manner as you saw him go into heaven okay again through the wisdom of God while the disciples thought that whatever has happened till now it has great bearing you know on our lives and we just want to focus on the ministry of Jesus the teachings of the resurrected Jesus the signs and wonders of you know Jesus through the entire time and his ascension they just wanted to focus on that and it would have been easier for them to do that at that point in time and God really spoke to their hearts and it says there were two men who stood by them in white a bell again there's this tension about who these two men are you know scholars say that these two men where Moses and Elijah who appeared at that time or some scholars say no no they they were just angels who spoke to the disciples but whoever they were now they brought godly wisdom and they told the disciples stop staring at the past you have work to do what Jesus needed to do he has done and now he has ascended up into heaven you go do your part stop being like fixated on what has just happened right so they were being awakened to the call of God on their life it was as if Jesus passed the you know Baton or Baton however you want to call it and he was telling the disciples it's your turn now you need to go and you need to fulfill the great commercial through your lives and we know that you know that's not just applicable to the disciples it's so applicable for us we can read the Bible we can meditate on scripture and say oh how wonderful you know I'm coming to know God and all that's that's great it's really beautiful and that's how it should be we have to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ but also we have a work to do we need to go and do our part for the kingdom of God and the book of acts as I have shared earlier is that it's the evidence of the power of God through the lives of believers who stepped up so it was a call to step out and do what God called them to do and notice here another very encouraging point is we are told this same Jesus so there's no doubt in who ascended and who's going to come back so the way the disciples saw Jesus go up into heaven they were assured this same Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will so come in like manner as you saw him going to heaven you know and that is such a highlight for us as believers the second coming of Christ we are going to see him come back in glory you know and that is an encouragement as we go ahead and do what God is calling us to do so all of this you know unfolded in those moments when Jesus was reassuring them and he ascended so let me pause for a moment and look at all of us here so yeah what thoughts are running through your minds is there anything that you know really touched you from what we have seen so far okay so you're probably just digesting you know all of this we'll continue then let me look at the following verses here from verse 12 so after Jesus was taken up and the disciples had the assurance this same Jesus is going to come back in the same way they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives so Jesus was taken up from the Mount of Olives and it was a Sabbath day as a journey so it was not too far and they come returned to Jerusalem and when they entered they went up into the upper room where they were staying so there was this this place known as the upper room where the disciples were along with other believers so then you had the list of the disciples it's listed out for us Peter, James, John, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the zealot and Judas the son of James okay so we have all those disciples who Jesus had chosen except for Judas Iscariot and these all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus and his brothers so very interesting again that you have the disciples you have some other disciples okay women it just says and with the women you also have the mother of Jesus and the brothers of Jesus and if you remember the brothers of Jesus were not that supportive of Jesus in his earthly ministry they had lots of questions about whether he is the Messiah and Jesus said you know people who are familiar with us don't see the call of God on our lives so you know he made statements like that because his own people and his own family had trouble accepting the Lord Jesus Christ okay for the fact that he was the Messiah so let me quickly refer yeah so John 7 5 is a reference that you could jot down Mark 3 21 is another reference where you see that his brothers were not supportive at all but what happened to these people after the resurrection you see even the resurrection proved to his own family and we were actually walking with the Messiah and the Messiah was part of our household so they came to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and that is so valuable isn't it so all of these disciples with some other disciples the family of Jesus they all came back to Jerusalem and they came to this place called the upper room and what are they doing what they knew to do best which is to pray and to seek come on so scriptures also tell us that they were in one accord okay and yeah just in the Greek this word one accord is homo tomadon okay so one accord is together united so they were united in prayer that is the understanding from what we see here so we can imagine how Jesus has ascended and the disciples come back and they are in one accord why are they in one accord they just heard the instruction of Jesus that in a few days from now you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit and you will be my witnesses so they were aware that there is a promise that we are living for and while they were waiting for the promise what did they choose to do as a community they prayed you know when we are aware of the promises of God sometimes we just want to dismiss ourselves and say okay God is sovereign he will do what he needs to do there is no need for me to pray but you see the posture that the believers took even after they knew what God was going to do through their lives that God would send the Holy Spirit God would make them witnesses to the ends of the earth you know they chose to pray they chose to seek God and so they were in an they were in a posture of obedience they were in a posture of worship they were in a posture of prayer seeking the Lord and then you know at that point we we see that Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples and scripture records here that the number of names was about 120 so 120 disciples had gathered together Peter stood up in the midst of them why did Peter stand up you know again you would see in the book of Acts that God works through people now sometimes people say uses people okay but uses people doesn't sound very good God works through people God also works through who we are naturally so Peter if you know the way he behaved earlier he was just quick to talk he was quick to give his opinion and somehow you see that God continued to use him for who he was and Peter quite naturally takes leadership in this case and thankfully you know after the resurrection of Jesus before the resurrection of Jesus he was a coward he escaped the scene when Jesus was being tried but there was a rear and genuine transformation in the heart of Peter and God also Jesus also comforts him after his resurrection so now Peter is courageous he is you know his heart is if you want to call undivided he's very focused he takes on leadership and it comes naturally to him so he just stands up in the midst of these 120 believers or disciples and you know he quotes from the scriptures he says men and brethren I went verse 16 this scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus for he was numbered with us and obtained a part in this ministry okay so Peter realizes that as scriptures mentioned you know Judas was the one who betrayed Jesus so then he goes on he goes on to describe what happened to Judas he says that he he saw Jesus and then he got the wages of his work which is he died right falling to the ground and you know the the gory details are also mentioned over that and you know he says that now that he is gone we need to pick someone else in that office so I'll read from verse 20 for it is written in the book of Psalms let his dwelling place the desolate and let no one live in it so he's talking about Judas and let another take his office so Peter for some reason he knew that what Judas did you know it was already spoken about in scripture but it is now time for another person to take that position because Jesus wanted 12 disciples okay so he goes ahead with leading the choice of somebody in the place of Judas so from verse 21 therefore of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us beginning from the baptism of John to that day when he was taken up from us one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection so Peter says we are going to choose but we are going to choose from this in a circle there were 120 people and Peter was well aware of the men and women who had walked with Jesus through his ministry and who also were with Jesus you know during that period when he was resurrected so he did not want to pick somebody who was an outsider so he wanted to pick somebody who was an insider so at that point you know it's like an election time and we are told that two names were proposed Joseph called Barsovis whose surname was Justice and Matthias so two people were proposed and then you know the people prayed together asked God who God would want to take the place of Judas and then we are told that they cast lots and Matthias was the one on whom the lot fell and he was numbered with the 11 apostles so in chapter one what do we see we see the instructions of Jesus before his ascension we see the ascension of Jesus then we see the obedience of the disciples in going back to Jerusalem and maintaining a posture of prayer and worship we see the rising up of Peter as one of the leaders of the early church we also see the choice of Matthias led by the Holy Spirit and prayer of the disciples so we will stop here and we will pick up from Acts chapter two in the next class we have about three minutes here so quickly take up any questions Yashnikumar please go ahead I just have a small doubt like in the book of Acts it says he the Peter says that we have to pick someone who was with us from the beginning and and we again you know and it means that I just want to know that Matthias name was suddenly coming in the book of Acts chapter in the Acts before that even when the disciples name is mentioned hello okay Ashnikumar we lost your voice there okay gone again actually yeah it's like interrupted thank you thank you thank you thank you I want to know that you know the Matthias name comes in the book of Acts but before that if you read the entire gospel you were never able to find the name of Matthias and second thing and even the Peter is saying that someone who was from the beginning it means that Matthias was Matthias was someone who was from the beginning and so even when we read about read when Jesus was establishing the Lord's tables when we think maybe it's maybe I'm maybe wrong or something that it is only 12 disciples were there so is it possible that all these other disciples who they was not mentioned they were also there at the time of Lord's table because Paul is Peter is saying that someone who was from the beginning means like how Matthias name was there and so many other disciples were also there whose name was not mentioned and what we are assuming that only 12 disciples or 12 apostles were only there at the time of communion I want to ask you thank you okay sure sure Shri Kumar would it be okay if I answered your question in the next class because we've we've we've run out of time that is the first thing and also very specifically you asked me if Matthias was there at the communion I think I'll have to study this a little more to to give you an answer so I just don't want to say something okay so yeah I I'm assuming you'd be okay with that so let's wrap up class sure thank you let's pray Heavenly Father we thank you Lord for your grace Father God we we continue to commit ourselves Lord and we ask that Lord you will reveal your heart Lord through the acts of the apostles to us Father God and Lord I pray let each one strengthen that each one we empower by your Holy Spirit Father God Lord we give you all glory and honor in Jesus name we pray amen amen thank you God bless you have a wonderful weekend and we shall eat again in our next week God bless