Southern Christian University

Acts

Class Session 01

James A. Turner

Hello students, it is now time for us to begin our first Class Session for New Testament 3409A, which is an introduction to and a study of the book of Acts. I surely hope that each one of us will profit in a good way by the study of this great book. The first thing that I would like to do this evening is first get some of this busy work out of the way. I guess you know how that we are to put down learning objectives for each class and then how we are going to deal with the learning objectives in the lecture. Notice for this class I have down three things, one that Luke is the author of Acts and a number of things about Luke, and so we will begin with that.

We know that Luke is the author of the book of Acts because he had already written the gospel of Luke and he addressed it to most excellent Theophilus, Luke 1:1-4. And in the introduction to the book of Acts, Acts is addressed to Theophilus. Reading from Luke chapter one verses one through four, he says, "Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to draw up a narrative concerning those matters which have been fulfilled among us, even as they delivered them unto us, who from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; it seemed good to me also, having traced the course of all things accurately from the first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, that thou mightest know the certainty concerning the things, which thou was instructed." And then here in the beginning of the book of Acts, Acts is addressed to Theophilus. Acts 1:1-2, "The former treatise I made, O Theophilus, concerning all that Jesus began both to do and to teach, until the day in which he was received up, after that he had given commandment through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen."

Notice verse one says he had written that former treatise to Theophilus about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the days that he was taken up. And that surely is what the gospel of Luke is about. Now reading from Luke chapter twenty-four, beginning with verse twenty-five, it reads, "Then opened he their mind, that they might understand the scriptures, and he said unto them, Thus it is written, that Christ should suffer, and to rise again from dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name unto all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. Ye are witnesses of these things. And, behold, I send forth the promise of my Father upon you: But tarry ye in the city (Jerusalem) until ye be clothed with the power from on high. And he led them out as far as Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he departed from them, and was carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy: And were continually in the temple, blessing God." So notice that the book includes, just as he states here in Acts 1:2, that it is about what, “Jesus began to do and to teach until the days which he was received up.” And the gospel of Luke closes with Jesus giving commandment unto the apostles and then ascending into heaven.

Now in regard to other things about Luke, we are first introduced to him as a person in Acts chapter sixteen, verses ten through fifteen. Paul was on the second missionary journey as recorded in the book of Acts. It was not the second journey he had been on, but it is the journey that is recorded in the book of Acts as the second journey. On the second journey he started out with Silas, and they went through Syria and Cilicia confirming the churches (Acts 15:41), and then they revisited those churches of Galatia that he and Barnabas had established on that first journey. They started with that last church that they had established, Derbe, and then from Derbe to Lystra. At Lystra, there was a young man that Paul had converted on the first journey, Timothy, and he was well-reported of by the brethren at Lystra and Iconium. Paul decided to have him circumcised and carry him as a fellow worker on this second journey. After he and Silas and now Timothy had revisited those four churches that they had established on that first journey, those churches were in the order that they were established: Antioch of Pisidia, then Iconium, then Lystra and Derbe. And after they had revisited those churches, and had delivered to them the decrees that had been ordained of the apostles and elders as recorded in the fifteenth chapter of Acts about that Jerusalem meeting over circumcision, after they had delivered those to the churches, Paul wanted to go into Asia.

He probably wanted to go to Ephesus at that time, but he was forbidden by the Holy Spirit to go into Asia. They wanted to go into Bithynia and the Spirit of Jesus suffered them not to go there. And Luke says passing by a Mysia they came to Troas (Acts 16:8). At Troas, Paul received a vision in the night, a man standing over in Macedonia of European territory saying, “Come over into Macedonia and help us.” We can tell from the pronouns in Acts 16:10 beginning, that Luke joined the company of Paul, Silas and Timothy at Troas. This strongly indicates that Paul and Luke must have had some association prior to this. Some think that Luke was a Gentile and possibly the brother of Titus, that Paul and Barnabas had carried with them to Jerusalem to make him a test case. If circumcision was binding, Titus had not been circumcised. Whether that is true or not, the Bible does not tell us, but it does seem quite logical. But notice the reading of Acts sixteen beginning with verse ten, "And when he had seen the vision, straightway we sought to go forth into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel unto them. Setting sail therefore from Troas, we made a straight course to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, and from thence to Philippi, which is a city of Macedonia, the first of the district and Roman colony: And we were in this city certain days. And on the Sabbath we went forth without the gate by the river side, where we supposed that there was a prayer service; and we sat down, and spake unto the women that came together.” At that prayer service Lydia and her household, which looks like was a business household, were all converted. And verse fifteen says, "When she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us." And then he continues on there with more we. But in chapter seventeen, we see that he stays behind at Philippi when Paul and Silas left Philippi and went to Thessalonica. Reading from Acts seventeen, "And when they,. (talking about Paul and Silas) had passed through Amphipolis and Apolonia, they came to Thessalonica where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul, as his custom was, went in unto them, and for three Sabbath days reasoned with them from the scripture, opening and alleging, that it behooved that Christ must suffer, and to rise from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I proclaim unto you, is Christ." So we can see by his use of the pronouns when he is with the company of Paul and when he is not with the company of Paul.

The next time that he uses the pronoun we is after Paul had taken up contributions from all of those Gentile churches of Macedonia and Achaia and they were ready to carry that bounty to Jerusalem, Luke joined the company. We know that to be the case from the reading in Acts chapter twenty, verses five and six. In verse four, Luke lists the names of the messengers of the churches and then verses five and six, "These had gone before and were waiting for us, (Paul and Luke) and we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and came unto them at Troas in five days; where we tarried seven days." And, of course, Luke continued with them on that journey to Jerusalem. Acts 21:7, "And when we were come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly." It looks like that Luke was close to Paul during that time that he was in prison at Caesarea, (Acts 23:26-25:12) which some count as a two-year period. Whether it was that long or not, I do not know, but anyway he was first tried by Claudis Lyseas (Acts 23:26-30) and then by governor Felix. Felix recognized that he had done nothing that was illegal, and he hoped that money would be given to him, and he would turn him loose. Paul and his friends did not come with any money, because that would have been contrary to what was right. When Felix was going out of office, he wanted to show the Jews a favor and he left Paul bound. So the book shows that Luke was close to Paul during that imprisonment. While Paul was in prison at Caesarea, would have been a good time for him to have written the gospel of Luke. Notice again that he said that he had followed everything, that he had traced everything accurately concerning the things that were believed. Let me read it again. "Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to draw up a narrative concerning those matters which have been fulfilled among us, even as they have delivered them unto us, who from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; it seemed good to me also, having traced the course of all things accurately from the first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus." You see Luke would have had an opportunity, Caesarea is just a few miles from Jerusalem, and surely he would have had an opportunity to have talked to eyewitnesses and traced accurately the things from the first about what Jesus did and taught until the time that he was taken up. Finally Paul appealed his case to Caesar.

After Festus had tried him, he did not find anything that Paul had done wrong, but he was ready to show the Jews a favor. They pleaded with Festus for him to let them try him at Jerusalem, Acts 25:1-2. If Paul had gone to Jerusalem, they had planned to kill him in the way. Notice from Acts 25:11-12, Paul was a Roman citizen, so he refused to go to Jerusalem but appealed his case to Caesar. He said, "If then I am a wrongdoer and have committed any thing worthy of death, I refuse not to die: But if none of these things is true whereof these accuse me, no man can give me up unto them. I appeal unto Caesar." You see he had rights as a Roman citizen to make an appeal unto Caesar, and so he appealed his case to Caesar.

Luke was also with Paul when he made the voyage to Rome as given in Acts 27:1, "And when it was determined that we should sail for Italy, they delivered Paul and certain prisoners to a centurion named Julius of the Augustus' band." So Luke was with Paul on that voyage to Rome, and he was with Paul during that two years imprisonment. During that first Roman imprisonment Paul was permitted to live in his own hired dwelling during that two years. Remember that there were no real charges against him, and so he was permitted to live in his own hired dwelling, guarded by soldiers, but he was permitted to speak to all that came in to hear him. During that two years imprisonment, he carried on an evangelistic campaign, plus he wrote the four New Testament books that we refer to as the prison epistles: Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon. And in Colossians 4:14, he sends a salutation to the Colossians from, “Luke the beloved physician.”

So Luke was a physician, and a well-educated man. His gospel book is counted as the most literary book of the four gospel books, and the book of Acts is also written in a very good way. Also in the short epistle to Philemon, he sends salutations from Luke (Philemon, 23-24). So Luke was with Paul during the first Roman imprisonment, and he was with Paul during the second Roman imprisonment, according to II Timothy 4:11, Paul writing to Timothy and encouraging him to come and bring Mark with him. He says only “Luke is with me.” Luke was almost in continuous association with Paul during those times that we have spoken of. I think that deals fairly well with the objective that Luke is the author of the book and some of the other things about Luke. Luke was surely a great person.

The number two, learning objective, the approximate time that Acts was written and how many years the book covers. Acts begins with the closing admonitions of Jesus to the apostles and then his ascension, and it concludes at the end of that first Roman imprisonment. The dates usually given for that two years' Roman imprisonment is either 60 to 62 AD or 61 to 63 AD, therefore the book of Acts covers approximately thirty years. It is a brief history of the spread of the gospel and the growth of the church. It was written about 62 or 63 AD and covers approximately thirty years. Think of that, giving a brief history of the spread of the gospel and the growth of the kingdom of God in twenty-eight chapters. That ought to tell us on the surface that the book of Acts is a very brief account. And when we get to the twentieth chapter of the book of Acts, we will give attention in a more detailed way of just how brief it is.

The third objective is that the book of Acts is a great book, and surely it is. We really would not have a very clear understanding of what a person must do in order to be saved without the book of Acts. Now, there are many other passages coupled with the book of Acts that show very clearly, but as many of our brethren have referred to the book of Acts as a book of conversions. Well, it is a book of conversions, but it is much more than a book of conversions because it shows how that the apostles carried out the instructions that Jesus gave them as recorded in Acts 1:8, which we will be reading in a few minutes.

In the book of Acts, the question is asked and answered three times as to what a person must do in order to be saved. When the apostle Peter preached the first gospel sermon on that first Pentecost after the resurrection and ascension of Christ, he told them about the resurrection of Christ, and that he had been exalted to the right hand of God. And he said, "And he hath poured forth that which you should see and hear." Talking about the miraculous things that were happening to the apostles. And he said, "Let the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this same Jesus, whom you have crucified both Lord and Christ. And there were those who were pricked in their hearts, and they said to Peter and the other apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do." Meaning what shall we do to be saved. "And Peter said, 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 Spirit, for the promise is unto you and your children, them that are far off even as many as the Lord our God shall call." In chapter nine Saul of Tarsus had received letters from the chief priest to go to a foreign country to Damascus the capital of Syria to bind the Christians that were there and carry them back to Jerusalem and put them in prison when he was arrested by a light from heaven. And the Lord spake to Saul, and when he did, Saul said, "Who art thou, Lord?" Acts 9:5. "And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: But rise, and enter into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do." And then God sent Ananias to him to tell him what he needed to do. And in Acts twenty-two, Paul repeats the story of his conversion and also in chapter twenty-six. In Acts 22:12-16, he tells about Ananias coming to him and saying to him, "Why tarriest thou? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord." So Saul was told what he needed to do in order to be saved.

Then in Acts sixteenth chapter, we read about where Paul and Silas at Philippi were beaten and thrown into prison, and the keeper of the prison was given charge to keep them safely, and he thrust them into the inner part of the prison and made their feet fast in the stocks. “But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns unto God, and the prisoners were listening to them.” And the Lord sent an earthquake that jarred the prison doors open, and the jailer, thinking that the prisoners had escaped, drew his sword, ready to kill himself, when Paul said to him, “Sir, do thy self no harm, for we are all here.” And the Philippian jailer, trembling, fell down before Paul and Silas -- and I believe he called for a light, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And Paul told him what he needed to do to be saved. So three times the question is asked and answered. And, of course, we have many other cases of conversion recorded in the book of Acts. Let me emphasize that in each case where everything is recorded the conversion ends in baptism. In the eighth chapter of Acts, the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch, “Philip preached unto him Jesus” and they came to a certain water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water, what doth hinder me to be baptized?” And that goes for all the cases where everything is enumerated as to what they did. It ended with them being baptized for the remission of their sins.

The book of Acts is also a great book from the standpoint of how it ties in with the epistles of Paul. Paul wrote I and II Thessalonians, I and II Corinthians, Galatians, Romans, and those four prison epistles during the time period of the book of Acts. And it is very important from the standpoint of being able to have some details about where and when Paul wrote those books and the problems in those churches when he wrote the books. There are a number of things in the book of Acts that assist us with a better understanding of those epistles, I and II Thessalonians, I and II Corinthians, Galatians, Romans, and then the prison group.

Well, I reckon we are now ready to begin the reading and the study of the first chapter of Acts. "The former treatise I made, O Theophilus, concerning all that Jesus began both to do and to teach." Notice that. Some preachers are ready to say, you are not to do as I do, but do as I tell you to do. Well, if he really believes that, he is the wrong kind of preacher. A man is to demonstrate his teaching by the way that he lives, Jesus did that, and notice, “concerning of all that Jesus began both to do and to teach, until the day in which he was received up, after he had given commandment through the Holy Spirit unto the apostles whom he had chosen: To whom he also showed himself alive after his passion by many proofs, appearing unto them by the space of forty days, and speaking the things concerning the kingdom of God." I believe I am right when I say that it is only this third verse of chapter one of Acts that we learn how many days Jesus was on earth after his resurrection. Luke tells us it was forty days, appearing unto them in a space of forty days, and speaking of things concerning the kingdom of God. From the gospel accounts, we recognize that Jesus was on earth for a while before his ascension, but Luke tells us how long. "And, being assembled together with them (the apostles) he charged them not to depart from Jerusalem." Now, going back to verse two, he had given commandment through the Holy Spirit unto the apostles. And so he is giving this charge then in verses four and five -- well, beginning with verse four and on through verse eight. "And being assembled together with them, he charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard from me. For John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days hence." I think we have stated as a fact that most religious people in our American society are all mixed up in regard to Holy Spirit baptism and the purpose of Holy Spirit baptism. Some even teach that everybody should be baptized with the Holy Spirit, and that is not the case at all. At the end of verse five, if you have room like I have in my Bible, write “promised to the apostles”. Please let me encourage you to write down notes or references in your Bible. Over the years I have learned that they are some of the very best notes that you can have are references in your Bible, which you will refer to and refresh your memory concerning things that you know you have learned, but by the time you come back, you may have forgotten. I remember hearing Dr. James Bale of Harding University saying a number of years ago that, “faded ink is much better than a faded mind”. I found that to be the case, and I highly recommend that you write down references in your Bible, and I will give you quite a number. And I would appreciate it very much if you would write them down. References in your Bible will be a lot better. You also have references given in the study questions, but in all probability in the process of time you will not know where those study questions are. And even if you do, you would not have them with you when you are going to need them. But if you have the references written down, that will remind you, then you have them there. Verse four again, "And, being assembled together with them, he charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard from me. For John indeed baptized with water; but ye ye shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days hence."

When John was preaching and baptizing in the Jordan as recorded in Matthew 3:11-12, he said, "I indeed baptize you unto repentance: But he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit, and with fire: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor, and gather the wheat into the garner; but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire." So Matthew 3:11-12 says that Jesus would administer Holy Spirit baptism and fire baptism. I remember seeing a sign in the yard of one church building that said: “A Fire Baptism Church”. They were of that denomination that say that the Lord gave three baptisms: water baptism, Holy Spirit baptism, and fire baptism, and we believe in all three. Well, I surely believe in all three, but not the way that they believe, about fire baptism or Holy Spirit baptism either.

Fire baptism, as shown by verse twelve, is hell fire. "Whose fan is in his hand, he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor, and gather the wheat into the garner; but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire." John is using the illustration of the threshing floor of that day. During that time they piled up the grain on the threshing floor, and they had an ox to pull around and around a threshing sled over the grain until the chaff was separated from the grain. And then when the wind was right, they threw the wheat, or whatever grain it was, and the chaff up in the air, and the wind blew the chaff out, and the grain was left on the threshing floor. And so John says, "Whose fan is in his hand, he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor, and gather the wheat into the garner." The wheat represents the righteous, and the garner would represent heaven. "But the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire." I guess all of you have been listening some about the great number of wild forest fires in the western states and how at times there is just very little they can do in controlling some of them. But at the same time, they are not unquenchable fire. Sometimes those flames they say go up a hundred and fifty feet high and reach out about that far. From the standpoint of man being able to deal with them, they cannot deal with some of them very effectively, but the Lord can send a great downpour, a gully washer rain, and put them out in a hurry! There is no fire that is unquenchable except hell fire. Another reference which shows that to be the case is II Thessalonians 1:6-10 were Paul said, "To you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and obey not the gospel of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, from the glory of his power."

Another reference that you need to put down at the end of verse five is John 14:26, 16:7-14. John is the only writer that records that long discourse that Jesus gave his disciples after he had kept the last Passover and had instituted the Lord's Supper before he was betrayed by Judas Iscariot. That long discourse covers John thirteen through sixteen, and then chapter seventeen, the prayer that he prayed on that occasion. In John 14:26, Jesus said, "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father shall send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." And in John chapter 16:7-14, he states, "It is expedient that I go away, for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come. But if I go away he will come. And when he comes he will convict the world of sin." And further he says, "He shall not speak from himself, but he shall take of mine, and shall declare it." Well, first he would guide them unto all truth, but the Comforter or the Holy Spirit would not be speaking for himself. "But he shall take of mine, and shall declare it unto you." So the Holy Spirit was to guide the apostles, each time the apostles are involved. He is talking to the apostles here Acts 1:4-8, and he is talking to the apostles in John 14:26, and in John 16:7-14. You need to turn sometime soon and read those passages and get them in mind.

Okay. Verse six, "They therefore when they were come together, asked him, saying, Lord, dost thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" We need not get excited today when we teach the same thing over and over again and still some people do not understand. These apostles had been with the Lord more than three years, about three-and-a-half-years, we think, and they were still expecting him to set up an earthly kingdom instead of establishing a spiritual kingdom. The Lord could not have pleased the apostles any better than if he had come to establish an earthly kingdom. And he surely could not have pleased the Jewish people any better if he had accepted all three of those challenges that the devil presented Jesus with after he had been in the wilderness for forty days. After that forty days, he was hungry, and you know those temptations, how that the devil said, “if thou be the Son of God, turn these stones into bread.” And you know that would have pleased the Jewish people because they liked for the Lord to perform signs and wonders, and they were always ready to be fed. They would have liked to have seen him cast himself down from the temple, from the pinnacle of the temple, and they would have surely liked for him to have been an earthly ruler. When the devil carried him up on the exceeding high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and said to him, “These will I give to you, if you will bow down and worship me.” Jesus said, “Get thee hence, Satan, for it is written thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thy serve.” The Jewish people wanted to be out from under Roman authority, and most of the Jewish people were looking for was for him to be become an earthly king. And he could not have pleased them better than to become an earthly king.

By verse six, you need to write down John 6:15 and 18:36. After Jesus had fed the multitude of five thousand men plus the women and children, and that must have been at least ten thousand people that he fed with five loaves and two fishes. As recorded in John 6:15, they were ready to take him by force to make him an earthly king. Let us turn to John six and notice that with your own eyes how important it is. Notice in verse ten, "And Jesus said, Make the people sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.” Well, when you think that most of them had their wives with them and a lot of children, so it must have been at least ten thousand that were fed. "Jesus therefore took the loaves; and having given thanks, he distributed to them that were set down; and likewise also the fishes as much as they would. And when they were filled, he saith unto his disciples, Gather up the broken pieces which remain over, that nothing be lost." The Lord teaches a lesson of being conservative and taking proper care of what we have, and they took up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces. "And so they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with broken pieces from the five barley loaves, which remained over unto them that had eaten." Now notice verses fourteen and fifteen. "When therefore the people saw the sign which he did, they said, This is of a truth the prophet that cometh into the world. Jesus therefore perceiving that that they were about to come and take him by force, to make him king, withdrew again into the mountain himself alone." Do you see the importance of John 6:15, “that they were about ready to make him king by force”? This is one of the many references which show that the doctrine of Premillennialism is a false doctrine. They are bent on making him an earthly king. Would this not have been the proper time for him to be an earthly king if God had intended him to be an earthly king? I want to continue to mention a number of things like this which show that the Premillennialism doctrine is a false doctrine. Jesus did not come to be an earthly king, but they are still going to have him be an earthly king. On this occasion they were about to make him an earthly king by force and he left their presence.

When the first period of the first Class Session was up, we were still on Acts 1:6, the disciples said to Jesus, "Wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" And I asked you to write down John 6:15, and we turned and read from the sixth chapter of John about how that the people were ready to make Jesus an earthly king by force and he left their presence. I also asked you to write down 18:36, when Jesus was before Pilate and he questioned him about his being an earthly kingdom. He said, "My kingdom is not of this world, if my kingdom were of this world, then should my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now my kingdom is not from hence..” Jesus did not come to be an earthly king. And you may wonder why are you calling attention to these. I want you to be able to see that that premillennial doctrine that Christ is going to come back to earth and reign on earth as an earthly king for a thousand years is false from beginning to end. I will call attention to other references as we study this book. . When we get to Acts chapter two where Peter speaks about God raising up Jesus to sit on David’s throne, we will go into details about the throne, that Christ is now reigning on the throne of David. Those of you that are on the Web, you should have all those documents printed out, and so we can look carefully at that outline when we study Acts chapter two, the latter part of it.

Verse seven, "And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times of the seasons, which the Father hath set within his own authority. But ye shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit is come upon you: And ye shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth." Now, notice that they were to tarry in Jerusalem until they were endued with power from on high. Going back to verse four, he charged them not to depart from Jerusalem but wait for the promise of the Father, the promise of the Father about their being baptized with the Holy Spirit. And in verse eight, "But ye shall receive power when the Holy Spirit is come upon you."

What is the meaning of ye shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you? Write down beside verse eight, Mark 9:1. When the Holy Spirit came on them, then the kingdom would come. Mark 9:1 reads, "There are some of you that stand here, that shall no wise taste of death, till ye have seen the kingdom of God come with power." And so here and in Acts 1:8, Jesus said that the power would come upon them when the Holy Spirit came upon them. And then in Acts two, we will be reading about the Holy Spirit coming on them on that first Pentecost after the resurrection and ascension of Christ, and on that day then the kingdom had its full beginning. According to the premillennial doctrine Christ came to establish his kingdom, but because the Jewish people rejected him (John 1:11-12) he ushered in the church age and the kingdom age is yet to come. Such reasoning makes Christ a liar in Mark 9:1 or else there are some living today on earth who are a bout two thousand years old. In Colossians 1:13 Paul said that those brethren had been “translated out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God’s dear Son”. How were they translated into a kingdom that according to that false doctrine does not exist. Revelation 1:9 says that the apostle John and all of those first century brethren were “in the kingdom, tribulation, and patience of the Lord Jesus Christ”.

Acts 1:8, "But ye shall receive power when the Holy Spirit is come upon you." And notice the Lord's marching orders as to who they would carry the gospel to first and then second, third and fourth. "And ye shall be my witnesses, both in Jerusalem and in all Judaea." That means the area especially around Jerusalem. "And in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth." And that would mean the Gentile people. So the gospel was first preached to the Jewish people, and there were thousands of Jewish people that obeyed the gospel during the beginning days of the kingdom. After they preached the gospel in Jerusalem and Judaea, then the gospel was carried to the Samaritans, chapter eight of Acts. Philip, one of those seven that the apostles had laid hands on, had miraculous power, and he went to Samaria and started preaching, and when they saw the signs and all that he did and heard his “teaching concerning the kingdom of God of the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women”. So after the gospel was preached to the Jewish people, it was to go next to the Samaritans, and then after the gospel had been carried to the Samaritans, then it was to be carried to the Gentiles and to the uttermost parts of the earth. The first time that the gospel was formally carried to the Gentiles was at the household of Cornelius as recorded in Acts 10. The “uttermost parts of the earth” really got under way when Barnabas and Saul were told by the Holy Spirit to go on that first journey as given in the thirteenth and fourteenth chapters of Acts.

Now, in regard to the Samaritans, how much do you know about the Samaritans? Let us take a little time and review a few things about the Samaritans. When the ten tribes were carried into Assyrian captivity -- Turn to II Kings chapter seventeen. Do you remember how God divided the kingdom of Israel into two kingdoms because of the sins of king Solomon in marring so many foreign women and idolatry being established in a big way in the land of Israel? And God, because of that, divided the kingdom into two kingdoms (I Kings 11: 1-4, 11:9-12, 11:26-33, 12:12-16, 12:21-24).. He left Rehoboam the son of Solomon with only two tribes, Judah and Benjamin, and gave the other ten tribes to a new king, Jeroboam the son of Nebat. God promised the new king Jeroboam, if he would be faithful, he would establish him a sure kingdom like that of David's. But Jeroboam did not exercise proper faith, and he began to reason if the people returned to Jerusalem to worship, they will return to Rehoboam, and they will kill me, and I will no longer be king. So he set up two golden calves, one at Bethel and one at Dan. The people of Israel had had that calf idolatry all the time since they had left Egypt. And remember when Moses came down from the mountain, Exodus thirty-two, and they had had Aaron to make a golden calf for them. So Jerboam’s advisors evidently knew that that would be popular with a lot of the people, and they established those two golden calves, one in the south and one in the north of the territory of the ten tribes.

And they said it is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem and “behold thy gods which brought you out of the land of Egypt”, and most of them were ready to turn and worship before those golden calves at Bethel and at Dan. Of course, that was idolatry, very displeasing to God. But all of the kings of the northern kingdom, from the first to the last, did not depart from that calf idolatry. Finally because of all that idolatry and their going beyond that in worshiping the Baals and burning their children as sacrifices in worship to their idol gods, that God, after two hundred and fifty-two years, I believe it was, in 722 BC carried the ten tribes into Assyrian captivity. And thus we will begin to read from II Kings chapter seventeen, "In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah began Hoshea, the son of Elah began to reign in Samaria over Israel and he reigned nine years. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, yet not as the kings of Israel who were before him. Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria, and Hoshea became his vassal, and paid him tribute. But the king of Assyria found treachery in Hoshea: For he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and offered no tributes to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year: Therefore the king of Israel shut him up, and bound him in prison. Then the king of Assyria invaded the land, and came to Samaria." During the days of king Omri (I Kings 16:23-24), they had established a capital in a very strategic position in Samaria. And evidently it was very hard to take that capital city, for it says for three years he besieged it. "And in the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria captured Samaria, and he carried the Israelites away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah and on the Habor the river of Gozan, and the cities of the Medes." And then he begins and gives at least seven reasons why. Coming down to verse twenty-one, "And when he had torn Israel from the house of David; they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king: And Jeroboam drove Israel from following the Lord, and made them commit great sin. The people of Israel walked in all the sins which Jeroboam did; they did not depart from them." That means about that all the kings continued with that calf idolatry. It was made the engine of the state, and so because of all their sins and particularly because of all of the idolatry and the burning of their sons and their daughters as sacrifices to their idol gods (I Kings 17:17-18; Psalms 106:37-38). God carried them into Assyrian captivity. Most of the Jewish people of Samaria were carried to other territories, and the Assyrians brought Gentiles into the area of the ten tribes. Verse twenty-four, "And the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah and from Ava, Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the people of Israel: And they took possession of Samaria, and dwelt in its cities. And at the beginning of the dwellings there, they did not fear the Lord: Therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which killed some of them." So the king of Assyria was told, "The nations which ye have carried away, and placed in the cities of Samaria, do not know the law of the God of the land."

That was the pattern of idolatry, that one country had this god as their primary god, and another country another, and another country another. But anyway the king of Assyria sent back one of their priests. Verse twenty-seven, "Then the king of Assyria commanded, Send there one of the priests whom ye carried away thence; and let them go and dwell there, and teach them the law of the God of the land." And so the Samaritans would, have been taught some knowledge of the five books of Moses. But they just accepted God as another God. Verse twenty-nine, "But every nation still made gods of its own." And they burned their children as sacrificed to their gods. Verse twenty-two, "They also feared the Lord, and appointed among themselves all sorts of people as priests of the high places." "So they feared the Lord, but also served other gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away. Unto this day they do according to the former manners: They do not fear the Lord, and they do not follow the statutes or the ordinances of the law, or the commandments which the Lord commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel." So the Gentiles that were brought into the territory just accepted Jehovah as another idol god. They did not really fear him and follow his statutes and ordinances. It is thought that some of these Gentile people intermarried with some of the Jewish people that were left in the land.

The southern kingdom remained a hundred and thirty-six years after the ten tribes were carried into Assyrian captivity. Then they were carried into Babylonian captivity. And God, through the prophet Isaiah, said that that captivity would be for seventy years (Jeremiah 29:1-10). When that period was up, the government of Babylon fell, to the Medes and the Persians. Cyrus the king of the Persians gave a decree that all of the people of Israel that wanted to go back to the homeland and build another temple could go (Ezra 1:1-4). Solomon’s temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in that last carrying away of Judah ((II Kings 25:8-12).

The Persian government also gave them help in being able to build a second temple. In Ezra the fourth chapter, when the returnees started building a second temple, the leaders of the Samaritans came forward and approached Zerubbabel, the governor and heads of the houses, and offered to build with them, but their offer was rejected. Reading from Ezra chapter four, "Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building the temple to the Lord the God of Israel; they approached Zerubbabel, and the heads of the fathers' houses, and said to them." You will learn from chapters one and two that Zerubbabel was a descendant of that king Jeconiah that was carried into Babylonian captivity (Matthew 1:12; Ezra 1:7, 2:2), and his grandson led that first company back to Jerusalem. When they began building then, these enemies -- Notice verse one says, "When the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin." So that puts us on notice that they are not true believers in God but they are adversaries. "They approached Zerubbabel, and the heads of fathers' houses, and said to them, Let us build with you: For we worship your God, as ye do; and we have been sacrificing to him ever since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here." And so that is talking about what we read from II Kings chapter seventeen. "But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers' houses in Israel said to them, Ye have nothing to do with us in building the house to our God; but we alone will build to the Lord, the God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded us."