Sola scriptura (Latin: by scripture alone) is a theological doctrine held by Christian denominations that the Christian scriptures are the sole infallible rule of faith and practice.

This is my fifth blog on Jesus’s teaching. I will do one more next month.

Studying the ascension and the response of the apostles has been good for me. I pray you have been moved to recalibrate your life in service to Jesus and using your giftedness for the kingdom and your rewards.

Mat 6:19 Do not layup treasures on earth for yourselves, where moth and rust corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal.

Mat 6:20 But layup treasures in Heaven for yourselves, where neither moth nor rust corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.

Mat 6:21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

We have a new grandchild from the Chris line and he is a keeper. His name is Henry James. This brings our clan to 9 grandchildren. Not a record in the world but a great blessing on Con and I.

Let us be a people who seek exhortation-to-application to improve our pursuit of our resurrected Jesus.

Heb 13:22 And I beseech you, brethren, suffer the word of exhortation: for I have written a letter unto you in few words.

PS: do you have a teaching of Jesus that you want me to think, study, write on for the next Blog? Let me know.

– Gayle

The Ascension in Acts and Luke:

Luke 24:44 “And He said to them, These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and in the Prophets and in the Psalms about Me.

Luke 24:45 And He opened their mind to understand the Scriptures.

Luke 24:46 And He said to them, “So it is written, and so it behoved Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day,

Luke 24:47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be proclaimed in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”

Acts 1:6 “Then, indeed, these coming together, they asked Him, saying, Lord, do You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?

Acts 1:7 And He said to them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father has put in His own authority.

Acts 1:8 But you shall receive power, the Holy Spirit coming upon you. And you shall be witnesses to Me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

Acts 1:9 And saying these things, as they watched, He was taken up. And a cloud received Him out of their sight.

Acts 1:10 And while they were looking intently into the heaven, He having gone, even behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them,

Acts 1:11 who also said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into the heaven? This same Jesus who is taken up from you into Heaven, will come in the way you have seen Him going into Heaven.”

• This is a parallel set of verses to our verses from last month. Matt 28:19-20
• A great prayer for our life is Luke 24:45 “And He opened their mind to understand the Scriptures”.

But the job description of the Matthew verse does not match the Luke, Acts job description.

What are the differences and why the differences?

The Matthew version told them to go make disciples and the Acts version said, go be my witnesses. These appear to me to be different job descriptions. I asked 4 good men in the Word for their explanation for this perceived difference.

1. My first “good man” said he had no idea.
2. The second “good man” said they were written at different times. The first written by a Jew who saw his calling to be in Jerusalem. Teachers would stay in Jerusalem and have believers come to them….and be discipled (taught). The second was written by a Gentile, influenced by Paul who was the worldwide witness.
3. The third “good man” said the first was a command to sanctify and the second to evangelize.
4. The fourth (a theologian) “good man” said they were parallel verses and the merging of the two texts is probably more accurate to what Jesus said, I think all the above are good responses to ponder.

But if the resurrected Jesus says it-we are to listen and to act on it. i.e., be a witness and disciple maker in our sphere of influence.

Observe in Overview of Acts 1:6-11

Note the Matthew version did not have, “you shall receive power, and the Holy Spirit will be coming upon you”. I think this comment in Acts is a precursor to the job of the Holy Spirit but remember the Holy Spirit doesn’t show up until Chapter 2 of Acts. And there was the “power”.
I am not sure that Matthew understood what he was hearing. Luke wrote Acts in or around AD 65-70. Luke’s filter was what Paul and other apostles taught him.
We need to study and think on, “you shall receive power, the Holy Spirit will be coming upon you.”

Question:

1. What was the power?
2. Do you experience either today?

Observe:

Review Acts 1:6: “they asked Him, saying, Lord, do You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”

The men were still interested in an establishing a worldly kingdom. The Institutional Church (IC) has struggled with this since Constantine’s time. I wonder with some of the Church campuses I see now, in the history of the church and especially in London, if the church is not asking Jesus for the same thing.

Review Acts Vs 7: “And He said to them, it is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father has put in His own authority.”

Isa 46:9 “Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,

Isa 46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure”

We don’t need to decipher the coming of the end times, etc. We should have the attitude this could be my last day, saying I will be doing Jesus work.

Review Acts Vs 9-11: “The charge is don’t huddle but go out and be a witness. Witness means a witness (literally {judicially}). Being a member in the Bible Community in a social gathering is a lot less important than being in the world and witnessing. Community should only be emphasized, with the objective of training of the Saints for the work of Jesus. Social gatherings are not discussed in the bible. Social gatherings are not wrong but should not be our primary objective of a gathering.”

Angels last comments: “He has risen and He will come back the same way. Don’t stand around and wait.” Now, we are to get after it.

“Let me note that there is a big emphasis for community and gathering in the Christian body today. Though I think these social gatherings are of value, they will not necessarily draw you closer to God.

The old word used to talk about groups of mutual desire to be God’s people was fellowship. Are you in a social gathering or a fellowship?

A fellowship should….

Heb 10:23 “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering (for He is faithful who promised),

Heb 10:24 and let us consider one another to provoke to love and to good works,

Heb 10:25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”

The question to ask of your “community” or “gathering”, are they provoking and/or exhorting one another? If they are not, I would think that you are in a social group

From last month’s blog on gatherings:

Application:

1. Learn how to give your life story as a “quicky” witness and a conference-room witness.
2. Have a specific group of people who are your “most wanted”. Pray on each one.
3. We are commanded (not suggested) to be Jesus’ disciples and witnesses to the world. Be intentional with a plan, go forth in your sphere of influence being God’s person.
   To Do: Think on how you can transact in business and still be a witness.
4. Pray for each person on your daily calendar.
5. Take time each day to shut down and pray or read God’s word.
6. Before you disciple others, you must be discipled. You must learn and grow your entire life. Question: Who is discipling you now?
7. Do a good study on who is the Holy Spirit, where is He in the Bible, i.e. Old and New Testament, what is His job, and how should you respond to Him.
8. Surround yourself with people who will exhort you in the Word and not just coddle you into a no reward eternity. I would rather be uncomfortable here than judged a wasted life in Heaven.
9. Continue to review your position on the inerrancy of the Bible and do not throw portions of the Bible out because they make you uncomfortable. Recommit to its inerrancy. Biblical inerrancy, as formulated in the “Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, 1978“, is the doctrine that the Protestant Bible “is without error or fault in all its teaching”; or, at least, that “Scripture in the original manuscripts does not affirm anything that is contrary to fact”.

Mission statement of the Blogs

These blogs are to stimulate your biblical thinking to become Issachar’s of our time.

1Ch 12:32 and from the sons of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do.

These blogs are an attempt to articulate key biblical issues of our day so that we can

1. Learn and understand the propositions of the Bible concerning our life
2. We can apply the truth in our life in the sanctification process
3. Contend/defend against heresy or apostasy.
4. We can draw closer to God