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I believe it was most likely between the year AD60 and AD63, during the time which the Apostle Paul was being held under arrest in the city of Caesarea, that a Gentile physician named Luke took the opportunity to write a well-researched and Holy Spirit inspired account of the birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus of Nazareth. This account, written as a letter to a man he identified as Theophilus, which means “friend of God,” has been preserved by God for us. It bears the title of “The Gospel according to Luke.”
Luke’s name is mentioned only three times in the Bible (Colossians 4:14; 2 Timothy 4:11; Philemon 24). However, Luke often uses the term “we” when speaking of traveling with the Apostle Paul on several occasions as a member of his missionary team. Luke was with Paul at Troas, in Philippi, on his trip back to Jerusalem, and in Rome during Paul’s first imprisonment.
Some, through the years, have imagined Paul dictated the Gospel to Timothy. However, there are many factors which make that highly improbable. Nonetheless Paul’s influence can be seen and reasonably accepted, seeing Luke accompanied the Apostle as he carried out the Great Commission to make disciples of all nations, especially when it came to reaching and teaching Gentiles with the Gospel.
Luke not only wrote the Gospel of Luke to this man named Theophilus, but he also wrote a second letter which we have as the book of the Acts of the Apostles. Luke’s research was well done in the access he had to the early Church and its mission outreaches. The book of Acts does not follow the works of all of the Apostles but mainly focuses on Peter, James, and John and the ministry of the first Church in Jerusalem before going on to primarily focus on the many adventures of the Apostle Paul.
Perhaps the reason for this is that Luke, being a Gentile, along with the fact that the initial intended recipient of his letter was also a well-to-do Gentile, meant that Luke and Theophilus both identified with Paul’s ministry more than say Matthew’s. Paul was commissioned by God to become the Apostle sent with the Gospel of Christ to the Gentile nations while Matthew’s Gospel was written more with the Jewish nation in mind.
With that being said, let’s turn in our Bibles to the last chapter of the Gospel according to Luke before going to the book of Acts and connecting the accounts to find what God wants to show us this evening.
Luke 24 NKJV
49 “Behold, I send the
Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are
endued with power from on high.”
50 ¶ And He led them out as
far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them.
51 Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven.
Here we find Luke recording what were remembered by the Disciples as the last instructions of Jesus before being received up into heaven. With this, Luke concludes his letter to Theophilus concerning the life of Jesus and what He accomplished during His earthly ministry. Now let’s turn to the first chapter of the book of Acts. We will find Luke’s second letter to this same man picks up exactly where the first letter left off …
Acts 1 NKJV
1 ¶ The former account I
made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,
2 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,
3 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.
4 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;
5 “for John truly baptized
with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from
now.”
6 ¶ Therefore, when they had
come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the
kingdom to Israel?”
7 And He said to them, “It is
not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own
authority.
8 “But you shall receive
power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me
in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
9 Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
I appreciate the classical approach Luke used in documenting his research and cataloging these testimonies. He clearly reveals his intent in writing each of the letters. Luke also separates, and yet connects, the two periods of ministry in one simple statement. The first letter was about what Jesus began to do and teach until He ascended. This one will give you details about the work that continues now through the power of the Holy Spirit in and through the lives of Born-Again Believers.
Notice two verses of prime connection (Luke 24:49 & Acts 1:8):
Luke 24:49 “Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”
Acts 1:8 “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
This bridge between the earthly life and ministry of Jesus and the ministry of the Born-Again Believer is clearly the power of the Holy Spirit. It is evident Jesus was filled with power from on high. Let’s take a closer look at this power to be a witness for Christ which we see referenced all through the Gospel of Luke and continuing throughout the book of Acts as well.
The Power to be a Witness … For the sake of time and because I know you to be students of the Word of God, I am going to share the scripture references and make commentary without reading each and every account in full this evening. Please either write these references down or you can access my notes at ezsermons.com, and there is also the opportunity to go to our website or COTR App and listen to me preach this sermon again.
·
Acts 2:1-4
o The Day of Pentecost
o All filled with the
Holy Spirit
o They immediately went
outside and became witnesses with power from on high.
·
Acts 2:16-21
o This is that which was
spoken by the prophet Joel
o Pour out of My Spirit
on sons and daughters
o Handmaids and
menservants
o All who call on the
name of the Lord will be saved
·
Acts 2:38
o This can happen to you
o You can receive the
gift of the Holy Spirit
o Because your sins have
been forgiven
o You and your children
and those far off …
·
Acts 8:4-8
o Those who were
scattered went everywhere preaching the word
o Phillip went down to
Samaria and preached Christ to them
o They listened and were
saved, and water baptized
o There was great joy in
the city
·
Acts 8:14-17
o When the Apostles at
Jerusalem heard Samaria had received the Gospel
o They sent Peter and
John to check it out
o They found that people
who believed the Gospel of Christ had been saved and water baptized but had not
yet received the Holy Spirit.
o Peter and John laid
their hands on water baptized Believers and they received the baptism of the
power of the Holy Spirit.
·
Acts 10:44-48
o While Peter was
preaching at the house of a Gentile Roman soldier, those listening were
baptized with power from on high and began to speak in tongues and prophesy
like the Jews in the upper room had one on the day of Pentecost.
o Then Peter asked for
water so those who had been saved and filled with the Holy Spirit could be
baptized in Jesus’ name.
·
Acts 11:15-18
o Peter explains
Gentiles receiving salvation and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit to the Apostles
in Jerusalem.
o “The Holy Spirit fell
on them just like it did on us at Pentecost”.
o God gave them the same
Gift … Who am I to withstand God?
·
Acts 19:1-6
o Paul found disciples of
Jesus in Ephesus he thought were saved
o He asked them: “Have
you received the Holy Spirit since you believed?”
o They responded: “We
didn’t even know there was a Holy Spirit”
o Paul continues and
ends up baptizing them in water in the name of Jesus and then lays hands on
them …
o These 12 men received
the Baptism of Power from on high and began to speak in tongues and prophesy
just like what happened on the day of Pentecost to those 120 in that upper room
… in which … Paul was not present but was rather violently and dead set against
it at that point.
·
How
does a person today receive the Power to be a Witness?
o
Acts 5:32
§ The willingness to
follow Jesus and obey Him
§ Are you willing?
o
Luke 11:13
§ How much more shall
the Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him …
§ Just ask!
Let’s
pray!
