“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
~ Acts 1:8
Hi James and Ellen,
Are you Theophiluses? Do you know what a Theophilus was? Theophilus was a guy. Theophilus was a friend of Luke. Other than Luke referring to Theophilus as being a friend, nothing else is known about who Theophilus was. Luke sent two letters to Theophilus. The two letters that Luke sent to Theophilus are now books in the Bible. In the first letter that Luke wrote and sent to Theophilus, Luke wrote about the life of Jesus. The first letter that Luke sent to Theophilus is now called the Luke Book. In the second letter that Luke wrote and sent to Theophilus, Luke wrote about what took place in the years after the death of Jesus. The second letter that Luke sent to Theophilus is now called the Acts Book. What do you think that Luke’s profession or vacation was that he was able to get to know so much about Jesus? Luke was a doctor. Luke was an educated guy. As Luke traveled to different places with Paul, Luke was capacitated to write down what he heard about and saw happen to Paul and what he heard Paul teach. Luke began writing his second letter to Theophilus with Jesus alive again on planet Earth. Luke had finished his first letter to Theophilus with Jesus ascending from planet Earth into heaven. Luke in Acts 1 quickly covers the time that Jesus – after Jesus had been cruelly crucified on a cross and was buried, appeared in various places for a second time on planet Earth. Luke in the two letters that he penned to Theophilus did not waste words. Luke wrote concisely about what he heard and what he saw. You probably are thinking right now that your grandpaa needs to learn from Luke on how to write in a less wordy way these things that he is sending to you. Your grandpaa has learned and is learning a lot from what Luke wrote in the two letters that he sent to his good friend Theophilus. Because of the way that Luke wrote and sent letters to his friend Theophilus, your grandpaa thinks of you as being Theophiluses in the way that he writes and sends these things to you.
When your grandpaa reads the Bible, your grandpaa hears God’s voice talking to him. Do you hear God’s voice talking to you when you have the Bible read to you by your ma and dad? Your grandpaa knows that he has to listen very carefully to hear God’s voice. Your grandpaa knows that Luke heard Jesus speaking to him. The words in verse 8 are the very last words that Jesus said on planet Earth. Jesus told all the guys and gals who were following him “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”’ Jesus said these words right before a cloud came and covered Him as He ascended back to heaven to be with His Father God. Jesus said these words for your grandpaa to hear. Jesus told the guys and gals who were following him to wait in Jerusalem for a gift from His Father God. This gift would be the arrival of the Holy Spirit on planet Earth. God would begin again on planet Earth with another group of guys, gals and kids who He has especially elected to be His followers. This new group of specially elected guys, gals and kids would be called the body of Christ. God though will never forget His first group of specially chosen guys, gals and kids – who were the Israelites or the Jews. When Jesus departed from planet Earth to be with His Father God, Jesus left prepared or enabled guys to carry on the task of seeing to it that His Kingdom is built on planet Earth. The guys who Jesus had prepared or enabled to carry on the task that He began were His apostles. What do you think that the eleven remaining apostles did next when Jesus suddenly left them to go to be with His Father God? The eleven apostles went to Jerusalem just as Jesus had told them that He wanted them to do. What do you think that the eleven apostles did in Jerusalem? The eleven apostles met regularly with other guys and gals to pray with them as they waited for the Holy Spirit gift that Jesus had promised them would soon arrive.
Are you good at waiting? Are you good at listening? Are you good at following instructions? Your grandpaa sometimes is not very good at waiting. Your grandpaa sometimes really does not listen very well. Your grandpaa does not like instructions. Your grandpaa is learning that it is good to wait, that he needs to listen and that he must follow instructions. When God told your grandpaa that He wanted your grandpaa to be a missionary, your grandpaa was already being a missionary. Your grandpaa had heard a guy speak in the church that he and your grandmaa attended. The guy – Mr. Klinepeter, talked about using a tract to share his faith with guys, gals and kids. The tract is called the ‘Four Spiritual Laws’. Your grandpaa decided that he wanted to use the ‘Four Spiritual Laws’ tract to share his faith with other guys, too. God has given each of His specially elected guys, gals and kids hardwired gifts that He as the Holy Spirit enables them to use to edify other guys, gals and kids. Your grandpaa’s hardwired gift is administration. If a guy, gal or kid has the administration hardwired gift, the guy, gal or kid can easily organize. Your grandpaa likes to organize. Your grandpaa organized a group of guys and gals in the town where he lived to go systematically house to house sharing their faith in Jesus. Your grandmaa and grandpaa were living at this time in Aberdeen, South Dakota. Your grandpaa did not know it at that time but Aberdeen was your grandpaa’s Jerusalem. Your grandpaa’s Jerusalem today has become the ends of planet Earth. What your grandmaa and grandpaa are doing in Guatemala right now – along with the other missionaries who they are with in Guatemala, have the potential to affect the lives of guys, gals and kids on the opposite side of planet Earth. Your grandmaa and grandpaa are really glad that you Theophiluses have the chance to hear God’s voice. You will hear God’s voice when you listen for it.
Acts 1 (163)