WEEK 33
APOSTLES DAY
"Then [Jesus] opened [the Apostles] minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, 'Thus it is written, repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in [my] name. You are witnesses of these things" (Luke 24:45-48 ESV).
The Holy Spirit energized the hearts and minds of the apostles in their ministry, helping them to produce the NT Scripture. The disciples had failed to understand many things about Jesus and what He taught, but because of his supernatural work, they came to an inerrant and accurate understanding of the Lord and His work and recorded it in the gospels and the rest of the NT Scriptures.1
"The Holy Spirit was to be given them in its fullness, sealing them for their work."2 "So long as they obeyed His word, and worked in connection with Him, they could not fail."3
The Sent One (Jesus) has now become the Sender, commissioning his followers to serve as his messengers and representatives. All three persons of the Godhead are involved in this commissioning: as the Father sent Jesus, so Jesus sends his disciples equipping them with the Holy Spirit.4
"The whole position of the Apostles is that they have something to declare, something to say. They have seen something, they are reporting it. [I]t is a proclamation; there is an urge and an authority behind it."5
"The disciples were to carry their work forward in Christ's name. Their every word and act was to fasten attention on His name, as possessing that vital power by which sinners may be saved."6
They told that ancient world of certain things which had happened; they talked about a person, and they reported what had happened to Him. And with a very special emphasis, they told people of the amazing fact of the Resurrection; how this person, Jesus of Nazareth—who had been completely misunderstood, not only by the common people, but by the rulers and elders of the people—how He had been put to death. But, they said, God had raised Him from the dead, and He had manifested Himself to them, His chosen witnesses.7
"[The Apostles] had the amazing privilege of seeing Him, of hearing Him, of examining Him and touching Him and listening to Him."8
"The authority of the Apostles in the Church was unquestionable from the very beginning. Their powers were derived from Christ Himself. They preached boldly and acted as His representatives, teaching and speaking 'in the Holy Spirit.'"9
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ENDNOTES
(33) Stay Close on His Heels
1. John MacArthur, One Perfect Life (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2012) 415.
2. Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1911) 30.
3. White, 29.
4. ESV Study Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2001, ESV Text Edition: 2011) 2070.
5. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Life in Christ, Studies in 1 John (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2002) 45.
6. Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1911) 28.
7. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Life in Christ, Studies in 1 John (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2002) 316.
8. Lloyd-Jones, 51.
9. Rev. Fr. Andrew G. George, "Feast of the Twelve Apostles," Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, 1 September 2021 https://www.goarch.org/-/feast-of-the-twelve-apostles?inheritRedirect=true.
10. Horatius Bonar, Words Old and New (Carlisle, PA: THE BANNER OF TRUTH TRUST, 1866, 1994) 57.
11. "In Him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will," (Ephesians 1:11 ESV).
12. "To the sound of musicians . . . they repeat the righteous triumphs of the LORD . . ." (Judges 5:11 ESV).
13. "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses . . ." (Acts 1:8 ESV).
14. "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you" (John 14:26 ESV).
15. "But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5 ESV).
16. "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses . . ." (Acts 1:8 ESV).
17. "In Him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will," (Ephesians 1:11 ESV).
18. "'This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,'" (Hebrews 10:16 ESV).
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