We might easily dismiss the community to which John, Peter and the forty-plus year old healed man return.
ACTS of these men at Solomon’s Portico in the Temple had gotten them arrested by Jerusalem’s highest authorities. Yet because so many had witnessed the healing of this lame man, the three return to the growing ‘community’ of believers who have become the constant companions of the Twelve Apostles in Jerusalem. The authority of Jerusalem’s leaders has been overruled by the mighty acts of God!
Apostles, Disciples & Community
As we reminded ourselves previously when these three men sat in prison overnight: Peter, John and others had also been disciples of John the Baptist. It is a TEACHER/STUDENT relationship in the faith. Rabbi, some called Jesus; while others called Him Master, acknowledging their humble servant-role of the religious student learning Scripture from God’s teacher.
The Twelve APOSTLESnow have disciples; that is, followers who become a constant community in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.
They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
Luke’s description of these men and women to whom Peter and John return with their witness barely touches the surface of its depth in our English translations, but let’s take a brief look at ACTS 4:23:
And being let go, they went to their own company.. KJV
they went to their own companions.. NKJV
Peter and John returned to the other believers.. NLT
.. went back to their own people.. NIV
they went to their friends.. ESV
Peter and John went to their fellow believers.. NET
they came to their own company.. ASV
.. unto their own friends.. YLT
Do you get the idea?
The KJV translates Strong’s G2398 in the following manner: his own (48x), their own (13x), privately (8x), apart (7x), your own (6x), his (5x), own (5x), not translated (1x), miscellaneous (20x).
The Twelve Apostles with hundreds of disciples in Jerusalem now kept in constant community with one another.
In his Gospel Luke records:
Peter said, “Behold, we have left our ownG2398 homes and followed You.”
Luke 18:28
It is personally possessive; a constant reminder that turning to follow Christ Jesus both costs us and comforts us.
John reminds us in his Gospel:
“If you were of the world, the world would love you as its ownG2398; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.
Gospel of John 15:19 – Jesus’ possessive claim of believers as the Lord assured His Apostles prior to His Sacrifice
Constant communication in the Spirit
And being let go, they went unto their own friends, and declared whatever the chief priests and the elders said unto them, and they having heard, with one accord did lift up the voice unto God..
ACTS of the Apostles 4:23-24a YLT
LET US THANK THE LORD OUR GOD FOR THE SAFE RETURN OF OUR FRIENDS PETER AND JOHN TO OUR COMMUNITY OF FAITH.
Shout praises to the LORD for the Power of the HOLY SPIRIT who secured their release unto us.
Let us give thanks to God for His mercy.
Lord, it is You who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything that is in them, who by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David Your servant, said,
‘Why were the nations insolent,
And the peoples plotting in vain?
The kings of the earth took their stand,
And the rulers were gathered together
Against the Lord and against His Christ.’
Why are the nations restless
And the peoples plotting in vain?
The kings of the earth take their stand
And the rulers conspire together
Against the Lord and against His Anointed
..
Serve the Lord with reverence
And rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son, that He not be angry and you perish on the way,
For His wrath may be kindled quickly.
How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!
Constant Praise, then Prayerful Petition
The LORD God has saved our friends for this moment, returning their lives safely to the company of believers.
ONLY FIVE – 5 Sola’s of the Protestant Reformation
You likely understand something of the history of the Church, especially if you’ve followed my previous Saturday posts on Doctrine or our current series in ACTS. Sola in celebration of ‘Reformation Day’ of the Protestant Church, I’ll ask: ‘Do you know what Protestants were protesting about the ‘Catholic Church?’
Jesus changes how sinners give glory to God.
The Apostles then set out on the sola journey of the faith grounded in Scripture and in Christ.
You may know about The Great Schism and certainly know something about a doctrinal line in the sand which marked the beginning of the Protestant Reformation when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Thesesto the church door at Wittenberg, on 31 October, A.D. 1517.
Today, however, I will nail just two doctrinal questions about the teaching of your ‘church’to the door of your thinking:
Do you know the 5 Sola’s of the Protestant Reformation?
How have these five doctrines defined differences even today betweenthose professing other faiths (including Roman Catholics) andProtestants?
HERE is a bit of researched HISTORY about October 31, in the year of our Lord 1517 AND events leading up to the PROTEST against the authority of 'The Church' from Rome.
Luther
Luther originally had no intention of breaking from the Catholic church, assuming that his call for theological and ecclesiastical reform would be heard, and ordinarily his theses would have been of interest only to professional theologians. However, various political and religious situations of the time, and the fact that printing had been invented, combined to make the theses known throughout Germany within a few weeks. Luther did not give them to the people, although he did send copies to the archbishop of Mainz and to the bishop of Brandenburg. Others, however, translated them into German and had them printed and circulated. Thus, they became a manifesto that turned a protest about an indulgence scandal into the greatest crisis in the history of the Western Christian church, and ultimately Luther and his followers were excommunicated.
Luther’s 95 complaints to the Church concerned indulgences and other imperfections of a politically-driven Papacy. He was by no means the only cleric who objected to Church corruption, defects in doctrine and cardinal crimes.
The Roman Catholic Church survived the fifth century fall of Rome by an authoritarian political intervention of an aristocratic league of bishops led by the Bishop of Rome.
In fact, by the fifteenth century the common people of Europe no longer had to rely on certain corrupt church officials who intentionally misinterpreted the Holy Bible.
The movable type of Gutenberg’s printing press lit the light of the Renaissance with its rebirth of Scripture in the hands of everyday saints, written in their everyday vernacular rather than ancient Latin.
The Protestant Reformation
“The Reformers did not see themselves as inventors, discoverers, or creators,” according to historian Stephen Nichols. “Instead, they saw their efforts as rediscovery. They weren’t making something from scratch but were reviving what had become dead. They looked back to the Bible and to the apostolic era, as well as to early church fathers such as Augustine (354–430) for the mold by which they could shape the church and re-form it. The Reformers had a saying, ‘Ecclesia reformata, semper reformanda,’ meaning ‘the church reformed, always reforming.’”
It is translated by English refugees and published by John Calvin’s brother-in-law, William Whittingham. The Geneva Bible is the first English Bible to add numbered verses to the chapters. It becomes the Bible of the Protestant Reformation, more popular than the 1611 King James Version for decades after its original release.
To answer my first question to name five solas,first you must know what a sola is.
from Latin:– solus, sola, solum – alone, only, unique.. (similar to ‘solo,’ meaning one);
plural: solas or solae (similar to soli, i.e. multiple soloists)
consequently, each of the five ‘Solas’ has a singular focus.
Sola – a Singular focus
In time, the message of the Reformers became encapsulated in five slogans known as the solas of the Reformation: sola Scriptura (“Scripture alone”), solus Christus (“Christ alone”), sola gratia (“grace alone”), sola fide (“faith alone“), and soli Deo gloria (“the glory of God alone”).
You may encounter the five solas in different orders, but keep in mind the equal importance of EACH singular issue to the reformers of the Church we now call 'Protestants.' - RH
I can only speak briefly to each of these five solas; therefore we will address EACH as part of an ANSWER to my more difficult second question:
How do these five doctrines define differences even today between those professing other faiths and Protestants?
email your answers and questions to Roger@talkofJESUS.com or comment on this post as you share it.
by Scripture alone
Scripture of the HOLY BIBLE:
All Scripture is [God-breathed] inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for [reprimand or proof] rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness;
The short answer of Luther and the reformers is that IF HOLY SCRIPTURE is “God-breathed,” THEN it contains the final and only (sola) Authority of what God says; THEREFORE
NO Pope, Bishop, Priest or Preacher may cling to ANY authority to over-rule the Written Word of God.
sola Scriptura – ONLY Scripture, by the Holy Spirit of Almighty God can interpret Holy Scripture.
Learn more from my earlier post linked here: sola scriptura = ONLY SCRIPTURE: The Highest Authority of GOD!
* NOTE: For each of the 5 Sola's I will provide secure links for your further study to both the Hebrew & Greek roots containing additional Biblical references using the same word, as well as definitions.
For the LORD God is a sun and a shield. The LORD will give grace and glory. He withholds no good thing from those who walk blamelessly.
Tehillim 84:12 WLC; Psalm 84:11 HNV
Using this same Hebrew word for favor Zechariah prophesies:
“And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and of pleading, so that they will look at Me whom they pierced; and they will mourn for Him, like one mourning for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.
Christians, of course, bring the Good News [Gospel] of grace through Jesus Christ to the world primarily from the (Greek) writings of the New Testament.
For of His fullness we have all received, and graceG5485 upon graceG5485. For the Law was given through Moses; graceG5485and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.
Gospel of John 1:16-17 NASB20 – His emphasis on grace
The KJV translates Strong’s G5485 in the following manner: GRACE(130x), FAVOR favour (6x), THANKS (4x), THANK (4x), thank (with G2192) (3x)[*quoted below], PLEASURE (2x), miscellaneous (7x).
And I thank [καί echō g2192 – {to have, i.e. to hold} charis G5485 {with grace}] Christ Jesus our Lord [christos iēsous hēmōn kyrios], who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry
1 Timothy 1:12KJVΚαὶ Χάριν ἔχω τῷ ἐνδυναμώσαντί με Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ κυρίῳ ἡμῶν ὅτι πιστόν με ἡγήσατο θέμενος εἰς διακονίαν – Greek Textus Receptus with Strong’s links from blueletterbible.org
through Faith Alone
Faith is NOT just an unfounded belief, as some would accuse God’s faithful.
conviction of the truth of anything, belief; in the NT of a conviction or belief respecting man’s relationship to God and divine things, generally with the included idea of trust and holy fervour born of faith and joined with it
relating to God, relating to Christ, the religious beliefs of Christians, belief with the predominate idea of trust (or confidence) whether in God or in Christ, springing from faith in the same
fidelity, faithfulness
the character of one who can be relied on
Biblical faith was not changed from the Old Testament to the New or by challenges from faithful Protestant Reformers.
Roger@TalkofJESUS.com
Faithful Roman Catholic clerics like Martin Luther struggled with this.
Old Testament Prophet like Habakkuk and New Testament letters to Rome, Galatia and to the Hebrews (throughout the Roman world)ALL pointed through Scripture that the righteous will live by FAITH!
Even though Catholic Bishops with their emphasis on works (to fund their great cathedrals of worship) may have quoted James as Jesus’ brother writes to the church:
You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
As a Catholic cleric Luther had a Bible. He recognized that by taking Scripture out of context, FAITH can be discounted to the unread saints of the church in order that ALL will believe the Overseers of Church Authority.
Yet Luther and many more who READ and studied SCRIPTURE understood James’ context and a critical connection between FAITH and works.
For James wrote to saints under persecution, just as the Protestant reformers would soon suffer.
Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faithG4102produces [steadfastness] endurance. And let endurance have its perfect [Lit work] result, so that you may be [mature] perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
James 1:2-4 NASB20 – Jesus’ half-brother & ‘bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,’ leader of the Jerusalem church
The gloryH3519 of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; and on the seventh day He called to Moses from the midst of the cloud. And to the eyes of the sons of Israel, the appearance of the gloryH3519 of the LORD was like a consuming fire on the mountain top.
“Has a nation changed gods, When they were not gods? But My people have exchanged their glory For that which is of no benefit. Yermiyahu (Jeremiah) 2:11
primarily denotes “an opinion, estimation, repute;” in the NT, always “good opinion, praise, honor, glory, an appearance commanding respect, magnificence, excellence, manifestation of glory;” hence, of angelic powers, in respect of their state as commanding recognition, “dignities,” 2Pe 2:10; Jud 1:8. See GLORY, HONOR, PRAISE, WORSHIP.
SHALL GLORY be given to a mere man in the pulpit?
To a Bishop over Bishops — a Shepherd of this world — a Saint long gone?
SHALL GLORY be given to a Father confessor —
Or as worship of a mortal mother who served the Son of God?
THESE are the questions of the Protesters and Reformers who asked for Soli Deo gloria – GLORY to GOD ALONE!
“anointed,” translates, in the Sept., the word “Messiah,” a term applied to the priests who were anointed with the hol for today in the city of David, oil, particularly the High Priest, e.g., Lev 4:3, 5, 16.
The prophets are called hoi christoi Theou, "the anointed of God," ..
The title ho Christos, "the Christ," is not used of Christ in the Sept. version of the Inspired Books of the OT. In the NT the word is frequently used with the article, of the Lord Jesus, as an appellative rather than a title, e.g., Mat 2:4; Act 2:31; without the article, Luk 2:11; 23:2; Jhn 1:41. Three times the title was expressly accepted by the Lord Himself, Mat 16:17; Mar 14:61, 62; Jhn 4:26.
It is added as an appellative to the proper name “Jesus,” e.g., Jhn 17:3, the only time when the Lord so spoke of Himself; Act 9:34; 1Cr 3:11; 1Jo 5:6.
It is distinctly a proper name in many passages, whether with the article, e.g., Mat 1:17; 11:2; Rom 7:4; 9:5; 15:19; 1Cr 1:6, or without the article, Mar 9:41; Rom 6:4; 8:9, 17; 1Cr 1:12; Gal 2:16.
The single title Christos is sometimes used without the article to signify the One who by His Holy Spirit and power indwells believers and molds their character in conformity to His likeness, Rom 8:10; Gal 2:20; 4:19; Eph 3:17.
As to the use or absence of the article,
the title with the article specifies the Lord Jesus as “the Christ;”
the title without the article stresses His character and His relationship with believers.
Again, speaking generally, when the title is the subject of a sentence it has the article; when it forms part of the predicate the article is absent. See also JESUS.
These things Jesus spake, and when he had cast up his eyes into heaven [and the eyes lifted up to heaven], he said, Father, the hour cometh, clarify thy Son, that thy Son clarify thee.
John 17:1 Wycliffe Bible
As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to all them that thou hast given him.
John 17:2 + 1599 Geneva Bible
And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
Excerpts from Scripture in the letter from Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, and Timothy,
Note the small 's' in saints, the faithful worshipers in Christ Jesus who are His Church. - RH
To the saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ who are at Colossae:
We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints; because of the hope reserved for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel..
For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation:
.. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
Colossians 1:15,17 NASB20
He is also the head of the body, the church;
and He is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.
.. I was made a minister of this church according to the commission from God granted to me for your benefit,
so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God,
that is, the mystery which had been hidden from the past ages and generations,
but now has been revealed to His saints,
to whom God willed to make known what the wealth of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles is, the mystery that is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
.. Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.
For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over every ruler and authority..
Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.
Let the peace of Christ, to which you were indeed called in one body, rule in your hearts; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
Colossians 3:15-16 NASB20
“.. specifically seen in Colossians 3 when Paul commands the Church to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly when we meet together, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.” – Keith Getty
Whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.
from the letter to the saints at Collosae 3:17
sola: + by Scripture alone + by Grace Alone + through Faith Alone + to the glory of God Alone + in Christ Alone
The TEACHING & solaDOCTRINES OF GOD, CHRIST, GRACE, FAITH and SCRIPTURE as taught by JESUS and the APOSTLES remain foundational for THE CHURCH.
(I know you're thinking 'church' and not 'synagogue' and Christians always think like a gentile only calling the Apostle Peter, but today we need to look at ACTS through first century eyes, having ears to hear Simon Peter preach the Person of Christ Jesus who he knew and loved personally.)
Today’s look at ACTS OF THE APOSTLES focuses on the Simon Peter’s hearers in Jerusalem’s crowds and verses from two brief sections you have already read:
Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.
Acts 2:9-11 KJV
Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand [3000] souls.
We learned last time from Luke’s second account, Acts of the Apostles, that: They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
Two questions immediately come to mind:
Who were the Apostles teaching?
And what is this new teaching which grew the church so quickly?
Where would this new church be built? Who were these Saints devoted to the Apostle’s teaching?
‘Church’ & ‘Synagogue’ – (You probably have the wrong picture)
Saint Simon’s Synagogue Pictured above: St Simon Peter’s Basilica [Basilica Sancti Petri] in Rome, built A.D. 1506-1626 – Originally, a basilica was an ancient Roman public building, where courts were held, as well as serving other official and public functions. —————————- Pictured left: Ruins of 4th century A.D. synagogue built around second century B.C.in Capernaum, a fishing village of about 1500, site where Simon Peter and his family likely worshiped.
And WHY am I calling these: ‘Simon’s synagogues‘ & not ‘Saint Peter’s Church?’
Let’s take a brief journey back to the time of Luke to change our imagery of the church, the saints, the synagogues and even Simon Peter.
The Gospel of *Luke
*Luke, which some take to be a contraction of Lucilius; born at Antioch, so St. Jerome. Some think that he was the only one of all the penmen of the scripture that was not of the seed of Israel.
Source: Commentary of Matthew Henry
Luke, a gentile physician who may have been a Jewish proselyte, and, as some conjecture, converted to Christianity by the ministry of St. Paul at Antioch; and after his coming into Macedonia [*], wrote both his Gospel and Acts in the A.D. 60’s, some three decades after the events we are currently examining in the opening chapters of Acts.
Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him [Jesus] and listening to the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret.. And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s..
Luke 5:1,3a NASB20
Now when He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”
Simon responded and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say..
Gospel of Luke 5:5a NASB20 – Simon Peter obeying Jesus after the Lord preached to the crowds from his boat.
.. they caught a great quantity of fish..
When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”
Now Rebbe Melech HaMoshiach, full of the Ruach Hakodesh..
31 And He [Jesus] came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee; and He was teaching them on the Sabbath; and they were amazed at His teaching, because His message was delivered with authority.
Simon, like any obedient Jew, would have been found in his local synagogue on each Shabbat. He would have heard the Messiah Jesus preach on the Sabbath. And Jesus continued to preach to the growing crowds throughout this fishing village's six-day work week.
37 And the news about Him was spreading into every locality of the surrounding region.
38 And Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach got up from the shul and entered into the bais of Shimon. And the chamot (mother-in-law, shviger) of Shimon was fever-stricken, and they asked him about her.
Luke writes in his formal Greek (common language to those in Galilee, as well as Rome):
38 αναστας δε εκ της συναγωγης εισηλθεν εις την οικιαν σιμωνος η πενθερα δε του σιμωνος ην συνεχομενη πυρετω μεγαλω και ηρωτησαν αυτον περι αυτης
[NASB with my bold emphasis and commentary, below]
38 Then He got up and left the synagogue, and entered Simon’s home. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they [presumably Simon, on behalf of his wife for her mother, as would have been proper socially for only the man to address this other Man and Teacher] asked Him to help her.
And standing over her [Jesus, with Simon’s permission and by his request], He rebuked the fever, and it left her; and she immediately got up and served them.
Now while the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He was laying His hands on each one of them and healing them.
Simon, an ordinary Jewish fisherman
Luke makes this point that Simon Peter had already heard Jesus preach AND witnessed his Messiah do many miracles even in his own house, BEFORE Jesus used His miracle of the full nets to call Simon Peter to be ‘a fisher of men.’
As Luke continues to tell his Good News to a growing Church decades later, the Gospel writer and author of Acts makes clear to all that Simon Peter and the Eleven are all Jews receiving their crucified and resurrected Messiah, who IS and was their Rabbi, yet more so their beloved Personal friend.
NO JEW had ever envisioned the Lord God like that, as the GOD-MAN in the FLESH, who could be sacrificed for SIN and return in the flesh from the grave!
Luke adds additional references to Simon during other key encounters with the Messiah in his Gospel.
And the Chag HaMatzot was approaching, the feast called Pesach.
ειπεν δε ο κυριος σιμων σιμων ιδου ο σατανας εξητησατο υμας του σινιασαι ως τον σιτον
31 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded to sift you men like wheat;but I have prayed for you, that your faith will not fail; and you, when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
Gospel of Luke 22:31 NASB – the Lord Jesus to the Eleven just before His Trial, Suffering and death on the Cross
And they [Cleopas and other disciples who had also seen Jesus on the road to Emmaus] got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together and those who were with them, saying, “The Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon!” – Gospel of Luke 24:32-33 NASB20
To the early disciples of the Church, whose story Luke continues in ‘Acts’ of the Apostles, their leader was Simon – a fisherman from Capernaum teaching in Jerusalem.
Now there were Jews residing in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven.
Simon Peter: Building a synagogue in Jerusalem
.. because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language…
.. Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?
ACTS OF THE APOSTLES begins with Luke’s connecting events of the Holy Spirit.
Matthew Henry helps us to understand Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost as that one place in the world to where Jews would return for celebration of the Lord God.
There were dwelling or abiding at Jerusalem Jews that were devout men, disposed to religion, and that had the fear of God before their eyes (so the word properly signifies), some of them proselytes of righteousness, that were circumcised, and admitted members of the Jewish church, others only proselytes of the gate, that forsook idolatry, and gave up themselves to the worship of the true God, but not to the ceremonial law; some of those that were at Jerusalem now, out of every nation under heaven, whither the Jews were dispersed, or whence proselytes were come.
The expression is hyperbolical, denoting that there were some from most of the then known parts of the world; as much as ever Tyre was, or London is, the rendezvous of trading people from all parts, Jerusalem at that time was of religious people from all parts. Now, [Henry goes on to list those Jewish roots Luke records of those on Pentecost from these [Jews from other parts of the Roman Empire and world.]
Then he [Jesus] called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases. And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick…
When the apostles returned, they gave an account to Him of all that they had done.. the crowds .. followed Him; and He welcomed them and began speaking to them about the kingdom of God, and curing those who had need of healing…
..while He was praying alone, the disciples were with Him..
And He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
And Peter answered and said, “The Christ of God.”
Gospel of Luke 6:20 NASB
Luke has already revealed the thousands in the crowds who followed Jesus. The Apostles all know those of the hundreds who remained faithful even after the Lord’s crucifixion. Luke begins Acts of the Apostles with a scene of the faithful gathered in a crowded upper room in Jerusalem and then tells us:
At this time Peter stood up among the brothers and sisters (a group of about 120 people was there together),
Acts of the apostles 1:15 NASB
Beside Simon Peter stood another Apostle, Matthew Levi, who records the same conversation with Jesus we have just read from Luke.
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon [son of John] Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 16:16-17 NASB
“And I also say to you that you are [Πέτροςpetros ] Peter, and upon this [πέτραpetra] rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.
Gospel of Matthew 16:18 NASB – with links to greek roots for Peter & rock
The Second Account of Luke – ACTS of the APOSTLES
Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far away, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”
And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on urging them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!”
So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand [3000] souls.
They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all the believers together had all things in common; and they would sell their property and possessions and share them with all, to the extent that anyone had need.
Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread in the various private homes, they were taking their food together with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people.
Acts 2:46-47a NASB20 [utilizing alternate translation noted in brackets, also in 47b, below]
And the Lord was adding to the same day by day those who were being saved.
Acts of the apostles 2:47b
ACTS OF THE APOSTLES (Simon Peter in Jerusalem) to be continued...
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Contains information about the traffic source or campaign that directed user to the website. The cookie is set when the GA.js javascript is loaded and updated when data is sent to the Google Anaytics server
6 months after last activity
__utmv
Contains custom information set by the web developer via the _setCustomVar method in Google Analytics. This cookie is updated every time new data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
2 years after last activity
__utmx
Used to determine whether a user is included in an A / B or Multivariate test.
18 months
_ga
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gali
Used by Google Analytics to determine which links on a page are being clicked
30 seconds
_ga_
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gid
ID used to identify users for 24 hours after last activity
24 hours
_gat
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests when using Google Tag Manager
1 minute
_gac_
Contains information related to marketing campaigns of the user. These are shared with Google AdWords / Google Ads when the Google Ads and Google Analytics accounts are linked together.
90 days
__utma
ID used to identify users and sessions
2 years after last activity
Marketing cookies are used to follow visitors to websites. The intention is to show ads that are relevant and engaging to the individual user.
