Two Books Written by Luke

There are two New Testament books written by Luke.  In this blog we will look a bit closer at the author and the beginnings of these books. 

Luke was a physician and likely a gentile.  All other books in the NT were written by Jews.  Paul in Colossians 4 and Philemon referenced him as "Luke the beloved physician."  He wrote both of his books to Theophilus, a person that we know nothing specific about.  He is addressed as "most excellent Theophilus" indicating that he was of high social standing.  And it should be noted of Luke that he was not an apostle.  He was qualified to write because he had carefully gathered and researched information about Jesus and those who would carry on the work after Jesus left the earth.

Luke wrote the book of Luke.  It is interesting to note how the book begins: "Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which are most surely believed among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed."  Luke had one of his missions to be presenting a well ordered history of the things that Jesus did and were done to Him.

The second book that Luke wrote doesn't bear his name, but it becomes obvious that Luke is the writer; this is the book of Acts.  Acts begins: "The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, 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, 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."  Here he is referencing the "former account" and picks up in his account where the book of Luke left off. 

The book of Luke tells of the birth, life, teachings, miracles, death and resurrection of Jesus.  There is no better place to read of the events of Jesus.  To read of the occurrences after Jesus leaves the earth; to follow the apostles and their teachings, and to see the development of the church, there can be no better reading than the book of Acts. 

So in summary, the best way to get the flow of the New Testament history is to read the books of Luke and Acts.  And reading these books will strengthen our knowledge and faith in our Lord. 

Thanks for reading.  Feel the love....

The Word

The term "Word" in the New Testament is used to refer to Jesus.  It might seem a bit unusual that the Bible would use the term in this way, but it clearly does.  We will examine this use a little more in this blog entry.  Note John chapter 1:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through Him and without Him nothing was made that was made.  In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.  And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it."

Skipping down to verse 12, we read more about Him: "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name..."  And verse 14, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us...."

In reading all of these verses there is no question that the "Word" is Jesus.  Then we read in Hebrews 1:  "God....has in these last days spoken to us by His Son....who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high..."

Thus we know that Jesus is the Word.....and that Word has brought us salvation.  Further, we know that He rules now in heaven at the right hand of the Father.  And further, we know that He allows us to be His children, children of God.  How great that is!

I love the verse in Hebrews 11:6, "But without faith if is impossible to please Him, foe he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." To me, the key here is that we must "diligently seek Him." 

So let's do.....let's diligently seek Him throughout our lives, learning, studying, seeking to know the truth.....and following the Word.

Thanks for reading...have a great week!

The Apostles

The Apostles are such an important part of the New Testament that we should spend a bit of time examining their role.  They were there at the beginning of Jesus' ministry and carried on the work when He left this earth to return to the Father. 

Right at the beginning of His ministry Jesus went about selecting His apostles, choosing 12 men whom He would teach and challenge and send out.  These were men from different walks with varying capabilities, just average guys, local guys.  Acts 2 tells us that they were known to be local men from Galilee.  But one thing they had in common was their faith.  They each made a commitment to follow the Lord.  And we know that this was a major commitment on their part.  They had to forsake their jobs and families for a time to be completely dedicated to Jesus.

We know, of course, that Judas betrayed Jesus and ended up taking his own life.  Judas was the money keeper for the others, turned out to be greedy and ended up selling out his Master for 30 pieces of silver.  At the time that Jesus leaves the earth as recorded in Acts 1, the apostles are left to carry on the work, to spread the Gospel to all the world.  The first thing that they do is to appoint a replacement for Judas.  The qualifications are mentioned in Acts 1:21:  "Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John to that day when He was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection."  Matthias was chosen.

In Acts 2, the Lord sent the Holy Spirit back to give power to these men to carry on the work.  Later Paul would be personally visited by Jesus (Acts 9) causing him to meet the qualification of having actually been with Jesus.  So we find that Paul is considered an apostle, as referenced in several NT passages. 

There would be no more apostles appointed, from what we read in the NT.  Thus, any person today who carries the title of apostle would be in violation of NT teaching regarding the qualifications and purpose of the apostles.

Their role was major in that Jesus didn't set up any churches.  Jesus didn't attempt to go into all the world and spread the word.  He turned it all over to these able men and challenged them to "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.  He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned." (Mark 16: 15-16)

Let us carry on the work...and spread the Good News....that was begun by Jesus and carried on by the apostles.  Have a great week!

Proverbs

The book of Proverbs is filled with small, wise sayings that are a part of what we often call the Wisdom Literature.  Wisdom Literature is considered the books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon.  All contain wisdom from the wise king Solomon who, according to the Bible record, received his extra dose of wisdom from God Himself.  Solomon didn't always follow his own advice,  but his advice is certainly good for increasing our wise understanding.

For example, Proverbs 23:23 says, "Buy the truth, and do not sell it, also wisdom and instruction and understanding."  And the book begins with this kind of direction:
To know wisdom and instruction,
To perceive the words of understanding,
To receive the instruction of wisdom,
Justice, judgment, and equity;
To give prudence to the simple,
To the young man knowledge and discretion--
A wise man will hear and increase learning,
And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel.."

The book is full of wise sayings that if we contemplate them...and follow them, we will increase in our knowledge and wisdom.  Here are a couple of examples:

"A wise son makes a glad father,
But a foolish son is the grief of his mother."

"Hatred stirs up strife,
But love covers all sins."

Proverbs 23 tells us of the danger of strong drink:
"Who has woe?
Who has sorrow?
Who has contentions?
Who has complaints?
Who has wounds without cause?
Who has redness of eyes?
Those who linger  long at the wine,
Those who go in search of mixed wine.
Do not look on the wine when it is red,
When it sparkles in the cup,
When it swirls around smoothly;
At the last it bites like a serpent,
And stings like a viper.
Your eyes will see strange things,
And your heart will utter perverse things.
Yes, you will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea,
Or like one who lies at the top of the mast, saying:
'They have struck me, but I was not hurt;
They have beaten me, but I did not feel it.
When shall I awake, that I may seek another drink?' "

Read the Proverbs.  Spend time in the Proverbs...and you will be wiser!

Thanks for reading and have a great week!

How the New Testament Begins....and Why

I love beginnings and endings.  To me, it is always important that any book begin with something significant, something that really matters, something that catches your attention.  And of course, the ending needs to be powerful as well.  We see that the Bible is the prime example of this principle.

The New Testament begins with the genealogy of Jesus Christ.  Now one might think this is a rather boring way to start a new book.  We don't usually think of genealogical records as being attention getting.  But in this particular case, it is quite meaningful that the book begins with this record.  We have just finished the Old Testament with all of its stories, people and nations, looking at the history of the Jewish people down through the centuries.  A close examination of the OT shows that one of the key things it is doing is to give the history of the family of Jesus leading up to the time that He will be born.  As we arrive at the NT, we see that it opens with a quick summary of what has been taught in great detail throughout the OT. 

Note the opening words, "The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham; Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob...."  This quick summary of the family of Jesus only takes 16 verses.  But in these verses we have a strong tie to the OT, and we have a message being given to us that this is important.  The family of Jesus, the history, the occurrences that got us to this point in the story are all quite significant. 

The book of Matthew then continues right into the birth of Jesus Christ.  We have the beautiful story of the parents of Jesus being told of the importance of the child to be born.  This story is told also in the book of Luke.  And in fact, the book of Luke gives an account in chapter 3 of the genealogy also.  The genealogical record is a little different in Luke, thought by most scholars to be due to following some of the family of Mary rather than the family of Joseph as recorded in Matthew. 

While most genealogies are not so interesting to most of us, this one is the greatest of them all.  And it is a powerful and meaningful beginning to the last part of the Bible. 

Thank you for reading..and for being a faithful follower.

God is in Control

I was reading the end of Psalm 9 where it says, "Arise, O Lord, do not let man prevail.  Let the nations be judged in your sight.  Put them in fear, O Lord, that the nations may know themselves to be but men."

Sometimes we become concerned about the state of our world, the state of our nation, the direction that our society is taking.  But when we read what God tells us in His Word, we see that He is in control.  We may feel out of control....like, we can't control the condition of our environment.  We may know that we are usually too small to change the direction of our nation.  But God is still in control.

Psalms is full of instruction about the power of God and the fact that He has dominion.  Psalm 22:28 says, "For the kingdom is the Lord's, and He rules over the nations."

And Proverbs 21:1, "The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes."

So if God is in control, what are we to do?  Romans 13:1 gives us clear instruction: "Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities.  For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.  Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.  For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil.  Do you want to be  unafraid of the authority?  Do what is good , and you will have praise from the same."

Of course God knows that authorities and nations can be evil.  But God is still in control...and He expects us to be obedient as long as we are not violating what God wants from us.

And we can always remember that "All things work together for good to those who love God..."  (Romans 8:28).

Thanks for reading.  Feel the love......

Psalms

The very first Psalm begins in a powerful and clear way.  It draws a distinction between the person who is a true follower and he who isn't. 

"Blessed (or happy) is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord.  And in his law he meditates day and night.  He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper."

This is a very positive start, showing how things go well for the person who follows God in his life.  He reads his Bible....and he knows God's will for him.  He is like a well watered tree that prospers because it is being well fed with what it needs for life.  And, of course, we know that God provides real life to those who are committed to Him.

Reading on:  "The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away.  Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.  For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish."

We see the reference here of ungodly people being like "chaff."  Chaff is growth that is useless, like the shuck from an ear of corn.  And the teaching here is that there will be a judgment by the Lord.

We see here and throughout the Bible that God doesn't accept middle ground.  There are only two positions.  We are either for Him or against Him; following Him and serving Him....or not.  We like to deal in shades or variations of position.  But God doesn't teach it that way.  We must be truly committed to Him

"For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish."

This is strong teaching, but teaching that is critical to our salvation.  Let us all heed it.  Have a great week....and keep the faith.