 |  |
#3.
Luke 24:
and Acts 1: 1-14.
pp. 89 - 98
We have considered the teaching of "the former treatise" (Acts 1: 1), namely, Luke's
Gospel, and have found that its general trend is to stress that aspect of the Gospel
connected with the Saviour and the Gentile, as compared with Matthew, which stresses
the Kingly and Jewish aspect. Luke states that the former treatise is a record of "all that
Jesus began both to do and to teach". Are we justified in this deduction? Mark's Gospel
ends with the words:--
"And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every
creature . . . . . these signs shall follow . . . . . So then after the Lord had spoken unto
them, He was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. And they went
forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word
with signs following. Amen" (Mark 16: 15-20).
These words prove that the Acts is a continuation of the narrative of what the Lord
had begun to do and to teach in the days of His flesh, and that the miraculous gifts of the
Spirit were intended to "confirm" the witness. This may be seen by consulting Heb. 2::--
"How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be
spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard, God also bearing
them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the
Holy Ghost, according to His own will" (Heb. 2: 3, 4).
To the same effect is the teaching of the epistles to the Corinthians:--
"Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: So that ye come behind in no
gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (I Cor. 1: 6, 7).
"Now He which confirmeth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God"
(II Cor. 1: 21).
The "confirming of us with you" of II Cor. 1: shows that the same subject is in view,
which we have already seen in Heb. 2:
Returning to the opening chapter of the Acts, we note that the writer speaks of several
things that had already been recorded by him in the last chapter of the Gospel of Luke.
The only way to realize this is to compare the two passages. This we will do.
A comparison of
Luke 24: 36-53 with Acts 1: 1-14.
L u k e.
A c t s.
Many infallible proofs.