____________________________________________________ THE GOSPEL OBSERVER "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19,20). ____________________________________________________ April 19, 1998 ____________________________________________________ Great Themes From Acts THE APOSTLES AS WITNESSES by Tom Roberts When Luke, the inspired historian, penned the chronicles of some of the apostles in the spread of the gospel throughout ```Jerusalem, and in all Judea, Samaria, and to the uttermost part of the earth'' (Acts 1:8), he provided much more than what many believe to be a simplistic telling of early church growth. That document usually referred to simply as ``The Acts''' bridges that era of time between the gospel accounts of the life of Christ and the letters to the established churches and individuals within those churches. Had there been no ``Acts,'' we would have been left to wonder where these churches came from, how they came into existence and, in many cases, who was responsible for their founding. But more importantly, ``The Acts'' provides a connection between the story of the Gospels and the great theme of justification, a presentation of Jesus to the world as a demonstration of the resurrection, a showcase of the power of gospel preaching, a viable means of integrating all nations into a united kingdom, and much more. It is the object of this series of articles to explore some of the grand themes of The Acts and to encourage a deeper and richer application of this valuable document to modern faith in Jesus Christ. This series will not pretend to be exhaustive of all the themes open to Bible students, but it will hopefully encourage others to plumb the depth of these riches for the treasure lode of knowledge supplied by the Holy Spirit through Luke. The Witnesses It has been suggested by some ``friend'' of the Bible that a seeker must turn loose of his reason and make a ``blind leap of faith'' in order to become a Christian. Such a rationale is foolish and harmful to the cause of Christ . It suggests that one cannot be, at the same time, both a rational person and a Christian. A ``blind leap of faith'' would discredit the testimony of the scriptures and advocate an inadequate and weak approach to evidences when the opposite is true. In fact, the evidence for Jesus Christ as Saviour of the world, based upon his resurrection from the dead, is one of the greatest themes, if not the ``crown jewel'' of Luke's entire work. When we use the word ``evidence,'' we emphasize a forensic or legal presentation as though before a court of law in which jurors must bring its verdict. In fact, this is exactly the context which is established by our theme, ``witnesses.'' I do not believe it to be an accident that Jesus labeled his apostles as witnesses in Acts 1:8. He was preparing the forum for these who were ``eye witnesses'' to argue their case. The apostles were to walk into the world (their court room), present the facts, provide the evidence and establish their case. The Acts establishes clearly the manner in which this was done and it agrees remarkably with our current procedures in any court of law. The Function of Witnesses In any court of law today, evidence upon which a verdict is rendered by a jury follows a rational and logical procedure. It should be noted that any evidence, clearly established by this procedure, is valid and cannot be rejected arbitrarily. The format which is always followed is this: An event happens, it is seen by eyewitnesses, these witnesses present their testimony in a court of law and the jury reaches a verdict based upon the evidence presented. This method of operation is used daily in America in verdicts concerning car accidents, murders, etc., and is established law. It is my contention that this procedure was familiar to those of Luke's day among both Jews and Romans, that it was procedure acceptable to God, and that the testimony of the apostles qualifies on the same basis and with the same validity as any eyewitness evidence. If one is to arbitrarily reject the testimony of the apostles, one could just as arbitrarily reject any court testimony today. However, if we are to be fair and accept testimony in a court of law, we should also be fair and accept the testimony of the apostles as to the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. It was intended by God from the beginning that the story of Jesus was to be established ``at the mouth of two or three witnesses'' (Matt. 18:16; 2 Cor. 13:1). The event of the resurrection, so established, can no more be rejected by honest people than any other matter of evidence. If one rejects Jesus' resurrection out of hand, we could, by the same illogic, reject the existence of Napoleon or Nero, since we have never personally seen these individuals, having only others' eyewitness testimony of them. On the other hand, if you accept that Napoleon or Nero actually lived, you should, by the same criteria, accept that Jesus rose again. The evidence is valid in both instances. The Apostles As Witnesses That Jesus planned for the apostles to function in their capacity as eyewitnesses from the beginning can be clearly seen. Luke even begins his gospel account by referring to those who taught him as being eyewitnesses (Luke 1:2) and their testimony provided the basis for his narrative. In giving the Great Commission (again, Luke's account), Jesus said, ``Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things'' (Lk. 24:46-48). Jesus knew that the apostles were qualified to testify to these things: ``And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning''' (Jn. 15:27). In replacing Judas with Matthias, the Lord required: ``Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection'' (Acts 1:21, 22). It might be noted here that modern ``witnessing'' by people who speak of their own personal faith is not the same as the eyewitness testimony of the apostles. We have their testimony, duly entered into evidence, and do not need the spurious word of latter day claimants who cloud the issue by misusing ``witnessing.'' After the resurrection and prior to imparting the Holy Spirit, Jesus promised the apostles: ``But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth'' (Acts 1:8). Did the apostles understand this? Perhaps not fully until Pentecost, but surely then, for they (the twelve) asserted, ``This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we are witnesses'' (2:32), ``we are witnesses'' (3:15), ''...And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus'' (4:33), ''...And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost'' (5:32), ''... But unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after be rose from the dead'' (10:41), ''...And he was seen many days with them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people'' (13:31). Even Paul, the apostle born ``out of due season (1 Cor. 15:8), was made an eye-witness of the resurrected Christ so that be might enter his voice into the evidence. On the road to Damascus, Jesus told Saul, ``But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee'' (Acts 26:16). Ananias also told him, ``For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou has seen and heard'' (22:15). He later asserted that if Christ was not raised, then all the apostles had been false witnesses (1 Cor. 15:15). Peter added his own voice by claiming to be an apostle, an elder and a witness (1 Pet. 5:2), having been privy to his transfiguration (2 Pet. 1:16). John, the apostle whom Jesus loved, said, ``for the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us'' (1 Jn. 1:2). Using The Testimony Brethren, our faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead does not depend on a blind leap, secular history, or less than rational testimony. Indeed, the Biblical record is entered into evidence on the same basis and with the same credibility as any testimony in any court of law. We should present the case for the resurrection (and, consequently, the Lordship of Christ) as a reasonable (Rom. 12:1) conclusion, based upon valid proof. Christians need not take a back seat to anyone when it comes to demonstrable verification of what we affirm. Jesus Christ lived, died and rose from the dead. The substantiation of this is one of the great themes of the Book of Acts. ___________________________________________ God Is the Best Medicine by Tracy Schell To those in the world it may seem like God's word is just a bunch of arbitrary commands made to take all the ``fun'' out of life. Nothing could actually be further from the truth. God's laws tell man what is right and wrong, and righteous living is profitable now. Godliness is profitable for all things (I Timothy 4:8); and although spiritual well-being is primary, it also includes general health and well-being here and now as well; and if they are obeyed they will work. Even the medical community is beginning to learn that spirituality plays a vital role in the health of a man. A recent study verifies this: ``Strong personal faith and a social support system such as that provided by membership in a church appear to reduce the risk of death in patients after cardiac surgery, according to a report presented at the Spirituality and Healing in Medicine conference this week.'' Dr. Harold G. Koenig of Duke University presented data on survival after open-heart surgery in the elderly at Dartmouth Medical Center in New Hampshire. Researchers there found that patients who reported strong faith, and who said they had depended on that faith to help them cope, had a mortality rate one-third lower than patients who did not report feeling a sense of faith. The combination of a strong personal faith together with a strong support system, such as provided in a church community, was associated with the lowest mortality rate'' (Spirituality Cuts Mortality Risk, Reuters News 3/27/98). God's laws are such that, if followed, they will lead us away from lifestyles that are potentially harmful to our health. The study noted that people who were regular churchgoers lived a healthier lifestyle than those who did not attend church. In a second study of 5,000 individuals, ongoing for almost 30 years, researchers with the Human Population Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, report that those who go to church once a week or more have 25-35% lower mortality rates from all causes than non-churchgoers. ``Some of the clues that this study brought up help us to understand why religious involvement might help to extend survival. The frequent church attenders were more likely during the 28 years to stop smoking, increase exercise, maintain their marriages and, in general, lead healthier lifestyles,'' Koenig noted (Spirituality Cuts Mortality Risk, Reuters News 3/27/98). Feel better and live longer! God's laws are a blessing. We should not think of them as a burden to us, for they are not. God commanded what he did for our good. Remember that God loves man. ``For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life'' (John 3:16). Medical schools around the nation are seeing a need for more than just medicines and operations to cure man of what ails him. They are learning of the value that faith and spirituality can play in aiding in man's well-being. One third of American medical schools have decided to bring spirituality back into healthcare and many of them require courses on spirituality and health, reported Dr. David Larson at the recent Spirituality and Healing in Medicine symposium, sponsored by Harvard Medical School's department of continuing education. The question of spirituality becomes very important when facing serious illness or chronic illness, especially where ``there is not much we can do as doctors,'' according to Larson, president of the National Institute for Healthcare Research and adjunct professor of psychiatry at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. He added that, ``When people have an illness in the United States, God becomes a very important part of who they are'' (Spirituality Growing Part Of Medical School, Reuters News 3/30/98). If the leading medical schools across the country are learning that faith in God is more than mere hocus pocus, then perhaps everyone should take another look at what the word of God teaches and learn the value of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. ``For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, [even] our faith'' (1 John 5:4). -- Via The Bulletin of the North Courtenay church of Christ ___________________________________________ NEWS & NOTES Let us be praying for these people: Shirley Stiff, Rita Greer's mother, is now receiving chemotherapy for bone marrow cancer. Greg Frazier has begun radiation treatment (5 days a week), which will continue for a total of six weeks. Mrs. Ernest Hamm in the nursing home. ________________________________________ Tri-State CHURCH OF CHRIST 1314 Montgomery Avenue, Ashland, Kentucky 41101 Sunday: 10:00 A.M. Bible class 10:50 A.M. Worship 6:30 P.M. Worship Wednesday: 7:30 P.M. Bible study evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (606) 325-9742 e-mail: tedwards@zoomnet.net Gospel Observer web site: http://www.zoomnet.net/~tedwards/go ________________________________________