Acts 17:1-15 [+/-]Acts 17:1-15
[17:1]Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and
Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a
synagogue of the Jews. [2]And Paul went in, as was his
custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them
from the Scriptures, [3]explaining and proving that it was
necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the
dead, and saying, "This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is
the Christ." [4]And some of them were persuaded and joined
Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks
and not a few of the leading women. [5]But the Jews were
jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they
formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the
house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd.
[6]And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason
and some of the brothers before the city authorities,
shouting, "These men who have turned the world upside down
have come here also, [7]and Jason has received them, and
they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying
that there is another king, Jesus." [8]And the people and
the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these
things. [9]And when they had taken money as security from
Jason and the rest, they let them go.
[10]The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by
night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the
Jewish synagogue. [11]Now these Jews were more noble than
those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all
eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these
things were so. [12]Many of them therefore believed, with
not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men.
[13]But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the
word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came
there too, agitating and stirring up the crowds. [14]Then
the brothers immediately sent Paul off on his way to the
sea, but Silas and Timothy remained there. [15]Those who
conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens, and after
receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as
soon as possible, they departed. (ESV)
The church was born at Pentecost when God sent His Holy Spirit upon the gathered community of believers forty days following the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and just after His ascension to glory.  But the birthright of the church or the documentation for what the church was to be came during that time that Jesus was teaching His disciples following His resurrection and just prior to His Ascension.  The church was born in Acts 2.  The birthright of the church is in Acts 1 [+/-]Acts 1
[1:1]In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with
all that Jesus began to do and teach, [2]until the day when
he was taken up, after he had given commands through the
Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. [3]He
presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many
proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking
about the kingdom of God.
[4]And while staying with them he ordered them not to
depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the
Father, which, he said, "you heard from me; [5]for John
baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy
Spirit not many days from now."
[6]So when they had come together, they asked him,
"Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to
Israel?" [7]He said to them, "It is not for you to know
times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own
authority. [8]But you will receive power when the Holy
Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in
Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of
the earth." [9]And when he had said these things, as they
were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out
of their sight. [10]And while they were gazing into heaven
as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes,
[11]and said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking
into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into
heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into
heaven."
[12]Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount
called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's
journey away. [13]And when they had entered, they went up
to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John
and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and
Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and
Judas the son of James. [14]All these with one accord were
devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and
Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
[15]In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the
company of persons was in all about 120) and said,
[16]"Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the
Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David
concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested
Jesus. [17]For he was numbered among us and was allotted
his share in this ministry." [18](Now this man acquired a
field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling
headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels
gushed out. [19]And it became known to all the inhabitants
of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own
language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) [20]"For it is
written in the Book of Psalms,
"'May his camp become desolate,
and let there be no one to dwell in it';
and
"'Let another take his office.'
[21]So one of the men who have accompanied us during all
the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,
[22]beginning from the baptism of John until the day when
he was taken up from us--one of these men must become with
us a witness to his resurrection." [23]And they put forward
two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus,
and Matthias. [24]And they prayed and said, "You, Lord, who
know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you
have chosen [25]to take the place in this ministry and
apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own
place." [26]And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell
on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
(ESV)
.  Jesus told the disciples that they were to wait in Jerusalem—the thrust of this term would take them into a time of concentrated worship the center of which was prayerâ€â€â€and they were receive upon themselves the visitation of God in the form of His Spirit and they would then be able to fulfill what was then and is now the fundamental function of the church: they would be witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria and all over the world.  To the end of the world or to the end of the age is a temporal expression which simply means that the birthright of the church will never change.  We are raised up by God and redeemed by Jesus for the purpose of receiving the power of the Spirit to be witnesses to Jesus all over the world.  Now what Jesus teaches at the beginning of Acts as the birthright of the church is the very same thing that He teaches at the end of the Gospels:  All authority is given me in heaven and upon the earth, therefore; wherever you are you are to make disciples.  You are to baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and you are to teach them the truth of God and as long as you are doing that I am with you forever.
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Tags: Acts, Birthright, church, Church Planting, mission, Thessalonica
