Gary Gleans

Acts 1:6-9 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.” We say that there are no stupid questions because admitting ignorance is difficult; but it is the first step towards growth.   The disciples ask a question that must have been difficult for Jesus to hear because it reveals that they still didn’t “get it.”   However, His answer revels that they would “get it.”   The questions we ask reveal a great deal about our hearts and our understanding.   The response of Jesus reveals important information that should transform our hearts.   As we examine the disciple’s question and Jesus’s response, we should examine our hearts as well as our

Acts 1:1-5 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach,   until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.   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.   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;   for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Acts is the sequel of Luke’s Gospel.   It seems to have been commissioned by Theophilus to whom both works are addressed.   We don’t know who he is, but we can be thankful to the Lord for him because in some way he facilitated or was a catalyst for these wonderful and highly important books of Scripture.   In these introductory verses we are introduced to

Mark 16:19 19  So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. 20  And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed. Luke 24:44-53 44  Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”  45  Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,  46  and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day,  47  and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.  48  “You are witnesses of these things.  49  “And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until

Matthew 28:16-20 16  But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated.  17  When they saw Him, they worshiped  Him;  but some were doubtful.  18  And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  19  “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,  20  teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Mark 16:15-18 15  And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.  16  “He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.  17  “These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues;  18  they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly