Alpha and Omega: the First & the Last: The Birth of the Church and the End of the Age

By Dr. C. Thomas Elkins

The birth of the church through
The Acts of the Apostles
And
The End of the Age
through the visions of John

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 11, 2020
• ISBN: 9781664141025

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Copyright © 2020 by Dr. C. Thomas Elkins.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Scripture quotations are marked from The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha : Revised Standard Version, Containing the Second Edition of the New Testament and an Expanded Edition of the Apocrypha. New York :Oxford University Press, 1977. edited by Herbert G. May, Bruce M. Metzger

Scripture quotations are marked from The King James Study Bible: King James Version, Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1988.

Scripture quotations are marked from The Abington Bible commentary, New York: Doubleday, 1928, By Eiselen, F. C., In Lewis, E., & In Downey, D.G.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 11/10/2020

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CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Prologue

The Book of Acts – The Birth of the Church

The Book of Revelations – The End of the Age

Epiologue

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

To My Wife, Leila L. Elkins, Thanks for your patience,

Through all the hours I have spent on the computer.

To My Daughter, Janice Everett, For all the trips

And the editing, of final documents.

To Denise, Michele and Mike

Though you all are ‘socially distanced’, you are very close within my heart and mind.

Love To You All! Tom and Dad!

Also to Roberta at Avamere,

For the loving care that you have given to my wife, Leila, I thank you! Sincerely, Tom

PROLOGUE

ACTS: The Acts of the Apostles and

the Birth of the Church:

The book of Acts continues the narrative of the Gospel according to Luke by tracing the Story of the Christian movement from the Resurrection of Jesus to the time when the Apostle Paul was in Rome proclaiming the Gospel. Most of the first half of Acts is occupied with the Jerusalem Church, its leaders and relationships, while the last half is dominated by Paul and his three missionary journeys. Tradition attributes the authorship of Acts to Luke. Luke’s purpose in writing was to awaken faith by showing the triumphant progress of the Good News, and to defend Christians against the charge that they were destructive of Jewish institutions and a troubling element in the empire. Another of the author’s special interests was to show the activity of the Holy Spirit; in fact the Book might have been entitled, ‘The Acts of the Holy Spirit’. For the dominating theme is the power of the Spirit manifested in and through the members of the early Church. In fact, this work deals with the spread of Christianity through selected portions of the Mediterranean world. From every point of view, the New Testament would be infinitely poorer without the first Book of Church History (The New Oxford Annotated Bible, page 190 NT).

The Book of Acts is an historical work based on documents and oral tradition; it is well designed to explain how Paul came to prominence in the early church since he was not one of the original twelve disciples. Acts opens to the modern reader, to some extent, the thought of the parent church in Jerusalem and expounds its great view of salvation. The saints became increasingly convinced that Jesus was the Messiah of God, sent from God, and that salvation was centered in Him rather than in the institutions of Judaism. From the martyrdom of Stephen and the conversion of Saul, and the confirmation of Pentecost, Acts portrays the steps by which ‘the Way’ is separated from the parent religion, and sets out to conquer the world ‘in the Name of Jesus’ (The Abingdon Bible Commentary, The Abingdon Press, 1929, page 109).

REVELATION: The Revelations of John, inspired by the

Holy Spirit and prophesying the ‘END OF THE AGE’!

The content of the Revelations invariably involves Eschatology, that is, predictions about the final outcome of human affairs. Apocalyptic eschatology is distinguished from Prophecy by the expectation of the judgment of the dead and of the reward or punishment of a future life. The Apocalyptic writings of John clearly resemble many of the ones in the Old Testament, including, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Joel, and Zechariah as well as those of the Apocrypha.

There are two separate ‘Ages’ described in Revelation, the present age and the age to come. The second is not a natural development of the first but is a new creation. God has set a limit to the era of wickedness of the first age and will intervene at an appointed time to execute judgment. The ‘present age’ troubles are often described as ‘birth pangs’ and often the end time, of which John speaks. It is described in more political terms, often as mysterious and awesome happenings on earth, such as earthquakes, wars and famines, and with an end in the battle of Armageddon, ending in fire due to the powers of evil which will be destroyed. Then a new order will be established and a new beginning and paradise will be restored.

Believers, whether Jewish or Christian, were sustained and strengthened by these writings in the midst of trials and persecutions, and still are today. Even though this battle and God’s victory over evil has been delayed over twenty centuries, they still look forward to the divine control of history. That control, it is assumed, will be displayed in the final climax of history, which is regarded solely and uniquely as the will and act of God.

There are several different approaches to the interpretation of the Book of Revelation, including the ‘preterits’ or simply viewing all of John’s vision as simply ‘symbolic’, or the ‘historic’ approach, trying to pin each vision to some particular period of Church history, or the approach, which this writing shall basically, though not completely, take, the ’futuristic’ approach which views most of the visions as still future, (chapter 4-22), such as the judgments of the Tribulation period, the Return of Christ, the millennium kingdom, pre-millennial period, and the ‘eternal’ state. There is also the ‘parallel’ view, the ‘consecutive’ view and the ‘telescopic’ view, but we can’t cover them all.

The Book of Acts –

The Birth of the Church

Acts Chapter 1: Verses 1-5

In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day that He was taken up into Heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the Apostles whom He had chosen. After His suffering He presented Himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them forty days and speaking to them about the Kingdom of God. While staying with them, He ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait here for the promise of the Father. ‘This, He said, is what you have heard from me, for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit, not many days from now.

Luke identifies himself as the writer of the Gospel of Luke (the first book) and he addresses this writing to ‘Theophilus’, meaning, ‘Lover of God’, so it could be an individual or any ‘person who loves God’. John the Baptist had predicted that the Messiah would baptize His people with the Holy Spirit. (Mark 1:8, Matthew 3:11, Luke 3:16, John 1:33).

Acts 1: 6-11

So when they had come together, they asked him, ‘Lord is this the time when you will restore the Kingdom of Israel’? He replied, ‘It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by His own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth’. When He had said this, as they were watching, He was lifted up, and a cloud took Him out of their sight. While He was going and as they were gazing up toward Heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking toward Heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into Heaven, will come in the same way you saw Him go into Heaven’.

Here is the explicit promise that, when God decides it is time (the end of the age, spoken of in the following Book of Revelation), Jesus shall return to us in the same way as He departed to Heaven. We may be still gazing into Heaven, awaiting His return, but the Promise still holds true.

Acts 1: 12-20

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olives, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. When they had entered the city they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James, son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas, son of James. All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including, Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as His brothers."

In those days, Peter, stood up among the believers (together the crowd numbered about one-hundred twenty persons), and said, friends, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit through David foretold concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus … for he was numbered among us, and was allotted his share in this ministry. (Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong, he burst in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. This became known of all the residents of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their language, Hakeldama, that is, ‘Field of Blood’) for it is written in the book of Psalms, ‘Let his homestead become desolate, and let there be no one to live in it, And Let another take the position of overseer’.

The basic reason for the replacement of Judas in the twelve disciples, for forecast years before in the book of Psalms, and was diligently followed by the disciples in the actions following.

Acts 1: 21-26

So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when He was taken up from us – one of these must become a witness with us to His resurrection. So they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was also known as Justus and Matthias, then they prayed, and said ‘Lord, you know everyone’s heart’, show us which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and Apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place. And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias and he was added to the eleven disciples.

This action was not indicative of a gamble as we might see it today, but was a certain and sure way of allowing the Holy Spirit to make their decision for them.

Acts 2: 1-4

When the Day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from Heaven there came a sound like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Jewish tradition has it that the law was given on this day so it has some significance in that tradition. In Corinthians (I Cor. 14: 1-33), the tongues seem to be an incoherent form of speech, but here Luke indicates that they are a gift of the speaking and understanding of foreign languages, as though it might have been a reversal of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11.1-9). In either condition, the important thing to read about is the infilling of the Holy Spirit (The New Oxford Annotated Bible, Oxford Pu. Co., New York, Page 162 NT).

Acts 2:5-13

"Now there were devout Jews from every nation under Heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one of them heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking, Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in our own native