ACTS CHAPTERS 1 & 2
KJV
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Act 1,1-5
(222a) Kingdom of God
>>
The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Kingdom hidden
behind the veil from the world >> The Church is
hidden from the world
–
In what way does the Church today reflect the early Church of the first century?
And don't say we have progressed! The Church
is not supposed to have a place in the
world, but we can see that it does, and this is causing more problems than it is
solving. If it were up to the world, the Church would not exist, but in
fact that is not the opinion of most people, which again sends up red flags. If our gospel is not
offensive to the world, then maybe we took away the
offense to avoid being offended ourselves. The Bible says that the offense of
the gospel is the cross of Christ, but there is another offense, the Holy
Spirit. The Church exists by the will of God and not by the will of man. The Church
that God is building in His
people is essentially hidden from the world. The world
merely tolerates the Church, yet we are the very salt of the earth, keeping the
world from self-destruction. This is man’s world, though the devil would like to think
it belongs to him, in that Adam gave him authority when
he bit into the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. We know a time is coming when
the world will all but destroy itself, but this could not happen except that the Church is
in a state of apostasy.
Act 1-1,2
(100g) Thy kingdom come
>>
Diligence >> Diligence in studying the Bible
(208h) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Personal relationship >> Being the friend of God >> Relationship with God by the Spirit
– The name Theophilus in Greek means friend of
God. This name ties the book of Acts with the gospel of Luke, suggesting they
have the same author, since no one else wrote this way. It says in Lk
1,1-3, “In as much as many have undertaken to compile an account… it seems
fitting… having investigated… to write it out for you in consecutive order
most excellent Theophilus.” Some argue whether Theophilus was a real person, but
outside of mere curiosity it doesn’t really matter. Real or not, he
was Luke’s main audience, and through Theophilus we all can read the gospel
of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles.
Act 1-1
(147a) Witness
>>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear
witness of Himself >> Remember Jesus’ miracles
Act 1-2
(110f) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >>
Spirit and the word >> Spirit speaks through you >> Spirit speaks through Jesus
(219c) Sovereignty
>>
God overrides the will of man >> The elect >>
Man is a spectator of his own salvation >> God
has chosen us
Act 1,3-11
(237h) Kingdom of God
>>
Pursuing the kingdom >> Transferring the kingdom >> The Church is transferred to the kingdom
>>
The ascension >> Jesus’ ascension
Act 1,3-9
(39d) Judgment
>>
Jesus defeated death >> Witnesses of Jesus’
resurrection
– Jesus was very careful to make sure everybody
was with Him in understanding everything that was happening before He ascended
to the Father. He wanted no confusion, so when He sent the Holy Spirit,
there would be no conflicts or contradictions between the Holy Spirit and what
they thought they understood about the will of God. He wanted them to know not only that
He was real, Jesus wasn’t an aberration or an angel, and He wanted them to know the truth about God’s plan
for them to build a Church, not a physical edifice but one that is spiritual, unique and separate from the world.
Act 1-3
(98f) Thy kingdom come
>>
Endurance (Thorn in the flesh) >> (Faith à
Suffering à Glory of Christ) >>
The cross
(245h) Kingdom of God
>>
Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >>
Literal manifestations >> Manifestation of God’s
righteous judgment >> The resurrection is a
manifestation of His life
(254g) Trinity
>>
Holy Spirit’s relationship between Father and Son >>
Jesus is the life of the Spirit >> Jesus is the
substance of God’s life >> Jesus conquered
death because He is life
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Act 1-4,5
(35g) Gift of God
>>
God gives Himself to us >> Jesus sends the
Holy Spirit -- These verses go with verse 8. In the book of Acts people suddenly
started talking about the Holy Spirit, whereas before Jesus was crucified the
disciples were indifferent to Him. After the crucifixion, resurrection and
ascension of Christ, His disciples understood the concept, because they began
experiencing Him firsthand. A proper teaching of the Holy Spirit has been lost
in the days in which we are currently living for the same reason the disciples
didn’t talk about Him prior to Pentecost, from a lack of experience. The Holy
Spirit is the first thing to go when the apostasy comes. One of the purposes of
the Holy Spirit is to create an atmosphere among Christians. As an example,
whenever an era closes, such as the sixties, the seventies or the eighties, we
can remember the events that took place, the history of the time, yet we find it
difficult to remember the spirit of the time. We have our own era
going now, and the days in which we are living will become unique to history,
though they seem common now. Every era has an atmosphere associated with it that
we mostly take for granted, so when that era passes, the atmosphere is lost,
though all the events that took place during that time are carefully etched
into history. The
same is true with the Holy Spirit; when apostasy comes the Holy Spirit is the first
to leave and the first to be forgotten.
(110i) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >>
Spirit and the word >> Born of the Spirit by
the truth >> Sound of the wind is the words of
Jesus -- These verses go with verse 8
(190k) Die to self (Process of substitution)
>> Separation from the old man >>
Baptism >> Baptism of the Holy Spirit --
These verses go with verse 8.
The Holy Spirit creates the
atmosphere by which we do the works of God, which is the purpose of the fruit
of the Spirit, but we as a people today don't know the significance of the Holy
Spirit. The only reason He is mentioned at all is that the Bible speaks so
often about Him, but we don’t understand the Scriptures that speak of Him.
The Holy Spirit is someone we must personally experience to truly know Him.
Reading a book about the sixties won’t give us the spirit of the time anymore than
we can experience the baptism of
the Holy Spirit from a book. His indwelling presence in
the believer must have an impact on our lives, and in order for that to happen
we must allow Him to produce the works of God in us, but too many people
nowadays suppress the Holy Spirit dwelling in them so that He is not allowed
to manifest, and the result is that few people are being saved.
(205c) Salvation
>>
Salvation is based on God’s promises >>
According to promise >> Promise of the Holy
Spirit – Luke (the writer of the Book of Acts) is
drawing precedence that Christianity really is all about the Holy Spirit.
The book is called the Acts of the Apostles, but we could just as easily
call it, The Acts of the Holy Spirit as Performed through the Apostles. Had Jesus
been raised from the dead, appeared to His disciples, spoke to them
concerning the Kingdom of God and then gone to heaven without ever sending
the Holy Spirit, the story would have ended right there. The people would
have gone each to his own home and never seen each other again, but in fact
they did perform the exploits of evangelism and changed the world, because Jesus
did send the Holy Spirit and as a result Luke did write the Book of Acts.
(220d) Sovereignty
>>
God overrides the will of man >> Predestination >>
Divine appointments
Act 1-4
(126ka) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Patience >>
Have patience for the return of Christ >> The spiritual return of Christ
Act 1-6,7
(50b) Judgment
>>
God judges the world >> The second coming of
Christ
(214dd) Sovereignty
>>
God controls time >> God’s timing >>
God’s timing transcends our comprehension >>
God’s time is none of our business – God is very possessive about time,
though He lives in eternity and has an infinite amount of it. God has told us
many things that have happened and are yet to happen, but He rarely tells us when
things will happen, because He wants us to walk by faith; and besides, people would immediately misuse
the knowledge. Had Jesus told His disciples that there was a 2000-year waiting
period before His return, they would have shrugged off the will of God saying,
‘It’s not for us then,’ and never done half the things they did.
Instead, they
struggled and labored and fought and suffered for the sake of the Kingdom of God, not just for our
sakes but for theirs too, believing the Lord would return
in their lifetime. Every generation that has passed since Abraham, who
first heard the plan and purpose for mankind, that He would make a mighty
nation through him, has been hoping God would
established His Kingdom in their lifetime, and it has inspired them to live for
God that He would find them doing His will.
We also know that if God’s glorious kingdom does not come in our lifetime,
we will be an intricate part of it in eternity just the same, so it doesn’t matter if it
comes now or not, we are part of His Kingdom, because
we belong to Him.
(215i) Sovereignty
>>
God controls time >> Suddenly >>
The Kingdom of Heaven appears suddenly >>
Without warning
>> God brings His kingdom to pass in His time
–
The
disciples asked Jesus an interesting question, giving us insight into what they (and the entire nation of Israel) were
thinking in regard to Messiah. Throughout Jesus’ ministry the disciples walked with the Lord, and awoke new
hope that Jesus would spring the Kingdom of God on the world. Suddenly everything would
change and the glory of God would be revealed. That is what their Jewish teachers taught them
from Old Testament prophecies, referring to His second coming, but it didn’t
happen. This is why the disciples were confused and disappointed
when He died on the cross. He solved every problem and healed every disease, but in the end
His enemies had the last word, except for the resurrection. The disciples, and on a larger
scale
Israel, failed
to see in their Old Testament the suffering servant who would die for the sins of the world, and according to Jesus’
reaction, they
should have known (Lk 24-25,26). It was in the Scriptures, but they didn’t see
it. It wasn’t the disciples fault so much as it was their teachers who
indoctrinated them about the coming power and glory of God. Had Israel conferred with
Isaiah in ancient times, he would
have led them to integrate the teaching of a suffering servant
into their Jewish theology and tradition,
but God had done this very thing through the specific laws of temple
worship, which ironically throughout the centuries depicted the sacrifice of their Messiah. After Jesus rose from the
dead He told them, “It is not for you to know times or
epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority.” So what they hoped
never came, and it still hasn’t come 2000 years later, showing the error of
their beliefs. This should not come as a surprise that people are
off-base with God; man has never understood God; He is
incomprehensible to the natural mind, but He makes sense to the Spirit whom He has given
us.
See also: Expecting the Kingdom of God to appear
immediately;
Act 4,1-14; 183j
(241b) Kingdom of God
>>
Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >>
Hindering the kingdom >> Obstacles in the way of
the kingdom >> Ask but don’t receive >>
Asking for something that is not in His will -- These verses go with
verses 24-26
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Act 1-8
(6e)
Responsibility >> Advocate God’s cause >>
Rest in Jesus’ yoke – What happened to the power of the Holy
Spirit? Did Jesus say He would not work with His people this way anymore, or
did we say it? We are the ones who have excused ourselves from the
glory and power of God; we have done this. It would be extremely exciting to live like the disciples of the early church; it would fill our
lives with meaning, but we don’t avail ourselves to the power of God because
we like the world and have adopted its secular perspective, and we don’t know if we
really want to get that close to God, knowing we would have to put our flesh
on a short leash. That is, we don’t want to walk in the power of God because
we want the freedom to walk in the flesh. That is sad and pathetic.
(35g) Gift of God
>>
God gives Himself to us >> Jesus sends the Holy
Spirit -- This verse goes with verses 4&5
(110i) Thy kingdom come
>>
Faith >>
Spirit and the word >> Born of the Spirit by the
truth >> Sound of the wind is the words of Jesus
-- This verse goes with verses 4&5
(144f) Witness
>>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Witnesses of Jesus >> The Church Bears Witness of Jesus >> Church bears witness of the Holy
Spirit – When everybody collectively makes the
decision to abandon the glory of God in order to be like the world, it makes
it almost impossible for those who want to obey Christ to walk in His power, because not only will
they have to fight the world, but the Church
too. In fact, the Church would become more hostile and jealous against them than the world. When the Church sees someone who has put down their flesh
and is walking in the power of the Spirit, it puts them to shame,
and they would rather persecute him than repent of their own complacency. This is why we
so rarely see anyone walking in the Spirit, but a day is coming when this will change. Before
Jesus returns, His power and glory will be reinstated in His church, and those
who would resist will find themselves fighting against God. In that day His people will either
walk in power and glory or they won’t be His people.
(149h) Witness
>>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Works of the Church bear witness to Jesus >> Evangelism >>
Authority of the rhema given to evangelism >>
Preaching the gospel by the power of God
–
When Jesus delivered the great commission of the gospel to His
disciples, it sounded like He was asking for a
very big task, equal to 40,000 pounds of potatoes shipped from one coast to
the other, but when he said, "you shall receive power," it sounded
like He was giving them a new eighteen-wheeler to do the job. Most truck
drivers are fat, because the truck does all the work; the driver just sits
there shifting and steering. That is the relationship we have between our
work, and the Holy Spirit, except that we don’t get fat, because it is a
hard enough job just letting the Holy Spirit work through our mortal flesh.
See
also: Working the grace of God (God works with us through the Holy Spirit); Jm 4-4; 208jb
(190k) Die to self (Process of substitution)
>>
Separation from the old man >> Baptism >>
Baptism of the Holy Spirit -- This verse goes with verses 4&5
Act 1,9-11
(15e) Servant >>
Angels are messengers from God >> They are sent to impart information
(147f) Witness
>>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works
bear witness of Himself >> Divine works of God >> Spiritual manifestations
(236l) Kingdom of God >>
Pursuing the kingdom >> The Church is transferred to the kingdom >>
The Rapture >> The day of the Lord
– The angels said that Jesus
would return
the same way He left, only in reverse; He ascended, so when He returns He will
descend. The events leading up to his return will also occur in reverse order. After Jesus ascended to heaven, His disciples went
back to the upper room where they remained nearly the entire forty days in
urgent prayer, which was basically a hiding place from the Romans, waiting
for the promise of the Holy Spirit. The Church was later dispersed into all
the nations. The reverse order of that is this: (1) the Church is currently
fragmented, (2) a great influx of Jews are returning to Jerusalem, (3) an
outpouring of the Holy Spirit will ensue, (4) a wilderness experience (upper
room); God’s people will wait for the promise of His return
(Rapture). How many angels were standing next to Jesus while He ascended to
heaven? There were two of them, as in the Two Witnesses. In the last days
there will be two men who will raise up the 144,000 who will lead the
gentiles into a great endtime revival. For a more detailed study of this,
see the article: Fall
of Satan. See also: Second coming; Act 1-10,11; 58b
/
Summary of the last days; Rev 6,9-11; 48b
(245e) Kingdom of God
>>
Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >>
Literal manifestations >> Literal manifestation
of Jesus Christ >> Manifestation of Jesus’
second coming
Act 1-9,10
(237g) The
ascension (Key verse)
Act 1-10,11
(58b) Paradox
>>
Opposites >> Jesus’ second coming is similar to His ascension –
After the Rapture there will still be people alive on the earth, and
not all of them will have received the mark of the beast, but they will have
also rejected the purpose of God for themselves, so they served neither God
nor Satan, but they will repent. Those who survive the antichrist’s onslaught and the trumpets of
God’s judgment will find safe harbor in Jerusalem, under the city in the
catacombs, which will also happen to be the capital city of the antichrist at
the time. These are the ways of God: the most dangerous place imaginable is
where God will lead His people, as the safest place in the world.
When the antichrist first came to
Jerusalem, everyone fled for their lives. Earthquakes
are synonymous with endtime prophecy, so it would seem likely that these
catacombs would collapse after the scheduled earthquake that is bigger than any
that man has ever experienced, and so Christ will call His people to the
surface to await His return to the holy city. Those who make
this migration to Jerusalem will welcome the Lord's arrival to the earth as He sets foot on the Mount of
Olives. When Christ comes for His
people, the war of Armageddon marks the end of man's tyrannical reign on
earth, and Christ will set up His millennial kingdom, and those who remain in the flesh, will be called to
replenish the populations of the earth, and their numbers will not be many. See
also: Second
coming; Act 1-12; 94d
Act 1-11
(50d)
Judgment >>
Last Days >> Jewish Led
endtime revival >> Jews lead the world into revival
>> Leading the harvest at the end of the age
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Act 1,12-14
(140c) Temple
>>
Temple made without hands >> Hiding place >>
House where you live with Jesus –
The upper room experience was a time of prayer, fasting, seeking God and
waiting for his return, and in much the same way this will occur in the
last days. Their upper room experience represented a spiritual time and place that is
coming that will be incomprehensible to the natural mind, meaning that it could be
virtually anywhere, just like heaven may not be billions of light-years away
but right here in a different dimension. These spiritual places
will be dotted throughout the world; thousands of people will congregate at each
site, located
apart from large cities situated in wilderness areas, where the natural man
cannot go. God will call His people there, and it will be a hiding place in
plain sight where no one can find them (2King 6,15-18). God Himself will feed them like He fed
the Israelites manna in the wilderness in the days of Moses; meanwhile, God
will be in the process of judging the world through the Trumpets. There will
be many Christians in the world at the time, not just 120 persons as in the
upper room, but 144,000 Jewish Christians and millions of gentile believers;
they will all seek God’s protection and find it in these places that God has
prepared for them.
(142f) Witness >>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Witnesses of Jesus >>
Having a good reputation >> Jesus’ reputation – Note that Jesus’ brothers were
there, because they knew He practiced what He preached. Not even His own brothers
who lived with Him could account for a single sin He committed, and when His
own family members believed this about Him, it was strong evidence that He had
something going with God. Our immediate family members are the best indicators
of our true spiritual state.
Act
1-12
(94d) Thy kingdom come
>>
Perspective on this life >> Perspective on time –
Mount Olivet is a vista where Jesus’ feet left the earth, and it is where His
foot will return at the end of the age. To Him it will seem that He had been
gone only a couple days, for the angel spoke as though He would return shortly (v11). Knowing Scripture, we should interpret
this to mean that he will return to the same place and in the same way that He
left, except the circumstances will be in reverse order. The saints will
congregate in a certain location, as in the upper room, and there they will pray
for the return of Christ. Recapping those events, there was a gathering of
saints in the Upper Room, then a ministry
with thousands of souls being saved after Pentecost, then a dispersion of saints
from Jerusalem. It says in Rev 12-6, “Then the woman fled into
the wilderness,” the woman referring to Jewish Christians. Before there can be
a second dispersion there must be a return of the Jews to their homeland; this
is happening now. Jesus’ foot touching the Mount of Olives will begin the
clock ticking for His thousand-year reign on earth, and He will show mankind
justice, and how he could have governed himself without leaving a trail of war
and bloodshed.
See also:
Second
coming; Act 1,9-11; 236l
Act 1-13,14
(129n) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Unity >>
Being in one accord >> Having one mind. See information on Jesus
Twelve Disciples.
Act 1-14
(100k) Thy kingdom come
>>
Devotion >> In your ministry to God >>
Devoted to prayer
Act 1,15-20
(172aa) Works of the devil >>
Manifestations of the devil >> Tares among the
wheat >> Devils among the saints >>
False brethren among the people of God >> Judas Iscariot among the disciples
(186j) Works of the devil
>>
The result of lawlessness >> The reprobate >>
God’s role in forming a reprobate >> Marked
out for destruction –
According to Peter, Judas Iscariot bought a field and then went to that field
and hanged himself, whereas we know by other passages that Judas threw the
money into the temple, and the chief priests bought the field where Judas was
buried, naming it the Field of Blood. Peter’s rendition is
the inverse of Jesus’ parable of a man who found treasure in a field; he
then moved the treasure to a secret location in the field and then bought that
field. After the transaction the previous owner came looking for his treasure and
discovered it missing. The priests did something similar, only opposite;
instead of buying a field with a treasure inside, they bought a field that was
cursed with treasonous blood, so there was no prospecting it. The field was never used again for anything, just like Sodom and
Gomorra was never rebuilt, nor was Babylon. They bought it to cordon off the
location and never let anyone own it again, and so it went fallow like
an unkempt cemetery, and people stayed their distance, except for children telling
each other ghost stories and occasionally trespassing the cursed ground. They bought it with the same coins that Judas threw into the
temple, being unwilling to include it in the treasury, since it was the price
of blood, though they had recently given Judas the coins to betray the Lord that they might arrest Him and hang Him on a
cross.
Act 1,16-20
(21c) Sin
>>
Disobedience >> Unfaithful
(219i) Sovereignty
>>
God overrides the will of man >> Predestination >>
Predestined according to the word of God
Act 1-16
(107k) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >> hearing from God >>
The Bible will lead you to truth >>
The Scriptures are factual –
Prophecy is the greatest proof of the Bible; God foretells things and they
come to pass, the words themselves consisting of mere inkblots on a page, yet
they
represent the work of God. The words are timeless, having survived thousands of years unaltered;
what they meant centuries earlier they still mean today, so when they are fulfilled, we may believe God's word is true.
(110e) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >>
Spirit and the word >> Spirit speaks through you >> God chooses men to speak through
Act 1,20-26
(78e) Thy kingdom come
>>
Sincerity >> Taking God to heart >>
Having pure motives and desires – They put forth two men, Joseph (also called
Barsabbas) and Matthias, with the credentials that they bore witness to the
entire ministry of Christ, having followed Jesus from the baptism of John to
His crucifixion, so they were probably one of the seventy as mentioned in Lk
10-1, apart from the twelve disciples. Having followed Jesus throughout his
ministry proved that their hearts were with the Lord, and it gave them
experience hearing and seeing firsthand all the things Jesus said and did.
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Act 1,21-26
(18e) Sin
>>
False Judgment lacks evidence >> Presumptuous
speculation
(55n) Paradox
>>
Lose by gaining >> Lose the truth to gain
religion
(79c) Thy kingdom come
>>
Renewing your mind >> Compromising your
convictions
(166m) Works of the devil
>>
Manifestations of the devil >> Carnality/Secularism (mindset of the world)
>>
The carnal mind cannot discern between good and evil >>
The carnal mind assumes the will of God –
This story exemplifies the difference between man’s choice and God’s
choice. Man’s choice was Matthias, whereas God’s choice was the apostle
Paul, whom God would choose in chapter nine. Man can pray and draw lots all
he wants, but if God has an alternative plan to replace Judas, it doesn’t
matter who draws the long straw. Matthias was added to the eleven, and then
Scripture never mentioned him again, but several chapters later Paul came on
the scene, and the Scriptures never stopped talking about him. So, who
replaced Judas? Paul reached the known world with the gospel of Christ; what
did Matthias do? No doubt Peter was behind this. It sounds like one of his
antics, being young in the Lord and impetuous and still unfamiliar with the
ways of the Lord. No doubt Matthias was a good man, probably one of the
seventy, having walked with Jesus his entire ministry. No one faults his
character, but he just wasn’t God’s choice. Man has been doing things
like this, taking control of what they consider the will of God, making
proclamations and calling it the word of God. Their decrees stick, and they
religiously believe in them, becoming doctrine, and they add to their
religion. Meanwhile God is somewhere else, doing something else with someone
else. Their religion gets all the notoriety, but people who hear the voice
of God speaking in their hearts and do what he says quietly change the
world. They know God, and their fruit is unreligious. Their faithfulness is
not phony, and their love is not dogmatic, and everything they say and do is
graced by his presence.
(175l) Works of the devil
>>
The religion of witchcraft >> Ignorance >>
Lack of knowledge
(176d) Works of the devil
>>
The religion of witchcraft >> Zeal without
knowledge (Spirit w/o the word) >> Conviction
without commandment – We
should expect Simon Peter to be
behind this harebrained idea to draw lots to replace Judas Iscariot. So, did
Matthias really become the twelfth apostle just because they drew lots… of
course not! Those who believe God used the lot to determine Matthias'
place among the twelve, who then was Paul? He was the man who
wrote most of the epistles of the New Testament! Was he the
thirteenth apostle, an outsider of the very Church he helped build? The apostle Paul was extremely zealous for the
Lord, even more so than Peter, yet Paul was also insightful. Peter got ahead
of God as he often did and sought to replace Judas right away by his own
authority. God’s attitude was that they could draw lots all day to see who
would take Judas’s place, but God had picked a man before the
foundation of the world, a man whom Peter would have never considered, a blasphemer and
a persecutor of the Church. God didn’t
mind that Matthias temporarily stepped in as a placeholder until the time
was right
to fill the open position. Peter often took it upon himself to enact
an idea and hoped God would bless it, such as during Jesus transfiguration.
He didn’t know how to respond, so he offered to build
three tabernacles, one for each person, instead of waiting to hear what God
had in mind. What was His answer? “This is My
beloved Son, listen to Him!” Peter liked his own ideas, but zeal without
insight equals a blowhard. Fortunately, Peter matured beyond most of these
compulsive tendencies later in life as he learned to follow the Holy Spirit, as opposed to drawing straws.
(178a) Works of the devil
>>
The religion of witchcraft >> Presumption (Hinduism) >>
Presuming the will of God >> Presumption fills
in the blanks
(201k) Denying Christ
>>
Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >>
Running from God >> Man’s will over God >>
Man is unwilling to acknowledge God
Act 1-22
(144c) Witness
>>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Witnesses of Jesus >> The Church Bears Witness of Jesus >>
Having fellowship with Him
Act 1,23-26
(198e) Denying Christ
>>
Man exercises his will against God >> Ordained
by man >> Men place themselves in positions of
authority >> Men raising up men –
The fact that Scripture spoke of twelve apostles indicates that God recognized
Matthias as the twelfth apostle, and if Scripture recognized Matthias as one of the twelve, then
so should we. However, man does what he wants and so does God, who had his eye
on Paul, intending to make him the twelfth apostle, but since Peter
could not wait for God but took it upon himself to elect somebody to fill the
place of Judas Iscariot, God skirted around human amendments and made Paul the
greatest apostle of them all, apart from the twelve. We should consider him the
thirteenth apostle. Paul's view of the gospel was significantly different from
the way Jesus taught his disciples; he separated faith from works to show the
relevance of faith, Eph 2-8,9 being the thesis of his writings. Jesus spoke in
great detail about obedience, but we should also take into account what Paul
taught, that obedience acts as proof of our faith, and proof doesn't save us;
faith does. The apostles could not help but agree that
this is what Jesus was saying all along, so returning to passages like Matthew
chapter 25 where Jesus taught that we enter into His glory because we clothed
the naked, fed the hungry, visited prisoners, etc., we see that these works of
righteousness do not effect our salvation but act as proof that our faith is real.
See also: Faith versus works;
Act 17-30; 177i
Act 1,24-26
(241b) Kingdom of God
>>
Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >>
Hindering the kingdom >> Obstacles in the way of
the kingdom >> Ask but don’t receive >>
Asking for something that is not in His will -- These verses go with
verses 6&7. Matthias
supposedly filled the office of Judas Iscariot after they drew lots between
two men who followed Jesus
throughout His ministry, possibly two of the seventy, though
not classed among the twelve. So what we have is a contrast between the eleven
disciples whom Jesus handpicked, and Matthias who won his status by lot; and
note that they drew lots prior to Pentecost, before they were anointed of the
Holy Spirit. One came later, who was God’s choice replacement, Saul of
Tarsus. Paul became a great apostle; he won more people to the Lord and
contributed more to the cannon of Scripture than the original eleven. Paul
revolutionized our understanding of the gospel, emphasizing grace over works
because of his past as a Pharisee, who notoriously focused on a works-based
religion. He had superior knowledge of the Old Testament and had an
overwhelming zeal even before he was converted; afterward his
commitment to Christ multiplied as he continually devoted himself to the word of
God and prayer. He was a zealot among zealots, not of foolish doctrines and
human religions, but of the truth as
the Spirit revealed it to him.
_________________________________
ACTS CHAPTER 2
KJV
WEB
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Act 2,1-21
(132j)
Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >>
Holy Spirit is in God’s people >> Filled with
the Spirit >> Drink in the Spirit
Act 2,1-18
(147f) Witness
>>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear
witness of Himself >> Divine works of God >>
Spiritual manifestations -- These verses go with verse 43. The anointing is meant to primarily manifest good
works, described in Galatians chapter five in Paul’s dissertation on the
fruits of the Spirit. So we have three in one: (1) the indwelling Holy
Spirit reserving us for the purpose of eternal redemption (2) the
anointing, which is a manifestation of the indwelling Holy Spirit (3) good works, which is the primary manifestation of the anointing. These three
save the body, soul and spirit: good works for the body, the anointing for the
soul and the indwelling Holy Spirit as a pledge of our eternal inheritance. The Holy Spirit is
the true minister in the age of grace, who saves us as God’s seal
of eternal redemption and effects the promises of salvation in this life.
Act 2,1-13
(80a) Thy kingdom come >>
Know the word as a sword in spiritual warfare >>
To oppose religion
– These words were adopted by the Pentecostal
denomination, which is a movement that received its identity many years ago by
revelation, primarily from the first few chapters of the Book of Acts. They
didn’t particularly interpret anything but simply realized the meaning and
value of what was written. Considered lost knowledge,
the Pentecostals acknowledge that the event of Pentecost occurred in the early days of the
church, and they believe God still wants to work with His people in this way. The Lutherans
experienced something similar; Martin Luther brought back to light
the grace of God’s forgiveness through faith in the cross. Without this
knowledge we would still be in the dark ages. Breaking through the long
night of spiritual ignorance brought about the Protestant Reformation and the
breaking away from the Catholic Church. All these “revelations”
are clearly stated in the Bible for all to read, yet historically we often
cannot see them until someone points them out to us. There is other lost
knowledge that the Church has yet to rediscover that the early Church had firmly
grasped, but over the decades after the apostles fell asleep, particularly in regard to our connection with the Holy Spirit,
these truths have eroded
and ultimately slipped away, allowing false teachings to fill their place. The Lutherans have their foibles, but the whole Protestant Church
owes them a debt of gratitude for helping us see the light of Scripture.
Conversely, there
are religious denominations such as the Evangelicals, who have clung to Martin
Luther’s revelation of grace through faith, while stiff-arming the
Pentecostal’s revelation of the Holy Spirit. Although accepting the indwelling Holy
Spirit, they reject
virtually all other spiritual manifestations. Essentially, the Evangelicals and
Baptists don’t believe in
the first few chapters of the Book of Acts; they may believe it happened in the
first century, but they don't believe it was intended for us. In other words they are
dispensationalists; def-: certain spiritual events occurred within a specific
period, and when that period ended, those events ceased. Thus they explain
away the reason we don’t see the power of God working in our lifetime,
excusing them from looking inwardly for the causes of God’s apparent
impotence. That is, they don’t believe in this thing written in the Book of Acts,
called the anointing. See also: History of the Church;
Act 23-11; 247h
Act 2,1-11
(88e) Thy kingdom come >>
Faith produces works >> The function of works in
faith >> Faith doesn’t move men until it is
manifested in the spiritual realm
Act 2,1-8
(106c) Thy kingdom come >>
Faith >>
Hearing from God >> Attaining the hearing ear >> Knowing the sound of His voice >> Flowing with the wind of His voice
– Jesus said something similar to Nicodemus
about being born-again, “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the
sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is
everyone who is born of the Spirit.” In Acts chapter two we see a violent,
rushing wind, but the connotation behind Jn 3-8 suggested a gentle breeze. The
Holy Spirit is a gentle person, but He also has a very passionate side that occasionally
blows into a squall. Therefore, introducing the Kingdom of God
to the apostles and to the first converts made a point by
blowing extra-hard. This literal wind was a one-time event, because we never
hear of a literal wind signifying the Spirit in Scripture again, but that doesn’t mean
a
literal wind will not one day return to the Church in the last days.
(140c) Temple
>>
Temple made without hands >> Hiding place >>
House where you live with Jesus
KJV
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Act 2,1-5
(230d) Kingdom of God
>>
God’s kingdom is a living organism >>
Partaking >> Partaking of the power of God >>
Partaking of the ministry of the Holy Spirit -- These verses go with
verses 37-39
Act 2,1-4
(35g) Gift of God
>>
God gives Himself to us >> Jesus sends the Holy
Spirit -- These verses go with verse 33
(132g) Temple
>>
Your body is the temple of God >> Holy Spirit is
in God’s people >> Filled with the Spirit >>
Filled with the power of God -- These verses go with verses
12-18. Pentecost
is when God sent His Holy Spirit, not in reference to the indwelling Holy
Spirit but the anointing, and baptism is the symbol of the anointing, which
Evangelicals refuse to discuss, much less believe. Most people don’t know the first thing about
the anointing, and for this
reason they are afraid of it, but when genuine revival comes led by God
Himself, the first thing He will do is restore the anointing, which is the mind of the
Spirit
attaching Himself to our intellect, that we may know the thoughts of God,
motivating us to do His will. It says they
were filled with the Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the
Spirit gave them utterance. This is a description of the anointing. What
does being filled with the Spirit actually mean? Our soul is filled, that is, our
mind with the thoughts of God.
The main purpose of the anointing is to reveal the mind of Christ for
the purpose of producing the works of God.
Act 2,1-3
(113a)
Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> The anointing >> Heaven’s clothes >>
Protection >> Covering –
The
indwelling Holy Spirit is not the same as the anointing; rather, the anointing
rests upon the believer for the purpose of manifesting the Kingdom
of God. The disciples had already received the
indwelling Holy Spirit when Jesus breathed on them (Jn 20-22). In contrast, the anointing of
Pentecost is what really changed
their lives. The apostles were born again (they received the indwelling Holy
Spirit: Jn 20-22); then later God superimposed His anointing over the indwelling
Holy Spirit. The indwelling Holy
Spirit is like being inoculated from polio or some other horrible disease; you
get the shot and nothing really changes; you go home the same person. He inoculates us from
hell as His pledge to the
believer of eternal life as citizens of heaven. The
anointing, however, has the greater impact in that the believer receives it
once he dedicates himself to a life of service to God. Perhaps for this reason
the anointing is heatedly persecuted in the Church today, because people refuse
to dedicate themselves to a life of service to God, and the anointing in other
people testifies
against their complacency. There are many denominations that have doctrines setup to
actually resist the anointing. This denotes a level of threat the anointing has on
so-called believers, which begs the question whether they are even saved. Those who resist the anointing appear
to be false brethren, for God has afforded us the promise of His Spirit,
not as an option, but as a commandment. The anointing does not adhere to our faith for a heavenly
salvation but for a salvation in this life. The indwelling Holy Spirit calls us to
receive the anointing and be clothed with His power.
Act 2-1,2
(110i) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >> Spirit and the word >> Born of the Spirit by the
truth >> Sound of the wind is the words of Jesus
–
In John chapter three when Jesus introduced the concept of being born again, He
spoke about the wind of God's spirit, making it sound like He was referring to
the spiritual wind of Pentecost. The disciples were already born-again, making
Pentecost refer to something else, namely the anointing. However, the anointing
of Pentecost was a highly specialized event tailored for the fledgling Church as
a means of establishing it in the world at the time, and then it slowly dissipated.
This doesn't mean the anointing is obsolete in our day; rather, God
still avails His anointing to anybody who is willing to pay the price to receive
it by obeying the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the anointing refers to
spiritual maturity. Case in point, the
Evangelicals
complain about Pentecostals, who explain salvation as a two-step process. They refer to
the step of being born-again and then a second step alluding to
some kind of Pentecostal experience, but in fact Christianity is a one-step
process of being born-again, followed by a life-long process of maturity,
which should not be considered a second step of our salvation but a continuation
of the one. God superimposes His anointing over our maturity.
(215f)
Suddenly (Key verse)
(215i) Sovereignty
>>
God controls time >> Suddenly >>
The Kingdom of Heaven appears suddenly >> Without
warning
>> God brings His kingdom to pass in its time
KJV
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Act 2,3-36
(110d) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >> Spirit and the word >> Spirit speaks through His
ministry in us
Act 2,3-22
(149h) Witness
>>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Works of the Church bear witness to Jesus >> Evangelism >>
Authority of the rhema given to evangelism >>
Preaching the gospel by the power of God
Act 2-3,4
(95c) Thy kingdom come
>>
Positive attitude >> Speaking in tongues >>
Tongues are a spiritual gift -- These verses go with verses
6-11. It said there were tongues as of fire,
distributing themselves. 1Cor 12-11 says, “One and the same Spirit works all
these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.” God
deals with us on a personal level; these gifts and tongues are
custom-made, manifesting in different ways according to the uniqueness
of the individual for the purpose of filling the needs of the body with unity
in mind. God is not like corporations that mass-produce
carbon copies of a product. Instead, God tailors the anointing for
each person, and it rested on each one of them (not in them).
The spirit of our salvation dwells in us, while the spirit of anointing rests
upon us for the purpose of manifesting the Kingdom of God by performing the good
works that God has prepared for us, including the fruit of the spirit along
with signs and wonders as the Lord would direct each person.
(104d) Thy kingdom come
>>
Purifying process >> Purified by fire >>
Purified through the fiery anointing
Act 2-4
(217c) Sovereignty
>>
God overrides the will of man >> God’s will
over man >> God is independent of His creation >>
No one can walk in His glory without His consent –
Prior to Pentecost the disciples waited in the upper room for the promise of
the Spirit; they had no idea what to expect. Forty days later the Holy
Spirit came as a mighty rushing wind and rested on certain individuals of
faith who knew and loved the Lord, and God anointed their faith and love. In other cases the
laying on of hands transferred the anointing to those who believed, which is
still practiced today. The anointing is an outward manifestation of an inward
work that starts on the inside and works it way outward to the material realm
with God working inside the believer often without anyone else knowing about
it. A passage that best explains this process is
Mat 13-33, “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid
in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened.” Pentecost started the
work of the anointing, pertaining to the external ministry of the Spirit that is most needed
in evangelism, not to be confused with the indwelling Holy Spirit. The anointing increases in time through
knowledge and
faithfulness as students of His word and disciples of prayer, the inner
working of Christ slowly percolating from our innermost being into the light of
day, where all men can see the light emanating within us.
Act 2-5
(49a) Judgment
>>
Nations are destroyed >> Israel judged as an
example for us – The Jews had dispersed throughout all the
nations of the world by the time of Christ, mostly as a result of the Babylonian
deportation. After 70 years they were allowed to return to their homeland, though
some chose to migrate to other countries.
Act 2,6-18
(111b) Thy kingdom come
>>
Faith >>
Spirit and the word >> Spirit and evangelism
-- These verses go with verses 37&38. In
the Church today we hear people speaking in
tongues, which the Bible says they shouldn’t do without an
interpreter, but this day they were speaking in other people’s
languages that were intelligible, though they had never studied those
languages. This was a miraculous sign, and it got people’s attention, having
the effect of many people being saved. Take out the miracle and Peter’s
sermon would have fallen of deaf ears; subtract Peter’s sermon and the
miracle would have faded into obscurity, but put the two together and we get an influx of three thousand
souls added to the Kingdom. This is an example of Peter
working the grace of God through the Spirit and the word. Note the difference
in Peter before and after Pentecost. Before, he was
drawing straws to see who would fill the place of Judas Iscariot.
Act 2,6-11
(95c) Thy kingdom come
>>
Positive attitude >> Speaking in tongues >>
Tongues are a spiritual gift -- These verses go with verses
3&4. Paul teaches in Romans chapter eight
and in First Corinthians chapter 14 that
speaking in tongues is of the Lord, whether we are speaking to men
or to God, but that we must be careful how we use this gift. When we speak in
tongues that no one can understand, it is considered our prayer
language, and should be correspondingly used in our prayer closet, spoken only
to God, as opposed to using this gift in church, which in that case requires an
interpreter.
So, the interpreter of tongues is acting as someone who prophesies, and there
is a difference between someone who prophesies and a prophet. On the one hand,
the one who prophesies speaks the oracle of God, though it is usually a
message we have already heard, and in that sense it is an exhortation.
On the other hand, a genuine prophet brings a message that the Church has never heard
until the prophet speaks it into existence through the Spirit of God, who is capable of leading the Church into a new and
unique direction, according to the will of God.
Act 2-11
(93h) Thy kingdom come
>>
Following Jesus >> Through the leadership of men
KJV
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Act 2,12-18
(132g) Temple
>>
Your body is the temple of God >> Holy Spirit is
in God’s people >> Filled with the Spirit >>
Filled with the power of God -- These verses go with verses
1-4. God intends to pour out His Spirit in the last
days just like He did in the early church, and just like in the early church,
“the daughters will prophesy, and the young men will see visions and old men
will dream dreams.” As a great outpouring happened during the early church,
so it will happen again in the last days, but the many centuries in-between
resemble a spiritual wasteland, a 2000-year wilderness experience for the Church, who blindly
ventured into the darkness and wandered in desert regions of their own making, a time when few were saved. Essentially, the
Catholic Church took over Christianity and plunged man into the dark ages. In
the last days God has scheduled a Great Endtime Revival. Joel was referring to
these two eras: the early church and the last days. There were a few bright
spots that occurred now and then, an occasional flicker of the flame to bless the
world; people would suddenly grasp the gospel and a little revival would occur
and then mutate again into yet another denomination.
Act 2,12-15
(177j) Works of the devil
>>
The religion of witchcraft >> Presumption (Hinduism) >> Misunderstanding the
circumstances
Act 2-12,13
(20b)
Sin >> Nature of sin
>>
Unbelief >> Unwilling to acknowledge the facts
(243c) Kingdom of God
>>
Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >>
Persecuting the kingdom >>
Mocking the Church – This manifestation that God placed on
a fledgling Church
made the people appear as though intoxicated; they were drunk on the Holy Spirit, yet we
need to remember that this explanation originated from mockers who were
irreverently saying this about them. Those making such accusations didn’t
actually believe they were drunk, but made the suggestion anyway, hoping to
fool the majority in attendance to give a secular interpretation to the
events. They were attempting to avoid accountability with the implications
of hearing the oracle of God in their own tongue, miraculously spoken by
God’s people who knew nothing of the languages they were speaking. In stark contrast, there
was a period in recent church history, starting in the late 90’s, when
people interpreted these verses according to the unbelievers who mocked the
event of Pentecost, thus irreverently mocking God themselves, and the laughter doctrine
swept the nation, originating in Toronto Canada.
Act 2-14,15
(129a) Thy kingdom come >>
Manifestations of faith >> Bearing fruit >>
Evidence of your fruit >> The type of fruit
indicates who you are serving –
This verse was often quoted in the late 1990s while a rather large percentage of
Christendom got involved in the laughter movement that infiltrated the Church lasting
years, where people laughed hysterically at nothing and attributed it to the
Holy Spirit, and they based the movement primarily on this verse. People spoke in tongues,
nearly everyone in the congregation all at once, thinking they were fulfilling
this verse, but what they failed to recognize was that Pentecost was an event
when the disciples of Jesus spoke in foreign languages that people understood who
used those languages, whereas the tongues the Church spoken in the 90s was just
a lot of gibberish. Paul taught that in a church assembly only one person at a
time could speak in tongues, and that with an interpreter, thus he condemned the
misconduct of publicly speaking in tongues
during church services without an interpreter, emphasizing that edification
should be the goal of all we do, and if there is no interpretation, then the
people should keep silent in the church. These were the instructions of Paul to
the Church of the first century, but the Church of the twentieth century chose to ignore
him, indicating they were in
rebellion against God. For sure a spirit was involved in this laughter movement,
but it was not the Holy Spirit, and the result was that instead
of adding layers of wisdom and revelation to the Church, it added layers of deception. The laughter movement
is a stain on Church
history. They gave up waiting for Him and patiently listening for His voice and lowered themselves to feeling for
Him with their flesh. God
is willing to speak to His people, but most are too distant from Him and too disobedient
to hear His voice. They don’t even know
what God might say if He did speak to them, so they accept only wrong
messages and attribute them to
God, which has led them to a dead end, and they withdrew from a genuine search for
God.
Act 2-14
(123a) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Boldness to speak the
word by the Spirit
KJV
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Act 2,16-21
(50b) Judgment
>>
God judges the world >> The second coming of
Christ – This passage that Peter quoted implies that
this prophecy has already happened as though prophecy can have only one
fulfillment. On the contrary in the last days this prophetic message will describe both
eras. This has interesting correlations
with the words of the two angels standing by Jesus at His ascension, who told
the disciples that Jesus will return exactly the same way He left,
only the events will be in reverse order, suggesting
that what happened in the first century will happen again in the last century
of this age. Jesus ascended into heaven and then there was a great persecution,
so in the last days everything will happen in reverse: persecution and then
ascension. There has been a
great Jewish migration back to their homeland since 1948, persecution will
follow after global economic collapse, and then a Great Endtime Revival among the Jews in
Israel will ensue, who will come to a revelation of Jesus Christ as the Son of
God, their
Messiah, and they will lead the gentiles into a worldwide revival that will
involve millions of people. Smoke will accompany this revival, along with earthquakes and volcanoes, essentially the total
fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy. The two angels that spoke to the disciples
at Jesus' ascension represent the two witnesses, who are members of the 144,000
Jews, described in Revelation chapter seven and twelve (the woman).
They will flee into the wilderness as an upper room experience, and many
gentiles will be martyred before the Rapture occurs.
See also: Great Endtime Revival (Two periods: first century and last century);
Col 1-4; 129f
(80k) Thy kingdom come
>>
Know the word to minister to people >> To
evangelize the world -- These verses go with verses 25-28
(142a) Witness
>>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Old Testament bears
witness to the new >> Prophecy about the
dispensation >> The end times – Peter
in the Spirit quoted the
passage in the book of Joel regarding a time of revival and renewal,
associated with “blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun will be turned
into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and glorious day of the
Lord shall come.” However, these things didn’t happen then; there was no
vapor of smoke
or volcano. Rather, the description of the earth that Joel contributed is
iconic to endtimes, yet this prophecy was fulfilled in Peter day. Who is wrong,
then, Peter for quoting this passage and using it
so it cannot be used in the last days, or are we wrong for believing these
verses cannot be used again? Bible prophecy is not like eating an
egg and then it is gone. Instead, Bible prophecy can be fulfilled many times in multiple eras. The
timelessness of last days prophecy is exemplified in that many predicted
events have already occurred, illustrating that history repeats itself in
different ways in different circumstances, traversing
multiple eras, until the words of the prophets are fulfilled at their proper
time. Many of the things that Joel wrote were fulfilled in Peter’s
discourse, but they will be fulfilled again, and there are other aspects of the prophecy that
were not fulfilled in Peter’s day, proving a more significant fulfillment is
still coming. For example, did the sun turn to darkness and the
moon to blood? There was no blood, fire, vapor or smoke! Therefore, a similar
scenario will occur again in the last days, only this time it will incorporate
all these aspects that were missing in the first century. The advantage of Bible prophecy
having multiple fulfillments is we get to see how it will come to pass based
on partial glimpses of earlier days, such as World War II and Hitler's rise
and fall.
Act 2,17-22
(117ia)
Thy kingdom come >>
Faith >> Eyes of your spirit >> Having Dreams
Act 2-17,18
(152i) Witness
>>
Validity of the Father >> Witnesses of the
father >> Prophets >> The Church holds the position of a prophet >>
Church operates under a prophetic anointing >> Receiving a prophetic
word from God
KJV
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Act 2,22-36
(38c) Judgment
>>
Jesus defeated death (Satan) >> Resurrection
overcomes death –
When we die, the angels of God will come and lead us faithfully into His
heavenly kingdom, and there we will remain disembodied spirits until the
First Resurrection, and then God will give us new bodies. Being a disembodied
spirit does not sound very attractive, except
that heaven is a spiritual place, which is incomprehensible to us now,
and we should also take into consideration that when God created the universe,
He created it from the standpoint of heaven (the New Jerusalem), a higher
realm, and so we being disembodied in a spiritual heaven will not have the
experience of being without a body, since bodies are not necessary there. In
other words, spirits in heaven are just as much embodiments as bodies on
earth. The
only reason God intends to give us a body is that in eternity we will be
living in a physical realm, very similar to the
current physical realm. God will give us a body that will be indestructible, for it
will be superimposed over our soul that cannot be injured or die, and it will
take on its shape, attributes and appearance.
Act 2-22
(146k) Witness
>>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear
witness of Himself >> Purpose of miracles, signs and wonders >> Get peoples’ attention to hear
the word –
Jesus had become very popular in His time; His miracle working was just as important
as His ministry of evangelism. These two went hand-in-glove, and this is how
God wanted to spread the gospel in the first century. Paul performed
great miracles, as did Peter and John and many others who were not recorded in
Scripture. Jesus promised these things would
accompany those whose life’s purpose was wholly devoted to Him, but signs
and wonders hardly came to fruition, partly because of man’s disobedience,
but also because God wants us to walk by faith. He allows miracles generally
during times when He is introducing a new age through His people, such as
during the days of Moses. Jesus said in Jn 14-12, “Truly, truly, I say
to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and
greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.” He was
referring mostly to the first and last centuries of this age when He said
that. Jesus was
only one man and His ministry was only 3½ years, while the Church is millions
of members and had 2000 years to produce fruit, yet so far it seems that Jesus performed
more miracles than the Church. This indicates that God intends to perform
signs and wonders among His people again throughout the process of manifesting
the coming age of Millennium.
(253j) Trinity >>
Relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is
subject to the Father >> Jesus is under the
authority of the Father
– There are those who believe Jesus performed miracles by His own authority, but this is simply not true. Peter attested
that the Father was working through the Son to perform the miracles. A very
important thing to understand about Jesus is that He was submitted to
His Father and was walking by the Spirit just as God requires of us. Christ
was essentially the first Christian, and this becomes clear when we look at
some of the things He said in the gospel of John, namely John 14-10,11.
Act 2,23-36
(149a) Witness
>>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Works of the Church bear witness to Jesus >> Evangelism >>
Three key messages in evangelism >> The
resurrection – We
will all receive resurrected bodies one day,
and we who believe in Jesus will all be delivered from death and hell. The
apostle Peter was quoting King David, who was also a prophet; when he died, he
went to a place called “Abraham’s bosom,” which was Jesus' description of paradise (Lk
16-22); it is the place where everybody went who died in faith during Old
Testament times. Note that Jesus did not describe this place as the bosom
of Moses, because then people would think they had to obey the law to go to heaven. Instead, it suggests
they must obey the Holy Spirit as Abraham
did. Abraham was actually a new covenant believer in a pre-old covenant age,
for the new covenant is about obeying the Holy Spirit, not the law. Paul
said in Eph 4-8, quoting the Old Testament, “When he ascended on high,
he led captive a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men” (Psalm 68-18). Also, Jesus
said in Jn 10-16, “I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must
bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock
with one shepherd.” He brought His people together, the Old Testament fold
with the New Testament fold, and He made them one flock with one shepherd.
Now, everyone in the new covenant era who dies in faith goes directly to
heaven, bypassing Abraham’s bosom. See also: What
happens to people when they die;
Rom 14-9; 66a
Act 2-23,24
(29h) Gift of God
>>
God is on our side >> He fights our battles for
us
(46i)
Judgment >> Spiritual warfare >> Satan falls by his own wickedness
(220c) Sovereignty
>>
God overrides the will of man >> Predestination >>
Predestined according to His foreknowledge – The predetermined plan and foreknowledge of
God suggests that God tricked the world into crucifying His Son. After all,
how was it not a trick if Israel
crucified their own Messiah without knowing it? He
not only tricked mankind into crucifying Jesus, He also tricked the devil,
who was
behind the whole thing, for it was from Satan that He took the keys of death
and hell. Satan incurred total defeat and retribution from the spiritual war that
took place at the cross, and man was caught in the middle
of this spiritual war through the work of his own hands. It wasn’t man whom the cross destroyed, but
Satan, who should have known better, and in so doing God has perfected
forgiveness and salvation through the man they murdered, after God raised Him from
the dead. See also: Spiritual warfare (God is at war with the devil and
man is in the middle);
Act 14-5,6; 89f
(247g) Priorities
>>
God’s priorities >> God’s interests >>
God is interested in the cross
Act 2-23
(241i) Kingdom of God
>>
Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >>
Persecuting the kingdom >> Persecution to the
death >> Kill Jesus >>
Kill Jesus by the predetermined plan of God
>>
The apostles taught about His death
Act 2-24
(64g) Paradox
>>
Anomalies >> Limits of God >>
God cannot die
(243j) Kingdom of God
>>
The eternal kingdom >> The indestructible
kingdom >> The head of the body is
indestructible >> Jesus is indestructible
(254g) Trinity
>>
Holy Spirit’s relationship between Father and Son >>
Jesus is the life of the Spirit >> Jesus is the
substance of God’s life >> Jesus conquered
death because He is life – It was impossible for Jesus to be held in the
power of death, alluding to His resurrection. In the beginning, in the Garden
of Eden, God said to Adam and Eve, “Do not eat from the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil, for in the day that you eat of it you will surely
die.” This was God’s only commandment to them, and to break it was sin,
which became the cause of death in the world. The apostle Paul taught that
there is now a law of sin that resides in our bodies that reads: if we live in
a sinful body, we must sin, and if we sin, we must die. However, the Bible
also teaches that although Jesus lived in a body like our own that was capable
of sin, yet He was without sin. When He died, there was no exception
clause written into the law for those without sin, since it was assumed that
everyone was a sinner, until Jesus came along. This is why Jesus was born in
human flesh, so when He died, His death would violate the law of sin and
destroy the power of death. Jesus through His perfect
soul breached the wall of sin and death that stands between man and God, so
now anyone who believes in Him for eternal life may follow Him through this
door He made after God raised Him from the dead.
See also: Jesus broke the law of sin and death;
Heb 2,14-18; 39i
KJV
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Act 2,25-32
(37e) Judgment
>>
Jesus’ humanity >> He was part of the lineage
of David –
To understand the significance of David’s throne, we must return to His
kingdom to discover what it was about it that is reminiscent of the future
Kingdom of Messiah. It turns out that David’s throne was established as the
very first kingdom that rose above Israel’s enemies in the land of Canaan, a
land flowing with milk and honey that God promised Abraham. He used David as the
fulfillment of the promise that he and his descendents should live there, as it
is written, “Now the LORD said to Abram, ‘Go forth from your country, And
from your relatives And from your father's house, to the land which I will show
you’” (Genesis 12-1). David’s throne was marked with blood, a
violent kingdom; many thousands of the inhabitants of Canaan died in war during
his reign: the Hittites, the Jebusites, the Canaanites, the Philistines,
etc. His was a kingdom of the type that Christ will inherit, for it too will be
marked with blood in regard to the tribulation period, consisting of the Seals,
the Trumpets and the Bowls of God’s fierce wrath, when many hundreds of
millions of people will die in the process of Christ accessing His earthly
throne. Again as it is written, “From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that
with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of
iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty”
(Rev 19-15). The Great Tribulation prophesied by Messiah is to included a
parallel of David’s kingdom, and through His zeal
for righteousness He fought for us by going to the cross and conquering sin and
death for those who would believe in Him through their word. See also: Christ
inherits the Davidic kingdom; Act
2-34,35; 137a
(102i) Thy kingdom come
>>
Faithfulness (Loyalty) >> Consistency >>
Faithfulness –
After David established His kingdom, he lived a while longer and ended up having
internal problems with his family; later he died and his son Solomon reigned in
his place. Solomon wrote some fascinating books that we love to read in the
Bible: Proverbs, Song of Solomon, and Ecclesiastes. He became one of the
wealthiest kingdoms on earth, but he made one big mistake, idolatry regarding
his love of women and pleasure, suggesting that his wisdom was tainted with the
attitude, "Do as I say and not as I
do," which no writer in the New Testament calls wisdom. James taught that the only good faith is a proven faith. Faith trumps
wisdom in the age of grace, for wisdom does not guarantee faith, but a sincere
faith does guarantee wisdom.
Act 2,25-28
(37f) Judgment
>>
Jesus’ humanity >> Jesus had human limitations –
When Jesus lived in the flesh He was not omniscient; His Father was His
teacher, who made known to Him the ways of life. Jesus was taught by the Holy
Spirit to love and appreciate all that was good and right. He was born in a
manger; His soul being the Holy Spirit, He was incased in sinful flesh. They
gave Him the name Jesus, and as He grew through His adolescence into adulthood,
He learned many things. Since He inherited the
sinful nature from His mother, “He was tempted in all things as we are,”
yet He committed no sin (Heb 4-15). David said, “My flesh will live in hope”
of the resurrection,
except that Jesus should first sacrifice His flesh that He inherited from
Mary, who was
just as much a sinner as the rest of us, regardless what the Catholics say.
(80k) Thy kingdom come
>>
Know the word to minister to people >> To
evangelize the world -- These verses go with verses 16-21
(141g) Witness
>>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Old Testament bears
witness to the new >> It bears witness to Jesus >>
Prophesy about Jesus’ resurrection -- These verses go with verses
30&31. For
the book of Acts to quote the Psalms is to affirm the Old Testament as the
word of God. If a person were inclined to believe in the New Testament and
consider the Old Testament a mere book of stories, he must answer why the New
Testament quotes the Old and why it affirms these stories are true. For
example, many people consider the Psalms to be nothing more than good poetry,
but the New Testament considers the Psalms to be a wealth of prophecy
regarding the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
(253k) Trinity
>>
Relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is
subject to the Father >> Jesus is subject to God’s
ability –
This verse is talking about Jesus’ relationship with His Father while He
lived in the flesh. Since He has been
raised from the dead and ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of
His Father denoting the power of God, the Father is at Jesus' left hand, denoting
grace and mercy. We think we
understand the Son after taking on human flesh, but we need to remember that
before Jesus was born in Bethlehem, He was already human; that is,
God is human. He created us in His image, and then became like us that we
might become like Him. Throughout eternity we will
learn what it means to be human.
Act 2-25
(104h) Thy kingdom come
>>
Pure in heart shall see God >> Shall see the
Father >> God is in our presence -- This
verse goes with verse 28
KJV
WEB
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Act 2-27
(136g) Temple
>>
Your spirit is the temple of God >> The body of
Christ >> Jesus’ spiritual body
Act 2-28
(104h) Thy kingdom come
>>
Pure in heart shall see God >> Shall see the
Father >> God is in our presence -- This
verse goes with verse 25
Act 2-29
(122a) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >>
Confidence in God >> Confidence in the word of
God
Act 2-30,31
(141g) Witness
>>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Old Testament bears
witness to the new >> It bears witness to Jesus >>
Prophesy about Jesus’ resurrection -- These verses go with verses
34&35. King
David was significant in two ways: (1) God promised to send Messiah through
the lineage of David. He didn’t promise Messiah would sit on the throne of
Solomon or Josiah or Hezekiah, but that He would sit on the throne of David. (2) David
was significant in that he was a prophet and
prophesied that this very Messiah would not suffer decay of His mortal
flesh, but God would raise Him from the dead. What David wrote was true,
but how it came true would be God’s work in His time.
Act 2,33-36
(67a) Jesus Is At The Right Hand Of The
Father (Key verse)
(67d) Authority
>>
Jesus at the right hand of the father >> He
delegates authority –
God will make His enemies a footstool for His feet, according to 1Cor 15,24-28,
which states that death is the last enemy to be defeated. In
eternity death will be centralized in hell, for nowhere else in God’s creation
will death exist. Currently, Jesus is sitting at the right-hand of God's power,
and slowly and
methodically with an eternal plan in mind, when the nations reach their
crescendo and when civilization collapses and when the antichrist the
opportunist takes advantage of the situation and erects His one-world
government, Jesus will come and
throw him and the false prophet into hell after He has dismantled his kingdom, and then
He will bind Satan for a thousand years. During this time, Christ will erect His
own kingdom, and after the period of Millennium is completed, He will release
Satan from his prison to tempt the nations once more to prove that Satan cannot
be trusted and that the nations cannot obey God while the he is loose. After this episode,
God will throw Satan into hell,
and then call the Great White Throne Judgment to order and judge every person
who died outside of faith, and He will throw them all into
hell. Then He
will create a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. See also: Sequence of endtime events; 1Cor 15-26; 34h
Act 2-33
(35g) Gift of God
>>
God gives Himself to us >> Jesus sends the Holy
Spirit -- This verse goes with verses 38&39
(153c) Witness
>>
Validity of the Father >> Witnesses of the
father >> Holy Spirit bears witness of the
father
(205c) Salvation
>>
Salvation is based on God’s promises >>
According to promise >> Promise of the Holy
Spirit -- This verse goes with verses 38&39
Act 2-34,35
(137a) Temple
>>
Building the temple (with hands) >> Jesus is the
foundation >> Jesus is head of the Church –
Originally quoted from Psalm 110-1 Jesus used this verse in Lk 20,41-44,
“Then He said, ‘How is it that they say the Christ is David’s
son?’ For David himself says in the book of Psalms, ‘The Lord said to my
Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your
feet.’ Therefore David calls Him Lord, and how is He His son?"
He made the point to dismay His enemies that Messiah is not physically
from the lineage of David; that is, He was not the son of His stepfather,
Joseph. In making the point that Messiah was not the son of David inherently
made the point that since He was removed from David in a physical sense, how
much more was He removed from David in a spiritual sense? He confounded them
when they gathered around Him and were getting a little too close. His
bigger point to the Pharisees was that the Messiah was not the son of David
because in fact He is God. Now, in the book of Acts the apostles were
using this verse to unravel the mysteries of God and to assuage centuries of
false doctrine, and as an evangelism tool Peter won three thousand souls to
the Kingdom.
See also: Christ
inherits the Davidic kingdom;
Act 2,25-32; 37e
(141g) Witness
>>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Old Testament bears
witness to the new >> It bears witness to Jesus >>
Prophesy about Jesus’ resurrection -- These verses go with verses
25-28
(245j) Kingdom of God
>>
Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >>
Literal manifestations >> Manifestation of God’s
righteous judgment >> Manifestation of His
authority –
Christ will make his enemies a footstool for his feet, which indicates that
the location of hell is at the center of the new earth. God can do this
however He wants, but one theory is that He could start with hell and form the earth
around it, so that earth acts as Jesus footstool after the New Jerusalem
descends upon it, the most specific definition of heaven. (see Revelation
chapter 21). Just as a chair is near the footstool, so heaven is upon the
earth; the the New Jerusalem, the city of God; this is where He lives. It says that
it comes down out of heaven from God and it will rest upon the earth. Isaiah
66-24 says, “Then they will go forth and look on the corpses of the men who
have transgressed against Me. For their worm will not die And their fire will
not be quenched; And they will be an abhorrence to all mankind.” When we
read the entire chapter of Isaiah 66, we see that this event is appended into
an annual celebration that at the end of it God will allow His people to peer
down a portal into hell, where we will see the
suffering of hell and all the wicked eternally dying. See also: Lake of fire (Located at the center
of the new earth);
1Pet 3,8-18; 124k
Act 2-36
(66a) Authority
>>
Lordship of Christ >> He is Lord over all
creation >> over life and death
KJV
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Act 2,37-47
(231a) Kingdom of God
>>
God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Mystery
of godliness >> Solving the mystery of godliness >> The Church discloses the mystery of Christ
Act 2,37-41
(143i) Witness
>>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Witnesses of Jesus >>
Popularity >> Sought commendably >>
Being sought for your relationship with God
(239d) Kingdom of God
>>
Pursuing the kingdom >> Pursuing the knowledge
of the kingdom >> Teachers >>
Teachable students >> The teachable submit to
the word
Act 2,37-40
(149b) Witness
>>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Works of the Church bear witness to Jesus >> Evangelism >>
Three key messages in evangelism >> Repentance – “What should we do?” is the age-old
question. Salvation is so simple a child can
understand it, but to those who are wise in their own eyes, it is more elusive
than Bigfoot. People want to know what to do, and this is the reason how-to books are so popular.
We can preach a sermon, and people will be cut to the quick,
but in the end all they really want to know is "What must I do to be
saved?" 'Is there a recipe for this?' they asked, and Peter answered,
"Repent
and be baptized."
(193d) Die to self (Process of substitution)
>>
Turn from your evil ways >> Turn from sin to God
–
When the people asked Peter, "Brethren, what shall we do?" they were asking
him how to activate (or effect) their salvation. Christianity doesn’t lend itself well to answering the
question of what to do, because Christianity is a matter of the heart,
whereas what we must do is a question for the hands and feet, and there
is often great disparity between these two. The people could have done what
Peter said and still not been saved, yet they got
saved, not by doing what Peter said and not by believing in Jesus, but both.
"Believing" and faith are two completely different things.
That is, believing by definition must be accompanied by obedience, whereas
faith comes from heaven. God recognizes our
belief in the truth, which sanctifies our actions, making repentance and baptism acceptable to
Him, and the outcome is faith, and the result of faith is salvation, which is
defined as the indwelling Holy Spirit. Some people have said the sinner’s
prayer hoping it will do the trick, but believing such theology is nothing short of an incantation of
witchcraft. Other people believe that being a good person will put them in
God's graces,
but the indwelling Holy Spirit makes the
difference between man’s religion and God’s imparted righteousness, for
His presence in the believer proves his heart is with God. Without Him, none of our
efforts to seek God's favor amount to anything.
See also: Difference between "belief" and
"faith";
Rom
14-22,23; 122g
(207j) Salvation
>>
The salvation of God >> Salvation verses >>
The generosity of God’s salvation >> Salvation
is the gift of God –
Peter said
that after we repent and are
baptized, we would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, but does that mean we
must all experience
the great rushing wind of Pentecost? No, in fact you will notice they
experienced that without being saved. They needed the indwelling Holy Spirit,
who acts as a pledge and a seal of our eternal inheritance, whereas the mighty
rushing wind depicted a very powerful anointing that merely showed them their
need to be saved. God
doesn’t necessarily perform miracles during baptism, but rejecting His purpose and not being baptized after we have claimed to believe
in Him does send the message that we don’t
believe in Him. Baptism is essentially the new covenant equivalent of
circumcision, which was given to Abraham as a sign for the believer; and baptism is
the same, acting as a sign of our faith in Jesus.
Act 2,37-39
(230d) Kingdom of God
>>
God’s kingdom is a living organism >>
Partaking >> Partaking of the power of God >>
Partaking of the ministry of the Holy Spirit -- These verses go with
verses 1-5. The Pentecostals say that we receive the Holy
Spirit during the baptism ceremony, directly after the worshiper rises from
the water. Some jump around a while to convince those in attendance that the
baptism “worked,” but this reception of the Holy Spirit that they mimic is
not a depiction of the indwelling Holy Spirit that defines our salvation. The title Christians means
“anointed ones,” so if we are Christians then we are anointed, and if the
Pentecostals receive an anointing at baptism, great, but
they should not confuse it with the Holy Spirit of their salvation who comes
to dwell in us the moment we believe, which usually occurs prior to baptism,
since faith is the reason we are being baptized. It is
faith that God uses to save us, not baptism, for baptism is merely a sign of
faith, but just like obedience if it isn't there, it raises suspicions
regarding the sincerity of our faith. The most picturesque passage in the Bible regarding the anointing
is found in Mat 13-33, “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all
leavened.” This parable depicts the anointing as a manifestation of the
indwelling Holy Spirit, but this takes place slowly over a
course of many years, and baptism symbolizes this process.
(234b) Kingdom of God
>>
Pursuing the kingdom >> Seeking the glory of God >> Seeking the glory of His favor
KJV
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Act 2-37,38
(88j) Thy kingdom come >>
Fear of God
causes repentance – This is the statement that every evangelist wants to hear, “What must I do to be saved?” (Act 16-30). It is not easy to get this reaction anymore. Billy Graham had thousands of people come to the altar for salvation throughout his career, though about half were staff members working for the ministry, and many who came for salvation brought another person for support who was already saved, and others were coming a second and a third time seeking confidence in their salvation. Much fruit came from his ministry mostly during the 70’s when revival was happening. It could be that the hippy movement opened people’s minds to the gospel in a slightly different way than the generation before them. World War II veterans started a family in the 50’s in neighborhoods with white picket fences and with a church on every street corner, where nearly the whole town assembled to worship in the fear of God. Unfortunately, the hippy movement opened people’s minds to the possibility that God would accept us on our terms instead of His, which brought us to today’s world of mass public shootings and global problems that threaten civilization. The hippies rebelled against their parent’s religion and went seeking truth for themselves and found it in sex, drugs and rock-n-roll. They also experimented with the gospel, integrating into the 70’s revival. Now, people’s minds are mostly closed, though some are being saved, but their numbers are few in America. There are other places
in the world where the gospel is flourishing, such as the continent of Africa,
Russia and countries in the Middle
East; Asia will probably be next to comprehend God’s grace. See also:
History of America
in relation to faith;
Tit 2,1-10; 10b
(111b) Thy kingdom come >>
Faith
>>
Spirit and the word >> Spirit and evangelism – Peter
preached the gospel on the day of Pentecost when three thousand souls were
saved, and then later the apostles preached a sermon that led five thousand to
salvation (Act 4,1-4). There was a tremendous revival during the
days of the early church, and the reason for it was a new understanding about
God. The gospel of the kingdom was born and people clamored to the new idea,
and it made good sense to many people, for their minds had been prepared by
centuries of worn-out religion. Old Testament prophecies were rich in the minds
of early church believers; they could see Jesus on nearly every page.
Throughout history whenever there was revival there was a revelation of the
gospel; some insights were from God and some were not. For us however, there has been
no new wisdom from God, hence no revival. Televangelists have
corrupted the gospel with deception, loose living and greed, while
the Evangelicals, who claim to be keepers of the truth, have
managed to keep their traditions and their thumb on any potential for
revival. Meanwhile the world has shut their minds to the gospel, not wanting
to hear about Jesus in any religious sense, most believing in nothing, being
atheists or agnostic.
(120b) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Forgiveness >>
God forgives us when we become accountable to Him >>
When we repent
(191b) Die to self (Process of substitution)
>>
Separation from the old man >>
Baptism symbolizes death, burial and resurrection
>> Baptism is a sign of obedience –
Some sects of the Pentecostal denomination say we must be baptized
in the name of Jesus only, while others say it must be in the name of the Father,
Son and Holy Spirit; meanwhile, Peter said to repent and be baptized; and if
we will do that, God is pleased. Baptism signifies death, burial and resurrection,
that is, dying to sin and being raised in newness of life. Dying to sin is the concept of repentance, and receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit
is the newness of life that steadily increases through time as we pay
attention to His inner presence, "as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts"
(2Pet 1-19). Note that the picture of baptism absolutely requires
repentance to be a key constituent of our newfound faith. Peter nicely lays
out the entire gospel for us in verse 38, even answering the ‘what we must
do’ question, and Paul gave the longer meaning and purpose of baptism in Romans
chapters six and seven.
Act 2-37
(8h)
Responsibility >> Preparing to interact with God >>
Preparing for revival –
Revival will come again in the last days, and it will come as the most
profound revival of all time, making the days of the apostles look like
the dark ages. Instead of thousands of people coming to Christ, millions will
be saved at a single event, and it will be the result of revelation knowledge.
People will come to the realization of the truth throughout the world, and
literally billions will be saved overall. At the head of this revival will be
the Two Witnesses prophesied in Revelation chapter eleven, who will direct
144,000 Jews to lead a global revival of the gentiles. People have complained
that nowhere in Scripture does it say these 144,000 Jews will be evangelists,
but what does Zechariah 8-23 say, “Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'In those
days ten men from all the nations will grasp the garment of a Jew, saying,
"Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’” Many
say that if there is an endtime revival, it will occur after the Rapture when people
suddenly realize they have been left behind. We can look in
the Old Testament and find numerous passages about Jesus coming as the Lamb of
God, yet almost nobody in Jesus’ day recognized
the time of their visitation (Lk 19-44). Are we so arrogant as to think this
would never happen to us? Is it impossible for a
Great Endtime Revival to occur right under our noses and we not recognize it
as coming from God? Many will be caught off guard as it happened to the Jews,
who are quite possibly a lesson for us.
(89k) Thy kingdom come
>>
God convicts us of sin >> Conviction makes us
conscious of sin –
Peter’s sermon focused on man’s sin that nailed Jesus to the cross; in
fact, some audience members of Peter's sermon were also present at Jesus' public
execution. They were directly responsible for crucifying an innocent
man, for they did nothing to
stop it. They had blood on their hands, for they didn’t make a verbal statement of injustice but were silent,
unless they shouted with the crowd, “crucify Him” (Mat 27-22). Jesus said
in Jn 6-53, "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves."
This suggests that anyone who partakes of Jesus' blood sacrifice participates
in killing Him, God simultaneously making a way of salvation,
forgiving their sin and giving them hope of eternal life, so when they
cried to Peter, “What shall we do?” they said it not
just from conviction but also from hope.
KJV
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Act 2-38,39
(35g) Gift of God
>>
God gives Himself to us >> Jesus sends the Holy
Spirit -- These verses go with verses 1-4
(205c) Salvation
>>
Salvation is based on God’s promises >>
According to promise >> Promise of the Holy
Spirit -- These verses go with verse 33
(208b) Salvation
>>
The salvation of God >> Salvation verses >>
The kindness of God >> You and your household
shall be saved –
Peter used the word
"children" as to households; “You and your household” will be
saved, as Paul said to the Jailer in Act 16-31. The Bible speaks first to the
man of the house, so when he gets
saved, the rest of his family will follow him in salvation.
Act 2-39
(219b) Sovereignty
>>
God overrides the will of man >> The elect >>
Man is a spectator of his own salvation >> Man
is not in control of God’s calling –
Salvation
does not pertain to all who are willing but only to those whom God would call to
Himself, but He has
also predestined us to be holy and
blameless, suggesting that our will is involved in God’s gracious choice.
There is not a single testimony of anybody coming to the Lord apart from his
or her own will. Talk to anybody who fully believes in predestination, and
they detail how they got saved based on a handful of choices they made. We may hear they got on their knees and prayed to God
for salvation, and they sought Him for years before that, and then the time came
that was set by the Father, a specific day and moment when they finally made the decision to give their
heart to God, and they availed themselves to Him as
instruments of His righteousness and glory. It was an exercise of their will, and God
had predestined it to happen. This defines the elect:
working with God to fulfill His will.
Act 2-40
(148a) Witness
>>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Works of the Church bear witness to Jesus >> Evangelism >>
Solemnly testify about the grace of God
Act 2,41-47
(78e) Thy kingdom come
>>
Sincerity >> Taking God to heart >>
Having pure motives and desires
(128ia) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Bearing fruit >>
Living a fruitful life >> Be fruitful and
multiply >> Growing numerically
(147f) Witness
>>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear
witness of Himself >> Divine works of God >>
Spiritual manifestations -- This verse goes with verses
1-18. Can we say any of these things
are happening in our churches today? Quite the opposite; look at our materialistic world; we need
our stuff because we don’t have Jesus. We don’t trust Him; we haven’t
dedicated our lives to Him. We do not own ourselves; we have been
bought with a price. We are His property, and therefore He is responsible for
us; our only responsibility is to maintain our relationship with Him and with others. We
need to find the path that God has prepared for us and not wander from it. We have churches everywhere
trying to understand God’s purpose, and most are content with
following whatever methodology their denominations dictate, but there are some churches that
are truly seeking God (though I personally haven't found one). The problem is, we have established certain parameters of
obedience and defined success, and are
unwilling to venture outside them to do His will, so we have limited ourselves
and have asked God to bless us on our terms instead of on His terms. This is why we can’t get anywhere with God;
it’s why He seems so distant, and why churches do not resemble the early church depicted in these
verses. Instead of having 2000 years to perfect the faith, we have had
2000 years to lose the truth that the early Church knew. We can still
read the Bible, but mostly we just read our teachings and doctrines into it. People lack
vision, commitment, dedication, wisdom and sincerity. Basically, we
are lacking everything; we have nothing from the Lord; we are spiritually
impoverished. See also: Repent; Act 2,41-43; 131n
/ Condition of the Church today;
Act 17,1-13; 143d
(234j) Kingdom of God
>>
Pursuing the kingdom >> Invest in the kingdom >>
Sold out >> Relinquishing your assets to Christ >>
Investing every asset into Christ –
There have been rare awakenings in the past, but so many revivals have
been based on emotional hype. People in the Church want little to do with the
Holy Spirit these days. We are not in touch with Him; it takes huge commitment
to see this kind of result from our faith that we read about the early church;
we must give our entire lives to Him. People gave virtually everything
they had to the apostles to distribute as needed.
Perhaps they gave everything because they were convinced Jesus was returning for them in
their lifetime or in just a few short weeks or possibly months, so they
wouldn’t need their worldly possessions anymore, but what is probably more
likely is that they realized money and possessions had no value in light of
God’s calling and purpose that they had begun to realize. They could give everything away, because all they really needed was
Jesus. Nothing else was relevant. If they didn’t have a plug nickel to buy
their next meal, it didn’t matter, because they knew God would provide all
their needs somehow. They knew their lives were in the hand of God so that He
was responsible for them. Their only responsibility was to
ensure they did the will of God, which so often required
very few worldly possessions. They knew that if they concerned themselves with
placing God’s will at the center of their lives, He would provide their
needs. This is what they understood that we don’t understand, and this is
how they were able to give away
all their possessions.
(235ga) Kingdom of God >>
Pursuing the kingdom >> Invest in the kingdom >>
Giving (your inner self) >> Hospitality
(providing a temporary home) >> Being a good guest
(250f) Priorities
>>
God’s prerequisites >> Sequence of priorities >>
Natural then the spiritual (obedience then anointing)
KJV
WEB
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Act 2,41-43
(59d) Paradox >>
Two implied meanings >> Kingdom of God is in
your spirit / Kingdom of God is standing in front of you
–
Ironically, in Lk 17-20,21 the Pharisees asked Jesus when the Kingdom of God would come, and He
stood in front of them, the very
embodiment of that kingdom. It takes the Holy Spirit to understand Jesus.
His disciples walked with Him for 3 years, and they made almost no sense of
Him at all, but then He went to heaven, from which He
sent the Holy Spirit into His people and they suddenly understood Him better than they did when He
physically stood before them, even while He performed miracles. The apostles were
holding onto a powerfully anointed ministry, and this is all they
needed. They no longer cared if the physical Kingdom flashed
before them, for now they had the spiritual essence of that kingdom dwelling in
them, which was far better than any physical manifestation. To them the kingdom had
already come, Jesus being the very embodiment of that kingdom, who was taken
from the world and replaced with His spiritual essence.
(109b) Thy kingdom come >>
Faith >>
Revelations of the Holy Spirit >> Revelation of
the gift of God –
The people felt a sense of awe, but such a description does not befit the Church
anymore. After the apostles finally
understood the Lord, they must have longed for a day with Him again, now that they
could fellowship with Him in Spirit and in truth, instead of being constantly mystified and
confused about everything He said and did. Some day we will have both the indwelling Holy
Spirit and the physical presence of Jesus, which is the very definition of
heaven, which no one has ever experienced in the flesh to this day, except
Paul briefly (Act 14-19,20; 2Cor 12,2-5) and the apostle John, and with those
experiences Paul turned the world upside down for Jesus (Act 17-6), and John
wrote the book of Revelation, perhaps the most ethereal literature piece ever
written.
(131n) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Unity >>
Power of God seen through unity – This needs to happen in
our churches today instead of potlucks. We break bread and fellowship with
one another well enough but in the Spirit. They were essentially sharing with one another their
relationship with God while they took their meals together. Bona fide
Spiritual fellowship rarely happens anymore, because people are not allowing
the Holy Spirit to work in their lives. Judges 21-25 says, “In those days
there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”
This is what is happening in the Church today, and as a result there is no
unity. It is a shame that people will not allow God to work in
their lives. They will share their food with one another, but they have very
little to share in their hearts, which defines our complacent
state of apostasy. People are not a bit interested in developing a
relationship with the Holy Spirit. They want a faith strong enough to get them
to heaven, and that is as far as they want to go with God. They are
basically winging their salvation with their eternal souls at the bottom of
the list of priorities, with their worldly concerns at the top. We can’t go anywhere
or find anyone who is excited about Jesus. We are living in an age of
spiritual darkness that virtually goes beyond words. See also: Repent; Act 2,41-47; 147f
Act 2-41,42
(230b) Kingdom of God
>>
God’s kingdom is a living organism >>
Partaking >> What we must do to partake of the
kingdom >> Partaking which requires our
participation
Act 2-43
(111h) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >>
Spirit and the word >> Kingdom of God revealed >>
Word plus signs and wonders
(133l) Temple
>>
Your body is the temple of God >> Holiness >>
Having an awareness of God’s holiness >> The
presence of God makes us aware of His holiness
KJV
WEB
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Act 2-44,45
(34l) Gift of God
>>
Be generous like your Father >> Give to your
brother
(105j) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >>
Led by the Spirit into the truth >>
Led into the mind of Christ –
What would happen if we gave away all our money and possessions to the Church?
First, those who observed us in the world would mark us as
followers of a cult. Second, we would give away our money and possession and
then life would continue, and the vision would fall apart and we would be on
our own again, only we would be broke. That is how it would work for us if we
tried to do what they did, so what's the difference between us and them? They gave away all their
money and possessions, and then they were persecuted from their homes and from
Jerusalem, and they all had to run for their lives, and they wouldn’t have
had a chance to take anything with them. God had them give it all away, so their possessions would be useful to
those in need instead
of it falling into the hands of their persecutors as plunder. The date: AD 70,
it bought
them a little time to remain together in unity strengthening each other,
so when they dispersed, they were better prepared. Giving away all our
stuff is a good idea just before we lose it all, but how do we know when that
happens? God knows! The early church had a hearing ear, and for
that reason they had prophets who told them about these things and what to do. God should orchestrate our lives, for it would prove that the
things we believe about the Bible are true, and whatever decisions we
made individually and corporately would lead us to the will of God.
(117g) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >>
Eyes of your spirit >> Vision >>
Real-eyes God’s purpose for the Church
>> Understand Jesus' vision of the Church –
How the First Century Church lived took vision. Question: did the
apostles teach the people that Jesus would return in their lifetime? The
New Testament does not read this way, so the apostles didn’t teach it. The
New Testament teaches that He could possibly return in anybody’s lifetime,
but they did not teach anyone to bank on it. That would be tantamount to
setting a date, and the apostles were not date-setters. Therefore, people were
giving away all their possessions based on a divine vision that money and
possessions meant nothing compared to faith and unity in the body of Christ.
What would it take to have this kind of vision in the Church today? For one
thing, it would take a refined truth, but the truth today is too muddy to
support a genuine vision from God; our doctrines would lead us astray when we
tried to apply them. Therefore, there needs to be a cleansing of truth; our doctrines need
fixing. There are many things we believe that are false, which has poisoned
the well of our faith as Paul said in 1Cor 5-6, "a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough." For
example, we have not been able to find a relevant place in our doctrines for
obedience; we believe that we are saved by grace though faith, “not as a
result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph 2-9). What good is
obedience? This is what many people in the Church think in their hearts, and
for this reason they are wobbly in their walk with God.
(131h) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Unity >>
Interdependence >> Being selfless toward one
another
Act 2-46,47
(129n) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Unity >>
Being in one accord >> Having one mind –
How can people unite if they never agree? Everyone thinking
differently literally defies unity! What are we supposed to
believe? How do we determine what is the truth? The reason
there is so much disunity in the Church is that there is no central
leadership or final authority. The Catholics have the Pope, but having central
leadership has only proven that it cannot
guarantee the truth! There is no one in authority whom we can trust to tell us
the truth; every church is teaching something different; we can read the Bible
but it doesn't seem to do any good; there are so many
denominations; how are we supposed to come into agreement with one another?
The only way it will ever happen is if an authority figure comes from God to unite
the Church. This is prophesied to happen on a global scale through the 144,000 Jews in the last
days and the Two
Witnesses, who will ignite a Great Endtime Revival
and unite the Church. See also: Great Endtime
Revival (Jews will manage the gospel [144,000] Two
Witnesses - God's Adjudicators);
Mat 24,9-13; 5f
(130a) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Unity >>
Being in one accord >> Communion
Act 2-46
(95g) Thy kingdom come
>>
Attitude >> Having a cooperative attitude >>
An attitude that fosters unity –
It really irks the devil when God’s people are joyful and united. The Church today makes
what they did seem so hard that we cannot even pretend to be united. Unity
occurs only after everything is properly in place, including a healthy fear of
God, and it says they were all with one mind. Look at the Church today; people
do not have one mind; everyone has their own rendition of what the Bible says,
and none of them are particularly accurate, which makes the
problem ten times worse. It said they were breaking bread and going from house to house, taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart. They
spent their time together, and they didn’t squabble; there was a kindred
spirit between them, one of love and joy. They were a happy family, as
God had always intended and as it will be in heaven. God doesn’t want us
to wait for heaven before we unite; He wants us to live in unity now and to
love the brethren and be of one mind. It was all new back then, and they
simply took what the apostles told them as the gospel truth, and there were no
second opinions. They knew the apostles heard from God, so whatever they said
is what they believed, but today when the preacher delivers his sermon, if he
speaks the truth at all, a day later most people forget what he
said. There is such a lackadaisical attitude among the people of God; it is
impossible to get them excited about their faith; everything is an uphill
battle to achieve a remote semblance of faith and love that the First Century Church
enjoyed. We consider worldly things more important than spiritual things, but in the first century the highest
priority was to be with the people of God. Nothing was more important than
their faith in Jesus and fellowship with each other.
(125g) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Joy >>
Joy is the result of unity
Act 2-47
(1d)
Responsibility >> Avoid offending
God and people >> Maintain a good reputation
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