JEAN'S BIBLE STUDY COM

KJV    WEB

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

KJV    WEB  /  Navigation Bar

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

KJV    WEB  /  Navigation Bar

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

(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

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.

KJV    WEB  /  Navigation Bar

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.

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. His introduction of the spiritual Kingdom of God to His disciples and the first converts was to make a point by blowing extra-hard. This literal wind was a one-time event, because we never hear of a literal wind again in Scripture, but that doesn’t mean that a literal wind will not one day return to the Church, such as in the last days.

(140c) Temple >> Temple made without hands >> Hiding place >> House where you live with Jesus

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 as a covering 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), making a distinction between it and the anointing of Pentecost, which is what really changed their lives. A person can be born again and remarkably his life doesn’t change that much if at all, but when God superimposes His anointing over the indwelling Holy Spirit, look-out because sparks will fly. 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. The indwelling Holy Spirit inoculates us from hell, and is God’s pledge to the believer of eternal life as citizens of heaven. Ironically, the indwelling Holy Spirit doesn’t do a lot to change a person; rather, the anointing has the greater impact on a person’s life. Unfortunately however, the anointing is heatedly persecuted in the Church, which alone defines the apostasy of our day. There are many denominations that have doctrines setup to actually resist the anointing. This denotes the level of threat the anointing has on so-called believers, which begs the question whether they even have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them. Those who resist the anointing make themselves appear that they are false brethren, for God has afforded us the promise of His Spirit, not as an option, but as a commandment, not in faith for a heavenly salvation, but in obedience for a salvation in this life, which if they reject it becomes the first step in a long journey in disobedience that could lead to the complete deterioration of their faith. Having the Holy Spirit dwelling in us can help us discern what is from God and what isn’t, so if they are genuine Christians and resist the Holy Spirit, they are rejecting it in full knowledge, which is the ultimate insult to God. The indwelling Holy Spirit beckons us to the anointing and longs for us to be clothed with His power. 

(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 slowly dissipated. This doesn't mean the concept of anointing is obsolete in our day; rather, God still avails His anointing to anybody who is willing to pay the price to receive it through obedience. In other words, the anointing is a term that refers to spiritual maturity. Case in point, the Evangelicals complain about Christianity sometimes described as a two-step process by the Pentecostals, who refer to 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 the life-long process of maturity, which should not be considered a second tier of our salvation but a continuation of the one. God superimposes with 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

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 the apostle Paul; after Pentecost, he won three thousand souls to Christ!

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    WEB  /  Navigation Bar

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    WEB  /  Navigation Bar

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