The Promise of the Holy Spirit
1:1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
The Ascension
6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
Matthias Chosen to Replace Judas
12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. 13 And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. 14 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
15 In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, 16 “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. 17 For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.” 18 (Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. 19 And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) 20 “For it is written in the Book of Psalms,
“‘May his camp become desolate,
and let there be no one to dwell in it’;
and
“‘Let another take his office.’
21 So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.” 23 And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. 24 And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen 25 to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” 26 And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles. (ESV)
Hey everyone! I was so inspired by Revelation 22 yesterday about Jesus coming soon and all of your comments that I wrote a blog about it! Check the blog out by clicking on my name. Leave a comment. And you will receive a free cd of “The Maranatha Sermon” from the last night of Revival 08!
And now let’s dive in deep to the book of Acts and take a look at the early church!
New Book!!!
7He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.
8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
When the disciples asked Jesus if He was going to restore the kingdom, He didn’t reprimand them for their foolish thinking. He just reminded them that until it happened, they needed to focus on evangelism, first to Jerusalem (their city – the place they were every day), then to Judea and Samaria (more outlying regions) and to the ends of the earth (no explanation needed here).
This is the kinds of mindset we all need to have. If we are excited for Jesus’ return in Revelation and want to see that day come sooner, then we will make evangelism our number one priority. God will one day return, but it’s not going to happen until everyone that He has called becomes saved. So every day we wake up here on earth and are not already with Jesus, we need to be boldly reppin’ Christ on our high school campuses, our communities, and everywhere that we go.
5For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
John had been bapatizing hundreds of people in his lifetime with water. When Jesus said this, it was almost like a heads up to tell Him that he did not need to baptize people with water anymore but with the Holy Spirit, whome Jesus was going to send.
3After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.
All the men and apostles were gathered in a room praying and some mourning over Jesus’ death. Then ‘BAM” in comes Jesus out of no where and surprises them all. At first they are like, whats goin on but when Jesus said He was the One and True Messiah who had just died on the cross for the sin of the world most of them believed. Those who still didnt believed, Jesus actually showed them physical evidence that He was the One who just had been crucified on the cross. After they all beleived He started to tell them about Heaven and how He will come again soon and He will leave the Holy Spirit to watch over them.
24Then they prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen
25to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs.”
I really like the way they chose another apostle. Instead of voting or playing rock paper sciscors, they leave it up to God. They said “Lord, you know everyones heart.” That is definetly true. They wanted a new apostle to take place where Judas once was. Then they cast lots. Realisticly this is gambling, but in reality nothing is, because God will know the outcome and will decide who wins and who loses. If only we relied on this way to chose our leaders…. Then we’d be much beter off in the long run…. and the short run.
3After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.
If only everyone would just believe what is written in the Bible! People are always testing and challanging the word and trying to contradict what Jesus says in the Bible. The first chapter of Acts starts out with giving more evidence and “many convincing proofs that he was alive.” But because we as followers have complete faith and trust in what the Bible says those proofs should reassure us and show us the life that Jesus led and help us defend our faith.
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
How awesome! God promises us the power of the Holy Spirit when we proclaim His name to the end of the earth! Just like the Great Commision in Matthew 28, Jesus promises that He is with us “even to the end of the age”. This verse is another reminder not the be afraid to share the gospel. God is not only going to give us the words to speak (Matt. 10:19-20) but also the power of the Holy Spirit! The next time we share the gospel with someone, who shall we fear but God? Thinking back to this past Mission’s Trip, I remember a point to one of Pastor Bobby’s sermon: misplaced fear leads to no activity. If we are fearing small, little things like a friend’s reaction, or how or when we are going to talk to the person, we’re not going to get anywhere- no progress will be made. Instead of fearing things like these, we need to fear the Lord, obey Him and watch how He is going to work things out for His glory.
11″Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
Revelations might of ended but we are still getting some knowledge of the end times. I can’t wait to see Christ descend from Heaven, and lead His chosen ones into battle! And He isn’t coming down meek and lowly,
13and among the lampstands was someone “like a son of man,”dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. 14His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 16In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. Revelation 1:13-16
I love this picture of Jesus! We see all of the pictures of Him with a crown of thorns or on the cross, but I want an up to date picture! And the only proper response to seeing this is falling face down..
17When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
3After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.
This verse tells of Jesus’ return to earth for 40 days after His resurrection. This is a great piece of evidence for the fact that Jesus really did rise from the dead. Consider the way the disciples acted when Jesus was arrested and after His death, before He appeared to them…they deserted Him and went into hiding (see John 20:12…”the disciples were together with doors locked, for fear of the Jews…”). After Jesus appeared to the disciples they were changed men. If they were making up Jesus’ resurrection as many non-believers say, why in the world would they go from being terrified of the Jews to the point of locking themselves up in their houses, to being willing to suffer intense persecution, imprisonment, and gruemome deaths? In Acts we will read all about the new life that the disciples had breathed into them by the Holy Spirit and what they did to carry Jesus’ name to the ends of the earth. I can’t wait to be inspired by the godly example the disciples set and by their zeal to share the gospel of Christ to all who would listen!
Beth you hit a bulls eye girlfiend. These so called insurrectionists from “the way” went from being cowards to dying brutal deaths for Jesus. Even to an athiest this would seem highly irrational. There are many people that would die for a conviction, but not many that would die for a concoction…It must have been amazing when Jesus came back from the dead to fulfill the ancient phrophecies. I am looking for to seeing you all at small group tonight. For those that did not do scripture of the day this week the pool is nice and cold.
I love this chapter, it is the beginning of a long history book, the history of the new testament baby! I look for ward to reading through this book, with the opening being about Christ and how He was taken up into heaven right where He will return!
Hahaha…. this brought back some more mission trip memories
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
If we are Christians, then we have the amazing benefit of having the Holy Spirit dwell with us! This verse is so focussed on Evangelism and how the Holy Spirit will give us the power and the words to speak when we are talking to people! We are called to take the Gospel of Christ to the ends of the EARTH!! So lets start on our campuses this week with our lunches- Boldly proclaiming the Gospel and preaching God’s word clearly so that others hear the truth, turn and repent and place their faith in Christ’s work on the Cross!
24Then they prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen
I like how in this chapter, they relied on God to choose the next apostel, and that we as Christians should be praying continually and relying on the Lord in whatever we do, because everything that God does in our life is for a purpose and it is for the good. Yeah this is so true that God knows everyone’s heart either they are right with Him or not.
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
This verse really stuck out to me! It is a great, positive mindset on evangelism. We need to be witnesses for Christ, and be tools for him to go out and evangelize to the ends of the earth! It is our mission to go out and tell others about him and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Evangelizing should be a habit for us Christians and we should be focused on the Lord and willing to be bold for him! I know that I do not want my friends and family who are not Christians to go to hell, so it is my job to talk to them!!!
15In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty)
It is so great to see how huge the group of believers has come to be, starting off at about only 120 people now to thousands and thousands of people. It should not stop here though. We can help make the church and the group of believers grow more by spreading the Word to others and invinting them to church.
DOUBLE IT UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This chapter just reminds me of a scene from the passion of the Christ, when Judas hung himself. I keep thinking about that specific scene and how he betrayed Jesus. It just makes me think of how there were 12 disciples of Jesus Christ, but not even all of them were being real for Him. Judas had wickedness and deceitful desires in his heart and he ended up betraying Jesus and he ended up hanging himself. This also makes me think of Teen Ministers at True North. You may think that everyone in that group is a Christian, but that might not be true. I know there has been people in the group who have not been real for God and now they are gone. There could even still be people in there now who shouldn’t be in there. So we need to still confront other Christians and see where there are with their walk with God. I like how Hunter always asks me every week how my walk with God is going. I appreciate him asking me that every week and that is what everyone else should be doing with other Christians, not just non-christians.
8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
this is so encouraging!!! we are the witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ! and the Lord has given us the power through the Holy Spirit when we speak, so He will always be with us. However, we also need to be careful of how we act. Like 2 Corinthians 6:3 says, we should live in a way that we dont cause anyone to stumble and discredit our ministry, that of Lord Jesus Christ. at our schools, we are representing Compass Bible Church, True North, and most importantly our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
14They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
Right when i fistt read this verse i just automatically thought that this is exactly what we, as christians, should be doing everyday! Constantly being in prayer with one another and praying for eachother! It stoood out to me a lot and i am really encouraged.
24Then they prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen
I loved this verse!! It showed how the disciples chose to seek the Lord’s guidance BEFORE they made a vital decision of whom will join them! Where would this world be if we ALL asked for the Lord’s will to be done before we did anything?? I’m pretty sure life would be incredible!! Lean not on your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight!!
7He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.
8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Sometimes we might want to understand everything about God’s plan, but we have to realize sometimes God has not set it for us to know and we have to be ok with it. Besides, our human minds couldn’t even comprehend it because its so amazing. But instead of trying to figure out all the mysteries right now, we have to trust that God will reveal what is according to His perfect plan when He wants to and that things will turn out perfectly no matter what because He is in control. And until they do, Jesus tells us that we have a job to do-evangelize. So lets commit to doing God’s will while we’re still here and not get distracted by wanting to just fill our minds right now-we’ll understand it all in Heaven, but once we’re there we won’t be able to tell anyone to repent. So lets make use of the time we still have.
this whole chapter is amazing and it really shows what it will be like to be a christian when jesus arrives
6So when they met together, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
7He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.
8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
9After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight …………………………………………………………………………………..
These verses are probably my favorite,there realy intense and if you think about it being there would bee sad but yet a very glorious moment.Watching GOd rise up in the clouds and knowing one day hes guna be back is amazing.He left every one in aww when hee left and i think that exact same thing is guna happen when he gets back.God is the opitimy of the saying “to legit to quit”.
7He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.
8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
9After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
10They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.
11″Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
I love this passage. it is really cool. I love how believing and wise the disciples are. especially how they choose their next apostle. It is also amazing how Jesus rises back up to heaven. It is so cool. Jesus goes up to heaven to sit at the right hand of God. This passage is so amazing
This is the first chapter we looked at for the sermon this weekend. The number started at 120 and only went up from there all through Acts which is what we will be reading!!! The exponential growth in Acts has motivated me to double it up!!! Jesus left His disciples the job to create more disciples, and that is our mission.. we are ambassadors for Christ!
7He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.”
Only God knows when He will do something. It is not for us to know. We just need to be ready to do His will with whatever He wants us to do. We need to be faithful to do our part and let God do the rest.
14.) They all joined together constantly in prayer…
Jenae said it, this is exactly what we should be doing everyday, gathering with others and praying continuously (1 Thess. 5:17). There is so much we can be praying for in this world, so let’s bring our requests to the Father and talk to Him daily.
11″Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
SWEET!!! I cant wait!…..this can be good or bad for (depending on where your at) we need to be prepared for the coming of the Lord! Cause He is coming to judge and we better be right before Him or else it aint gonna look pretty. We also need to spread the word so that we can make more disiples. God calls us to. And the reason why He hasnt come yet is because He wants us to go and make more disiples! SO LETS DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Hi everybody! This is the first time I am doing scripture of the day. The thing I like about this scripture is that it references itself to the psalms! How cool is that, when the bible references to the bible! So everybody, according to the scripture, let us not gain through evil acts, because, and this is just me, I really don’t want my guts going all over the place. Plus, gaining through evil isn’t really gaining, it’s losing. Also, Jesus said he shall come back, so let us be content and ready so that, if 30 seconds after reading this he decides to show up, we shall all be prepared for the great journey to heaven. Concerning the end of the world, we know the who (God), we know the why (times up), we know the how (fleeing islands and disappearing mountains). See you all next Tuesday!
8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Wow. after hearing that it is amazing to think how much the church started as and how large it is now. the disciples truly lived by the phrase “double it up.” We as Christians need to continue with the pattern of exponential growth.
6So when they met together, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
7He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.
Even though we don’t know when Jesus will come back, it will only happen when the largest potential number of Christians is reached. there’s another reason we need to prioritize our evangelism.
Right on Jenae and Brett, i totally agree!! Verse 14 really hit me. We should be praying all the time as christians. Prayer is such a powerful tool! It is our one on one communication with our Lord! that is so exciting, and we need to be taking every opportunity to be praying. This verse encouraged me to be praying for others, and gathering with other to pray (:
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
I love Acts!! This verse in particular is so great. It is a HUGE blessing to have the Holy Spirit dwelling among us Christians. We are called to go out into the world and share God’s Word to the ends of the earth. This verse, and so many others, are very encouraging because they tell us that if we come to God and ask Him to guide us, the Holy Spirit will be there giving us the words, wisdom, and preparing hearts. I need to remember that it’s important to pray before I go out to conquer the battles of life (for Jesus Christ)!!
i am really looking foward to reading this chapter!!
14They all joined together constantly in prayer
agreeing with what brett said, we should all be joining constantly in prayer every single day:))
7He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.
8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
This is really cool, cause it tells us that we will not know the future or the times and dates that God has set. But that in those times that we wait for His return we receive power from the Holy Spirit and through that we will be witnesses through out the earth.
This is really encouraging that we have been given the power to spread the gospel with others and not just to people that we know and that we are comfortable with but to the ends of the earth.
3After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.
I wish we knew more about those 40 days!!
4 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
I love that the first thing they did when they went back to Jerusalem was to PRAY!
“For,” said Peter, “it is written in the book of Psalms, ” ‘May his place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in it,’ and, ” ‘May another take his place of leadership.’
-And when considering their first order of business-they (led by Peter) consulted the Scriptures!! The apostles definitely seemed to start off on the right foot. Prayer and consulting the scriptures should be our model for dealing with our problems and with everyday life. They didn’t just consult the scriptures-They KNEW the scriptures! Just another reminder that we should memorize scripture!!
8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
… and you will be my witnesses whenever you feel like it…. WRONG! Look what it says, to the ends of the earth!!! We need to be proclaiming His name all over the place! This verse also brings to mind the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20!
Acts is a big history part of the new teatament. It has alot of things about the church and Pauls ministry.
15 In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty)
Soon to grow a lot more. Our church will grow if we have the right teaching and the right hearts. We want to grow becasue we want MARANATHA and peoples souls to be saved.