Acts 1 - Outline

[Jim Watt]

“*TWO ARE BETTER THAN ONE” MINISTRIES*

*Jim & Marie Watt*

*Tel: 253-517-9195 - Email: jmbetter at gmail.com*

*Web: www.2rbetter.org*

January 8, 2012


 *APR 10 - ACTS 1 - CHURCH AND THE HOLY SPIRIT*


 *1. 1:4 (1:1-5) JESUS: POST RESURRECTION PROMISE. “And being assembled
with them, he charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for
the promise of the Father, which you heard from me” (NNT). *No longer is
the Kingdom of God at hand: its fulfillment and immanence through the Holy
Spirit is about to be manifested in righteousness, peace and joy (Romans
14:17). *Hallowed be your :name.*


 *2. 1:8 (1:6-8) JESUS: CLARIFIED PURPOSE OF HOLY SPIRIT. “But you shall
receive power, when the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and you shall be my
witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all :Judea and Samaria, and unto
theuttermost of the earth.”
*This is the correction to idle eschatology (last things) speculation. Your
Kingdom in the Holy Spirit making us *witnesses* Father, is Your will for
us! *Your :kingdom come.*


 *3. 1:9 JESUS: HIS ASCENSION. “And on saying these things, he was taken
up, they looking on; and a cloud received him out of their :sight.” *Some
think it was a cloud of angels who received Jesus. Whatever it was, it was
but 10 days following the Ascension until Pentecost, and Holy Spirit
provision. *Your :will be done, As in heaven, so on earth.*


 *4. 1:10-11 (1:10-12) JESUS: HIS RETURN PROMISED. “And while they were
looking steadfastly into the heaven as he went [and] lo, two men stood by
them in white apparel; 11 who also said, Galilee men, why do you stand
looking in the heaven? this :Jesus, who was received up from you into the
heaven, shall so come in like manner as you behold him going into the
heaven.” *Will Jesus come back literally? Of course, and that to reign on
earth with His saints, and make all things new! O forgive us Father, that
we insist on complicating Your Word with human tradition, reasonings and
theology! *Our :daily :bread Give us this day!*


 *5. 1:14 (1:13-14) 120: PRAYER IN UPPER ROOM. “These all with one accord
continued steadfastly in :prayer, with the women, and Mariam the mother of
:Jesus, and with his :brethren.” *And where were the 500? This number has
now been reduced to a remnant of 120. We thank You for faithful remnants,
Father. *And forgive us our :debts, as we also have forgiven our :debtors.*


 *6. 1:16 (1:15-22) PETER'S PROPOSAL. “[Men] Brethren, it was needful that
the Scripture should be fulfilled, which the Holy :Spirit foretold through
David's mouth concerning Judas, who became guide to them that took Jesus.” *We
marvel at this new take-charge Peter, even before the coming of the Holy
Spirit. It was as if an earnest of this had already come upon him. By this
action, he corrected the sin of Judas. *And bring us not into temptation!*


 *7. 1:24 (1:23-26) MATTHIAS: REPLACES JUDAS. “And they prayed, and said,
You, Lord, who knows the hearts of all men, show of these :two the one whom
you have chosen.” *Now there are 12 once again to be witnesses of the soon
coming of the Holy Spirit. We bless You Father, for this provision! *But
deliver us from the evil one!*


 *NOTE**: 1:5 (1:1-5) JESUS: EXPLAINS TWO BAPTISMS. “Because John indeed
baptized with water; but you shall be baptized in **the Holy Spirit not
many days hence.” *First the *blood* (Calvary), and now the oil
(Pentecost). *Passover* and *Pentecost* are now past. And what will *
Tabernacles* bring at the *Harvest*, the end of this age?


 This is the second book inspired by the Holy Spirit through Luke, possibly
a Gentile convert to Jesus through the apostle Paul. Greek scholars have
noted that his two NT books display the Greek language on a higher level
than any other of the 8 NT writers.


 Not only does Luke write excellent Greek, but he is also one of the finest
of Church historians. Not even secular historians come up to his level of
carefulness in accurately recording these two letters to a fellow Greek.


 Yet with all the above careful and accurate recording - unless we come up
with an intimate love-relationship with Jesus in the Spirit - we will fall
short of the goal that our heavenly Father has for us. To illustrate this
most effectively, let me quote from the extraordinary effect the young C.T.
Studd before going to China as a missionary had upon the life of the well
known F.B. Meyer. (This quote is taken from “C.T. Studd - Athlete and
Pioneer” by Norman P. Grubb, p. 42-44. I first read this biography in 1947,
but it is even more challenging for me today!)


 At Leicester they met F.B. Meyer, who wrote later: “The visit of Messrs.
Stanley Smith and Studd to Melbourne Hall will always mark an epoch in my
own life. Before then my Christian life had been spasmodic and fitful; now
flaming up with enthusiasm, and then pacing wearily over leagues of grey
ashes and cold cinders. I saw that these young men had something which I
had not, but which was within them a constant source of rest and strength
and joy. And never shall I forget a scene at 7 a.m. in the grey mist of a
November morning, as daylight was flickering into the bedroom, paling the
guttering candles, which from a very early hour had been lighting up the
page of Scripture, and revealing the figures of the devoted Bible students,
who wore the old cricket or boating blazer of earlier days, to rend them
less sensible to the raw, damp climate. The talk we had then was one of the
formative influences of my life. 'You have been up early,' I said to
Charlie Studd. 'Yes,' said he, 'I got up at four o'clock this morning.
Christ always knows when I have had sleep enough, and He wakes me to have a
good time with Him.' I asked, 'What have you been doing this morning?' And
he replied, 'You know that the Lord says, “If you love me, keep my
commandments”; and I was just looking through all the commandments that I
could find that the Lord gave, and putting a tick against them if I have
kept them, because I do love Him' 'Well,' I inquired, 'How can I be like
you?' He replied, 'Have you ever given yourself to Christ, for Christ to
fill you?' 'Yes,' I said, 'I have done so in a general way, but I don't
know that I have done it particularly.' He answered, 'You must do it
particularly also.' I knelt down that night, and thought I could give
myself to Christ as easily as possible. I gave Him an iron ring, the iron
ring of my will, with all the keys of my life on it, except one little key
that I kept back. And the Master said, 'Are they all here?' I said, 'They
are all there but one, the key of a tiny closet in my heart, of which I
must keep control.' He said, 'If you don't trust Me in all, you don't trust
Me at all.' I tried to make terms; I said, 'Lord, I will be so devoted in
everything else, but I can't live without the contents of that closet.' I
believe that my whole life was just hovering in the balance, and if I had
kept the key of that closet, and mistrusted Christ, He never would have
trusted me with the ministry of His blessed Word. He seemed to be receding
from me, and I called Him back and said, 'I am not willing, but am willing
to be made willing.' It seemed as though He came near and took that key out
of my hand, and went straight for the closet. I knew what He would find
there, and He knew too. Within a week from that time He had cleared it
right out. But He filled it with something so much better! Why, what a fool
I was! He wanted to take away the sham jewels, to give me the real ones. He
just took away the thing which was eating out my life, and instead gave me
Himself. Since then I have reckoned on Him to keep; but full consecration
is a necessary condition of any deep experience of His keeping power.”


 *And now - our Psalm for the day: 100:3 (100:1-5) HIS STEADFAST LOVE
(CHEsed) ENDURES FOREVER. “Know that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made
us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture” (ESV).
*This Psalm is a pearl of praise. We accept its exhortation to praise You
with all our heart, O great JEHOVAH Father. Yes, with heart, soul, mind and
strength we give praise to You! *Hallowed be your :name!*



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