Acts 1:8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth. (9) And when He had said these things, while they were looking on, He was lifted up, and a cloud took Him away from their sight.
[Part 1 of 3] Acts is concerned with the propagation of the resurrected Christ. Christ is carrying out this propagation in His ascension, by the Spirit, and through the disciples. The purpose of Christ's propagation is the producing of the churches--the kingdom of God. The Lord Jesus lived on earth for thirty-three and a half years, but now He is in ascension. In His ascension the Lord is very active. We should never think that the ascended Christ is sitting passively on the throne, observing the pitiful situation on earth and feeling disappointed about it. No, in His ascension Christ is active in a very positive way. The case of the stoning of Stephen is an illustration of Christ's activity in His ascension. Speaking of Stephen, Acts 7:55 and 56 say, "Being full of the Holy Spirit, looking intently into heaven, he saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; and he said, Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." As the Lord was looking at the situation on earth in His ascension, He stood up. Perhaps He was saying, "You persecutors may stone Stephen and put him to death. But I will gain one of you--Saul of Tarsus--and make him much stronger than Stephen...." Stephen's case illustrates that the resurrected Christ is very active in His ascension. [continued tomorrow]
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Acts, pp. 9-10. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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