Acts, chapters 1 & 2

Throughout the O.T. & Gospels all words highlighted:

• in medium blue were said by GOD the FATHER;
• in apricot were from GOD the Son (Jesus Christ);
• in light purple were from GOD the Holy Spirit.

That remains the case, but now we have the believer's spoken words highlighted in orange.

Also you will see words scripted in blue; this also is a carry-over from the O.T.-- throughout this work all words scripted in blue are words either in prayer or addressing the Godhead.

Chapter 1

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Luke writing to Theophilus: In My former book (Luke's Gospel), Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do & to teach until the day He was taken to Heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles He had chosen. After His suffering, He showed himself to these men & gave many convincing proofs that He was alive. He appeared to Them over a period of 40 days & spoke about the Kingdom of GOD. On 1 occasion, while He was eating with Them, He gave Them this command; Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift My FATHER promised, which You have heard Me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days You will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. See PerMtMkLk28 D.49. (end of the Luke account); s.a. John 14:16 in PerJohn6 A.5. (near the end of John); s.a. Matt 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16 & John 1:26 in Late Life John Later life... (near end of all accounts). BTW, we see that Jesus himself baptized (before John was put in prison) in water (see Psalms 7 - 11 Psalm 10 5. Jesus baptized...)-- but John 4:2 says, in fact it was not Jesus who baptized then, but His disciples (see Psa 141 - 144 Psalm 143 2. Woman #8 Used... A. Part 1).

So when They met together later in Galilee, They asked Him, Lord, are You at this time going to restore the kingdom of Israel? He said to Them: It is not for You to know the times or dates the FATHER has set by HIS Own Authority. But You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on You-- as opposed to in the heart, as we all enjoy from the moment of salvation; & You will be MY witnesses in Jerusalem, & in all Judea & Samaria, & to the ends of the earth. After He said this, He was taken up before Their very eyes [in Galilee-- see PerMtMklk28 E.1. & E.2. (esp'ly Luke)], & a cloud hid Him from Their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as He was going, when suddenly before 9 AM 2 men dressed in white stood beside Them. '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.'

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Then They returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day's (short) walk from the city-- note what I justed added to the end of PerMtMkLk28, about Jesus' appearances to the disciples between the resurrection & ascension. When They arrived, They went upstairs to the room where They were (had been) staying. Those present were the 11 listed in PerMtMkLk2 B.5. Addendum (Acts) Peter, John, James & Andrew; Philip & Thomas, Bartholomew & Matthew; James son of Alphaeus & Simon the Zealot, & Judas son of James-- not Judas Iscariot, whose replacement is soon to be chosen. They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women & Mary the mother of Jesus, & with His brothers.

In those days Peter stood up among the believers (the 10 other apostles & the rest-- a group numbering ~120) & said, Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas Iscariot, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus-- He was 1 of Our # & shared in this ministry (see John 6:70-71 in PerJohn2 B.3.).

(With the reward He got for His wickedness, Judas bought a field; there He fell headlong, His body burst open & all His intestines spilled out. Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, i.e. Field of Blood). This portion in parentheses was added later for some reason. Note that it differs from the Matthew account, Matt 27:3-8, which says that Judas threw the money into the temple, left & hung himself; that the chief priests decided to use the money to buy the potter's field as a burial place for foreigners, called the Field of Blood to this day-- see PerMtMkLk24 D.38. For, said Peter, it is written in the book of Psalms, May this place be deserted; let there be no 1 to dwell in it (Psa 69:25) & May another take His place of leadership (Psa 109:8b). Therefore it is necessary to choose 1 of the men who have been with Us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in & out among Us, beginning from John's baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from Us. For 1 of these must become a witness with Us of His resurrection.

So They proposed 2 men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) [not to be confused with Barabbas, the prisoner released in place of Jesus (see PerMtMkLk25 D.35. & PerJohn8 D.3.)] & Matthias. Then They prayed, LORD, YOU know everyone's heart. Show Us which of these 2 YOU have chosen to take over this apostolic ministry-- for we'd rather not have a Barabbas in our midst at this point, which Judas left to go where He belongs. Then They cast lots, & the lot fell to Matthias; so He was added to the 11 apostles.

Chapter 2

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When the day of Pentecost came, They (the 120+) were all together in 1 place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from Heaven & filled the whole house where They were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated & came to rest on all of Them. All 120+ of Them were filled through-out with the Holy Spirit & began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled Them-- saying what we shall soon see.

Now there were staying in Jerusalem GOD-fearing Jews (both natives & some converts to Judaism we shall see) from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound beyond the house, a crowd of residents of Jerusalem & visitors, both Jews & non-Jews came together in bewilderment, because each 1 heard Them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: 'Are not all of these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears Them in his own native language? As in PerspectiveA A.2., indicated by an asterisk (e.g., Galatia*) are those regions/provinces that were part of the Roman Empire, as of 14 A.D. (note the earliest N.T. book was written in 49 A.D.): Parthians, Medes & Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea & Cappadocia*, Pontus* & Asia*, Phrygia* & Pamphylia*, Egypt* & the parts of Libya near Cyrene*; visitors from Rome* (both native Jews & converts to Judaism); Cretans* & Arabs-- we the crowd heard Them declaring the Wonders of GOD in our own tongues!' Amazed & perplexed, they asked 1 another, 'What does this mean?'

Then Peter stood up with the 11 other apostles, raised His voice & addressed the crowd: Fellow Jews & all of you who live in Jerusalem, let Me explain this to you: listen carefully to what I say. These 120+ men are not drunk, as you suppose. It's only 9 AM! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: In the last days, GOD says, I will pour out MY Spirit on all people. Your sons & your daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on MY Servants, both men & women, I will pour out MY Spirit in those days, & They will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heaven above & signs on the earth below, blood & fire & billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness & the moon to blood before the coming of the great & glorious Day of the LORD. And everyone who calls on the Name of the LORD will be saved (Joe 2:28-32).

Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by GOD to You by miracles, wonders & signs, which GOD did among You through Him, as You yourselves know. This man was handed over to You by GOD's Set Purpose & Foreknowledge; & You, with the help of wicked men, put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross. But GOD raised Him from the dead, freeing Him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on Him. By this same Set Purpose & Foreknowledge, God was the screen writer, who employed such characters as Judas Iscariot, the chief priests, & the "deplorable Roman Catholics" (as I've pointed out several times before)-- but if you insist on being guilt-ridden, please understand that it is impossible for "guilt" to keep its hold on you (assuredly these some 70 generations later). David said about Him, I saw the LORD always before Me. Because HE is at My right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore My heart is glad & My tongue rejoices; My body also will live in hope, because YOU will not abandon Me to the grave, nor will YOU let YOUR Holy 1 see decay. YOU have made known to Me the paths of life; YOU will fill Me joy in YOUR Presence (Psa 16:8-11b). Is your name Mr./Mrs. 70th-generation-guilt-ridden-chief-priest? Become a Christian, speak of the present resurrection of Christ & claim this: 'I see the LORD always before Me. Because HE is at My right hand, I will not be shaken...'

Peter said what David did: Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died & was buried, & His tomb is here to this day. But He was a prophet, & hence knew that GOD had promised Him on oath that HE would place 1 of His descendants on the throne. Seeing what was ahead, He spoke of the future resurrection of Christ, that He was not abandoned to the grave, nor did His body see decay. GOD gas raised this Jesus to life, & We are all witnesses of the fact. Exalted to the Right Hand of GOD, HE has received from the FATHER the promised Holy Spirit & has poured out what you now see & hear. For David did not ascend to Heaven, & yet He said, The LORD said to My ascended LORD: Sit at MY Right Hand until I make YOUR Enemies a footstool for YOUR Feet (Psa 110:1).

Therefore let all Israel be assured: GOD has made this Jesus, whom You crucified, both LORD & Christ. When the people heard this, They were cut to the heart & said to Peter & the other apostles, 'Brothers, what shall We do?' Peter replied, Repent & be baptized, every 1 of You, in the Name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of Your sins. And You will receive the gift (indwelling-- within-all at the moment of salvation; quite different from the on-all for maturity/ministry we saw above) of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for You & Your children & for all who are far off-- for all whom the LORD Our GOD will call to be saints. With many other words He warned Them; & He pleaded with Them to choose wisely, Save yourselves from this corrupt generation. Those who accepted this message were baptized, & about 3,000 were added to Their # that day.

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It's imperative to consider that this described things before the objective was to reach all the world! They were being rooted & grounded in the faith. They devoted themselves (1) to the apostles' teaching & (2) to the fellowship, (3) to the breaking of bread & (4) to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, & many wonders & miraculous signs were done by the apostles-- for they had the Holy Spirit upon them. All the believers were together & had everything in common. Selling Their possessions & goods, They gave to anyone as He had need. Every day They assembled & continued to meet together in the Temple courts. They broke bread in Their homes & ate together with glad & sincere hearts, praising GOD & enjoying the favor of all the people. And the LORD added to Their # daily those Who were being saved-- those who had opened the door when He knocked & were in the process of maturing, 'I will come in come in & eat with Him & He with ME (Reve 3:20).' "Sad" it was when they no longer met daily in the Temple/homes; "sadder" was when they then no longer enjoyed the favor of all the people. However, of note is what Jesus said, that we would receive much, along with persecutions (Mark 10:30). We shall see that the persecutions brought about the scattering of the Church-- recall that God is interested that all should come to eternal life.