Written by Yahusha's Disciple: LUKE (the Doctor) . . . A CONTINUATION OF `LUKE'.
LUKE FIRST WROTE ABOUT YAHUSHA IN HIS EARTHLY MINISTRY (THE GOSPEL OF LUKE) AND NOW HE WRITES ABOUT HIM IN HIS DIVINE, HEAVENLY MINISTRY. IN THE GOSPELS WE SAW THE SEED FALLING INTO THE GROUND, DYING AND IN ACTS WE SEE THIS SEED BRING FORTH A HUGE HARVEST OF FRUIT.
ACTS IS THE ONLY UNFINISHED BOOK IN SCRIPTURE, HAVING NO `AMEIN' AT THE END, FOR THE WORK (AND ACTS) OF YAHUSHA'S BRIDE ARE STILL BEING RECORDED IN THE BOOKS OF HEAVEN, UNTIL HER WORK HAS BEEN COMPLETED.
ACTS 1.
1Dear Theo, I first wrote to you (GOSPEL OF LUKE) about all that YAHUSHA did and taught until He was taken up to Heaven. 2But before He was taken up, He gave instructions to the followers He'd chosen through the power of His Set-Apart Spirit. 3For 40 days after YAHUSHA had suffered and died, He proved (in many ways) that He'd truly been raised from the dead.
(FULLY RESURRECTED IN THE FLESH - NOT JUST SOME APARITION OR GHOST!)
FUN FACT: AFTER 3 DAYS & NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE FISH, JONAH PREACHED YAHUAH'S MESSAGE TO NINEVAH FOR 40 DAYS!
Yes! YAHUSHA appeared to His followers and mainly spoke to them about Yahuah's Kingdom. 4While He was still with them, He said: "Don't leave Yerushalim yet, but wait here for the Father to give you His PROMISED Set-Apart Spirit. 5For John immersed with water (FOR RITUAL PURITY) but in a few days (SEVEN) you will be immersed with the Set-Apart Spirit and POWER".
AT IMMERSION THERE IS A CHANGE IN STATUS AND OWNERSHIP, FOR ONLY SOMEONE RITUALLY PURE (WITH A NEW HEART & SPIRIT) IS ABLE TO BE USED BY YAHUSHA, WHO NOW OWNS THEM - NOT THE DEVIL!
HAVING YAHUAH'S SPIRIT WAS NOT A NEW CONCEPT! AT SINAI, MOSES COLLECTED 70 FOLLOWERS AND YAHUAH TOOK SOME OF THE SPIRIT THAT WAS ON MOSES AND RESTED IT ON HIS 70 FOLLOWERS, SO THAT THEY PROPHESIED THE GOOD NEWS OF HIS WORD TO THE NATION - BUT ONLY BRIEFLY!
SO YAHUSHA TOLD HIS FOLLOWERS TO REMAIN IN YERUSHALIM TO WAIT FOR “WHAT THE FATHER PROMISED” - (SOMETHING VERY DIFFERENT TO WHAT JOHN OFFERED IN WATER IMMERSION).
SO WHAT DID HE PROMISE?
JER 31 "Here, the days are coming," says YAHUAH, "when I will make a New Blood-Covenant with the House of Yisharal and with the House of Judah (not like the Covenant I made with their fathers on the day I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt) because they violated My Blood-Covenant, even though I was a husband to them. And this is the Blood-Covenant I will make with the House of Yisharal after those days," says YAHUAH: "I will put my Living Words within them and write it on their hearts - I will be their Alahim and they will be My people".
THIS TEXT TELLS US THE WHAT, BUT NOT THE HOW? SO WHAT WOULD BE THE MECHANISM THAT YAHUAH'S TORAH WOULD BE PUT WITHIN HIS PEOPLE, AND WRITTEN ON THEIR HEARTS?
EZ 36 "I will give you a NEW HEART and put a NEW SPIRIT inside you. I will take the stony heart out of you and give you a new heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit inside you and cause you to live by my Living Words, respecting My Divine Laws and obeying them. You will live in the land I gave to your ancestors. You will be My people, and I will be your Alahim".
HOW ABOUT THAT? THE PATTERN HAD ALREADY BEEN SET THROUGH MOSES & THE PROPHETS - AND NOW THROUGH YAHUSHA'S BLOOD, THE SET-APART SPIRIT WOULD BRING ABOUT A WHOLE NEW AND HIGHER LEVEL OF FULFILMENT THROUGH A NATIONAL/ GLOBAL BEHAVIOUR REVOLUTION, AND THE INDWELLING EFFECT ISN'T SHORT-LIVED (LIKE AT SINAI) BUT LIFELONG & PERMANENT.
6And while His followers were still with Him, they asked Yahusha, “Master, are you now going to give Yisharal its own King again?”
EVEN AFTER SPEAKING TO THEM ABOUT THE KINGDOM FOR 3+ YEARS, THEY STILL DIDNT GET IT. YOU SEE, THE JEWS WERE BREATHLESSLY WAITING FOR A DELIVERER, AN ANOINTED WARRIOR, TO COME AND NOT ONLY RESCUE YISHARAL FROM THE HANDS OF THE ROMANS, BUT TO ALSO RESTORE SELF-RULE THROUGH A DAVIDIC KING. AND YAHUSHA'S FOLLOWERS KNEW FULL-WELL THAT HE CAME FROM THE ROYAL BLOODLINE OF DAVID & SOLOMON, SO HE WAS MORE THAN QUALIFIED FOR THE POSITION - THEIR MINDS WERE SOLELY ON THE NATURAL, BUT ALL THAT WAS ABOUT TO CHANGE!
7But YAHUSHA said to them, “You don't need to know the times or seasons of those events that only the Father controls. 8But the Set-Apart Spirit will come upon you and give you POWER. Then you will be My witnesses in Yerushalim, in all Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
IT WASN'T UNTIL HIS ASCENSION TO THE THRONE THAT YAHUSHA KICK-STARTED THE BEGINNING OF THE END, REVEALING TO BOTH PAUL AND JOHN THE TIMES AND SEASONS OF HIS SOON RETURN.
YERUSHALIM IS THE BEGINNING POINT (LIKE THE EPI-CENTER OF A MASSIVE EARTHQUAKE) AND THE GOOD NEWS (THAT YAHUSHA IS ALIVE) IS TO RIPPLE OUTWARDS FROM THERE.
9After YAHUSHA had said this and while they were watching, He was taken up into a cloud, and they could not see Him, 10but as He went up, they kept looking up into the sky, dumb-founded. Then suddenly two men dressed in white clothes were standing there beside them, (HE ALWAYS HAD 2 WITNESSES WHENEVER SOMETHING IMPORTANT WAS GOING DOWN) ...
saying 11“Why are you men from Galilee standing here, staring up into the sky?
YAHUSHA'S FOLLOWERS KNEW THAT A WITNESS WAS PART OF THEIR LEGAL SYSTEM, CARRYING REAL POWER FOR KNOWING THINGS - AND WAS OFTEN THE ACCUSER ALSO! A WITNESS WAS TO BE BELIEVED IN THEIR TESTIMONY BECAUSE IF THEY WEREN’T FULLY TRUTHFUL THEY WOULD BE CHARGED ALSO. THE INDWELLING OF YAHUSHA'S DIVINE SPIRIT GIVES US THE AUTHORITY AND POWER TO FUNCTION IN THIS BEHAVIOUR.
YAHUSHA has been taken back into the Heaven. But don't worry, He'll come back the same way you've seen Him go.”
12-13The Mount of Olives was about a kilometre from Yerushalim, and the followers who had gone there were Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James (son of Alphaeus), Simon and Judas (son of James). And after the followers returned to the city, they went upstairs in the room where they'd been staying. 14They often met together and prayed with one mind. The women and Mary the mother of YAHUSHA would meet with them, and so would His brothers.
15During this week (BETWEEN YAHUSHA ASCENDING & PENTECOST) there were about 120 of YAHUSHA'S followers meeting together, and Peter (THE LEADER: "YOU ARE THE ROCK I WILL BUILD MY COMMUNITY ON") stood up to speak to them, saying, 16-17"My friends, long ago by the POWER of the Set-Apart Spirit, David prophesied about Judas, and what he said has now happened. Judas was one of us and worked with us, but he brought the mob to arrest YAHUSHA".
18(Judas bought some land with the money he was given for doing that evil thing, and fell head-first into the field. His body burst open, and all his insides came out. 19When the people of Yerushalim found out about this, they called the place 'Akeldama', which in the local language means 'Field of Blood.')
20"In the book of Psalms it says, 'Leave his house empty, and don't let anyone live there.' It also says, 'Let someone else have his job.' 21-22So we need someone else to help us tell others that YAHUSHA has been raised from the dead. He must also be one of the men who was with us from the very beginning. He must have been with us from the time YAHUSHA was immersed by John until the day He was taken to Heaven. (ie SOMEONE YAHUSHA CHOSE, WHO'D WITNESSED HIS RESURRECTION WITH THEIR OWN EYES!)
WHY WAS THIS A SUDDEN PRIORITY? WHY NOT SETTLE FOR 11 DISCIPLES? BECAUSE PETER REMEMBERED THAT YAHUSHA HAD TOLD THEM (IN MATT 19) THATIN THE NEW KINGDOM HE WOULD BE SITTING ON A THRONE OF ESTEEM AND HIS 12 DISCIPLES WOULD SIT ON 12 THRONES, RULING THE 12 TRIBES ALONGSIDE HIM. AND AS FAR AS THEY KNEW, THIS MIGHT BE HAPPENING VERY SHORTLY, AND THEY WERE ONE MAN DOWN! SO FOR PETER THERE WAS A SENSE OF URGENCY TO HURRY UP AND REPLACE JUDAS.
23So two men were suggested: One of them was Joseph Barsabbas (known as Justus), and the other was Matthias. 24Then they all prayed, “Master, you know everyone's heart! So please show us the one You've chosen 25to be a leader and to serve in place of Judas, who got what he deserved.” 26Then they drew names, and Matthias was chosen to join the group of eleven followers.
P O W E R
John the Immerser, Yahusha and all His followers preached the Kingdom of Yahuah. Matthew's Gospel is especially the Book of the King and the Kingdom, for it introduces the King ...
His birth and ministry, a King rejected and impaled on a torture-stake, a King resurrected and ascended to the Throne of His Kingdom in all esteem. In Matthew there are 12 'Kingdom of Heaven Parables' and also a statement by Yahusha, declaring that Peter is,
"the Rock that I will build My Community upon and I will give you the Keys of the Kingdom" (FOR BOTH JEW AND GENTILE TO ENTER YISHARAL THE BRIDE AND BECOME ONE OF THE 12 ROYAL TRIBES THROUGH THE POWER OF YAHUSHA'S SPIRIT) :
POWER (HEBREW UNDERSTANDING): an arm, power, force, a successful effort, ability, wealth, might, strength, substance, protection, portion, shoulder, virtue.
The Power of the Kingdom would be given to the Bride of Yahusha, "You shall receive the POWER once My Spirit comes within you." The authority is ours through Yahusha.
Each chapter in Acts will show us more and more of the ability that Yahusha's DIVINE POWER has (not man's ability). Even Yahusha said "I do nothing of Myself", also "Without Me you can do nothing". What is the ability and POWER of the Spirit?
SIMPLE: He can do everything and anything!!
Yahusha told His followers to take this Good News (of Him being alive and the only source of deliverance) to all nations, making them followers and immersing them into His Name for deliverance. So if we want to see how His followers interpreted that Instructions, all we need to do is look at this DIVINE RECORD we have here in the Book of Acts. If we want to know how deliverance, casting out demons, healing, preaching, teaching, signs and wonders etc etc ... all work according to Yahusha, then look no further - it's all here in Acts!
The Gospels and Acts go hand in hand together, for the Gospels are Yahusha's Behaviour and Commands and the Acts are the fulfilments of His Behaviour and Commands.
The Instruction (charge) to "GO OUT AND IMMERSE" still stands, however it's up to us as Kings and Priests to decide what the most effective way and behaviour is (in our current society and time) for there to be a genuine response and a harvest in these extremely darkened times.
MATT 16: "I tell you this Peter [MEANING ROCK] on this rock I will build my Community, and no power/force will be able to come against it. I'll even give you the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you say "NO!" to on earth will be stopped from heaven, and whatever you say "YES!" to on earth will be allowed from Heaven. . . . So if anyone wants to follow Me (AND BE BLESSED WITH THIS KINGDOM POWER), let him say "NO!" to himself (AND THE DEVIL), take up his torture-stake, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his own life will lose it, but whoever destroys his life for My sake will find it. . . . For the Son of Man will come in his Father’s POWER, with His Angels to repay and reward everyone according to their behaviour. Yes! I tell you that there are some people standing here who will not experience death until they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom!”
It is no different for us here today!
THIS SEED OF POWER IS WITHIN US - WAITING TO BE ACTIVATED THROUGH BELIEF IN OUR DAILY BEHAVIOUR !!