One Accord and Crucial Aspects of the Book of Acts
Message Four
The Resurrected, Ascended, and All-inclusive Christ
OPENING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
Acts 2:32-34 This Jesus God has raised up, of which we all are witnesses. Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God and having received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, He has poured out this which you both see and hear.
Acts 3:15 And the Author of life you killed, whom God has raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses.
Word of Appetizer
What kind of Christ was revealed in Acts?
The Christ revealed in Acts is in resurrection.
The Christ revealed in Acts is in ascension.
The Christ revealed in Acts is the all-inclusive Christ—the Author of life, God’s Servant, the Leader and Savior, the Son of Man, God, the Lord of all, the Judge, the Lord Jesus, the object of the believers’ faith.
Spiritual Burden
Christ’s resurrection was the focus of the apostles’ testimony; God glorified His Servant Jesus through His resurrection and in His ascension. The resurrection of the Lord Jesus points back to His incarnation, humanity, human living, and God-ordained death and points forward to His ascension, ministry and administration in heaven, and coming back.
Since the lordship of Christ was fully established in His ascension, we—the members of His Body—need to realize this heavenly fact. The ascended Christ is God’s Anointed to carry out God’s commission to work out the spreading of the gospel and the building up of the church.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
The Christ revealed in Acts is in resurrection.
The Christ revealed in Acts is in ascension.
The Christ revealed in Acts is the all-inclusive Christ—the Author of life, God’s Servant, the Leader and Savior, the Son of Man, God, the Lord of all, the Judge, the Lord Jesus, the object of the believers’ faith.
The Experience of Life
Acts 3:15 And the Author of life you killed, whom God has raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses.
The word Author in verse 15 indicates that life comes from this Healer, who is the holy One and the righteous One. This Healer has not only the power to heal; He Himself is the source, the origin of life, for He is the Author, the Originator of life. When we have life, we also have healing. Here we see the imparting of life into others. This is to propagate Christ. For such a propagation we need the Lord as the Author of life, as the source of life.
Practice and Application
We need to know Christ in the power, sphere, and element of His resurrection. Christ’s resurrection was the focus of the apostles’ testimony.
Since the lordship of Christ was fully established in His ascension, we—the members of His Body—need to realize this heavenly fact. The ascended Christ is God’s Anointed to carry out God’s commission to work out the spreading of the gospel and the building up of the church.
PROPHESYING TOPICS—TWELVE TOPICS PER WEEK
Day 1
T1 The Lord’s resurrection was the focus of the apostles’ testimony (Acts 1:3, 2:24)
(Please illustrate that why the Lord indicated to the disciples that it was expedient for them that He die and then be resurrected.)
T2 The Lord’s invisible presence is more available, prevailing, precious, rich, and real than His visible presence (Acts 1:3)
(Please illustrate that after the Lord breathed Himself into the disciples, He stayed with them economically for forty days. what was the purpose? )
Day 2
T1 God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you have crucified (Acts 2:32-34)
(Please illustrate that Jesus was made the Lord to possess all, and He was made the Christ to carry out God’s commission.)
T2 The speaking of Christ surely leads to the propagation of Christ in those who believe in Him (Acts 2:32-34)
(Please illustrate that after Peter spoke concerning the Lord Jesus in His death, resurrection, and ascension, he instructed and exhorted the Spirit-moved ones to repent, to be baptized, and to be saved)
Day 3
T1 Christ is the Author of life (Acts 2:23, 3:15)
(Please illustrate that the Lord as the Healer has not only the power to heal; He Himself is the source.)
T2 Christ’s death was not a historical accident (Acts 2:23, 3:15)
(Please illustrate that Christ’s death was an act planned by God according to the purpose of His good pleasure and announced beforehand through the prophets.)
Day 4
T1 Christ as the Ruler of the kings (Acts 5:31, John 17:2)
(Please illustrate that it may seem that kings and presidents rule the earth; but actually, today the entire world is under the Lord’s ruling. )
T2 The Lord is ruling the earth for the purpose of our salvation (Acts 5:31, John 17:2)
(Please illustrate that the Lord’s ruling the earth for the sake of saving people.)
Day 5
T1 Stephen saw the ascended Christ as the Son of Man (Acts 7:56)
(Please illustrate that in ascension Christ is still both the Son of God with divinity and the Son of Man with humanity.)
T2 The church of God has been obtained “through His own blood” (Acts 20:28, 1 John 1:7)
(Please illustrate that God’s own blood is the blood of Jesus Christ.)
Day 6
T1 God has set a day in which He is to judge the world in righteousness by the man whom He has designated (Acts 10:34-35, 17:31)
(Please illustrate that what time the day set by God for the judgment of the world.)
T2 We believe not only into Christ but also on Christ (Acts 10:34-35, 17:31)
(Please illustrate that this is to take the ground and the standing on the person of Christ and all that He has accomplished, both of which constitute the belief, the faith, of God’s New Testament economy. )
