One Accord and Crucial Aspects of the Book of Acts
Message Eight
The Divine Trinity and the Kingdom of God
THE EXTRACT OF THE OUTLINES
Scripture Reading:
Acts 1:3 To whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many sure proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking the things concerning the kingdom of God.
8:12 But when they believed Philip’s preaching of the gospel concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
28:31 Proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness, without hindrance.
I. The Triune God is the structure of the entire New Testament; likewise, The Triune God is the structure of the book of Acts; chapter after chapter, the book of Acts reveals the operation of The Triune God for the sake of executing God’s New Testament economy—1:1-2, 4-5, 8: (Monday)
A. God is unique, and we must be under the government of this revelation; this unique God is Triune, three-in-one—Father, Son, and Spirit—Psa. 86:10, Isa. 45:5, 1 Cor. 8:4, Matt. 28:19.
B. The Triune God—Father, Son, and Spirit—is fully contained in the ascension of the Son and the outpouring of The Spirit; the Son ascended, the Father exalted Him, and The Spirit was poured out—Acts 2:32-36, Luke 24:51, Phil. 2:9.
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C. In Acts chapter sixteen, verses six through seven, the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Jesus are used interchangeably, revealing that the Spirit of Jesus is the Holy Spirit; this indicates that in the Spirit of Jesus there are not only the divine element of God but also the human element of Jesus, and the element of His human living and His death—Acts 16:6-7, Phil. 2:7-8: (Tuesday)
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1. Paul, as a vessel containing The Triune God, was fully constituted of the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Jesus—Eph. 3:14-17. (Wednesday)
2. The kind of work we do for the Lord depends on the kind of Spirit by which we are guided, directed, taught, and constituted; when the all-inclusive Spirit becomes our constitution, our work will be the expression of this Spirit—Acts 16:6-7, Rom. 8:9.
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D. God bought the church with His own blood; the blood He shed was not only the blood of the man Jesus but also the blood of the God-man—Acts 20:28, John 1:1, 14, 1 John 1:7. (Thursday)
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II. The kingdom of God is the theme of the apostles’ preaching in the book of Acts—1:3, 8:12, 14:22: (Friday)
A. According to the New Testament, the kingdom of God is not a visible physical realm; actually, the kingdom of God is a person, who is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself—Luke 17:20-21.
B. The churches are parallel to the kingdom of God; the churches produced by the propagation of the resurrected Christ are the kingdom of God on the earth today—Acts 14:22, 20:25, 8:1, 12.
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C. The kingdom of God is Christ as life being spread into His believers, forming the realm of God’s government in His life—2 Pet. 1:3. (Saturday)
D. Paul’s proclaiming the kingdom of God in Acts chapter twenty-eight, verse thirty-one, is the propagation of the resurrected Christ; teaching the things concerning Christ is to propagate the kingdom of God; thus, the kingdom of God actually is the propagation of the resurrected Christ—Acts 28:31, 23.
OPENING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
Acts 16:6-7 And they passed through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, yet the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.
28:31 Proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness, unhindered.
Word of Appetizer
What is the structure of the book of Acts? What is the main subject of the apostles’ preaching in Acts?
The Divine Trinity is the structure of the book of Acts; chapter after chapter of Acts unveils the operation of the Divine Trinity for the carrying out of God’s New Testament economy.
The kingdom of God is the main subject of the apostles’ preaching in Acts. The fact that the resurrected Christ, in His appearing to the apostles through a period of forty days, spoke to them “the things concerning the kingdom of God” indicates that the kingdom would be the main subject of the apostles’ preaching in their coming commission after Pentecost.
Spiritual Burden
The kind of work that we do for the Lord depends on the kind of Spirit by whom we are guided, directed, instructed, and constituted; when the all inclusive Spirit becomes our constitution, our work will be the expression of this Spirit.
The kingdom of God is the main subject of the apostles’ preaching in Acts. According to the New Testament, the kingdom of God is not a visible, material realm; actually, the kingdom of God is a person, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. The churches and the kingdom of God go together; the churches produced
by the propagation of the resurrected Christ are the kingdom of God on earth today.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
Even as the Divine Trinity is the framework of the entire New Testament, so the Divine Trinity is the structure of the book of Acts; chapter after chapter of Acts unveils the operation of the Divine Trinity for the carrying out of God’s New Testament economy.
The kingdom of God is the main subject of the apostles’ preaching in Acts. The fact that the resurrected Christ, in His appearing to the apostles through a period of forty days, spoke to them “the things concerning the kingdom of God” indicates that the kingdom would be the main subject of the apostles’ preaching in their coming commission after Pentecost.
The Experience of Life
We in the churches are the propagation of Christ and the expansion of Christ, and we are enlarging the kingdom of God. All the believers in Christ can share the kingdom in the church age for their enjoyment of God in His righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Practice and Application
The kind of work that we do for the Lord depends on the kind of Spirit by whom we are guided, directed, instructed, and constituted; when the all inclusive Spirit becomes our constitution, our work will be the expression of this Spirit.
Through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God, because the whole world opposes our entering in; to enter into the kingdom of God is to enter into the full enjoyment of Christ as the kingdom. To teach concerning Christ is to spread the kingdom of God; therefore, the kingdom of God is actually the propagation of the resurrected Christ—a process that continues to be carried out through the believers today.
PROPHESYING TOPICS—TWELVE TOPICS PER WEEK
Day 1
T1 As a whole the Bible is constructed with the Divine Trinity (Acts 2:32-33)
(Please illustrate that the difference in what the Triune God and the Divine Trinity refers mainly to.)
T2 The Father, the Son, and the Spirit were wrapped up with the Son’s ascension and the pouring out of the Spirit (Acts 2:32-33)
(Please illustrate that the very Spirit of life as the breath breathed into us is absolutely for life.)
Day 2
T1 Forbidding is also a part of the Holy Spirit’s leading (Acts 16:6-7)
(Please illustrate that the move of the apostle Paul and his co-workers for the spread of the gospel was by the Holy Spirit.)
T2 The Holy Spirit is a general title of the Spirit of God; the Spirit of Jesus is a particular expression concerning the Spirit of God (Acts 16:6-7)
(Please illustrate that the difference in the divine elements contained in “the Holy Spirit” and “the Spirit of Jesus”.)
Day 3
T1 The Spirit of Jesus is the totality and the full realization of the all-inclusive Jesus (Acts 16:7, Phil. 1:19)
(Please illustrate that the kind of work we do for the Lord depends on the kind of Spirit by whom we are guided, directed, instructed, and constituted.)
T2 Seeing what is implied by the two divine titles the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Jesus (Luke 1:35, Phil. 1:19)
(Please illustrate that what is implied by the two divine titles the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Jesus.)
Day 4
T1 God obtained the church by paying the price of “His own blood” (Acts 20:28, 1 John 1:7)
(Please illustrate that God is not a man or a creature. How, then, can God, the Creator, have blood?)
T2 As human beings, we need genuine human blood for our redemption (Acts 20:28, 1 John 1:7)
(Please illustrate that as a man, the Lord had genuine human blood, and as God, He has the element that gives to His blood eternal efficacy.)
Day 5
T1 The ascended Lord’s work is mainly propagating Himself throughout the earth (Acts 1:3, 8:12)
(Please illustrate that the churches produced by Christ’s propagation are the kingdom of God.)
T2 In the subject of the book of Acts there are three words are synonyms: propagation, churches, and kingdom (Acts 1:3, 8:12)
(Please illustrate that what the subject of the book of Acts is.)
Day 6
T1 The entrance of the kingdom of God is regeneration…, and its development is the believers’ growth in the divine life (Acts 14:22, 28:31)
(Please illustrate that the whole world opposes the entering of God’s people into the full enjoyment of Christ as the kingdom.)
T2 The prevailing ministry for the propagation of Christ is a fighting, a battle, for God’s kingdom (Acts 14:22, 28:31)
(Please illustrate that if our ministry is truly prevailing, there is bound to be opposition.)
