Acts chapters 6 & 7

The Prophet Stephen, aka Martyr

Stephen, above all others in the New Testament Church, even the apostles, understood the timing issue. See Acts chapters 6 and 7.

What was the faithful Israelite’s attitude at the time of the coming of Christ? He believed the law of Moses, the prophets, the histories, and the Psalms of David. He had a view of Israel as the premier nation, the nation God had chosen for a special purpose. I like to imagine that the 12 were that type; with all their failings, they were hoping for God’s promises of a kingdom to come true and to be a part of it.

Stephen was not one of the 12. We don’t know, but he might have been a follower in the crowds around Jesus, or he might have been someone who while visiting during the Feast of Pentecost, was such an Israelite like the Apostles. He caught the vision of the Kingdom, but Stephen was amazing. He Continue reading “Acts chapters 6 & 7”

Acts Chapter 3 & “Till His Enemies Are Made His Footstool”

Acts 3 & Christ’s Footstool

In another message in Act, Peter seems to say that the new is still to come.

“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.” Acts 3:19-21.

But does this “restitution of all things” occur in one event at the end of the world or in a process that begins at the second coming? “Yea, and all the Continue reading “Acts Chapter 3 & “Till His Enemies Are Made His Footstool””

The Book of Acts & the Last Days

The Disciples Acted Like the End was Near

Consider the book of Acts. In Acts 2, after the crowd made comments about the disciples appearing drunk, Peter preaches and quotes from the prophet Joel:

“For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.'” Acts 2:15-21.

Continue reading “The Book of Acts & the Last Days”