The Increase of Christ in the Continuation of the Book of Acts

Prophecy note, 24 July 2016
In Acts
we are told three times
that the word grew
and that the word multiplied.
A lifeless thing
can never grow
but the word grows.
Actually,
the multiplication of the disciples
depends upon
the growth of the word.
… Many verses in Acts
tell us
that what was preached
and taught
by the first group of believers
was the word.
The scattered ones in Acts 8
went out
to bring the good news of the word.
People believed in the word,
received the word,
and the word
became so prevailing
in that it grew and multiplied.
In Acts 12
is a very meaningful contrast.
King Herod
was persecuting the church
and especially Peter,
but eventually Herod died.
Right after his death
Acts 12:24 says,
“But the word of God
grew and multiplied.”
The persecutor died
but the word grew.

I want to impress you
that the divine Word
is what we really need
and we should be
one with the Word,
full of the Word,
saturated with the Word,
and constituted with the Word.
Then
when we minister,
we minister the Word
by the Spirit.
We do not minister the Spirit
by the Word,
but we minister the Word
by the Spirit.
In chapter 4 of Acts,
while the disciples and the apostles
were praying,
they were filled with the Spirit
and began to speak the word
with boldness.
They did not teach
or preach the Spirit;
the Spirit
was only the power
for them
to preach the word. 

Ephesians 1:11 says,
“In whom
also we were designated
as an inheritance,
having been predestinated
according to the purpose of the One
who works all things
according to the counsel of His will.”
The word “counsel”
can also be translated
as “plan.”
In God’s plan
we have become
portions of “Christ.”
Hence,
all of us together
become the Christ.
We become the Christ
by being in Christ.
First Corinthians 12:12 says,
“For even as the body is one
and has many members,
yet all the members of the body,
being many,
are one body,
so also is the Christ.”
This Christ
is the corporate Christ,
who is composed of
the Head and the Body.
Hence,
we are the Christ
in the big corporate Christ,
and we
have all become
a part of Christ.
Since God’s plan
is in Christ,
we have become
a part of God’s plan
as well.

New disciples
are “added to the Lord”
to become
the parts of Christ,
the members of Christ.

All during the apostle’s long and unfortunate imprisonment-voyage,
the Lord kept the apostle
in His ascendancy
and enabled him
to live a life
far beyond the realm of anxiety;
this life
was fully dignified,
with the highest standard
of human virtues
expressing the most excellent divine attributes.

This was
Jesus living again on the earth
in His divinely enriched humanity!
This was
the wonderful, excellent, and mysterious God-man,
who lived in the Gospels,
continuing to live in the Acts
through one of His many members!
This was
a living witness
of the incarnated, crucified,
resurrected, and God-exalted Christ!

According to Acts 28:15,
when Paul saw the brothers,
he thanked God
and took courage.
This indicates
that the apostle
was quite human.
Although he
was encouraged
by the Lord directly (23:11)
and he was very courageous
all the way in his voyage,
he still took courage
at the brothers’ warm welcome.
It was
in Paul’s uplifted humanity
with its human virtues
that Christ
with His divine attributes
was expressed in his voyage.
He magnified Christ
all the way
in his adverse situation.

If we read this portion carefully,
we shall see
that here
Paul was living
the very life
that he aspired to live
in Philippians 3.
In that chapter
Paul says
that he pursued Christ
in order to be found in Him.
…Throughout a rough and difficult voyage,
Paul lived a life
of ascendancy and dignity
and full of wisdom.
Although he
was a prisoner,
he behaved like a king.
Furthermore,
he had
foresight and wisdom
to handle matters.

Acts 26:18
shows us the work
that you young people
should do today.
Do not preach
the traditional gospel of Christianity.
Rather,
open the eyes of this generation
that they may turn
from darkness to light.
The first thing
we must do
is to help others to see.
In order to do this,
we ourselves
must have the vision
and see the heavenly things.
We must see
the things concerning Christ,
not by being taught
but by having Christ
appear to us.
After you have seen the vision,
you need to contact people,
telling them
that Jesus
has appeared to you
and that you
have seen Him.

To take
the way of the Lord’s recovery
is not cheap.
This way
is expensive;
it requires
a costly consecration.
…We are here
not for a movement
but for the Lord’s recovery.
How can the recovery
be realized?
The recovery
can be realized, carried out,
only by the experience
of the consecration
in the upper room.
This is
not an ordinary consecration;
it is
a special consecration,
a specific consecration,
an extraordinary consecration.
This consecration
is a turning point.

What happened
to those one hundred and twenty
who were
in the upper room
in Acts 1?
They all
became a burnt offering.
They were burning,
and they burned others.
We also need to be burned,
and then
we will burn others.

What are we
expecting today?
Do we expect
a revival or a movement?
Do we expect
a new kind of Christian activity?
What are we
doing here?
Have
we come together
to hear something
that we
cannot hear elsewhere?
…We must be here
for the Lord’s recovery,
which is
the issue
of an upper-room consecration.

When the Lord Jesus
was on earth,
great crowds
followed Him.
Multitudes
were saved and healed,
and multitudes
received the favor of God.
Eventually, however,
there were
only about one hundred and twenty
in the upper room.
…The Lord’s move
was with those
in the upper room,
with those
whose eyes
had been opened
and whose hearts
had been touched.
This small number
came into the upper room
to be burned,
and then
they turned the whole world
upside down.
The principle
is the same today.
It is a small number
who will turn the world
upside down
and change the age.
Do you intend to be
in the crowd
or in the upper room?
Will you remain
one of the multitude,
or by the Lord’s mercy
will you come
into the upper room?
I do not know
who you are.
Only the Lord knows
who will be
in the upper room.

I would urge you
to pray
to receive the Lord’s mercy
so that you
might be
in the upper room.
If you are
not willing to come here,
then what
you have read
in these chapters
will have nothing to do with you.
Then
you will be like
those in the crowds,
those the Lord
did not count on.
If you would be
in the upper room,
you need to pray
in a specific way
and say,
“Lord,
I am willing to be
in the upper room
for the recovery of Your testimony.”

What we must do today
is just go along with the stream,
just subject ourselves
to the current
of the work
of the Holy Spirit.
In this matter
I have
no personal liberty.
It is
not according to my thoughts,
but according to His flowing.

Day 5

Acts 26:16
…I have appeared to you
for this purpose,
to appoint you
as a minister and a witness
both of the things
in which you have seen Me
and of the things
in which I will appear to you.

Acts 26:18
To open their eyes,
to turn them from darkness to light
and from the authority of Satan to God,
that they may receive
forgiveness of sins
and an inheritance
among those
who have been sanctified
by faith in Me.

Acts 26:18 shows us the work
that you young people
should do today.
Do not preach
the traditional gospel of Christianity.
Rather,
open the eyes of this generation
that they
may turn from darkness to light.
The first thing
we must do
is to help others to see.
In order to do this,
we ourselves
must have the vision
and see the heavenly things.
We must see the things
concerning Christ,
not by being taught
but by having Christ
appear to us.
After you have seen the vision,
you need to contact people,
telling them
that Jesus has appeared to you
and that you have seen Him.

The complete, perfect, whole gospel
is found in Acts 26:18:
to open people’s eyes
and to turn them
from darkness to light
and from the authority of Satan to God,
that they may receive
forgiveness of sins,
be sanctified by faith,
and enjoy the common portion of the saints
to have the church life.
In this one verse
there are seven points:
(1) to open people’s eyes,
(2) to turn them from darkness to light,
(3) to turn them from the authority of Satan to God,
(4) to help them receive forgiveness of sins,
(5) to help them to be sanctified by faith,
(6) that they may have
a common portion among the saints,
and (7) be in the church life.
Have you ever heard
such a gospel?
This is the gospel
that the young people
must preach to this generation.
Do not preach the poor gospel
about going to heaven
—preach the uplifted gospel
revealed in Acts 26:18.

You need to go to the Lord
and pray, saying,
“Lord, open my eyes.
I don’t need knowledge, Lord.
I need my eyes to be opened.
Lord, turn me from anything dark.
I don’t want to remain in darkness.
Lord, turn me from darkness to light.”
This is
spiritual reality.
When we are in it,
people will realize it
when we contact them.
You also need to pray,
“Lord, turn me
from the authority, the dominion, of Satan
to Yourself.
I must be a person
who is absolutely in God.
God is
my sphere, my realm, my kingdom.
I must be in God.”
If you pray like this,
you will become
another person.
I can assure you
that you will be different.
If necessary,
even fast and pray about these matters,
saying,
“Lord, I want to have my eyes opened
like they have never been opened before.
I don’t want to be opaque.
I want to have eyes
like the four living creatures
in the book of Revelation.”
The living creatures
have eyes everywhere,
without and within.
We need to be like this.
Then when we contact people,
they will realize
that we are crystal clear.

We also need to pray,
“Lord, grant me
a full and thorough forgiveness
of all my sins.
I want to have a clearance of sins
from the top to the bottom.
I would leave nothing
that has not been dealt with.
Lord, I also want to be fully sanctified.
I don’t want to be
merely a forgiven person
but also a sanctified person.
Then I will be able to enjoy
my portion, the all-inclusive Christ.”
Day by day
we enjoy Christ as our portion,
not in an individualistic way
but by enjoying Him
among the saints,
…those who are sanctified in the church.
…Oh, how we must pray
over these seven matters!
Pray desperately to the Lord, saying,
“Lord, I want to experience the gospel
that You revealed to Paul
as mentioned in Acts 26:18.
I want to experience
this full, complete, perfect, and thorough gospel.”
This gospel
not only covers God’s kingdom
but also Satan’s kingdom.
It includes
the rich Christ
as our portion
and all the saints
as the corporate Body, the church of Christ.
How we
need to experience this gospel!
…Whenever you pray this way,
the Lord Jesus will appear to you,
and His appearing
will give you a vision.

Day 3

Acts 6:7
And the word of God grew,
and the number of the disciples in Jerusalem
multiplied greatly…

Acts 12:24
But the word of God
grew and multiplied.

Acts 19:20
Thus, the word of the Lord
grew mightily and prevailed.

Acts 5:14
And believers
were all the more being added
to the Lord,
multitudes of both men and women.

In Acts 6:7
grew refers to growth in life,
indicating that the word of God
is a matter of life
that grows as a seed
sown into man’s heart (Mark 4:14).

In Acts
we are told three times
that the word grew
and that the word multiplied.
A lifeless thing
can never grow
but the word grows.
Actually,
the multiplication of the disciples
depends upon the growth of the word.
However,
many who read Acts
would mostly pay their attention
to the Spirit.
No doubt,
the Spirit
is stressed in Acts.
But those
who received the Spirit
did not go out
and preach the Spirit.
Rather,
they preached the word.
Many verses in Acts
tell us
that what was preached
and taught
by the first group of believers
was the word.
The scattered ones in Acts 8
went out
to bring the good news of the word.
People believed in the word,
received the word,
and the word
became so prevailing in that
it grew and multiplied.
In Acts 12
is a very meaningful contrast.
King Herod
was persecuting the church
and especially Peter,
but eventually Herod died.
Right after his death
Acts 12:24 says,
“But the word of God
grew and multiplied.”
The persecutor died
but the word grew.

I want to impress you
that the divine Word
is what we really need
and we should be
one with the Word,
full of the Word,
saturated with the Word,
and constituted with the Word.
Then
when we minister,
we minister the Word
by the Spirit.
We do not minister the Spirit
by the Word,
but we minister the Word
by the Spirit.
In chapter 4 of Acts,
while the disciples and the apostles
were praying,
they were filled with the Spirit
and began to speak the word
with boldness.
They did not teach or preach the Spirit;
the Spirit
was only the power
for them to preach the word.

Ephesians 1:11 says,
“In whom
also we were designated
as an inheritance,
having been predestinated
according to the purpose of the One
who works all things
according to the counsel of His will.”
The word “counsel”
can also be translated
as “plan.”
In God’s plan
we have become
portions of “Christ.”
Hence,
all of us together
become the Christ.
We become the Christ
by being in Christ.
First Corinthians 12:12 says,
“For even as the body is one
and has many members,
yet all the members of the body,
being many,
are one body,
so also is the Christ.”
This Christ
is the corporate Christ,
who is composed of
the Head and the Body.
Hence,
we are the Christ
in the big corporate Christ,
and we have all become
a part of Christ.
Since God’s plan
is in Christ,
we have become
a part of God’s plan
as well.

To remain with the Lord
means to be persistently faithful
to the Lord,
cleave to Him,
and live in close fellowship with Him.

Luke’s narration in Acts,
as an account of the Lord’s move on earth,
does not stress doctrine
but the testimony of the Lord’s witnesses.
Hence,
in his narration
there are
no details of doctrines
but of the events
that occurred to His witnesses,
in order to portray
their testimonies in their lives.
It is especially so with Paul’s voyage
in the last two chapters.

Here Paul
was a witness of the Lord.
Therefore,
we should not read Luke’s account
merely as a story of a storm at sea.
Rather,
we need to see in this story
the description of the life
of one of Christ’s living witnesses.

Day 1

Acts 28:30-31
And he
remained two whole years
in his own rented dwelling
and welcomed all those
who came to him,
proclaiming the kingdom of God
and teaching the things
concerning the Lord Jesus Christ
with all boldness,
unhindered.

John 5:17
…My Father
is working until now,
and I also am working.

There are
sixty-six books
in the Bible.
When we come to the end
of many of these books,
we can say
that the book is finished.
…But there is
one book in the Bible
which does not have an end.
All the other sixty-five books
have an end.
But one book
does not have an end.
This book is
the Acts of the Apostles.
Why does Acts 28
end the way it does?
When you read Acts 28,
you feel
as if the book
has not yet concluded.
This book
does not have an ending.
The Acts of the Apostles
is a book without an ending
because this book
is still being continued.
Perhaps
the acts of the first-century apostles
have ended,
but the book of Acts
as a whole
has not yet ended.
Until now
we still have
the Acts of the Apostles with us.
This book
has not yet ended.

The Lord’s word in John 5:17
shows that since the rebellion of Satan and the fall of man,
God has been working until now,
and the Lord is also working.
What is the book of Acts?
The book of Acts
is not a record of the work of Paul
or a record of the work of Peter or John.
The book of Acts
is a record of the work of God.
Who can say
that God has done no work
after Acts 28?
Who can say
that God’s work stopped after Acts 28?

The book of Acts
does not have an ending.
After chapter 28,
many of God’s vessels
are still carrying on
with His work.
His work
is continuing
and has not stopped.
Everything was not over
after Paul worked in Rome for two years.
Paul lived in Rome
and was later martyred.
None of these things
are recorded in the book of Acts.
Peter, Paul, and John
are three important persons,
yet none of their endings
were recorded.
How can we say
that the book of Acts
has ended?
God’s testimony
can never be finished.
We could say the same thing
even if there was
a twenty-ninth chapter,
or a thirtieth chapter,
or even a hundredth chapter.
If one wanted to write more,
new things could always be added.
This is
why Acts stops at chapter 28.
Although the written record
no longer continued after chapter 28,
God’s work
has been going on.
The work in the first century
was not the peak.
For four thousand years,
God has been working.
If we say
that Acts 28 was the peak,
we must be
at the bottom of the hill;
we must have come down from the peak.
This is not true,
because the Lord said,
“My Father is working until now,
and I also am working”
[John 5:17].
We should not assume
that God’s work reached its peak
at the time of Paul,
and we should not consider
that God’s work reached its peak
at the time of Martin Luther either.
No,
the first century
was not the end of God’s work,
nor was the sixteenth century
the end of His work.
Even last century
was not the end of God’s work.
His work
will go on
until the kingdom
and even until the new heaven and the new earth.
God is always advancing;
He never stops.
If we know this
and believe in this,
we will praise our Lord.

This book of Acts
was not actually ended;
rather,
it was left open
that more may be added.
The reason for this
must have been
that the work of the Holy Spirit
in preaching Christ
for His propagation,
multiplication,
and spread through the believers of Christ
was not yet completed
and needed to be continued
for a long period of time.
Such an evangelistic work
for Christ’s propagation, multiplication, and spread
is according to God’s New Testament economy
for the producing of many sons for God
that they might be
the members of Christ
to constitute His Body
for the carrying out of God’s eternal plan
and the fulfillment of His eternal will.
This is revealed in detail
in the twenty-one Epistles
and the book of Revelation,
which follow this book.