«　WEEK 8　DAY 1　»

　　Acts 1:3 To whom also He presented Himself alive after His suffering by many irrefutable proofs, appearing to them through a period of forty days and speaking the things concerning the kingdom of God.

　　8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

　　Acts 1:9 says, "And when He had said these things, while they were looking on, He was lifted up, and a cloud took Him away from their sight." Luke's Gospel ends with the Lord's ascension into heaven (Luke 24:51), and his Acts begins with it. His Gospel is a narrative of the ministry of the incarnated Jesus on earth. His Acts is a record of the succeeding ministry of the resurrected and ascended Christ in heaven carried out through His believers on earth. In the Gospels, the Lord's ministry on earth, carried out by Himself, only sowed Himself as the seed of the kingdom of God into His believers, with no church built up yet. In Acts, the Lord's ministry in heaven, carried out through His believers in His resurrection and ascension, spreads Him as the development of the kingdom of God for the building up of the church (Matt. 16:18) throughout the entire world to constitute His Body, His fullness (Eph. 1:23), to express Him, even the fullness of God (3:19) for God's expression. (Life-study of Acts, p. 35)

　　The kingdom as God's reign in a particular way in the sense of life goes in parallel with the church. This is revealed clearly in the book of Acts, where the kingdom and the church are frequently mentioned. Many verses speak of the kingdom (Acts 1:3; 8:12; 14:22; 19:8; 20:25; 28:23, 31), and many other verses speak of the church (5:11; 8:1, 3; 9:31; 11:22, 26; 12:1, 5; 13:1; 14:23, 27; 15:3-4, 22, 41; 16:5; 18:22; 20:17, 28). The kingdom is mentioned first. Acts 1:3 tells us that to the apostles the Lord Jesus "presented Himself alive after His suffering by many irrefutable proofs, appearing to them through a period of forty days and speaking the things concerning the kingdom of God." This indicates strongly that the kingdom of God would be the main subject of the apostles' preaching in the coming commission after Pentecost. Before the Lord Jesus ascended to the heavens and poured out Himself as the all-inclusive Spirit to establish the church, He taught His disciples about the kingdom. If they had not had any knowledge or realization concerning the kingdom, it would have been difficult for the Lord Jesus to bring them into the church. Therefore, in the first chapter of Acts the kingdom was taught thoroughly.

　　In the following chapters of Acts the church is brought in. The first mention of the church is in Acts 5:11. Acts 8:1 refers to the church in Jerusalem. Throughout the book of Acts the church is mentioned again and again. However, after the church comes in, the kingdom is still preached. In 8:12 Philip brought the good news concerning the kingdom of God to the Samaritans. Acts 14:22 says that "through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God." According to 19:8, Paul spoke boldly in the synagogue concerning the kingdom of God. Furthermore, 20:25 tells us that Paul went about proclaiming the kingdom. Finally, in 28:23 Paul "expounded these matters, solemnly testifying of the kingdom of God" to those who came to him in his lodging. From this we can see that the book of Acts begins and ends with the kingdom of God. Moreover, Acts shows us that the kingdom and the church are a pair, for the kingdom goes in parallel with the church. Without the kingdom there is neither the beginning nor the conclusion of the church life. The church life is intimately related to the kingdom because the kingdom is the life pulse of the church. Therefore, the kingdom is absolutely crucial to the church life. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 2556-2557)

　　Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 240