and afraid. Yet God can use both when submitted to Him. The Holy Spirit is the One who gave the early disciples courage and boldness to wit ness. This is what we need today, too. Here is an endowment of power which, by nature, may not be ours at all. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit enables us to rise above ourselves as well as any natural ability of the flesh. We can thereby boldly proclaim the truth of God. These apostles moved whole cities, stirring the countryside with their supernatural impact. God indeed indwelt each one of them so that they lived for His glory. In Acts 1:16, Peter introduced the problem of replacing Judas Iscariot. The Holy Spirit spoke by the mouth of David as stated in verse 20. Here is a great affirmation that the Holy Spirit gave the Old Testament Scriptures. The Lord Jesus testifies to this, too. One can’t read through the four Gospels without being im pressed with the manner in which the Saviour refers to the Old Testa ment. There is no question about the verbal inspiration of the Scriptures. Our Saviour promised, “The Holy Spirit will show you things to come.” Linked up with this reference to the Spirit’s inspiration in Acts 1, we have that great passage in II Peter 3:15-16. There are those who would twist Paul’s epistles, as they do the other Scriptures. Ultimately it will be to their own destruction. Paul wrote at least 50 percent of the New Testament. Peter puts those epistles on the same level with the Old Testa ment in being inspired of God. He says that there are things hard to understand in those writings. That’s encouraging, isn’t it? If Peter found them hard to understand, so may we. Yet wisdom will be given as we seek it from the Lord. So we have some wonderful witnesses here to the fact that both Old and New Testaments are indeed the inspired Word of God. This is a message we can trust and
“restore” (Acts 1:6). To be re stored means that the thing has to have some resemblance to what it was before. The literal kingdom of Israel is not just spiritual, as some might have us believe. So, as Christ talked to His disci ples about the kingdom of God, they understood Him to mean that there would be an earthly reign of the Mes siah. Indeed, He some day will oc cupy the throne of His father David. God’s covenant-chosen people have a glorious, brilliant future ahead of them in the Lord’s gracious sover eignty and providence. There will be dark days prior to that. Some days will bring sore tests and trials. But beyond all of this there’s a bright tomorrow. God’s people, Israel, will again be at the head of the nations. What a day that will be, as described in Isaiah 2:11, when creation is re deemed from its curse. Men will learn war no more. Righteousness will finally reign in glory over this world. Are you ready for it? Have you made Jesus Christ Sovereign and King in your personal life by faith in His finished and atoning work on Cal vary’s cross? May this be your deci sion today! C hapter T wo I N THE FIRST CHAPTER OF ACTS, OUr Lord promises His disciples that the Holy Spirit will be given as they faithfully tarry and pray at Jerusa lem. The power and blessing of the Spirit was particularly associated with witnessing (v. 8). The same was true of Christ’s promise in John 14:15-16, about the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth. “He shall testify of me: And ye also shall bear witness” (John 15:26-27). One of Spirit’s primary ministries is to empower us for effective serv ice. Some people seem to be en dowed naturally with a fluency of tongue, while others are very timid 4
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