27th Mar 26 | 16:08
Studies by Book
02 Acts 01 06-11 HE WILL COME IN LIKE MANNER AS YOU SAW HIM GO INTO HEAVEN 02 Acts 01 06-07 God is fulfilling His plans
📖 Acts 01:06-11
02 – 19Jun2022 – *God is fulfilling His plans* - _Acts 01:06-11_ - HE WILL COME IN LIKE MANNER AS YOU SAW HIM GO INTO HEAVEN - Bible reading: _Ephesians 1:9-10_
“Thank You, Lord Jesus, that You see our hearts and You know our motives. You are burning from within us all that is not pleasing before You, through Your Holy Spirit. You are making us be Your witnesses to reconcile man and creation back to You. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.”
In our previous study, we saw that some of the evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit will be the fire that will burn away from within us those things that are not pleasing in God’s sight.
*_Acts 1:6-7 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" (7) And He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority._*
The response of the Lord, to the motive behind the question being posed by the disciples, was for them not to be unduly taken up with times and seasons. These were matters which were in the authority of the Father.
*_Matthew 24:36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only._*
The Lord is making it clear that the Father is working out His timelines, perfectly. We need not be too caught up with these matters but learn to leave them in the Father’s safe hands.
*_Ephesians 1:9-10 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, (10) that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him._*
We must be a part of the design of God and be embedded in His will. God is moving all things according to His schedule. Knowing that this is the outworking of God, what should be the change in us, in the enablement of the Holy Spirit?
_I Thessalonians 5:1-11 But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. (2) For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. (3) For when they say, "Peace and safety!" then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape._
_(4) But *you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. (5) You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. (6) Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober*. (7) For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. (8) But *let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. (9) For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, (10) who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. (11) Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing*._
This passage shows how we must prioritize our lives and not be troubled about the sequencing of events, related to the kingdom of God. Apostle Paul is telling us not to take our salvation for granted, for God did not appoint us to wrath but to obtain salvation. We are to edify one another on these lines.
_II Peter 3:3-13 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, (4) and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation." (5) For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, (6) by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. (7) But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men._
_(8) But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. (9) The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. (10) But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up._
_(11) Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, (12) looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? (13) Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells._
As we understand these matters, let us give ourselves to the work at hand, and not be unnecessarily taken up with matters related to the second coming, which sadly has become the preoccupation of many.
*Our focus*
```“Teach us, Lord Jesus, to prioritise holy conduct and godliness,”```