AA - The Acts of the Apostles (1911) ,published by Ellen .G.White
For the carrying on of
His work, Christ did not choose the learning or eloquence of the Jewish
Sanhedrin or the power of Rome. Passing by the self-righteous Jewish teachers,
the Master Worker chose humble, unlearned men to proclaim the truths that were
to move the world. These men He purposed to train and educate as the leaders of
His church. They in turn were to educate others and send them out with the
gospel message. That they might have success in their work they were to be
given the power of the Holy Spirit. Not by human might or human wisdom was the
gospel to be proclaimed, but by the power of God. {AA 17.1}
For three years and a half the disciples
were under the instruction of the greatest Teacher the world has ever known. By
personal contact and association, Christ trained them for His service. Day by
day they walked and talked with Him, hearing His words of cheer to the weary
and heavy-laden, and seeing the manifestation of His power in behalf
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of the sick and the afflicted.
Sometimes He taught them, sitting among them on the mountainside; sometimes
beside the sea or walking by the way, He revealed the mysteries of the kingdom
of God. Wherever hearts were open to receive the divine message, He unfolded
the truths of the way of salvation. He did not command the disciples to do this
or that, but said, "Follow Me." On His journeys through country and
cities, He took them with Him, that they might see how He taught the people.
They traveled with Him from place to place. They shared His frugal fare, and
like Him were sometimes hungry and often weary. On the crowded streets, by the
lakeside, in the lonely desert, they were with Him. They saw Him in every phase
of life. {AA 17.2}
It was at the ordination of the Twelve
that the first step was taken in the organization of the church that after
Christ's departure was to carry on His work on the earth. Of this ordination
the record says, "He goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto Him whom
He would: and they came unto Him. And He ordained twelve, that they should be
with Him, and that He might send them forth to preach." Mark 3:13,
14. {AA 18.1}
Look upon the touching scene. Behold the
Majesty of heaven surrounded by the Twelve whom He has chosen. He is about to set
them apart for their work. By these feeble agencies, through His word and
Spirit, He designs to place salvation within the reach of all. {AA 18.2}
With gladness and rejoicing, God and the
angels beheld this scene. The Father knew that from these men the light of
heaven would shine forth; that the words spoken by
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them as they witnessed
for His Son, would echo from generation to generation till the close of
time. {AA 18.3}
The disciples were to go forth as Christ's
witnesses, to declare to the world what they had seen and heard of Him. Their
office was the most important to which human beings had ever been called,
second only to that of Christ Himself. They were to be workers together with
God for the saving of men. As in the Old Testament the twelve patriarchs stood
as representatives of Israel, so the twelve apostles stand as representatives
of the gospel church. {AA 19.1}
During His earthly ministry Christ began
to break down the partition wall between Jew and Gentile, and to preach
salvation to all mankind. Though He was a Jew, He mingled freely with the
Samaritans, setting at nought the Pharisaic customs of the Jews with regard to
this despised people. He slept under their roofs, ate at their tables, and
taught in their streets. {AA 19.2}
The Saviour longed to unfold to His
disciples the truth regarding the breaking down of the "middle wall of
partition" between Israel and the other nations--the truth that "the
Gentiles should be fellow heirs" with the Jews and "partakers of His
promise in Christ by the gospel." Ephesians 2:14; 3:6. This truth was
revealed in part at the time when He rewarded the faith of the centurion at Capernaum,
and also when He preached the gospel to the inhabitants of Sychar. Still more
plainly was it revealed on the occasion of His visit to Phoenicia, when He
healed the daughter of the Canaanite woman. These experiences helped the
disciples to understand that among those whom many regarded
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as unworthy of
salvation, there were souls hungering for the light of truth. {AA 19.3}
Thus Christ sought to teach the disciples
the truth that in God's kingdom there are no territorial lines, no caste, no
aristocracy; that they must go to all nations, bearing to them the message of a
Saviour's love. But not until later did they realize in all its fullness that
God "hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the
face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the
bounds of their habitation; that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might
feel after Him, and find Him, though He be not far from every one of us."
Acts 17:26, 27. {AA 20.1}
In these first disciples was presented
marked diversity. They were to be the world's teachers, and they represented
widely varied types of character. In order successfully to carry forward the
work to which they had been called, these men, differing in natural
characteristics and in habits of life, needed to come into unity of feeling,
thought, and action. This unity it was Christ's object to secure. To this end
He sought to bring them into unity with Himself. The burden of His labor for
them is expressed in His prayer to His Father, "That they all may be one;
as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in
Us;" "that the world may know that Thou has sent Me, and hast loved
them, as Thou hast loved Me." John 17:21, 23. His constant prayer for them
was that they might be sanctified through the truth; and He prayed with
assurance, knowing that an Almighty decree had been given before the world was
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made. He knew that the
gospel of the kingdom would be preached to all nations for a witness; He knew
that truth armed with the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit, would conquer in the
battle with evil, and that the bloodstained banner would one day wave
triumphantly over His followers. {AA
20.2}
As Christ's earthly ministry drew to a
close, and He realized that He must soon leave His disciples to carry on the
work without His personal supervision, He sought to encourage them and to prepare
them for the future. He did not deceive them with false hopes. As an open book
He read what was to be. He knew He was about to be separated from them, to
leave them as sheep among wolves. He knew that they would suffer persecution,
that they would be cast out of the synagogues, and would be thrown into prison.
He knew that for witnessing to Him as the Messiah, some of them would suffer
death. And something of this He told them. In speaking of their future, He was
plain and definite, that in their coming trial they might remember His words
and be strengthened to believe in Him as the Redeemer. {AA 21.1}
He spoke to them also
words of hope and courage. "Let not your heart be troubled," He said;
"ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many
mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for
you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive
you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know,
and the way ye know." John 14:1-4. For your sake I came into the world;
for you I have been working.
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When I go away I shall
still work earnestly for you. I came to the world to reveal Myself to you, that
you might believe. I go to My Father and yours to co-operate with Him in your
behalf. {AA 21.2}
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He
that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works
than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father." John 14:12. By this,
Christ did not mean that the disciples would make more exalted exertions than
He had made, but that their work would have greater magnitude. He did not refer
merely to miracle working, but to all that would take place under the agency of
the Holy Spirit. "When the Comforter is come," He said, "whom I
will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth
from the Father, He shall testify of Me: and ye also shall bear witness,
because ye have been with Me from the beginning." John 15:26, 27. {AA 22.1}
Wonderfully were these words fulfilled.
After the descent of the Holy Spirit, the disciples were so filled with love
for Him and for those for whom He died, that hearts were melted by the words
they spoke and the prayers they offered. They spoke in the power of the Spirit;
and under the influence of that power, thousands were converted. {AA 22.2}
As Christ's representatives the apostles
were to make a decided impression on the world. The fact that they were humble
men would not diminish their influence, but increase it; for the minds of their
hearers would be carried from them to the Saviour, who, though unseen, was
still working with them. The wonderful teaching of the apostles, their
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words of courage and
trust, would assure all that it was not in their own power that they worked,
but in the power of Christ. Humbling themselves, they would declare that He
whom the Jews had crucified was the Prince of life, the Son of the living God,
and that in His name they did the works that He had done. {AA 22.3}
In His parting conversation with His
disciples on the night before the crucifixion the Saviour made no reference to
the suffering that He had endured and must yet endure. He did not speak of the
humiliation that was before Him, but sought to bring to their minds that which
would strengthen their faith, leading them to look forward to the joys that
await the overcomer. He rejoiced in the consciousness that He could and would
do more for His followers than He had promised; that from Him would flow forth
love and compassion, cleansing the soul temple, and making men like Him in
character; that His truth, armed with the power of the Spirit, would go forth
conquering and to conquer. {AA
23.1}
"These things I have spoken unto
you," He said, "that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall
have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." John
16:33. Christ did not fail, neither was He discouraged; and the disciples were
to show a faith of the same enduring nature. They were to work as He had
worked, depending on Him for strength. Though their way would be obstructed by
apparent impossibilities, yet by His grace they were to go forward, despairing
of nothing and hoping for everything.
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{AA 23.2}
Christ had finished the work that was
given Him to do. He had gathered out those who were to continue His work among
men. And He said: "I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the
world, but these are in the world, and I come to Thee. Holy Father, keep
through Thine own name those whom Thou hast given Me, that they may be one, as
We are." "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which
shall believe on Me through their word; that they all may be one; . . . I in
them and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world
may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved
Me." John 17:10, 11, 20-23. {AA
24.1}
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