Acts Study
September 11th, 2018 - Acts 14-28
September 4th, 2018 - Acts 19-23
Question: In Acts 20:20 When Paul says how “he kept back nothing that was profitable unto you” how was he so confident in his assurance that what he was teaching was right? Is teaching a religious mindset of people always going to be continuous?
Answer: When you receive revelation from the Holy Spirit, take your teaching from existing scriptures and back them up with 2 or 3 other scriptures as witnesses, you can’t be wrong.
Since the Holy Spirit and the word never change, your confidence in teaching the word will never change.
August 20th, 2018 - Acts 15-18
Question: In Acts 14:19 when Paul is stone to death, you refer to him as being taken out of his body into the third heaven (2 Corinthians 12;1-4). What is the third heaven?
Answer: The third heaven is where God’s throne is, what we call Heaven. The first heaven is the air, atmosphere around the earth. The second heaven is outer space. And the third heaven is where all believers go at death, where the Father and the Lord Jesus are seated and the ruling angels live.
Question: How does shaking the dust off your feet and the great commission correlate and does shaking the dust off your feet apply today?
Answer: The expression of “shaking off the dust” is to relieve yourself of responsibility. It is like Pilate washing his hands of Jesus and telling the people it was up to them what would happen to Him (Matthew 27:24).
August 6th, 2018 - Acts 10-14
Question: I saw someone asked about "sin unto death". I have further questions on that. If Jesus already took the judgment for our sins, why is there still sin unto death? Also, how does one know if he/she has committed that sin? If a person has committed that sin, can he/she repent and escape death?
Another question I have is on "being filled with the Holy Spirit". I am still not clear on this. In some instances, people like Peter and Stephen had already received the baptism of the Holy Spirit previously. Yet we see in certain situations it is mentioned that they were filled with the Holy Spirit. This brings me to my question, is there a continual filling of the Holy Spirit? Were they filled again with the Holy Spirit in those situations?
Answer: The sin unto death is committed by a believer and can cause physical death, not spiritual death. The believer refuses to ask for forgiveness, piles up more sins and opens himself up to leaving this earth early. He still goes to heaven, nothing can take his salvation, and he will go through the Judgment Seat of Christ and lose many rewards, not his eternal life. King Saul, Ananias and Sephora. The man in 1 Corinthians 5 asked for forgiveness in time and lived longer. There is a continual filling of the HS for the believer Acts 4:31, Ephesians 5:18.
Question: In chapter six Philip was chosen as one of the seven to serve tables. A requirement was to be full of the Holy Spirit so it is not as though the Holy Spirit was new to him.
In chapter eight Philip preaches in Samaria and also to the Ethiopian eunuch. He was performing miracles and preaching the gospel yet it appears he did not lay hands on new believers to receive the Holy Spirit. That happened when Peter and John arrived.
When Philip was with the Ethiopian eunuch he baptized him in water but apparently not in the Holy Spirit because God immediately took him to Azotus.
People saw miracles and were baptized (into the Body of Christ? water? both?) but it does not appear the next logical step was taken which would be to baptize in the Holy Spirit. Are you able to shed any light on this subject? And how does this fit in with witnessing today? I always had the "jobs not done until you speak in tongues" impression.
Answer: Phillip was gifted in leading people to Jesus but apparently felt more comfortable with Peter and John praying for the people to be filled with the Spirit. Teamwork is always good when it is present. I am sure he led the Ethiopian into the baptism of the Spirit, it is just not recorded. Their baptism and the Ethiopians was in water. It is known the were baptized into the Body of Christ. That was a given when they believed in Christ.
July 23rd, 2018 - Acts 5-9
Question: I do not totally understand "sin unto death." Were Ananias and Sapphira believers? They did die physically, I know, but spiritually? And what about grace?
Answer: The sin unto death is physical death. A Christian cannot die spiritually. Sin can never remove your salvation but can cause you to die early. King Saul died the sin unto death in the OT. In the NT Ananias and Sapphira. The man caught in incest in 1 Cor 5 asked for forgiveness in time to live longer as did Hezekiah in the OT, and so did King David, “you will not die”, 2 Sam 12:13. It is taught in 1 John 5:15.
An unbeliever commits the unpardonable sin which is rejection of Jesus, the only sin which cannot be forgiven. I have a CD teaching the difference between the two The Unpardonable Sin And The Sin Unto Death.
Question: In part A of chapter 7, section 4, you discuss circumcision and the eighth day. Could you discuss further the significance of circumcision and what you mean by "Today, we do not worship on the seventh day or even the first day. We worship on the eighth day."?
Answer: The number 8 is the number of new beginnings. It is an old teaching that the best way to look at Sunday is not as the first day but the eighth day of the week. Jesus rose from the dead on Sunday and a whole new beginning was ushered in. Sunday is really the first day of the week of seven days, but on the other hand it is the beginning of a new week.
July 9th, 2018 - Acts 1-4
Question: In Acts 2:6 it states "everyone heard them speak in their own language." Question: were the apostles speaking in tongues and each apostle was speaking in a specific foreign language that could be understood by people from those nations?What I'm asking for is a clarification on Acts 2:4-6. Acts 2:4 addresses the spiritual language of tongues but verse 6 seems to address actual languages spoken by various nations and peoples on the earth.
Answer: When we speak in tongues, we speak in the languages of men and angels, earthly as well as heavenly. The Greek for tongues in Acts 2:6 is dialecto, where we get the English word dialect. They spoke in the languages of men and even the dialects of the areas the multitudes were from. This would be like English from the area of the Bronx and deep South. This was the preciseness of the Holy Spirit on that day. In Acts 2:4 we are not told if the tongues, glossa, were of angels or men or both.
Question: I have a question about Matthias and the lots. Verse 14 says the disciples were constantly united in prayer. Since the Holy Spirit had not come it seems logical to me that they would do what they did. That they would pray, select someone and cast lots. Isn't that all they knew how to do at that time? And they believed they were in line with scripture in verse 20. If God had intended for Paul to be the twelfth disciple, why did the lot come up with Matthias' name? Shouldn't it have been blank?
Could Paul have been considered a new "category"? Something where the twelve were under the OT and walked with Jesus physically whereas Paul followed Jesus in the NT and walked with Him just by faith like we do? Verse 20 would then apply and be fulfilled in both the NT and the OT. Both Matthias and Paul would have been chosen by God, just with different methods. In other words, they both would have been chosen by God, just using different methods and representing different points in time.
Answer: Lots were similar to dice. God was not in the outcome of the lots. The disciples were never told to fill in the twelfth. Since God chose them, He could choose another and Paul was it. There was a new generation of disciples. The apostles to Israel were not the same as apostles to the Church. The ministry of the eleven changed after the Day of Pentecost and they were now given to the Church (Ephesians 4:10-12). Paul was given to the Church as is each ministry office, including apostle, since that day.
Question: Page 16: When you say, "When Jesus became sin for us at the cross, the ministry of the Spirit temporarily ceased...," are you saying the Spirit left Jesus for that period of time? If so, was that because of the sin placed on Him, and did that "leaving" happen just before the moment Jesus asked why He'd been forsaken?
Answer: The answer to both your questions is “yes”. The ministry of the Holy Spirit ceased for the three days Jesus was bearing our sins and began again at the resurrection. The same was true with God the Father. Both raised Jesus from the dead when our sins were fully judged (Romans 4:33,34, 8:11). I heard a great minister say this is why Jesus said “ my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Once for the Father and once for the Holy Spirit. Until that time she had never addressed His Father as God, always Father. God was the cry of a lost man separated from God.
June 25th, 2018
Our study of the book of Acts begins today! For the next two weeks we will be studying the first four chapters in the Acts Commentary book. As you study and meditate on the scripture please send your questions and praise reports. The answers and praise reports will help others as well. At the end of this segment Pastor Bob will post a video recap of the first four chapters and answers questions. Send questions by email to bym@bobyandian.com our use our website contact form.
If you missed Pastor Bob's introduction video you can view that below. Your questions and feedback are appreciated!
June 18th, 2018
Introduction to Summer Bible Study
Join Bob Yandian in a study through the book of Acts this summer. Acts is the hub of all the following epistles of Paul, Peter, James and John. Each church in each city began in the book of Acts. Dedicate a portion of your day to study, pray, and meditate on the word of God. Not only will you increase in joy and enthusiasm, as you study you will begin to hunger for more of God’s word.
What you will need:
The book "A New Testament Commentary - Acts by Bob Yandian"
Where to buy:
Paperback book: https://www.bobyandian.com/books/acts-commentary-paperback
Kindle eBook: http://a.co/blwKcjk
Apple iBooks: Open the iBooks app and search "Bob Yandian Acts"
A Commitment to study the book daily, pray and meditate over it through the day and depend on the Holy Spirit to make it your own revelation.
The reading plan:
6/25 - 7/8 - Acts 1-4 - Pages 13-63
7/9 - 7/22 - Acts 5-9 - Pages 65-126
7/23 - 8/5 - Acts 10-14 - Pages 127-184
8/6 - 8/19 - Acts 15-18 - Pages 185-241
8/20 - 9/2 - Acts 19-23 - Pages 243-296
9/3 - 9/16 - Acts 24-28 - Pages 297 - 359
Check in for updates. At the end of each segment (two weeks) Pastor Bob will make a video and give an overview of the material as well as answer questions. The videos will be posted to this page, our Facebook page, and YouTube channel. Sign up for Summer Bible Study email updates below to get all of the updates sent to your inbox.
If you have a question about the text as you are studying email them to bym@bobyandian.com or use our webiste contact form.