after giving instruction through the Holy Spirit to the Apostles whom He had chosen, He was taken up to Heaven.

And while in their company He charged them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Father's promised gift. "This you have heard of," He said, "from me.

When He had said this, and while they were looking at Him, He was carried up, and a cloud closing beneath Him hid Him from their sight.

But, while they stood intently gazing into the sky as He went, suddenly there were two men in white garments standing by them,

They entered the city, and they went up to the upper room which was now their fixed place for meeting. Their names were Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the brother of James.

(Now having bought a piece of ground with the money paid for his wickedness he fell there with his face downwards, and, his body bursting open, he became disembowelled.

This fact became widely known to the people of Jerusalem, so that the place received the name, in their language, of Achel-damach, which means 'The Field of Blood.')

"For it is written in the Book of Psalms, "'Let his encampment be desolate: let there be no one to dwell there'; and "'His work let another take up.'

to occupy the place in this ministry and Apostleship from which Judas through transgression fell, in order to go to his own place."

when suddenly there came from the sky a sound as of a strong rushing blast of wind. This filled the whole house where they were sitting;

Now there were Jews residing in Jerusalem, devout men from every part of the world.

But that which was predicted through the Prophet Joel has happened:

"Listen, Israelites, to what I say. Jesus, the Nazarene, a man accredited to you from God by miracles and marvels and signs which God did among you through Him, as you yourselves know, Him--

delivered up through God's settled purpose and foreknowledge--you by the hands of Gentiles have nailed to a cross and have put to death.

Those, therefore, who joyfully welcomed his Message were baptized; and on that one day about three thousand persons were added to them;

and they were constant in listening to the teaching of the Apostles and in their attendance at the Communion, that is, the Breaking of the Bread, and at prayer.

They sold their lands and other property, and distributed the proceeds among all, according to every one's necessities.

And, day by day, attending constantly in the Temple with one accord, and breaking bread in private houses, they took their meals with great happiness and single-heartedness,

praising God and being regarded with favour by all the people. Also, day by day, the Lord added to their number those whom He was saving.

some men were carrying there one who had been lame from birth, whom they were wont to place every day close to the Beautiful Gate (as it was called)

But in this way God has fulfilled the declarations He made through all the Prophets, that His Christ would suffer.

Repent, therefore, and reform your lives, so that the record of your sins may be cancelled, and that there may come seasons of revival from the Lord,

Heaven must receive Him until those times of which God has spoken from the earliest ages through the lips of His holy Prophets--the times of the reconstitution of all things.

"You are the heirs of the Prophets, and of the Covenant which God made with your forefathers when He said to Abraham, 'And through your posterity all the families of the world shall be blessed.'

highly incensed at their teaching the people and proclaiming in the case of Jesus the Resurrection from among the dead.

But many of those who had listened to their preaching believed; and the number of the adult men had now grown to be about 5,000.

The next day a meeting was held in Jerusalem of their Rulers, Elders, and Scribes,

be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that through the name of Jesus the Anointed, the Nazarene, whom *you* crucified, but whom *God* has raised from among the dead-- through that name this man stands here before you in perfect health.

And in no other is the great salvation to be found; for, in fact, there is no second name under Heaven that has been given among men through which we are to be saved."

After their release the two Apostles went to their friends, and told them all that the High Priests and Elders had said.

And they, upon hearing the story, all lifted up their voices to God and said, "O Sovereign Lord, it is Thou who didst make Heaven and earth and sea, and all that is in them,

and didst say through the Holy Spirit by the lips of our forefather David Thy servant, "'Why have the nations stamped and raged, and the peoples formed futile plans?

And now, Lord, listen to their threats, and enable Thy servants to proclaim Thy Message with fearless courage,

whilst Thou stretchest out Thine arm to cure men, and to give signs and marvels through the name of Thy holy Servant Jesus."

Among all those who had embraced the faith there was but one heart and soul, so that none of them claimed any of his possessions as his own, but everything they had was common property;

while the Apostles with great force of conviction delivered their testimony as to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus; and great grace was upon them all.

And, in fact, there was not a needy man among them, for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the money which they realised,

There was a man of the name of Ananias who, with his wife Sapphira, sold some property but,

About three hours had passed, when his wife came in, knowing nothing of what had happened.

so that they would even bring out their sick friends into the streets and lay them on light couches or mats, in order that when Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on one or other of them.

saying, "The jail we found quite safely locked, and the warders were on guard at the doors, but upon going in we found no one there."

And some one came and brought them word, saying, "The men you put in prison are actually in the Temple, standing there, teaching the people."

They, therefore, left the Sanhedrin and went their way, rejoicing that they had been deemed worthy to suffer disgrace on behalf of the NAME.

About this time, as the number of disciples was increasing, complaints were made by the Greek-speaking Jews against the Hebrews because their widows were habitually overlooked in the daily ministration.

These men they brought to the Apostles, and, after prayer, they laid their hands upon them.

And God declared that Abraham's posterity should for four hundred years make their home in a country not their own, and be reduced to slavery and be oppressed.

But there came a famine throughout the whole of Egypt and Canaan--and great distress--so that our forefathers could find no food.

When, however, Jacob heard that there was wheat to be had, he sent our forefathers into Egypt; that was the first time.

On their second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Pharaoh was informed of Joseph's parentage.

and Jacob went down into Egypt. There he died, and so did our forefathers,

until there arose a foreign king over Egypt who knew nothing of Joseph.

He adopted a crafty policy towards our race, and oppressed our forefathers, making them cast out their infants so that they might not be permitted to live.

At this time Moses was born--a wonderfully beautiful child; and for three months he was cared for in his father's house.

So Moses was educated in all the learning of the Egyptians, and possessed great influence through his eloquence and his achievements.

"Alarmed at this question, Moses fled from the country and went to live in the land of Midian. There he became the father of two sons.

"But at the end of forty years there appeared to him in the Desert of Mount Sinai an angel in the middle of a flame of fire in a bush.

I have seen, yes, I have seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt and have heard their groans, and I have come down to deliver them. And now I will send you to Egypt.'

"Our forefathers, however, would not submit to him, but spurned his authority and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.

"Moreover they made a calf at that time, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and kept rejoicing in the gods which their own hands had made.

you who received the Law given through angels, and yet have not obeyed it."

As they listened to these words, they became infuriated and gnashed their teeth at him.

Upon this, with a loud outcry they stopped their ears, rushed upon Stephen in a body,

dragged him out of the city, and stoned him, the witnesses throwing off their outer garments and giving them into the care of a young man called Saul.

But Saul cruelly harassed the Church. He went into house after house, and, dragging off both men and women, threw them into prison.

while Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed Christ there.

And there was great joy in that city.

Now for some time past there had been a man named Simon living there, who had been practising magic and astonishing the Samaritans, pretending that he was more than human.

His influence over them arose from their having been, for a long time, bewildered by his sorceries.

Then the Apostles placed their hands upon them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

When, however, Simon saw that it was through the laying on of the Apostles' hands that the Spirit was bestowed, he offered them money.

Upon this he rose and went. Now, as it happened, an Ethiopian eunuch who was in a position of high authority with Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, as her treasurer, had visited Jerusalem to worship there,

So they proceeded on their way till they came to some water; and the eunuch exclaimed, "See, here is water; what is there to prevent my being baptized?"

went to the High Priest and begged from him letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, in order that if he found any believers there, either men or women, he might bring them in chains to Jerusalem.

But on the journey, as he was getting near Damascus, suddenly there flashed round him a light from Heaven;

Now in Damascus there was a disciple of the name of Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision, saying, "Ananias!" "I am here, Lord," he answered.

For I will let him know the great sufferings which he must pass through for My sake."

Instantly there dropped from his eyes what seemed to be scales, and he could see once more. Upon this he rose and received baptism;

but information of their intention was given to him. They even watched the gates, day and night, in order to murder him;

but his disciples took him by night and let him down through the wall, lowering him in a hamper.

There he found a man of the name of Aeneas, who for eight years had kept his bed, through being paralysed.

About three o'clock one afternoon he had a vision, and distinctly saw an angel of God enter his house, who called him by name, saying, "Cornelius!"

The next day, while they were still on their journey and were getting near the town, about noon Peter went up on the house-top to pray.

This was said three times, and immediately the sail was drawn up out of sight.

And Peter was still earnestly thinking over the vision, when the Spirit said to him, "Three men are now inquiring for you.

Their reply was, "Cornelius, a Captain, an upright and God-fearing man, of whom the whole Jewish nation speaks well, has been divinely instructed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and listen to what you have to say."

and the day after that they reached Caesarea. There Cornelius was awaiting their arrival, and had invited all his relatives and intimate friends to be present.

When Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him, and threw himself at his feet to do him homage.

"Just at this hour, three days ago," replied Cornelius, "I was offering afternoon prayer in my house, when suddenly a man in shining raiment stood in front of me,

The Message which He sent to the descendants of Israel, when He announced the Good News of peace through Jesus Christ--He is Lord of all--that Message you cannot but know;

the story, I mean, which has spread through the length and breadth of Judaea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism which John proclaimed.

To Him all the Prophets bear witness, and testify that through His name all who believe in Him receive the forgiveness of their sins."

"While I was in the town of Jaffa, offering prayer," he said, "in a trance I saw a vision. There descended what seemed to be an enormous sail, being let down from the sky by ropes at the four corners, and it came close to me.

"This was said three times, and then everything was drawn up again out of sight.

"Now at that very moment three men came to the house where we were, having been sent from Caesarea to find me.

And the Spirit told me to accompany them without any misgivings. There also went with me these six brethren who are now present, and we reached the Centurion's house.

Those, however, who had been driven in various directions by the persecution which broke out on account of Stephen made their way to Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, delivering the Message to none but Jews.

The power of the Lord was with them, and there were a vast number who believed and turned to the Lord.

On getting there he was delighted to see the grace which God had bestowed; and he encouraged them all to remain, with fixed resolve, faithful to the Lord.

This they did, forwarding their contributions to the Elders by Barnabas and Saul.

"Fasten your girdle," said the angel, "and tie on your sandals." He did so. Then the angel said, "Throw your cloak round you, and follow me."