I.　The book of Acts actually has not ended; rather, it has been left open so that more may be added—28:31:

A.　God is always advancing and never stops; if we know this and believe in this, we will praise the Lord—John 5:17; Acts 16:25.

B.　The book of Acts is a book without an ending because this book is still being continued; although the written record no longer continues after chapter 28, God's work has been going on—v. 31:

1.　The reason for this must be that the work of the Holy Spirit in preaching Christ for His propagation, multiplication, and spread through the believers of Christ has not yet been completed and needs to be continued for a long period of time—1:8; 2:22-36; 28:30-31.

2.　The evangelical work for Christ's propagation, multiplication, and spread is according to God's New Testament economy for the producing of many sons for God, that they might be the members of Christ to constitute His Body for the carrying out of God's eternal plan and the fulfillment of His eternal will—Rom. 8:29; 12:5; Eph. 1:5, 9, 11; 3:11.

C.　If, as living members of Christ, we live by Him and for Him and depend on Him in everything, we will be in the "twenty-ninth chapter" of Acts—John 6:57; 15:4-5; Rom. 14:7-8; 2 Cor. 5:15. Rom. 14:7-8; 2 Cor. 5:15.

II.　If we would be in the continuation of the book of Acts, we need to be witnesses of the resurrected Christ—1:8, 22; 2:24, 32; 4:2, 33; 10:39-40; 17:3, 18; 23:11; 24:14-15; 26:16:

A.　In Acts the apostles and disciples were the Lord's witnesses, His martyrs—1:8; 22:20.

B.　The apostles were witnesses of the resurrected Christ, bearing witness of His resurrection—1:22; 3:13-15.

C.　In his narration of the Lord's move on earth, Luke emphasizes the testimony of the Lord's witnesses—4:33; 10:39-40:

1.　To be a witness is to testify of one's personal experience of the Lord; in order to testify, we need experiences of seeing, participation, and enjoyment—22:14-15.

2.　The apostles were witnesses of the resurrected Christ not in word only but also by their lives and actions—3:1-16.

D.　Paul was an outstanding witness of Christ; he was the kind of witness whom the Lord spoke about in 1:8:

1.　The resurrected Christ propagated Himself by coming into Paul and making him a living witness of Christ—22:15.

2.　Paul not only preached the propagation of Christ—he lived this Christ—9:21-22; 13:33-34; Phil. 1:20-21a.

3.　As one who lived Christ and was a living testimony of Christ, Paul was absolutely different from the Jewish religionists, the Roman politicians, and those in the church in Jerusalem—Acts 21:20-21; 23:14-15; 24:25-26.

E.　Satan could instigate the Jewish religionists and utilize the Gentile politicians to bind the apostles and their evangelical ministry, but he could not bind Christ's living witnesses and their living testimony; the more the Jewish religionists and the Gentile politicians bound the apostles and their evangelical ministry, the stronger and brighter their living testimony became—7:54-60; 28:23-31.

III.　If we would be in the continuation of the book of Acts, we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit inwardly and outwardly—2:17; 4:8; 6:3; 13:9, 52:

A.　The Scriptures clearly reveal to us that there are two aspects of the work of the Holy Spirit—the inward aspect for life and the outward aspect for power—John 20:22; Eph. 5:18; Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8.

B.　Every believer in Christ should experience both aspects of the work of the Holy Spirit, being filled with the Holy Spirit inwardly and outwardly:

1.　According to its usage in Acts, pleroo denotes the filling of a vessel within, and pletho denotes the filling of persons outwardly.

2.　The disciples were filled (pleroo) inwardly and essentially with the Spirit (13:52) for their Christian living and were filled (pletho) outwardly and economically with the Spirit for their Christian ministry (9:17; 13:9).

3.　The inward filling Spirit, the essential Spirit, is in the disciples (John 14:17; Rom. 8:11), whereas the outward filling Spirit, the economical Spirit, is upon them (Acts 1:8; 2:17).

4.　We all must be filled inwardly with the Holy Spirit as life and be clothed outwardly with the Holy Spirit as power—Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8; 4:8; 6:3; 13:9, 52.