Verses 1+2
In recent years, we’ve studied a lot of Old Testament history on Sundays mornings, because we’ve studied together the books of Ruth and 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings and Ezra and Nehemiah and Esther. Today, though, we’re studying New Testament history. The book of Acts is about the early days of the New Testament church and it tells us how the apostles took the gospel from Jerusalem all the way to Rome.
If you have your Bible open, you’ll see in verse 1 of chapter 1 that the author of the book of Acts refers to an earlier book which he wrote. And you’ll also see in verse 1 that he addresses this man called Theophilus. The author of the book of Acts is Luke. And the earlier book he’s referring to is his gospel, which we studied together last year on Sunday evenings. And if you were to turn back to chapter 1 of Luke’s gospel, you’d see that Luke also addresses Theophilus at the beginning of his gospel. We don’t know anything about Theophilus. His name means ‘loved by God’ and some scholars think he’s a made up person. That is to say, Luke is saying that he wrote his gospel and the book of Acts for all who are loved by God. However, other scholars are happy to accept that Luke wrote these two books for a real man named Theophilus. And according to Luke 1, Luke wrote his gospel so that Theophilus would know the certainty of the things he had been taught about the Lord Jesus. So, Theophilus had heard various stories about the Lord Jesus and perhaps he was unsure whether or not they were true. And so, Luke decided to study these things on his behalf and to write an orderly account of everything he could learn from eye-witnesses so that Theophilus would know the certainty of these things. So, Luke wanted Theophilus to know the truth. He wanted him to know the truth about the Lord Jesus. That’s why he wrote his gospel. And he wanted him to know the truth about what happened afterwards in the early church. That’s why he wrote the book of Acts.
And so, as he says in verse 1 of chapter 1 of the book of Acts, in his former book — the gospel of Luke — he wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven. So, he wrote in his gospel the things the Lord did and said right up to the time when he ascended to heaven. And, according to verse 2, before he ascended to heaven, he gave instructions to the apostles he had chosen.
The apostles were chosen by the Lord Jesus to be his official eye-witnesses. They had been with the Lord throughout his public ministry as his disciples. They had seen him perform miracles and they had heard him preach. They also witnessed his crucifixion. And they had also seen him after his resurrection from the dead and they saw him ascend to heaven. And therefore they could testify that the Lord who died was now alive and was in heaven.
And the Lord chose them to go from place to place and to tell people what they had heard and seen and to command all people everywhere to repent and to believe the good news of salvation. But in order to equip them for the task, the Lord needed to instruct them while he was still on the earth. And so, between the time of his resurrection and the time of his ascension the Lord taught the apostles everything they needed to know. And as Luke tells us in verse 2, he taught them through the Holy Spirit. They needed the help of the Holy Spirit to understand and to believe all the things the Lord Jesus taught them.
But the crucial word in verses 1 and 2 is the word ‘began’. Luke is saying that in his former book, or in his gospel, he wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach. And the implication is that in this present book, the book of Acts, Luke will write about all that Jesus continued to do and to teach. The gospel of Luke is volume 1 and it’s about what the Lord began to do and to teach. The book of Acts is volume 2 and it’s about what the Lord continued to do and to teach. While the official title of this book is ‘The Acts of the Apostles’, a better title would be, ‘The Acts of the Lord Jesus through the Apostles’. From his throne in heaven, the Risen and Exalted Lord Jesus continued to work and to speak through his apostles and by his Spirit. Wherever they went, they went in his name and on his behalf. Whatever they did, they did it in his name and on his behalf. When they preached, they preached in his name and on his behalf. Luke is about to tell us all the things the Lord Jesus accomplished on the earth through his apostles and by his Spirit in the early days of the church.
And, of course, the Lord Jesus is continuing that work today, because he is still calling and sending preachers to go into all the world to proclaim the good news of salvation in his name and on his behalf. And whoever believes is added to Christ’s church which Christ himself is building throughout the world through the reading and preaching of his word.
Although the Lord Jesus is in heaven, he has not put his feet up. He’s not resting. He’s still at work. He’s still active. He’s sending his preachers out into the world to proclaim the good news. He’s sending his Spirit to work through the preaching of his word. He’s working in the lives of his people by his Spirit to enable us to believe and to enable us to persevere in the faith.
Verses 3 to 5
Luke tells us in verse 3 that after the Lord’s suffering, he showed himself to the apostles and gave them many convincing proofs that he was alive. Sceptics sometimes portray the early disciples as being naive and not very sophisticated. You know, they were easily deceived, believing the Lord had been raised from the dead, when in fact it must have been a hallucination or something similar. People who say that sort of thing don’t believe in the resurrection. And so, it seems to them that if the disciples believed in the resurrection, it was because they were easily taken in. They weren’t scientifically-trained. They weren’t being rational. But Luke is careful to tell us that the Lord gave them convincing proofs. He demonstrated to them again and again that he really was alive.
The gospels tell us the kind of proofs he showed them. For instance, we know that he showed them his wounds and he let them touch him and he ate food in their presence. There were perhaps other things he did. But the point is: he proved it to them. They weren’t naively willing to believe anything. He proved to them that he was alive by giving them convincing proofs. And he didn’t appear to them once or twice. You know what it’s like: you see something once and when people ask you what you saw, you’re not sure, because you only saw it once and didn’t have time to take it all in. There were details you missed. But the Lord appeared to them again and again over a period of forty days.
And when he appeared, he spoke to them about the kingdom of God. We know from the gospels that the Lord Jesus preached about the kingdom. And he preached about the kingdom because he himself is God’s Spirit-Anointed King who had come to deliver his people from our sin and misery in this world and to give us everlasting life in the world to come. During his earthly ministry, the Lord preached about the kingdom. And he continued to teach his apostles about the kingdom in the forty days before his ascension.
Luke tells us that on one occasion, when the Lord was eating with them — and there’s another proof that he really did rise physically from the dead and that he wasn’t a ghost or spirit — he commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the gift which his Father promised and which they had heard him speak about. So, they were to stay where they were in Jerusalem until they had received this promised gift. And he’s talking about the Holy Spirit. We know he’s talking about the Holy Spirit, because he goes on to say in verse 5 that John the Baptist baptised with water, but in a few days they will be baptised with the Holy Spirit.
So, the promised gift is the Holy Spirit. God promised to give the Spirit to his people in those days. And, of course, the Lord is referring to what was about to happen on the day of Pentecost, which we’ll read about in chapter 2. On that day, the Risen and Exalted Lord Jesus poured his Spirit upon the believers in Jerusalem in fulfilment of God’s promise to his people through the Old Testament prophet Joel. In Old Testament times, God promised through the prophet Joel that the day would come when he will pour out his Spirit on all people or on all kinds of people. And God’s promise through Joel was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost, when the Spirit came on them in tongues of fire. We’ll study that passage in the new year. But here in Acts 1, the Lord instructed his apostles to stay in Jerusalem until that day comes.
And he mentions John the Baptist, because John said the same kind of thing. People used to come to John in the wilderness to see whether or not he was the Christ. Was he God’s Spirit-Anointed and Conquering King? And John was clear: he was not the Christ. He was not the Promised King. And he said to the people that all he could do was baptise them with water. He could only make them wet with water. His baptism was only a sign to signify what the Lord Jesus will do for his people when he comes. The Lord Jesus is the only one who is able to cleanse us from the guilt of our sins.
And so, John the Baptist told the people to wait for the coming of Christ the King who will baptise them, not with water, but with the Spirit. In fact, John said the Lord will baptise them with the Spirit and with fire. And what he meant was that the Lord Jesus is able to save and destroy. He will destroy all those who refuse to repent and believe in him. But he will save others, because he will pour his Spirit on them to enable them to believe the good news and to receive the forgiveness of their sins which he obtained for them by his death on the cross. And by his Spirit, he will renew them in God’s image so that they will no longer live according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
So, John said the Lord Jesus will baptise them with the Spirit for salvation and with fire for destruction. And here’s Luke in Acts 1 telling us that the Lord Jesus told the apostles to wait in Jerusalem, because in just a few days he was going to baptise them, or pour out on them, the Holy Spirit. From his throne in heaven, he will pour out his Spirit on his people just as Joel said he would and just as John said he would.
And from his throne in heaven, he continues to pour out his Spirit on his people to enable us to believe the good news and to receive the forgiveness of our sins and to renew us in God’s image so that we will no longer live according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. In other words, he gives us his Spirit to make us more and more willing and able to obey him in our daily lives so that we’re able to honour him in all we do and say.
Verses 6 to 8
In verse 6 Luke tells us that they once asked the Lord whether he was going to restore the kingdom to Israel at that time. And that tells us that they still did not understand what God’s plan was for the world. Think back to your Old Testament history. God brought his people out of Egypt and through the wilderness and he gave them the land of Canaan to live in. In the days of Samuel, they asked the Lord for a king. They wanted a human king to rule over them. And so, the Lord gave them, first Saul, and then David. And David was a great king and he defeated their enemies and gave them peace in the land. And then Solomon became king and he was famous for his wealth and his wisdom. And Israel became a great and mighty and powerful and prosperous kingdom.
After Solomon’s death, the one kingdom was divided into two and its power and prestige waned until eventually the northern kingdom was exiled to Assyria and the southern kingdom was exiled to Babylon. And even though the Lord enabled the people to return to Jerusalem to rebuild it in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, they were still ruled over by a foreign nation. And when the Lord Jesus was born, the land was ruled by the Romans. And the people were hoping that the day would come when God would give them a new king, a king like David, who would raise an army to liberate them from Roman rule. They were hoping that God would send them a warrior king like David so that the kingdom of Israel would be the way it was in the glory days of David and Solomon.
And it’s clear from what Luke says that the disciples were thinking along those lines. After all, they had seen the mighty things the Lord Jesus had done, which made clear to them that he was indeed God’s Spirit-Anointed and Conquering King. And since he’s the king, will he restore the kingdom to the way it was when David and Solomon were kings? Will he now raise any army and lead them in victory over the Romans?
And the Lord replied in verses 7 and 8 to say, first of all, that it’s not for them to know the times and dates the Father has set by his own authority. So, what will happen and when it will happen is up to God the Father. And then secondly, they will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on them; and they will be his witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.
Do you see what he’s saying? They were wanting to go back to the way things were in the days of David and Solomon, when God’s people lived in one place in the world; and when they kept themselves apart from the rest of the world. At that time, they lived within the borders of Israel and they had no reason to go beyond Israel. But the Lord was telling them that something new was about to happen. They were to go out beyond the borders of Israel and into the whole world. No longer would the kingdom of God be confined to the land of Israel. The kingdom of God was to extend out of Jerusalem to all of Judea and to Samaria and to the ends of the world. And the apostles were to extend the kingdom, not as soldiers, but as witnesses and as preachers. They were to go out into the world to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ, who died and was raised for sinners. And the Holy Spirit will empower them for this work.
And notice, of course, that the Lord is speaking to the apostles. He’s not speaking to us, but to them. And he’s referring to what they were going to do. In fact, verse 8 is a kind of preview of what we will read in the rest of the book of Acts, because in the rest of the book of Acts, we’ll read how the apostles bore witness to Christ in Jerusalem. And then, they were driven out of Jerusalem by persecution and they took the message to Judea. And then Philip the evangelist went to Samaria, where he will preach the good news to Samaritans, who were half-Jews and half-Gentiles. And then Peter preached the good news to Cornelius, a Roman centurion and a Gentile. And the book of Acts ends with Paul the Apostle preaching the good news in Rome, which, in a sense, represents the end of the earth.
So, verse 8 is a preview of what we will read in the rest of the book of Acts. The Lord empowered his apostles to preach Christ crucified and risen to men and women and boys and girls in Jerusalem and in Judea and in Samaria and then into the Roman world. And through the preaching of the gospel, the kingdom of God spread out of Jerusalem and into the world.
And, of course, now that the apostles have died, the Lord calls and equips others to go in his name and to continue their work and to keep preaching the good news to the ends of the earth so that more and more people will believe and be saved. And it makes sense that the message was to go to all the world, because the message of the gospel is that God so loved the world that he sent his Only Begotten Son to save us. And the message is that whoever believes in him will be saved. And so, since the message is that God so loved the world and whoever believes will be saved, then it follows that the message should be taken into all the world. The kingdom is not confined to one place only, but the kingdom is to fill the earth; and Christ’s church should exist in every place.
And since this is true, then we should do as the Saviour told us to do, and we should pray that he will send labourers into the mission fields. The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore pray and pray and pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out preachers into all the world to declare the good news of Christ who died and who was raised for us and for our salvation.
Verses 9 to 11
Luke then tells us in verse 9 how the Lord Jesus was taken up before their very eyes and a cloud hid him from their sight. No doubt the apostles must have wondered where he had gone. And we can imagine them, looking up into the sky and wondering if he was going to re-appear and come down. And that’s when two men dressed in white appeared. These two men were no doubt angels. And they explained to the apostles that the Lord had been taken from them into heaven. So, that’s where he is right now. Christ our Saviour, who died and who was raised, is now in heaven. We know from elsewhere in the Scriptures that he is seated at God’s right hand as king over all. And he rules over all things on behalf of his people here on earth. He’s watching over us to help us and to protect us and to guide us. And he’s there to represent us before the Father. He’s interceding for us at God’s right hand to ensure that we receive everything we need to persevere in the faith. And we also know that he’s preparing a place for his people so that we will be able to live with God and with Christ our Saviour for ever and for ever in the new and better world to come.
So, the angels explained that the Lord Jesus had been taken to heaven. And they also explained that he will come back in the same way they had seen him go into heaven. In other words, he will come with the clouds. And so, he’s in heaven now. But the day will come when he will return. At Christmas time, we celebrate the birth of Christ when he came into the world the first time to give up his life as the ransom to pay for our sins and shortcomings. But at Christmas time, we also look forward to the day when he will come again, not as a little baby, but as a mighty and glorious king to raise the dead and to send his enemies away to be punished for ever and to bring his people, all who trusted in him, into the new heavens and earth where we will live with him in perfect peace and rest for ever.
Christ is coming again. He will come to judge the living and the dead. In other words, he will judge everyone who has ever lived. And though we all deserve to be condemned for a lifetime of disobedience, the good news of the gospel is that whoever believes in him is not condemened. Though we deserve to be condemned, we are not condemned, because Christ the Saviour was condemned in our place and he took the blame for all that we have done wrong. That’s the good news of the gospel. And so, if Jesus Christ is your Saviour, if you’re trusting in him for forgiveness and for the hope of everlasting life, then you can rejoice, because he took the blame for you and you have peace with God for ever and you can look forward to his coming and not dread it, because when he comes again it will be to bring you to your eternal home where you will see the glory of God in the face of Christ your Saviour and you’ll be happy for ever.
Verses 12 to 14
And today’s passage ends with the apostles returning to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives where they had been when Christ was taken from them. When they arrived, they went into the upper room where they had been staying. And Luke names them for us.
And what did they do? They all joined together constantly in prayer along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus and his brothers. As we go through the book of Acts, we’ll see how the believers joined together in prayer again and again and again. They looked to the Lord continually for the help they needed.
And the ability to pray is a wonderful privilege which Christ has secured for all his people. Through his name, we can come before God the Father Almighty to give thanks to him for his kindness to us and to ask for his help while we go on living on the earth. We can cast all our cares on the Lord and bring to him all the things that bother us or upset us or make us anxious or afraid. We can come to God through Christ, who died to reconcile us to God. And so, the door is always open to us when we go to God in prayer, because Christ our Saviour died to bring us to God.
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