Acts, Chapter 1

Please in your Bible, read this chapter.

Verse 1: “In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus BEGAN to do and to teach”

Primarily, in his ‘former book’ the author wrote about the Lord Jesus and His dealings with His people of Israel. Not a small job for the author. But God had a further task for him. In his second book he must write about all that Jesus CONTINUED to do, again to convince and convict the people of Israel.

In all this, it was the hand and will of God at work, desiring to heal a sinful nation. Today, two thousand years later, the same God allows us, from the sidelines, to look into and listen to events that happened so many years ago.

The people of Israel and their leadership had rejected their God-given King and crucified Him. But God . . .!

Verse 2: “until the day He was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions, through the Holy Spirit to the apostles He had chosen.”

‘To the apostles He had chosen’.

Verse 3 “After His suffering, He showed Himself to THESE men and gave many convincing proofs that He was alive. He appeared to THEM over a period of forty days and spoke about the Kingdom of God.”

‘The kingdom of God’

After their most grievous sin, crucifying the Son of God, Israel was never removed from the Kingdom of God. He did set Israel aside, but only temporarily. He would now, for a while, occupy with a different and new section in His Kingdom, the Church of the Lord Jesus. The apostles He had chosen were to be the foundation for this new section in the Kingdom of God (Ephesians 2:20).

Verse 4 “On one occasion, while He was eating with them, He gave THEM this command: ‘Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift My Father promised which YOU have heard Me speak about”(John 14:15 – 31).

Verse 5: “For John baptized with water, but in a few days YOU will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

Luke? Luke, didn’t you make a mistake? In your ‘former book’ you wrote ‘He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit AND FIRE (Luke 3:16). Now, in this book, what about ‘the fire’?

No, Luke did not make a mistake! In the Bible fire always means ‘judgment’. In his ‘former book’ Luke wrote about John the Baptist who was warning the people of Israel. Some of them believed Jesus and would be baptized with the

Holy Spirit. The majority, who rejected Him, were to be baptized with fire. Were facing judgment.

Today biblical baptism with the Holy Spirit is a thing of the far past. It applied to Israel. Their baptism with fire is still in progress and will finally end, after the coming Great Tribulation (Matthew 24). During current times many of God’s dear people are being seriously misled, by sad error regarding the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. If they are God’s people they were ‘born’ of the Spirit and never will need or receive that baptism as well. All the ‘experiences’ we hear about, are not from the Lord, but sad, human mistakes.

Verse 6: “So when they met together, they asked Him. ‘Lord, are you at this time going to restore the Kingdom to Israel?”

‘The kingdom to Israel’

They were real Jews. From their Bible, now our Old Testament, they knew the God of Israel and His promise of a King, greater than David of old (2 Samuel 7:8 – 16 note the repeated ‘forever’), (Isaiah 2:1,2 / 9:6,7). The Jews knew those passages and promises well, but one thing they did not know, God’s timing. During His ministry to Israel, while the Son of Man was here on earth, He never had given any indication of plan or desire to be King. Now, after having died, been buried and having risen from the grave, could it be ‘at this time’ that He would restore the kingdom to Israel? The Lord Jesus did not correct or rebuke them; simply reminded them of God’s calendar:

Verse 7: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by His own authority.”

‘The Father’s own authority’.

As it was with ‘the apostles He had chosen’ so it is with many of Father’s children today. Predictions, so-called prophecies, warnings about the end of this world, expectations, all outside the Father’s own authority. One day, on His own calendar, in righteous and severe judgment the Father will deal with Israel and the nations. That will not be before a different section of His Kingdom, the Church of the Lord Jesus, has become complete and been taken into Heaven, to be forever with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:13 – 18).

No judgment for the Church! It was not for them and it is not for us ‘to know the times or dates the Father has set by His own authority’.

Verse 8: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

‘To the ends of the earth.”

Today still, they are witnessing. In the Bible, all over the earth, Christians are reading about the power of and the preaching by the chosen apostles. Like you and I, the apostles were sinful human beings. But God . . .! HE empowers human beings!

Verse 9 “After He said this, He was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid Him from their sight.”

What did He say, just before that happened? ‘My witnesses’! What did they see ‘before their very eyes’? Their dear and holy Master went back into the holy house of His holy Father. In court they would be able to swear to the truth and nothing else but the truth, about what they had seen. A little later we will come to it, but just now we will have a little peek:

Acts, chapter 7:55,56 “But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to Heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. Look he said, ’I see Heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

Their stones rained down on him and Stephen died. Very shortly after his testimony Stephen himself stood with the Son of Man ‘at the right hand of God’. Men killed him, yes, true, but . . . God! No man, as proud and self-righteous as he may be, will ever kill GOD.

Verses 10,11: “They were looking intently up into the sky as He was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ‘Men of Galilee’ they said, ‘why do you stand here, looking into the sky?’. Why? Well, ‘before their very eyes’ for a second time, they saw their much anticipated King disappear. Once, dead, into a grave, now alive, into the sky. Well, what now, about all those scriptures promising a King and His kingdom to be ‘forever’?

Verse 11: “This SAME Jesus, Who has been taken from you into Heaven, will come back in the SAME way you have seen Him go into Heaven.”

Yes indeed, this SAME Jesus! Crucified and dying on a Cross! This SAME Jesus, buried in a grave, this SAME Jesus, Who arose from that grave, this SAME Jesus Who, after the grave, for forty days had appeared to them, this SAME Jesus Who a moment ago walked and talked with them and Who had now disappeared into the sky, ‘This same Jesus’ will come back in the SAME way you have seen Him go into Heaven’.

Verse 12: “Then they returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city”. While they stood ‘looking intently up into the sky’ they were standing on the Mount of Olives. Exactly there again, one day, still in the future, the same Lord Jesus will stand.

His Church will meet up with Him in the clouds (1 Thessalonians 4:13 – 18). The two men dressed in white talked about a different occasion. His coming for Israel and the nations, on the Mount of Olives.

Matthew 24:29,30: “Immediately AFTER the distress of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the sky and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.”

AT THAT TIME the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky and ALL THE NATIONS OF THE EARTH will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory”.

ALL the nations of the earth! That includes the Nation of Israel! In his second book Luke confirms an ages old prophecy. The ‘two men, dressed in white’ were well informed. Zechariah 14:3,4 “Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle. On THAT day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem . . . “.

‘ That day’ will be one day in a period of time. In our times that prophecy still has not been fulfilled. But . . . God!

Verse 13: “When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James, son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James.”

How many apostles did our Lord choose? How many saw Him ‘taken up before their very eyes?’ Was there only one witness? How many were there? How many saw the two men ‘dressed in white’ and heard their words? Is their account reliable?

Verse 14: “THEY ALL joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women, and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.”

What did they do? Argue with each other? ‘It was like this’! ‘NO, it was like that’!

Likely some or all of them were expecting the Father’s authority soon to have the feet of their Lord and Master stand on the Mount of Olives, for Him to begin the Kingdom of Israel. By now they had learned, there would be nothing too hard for the Lord God to do. They all joined together CONSTANTLY IN PRAYER. They had nothing better to do.

The remainder of chapter one tells us that soon again there was a twelfth God- ordained apostle. He too was a witness; he too had heard and seen the Lord Jesus after He returned from three days in a grave. Whatever men may imagine them selves to be, today there are no such apostles in the world. The Bible does not allow for that.