Acts 1 The bks is a special bk in the New Testament It s the histrical accunt f the Apstles and the spread f the church utward frm Jerusalem fllwing Jesus resurrectin As many have nted, it s prbably misnamed It s called the Acts f the Apstles, but it nly cvers the wrk f tw principle Apstles, and then nly a prtin f their wrk And it s mre a fcus n hw Jesus wrks t build His church by His wrd and by His Spirit The bk is unique in many ways, sme bvius and thers surprising It s the nly NT narrative apart frm the Gspels, and tgether with the fur Gspels it cmpletes the New Testament Pentateuch It s the bridge between the life f Messiah and the New Testament epistles written by the Apstles It s ur nly recrd f hw a Gentile Church was birthed frm Judaism The authr was Luke, the authr f the third Gspel, and they were prbably written as a single wrk He prbably wrte bth ver a series f years Tgether they cmprise 25% f the NT, and are the nly bks f the Bible written by a Gentile Speaking f the authr, Luke is a fascinating study himself He was the traveling cmpanin, clse friend and persnal physician f the Apstle Paul Accrding t an early prlgue t Acts written in the 2 nd Century, Paul cnverted Luke during ne f his early missinary jurneys Curiusly, Luke writes the stry f Acts in the third persn until chapter 8 when Paul reaches Tras, Greece 2010 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Acts 1! 2 Then in chapter 16, Luke changes t the first persn (we) This has led many t assume that Luke was living in Tras when Paul cnverted him, and then he left Tras with Paul Luke then accmpanied Paul in all his jurneys until Paul s death as a martyr Luke remained unmarried withut children in devtin t Paul s wrk And he died at the age f 84 Withut Luke s recrd in Acts, sme f the things Paul wrte f himself in the Epistles wuld be difficult t understand Dating the letter is fairly easy We knw it captures mst f Paul s missin jurneys but it s als ntably silent n Paul s death r the destructin f Jerusalem Therefre, it was likely written befre Paul died smewhere arund 60-62 AD This means the bk cvers abut 30 years f histry f the early Church Finally, let s briefly cnsider the structure f the bk itself As I teach verse-by-verse, I always try t emphasize finding the structure f bks and allwing that structure t guide ur understanding The Hly Spirit is the authr f this bk, and Gd is a Gd f rder, s it s incumbent upn us t lk fr that rder and understand it The bk f Acts has several different structural elements that wrk tgether t help us understand it First, the bk is a recrd f the utward mvement f the Church during Luke s lifetime Frm its beginning in Jerusalem t it s eventual arrival in Rme The plt-line f the bk mves in a ne-way arc frm Gd s city t the enemy s city 2010 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Acts 1! 3 There is a theme evident in that pattern, f the Kingdm f Gd mving steadily utward t vercme the kingdms f the earth Secndly, the stry presents the Gspel taking rt first amng Jews, then Samaritans and finally Gentiles Fulfilling Jesus wrds t the Samaritan wman at the well in Jhn 4, that salvatin is f the Jews but will unite Jews, Samaritans and Gentiles Third, Luke fcuses n the ministry f Peter in the first half f the bk and Paul in the secnd half Peter was the leader f the Jewish church and Paul the Apstle t the Gentiles S Luke s tw-part structure alludes t the eventual transfrmatin f the Church frm predminantly Jewish t ne almst exclusively Gentile Finally, Luke punctuates his narrative with triumphant statements emphasizing the true pwer driving the Church frward The statements cnsistently highlight the pwer f Gd s wrd and the Spirit (Jhn 4 again...wrshipping in Spirit and Truth) Tnight we study the sectin f the bk cmmnly called the intrductin It s the bridge between Luke s Gspel and the rest f the bk f Acts The intrductin is Chapter 1 Acts 1:1 The first accunt I cmpsed, Thephilus, abut all that Jesus began t d and teach, Acts 1:2 until the day when He was taken up t heaven, after He had by the Hly Spirit given rders t the apstles whm He had chsen. Acts 1:3 T these He als presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many cnvincing prfs, appearing t them ver a perid f frty days and speaking f the things cncerning the kingdm f Gd. Acts 1:4 Gathering them tgether, He cmmanded them nt t leave Jerusalem, but t wait fr what the Father had prmised, Which, He said, yu heard f frm Me; Acts 1:5 fr Jhn baptized with water, but yu will be baptized with the Hly Spirit nt many days frm nw. 2010 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Acts 1! 4 Luke wrte Acts t dcument the events after Jesus ascensin, s chapter 1 frms a bridge between the Gspel and what cmes nest Luke begins this bk in the same way he began his Gspel Writing t Thephilus, anther Greek His name means lved r lver f Gd In the Gspel accunt, Luke calls him Mst excellent This is a title f rank, prbably a Rman fficial Luke may have been cmmissined t write these accunts by this fficial wh apparently was a Christian He likely was Luke s benefactr wh supprted Luke s ministry, and perhaps Paul s as well Jsephus famus histry f the Jews was written t the mst excellent Epaphrditus, was was Jsephus benefactr Cncerning Luke s purpse, he intimates that the Gspel was just the beginning f his recrd Likewise, Jesus wrk in the Gspel was just the beginning And Luke als ntes that his first accunt ended when Jesus was taken up (v.2) In Luke 24, Jesus is seen t depart in this way: Luke 24:50 And He led them ut as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. Luke 24:51 While He was blessing them, He parted frm them and was carried up int heaven. Luke 24:52 And they, after wrshiping Him, returned t Jerusalem with great jy, Luke 24:53 and were cntinually in the temple praising Gd. But as Luke shws nw, there was a bit mre invlved in Jesus departure than Luke chse t cver in his first accunt In v.2 we hear that Jesus cnveyed rders t the Apstles prir t His ascensin And these rders were delivered by means f the Hly Spirit 2010 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Acts 1! 5 What s the significance f Luke explaining that Jesus delivered His instructins by means f the Hly Spirit? Jesus spke the wrds, s why did He need the HS t be invlved? There is a Biblical principle that spiritual truth cannt be understd by flesh, by natural man It can nly be understd by means f the Spirit f Gd 1Cr. 2:12 Nw we have received, nt the spirit f the wrld, but the Spirit wh is frm Gd, s that we may knw the things freely given t us by Gd, 1Cr. 2:13 which things we als speak, nt in wrds taught by human wisdm, but in thse taught by the Spirit, cmbining spiritual thughts with spiritual wrds. 1Cr. 2:14 But a natural man des nt accept the things f the Spirit f Gd, fr they are flishness t him; and he cannt understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. In ther wrds, when we re expsed t spiritual truth, we must be taught what it means by the Spirit f Gd Remember hw ften Jesus wuld teach the Apstles and yet His wrd were misunderstd? It was a demnstratin f this same principle Jesus wrds were a mystery until the Spirit was wrking t make them understandable We see that mment after the resurrectin in Jhn 20 Jhn 20:20 And when He had said this, He shwed them bth His hands and His side. The disciples then rejiced when they saw the Lrd. Jhn 20:21 S Jesus said t them again, Peace be with yu; as the Father has sent Me, I als send yu. Jhn 20:22 And when He had said this, He breathed n them and said t them, Receive the Hly Spirit. S Luke explains that the instructins the Disciples received were delivered by the Hly Spirit, S we can knw that the Apstles understd them 2010 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Acts 1! 6 And they were delivered during times when Jesus presented Himself alive as a prf f His pwer ver death These appearances lasted fr 40 days and ccurred in Jerusalem and Galilee and places in between Then in vs.4-8 Luke addresses the instructins that Jesus delivered t the Apstles First, He tld them nt t leave Jerusalem until they received what the Father had prmised t them This was the prmise frm Jhn s Gspel that the Father wuld send the Helper t the Church Jhn 15:26 When the Helper cmes, whm I will send t yu frm the Father, that is the Spirit f truth wh prceeds frm the Father, He will testify abut Me, Jhn 15:27 and yu will testify als, because yu have been with Me frm the beginning. Jesus refers t this event as a baptism f the Hly Spirit Jesus emphasizes the greater nature f this cming baptism in cmparisn t the ne dne by Jhn with water This passage reminds us f the Biblical perspective f bth baptisms The water baptism is a picture f the real baptism f the Hly Spirit We are saved by the baptism f the Hly Spirit, but we use water t picture the event In the case f the Apstles, the tw events were reversed in sequence The Apstles (and many f the first century believers) experienced water baptism first fllwed by the indwelling f the Hly Spirit This reversal was purpseful in the first century, and we ll explre why as we reach thse mments in the bk Jesus cmments lead the disciples t ask an interesting questin Acts 1:6 S when they had cme tgether, they were asking Him, saying, Lrd, is it at this time Yu are restring the kingdm t Israel? 2010 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Acts 1! 7 Why d the apstles ask this questin at this pint? Luke begins the verse with the Greek adverb un which means therefre S this questin came as a result f the instructins the disciples received Specifically, the disciples had the kingdm f Israel n their minds Remember, Jesus Himself mentined the cming kingdm in v.3 And then He says they will all share in a baptism f the Hly Spirit Jewish disciples knew frm their OT that the arrival f the Messiah wuld be assciated with an utpuring f the Hly Spirit n Israel We cvered this tpic in detail during ur Isaiah study, but yu can review fr yurself in Zech 12:10-13:1 S, the disciples knw Jesus t be the resurrected Lrd, the Messiah And they hear Him speak f things cncerning the Kingdm and f a baptism by the Hly Spirit S the nly lgical cnclusin fr them t make is this is the mment when the Kingdm is established fr the sake f Israel But the baptism Jesus spke abut was a different event, ne that brings individuals int the family f Gd Jesus answers the questin in vs.7-8 The baptism that awaits fr Israel is the ne that will eventually bring the natin as a whle int faith and int the kingdm Acts 1:7 He said t them, It is nt fr yu t knw times r epchs which the Father has fixed by His wn authrity; Acts 1:8 but yu will receive pwer when the Hly Spirit has cme upn yu; and yu shall be My witnesses bth in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even t the remtest part f the earth. 2010 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Acts 1! 8 Jesus says n, nw is nt that time And furthermre yu aren t t knw when that time will cme It is a time fixed by the authrity f the Father This is cnsistent with Jesus statement in Matt 24 when He said the time f His return is unknwable Matt. 24:36 But f that day and hur n ne knws, nt even the angels f heaven, nr the Sn, but the Father alne. But then Jesus turns t the substance f their cncerns The disciples were seeking reassurance that Jesus authrity wuld vercme and triumph in the wrld They expected it wuld cme in the frm f the prmised kingdm And it will eventually, but Jesus says in the meantime yu will receive pwer t establish a different kind f kingdm The kingdm they will establish will start in Jerusalem, then extend t all Judea, then Samaria and finally t the entire Gentile wrld This simple statement becmes the marching rders f the Church fr the time until Jesus return fr His Bride This statement is the theme statement f the bk f Acts The bk chrnicles hw the Apstles received pwer in a specific sense Pwer t bring the Gspel t the wrld and impress it s truth upn many peple Pwer t perfrm miracles and teach with authrity It s als imprtant t nte that this statement is highly cntextual It was spken t a specific grup f men And it came in cnjunctin with a very specific cmmissin 2010 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Acts 1! 9 It shuldn t be assumed t apply t every believer r every circumstance And then Luke recrds Jesus ascensin, smething he didn t describe in His Gspel Acts 1:9 And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were lking n, and a clud received Him ut f their sight. Acts 1:10 And as they were gazing intently int the sky while He was ging, behld, tw men in white clthing std beside them. Acts 1:11 They als said, Men f Galilee, why d yu stand lking int the sky? This Jesus, wh has been taken up frm yu int heaven, will cme in just the same way as yu have watched Him g int heaven. The mment f the ascensin must have been bitter sweet fr the Disciples They watch their belved Lrd leaving in glry Specifically, Jesus was lifted up (the Greek wrd means t be caught up) And He entered the cluds as was ut f sight This explains why they disciples kept gazing after Jesus was gne Perhaps they wndered if He wuld re-emerge frm the cluds But He s gne And all that remains are 11 men standing in the middle f the rad silently staring at the sky And apparently Gd felt like they needed a little nudge r they might just stay there all day The Greek wrd fr gazing meanings a fixed stare int space They must have been sme sight The angels ask why keep lking fr Jesus in the sky? Dn t wrry...he ll return in the same way ne day Because He still has a Kingdm t rule ver 2010 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Acts 1! 10 The next brief passage recrds the Apstles beying Jesus cmmand t remain tgether in the city Acts 1:12 Then they returned t Jerusalem frm the munt called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day s jurney away. Acts 1:13 When they had entered the city, they went up t the upper rm where they were staying; that is, Peter and Jhn and James and Andrew, Philip and Thmas, Barthlmew and Matthew, James the sn f Alphaeus, and Simn the Zealt, and Judas the sn f James. Acts 1:14 These all with ne mind were cntinually devting themselves t prayer, alng with the wmen, and Mary the mther f Jesus, and with His brthers. They had been with Jesus n the Munt f Olives And nw they walked back int the city, abut 3/4 f a mile which is the sabbath s day walk And they return t the upper rm, prbably the same place as the last supper sme six weeks earlier The same place where Jesus appeared after His resurrectin It s becme smething f a hme base fr the Apstles And then we see the 11 disciples listed But with them are Mary and His brthers The mentin f His brthers is significant In Jhn 7:5 we learn that His brthers weren t believing in Jesus prir t His death and resurrectin But nw they have jined the faithful And their time was spent in unified prayer, mst likely prayer dedicated t the instructins Jesus gave them Calling fr the Spirit t cme Finally, the intrductin ends with the selecting f a replacement Apstle Acts 1:15 At this time Peter std up in the midst f the brethren (a gathering f abut ne hundred and twenty persns was there tgether), and said, Acts 1:16 Brethren, the Scripture had t be fulfilled, which the Hly Spirit fretld by the muth f David cncerning Judas, wh became a guide t thse wh arrested Jesus. 2010 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Acts 1! 11 Acts 1:17 Fr he was cunted amng us and received his share in this ministry. Acts 1:18 (Nw this man acquired a field with the price f his wickedness, and falling headlng, he burst pen in the middle and all his intestines gushed ut. Acts 1:19 And it became knwn t all wh were living in Jerusalem; s that in their wn language that field was called Hakeldama, that is, Field f Bld.) Acts 1:20 Fr it is written in the bk f Psalms, LET HIS HOMESTEAD BE MADE DESOLATE, AND LET NO ONE DWELL IN IT ; and, LET ANOTHER MAN TAKE HIS OFFICE. Acts 1:21 Therefre it is necessary that f the men wh have accmpanied us all the time that the Lrd Jesus went in and ut amng us Acts 1:22 beginning with the baptism f Jhn until the day that He was taken up frm us ne f these must becme a witness with us f His resurrectin. Acts 1:23 S they put frward tw men, Jseph called Barsabbas (wh was als called Justus), and Matthias. Acts 1:24 And they prayed and said, Yu, Lrd, wh knw the hearts f all men, shw which ne f these tw Yu have chsen Acts 1:25 t ccupy this ministry and apstleship frm which Judas turned aside t g t his wn place. Acts 1:26 And they drew lts fr them, and the lt fell t Matthias; and he was added t the eleven apstles. First, nte that Peter takes the initiative and calls the grup t address an bvius prblem in the grup Once there were 12 apstles, but there were nly 11 nw Peter says t this grup that a 12 th was necessary As there will be 12 apstles ruling ver the 12 tribes f Israel in the Kingdm (Matt 19:28) Peter reminds this grup that the 12 th died And Peter mentins graphically the manner f that death Judas was thrwn dwn (headlng) and his intestines burst ut Why be s graphic? And hw d we recncile this with Matt 27 where we re tld Judas hanged himself? The answer is that Judas did hang himself 2010 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Acts 1! 12 But by hanging himself n Passver, his dead bdy was a risk t anyne wh came int cntact with him He defiled the city S likely the priests had Gentiles carry the bdy utside the city and cast it nt the burning trash heap utside the city It was lcated in the Valley f Hinnn, r Gehenna which became a picture f hell When Judas bdy landed n the heap and began t decay, his bdy wuld have blated and eventually burst pen Peter s pint in speaking graphically was t remind everyne that his death was a just punishment In effect, bth his bdy and sul were in hell Smewhat irnically, Peter says in v.17 that Judas has already received his prtin f Jesus ministry And that prtin was t play a very ignminius part in fulfilling Scripture The Psalm 69 recrds that a man s hmestead wuld be left deslate, with n ne willing r able t dwell n it Fr he will be the ne t frsake the Messiah The priests used Judas reward mney t buy a field after his death And under Jewish traditin, that field remained his since it was purchased with bld mney N ne else culd claim that field And then Peter qutes anther Psalm (109) speaking f that same betrayer, saying that anther man will take his ffice S acting ut f his faith and devtin t Gd s wrd, Peter takes the initiative t find that replacement Apstle Interestingly, Peter desn t assume he has the authrity t appint such a persn 2010 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Acts 1! 13 He turns t a time-hnred traditin t discern Gd s will in finding a replacement Peter then gives a qualificatin r wh may be cnsidered an Apstle In v.21 Peter says he must be a man wh has accmpanied Jesus frm the beginning f His earthly ministry with Jhn the Baptist And they must be witnesses t the resurrectin f the Lrd These are the qualificatins t be ne f the Twelve Other apstles were selected (like James and Paul) but they weren t ne f the twelve wh have the prmise f ruling ver the 12 Tribes Apparently, nly tw men met that test and were placed in cnsideratin Then they placed the decisin in the Lrd s hand praying that He wuld reveal His will And in an act f faith, they drew lts, believing that Gd wuld direct the utcme accrding t His will Casting Lts is a valid OT methd f receiving the Spirit s revelatin Rcks were labeled with the men s names and placed in a cntainer r pt and shaken until ne fell ut Gd gave this practice in Prverbs 16:33 and it appears in numerus OT bks After the indwelling f the HS came upn the Church, this methd was n lnger valid in light f the inward leading f the Spirit In fact, this is the last time in the Bible that we see this methd used, as expected And s Matthias becmes the 12 th Apstle 2010 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Acts 1! 14 2010 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.