McNeil, William: Studies In The Acts 01 ~ Acts 1;1-8

Now, today I want to commence a study in the book that's commonly referred to as the Acts of the Apostles. Some people prefer just to refer to it as the book called the Acts. One dear old Bible scholar referred to it as the Acts of the Holy Spirit. Well, now we want to introduce our studies by reading perhaps the first twelve verses of chapter one. The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Spirit had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen, to whom also he showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days hence. When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? He said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in his own power, but ye shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you. Ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. When he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight. While they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven. Then return they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey. Now I'm sure the Lord will bless to us the reading of these verses. Now, while we refer to it as the book called the Acts of the Apostles, let me remind you that the book does not record the acts of all the apostles. After all, there were twelve of them. We know, of course, that James, the brother of John, uh, was put to death by Herod. And we know that John himself was exiled to the Isle of Patmos, and he also was used to write what we call the Gospel According to John, and then three epistles, and then the book of the Revelation. But what about all these other apostles, such as Andrew and, uh, Matthew and others, Nathaniel and so on? What became of them? We would love to have had a record of them, but we don't have it. Not only so, it does not record all the acts of the most prominent apostles, namely Peter and after that Paul. While it states some important facts concerning the acts of men who were not reckoned as apostles, such as Stephen, Philip, Barnabas, Silas, and Timothy. These men are also mentioned in the book, and their acts are mentioned, some of them at least. However, the book stands unique in relation to the other books of the New Testament. It is both the supplement and the complement of the four gospels, and provides the historical background for the understanding of the epistles. It is the authentic, spirit-inspired record of the commencement and development of the church during the first generation of church testimony. It commences in the city of Jerusalem, which was the very heart of the Jewish religion, and concludes in the city of Rome, which was the seat of Gentile political power. While reading through the book, one is impressed with the fact that God is able to accomplish his purposes, and he can choose his own vessels and equip them to work according to his plan and purposes. It is also worth noting that the enemy is busy in his endeavors to frustrate the work of God. He seeks to destroy the effective testimony of the church by the persecution from the outside. Then he sought to disrupt from the inside by deception, disputation, and disagreement. It is a book of three major movements. First of all, the ascension of the Lord in chapter one, that is an upward movement. Then you have the advent of the Holy Spirit in chapter two, that's a downward movement. Then there is the advance of the church from chapter two to the end of the book, that is an outward. Now, you'll notice that these movements are all correlated. First of all, it was absolutely essential for the Lord to ascend to the glory. And before he could ascend, of course, he must arise from the dead. If Christ is not living, if Christ has not ascended to the right hand of the throne of the majesty and high, then we have believed a vain thing, and we have preached a vain thing. But the fact of the matter is Christ ascended. That is the important thing in chapter one. And then, of course, the second, the advent of the Holy Spirit, is related to the first. The Holy Spirit could not be given until Christ was glorified. That is, the Holy Spirit could not come down to administer things here on earth until Christ had taken his place in the glory. Then you have the advance of the church from the end of chapter two right throughout the book. How could the church advance without the power and presence of the Holy Spirit? So you'll see those three movements are all correlated. The book is an inspired record of men of God and their movements under the direction of God, employing methods that are approved by God, and preaching messages that are inspired by the Holy Spirit of God. You'll take note that the subject of prayer becomes very interesting throughout the book, and it is obvious that the record shows that personal devotional prayer is honored by God, and united prayer was the practice of the church, while special prayer was engaged in under circumstances of difficulty. A very important factor in this book is the advent and activity of the Holy Spirit. This should be studied in the light of the teaching of the Lord as given in the Gospel according to John, chapters fourteen, fifteen, and sixteen. This is the key to the understanding of the book, as the Holy Spirit is the agent, and the disciples are the instruments that are used in accomplishing the plans and purposes of God. This book stands like a magnificent doorway to the era of God's grace for the proclamation of the gospel of grace and the testimony of the church. It is therefore important to observe the administrative authority and activity of the Holy Spirit. The disciples were indwelt by and taught by the Holy Spirit. While the world was convicted of sin, righteousness, and judgment, the believers were guided into all truth, including things to come, and thus the Lord was glorified. Throughout the book, it is evident that the Holy Spirit is in control. First, informing the church into a spiritual body, and then in guiding all the functions of the members. As long as the Holy Spirit is in control, the church moves forward in triumph. But whenever the church finds a substitute for the Holy Spirit, she becomes inefficient and ineffective, and you could almost say defeated in her purposes. With the Holy Spirit in control, the church functions as a living organism. When the Holy Spirit is neglected, then the church must introduce some man-made organization as a substitute in order to keep their machinery moving. A study of this book should convince the reader that Christianity is necessarily a self-propagating religion. It cannot be localized anywhere in a sense in which it cannot be localized everywhere. It will become obvious that if the church fails to spread, it will die. As the old preachers used to say, you will evangelize or fossilize. It will be observed that wherever churches were established, they were self-governing and self-supporting. Men were not sent out from Jerusalem or Antioch to take charge of these indigenous churches, but elders were to be acknowledged in each local church to build up and extend the good work. While the book is not a book of doctrine, nevertheless, the practices of early Christians were governed by apostolic doctrine, that is apostolic teaching, and it is interesting to note their ministry in support of the poor and their care for their widows. The main point in all apostolic preaching and the testimony of the church was the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and they never failed to make known this tremendous truth. Then they called upon their hearers to repent and exercise faith in Christ. Following the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, the disciples were gripped with fear and shut themselves in the upper room. But after Pentecost, these same men moved with boldness and publicly declared their message, and in about thirty years time they turned the then known world upside down and established churches in many countries. In every generation, the church must accept the challenge to carry the message of the gospel to the whole world. This is a gigantic assignment involving the whole world of the unsaved, and over against that all the Christians of each generation responsible to tell the world about the risen Savior. Take note then throughout this book how necessary it was for the preachers to be guided and empowered by the Holy Spirit in order to accomplish the work. Now, having introduced the book, let us look a little now at these opening verses that I read to you. I remind you, this book covers a little more than thirty years and is the authentic account of church history for the first generation. Keep in mind also the three movements. Now, chapter one may be divided into two sections covering a period of fifty days. Verses one through eleven covering the forty days between the resurrection and the ascension. Verses twelve through twenty six covering the ten days between the ascension and the day of Pentecost. So therefore, we're looking today at those forty days. Verses one and two, the writer here tells us something of the purpose of his book. Notice he says, the former treatise have I made oath, the office of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, till the day in which he was taken up, after that he, through the Holy Ghost, had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen. Now, the fact of the matter is, it's quite clear that the writer of this book is the same who wrote the book that we call the Gospel according to Luke. So Luke is now the writer of this book. He sends it to his friend Theophilus. Now, the writer refers to his previous letter, which set out in order the things related to Christ's sojourn on this earth, that is, things in relation to his earthly ministry. But this second book that we call the Book of the Acts of the Apostles deals with the continuation of Christ's ministry after he returned to the glory and after the Holy Spirit came down to indwell the believers. So this is a continuation of what you have in the gospel records. The fact of the matter is, if you were to look at the gospel records, you'd discover that in Matthew's gospel, at the end of that gospel, the great truth is the resurrection. But in Mark's gospel, he goes a little further and takes us to the ascension. When you come to Luke's gospel, you learn there concerning the promise of the Holy Spirit. When you come to John's gospel, you find reference is made to the return of the Lord. Take all these four truths and bring them together, and you find them right here in chapter one of the Acts of the Apostles. For example, when you come to verse three, here is the proof of his resurrection. To whom also he showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them m forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. Notice this proof of the resurrection was twofold. They saw him with their eyes, and they heard him with their ears. They saw and heard him in different places, at different times, during the forty days. Now, let me remind you that that number forty is a very interesting number in the Bible. You recall that the children of Israel were forty years in the wilderness, a great time of testing. Moses was forty days up on the mountain receiving the commandments from God. Again, it was a time of testing for those that were down in the valley. Remember that when Jonah was sent to the city of Nineveh, his message was forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown. Then when the Lord Jesus Christ was to be tempted, he was in the wilderness forty days. Here again, we have forty days from the time of the resurrection until the day of his ascension. Forty then seems to be related with the thought of proof or testing. And now for forty days he was seen. Now, who was it that saw him? There's a great chapter in the Bible, First Corinthians fifteen, which deals with the great truth of resurrection. In that chapter, we have the names of quite a number, including James and Peter and the apostles and Paul, and then it goes on to tell you that at one time he appeared to over five hundred at one time. Now they were not deceived. It wasn't a matter of these men seeing visions or having dreams. The fact of the matter is they saw him with their eyes, they heard him with their ears, they handled him for forty days. He was appearing to them at different times, different places, and they were not deceived, and they saw him on the day that he ascended to the glory. Now, while he was appearing to them, there were one day they were assembled together, and he commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, said he, ye have heard of me, for John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days. Here then we have the promise of the Father. He has introduced this by setting forth the purpose of the book. He has set before us the proof of the resurrection, a very important matter. Now he speaks of the promise of the Father. Now this event should be studied in relation to prophecy being fulfilled, a promise being honored, the person of Jesus Christ being glorified, and the Holy Spirit coming down to administer the divine purposes. We should take note of the place where this event would occur, and the purpose for it, and the people who would be involved. You see, when the Holy Spirit is given, it's the promise of the Father, and that promise is being honored, and the prophecy concerning the coming of the Spirit is fulfilled. But that can't take place until the Lord Jesus Christ, first of all, is glorified. We have indicated that already when mentioning the three main movements. But now notice the place where this event would occur. They were told that they were not to depart from Jerusalem. Now, some people have gone the length of saying that Jerusalem simply means your hometown. That is, wherever you live, that's your Jerusalem. My friend, that is not what is taught in this verse. For the simple reason that most of the people to whom this was spoken at that time had their homes up in Galilee. They could have gone home to Galilee if they were to stay at home. The Lord says, abide in Jerusalem. That's the place where this event would take place, and when we come to chapter two, we'll discover it was in Jerusalem that it did take place, and it has never been repeated. This event, this prophecy was fulfilled, the promise was honored, the event took place in Jerusalem. And then he said, ye shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit. That was the purpose. They would be baptized into one body, and they would be involved in it. Now then, the moment he mentions this, it raised a problem in the mind of the disciples. The simple reason is this: when they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? See, having been instructed regarding the promise of the Father, Christ now reminds them of the prophecy of John the Baptist and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It would appear the disciples then were intelligent enough to relate this event with the prophecy of Joel, and therefore their hopes for an immediate restoration of the kingdom to Israel was once more raised. However, they were mistaken in some matters. They were not mistaken insofar as the fact that the kingdom would be restored, but what they didn't understand was the timing of it. They thought if the Holy Spirit was coming then, that would be a sign if they were to be baptized with the Holy Spirit, the kingdom would be set up, but not so. The Lord answers them in verse seven, and he said, it is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father has put in his own power, that is, in his own authority. There are certain things that the Father retains within his own authority, and he has the right to reveal or conceal the matter according to his own will. And so, says the Lord, that's something that rests with the authority of the Father. But there is something else that's far more important so far as you are concerned, and that's where he brings us now to verse eight. Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Here then was the program for the witnesses and for their witnessing. First of all, before they could be his witnesses, they had to be endowed, as so to speak, with the ability to be his witnesses. And the divine ability would be absolutely essential for the work of witnessing. How could they go and be his witnesses without the divine ability? And so he tells them now that they would only be his witnesses with the power of the Holy Spirit coming upon them. That's why they had to wait at Jerusalem until this great event took place. And when the Holy Spirit would come, as we shall see when we come to chapter two, they would all be baptized into one body. But then again, the great program is set before them. There would be the developing advance in witnessing, and that advance would be orderly. It would be according to the divine plan. First of all, he says, you'll be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, then in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. They were to go out in ever widening circles. They would start in the streets of Jerusalem. They would evangelize the city of Jerusalem and all the people who were living there, and perhaps the strangers that were coming in. Then they would move out into Judea, the territory surrounding Jerusalem. Then they would go over the, the boundary line, so to speak, into Samaria and carry the message to those despised Samaritans. From there then they would go on reaching out to the Gentiles, because the gospel message was not to be confined to one nationality. So therefore the plan and the program is set before them. There would be the divine ability, the Holy Spirit coming upon them, that would be essential for the work. Then there would be the developing advance, as they would go out in an orderly fashion from Jerusalem till they reached to the uttermost parts of the earth. As I have indicated, it started in Jerusalem, the very seat of the Jews' religion, and by the time you come to the end of the Acts of the Apostles, they've reached Rome, the very center of the military and political power of that day. So therefore, they would go out, and the specific objectives would be to carry out the divine purpose. This was God's mind, that the gospel should be preached to all nations. So he equipped his own in order for them to go out and carry the message to others. Now we'll have to stop there today, and in our next study we'll take up from that point and deal with the parting of the Lord Jesus and the promise of his return.