Acts 1

Ascension and Waiting

As we embark on a journey through the book of Acts, it is fitting to begin with the ending of the book of Luke. Both of these books were written by Luke to Theophilus. We do not know who Theophilus was but, we know his name meant lover of God. Luke ends his gospel by alluding to Jesus’ ascension. In Acts, he will give more detail, but here is what Luke 24:50-52 says: Then He led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up His hands He blessed them. And while He was blessing them, He left them and was carried up into heaven. After worshiping Him, they returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they were continually in the temple complex praising God.

Acts begins with a reference to Luke’s gospel: I wrote the first narrative, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day He was taken up, after He had given orders through the Holy Spirit to the apostles He had chosen. After He had suffered, He also presented Himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during 40 days and speaking about the kingdom of God. Acts 1:1-3 The book of Acts was, in the words of the great Paul Harvey (a famous American radio broadcaster), “the rest of the story”.

What would the Bible be without the book of Acts? We would go straight from the end of the book of John to Romans. We would meet Paul without knowing anything of his background. We wouldn’t have this wonderful eye witness account of how Christianity moved from Jerusalem to Rome, providing the catapult to bringing the gospel to the ends of the earth. The book of Acts tells us the story of who, what, when, where, why and how. So now, we will commence on our expedition through the beginnings of the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  

Vs 4-8 While He was together with them, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Father’s promise. “This,” He said, “is what you heard from Me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” So when they had come together, they asked Him, “Lord, are You restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or periods that the Father has set by His own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

The first thing we find Jesus saying to his disciples is wait. Not, get going and win as many as possible. Not, build a monument and start a church. No, He says to wait. Don’t leave Jerusalem, just wait for the Father’s promise. I believe there are many times when God asks to do the same. I also believe we don’t always listen. We want to do, to go, to be on the move. We have a hard time stopping, praying, and waiting. But there are times when we need to do just that. We need to wait on God’s promises. We need to wait on the Holy Spirit to guide us to the next step.

The question the disciples asked Jesus was, “Lord, are You restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time?” This was actually quite a reasonable question. The disciples knew at this point that Jesus was the Messiah – the promised one they had been hoping for. They also knew of the promise that Israel would be restored. To better understand their question, let’s look at the Greek here. The word for restoring is apokathistémi which means restore to its original position or condition. The word for kingdom is basileia which means a royal power. They wanted to know when Israel was going to be restored to their original position as a royal power. They expected that now would be the time when Jesus would take His throne. Rather than answer their question, Jesus redirects their focus: “It is not for you to know times or periods that the Father has set by His own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” In other words, don’t worry about what is going to happen in the future, instead, concentrate on what you need to do right now.

I want us to notice the language of Jesus’ statement: you will receive the power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. When that happens, you will be My witnesses. A prerequisite for being a witness is receiving the power of the Holy Spirit. We must realize we are the hands, the feet, the mouth… but God is the power. We can speak and serve all we want but, without the power of the Holy Spirit, we are only doing good works. The Holy Spirit gives us the power. He gives us the gifts to use to further the kingdom of God. He directs our paths and opens up opportunities. We need to wait on Him, pray and ask Him to show us which way to go. Then, we will see remarkable things happen. I do not think I would be wrong in saying, every true revival started with prayer. If we look at great spiritual awakenings and revivals we will always find people on their knees beforehand. How can we awaken, without first seeking the One who can empower us? All the evangelism training in the world will be worthless, unless we are empowered by the Holy Spirit. He is the One who convicts and saves – not us. He is the One who knows who is seeking with all their hearts and He will put us in their path. When we receive the power of the Holy Spirit, just watch what God can do through us!

Vs 9- 11 After He had said this, He was taken up as they were watching, and a cloud took Him out of their sight. While He was going, they were gazing into heaven, and suddenly two men in white clothes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you have seen Him going into heaven.”

Jesus had given His last words to the disciples and then a cloud took Him out of their sight. Instead of returning to Jerusalem they stood transfixed. They couldn’t move from that place until two angels of the Lord appeared to them to wake them up and move them from that place. They needed to go back to Jerusalem and await the promise. Jesus had told them earlier that “Now I am going away to Him who sent Me, and not one of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ Yet, because I have spoken these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Never-the-less, I am telling you the truth. It is for your benefit that I go away, because if I don’t go away the Counselor will not come to you. If I go, I will send Him to you. When He comes, He will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment: About sin, because they do not believe in Me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see Me; and about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. John 16:5-11 He had to leave so the promised Counselor could come. They needed to be in Jerusalem, because when the Holy Spirit did come on them, they would literally be in a place where the gospel would be spoken to the nations. We will see later what happens because they were obedient, waited and prayed.

The last thing the two men said to the disciples is that Jesus would come back to us in the same way that He left. The Greek word for in the same way, is tropos, which means in the same manner or fashion. He left in His physical body and will return in the same way. He left visibly, as opposed to just disappearing before their eyes as He had done before, and He will return visibly to us. He left from the Mount of Olives and, will return there. The disciples were not to dwell on His ultimate return, but on His word to them. They were to go to Jerusalem, wait and pray and then the promised Counselor would come. From then on, their eyes and minds would be fully opened to the task ahead.

Vs 12-26 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called the Mount of Olives, which is near Jerusalem—a Sabbath day’s journey away. When they arrived, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying: Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James. All these were continually united in prayer, along with the women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and His brothers. During these days Peter stood up among the brothers—the number of people who were together was about 120—and said: “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled that the Holy Spirit through the mouth of David spoke in advance about Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. For he was one of our number and was allotted a share in this ministry.: Now this man acquired a field with his unrighteous wages. He fell headfirst and burst open in the middle, and all his insides spilled out. This became known to all the residents of Jerusalem, so that in their own language that field is called Hakeldama (that is, Field of Blood). “For it is written in the Book of Psalms: Let his dwelling become desolate; let no one live in it; and Let someone else take his position. “Therefore, from among the men who have accompanied us during the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us—beginning from the baptism of John until the day He was taken up from us—from among these, it is necessary that one become a witness with us of His resurrection.” So they proposed two: Joseph, called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias. Then they prayed, “You, Lord, know the hearts of all; show which of these two You have chosen to take the place in this apostolic service that Judas left to go to his own place.” Then they cast lots for them, and the lot fell to Matthias. So he was numbered with the 11 apostles.

And so, they returned to Jerusalem. They returned to the upper room they had fled to after the crucifixion and most probably the same upper room they held the Passover in. It must have been a large room as it held about 120 people. As they were praying they begin to get direction. Scripture began to come to life and prophecy came to mind. They began to understand what Scripture had been saying and realized they needed to replace Judas as an Apostle. After much prayer and consideration they put two candidates up, and then, let God choose the one for the job. Not much is known about Matthias as he is not mentioned again in the New Testament. There are several different traditions about his ministry. One is that he ministered in Cappadocia. Another tradition said his ministry started in Judaea and then moved to what is now modern day Georgia where he was crucified and buried. Finally, another tradition has him staying in Jerusalem where he died. Whatever the truth, we know Matthias was an apostle of Jesus Christ and, as such, he was a part of the beginning of the church as the gospel spread from Jerusalem throughout the world.

As we begin to read through Acts together, let’s begin as the disciples began, in prayer, waiting for the Holy Spirit to lead us. When we wait on the Lord, and allow Him to lead and guide us, then we will be in the right place, at the right time, ready to speak the gospel to those who need to hear it. I think I have already told you about my friend, but this is the perfect time to remind us of her. We met when I lived in London. Each day she took the bus to work. When she would get to the bus stop, she would ask God to guide her onto the right bus and to the person she needed to meet. Sometimes she would let several buses go by before she got on one. Without fail, the Lord led her, and each day she encountered someone that needed to hear a word from God. If we all lived our life praying and waiting, we would find our path clear and our way empowered by the Holy Spirit.