2. THE WORK OF JESUS CONTINUES - Acts 1:1-11

 

The Book of Acts is a continuing account of that begun by Luke in his gospel to Theophilus as the first verse makes clear. But it is more than that, for it is a continuation of the work that Jesus begun in His earthly ministry. The book of Acts begins with a transition period, where the work of Christ on earth is completed, yet continued through the life of His body. In a real sense the baton of Kingdom work is passed on to the church through the apostles, yet it is still firmly in His grasp as He continues His work. This then is the story of Acts, for it is the account of the continuation of Jesus’ work.

 

Please Read Acts 1:1-11

 

Verse 1: Luke begins his second work by telling us of his first. The first work concerned what Jesus had begun to do and to teach, implying that this new work will be one that continues that account from where he finished the first. In some respects it can be rightly said that the work of Jesus is finished (Jn 17:4; 19:30), yet it is not all finished.

QUESTIONS: How is Jesus’ work finished? How is His work yet to be finished?

 

This book is written primarily for the purpose described in our previous study, to give Theophilus an accurate account of what he had been instructed in, in order for Theophilus to be certain of it (Lk 1:1-4; Please see the previous study). The Gospel of Luke was an account that began at the beginning of Jesus’ earthly mission, even from the time of His birth. Yet the account is primarily taken up with the short period from the commencement of His earthly ministry until his ascension. It includes all that He did (miracles, death, resurrection, etc) and all that He taught.

Verse 2: The day in which the Lord ascended to heaven was preceded by Christ commanding the apostles as to what they were to do. These men had been chosen by the Lord for specific ministry (Lk 6:13; Jn 6:70; 15:16), and before He departed to return to glory He gave these men specific instructions which they were expected to obey. Clearly these men were not self-elevated men, but men selected by the Lord Himself, through whom He would continue His ministry.

Verse 3: That the Lord Jesus Christ was not dead but alive was proven to the apostles through many convincing proofs (Lk 24:39,41-43; Jn 20:19). In fact the Lord appeared to them through a period of forty days before His ascension (1 Cor 15:5-8), clearly demonstrating to the apostles the veracity of His teachings. There could be no doubt with these men that their Master was well and truly alive, and that therefore His teaching was true.

QUESTIONS: Explain how these apostles became the men described in the Book of Acts when just a short time before they fled the scene of the cross?

 

During the time of His continuing earthly ministry following His resurrection and previous to His ascension, the Lord continued to teach the apostles concerning the Kingdom of God. These men needed to be thoroughly equipped to accomplish the task laid out before them as God’s messengers to the world.

NOTE: INDIVIDUAL DISCOVERY QUESTION HERE: Explain what the ‘promise of the Father’ is in Acts 1:4?

 

Verses 4,5: Jesus commanded the apostles to wait in Jerusalem until such time as they had received the promise of the Father (Lk 24:49). What is this promise of the Father? Surely it is the promise given in the Gospel of John in John 14:16,17,25; 15:26; 16:7ff, etc (Lk 11:13; Jn 7:39; 20:22; Acts 2:33). The promise is of the One of whom Jesus spoke so often to the apostles as coming after Him when He had gone, One who would come from the Father - even the Holy Spirit.

Though the apostles had already experienced the Holy Spirit’s working in them for salvation and sanctification (Mt 10:20; Lk 12:12; Jn 14:17), they were yet to experience the Holy Spirit’s power in a way that had not been previously experienced. In some unique way, the Spirit would then be given to these men.

This promise appears to be a fulfillment of that which John the Baptist spoke of during his ministry, for Jesus quotes what John taught in Matthew 3:11 (Jn 1:33; cf Joel 2:28). The fulfillment of this promise would be soon according to the Word of Christ, for He would soon baptise these men with the Holy Spirit (this will be more thoroughly investigated in chapter 2).

Verse 6: On this final occasion when the apostles were all gathered together, they asked the Lord if this was now the time for the Kingdom to be returned to Israel? This question betrayed a still impoverished understanding of the Kingdom of God, thinking that it was still a mere earthly kingdom made up of a physical nation. This was something they still had not fully grasped.

Verse 7: In response to the question of the apostles the Lord offers a gentle rebuke. The apostles are rebuked because this is a matter that belongs to God alone, and they are prying into that of which they have no right. What the Lord has not revealed we must be content to leave alone, as belonging to the realm of God alone. The time of the end is known only to the Father and is not given to man.

QUESTION: If we are not to know what the future will bring in its entirety, how can we order our lives aright?

 

Verse 8: The apostles are not to be concerned with that of which they have no right to meddle, but with that of which the Lord has clearly commanded. Theirs is not to delve into the timing of the end, but to fulfil the clear commands of God. For the apostles this meant that they were to fulfil their commission by taking the gospel to the very ends of the earth. They were to bear witness to what they had both seen and heard concerning the Lord Jesus Christ and the gospel (1 Jn 1:1,2).

Yet the verse also gives an answer to the question of the apostles, for it speaks of the Kingdom of God as spiritual. The time would soon come for the apostles to receive Holy Spirit power (enablement) so that they will successfully be able to fulfil their commission. By fulfilling their commission the apostles would in fact be setting up the Kingdom of God in the true Israel of God, for it is the rule of God in a believer’s life (and as a body) by the Holy Spirit. It extends through the earth through Holy Spirit enabled witnesses, and this is what the apostles had been called to in their commission. So the answer to the question proffered by the apostles is both a yes and a no, as well as a rebuke for wanting to know what is not theirs to know.

QUESTIONS: How was this answer a yes and a no, as well as a rebuke to the apostles? Is there anything of relevance to the church today in Jesus’ answer? Explain.

 

It should be noted that verse 8 also gives something of a summary of the Book of Acts, for the book records how the gospel and the Kingdom spread from Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria, and throughout the world, just as the Lord had commanded the apostles.

Verse 9: This verse records the manner of the Lord’s departure in order to return to His former glory (Jn 17:1-6). It is what is known as the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ. The ascension was a clearly visible departure of the Lord from among men to return to glory with the Father. The various examples of His disappearances in the days following the resurrection show that His departure could have been similar if that was the Divine purpose. However a visible departure was necessary to assure the apostles that He had indeed now gone until the time of His coming again. The cloud as it were shuts the door on Christ’s bodily ministry upon the earth.

Verse 10: These two men mentioned in verse 10 are called men because they looked like men, yet they were most certainly angels, messengers sent by God to confirm to the apostles what had just occurred.

Verse 11: The first question asked by these two angels is why did the apostles stand so long gazing after the Lord Jesus Christ? This looking of the apostles seems to have been more than just that of amazement, for the angels appear to be giving them something of a rebuke for their gaze. Perhaps the apostles were becoming downcast because the Lord’s bodily presence had now gone from them and they longed for Him to still be with them. Whatever the reason for their prolonged gazing into the heavens, one thing is sure from the passage, they must stop the gazing and look to the work set before them.

QUESTIONS: Does this passage say anything to the modern church’s obsession with the end times? What does it say?

 

Whatever the reason for the mild rebuke, the angels quickly move to encourage the apostles. The angels give the apostles an assurance that though the Lord has bodily gone to glory (Jn 17:1-6), He will yet return. Not only will He return, but the Lord will also return in the same manner as He departed, with a clear bodily presence visible to all (Mt 24:30; 26:64; Rev 1:7; 14:14).

QUESTION: What does this passage tell us of the claims of the Jehovah’s Witnesses about Christ’s return?

 

Individual Discovery

Why was Matthias chosen to replace Judas and not Justus? Explain your answer.

 

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17/10/2006

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