Summary:

Peter takes the lead in things (1:15) because the Lord put him in charge of things (Mt. 16:18,19) like binding a new apostle. The 12 were also involved (Mt. 18:18), but the kingdom gospel and program were committed chiefly to Peter (Gal. 2:7).

But Peter didn’t act like a leader when he denied the Lord three times.  But rather than dismiss him as the chief apostle, the Lord called him back into His service three times (John 21:15-17).  Peter probably thought the Lord was rubbing it in because he had denied Him three times, but the Lord was actually saying, “Yeah, I remember you denied Me three times, but I still want you to feed My sheep.”

We know the Lord knew Peter would deny Him, for He told him in advance what to do when he was “converted” from denying Him (Lu. 22:31,32).  And to make that happen, the Lord called him back three times—just as He originally had to call Peter three times to follow Him.

The number 120 (Acts 1:15) is significant.  Moses lived that many years (Deut. 34:7), and he represented the law.  So the 120 disciples represented the death of the Old Testament of the law and the birth of the New Testament.  You know.  The New Covenant where the Jews will be “a kingdom of priests” (Ex. 19:6).There were 120 priests in Solomon’s temple (II Chron. 5:1,12), and when the 12 asked if it was time for the Lord to “restore” the kingdom (Acts 1:6), they meant restore it back like it was under Solomon.  So these 120 Jews were a taste of the kingdom where the Jews will be priests.

The “scripture” Peter is talking about (1:16) is one he’ll reference later, but basically it said Judas had to be replaced.

Judas was “numbered” with the apostles (1:17), but not with the saints.  The Lord chose him to be an apostle, but he had to choose to be a believer, just like Jeremiah (Jer. 1:5).  Jeremiah did, Judas didn’t.

Betraying the Lord was iniquity, and the 30 pieces of silver that Judas got for it was “the reward of iniquity” (1:18).  Matthew 27:5 says he hanged himself, but when the earth-quake came (Mt. 27:50,51), the limb from which he hung broke and he fell and all his bowels gushed out (Acts 1:18)

In Acts 1:20, Peter quotes the Scripture he referenced earlier, Scripture that was found in two psalms.  We know that Psalm 69:25 is about Judas, for v.21 speaks of the Lord on the cross.  And we know Psalm 109:8 is about the Judas, for verse 16 says he oppressed the poor.  Judas was the treasurer for the 12 and stole from the bag (John 12:6), the bag out of which they gave to the poor (John 13:27-29).

That made Judas a type of the antichrist, who will also oppress the poor.  All believers will be poor because they’ll have to sell all they have to be saved (Luke 18:18,22), making them poor.  The kingdom will begin with Anti-christ’s death, just as the taste of the kingdom we’re seeing in early Acts here began with the death of Judas.

How’d Peter know to make following the Lord a prerequisite for replacing Judas (Acts 1:21-23)?  It’s because that’s why the Lord chose him and the other apostles (John 15:27).  The candidates were probably chosen from the 70 (Luke 10:1).

How’d they know they should pray before picking a helper?  I mean, Moses didn’t (Ex. 18:13-25)!  But the Lord prayed before picking the 12 (Lu. 6:12,13).  But did you notice Moses picked men to “judge” Israel?  Isaiah says in the kingdom, God will “restore” their judges “as at the first”—as in Moses’ day. Those judges will be the 12 apostles (Mt. 19:28).  That’s why they needed 12 apostles, to judge the 12 tribes!

When it says Judas died and went to “his own place,” that’s more proof he was a type of the Antichrist.  Doesn’t hell sound like a place that the beast would call his own?

People say that rolling dice was no way to pick an apostle (1:26), and that proves the 11 shouldn’t have been picking a replacement for Judas, they should have waited for the Lord to save Saul. But that was a legitimate way to determine God’s will then (Pr. 16:33), and Paul didn’t qualify as one of the 12.  He hadn’t followed the Lord till after His ascension.  He’ll be in heaven judging angels instead (I Cor. 6:3).

Video of this sermon is available on YouTube: The Election of An Apostle – Acts 1:15-26

Video of this message is also available on YouTube: The Lord Jesus Christ Says Farewell – Acts 1:9-14

Summary:

The “things” the Lord spoke that day (v.9) have been called The Great Commission, for they were His last words on earth (1:8).  But He continued to speak through the 12 at Pentecost, and later though Paul.  So red letter Bibles should have those words in red too!  But Peter’s words were to the Jews (Acts 2:14,22,36) while Paul’s are to us (Rom. 11:13).

The “cloud” that received the Lord (1:9) wasn’t a rain cloud.  Clouds are sometimes clouds of men (Heb.11:4—12:1) or of angels (Dan. 7:13).  The Lord was always surrounded by angels (Lu. 2:13,14; Ps. 91:11; Mt. 26:52,53), and He would need an angelic escort to rise to heaven through the “air” of Satan’s domain (Eph. 2:2).

His ascension was typified when Elisha saw Elijah ascend and got a double portion of his spirit (II Ki. 2:9-11), enabling him to work twice as many miracles as Elijah.  The apostles saw the Lord ascend and worked “greater” miracles than He did (John 14:12 cf. Acts 5:15,16).  That’s how you know modern healers don’t have the same Spirit Peter had!

They weren’t expecting the Lord to rise (Lu. 24:50-53), so naturally kept gazing “stedfastly” after Him (1:10).  But God sent two angels to tell them not to (v.11), for the Lord had told them certain signs had to appear before they should be looking up (Lu. 21:20-28).  So they were making a dispensational error by looking up prematurely.

But here we have a dispensational difference, for no angel will ever tell you to quit looking up, for no signs have to appear before the Lord can come for us.  So Paul tells us to be “looking” for Him (Tit. 2:13).

When the angels said the Lord would return for Israel “in like manner” as He ascended (1:11), that tells you He will return suddenly (Mal. 3:1; Mt. 24:44), and with a cloud of angels.  Revelation 1:7 says He’ll come with clouds and everyone will see Him, but it’s never cloudy with rain clouds over all the earth!  Psalm 104:3 says He makes His clouds a chariot, and Psalm 18:10 says that chariot will be a cherub. Matthew 24:30,31 says He’ll come with power and great glory.  Rain clouds can display His power and glory with thunder and lightning, but clouds of angels can do it better. And  Matthew 25:31 says He’ll come with angels.

Acts 1:12 says the Lord left from the mount of Olives, and He’ll return in like manner (Zech. 14:4).  It also says the apostles returned to Jerusalem, since that’s where the Lord told them to start their witness (Acts 1:8).  Bible teachers who think the Lord gave the Great Commission to us know we shouldn’t start in Jerusalem, so they make Jerusalem “your home town.”  But the apostles were from Galilee (1:11), Jerusalem wasn’t their home town!

What’s “a sabbath day’s journey” (Acts 1:12)?  The distance Jews believed they could walk before it would be considered breaking the sabbath of rest.  How far was it?  The 12 were near Bethany when the Lord ascended (Lu. 24:50), “about fifteen furlongs” from Jerusalem (Jo. 11:18), or 1.875 miles.

Isn’t it wonderful how the Bible explains itself?

The “upper room” (1:13) might be where they ate the last supper (Lu. 22:7-12), which might have been Mark’s house, since he spoke of them coming that night (Mark 14:15-17).

Acts 1:13 mentions the 12 apostles, minus Judas, but there were also faithful “women” there (1:14), probably the ones who stuck with the Lord when the apostles forsook Him (Mark 15:40,41).  Notice Mary was praying with them, they weren’t praying to her, as Rome says we should do.  She was a sinner who needed a Savior just like anyone else (Lu. 1:46,47).  In addition, the mention of the Lord’s “brethren” being there (1:14) shows Mary wasn’t a perpetual virgin as Rome also teaches.

We’re told they were praying, but we’re not told what they were praying for.  Our Pentecostal friends say they were praying for the Spirit to come, but the Lord told them to “wait” for Him (Acts 1:3-5) not pray for Him. The “tarrying” meetings they have, praying for the Spirit, will never produce the power the Spirit gave the disciples back then, for God never promised that kind of power to us Gentiles.

Video of this message is also available on YouTube: A Question About the Future – Acts 1:6-8

Summary:

The “kingdom” they were asking about (1:6) was the one Daniel predicted (2:44), and you know why they were asking.  The Lord spent 3 years talking about it, then another 40 days (Acts 1:3), even teaching them to pray for it (Lu. 11:2).  After all that instruction, they probably knew everything about the kingdom except when it would come.

Notice they didn’t ask if it was time for the Lord to create the kingdom for Israel.  They asked if He would restore it to Israel.  That word means to bring something back to a former state from a state of ruin, like the hand of the king in I Kings 13:1-6.  They were talking about the kingdom that Israel had under David and Solomon, when Israel reached her zenith.

You may be thinking that restoring the kingdom is not the same as a hand, since that hand was restored to the same man who lost it, but the kingdom won’t be restored to the same men.  But when Saul lost his kingdom, his son got accused of trying to get it back (II Sam.16:3).  Israel’s kingdom never belonged to him, but he would have inherited it if his father hadn’t lost it.  It was his kingdom only in the sense that he was the heir of the kingdom.  But because he was the heir, it was legitimate to talk about restoring it to him.  And the 12 were “heirs of the kingdom” (James 2:5) so it was legitimate to talk about the Lord restoring it to them (Luke 12:32).

Many Bible commentators say the 12 were asking a dumb question, for they think the Lord never meant to establish a literal kingdom.  They think He only meant to establish a kingdom in the hearts of men because He said “the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21).  But He said that to unsaved Pharisees (v.20).  The kingdom wasn’t in their hearts.  The word “within” there means what it meant when the Lord said the Gentiles were “within” the people of Israel (De. 28:43).  There the word meant in their midst.  While the Lord was here, He was in the midst of the Pharisees, and the kingdom was vested in Him (Mark 11:10 cf. Luke 19:38).

Bible commentaries also point out that the Lord said His kingdom wasn’t of this world (John 18:36).  But it was only not of this world at that time, for the Lord knew He had to go to heaven to get the kingdom (Lu.19:11-15).  That’s why John 18:36 ends: “now is My kingdom not from hence.”

When the kingdom comes, it will have a literal earthly king (Jer. 23:5,6).  A kingdom in men’s hearts can’t execute judgment and justice, or keep Israel safe, as those verses say.  But a king ruling with a rod of iron can (Rev.19:15)!

The commentators mean well.  They know the Lord left without establishing a kingdom, so they figure if that’s what He came to do, He failed!  But they don’t recognize the mystery, that God interrupted Israel’s kingdom program, and that Israel will get her kingdom after the Lord’s Second Coming.

If the Lord didn’t mean to establish a literal kingdom, He should have told them so when they asked—but He didn’t.  He just told them it wasn’t for them to know the times and the seasons (Acts 1:7).  That refers to the removing of earth’s kings and the setting up of God’s kingdom (Dan.2:21).

The 12 apostles didn’t know the times or the seasons, but the Thessalonians knew them (I Thes. 5:1,2). That’s because they got saved after Israel rejected the kingdom and the mystery began, so they knew it wasn’t time for the kingdom.

The “power” the 12 received (Acts 1:8) was the power of the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:4) that enabled them to do miracles to confirm their preaching (Mark 16:20). This made them “witnesses” (Acts 1:8).  That word means to testify what you’ve seen. The Lord’s miracles convinced John the Baptist that He was the Christ, so he could witness that (John 1:15).  That made the Pharisees His enemies.  The 12 witnessed His resurrection, so they testified that (Acts 2:32; 3:14,15; 4:33), making the Sadducees His enemies in Acts (Mt.22:33).  But Paul testified the gospel of grace (Acts 20:24), making “enemies” out of those who don’t preach the cross (Phil.3:17-19).

The 12 were to start their witness in Jerusalem, for it was God’s plan to reach the world through Jerusalem (Isa. 2:3).  The Jews weren’t willing to be God’s channel of blessing then, but they will be willing someday (Psalm 110:3).

Video also available on YouTube

Summary:

A “treatise” is a formal written composition. When the writer of Acts mentions a “former” treatise he wrote to a man named Theophilus, that tells us Luke wrote Acts (Lu.1:1-3).

The name Theophilus means “friend of God,” and the only man in the Bible called that was Abraham (James 2:23). That tells us the Gospel of Luke was written to the seed of Abraham, the circumcision, since it describes the Lord’s earthly ministry, and His ministry was to the Jews (Rom.15:8).

But if Acts was also written to Theophilus, that tells us it too was written to the Jews.  That’s significant, since most Christians think Acts 1,2 describes something new, the beginning of the Body of Christ.  But if Luke describes what the Lord “began” to teach the Jews (Acts 1:1) then Acts must describe what He continued to teach them—through the 12 apostles.

The commandments the Lord gave them before being “taken up” were found in Mark 16:15-19.  After He ascended into heaven, you’d think that was all He taught the Jews. But Acts 1:2 implies He continued to teach them through the apostles.

Why’d the Lord teach the 12 “through the Holy Ghost” (Acts 1:3)?  Well, that’s how God spoke to men, through the Spirit in the prophets (Acts 21:3,4).  But if the Lord was God, why’d God need to speak through the Spirit when He spoke?  Well, He was also a man, and a prophet (Deut. 18:15,18), so the Spirit descended on Him (Mt.3:16) and God spoke through Him through the Spirit (John 3:34; John 14:10).

And the reason Luke is reminding us of that in Acts 1:2 is that God was about to continue to speak to men through the Holy Ghost through the 12 apostles, who were filled with the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:4).  The Spirit didn’t just enable them to speak in foreign languages.  He told them what to say, just as He told the Lord what to say.

The Lord’s “passion” (Acts 1:3) was His suffering and death.  After He died, He showed Himself to be alive by “many” proofs.  The reason He had to do that is that they thought He was dead, and so couldn’t have been their messiah (Lu.24: 19-21).  Even Peter and the 12 gave up on Him, returning to being fishermen (John 21:3).  Peter had a successful business with “partners” and at least two ships (Luke 5:1-10).  The only thing that made them leave fishing again was when the Lord showed Himself alive by many proofs.

What kind of proofs?  Acts 1:3 says He showed himself alive (Luke 24:36,37).  He showed His hands and feet where they nailed Him, and let them handle His wounds (Lu.24:39,40; Jo.20:25,27).  He also ate, further proving He wasn’t a ghost (Lu.24:41-43). He also appeared to 500 others (I Cor. 15:5,6).

What made those proofs all the more “infallible” was that the Lord did them for “forty days” (Acts 1:3).  During that time He taught them about “the kingdom” that Daniel said God would set up on earth (Dn. 2:44).  It’s the same kingdom the Lord taught them about for three years.  The word “kingdom” appears 55 times in Matthew, most of the time referring to the kingdom of heaven on earth.

Of course, much of what He taught them about the kingdom went in one ear and out the other.  But during these 40 days, He opened their understanding (Lu.24:45).  The kingdom was “at hand” when the Lord was here (Mt.4:17), but before it could come, the Lord had to ascend into heaven to get it and return (Luke 19:11-15).

The Lord told them to go into all the world and preach the gospel, but only after they received the promise of the Father (Acts 1:4).  The promise of the Father was power from on high (Acts 1:8), power they received when they were filled with the Spirit (Acts 2:4), the power to do miracles (Acts 6:5,8). They needed that power to confirm the Word they preached (Mark 16:20), and to give them the boldness to charge Israel with the sin of Messiah’s death (cf.Micah 3:8)

The Jews were to be God’s priests to the world (Ex.19:6) and priests had to be baptized with water and oil (Ex.29:1-4,7).  Oil is a type of the Spirit (cf. I Sam. 16:13).  So Jews had to be baptized with water and the Spirit to be priests to the world (Acts 1:5).