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Gladness and Singleness of Heart (Acts of the Apostles #6)

Joshua Edgren on

INTRODUCTION

 The evildoers running the Sanhedrin were now confronted with a real problem. The man they had unjustly murdered had come back from the dead—His greatest miracle. He ascended into Heaven and poured out the Holy Spirit on His twelve disciples, who began preaching the resurrection powerfully and performing many wonders and miracles (v. 43). By killing Jesus Christ, the unbelieving Jews only succeeded in giving Him a throne of everlasting dominion in Heaven. And down below in Jerusalem the headache that Jesus had been for them was now multiplied by twelve. In addition to this, because baptism was being administered in the name of this Jesus, the Church now had a definite set of boundaries. These were the people who were bound to Christ.

THE TEXT

“Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved” (Acts 2:37–47).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

 This was a random crowd, and not an organized one. It was not like the Triumphal Entry crowd, and it was not like the crowd organized to call for the Lord to be crucified. It was a crowd attracted to a spectacle, and it says that as a result of what they saw and heard they were pierced to the heart (v. 37), and they asked what they should do. Peter’s reply was that they should repent and be baptized in the name of Christ—the result would be remission of sins, and the gift of the Holy Spirit (v. 38). The promise is for them and their children, as many as God would call (v. 39). Peter followed this up with many other words, urging them to save themselves from that crooked generation (v. 40). A number responded gladly, and that about three thousand souls were baptized (v. 41). These new converts continued steadfastly in four things—apostolic teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayers (v. 42). Fear descended upon everyone, and many wonders and signs were performed by the apostles (v. 43). The believers were all together, and held their possessions in common (v. 44), selling their possessions and goods in order to share (v. 45). They would congregate at the Temple, and would break bread from house to house (v. 46), sharing meals with gladness and simplicity of heart (v. 46). They gave themselves to praising God, and the general population looked on them with favor (v. 47). And the Lord added those who were being saved on a daily basis (v. 47).

BAPTIZING THOUSANDS

The Pool of Siloam was about as long as two/thirds of a football field. It was about 400 feet lower in altitude than the Temple complex. Pilgrims would cleanse themselves there, and then make the ascent to the Temple. On the south side of the Temple complex was an array of miqvehs—Jewish baptistries. Over forty of these have been excavated there. Pilgrims would cleanse themselves again before worshiping. This is almost certainly where the Pentecost baptisms took place. Each of the apostles would have to have baptized around 250 people.

LIQUIDATING ASSETS

Remember the context. This outpouring of the Spirit meant that Jerusalem was going to be destroyed. If you owned real estate, “now” would be a good time to liquidate. And the fact that this happened at Pentecost meant that many who were converted (and perhaps stayed over longer) were going to be out of pocket for a time. As we will see in the episode with Ananias and Saphira (Acts 5:4), no one was compelled to give. However, the natives were flush with liquid assets and the pilgrims were high-centered. It was an obvious occasion for massive sharing.

TO YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN

Peter tells the crowd that the promise (meaning the Holy Spirit) was for them, but it was obviously also for their children. The invitation was open, to as many as the Lord would call. We can identify those called to come by looking to see who actually comes. And we should take care to note how Scripture defines “coming” to Christ. In Luke 18:15, we find people bringing infants (brephos) to Him. This was the incident where the disciples tried to stop it. But Jesus rebuked them (Luke 18:16), and said to allow the children to come to Him. But infants can only come by being carried.

FOUR PILLARS

The characteristics of these new converts is described for us here. First, it should be noted that no one had to chase them around in some sort of follow-up campaign. The continued steadfastly (KJV, NKJV). They devoted themselves (ESV). They were continually devoting themselves (NASB). When new life is actually present, that life seeks out nourishment. Babies are born hungry. New believers are born again hungry.

And what were they hungry for? 1. Apostolic doctrine (didache). 2. Fellowship (koinonia). 3. Breaking of bread (almost certainly communion), and 4. Prayers (probably corporate).

GLADNESS AND SINGLENESS OF HEART

The chapter began with an outpouring of tongues, a sign of pending judgment. Then a sermon was preached, in a language that the multitude understood. It was a sermon that pierced to the heart. Then came submission to the message in the waters of baptism. Those who were converted dedicated themselves, not to tongues, but to doctrine, fellowship, communion, and prayers. Never confuse the gifts of the Spirit (1 Cor. 1:7) with the fruit of the Spirit (1 Cor. 3:1; Gal. 5:22-23). So notice the culmination of it all—gladness and simplicity of heart. This is the Christian faith in full bloom. The roots of the atonement are down deep, and wonders can serve as fertilizer, such that the foliage is thick with doctrine and fellowship and communion and prayer. But the blossom is this. How do we know summer is near? Gladness and simplicity of heart.

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The Day of the Lord (Acts of the Apostles #5)

Joshua Edgren on

INTRODUCTION

We saw last week that the gift of tongues was a marvelous blessing for those who had ears to hear. For believers, the point was all about the grace of God, and the wonderful works of God. But we also saw that for unbelievers, the reality of gibberish in the streets of Jerusalem was beyond creepy. If they had known the meaning of Scripture, they would have heard ominous music in the soundtrack. They were on the threshold of their doom.

We have seen how Luke set the stage for recording Peter’s sermon. In English, the sermon takes about two and a half minutes to speak, but it says later (v. 40) that Peter spoke “many other words” in the follow up. Given the nature of the case, it is important to take in all of Peter’s sermon at one go.

THE TEXT

“But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh . . . And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come . . . Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:14–36).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Peter stood up, and with a loud voice got the attention of these men of Judea and residents of Jerusalem (v. 14). He responds to the charge of drunkenness first. That cannot be it because, he argued, it was only around 9 am (v. 15). These events were actually a fulfillment of a prophecy from Joel (v. 16; Joel 2: ), which he then quotes (vv. 17-21). God is going to pour out His Spirit on all flesh—sons, daughters, young men, old men (v. 17), not to mention male and female slaves prophesying (v. 18). That is the first portent. The second portent is the disintegration of heaven, earth, sun and moon, leading up to the day of the Lord (vv. 19-20)—thunder, lightning, and blue ruin. In this context, whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (v. 21).

Who will the Savior be? These men of Israel already knew that Jesus of Nazareth was attested by God by many miracles and signs (v. 22). The death of these Jesus, also not a secret, was not a divine misfire. Christ was crucified by wicked hands, but also in accordance with the settled plan of God (v. 23). God raised Him from the dead because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on Him (v. 24). This too was prophesied (Ps. 16:8-11). David saw the Lord, who was on his right hand, such that he would not be moved (v. 25). This was the source of David’s gladness and hope (v. 26). His soul would not be left in Sheol/Hades, and the Holy One would not see corruption (v. 27). The way of life is revealed, and it is joy in the presence of God (v. 28). Peter comments on this passage, saying that David could not have been talking about himself, because his grave was still right there in Jerusalem (v. 29). As a prophet, he was actually saying that a descendant of his would be raised from the dead in order to sit on the throne of David (v. 30), and that this had been sealed with an oath from God. The Christ would be killed, but would not decompose, and would rather be raised (v. 31). Jesus was raised, and all these men speaking in tongues were eye-witnesses of it (v. 32). This risen Christ, now ascended to the right hand of the Father, received the Holy Spirit from the Father, and poured Him out (v. 33). Again, this is not David—for how did David speak of his descendant? He called Him “my Lord,” the one seated at the right hand of God (vv. 34-35; Ps. 110:1). And this is why the entire house of Israel needs to be assured of the fact that God has made this very Jesus, the one crucified a couple months before in that city, both Lord and Christ (v. 36).

DECREATION LANGUAGE

One common form of prophetic declaration is something I call “collapsing solar system” language. The sun goes dark, the moon turns blood red, and all the stars fall like ripe figs in a windstorm. This language occurs frequently in the Old Testament, and there are a number of striking places in the New Testament where these places are cited and repeated. Bible scholars call this kind of language decreation language.

Many ordinary Christians, taking the Bible at face value, go out and look at the night sky, and because everything is still up there, they assume that these prophecies are yet to be fulfilled in our future. But this ignores what the language meant in the Old Testament.

The places are Joel 2:28-32 (cited here); Amos 8:9; Ezek. 32:7; Is. 13:10; Is. 34:4. What do these expressions refer to? Throughout the Old Testament, they always refer to the destruction of a city or nation. “The oracle concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw” (Isaiah 13:1). And the meaning of such expressions does not change in the New. Remember, the disciples had asked Jesus when the promised destruction of Jerusalem would occur, and part of His reply was to quote Is. 13 and Is. 34. It means the same thing. He was talking about the destruction of Jerusalem, and not the dissolution of the space/time continuum.

Now we saw last week from Is. 28 that the gift of tongues was a portent of destruction for Jerusalem. And Peter’s sermon immediately following makes this explicit. Trouble was certainly brewing. He quotes a passage from Joel, and that passage had two elements. One was the Spirit being poured out voluminously on God’s people, and the other was the great cataclysm. In Peter’s message, these two elements were all of a piece. Pentecost in 30 A.D. and the Destruction in 70 A.D. were all the same event—the great and terrible Day of the Lord.

PREACHING THE RESURRECTION

We do not just preach that Jesus was raised from the dead. We also declare what it means that He was raised from the dead. The risen Christ pours out His Spirit promiscuously—not dispensed with a teaspoon. The risen Christ will visit terrible desolations on the city that murdered Him. The risen Christ offers terms to anyone who willing to call on the name of the Lord. Mercy is extended in the day of wrath. The risen Christ had been identified beforehand by God with miracles, but then betrayed to murderers by the glorious foreordination of God. The risen Christ was raised in accordance with what Scripture had said a millennium before. The risen Christ is on the throne of David, which is the throne of the world. And so it is that the risen Christ cannot be received as anything other than Lord and Christ.

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Two Layers of Meaning (Acts of the Apostles #4)

Joshua Edgren on

INTRODUCTION

In the second chapter of Acts, we have the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, resulting in the gift of tongues, a powerful sermon, and a massive ingathering of new believers. As we read about this stupendous gift of tongues, we might have the same reaction that the initial hearers did. What on earth does this mean (v. 12)?

THE TEXT

“And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language  . . . And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine” (Acts 2:1–13).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

The day of Pentecost was one of the feasts of the Lord appointed in the Old Testament Mosaic calendar (Lev. 23:15). The Feast of Firstfruits was celebrated the day after the Sabbath of Passover week, and the Israelites were instructed to count fifty days after that day, which would end on the day of Pentecost (from the Greek word for fifty). This festival is also called the Feast of Weeks, or the Feast of Ingathering. It was a harvest festival. When that day arrived, the followers of Christ were all in one place, and were all in one accord (v. 1). And suddenly the room where they were all sitting was filled with a sound from heaven—like a rushing mighty wind (v. 2). Cloven tongues like fire appeared, and rested on each of them (v. 3). They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began speaking in other languages (glossa) as the Spirit enabled them (v. 4). Devout Jews were there in Jerusalem, coming from every nation under heaven (v. 5). We are not told directly, but the disciples apparently spilled out into the street because a multitude gathered as the report spread. All of them were confounded because they all heard their own languages (dialektos) being spoken (v. 6). They began to speak to one another about it because they could tell that all the speakers were Galilaeans (v. 7). How is it we are hearing our native tongues (v. 8)? The word again is dialektos. All the nations are then listed, 17 in all (vv. 9-11). The wonderful works of God are being declared in all these different tongues (glossa). They were astonished, but still in doubt about what it could all mean (v. 12). There were also some wiseacres, of course, who accused them of being drunk (v. 13).

TONGUES ARE LANGUAGES

The tongues here are not to be understood as mystical jabbering. These are languages, with grammar, vocabulary, and syntax. We can assert this confidently for various reasons. First, the people listening identified what was being spoken with the languages of their home countries (vv. 6, 8). Second, glossa and dialektos are words that refer to languages. We get our word dialect from the second one. Third, elsewhere the apostle Paul requires any such expressions in church to be translated (1 Cor. 14:13).

153 AND THE FEAST OF INGATHERING

There are 17 nations mentioned here, and 17 is the triangular of 153. This means that 17 plus 16 plus 15 down to 1 all adds up to 153. And that is the number of fish that were caught in John 21:11, when Peter was restored to ministry. And what was that ministry? He had been called to become a fisher of men (Mark 1:17). When Jesus had done a similar miracle for Peter, this overwhelmed him with his own sinfulness (Luke 5:8). So the fish were clearly emblematic of the coming haul at Pentecost. We also have the fact that throughout Scripture, the sea represents the Gentiles and the land the Jews. No one in the Old Testament is shown eating fish, but in the New Testament fishing (and the eating of fish) comes to the front and center.

The practice of encoding numbers in names (called gematria) was common in the ancient world. They could do this in a way that we cannot because they used the same symbols for letters and for numbers. We have Roman letters and Arabic numbers. But in Hebrew, the first nine letters corresponded to 1-9, the next nine were 10-90, and the last five were100-400. So?

Well, the prophet Ezekiel promised that the time of the New Covenant would be a time of glorious fishing. “And it shall come to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon it from Engedi even unto Eneglaim; they shall be a place to spread forth nets; their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many” (Ez. 47:10). The prefix En simply means spring, and so if we look at the numerical value of Gedi in Hebrew, we find that it is 17, and the value of Eglaim is 153. Ezekiel is talking about the salvation of the Gentiles under the figure of fish, swimming in living waters from the Temple, and he uses these two numbers. This means that we are justified in taking 153 as a symbolic number for the Gentile nations who will be brought into the kingdom of God—fulfilled here at Pentecost.

TWO LAYERS OF MEANING

Because these tongues were actual languages, one of the things meant would be the things that were being said. What the disciples were declaring were “the wonderful works of God” (v. 11). The languages meant what the languages were saying.

But what did the mere fact of this miracle mean?

“Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men. In the law it is written, with men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord [Is. 28:11-12 (see also Dt. 28:49)]. Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe. If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad? [or drunk]” (1 Cor. 14:20–23).

For the unbelieving Jews, the sign of foreign languages in the streets of Jerusalem was a sign of pending judgment. You would not listen to the prophets who continually warned you in your own language (Is. 28:9-10), so maybe you will understand when you hear the languages of foreign soldiers in your streets. But for the foreigners who heard the wonderful works of God in their own language, this was the equivalent of prophecy, which was for those who believe.

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The Replacement of Judas (Acts of the Apostles #3)

Joshua Edgren on

INTRODUCTION

The main action in the second half of this first chapter has to do with the replacement of Judas Iscariot. But along the way, we learn quite a few things about the early days of the apostolic company.

THE TEXT

“Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day’s journey. And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James. These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren . . . And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles” (Acts 1:12–26).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

 After seeing Jesus ascend, the disciples came back to Jerusalem from Olivet (v. 12). This was a sabbath day’s journey, or about 2/3 of a mile. They came to an upper room, where all the remaining disciples were staying (v. 13). They devoted themselves there to prayer, together with the women, the Lord’s mother and brothers (v. 14). At some point, Peter stood up and addressed them, with the assembled numbering around 120 (v. 15). He said that the treachery of Judas, who guided them to Jesus, was a fulfillment of prophecy (v. 16). Judas was one of them, and was a minister with the rest (v. 17). The 30 pieces of silver had been used to purchase a field, the same field where Judas burst apart (v. 18). This become common knowledge, which resulted in that field being name Aceldama, field of blood (v. 19). The previously mentioned prophecy is then cited, from two places (v. 20). The first is from Ps. 69:25 and the second from Ps. 109:8. The task before the disciples that day was select a replacement for Judas, someone who had been with them from the baptism of John on, up to the ascension (vv. 21-22) They picked out two men who met those qualifications, Joseph and Matthias (v. 23). They then prayed to the one who knows all hearts, asking Him to demonstrate which one He chose (v. 24). This would be a man to join them in ministry, filling the office that Judas fell from by transgression, in order to go to his own place (v. 25). They then cast lots, Matthias was selected, and he was installed with the eleven (v. 26).

A BRIEF HARMONY

The gospels tell us that Judas threw the money down in the Temple before leaving to hang himself (Matt. 27:5), but this passage tells us that Judas bought a field with the money (Acts 1:18). The harmonization is that the Temple authorities bought the field with Judas’s money, and in Judas’s name. And the gospels tell us that Judas hanged himself (Matt. 27:5), and here it says he fell headlong and burst open (Acts 1:18). Which is it? Both. He hanged himself, but no one came and got him, and after some time the rope broke and he fell headlong and came apart.

THE USE OF LOTS

The Lord’s intention in selecting twelve apostles was not accidental. He was deliberately establishing the foundations of a new Israel, and Israel was composed of twelve tribes. The New Jerusalem is the Christian church, and it has twelve gates that are named for the twelve tribes of Israel (Rev. 21:12). The foundation stones of this same church are the apostles (Eph. 2:20). Not only so, but the territory of Canaan was divided up between the tribes by lot. “By lot was their inheritance, as the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses, for the nine tribes, and for the half tribe” (Joshua 14:2).

And when Peter is exhorting elders not to be imperious, he tells them not to be lords over God’s heritage. The word for heritage is kleros—allotment. And in 2 Cor. 10:16, Paul is being very careful not to intrude into another man’s area of ministry, or territory. Paul also comments that he had a special commission to Gentiles just as Peter had to the Jews (Gal. 2:8). It appears that apostles could cross these boundaries, but they did so with care . . . because good fences make good neighbors.

In short, we shouldn’t conclude that casting lots is a great way to make decisions so much as to conclude that the early disciples were clearly echoing the ancient Israelite conquest of Canaan. They were dividing up the world, preparing for their invasion of it . . . once the Spirit was given.

CENTURIES BEFORE JUDAS WAS BORN

Jesus knew that one of the twelve was going to betray Him, and He knew who it was going to be very early in His ministry. “Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him” (John 6:64). John says this knowledge was “from the beginning,” which may account for why the Lord prayed all night before He announced His selection (Luke 6:12-13). At the Last Supper, the Lord washed the feet of Judas, and then later we are told that Jesus identified Judas by giving him a piece of bread after dipping it (John 13:26). Centuries before, David had prophesied that one who had shared bread with the Christ would be the one who betrayed him (Ps. 41:9), and Jesus pointed to this prophecy that evening (John 13:18). And the fact that Judas would create a vacancy by his betrayal was written long before he was born.

Psalm 69 is a clear Messianic psalm, and is quoted in the New Testament in five different places. “Those who hate me without a cause” (v. 4) is quoted in John 15:25 and applied to those who had seen the Lord’s miracles and hated Him anyway. “Zeal of thine house hath eaten me up” is quoted in John 2:17 in the description of the Lord’s first cleansing of the Temple. The second part of that same verse—“the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me” is quoted in Rom. 15:3, where Paul applies it to Christ who lived out an example for us to follow. “Let their table becomes a snare before them . . .” (vv. 22-23) is quoted in Rom. 11:9 and applied by Paul to reprobate Israel. And then the verse that Peter quotes in our passage comes next—“let their habitation be desolate,” talking about the void that Judas left.

The next psalm quoted is one of the fiercest imprecatory psalms in the Bible (Ps. 109), and Peter quotes it without embarrassment. “Let another take his office.” The Greek in Acts 1 is episkopas—his bishopric. Prior to this, Judas had cast out demons, and had healed the sick. His treachery did not unwind those blessings, and did not cause the office itself to disappear.

Nothing is clearer than that God has the ability to wield sinful and wicked actions in a way that results in His own greater glory. “Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain” (Acts 2:23). “For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done” (Acts 4:27–28).

There is no way for the Christ to be appointed to die for you without having other elements of the story appointed also.

 

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Many Infallible Proofs (Acts of the Apostles #2)

Joshua Edgren on

INTRODUCTION

The first verse of Acts contained the formal introduction to the book, but the following verses fill it out a bit more. These verses refer to the Lord’s resurrection appearances, and the proofs He gave His disciples that He was in fact alive. Second, He taught them about the kingdom, and told them to wait in Jerusalem until they had been given kingdom power. When that power had descended upon them, they would be ambassadors of that kingdom out to the ends of the earth. And then last, the angels promised that Christ  would at some point return in the same way that He left, meaning that He would descend from the sky.

THE TEXT

“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 Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: To whom also he shewed 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: And, 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 Ghost 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? And 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 Ghost is 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. And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And 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 ye have seen him go into

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Luke begins volume two of his history by referring to volume one. The former book, also addressed to Theophilus, recorded all that Jesus started to do (v. 1), up to the point of His ascension (v. 2). Before He ascended, He delivered commandments to His chosen apostles (v. 2). Over the course of forty days, He appeared to them alive and provided many proofs of His resurrection, and taught them about the kingdom of God (v. 3). Gathering together with them, He required them to remain in Jerusalem until the promise of the Father came, which He had told them about (v. 4). John baptized with water, but in a very few days, they would be baptized by the Holy Spirit (v. 5). On one of their gatherings, they asked Him if this would be the moment when the kingdom was restored to Israel (v. 6). He replied that this was not for them to know, as the Father had it put under His authority (v. 7). But when the Holy Spirit comes upon them, they would be imbued with power, and would be made witnesses of Christ—in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the far reaches of the earth (v. 8).

After saying this, while they were watching, He ascended into the sky and disappeared into a cloud (v. 9). They were staring as He went, and suddenly two men, clearly angels, clad in white, appeared next to them (v. 10). You men of Galilee, they said, why are you staring? He will return in exactly the same way that He left (v. 11).

OUR TABLE OF CONTENTS

The eighth verse provides us with a fine overview of the entire book of Acts. It almost serves as a table of contents. They would be witnesses in Jerusalem (Acts 1:4), Judea (Acts 2:14), Samaria (Acts 8:5), and the uttermost parts of the earth (Acts 13:4ff). Imagine a rock thrown into a pond, and the place where the rock entered was Jerusalem. The concentric ripples going out from that place were Judea (the province where Jerusalem was), then Samaria, just to the north, and then out to the rest of the world. Infallible Proofs
What does it mean to prove something? The Lord appeared to His disciples and provided them with convincing proofs. To prove something means that what you have done is created a moral obligation to believe. A person might be stubborn, and continue to say nuh uh for a while, but if he is sinning by doing so, then this means that the thing was proven to him. The existence of proof is not dependent upon whether or not the person you are talking to is continuing to hold out. The issue is whether he is sinning by continuing to hold out.

What we are told here is that the resurrected Lord met with His disciples over the course of almost a month and a half, during which time He convinced them that He had risen from the dead bodily. The proofs therefore ruled out dreams, hallucinations, wish fulfillment, or anything else like that. He offered His wounds to Thomas (John 20:27). He asked if they had anything to eat in the fridge—ghosts don’t eat (Luke 24:42-43). He had angels add their testimony (Luke 24:23). He conducted Bible studies, showing how it had to go this way (Luke 24:27). And since that time, because the Holy Spirit was poured out in power, the resurrection of Jesus is not so much an historical fact to be proven as it is an historical proof of two other great doctrines—first, that Christ is in fact the Son of God (Rom. 1:4), and second, that He is going to judge the world in righteousness (Acts 17:31).

REASONING ON FIRE

When the Holy Spirit is given, as we will see in the next chapter, He comes down upon the disciples in the form of fire. They were given convincing proofs in the first verses of Acts. But it is quite striking that these proofs were insufficient. You have the proofs, Jesus said, but you must still wait in Jerusalem. So their proofs just sat there waiting, like so much tinder and kindling. Wait, Jesus said. Your syllogisms will not be worth anything unless the Spirit sets them on fire first. Some Christians just want to stack and organize the wood, and also conduct conferences, seminars, and lectures about the wood. Other Christians just want the fire—and because it is just a massive Kleenex fire, their talks devolve into mere harangues. Why not both? The Scriptures are a vast forest, with wood enough and to spare. How long will this fire burn? We are stocked with enough wood to burn until the second promise of these verses comes to pass, and Jesus Christ returns. The first promise of the Father was the outpoured Spirit. The second promise of the Father is the return of the Son. Maranatha, come Lord Jesus.

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