Acts 1:1-11
Last week we completed our first study in the Gospel according to John. We now turn our attention to the next book in the Bible, the book we call “Acts”. It is here we will learn about formation of the Church and creation of some of the customs we use today in our churches.
The Book of Acts was not signed, but it is well established that Luke wrote both Acts and the Gospel according to Luke. Luke gives us his purpose in writing this book in the first four versus of the book. According to those verses Luke wrote Acts as a second volume to a two-part history of which the first part was his Gospel account.
Both the Gospel According to Luke and Acts are addressed to “the most excellent Theophilus.” The title “most excellent” was used of Roman officials, so Theophilus was likely someone high up in the Roman government. We do not know from scripture anything else about this person. The name “Theophilus” can be translated as “Friend of God,” so it has been suggested by some that the name refers to all Christians in general and not a specific person. It has also been suggested that Theophilus was a judge ruling on Paul’s case, and both the Gospel of Luke and Acts were legal briefs in Paul’s defense. In short, we just do not know anything concrete about Theophilus.
Acts starts off by connecting the “first account” (Acts 1:1), which was the book we call the Gospel According to Luke, with this account. The first account covered “all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when He was taken up.” This account, the book of Acts, will primarily be concerned with the work of the Holy Spirit in the building of the early Church.
Luke, who is an excellent historian and doctor, is quick to point back to factual proof. He writes, “by many infallible proofs” when referring to Jesus’ post resurrection appearances. On of these events he might have in mind is the events he recorded for us in Luke 24:36-45 where Jesus met with the disciples in a closed room, allowed them to touch him, and dined with them. A spirit or hallucination cannot be touched, or eat; only a person with a real body can do those things.
Luke is a very careful and accurate reporter of the events that he either witnessed first hand, or thoroughly researched out. So careful that to this day every event in Acts that can be verified has proven to be correctly recorded for us. The accuracy of the history in Acts alone has been known to convert die-hard atheists.
The original Apostles desired and needed proof as much as we do today. In a way they needed it more then American Christians, as they would all face persecution for what they preach, and most would be killed for it. This is one of the many things that sets Christianity apart from all other world religions, it is based on testable and verifiable factual events. Christianity is the only religion that I know of that says “he are facts, test them and see if they are not true” and then goes on to say if they are not true then Christians are to be pitted above all men (1 Cor 15:17-19). Not even the secular religion surrounding Evolution is willing to claim that. In the two thousand years since Jesus’ earthly ministry no one has been able to disprove the Bible or the facts surrounding the events or find any fraud in its recording. Men have used the information poorly, and twisted it to justify all manor of evil, but men do that with anything they can get their hands on and that cannot be used as a proof of anything other then the depravity of men.
The final message from Jesus here is not what many might expect. Jesus just proved he was God by conquering death, and now had a glorified body with great power. This was the perfect time for Him to move and over throw Roman and establish His kingdom on earth. At least it appears that is what the original Christians on the hill with Him thought. Right in the middle of his last speech they interrupt with the question, “will you at this time restore the kingdom of Israel?” (Acts 1:6)
Jesus does not agree that it was the perfect time, and He tells them not only is this not the time, but you are not to worry about when it is coming. Jesus had work for them to do first. Today we can look back and see that Jesus was ushering in what we now call the “Church Age”, but at that time the Jews assembled were likely thinking about to the prior times Israel was taken captive and God freed them.
Jesus is trying to expand their thinking to encompass the rest of the world. He tells them to bear witness of him to “Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the end of the Earth.” (Acts 1:8) If we recall in our previous study, Jesus told us that God loves the whole world (John 3:16) and that he desires to save all people. In order for that to happen, the Apostles had to get the message out, and that is the primary reason for the Church Age.
Think about it this way, if you are a Christian today, then the only reason you are is because Jesus left the Apostles behind to bear witness to Him. With out their account, we would have no reason to even think that God was real and that we have a path that will take us to an eternal reward after death. If you are a Christian today, it is at least in part because some one told you about Jesus, and that person was told by some one, who was told by someone, and so on all they way back to the original Apostles.
In His divine wisdom God choose the witness of Christians to promote His kingdom and to lead all of humanity to freedom. It might be helpful to look at the inverse case. If God did not choose a vehicle to save men, then you and everyone you know would be destined for eternal punishment in Hell. It is amazing to think that knowing this that most Christians seem to never even want to try and talk about Jesus with the lost.
Jesus sent the Holy Spirit ten days after the events recorded here so that we all would have the power to be a witness for him. That event happened almost two thousand years ago, and now every believer has that power. The only question that remains is what are you going to do with it? Are you going to use it to bear witness of Jesus to a lost and dying world, or are you going to hide it under a basket?
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