The Book of Acts
Chapter 1:1-5
Verse 1
Acts 1:1
“The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began
both to do and teach.”
NKJV
Acts is in many ways a continuation of Luke’s account
of the gospel. In Luke and Acts, we have a record of what
Jesus began to do and was continuing to do through His apostles and
other Christians. Both are addressed to Theophilus, a name
meaning “friend of God” or “loved of God.” The phrase “most
excellent” suggests a government official. So the purpose
of these two letters was to inform him about the life of Christ and
the beginning and growth of the church. Luke and Acts account
for over 25% of the New Testament. The writer, Luke, was a
Gentile physician.
Colossians 4:14
“Luke the beloved physician and Demas greet you.”
NKJV
Verse 2
Acts 1:2
“until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy
Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen,”
NKJV
Acts takes up where the gospel left off with the ascension of
Christ. The commandments referred to would include the great
commission and the instructions to remain in Jerusalem until the
Holy Spirit came upon them.
Luke 24:46-49
“Then He said to them, Thus it is written, and thus it was
necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the
third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be
preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the
Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem
until you are endued with power from on high.”
NKJV
Verse 3
Acts 1:3
“to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many
infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking
of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.”
NKJV
Jesus appeared on several occasions to numerous witnesses during the
forty days after His resurrection. These served as infallible
and convincing proofs that He was alive though He had been dead.
Note
I Corinthians
15:3-8. “For I delivered to you first of all that
which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according
to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again
the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by
Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over
five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to
the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was
seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He
was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.”
NKJV
His recorded appearances:
·
Mary Magdalene and other women
John 20:11-16 “But
Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped
down and looked into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white
sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body
of Jesus had lain. Then they said to her, ‘Woman, why are you
weeping?’ She said to them, ‘Because they have taken away my
Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.’ Now when
she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there,
and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, ‘Woman,
why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?’ She,
supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, ‘Sir, if You have
carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take
Him away.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and
said to Him, ‘Rabboni!’ (which is to say, Teacher).”
NKJV
Matthew 28:8-10 “So
they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran
to bring His disciples word. And as they went to tell His
disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, ‘Rejoice!’ So they
came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him. Then Jesus
said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go
to Galilee, and there they will see Me.”
NKJV
·
Two disciples on the road to Emmaus
Luke 24:13-27
15“So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus
Himself drew near and went with them. 25Then He said to them,
‘O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the
prophets have spoken! 26Ought not the Christ to have suffered
these things and to enter into His glory?’ 27And beginning at
Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the
Scriptures the things concerning Himself.”
NKJV
·
Peter by himself
I Corinthians 15:5
“and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve.”
NKJV
·
The apostles without Thomas
John 20:19-20,
24 “Then,
the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the
doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the
Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, ‘Peace be
with you.’ When He had said this, He showed them His hands and
His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
24 Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them
when Jesus came.”
NKJV
·
The apostles with Thomas
John 20:26-28 “And
after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with
them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the
midst, and said, ‘Peace to you!”
NKJV
·
Seven disciples by the Sea of Tiberias
John 21:1-2, 12 “After
these things Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea
of Tiberias, and in this way He showed Himself: Simon Peter,
Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of
Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together. 12
Jesus said to them, ‘Come and eat breakfast.’ Yet none of the
disciples dared ask Him, ‘Who are You? ‘– knowing that it was the
Lord.”
NKJV
·
Five hundred brethren at once
I Corinthians 15:6
“After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of
whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen
asleep.”
NKJV
·
James the Lord’s brother
I Corinthians 15:7
“After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles.”
NKJV
·
All the apostles
I Corinthians 15:7
(above)
The resurrection forever changed the lives of the
apostles. Their lives were totally transformed. They
suffered persecution and hardships. Many died for the cause.
I Corinthians 4:9-13
“For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as
men condemned to death; for we have been made a spectacle to the
world, both to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ’s
sake, but you are wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are
strong! You are distinguished, but we are dishonored! To
the present hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly
clothed, and beaten, and homeless. And we labor, working with
our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we
endure; being defamed, we entreat. We have been made as the
filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now.”
NKJV
Jesus spoke to them about the “Kingdom of God.”
He probably told that anyone [Jew or Gentile] could be a part of the
Kingdom and that Jesus would always be with them.
Matthew 28:18-20
“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been
given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make
disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to
observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you
always, even to the end of the age. Amen.”
NKJV
Apparently, He did not reveal when it would be established.
Verses 4-5
Acts 1:4-5
“And being assembled together with them,
He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the
Promise of the Father, which, He said, ‘you have heard from Me; for
John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the
Holy Spirit not many days from now.” NKJV
The promise referred to the coming of the Holy Spirit
which Jesus had told them about on the night of His betrayal.
John 14:26
“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My
name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance
all things that I said to you."
NKJV
John 15:26-27 “But
when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the
Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.
And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from
the beginning.”
NKJV
John
16:12-13 “I still have many things to say to you, but you
cannot hear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth,
has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on
His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will
tell you things to come.”
NKJV
Jerusalem was prophesied as the city where the
Kingdom would begin. Isaiah
2:1-4 “The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw
concerning Judah and Jerusalem. Now it shall come to pass in
the latter days That the mountain of the Lord’s house Shall be
established on the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above
the hills; And all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall
come and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, To
the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we
shall walk in His paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the
law, And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge
between the nations, And rebuke many people; They shall beat their
swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation
shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war
anymore.”
NKJV
The baptism of the Holy Spirit was promised to the
apostles within a few days.
Luke 24:49 “Behold,
I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of
Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”
NKJV
Bobby Stafford
January 21, 2015
Lesson 1: Acts 1:1-5
