Acts (Part 2) – Acts 1:3-7

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Acts (Part 2) – Acts 1:3-7

1. Act 1:3 – 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:
   1. Jesus appeared to His apostles after His passion (suffering) and demonstrated that He was indeed risen from the dead by many infallible
      1. Infallible adj. – Of things: Not liable to fail, unfailing. Not liable to prove false, erroneous, or mistaken; that unfailingly holds good.
         1. The NIV replaces infallible proofs with convincing
         2. Convincing – 1. Persuading or assuring by argument or evidence (dictionary.com – since this is not a KJV word and the latest usage in the OED for it is 1885)
         3. There is a big difference between infallible proofs and convincing proofs.
      2. Some of the infallible proofs of Christ’s resurrection included:
         1. Having the disciples touch Him (Luk 24:39-40; Joh 20:27).
         2. Eating food with them (Luk 24:41-43).
         3. Performing miracles such as walking through walls (Joh 20:19) and causing them to catch a whole boat full of fish when they had caught nothing that night (Joh 21:6-11).
         4. Appearing to a crowd of over 500 people at once (1Co 15:6).
      3. Jesus was seen by the apostles for 40 days after His resurrection prior to His ascension.
      4. He continued preaching the kingdom of God during that time as He did prior to it (Mar 1:14-15, etc.).
2. Act 1:4 – 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.
   1. The apostles were told by Jesus to go into all the world and preach the gospel in all nations to every creature (Mat 28:19; Mar 16:15; Luk 24:47).
   2. But before they did that, they were to wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Ghost, who was promised by the Father, was given unto them (Act 1:5).
   3. The Father had promised to send the Holy Ghost to the disciples after Christ departed this earth (Joh 14:26).
3. Act 1:5 – For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
   1. They only had to wait about seven days for the Holy Ghost to be given unto them.
      1. The Holy Ghost came on the day of Pentecost (Act 2:1-4).
         1. Pentecost was 50 days after the Passover (Lev 23:15-16).
         2. Jesus died at the time of Passover (Joh 18:28, 39; Joh 19:14).
         3. Jesus was in the grave for three days and nights (Mat 12:40).
         4. Jesus spent 40 days on earth after His resurrection (Act 1:3).
         5. Therefore, the “not many days hence” until the Holy Ghost was given was seven days (50-3-40=7).
      2. The apostles were baptized with, not by, the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost.
         1. John baptized with water by immersing believers in water (Mat 3:6; Mar 1:5, 10).
         2. John, not the water, performed the baptism.
         3. The apostles would be baptized with the Holy Ghost by being immersed in the Holy Ghost to the point of being filled with Him (Act 2:4).
         4. Jesus, not the Holy Ghost, performed the baptism (Mat 3:11).
         5. Believers are baptized by the Holy Ghost when He adds them to the local church when they are baptized in water (1Co 12:13 c/w Act 2:38, 41-42, 47).

4. Act 1:6 – When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
   1. The apostles at this time were demonstrating that they still did not understand the nature of the kingdom of God which Jesus preached.
   2. They appear to have thought that Christ’s kingdom was an earthly kingdom that was synonymous with the nation of Israel.
   3. They were expecting God to restore the nation of Israel unto its former glory instead of being a vassal state of Rome (Joh 6:15).
   4. Jesus made it clear in His preaching and teaching that the kingdom of God was not a physical, national, geographical kingdom, but rather a spiritual one (Luk 17:20-21; Joh 18:36).
   5. Furthermore, Jesus told the Jews that the kingdom of God would be taken from them and given to others (Mat 21:43).
5. Act 1:7 – 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.
   1. Some have concluded that since Jesus did not say that God would not restore the kingdom to Israel, but only said that “it is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power,” that therefore God will restore the kingdom again to Israel.
      1. But Jesus did not say that He would restore again the kingdom to Israel at that time or at any time.
      2. Jesus simply told them that, “it is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.”
      3. This is very similar to how Jesus answered Peter when he asked what was going to happen to John (Joh 21:20-22).
         1. Jesus answered Peter with, “If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.”
         2. The disciples took His statement to mean that John would not die.
         3. But Jesus did not say that John would not die; He simply asked, “If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?” (Joh 21:23).
         4. Likewise, Jesus did not say that He was going to restore again the kingdom to Israel.
         5. As a matter of fact, Jesus said the opposite (Mat 21:43).
   2. The broader lesson to glean from Jesus’ words is that there are some things that are secret and belong only to God (Deut 29:29), especially the timing of future events such as the second coming of Christ (Mar 13:32; 1Th 5:1-2).