book O Theophilus I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day when he was taken up after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the Apostles whom he had chosen. He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs appearing to them during 40 days and speaking about the kingdom of God. And while staying with them, he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which he said, you heard from me for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. So when they had come together, they asked him, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? He said to them, it is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes and said, men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven. Then as they returned to Jerusalem from a Mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away, and when they had entered, they went into the upper room where they were staying. Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James, the son of Alphaeus, and Simon, the zealot, and Judas, the son of James. All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer together with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. In those days, Peter stood up among the brothers, the company of persons was in all about 120, and said, Brothers, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry. Now this man acquired a field with reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong, he burst open into the middle, and all his bowels gushed out. And it became known to all the inhabitants in Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own language, Akeldama, that is, the field of blood. For it is written in the book of Psalms, may his camp become desolate and let there be no one to dwell in it and let another take his office. So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us, one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection. And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justice, and Matthias. And they prayed to the Lord, you Lord know the heart of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place. And they cast lots for them and the lot fell on Matthias and he was numbered with the 11 apostles. Father, we ask that you would help us to understand your word that we have just read today. This is our passage and shows us the glories of Christ that begin to work into his church. And I would pray that you would help us to see more of that glory today. Help us to see your savior. Help us to understand how Luke and Peter were understanding the scripture, even as it's parallel to what our Lord taught them on the road to Emmaus and in the upper room at the end of Luke. And I would pray, Lord, that your Holy Spirit would indeed descend upon us, even as we have sung in the song, and that he would ne'er from us depart, and we would ask this in Christ's name, amen. Well, as I said, we're looking at Acts chapter one. So let's just think about where we have come from. Just a little bit more in Luke and the last things that we saw there. First question I'm gonna ask is, was it really possible? Was this really possible? He had told them over and over again, but they didn't believe it. They wouldn't hear him. And now he had appeared to them all together in the same locked room after hearing rumors that he had shown himself to the women and to Peter. Could this really actually be true? They thought that they had seen a ghost because he was dead, dead for three days. They had crucified him, the most brutal instrument of torture ever devised by mankind. Mass dehydration, charring in the hot sun, splinters and shards of wood, infections oozing out of the body, long agonizing suffocation with no way to extricate yourself from the impending death that could be days away. It was utterly exhausting and the one who died on a cross finally succumbed because they were totally spent. Now, it didn't last that long for Jesus. The night before had itself been a nightmare. He sweated drops of blood in anticipation of the cruelty and sheer horror of being abandoned by everyone, even his heavenly father. So when he gave up his spirit and the soldier thrust a spear through his side, piercing his heart and lungs, and the water and blood spilled out, all the onlookers saw it and they all knew he was dead. Therefore, says one scholar, we cannot hope to recapture the stunned joy and awe which followed the discovery that he was alive, but we can at least pay attention to the many convincing proofs that persuaded the apostles of its reality. Jesus kept coming to them, intermittently but repeatedly, over a period of no less than 40 days. This regular succession of public occurrences shattered any remaining doubt. He proved himself not to be a ghost, but a human being. They had never seen anything like this, of course, so he proved to them that he was real, physical, and present in their midst. His body was no longer in a guarded tomb. His body was gone. He was there talking to them. They touched him, saw the marks of the nails and the spear. He was a human raised from the dead. He was alive. Death had not been survived. It had been undone, as someone said. The body before them was the same and yet it was different. It had the marks, it ate food, it talked and reasoned, it was physically present, and yet Jesus walked through walls. He appeared and disappeared. His body could be recognized or not. Jesus had been glorified. He had been given his eternal incorruptible human body after his resurrection. The first fruits of what he promised would be given to each one of them upon their own death in the consummation of time because they followed him by faith. Imagine what seeing this would have done to these men. Jesus was showing them what it meant to be fully themselves after death, not separated from their body, but regaining a physical, tangible, everlasting body related to the one they had before, but reconstituted and reconstructed, indestructible, fit for heaven and earth. I cannot wait for that. Jesus was showing them this so that as they began their mission, his disciples might know, and I mean truly know, the power of God that they were about to tell to the world through a message that would change everything, everywhere. There really is something to look forward to after death, and it is inconceivably greater than we could ask or imagine. But friend, it only comes through Jesus, the one who alone has conquered death, who alone has gone before us to prepare for us an eternal home, a new heavens, a new earth, and the restoration of all things. He is the proof of the promises to come. because it really happened just as he said. And now the world must know it. A new kingdom is coming. God calls men everywhere to repent, to bow their knee to its king of glory, to see his mercies and kindness in Christ by repenting of their sins and turning to God through faith in his son by the power and working of his Holy Spirit. In asking the question, why should you study the book of Acts, David Gooding responds this way. He says, it is undeniable that the modern mind finds certain features of Christianity unattractive. The really offensive things are first, Christianity's supernaturalism. He says, that is its claim that Jesus is God incarnate, that he rose bodily from the grave and ascended into heaven, and that he is literally coming again. And to this, I would give a hearty amen, but add that there's a lot more to the supernatural Christian worldview than this in the Bible and in the book of Acts that people also find deeply offensive that we will see as we move through this book. But this is of course the foundation. He adds a second thing, that is it's dogmatic exclusivism. It's insistence that salvation can be found in no one other than Christ, that there is no other name under heaven given to men by which they must be saved. This is Christianity in a nutshell. And not because this supernatural God is some selfish tyrant who can't stand others. It's because he alone is unique, the creator, the one who has conquered the problems of sin and death through Jesus, who is himself not just a man, but God with us. So today we look at Acts 1. It tells of the period between the resurrection that we just thought about and Pentecost. It highlights two important and independent stories. The first one is verses one through 11. This is a well-structured story that centers upon something that most would probably answer correctly if they were asked what it might be. That is the promise and coming of the Holy Spirit. But the story itself takes us from the first coming to the second coming of Christ. Now, the second one is verses 12 to the end of the chapter, another very well-organized story that centers upon the prayer of the disciples and whose focus is the bringing in of a new apostle to bring the number back to 12 after the traitor Judas has died. Now, since they're each their own story and this is the book of Acts, why don't we just call them Act 1 and Act 2? What is their purpose? Well, one study of the book suggests in this regard that for the first two chapters, including obviously these two stories in Chapter 1, Luke is following here a basic outline that Jesus tells us about in John's gospel. There Jesus tells the disciples that he must go away so that the helper will come. And when he comes, he will be a witness to convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment. And he will give power to the disciples themselves who will be the second witness. So that by the testimony of two or three, the thing may be established. Let me give you a little quote. Incorporation into the body of Christ, the church, only occurs through accepting and believing the joint testimony of the external witness of the apostolic message and the internal testimony of the Holy Spirit. That joint testimony is the only access to Jesus provided and available to humanity as instituted by Christ in John's Gospel. The apostles and the Holy Spirit are the joint exclusive missionaries, the sent ones of the Son, but the content of their witness is not complete with their testimony to the incarnation, life, ministry, death and resurrection only, but with their eyewitness to the capstone event of the ascended Lord and King. So the ascension recorded at the end of Luke and then in Acts 1-11 will complete the apostolic witness to the content of Jesus' first coming. So this is a very, very important story. And this is Act 1 of the book. Now once this occurs, King Jesus establishes his two missionaries by reconstituting the 12, that's the second story we'll look at today, and then sending the Holy Spirit in Act 3, which we'll look at next time. This then gives them the complete testimony, everything that is needed to proclaim to the world, which is precisely what begins to occur in the first sermon, starting in verse five of the next chapter, and from there, of course, on through the end of the book, and down through the centuries to even our very own moment. We have already been given everything that we need, and we will see this in Peter's sermons, which include not just the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus, but also his ascension to the right hand of power and to the Spirit's new coming. Now, before getting into our two passages, I also wanna draw out several parallels with Luke, and I'll try to do this as much as I can as we're going through Acts, because I want you to see how connected these two books are. First, there's the obvious inverse parallel. Luke ends with the ascension and Acts begins with it. Luke ends with the promise of the Spirit and then begins with the promise being restated. Next thing, Luke's gospel begins, so we're at the beginning of Luke here, with an angelic announcement, which happens to be in Luke 1.11. Acts begins with an angelic announcement, which happens to be in Acts 1.11. Third thing, very interesting, Mary is in the first chapter of Luke, and she's in the first chapter of Acts. Fourth, unlike, say, Mark's gospel, Luke begins with a time of preparation, prayer, and waiting for just the right time for Jesus to begin his ministry, and Acts does the very same thing. This is the function of the 40 days between Passover and Pentecost in which we find our stories taking place today. Furthermore, this reminds us of the 40 days of Jesus in his own temptation before his mission begins, remember, in the wilderness? But it also reminds us of the 40 days that Jesus had to wait to enter into the temple as a child when his parents made purification according to the law after his circumcision. Luke makes a big deal about that. After 40 days with the disciples, Jesus now enters into the heavenly temple, even now seemingly still obeying God's law as we find in Hebrews. Another one, both waiting periods in and a baptism, Jesus by John and the disciples by the Holy Spirit. In fact, John has told the people that Jesus would later baptize them with the Spirit and fire, and this is what Jesus now tells them to await. Sixth, importantly at his baptism, the Spirit descended upon our Lord, and this is what will happen in Acts 2. The Spirit will descend upon Them, the body of Christ, his church, is mirroring the head, the Lord Jesus. Seventh, understand that Luke begins in a context of secular kingdoms. You start in Caesar's kingdom and Herod's kingdom when Jesus is a baby. Acts, however, begins with the context of the kingdom of God. And in this way, Luke is contrasting two kingdoms, beginning here and going all the way through the book And let's not forget the change that happens to the apostles seemingly during our chapter today. They go from cowards, scared, heedless, not understanding, to bold, brave, understanding men who are now ready for precisely what Jesus has prepared them for three and a half years to do, all made possible by his 40 days of visits and teachings and proofs. So let's get into our text in Acts 1. As we start, I've decided that at least for this week, the best thing that I can do to help you understand what's going on here in this chapter is to return to the end of Luke. That makes sense, given all the connections between its end and Acts beginning. And specifically, I wanna focus again on the great theme of hermeneutics, how we interpret the Bible, that this great change we see in the disciples over the course of this 40 days has a hold on them. Luke told us that Jesus taught his disciples to pray this way. And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted for them all the scriptures and the things concerning himself. And again, he said, these are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. Now I explained to you in that sermon a couple of weeks ago that this was not just a handful of one-off passages where Jesus opens the Bible and says, okay, this one's about me and this one's about me and then that's it. No, he wasn't giving them merely an exegesis of certain passages. He was telling them how to read all the passages of the Old Testament. Think in this regard about how Acts begins. In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day when he was taken up after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he'd chosen. He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during 40 days and speaking about the kingdom of God. Now, there's a lot going on in these few opening verses, but I want you to think a moment for about these proofs, okay? What do you suppose it means by Jesus gave them many proofs? Did he keep having to show them the nail marks because they couldn't believe it? Do you think he was giving them the different apologetic arguments for the existence of God? Maybe it simply refers to him coming again and again to eat with them, because Luke says he presented himself alive to them. I really don't think any of these, except the last one, has much to do with the proofs. I believe the proofs are proofs that he kept showing to them, not just that one night, but every time he came to them and taught them about how the scripture is about him. The Bible becomes the proofs. To put it in another way, they had an extended 40-day Bible study learning exactly how to interpret their Old Testament. This will show itself in remarkable ways in what we will see for the rest of our time. It's really very extraordinary in Luke chapter one because it will encompass the sacrificial systems, the prophecies, the types, and in some very unexpected places as we go on today. Let's move through these verses here, these first verses, very quickly. Theophilus, of course, is the beloved of God to whom Luke is writing both of his volumes. Whoever he was in the first century, his name means that anyone loved by God is the recipient of this book. Luke summarizes all of his gospel by simply saying it was about how Jesus began to do and teach many things until he was taken up. This refers to his ascension, which he's about to describe for a second time. But I want you to notice the word began to teach. What does that mean? It means that Jesus is far from finished with his work. That's what the rest of the New Testament is for. It's just that rather than doing it in his own incarnated person, he's going to do it through his spirit and his church. That's where the teaching will come from. Acts is therefore an extension of Jesus's doings and teachings through the spirit and the church. Luke says that Jesus gave commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. We're going to see what these commands are as we move through the rest of the chapter. The main teaching Luke says is about the kingdom of God. This will also unfold not just through Acts 1, but the rest of the book, and so I'm gonna leave that alone for now. Verses four through five continue the introduction. It says, and while staying with them, he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which he said, you heard from me, for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. Now this is the first prophecy mentioned and it takes us back to the end of Luke, Luke 24, 46 to 49. Thus it is written that the Christ should suffer on the third day rise from the dead and that repentance for the forgiveness of sin should be proclaimed in his name to all nations beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things and behold, I am sending the promise of the Father upon you. but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high. That's the very first prophecy that the New Testament tells us is fulfilled after Jesus' resurrection. Now, notice what repeats. Couple of things. First, you have the word Jerusalem. Jerusalem is in Luke's there, and then it's also in Acts here. This all has to start in Jerusalem. Why is that? A couple of reasons, one of which I'll tell you about now. It's because this kingdom must begin with the Jews who were given the covenants and kingdom of old. Jerusalem is the capital where God's name was placed, that is Christ. And I'll hint at the second by quoting a verse in this regard in Deuteronomy 12. Then to the place that the Lord your God will choose to make his name dwell there, there you shall bring all that I command you, your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution that you present, and all the finest vow offerings that you vow to the Lord. The place is Jerusalem and his name who dwelt between the cherubim on the Ark of the Covenant in the temple is Jesus, the angel of the Lord, the God of Israel. It is from here that the sacrifices must begin, even as Jesus has just died in Jerusalem as the once for all sacrificial lamb who takes away the sin of the world. Now the second repetition is being baptized with the Holy Spirit, which he calls the promise of the Father sent from on high. And this also recalls Jesus' baptism in earlier in Luke from John the Baptist. So as happened to Jesus, so shall it happen to all his disciples. Let's move on, we come to verse six. In some readings of the chiastic structure, this is the center, although I think this is incorrect, it nevertheless is worth pointing out that it's possible to see it this way, and that means that the focus here is worth thinking about. The verse says, so when they had come together, they asked him, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? This hints at something Jesus told them during the Passover. I assigned to you as my father assigned to me a kingdom that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel. What do you think they're asking here? Is this when we get to start doing that, Jesus? Now the disciples had really messed up thinking along with almost everybody else about the kingdom of God. They've all thought that it must be a political kingdom of the order of this age. That is the Messiah will come and be a king and will rule from a new temple in Jerusalem where he will make even Caesar bow to him. Curiously, there's a lot of eschatology going on in the modern church that has the exact same idea. And if it doesn't happen, they say, Jesus is not reigning. Amazingly, this is the last time the disciples will make this mistake, which to me begs the question why we continue to make it. And we'll see just how differently they would think about it, even by the time we come to the election of Matthias to replace Judas in just a few short verses. Now, what caused the change? Jesus says, it's not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. Now this gets a little tricky to talk about. The most important thing to see about Jesus' response here is that he's deflecting their question. He's essentially saying, wrong question, guys. It is in effect a non-answer, and yet the language does seem to imply that he will restore the kingdom of Israel. And from here, there's tons of different interpretations, including both the one I mentioned a moment ago, which causes so much speculation about things like revelation and other prophecies, and also those like full preterists who completely spiritualize the whole thing so that there's no bodily resurrection, bodily return of Christ, or earthly rule, save in a spiritual sense, at any point in time in the future. So instead of driving into that ditch at 100 miles an hour, let's keep reading to see how Jesus' non-answer actually became a satisfactory answer to the disciples. The Lord continues, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. I've told you a couple of times now, this is the thesis statement of the book, which shows the geography of how Luke will organize acts, Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria and the ends of the earth. but it's the focus on receiving power when the Holy Spirit comes upon them that is the first thing that begins to change their outlook about the coming kingdom. Jesus isn't saying, no, you're gonna sit on thrones in just a couple days. I'm gonna stay here forever and reign bodily on the earth. He doesn't say that. He says, you're gonna receive power from the Holy Spirit. And this begins to satisfy them. And what's so interesting about this is that the Spirit's coming in power, which will come upon them, is actually the inauguration of the very kingdom that they're looking for. And yet it's not the consummation of that kingdom which will only occur at the second coming but which we aren't able to see yet. The point is there's a connection to the kingdom and also a disconnection and that it is very clear that the Spirit's coming in power here is not going to answer what they were expecting. Because Jesus says you cannot know the time or the season and yet he's telling you it's gonna happen in a couple of days. So it can't be the same thing. Jesus is telling them the Spirit's coming is gonna happen very soon and it satisfies them regarding the second coming question. How interesting is that? We're not satisfied with the second coming question at all by the Spirit's being here. And this begs a question, which is, why doesn't this extraordinary gift of the Spirit satisfy our eschatological questions, especially when our questions seem often to be identical to theirs? Let me reiterate that it is the Spirit's coming, which I believe is the central focus of this 11 verses, which then highlights what will happen in chapter two, and which will be the driving power behind everything else in this book. This is the core message of Acts, and its implications are everything else that we will read about. Knowing that there is a center and structure here is not only helpful for seeing this main point, but for interpreting what is about to happen correctly. Because in the chiastic structure, the pairs help interpret one another. Here's what happens. Jesus says this and then he suddenly vanishes. And this is for the last time in bodily form anywhere in the New Testament, except maybe the Revelations visions of John. Verse nine, when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up and a cloud took them out of their sight and they never saw him again. Think about that. This is the ascension and it is everything. It is what everything in Jesus's earthly ministry has been driving towards. This is the completion of his earthly ministry. And in it, Jesus will be seated at the right hand of all power and authority in heaven and on earth. At the ascension, Jesus is now the exalted King. Right now, to this day. We don't await him to be king of anything. He is the king today. In one of the main Old Testament prophecies about Christ that people think of, Daniel 7 is surely looming large here. In the vision, Daniel sees one like a son of man coming to the ancient of days. You've all heard this many times. While some see this as a prediction of the second coming, that isn't what the text says. It says he receives a kingdom and dominion, and this is exactly what Jesus is receiving at the ascension. It is a dominion that is everlasting. It will not pass away. It will never be destroyed. It will cause all peoples to bow their knee to King Jesus. This is literally the apostolic message, their proclamation from this moment onward until the end of the Bible. At the name of Jesus, every knee should bow and in heaven and on earth, Philippians 2.10 says. Because when Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. That's how Mark puts it. The right hand is the hand of power, the military arm. The high prince sits there. It now belongs to Jesus, the God-man who has been raised from the dead. He isn't awaiting all power. He has it all right now. His kingdom has come and his will is beginning to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Now that's not in its consummated form, but nevertheless, it is really happening. The fact that you sit here today in his church in Colorado in 2024 is proof that he's king because this is unprecedented in all the world prior to Pentecost. Let me just add one more thing here. In Daniel 7, this kingdom is actually transferred to the saints who receive it too and begin to rule with the Son of Man. But you have to keep reading. So if you go to like Daniel 7, 18, it says, but the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever and ever and ever. It's the same language. What is given to the Son is given to the saints. And again, until the Ancient of Days came and judgment was given for the saints of the Most High as the time came when the saints possessed the kingdom. Friends, judgment has now been given. The ruler of this world has been cast out at Jesus' death. The verdict has been rendered, not guilty, justified. It's happening now. And don't think for a second that the apostles weren't reading all of this in precisely this way. Now we could talk about this all day, but we have to continue. Verse 10, while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes. Now these are angels. They parallel the two angels in dazzling apparel who were at the tomb 40 days earlier. Isn't that interesting? That's deliberate. These aren't just guys walking around. Even more, there's something going on here that is represented in the Ark of the Covenant and where it eventually resided in Jerusalem. Do you remember the Ark of the Covenant? Recall that it has two cherubim that guard the throne. I think what I'm about to tell you is pretty mind-blowing, actually. Recall that this in turn comes from the two cherubim who God sent to guard the entrance to Eden. Now, why would I say this? Look at what the men say. Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into heaven? Now this is remarkable, but you need to think about what's just happened. Jesus has ascended into the cloud. Think about Samson's parents who saw the angel of God, knew it was God himself and thought they were gonna die because they saw him. It says, so Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering and offered it on the rock to the one who works wonders. And Manoah and his wife were watching. And when the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, the angel of the Lord went up in the flame of the altar. And they fell with their faces on the ground and the angel of the Lord appeared to them no more. Now understand something else. Whenever a sacrifice was offered on the fire at the tabernacle or temple, it went up like smoke, like a cloud into heaven. Also, when the tabernacle and temples were dedicated, they were filled with a cloud right into the most holy place. Hebrews teaches you that Jesus entered into the heavenly temple at his ascension. For Christ has entered not into the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. In other words, the ascension of Jesus is his entering into heaven once for all, now having offered the perfect sacrifice. The cloud symbolizes this heavenly reality, and these two angel men are the guardians of the entryway. When they say that they are looking into heaven, this is more than just gazing at the sky. It's that these men are at the portal. They're on the Mount of Olives, and they've just seen Jesus enter the most holy place right next to Jerusalem, which is the second reason why it has to begin at Jerusalem, because this is where the temple is. Earth and heaven intersect and Jesus has now become the temple and he's going into the heavenly most holy place. Now rather than kill them for having seen this, the angel simply asked, why are you gazing? This Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven. Now I could have spent an entire sermon on this verse, but I'm not going to. This verse has been a matter of great controversy. I'll simply say this, from Chrysostom and Augustine and the creeds and our confession, this has been taken to refer to the second coming of Jesus. And I believe this is correct, and that the simplest way of seeing this is by looking at the parallels in the structure. In verse one, Jesus is taken up. In verse 11, he is taken up. Same word. In verse three, he is seen by them. In verses nine and 11, they are also seeing. The seeing is parallel, meaning it's the same kind of seeing. This is not just spiritual sight. This is visible to the eyes. The structure demands this. Hyperpreterists are gravely mistaken. Furthermore, verse one clearly summarizes that it was about the first coming of Christ. to the ascension. And we've seen that the ascension restated and now his coming is parallel, which must mean that Luke wants us to know that this coming is the second coming in verse 11. This is the times and seasons that the disciples wanted to know about, but Jesus would not tell them. And it is the angel's announcement here to them that finally settles the matter in their mind. It doesn't matter when he comes to them because Jesus is reigning now and he's giving them a gift of unimaginable power and measure. Now because our temptation is like theirs to stand and gaze into heaven, listen to Spurgeon in a sermon on this. He says, there are good brothers in this world who are impractical. The grand doctrine of the second coming makes them stand with open mouths, peering into the skies, so that I am ready to say, ye men of Plymouth, why stand ye here gazing into heaven? The fact that Jesus Christ is to come again is not a reason for stargazing, but for working in the power of the Holy Ghost. Be not so taken up with speculations as to prefer Bible reading over an obscure passage in the Revelation to a teaching in a ragged school or discoursing in the poor concerning Jesus. We must be done with daydreams and get to work. I believe in eggs, but we must get chickens out of them. I do not mind how big your egg is, and maybe an ostrich egg if you like, but if there's nothing in it, pray clear away the shell. If something comes of your speculations about the second coming, God bless them. And even if you should go a little further, then I think it wise to venture in that direction still, if you are thereby made more useful God be praised for it. We want facts, deeds done and souls saved. You can see why I could spend a whole sermon on that. Before moving to the second story, let me give just a couple more things to think about as far as what we've just seen. There are parallels here deliberate with Old Testament stories. For example, Moses ascends into the cloud, receives the law and delivers it to the people so that they might go and obey it. He was changed and the people knew it. Or think on the ascension of Elijah, where going up into heaven, his protege, Elisha, is then clothed with power from on high, given a double portion of his spirit. Elisha wasn't taken up, but he was given a portion of the spirit. These are types, Old Testament shadowy echoes, that find their ultimate expression, not just in Jesus' ascension, but in what is about to happen to his church. So this takes us to the second story in Acts 1, just days before Pentecost. So they've returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives. It says a Sabbath day's journey away. It's not far. They went back to the upper room where they had been staying since Passover. Luke tells us that 11 of them are remaining as apostles. And then he puts them into pairs. Peter and John begin the list. I think this is because they will play the most prominent role as characters in Acts. Usually it's Peter and Andrew, but here it's Peter and John. Then we have James and Andrew. James will figure in Acts when he's martyred. He's John's brother and Andrew is Peter's. Then it has Philip and Thomas, then Bartholomew and Matthew, then James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, a nice pairing because they have extra words added to their names. And then finally, Judas the son of James. Now we're not going to dwell on them because we've discussed them at length when we were in Luke's gospel. So he continues, all these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer. This is a foreshadowing of what will happen as the church expands later in the book for the idea with more things added will occur on more than one occasion. We're going to see this over and over again. Then we learn that it isn't only them present. They were together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus and his brothers. This is Mary's only cameo in Acts, and it serves to bring Jesus' birth story together with the birth of his church here by connecting her to both events. What astonishing gifts that God gave to this woman. I just, every time I think about her and what Luke has done with her, it's mind boggling to me. His brothers are also there apparently having now believed. Jesus's mother and brothers are those who believe, yes, but God was pleased to actually save his half brothers through their shared mother. And God always works like this through families, saving them to the thousandth generation of those who love him. We see next that Peter stands up and begins to announce something. Now, some have pointed out that Peter's name was also Simon, And that Simeon is the counterpart at Jesus's birth announcement. Might be adding too much, but it's interesting. It adds what seems to be a throwaway line here. The company of persons was in all about 120. But I want you to think about what Luke is doing with this number, because our author has himself learned a very important thing. That is, the entire scripture is about Jesus, including the things that we will now begin to see done through the apostles. At the dedication of the temple, Solomon sacrificed 120,000 sheep. The vestibule of his temple was 120 cubits high. He had 120 priests consecrate it. There were 120 Kohathite singers in it. Hiram gave him 120 talents of gold to help him build it. This is a priestly, kingly, a number associated with the temple. And as we know from Peter himself, God's church is a royal priesthood. It's not accidental that this number was chosen. Luke knows how to read his scripture. The 120 represented the dedication here of a new temple that's about to take place, Jesus' temple, his church. The focus of Peter's address shows that he also has learned how to interpret the scripture. Here's what he says, brothers, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry. Now there's a lot going on here. So let's take it in some kind of reasonable order. First thing is, how would Peter know something was being fulfilled in Judas's betrayal? Well, our minds probably think of what he will say after Luke's parenthesis in verses 18 and 19. Peter says, for it's written in the book of Psalms, may his camp be desolate and let there be no one to dwell in it and let another take his office. This comes from Psalm 69, 25 and the second one from Psalm 109, 8. In a nutshell, Jesus has taught Peter that the Psalms are all about him. not in some cookie cutter way, but according to all the multifaceted cuts of the diamond that are his incarnation, ministry, betrayal, death, resurrection, ascension, sending of the spirit church, and on and on. But while our minds usually only think of the prophecies, let's also think about these in relation to what Luke says just before this. It's put into a parenthesis in the ESV. Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. It became known to all the inhabitants in Jerusalem so that the field was called in their own language, Akkodama, that is the field of blood. Now why is this here? It serves more than just the purpose of giving us historical data concerning what happened to Judas. We are encouraged by Peter's quotation to read this in light of the Old Testament as well. And when we do, we discover some amazing things, especially as it regards the intermediate time between the end of David's reign and the beginning of Solomon, his son. David is, remember, Jesus is the son of David. 1 Kings 2 tells us about Solomon. We've just seen him over and over with the number 120 in the temple. He replaces Joab the traitor with Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. Now what happened in that story is a profound parallel to Judas. Joab committed treachery against David and so Solomon had to put him to death. We are told that he was buried in his wilderness house. What a strange thing. Well, Peter quotes the Psalm that Judas's house would remain desolate or a wilderness. When Judas killed himself, his body burst open and the guts gush out. They started to call the place where that happened, the field of blood. Well, Solomon commanded Benaiah to kill Joab because, quote, the guilt of the blood that Joab shed without cause, bringing back his bloody deeds on his own head, so shall their blood come back on the head of Joab and on and on it goes. Apparently, Luke and Peter both saw this story as a type of what was being ultimately fulfilled in their own days as the Davidic kingdom is now ascending to heaven and his kingdom would now be ruled by another, his church. We can reinforce this interpretation because in the next chapter of Kings, Solomon is given the spirit of wisdom to rule over Israel. And this is precisely what we will now see as Peter leads the others into their first judgment for the church, the electing of a man to take Judas's office. Peter begins, and it must be one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us. One of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection. So quickly becomes a story that reminds us of a kind of reversal of Jesus's trial. Remember when he was put on trial a couple of chapters ago in Luke? They put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justice. His name means a son that suspends the water, but his name looks a lot like Barabbas. The fact that he's Joseph means that there's now a Mary and a Joseph called out at Jesus's birth, his death as well, and now here. The other fellow is Matthias, gift of God. We don't really know much about Matthias in the Bible. He's only mentioned here. that he could be Matthias, but it doesn't seem that Zacchaeus was always with Jesus during his ministry. The Clementine recognitions identify him as Barnabas, but why would Luke tell us all about Barnabas later without mentioning this? It doesn't make sense to me. Eastern tradition says that he first planted churches in Cappadocia. Nikephoros, the historian, says he preached in Judea and then east of the Cappadocians in modern-day Georgia. It's not Georgia, America by the way, Georgia over in Asia. And he preached to the barbarians and meat eaters before finally being crucified. Hippolytus of Rome says he died at an old age in Jerusalem. And that's about all you'll find out about Matthias at all. And I think all that simply goes to show you that it's not Matthias the person that matters to this story. There's something theological going on here. Earlier I brought up Peter and the night of Jesus' betrayal, where he told his disciples, those who have stayed with me, that he would assign to them a kingdom, and they would eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, the 12 tribes of Israel. How many tribes? 12 tribes. This language of the kingdom is what caused them to ask Jesus. If it was at this moment, he would restore the kingdom. But it's the prediction of sitting on the thrones judging the 12 tribes that seems to be more in mind now. Because if there are only 11 of them, that doesn't fit with the 12. Peter is seeing here that someone else has to sit in order to bring the number back to the completion. What's remarkable is how they do it. It becomes the center of the second story, as Luke has written it. It says, and they prayed, this is the center, and said, you, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in the ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place. So look first at how they prayed to the Lord. That's interesting. He's the one who searches hearts, a reference to David, to texts like David telling Solomon that the Lord searches hearts. But this is also the title, kyrgios, which they have called Jesus throughout his ministry. Yes, it's a word that's used for the father, but these men are now praying to the father through Jesus. The first prayer of its kind after the resurrection in all of history. Next, we see that they cast lots. This reminds us of something like the Day of Atonement, which is also there in a cloudy Ascension ideas we saw earlier. They cast a lot for the two goats, and one went to the Lord. Now, this is not gambling, because they just prayed, acknowledging that the Lord will choose the lot. As Solomon said, the lot is cast into the lap, but it's every decision is from the Lord. And in doing so, the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the 11 apostles. And in this way, the number is completed again, and the prediction of the 12 beginning to rule over the nations can now begin to be fulfilled, not as politicians, not as kings, but of those who have the power to bring people out of the kingdom of Satan and into the light of Christ. These two stories open our book as a kind of intermission between the ministry of Jesus and that of his church. They serve so many important functions, but to me, the one I want to put into your mind is that their new understanding of the scripture, of Jesus's point in coming, of his kingdom, this has transformed them. The spirit hasn't even been sent yet, so it isn't that. It's how they've learned to read the Bible that has become for them the power of God. Because now they truly understand that the gospel is all about Jesus. They easily could have continued in their despondency when Jesus left them, acting just as they had when he was killed. We all have that tendency, even when simply saying a temporary goodbye to our loved ones when we go away on a journey. But they didn't do that. And it's because their minds had already been renewed by Jesus through the word. They were coming to see that the fulfillment of the ages was beginning to dawn on them. Now, it might not have been the way that they thought it would be or even wanted it to happen, but because it came from the resurrected Savior, who was now seated above all power and authority in heaven, what would it matter if it wasn't the way they thought? Jesus is about to inaugurate the kingdom in a way it had never come to earth before. Those were just shadowy pictures in the Old Testament, even during the earthly ministry of Jesus. For the power of the kingdom comes with the coming of Jesus's Holy Spirit. The Spirit proves that Jesus is reigning now in his temple in the church. He is the one witness who calls you internally to take up your cross and follow Jesus. Today, you've seen a glimpse of what the power did to transform 11 meager disciples and their band of 120. What you will see as we move on are things even more powerful than this. They now know how to read the scripture rightly, and it brought about a powerful call to action. What will these things do to you? Father, I pray that you would help us to understand your word and the intermission that we've looked at here today in chapter one of Acts. It establishes some very, very important foundational things for the rest of this book, and we need to get it right. And to me, as it parallels the last chapter of Luke, this is what's on the mind of Luke as he's trying to convey to us that the scripture is about Jesus and this is the proofs he was giving to them. Your word is our proof that Jesus is who he said he was. And we need desperately to recover the apostolic hermeneutic and way of reading the scripture. That it is about our savior and all the things he has done. And not just in his ministry, but including in his church of which we are a part. If we could recover this word, Father, what would it do in the world in which we live and we are those who have inherited the apostolic message? I pray that you would put it into our hearts in deep and profound ways, the truth that we have seen here today, and that you might bless us for having drawn near to your word in Christ's name, amen.