Luke, the beloved physician (Col. 4:1414Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas, greet you. (Colossians 4:14)), was well fitted for the work which the Holy Spirit did through him, to write this second letter or treatise, and it is a most important link in the chain of inspiration of God, to fulfill the Word of God. In the body of the book, toward the end, we shall find him a companion of Paul in his journeyings. Like the gospel, it is addressed to Theophilus.
It is most interesting and instructive to notice the ways of God in the unfoldings of this book. May the Lord graciously help us, and give us discernment, and the ready mind to receive what He would communicate.
We see in the first and second verses how the writer connects the gospel with this. “Of all that Jesus began to do and to 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.” Here we see the Lord as a man, risen from the dead, and the Holy Spirit dwelling in Him still. A precious token to us that the Holy Spirit will dwell in us also, when risen and caught up to be with the Lord in glory. No fear of us grieving Him then, for there will be no sin in us then to hinder our entering into His thoughts, nor to occupy us in restraining our wills, or mortifying the flesh. What a difference “when flesh and sense deceive no more,” “forever on Himself to gaze,” and in all the energy of that blessed Holy Spirit to enter into the enjoyment of His love, and worship and adore. “Yes, Saviour, Thou shalt have full praise,” but our hearts say even now He is worthy of it all, “And, O eternity’s too short to utter all His praise.”
Verses 3-5. For forty days He showed Himself alive by many infallible proofs, being seen of them and speaking to them of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.
But they were to wait at Jerusalem for the promise of the Father (John 14:1616And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; (John 14:16)). “For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.” We see from 1 Corinthians 12:1313For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:13) that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is forming the saints into one body, and uniting them to Christ the Head. We have not found in the Scriptures that any individual is spoken of as baptized with the Holy Spirit. Individuals are sealed by the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:1313In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, (Ephesians 1:13)), and thus added to the body. The truth of the one body could not yet be unfolded, till His long suffering with the nation of Israel was over, for the present interval of grace, though begun, was not fully declared.
Verses 6-8. When they were together, they asked of Him, “Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore again the Kingdom to Israel?” His answer would indicate that He waited for something further. “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power (right or authority), but ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be My witnesses.” He had told them this before (John 15:26, 2726But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: 27And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning. (John 15:26‑27).) They were to begin at Jerusalem (Luke 24:4747And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. (Luke 24:47)), and then in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. They were to tell of how He fulfilled the prophets, and the Old Testament scriptures, in suffering for sin, in giving Himself in love, and by the will of God, and how He rose again, and is now in glory, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations. Blessed, old, old story, though ever fresh and new!
Verses 9-11. And when all had been told to them that they needed to know for the present, He was taken up (or received up), and a cloud received Him out of their sight. What a loss to them, it seemed! Would intimacy with Him now cease? No. He had said, “I will not leave you (orphans) comfortless: I will come to you.” In the meantime that Holy Spirit was not come, but two heavenly messengers, men in white apparel stood by them, and 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 heaven.” What they announce here is not His coming for His saints, but His manifestation to set up His Kingdom on earth.
Verses 12-26. They return to Jerusalem as they were bidden, and we find them (about one hundred and twenty men and women) with the, apostles continuing with one accord in prayer and supplication.
We find the disciples still in the expectation that the earthly Kingdom might be set up at that time, and this chapter leads us to see them still on the ground of Jews.
Peter, who was given authority from the Lord (Matt. 16:1919And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. (Matthew 16:19)), also having their hearts opened by the Spirit to understand the scriptures (Luke 24:4545Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, (Luke 24:45)), rose up and explained to the rest the necessity that one should be chosen who had the qualifications necessary (as companying with the Lord in His ministrations) to fill up the place of Judas, according to Psalm 109:88Let his days be few; and let another take his office. (Psalm 109:8). This they do in their Jewish fashion (not yet having the Holy Spirit), looking to the Lord to give a just lot. So Matthias was numbered with the eleven apostles. The words “ordained to be” are not in the text.
An extract from Collected Writings is worth giving here. “Since I have spoken of the descent of the Holy Spirit, it must be under stood that the ‘new birth’ is not the point here (though that may be accomplished by the same Spirit), but rather the personal coming of the Spirit, when the Son of Man ascended into heaven. The Holy Spirit has worked divinely since the foundation of the world. He it was who moved upon the face of the waters, who inspired the prophets, who has been the immediate instrument of all that God has done on the earth and in the heavens. But He only came here below when the Son of Man went to sit down at the right hand of God (John 7: 37-39), and is only received when we believe (Gal. 4:66And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. (Galatians 4:6) Eph. 1:1313In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, (Ephesians 1:13).) This is seen also clearly elsewhere: we are sealed when we have believed, and especially when we have believed in the value of the blood of Christ. Washed in this precious blood, we are fit to be the habitation of God. “Know ye not,” says the Apostle Paul, “that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” (1 Cor. 3:16; 116Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? (1 Corinthians 3:16) Cor. 6:19). As when the leper was cleansed and purified under the law, he was first washed in water, then sprinkled with the blood, then anointed with oil (Lev. 14:8, 9, 14-188And he that is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, and shave off all his hair, and wash himself in water, that he may be clean: and after that he shall come into the camp, and shall tarry abroad out of his tent seven days. 9But it shall be on the seventh day, that he shall shave all his hair off his head and his beard and his eyebrows, even all his hair he shall shave off: and he shall wash his clothes, also he shall wash his flesh in water, and he shall be clean. (Leviticus 14:8‑9)
14And the priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and the priest shall put it upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot: 15And the priest shall take some of the log of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand: 16And the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle of the oil with his finger seven times before the Lord: 17And of the rest of the oil that is in his hand shall the priest put upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot, upon the blood of the trespass offering: 18And the remnant of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall pour upon the head of him that is to be cleansed: and the priest shall make an atonement for him before the Lord. (Leviticus 14:14‑18))—clear figure of our purification by means of the Word of God when we are converted and born again; then of the sprinkling of the blood of Christ, and finally of the anointing of the Holy Spirit by which we are sealed for the final day of redemption.
“Also all gifts, the exercise of which is found in the church, are the manifestation of the Holy Spirit who works there. But here, in the Acts, the exposition of the operations of the Spirit is not found, but the fact itself of His coming in order to work.”