ACTS 1


1 The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,

"The former" - Lit. "the first," thus linking this record with that contained in the gospel of Luke. They must be seen as inseparable; the former being the cause (the work of God in Christ), the latter being the effect (the work of Christ in his apostles).

"treatise" - Gr. logos. The Greek word has relation to the thinking, or reason, behind words expressed. It includes not only the spoken word, but the ideas

"have I made, Ο Theophilus" -

The name signifies Friend, or Lover, of God. It appears in Lk. 1:3 in a context that seems to suggest that he was then newly converted (cp. v. 4), and in need of certain instruction. His name suggests that he was a Gentile, and therefore stands as a type of the Gentile believer.

Notice also that whereas the record in Luke addresses him as "most excellent Theophilus," that title is omitted from Acts, as though to imply that the friendship with Luke is now of a more intimate and personal nature.

If this is the case, then obviously Luke's gospel narrative achieved its purpose in this man, and is retained by the Spirit for the benefit of all those who also would be "lovers of God"(lCor. 8:3; 2Thes. 3:5).

The Christadelphian Expositor - Acts



4 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise [to receive the holy spirit v5] of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.

...saints only whose hearts have been prepared by faith, are eligible to the baptism of spirit. Christ ascended to the right hand of power that he might receive the gifts for his own brethren to whom alone he promised them. Paul, addressing the saints thus spiritually endowed, says, concerning the gifts

"unto every one of us is given the grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ."

The grace which John says came by Jesus Christ,

"the law was given through Moses, the grace and the truth came through Jesus Christ."

In Paul's quotation from the sixty-eighth Psalm, he shows that by "grace" he has reference to the gifts of the spirit; for in the next sentence to that above quoted, he says

"wherefore he saith, ascending into heaven he led captive captivity, and bestowed gifts upon men."

He then indicates the "grace" or gifts bestowed, by designating the saints who had received them by the official names they then bore. He styles these saints apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers; and referring to these well known spiritual, or spiritually endowed official brethren, found in all the assemblies of the saints, he says that the ascended and glorified Jesus

"gave indeed the apostles, and the prophets, and the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers:"

that is, he gave to these who were first saints, the gifts he had received from the Father on his ascension to glory, called in Acts 1:4, "the promise of the Father," which he had said he would send the apostles while they waited for it in Jerusalem (ver. 5; Jno 16:7)—he gave these gifts, I say, to qualify them for apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. Now, were all apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers?

Did all the saints sustain these offices in the body of Christ? No person intelligent in the word will affirm that they did. It is then certain that all the saints were not baptized with holy spirit; for Paul teaches that the grace was given

"for the perfecting of the saints for a work of service for a building of the body of the Christ."

The saints thus qualified were the builders Paul refers to in 1 Cor. 3:10.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, Nov 1861



6 When they therefore were come together [on the Lord's day], they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?


They were right in expecting the restoration, but they erred in looking for it at that time. All things were not ready. The king was provided, but where was his Household?—where were his body-guards—where were they who were to co-operate with him in the administration of the kingdom, and government of the world? Some say, "they were in their graves, to wit, the fathers or saints who had died under the Law." "These might have been raised from the dead and associated with Jesus in the kingdom." But, it was written in the word,

"Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth." - Psa 45: 16.

... Hence, whatever place his fathers may occupy in the kingdom, they will not be its "princes," or chiefs, ruling with Jesus as "Prince of princes," over the nations of the world; besides that, we apprehend, there will not be a sufficient number saved from the generations of Israel previous to the resurrection of the king of the Jews to supply the administrative demands of the kingdom under its new constitution, or covenant.

That all things were not ready is represented in the parable of a certain man who made a great supper, and bade many. His object was to have his house filled that his supper might be eaten.

He sent invitations to various classes; but though the supper was ready to be partaken of when the first class were invited, the eating of it was deferred until the seats provided were all occupied by guests procured by several subsequent endeavors to obtain them.

The union of the King of the Jews with the kingdom is the marriage of the king's son; and the sitting at table in the kingdom—the possession of it—is the eating of the marriage supper in the "certain man's house. The kingdom is Yahweh's house into which he invites guests, that they may partake of the good things therein provided.

He wills that His house shall be filled by the assembling of all the guests before the supper be eaten. Israel were bidden, being politically "the children of the kingdom." Yahweh called them by his prophets to the life and glory of his kingdom; but they would not hearken; he invited them by John, but they made light of it; he sent them a message by Jesus, but they killed him; and lastly, he urged the invitation upon them by the apostles and a great company, but

"they entreated them spitefully and slew them."

Thus, with comparatively few exceptions, Israel treated Yahweh's call to his kingdom and glory. His feast of fat things, and wines on the lees well refined, were amply provided, but still there were not sufficient of Israel to occupy the seats. There was still room. The kingdom could not be set up until occupants were provided for the empty places.

Seeing therefore that Israel turned a deaf ear to the invitation, the apostles were ordered to go, and call the Gentiles that dwelt in the streets and lanes of the City, and even the highways and hedges of the nations, that the house of the kingdom might be filled with as many as the nature of the case required.

Though the materials of the House were all ready at the resurrection of the King of the Jews, it will be perceived from what hath gone before, that the Household had still to be formed. Till this had been formed and reconciled the kingdom could not be established.

It was the work of the apostles and others to collect this household together—to call out from Israel and the nations a people numerous enough to fill all the official places of a kingdom that is to rule all the nations, languages, and tribes of the earth.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, Feb 1852




This allusion to something so imminent -- the effusion of Divine power, "not many days hence," seems to have revived their idea that "the kingdom was about to appear." At all events, it led to the expression of it on this occasion.

Jesus had uttered the Jericho parable to counteract this idea (Luke xix. 11), and it probably received somewhat of a quietus from that parable, but naturally came to life again with the restoration of his personal presence among them, and his reference to a descent of power "not many days hence."

Nazareth Revisited Ch 60



It is evident from this that they regarded Israel as having once possessed the kingdom, and expected the same Israel to possess it again. No other meaning can be put upon their words; for to restore a thing "again" to a party implies that they had once possessed it before. When Israel had the kingdom, they were ruled by Israelites, and not by Gentiles, for a foreigner could hold no office under their law.

This was not the case in the days of the apostles, for they were ruled by the Roman senate, and kings of its appointment. But it will not be so when the kingdom is restored to them again. The horns of the Gentiles will then be cast out of the land, and they will be ruled by "Israelites indeed," who will have become Jews by adoption; for no Jews or Gentiles after the flesh, can have any part in the government of Israel and the Israelitisb empire, which will embrace all nations, unless their Jewish citizenship is based upon a higher principle than natural birth.

The flesh constitutes a Jew a subject of the kingdom, but confers on him no right to sit and rule upon the thrones of the house of David. This is reserved for Christ, and his apostles, who "shall sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel," when he sits upon the throne of his glory; and for all other Jews and Gentiles, who shall have become "Jews inwardly," for whom the dominion under the whole heaven is decreed in the benevolence of God.

...The work of grafting Israel into their own olive belongs to God, who, as the scripture saith, "is able to graft them in again." No one, I presume, will dispute his ability. As I have shown elsewhere, he has assigned the work of restoration to the Lord Jesus, who will graft them in again upon a principle of faith. He will bring their unbelief to an end in a way peculiar to the emergency of the case.

When the fulness of the Gentiles is come in, then Israel's blindness will be done away.

The restoration of the Jews is a work of time, and will require between fifty and sixty years to accomplish. When Gogue comes to be lord of Europe, like Pharaoh of old, he will not permit Israel to remove themselves and their wealth beyond his reach. His dominion must, therefore, be broken before the north will obey the command to "give up," and the south to "keep not back;" and even then Israel must fight their way to Palestine as in the days of old.

The truth is, there are two stages in the restoration of the Jews, the first is before the battle of Armageddon; and the second, after it; but both pre- millennial. God has said,

"I will save the tents of Judah first."

This is the first stage of restoration. Jesus has already been "a stone of stumbling and rock of offence" to Judah and his companions for 40 years, that is, from the day of Pentecost to the destruction of the temple, so that they need not be subjected to a like process any more. But the word saith, "He shall be a stone of stumbling and rock of offence to both the houses of Israel" (Isaiah 8:14); now it is well known that this has not been fulfilled in relation to the ten tribes. They did not inhabit Canaan at the time Jesus sojourned and ministered there. The gospel of the kingdom has never been preached to them in his name; hence, they are only acquainted with him as they have heard of him by the report of Jesuits, and the priests of Gentile superstitions -- a report which is incapable of making men responsible for not believing.

It remains, then, after Judah's tents are saved, to make use of them as apostles to, their brethren of the other tribes, to preach to them a word from Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:2), inviting them to come out from the nations, and to rendezvous in "the wilderness of the people," preparatory to a return to a land flowing with milk and honey, in which Judah is dwelling safely under the sceptre of the Seed promised to their fathers.

Judah's submission to the Lord Jesus, as the result of seeing him, will give them no right to eternal life, or to the glory and honour of the kingdom. It just entitles them to the blessedness of living in the land under the government of Messiah and the saints. So with the Ten Tribes; their faith in the word preached will entitle them to no more than an union into one kingdom and nation with Judah; and a participation in the blessings of Shiloh's reign during their natural lives. If any of them attain to eternal life and glory, it will be predicated on some other premises than those which precede their restoration.

Elpis Israel 3.6



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.

...the Jewish State, as constituted by the Mosaic code, should be abolished? And, till this was set aside, He could not come in His kingdom; for then He is to sit and rule, and be a Priest upon His throne (Zech. 6:12, 13, 15); which He could not be co-existent with the law; because the law of Moses would permit no one to officiate as a priest, who was not of the tribe of Levi; and Jesus was descended from Judah (Heb. 7:12-14).

"Heaven and earth," or the Mosaic constitution of things in Eden, "shall pass away," said Jesus: "but of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father" (Mark 13:31,32).

....The kingdom could not be restored again to Israel under the Mosaic code. This had "decayed, and waxed old, and was ready to vanish away" (Heb. 8:13). It was to be "cast down to the ground," the daily sacrifice was to be taken away, and the temple and city to be demolished, by the Little Horn of the Goat, or Roman power" (Dan. 8:9, 12, 24 ; 9:26).

To tell them of the times and the seasons of the kingdom, would have been to have informed them of this national catastrophy; of which they were kept in ignorance, that they might not fall asleep, but be continually on the watch.

But, though Jesus did not then know the times and the seasons of the kingdom, He knows them now; for, about thirty years after the destruction of Jerusalem, "God gave Him a revelation of the things which must shortly come to pass" (Rev. 1:1); and in this apocalypse, the times and seasons are set forth in order.

Elpis Israel 2.1.




It is evident from this that they regarded Israel as having once possessed the kingdom, and expected the same Israel to possess it again. No other meaning can be put upon their words; for to restore a thing "again" to a party implies that they had once possessed it before. When Israel had the kingdom, they were ruled by Israelites, and not by Gentiles, for a foreigner could hold no office under their law.

This was not the case in the days of the apostles, for they were ruled by the Roman senate, and kings of its appointment. But it will not be so when the kingdom is restored to them again. The horns of the Gentiles will then be cast out of the land, and they will be ruled by "Israelites indeed," who will have become Jews by adoption; for no Jews or Gentiles after the flesh, can have any part in the government of Israel and the Israelitisb empire, which will embrace all nations, unless their Jewish citizenship is based upon a higher principle than natural birth.

The flesh constitutes a Jew a subject of the kingdom, but confers on him no right to sit and rule upon the thrones of the house of David. This is reserved for Christ, and his apostles, who "shall sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel," when he sits upon the throne of his glory; and for all other Jews and Gentiles, who shall have become "Jews inwardly," for whom the dominion under the whole heaven is decreed in the benevolence of God.

...The work of grafting Israel into their own olive belongs to God, who, as the scripture saith, "is able to graft them in again." No one, I presume, will dispute his ability. As I have shown elsewhere, he has assigned the work of restoration to the Lord Jesus, who will graft them in again upon a principle of faith. He will bring their unbelief to an end in a way peculiar to the emergency of the case.

When the fulness of the Gentiles is come in, then Israel's blindness will be done away.

The restoration of the Jews is a work of time, and will require between fifty and sixty years to accomplish. When Gogue comes to be lord of Europe, like Pharaoh of old, he will not permit Israel to remove themselves and their wealth beyond his reach. His dominion must, therefore, be broken before the north will obey the command to "give up," and the south to "keep not back;" and even then Israel must fight their way to Palestine as in the days of old.

The truth is, there are two stages in the restoration of the Jews, the first is before the battle of Armageddon; and the second, after it; but both pre- millennial. God has said,

"I will save the tents of Judah first."

This is the first stage of restoration. Jesus has already been "a stone of stumbling and rock of offence" to Judah and his companions for 40 years, that is, from the day of Pentecost to the destruction of the temple, so that they need not be subjected to a like process any more. But the word saith, "He shall be a stone of stumbling and rock of offence to both the houses of Israel" (Isaiah 8:14); now it is well known that this has not been fulfilled in relation to the ten tribes. They did not inhabit Canaan at the time Jesus sojourned and ministered there. The gospel of the kingdom has never been preached to them in his name; hence, they are only acquainted with him as they have heard of him by the report of Jesuits, and the priests of Gentile superstitions -- a report which is incapable of making men responsible for not believing.

It remains, then, after Judah's tents are saved, to make use of them as apostles to, their brethren of the other tribes, to preach to them a word from Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:2), inviting them to come out from the nations, and to rendezvous in "the wilderness of the people," preparatory to a return to a land flowing with milk and honey, in which Judah is dwelling safely under the sceptre of the Seed promised to their fathers.

Judah's submission to the Lord Jesus, as the result of seeing him, will give them no right to eternal life, or to the glory and honour of the kingdom. It just entitles them to the blessedness of living in the land under the government of Messiah and the saints. So with the Ten Tribes; their faith in the word preached will entitle them to no more than an union into one kingdom and nation with Judah; and a participation in the blessings of Shiloh's reign during their natural lives. If any of them attain to eternal life and glory, it will be predicated on some other premises than those which precede their restoration.

Elpis Israel 3.6.



..but this had a special bearing on the time and the persons in reference to whom the words were uttered, in no way conflicting with the present enquiry.

They were spoken to the disciples on the eve of his ascension at a time when they needed such words. Their minds were filled with solicitude for the manifestation of the kingdom. They had asked,

"Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?"

They did not know that the time for the kingdom was yet afar off. They were apparently ignorant that a great interval had to elapse, even "the times of the Gentiles." They did not know that the hard work of preaching the Gospel had to be done; and the harder work of developing a people for God by the faith preached involving much suffering for His name, much long and weary waiting through a long night of centuries, for his coming.

The idea that the kingdom was then to be established was an obstacle in the way of the work on which they were about to enter, and therefore Jesus dispels it by telling them it was not for them in their circumstances, to be thinking of times and seasons, but to return to Jerusalem, and there await the effusion of the Spirit which was to qualify them to give testimony for him as his witnesses throughout all Judea and Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth.

Christendom Astray - Times and Seasons



It is not for you to know the times or the seasons

It was not for them: it would have been of no use to them. It would have been worse than of no use: it would have burdened and perhaps discouraged them, to know that nearly two thousand years lay between them and the glory to be revealed.

The reason, however, Paul gives for there being no need why he should write to them on the subject of times and seasons, is the state of their knowledge on certain features of the case.

"Yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape."

That is, when the time should arrive for the coming of this day of the Lord, which should be characterised by the resurrection of the dead as well as judgment upon the ungodly, it would come unexpectedly; it would come as a thief comes - the very phrase used by Jesus himself concerning his coming under the sixth vial:

"Behold, I come as a thief" (Rev. 16:15).

To use another expression of his (Luke 21:35) "as a snare," it would come. A creature taken in a snare is taken unexpectedly; it is unaware of the very existence of the snare a moment before. One moment it is free, thinking only of the question of food; the next, it is in a trap, from which there is no escape.

The idea of unlooked-for suddenness is, therefore, associated with the arrival of the day of God. The same idea is conveyed by the phrase "as a thief." The thief steals into the house without notice; nothing is more foreign to the thoughts of the inmates. If they had any idea of a visit from a thief, they would be on the watch and not suffer the house to be broken into; but any token of his approach is the last thing a thief allows.

Upon whom, however, is it that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night? Is it upon the brethren of Christ? By no means. They are of those of whom Jesus, in connection with the very intimation of his thief like coming, says:

"Blessed is he that watcheth."

Paul expressly says

"Ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief." (1 Thess. 5:4),

Seasons 1.64.



9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.

The moment had now arrived for an event of which they had not comprehended the import. It was to be done openly in their presence, so that no misapprehension might rest on the cause of his disappearance from the earth.

How much unbelieving scorn has to say we know; but what would it not have said had the Lord simply ceased to be seen any more after a certain day, without any open leave-taking?

...A few more words of kindness were his last. Then he lifted up his hands in the attitude of benediction. While in this posture, he slowly rose from the earth.

...They intently watched the cloud that concealed his form.

...A year or two afterwards, he showed himself by vision from heaven to Saul of Tarsus, turning him from a rabid persecutor to a devoted apostle (Acts xxvi. 13 19; 2 Cot. ix. 1; xv. 8), and close on sixty years further on, he sent his angel to John in Patmos, to communicate a revelation of the events among men that should fill up the interval of his absence from the earth, and indicate the epoch of his promised return, to restore again the Kingdom of Israel, and take possession of all the kingdoms of the world (Rev. i. 1).

Nazareth Revisited Ch 60



11 Which also 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.

The common idea is, that the Lord Jesus is to make a perpendicular descent, and to touch the earth for the first time upon Mount Olivet. The text in Acts i. 11, is cited to prove it. But this says nothing about the place he should first descend to; but only that he should come again; and that he should come again "in like manner" as he departed. This was verified in his descent to Sinai; and, as we have seen, he arrived at the place of his departure, "travelling in his strength" "from the way of the east."

Eureka 10.6.



The Pre-Millennial Forty Years

The Majesty of Yahweh our Elohim returns to the Mount of Olives (Acts 1:11) not at the commencement of the Millennium, or peaceful reign of a thousand years; but at the end of the Times of the Gentiles. Thus,

"Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled"-Luke 21:24.

The advent of His Majesty, the King of the Jews, is concurrent with the deliverance of Jerusalem, the Capital of his kingdom, from the power of the Gentiles. When delivered, the city is redeemed; and its rejoicing citizens rend the air with shouts of welcome, saying,

"Blessed be he that cometh in the name of Yahweh!"

Hence, the deliverance of Jerusalem, the appearance of Messiah therein, and the fulfillment of the times of the Gentiles, are events happening at one and the same epoch. Therefore, it was that Jesus said, "O! Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killed the prophets, and stoned them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, . . . and ye would not. Behold, your house is left to you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me from this time until ye shall say,

"Blessed be he that comes in the name of the Lord!"-Lk 13: 35.

At the advent of His Majesty, then, there will be people in the city to bid him a blessed welcome. They may number a few thousands; but, be they many or few, they will be only a remnant of the Jewish population residing in Jerusalem and the Holy Land previous to their invasion and capture by the Little Horn of the Goat, or the armies of the dominion represented by the Latter-day Image shown to Nebuchadnezzar in his dream. That remnant is defined to be

"the third part brought through the fire, and refined"-Zech. 13:9.

This third part is that remnant which opens the everlasting gates, that the King of Glory, the I shall be Lord of armies, and mighty in battle, may enter in; and commence his reign on the hill of Yahweh, Mount Zion, his holy place.-Psalm 24:3-10.

At this crisis, the kingdom, or dominion of the King of the Jews and his associates, does not extend over more than this "third part;" so that it is of necessity, in its beginning, the smallest of all contemporary kingdoms. It may then with propriety be styled, the Little Kingdom of Jerusalem, hardly of Judea.

In this its diminutive beginning, it is scripturally represented by a "stone," "a grain of mustard seed, which is the least of all seeds," "leaven hid in three measures of meal," and so forth; but when it attains its utmost amplitude, it is represented by "a mountain filling the whole earth," "a tree, the greatest among herbs," and as having "leavened the whole of the three measures of meal," or the three thirds of the Roman habitable-the Prefectures into which it was divided.

From the little mustard-seed beginning until it becomes the greatest of herbs is the growing time of the kingdom. This growing time is occupied in bringing back the tribes of Israel to the Holy Land. The millennium does not commence till they are settled there "after their old estates."


Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, May 1856.



14 These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.

"One accord" - hearts and minds bound together in unity of The Faith. In the early years the Jerusalem ecclesia saw enormous growth in numbers and their unity [Acts 2: 41] and Judaism from the circumcision contingent remained suppressed. Eventually this developed into a schism. By AD 70 [within 40 years] the ecclesia had been torn apart by schism.