What was taking place during the 10 days prior to the pouring out of the Holy Spirit?

Teaching Notes:

Prelude To Pentecost

Acts 1:9-26

Intro:  1:9 “And after He had said these things” – what things? Jesus had gathered them together and told them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father which is simply another term for the Baptism with the Spirit. Jesus goes on to describe this baptism with the Spirit in 1:8 as the Spirit coming upon them to empower them to be His witnesses to the remotest parts of the earth. These are the last recorded words of Jesus Christ on earth! Jesus left His disciples with these words ringing in their ears. We ought to see in these words Christ’s Priority and Mission for His Church!

            Acts 1:9-16 describe the Prelude to Pentecost. The disciples were waiting for the Spirit. What kinds of things were going on in those 10 days before Pentecost. Well, Luke gives us a glimpse here.
1.  The Ascension Of Christ:  1:9-11

Attested By Eye-Witnesses:  what exactly took place?  Notice “He was lifted up”; “a cloud received Him out of their sight”; “He was going”; “He was taken up from you into heaven.” The language is clear. Jesus visibly and bodily ascended into the skies. Notice also that they saw this with their own eyes – “looking on”; “sight”; “gazing”; “looking”; “watched.”  5 times Luke repeats this fact! Some today scoff at the idea of a literal ascension, describing Jesus as the first astronaut! Yet Luke emphasizes the fact that these 11 apostles saw this take place with their own eyes! This is not symbolic or figurative language. It is meant to be understood quite literally. 
Interpreted By Angels:  We find another reference to “2 men in dazzling clothing” in Luke 24:4, a reference to angels. But why do these angels appear here to speak to the apostles? Evidently to interpret to them what they had just seen. Jesus had appeared to them many times over the last 40 days. He would appear and then vanish, and then appear again. So, why didn’t Jesus just vanish this time? Because He wanted His disciples to understand that this time He would not be appearing to them again. That’s why the angels ask them, “why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.” In other words, you are not to expect to see Him again until He comes in power and great glory at the end of the world. He has given you the Great Commission to fulfill, so rather than stand here gazing into the sky, you must go back to Jerusalem and wait for the coming of the Spirit so that you can obey His commands. 
What is this cloud that received Him out of their sight?  Luke 21:27 – Jesus Himself had taught them that they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Luke 9:34-35 – at the Transfiguration a cloud formed and overshadowed them and God spoke out of the cloud.  Ex.13:21-22 – the Lord led them in a pillar of cloud. This “cloud” was the shekinah glory of God which was the symbolic manifestation of God’s presence. 

How will the 2^nd Coming be like the Ascension?  We need to be careful and not conclude that the 2^nd coming will be exactly like the Ascension – sort of a film of the Ascension played backwards. There are going to be some differences.  It will not be privately viewed – only the 11 apostles saw Him go, but when He comes “every eye will see Him.” Instead of returning alone as He ascended, He will come again with millions of holy ones, both human and angelic. Well then, how will the 2^nd coming be like the Ascension.  It will be Personal (the eternal Son will come again still possessing a glorified human body), Visible, and Glorious.  This should help us weed out any “would-be Christs” like the Reverend Sun Yung Moon who made the claim that he was the Lord of the 2^nd Advent. Unless a person comes personally, visibly and gloriously from heaven to the earth, He doesn’t qualify! 

2.  The Prayers Of The Disciples:  1:12-14

Where Were They Praying?  They took the ½ mile trip back to Jerusalem, which would have only taken about 10 minutes, and went to the upper room. Luke 24:52-53 says “they returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple praising God.” So, evidently, they were continually in the temple and in the upper room. In the temple they were praising God and in the upper room they were praying.

What “upper room” is Luke referring to?  We can’t be sure, because he doesn’t tell us, but he does call it “the” upper room. That probably means that he is referring to the only other upper room he has mentioned (Luke 22:12), where Jesus ate the Passover with His disciples. Later in Acts 12:12 we learn that another prayer meeting took place in the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark. Thus, some have suggested that this “upper room” was in the home of Mary and her son, John Mark, in Jerusalem, although it can’t be proven. 

Who Was Praying?  The 11 apostles, the women (Luke 8:2-3 – Mary Magdalene, Joanna the wife of Herod’s steward, Susanna, and many others, perhaps Mary & Martha), Mary the mother of Jesus, and Jesus’ brothers. 

What do we see concerning Mary, Jesus’ mother?  This is the last time in Scripture she is mentioned. She is not leading the gathering – Peter is. The others are not praying to her, thinking that she can intercede for them to Christ. She is a humble supplicant, just like all the rest. There is absolutely no Biblical evidence that Mary was on a different spiritual level than the rest of the disciples. She, like them, was just a sinner saved by grace, yet given the great privilege of bringing forth the Messiah. 

What is significant about Jesus’ brothers taking part in the prayers?  Jn.7:5 – during Jesus’ lifetime, His brothers did not believe in Him. Now they were joined to the others, praying to Him! Why? 1Cor.15:7 – “then He appeared to James.” As we will see in a moment, they prayed to Jesus (1:24). 

When Were They Praying?  “continually”. They were persistent. They prayed for 10 days. These disciples had no idea how long it would be before the Spirit came. Jesus had said it would be “not many days from now”, but that could mean 1 day or 100 days. Yet they prayed on.

How Did They Pray?  “with one mind” – they were in complete unity. Why? Because they were all praying for the same thing – that Jesus would send the Promise of the Father to clothe them with power from on high so that they could fulfill His Great Commission to make disciples of all the nations. Oh, what a blessing and source of spiritual power when God’s people can pray “with one mind.” No one is striving to be pre-eminent, get their own way, or jockeying for position. They all humbly pray together for the same thing. 

“Continually devoting themselves” – this is how Luke also describes the entire church in the days after Pentecost (Acts 2:42). Prayer was the devotion of their lives, their top priority, that which they gave themselves to above all else. Oh, how much more devoted we need to be to prayer! 

3.  The Replacement Of Judas:  1:15-26

They Appeal To The Scriptures:  Peter appears to be the default leader of the apostles, the 1^st among equals. His name always appears first in every list of the apostles. He stood up.

Who made up the 120 people?  Of course, Luke hasn’t given us a list of names, but it is likely that it included the 70 of Luke 10, Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, Mary, Martha, Lazarus, Zacheus, and Bartimaeus, as well as many people we will never know anything about.

What did the Scripture foretell about Judas? 2 things from Ps.69:25 and 109:8 – “Let his homestead be made desolate” and “let another man take his office.”  The first one was a curse, a kind of imprecatory prayer of judgment. The 2^nd related to someone else filling his place. Peter interprets this curse as Judas suicide, and then he seeks to fulfill the 2^nd by appointing a replacement to Judas.

How did Peter view Scripture?  As the Holy Spirit speaking through men! To Peter, Scripture was inspired by the Holy Spirit! Also, this Scripture had to be fulfilled. There was no possible way that Scripture could be broken. 

What details of Judas’ death are we given?  He acquired a field with the price of his wickedness. Actually, Judas felt remorse after betraying Jesus, and threw the 30 pieces of silver back into the temple. The priests gathered it up, and decided to use it to buy a burial plot to bury strangers. The field was originally called the “Potter’s Field”, but the people of Jerusalem nicknamed it the “Field of Blood”, because it had been purchased with blood money.  Matthew tells us that Judas hanged himself. Luke says that he fell headlong and burst open in the middle and all his intestines gushed out. What really happened? Is this a Biblical contradiction? No, the rope or tree branch broke, and Judas fell headlong and burst open upon impact.

What conclusions does Peter draw from the Scriptures?  That someone needed to replace Judas to become a member of the 12. To Peter it just wasn’t right that there were only 11 apostles. Jesus had said that they would sit on 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel. But what qualifications must this person possess?  He would have to have been present from Jesus’ baptism to His ascension. 

What was the primary purpose of the apostles?  To bear witness of Christ’s resurrection. They had to have seen Jesus alive from the dead and then bear witness to that fact. 

They Put Forward 2 Men:  Joseph’s Hebrew name was Barsabbas (son of the Sabbath, probably because he was born on a Sabbath day) and in Latin it was Justus. Eusebius tells us that both these men were members of the 70. Perhaps there were only 2 men who met those qualifications.

They Prayed For God’s Will:  Who are they praying to? I believe they are praying to Jesus. They had referred to Him as “Lord” in 1:6, and that was the common way they referred to Him. If so, this is mind blowing!  Jesus’ mother and brothers are praying to their son and brother! The disciples were used to talking with Jesus. They just continued to talk to Him in prayer as they had talked to Him in person. An “apostle” was someone chosen by and sent out by Jesus Christ. Therefore, they asked Jesus to choose which person should succeed Judas. 

They Drew Lots: this was a common practice in the OT. Pr.16:33. Typically, the names would be written on 2 different stones or pieces of wood and put into an urn. Then someone would draw out one of the stones and read the name on it. 

Should we draw lots to make decisions today?  On the one hand, we never read of the church making decisions again in this fashion. Normally, we study Scripture and pray that God directs us in a decision. Perhaps, if a decision needed to be made immediately and we had no leading from God on it, we might need to pray and draw lots. However, I think that kind of a situation would be very rare. 

Were the disciples wrong in choosing Mathias instead of waiting for Jesus to choose Paul?  That is one popular opinion today. It is affirmed that Paul was God’s choice, not Matthias. However, it appears that

• the Spirit was quickening OT Scripture to Peter
• the disciples were of “one mind” about the decision
• the disciples prayed about the decision
• the disciples followed the Scriptural procedure at that time (drawing of lots)
• before Paul’s conversion, Scripture refers to them as “The 12” – Acts 6:2
• Paul himself never intimates that he should be included in the 12. He says he was untimely born.
• Paul could not have met the 2 qualifications laid down by Peter.
• Luke never suggests that the disciples had made a mistake

Lessons For Life: 

1.  Give yourself to obeying the Great Commission until Christ returns

2.  Continually devote yourself to prayer to fulfill that Commission

3.   Make important decisions only after searching the Scripture and asking God to guide you.

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