Acts 1:2
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: 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:
Until the day He was taken up marks the end point of the earlier record of all Jesus began to do and teach. After His resurrection and until He was taken up to heaven, He continued teaching and guiding the apostles He had chosen, giving them commands and instructions through the Holy Spirit. This instruction belongs to His commission to His disciples before He was taken up, joined with the promise of the Holy Spirit and direction to remain in Jerusalem until the Spirit came. The book of Acts is the inspired record of the apostles' work and the foundation of the Christian church, and its opening history gives guidance for carrying forward God's work. Its lessons show that work is to be set in order and carried forward under the Holy Spirit's guidance rather than arbitrary human rule, and God's people today are urged to study this early history because they must pass through similar experiences in preparing for His second coming.
Meaning and Historical Setting
The former treatise addressed to Theophilus covers all that Jesus began both to do and teach, and its record runs until the day He was taken up. That day marks the end point of the earlier account, coming after He through the Holy Ghost had given commandments to the apostles He had chosen.
After His resurrection and until He was taken up to heaven, Jesus continued His work of teaching and guiding the apostles. He had chosen these apostles for their work, and the commands and instructions He gave them were given through the Holy Spirit and under the Spirit's guidance. This giving of commandments through the Holy Spirit to the chosen apostles continued up to the time He was taken up. In this setting He instructed the disciples to remain in Jerusalem until the promised Holy Spirit came. The coming of the Spirit would publicly show the gathered people that Jesus had ascended to heaven.
The verse belongs to Christ's commission to His disciples, given through the Holy Spirit before He was taken up. That commission stands joined with the promise of the Holy Spirit and the angels' message to the waiting disciples. Luke's earlier writing laid a foundation, and his later writing guided by the Holy Spirit added truths he had not known when he wrote before. This added knowledge strengthens and deepens appreciation of what came earlier without replacing it.
Guidance for God's Work
The book of Acts is an inspired record of the work of the apostles and a sure account of the foundation of the Christian church, and its first two chapters give guidance for carrying forward God's work. The history to which this verse belongs shows God's power at work and heaven cooperating with those who do the Lord's work. Its lessons show how God's work is to be set in order and carried forward under the Holy Spirit's guidance, with laborers seeking the Spirit's direction rather than submitting to arbitrary human rule, and with workers appointed to do neglected labor and build up the church.
God's people today are urged to study this history of the early church and the apostles' experiences because they must pass through similar experiences. Disciples in the last days share the work of preparing for His second coming. In the days before Pentecost the disciples came to God in simple faith, asking in simplicity for what they needed with true humility, firmer dependence on Him, and full yielding of themselves to Him, and believers must come to Him in the same way now. Until they do He cannot cooperate with them as fully as He desires, but when they yield themselves fully He works as the case requires.
His work on earth included tireless preaching of the gospel and healing the sick in many places, and that work is to be carried forward as a lesson in unselfish service. As a teacher He upheld the moral law as the standard of righteousness and taught people's duties to God and one another. His instruction to His disciples just before His ascension contains lessons the people need. Joined with the assurance not to let the heart be troubled, it teaches the necessity of being educated to believe the Word of God and to show faith by works in practical godliness.