Acts 1:6-7
So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, "Lord, is it at this time You are (a)restoring the kingdom to Israel?" 7  He said to them, "It is not for you to (b)know (c)times or (d)epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority;

​v.6 (a) This was a valid question that the disciples had. This is the main reason that many of the Jews missed Jesus as the Messiah. It is prophesied that the Messiah will come and set up His kingdom and restore Israel to their land, Is 11:11, Jer 29:14, 31:8-10, Ezek 36:19,24,28, 37:11,12,21,25, Zech 2:12, 8:7-8,22, 12:6, Amos 9:15. What they didn’t realize is Jesus must come twice; once to reconcile man to the Father and redeem man from sin and death. The second time will be to set up His kingdom and reign on this earth for a thousand years. This is known as the restitution of all things.
What no one knows, not man, not the angels, not even Jesus Christ Himself, at least at that time, but the Father alone knows when Jesus’ return will be, Mk 13:32. The disciples assumed that since Jesus had now accomplished His mission, He would set up His kingdom and start to reign. What they didn’t realize, because it was kept a mystery from the foundation of the world, is there will be an entire dispensation of time before Jesus will come back to reign. Jesus will not be alone. He is coming back with His saints, the body of Christ, to reign of the earth, Jude 14, Rev 19:11-20:6.
 
v.7 (b) Jesus didn’t deny the fact that He will restore the kingdom. He just told them it not for us to know the times, but we do know some signs leading up to the return of Christ. Now don’t confuse the rapture with the second coming. In the rapture, Jesus never touches the earth, we, His saints, will be caught up in the air with Him. There are no signs for when this will take place. The rapture can happen at any time. The second coming however is very well documented and we know exactly what must take place before He returns and us with Him. This is how you can always differentiate the rapture versus the second coming. A good rule of thumb when it comes to studying your bible on end time events is, there are no predetermined events that must take place before the rapture happens, and if the bible lists certain events that must take place, then it is talking about the second coming. This is very helpful when studying the Olivet discourse, Mk 13, Matt 24.
 
v.7 (c) χρόνους- chronous-  duration of time or delay. This is referring to the length or duration of time of this current dispensation we are living in now. No one knew it was going to be 2,000 years and we still don’t know. Jesus could come back tomorrow or it could be another 2,000 years. One thing we absolutely know, Jesus is coming back!
This word is plural; telling us there are many ages to come in our future. We know of at least two; the age of the Church, and the Day of the Lord, but according to Ephesians there will be more than that, “that in the ages to come, He might show us the surpassing riches of His grace to us ward who believe,” Eph 2:6. We don’t know what God has planned for us, but we do know it will be great. He is going to take the rest of eternity to show us how magnificent He is!
 
v.7 (d) καιροὺς, kairous- a definite, specific point in time, an appointed time.  This is referring to a specific appointed time that the Father has fixed by His own authority. The Father has designated a fixed point in time when Jesus is coming back; one that only the Father knows and has pre-arranged before the foundation of the earth.
This word is also plural; meaning there are more than one fixed points in time that the Father has pre-ordained. One is the rapture of the Church, no one knows this date except the Father. Then there is the return of Christ after the tribulation. After this, there are countless other specific points in time that God has pre-arranged since before the foundation of the world. He has appointed these specific moments in time thousands of years in advance. Nothing is a surprise to God and His plan will be fulfilled, and what is absolutely astounding is He wants to fulfill His plan with us!
God created this plan of redemption and at the same time He made us an integral part of that plan; even to the point that He required His word, His plan to be written by us thru the Holy Spirit; and now that His word is complete and His Son has established Himself as the chief cornerstone of that plan, we now have the responsibility of being the light in this world and preach the gospel to anyone who will listen.
He gave us this responsibility so that we would be one with Him. He is with us every step of way, He wants to spend time with us. The Father is pleased to fulfill His plan with us. His enjoyment is spending time with us and He doesn’t want to wait until we go to heaven, He wants to be with us now, He wants every one of our decisions to be based on Him. This is walking in Him and in His light. If we surrender ourselves to walk in His plan, there is no reason to fear, because He knows how this plan will end. He has already foretold it in His word. Our hope is in Him and even in the end, if we give our lives to Him, our death is gain and we will spend eternity with Him. 

​Because Jesus reconciled man to the Father, the gift of the Spirit can now be freely given to all who believe. Hebrews 11 is the great “hall of faith”, men who laid down their life for God, but because man had not been reconciled with the Father yet, none of these great men of faith received the promise of the Holy Spirit, Heb 11:39. This promise was made to the disciples and all believers just before Jesus was crucified, Jn 14. It was also foretold to John the Baptist, “He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remain upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit,” Jn 1:33. Now that Jesus accomplished reconciliation for His people, and because Jesus conquered sin and death and all power is now been given to Him in Heaven, the earth and under the earth, the Spirit is now able to move freely on the earth and dwell in all those who believe in the name of Jesus.

The first is to be baptized in the name of Jesus. This is different than the baptism that John preached. John proclaimed baptism of repentance to make ready the way of the Lord to the forgiveness of sins. This baptism is an outward expression of ones willingness to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. This baptism by water is a symbol of Christ’s death for us. Those that were baptized by John or according to his teachings, were only preparing themselves for the Messiah, Mk 1:3-4. This baptism by water alone does not forgive sins. It must follow with the baptism of Jesus, the acceptance of Jesus Christ into your heart, the receiving the Holy Spirit to be born again. This is the act of accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior. At this moment, your old spirit is made new with the Holy Spirit and you are made a new creation. From this point forward your spirit is now made perfect and sinless, washed by the blood of Jesus, Rom 10:9-10, Acts 19:5. We see another example of this when Ananias healed Paul of his blindness. Ananias told Paul to be baptized and his sins would be washed away by calling on His name, Acts 22:16. This is the baptism in the name of Jesus.

v.5(b)The second step is to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. This is when the power of the Spirit will come upon you, Acts 1:8. Your spirit is already re-born and made new, now is the point you are endowed with the power of the Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. From this point on, you are led by the Spirit of God and can now walk in the power and the gifts of the Spirit, Rom 8:1, Gal 5:25.
It is Jesus who baptizes us in the Spirit. What does it mean to be baptized, since Jesus isn’t physically here to do the baptizing? Jesus promised that He would ask the Father to give us the Comforter; that the Spirit would be with us forever, Jn 14:16. Jesus is at work in both steps. The first step, to be baptized in His name, you are washed by the blood of Jesus and all your sins are forgiven. Your spirit is made perfect and you are reconciled with the Father.  The second step, to be baptized in the Spirit, you receive the power of the Spirit given to us by Jesus and His covenant with the Father. This enables you to perform His will in you. Being filled with the Spirit makes it possible for us to have a relationship with the Father. Once you are baptized in the power of the Spirit, it is the Spirit of God that bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God, Rom 8:14-17.

The word baptized means to be engulfed by something whether literal or figurative.

By receiving and being baptized in the name of Jesus, we are engulfed and washed by the blood of Jesus and our spirit is replaced and made new by the Holy Spirit living within us. This is what it means to be born again. Old things are passed away, behold all things are become new, 2Cor 5:17. After the resurrection, Jesus appeared to the disciples for the first time that Sunday night; He breathed on them and said “Receive the Holy Spirit,” Jn 20:22. Right then is when they were born again and made new. Jesus breathed on them the breath of life eternal and they were made a new creation.
Fifty days later on the day of Pentecost, they received the power of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues by being baptized in the Spirit. This is different than being born again and made new. At Pentecost, they were endowed with the power of the Spirit to be effective witnesses for Jesus.
We see this two-step process in Samaria. The apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the Word of God, but the Holy Spirit had not yet fallen on them, Acts 8:14-17. They had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Were these Samaritans born again? Yes, of course, they believed in the Lord Jesus, but they had not received the power of the Holy Spirit yet. Peter and John hear of this and travel to Samaria to lay hands on them to receive the power of the Spirit. 

An example of all three baptisms:

1. water baptism
2. baptism in the Name of Jesus
3. baptism in the power of the Holy Spirit

Paul came to Ephesus on his third missionary journey and found some disciples that had been taught by Apollos. Now these disciples were baptized into the baptism of John and nothing more. Paul explains to them that the baptism of John was only for the baptism of repentance; telling people to believe in Him who was coming after Him. This baptism of repentance just prepares the way of the Lord into your heart, it doesn’t actually remove sin. When the disciples heard this they were baptized in the name of Jesus. This is now the point that their hearts are changed and they became a new creation. Then after this, Paul laid his hands on them and the Holy Spirit came upon them and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying. This was the endowment of the power of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues, Acts 19:1-6.
Now that Jesus has come, the baptism of Jesus is usually the first step, and then baptism with water of repentance follows. The baptism into water by John the Baptist was something done to prepare the way of the Lord. It prepared the hearts of those expecting the Messiah. This submersion into water was a prophetic act of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection. Now that the Lord has come, this baptism is now done after we accept the Lord Jesus into our hearts. It becomes an outward expression of our belief in what has been accomplished in Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection. We see this example with the Ethiopian. Phillip preached Jesus to him, the Ethiopian confessed Jesus as the Son of God, and then was baptized into water as an expression of his faith and a symbolism of Jesus’ death for us, Acts 8:35-38, Rom 6:3.

​v.3 (a)Jesus showed Himself to those that believed in Him. This fulfilled the promise that He made to His disciples and anyone who would put their hope in Him,

"that He would manifest Himself to those that believe in Him", Jn 14:21.

Peter confirms this and gives us a better insight to these forty days when he explains to Cornelius that Jesus was raised from the dead on the third day and was granted by the Father that He become visible; not to all people, but only to those that believe on Him, Acts 10:40-41. I find this fascinating because this explains why people did not recognize Him after the resurrection. He had the ability to only reveal Himself to those whom He wished to be revealed, to those who believed in Him. It is quite possible, and I believe it to be a fact, that no one saw the resurrected Jesus if they did not believe. Thomas may be the one exception to that, but still Thomas believed Jesus to be the Messiah, he just could not believe that He had risen from the dead unless he was to see it for himself. The story of Thomas is more than just a man that didn’t believe Jesus was raised from the dead; it was a foreshadowing to the end of this age when there will be us, the Church, who believed in Jesus without seeing Him, and there will be others who only believe because they saw Him coming out of the heavens and will be reigning as King over His kingdom here on the earth. Those people who only believed by seeing will still spend eternity with Jesus. But even better are those who believed without seeing, these are they that will be blessed, Jn 20:29.
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The following is a list in order of the appearances of Jesus after the resurrection:

​v.3 (b) Forty days is an interesting number. We see this appear all over our bible; specifically in some sort of a preparatory state. For example: 

Acts 1:2  
​(a)until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the (b)Holy Spirit (c)given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen.

​v.2 (a) Luke is recapping his first volume, the book of Luke, telling Theophilus that his first writings of Jesus were about the events while He was on the earth up until He was taken up. Now his second volume, the book of Acts, is the continuation of the orders given by Jesus to His Church after He had ascended into heaven to be with the Father.
 
v.2 (b)Jesus was given the full measure of the Holy Spirit, and thru this in-dwelling of the Spirit, Jesus was one with the Father. Jesus said only what He heard His Father say, and He only did what He saw His Father do. He did everything by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus even said “I can do nothing of Myself, but the Father that dwells within Me, He does the works,” Jn 5:19, 30, 8:26, 28, 12:49-50, 14:10, 24.
Luke makes reference to this oneness that Jesus had with the Father when he says He gave orders and chose the apostles by the Holy Spirit.
 
v.2 (c)given orders- three times, after the resurrection, Jesus gave orders to His apostles. Twice to preach the gospel to the world, Matt 28:19, Mk 16:15, and once, which I believe, He is referring here to “stay in the city until you are clothed with the power from on high,” Lk 24:49. This was the order Luke was referring to; the first order of business, to receive the promise of the Holy Spirit.
Without the Holy Spirit, there is no preaching the gospel to the world. Notice the difference in behavior of the apostles before and after the in-dwelling of the Spirit. Compare the two events; after Jesus was resurrected and presented Himself to His disciples, He told them to meet Him in Galilee. The apostles did as He said, but they were lost and had no direction from the Spirit because they had not yet been empowered with the Spirit.
When they arrived in Galilee, the only thing they thought to do was to go back to fishing, Jn 21:3. But now compare their actions after they receive the Holy Spirit. Immediately they start prophesying and Peter preaches a marvelous and Spirit filled message that leads three thousand people to Jesus in one day, Acts 2:37-41.

​(a)Theophilus- This is Luke’s second book of a two volume set. His first book, the gospel of Luke, was a prequel to his second volume, the book of Acts.
Luke mentions his first account, the gospel of Luke, as a record of all things Jesus began to do and teach. In his first book, Luke addresses Theophilus as “most excellent”. In the Greek it is κράτιστε, kratiste, a term belonging to or a characteristic of a high ranking dignitary or official. This word is used three other places in the new testament, all addressing Roman government officials, Acts 24:3 addressing Felix and Acts 26:25 addressing Festus.
The books of Luke and Acts were trial documents meant to defend Christianity. These documents were written to Theophilus, a Roman official whom Luke wrote to defend Christianity. Theophilus could have even paid for these documents as well.
It is a common belief that Luke’s writings were designed to defend Paul, and Christianity, against the charge that it was an illegal, anti-Roman religion. These were presented as legal documents in the defense of Paul to Cesar in Rome.
Luke always portrays Rome as the good guys. Luke was writing these documents to be presented to Cesar, so the last thing he needed to do was give fault to Rome in any way. When a riot broke out or there was some form of chaos, the blame was never cast on Rome.
The book of Luke was written as an account of the beginning of Christianity, addressed to Theophilus, “so that you might know the exact truth about the things you have been taught,” Lk 1:4; this prequel transitions seamlessly into the book of Acts; both the gospel of Luke ending and the book of Acts beginning with the ascension of Jesus.
                                            
(b)began- ἤρξατο, ērxato- to take the first step or steps in carrying out an action.
Jesus’ intentions were for us to continue what He started. Only Jesus could be the Lamb of God who could take away the sins of the world; so now that He has accomplished this, He took the first step in the redemption of man, making it possible for man to be saved by His blood; it is our duty now, by the Holy Spirit, to preach the message of the gospel of Christ and bring those in the world to salvation thru Jesus, Matt 28:19, Mk 16:15.
Jesus had much to say to the disciples, but He couldn’t because He first had to defeat sin and death on the cross and make the Holy Spirit available to all who believe, Jn 16:12. Jesus’ whole purpose for His coming was to redeem man and lay the foundation for the body of Christ, His Church; in which He is the chief cornerstone in this construction, Eph 2:20-21, 2Cor 5:17-21.