New Life Bible Chapel - Friday Bible Study - The book of Acts

Introduction to Acts History1 and Date: Acts is a unique book among the NT writings because it mainly records a selective history of the early church following the resurrection of Christ. As we all know, it is the second volume of a History of Christian Origins which was written by a 2nd century Christian and it was directed or dedicated to a certain man named Theophilus. The earlier version of the book is also amongst the 27 books of the NT and it is The Gospel according to Luke. Originally, the 2 volumes were circulated together as one complete book of History but didnt go on for too long. Early in the 2nd century the 4 canonical Gospels were put together into 1 collection and were circulated as the fourfold Gospel. So the 1st part of the twofold History was clubbed together with 3 other books, written by different writers, which covered or told more or less the same account of the story of Jesus, ending with the witness to his resurrection. And meanwhile the 2nd part of the twofold History was separated and left to carry out its own objective. Seen in retrospect, a very important and influential objective. Reason being, around the same time the Gospels were put together to form the fourfold Gospel, another collection of Christian books or documents were being brought together and that is the letters written by Paul. So these 2 collections - The Gospel and the Apostle - as they were called - made up most part of the NT. But upon looking at only these two collections, the Gospel and the Apostle, we would easily notice a distinct gap or pause in the sequence of events of those collections if it wasnt for the 2nd part of the History of Christian Origins, which we will now call Acts. So the major objective that Acts fulfilled was in connecting the 2 major collections to each other. It formed something of a bridge between the Gospel and the Apostle collection. With respect to the Gospel, Acts serves as a sequel and with respect to the Pauline collection, it serves as a prequel or a background to several of the letters. Most scholars date Acts to have been written sometime around A.D. 70. Key Themes in Acts: a. What we can see on studying the book of Acts is that believers of that time are empowered by the Holy Spirit to bear witness to the good news that is Jesus Christ, to both Jews and Gentiles, and in so doing the church is established. b. Also, Acts explains that even though Christianity was new at that time, it is the one true religion based on Gods promises from the beginning of time. In the ancient world, it was very important to show that a religion stood the test of time and therefore Luke presents the church as the fulfilment and extension of Gods promises2.
1 Bruce, F. F. (1988). The Book of Acts, NICNT. Grand Rapids, MI :Wm.

B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

2 E.S.V. Study Bible Resources, Introduction to Acts - Points a and b only

c. In Acts we see the early church leaders completing their work by the continuous filling of the Holy Spirit (Acts 4:7-8) and that is a key to living a powerful, fruitful Christian life. Even Jesus Christ was anointed with the Holy Spirit for the work He had to do (Acts 10:38). The major themes, as seen below, of Acts can be placed under the general category of witness, as set forth in the thematic verse (Acts 1:8)3. 1. The witness is worldwideJudea, Samaria, the end of the earth. 2. The witness is inclusive of all kinds of people: Jews, Gentiles, Samaritans, the physically handicapped, pagan mountain people, a prominent merchant woman, a jailer and his family, Greek philosophers, governors, and kings. 1:8 chs. 25; 8:440; 10:111:18; 14:8 18; 16:1115, 2534; 17:2231; 24:2427; 26:129 4:522; 18:1216; 19:2341; 23:1222; 24:123; 27:2126

3. The witness is guided by the providence of God, who preserves his witnesses for their testimony through all sorts of threats: murderous plots, angry mobs, storms at sea, and constant trials before the authorities, to name only a few. 4. On the other hand, faithful witnesses must be prepared to suffer, even to die for their testimony to Christ. 5. The power behind the witness is the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is granted to all believers, both male and female, whom he empowers for witness. The Spirit guides witnesses in moments of special inspiration and is behind every advance in the Christian mission. 6. In the early days, the witness was often accompanied by signs and wonders, the wonders being the miracles worked by the apostles, which served as signs pointing to the truth of the gospel. Miracles usually opened a door for witness. 7. Effective witness demands the unity of the church.

5:4142; 7:5460

1:8; 2:113, 18, 38; 4:8; 7:55; 8:17; 10:44; 13:212; 19:6, 21 e.g., ch. 3

2:4247; 4:3237; 5:1214 1:22; 2:2236; 17:30 31

8. A key component of the witness is the resurrection of Jesus. For the Jews the resurrection demonstrated that Jesus was the promised Messiah. For the Gentiles it pointed to his role as judge and established their need to repent. 9. Acceptance of the message borne by the witnesses depends both on human response and on the divine sovereignty behind the response. 10. The OT Scriptures point to the death and resurrection of Christ, and
3 E.S.V. Study Bible Resources, Charts of the New Testament, Key Themes in Acts

e.g., 2:47; 11:18; 13:48 (The numerous

the prophecies that point to Christ and to his followers must be fulfilled (1:16).

OT citations in the sermons of Acts illustrate this point.) 26:2729

11. The witness to the gospel calls for a response. Most speeches in Acts end with some sort of invitation. Representative of this is Pauls exchange with Agrippa II. 12. The response called for is repentance of ones sins in the name of Christ, which brings forgiveness of sins. 13. Witnesses must always maintain integrity before the world. In Acts this is illustrated by the many remarks from the authorities about the Christians giving no evidence of any wrongdoing. 14. Christian witnesses continue the ministry that Christ began (1:1). This is illustrated throughout Acts with the many implicit parallels between the experiences of the apostles and those of Christ: his miracles, the forebodings of his journey to Jerusalem, the cry of the angry Jewish mob for his death, and his trial before the governor and the king. 15. Faithful witness brings great results. Acts is all about the victory of the Christian gospel. The witness brings results among both Jews and Gentiles. The book ends on this note, with Paul bearing his faithful witness to all who came to him in Rome.

e.g., 2:38

18:1215; 23:29; 25:18; 26:3132

20:3621:16 (cf. Luke 9:22; 13:31 34; 18:3134); 21:36; 22:21 (cf. Luke 23:18);24:126:32 (cf. Luke 23:125) 4:4; 11:2021; 13:48 49; 17:4; 18:611; 21:20; 28:3031

Purpose of Acts: The exact nature of Lukes purpose for writing Acts is not known but upon studying Acts some of the major purposes that stand out are: a. To Show the Holy Spirits work Acts goes on to show that for the furthering of the spread of the Good News, i.e. the Gospel, the Lord sends the Holy Spirit to indwell and fill His believers to aid in their ministry. The disciples had no power by themselves to face challenges and opposition until the Holy Spirit came upon them and they received the power to be Jesus witnesses (Acts 1:8). All that is recorded in the book of Acts conveys the common message of the importance of the Holy Spirits person and work during the early church period. b. To Show Gods Sovereignty And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 God is in control of everything, He cause everything to work together for good. As can be seen from Acts 5:11, 14, God used the lie of Ananias and Sapphira to make the church stronger. And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things. Acts 5:11 And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, Acts 5:14 There were several instances recorded in Acts that echo Gods sovereignty in spite of the opposition:

- Stephens Sacrifice - his martyrdom resulted in the increase of evangelism to different areas (Acts 8:4) - Herods Harassment- his persecution was one of the events that resulted in the spread of the Word of God (Acts 12:24). - Circumcision Crises (Gentiles need to be circumcised to join the Church) - resulted in the encouragement and strengthening of the church groups (Acts 15:31-32) - Pauls Persecution - resulted in penetration of the gospel in to the highest circles in Rome. His 2 year imprisonment allowed him to preach the kingdom of God and to teach about the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 28:31; Philippians 1:12-13). In the chart4 below you can see the progression of the Word in Acts: 6:7 12:24 13:49 19:20 And the word of God continued to increase. But the word of God increased and multiplied. And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region. So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.

c. To Show Joy Throughout the book of Acts, the common characteristic that stands out amongst believers is joy. Luke records the joy He has in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit who keeps him aware of the risen Lord Jesus Christs presence and influence in all things. He indicates that the cause for this joy was not any favourable circumstances but - Complete understanding of Gods forgiveness of sin - Indwelling companionship, guidance and power of the Holy Spirit - Fellowship with Christians - Knowledge of Gods providence and purpose for each person. Luke records in Acts, the joy that believers liked with in spite of the troubles they faced. Luke especially focuses on Pauls intense joy along with his dedication to the Lord and for Gods work. And an important lesson we can learn from the book of Acts is that it is JOY and not anxiety or tension that was the result of all Christian work (Acts 5:41, 8:8, 8:39, 11:23, 13:48, 13:52, 15:3, 15:31, 16:34 etc.) People: The two apostles that stand out in the book of Acts are: Peter - apostle to the Jews (covers Acts 1-12) Paul - apostle to the Gentiles (covers Acts 13-28) Active people in the book were the apostle John, Stephen, Philip, Barnabas, Silas, Timothy and Luke. Brief Overview of Acts5: 1. This is the Early Church Stage (Acts, Galatians, 1-2 Thessalonians, 1-2 Corinthians). - It covers a time period of approx. 38 years.
4 ESV Study Bible Resources, Charts of the New Testament, The Progression of Gods Word in Acts 5 Willmington, Dr. H. L. (2011). Willmingtons GUIDE to the Bible. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale

House Publishers, Inc.

- It starts with the Miracles at Pentecost and ends with Pauls martyrdom. - It is a wonderful story of Christian witness. 2. Acts revolves on 2 great crusades: - the Greater Jerusalem Crusade (Acts 1-12) led by Peter (B.A. Fishing), and - the Global Crusade (Acts 13-28) led by Paul (B.A. Tent-making) 3. Acts talks about the first: - Deacons (Acts 6:1-5) - Martyrs (Acts 7:60 - Stephen and Acts 12:2 - James) - Missionaries (Acts 13:1-13) 4. We also see in Acts 11:26 the term Christians being used. Acts also records the accounts of the last 2 resurrections: Dorcas (Acts 9:40-41), Eutychus (Acts 20:9-12) 5.The preaching of the gospel is attacked by Satan. He tries to: - Prohibit it (Acts 4:18; 5:28) - Purchase it (Acts 8:18) - Pervert it (Acts 16:16-18) 6. Angels and demons are also seen in action: - An angel protects an apostle (Peter in Acts 12:7-8) - An angel plagues a king (Herod in Acts 12:23) - Demons possess sorcerers (Acts 8:9; 13:6-10), a girl (Acts 16:16-18), and vagabonds (Acts 19:13-16). 7. The early church stage (recorded in Acts) notes 3 significant conversions: - Eunuch from Ethiopia (Acts 8:36-38) who is a descendant of Ham (Gen10:6-20) - Saul (Acts 9:1-6) who is a descendant of Shem (Gen 10:21-31) - Cornelius (Acts 10:44-48) who is a descendant of Japheth (Gen 10:2-5) 8. The number of converts jump from: 120 (Acts 1:15) to 3,120 (Acts 2:41) to 8,120 (Acts 4:4) to untold multitudes (Acts 5:14) 9. Later on we see Paul preaching before: - Prison keepers (Acts 23:6) - Philosophers (Acts 17:16-31) - Pharisees (Acts 23:6) - Potentates (Acts 24:24-25, 26:24-28) 10. To have a contrasting view of the early church period, the story opens with an upper-room prayer meeting (Acts 1:1-14) and closes with a prison-room praise meeting (2 Timothy 4:6-8,18)

Timeline for Acts:

The Setting of Acts6:

The book of Acts records the spread of the gospel from Jerusalem to Rome.

6 ESV Study Bible Resources, Maps of the New testament, The Setting of Acts