Acts: things to gain
- some of the only church narrative we have...
lets us see how the early church practiced evangelism and dealt with problems.
shows us that the early church had problems (and what type of problems)
shows us some examples of the changes that take can place in the life of a christian.
basically, its one of the more vivid pictures we have available of the early church.
Written by Luke for Theophilus
Luke wrote Acts as a second book to luke; acts 1:1 talks about his first account or his former account.
Luke's books combined make him the largest contributer to the new testament.
v1-3 connect the two books:
1. The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach,
2. until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders
to the apostles whom He had chosen.
3. To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs,
appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.
who is theophilus?
not sure. nobody really knows.
rich or important enough to dedicate the book to though.
'most excellent' is by some taken to indicate that this is dedicated to a gov't official (apprently it was used in such contexts).
additionally, luke often shows the harmony between the secular gov't and the church (with a few exceptions). i.e. gallo, sergius paulus, gallo, claudius lysias, etc
Context for the story...
This is a first century story.
A group of jewish men have a message that everyone considers crazy.
their leader was just killed.
their relatives and countrymen think they're crazy.
it's an offshoot of a message that hasn't exactly taken the world by storm.
it's estimated that the jews consisted of 10% of the population of the roman empire, 50% of which were in judea; there were some but few gentile converts...
granted, in any major city you could find a few jews. but the further you got from jerusalem the fewer jews there were.
yet...by the time this book is written and being read, christianity has spread through most parts of the roman empire.
it had not become a dominant religion yet...
but almost certainly it had become large enough to be noticed and persecuted.
acts is the story of christianity spread so quickly at the 'hands' of a few jewish men into the whole roman world.
4. Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father
had promised, "Which," He said, "you heard of from Me;
5. for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."
6. So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, "Lord, is it at this time You are
restoring the kingdom to Israel?"
7. He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority;
8. but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in
Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth."
A. The Apostles will receive the Spirit.
4. Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father
had promised, "Which," He said, "you heard of from Me;
5. for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."
1. Luke opens with baptism...
The book of Luke opens with John's baptism preparing the world for the coming of Christ.
The book of Acts opens with the baptism of the Holy Spirit preparing the church to be witnesses for Christ (preparing for the coming of Christ)
2. The purpose of this baptism is to give power to be witnesses
"you will receive power when the holy spirit has come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses"
In john, jesus says of this that:
16:7 "it is to your advantage that i go away; for if i do not go away, the helper shall not come to you. but if i go,
i will send him to you"
16:8 "and he, when he comes, will convict the world concerning sin, and rightousness, and judgement";
much of acts is about showing the impact of the Holy spirit on humanity
those baptised by the holy spirit serve as witnesses of christ.
others are convicted by the spirit of sin, rightousness, and judgement.
B. The Gospel will spread to the whole earth.
8. but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in
Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth."
the narrative arc of acts follows this pattern (see our outline).
things to look for as you read...
the influence of the holy spirit and the successive spread of the gospel.
9. And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
10. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them.
11. They also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into
heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven."
The ascenscion establishes a few changes:
A. Jesus is no longer on earth (he is in heaven).
- if he is God, then where is he?
the new testament and christianity is all about christ.
the logical question the reader would ask is "if he has been raised from the dead, then where is he?"
- he is (in some respects) out of the picture
technically, he is in Heaven; sitting at the right hand of God the father (heb 8:1, heb 10:12)
but that's not important to the story of acts. what is important is that he is not on earth.
"Lord, is it at this time you are restoring the kingdom to Israel?"
He is now clearly revealed as God; he removes himself from the picture.
He is set to return in the same guise, however his return will not be like his first coming...
C. Jesus is in charge now (though not physically present, he will be again...)
movie comparisons
not 'remember the alamo' (how the disciples avenged jesus' death)
not 'old yeller' (how the disciples mourned jesus' death)
more star wars (a new hope). obi wan intentionally dies and is still a part of the story.
luke's presentation of christ in acts:
conversion of saul, acts 9:
"i am jesus whom you are persecuting"
jesus specifically identifies with the church and her sufferings.
paul, in acts 22:21, also tells of how jesus directed him to the gentiles soon after this time
possibly to peter in acts 10
(though not identified as jesus, peter addresses the voice as Lord)
"what God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy" (speaking of food and gentiles)
jesus (?) pushes the church to a new field, explicitly changing the makeup of the church and ultimating the setting acts is written to.
to paul at corinth
paul is in one of the most important cities in the roman empire; jesus tells him:
"do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no man will attack you
in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city"
>>> "for I am with you"...
to paul in prison
"take courage; for as you have solemnly witnessed to my cause at Jerusalem, so you must witness at Rome also"
Christ will return
the disciples asked, "when will you restore the kingdom to israel"; christ said not yet...
but it was also emphasized that christ "will come in just the same way as you have watched him go into heaven"
we are a people looking for the future.
do not forget your heavenly perspective.
gain hope from future perspective
the story of acts is the story of the apostles acting on earth through the holy spirit.
very much a present set of actions for a future mindset.
the purpose given is "to be christ's witnesses"
keep priority; what are we about?
- not idolizing kids or ease.