Acts: The Church on the Go
  1. Background Information
    1. Author: Luke
      1. Physician
      2. Companion of Paul during some of his journeys
    2. Date: 59-63 AD
      1. Finished before the burning of Rome (64 AD)
      2. Finished before the 1st imperial persecution (64-67 AD)
      3. Finished before the 2nd imprisonment of Paul (64-67 AD)
      4. Finished before the Jewish rebellion against Rome (66 AD)
      5. Finished before the destruction of Jerusalem (70 AD)
    3. Sequel to the Gospel of Luke
      1. Gospel of Luke gives what Jesus BEGAN to do, while Acts gives what Jesus CONTINUES to do
      2. Gospel gives the history of Jesus’ earthly ministry while Acts gives a history of the early church
      3. Luke gives us JESUS, ACTS gives us the Holy Spirit
    4. Theme
      1. Acts of the Apostles
      2. Acts of the Holy Spirit
      3. Spread of the gospel
  2. Purpose
    1. Confirm Theophilus in the faith
    2. History of the early church
    3. Give a defense of the Christian faith
      1. At end of the book Paul was imprisoned in Rome
      2. Possible that the book was written in part to give a defense of the Christian faith
        1. By giving an accurate history of the church
        2. By showing that Christians were not rebel-rousers
        3. By showing that the controversies surrounding Christians were the result of antagonism from others, not from the Christians themselves
        4. Paul was released later
  3. Characteristics
    1. Accurate history
      1. Luke is the most detailed historian giving exact names of places, people, titles, etc.
      2. Archeology has repeatedly confirmed the accuracy of Luke
    2. Literary Excellence
      1. Uses some classical Greek, Aramaic, as well as Koine Greek
      2. Wider vocabulary than any other NT writer
      3. Vivid descriptions (ex. Paul’s shipwreck)
    3. Transitional Book
      1. Bridge from OT dispensation to the NT
      2. Bridge from the gospels to the epistles
  4. Contents
    1. Sermons
      1. Peter (4)
      2. Paul (6)
      3. James (1)
      4. Stephen (1)
    2. History of the church
      1. Great commission
      2. Choosing Matthias
      3. Pentecost and the Holy Spirit
      4. Ministry of Peter
      5. Ministry of Paul
    3. Growth of the church
      1. Geographic
        1. Acts 1-7 Jerusalem
        2. Acts 8 Judea and Samaria
        3. Acts 9-28 Uttermost part of the earth
      2. Numerical
        1. Small group on upper room
        2. "added 3,000" (2:41)
        3. "added daily" (2:47)
        4. "5,000" (4:4)
        5. "believers were added…multitudes…" (5:14)
        6. "…disciples multiplied…" (9:31)
        7. "great number believed" (11:21)
        8. "…grew and multiplied" (12:24)
        9. "…increased in number daily" (16:5)
        10. "mightily grew the word of God and prevailed" (19:20)
    4. Transitional in nature
      1. Caution in using it as a doctrinal basis
        1. Miracles and tongues
        2. Deliberate liars not struck down dead immediately
        3. Transitional periods were often accompanied by the miraculous
      2. The Organization of the church is growing, changing
        1. The NT shows a gradual growth in the organization of the church
        2. There was very little organization in the early church
  5. Key Concepts
    1. Holy Spirit
      1. Mentioned over 50 times
      2. Some have called this the Acts of the Holy Spirit
    2. Prayer
      1. Almost every chapter mentions or demonstrates prayer
      2. Prayer and the Holy Spirit are inextricably linked
    3. Witness
      1. Purpose of the book (Acts 1:8)
      2. Shows the spread of the gospel among Jews and Gentiles
      3. Sermons are evangelistic
      4. The miracles are the authentication of the message
  6. Organization of the Book
    1. Geographical
      1. The witness in Jerusalem (ch. 1-7)
      2. The witness in Judea/Samaria (ch. 8)
      3. The witness to the uttermost (ch. 9-28)
    2. Personalities
      1. Peter (ch. 1-12)
      2. Paul (ch. 13-28)
  7. Key Issues
    1. Tongues
    2. Miracles
    3. Communal living
    4. Deacons & Church Organization
    5. Baptism
    6. Jewish/Gentile relations
    7. Paul’s Missionary Journeys