ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

1. When and where was ACTS written?

The book of Acts was written at around 80-90 AD at Rome.

2. Why did Luke write this 2nd book?

The primary purpose of the book of Acts is not to record the birth of the
Church, the body of Christ. Luke’s primary purpose was to record the downfall of
Israel. Why did the kingdom not come? The answer is it could not come until the
nation repented and believed Jesus was the Messiah. Since the nation refused to
repent, God set it aside and began to form His Church, the body of Christ, by
commissioning Paul, the apostle of the Gentiles. When the Body of Christ is
complete God will resume His work with national Israel. In that day, Israel will
repent and God will establish His kingdom on the earth. While the Jews of Jesus’
generation failed, the Jews of the Tribulation will not. They will repent and God
will establish His kingdom and fulfill His covenantal promises.

3. What was Luke’s central message?

Word and deed. Throughout Acts, ministry involves both word and deed, both
speaking and doing, both preaching and serving. Miraculous acts of healing, for
example, were “signs and wonders” that pointed to the life-changing power of the
gospel. In Acts 14:3, we are told that Paul and Barnabas were “speaking boldly
for the Lord, who bore witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and
wonders to be done by their hands.” Christians sometimes emphasize either
word or deed to the neglect of the other. The New Testament teaches us to make
God’s Word our first priority in ministry (1 Cor. 1:22–23), yet the gospel must be
clothed in love and good deeds, lest we “unsay” with our actions what we say with
our lips (1 John 3:18).

Christian generosity with one another. The church is called to be kind and
generous to all those made in God’s image. Yet believers are to show special
kindness to one another (Gal. 6:10). We see this beautifully in Acts, as believers
share possessions in common with one another in a bold sacrifice of love (Acts
2:42–47; 4:32–37). As Christ poured his life out in self-giving compassion for us
when we were in need, so we give of ourselves to others who are in need.

The power of the Holy Spirit. The worldwide mission of the church began only
when the Holy Spirit came upon God’s people (Acts 1:8; compare Luke 24:49). In
a day when the Spirit is often the most neglected person of the Trinity, especially
in the Christian West, the global church must learn from Acts to treasure the Spirit
and his presence and power. Acts declares to the church today that it is by the
power of the Spirit that the gospel will go forth to the end of the earth. This is
humbling to human pride, yet it is also our great hope. Evangelistic effectiveness
does not depend ultimately on human cleverness and sophisticated strategies.
Global fruitfulness comes as weak Christians depend on the Spirit and look to
him for strength.

4. Who were the central 2 people?

In Acts, as Luke describes the spread of the gospel and the ministry of
the apostles, he focuses primarily on two, Peter and Paul.

5. What are the main changes in places and people reached?

Following this verses, these are the main changes in places and people
reached by the apostles:
Acts 2:1 —The New Testament Church miraculously began when the members
were assembled on the Feast of Pentecost (also called the Feast of Weeks or
Firstfruits), in accordance with God’s commands
of Leviticus23:15-16, Leviticus 23:21 and Deuteronomy 16:16.

Acts 2:46 —The early Church met daily “with one accord in the temple.”

Acts 5:19-20 —After the apostles were imprisoned, an angel told the apostles to
continue teaching at the temple.

Acts 5:21, Acts 5:25, Acts 5:42 —The apostles continued teaching in the temple.

Acts 5:32 — Peter taught that God gives His Holy Spirit “to those who obey Him.”

Acts 6:7 —”A large number of priests became obedient to the faith” (NIV)—they
saw no contradiction between Christianity and their roles as priests.

Acts 7:1-53 —Stephen explained that Jesus Christ and Christianity are the
fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy and a natural outgrowth of what the Old
Testament scriptures foretold.

Acts 8:26-39 —Philip explained to the Ethiopian eunuch how Jesus Christ is the
fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies.
Acts 9:20 —Immediately after his miraculous conversion, Paul “preached the
Christ in the synagogues” in Damascus.

Acts 10:14 —About a decade after Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection, Peter
said, “I have never eaten anything common or unclean”—he obviously was
continuing to obey God’s laws regarding clean and unclean meats found in
Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14. (To understand the true meaning of this
passage, and how it is grossly misinterpreted, request or download our free
booklet Clean and Unclean Meats: What Does the Bible Really Teach? )

Acts 11:8 — Peter recounted the event, saying, “Nothing common or unclean has
at any time entered my mouth.”

Acts 13:5 —In Salamis on Cyprus, Paul and Barnabas “preached the word of
God in the synagogues of the Jews.”

Acts 13:14-41 —In Pisidian Antioch, Paul and Barnabas taught in the synagogue
on the Sabbath, explaining from the Old Testament scriptures that Jesus was the
prophesied Messiah and Son of God.

Acts 13:42 —At the conclusion of this synagogue service, “the Gentiles begged
that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath.” If the Sabbath
were done away, Paul and Barnabas missed a golden opportunity to explain to
these gentiles that they could teach them the very next day—Sunday—or any
other day. Instead they met again the next Sabbath!

Acts 13:44 —”On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear
the word of God” taught by Paul and Barnabas. In all of the many mentions of
Paul teaching on the Sabbath, not once is there so much as a hint that they need
not be there to observe the Sabbath as commanded, nor any hint that they
should instead meet on Sunday.

Acts 14:1 — Paul and Barnabas taught in the synagogue in Iconium.

Acts 15:20-21 —At the conclusion of the Jerusalem conference on the issue of
circum-cision, the Church pointed gentile Christians to regulations that would
allow them to meet alongside Jews in synagogues, where “Moses has been
preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on
every Sabbath” (NIV).

Acts 16:13 —In Philippi, Paul met with Jews on the Sabbath beside a river and
taught them about Jesus Christ.
Acts 17:1-2 —In Thessalonica, Paul, “as his custom was,” went to the synagogue
“and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures.”

Acts 17:10-11 —In Berea, Paul and Silas “went into the synagogue of the Jews”
and taught, after which their hearers “searched the [Old Testament] Scriptures
daily to find out whether these things were so.”

Acts 17:17 —In Athens, Paul reasoned in the synagogue with Jews and gentiles.

Acts 18:4 —In Corinth, Paul “reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and
persuaded both Jews and Greeks.”

Acts 18:19 —In Ephesus, Paul “entered the synagogue and reasoned with
the Jews.”

Acts 18:21 — Paul departed Ephesus, saying, “I must by all means keep this
coming feast in Jerusalem”—in accordance with God’s command
in Deuteronomy 16:16.

Acts 19:8 —After returning to Ephesus, Paul “went into the synagogue and spoke
boldly for three months.”

Acts 20:6 — Paul and his group “sailed away from Philippi after the Days of
Unleavened Bread,” one of God’s festivals commanded
in Leviticus 23:6 and Deuteronomy 16:16.

Acts 20:16 — Paul changed his travel plans because “he was hurrying to be at
Jerusalem, if possible, on the Day of Pentecost,” another of God’s festivals.

Acts 21:20 —In Jerusalem, the apostles told Paul that “many thousands of Jews
have believed [in Jesus Christ], and all of them are zealous for the law” (NIV).
They saw no contradiction between Christianity and the laws they had
always followed.

Acts 21:21-26 —To counter false accusations that he taught against the law and
to show that he himself was “living in obedience to the law” (NIV), Paul joined with
several men to be purified at the temple and to pay their expenses for their rites
and offerings.

Acts 24:14 — Paul, in a legal hearing before the Roman governor Felix, stated
that he worshiped the God of his fathers and believed “all things which are written
in the Law and in the Prophets”—the Old Testament.
Acts 25:8 —In a legal hearing before the next Roman governor, Festus, Paul said,
“Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar
have I offended in anything at all.”

Acts 27:9 —Luke noted that sailing in the Mediterranean Sea in late autumn “was
now dangerous because the Fast”—a reference to the Day of Atonement, one of
God’s Holy Days (Leviticus 23:27)—”was already over.”

Acts 28:17 —Speaking to the Jews in Rome where he was now a prisoner, Paul
told them, “I have done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers.”

6. Why does it stop at Rome?

We just do not know, but Luke's chief interest could have been a record of the
activities of Paul to be presented at Rome to show that he was a man of
impeccable character. There again, there could be things about the working of
the early church which our Lord does not want to reveal at the present time.
The comment has often been made that there is no proper, formal ending to
the Book of Acts because the story goes on. You and I today carry on the work of
the Apostles who were "sent forth" to preach Jesus and His Gospel, that is not to
say, of course, that you and I have the office of 'Apostle' - quite obviously not - but
that the business of disseminating the Gospel goes on and that book cannot
close during this age of the Church.

7. Why does Luke not cover other missions to the east & south?
Luke does not cover other missions to the east & south because he focuses
on Paul and Peter’s journey. He did not cover the & south missions because
that’s not the directions of Paul’s journey.

8. What is the structure & direction of his gospel?

Summary Statements

Luke offered summary statements at six important stages in the growth of the
church in Jerusalem:

1. After Peter's Pentecost sermon and the baptism of three thousand

converts in Acts chapter 2 verses 42 through 47
2. After believers prayed for boldness in the face of persecution in chapter 4
verses 32 through 37
3. After the judgment of Ananias and Sapphira in chapter 5 verses 11
through 16
4. After the apostles faced the Sanhedrin court with boldness in chapter 5
verse 42
5. After the selection of the first deacons in chapter 6 verse 7
6. After the martyrdom of Stephen and the persecution of Saul in chapter 8
verse 4

Luke punctuated his record of events in Judea and Samaria in a similar way:

1. After the apostles minister in Samaria in Acts chapter 8 verse 25

2. After the baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts chapter 8 verse 40
3. After the conversion of Saul in Acts chapter 9 verse 31

He concluded his history of the gospel in Asia, Macedonia and Achaia with
summations:

1. After Paul and Silas preached and instructed young converts in Acts
chapter 16 verse 5
2. After the ministry of Paul in Ephesus in Acts chapter 19 verse 20

The summaries Luke made throughout his book explain that every major
section of the book of Acts depicts the growth of the gospel as it spread through
the witness of the early church. And just imagine the effect these comments
should have had on Theophilus and others who read Luke's book. They would
have encouraged believers everywhere that no matter how great the tension or
how terrible the opposition, God is always working through the gospel for the
internal and external growth of his church. They would have inclined the early
Christians to read all of history from this perspective. And they would have
assured them that if they remained faithful witnesses to their Lord and Savior,
they would see the growth of the gospel in their day too, despite their internal and
external problems.

9. What are the main issues Luke wants to communicate?

1- Jesus, who was crucified, is alive. When the gospel is preached in the book of
Acts, the resurrection is emphasized as much as the crucifixion. The apostles
were obviously in awe of Jesus’ death for sin, but they were even more in awe of
the fact that they had seen Him alive after they had seen Him die. The
resurrection proved that everything Jesus said and did had greater meaning. He
wasn’t just another teacher who lived a good life and died unjustly. He was (and
is) the Son of God, risen from the dead.

2- Jesus is the Messiah of Israel, the fulfillment of the prophecy and promises of
the Old Testament. As Gentiles, we can be tempted to study the life of Jesus
apart from the Old Testament narrative, but the book of Acts won’t allow us to do
this. The apostles understood the life and ministry of Jesus in the context of the
story of Israel. They use Jewish titles for Jesus (Messiah, Lord, Savior, Lamb of
God, Son of David, etc.) and show us how He fulfilled the prophecies of the Old
Testament.

3- The apostles boldly proclaim the truth about Jesus to all regardless of
consequences. The final command from Jesus was to be witnesses to His life,
death, and resurrection. The apostles obviously believed that they could not be
witnesses without opening their mouth and talking about Jesus. Yes, they cared
for those in need, but always in the context of boldly preaching the message of
Christ. And they spoke despite the risks to their safety and security.

4- The Holy Spirit does the miraculous as the message of Jesus goes
forward. The narrative of Acts makes the case that both the witness of the
church and the miraculous power of the Spirit are required for gospel to
spread. The Spirit doesn’t act arbitrarily. He acts to support the spread of the
gospel, to build up the church in its mission of taking the name of Jesus to the
nations. The movement formula in the book of Acts seems to be simple – preach
Jesus and ask the Spirit to do the supernatural to confirm your message.

5- Gospel ministry and persecution go together. We don’t like to talk about this
much in the American church (because we like to be comfortable), but the book
of Acts shows us what Christians around the world know to be true. When we
boldly proclaim Jesus as Lord and Messiah, we will face opposition. In fact, a
lack of difficulty and opposition may shows that we are not following in the
footsteps of the early church.

6- God can convert anyone, regardless of their past opposition to Him. The
gospel is the power of God to change lives. And it really changes people. The
story of Acts is not just that godly people added Jesus to their moral lives. The
story of Acts is that those who were living opposed to God were radically
transformed by the gospel of grace. Even those who had been working to kill the
church can be changed by God to those He uses to build His church.

7- The gospel is for all people in all places, regardless of ethnicity, religious
background, or past moral performance. I love this part of our story. The
message of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection is for all people. Peter says it
best in 11:34, “now I really understand that God doesn’t show favoritism.” This is
incredibly challenging to our prejudices and hope-inspiring for our
ministry. God’s message of grace is for everyone.

8- God will build His church through His people. The story of Acts is one of hope
– that the power of God’s Spirit working through God’s people with God’s
message will really change lives. As we follow Jesus day by day, we can
sometimes lose hope, especially in the face of darkness and opposition. But we
are reminded by this awesome book that God will build His church. He has been
victorious over the grave, and nothing will ultimately stand in His way.