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School of Bible Study – Book of Acts

The Book of Acts

Weekly, Tuesdays, 4 January to 22 March 2011

by Revd. Dr. Joshua YJ Su (Soh Guan Chin)

 

Course Structure

Session

Coverage

1

Course & Book Introduction & Acts 1

2

Acts 2 & 3

3

Acts 4 & 5

4

Acts 6 & 7

5

Acts 8 & 9

6

Acts 10 & 11

7

Acts 12 & 13

8

Acts 14 & 15

9

Acts 16 & 17

10

Acts 18 to 20

11

Acts 21 to 23

12

Acts 24 to 28

 

Book Introduction

Author

There is no direct mention of the author in the book, but Acts and the 3rd Gospel recognised as written by Luke

It is historically attested by Muratorian Canon (c. AD 170) and Irenaeus (c. A.D. 180)
Luke is a ministry associate of Paul (Acts 16:10-17; 20:5-15; 21:1-18; 27:1-28:16 – use of “we suggest that he was with Paul) – supports the later historical testimonies
He is a a physician (Col 4:14)
He is recognised as a historian of the ministry of Jesus Christ and the life of the early Church – based on his two books

Recipient

“Theophilus” was the Greek name of the specified recipient (1:3) – it means “one who loves God”

He is addressed by Luke as “most honourable” - thus he is likely to be Roman officer or official who has come to the faith or who sought to know the origin and spread of the Gospel

He may be the patron of Luke's writings to ensure that these were well disseminated – it was common practice then to make a dedication to one's patron in that historical period

Date

Two Possible Dates have been proposed –
AD 60 to 64 before the fire in Rome that led to Nero's persecution of Christians; no mention of martyrdom of Peter and Paul (c. AD 67) or destruction of Temple (AD 70); no mention of outcome of Paul's imprisonment
Some suggest AD 70 or later – above factors not withstanding, Luke may just want to end the Book at the point when the Gospel reached Rome through Paul 

 

School of Bible Study – Book of Acts

Purpose & Theme

Acts 1:8 gives us Luke's framework for the organisation of the book. He begins in Jerusalem with the words of Jesus just before He ascended and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost and then traced the spread of the Gospel to Judea, to Samaria and onwards to the Roman Empire.

The 1st 12 chapters shows the leadership of Peter as the leading apostle and appointed by Christ to reach he Jews. Chapter 13 to the end of the book is focused on the missions and ministry of Paul as the apostle appointed by Christ to reach the Gentiles.

Luke highlights the preaching & spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with signs and wonders as demonstration that it is the power of God at work to save. He records the beginning of the early Church and the leadership of the apostles, its early life & growth by the empowering of the Holy Spirit.

Behind the history, Luke's theological perspective guides his focus and comment. This is instructive and adds to the more prominent Pauline, Johannine & Petrine insights in the NT.

Key Features

It is a researched book rather than a book written mainly by personal witness. The use of “we” in some passages in the book tells us that Luke was at times with Paul as a mission partner. Thus Luke was not simply writing a researched paper but of events for which he was himself a participant. Yet he researched and studied the origin and events that preceded his own personal conversion and ministry to add in details that are available to a personal witness. Thus there is more accurately dated and details history in his writing than in other NT writings.

Luke's command of the Greek was strong. Some passages were written in classical Greek, other passages reflect Palestinian usage of Greek, which is influenced by Aramaic. The former he used to address Theophilus, who was Greek, and gives the book an appeal to Greek readers when it came to be circulated. The latter he used to record the events in Jerusalem and Judea so that it captures its historicity and authenticity and appeal to Jews with Aramaic background.

It records for us very valuable snippets and summaries of the sermons of Peter and Paul. This gives us first hand accounts of what each preached in their ministry and gives us a basis to compare the likeness and distinctiveness of their messages as they addressed different groups in different settings.

It is the only NT historical record by a Christian and a participant in the beginning history of the early Church. It is a factually objective account of how the Holy Spirit brought the Church into being and how the Gospel of Christ first went forth by His Power since the preaching of Jesus Christ, our Lord, Himself.

Importance

The Highlights of the Importance of Acts is drawn mainly from its “Purpose & Theme” and “Key Features”:

  • It is the sole historical book of the NT in Scripture

  • It records for us the birth of the Church at Pentecost and the spread of the Gospel and

    the Church by the Holy Spirit from Judea, to Samaria, to Rome

  • It gives us an account of the leadership of Peter and Paul and others in the early

    Church

  • It supplies the history for the background and dating of most of the other epistles, especially Paul's, with whom Luke has worked that strengthens our grasp of these writings in their meaning and application

     

 

School of Bible Study – Book of Acts

Book of Acts: Outline with Highlights

Theme: The Acts of the Holy Spirit – the Acts of the Apostles

The Spread of the Gospel and the Church

 

Beginning at Jerusalem

I. The Beginning of the Church – Peter's Leadership – ch 1 to 12

  1. Jesus'Post-ResurrectionMinistry–1:1-11

    • 40 Days of Ministry

    • Call to the Eleven to Wait for the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit

    • The Ascension of Christ

  2. Appointment of Matthias to replace Judas Iscariot – 1:12-28

  3. Pentecost–Outpouring of the promised HolySpirit–2:1-41[AD30]

    • Tongues like fire fell

    • Peter's Sermon

    • The People Responded – 3,000 saved

In Jerusalem & Judea

4. The First Church – 2:42-47

  • Teaching, Fellowship, Breaking of Bread, Prayer

  • Shared all together

  • Many were Added Daily to the Number

 

5. Peter heals the beggar outside the Temple–3:1-26

  • Healing in Jesus' Name

  • Message to all who gathered – Jesus is the Messiah

 

6. Peter and John before the Sanhedrin – 4:1-31

  • Questioned as to their authority to preach

  • There is Salvation Only in the Name of Jesus

  • The People Prayed for the Spirit's Empowering Against Oppression

 

7. The Believers Shared in Common – 4:32 to 5:11

  • A Commonwealth

  • Introduction of Barnabas

  • Judgement on Ananias and Sapphira

 

8. The Ministry of the Twelve – 5:12-42

  • Signs & Wonders bringing God's awe

  • Persecution – Jail & Beating

  • Need to Obey God rather than men – Continues to Preach the Gospel

 

9. Appointment of 7 Deacons – 6:1-7

  • Apostles concentrate on Prayer and the Word

  • Deacons appointed to organise the group

 

10. The Martyrdom of Stephen – 6:8 to 7:60

  • Stephen's power ministry

  • Brought to speak before the Sanhedrin

  • Stephen's Sermon

  • Stoned to death – saw heaven's glory

  • Introduction of Saul

 

School of Bible Study – Book of Acts

To Samaria

11. The Gospel spread through the scattering of the Church – 8:1-40

  • Peter's 1st Missionary Journey – Samaria

      • The Evangelism of Philip at Samaria

      • Simon the Sorcerer converted

      • Peter & John came to confirm the work

      • Philip and the Ethiopian official

12. The Conversion of Saul – 9:1-31

  • Jesus appeared to Saul
  • Jesus sent Ananias to Saul
  • Saul began to preach the Gospel at Damascus and Jerusalem

 

13. Peter's 2nd Missionary Journey – the Gentiles – 9:32-10:48

 

  • healing of Aeneas

  • raising of Tabitha (Dorcas)

  • Vision of the Sheet

  • conversion of Cornelius' household - 1st Gentile Convert

14. Peter reports to the Jewish Church in Jerusalem – 11:1-18

  • Recognition that the Gospel is for the Gentiles too

15. The Gospel reaches the Gentiles at Antioch – 11:19-30

  • Barnabas sent from Jerusalem to check

  • Barnabas brought Saul to Antioch - 1st Gentile Church

  • Agabus' prophecy of severe famine over the Roman Empire

16. Herod imprisoned Peter – 12:1-24

  • Peter's miraculous deliverance from prison

  • Peter informed the house church at Mark's home to tell James

  • Peter went on to another place [AD 43/44]

  • Herod kills the guards who guarded Peter

  • God struck down Herod for accepting worship as God

  • The Word of God continue to increase and spread

Towards the Uttermost Parts of the Earth

II. Gospel & Church from Antioch to Rome –  Paul's Ministry – ch 13 to 28

1. Paul's 1st Missionary Journey [AD 46-48] – 13:1-14:28

  • Sent by the Holy Spirit from the Church at Antioch
  • Antioch is a Gentile Church
  • Led by Barnabas, the senior leader
  • Cyprus – confounding of Elymas the sorcerer
    • on to Paphos, Perga in Pamphilia (where John left them), to Pisidian Antioch
  • Pisidian Antioch – Paul preached to the Jews at the synagogue on the 1st Sabbath

    • on next Sabbath, many Gentiles came and many believed

    • the Jews stirred the official against Paul & Barnabas

    • on to Iconium

  • Iconium – Paul & Barnabas spoke at the synagogue

    • the unbelieving Jews stirred people against them

    • on to Lystra

  • Lystra – Paul healed a lame man and the crowd took Paul and Barnabas to be Hermes and Zeus; they had to correct their misconception and rejected any worship of themselves

 

School of Bible Study – Book of Acts

    • unbelieving Jews again stirred the crowd against them

    • on to Derbe

  • Derbe – many believed

  • Return through Lystra, Iconium and Antioch to strengthen the disciples and

    appointed elders for them

    • on to Perga in Pamphilia to preach the Gospel

    • on to Attalia

    • Back to the Church at Antioch and reported what happened

2. The Jerusalem Council [AD49-50] – 15:1-35

  • arose to settle dispute over whether the Law was to apply to the Gentiles who

    believed

  • Paul and Barnabas presented the case against it

  • others presented the case for it

  • Peter and James spoke in agreement with Paul & Barnabas

  • the Council decided that the Law does not apply to the Gentiles – only ask that

    they keep from food offered to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled

    animals and from sexual immorality

  • sent Judas and Silas to confirm the decision with Barnabas & Paul to those at Antioch

3. Paul's 2nd Missionary Journey – 15:36-18:22

  • dispute with Barnabas over taking John Mark

  • Barnabas took Mark to Cyprus

  • Paul left on the mission with Silas [AD 50-52]

    • on to Derbe then Lystra, where Timothy joined them

    • traveled throughout Phrygia and Galatia but were kept by the Spirit from

      entering Asia

    • on to Mysia and tried to enter Bithynia but the Spirit would not allow them to  go

    • on to Troas where Paul received a vision of a man of Macedonia calling him to go there

  • from Troas, (“we” indicating that Luke was with Paul), sailed for Samothrace and

    then to Neapolis, then to Philippi where they stayed several days

  • Philippi – Lydia came to believe and hosted them

    • Paul & co. were jailed for casting out a fortune-telling spirit from a slave girl because of lost income for her master

    • in jail an earthquake shook the prison and led to the jailer and household coming to believe

    • Paul used his own and Silas' Roman citizenship to get those who jailed them to come and peacefully release them

    • they went on to Amphipolis, Apollonia and then to Thessalonica where there was a Jewish synagogue

  • Thessalonica – some Jews & Greeks believed, others stirred opposition against them

    • they were sent on to Berea

  • Berea – those a Berea believed, having examined the Scriptures

    • the unbelieving Jews from Thessalonica came to harass them

    • Paul went on to Athens, leaving Silas and Timothy in Berea

  • Athens – Paul preached at Athens at the Areopagus proclaiming that the God they did not know had come to them

 

School of Bible Study – Book of Acts

    • many were intrigued by the claim of resurrection from the dead

    • some believed, some did not

    • he left for Corinth

  • Corinth – Paul met Aquila and Priscilla and stayed and worked with them

    • Paul preached each Sabbath and when Silas and Timothy came he focused on preaching the Word only

    • the Lord told Paul to stay on to teach as He had many in that city

    • the Jews unsuccessfully tried to stop him as the proconsul Gallio would not involve himself in their disputes

    • after some time he left for Syria with Priscilla and Aquila; he cut his hair at Cenchreae, then went on to Ephesus where Priscilla and Aquila stayed on; Paul went on to Caesarea, then to Jerusalem, and then to Antioch

4. Paul's 3rd Missionary Journey [AD 53-57] – 18:23 to 21:15

  • From Antioch Paul set out again to preach at Galatia and Phrygia
    • meanwhile Apollos went to Ephesus and met Priscilla and Aquila who sharpened his grasp of the Gospel; Apollos then went on to Achaia refuting many Jewish objections from Scripture

  • Ephesus – Paul returned to Ephesus while Apollos was at Corinth

    • found some disciples of John and brought them into Christian baptism and to be filled with the Holy Spirit

    • God did extraordinary miracles through Paul

    • when 7 sons of a Jewish chief priest tried to cast out demons they were beaten & humiliated by the demon which did not fear them

    • this brought fear on unbelieving Jews and Greeks which emboldened the

      believers to openly confess their faith and to burn their books on sorcery

    • the Word of the Lord spread greatly thereby

    • Paul decided to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia and intended to visit Rome

    • a great riot was led by Demetrius who claimed that the Way was endangering the income of those who made shrines for Artemis – Paul was prevented from appearing before the crowd - it was finally quietened by the city clerk 

    • Paul set out for Macedonia and then Greece, then back to Macedonia, to
    • Philippi and then to Troas
  • Troas – Paul preached a long message during which Euthychus fell from the upper floor but was raised from the dead by Paul
    • Paul left for Assos, then Mitylene, then to Chios, then to Samos, and then to Miletus
  • Miletus – Paul called together the elders of the church at Ephesus

    • he exhorted them to keep the faith and warned them of false teachers

    • he shared that he is called to Jerusalem with many warnings that he will face

      persecution and imprisonment and will not see them again

    • Paul then left for Kos to Rhodes to Patara to Phoenicia to Cyprus to Syria,

      landing at Tyre where they stay a short while

    • from Tyre they went on to Ptolemais, to Caesarea and stayed with Philip;

      Agabus prophesied of Paul being captured and handed by the Jews at Jerusalem over to the Gentile authorities

       

    • Paul arrived at Jerusalem – end of 3rd Missionary Journey

 

School of Bible Study – Book of Acts

5. Paul Arrested at Jerusalem – 21:16 to 26:32

  • Paul was asked by the elders to pay the expenses of the purification rites of 4

    believers

  • Jews who saw Paul in the temple seized him and handed him over to the Roman

    authority for defiling the temple, assuming that the men with him were Greeks

  • Paul appealed to the commander and was allowed to speak to the crowd – he spoke in Aramaic

    • he shared his personal background

    • he shared his conversion and call by Christ

    • the crowd wanted to kill him but he was protected by the officer and brought to the barracks to be flogged and interrograted

    • Paul cited his Roman citizenship for a proper trial

  • Paul was brought before the Sanhedrin

    • the commander wanted to know the manner of the charge

    • Paul spoke of the resurrection which divided the Sadducees and the Pharisees in

      the gathering

    • the commander sent Paul back to the barracks to protect him

  • Plot to kill Paul

    • a Jewish plot for 40 assassins to kill Paul was discovered by his nephew who reported this to the commander

    • the commander arranged that Paul be immediately sent to Caesarea under Felix

  • Paul testified before Felix

    • the high priest came to present their case against Paul

    • Paul shared his conversion with Felix

    • Felix found no ground to charge Paul but kept him imprisoned

    • Two years passed, Felix handed Paul over to Festus who succeeded him

  • Paul testified before Festus

    • Paul testified his innocence

    • In refusing to go to Jerusalem, Paul appealed to Caesar

  • Paul testified before Agrippa

    • Paul testified of his conversion to Agrippa

    • he persuaded Agrippa to believe

    • Paul pronounced innocent but was sent to Rome because of his appeal to Caesar

6. Paul's Journey to Rome – 27:1 to 28:31 end

  • From Caesaria to Cyprus

  • Storm & Shipwreck – landing at Malta

    • God was with Paul

    • miracles at Malta

  • From Malta to Rome

  • Paul ministers at Rome while in imprisonment [AD59-61/62]

    • free to preach

    • no opposition in Rome

 

 

 

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