Well today it’s back on the road again. We are going to resume our journey along God’s Route 66. This segment of the journey will take us through the book of Acts. We are not first-century persons, hampered by all the physical and cultural limitations of a pre-scientific society. At the same time we have our own limitations: we do not live in the age of the apostles and do not have direct contact with those who experienced the ministry of Jesus firsthand. As we open the book of Acts we find it extremely difficult to walk in the sandals of those first century Christians. There is just so much in the book that sounds unfamiliar or even puzzling. But on the same note there is much that has a familiar ring to it. The worldview of those outside the church today is not really much different from those who were outside the church in the first century. It almost seems that our postmodern, post-Christian culture has come full circle. The challenges that we face today are quite similar to those that the church faced in the first century, communicating the changeless gospel message and in nurturing the faith of new Christians within an increasingly hostile environment. Today we are going to bring this all into perspective. As Luke closed his Gospel the disciples have had their hope restored by the risen Lord. As Luke begins his sequel the book of Acts, we are going to see how God uses the disciples to literally turn the world upside down.
I. There are various ways to make our journey through the book of Acts.
A. Before approaching the book of Acts we need to understand why Luke wrote it.
1. Both Acts and Luke are written to strengthen the faith of a person by the name of Theophilus.
2. Luke implies in the opening of the gospel that he had carefully researched his material (Luke 1:1–4). He was concerned to provide a proper sequence of events. He shows awareness of other accounts which have been written concerning Jesus.
3. Luke wanted to provide a historical record of the events of Jesus’ life and the progress of the first-century church.
4. Luke also wrote the two books to enable Theophilus to know the certainty of the things he had been taught.
5. Luke intends to show how the apostles began the work Jesus initiated on the earth. Acts 1:1 describes Luke’s Gospel as an account of “all that Jesus began to do and to teach.”
6. Acts traces how this mission would pass from the apostles to the members of the church.
B. We can track the spread of Christianity from its beginning in Jerusalem to the farthest reaches of the known world.
1. This begins when Jesus commissions His disciples, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8—NIV)
2. The primary task Jesus calls His disciples to, is absolutely huge. How could this small group of people take His message to the ends of the earth?
3. Jesus outlines the resources He has made available for the accomplishment of the task.
4. This primary task is given to all Christians of all time. Acts clearly shows that the churches primary task is missionary in nature and requires an obedient response to His commission.
5. The book of Acts can outlined geographically this way.
a. Acts 1-7: The events in Jerusalem.
b. Acts 8-12: The Gospel reaches into Judea and Samaria.
c. Acts 13-28: The Gospel spreads to the uttermost parts of the known world.
C. We can trace the timeline of the book of Acts which highlights the five major sections of the book.
1. The first chapter of Acts picks up where the Gospels leave off with Jesus commissioning His disciples and ascending into Heaven.
2. Acts chapters 2-7 has the disciples filled with the Holy Spirit boldly proclaiming the gospel message. This leads to the church having to endure three periods of persecution.
a. Peter and John are imprisoned. (Acts 4)
b. The Apostles are beaten and forbidden to teach any more about Jesus. (Acts 5)
c. Stephen is stoned to death and becomes the first to die for their faith. (Acts 7)
3. Chapters 8-9 detail the shockwaves that went through the Christian community as a result of Stephen’s death. Also Saul who we are introduced to at Stephen’s death is converted in chapter 9.
4. Chapters 10-12 shows the great difficulty that the church had in accepting Saul and shows the lack of success realized by him in his first preaching attempts.
5. Chapters 13-28 provide us with the details of Paul’s three missionary journeys and his trip to Rome to stand trial before Caesar.
D. We can trace the ministries of the two most prominent characters in the book, Peter and Paul.
1. Chapters 1-12 highlight Peter as the main character.
2. Chapters 13-18 focus on Paul as the main character.
3. When we look at the book in this way one can clearly see the contrasts between each of their ministries.
II. Much like the book of Genesis there are several firsts in the book of Acts.
A. Here is a condensed list of things that happen for the first time in the book of Acts.
1. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the beginning of the Church. (Acts 2)
2. The formation of the first local assemblies of believers. (Acts 2-4)
3. The first pattern of ministry and leadership for the church. (Acts 6)
4. The first person to die for their faith. (Stephen) (Acts 7)
5. The first Christian missionary. (Phillip) (Acts 8)
6. The first time the Gospel is presented to the Gentiles. (Cornelius) (Acts 10)
7. The first use of the name Christian. (Acts 11)
8. The first organized approach to world evangelism. (Acts 13-28)
B. Luke from the very beginning of Acts shows that the church’s primary task is missionary in nature and each of the firsts were used to accomplish that task.
1. That this gospel message would be preached “to all nations” raises several important issues in Luke’s theology: the legitimacy of the Gentile mission, the relationship of Israel and the church, the relationship of the Christian to the law.
2. During Peter’s witness to Cornelius, there is an outward manifestation of the Spirit as there had been at Pentecost. This enables the apostles to understand and effectively argue for a gospel of grace that has come in the same way to Jew and Gentile alike.
3. Luke shows a continuity and discontinuity between Israel and the church.
a. He views the church as the true Israel, responsive to God’s fulfillment of his salvation promises in the Messiah, Jesus.
b. Historically, the church begins as a predominantly Jewish Christian body that must integrate into itself the fruit of the Gentile mission.
c. With that integration complete, the church becomes the new Israel, the new people of God, composed of both Jew and Gentile.
4. Acts clearly shows that the Gospel message is for all people regardless of race or gender. As individual Christians we are responsible for obediently carrying out this task until Christ returns.
III. There are three important things we learn from the book of Acts.
A. We are introduced to many of the people who are mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament.
1. People that pay a prominent role in the New Testament are introduced throughout the book of Acts. Besides Peter and Paul there are Mark, Timothy and James.
2. When we read Acts with the intent to familiarize ourselves with the different characters introduced, we will develop a greater understanding of the important roles they played throughout Scripture.
B. Most of the events that pertain to the church are recorded in the book of Acts.
1. You read the book of Ephesians with more understanding when you first see the special relationship Paul had with that church in the book of Acts.
2. The letter of Philippians takes on an entirely new meaning when we read it in light of the experiences Paul had in Philippi in Acts 16.
C. Many of the teachings presented throughout the remainder of the New Testament find their roots here in the book of Acts.
1. The letters that Paul wrote are addressed to many of the churches that he visited and helped establish during his missionary journeys.
2. The epistles or letters revisit many of the issues first addressed in the book of Acts and deal with them in greater detail.
3. Understanding the book of Acts makes the teachings in the letters much easier to understand.
Tony Campolo tells of being invited to speak at a ladies meeting. There were 300 women there. Before he spoke the president of the organization read a letter from a missionary. It was a very moving letter.
In the letter the missionary expressed a need for $4,000 to take care of an emergency that had cropped up. So the president of the organization said, "We need to pray that God will provide the resources to meet the need of this missionary. Bro. Campolo will you please pray for us?"
Tony Campolo, who is very outspoken said, "No." Startled, she said, "I beg your pardon."
He said, "No, I won’t pray for that." He said, "I believe that God has already provided the resources & that all we need to do is give. Tell you what I’m going to do. I’m going to step up to this table & give every bit of cash I have in my pocket. And if all of you will do the same thing, I think God has already provided the resources."
The president of the organization chuckled a little bit & said, "Well, I guess we get the point. He is trying to teach us that we all need to give sacrificially."
He said, "No, that is not what I am trying to teach you. I’m trying to teach you that God has already provided for this missionary. All we need to do is give it. Here, I’m going to put down all of my money I have with me."
He wrote, "I only had $15 in my pocket so I wasn’t too worried about that." So he put down his $15 & then looked at the president of the organization. Reluctantly, she opened her purse & took out all of her money, which was about $40, & put it on the table. One by one the rest of the ladies filed by & put their money on the table, too. When the money was counted they had collected more than $4,000."
Tony Campolo said, "Now, here’s the lesson. God always supplies for our needs, & he supplied for this missionary, too. The only problem was we were keeping it for ourselves. Now let’s pray & thank God for His provision."
