The Acts of the Apostles
The Acts of the Apostles is the fifth book in the New Testament, and follows on chronologically from the previous four Gospels. It tells us what transpired when Jesus was taken back into heaven, and how the Christian church came into being. The Acts of the Apostles is often referred to as the Acts of the Holy Spirit, for it was soon after Jesus went back into heaven that the apostles experienced the power of God come into their lives, into their souls and spirits in a dynamic way, by the empowering of the Holy Spirit, giving them the boldness, supernatural strength and wisdom to go out and tell the world what the crucifixion of Jesus had done, with the result that thousands responded to the message, bringing new life to the peoples in the surrounding countries, and the setting up of many churches.
The book is so named The Acts of the Apostles, as it chronicles the activity of the disciples who had been followers of Jesus but were now called apostles as they were Jesus’s ambassadors sent out into the whole world to share the good news of Salvation, a command which Jesus gave to the disciples just before He ascended back into Heaven as recorded in Matthew 28:16 to 20.
At the beginning of the Book of Acts Jesus gives the disciples specific instructions as what they should do immediately after He ascended into Heaven, before they were to commence their ministry, we read in Acts 1:4 to 7 -
So before the apostle Peter boldly began with his brother John and the other Apostles sharing the Good News of Jesus as well as healing sick folk (Acts 2 to Acts 4), they received the gift of the Holy Spirit, just as Jesus promised, we read in Acts 2:1to 4 -
Whenever a work of God is being done, Satan will also be active seeking to thwart God’s purposes. Peter records in 1 Peter 5:8 -
We continue to read in Acts 6: In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 2 So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3 Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”
5 This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6 They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.
7 So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.
The public work witness and faith of Stephen one of those recently chosen to share the burden of the ministry is recognised in Acts 6:8 we read -
The Sanhedrin we furious at what Steven challenged them, they took him out of the city and martered him, we read in -
As we have just read in Acts 7: 58 -
Persecution soon began to rock the church, but because it was under the power of God, through the Christians escaping the persecution it culminated in the message of Jesus being told far afield, resulted in the church exploding even larger. Then Jesus himself displayed His Glory by shining a bright light upon Saul while he was travelling on the road to Damascus, resulting in a sudden and dramatic conversion.
After Saul’s conversion we read in Acts 9:19 -
23 After many days had gone by, there was a conspiracy among the Jews to kill him, 24 but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him. 25 But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall.
26 When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus.28 So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 He talked and debated with the Hellenistic Jews, but they tried to kill him. 30 When the believers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus
.31 Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.
In Acts 10 to Acts 12 – we continue to read about Peter’s ministry both to the Jews and the Gentiles. Saul commences his missionary work in Acts 13 with the support of other apostles. Saul having been given the name Paul visited a number of countries along the north coast of the Mediterranean Sea, spear heading and opening many churches. Many of the books or epistles which follow the Book of Acts were letters written by Paul, teaching and encouraging the churches, as well as individual Christians throughout the countries roundabout. The Apostle Paul eventually returns to Jerusalem (Acts 28) where under house arrest is permitted to continue to share the Gospel freely.
Further study will be given to the book at a later date.
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