Study Notes Ed Underwood

Acts of the Apostles Against All Odds!

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest parts of the earth. (Acts 1:8)

Luke’s sequel to his gospel, the Book of Acts, begins where he left off—the ascension of Christ. The emphasis is different. The Gospel of Luke stresses the work of Christ while He walked on earth; Acts highlights the work of Jesus done by the Holy Spirit through the Apostles.

Without Acts we would have no record of the beginning and growth of the early church. Luke traces the birth and expansion of the church to strengthen the faith of Theophilus, a fellow Christian who may have helped finance Luke’s missionary and writing ministry (Luke 1:1-4). The Holy Spirit had a much broader audience in mind—the church of Christ throughout the age of grace. Luke’s selective but accurate history of the first 30 years of the church answers Theophilus’s questions in a way that is timeless:

- What about the coming of the Holy Spirit? - What was the ministry of the Apostles? - How did the Gospel spread from Jerusalem to the rest of the world? - How did Christianity become a world religion rather than a Jewish sect?

Throughout his account Luke presents Christianity as an irresistible force in the face of great opposition and persecution. Nothing can stop the work of Christ by the Spirit through His church. Gloriously more than a splinter group of Judaism, the church will inherit Messiah’s kingdom. Until then, He will be about His Father’s business, calling people to Himself from every tribe, tongue, and nation who will worship Him in His coming kingdom:

God loves giving His people victory against all odds!

Surprisingly, the people He used and is using are terribly flawed. Only their faith in Christ and His ability to work through them by His Spirit can explain the history of the church that is still being written today.

I. Against all odds, the Lord Jesus built His church (Matthew 16:18).

1. Luke-Acts is written to teach Theophilus and the church an accurate but selective history of the church (Luke 1:1-4; Acts 1:1-2).

   1. Luke, a companion of Paul (“we” sections,16:10-40; 20:5-28:31) and careful researcher of eyewitness accounts (Paul, Mark, James and others), wrote the Book of Acts in AD 60-62, during Paul’s imprisonment at Ceasarea and Rome (before the death of Paul in 66-68 and the burning of Rome in 64 which were not reported).

   2. Luke provides the only sequel to the history of the life of Christ recording the works or acts of the Holy Spirit through the Apostles. Acts emphasizes the ministries of Peter and Paul over a period of about 30 years, beginning with the Lord’s ascension in AD 33 and ending with Paul’s two-year Roman house arrest from AD 60-62.

2. Luke-Acts is written to strengthen the faith of Theophilus and the church by demonstrating the powerful work of Christ to establish His church in the world now and His Kingdom in the future.

   1. The two structural keys to Acts —theme verse and panels or “progress reports”—present the church as an irresistible force in the face of overwhelming opposition and persecution.

a. The theme verse (Acts 1:8) anticipates a report of the growth of Christianity.

b. The progress reports confirm what the theme verse anticipated (2:47; 6:7; 9:31; 12:24; 16:5; 19:20; 28:30-31).

2. The prophetic “bookends” to Acts — 1:6 and 28:31 — anticipate God’s objective to include a population of Jews and Gentiles in His Son’s millennial kingdom.

a. Kingdom of God occurs 32X in Luke and 6X in Acts and is alluded to over 20X in Acts.

b. The church of this age is presented as the heir of the kingdom.

B. Luke-Acts is written to emphasize the power of God in the lives of ordinary people who believe their extraordinary God.

1. Acts begins with the disciples still seeking an earthly kingdom now, forgetting the lessons of the upper room (1:6).

2. Acts transparently reports Paul’s shady past and impulsive beginning, Peter’s legalistic struggles, the first church fight and the council to settle the dissension, Paul and Barnabas’ disagreement and parting of ways, and the realities of ministering in the name of Jesus—the pain of separation and persecution.

II. Against all odds, the Lord Jesus is still building His church (Matthew 16:18).

1. The church is still an irresistible force on earth.

2. The church is still the steward of the kingdom message and the heir of the kingdom!

3. God is still empowering ordinary people to live extraordinary lives.

4. The church is still reaching populations of Jews and Gentiles during this age to worship Christ in the age to come!

“The divine choice displays the divine wisdom. Though we might have imagined that men of education, wealth, or influence would be needed for the worldwide mission of the church, the divine choice centered on eleven unlearned and little-esteemed Galilean fishermen. It is not our qualifications for the work of God which matter, but whether or not we choose to do it. The worldwide spread and the centuries-long continuance of their work is the evidence of divine choice. Their fruit has remained because their mission originated in the divine choice. Whatever is of human origin withers (Isaiah 40:6,7) but that which is of God endures forever (Ecclesiastes 3:14).”

--Zane Hodges, Acts 1:2, Greek 319 Class notes.

III. Acts and You: There is nothing God cannot do and no one God cannot use to do it. Do you think of yourself and your church community as people chosen by God to reach future worshipers of Christ in His Kingdom? Why or why not?

1. In what ways do you identify with the people of the early church?

2. What about their experience excites you? Intimidates you?Humbles you? Scares you? Helps you?