Acts
The writer of Acts is generally regarded as Luke, the physician, and a follower of Christ who also wrote the Gospel of Luke. It’s typically concluded that Paul wrote the majority of the New Testament since thirteen of his letters dot the landscape of the New Testament, not including Hebrews due to its unresolved authorship question. Thus Paul wrote close to half the books of the New Testament. But it may surprise you that Luke, in only two books – the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts – penned more verses, 2,158, than Paul did, 2,033, excluding the Book of Hebrews. So we have more writings by Luke than Paul in the New Testament! This Book of Acts begins with a look at Jesus’ last and monumental words to the apostles and ends with the Apostle Paul’s imprisonment at Rome. A purpose of Luke’s writing this two-volume work of Luke and Acts is actually given in the Luke 1:3,
“It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus.”
Theophilus is unknown to us, though Luke’s addressing of him as “most excellent” suggests he was a Roman official. Regardless, Luke writes in the Book of Acts an orderly, yet selective history of the first three decades of the church as he carefully chooses those events and persons that suited his divinely-inspired purpose. It is of great importance to notice where Acts is arranged among the twenty-seven books of the New Testament. The book is positioned immediately after the four gospel accounts of the life of Christ with His instruction to His followers and immediately before the Pauline epistles and Paul’s instructions to Christians scattered throughout the land. It is an indispensable, pivotal book since it bridges the gap between the Gospels and the Epistles, the prediction of the church and the establishment of the church. Because of this placement between the gospel accounts of Christ’s life and the letters to the churches, it is looked upon as a book of transition, a book of that moves us from one plane to another, from one level to another, from one age to another.
TRANSITIONS TO THE CHURCH AGE
1. Ascension Of Christ
There are six of these transitions which are essential to understanding the place the Book of Acts has in the Bible as it bridges the gap between the Gospels and the Epistles. As it does, it moves from the promise of the church to the establishment of the church, from no church to the beginning of the church, from the germination of the church to the fruition of the church. The first transition to the church age that occurs in Acts involves the ascension of Christ. For over three years, the disciples and Christ had conversed, confided, consulted, communed and communicated. They had walked with Him and talked with Him. Where He went, they followed. What He did, they repeated. What He said, they listened. They were intimately linked together as they spent concentrated time together. They asked questions, He answered them. He taught, they learned. He called, they obeyed. He was their leader, they were His followers. His physical presence was such a vital part of their growth process. But all that changed in a moment’s time as Acts 1:9 bursts on the scene. Life face to face with God in human form had drawn to an end. The curtain had been lowered and no longer would they have visible access to the Son of Man. The ascent of Christ left behind the fall of man. Though Christ was still captain, His soldiers would now need to step it up a notch and move into leadership positions. Though they might not have felt ready for the challenge, the Lord knew differently. And thus the rest of Acts narrates this adjustment to life without the physical Christ and the resultant development of His followers into leaders. What He had called them to do, He had equipped them to do. The apostles would soon learn this promise as they stepped into key positions of leadership in the new church and helped thrust it onward and outward, despite the physical absence of their captain, despite the persecution, despite the financial lack. Their leadership would take the church from infancy to maturity, from a baby to an adult.
2. Miracles Of Apostles
The second transition that occurs in the Book of Acts aids in the fulfillment of this new leadership thrust by the apostles. Throughout His earthly ministry, Christ performed miracles as He
* healed the broken-hearted
* gave sight to the blind
* raised the dead
* walked on the water
* calmed the violent storm
* fed five thousand men
* restored a cut-off ear
* turned water into wine
* cast out demons
As God Himself, He alone could carry out this divine ministry of overruling the laws of nature. After all, it is but a small thing for the One who brought about all of Creation out of nothing and set it in order to override but one of its laws. The Law is not greater than the Law-maker! The miracles testified to the people that indeed this was the Son of God. But would His departure, His ascension, immediately bring to a conclusion the performing of miracles? Matthew 10:1 provides us with the answer.
“And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out and to heal all kinds of sicknesses and all kinds of disease.”
The second transition to the church age in the Book of Acts is the miracles of the apostles. They are now given authority by the Lord to overrule nature. Should it surprise us then what happens in the first recorded miracle by an apostle in Acts? In the third chapter, as Peter and John head to the temple, they encounter a lame man asking for money. Peter’s words to the man in 3:6 simply confirms who’s really in control and who’s really performing the miracle. Peter reiterates that truth again in 3:12. The apostles’ message, like their Lord’s, would be authenticated by miracles. The transition had occurred as the performing of miracles was now clearly handed over to the apostles, but only for a time – until the revelation of Jesus Christ was complete, the canon closed and the message no longer in need of miraculous authentication.
3. Salvation Of Gentiles
The third transition that occurs in Acts has to do with a slight alteration of the game plan, at least from a human perspective. Throughout the Old Testament, God’s chosen seed was Israel. To them He extended His special grace and made them His people. So throughout the Old Testament we see His preservation of this nation. When the New Testament comes on the scene, the game plan is at first no different as the Son of God goes to His own people. But time after time, His own reject and refuse Him. As the Book of Acts begins, salvation is continuing to be extended mainly, if not essentially, to the Jews. But time after time, as with Jesus, the Jews reject the message. As they do, the Gentiles don’t. A major change occurs in Acts 10 as the Gentile Cornelius is saved and his household. The lack of receptivity by the Jews and the great sensitivity by the Gentiles solicits these words from Paul to the Jews in Acts 13:46,
“It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.”
Herein lies the third transition to the church age in the Book of Acts – salvation of Gentiles. The Gentiles, whom the Jews looked on as second-class citizens and more crassly, “dogs,” to these “dogs” the gospel is extended. The Gentiles, who for so long received but the crumbs from the table of the Jews, suddenly find themselves able to feast on the bread of life and the milk of the word. The middle wall, the divider, the petition is brought down as salvation is extended to both Jews and Gentiles alike. That doesn’t sit well with the stiff-necked Jews, who continue to stir up conflict and dissension where the Word of God is being proclaimed. What a contrast to the response of the Gentiles to this open invitation,
“Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed” (13:48).
In fact, as the Book of Acts continues to unfold, the Gentile is the one who emerges as the primary target, the principle focus of the salvation message. God has grafted you into the vine. His initial plan to the Jews now includes you. He offers to you the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ. And after you receive that gift, He looks to work through you to share with others the gift of life.
4. Explosion Of Gospel
Closely associated with the third transition of salvation to the Gentiles is the fourth transition to the church age in the Book of Acts – the explosion of the gospel. The direction of the gospel message is given in the final words of Christ before his ascension, as told by Luke in Acts 1:8,
“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.”
In this one verse we have Luke’s primary purpose for the Book of Acts – to show the spread of Christianity, empowered and energized by the Holy Spirit, throughout the Roman world. This verse will in fact drive the entirety of the Book of Acts and provide the structure for the book as the gospel explodes throughout the empire. In chapters 1-6, the gospel begins to penetrate Jerusalem; in chapters 6-12 it begins to penetrate Judea and Samaria; and in chapters 13-28 it begins to penetrate the uttermost parts of the earth and concludes in Rome. Suffice it to say that in Acts the gospel explodes dramatically from the local scene to the international scene.
5. Permanence Of Indwelling
A fifth transition to the church age that occurs in the Book of Acts centers around the ministry of the Holy Spirit. That Acts is heavily saturated with teaching on the Holy Spirit is obvious. The Holy Spirit is mentioned more than fifty times in the book as He regenerates, baptizes, directs, fills, comforts and sanctifies believers. He is seen choosing missionaries and directing their operations. He presided at the first church council and, in effect, directed and controlled all operations of the church. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit had a general ministry of restraining evil. He came upon certain individuals, each having a special ministry on behalf of Israel, to enable them to perform the task. But the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament could be withdrawn from men and thus His indwelling was not intended to be permanent. That changes in the New Testament, beginning in the Book of Acts. That brings us to our fifth transition to the church age in Acts – permanence of indwelling. No longer would the Spirit reside for short terms in individuals. Instead, the Spirit’s ministry was now one of permanence. Paul gives the reason for that once-for-all indwelling in Ephesians 1:12-14.
“that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.”
No longer would the Spirit’s indwelling ministry to the believer be temporary. Now it would be permanent as He is the guarantee, the deposit of your inheritance in the family of God. As Christ ascended, the Holy Spirit descended. The Spirit is addressed immediately at the beginning of Acts in 1:4 as Luke declares the Lord’s words,
“Do not depart from Jerusalem but wait for the Promise of the Father.”
The promise would be that of the Spirit, who was called the “Holy Spirit of promise” by Paul in Ephesians 1. And then Luke continues in the very next verse, Acts 1:5,
“For John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
That would come fifty days later, on the Day of Pentecost, which is described beginning in 2:1. The Spirit was now ready to empower believers to be witnesses in Jerusalem, then Judea and Samaria, then the uttermost parts of the earth. That Spirit is the one and same Spirit we have who resides in you as a believer. His purpose statement is still the same – to direct and move you to steps of obedience!
6. Redemption Of Paul
The sixth and final transition to the church age is the grandest of all – the redemption of Paul. As Saul of Tarsus, the persecutor of the church and her Christians, he is converted to Paul the redeemed, the spokesperson for the church and her Christians. Paul, who took with him letters to stamp out Christianity and imprison the Christians finds himself promoting the cause of Christ and in fact, imprisoned himself for the cause of Christ. Paul’s conversion is described in Acts 9. The chapters after his salvation experience simply demonstrate Paul’s new-found confidence “that He who began a good work in him would be faithful to complete it.” That is bore out as the transition is made in Acts from the earthly ministry of Jesus to the earthly ministry of Paul, as the baton is passed. In Acts 1:1-3, the focus is on what Jesus began. The closing words of 1:1 tell us Christ began to do and to teach and the closing words of 1:3 tell us Christ spoke of the kingdom of God. So Acts open with what Jesus began – to do, to teach and to speak. How does this book of transitions close? In Acts 28:31, Paul was preaching the kingdom of God, teaching the Lord Jesus and doing so with all confidence. What Jesus started in the beginning of the Book of Acts – to do, to teach and to speak or preach; Paul is continuing at the end of the Book of Acts – preaching, teaching and doing. The baton has been passed from Christ to Paul and more specifically, to all His people. We are to be preaching or speaking with others about the gospel, teaching or instructing them about Jesus and doing so with all confidence. Paul rose to the challenge. Will you?