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BOOKS OF ACTS
(Brief Study on the New Testament Books)
(MBC - Wednesday PM, May 12, 19, 26, 2024
I – PERSON WHO WROTE THE BOOK OF ACTS After we finished our brief study on the four gospel books, we have now to have a brief study on the fifth book in the New Testament which is called “Acts” or the “Acts of the Apostles.”
The writer of Acts was the same man who wrote the Gospel of Luke. To find out his name and his occupation, put the right answer on the blank space.
Colossians 4:14 “____________, the beloved ________________…”
II – PERIOD COVERED BY THE BOOK OF ACTS The book of Acts is a history book like the four gospels consist of history of life and ministry of Jesus Christ. The four books of the Gospel cover a period of about three and a half years, that is from the baptism of Jesus to the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus, while the book of Acts covers a period of 30 years, that is from beginning or foundation or birth of the church, the body of Christ at Pentecost to when Paul as a prisoner arrived in Rome that is about 61 A.D.). THE PERIOD COVERED IN THE FOUR BOOKS OF THE GOSPELS AND BOOK OF ACTS:
1. In the Gospels, Jesus Christ working on earth, while in Acts, Jesus Christ working through His Church, the believes
2. In the Gospels, all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day Jesus was taken up (Acts 1:1-2); while in Acts, all that Jesus continued to do and teach after Jesus was taken up.
3. In the Gospels, from Baptism of Jesus, beginning of Jesus public ministry, then death at the cross, empty tomb of Jesus, and the return of Jesus to heaven; while in Acts, church begins when the Holy Spirit comes down and about 61 A.D. the book of Acts ended.
III – PEOPLE USED AS THE RISEN CHRIST WORKS IN THE BOOK OF ACTS Since the resurrected Christ was evidently working and acting in and through His chosen servants the Apostles, so this Acts of the Apostles could also be called the Acts of Jesus Christ. Read Mark 16:19-20 and answer the following questions:
1. What happened to Jesus? (v.19) ___________________
2. Was Jesus still working and acting while He was in Heaven? (v.20) ____________________
Mark 16:19-20 “So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. 20 And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.” Read Matthew 28:19-20 and answer several questions:
1. Jesus told His apostles to make disciples, what was Jesus told them to do? (v.19) _________________________
2. Would the Disciples have to do the work of going and teaching all nations all by themselves? (v.20) ___________
Matthew 28:19-20 “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” Today, Jesus Christ is acting and working to reach the world and teach all nations of the Gospel. But in order to accomplish saving lost souls worldwide, Jesus needs willing hands and mouths and tongues and feet and minds. Indeed, Jesus works through believers just like Jesus worked through Peter, Stephen, Philip and Paul. How about you Christian? Would you allow the Lord Jesus to work through you? __________________ Philippians 2:13 “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”
Hebrews 13:21 “Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”
IV – PROMISE OF GOD TO SEND THE SPIRIT IN THE BOOK OF ACTS Every time we read, studying the book of Acts, we must not forget that the contents is about the resurrected Christ is working in the believers and through the believers by the power of the Holy Spirit. Read Acts 1:4, and notice the instruction of the Lord Jesus given to the Apostles, that they should not go anywhere and never to do anything but they need to just _________ for the promise of the Father. Jesus told the Apostles to just sit still and wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 1:4 “And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.”
Find the verses in the given chapters below in the gospel of John regarding the promise of God to send the Holy Spirit who is the comforter.
John 14, verses _______________
John 14:16-18 “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. 18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.”
John 15, verses ________________
John 15:26-27 “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: 27 And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.”
John 16, verses ________________
John 16:7-8, 13-15 “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. 8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. 14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. 15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.”
V – POWER TO LIVE AND WITNESS FOR CHRIST IN THE BOOK OF ACTS We have no power to live for Jesus and have no power to be Christ witnesses without the Holy Spirit in our lives. Luke 24:49 “And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.”
Acts 1:8 “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
Without the energy and power of the Holy Spirit you will go nowhere and accomplish nothing, even you try to do the work of God.
John 15:5 “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”
Without the Lord in your life, how much can the believers accomplish? ________________
Ten days after Jesus went back to heaven, the Holy Spirit came down on the day of Pentecost and that is beginning or the birth or foundation of the church. We read on Acts 2 the coming of the Holy Spirit as God promised would come. So, God dwelled in the believer’s life and given them the power in order for the believers show the whole world that Christ was alive. The disciples have the power of the Holy Spirit to preach the power of the gospel that Christ died for the sins of the world, buried and risen from the dead. Jesus is alive.
VI – PROOF OF THE EARLY CHURCH GROWTH IN THE BOOK OF ACTS Since the church begun, it also began to grow. Write down the words stated in the verses given to show the growth of the early church: Acts 2:41 _________________________________________
Acts 2:41 “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.” (Three thousand souls were added in one day) Acts 2:47 ______________________________________________________
Acts 2:47 “Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.” (The Lord added those who got saved to the church daily).
Acts 4:4 ______________________________________________________
Acts 4:4 “Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand.” (Five thousand heard the word and believed)
Acts 5:14 ______________________________________________________
Acts 5:14 “And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women.)” (Multitudes of believers were more added to the Lord) Acts 6:7 ______________________________________________________
Acts 6:7 “And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.” (Disciples multiplied greatly) Acts 11:21 ______________________________________________________
Acts 11:21 “And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord.” (Great number believed and turned unto the Lord) Acts 12:24 ______________________________________________________
Acts 12:24 “But the word of God grew and multiplied.” (Word of God grew and multiplied)
Acts 16:5 ______________________________________________________
Acts 16:5 “And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily.” (Churches establish and increased daily) Acts 19:20 _____________________________________________________
Acts 19:20 “So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.” (Word of God grew)
VII – PROSPERITY OF THE EARLY CHURCH IN THE BOOK OF ACTS The early church is so healthy and has a tremendous success, continuously growing and increasing in number in spite they experienced great persecution and suffers heavy troubles as a Christian. Let us discover the reason of the early church prosperity. Let us learn how can you be a healthy believer and how can be your church be a healthy church. Three reasons why the early Christians become strong:
Fervent in Preyer (praying together with the believers of Christ)
Feeding of God’s Word (were taught of the Word of Christ)
Faithful in preaching the Word of God (told others about the risen Christ).
Write the proper letter based on the given verses. Write A if it is about prayer, B if it is about Word of God, and C if it is about telling others about Christ. Write two or three letters depends on the content of the verses.
As discussed earlier, the book of Acts is called the Acts of the Apostles. The Apostle Peter is the main character in the first twelve chapters (Acts 1-12). The Apostle Paul is the main character in the remaining chapters (Acts 13-28). Peter’s special ministry is to the Jews (the circumcision) and Paul’s special ministry to the Gentiles (the uncircumcision). Galatians 2:7-8 “But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter; 8 (For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:)”
It is very important to understand the difference between the Jews, Gentiles, and Samaritans to help us understand and aware of the movements of the book of Acts. The Jews are the descendants from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob while the Gentiles are not the descendants from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. On the other hand, the Samaritans were a mixed race, they were a half-Jew and a half-Gentile. The Samaritans came about in the history of Israel when some of the Jews living in Samaria intermarried with heathen or Gentile people. They were people with half Jew and half Gentile race. Acts 1:8 is the key verse in the book of Acts. Acts 1:8 provides us the outline of the book of Acts. VIII – PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL GOING FORWARD TO ALL NATIONS Before Christ ascended into heaven, Christ gave His Disciples of His new program of the Great Commission. Included in His program that He would B__________His Church (Matthew 16:18 “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”) and Jesus would call out a P_________ for His Name (Acts 15:14 “Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.”). The simple, brief outline of this new program given by Christ to His Disciples is what Jesus said in Acts 1:8 “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” In this key verse Christ taught His Disciples that they would be His W ______________:
A. In Jerusalem (starting point) – Acts 2- Acts 7 (Luke 24:49)
B. In all Judaea (the home of the Jews) – Acts 8:1-4
C. In Samaria (the home of the Samaritans – Acts 8:5-25
D. Unto the Uttermost part of the earth (the home of the Gentiles) – Acts 8:26- Acts 28)
The Church was made up of Jewish believers (Acts 2:5) when the church first began at Pentecost (Acts 2). However, as of today count, the church is made up mostly of Gentile believers. Of course, there are also saved Jews in some churches today, but when compared with the great number of saved Gentiles, the Gentiles is much greater in number compared to the Jewish number of believers. But the question, how the saved Gentiles outnumbered the saved Jews? Noticeably, the Jewish membership among churches continually become less and less and the Gentile membership among churches continually growing more and more. How did this happen? To answer the question how did this happened? Read some verses:
Acts 13:46-47 “Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. 47 For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.”
Acts 18:6 “And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean; from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.”
Acts 28:28 “Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.”
Early Christians believed in and boldly preached everywhere on the great message. Early Christians were willing to experience sufferings and were even willing to die for that great message. What is that great message? ____________
Acts 2:24 “Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.”
Acts 2:32 “This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.”
Acts 3:15 “And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.”
Acts 3:26 “Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.”
Acts 4:2 “Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead.”
Acts 4:10 “Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.”
Acts 4:33 “ And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.”
Acts 5:30 “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree”
Acts 10:40 “Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly;”
Acts 13:30 “But God raised him from the dead:”
Acts 13:33 “God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.”
Acts 17:18 “Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.”
Acts 17:31 “Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.”
Acts 26:23 “That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles.”
Like the disciples who were instructed of Christ to be His witnesses, we too are witnesses of Christ’s resurrection in today’s generation. The world should know that we have the Living Lord. Others should see that we serve the risen Savior. But how? I need to prove to my friends, to my neighbors and to my relatives that Jesus is alive today. But how can I prove to them? Read the following verses to know the answer:
Romans 6:4,5,11,13 “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: 11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. 13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.”
Galatians 2:20 “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”
II Corinthians 4:8-11 “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; 10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. 11 For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.”
II Corinthians 5:15 “And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.”
Hebrews 13:20-21 “Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 21 Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”
Now, every Christian have to answer this question “As a Christian, do we have to live as if Christ were dead and as if there were no Holy Spirit living within us? Would we see any difference, or what would happen if the Holy Spirit leave the earth momentarily for several days? Would every Christians still have the same joy, boldness, fervency and enthusiasm and sincerity of love for the Lord, that the early Christians had for the Lord when Jesus was with the still with His disciples? If the Holy Spirit suddenly leave the church for a few days, could we see any difference between the early churches we have read in the book of Acts and the churches of today including those Bible believing churches around the world? We must be fully aware of the fact that we have the same gospel, the same Savior, the same power of the Spirit, and the same promise as the early churches. Be prayerful, be fed by God’s Word and proclaim that Christ is risen. We have the Living Savior and we serve the risen Savior! |