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Acts Class Schedule

1/5/2014 Acts Overview

1/12/2014 Acts 1:1-8 Intro & Christ appearance

1/19/2014 Acts 1:9-14 Christ ascension and disciples to Jerusalem

1/26/2014 Acts 1:15-26 Peter's speech & appointment of Matthias

2/2/2014 Acts 2:1-13 Coming of the Holy Spirit

2/9/2014 Acts 2:14-21 Peter explains the Holy Spirit coming

2/16/2014 Acts 2:22-36 Peter preaches about Jesus

2/23/2014 Acts 2:37-47 3000 believe & early church practices

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I. Title of the book

- This book has been given the name “Acts of the Apostles”

- But this title is not inspired -

- There is a better title that takes into account what verse1 says about “the Gospel according to Luke”

- Luke is Volume 1 and Acts is Volume 2 by Luke the physician

- Volume 1: The words and works of Jesus on earth

- Volume 2: The words and works of Jesus from heaven

Outline adapted from McCalley overview of Acts

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II. Content of Acts

- The Epistles are essentially Church doctrine

- But Acts is about Church history

- Church history for the first 30 years

- Acts records the facts of what happened

- The Epistles interpret those facts for us

- Acts records coming of the Holy Spirit but the Epistles give us the details of His ministry

- Many things in Acts will never be repeated

Outline adapted from McCalley overview of Acts

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III. The Nature of the book of Acts

- Acts is a transitional book

- The transition/bridge from the Old Testament to the Church

- The transition from Judaism to Christianity

- Christ only mentioned the Church 2 times but in Acts the Church is mentioned 23 times

- Acts is a book of change

- Only NT book that continues the history begun in the Gospels

Outline adapted from McCalley overview of Acts

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The Acts of Apostles is a book of transitions*

It is a transition of time  The timeframe for the book of Acts extends from the crucifixion of Christ (30 AD), to Paul’s house arrest in Rome, some three decades.

It is a transition in understanding

a. The disciples begin by asking Christ a question that fits with the 1st century Jewish understanding of the reign of the Messiah, based upon Old Testament prophecy (Acts 1:6).

* V. Peterman

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The Acts of Apostles is a book of transitions

It is a transition in understanding (cont.)

b. Even as the church began (Acts 2), several years passed before there was any understanding that the Gentiles would be brought into relationship with God outside of Israel (Acts 10).

c. The understanding of the apostles at the beginning years of Acts, and their understanding by the end of the book of Acts had changed radically.

d. The New Testament books and epistles only began to be written towards the later half of the book of Acts time period.

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The Acts of Apostles is a book of transitions

It is a transition of dispensations

a. The book of Acts begins in the city of Israel’s home of the heart, with Jewish people, and Jewish anticipations of what should happen next (Acts 1:1-12).

b. The establishment of the church by God’s initiative and action, as recorded in Acts 2, though beginning something different as marked by time, is more importantly new in character. God was founding the church as a new people, with no distinction between Jew or Gentile (Ephesians 2:11-22; Galatians 3:28).

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The Acts of Apostles is a book of transitions

It is a transition of location and personal focus Acts begins in Jerusalem and ends in Rome

•Acts begins with Peter often in a lead role

•Acts ends with Paul in a lead role (from his conversion in chapter 9, to his house arrest after three missionary journeys in chapter 28).

•Acts records Paul’s three missionary journeys

Timeline of the New Testament

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birth temple ministry AD visit

Life of Christ

Timeline of the New Testament

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birth temple ministry Gentiles Paul in AD visit in Church RomeLife of Christ Book of Acts

Timeline of the New Testament

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temple min Pentecost Paul in Rome visit Acts 2 Acts 28

30 AD 61 AD

Book of Acts

ADPeter

Paul

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Acts at a Glance *

* Nelson’s Charts

• The initial actions in the book of Acts take place in & around Jerusalem (Acts 1:1-8:3)

• Acts 1:8, “…but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria…”

• From Acts 8:4 to 8:40, we find most of the focus on Philip, who evangelized several “fringe” groups & individuals.

Excavations at Caesarea Some places that Philip went

• Acts 9:32-10:48 brings Peter to preach the gospel to the Gentiles in Caesarea, so that the first Gentiles are brought into the church.

Peter went to Caesarea. Excavations at Caesarea

• But when he gets back to Jerusalem in Acts chapter 11, Peter has a lot of explaining to do…

Temple in JerusalemPeter returned to Jerusalem.

Timeline of the New Testament

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BCbi temple minisPentecost Paul in Rome visit Acts 2 Acts 28

30 AD 61 AD

Book of Acts

ADPeter

Paul

Paul’s Missionary Journeys

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What is the structure of the book of Acts ?

• Many Bible teachers will use Acts 1:8 as the structure for the book of Acts

• But some teachers* have suggested the following structure

• Acts appears to be arranged with a historical narrative followed by a brief conclusion of that historical period

• Total historical period is approximately 30 years

• Acts has 7 historical periods/conclusions

• These conclusions tell us what is God’s perspective on that historical period

• The Greek verb tense that expresses “ongoing action in past time” (imperfect tense) is used in most cases

* McCalley and Constable

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What is the structure of the book of Acts ?

The historical periods and conclusions are as follows:

Historical period Conclusion

Acts 1:1 – 2:40 Acts 2:41-47*

Acts 3:1 – 6:6 Acts 6:7

Acts 6:8 – 9:30 Acts 9:31

Acts 9:32 – 12:23 Acts 12:24

Acts 12:25 – 16:4 Acts 16:5

Acts 16:6 – 19:19 Acts 19:20

Acts 19:21 – 28:29 Acts 28:30-31

* Some consider this a thesis statement for what follows

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The Events of the Christian Mission (1:1 - 2:40)

The Christian Mission to the Jewish World (2:42 - 12:24)

The Earliest Days of the Church at Jerusalem (2:42 - 6:6)

Critical Events in the Lives of 3 Pivotal Figures (6:8 - 9:30)

Advances of the Gospel in Palestine-Syria (9:32—12:23)

The Christian Mission to the Gentile World (12:25—28:31)

1st Missionary Journey & Jerusalem Council (12:25—16:4)

Wide Outreach Thru Two Missionary Journeys (16:6—19:19)

To Jerusalem and Thence to Rome (19:21—28:29)

Constable’s structure of the book of Acts

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Acts 6:7 The word of God kept on spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith.  

Acts 9:31 So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase.

Acts 12:24 But the word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied.

Acts 16:5 So the churches were being strengthened in the faith, and were increasing in number daily.

Acts 19:20 So the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing.

Acts 28:31  (He was) preaching the kingdom of God and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness, unhindered.

Conclusions statements in the book of Acts