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Acts of the Apostles
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Boyd’s Bible Dictionary
:
Fifth
Book
of N. T. Supposedly compiled by
Luke
, shortly after A. D. 63. It carries on the
Christian
narrative from the
ascension
of Christ to first imprisonment of
Paul
, a period of about thirty-
three
years.
Concise Bible Dictionary
:
The
introduction to
this
book
compared
with
the introduction to
the
gospel
by
Luke
makes it plain that the two were written by the same
person
. The Acts ends with the
two years
’ imprisonment of the
apostle
Paul
at
Rome
: it could not therefore
have
been written before the end of that
time
, and was probably written very soon afterward or it would have given the issue of Paul’s trial. This would
place
the date
about
A.D. 63.
The “Acts” forms a link between
the Gospels
and the
Epistles
, as the
ascension
of
Christ
formed a link between the Gospels and the Acts. It occupies a sort of transition time,
for
though the
church
was soon formed, the
doctrine
of the church was not made known until Paul’s epistles. The title, “Acts of the Apostles,”
might
have led us to expect a more general account of the labors of
all
the
Twelve
; but their mission in the ways of
God
is superseded by that of Paul, both as
minister
of the gospel of the
glory
of Christ, and of the church. A
wise
selection of the fruits of apostolic energy has been made, verifying
some
things stated in the Gospels, and forming an indispensable introduction to the Epistles.
After the ascension of the
Lord
, and the choosing an apostle to fill the place of
Judas
, the first
great
event recorded is the
day
of
Pentecost
. The Lord had said, “I will build my church,” (
Matt. 16:18
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. (Matthew 16:18)
); and the descent of
the
Holy
Spirit
on the day of Pentecost is the answer to the question,
when
did the incorporation of the church begin?
1 Corinthians 12:13
13
For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:13)
proves that it was by the
gift
of the Holy Spirit, though, as it has been said, the doctrine of the church was not revealed
till
afterward.
Ananias
was charged with
lying
to the Holy Spirit, by whom God was then dwelling in the church. Our Lord had promised that on His departure He would send them another
Comforter
, the Holy Spirit, to
abide
with and be in them. This
also
was fulfilled at Pentecost.
Peter
,
Stephen
and the
other
present at the same time were full of the Holy Spirit (compare
Acts 4:31
31
And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. (Acts 4:31)
).
After this another call was made to
Israel
to receive
Jesus
as the Christ.
They
had killed the
Prince
of
life
, but God had raised
Him
from the dead, and now in
mercy
and on the ground of their ignorance one more
appeal
was made to them to
repent
and be converted that their sins might be blotted out, and that God might send again Jesus Christ who was then in
heaven
. The rulers however were grieved that they preached by Jesus the
resurrection
from among the dead, and commanded Peter and
John
not to
speak
or
teach
in the
name
of Jesus. Stephen, being accused before the
Sanhedrim
, rehearsed the history of Israel from the
beginning
, and charged them with resisting the Holy Spirit, as their
fathers
had done. The indictment of Israel as
man
in the
flesh
, and the exposure of his enmity to God led to the final
sin
of rejecting the glorified Christ, expressed by the
stoning
of Stephen who,
calling
upon the Lord not to lay the sin to their charge, exemplified the life of Christ in his body.
This ends the first phase of the acts of the Holy Spirit, and clears the way for the going out of the gospel and
the revelation
of the
truth
of the church. The persecution that followed led to the spread of the gospel.
Philip
preached Christ to the
Samaritans
and
many
believed. Peter went from
Jerusalem
, laid his hands upon them and they received the Holy Spirit. Peter was then
used
at
Caesarea
in opening the
door
to the
Gentiles
(answering to his having the keys of the
kingdom
committed to him,
Matt. 16:19
19
And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. (Matthew 16:19)
), and they also received the Holy Spirit.
In the meantime
Saul
had been converted, and immediately preached that Jesus was the
Son
of God. The churches had
rest
, and walking in the fear of the Lord and
comfort
of the Holy Spirit, were multiplied (
Acts 9:31
31
Then had the churches rest throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied. (Acts 9:31)
).
Herod
Agrippa
however soon began to persecute the church; he killed
James
the
brother
of John, and
put
Peter into
prison
, who was however miraculously
delivered
. Herod died a miserable
death
; and
the word
of God grew and multiplied (Acts 12). This ends the phase of the church’s history in connection with the
remnant
of Israel.
Antioch
, instead of Jerusalem, now became a center of evangelization, independent of apostolic
authority
,
yet
without breaking the unity of the Spirit by forming a separate church.
Barnabas
and Saul are separated to the
work
by the Holy Spirit, and with John
Mark
take
a missionary journey.
Certain
persons from
Judea
insisting at Antioch that the Gentile converts must be circumcised or they could not be saved, the question was referred to the church at Jerusalem. In their decision they could say, “It seemed good
to the
Holy
Ghost
, and to us, to lay upon you no greater
burden
than these necessary things: that ye abstain from meats offered to
idols
, and from
blood
, and from things strangled, and from
fornication
: from which if ye
keep
yourselves ye shall do well. Fare ye well” (
Acts 15:28-29
28
For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;
29
That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well. (Acts 15:28‑29)
).
Paul with
Silas
took a
second
missionary journey, extending to Europe and returned to Antioch (
Acts 18:22
22
And when he had landed at Caesarea, and gone up, and saluted the church, he went down to Antioch. (Acts 18:22)
). From thence Paul went a
third
journey. (For the particulars of these journeys and from whence Paul wrote some of his epistles, see the article PAUL.) It may be noted that while at
Ephesus
, because of the opposition of the Jews in the synagogues, Paul
separated the disciples
and they met in a building distinct from the
synagogue
, commencing a further development of the church’s history (
Acts 19:9
9
But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus. (Acts 19:9)
).
At the close of the third missionary journey Paul, led by deep
spiritual
affection for his nation, but forbidden by the Spirit in whose energy the ministry entrusted to him had hitherto been carried out, went
up to
Jerusalem, where he was arrested. The rest of the book details his trials and danger from the Jews; his journey to Rome, where he calls together the
chief
of the Jews, to whom he preaches Jesus. We read no more of any of his labors, and the Acts leaves him a prisoner.
The book embraces a period of about thirty years: the
mystery
of the church, and the gospel of the glory committed to Paul, as well as the state of the assemblies must be gathered from the Epistles. During the above period Paul wrote the two
epistles to the
Thessalonians
, the two to the Corinthians, to the Galatians, Romans, Colossians,
Philemon
,
Ephesians
, and Philippians.
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Paul's Last Journeys
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“Study to show thyself approved unto God, … rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).
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