New Testament Survey: Acts
CCEA
School of Discipleship
September
22, 2024
Homework review
Take five minutes, get in groups of 3 or so and share something interesting
from last week’s homework reading.
Acts
Author
Dr. Luke wrote this book as a second volume to follow his “gospel” about
Jesus Christ.
(Acts 1:1–3 NKJV) —1 The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began
both to do and teach, 2 until the day in which He was taken
up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles
whom He had chosen, 3 to whom He also presented Himself
alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during
forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.
While all four gospels take us through the death and resurrection of Jesus,
the book of Acts starts by telling us what happened after the resurrection.
The book starts around 33 AD and ends around 60 AD.
The book’s more complete title is “The Acts of the Apostles”, but perhaps
it might be better titled “The Acts of the Holy Spirit”.
This book is all about what the Holy Spirit did through the early church.
Because the book ends with Paul’s first imprisonment at Rome (yes, he had
two of them), we would peg the writing of this book around AD 60.
Paul would later be released from this imprisonment, then later arrested,
sent to Rome, and put to death.
Luke is one of Paul’s travelling companions.
Even though he doesn’t mention himself by name, you can find him if you
play detective.
Luke will talk about “they did this … they did that”, then in Acts 16:10,
he writes, “we sought to go to Macedonia”. So Luke
joined Paul in Troas.
Apparently Luke is with Paul all the way to
Philippi, but when Paul leaves Philippi, Luke does not seem to be with him
(Acts 17:1)
Luke will rejoin Paul when Paul passes back through Philippi.
He will travel with Paul to Jerusalem, be there during Paul’s arrest, and the
trip to Rome.
See Acts 20:5 - 21:18; 27:1 - 28:16.
We mentioned last week that Luke will be one of the few believers who is
with Paul when Paul is executed.
(2 Timothy
4:11 NKJV) Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him
with you, for he is useful to me for ministry.
Outline of the book
On Sunday mornings, Pastor Bob has given us John’s outline of the book of
Revelation:
(Revelation
1:19 NKJV) Write the things which you have seen, and the
things which are, and the things which will take place after this.
Chapter one is what John “saw”, Chapters 2-3 are the things that “are”, and
chapters 4-22 are what takes place “after these things”
The book of Acts has a similar key verse that defines how the book is laid
out.
(Acts 1:8 NKJV) 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.”
The first chapter takes us from the resurrection, the ascension, and up to
the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit is poured out.
Chapters 2-7 give us the early ministry in Jerusalem
Chapter 8-12 tells us how the gospel went out to Judea and Samaria
Chapters 13-28 take us to the ends of the earth (Rome)
Another way to remember the layout of Acts is the focus on the apostles:
Chapters 2-8 is basically following Peter (and Stephen and Phillip)
Chapters 9-28 follow Paul
Mark your Bibles
I hope you’ve got your paper Bible in front of you today and something to
make notes in it.
We are going to be marking down some significant dates, including where
some of the epistles were written within the timeline of Acts.
Not all the epistles fit in because a number of
them were written after Acts 28.
Acts Survey
Acts 1
This chapter is about the forty days between when Jesus ascended into
heaven until the promised coming of the Holy Spirit.
We believe the apostles have already travelled north to Galilee and back
when they are told to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit.
Acts 2-7 Jerusalem
This is the section on the ministry in Jerusalem, just as Luke already
divided the book (Acts 1:8)
(Acts 1:8 NKJV) 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 Acts 2, The Spirit comes on the day of Pentecost.
You could put AD 33 next to verse 2:1 (this is a rough date)
Peter gets up to preach after the disciples are filled with the Spirit –
and he preaches.
Do you see the Old Testament references in verses 14-39? It’s a fascinating study to look at the
passages Peter chooses and how he explains them.
He is backing up all their experiences with Scripture.
In Acts 3-4, Peter and John heal a man in the temple and they are
later arrested for using the miracle to talk about Jesus.
Keep in mind, these guys were just fishermen from Galilee…
(Acts 4:13 NKJV) Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived
that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized
that they had been with Jesus.
This is this week’s memory verse suggestion.
The Greek word for “untrained” is ἰδιῶται
from which we get “idiots”.
Lesson
Preparation for ministry
Peter and John were being used by God because they had “been with” Jesus.
The language speaks of them having an ongoing relationship with Jesus.
Though I am all in favor of education and training for ministry, I’ve
learned that the most important thing I ever did to prepare myself for ministry
was learning to have a daily time with Jesus.
Every day I set aside time to pray.
I have a prayer list of people I pray for by name every
day.
I pray for all of my family by
name as well as specific things I’m asking God to do in their life.
When I was a Senior Pastor, my prayer list included all my
leaders, and various things I felt were important in the ministry of our
church.
When people ask me to pray for them, I usually take a
minute to put them on my list (it’s on my phone)
You are all on that list.
I also take time every day to read the Bible.
I personally like the idea of reading through the Bible
once a year, and that’s not all that difficult if you learn to read every day.
It’s only about three chapters a day, or about 15-20
minutes.
I don’t look at commentaries, I just read. I don’t read so
I can come up with something to share at my next Bible Study, I read for
myself.
Sometimes I also listen to the Scriptures being read on my
Bible app.
And I listen for God’s voice. What is He saying to me today?
Every year I will change translations to keep the reading
fresh.
This is what keeps me on track every day with Jesus.
In Acts 5, there’s a scary incident where a couple in the church
named Ananias and Sapphira die because they pretended to be something they
weren’t.
Then the apostles are arrested again, and again they are warned to stop
talking about Jesus.
When they are brought before the Sanhedrin, an important person stands up
to speak…
(Acts 5:34 NKJV) Then one in the council stood up, a Pharisee named Gamaliel,
a teacher of the law held in respect by all the people, and
commanded them to put the apostles outside for a little while.
Gamaliel will encourage the Sanhedrin to let the apostles
go because the Sanhedrin shouldn’t risk fighting against God if these men
should turn out to be legitimate.
You might want to circle his name.
Among the Jews, Gamaliel holds a reputation in the Mishnah for
being one of the greatest teachers in all the annals of Judaism: “Since Rabban
Gamaliel the Elder died, there has been no more reverence for the law, and
purity and piety died out at the same time”
Gamaliel was the grandson of Hillel, the great rabbi of
the “House of Hillel”.
Gamaliel was also a teacher of the apostle Paul (Acts
22:3) before he became a Christian.
(Acts 22:3 NKJV) “I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus
of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught
according to the strictness of our fathers’ law, and was zealous toward God as
you all are today.
In Acts 6-7, the church appoints “deacons” to help with the growing
ministry.
One of the deacons, Stephen, is arrested for talking too much about Jesus.
Acts 7 is Stephen’s defense before Sanhedrin – pay attention to his Old
Testament quotes.
Stephen will be put to death by stoning – the first “martyr”.
Our English word “martyr” comes from the Greek word “martus”,
which simply means “witness”.
(Acts 1:8 NKJV) 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.”
Acts 8-12 – Judea and Samaria
We now move into the second section of Acts (According to Acts 1:8)
In Acts 8, a persecution arises after Stephen’s death.
The believers in Jerusalem are scattered into Judea and Samaria.
We think of Judea as the southern third of Israel. It’s still that way today.
Samaria is the central part of the country.
The person behind the persecution was a man named Saul (later Paul), who
was there when Stephen died.
In Acts 8, one of the deacons named Philip goes north to Samaria, and
revival breaks out among the Samaritans.
Peter and John head to Samaria, and the Samaritans experience the baptism
of the Holy Spirit.
Philip preaches to an Ethiopian eunuch on the road from Jerusalem to Gaza.
In Acts 9, this wicked man Saul meets Jesus on the road to
Damascus.
I’d write the date AD 36 at Acts 9:1 – an approximate date of Saul’s
conversion.
By Acts 13, Saul is going to be known as Paul.
Luke’s story then goes back to follow Peter for a while and we see Peter
healing a man named Aeneas, and raising a gal named Dorcas from the dead.
In Acts 10-11, a major event takes place that affects most of us in
the room.
The first Gentile gets saved. Before
Acts 10, it was only Jews who were getting saved.
I’d write the date AD 40 at Acts 10:1
A Roman centurion in Caesarea named Cornelius will meet Peter, hear the
gospel, and get saved.
He is the first Gentile convert.
He and his whole household experience the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 11 contains a retelling of the Gentiles getting saved as Peter reports
back to the church.
In Acts 11:19 we see the birth of the church in Antioch in Syria.
Two main people will be involved in the church there – Barnabas and Saul.
I’d write the date AD 41 next to Acts 11:28
(Acts 11:28 NKJV) Then one of them, named Agabus, stood up and showed by the Spirit
that there was going to be a great famine throughout all the world, which also
happened in the days of Claudius Caesar.
The famine that Luke describes gives us a solid link to secular history and
the account of the famine during the reign of Claudius Caesar.
In Acts 12, Luke follows more of Peter’s ministry.
Peter is arrested, and then an angel releases him from prison in response
to the church praying.
When Peter is released, he shows up at the prayer meeting the church is
having at the house of John Mark’s mother, Mary.
The funny thing is that at first they don’t
believe it can be Peter.
How’s that for having “faith” in their prayers?
At Acts 12:25, I’d write “AD 45 James written”
Some scholars disagree on the writing of James and put it later, but
they’re wrong (wink, wink)
Acts 13-28 – The Ends of the Earth
In Acts 13, we have the last section of the book (According to Acts
1:8). Luke will follow Saul, now called
Paul, as he takes the gospel to the ends of the earth.
At Acts 13:4, I’d write “First Missionary Journey, AD 48”
From this point on, Luke is going to chronicle the journeys of the Apostle
Paul.
The “Missionary Journeys” all start and end in Antioch of Syria (there’s
another Antioch so you need to keep them straight).
There will be three missionary journeys, as well as a fourth journey as
Paul is taken to Rome.
Video: First Journey
The first missionary journey is with Saul, Barnabas and his cousin Mark.
In Acts 13-14, you can follow their journey through Cyprus, and then Antioch
in Psidia (the “other” Antioch). At this Antioch, Luke records Paul’s
sermon. Then they are
run out of town as the persecution starts.
Then they head to Iconium and on to Lystra where
they will be stoned and Paul was thought to be
dead. But Paul shakes it off and they move
on to Derbe.
After a time in Derbe, Paul and Barnabas retrace their steps back to the
other cities where they encourage these newborn churches and appoint elders in
each church.
(end video)
Their message to the churches? They were …
(Acts 14:22 NKJV) strengthening the souls of the
disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying,
“We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.”
The first missionary journey ends at the end of Acts 14 when they arrive
back at their home church in Antioch and report what God had done among the
Gentiles.
At Acts 14:28, write “AD 49, Paul writes Galatians”
The area they just covered is considered part of Galatia.
In Acts 15, the early church faces its first doctrinal struggle as
they meet in Jerusalem to discuss whether or not it’s
possible for Gentiles to be saved, and if so, how does that happen?
This is conference is held mostly because of what God had been doing
through Paul and Barnabas. Do Gentiles
need to be circumcised? Or do they just need to believe?
Peter will get up and remind them of what happened with Cornelius.
They decide that Gentiles can be saved by faith, just like Jews.
I’d write “AD 50” at Acts 15:1
At Acts 15:36, write “Second Missionary Journey, AD 50”
Acts 15:36 – 18:22 is the Second Missionary Journey
Video: Second Journey
This journey will be with Paul and Silas because Paul and Barnabas had a
disagreement about whether or not to take Mark with
them.
From Antioch, they will go overland to Derbe and Lystra where Paul will
meet young Timothy and he will become Paul’s disciple and come along on the
trip.
Then they head west to Troas (the same as ancient “Troy”), where Paul has a
vision and hears God calling him to go to Macedonia.
This is where Luke joins the travelling band (Acts 16:10)
(Acts 16:10 NKJV) Now after he had seen the vision,
immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called
us to preach the gospel to them.
Macedonia is the northern part of Greece, and the southern part is called
Achaia in the New Testament.
The guys then make their way to Philippi where they land
in jail for casting a demon out of a slave girl. This is where they are
singing songs at midnight.
Then in Acts 17, they make their way south to Thessalonica, where
they again get into trouble.
Going further south they make their way to Berea …
(Acts 17:11 NKJV) These were more fair-minded than
those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and
searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.
Then Paul makes his way to Athens where he preaches to the philosophers
about the “Unknown God”.
In Acts 18, Paul makes his way to the “Las Vegas” of the ancient
world, Corinth.
He will stay 1 ½ years in Corinth.
When Paul leaves Corinth, he passes through the port of
Cenchrea, takes a boat to Ephesus, then another boat to Caesarea, takes a quick
trip to Jerusalem, then back to their home base at Antioch.
(end movie)
Next to Acts 18:11, write “AD 51, Paul writes 1&2 Thessalonians”
He did this while in Corinth
At Acts 18:23, write “AD 53 Third Missionary Journey”
Video: Third Journey pt1
In Acts 19, Paul has travelled back through the Galatian churches and has continued
west to Ephesus, where he will stay for three years.
This is where the church in Ephesus is started,
and it becomes the central church in the entire area known as Asia Minor.
When Jesus sends seven letters to the churches in “Asia” in the book of
Revelation, it’s the churches in this region.
In Ephesus, will be miracles done, and the gospel will have such an impact
that the local merchants who make and sell idols will cause a riot because Paul
and the church have ruined their businesses.
(end video)
In Acts 19:22 write “AD 56, Paul writes 1Corinthians” from Ephesus
Look at what Paul is going through from his letter to the Corinthians…
(1 Corinthians
16:8–9 NKJV) —8 But I will tarry in Ephesus until
Pentecost. 9 For a great and effective door has
opened to me, and there are many adversaries.
We often think of “open doors” as being positive things,
where all troubles and obstacles are removed.
Paul looked at open doors as opportunities. And sometimes those opportunities involved
trouble – like a riot.
Video: Third Journey pt2
It’s after this that Paul will leave Ephesus because of the riot, and he
will head to Macedonia, and more specifically Philippi.
From Philippi, Paul moved further south to Corinth.
(end video)
In Acts 20:1 write “AD 56, Paul writes 2Corinthians from Philippi”
When you read the Corinthian letters, you will find little historical
tidbits about Paul and his companions.
It will all make better sense when you see these in the context of Paul’s
journeys and where he is when he writes.
In Acts 20:2 write, “Paul writes Romans from Corinth”
When you look at Romans 1 and the description of how evil man can become
when he stops following God, remember he’s in Corinth. He only needs to look out the window to
remember what man becomes when he substitutes the truth of God for a lie.
Lesson
Quiz Stuff
I’m going to give you a bigger quiz today than usual with three
questions.
You will need to match the city with the region it is in.
1. Ephesus is in Asia Minor
2. Philippi is in Macedonia
3. Corinth is in Achaia (sometimes called “Greece”)
Caution, the column on the right will be scrambled
These may seem like silly things to learn, but when you
learn the geography of Paul’s day, more things make sense.
Sometimes Paul simply talks about “Macedonia” – and he is often
talking about Philippi.
Sometimes Paul talks about Achaia – and he is usually
thinking about Corinth.
Of course there are more cities
than these in each region, but these are the main ones.
Back to Paul…
After spending three months in Corinth, Paul decides to head back to
Jerusalem for the Passover, but decides to do it over
land.
I wonder if he is a little tired of being shipwrecked. You won’t have seen it recorded in Acts yet,
and we will see Paul go through another shipwreck in chapter 27, but by this
time Paul has already written to the Corinthians…
(2
Corinthians 11:25 NKJV) …three times I was shipwrecked; a
night and a day I have been in the deep;
So Paul heads to Jerusalem by first going north
back through Macedonia.
Lesson
Discipleship
One of my favorite verses is:
(Acts 20:4 NKJV) And Sopater of Berea accompanied him to Asia—also Aristarchus and
Secundus of the Thessalonians, and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy, and Tychicus
and Trophimus of Asia.
Why is this verse so special to me? This is a snapshot of discipleship.
These are the men that Paul is training for ministry. How does he do it? He takes them with him. They travel with him. They learn from him. He gives them assignments. And they are from all the places he’s been.
There’s nothing new to this concept.
This is how the ancient rabbis in Paul’s day did it. They would gather their own group of
“disciples” and these disciples would follow the rabbi
everywhere.
And of course, this is exactly what Jesus did.
Jesus said,
(Matthew
28:19–20 NKJV) —19 Go therefore and make disciples of
all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of
the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things
that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end
of the age.” Amen.
We often look at “making disciples” as evangelism.
But evangelism is only the first step. That’s getting people to Jesus.
The next step is to help them grow.
God’s goal is that we are first disciples, learning to
follow Jesus everywhere.
Then the next step is that we gather a few friends and let
them watch us follow Jesus.
This might start with your own family, with your kids or
grandkids.
It might be people at work.
But get close enough to people so they can watch you
follow Jesus.
Video: Third Journey pt3
So from Corinth, Paul headed north to Macedonia
(or Philippi)
Paul then travels to Troas, then on to Miletus where the Ephesian elders journey to meet with him and he gives them a
“farewell” address.
Paul has started getting prophetic warnings that he is going to be arrested
in Jerusalem, so he gives the Ephesian elders some words of guidance (Acts 20)
Paul then takes a ship to Tyre and then on to
Caesarea.
From there he heads to Jerusalem.
(end video)
In Acts 21, Paul makes his way to Jerusalem, and just as had been
prophesied along his journey, he is arrested.
Paul will eventually be transferred to Caesarea, where he will be held in
custody for two years.
Caesarea is the Roman political capital of Israel.
In Acts 21-26, Paul will stand before several Roman governors and a
Jewish king before making his appeal as a Roman citizen to have his case tried
before Caesar.
In Acts 27, Paul the prisoner is put on a ship to Rome.
Luke details the voyage across the Mediterranean where they are caught in a
storm and Paul once again is shipwrecked.
I love how God uses Paul in the storm:
(Acts 27:22–25
NKJV) —22 And now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life
among you, but only of the ship. 23 For there stood by me this night an
angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve, 24 saying, ‘Do
not be afraid, Paul; you must be brought before Caesar; and indeed God has
granted you all those who sail with you.’ 25 Therefore
take heart, men, for I believe God that it will be just as it was told me.
Lesson
Useful in the Storm
Sometimes when we are caught in the storms of life, we forget that we have
something that some of those around us don’t.
We have a God who has His eye on us.
We belong to Him and we serve Him.
When the angel tells Paul,
God has granted you all those who sail with you
What does he mean by this?
It means that Paul has been praying for the 276 people on board that
ship.
And God has granted Paul’s prayer – they are going to be
safe.
Don’t forget to pray for those around you.
Don’t forget to encourage those in the storm with you.
In Acts 28, Paul and his shipmates make it safely to the beach on
the island of Malta.
After three months on Malta, Paul will make his
way to Rome where he is under “house arrest”.
At Acts 28:16 write “AD 58”
At Acts 28:30 write “AD 60”
At the end of Acts 28, write,
AD 60 – Paul writes Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon
Significant verse(s)
This is when Peter and John stood before the Sanhedrin
(Acts 4:13 NKJV) Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived
that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized
that they had been with Jesus.
God can use anyone who will spend time with Jesus.
Quiz
Match the city on the left with the region it’s in on the right.
1. Ephesus is in ___ a.
Achaia
2. Philippi is in ___ b.
Macedonia
3. Corinth is in ___ c.
Asia Minor
Homework
Review this with the class – do you see what to read? I simply want you familiar with Halley’s
format regarding finding background material for a book.
Assignment: Read in HBH the introductory material to the letters of
Romans, 1Corinthians, and 2Corinthians.
The introductory material is the page or two before Halley starts
talking about each chapter of that book.