of the early church. It's a journey I've been looking forward to. Certainly I've read Acts many times in preparation for this. I've been reading it several times per week, the whole book in one sitting. Start all the way through because you need to make sure you get the whole flow of it. It's exciting every time you read through it to see the spread of the gospel from Jerusalem. It goes out to Samaria and Judea, out to the Gentiles, and then spreads all over the Roman world, and in such a short time period as well. A wonderful book, full of great examples of faith of the first believers, that they overcame personal difficulties. Persecution arose, there was opposition, and they overcame these things to be exactly what Jesus called them to be, his witnesses. Well, this morning I want to give an introduction and overview of the book. A little of this is going to seem a bit on the academic side, and yet it is important we lay a firm foundation for our study as we begin it. Many have fallen into theological error. They get into aberration, some into downright heresy because they don't set the purpose and the overall structure of the book first. And this could happen in any book, but Acts is particularly wanton for this to happen because they'll go to one passage, they don't know the context, they don't know the flow, they don't know what he's really talking about, And they take that out and then they develop a whole theology on it. We don't want to do that. So we want to set a foundation so we know we're building correctly. We want to rightly divide the Word. So we do need to understand the overall purpose, the structure, in order to avoid theological error. Now Acts is in particular danger of this because Acts is a historical book. It records the transition from the Old Covenant, that was the dispensation, the period of time in which God was Planck was working through the nation of Israel and the Mosaic law to declare himself to the nations into the new covenant. This is the church age. God working through people called out from all nations to declare his glory to all people. Us Gentiles are welcome in. And that's the church age, the age of grace. And there's a transition that goes on through this book. Now it's important to stress this transitional nature right from the start. Acts accurately records particular events and actions and the reactions of people in tracing its various themes. Now again, Acts is not a theology, it is a history. And as important as we look at it, we keep that in mind. The epistles are written to focus on theology. We get history in Acts to understand what's going on in Acts or to interpret those historical events. We go to the epistles which makes the theological comment. Let me give you an example of this. Those who are familiar with Acts but know Acts chapter 5 and verses 1 through 11. Here we have the story of Ananias and Sapphira. Quick recap, they had sold some land and they decided they were going to make out like they were giving everything to the church. boosts up your ego, and said they held some back. It was their money to do whatever they wanted to, but they lied about it. They ended up lying to the Holy Spirit. Peter confronts them about it, and Ananias dies. Sapphira comes in, not knowing her husband is dead, and he asks, did you sell the land for X amount, which her husband had said. So she's in the conspiracy. She lies, and she dies. Now, if you're going to take this as a theological treatise, you would have to say and conclude that it is very important not to lie in the church, because once you're confronted by the church leader, you die. OK? That's not a very good conclusion, though, is it? No, otherwise, well, frankly, we'd have several dead people. I'd have done more funerals. Instead, if we're going to understand what the Bible says about lying or God's commands to us about lying, we go to something like Colossians 3.9. Colossians 3.9 is very direct. It gives us the reasons why we don't lie. Not because you're going to fall dead once I or Pastor Quirrell talks to you about it. That would be a pretty good incentive. What do you think? We'd have a lot of people stop lying, wouldn't they? One dead and that's it. Actually, that was the effect on the church. But no, we go to Colossians. It tells us the reason why as well. In fact, that verse says, Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him. Why do we not lie to one another? It's not in keeping with who we are in Christ. That's your old self. That's what you used to be. You're something new. That's why we don't lie to each other. If we want to understand God's response to Christians who sin, we go to passages such as Hebrews 12, 4 through 11. God chastens whom he loves. It's that simple. He chastens whom he loves. He scourges every son whom he receives. Or we'll go to 1 Corinthians 11 and see the example there of God's making some sick and some did die because of their irreverence. God is actively involved in our lives. And for Renee's benefit, see, not all experiences people get as Christians are good ones. You don't want those, right? That's right. Okay. Sometimes it's nice to have a nice, quiet, boring life. But we go to the epistles to understand theology. Acts is a book of history. So that's really my simple point here at the beginning. We need to be careful. Our foundation for theology in the epistles, Acts being history, and Luke writing it as a historian, not a theologian, we need to be careful. Now Acts does contain some great theological insights, especially in the speeches that Luke records. Because these are treatises by one of the apostles on elements, and we look to those things. But again, we need to be careful. Epistles are theological foundations there so we can understand and interpret properly what goes on in Acts. Well, let's cover some basic information about the book as we lay out an overview of it. Now, the first question, of course, is, well, who wrote it, right? Who wrote the book? Now it's clear from the usage of the term we, the personal pronoun, in many sections of Acts, and I have them listed there, that whoever wrote it traveled with Paul at the part of his second and third missionary journeys because of his inclusion. He goes from third person to first person. He is with Paul. He's a first-hand witness. Paul cites Luke as being with him in several of his epistles to other folks. In Colossians 4.14, in fact, in 4.14 Paul calls him the beloved physician. That's why we know that was his actual practice. That's what he had done for a living before he was converted and began following Paul. Also, 2 Timothy 4.11, Philemon 1.24. Luke fits. In fact, you start eliminating various ones that could have written or possibilities, and Luke is the one you narrow down to. He's with them at the right time. Then, of course, you have the unanimous voice of the early church tradition, beginning with Irenaeus in 184 AD. It's Luke. Luke is the one who wrote the book. This is the same Luke that wrote the gospel that bears his name. From extra-biblical literature, the anti-Marconite prologue, it tells us this. Luke was a Syrian physician from Antioch. He became a Christian. He accompanied Paul until his martyrdom. And then he continued to serve the Lord. And in quoting, it says, he served the Lord without distraction, without a wife, without children. And at the age of 84, he fell asleep in Boeotia full of the Holy Spirit. He served the Lord for a long time. This is the nature and the character of the man who wrote the book. The second question we need to ask is, well, when did Luke write it? This is one of those questions that theologians like more than most people, but we still need to cover it. When did he write this book? Without going into all the details, and it gets fun, it's completed about AD 62. The reason for this is that this was the year that Paul was released from his first imprisonment, and Acts ends with Paul still in prison in Rome, sharing the gospel with whoever would come. So that would be about the concluding. Any later date, which liberal theologians do want to push and say it has to be later, you have a real dilemma. Why does Luke, a great historian, then not include things like Paul was free, a tradition holds that he actually got to Spain? Why does he not include these things? Why does he include other great and extremely important events like the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD? So you end up with a host of theological problems of trying to explain away these things if you say it's written later. Well, the question is, why do they propose a later date? Because you've got to remember, there's a lot of Bible scholars out there that are not true believers in Christ. They don't believe the Bible is the Word of God. They don't believe you can trust this. They believe someone like Luke, though he tells us in his prologue, both in the Gospel and in Acts, why he wrote it, how he got his information. They want to believe he got it from somebody else. And the most popular theory is he must have written his Gospel based on what Mark wrote. But actually, Mark wrote later, according to church tradition, the early church fathers all put Mark after Luke, and that he had to rely upon the writings of Josephus. Now that's a very questionable premise to begin with. Luke is more accurate than Josephus. Josephus writes to incur the favor of his Roman taskmasters. He's a Jewish historian, but he's writing for Rome. And he tweaks things. You are understanding that historians do that. They will tweak the facts in order to present what they would like. You've got to make those who are over you, have power over you, happy. Or as one person put it, he who wins writes the history books. So that's not a very good premise. The other thing that they usually is part of this, is they reject the fact that in Luke 19, 43 and 44, and 21, 23, 24, where Jesus prophesies the destruction of Jerusalem, they deny it's a prophecy. They say it has to be written after the fact because it's too accurate. But that's the way the liberal mind works to begin with. That's why they say Daniel could not have been written in the fourth century B.C. It's too accurate. Couldn't happen. But that's what prophecy is, and that shows the nature of our God. He knows the end from the beginning. That's what occurs here. So Luke is an extremely accurate historian. Well, then what is the basis of his writings? That's the third question. Matthew and John both wrote their Gospels based on their firsthand eyewitness experiences, and they recorded those things. That's contrary to a liberal mindset that says that Matthew wrote based on Mark. That's the most stupid thing. I've heard. You have an eyewitness who relies on someone not there to tell him what happened. And yet, the scholars think this is wisdom. Well, it's not wisdom. It's foolishness. Luke does the same thing. He is a first-hand witness of the later events. And he tells us in the prologue in Luke 1 and Acts 1, he researched from eyewitnesses what happened. So now the question is, is he accurate in what he does? How well does he do this? There are liberal scholars who want to say he made it up himself, but careful study shows he couldn't have. Let me go over the prologues first. Acts chapter 1, if you're not there, turn there. Acts chapter 1, verse 1, he says what he's doing. He says, this is the first account I composed, Theopolis, about all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day when he was taken up, after he had, by the Holy Spirit, given orders to the apostles whom he had chosen. To these he also presented himself alive after his suffering, by many convincing proves, appearing to them over a period of forty days, and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God. Axton is actually a continuation of Luke, the Gospel of Luke. In fact, if you compare Luke 24 and Acts 1, you find the exact same things recorded in very similar style. Both record Jesus eating with the apostles. Both record the promise of the Father. Both record that they would be given power from God. Both record they would be witnesses of Jesus. Both record they were near Bethany. One says specifically on the Mount of Olives. Both record they saw Jesus taken up to heaven. Both record they returned to Jerusalem praising God and praying. So Acts 1 is this quick recounting of things that he had said in Luke 24. And if you're writing a sequel to a book, what do you usually do in the first chapter? You catch him up where you left off. Here's a summary, here's where we left off, and then you go on. That's exactly what Luke does. Over in Luke 1, 1 through 4, here he tells us in detail how he compiled everything. He says, inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us, Just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the Word have handed them down to us, it seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in consecutive order, most excellent Theopolis, so that you might know the exact truth about the things you have been taught." So he tells us exactly how he did it and why he's doing it. So in short, Luke is writing on the basis of his own investigation of eyewitness accounts, or the accounts given by eyewitnesses, and pass on to others. A careful study of the Book of Acts shows that Luke is an excellent historian, recording even variations. Luke, his own style is almost classical Greek. I'm not gonna get into how you tell those things, but he writes very well. But when he gets into quoting someone or referencing them, he will switch style and grammatical structure to what that person has. That shows he's actually, it's coming from them, not himself. For example, Peter's grammatical structure shows he's a fisherman. It's a little rough, and nouns and verbs aren't always in the right order, and sometimes they're not even there. You kinda wonder what he's talking about. I have relatives that talk like that, so maybe that's why I understand Peter. But that's Peter. And when Luke is quoting Peter, that's the grammar he uses. When he is quoting Paul, and there's long sections where he's quoting Paul, is Paul's grammar. There's exact parallels between Paul's writings and how Luke quotes him. That's an excellent historian. He's not recapping and making it up himself. He is so good at his research, even the grammatical structure comes out in how he presents it. It should also be pointed out that liberal scholars used to scoff at many of the details that Luke records, things such as names of places, the titles of officials. And Paul, he was a lousy, he couldn't record anything, he wasn't very good. Until, it continues on today, archaeological research. A blessing for Bible believers, because they keep coming up with, oh, by the way, you know, you scoff at him. Well, here's the very title in the very place that he said. And Luke keeps being shown he's accurate, and the liberal scholars are wrong. Now, what that means to us is that Luke is an accurate and faithful historian. You can believe what he has written as a faithful and true record of these events. He didn't make this up. He's not trying to persuade someone by making up things, much like our newspapers do. He's true. But that's the way it is with the rest of the Bible, isn't it? We can believe it because it is true. And the more research you do in it, the more you dig around in it, the more it confirms it is true. We can hold on to it, and we can trust the account of Acts. Now, the next question we have to ask is, well, why did he write this book? Well, we already cited over in Acts 1 and Luke 1, the prologues, that Luke is writing to a fellow named Theophilus. In fact, he calls him Most Excellent Theophilus. That gives a clue that this Greek man, it's a Greek name, and the name actually means friend of God, is probably part of the educated ruling class because he gets this title. He uses that same title later on the governors, Felix and Festus. So that's something about Theophilus. And he tells them that he is writing this down, at least the first account, the Gospel of Luke, is telling him what Jesus began to do and teach until the day he was taken up. So the Gospel covers from Jesus' birth, until His ascension. Luke 1.3 states that He's written out in consecutive order, so it's time sequential. That's actually very helpful for us when we try to compile a gospel parallels. We use Luke as the basis because he's trying to be sequential. Mark is not and neither is Matthew. They have a different purpose in their writing. We also find here, he says, is that he might know the exact truth about the things that he had been taught. So this wasn't new things for Theophilus. It gives him a little more incentive. He better get it right because Theophilus already heard some things. He wants to make sure the details are correct. So Luke's first account, careful historical account written to Theophilus of Jesus' life and teachings from birth to ascension. As I said earlier, keep that in mind for the rest of our study. Historical account, not a theological one. Writing history and interpreting history are two different things. Acts records the events. We go to the epistles to understand the theological things necessary to interpret Acts. So we go to the epistles. So, first book, Christ's life, birth to ascension. In the second book, Acts, the clue is there in verse two. He says, until the day when he was taken up, that's the first book, after he had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom he had chosen. And he goes on and recaps some things. The book of Acts, an historical account of how Jesus' commands given to the apostles just prior to his ascension are carried out. That's what he's dealing with. How was this done? Now, what commands in specific is he talking about? That's verses 3 through 8. So look there with me. Starting in verse 3, it says, To these he also presented himself alive, after his suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days. Speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God, and gathering them together, he commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but wait for what the Father had promised, which, he said, you heard of from me. For John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. And so when they had come together, they were asking him, saying, Lord, is it at this time you are restoring the kingdom of Israel? He said to them, It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by his own authority, but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the remotest parts of the earth. These are the commands. So, verse 3, Luke makes emphasis on the proofs of Jesus' resurrection. Again, it occurred over a period of 40 days after which he then gave the apostles additional instruction concerning the Kingdom of God. Throughout Acts, as we study it, we're going to see that that is emphasized. Jesus' resurrection is emphasized throughout Acts. In fact, several times we find that groups are listening to a gospel presentation, whether it be a testimony of Paul or what Peter is saying, often they listen until such point he mentions the resurrection, and then they stop at it. Acts 17 being the classical case of that, and we'll look more in detail about that next week. Verses 4 and 5, Jesus gives them the command to remain in Jerusalem until they are baptized by the Holy Spirit and receive this power. Verse 6, they immediately wonder, well, is this coinciding to then the establishing of the kingdom? Remember, they're Jews. They have been looking for Christ's return in power and glory and the nation of Israel rising back up to the time like it was in David's time. That's still their thought. Jesus' answer is, that's a secondary issue right now. He just puts them off. Don't be concerned about that. That's not for you to know. Instead, here is what you need to concentrate on. And what is it? It's this command, their commission. This is the priority. You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. When that happens, you will be my witnesses. It's going to happen. Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, even to the remotest parts of the earth. That is the priority, guys. That is what I want you to concentrate on. Don't worry about the kingdom. That will take care of itself. Keep your focus here. And that is what the book of Acts is about. It's a selective historical account of certain of the apostles carrying out that command. They would receive power from the Holy Spirit. That power is going to be evidenced, and they're boldly proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ, starting in Jerusalem and continuing on through Judea, Samaria, the remotest part of the earth. Book of Acts ending in Rome. Now I say selective. Because Luke concentrates on two individuals in particular, Peter chapters 1 through 12, Paul chapters 13 through 28. Why then? He could have done it with many of the apostles, but Peter is the one that opened the door for the gospel to go to the Gentiles, that's Acts chapter 10. And Paul is the one that boldly marched through that door and took the gospel all over the Roman world. So they become the representatives of what the other apostles did, and they're models for us as well. Sometime, whenever we get around to finishing the book, I'll tell you what church tradition says about the other apostles. Since it's tradition, we can't count it as accurate, but it's interesting to find out what we know from church tradition about the history of these men. What they were able to accomplish. And they did similar things. They took the gospel everywhere. Now, the book is entitled Acts. Now, some of your translations have the Acts of the Apostles. Some later manuscripts actually have the Acts of the Holy Apostles, and then there's a few that even have the Acts of the Holy Apostles of Luke the Evangelist. Ooh, that's a title, isn't it? But you know what? That's a good title. Keep in mind a selective history of the continuing acts of Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit working through the apostles to the world. So really, it's Jesus Christ at work and continuing to work through his people. Over in John 16, 7, all the way through 14, we find that Jesus had told his apostles that when he left, he would send a parakletos, a comforter, a helper. I think one of these translations uses counselor. He is going to send him upon them. The counselor is going to comfort the paraclete, he's going to convict the world of sin, but he's also going to guide them into all truth. Bring it to mind, that's why we know the apostles were accurate, the Holy Spirit upon them. The lives of the apostles are tied to Christ. And I don't think anybody said it better than Paul did in Galatians 2.20. Paul said, I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me in the life that I now live. I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me. That is the nature of the apostles' lives. So when you're looking at whatever they're doing, understand you're seeing Jesus Christ at work. He is working through them. So in a real sense, the book of Acts, we'd have to say, is a continuing story. Because Jesus Christ is still working through His church. And our lives should be like that of Paul. That when people see us, they should see Christ living through us. And when they see that, they see the actions of Christ in the world. It continues on. So it's a story that's not yet really finished. The Holy Spirit still indwells the believer, empowers the believer to live for Him and witness for Him. Well, a quick overview and outline. I believe I put this in your notes there in a little more detail. But Acts 1.8 is the outline. You'll be my witnesses. First in Jerusalem, chapter 1.1 through 8.3. Witnesses in Samaria and Judea, chapter 8, verse 4 through chapter 12, verse 25. And witnesses to the remotest part of the earth, starting in chapter 13, verse 1, in the first missionary journey, ending with him still preaching in Rome, chapter 28, verse 31. Now, there are several prominent themes throughout the book of Acts, one being the power of the Holy Spirit, another being missions and overcoming opposition. And tracing through those three themes, we get an overview of the book. It also shows the transitional nature that takes place from going from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant. So what are these? Well, the first is the power of the Holy Spirit. Now, in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit could come and go. He would not abide on someone, stay with someone. We talked about Psalm 51 a couple of weeks ago, and in verse 11 of that psalm, remember David's prayer, one of his petitions was, do not let your Holy Spirit depart from me. He had seen that happen to Saul, and that was his great concern. I have sinned greatly, I've confessed my sin, I saw what happened to Saul. He didn't confess, not properly. The Holy Spirit was removed from him, and he just saw the agony Saul went through. So David's prayer was, don't let the Holy Spirit lead. Now, fortunately, we live on this side of the cross, and we don't have the Holy Spirit's work like that. He doesn't come and go upon the believer. In fact, from Romans 8, 9, and 11, if you do not have the Spirit, you're not a Christian. It's that simple. If you don't have the Spirit of Christ, you're not a believer. It's that simple. John 14, 16, and 17, Jesus promises that in the New Testament, the New Covenant, the Holy Spirit comes upon you and indwells you eternally. He doesn't leave anymore. That's very different, but we're transitioning. Christ has been resurrected. He's now ascended, and he says, you wait until the Holy Spirit comes. So Jesus had to leave, and he has to send the Holy Spirit, which occurs in chapter 2. I hope you're encouraged by that. You don't have to deal with things like David does. But in chapter 2, we find that the Holy Spirit comes, and he's going to manifest himself in power upon them, both with an outward sign that he has come, and then empowering them to do an action. they're going to accomplish something. So the first manifestation is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It fulfills the promise in Acts 1.5. It also fulfills the promise that Peter's going to talk about from Joel 2. And then in 1 Corinthians 14, Paul mentions it fulfills the promise of Isaiah 28.11. It fulfills the prophecies that were made about this. It comes upon them and it exhibits itself in speaking in other languages. Now it's important to note here that there's at least 15 different languages because Paul lists them out there in chapter 2. And then he explains, Peter explains how this fulfills Joel's prophecy. But look at verse 11 and you see what they were speaking. It says, The mighty deeds of God. The sign was not just how they were speaking in languages they didn't know. But the subject matter of the speech as well. They were speaking of the mighty things of God. Keep that in mind. We will see that theme all the way through the rest of Acts. Now Luke points out the baptism of the Holy Spirit as the gospel goes to different people. He doesn't talk about them speaking in tongues every time the Holy Spirit comes upon someone. He uses selectively with certain groups as the gospel transitions. In chapter 8, verses 14 through 17, Samaritans receive the Holy Spirit when Peter and John lay hands on them. In Acts 10, 44 through 48, Peter's preaching to a group of devout Gentiles, and the Holy Spirit comes upon them, and they begin speaking these other languages while Peter's still speaking. And then he recognizes this is the same thing happened to us, Is there anything to hinder them from being baptized? Then he baptizes them. That event is recorded two more times in Acts chapter 11. He goes back and he tells the folks in Jerusalem, the believers there, this is what has happened and it's the same thing that happened to us. And their response, glorify God saying, well then God has grabbed the Gentiles off their penance of life. In chapter 15, he reports it again in trying to deal with what the Judaizers wanted to do. They wanted the Gentile Christians to keep the Mosaic Law. And so he goes back to the same event. It's extremely important. Remember, the Jews, including the apostles, were ethnocentric. Very ethnocentric. Their belief was you could not be saved unless you became a Jew. And proselytes who were Gentiles were second class in their religious system. And you had to keep all this law. So this is a great transition of God is working the Gentiles. They don't get it. And so this great manifestation was to prove to them that God is working the Gentiles. It has gone to them, even Isaiah 28, 11 prophesied way beforehand that it was going to happen. People of strange and stammering lips are going to speak of the glories of God. That's what allows us the privilege of proclaiming God to the nations as Gentiles. Otherwise, it still belongs to the Jews, but it's been given to us. We can also proclaim it. Then over in Acts 19, 1-7, Paul is in Ephesus. He runs into a group of disciples of John the Baptist. And they hadn't heard the whole gospel. He talks about them that they received the Holy Spirit. They didn't even know there was a Holy Spirit. He lays hands on them. They also speak in other languages. And prophesying. So Luke cites these things, these manifestations of the Holy Spirit, as the gospel expands to these new people groups, as they become more distant from Jews. Samaritans are half-breeds. They're a Jewish lineage and Gentile lineage mixed together. from Judaism itself and from Jerusalem. The farther it goes, the more important it is that this is manifest in a way that it can't be refuted, and he does that. But there's more things that go on here than just that. The manifestation of the Spirit, Luke's greatest emphasis through Acts, is the bold witnessing of those who are filled with the Spirit. That's all through Acts. And tracing this theme, we also find the expansion of missions. Again, begins chapter two, all the people there are filled with the Spirit. And again, what are they speaking? The mighty deeds of God. They're not just rambling on. They're speaking of the mighty deeds of God. And then Peter, and remember Peter? Peter, less than two months earlier, had run away from a servant girl when Christ was on trial because that servant girl recognized his speech and said, you're a friend of Jesus. And he runs away. All the apostles are hiding in the upper room. And they're still scared. Even after the resurrection, they're still somewhat scared. They're not out boldly doing anything. They're a cloistered little group trying to not get hurt. Well, what happens? The Holy Spirit comes upon them, and Peter's speech there, bold, he gets to the end of it, and these people he's talking to, he accuses them. I can imagine pointing the finger, and you are the ones responsible for the crucifixion of Christ. That's very different than Peter, who was before. In fact, if you want to know the proof of the resurrection of Christ, it's the book of Acts and the life of Peter, the life of these other apostles. You took these men who were so afraid and they turned the world upside down because he became bold. In fact, chapter 3 and 4, we find Peter and John, they're continuing to boldly proclaim Christ even though opposition is starting to rise against them. Peter begins his bold defense before the Sanhedrin after he is, the text says, filled with the Holy Spirit. And he doesn't mince any words. You judge for yourselves. Should we obey God or man? They'll obey God. They're flogged, and they go away rejoicing. That only happens if you're filled with the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, we go away moaning. But they go away rejoicing. Chapter 4, verse 31, they report what had happened to them, to the other believers. And these group of believers, they pray. Result is the place is shaken. All of them are filled with the Holy Spirit. And they began to, quote, speak the word of God with boldness. So every time we find this, it is a boldness that they have in telling people about Christ. Over in chapter 6, we find the disciples look for men who are full of the Holy Spirit in order to do a particular ministry. We don't even get out of that chapter and we find that one of these, Stephen, one of these men full of the Holy Spirit, is also very bold in his witnessing. In fact, he is so bold, it says that no one could reason with him and win. And since they couldn't win the argument because he was so bold, and the text actually says he was full of wisdom and spirit with which he was speaking, they send in false witnesses. The false witnesses accuse him. Chapter 7 is his testimony. And he doesn't mince words. Recounting of Israel's history at the end of it, he nails them again. You were the ones who crucified Christ. If you're on trial, do you accuse the judge? And he does. You're responsible. And they stone him, the first martyr. But boldness and witnessing, even as he's dying, he sees Christ, he cries out to Him, and even asks God to forgive the sin that they just did. That's the Spirit working on him. Boldness, no matter what the consequences. Chapter 7 says that as he gave this defense, it cut them to the quick. It cut their heart. It hurt them. In chapter 8, we find Philip. Philip is another one of those picked out in Acts 6. He goes up to Samaria. He's preaching there. The Spirit then leads him down to the road going to Gaza. That's down south. And he finds the Ethiopian eunuch, explains Isaiah to him. This man is saved. Then you find him in Exodus, which is down on the plains with the Gaza Strip. You think of Palestine now, that's about where it is. He works his way up the coast all the way to Caesarea. So now you have Samaria and Judea. The gospel is going on to these areas by chapter 8. Again, very effective. In chapter 9, chapter 9 is the conversion of Paul. Paul's on the road to Damascus. He's Saul at that time. He's going to persecute the church. He sees the light, literally. He is converted. He gets to Damascus. Ananias lays his hands on him. He's filled with the Spirit, verse 17. He is then baptized, verse 18. And within a few days, and the only reason it took a few days is Paul had not had anything to eat for several days. He is in the synagogues in Damascus, boldly proclaiming Christ. This is the one who's going to persecute the church. And he continues to do this for many days until such time as there's a plot that rises up to do away with him, verse 23. So he escapes, he's lured over the wall, he goes to Jerusalem. So what does he do in Jerusalem? Goes in the temple and he's arguing there and stays doing that until the brethren send him away to Caesarea and Tarsus because there was an attempt to kill him in Jerusalem. So this is boldness. Why? He's still with the spirit. Now, during this same period of time, Peter goes to Lyda and to Joppa. Now, that's over the coast of Israel. Chapter 10, Cornelius, a centurion of the Italian cohort, he receives a vision from God. Peter has a vision from God. And Peter gets the idea that maybe he should go and do whatever God tells him to do. The servant from Cornelius comes, come up here, so he goes out to Caesarea, and here are all these Gentiles. Now, Peter's someone who's never done this before. Be with Gentiles? That's not right. You know, we're not supposed to do this as Jews, but the vision told him he should come. While he's explaining the gospel to them, the Holy Spirit comes upon these devout Gentiles. They begin to speak in tongues, as I told you earlier. And Peter recognizes the Word of God is now available to the Gentiles. The door is open to the Gentiles. And then they're baptized and set apart. But again, as Peter leaves there, they're continually filled with the Holy Spirit. Also, chapter 11, Peter comes back, reports to the folks there about what's going on, and they receive it. And then the end of chapter 11, Barnabas, who's full of the Spirit, goes to Antioch because there's some folks there who had heard the gospel from Cyprus and Cyrene who were witnessing to the Gentiles. So he goes up there to help. He is filled with the Spirit. The result, considerable numbers saved. So again, it's spreading. But the boldness keeps coming about. They're filled with the Spirit and they boldly proclaim Christ. No matter what the consequences, they keep going. Then we get to chapter 12. Peter's imprisoned or actually released by an angel. God is protecting even when opposition comes, when persecution comes. God is still there. He knows what he's doing and he knows who he wants to do what. They could trust him. Peter is sent away. Chapter 13 begins the first missionary journey. And we're going to cover them all. You say, wait a minute, you don't have time for that. Yes, we do. There we go. Laser pointers are great. So, Paul has been sent up to Antioch, that's where he is currently, and the Holy Spirit sets aside Barnabas and Paul for a particular work of the ministry to start traveling. This is the beginning of missions. So, first of all, they travel to Salamis, here on Cyprus, then they go overland to Paphros. They're witnessing all the way. In Paphros, Paul encounters Elymas, the magician, who opposes him. Paul's miracles start up. coming about. He says, you're going to be blind and the Lord strikes this person and they're blind. The people respond greatly to Paul's ministry and many are saved there. Well, they continue on. They sail from Paphos. They come up to Perga here in Asia Minor. And from Perga, again, they minister there and then they go on up to Sidion Antioch, which is up here. This area here is called Sidion. There's Sidion Antioch as opposed to Antioch down here. From there they go to Iconia, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. Now, in Lystra, they find great reception to begin with, but mobs, we'll do that in detail when we get there, but mobs are fickle. They can love you one moment, and the next moment they're trying to kill you, which they actually did. They stoned Paul there. They left him for dead. Paul was not yet ready to be going to heaven. God raised him up. He stands up. Now, what would you do if you were Paul? You just got stoned to death. Paul is full of the Holy Spirit, so here he is in Lystra. He continues on to Derbe, goes back to Lystra, Iconium, and he retraces his route. He goes back to the same cities that just stoned him. Is that boldness? That's boldness. That is the mark of the Holy Spirit working on these folks. They're just going to go back in. Besides, I guess you have this too. If you stone me, you kill me. So what? Do it again? God will raise me back up, right? So he goes back. Now, in chapter 13, so here we go, chapter 13, and he's back. Chapter 15, a council is held in Jerusalem. Paul goes down here to Jerusalem. And the great question is, is what about these Gentile believers? Do they have to obey the Mosaic law? Paul is there. Peter is there. They're both reporting what God is doing among the Gentiles. Peter, again, recounts what happened with Cornelius. Their conclusion? No. Gentiles don't have to become Jews to be saved. It's a message of God's grace, not of the Mosaic law. Well, after some days, Paul is going to make another journey. He goes back up to Antioch, and this time he goes overland, and he wants to visit the same churches that he had helped establish to begin with, and that's what he does. He goes to Troas. He had been there for a while, so he visits home. He comes back up. Again, Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, Lycaonia. This is the area of Phyrega, the city in Antioch, Galatia. He travels all through here, witnessing all the way until he gets to Mycenae. And here in Mycenae is when he is perplexed. The Holy Spirit is not letting him go where he wants to go. It's Bithynia. Come back up here and complete the loop. the Holy Spirit won't let him. That's where the Macedonian call comes from. His vision of a man from Macedonia, come over here. So he's faithful. He sails from Troas, lands at Neapolis, and up to Philippi. In Philippi, he finds a group that is gathered of God-fearers, presents the gospel, and Lydia is the first European convert. Persecution arises. He's thrown in jail. He gets out of jail, and he goes down to from Philippi to Thessalonica. From Thessalonica he goes to Berea. Here he leaves Timothy, and Timothy's ministering there, and he goes down to Athens. And while he's in Athens waiting for them to come, he's reasoning in the marketplace. Stump preacher. Just stand up and you're going at it. The philosophers are interested. He goes up the Areopolis and witnesses to the philosophers there. Acts 17 is a great model for true evangelistic messages. From there, he goes to Corinth. He spends a year and a half in Corinth strengthening the church, building it up. He meets several folks there. On his way back, he drops some folks off here in Ephesus, including Apollos, and he sails back down to Caesarea, reports in Jerusalem, then ends up back in Antioch. And he's there for a while. But now Paul is his feet are itchy. He doesn't stay any places very long. So we get to the third missionary journey. So, again, here he starts off in Antioch. Again, same areas he'd been before, he wants to re-strengthen the churches. So, he goes back, same areas, Phyrega, Galatia, Cilicia, same areas right through, comes out and works his way up the coast. He makes and strengthens the church all the way to Corinth and then comes back. Now, when he gets to Ephesus, so this time, this would be Acts chapter 19, this is where he finds those disciples of John the Baptist. And finally, he lays hands on them. He ends up, he reasons in the synagogues for three months. And so there's such opposition, they won't listen to him, so he goes to the school of Tyrannus, and he teaches there for two years in Ephesus. He's established a church. It's after this that he travels up, goes around to Corinth, spends time there, strengthens all the churches, and here he picks up Luke. This is where he picks up Luke, and Luke travels with him from here on. He wants to get to Jerusalem by the time of the feast, so he makes a quick dash down the coast. And Acts talks about every single little detail of going by Midoline and Smyrna and Chios, Smol and Kos, and they went by Rhodes, they started at Ptahra. It gives you all these details. In Miletus, he stops for a short time. The Ephesian elders come down, and Acts chapter 20 gives that great discourse of his charge to the Ephesian elders. Here's what you need to do. And it makes it back down to Jerusalem. Before he gets to Jerusalem, he's here in Caesarea. And in Caesarea, there is a prophet who keeps telling them, if you go to Jerusalem, you're going to be thrown in jail. And they keep telling him this. Now, I don't know about you. I get irritated when someone keeps telling me the same thing over and over. And I say, OK, I know. But then they tell me again. Summarizing, I've had enough. I know. I'm ready to go to Jerusalem, though chains await me. I'm ready to die in Jerusalem, if that's what the Lord has. He is so committed to the Lord, he'll face death, even knowing that that's maybe what's going on. He may face death there. He makes it down to Jerusalem. And from here, he goes in, he's made a vow, because there is a great concern that false accusations are made against him. So he's going to make a vow, it's a Nazarite vow. He's going to keep certain things. He goes into the temple to keep this. He'd actually been there for six days. Some of these folks from Asia, this area, who had opposed Paul there, had come down to Jerusalem. They see him in the temple, and they stir up a mob. And they're just about to beat him to death. when the Roman soldiers who oversee the temple come storming down and take him by force and basically save his life. From that point, Paul is going to be in prison for more than four years. But in those four years, he gives his testimony over and over again with boldness. You just had a group that just tried to kill you. He gets the Roman centurion's attention by speaking Greek. That gets his attention, he says, I'd like to speak to people. So he's standing up, it's actually a wall with a fort that's behind it where the Romans have their cohort. And he addresses everybody else in Hebrew. They all get silent. And again, he's bold in his witness. He just got beat up by these people. Next day, he has to give his testimony before the Sanhedrin. Again, he's bold. A plot comes, they're gonna try and kill him. 40 men made an oath they would not eat or drink until they kill him. I guess they got pretty hungry because the plan was found out and they took him all the way back over to Caesarea here where he stayed for another two years. He gave his testimony to the governor there. First was Felix. Felix would keep talking with him, but Felix wanted some money and he wanted to give the Jews a favor. There was nothing to hold him on. Festus comes. Festus interviews him. can't really find anything, but he wants to send him back to Jerusalem, and he knows there's a plot to kill him along the way. So he appeals to Caesar, gives his testimony to Festus, and then Festus and King Agrippa, who knew what was going on. That began another journey. He finally is sent from Caesarea. They end up by Crete. They end up way over here in Malta, eventually end up in Rome, but it's a long haul because they're shipwrecked in the process. End up on Malta for several months before they finally get to Rome. He gets to Rome, and what does Paul do? He calls all the Jewish folks who will come and gives them the gospel. And then spends two years, whoever will come, he will speak. He will tell them the gospel. That's how the book ends. That's why it really isn't written later. That's how the book ends. And it is a never-ending book. Because this final part of it really comes back down to us. These are really the conclusions. Paul's in prison Rome. He's preaching the gospel freely. The work of Jesus Christ continues today through His people. It continues through you. It continues through me. Are you filled with the Holy Spirit? There are two things that really mark it. We go to Galatians and you have the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, gentleness, kindness, self-control. The other is boldness and declaring what God is doing. Have you been crucified with Christ so that you no longer live and that it's Christ living in you? Are you living by faith in Him? Are you walking in such a way that when people see you, they see Christ living in you? See, that is the evidence that should be there in all of us, a boldness in declaring to others, here is who Jesus Christ is. Here is what God has done. Though I am a sinner, deserving nothing, God's grace, His love shed on me. Christ, the perfect one, God Himself in human flesh, sinless life, willingly took my place on the cross while I was a sinner, that my sins are paid for. And His promise is through faith in Him, He is willing to forgive me. Confessing with your mouth that Jesus is Lord. What do you mean Lord? He's God. He's Master. He's superior. I follow Him. That's what it means to be a disciple, a follower of Christ. And believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead. The resurrection. Are we declaring that? This is the thing that astounds people. Can anybody be raised from the dead? Yes, they can. And that's my hope. And it could be your hope as well. And by following Him, I have these precious promises. And so I want to declare that to people. That is what we're going to have until sometime next spring. Story after story of Jesus Christ working through the Holy Spirit in the lives of His apostles and changing the world. Your story continues today, though. Jesus Christ working through His Holy Spirit in you to change your world. Acts is still being written. What is the chapter that you are writing? Father, we are again very grateful for your Word. Father, what joy there is to know that the same things that happened so long ago, the same powers available to us, that we might speak boldly of Jesus Christ. And Father, certainly there is those aspects of opposition. It's all through Acts. There is danger involved, and Paul certainly expands on that in his epistles. the many things that he also suffered, but yet they suffered with joy that they would be called worthy or counted worthy to suffer for your namesake. Forgive us, Father, for how often we are more interested in our comforts, in the ease of life, rather than boldly going forward and declaring what's true. That is what we need to do. Father, through this study, encourage us, prod us, that this church, a local manifestation of your body, will do its part in repeating the Book of Acts and carrying on the legacy left to us, that we will reach our own Jerusalem, our own Judea and Samaria, and to the other most parts of the world. Father, how wonderful would it be to be seeing those who grew up in this church sent out as our missionaries to foreign lands. Father, though it's a great sacrifice on their part, We would look forward and be honored to see your spirit doing that within our midst. We pray this in Jesus name for his sake and glory. Amen.