All right, good to see everyone. Well, before we begin, let's go to the Lord and ask that He would bless our time in His Word this evening. Pray with me. Father, we pray what we just sang, that we would not boast in our own strength and trust in our own might, but that You might come, empower us by Your Spirit, enable us to hear Your truth for what it is Lord, fruit only comes by Your hand, and we acknowledge that when we come to pray to You, the God alone who can cause the growth. Help us, Father, convict us, comfort us, show us what we ought to glean from Your Word this evening. We pray this in Christ's name, amen. Alright, well we're back in our Bible survey series tonight and we come to the book of Acts. So if you will, please turn with me to the book of Acts. It's hard to believe we're done with the Old Testament and all the Gospels, isn't it? The book of Acts. I'll tell you up front, no surprises this evening, what is so encouraging to me about this book, about the book of Acts, is that this book gives us the inspired account of how you could say God turned a handful of no-named disciples who were left in one sense by their leader into a movement that essentially turned the world upside down. I love that about this book, even as I was reading it again this afternoon. If you've ever considered or wondered how did Christianity come to be from just one little corner on the map to a worldwide religion, the book of Acts explains much of this. Literally, the book of Acts begins with, in chapter 1 verse 15, a gathering, as we read there, of about 120 persons in an upper room in Jerusalem. But by chapter 17 verse 6, citizens of Thessalonica are saying these men have upset the whole inhabited earth. And by the last chapter of the book of Acts, Acts 28 verse 22, the Jews will say of Christianity concerning this sect, they still considered it at that time a sect of Judaism, it is known to us that it is spoken against everywhere. Isn't that fascinating? From chapter one to chapter 28, 120 people And now it's everywhere. It's gone viral, we could say. I mean, how does this happen? How does this happen? In the history of God's people in redemptive history, the book of Acts documents this for us. In a short period of approximately, it's debatable, but approximately 30 years time, not even one generation in a sense, the gospel, the gospel and the good news of Jesus has made it through the Roman Empire and to its capital. without social media, without the internet, without TV, without email. You see, the book of Acts is historical proof, and I love this, of God's promise given to us in Matthew 18, verse 16. You remember, Jesus would say there, I will build my church. And he adds to that, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. You see, here's another reason why you should read and study the book of Acts. Think of our current culture today, all the fears and concerns you might have. What will happen to the church? Here's another reason you should study the book of Acts, because the book of Acts proves to us that nothing, I mean nothing, can stand in the way of God's purposes in the gospel. Nothing will close the doors of the church, metaphorically speaking. This book will show us over and over again that no matter how hard the unbelieving world or false religion even tries to stamp out Christianity, to wipe out God's people, to decimate the church of God, it will never succeed. Do you believe that? If you doubt that, you should read the book of Acts. You should study the book of Acts. We need to be reminded of this truth today. Think about it, there is then no, let's just apply it before we even look at it, there's no virus strong enough or dangerous enough to wipe out God's people and the work that He's doing in the world. Isn't that comforting? Listen, there are, might I say, no amount of executive orders to be signed that can crush the church that God has promised to build and sustain. That should be a great comfort to us tonight. No matter what the future holds, we can learn from the past. Christ will build His church. He has promised that period. He will do it. So let us be reminded of this from the book of Acts tonight. Titled this evening's overview, The Original Church Growth Movement. The original church growth movement, we do hear quite a lot today about church growth strategies, especially as pastors, actually. You'd be surprised how many emails from church marketing gurus, Danny, Kerry, and Kyle and I get in our inboxes each week that offer to us their services and their innovative methods to grow the church. Maybe you're not surprised by that. Maybe you have encountered those before. I'm thinking of one recently that one of us received that actually started off with a cartoon, but then proceeded to say something like this, the culture has shifted from people being trusting of the church to being skeptical. What's worse, he says, is that we are no longer the cornerstone of culture but the outcast. As such, then he says, our methods need to evolve if we're going to continue reaching people and changing lives to impact the world. Do you believe that? You probably don't get these kinds of emails like we do. Maybe you've heard of that sentiment before. Maybe the thought has crossed your mind before. Well, we are in great need of the truth from this book because what we find here in God's word is that God did not just, he didn't take a small, marginalized, and frankly unpopular group of people and make them major cultural influencers with slick marketing tools that were adapted to the Roman culture. That's not how this happens. That's not how the progression happens from chapter one, verse 15, 120 persons in a small upper room to chapter 28 when the whole world is speaking against this group. Now we see, what we see in the book of Acts is a group of men, a group of people who are so given, listen, so given and abandoned to the Spirit of God, working through the Word of God, that God used them mightily to bring the gospel to the nations, to the world in the matter of a generation. May we learn from them. May we be like them. In a lot of ways, there are things we would not emulate in the book of Acts, but in a lot of ways, there are a lot of normal things that we ought to emulate in the book of Acts. Beloved, this book teaches us about missions. Study this book. This book teaches us about church. Study this book. It teaches us about suffering for the gospel and how to respond to opposition. So I hope that after this overview, you'll be compelled to drink from it more deeply. But as you know, we only have so much time in these surveys, so our goal tonight is not to walk through every detail or even do a thorough sort of trek through all the chapters here. As before, our goal is to simply give you a framework for your own further personal study and point you in the right direction so you have a context for reading the book as a whole. So let me just do this. Let me give you some background material first that might help you as you read it yourself. I'll offer you an outline for the entire book that I think is helpful. Well, I'll give you actually a few that you can choose from that will help you maybe follow as you read and study on your own, and then we'll try to conclude just at the end with some implications or even some theological gleanings from the book of Acts. Background information first. Let's begin with the author. Who wrote the book of Acts? Well, you may know, perhaps you've studied before, you already know this, or maybe even you know this because you've been here a few weeks ago, where Jason taught through the gospel of Luke, because both Luke and Acts are actually written by the same person, Luke. In case you weren't aware, they are intended, Luke, Acts, they're intended to be read together as volume 1 and volume 2 of the same work. You'll notice in Acts chapter 1 verses 1 and 2 refer to the gospel of Luke as the first account. And both books are addressed to the same person, the most excellent Theophilus. Luke chapter 1 verse 3, he's named there, Acts chapter 1 verse 1. And not only that, but the narrative, if you were to just cut out John and go straight from Luke to Acts, the narrative itself picks up precisely where the gospel of Luke leaves off. with the same instructions from Jesus to his disciples to go wait for him in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit comes that is promised by the Father, and then they would be his witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the ends of the earth. So Luke-Acts is to be taken together, written by the same person, Luke. Maybe you've wondered why two separate books. I found this interesting because the longest scrolls, papyrus scrolls available at the time would have been approximately 35 feet maximum. And both Luke and Acts would have each easily been, if you just print them out on a scroll, it would have been easily at least 25 feet of the text. So, if you're doing the math, they both would have been able to fit on the same scroll, making it impossible for them to be written as one continuous document. So, it is assumed that Luke wrote both the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts to be read back to back as volume one, volume two. Granted, Luke doesn't identify himself in either of the books, but Luke and authorship of Luke-Acts has never been challenged until very recently, actually the second half of the nineteenth century, and for good reason it hasn't been, because it's very well attested both by internal and external evidence in church history. In fact, as early as the second century, Luke is recognized by the church as the author of these two books, and on top of that, if you took, you know, a Danish church history class, right, of the early church fathers, all those guys, Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Tertullian, Jerome, they all agree and assume that Luke is the author here, which is, by the way, striking, because if you know anything about Luke, and maybe you don't, He wasn't an apostle. And not only that, he wasn't really close with any of the twelve. And so there's even stronger evidence that if all of those church fathers agree this is the author, and yet he wasn't one of those men. It's hardly debatable. In fact, what we know from the text itself about him is very slim. If you read through these two books, you would notice he was not an apostle, nor was he an eyewitness of Christ during his earthly ministry. Just flip back to Luke chapter one for a moment. Luke chapter one, verse two. Notice what he says there, just in passing. So not only was he not an apostle, he didn't follow Christ in his earthly ministry. Luke says in verse 2, just as they were handed down, we'll actually begin in verse 1 there to complete the thought, and as much as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us, just as they were, listen to this language, handed down to us, by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, so he's excluding himself from that category. He's the one who's received it from the eyewitnesses. It seemed fitting for me as well to write. And so Luke, our author here, was not an apostle, nor was he an eyewitness of Christ during his earthly ministry, but he does seem, if you read through the book of Acts, he does seem to be He does have a personal relationship as a traveling companion to the Apostle Paul, which is something. And interacted with John Mark, who wrote the Gospel of Mark. But as you read Acts, you find he is a traveling companion to the Apostle Paul based on what we would call the wee passages of the book of Acts. If you're taking notes, you'll notice they begin somewhere around chapter 16, verse 10. There's a little bit of a gap, and then chapter 20, 21, and then 27 and 28. You'll notice the pronouns change to first-person plural all of a sudden in those narratives, and the thinking is, scholarship is unanimous on that. It indicates that our author actually in those sections was present with Paul as he traveled. And so Daniel Wallace notes that the author could not be then any of those companions of Paul who are mentioned by name in those sections, so that rules out Silas, Timothy, Sopater, Aristarchus, Secundus, Gaius, Tychicus, and Trophimus. And he was very likely with Paul then, if you put the pieces together as you read the book of Acts, he was very likely with Paul during his imprisonment based on where the book of Acts ends, which is consistent with Luke being the author based on some of the information we have from Paul's prison epistles. So again, Dana Wallace observes, excluding those already mentioned by name in the we sections in Acts, the following names are then mentioned in Paul's prison epistles or letters, that this is the group of people that could have written these two books. Mark, Jesus Justice, Epaphras, Demas, Luke, and Epaphroditus. And most likely this was Luke. the Luke of Colossians 4.14, whom Paul calls the beloved physician. Beloved physician, and it fits when you study the language and you compare the different gospel accounts. Actually, Luke has a much more detailed style, even in his recording of physical ailments and such. So it makes sense. This is Luke the doctor who traveled with Paul in some of his missionary journeys. What else do we know about Luke then in the Scriptures? Not much. He's a very minor figure in the New Testament. He's only mentioned three other times by name. One time briefly at the end of Colossians where he's called the beloved physician by Paul, Colossians 4.14. One time in 2 Timothy 4.11, and then another time in Philemon 24. But we do know that Luke was with Paul while Paul was in Roman prison, which is exactly where the book of Acts ends. So, we can conclude that Luke, we also can conclude that Luke is a Gentile from The fact that in Colossians 4.14, he's not mentioned in the category of men of the circumcision there at the end of Paul's letter, so he's a Gentile, and he may be from Troas, because that's where the we sections of the book of Acts begins. So, I feel like a detective, don't you, right now? Tracing Luke through the New Testament. Only got three clues. Now, Jason said when he taught the book of Luke, he said that it's fascinating, isn't it, then, if you put those pieces together, it's worth noting again, remarkably, think about this, Luke is the only Gentile author of the Bible. And yet when you consider Luke and Acts together, that makes him the largest contributor to the Greek New Testament, over 25%, just about 25, 26, 27%. That's amazing. That's significant. What about the audience or the recipient? Who's Luke writing to? Both Luke and Acts, like I said earlier, are addressed to this guy, One man, listen, 25% of your New Testament is written by one guy to one guy. It's addressed to a most excellent Theophilus, Luke chapter 1 verse 3 and Acts chapter 1 verse 1. Now interestingly enough, even though this man is named and Luke isn't, there's actually more debate about this guy than the author. There's more controversy surrounding him than there is concerning Luke. And part of that is because the name translated means lover of God, and so scholars have wondered if this was a real or fictitious person. And along with that, you have the question of, so is he a believer or is he not a believer? Is his name symbolic or is it not? And at the end of the day, I think it is a real name, not necessarily Symbolic. It was a very common name in Greek culture at the time. But how Luke describes and addresses Theophilus is very helpful here in determining our view. Notice he calls him Most Excellent. Most Excellent, what we would all love to be called. Most Excellent. Theophilus, a title though that is found, and here's the key, only three other times in the New Testament, every time it's found in the book of Acts that Luke uses it, it is used to address a Roman official of high standing. It's used to address Governor Felix twice, in Acts chapter 23 and Acts chapter 24, and then his successor, Governor Festus, Acts chapter 26 verse 25. So all three times, actually all four times really this description is used, then you find it in the book of Acts. Well actually once in Luke. But really, I think it's best to see this as an honorary title given to someone who holds a high office of the government. And most likely, then, Theophilus is his real name, his Greek name, and he's likely a high-ranking Roman official, which would also then make him a Gentile. You have a quarter of the New Testament is written by a Gentile to a Gentile. And we know, based on the introduction as well, that Theophilus perhaps was probably well learned and apparently had some knowledge of the events already surrounding Jesus and the early church, but according to Luke chapter 1 verse 4, was in need of a more detailed and accurate report or account of those events. So, that's the situation. The author the audience, but why did Luke then write to Theophilus? That's still a question. And this is incredibly helpful. To understand this helps us understand the book. And my point, you know, one of my goals tonight is just to help you go back and study it and make sense of what you're reading. And that's helpful because narrative in the Scriptures, even the Gospels, there is a purpose behind it. It's not purely for the sake of historical account, though it is that. Luke himself says that. And yet, as we read the Scriptures, it's helpful to know the occasion and the purpose. Why is Luke endeavoring to give such a detailed account to this one guy? Thankfully, we again don't have to do much guesswork here because he does tell us explicitly some of his purpose. Notice again Luke chapter 1 verses 1 through 4, he says, "...inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, it seemed fitting for me as well having investigated everything carefully from the beginning to write it out for you in consecutive order, so we even know how he's doing this, most excellent Theophilus, so that, here's purpose, expressed purpose from Luke himself, so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught. And in the beginning of the book of Acts, chapter one, verses one and two, he would say there, The first account referring to Luke, I composed Theophilus about all that Jesus began to do and teach, implying that Jesus is still working, isn't he? Until the day when he was taken up to heaven after he had, by the Holy Spirit, given orders to the apostles whom he had chosen. Listen, Luke clearly sets out then to give a detailed, accurate, and thorough account of these events to Theophilus so that Theophilus, think about this, as a high-ranking Roman official would know the exact truth about them. Hmm. Why did he want him to know the exact truth about this sect of Judaism? To answer that, we have to consider the book itself. For one, it is significant that Luke ends the book of Acts, if you've ever read it, with Paul. Just skip back to chapter 28, verse 30. Luke ends the book of Acts with Paul still under house arrest in Rome. Have you noticed that? Flip to the end for a moment. Acts 28, verse 30. reads, and he stayed two full years in his own rented quarters and was welcoming all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness unhindered. And there it ends, right there. We never find out what happens to Paul. And by the way, it's significant how much time that Luke spends on Paul's journey to Rome in the book of Acts. Listen to what Daniel Wallace, again, rightly observes. The last eight chapters of Acts, so Acts 21 through 28, are devoted to a mere four years of history. That's interesting. While the first 20 chapters cover approximately 24 years of history. The material is more than twice as compact because it now focuses on Paul's trials and material, which would be useful in proving his innocence. It's beginning to come together now. If you take into consideration that Luke is with Paul in Colossians 4.14, which is written, a letter written by Paul from this very Roman imprisonment, It is odd, given the detailed nature of Luke's account, that he doesn't include in the book of Acts the outcome of Paul's trial, isn't it? Unless, of course, he doesn't know. See, I don't think he knows. This is fascinating, isn't it? Luke writes Luke and Acts while Paul is there in prison, and it seems there is a kind of urgency to his writing, doesn't there? that this Theophilus would know, this high-ranked Roman official would know the exact truth of everything that has happened up until this point. Listen to Adolph von Harnack, a biblical scholar. He, like Wallace, observes this. Throughout eight whole chapters, St. Luke keeps his readers intensely interested in the progress of the trial of St. Paul, simply that he may, in the end, completely disappoint them. They learn nothing of the final result of the trial. The more clearly we see that, the trial of St. Paul, and above all his appeal to Caesar as the chief subject of the last quarter of Acts, the more hopeless does it appear that we can explain why the narrative breaks off as it does, otherwise then by assuming that the trial had actually not yet reached its close. And I think that's exactly what happens. So when you put two and two together, Some of you are getting it now. It is most likely that Luke didn't include the outcome of the trial before Luke Acts was written, or when Luke Acts was written, because he didn't know the outcome. In other words, it's likely that Luke wrote these two volumes for this high-ranking Roman official in efforts to help with the outcome of Paul's impending trial. That is helpful as we read through this. As you go back and study this, it explains a lot. This makes perfect sense when you consider what Luke actually includes in his narrative and in his book. In a sense, Luke's history is not just mere history. It is a history of the growth of the church and the spread of the gospel that had to answer some questions for Theophilus. It had an apologetic thrust to it. He wrote to set the record straight, you could say, not only for Paul's impending trial, but also for the church's reputation with Roman authorities, which was hanging in the balance, still yet undecided, which is now the church's reputation was under considerable scrutiny throughout the empire, Acts 28 verse 22. So this is the situation behind this account. In other words, I'll just say it one other way, final way. Luke acts, you might say then, is a kind of trial brief. Written to Theophilus before Paul goes to court before Caesar, while at the same time, it was an apologetic of early Christianity for the Roman government that sought to refute any misrepresentations that may have been circulating about Christianity at that time. So all that to say, if you're curious about the timeline, I think it's best to date the book of Acts then before the end of Paul's Roman imprisonment in 61 or 62. And that makes the most sense because of all the detailed opposition to the gospel and the church that Luke takes pains to write about, it's clear throughout Acts that the enemies of the gospel are the Jews and not yet the Roman authorities, which would not have been the case once Nero came to power and his persecution broke out in 64 AD. So this is clearly before that time. In the book of Acts you get the sense that Rome is still deciding about what do we think about this Christianity business. And much of that hangs on the outcome of Paul's trial. So this is the purpose, this is the occasion then that makes sense of Luke's narrative. It makes sense why then over and over again throughout Acts, Luke makes a point to show that Christianity is not a threat to the Roman Empire or a disturbance of the peace, but rather it is those who oppose Christianity who are problematic and unreasonable. Luke tries to show throughout the book of Acts in his record of history how those who oppose the church are actually opposing God. Luke throughout the book of Acts explicitly tells us that the Jews were jealous. And that's why they sought to oppose God's people. You see, Theophilus would have been sitting there saying, what is all this infighting about? Why has there been such a commotion and confusion throughout these Jewish provinces about this right here? Luke seeks to set the record straight. Let me just show you one example also of how Luke does this. Notice chapter five, and I'll give you the outlines here in a moment, but let me just show you some of how Luke does this. Notice chapter five, beginning in verse, let's see, 33. Okay, you remember, The apostles were ordered by the Sanhedrin and the high priest not to preach. And yet they say, verse 29, we must obey God rather than men. And there is debate then amongst the Jewish leaders about how to handle this group of people. But notice verse 33, this paragraph, when they heard this, they were cut to the quick and intended to kill them. But listen to what Luke records here, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, respected by all the people, stood up in the council and gave orders to put the men outside for a short time. And he said to them, men of Israel, take care what you propose to do with these men. For some time ago, Thutis rose up claiming to be somebody and a group of about 400 men joined up with him, but he was killed and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. After this man, Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the census and drew some people after him. He too perished and all those who followed him were scattered. So, listen to this, in the present case, I say to you, stay away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or action is of men, it will be overthrown. And here it is, verse 39, but, oh, and so good for Luke to include this for Theophilus to read, isn't it? If it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. or else you may even be found fighting against God. Oh, listen, beloved, and what happens as the narrative unfolds, is this a movement of men? Luke's argument implicitly to Theophilus is, it is not. Be careful what you do with the apostle Paul. because his outcome is yet to be decided. Let me show you another instance of how brilliant Luke is here. Skip over to chapter 12. It's interesting, chapter 12 is basically an entire separate narrative that sort of cuts away from, at the end of chapter 11, Paul and Barnabas' mission to bring a contribution to Jerusalem to relieve the famine there, and it cuts away from that mission, and chapter 12 is all about how Herod the king tries to lay hands on those who belong to the church, verse one, in order to mistreat them. He put James to death, and he goes after Peter, and he arrests Peter, and you know the story. Peter is sprung from jail miraculously. But what happens, notice, the end of chapter 12, In verse 20, now he was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon, and with one accord they came to him, and having won over Blastus, the king's chamberlain, they were asking for peace because their country was fed by the king's country. On appointed day, Herod then, having put on his royal apparel, took his seat in the rostrum and began delivering an address to them. The people kept crying out the voice of a god and not of a man. And immediately, an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give glory to God, and he was eaten by worms and died." Wouldn't you like that end? For someone who opposed the church, that's not random, and neither is the next verse. But in contrast to Herod, who opposed this movement of God, and was eaten by worms and died. In contrast, the Word of the Lord continued to grow and be multiplied." There it is. It's brilliant in Luke's account, isn't it? Over and over again, he gives example of this. Luke is careful to record for Theophilus, a Roman official, a number of times as you read through the account that the church and the people of the church and the apostles were unjustly treated and imprisoned and then later vindicated in their altercations with the Roman authorities. And almost every time it is instigated by the malice and the ill will of the Jews. And almost every time they're vindicated by the Roman authorities. Acts chapter 16 in Philippi, you remember. Paul shames. He pulls the Roman citizen card, remember that? He's beaten, or comes close, or actually he's beaten and then the officials find out they've beaten a Roman citizen in public, and they are fearful. Verse 38, the policemen reported these words to the chief magistrates. They were afraid when they heard they were Romans, and they came and appealed to them, and when they brought them out, they kept begging them to leave the city, and they went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia, and when they saw the brethren, they encouraged them and departed. Over and over again, Luke records this. They're vindicated by the Roman authorities. The Roman authorities don't want to touch them. This is helpful for Theophilus to hear. Same is true in Acts chapter 19, Demetrius and the silversmith and the incident in Ephesus. Paul is again vindicated there. The last example, notice skip to Acts chapter 26 in the last section of the book of Acts In the string of trials and defenses towards the end here, and I will give you an outline. I didn't forget about that. Acts chapter 26, remember he's before making Agrippa, making his defense. And just listen to, just listen to this and imagine this is, imagine being Theophilus, reading this. and really almost like legal testimony after legal testimony, this guy has been vindicated and just unjustly treated and he should have been home a long time ago. Verse 30, chapter 26, the king stood up and the governor and Bernice and those who were sitting with them and when they had gone aside, they began talking to one another saying, this man is not doing anything worthy of death or imprisonment. And Agrippa said to Festus, Look, this man might have been set free if he'd not appealed to Caesar. I mean, can you imagine being Theophilus sitting there listening to that? It's brilliant the way Luke writes his account here. So in summary, Luke documents the growth of the church and the promotion of the gospel in the face of great opposition, and he seeks to answer Theophilus' questions on this, because no doubt, this Roman authority would have been scratching his head about the same thing that I opened with. How in the world did this start in Podunk, Jerusalem, and make it all the way here? Why is this such a big deal? This is what Luke writes about. And it's so encouraging to read how God does that. And it's not by gimmicks, it's not by slick marketing. It is by his word and by his spirit and by courageous men who stood for the truth. And so Luke includes explanations for the resistance, for the confusion, all throughout the book of Acts. He gives examples upon examples of the church's vindication. So here's a way to outline. I'll give you several, and I'll tell you which one I like the best. There are some really simple ways to outline the book of Acts. You've probably heard there's a biographical way to do it, a way that focuses first on Peter and then on Paul. So, some would say Peter is the focus in the first twelve chapters, chapter 1 through 12, and then Paul 13 through 28. I think that's a little bit simplistic, but I get why that…I mean, that could be helpful. There's also another way to outline this geographically. I think it is a little bit better. So some would say, like in Acts chapter one, where Jesus is declaring to them, hey, you're gonna be my witnesses from, let's see, to Jerusalem in both, yeah, chapter one, verse eight. My witnesses both in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria, and then even the remotest parts of the earth. So those concentric circles, some would say, that is the outline. He gives it to us right there, chapter one, verse eight. So, geographically then you could see, and I think this is a little bit more helpful because I think it's a little bit more, I think, faithful to what Luke is doing here as the gospel goes out and then eventually reaches Rome, which would have been considered the outermost parts of the world. Jerusalem then would have been chapters 1 through 8, Judea and Samaria, chapters 9 through 12, you know, as the gospel goes, because of persecution, and then the uttermost parts of the world, 13 through 28, mission to the Gentiles. But of course, it's no surprise to you that I would choose the more complicated one, right? So, there's the biographical, Peter, Paul, there's the geographical, Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, and then most parts of the earth. I like the, I really wrestled with how to name this one, ecclesiastical or the evangelical outline, which is really documenting the spread and the success and the growth of the church in six different stages. We can call it six different stages of gospel growth. And so let me give that to you briefly, and then we'll just do some implications here for us towards the end, some takeaways of the book of Acts. I think the first big section does focus on Jerusalem, so we'll just say God grows the church in Jerusalem, And that's chapter one, verse one, to chapter six, verse seven. God grows the church in Jerusalem. And here's why I outline it this way. I should probably give you my reasoning, because, well, first of all, it's not mine. Daniel Wallace and then Gordon Fee noticed the same things here, but throughout the book of Acts, there are these summary statements. Or maybe to give you an example, incite some onset of PTSD for kids who are in school, progress reports. There are some progress report statements throughout the book of Acts, and if you highlight them, you'll notice there are like different scenes, and it follows the growth of the church. So the first one comes at the end of Well, it comes at the end of this first section, chapter 6, verse 7. Just note there. You can follow with me on this. If you're an underliner or a highlighter, I would underline these verses that, to me, close out and summarize each of these movements or books or whatever you want to call them. So this first section, chapter one, verse one, to chapter six, verse seven, God grows the church in Jerusalem, and it ends this way. Listen, the word of God kept on spreading, and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly. Here's the geographical location. In Jerusalem, that's the whole first six chapters, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith. The next section then runs immediately after that from chapter six, verse eight, all the way to chapter nine, verse 31. God spreads the church to Judea and Samaria. How does he do that? By persecution. The very next thing you read is the martyrdom of Stephen. And yet, look, Luke is brilliant. He records that God takes the most hated enemy of the church, Saul of Tarsus, and puts him on his team. Chapter 9. And so this progress statement, summary statement, at the end of this section comes Acts chapter nine verse 31, you can look at it. 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 the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase. You see, it's growing. How did it get to Rome? Luke is saying this is how. This is how. The next section then is, we'll just say God spreads the church to the Gentiles. That runs from chapter nine, verse 32, to chapter 12, verse 24, where that progress statement is this, but the word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied. Beginning to see a theme here? God's church is growing. And God's word is growing. So which is it? Is his church growing or his word growing? Yes. I love that. Hold that for an implication later. This next section, God spreads the church then to Asia Minor. through the apostle Paul. That's going to be chapter 12, verse 25, all the way down to chapter 16, verse 5. You have the first and second missionary journeys begun here. But here's your progress statement, Acts chapter 16, verses four and five. Now, while they were passing through the cities, they were delivering the decrees which had been decided upon by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem for them to observe. That was the Jerusalem council, you remember. What should the Gentiles adhere to in Jerusalem? out of sensitivity to their Jewish brethren, right? But here's a summary statement, verse five. So the churches were being strengthened in the faith and were increasing in number daily. Still growing. You see, this isn't just like, you know, how today, social media, things go viral and then they disappear, you know? Hashtag trending, right? There's something trending, but then that goes away very quickly. This did not go away. It's incredible. Second to last section here, God spreads the church then to Europe. First converts in Europe, chapter 16, verse six, to chapter 19, verse 20, this is initiated by a Macedonian vision, you remember? And Paul goes to Philippi because of it in chapter 16, and the summary statement, Progress Report Acts chapter 19 verse 20 reads this, so the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing. And then the last section is one of the biggest runs then from chapter 19 verse 21 all the way down to chapter 28 verse 31. And it is marked by God's, or it is marked by Paul, excuse me, Paul's resolve and God's resolve to take the gospel all the way to Rome. And so we'll just call it that God takes the gospel to Rome by a prisoner's voyage. Notice Acts chapter 19 verse 21, how this begins, even now, after these things were finished, Paul purposed in the spirit to go to Jerusalem after he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, saying, after I've been there, I must also see Rome. And so, like I said, for eight chapters, Luke spends then 25% of the book of Acts recording Paul's series of trials and defenses leading up to his arrival there in Rome. And we're told along the way, notice even Acts chapter 23 verse 11, God tells Paul, you're gonna make it there. You're gonna get there. He says, take courage, for as you have solemnly witnessed to my cause at Jerusalem, so you must witness at Rome also. God's gonna build his church. Nothing. will prevent that from happening. Not shipwreck, not a snake bite, not the Jews. Notice again, chapter 27, verse 24, even in the midst of the shipwreck, which by the way, Luke was, this is one of the we sections, Luke was with Paul during this time. Acts chapter 27 verse 24, God tells Paul again that he will make it to Rome alive along with everyone on the ship. What a promise. He says, do not be afraid, Paul, you must stand before Caesar. You must. If God says you must, you will. And behold, God has granted you all those who are sailing with you. I bet the crew was like, yeah, that's what I'm talking about. And then the last summary statement, progress report, comes at the very end of the book, Acts chapter 28, we read it earlier, verses 30 and 31. And he stayed two full years in his own rented quarters and was welcoming all who came to him, speaking of Paul, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness unhindered. The gospel's going forth. The word is multiplying, the church is growing, and God is guaranteeing it. And look, history tells us that Luke's apologetic worked. Did Paul remain in prison? Not at that time. Paul was released from this Roman prison, perhaps because of what Luke writes. and he would go on to minister for three more years and write three more letters before he's finally martyred by Nero in 64. This is a great book. You need to study it. So what are some concluding implications then for us as we've just done a jet tour here? The book of Acts raises a number of good questions worth considering today. I mean, I think, We have to sometime preach through this, because we need to spend more time on these subjects, like how do we grow the church according to Acts? We need to spend time on this question, what did missions look like for the early church? Is it any different today for us than what our focus should be? I would say no. Or a question like this, perhaps, you probably wish I would answer. What do we make of the nature of the miraculous gifts performed by the apostles in this book? I mean, that's all in here. Let me just give you a few implications. Let me give you an overarching implication first that I think is the most obvious. And here's the most obvious one. The church, beloved, is God's work and God's doing. And He establishes it. And because of that, listen, here are some sub-implications. And because of that, nothing can thwart God's gospel purposes. I just think of, you know, the ladies had studied Philippians, right? You just think of Philippians chapter one. That is also a prison epistle written by Paul in this very imprisonment. And he says, it's his own personal account of having the front row seat of seeing God do all of this. Chapter one, verses 12, verses 12 through 30. You know that section, Paul's very own reflection on how he was brought to Rome as a prisoner awaiting trial, and it gives us this insight. It tells us that, look, even imprisonment doesn't hinder God's purposes and progress. He says to the Philippians, now I want you to know concerning my circumstances, they actually turned out for the greater progress of the gospel. Oh, what are those circumstances? Oh, I've been shipwrecked, and now I'm in prison. Nothing. can hinder God's progress of the gospel, nothing will come against the church that God has promised to build. Do you believe that? Let me read you a long quote from Gordon Fee, and I love this, and it's a summary of all the things that you'll find in the book of Acts. Listen to this. Because the gospel, here's how he puts it, because the gospel is God's thing, It belongs to him because the gospel is God's thing, initiated by him and expressing his faithfulness to Israel through Christ and carried out by the power of the Spirit. Luke also regularly reminds us that nothing can hinder it. Not the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem. Not unbelieving Jews like Saul of Tarsus bent on destruction. Not the church in Jerusalem. Not secular leaders like Herod. Not Judaizers within the church. Not religious or secular opposition from Greeks. Not shipwrecks or snakes. With the coming of Jesus and the Spirit, the time of God's favor has come. The gospel is God's activity in history. Salvation is for all people, Jew and Gentile alike, and nothing can hinder it. And so the book concludes with Paul preaching in Rome with all boldness and without hindrance. I love that. Here's another sub-implication of the fact that the church is God's work and God's doing. God is then the one who grows. God is then the one who grows it. And I mean both in maturity, in Ephesians 4, 12 sense, and numerically. Look, we're not afraid of numerical growth. I mean, otherwise we'd be telling all the new visitors to go away. We're not afraid of, in fact, over and over again, Luke records that God was adding to their number, daily. Wouldn't you love that? But here's the deal, God causes that, we don't. God makes it 120 disciples in the upper room, in chapter one, verse 15, to 3,000 souls in chapter two, verse 41, to the number of men in chapter four, verse four, that came to 5,000, to a movement that rocked the world. If you're taking notes, this is the truth of 1 Corinthians chapter three. Verses five and seven where Paul would say, what then is Apollos and what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything but God who causes the growth. We believe this here. But at the same time, God uses means, doesn't He? We've got to be biblically balanced here. There's a good book on balance out there somewhere. And so here's another sub-implication, the growth of God's work must be accomplished or is accomplished by God's Word. I mean, this is all over the place. In fact, I was astonished, just trace through how many, just read the book of Acts like I did this afternoon, and trace how many times the word of God, the word of the Lord, and preaching, and teaching, and scriptures comes up. It's incredible. In fact, I would even argue every effective ministry adding to the church that happens in the book of Acts is accompanied by and accomplished through the Word, the Word directly. And so you even heard it, like I said, in the summary progress reports at the end of each of those sections. Chapter 6, verse 7, the word of God kept on spreading. Chapter 12, verse 24, but the word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied. I mean, the word of God is personified here. Acts chapter 13, verses 48 and 49, when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing, and listen to this, and glorifying the word of the Lord. Now, that's an interesting thing to glorify, right? Some people say, hey, don't worship the Bible. We know what they mean when they say that, but this is how I know God. This is his revelation to us. We don't bow down to pages and ink. The word of God is living and active, and the word of the Lord was being spread through the whole region. I like this one, Acts chapter 15, Judas and Silas. It says in verse 32, encourage and strengthen the brethren with a lengthy message. You know why I like that, right, as a preacher? Some of you are like, yeah, you do, yep. In chapter 19 verse 20, so the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing. It's all over the place. All over the place. So we need to pray like Paul does. Second Thessalonians chapter three verse one. That the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified. That's how we need to pray. That's how we need to pray. For God's work to be on it. It's not by gimmicks. It's not by marketing. That's not how God grows the church. Here's another implication, sub-implication. God decides who gets the gospel. You ever thought about that? He decides who gets the gospel and he's not partial like we're partial. Think about this in terms of the book of Acts. Think about it in terms of when the gospel went to the Samaritans. Philip is taking the gospel and he's being led by the Spirit, and it's the Samaritans, and it's an Ethiopian eunuch. And you know what, he just, well, if this is what God is doing. And you hear it in even Peter, Peter wrestles with this, even Acts chapter 10, right, verses 34 and 35. I most certainly understand, you know, this is in that section of when he had to have a vision from God so that he would dare to step in foot, his foot into Cornelius' household, remember that? Acts chapter 10 verses 34 and 35, Peter recounts that. He says, I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation, the man who fears him and does what is right is welcome to him. Aren't you thankful for that? I mean, you ought to be if you're not Jewish. Acts chapter 11 as well, verses 17 and 18. Therefore, if God gave the same, as he gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, here's what Peter says. Look, we should say this. Who was I that I could stand in God's way? And when they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, well, then God is granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life. Dear Christian, don't stand in God's way. You know how we do that. Oh, that person, the Lord would never save them. Don't stand in God's way. Give them the gospel. Man, I've just gotta read these for you. Another implication from the book of Acts, suffering is part of the gospel ministry. Paul was an example of this. In fact, the spirit had to show him how much he would suffer for Jesus' sake. He would say, Paul then would turn around and say, not just me, but he'd say in Acts chapter 14, through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of God. And this was after he was stoned and left for dead. Suffering is part of the gospel ministry. Here's our missions one, the end of, You ever thought about this? Read through the book of Acts and think about missions through the lens of the book of Acts. And here's what's interesting. The end goal of missions, what is the end goal of missions? The end goal of missions in the book of Acts is, I would suggest to you, to see local churches established, and let me add this, with qualified leadership. Paul and Barnabas particularly are constantly going back to the places where they've preached the gospel already. And you're saying, why would you do that? Strengthening the church. And you know what's interesting? Acts chapter 14 verse 23 records, Luke records, when they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed. They were going back and then establishing elders in those churches. And now, that's hard for us to imagine because we think, we read the book of Acts and we say, there are all these churches being planted. How did they do that? The reality is, they did. They did. How do we know that? Well, even Acts chapter 20, verse 19. One chapter after he was in Ephesus, we notice. that there are actually a plurality of elders in Ephesus for Him to call upon to meet Him in Miletus, Acts chapter 20 verse 17. That is assumed. I mean, Paul teaches this explicitly, Titus chapter one, verse five. He tells Titus, hey, here's the reason why I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you. And so I just say, look, study the book of Acts with missions in mind, and you will find that the end goal, I mean, prove me wrong, that the end goal of missions is to see local churches planted with qualified leadership. That's why I love what we do here, as we train up men in the expository seminary. And then lastly, I will just touch on this one then, because I know some of you want me to say something about it. Acts teaches us something about the purpose of the miraculous signs that are performed. It does. And we don't have the time to go through all of these verses, but if you can write quickly, Acts chapter two, verse 22. Acts chapter four, verses 29 through 30. Acts chapter eight, verse six. Acts chapter 13, verse 12. Acts chapter 14, verse three. And I'll just dive bomb in one of these Listen to Acts 4, verses 29 and 30. And now, Lord, take note of their threats and grant that your bondservants may speak your word with all confidence, listen to the language, while you extend your hands to heal and signs and wonders take place through the name of your holy servant, Jesus. You know what the language is telling us there? It was the apostle's job to speak the word of God and the miraculous signs were done by God to accompany his ministry in this unique season of transition. That is the language all throughout the book of Acts. It was the word of God that was being validated by God through these signs and wonders so that the Jews would believe. And it would be without doubt that this is what God is doing. He is taking the gospel to the Gentiles. You should baptize this eunuch. And so, that corroborates with the language of Hebrews chapter two, verses three and four, and we'll just leave it there. There's a lot of reasons to study this book. We just scratched the surface, let's pray together. Father, we're so grateful for your word, and we thank you that you guarantee to build the church. Nothing can come against it. Lord, we pray that we would trust you and be faithful. In Jesus' name, amen.