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CHAPTER 44 – Acts of the Apostles: 31 A.D.-Approx. 63A.D.

Acts of the Apostles is the forty-fourth book of the Bible. The title of the book in Greek is Praxeis Apostolon meaning “The Acts of the Apostles.” The English title comes from the Greek title.

Authorship

Luke, a physician, who was a companion of the apostle Paul, one of the main characters in the book, is the author of the book, Acts of the Apostles. It was probably written not later than 63 A.D.

Summary

The book of Acts of the Apostles covers the period 31 A.D. to approximately 63 A.D. It tells the story of how the Christian Church, founded by Jesus Christ Himself, which was few in number and regarded as an insignificant Jewish sect, became a worldwide religion.

The book is addressed to a man named Theophilus, the same person to whom Luke had addressed the book of Luke. As Luke states, Jesus showed Himself alive to the apostles, for 40 days after His resurrection, speaking to them of many things pertaining to the kingdom of God.

Jesus commands the apostles not to leave Jerusalem until they are baptized by the Holy Spirit. After Jesus speaks these things, He is taken up into heaven. Two men appear to the apostles, and they declare to the apostles that, in the same manner as Jesus was taken into heaven, He will return to the earth.

The apostles return to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives and the eleven apostles along with the women, as well as Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the brothers of Jesus are continually praying in one accord. The apostles cast lots regarding the names of two men to determine which one of the two men would take the place of Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus and then hanged himself. God chooses Matthias as an apostle to take the place of Judas Iscariot.

When the day of Pentecost comes, the apostles are all filled with the Holy Spirit and they begin to speak in other languages known to the multitude of devout Jews from many parts of the world, who come together to hear the apostles speak. The apostle Peter preaches a sermon which brings conviction to the hearts of those present and that same day, 3,000 persons are baptized into the Christian church.

The members of the church hold all their possessions as common goods, and they sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to everyone in need, and God added to the church daily such as should be saved by God to eternal life.

Peter and John miraculously heal a lame man at the Temple and preach of Jesus Christ to the people. As a result, Peter and John are arrested by the priests, the captains of the Temple, and the Sadducees. Notwithstanding this, about 5,000 men who had heard Peter preach believe in Jesus. After threatening Peter and John and commanding them not to preach about Jesus, the leaders of the Jews release Peter and John.

After this, two members of the church, Ananias and Sapphira, deceive the church into thinking they had sold all their possessions and given it to the church, when in fact they had withheld a portion. Both Ananias and Sapphira are struck dead by the Holy Spirit because of their deceit.

The apostles do many miracles and more and more people are added to the church. They are arrested by the leaders of the Jews but an angel sets them free and commands them to preach in the Temple and the apostles do so. Once again, the apostles are arrested by the leaders of the Jews and this time they are beaten and released. After this, daily in the Temple and in every house, the apostles do not cease to preach about Jesus.

A complaint about the necessary daily distribution of food arises within the church and, so, the church appoints seven men, including Stephen and Philip, to take charge of the distribution. Thus, the apostles are left free to give themselves to prayer and preaching.

Then certain men of the synagogue enter into a dispute with Stephen. These certain men bribe other men to make false accusations against Stephen and, on the basis of this falsehood they stone Stephen to death. A young man named Saul is present consenting to the death of Stephen and he goes and wreaks havoc on the Christian church, entering into every house and dragging men and women off to prison. Therefore, the Christian church is scattered and they go everywhere preaching the word of God.

Philip goes to Samaria and preaches Christ to them. When the apostles at Jerusalem hear that Samaria has received the word of God, they send Peter and John to them, who then pray for the Samaritans and the Samaritans receive the Holy Spirit. The angel of the Lord sends Philip to the south where Philip preaches to an Ethiopian eunuch who believes in Jesus and is baptized.

Saul receives letters from the high priest to go to the synagogues in Damascus and to bind the disciples of Jesus and bring them to Jerusalem. On the way to Damascus, Jesus appears to Saul, who is immediately converted to Christ. Saul then preaches in the synagogues of Damascus that Christ is the Son of God but the church is suspicious of his intent. The unbelieving Jews plot to kill Saul but he escapes.

Saul next goes to Jerusalem and he tries to connect with the church, but they do not believe that he is now a disciple of Christ until Barnabas speaks favourably of Saul. Saul then preaches Christ in Jerusalem and, when there is a plot among the unbelieving Jews to kill Saul, the church sends him away to Tarsus. Then the Christian churches have rest from persecution in all Judaea, Galilee, and Samaria, and its numbers are multiplied.

Peter goes to Lydda where he heals a paralysed man named Aeneas and, thus, causes all the people of Lydda and Saron to turn to Christ. After this, Peter is summoned to Joppa where he raises a disciple named Tabitha from the dead to life again. As a result, many people in Joppa believe in Jesus.

Peter is summoned to the house of a Roman centurion in Caesarea where Peter preaches to Cornelius and His family and friends. As a result, they all receive the Holy Spirit and are baptized. Peter then goes up to Jerusalem to inform the church of all that has happened. The church then accepts that God has granted repentance to eternal life to the Gentiles (non-Jews).

A Christian church is established in Antioch by those disciples who had been scattered everywhere at the persecution of Stephen. Barnabas fetches Saul from Tarsus and brings him to the church in Antioch where the disciples of Jesus are first called Christians. About this time, king Herod kills the apostle, James, the brother of the apostle, John, and He also puts Peter in prison. An angel sets Peter free from prison and Herod kills Peter’s former prison guards. After this, God strikes Herod with a disease and so Herod dies.

The Holy Spirit instructs the church at Antioch to send away Barnabas and Saul to do the work to which they are called. Saul and Barnabas then set off on their first missionary journey passing through Cyprus, Paphos, and Perga in Pamphylia, where a disciple named John, who accompanied them, departed to return to Jerusalem. Next Saul (Paul) and Barnabas go to Antioch in Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra, Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and the surrounding regions.

In every place, they preach Jesus Christ and make converts to Christ. Often, because of persecution they are forced to flee from one place to the next. In fact, in a city of Lycaonia, Paul is stoned and dragged out of the city by those supposing he is dead, but Paul survives this assault. Paul and Barnabas then set out to return to the Christian church in Antioch, retracing their steps and strengthening the Christian churches they had raised up in many places and ordaining elders in every church.

Certain men from Judaea come to Antioch and teach the church that, unless they become circumcised, they cannot be saved to eternal life. Paul and Barnabas dispute with them and the matter is taken up by a council of apostles and elders in Jerusalem. It was decided by the council in Jerusalem that the Gentiles need not be circumcised in order to be saved to eternal life, but that they must abstain from certain pagan customs. The church in Jerusalem accordingly sends a delegation from their church, including, Silas, along with Paul (Saul) and Barnabas, with letters to the Gentile (non-Jewish) churches.

Paul then suggests to Barnabas that they leave the church in Antioch and visit the churches they had established to see how they were doing. Barnabas wishes to take John Mark with them but Paul does not agree because he had abandoned the missionary work before and returned to Jerusalem. Due to a sharp contention between Barnabas and Paul, Barnabas takes John Mark with him and sails for Cyprus, while Paul sets out with Silas on his second missionary journey.

Paul and Silas visit the churches until they come to Derbe and Lystra and then the Holy Spirit forbids them to go to certain places they wished to visit. One night, Paul has a vision in which a man called upon Paul and Barnabas to come to Macedonia to help them. So, on Paul’s second missionary journey they pass through the cities of Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, and Corinth, making converts to Christ in every place. On the journey to return to Antioch, Paul and Silas pass through Ephesus and Caesarea.

After spending some time in Antioch, Paul sets out on his third missionary journey passing through the regions of Galatia and Phrygia, and the city of Ephesus, strengthening the churches there. Paul then decides to retrace his steps and pass through Macedonia and Achaia on the way to Jerusalem with the intent to next visit Rome. On his way to Jerusalem, he stops at Miletus where he meets the elders of the church at Ephesus. Paul then comes to Tyre and Caesarea and goes on to Jerusalem.

In Jerusalem Paul is accused by the Jews of defiling the Temple and the people start to beat Paul but he is rescued by the Roman chief captain and His soldiers. The Jews plot to kill Paul by deceiving the chief captain who, when he becomes aware of it, sends Paul to Caesarea to Felix, the governor. Felix tries Paul and finds no fault in him but to please the Jews he leaves Paul in prison.

After two years, Festus replaces Felix as governor and he too tries Paul, who appeals to stand before Caesar. After some time, king Agrippa visits Caesarea and, at the request of Festus, he too tries Paul. Agrippa finds no fault with Paul, but because Paul had appealed to Caesar, Agrippa commands that Paul be sent to Rome. As a result, Paul is put on a ship bound for Italy and, due to bad weather on the journey, they are shipwrecked on an island called Melita. Everyone on board the ship escapes safely to land.

After three months on the island, Paul is put on another ship bound for Italy. When Paul arrives in Rome, he is allowed to dwell by himself with a soldier as his guard. In Rome, Paul preaches to the Jews and some believe in Jesus but some do not believe. For two whole years afterwards, Paul dwells in his own rented house and preaches Christ to all those who come to him, with no one forbidding him to preach.

Themes

• The gift of the Holy Spirit to the disciples of Christ enabling people to speak languages previously unknown to them.
• The manifestation of the Holy Spirit to the Jews from all parts of the world.
• The empowering of the disciples with spiritual power by the Holy Spirit to convict hearts of their sins and convert them to Christ.
• The raising up of missionaries to preach the gospel to the world.
• The continuation of the ministry that Jesus Christ began.
• The organisation of the Christian church.
• The planting of Christian churches.
• Persecution even to death of those preaching Christ.
• The small Jewish church organised by Jesus Christ becoming largely a Gentile (non-Jewish) church.
• The spread of the Christian church from Jerusalem throughout the Roman Empire.
• Salvation is for all people.
• Gentiles not required to become Jews in order to be saved to eternal life.
• The rejection of the gospel of Christ by many Jews.
• The fulfilment of prophecies in the Scriptures.

God as Revealed in the Book

• The Holy Spirit instructing the church and directing its activities.
• God who performs miracles.
• God who brings His purposes which He prophesied beforehand to fulfillment.
• God who builds His church in the way He sees fit.

Connections with the Rest of the Bible

A short time before Paul’s final visit to Jerusalem, “when Gallio was the deputy of Achaia, the Jews made insurrection with one accord against Paul, and brought him to the judgment seat [of Gallio].” Acts 18:12. According to historical records, Gallio’s tenure as deputy of Achaia can be fairly accurately dated to be between 51 A.D. and 52 A.D. More specifically, the “Gallio Inscription” found in Delphi, Greece, dates to between April to July, A.D. 52 and from this inscription it can be deduced that Gallio was the proconsul of Achaia the previous year, in 51 A.D.

Now Paul states that “after three years [from my conversion to Christ] I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days.” Galatians 1:18. “Then fourteen years after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also.” Galatians 2:1. So, adding these two periods together we get 3 years + 14 years = 17 years. That is, exactly 17 years after his conversion, Paul stood before Gallio in Achaia in 51 A.D. Therefore, Paul was converted to Christ 17 years before 51 A.D. in 34 A.D. Paul’s conversion occurred the year when Stephen was stoned which we now know to be 34 A.D.

This is a confirmation of what was said before, that the 70th prophetic week of Daniel Chapter 9 ended in 34 A.D. For this was the close of the prophetic period which the angel Gabriel spoke of: “Seventy weeks are determined upon [allotted to] thy people [the Jewish people] and upon thy holy city [Jerusalem], to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins…to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy [who is Christ].” Daniel 9:24.

That is, in 34 A.D. the probation of the Jewish nation as God’s chosen people closed and the gospel of Christ was taken by the Christian church to the Gentile (non-Jewish) world. And, before his death, Paul declared, “The gospel, which ye have heard…was preached to every creature [every person] which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister.” Colossians 1:23.

Spiritual Applications

Pray to God sincerely and ask God to help you to do His will, believing that God will help you, and thus you will be enabled to make the spiritual applications noted below:

• Receive the Holy Spirit through “repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21) and go and do as the Spirit directs.
• Join the Christian church that is identified in the book of Revelation.
• Endure persecution for Christ even at the cost of your own life.

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