Lesson 21

Book of Acts
General Introduction
Under the title the "Acts of the Apostles", this is the opening pages of
the history of the Church. It tells us how t?e Church was born, grew and
d eloped to the extent of being a formidable force. Let us study the
ev f ..
book of Acts and its author and the purpose o writing.

Some General Facts

The book of Acts covers a period of some 30 years, from the birth of the
church on the day of Pentecost to Paul's imprisonment at_ Rome. It
describes the spread of Christianity around the Northern Mediterranean
through present-day Syria, Turkey and Greece to_the heart of the Roman
Empire, or in the words of Jesus, "In Jerusalem, in all Judea, Samaria and
to the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts.1:8)

The Acts related are mainly those of the Apostles Peter

and Paul
Who wrote it?

All the evidence of authorship points to Paul's dear friend Luke, the
. doctor. He was not one among the twelve Disciples of Christ and was
the only non-Jewish writer in the New-Testament. He came from Antioch
or possibly Philippi. Both Luke's Gospel and Acts have the same addressee
1 Theophilus. Moreover in the book of Acts he clearly states about the
Gospel as his first book. We can know from the way he changes from
"They" to "We" in Acts (16:10,20:5, 27:1) that he was present at many of
the events described. He made the fateful journey with Paul to Jerusalem,
stuck by him during the two years at Caesarea. He also shared the
voyage and shipwreck on the way to Rome. He had Plenty of opportunities
to obtain his information first hand from Paul and Barnabas and others
in the church at Antioch; from James the Lord's brother among others
at Jerusalem and from Philip and his daughters at Caesarea.

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' Purpose of writing
It was in
b t Christiani
h
RO man T eop
hilus an accurate record of th
. ord er to give .the·ty (Lk 1:1-4, Acts ·1:1-43) Dr. · Lhu keh b eg1ns
· . G spel namely wit t e ascens1
true factsfaAotu where he ended h1sd obour' the advance of the 90sp~
· th~. \
1
ct

C
0account o hc s k elate a · h 1·t J I 01
f J sus In 1s g '
. ospel Lu e r h to t e c
h enter of Jew1s I e, erusa em ·' ,

from C
-· e an ·obscure v1"llage, Nazaret
. d the , story of the advance of the gosp~
. he continue f Empire Rom e ·
1

Whereas in Acts,
from Jerusalem to the center o

When was it written? f Paul's two year imprisonmen

Most probably, it was written
. at the
. close o
1
h ly or mid-sixties.
in Rome
The in t epoint
evidences ear to a a for the writing of the gospels
. d te about AD. 60

and 63 for/ cts h "Acts of the Apostles", a fitting title

Though the book is known as t. e ,, What Christ began to do and to
would be "Acts of the Ho.ly Sprrrt. h the Church.
teach, the Holy Spirit continued th roug

Acts ~f the Apostles - Chapterwise description

Ch.I. Preparation for the witness

a) Jesus' last command and promise (1:1-14)

b) The successor of Judas (1:15-26)
Ch.2.
The Holy Spirit comes, Peter's first ever sermon in Jerusalem
Ch.3. turns the key to open the Kingdom of Heaven to 3000 souls.
A lame man is healed and Peter's message in the Temple of
Jerusalem
Ch.4.
Peter andpray
believers Johnforface threat from the Sanhedrin council. The
boldness
Ch.S.
The church.
the judgment of Ananias and Sapphira - the first tragedy• in
.

The A~ostles arrested again and commanded

Ch.6. speak in the name of Jesus never again to
Stephen and other Deacons chosen
Ch.7.
Stephen Preaches to Sanhed .

nn and gets martyred

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 Ministry of Philip in Samaria and special guidance to ~in the
Eunuch
saul's wonderful conversion
Cornelius send: for Pet~r who ge~ the vision of a sheet tied to
four corners with all kinds of animals, reptiles, and birds and
goes to caesarea to open the Kingdom for the Gentiles.
Peter's report to the church ~t Jerusalem. The witnessing
produces another church c\t Antioch that becomes the mission

headquarter
James beheaded and Peter is released from prison by an angel ..
Chl2- and Herod's death
Saul and Barnabas are chosen and sent as missionaries-
Ch.13.
The first missionary journey begins.
The first missionary journeY continues and ends with return to
Ch.14.
Antioch
An important meeting at Jerusalem to deal with an · ·.
Ch.15. · extremist view of a Christian cult. Paul and Barnabas separate
and take two different routes for their journey
Second missionary journey of Paul with Silas and Timothy
Ch.16.
Second missionary journey continues and terminates at Corinth.
Ch.17.
Ch.18. Ministry at Corinth.
Third missionary journey .;: Ephesus.
Ch.19.
Third missionary journey terminates at Ephesus
Ch.20.
Paul goes to Jerusalem ani:1 courts arrest in the temple
Ch.21..
Paul's defense before the Jewish crowd under the Roman guard
Ch.22.
Ch.23. Paul before the Sanhedrin council
Paul's defense before the governor Felix after he was accused
Ch.24.
by the Jews · ·

Ch.25. Paul appeals to the Emperor

Ch.26. Paul's defense before Agripp_a
'

Ch.27. Paul sails for Rome as a prisoner and faces storm and ship
wreck ·
n""T
 Ch.28. Paul and all the sailors escape to Malta and finally reach Rome.
Imprisonment and end

A ·General Analysis and Division

Acts may be divided in to three principal parts, reflecting the ever
widening area in which the gospel of Christ was proclaimed and the
church established.

Main Divisions of the Book of Acts

Act. 1 to 8:3

Church is established
Ch · . t bl'shed
I in Jerusalem
nst ascends, Holy Spirit Descends, Church ,s es a ed b the
and spread to all Judea Signs and wonders are perfor~ by .
Apostles, thousands ar~ added to the Church, persecution egins,
St ephen becomes the first martyr.
Peter is the prominent personality.
'
Act. 8:4-12:25
"•
Expands to Samaria
Church further expands to Samaria. God uses Philip one of the seven
deacons (Act.6:1-6) to take the Gospel to Samaria, the Ethiopian Finance
Minister gets converted, Saul the persecutor of the Church becomes
the propagator. A Roman Cen.turion accepts the Gospel and the door
to Gentiles is opened. , James the Apostle is beheaded by Herod, and
Peter though imprisoned, is miraculously released by the Lord.

Peter & Philip are prominent here.

Act.13 to 28
To uttermost parts.
1st Missionary journey of Paul Chapter 13 to 14

2nd journey

Ch.15 to 18
3rd Journey Ch.18:23-21:17,

Voyage to Rome Ch.21:18-28:30

Paul is prominent in this section.