“The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,” Acts 1:1.
As we begin yet another school year, our forty-sixth, I would like to start a new study in the book of “The Acts of the Apostles”.
We are going to ANALYSE the wonderful record of the blessings that accompanied the first gospel outreaches.
It contains an history of the ministry and miracles of the apostles of Christ, and is a sort of a journal of their actions. It begins at the ascension of Christ, and reaches to the imprisonment of the Apostle Paul at Rome and covers a period of about thirty years.
The Lord Jesus ascended to heaven, verse 2, and so ended that part of His ministry. He is now in Heaven before where His blood was sprinkled and He now prays for us. “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us,” Romans 8:34. The Old Testament High Priest pictured for us this work of Christ. “And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times,” Leviticus 16:14.
Before we actually look at the words of the first verse, I want to explain why I have chosen this book to study, with the Lord’s help and guidance.
I. BECAUSE I BELIEVE THAT TODAY, THE PEOPLE OF GOD ARE HEADING BACK TO THE CIRCUMSTANCES THEY EXPERIENCED IN THOSE DAYS!
“The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun,” Ecclesiastes 1:9. We have the future revealed to us. We do not walk in darkness! “NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path,” Psalm 119:105.
1. They were small in number. “And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,)” Acts 1:15. “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place,” Acts 2:1.
2. They were despised. “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled,” Acts 4:13.
3. They were persecuted. “And as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them, being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands on them, and put them in hold unto the next day,” Acts 4:1-3. Paul’s testimony - “And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on thee,” Acts 22:19.
4. They depended upon one another for the very basic needs of life. Acts 11:28-30; Roms 15:25-27; 2 Cors 8:1-5.
More and more, boys and girls, these circumstances are reoccurring in our nation and further afield. The respect and regard that the Word of God was held in, in years gone by, has gone from our nation!
The world is returning to that heathen state from which the gospel rescued many nations since the days of the apostles. “The word of the truth of the gospel; which is come unto you, as it is in all the world (that is, the Roman World); and bringeth forth fruit,” Colossians 1:5-6. That spread of the truth took place in just some 30 years.
Almost as quickly, we have seen a reversal of that in this generation. The old wickednesses, banished to a large degree by the gospel, are now reintroduced and sanctioned by parliaments and apostate churches, and made legal and freely and unashamedly engaged in by society!
The troubled times of the Book of Acts are returning to this world. To be forewarned is to be forearmed!!