Spreading The Good News (Acts)
When I was growing up, I saw churches as places where people go to study the Bible and learn about God. That was my initial impression of the church. In my early teen years, I went to a different church on Wednesday nights only, where there was a lot of pizza, dodgeball, movie nights, and hanging out. The church building was a community center with a very brief message about Jesus that felt out of place. What do you think is the purpose of our gatherings? How would you describe our goal and mission as a local body of Christ? Which way is right?
If we were to ask that question in many places to many different people, the answers would probably vary. But what does God want his church to be? That is why we have the book of Acts. The book of Acts tells us about God creating a community of believers in the first century known as the church.
The Story
To Theophilus (1:1-8)
Acts 1:1--8 (ESV) --- 1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. 4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Before we dive into what this book contains, we need to recognize why it was written. The purpose of this book is to inform a man named Theophilus about the work of Jesus. Luke has already written a book to this man detailing all that Jesus began to do and teach. Now he will discuss the rest of Jesus' work.
In the first section, we read Luke summarizing the gospel of Luke. That was the beginning of all that Jesus had done up until this point. Maybe Luke stopped writing because he was at the end of a scroll, which was a convenient break. But the whole feel of the book of Acts is different from the book of Luke, and the first chapter tells us why. Jesus doesn't stick around for this book. Jesus continues to work in the world and helps them understand God's will through his apostles. Notice verse 8 says, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." This is Luke's plan for the whole book. He will explain how this promise comes true and, in the process, describe the goal and mission of the universal and local body of Christ.
Witnessing To Jerusalem (1:1-8:3)
In the first few Chapters, we see a lot happen in Jerusalem. After Jesus ascends, the Holy Spirit falls on the disciples on the day of Pentecost (49 days after Jesus died), and they begin to perform miracles. These miracles give them a sounding board where they can stand and proclaim the resurrection and ascension of Jesus. Thousands believe their message and submit to Christ. They repent of their sins and put on the blessings of the Spirit by being baptized.
From that point on, we see that those disciples devoted themselves to fellowship, the Lord's Supper, prayer, and learning the word of God. They also seem to spend much time spreading the good news about Jesus to all who will listen.
However, as the apostles speak about Jesus and healing people, the religious leaders grow jealous and angry. They don't like to hear accusations that say they are guilty of murder. These religious leaders threatened and beat the apostles, but they could not silence them. Eventually, the church is growing at such a rapid pace that they get fed up. One devoted disciple named Stephen teaches them the truth about their sin and Jesus' greatness. So, the leaders stone him to death, and they seek out all of the disciples to accuse them and try them.
Witnessing In Judea and Samaria (8:4-12:25)
The result of this growing persecution was for the church to burst out into the surrounding region. They didn't cower in fear. The church went to Judea and Samaria's surrounding towns to spread the good news of Christ. In this section, we learn about the Samaritans paying close attention to the things taught. They repent, are baptized, and become faithful to the will of God.
This section also begins to set us up for future sections. It tells the story of a man named Saul. He seemed to be a brutal core leader of the church's persecution until Jesus blinded him and chose him to be an apostle to the Gentiles. Chapter 9 describes his conversion and submission, but the church struggled to accept him. That's when a man named "The Son of Encouragement" steps in and encourages the brethren to accept him. So Saul finds acceptance among the church and returns to his hometown of Tarsus.
Acts 9:31 (ESV) --- 31 So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.
From this point, Luke turns back to the massive success of Peter throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria. But Peter even goes to Joppa and teaches them about Jesus. While he is there, something big happens. He receives a vision telling him to accept the Gentiles. So the church not only has to learn to accept a man who was a chief persecutor. They also learn that they need to accept the Gentiles. Jesus even blesses these Gentiles with miraculous spiritual gifts to confirm his choice of them.
The last chapter of this section tells us about another persecution. The apostle James is beheaded in Jerusalem, and Peter narrowly escapes being killed. Herod was behind all this, but we learn that God struck him in his prime.
Acts 12:24 (ESV) --- 24 But the word of God increased and multiplied.
Witnessing Throughout The World (13-28)
The final section is about Saul, primarily known to us as Paul. This section is all about Paul making journeys throughout the region of Asia, Macedonia, and Achaia. But it also includes Paul being imprisoned by angry Jews.
Paul's Journeys (13-20)
Throughout this section, we learn about him going into the synagogue after synagogue to reason with the Jews, but the Jews repeatedly reject Paul's message. It seems like the Gentiles are more accepting of the gospel than the Jews are. The Jews attempt to kill Paul on multiple occasions.
Luke seems to travel with Paul starting in Chapter 16 as he uses the pronoun "we" instead of talking about "they." Paul travels and meets with other brethren we read about throughout this section (Barnabas, John Mark, Silas, Timothy, Aquila & Priscilla, and Apollos). We read about him starting churches in Ephesus, Corinth, Philippi, Lystra, Derbe, Iconium, Berea, and many others. His goal is to bring as many souls to Christ as possible, so he doesn't usually stay very long in any location. He makes an exception in Corinth because God revealed to him that he would have great success there and in Ephesus, where he works with the brethren in a very notable city. He spent less than four years with these two churches because he was eager to spread the gospel elsewhere and encourage the brethren as they supported his work.
Paul Imprisoned (21-28)
For the most part, this book has been primarily positive. The storyline is that Christians and the Lord's church keep persistently spreading the gospel worldwide. However, in Chapter 21, that seems to come to an end. Paul goes to Jerusalem and becomes imprisoned even though he is not guilty of breaking any law. But, when we think that the gospel's spread is over, we learn that Paul spends his days in prison speaking to the leaders about Jesus. He even appeals to Caesar so he will be given an audience with Nero in Rome.
But Luke's story doesn't quite go that far. It seems like Luke hasn't made it to that point yet in life, so he can't fill Theophilus in on those details. Maybe Paul is the whole reason Theophilus believed in the first place. Or maybe Theophilus already knows about that. I'm not sure. However, we know that this book ends with Paul being allowed to spread the gospel even though he is under house arrest in Rome, and we can be sure that is what he will do.
What's The Message?
This book is very clear about the spread of the gospel worldwide. What Jesus began with his life on earth, he moves forward through his disciples while orchestrating things from heaven.
As we learn about the gospel spreading, we see the church developing in every city. Its purpose is to spread the good news even further. All these cities' men and women are telling their neighbors and friends about Jesus. They are attempting to reach the lost. That's their mission and purpose.
The amazing thing to me throughout this book is how resilient they are. They face trial after trial but keep pushing on in their loving service toward the lost. Governments command them to stop talking, but they refuse. If people refuse to listen to them, they go elsewhere. It's as if the gospel entirely changed their lives so that they no longer live for themselves. They live for the lost world around them.
Application
Have you ever known anyone like these people? Is this the way this body of Christ operates? Is our mission to spread the gospel to the whole world? The churches in Jerusalem and Antioch sent men out to preach in new places. Is that what this congregation will be doing five years from now?
If we are here to evangelize and spread the message of Christ, how are we going to become effective at that? I heard a preacher friend talking about Peter when he caught all those fish. Do you remember Peter's statement when Jesus told him to cast the net out? He said, "Lord, we have been fishing all night and caught nothing, but at your word." They pulled in a heap of fish, and Peter said, "Depart from me, for I'm a sinful man oh Lord." Peter then recognized that he is nothing without God's help, and it was only then that Jesus said, "Follow me and I'll make you fishers of men."
It's incredible to me to consider how evangelism and fishing are similar. When we go out fishing, what do we do when we aren't catching anything? We change the bait. We try something else. Maybe we will go to a new location. We go at a different time of day. We buy a boat. We don't just give up and assume that the fish will never eat anything. But how often do we stop fishing for souls?
We have to ask ourselves, "What am I going to do when things get hard?" Christians decided to work harder in the first century and teach more people. They didn't back down when Satan attacked them. They relied on God more and pushed ahead because that's our mission and our purpose in life.
Conclusion
If you want a church that gets together and enjoys one another's company, like a community center, there are plenty around here to join. But that is not the church Jesus established in the first century. It's also not a place where people who think alike huddle up and talk about doing things they never do. Nor is it a place where people get together and debate about what the truth is. It's a place where people get together to work on seeking and saving the lost. Luke wanted Theophilus to know that, and he wanted him to be a part of a community that sacrifices to spread the truth. Do you want to be a part of it? What are you doing to help?