1. Introduction to the Apostles
  2. Apostles = many messenger sent out on a mission as an agent of the sender.
  3. Shaliach is the Hebrew name for this.
  4. Shaliach means like the man himself
    1. have a message for someone, you would send out someone who comes in their name.
    2. KEY:  Moses, Elijah, and Elisha were this because they performed acts that only God could do.
  5. Apostles in the New Testament was short for Apostles of Yeshua of Nazareth.
  6. There were two requirements to be a disciple in the New Testament
    1. Be a disciple of Jesus
    2. See the resurrected Jesus
      1. this explains the different appearances of Jesus after the resurrection.  He was commissioning Apostles to go and tell what they have seen.
      2. Acts 1: 8 “You shall be my witnesses”
  7. How many apostles were there?
    1. 1 Corinthians 15: 5 – 7
    1. Paul considered him an extraordinary apostle 1 Corinthians 9: 1 also 1 Corinthians 15: 8, 9
    2. We know the names of 55 of the apostles.
    3. We would know more of them if they had scholars following them around writing all their acts down like Paul had Luke.
    1. The commission of the Apostles was as real as Jesus own commission from God: As the Father has sent Me. I also send you John 20: 21
    2. The believers considered the apostles to carry Jesus authority as they “devoted themselves to the apostles teaching Acts 2: 42

2. Training Manual for Modern Christianity.

  1. Acts covers about 34 years.  It starts in the year 30 – 33 and ends in 63, 64 with the arrest of Paul.
  2. There are a lot of commentaries on Acts 1399 at last count.
  3. The idea is not to just look at the history of the book, but to understand the Missiology of the book and how power ministries advanced that.
    1. 56 % of the New Testament is about the origins and growth of the Christian church
    2. 38% deal with nurturing that Church
    3. Last 6% is the book of Revelation.
    4. This shows that a majority of the New Testament is about how we come into relationship with Jesus and how we grow in this knowledge.
  5. Remarkable growth of the 30 years.
    1. From 120 to over 100,000 jews alone.  800% growth.
  6. None of the epistles were written with evangelism emphasis.
  7. Most were written while Acts was unfolding. Except the epistles of Peter, John, and Hebrews.

3. Luke.

  1. Acts is the second in a volume.  The First being Luke. Acts 1: 1 – 4
    1. Luke was an eye witness to the Acts of the Apostles.
      1. Acts 16: 6 Paul and Silas traveled
      2. Acts 16: 11 We boarded.
    2. He wrote Luke from testimony of others who were with Jesus.
  2. Author is Luke the beloved physician Colossians 4: 14
  3. Luke may have been from the believing community in Antioch.
  4. Acts 13: 1 mentions Lucius from Cyrene who may have been Luke.
  5. Luke is the last person to stay with Paul 2 Timothy 4: 11

4. Telling the record

  1. Luke tells what Jesus did, now acts tells what the disciples are called to do.
  2. Luke also spends a lot of time covering misconceptions about false accusations.
    1. People accuse Stephen and Paul of forsaking the Torah and telling people to forsake the temple.
    2. Luke spends chapters refuting this Acts 6,7 and Acts 21 – 28
  3. Luke is very specific in recording the ports they arrived in
  4. Luke also notes the arrival and departure of the places
  5. Luke mentions politicians and enters narratives making it possible to follow these journeys
  6. Luke is focused on how the gospel came from a part of a small sect inside of Judaism to encompassing Gentiles and affecting the world.
  7. Today Gentile Christians are the norm, but it wasn’t always like this.
    1. Jews in Acts 2
    2. Samaritians Acts 8
    3. Gentiles Acts 10
    4. This fulfills Acts 1: 8 You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea (Jews) Samaria and to the ends of the earth (Gentiles)

5. The Advancement of the Kingdom of God.

  1. The whole idea here is the advancement of the kingdom of god
  2. Now we live in a world where the enemies of God are present.
    1. god of this age 2 Corinthians 4: 4
    2. The whole earth lies in the sway of the wicked one. 1 John 5: 19
    3. The prince of the power of the air. Ephesians 2: 2
    1. YET the earth is the Lord’s and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell Psalm 24: 1
  2. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil 1 John 3: 8
  3. He made a public spectacle of them triumphing over them through the cross. Colossians 2: 15
  4. To do this we need to be endowed with power from on high Luke 24:49
  5. We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against rulers and powers Ephesians 6: 12
  6. Our advantage that Jesus leaves and the Holy spirit comes. John 16: 7