THE KING’ S BUSINESS
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Nor do we have a complete account of Paul’s life, as reference to 2 Corinthians 11:23-33 will show. The awful catalog of sufferings mentioned in this chapter are practically not even alluded to in the Acts, There is not one mention o f the five scourg- ings, and only one o f the three beatings. No allusion at all is made to the three ship wrecks, nor to the day and night the apos tle spent in the deep. This wonderful book is a divinely inspired Church History—it sets forth the origin, growth, guidance, and spread o f the Chris tian Church through the instrumentality chiefly o f Peter and Paul. In Matthew 16:16-18 our Saviour referred to the Church in prediction and in promise. He said, “I will build my Church.” In the Acts Christ is seen, by the Holy Spirit working through the apostles, fulfilling the promise regarding His Church. The Acts o f the Apostles is the gospel o f the Church, the acts and doings o f Jesus through the Church, the movements o f Christ in history through His Church. , Indeed the whole idea o f the book is the continuity of Christ’s work. Compare “o f all that Jesus began both to do and teach.” Christ con tinues His work from heaven (cf. Acts 9:1-9). In the A cts the disciples put into practice the lessons taught them in the gospels. The Acts shows further the intimate rela tionship existing between the Church o f Christ and the Holy Ghost—they walked in fellowship together (9:31). In the Old Testament the Holy Spirit was upon believ ers; in the Acts He dwells in them. Finally,, but by no means least in import ance, this book proclaims the true method and nature o f successful preaching, the secret o f power in all Christian service, and the divine procedure in the establishing of Christian churches. “ The Lord added to the church.” The Relation of “ The Acts” 'to “ The Gos pels.” The Acts o f the Apostles is a grand commentary on the gospels. Many things which, in the gospels, are wrapped up in
dark sayings, receive illumination in the experiences o f the apostles and the early Church. In the Acts we learn much o f the meaning o f our Saviour’s teaching from the character and life o f the early Chris tians, from the providential dealings o f God with His people, and the direct enlighten ment o f the divine and promised Spirit. What is presented in the gospels as proph ecy, indication, type and parable, is, in the Acts, converted into fulfilment, fact, and history. In John IS :26, 27 Jesus said to the disciples, “He (referring to the Holy Spirit) shall testify 'o f me; and ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.” In Acts we see the fulfilment o f this promise, “W e are his witnesses o f these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost” (5:32), I f the gospels set forth the advent o f the Son o f Man to suffer, the Acts shows the coming o f a strong Son o f God in the energy o f the Holy Spirit to create, build up, extend, and consummate the Church. The gospels show what Christ began to do in the way o f teaching and working; the Acts, what He continued to do and teach, only from heaven instead o f from the earth, and through the Church instead o f through Himself personally. THE OUTLINE OF THE BOOK There are many ways o f viewing the structure and the contents o f the Acts. The most general view o f its contents may 1. The birth, foundation, and progress o f the Christian Church in Jerusalem and Judea, 1-8. 2 . The first persecution, and extension o f the gospel to Samaria (Cornelius), 8-9:18. 3. The second persecution, and found ing o f the church at Antioch, 9:19-12:25. Church-Jewish: In Jerusalem (2-7) ; in Palestine in general (8-12). II. The Acts of Paul, 9:1-32; cc 13-28. The activity o f Paul, 13:20; the Captivity o f Paul, 21-28. 1. Paul’s call, 9:1-32. be summed up as follows: I. The Acts of Peter, 1-12.
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