Overview: Some people have called it, the Fifth Gospel. It is called in our New Testament, the Book of Acts. Most think they are the acts of the Apostles; in reality, they are the acts of God, through the Apostles. It is the book of Christ continuing His work in this world through the early New Testament Church, by the Holy Spirit. The Book of Acts is a sequel to the Gospel of Luke.

Listen to An Overview of Acts:

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The Background of Acts

Acts 1:1 reads: “The former treaties have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach.”

» The Human Author

Therefore, we know that Acts has the same writer, Luke, “the beloved physician” (Colossians 4:14). He was not one of Jesus’ twelve disciples. However it is clear thought reading the two books of Scripture he penned that he was a careful, thoughtful, and faithful writer. The Holy Spirit greatly used Luke in giving us both Luke and Acts. 

Luke addresses a man named Theophilus in both books. We don’t know a great deal about Theophilus in Scripture. Many Church historians hold that He was a well-to-do man, a well-respected man. It is surmised that Luke led Theophilus to Christ, and wrote the gospel record to explain to him who Christ is and what He did.  Then he wrote the book of Acts as another letter to Theophilus, to disciple him, to bring him along in the faith, to engage him in the work of Christ.

However, the emphasis of Acts is not on Luke or Theophilus – it is on Christ.

Notice the end of verse one again “… of all that Jesus began both to do and teach.” I have marked in my Bible those little words, Jesus began. Could I remind you that everything Jesus begins, He finishes. He’s still at work. The Book of Acts is the book of the Continuing Christ.

» Theme: The Continuing Work of Christ 

Acts shows us that Jesus Christ is faithful to perform that which He promises. He always completes what He starts. Paul said it this way, “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” In His earthly life and ministry, the Lord Jesus set so much in motion. What He set in motion is still at work in this present hour.

One interesting detail about the book of Acts is that while there is a definite beginning, there is no definite conclusion. If you read the final chapter (Acts 28), you’ll find there’s no benediction, there’s no summary, there’s no conclusion. There’s no “Amen.” Why? Because the work of Christ continues to this present hour. We are still part of the Church Age. While no more Scripture is being given, in Heaven the record is still being written. We are a part of the same church introduced in the Book of Acts.

We are part of the same Holy Spirit work that people like Paul and Peter were a part of in their day. 

A Book of Action

Acts is a book of action, because God is on a mission in this world. Now you remember that Luke began as a medical doctor, but became a missionary. We learn this in the Book of Acts.

He joins up with Paul’s missionary team (Acts 16), and begins to write a firsthand account about what’s going on in the early New Testament Church. He details to us all that the Holy Spirit was accomplishing in the Book of Acts. Luke, by the Holy Spirit, provides a transitional book from the time of Christ to the early New Testament Church. 

» Key Words

• The word believe is used frequently in the Gospel Records. It’s used again in the Book of Acts at least 10 times.
• The word preach is used seven times.
• The word witness is used 10 times.
• The word church is used 18 times.
• The Apostles are referred to 30 times

However, the number one term used in this book is Holy Spirit. Aren’t you glad you see the Church Age as the age of the Spirit? In Acts, the Holy Spirit is referred to over 70 times. 

» The Work of the Holy Spirit

The most famous mention is the record of the Holy Spirit coming initially to indwell every believer on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2). But the Holy Spirit didn’t begin at Pentecost, and He didn’t end at Pentecost. The first mention of the Holy Spirit in Scripture was recorded in Genesis 1; he was moving upon the face of the water. The Holy Spirit had no beginning, because He is the eternal God and He has no end. The same Holy Spirit that was at work on the day of Pentecost indwells every believer. (Learn more about this by studying through Scott’s ETJ series: Seeing the Spirit in the Scriptures.) As a Christian, the Holy Spirit is Christ in you (Colossians 1:27, Galatians 4:6). He wants to work through you every day.

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» The Key Verse

The key verse of the Book of Acts is found near the front door. In Acts 1:8, Jesus promised, “But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto  the uttermost part of the earth.”

The evidence of the Holy Spirit being in a believer is not mysterious or magical. Rather, it is very plain. Simply this: they testify about Jesus Christ. Do you remember Jesus said in the Gospel of John, chapters 14-16? He foretold that when the Holy Spirit came, He would testify of Christ. He would not speak of Himself. (To learn more, study “What Jesus Taught about the Holy Spirit.“)

The evidence of the Holy Spirit is not in signs and wonders, but rather in a clear testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you want to know what the Holy Spirit is up to, He’s telling people about Jesus. And if you are filled with the Holy Spirit of God, the first evidence of that is you will want to tell somebody else about the Lord Jesus Christ.

» The Outline of Acts

Acts 1:8 sets a pattern for the entire book. It outlines the book for us. It details the explosion of the gospel. The dynamite explodes, the power comes, and when it explodes, it touches first Jerusalem, then Judea, then Samaria, and then “the uttermost part of the world.”

You can outline the entire book of Acts this way:

• Acts 1-7: The gospel touches Jerusalem. 
• Acts 8-9: The gospel reaches Judea and Samaria.
• Acts 10-28: The gospel spreads to the uttermost parts of the earth.

Aren’t you glad it did? Because that’s how it got to us. Like a ripple effect, it finally gets to us.

May I ask you, is it continuing on through us? Is Christ able to continue His work to the ends of the earth through us? Or are we a dead end in gospel work? Have we let it stop with us?

In the words of Hudson Taylor, “God is always advancing.” He wants to carry his gospel forward. He’s always moving forward.

See the progression in the characters:

As you study Acts, you see the progression from character to character. For example, in Acts 1-13, Peter is doing gospel work. But beginning in chapter 13 to the end of the book, Paul is doing gospel work.

Study the missionary journeys of the Apostle Paul and remember that it’s your turn. It’s your time to spread the gospel. 

See the progression in the churches:

• Acts 1-12: The Church in Jerusalem
• Acts 13-26: The Church in Antioch
• Acts 27-28: The Church in Rome

Be grateful for your church. Recognize that every church ought to be planting other churches. Move forward. We should be advancing the message of Jesus Christ. In the book of Acts, we see Christ as the ascended Lord. But He’s not a far-off God. He’s not just a God seated in Heaven. He is Christ living inside of us. He is Christ working through us in this world.

Someone said, wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could see Christ Himself on this planet at work? Well, I say to you, you can through His church. He’s the Head. We’re the body. And whatever the head says to do, the body should do. And what is the body supposed to be doing? We are supposed to be giving the gospel, in the power of the Holy Spirit, to those who’ve never heard.

» How to Study the Book of Acts

One of the ways you can study the Book of Acts is through the great sermons of this book. There are sermons to multitudes, sermons to individuals, to families, in the synagogues, to entire cities, to kings and governors.

Every sermon, every message is about Jesus. And I want to remind you today that we have one message: Christ. We have one mission: Get the message of Christ to as many people as possible, while we can. Friend, as you’re journeying through Acts, realize that your mission on this journey is to get the message of Christ to others along the way.

Would you ask the Holy Spirit to fill you and use you today to tell someone about Jesus Christ?

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Dig Deeper:

Study Acts

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