Simmons The Books of Luke and Acts (2020 Edition)

To the Lovers of God
1. Auflage 2022
ISBN: 978-1-4245-6325-8
Verlag: BroadStreet Publishing Group, LLC
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 304 Seiten

Reihe: The Passion Translation

The book of Luke is a glorious gospel and perhaps the most compassionate, love-filled account of the life, humanity, and ministry of Jesus. Also known as the Mercy Gospel, the Gospel of Luke offers rich details of Jesus' love of children and the forsaken. It further shares Jesus' teachings on prayer, forgiveness, and our calling as Christians to demonstrate mercy and grace to others.   The book of Acts details the ascension of Jesus, the birth of the church, and the early years of the expansion of God's kingdom on earth. Paul's three missionary journeys are also explored, illustrating the spread of the gospel, the addition of new believers, miraculous answers to prayer, signs and wonders, and deliverance.   Revealed before our eyes in these two books of the Bible is the glorious man, Jesus Christ, and his undying love for us. This inspired account of church history awakens our souls and grants us courage to be witnesses for Christ.   'Not one promise from God is empty of power. Nothing is impossible with God!' Luke 1:37  

DR. BRIAN SIMMONS is a passionate lover of God. After a dramatic conversion to Christ, Brian knew that God was calling him to go to the unreached people of the world and present the gospel of God's grace to all who would listen. With his wife, Candice, and their three children, he spent eight years in the tropical rain forest of the Darien Province of Panama as a church planter, translator, and consultant. Having been trained in linguistics and Bible translation principles, Brian assisted in the Paya-Kuna New Testament translation project. After his ministry overseas, Brian was instrumental in planting a thriving church in New England (U.S.) and currently travels full time as a speaker and Bible teacher. He is the lead translator of The Passion Translation®.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Simmons, Brian

Leseproben

ACTS

(return to table of contents)

Introduction • One • Two • Three • Four • Five • Six • Seven • Eight • Nine • Ten • Eleven • Twelve • Thirteen • Fourteen • Fifteen • Sixteen • Seventeen • Eighteen • Nineteen • Twenty • Twenty-One • Twenty-Two • Twenty-Three • Twenty-Four • Twenty-Five • Twenty-Six • Twenty-Seven • Twenty-Eight

ACTS

Introduction

AT A GLANCE

: Luke, beloved physician, friend, and companion to Paul

: Theophilus, and all “lovers of God”

: Mid-to-late AD 60s, though possibly 70–85

: Ancient historical biography

: Jesus, the Holy Spirit, salvation, the church, mission, persecution, discipleship, and social dimensions

:

The Church is Born — 1:1–6:7

The Church is Persecuted and Expands — 6:8–9:31

The Church and Mission to the Gentiles — 9:32–12:25

First Missionary Journey and Full Gentile Inclusion — 13:1–15:35

Second and Third Missionary Journeys — 15:36–21:16

Paul’s Arrest and Journey to Rome — 21:17–28:31

ABOUT ACTS

The book of Acts provides us with the startling details of how the church of Jesus Christ began. We see the pillar of fire that led Israel through her wilderness years appearing in the upper room and splitting into 120 personal pillars of fire over the heads of the lovers of God. This inspired account of church history will awaken your soul with transforming power and give you courage to be a witness for Christ wherever he sends you!

Although many consider this book to be the “Acts of the Apostles,” only two apostles are predominantly mentioned: Peter and Paul. It would be more accurate to call it the “Acts of the Holy Spirit.” God indeed uses men and women to fulfill his purpose—those who are empowered, filled, anointed, and overflowing with the Holy Spirit.

Acts takes up the story where Luke leaves off. We begin with 120 disciples who had been in a ten-day prayer meeting. Acts explains the explosive beginning of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that resulted in tongues, prophecy, miracles, salvations, and the birthing of countless churches. Acts provides us with the story of Paul’s three missionary journeys, with many gentile nations hearing the gospel and believers being added to the church. Acts demonstrates the healing miracles of Peter, Paul, and the apostles. We see miracles in answer to prayers, including signs and wonders, and many deliverances. God will do what only God can do—and he is still working in power today through his yielded lovers.

We learn much about the Spirit of God in Acts. Without him, there would be no church, no evangelistic impact, no miracles, and no expression of the power of God. It is not by human means, human power, or human might, but by the limitless power of the Holy Spirit that God’s kingdom realm advances on the earth; Jesus builds his church through the Holy Spirit.

PURPOSE

Like the book of Luke, Acts is a quick trip through history; it traverses the history of Christ’s body, the church. Luke’s purpose for writing was to offer a vivid portrait of the church’s birth by cataloging the historical events in the movement of those who carried the good news about Jesus far and wide throughout the Mediterranean world.

The book of Acts confirms and further defines the identity of the church as the community of people who follow Jesus. Luke paints this picture with the Holy Spirit at the foreground, not background, of the church through the impartation of gifts and the miraculous signs and wonders that are present at every turn. He wants to make crystal clear that the life and work of Jesus continues on in the life and work of the church—which means it continues on in and through you and me!

AUTHOR AND AUDIENCE

Both Luke and Acts were written by a physician named Luke. The material in Luke and Acts covers a period of about sixty years, from the birth of Christ to the birth of the church and the early years of the expansion of God’s kingdom realm on the earth. You could consider Acts to be “Luke, Volume 2,” since he wrote them both for the lovers of God.

Luke wrote both of his books to someone named Theophilus, which means “lover of God.” You are also meant to be the recipient of Luke and Acts, for Luke wrote them to you, the lover of God. You are the most excellent and favored one. He wrote his books for you!

MAJOR THEMES

Acts opens in the same way Luke closes, with the ascension and exaltation of Jesus to the right hand of the Father. In essence, the disciples pick up where Jesus left off in seeing the salvation of the world realized. Not only is he the object of the church’s affection, Jesus is the content of their message! Luke makes it clear that salvation is found in no one and nothing else but Jesus and his name. The word appears over fifty times in Acts, signifying that Jesus is the exalted, exclusive Lord of salvation. We are saved through him and him alone!

There are almost four times as many references to the Holy Spirit in Acts as there are in the book of Luke. If Jesus was front and center in Luke, the Holy Spirit takes center stage in the book of Acts! He is the promised gift dispensed to Christ’s disciples and unleashed through them on the world in full power. He enables the church to carry out its mission, empowers them to bear witness to the gospel, and anoints God’s people to perform mighty wonders. The Spirit isn’t reserved for the select, holy few; he is the promised gift given to all whom God has called and who believe in his Son.

The book of Acts makes it clear that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (2:21). One of the most moving episodes is when Simon Peter is given a vivid dream from heaven. In this dream God essentially says the non-Jewish people Peter thought were unclean are now clean and also invited to partake of the same salvation he and the Jews enjoyed. Later the full council of church leaders realized the same thing: Salvation by grace through faith in Jesus was available to the entire world!

In a book about the birth of the church, one would expect to find more references to “church” than the twenty-three times this term appears in Acts. The reason is because Luke has a unique word for the church, a community called “the Way.” His point is that the church of Jesus is a distinct community who are on a love-mission by the One who loves the world with fiery passion! For Luke, the church isn’t merely a “gathering” or “assembly” (the English definitions of the Greek word); she’s a movement—a Spirit-fueled movement led by leaders who articulate and apply the power of the gospel. And like most movements, the church faces opposition and persecution, yet triumphs and expands through the Holy Spirit’s power.

Discipleship is transformed in Acts because after Pentecost believers are able to follow Jesus in ways they couldn’t before they received the Spirit. Because of the Spirit, this community is now an active community on an intentional mission to bear witness to the risen Christ in both word and deed. Proclamation is a central focus of this community in Acts. So too is their care for one another and the world around them in the name of Jesus. Such a commitment to the mission and message of Christ finds its expression in all their lifestyle. Through their love for neighbors and God, prayer, perseverance in suffering, watchfulness, faith, joy, and commitment to the lost, we find on-fire disciples of Jesus at every turn!

Luke continues the tone set in his Gospel here in Acts, insisting women are fully included in Jesus’ work through his community of followers. They receive the Spirit of power in full measure, empowered as witnesses of who Christ is and what he did. In some contexts, women teach and prophesy. Luke makes it clear that unlike many social contexts, women are neither dismissed nor forgotten. Neither are the poor! While the term doesn’t appear in Acts, we see the church rising up to provide for and care for them. Not only do they pool their resources together to care for the poor in their city, they send food along to other cities in need. They are gospel people who give out of the abundance of grace and mercy they’ve received from their heavenly Father!

ACTS

To the Lovers of God

1To Theophilus, the lover of God.

I write to you again, my dear friend,