A couple of years ago I shared with you some thoughts from the book of Luke. It is natural to move from Luke to the book of Acts because Acts is a continuation of Luke’s faithful recording the orderly and sovereignly directed progress of the Christian message from Jews to Gentiles, and from Jerusalem to Rome. Acts gives us great insights into the early church and clearly reveals the faith, the joy, the commitment, and the obedience of the early church saints as an example to us. God’s sovereignty is an important theme of the book.
The key verse is Acts 1:8 “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
It is interesting to observe Luke’s transition from the book of Luke to the book of Acts. He begins by mentioning the book of Luke in Acts 1:1 “The first account I composed…” Then he ties the two books together by repeating facts at the end of Luke as he begins the book of Acts.
Luke 24:51 and Acts 1:2 both mention the Lord being taken up into heaven. They both also mention two commandments given by the Lord just before His ascension. In Acts 1:4 and Luke 24:49 the Apostles were commanded to remain in Jerusalem until they received the Holy Spirit. In Acts 1:8 and Luke 24:47 they were given their commission to proclaim Jesus name to all nations beginning in Jerusalem.
Luke is one of my favorite writers of Scripture. I hope you will enjoy this study as much as I have.
Joe
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