When we want to know about the life of Christ, we can look to four different inspired records: the Gospels. But Luke alone gives us the biblical history of the next thirty years: the book of Acts. Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection offer the finished work of Christ. Yet, Jesus was just beginning his ministry of reaching the world. In Acts 1:8, Jesus told his followers, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Author Philip Bence brings his Bible teaching and missionary experience to bear as he unfolds the record of the early church’s missionary expansion. We see God’s progressive action, from the birth and establishment of the Christian church in Jerusalem, to the ongoing life of that church, its preparation for mission to “the ends of the earth,” and finally its movement out into the distant lands of the Roman Empire and specifically Rome, the Empire’s capital.
In the lives of people today, God continually wants to do that which is new. But he rarely works in individual lives or in great movements of people in a way that does not build on their previous history. The initial core of that history is explained clearly here in this volume on Acts. As these pages reveal God’s plan for the early church, let us listen for his plan for today and the future.
“How did God empower His people for their mission? How did this empowerment transform the small group of believers? How did outsiders become part of God’s mission? How did the enlarged group relate to itself and to others around it? Consider the answers to these questions as you study Acts 2.” (Page 38)
“The first Christian Pentecost1 finished what we see as the ‘Jesus event’ by which God came to live with His people forever. In our minds and on our calendars we can separate Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, and Pentecost. But we should also try to see them as one divine plan which transformed interaction between God and His people. Pentecost is the final episode in the Jesus event.” (Page 37)
“Everything in the Gospels moves toward that holy weekend. Everything in Acts builds on Calvary and the empty tomb. In the Gospels, everything Jesus did helped to move Him toward Jerusalem. In Acts, Jesus, through the church, moved out from Jerusalem.” (Page 30)
“On Pentecost, however, the supernatural gift of tongues enabled the 120 believers to speak in languages readily understood by pilgrims present in Jerusalem for the festival.” (Page 40)
“During their time of waiting, they demonstrated this desire to seek God and His plan, not only by prayer, but by reflection on Scripture.” (Page 34)