Topic: Act of Apostles
The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. (Acts 1:1-4 KJV)
The church didn’t begin in the Book of Acts. It began with Jesus’ announcement about building a church in Matthew 16:18. Matthew 16:18 is the misinterpret about the establishment of the church. If you’d ask Roman Catholic Church who built a church, they will say Apostle Peter, because Jesus gave him the keys of the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 16:19). However, Jesus didn’t ask Peter to become a pope of the church. If we look up the word church in Greek, it means “a gathering of citizens called out from their homes into some public place.” This is why Luke said in Acts 1:4, “And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem.”
The biblical scholar believed that Luke wrote his second book, The Acts of the Apostles, from 62 AD to the middle of the second century. Bruce Wilkinson and Kenneth Boa explained, “Twentieth-century archaeological discoveries have strikingly confirmed the trustworthiness and precision of Luke as a historian and show that his work should be dated in the first century. Luke’s perplexingly abrupt ending with Paul awaiting trial in Rome has led many to believe that Acts was completed prior to Paul’s trial (a.d. 62). If it was written after this crucial event, why didn’t Luke mention the outcome? Luke may have had a reason, but the simplest explanation of his silence is that Paul had not yet stood before Caesar. Acts gives no hint of the persecution under Nero (a.d. 64), Paul’s death (a.d. 68), or the destruction of Jerusalem (a.d. 70).” (Talk thru the Bible.)
The Acts is the historical link between the Gospels and the Epistles. Throughout this book, we shall see many works of the Holy Spirit who work through the apostles. Jesus promised in John 14:26, “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” Again in Mark 16:15-18, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” The Book of Acts is still unfold church history book until God would close the book.
There is one survey that indicates American churches are going more into secular. Prophecy News Watch wrote, “Pew conducted two surveys between 2007 and 2014 on religion in America and discovered the number of Americans who claim atheism, agnosticism, or no particular faith grew from 16 percent to 23 percent. During that time frame, the number of Americans laying claim to Christianity fell from 78 percent to 71 percent.” As we see in today’s society, we usually don’t hear enough about people are getting saved and heal the sick than in the previous generations. If we’d look up the history during 1800s or earlier, we noticed that many people received the gift of salvation and healing. They heard more uncompromising messages from the pulpit than in this generation. Nowadays, most preachers may don’t preach about sin, hell, repentance, and God’s wrath anymore. American government slowly begins to prejudice against Christians if we’d preach against the homosexual marriage and LGBT activists’ agendas.
We need to stand firm more than ever. Within twenty or fifty years from now, our Christian freedom would become useless in this country. The government may give us to accept the faith in Antichrist or face the death penalty because of our faiths in Jesus Christ.
Where are you? I’m not just writing this blog to help you to understand the history of Christianity. We need to prepare whatever problem this world would give us. We are living in a sinful world until God would refurnish this world and make it as Garden of Eden again.
Do you have your relationship with the Heavenly Father? If not, I like to encourage you to develop your personal relationship with Jesus Christ today. First, confess your sins and invite Jesus Christ to your life. Paul said in Romans 10:9-11, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” There is no sinner prayer formula. Instead, you just talk to God at where you are now. Secondly, I’d like to encourage you to find a good solid biblical teaching church and Christian friends. They can help you to build strong relationship with God. If you’d need further assistance, you can email me at or visit my ministries website at www.mgjcweb.org for further resources.
