Enjoying the Book of Acts

The Acts of the Apostles is a book that throbs with life and action. In it we see the Holy Spirit at work, forming the church, giving power to the church, and expanding the outreach of the church. It is the magnificent record of the Sovereign Spirit using most unlikely instruments, overcoming most formidable obstacles, employing most unconventional methods, and achieving most remarkable results.

The book of Acts takes up the narrative where the Gospels leave off, then carries us by swift, dramatic descriptions over the early, turbulent years of the infant church. It is the record of the great transition period when the New Testament church was throwing off the grave clothes of Judaism and displaying its distinctive character as a new fellowship in which Jews and Gentiles are one in Christ.

In reading the book, we feel something of the spiritual exhilaration that is present when God is working. At the same time, we sense the tension that arises when sin and Satan oppose and obstruct.