Mahal na mga Kapatid at Kaibigan,

Welcome po sa Filipino Worship Service!

As we continue to worship the Lord every Sunday, we also learn from Him many lessons that will guide us and led us how to live as Christians. It is good that if you miss some of Lord’s Day’s because it is not your day off, you should watch our recorded online worship service. This will not only provide you continued learning of God’s Word but also to worship the Lord as He commanded us to remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy!

We have advanced from the Gospels or the life of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to the life of the believers of Jesus Christ. This is through our study on the Book of Acts. It is good to have the knowledge and understanding of this book wo we will know more of the history of the church and the reasons why we have the rest of the books of the New Testament. Please encourage and invite others to come so we can all receive the Lord’s blessings from His precious Word.

There are many things that we can learn from the Acts of the Apostles especially regarding the church and her ministries. You will find out how the churches today are departing from what the Bible teaches. Modern Christianity is no more following what the Bible prescribes. Once you see the truth from God’s Word you will be spared from all the false and erroneous ways of many churches today. You will know and will be able to identify the right kind of churches which are following God’s instructions and those which are doing what the world dictates. The obvious difference we can mention is the way of worship. Contemporary or modern way of worship in most churches around is not according to the Bible. So let us study the Book of Acts, come and worship the Lord every Sunday!

The Book of THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

We just started to study every Lord’s Day the Acts of the Apostles. It is good that we have a little bit of background about his book. The most important note that we have to remember is that this book is an inspired historical account of the beginnings of the local church. What do we mean by inspired? The Apostle Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 3:16, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” It is unique among the New Testament books because its subject matter serves as the historical bridge between the Gospels and the Epistles. It means that this book provides for us the historical basis of the New Testament so that without it we cannot see the relationship between the life of Christ in the Gospels and the books of Romans and etc. It also shows the obedience of the church to the divine commission to do mission to all nations of the earth.

The book is the history of the early church. It describes the divine beginnings of the visible church. The church was started by Apostles who were not great and highly intelligent people but poor and unlearned. They were weak and inexperienced and did not have the ability to formulate any program to build up mega-churches. However, their success cannot be denied, and it shows clearly the extraordinary results they had far above any modern church today is not of man but of God.

The book tells us also the history of the early missionary movement. It exhibits the divine warrant for missions and accounts for our gentile presence in the church. The Apostles started missions with practically no financial resources. They travelled throughout the world preaching the gospel and persevering to go unto the uttermost part of the inhabited world. They walked and sailed through great dangers and fears. They faced famines and poverty while being opposed and persecuted because of their faith. Yet, they continued and remained steadfast in spite of the obstacles, they remained faithful to their Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

This book recorded for us the beginning and early work of the local church. The great importance of this book is that it pictures for us how the Christian churches were established and describes how they are organized. Our founding Pastor, The Rev Timothy Tow calls it, “God’s Pattern for Church Growth and Missions.”

Title and Writer

Why is it called the “Acts of the Apostles”? Some say it is better to call it as the “Acts of the Holy Spirit through the Apostles or Acts of the Holy Spirit.” The original Greek title can be translated literally as “Acts of Apostles.” It was called “The Acts,” in the early days of the church. So the title shows that the Apostles were seen as the one doing the work although we know the Holy Spirit was the one responsible in all the things that they did.

The writer of the Acts of the Apostles is Luke, although he never mentioned himself in the book. That is why the Book of Acts is also known as 2nd volume of the Gospel of Luke, because it is the continuation from the life of Christ to the life of the Christians (Acts 1:1–11).

Luke was a gentile and the only one among the writers of the Bible. He was a physician by profession (Col 4:14). He was also a recognized great historian, the writer of the greatest life story of all time which is an excellent account of the key events of the life of Christ. He recorded the most important time in church history He proves the authenticity of the beginning of Christianity. He is considered by many as a Christian faith defender and established the absolute truth of the gospel.

Date and Place of Writing

The Gospel of Luke and Acts of the Apostles were probably written during the two-period of Paul’s imprisonment in Rome: A.D. 60–62. The narrative of Acts concludes with Paul under house arrest in Rome (A.D. 62). The final sentence states that he had lived there for two years. The abrupt ending of the narrative may indicate that the book was written at that time. Others believe it was not far distant from the termination of Paul’s imprisonment at Rome.

Theme

The book of Acts is the continuation of Jesus’ ministry after his death and exaltation (Acts 1:1). Luke’s primary desire is to give testimony to the fact that God’s salvation has arrived in and through the Lord Jesus Christ and this salvation is now being declared to all people throughout the entire world. What Christ began to do on earth is written in Luke’s Gospel and what He continued to do from Heaven through the Holy Spirit is written in Acts.

The main character in the book of Acts is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is mentioned sixty-six times in this book. It begins with the Holy Spirit filling the disciples of Christ. This led them to become great preachers and evangelists as they fulfilled the Great Commission. The visible Christlikeness in the life of the Apostles and their willingness to die for the cause of Christ were outward signs of the fruit of the Holy Spirit in their lives.

The key verse of the book is Acts 1:8, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”

Four Essential Events in Acts

1. Ascension (Acts 1:1–12) - Since His resurrection, He was appearing to them throughout a period of 40 days (1:3). As ascended into heaven, He no longer make any appearances until His second coming (1:11).

2. Pentecost (Acts 2:1–47) - The first instance of tongue-speaking was at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit filled the disciples, and they began to speak “with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (2:4).

3. Gentile Evangelism (Acts 10–11) - The gift of tongues was meant to correct this erroneous idea. The Lord had to use the Apostle Peter to prove to the disbelieving Jews that Gentiles could also be saved and enter the kingdom of God (1 Cor 14:22).

4. Jerusalem Council (Acts 15) - The Council of Jerusalem sets the pattern for all controversies, particularly of doctrine. Supreme authority was the Holy Scriptures and the Holy Spirit (15:7–18).