Day 23 - Acts 16:25-21:36

Luke is exacting in his detail describing the spread of the gospel "in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth" (Acts 1:8). Luke appears to have as carefully outlined the book of Acts as he did his gospel; describing people, places and events sequentially. Luke's facts regarding places and dates continue to be validated today through new archaeological discoveries. It is Luke's Acts that provide the historical account of the growth of the early Church; independently attests to the Apostle Paul, his writings and his travels; and provides a connection between the gospel accounts and the epistles of the New Testament.

The book of Acts is a book of history. Beginning with Jesus' final instructions to the disciples, Luke tells the story of the Church of Jesus Christ and its growth to all the world. Luke gives the account of the promised coming of the Holy Spirit; the change in Peter from his denial of Christ to powerful preaching in His name; the first martyr; the conversion of Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles and his journeys into Europe to evangelize the world. The title, "Acts" is intended to be a name which carries the idea of "great deeds" done in the name of Christ and this is precisely what the physician provides.

Yet Acts is not the story of Paul. It is the story of Christ and a powerful demonstration of the good news and how that news can and does change lives. It is the dramatic hinge between the gospel message and the application of that message; between the Giver of Life and the living of that life. Surely without the book of Acts, there would be no context for the epistles of Paul and they would have little value in the world today.

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