1. What is the complete name of this book?
Why do you think this name was chosen?
2. What can you learn about the author of
Acts?
What one characteristic distinguishes him from
other New Testament writers?
3. About a century ago British scholar William
Ramsay focused on the book of Acts to try to show it was rife with
geographical and archaeological errors. After all, many scholars of his day,
equipped with the tools of textual criticism and archaeology, had exposed
many errors in other classic writings. This eminent humanity professor
diligently prepared himself by studying archaeology and geography before
departing for the Middle East and Asia Minor in his quest to prove Luke's
history of the early Church was mostly myth.
His quest didn't turn out as he expected.
After a quarter century of research in what is today Israel and Turkey,
where he carefully retraced the steps of the apostles as described in the
book of Acts, this famous unbeliever shook the intellectual world when he
announced he had converted to Christianity. He confessed this radical change
of mind and heart was thanks in great part to his surprise at the accuracy
he found in Luke's narrative in Acts.
After decades of examining the historical and
geographical details mentioned in the book, Ramsay concluded: "Luke is
a historian of the first rank; not merely are his statements of fact
trustworthy, he is possessed of the true historic sense ... In short this
author should be placed along with the very greatest of historians" (The
Bearing of Recent Discovery on the Trustworthiness of the New Testament, 1953,
p. 80).
He went on to write many books about Acts and
the epistles of Paul. Ultimately Ramsay was knighted for his contributions
to the study of archaeology and geography.
What can we learn about Acts from this
account?
If the study of Acts leads an unbeliever to
Jesus, what should the study of Acts do for the believer?
4. Read v. 1. What was the first or former
book?
How does Acts pick up where the other book
left off?
Luke says he wrote about two main points. What
are they?
What do these two points tell us about our
ministry?
5. What can we learn about the importance of
the Holy Spirit from v. 2?
What does it mean to you that Jesus gave the
instructions through the Holy Spirit?
6. What is the definition of the word
"proof"?
However, we find the phrase "convincing
proofs" or "infallible proofs" in verse 3. What do these
phrases signify to you?
7. Why did Jesus command them to wait in
Jerusalem?
Do you think the people understood what He
meant? Why or why not?
8. In verse 5 Jesus says that they will be
baptized with the Holy Spirit. Other versions read they will be immersed in
the Holy Spirit. What does it mean to be baptized or immersed in the Holy
Spirit?
Was this promise just for the disciples or
does it apply to us as well?
9. Verse 3 tells us that Jesus spoke about the
kingdom of God. What question do the disciples ask Jesus in verse 6 that
shows they might not fully have understood His teaching at the time?
How does Jesus’ answer to them in verse 7
apply to us today?
10. Verse 8 states the theme of Acts. What
four "stages" are listed in verse 8?
Is verse 8 another command? Explain.
However, what had to happen before they could
do this?
How could we apply this verse to our lives
today?
11. This may seem like a silly question, but
what do you think the disciples were thinking as they watched Jesus ascend
to heaven?
What do you think they were feeling?
What message do the angels give them and us?
12. What defined a Sabbath Day’s walk? Why
do you think Luke mentioned this fact?
13. What do we see happening in verse 13 that
shows the disciples are changing? (See John 20:19.)
14. What were ALL the people doing as they
waited in that upper room? (Read several versions of verse 14.)