Roy’s Studies, Shared Forward

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Acts

Without the Book of Acts the New Testament would be incomplete for two obvious reasons.

First: It serves to bridge the gap between the Gospels and the Epistles.

Second: If we had to leap from the Gospels to the Epistles without any knowledge of Acts we would know very little about the history of the early church. True, we could piece together some pertinent facts from the Epistles of Paul but even this would leave us woefully ignorant concerning the power, activities, outreach and development of the first century church.

Acts is a continuation of Luke’s Gospel. His gospel closes with these words— “Behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you; but tarry in Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high,” (Luke 24:49). Acts begins at this point— “Jesus commanded that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father,” (Acts 1:4). Thus Acts begins where the gospel ends.