I have been studying the book of Acts for the past couple of months. Today I was looking for some maps related to Acts 17. Paul is now in Greece, specifically, Thessalonica, Berea, and Athens. He has some trouble with the non-believing Jews from Thessalonica but the Bereans and the Athenians take kindly too him. For a visual of where these cities are located see the map below.
All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Acts 2:4
This verse and event in Acts is a fulfillment of the event Jesus spoke about in the Gospels, see March 16:17 as one example. It is clear that God used the filling of the 120 disciples and the thousands who heard the Gospel preached for the first time that day as His way to supercharge the growth of the church. These same disciples who were filled that day were the very same disciples who hid like a dog who just dragged toilet paper all over the house and was caught in the act by it’s owner, just fifty days prior. By themselves they could not stand up and preach the Good News, but once they were filled with the Holy Spirit they were ready to proclaim the Gospel to all who were near and those who were far off. This change is even more evident in the way the disciples died. Almost all of them were martyred for proclaiming the name of Jesus to those who did not want to hear it.
My conclusion is that the baptism in the Holy Spirit is absolutely necessary to be a forceful witness for Christ in our modern age, just as it was in the first century after Christ. The Lord used this event as a sign to the unbelievers in Jerusalem then and He continues to use this supernatural occurrence as a sign to unbelievers today. Being filled with the Holy Spirit does not save you and is not required for salvation but it is absolutely necessary when it comes to witnessing and living a victorious Christian life!
The applications of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit is the same today as it was on that first Pentecost. The infilling of the Holy Spirit gives a believer power to proclaim Christ, witness to unbelievers, and a faith that can move mountains.
Verse 8 in chapter 1 of Acts says, But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
This verse gives us an outline for the entire book of Acts. Luke obviously took this verse from a first-hand experience and used it to structure the rest of the book. Beginning in Jerusalem (chaps. 1 through 7) they would carry their witness through Judea and Samaria (chaps. 8 through 12) and would continue “to the ends of the earth” (chaps. 13 through 28). (Horton page 40)
The book deals at great length with Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria but the ends of the earth is a much broader term. It is quite appropriate for Luke to end the book on an open-ended note since the ends of the earth were not reached within the pages he wrote. Paul began to see and witness to many unsaved Gentiles but there was a great deal of the earth not reached yet. In fact, our charge to this day is to continue the great work our dear brothers started all those centuries ago.
The major purpose and structure of the book is clearly outlined in Acts 1:8 and carried through to the end of chapter 28, but the actual verse will not be completed until the Lord himself returns.
Here are eight reasons why Luke did write the book of Acts.
1. Luke addressed his Gospel and the book of Acts to the same person, Theophilus, as the book of Luke is addressed to. See Acts 1:1 and Luke 1:1-4.
2. Paul calls Luke our good friend the doctor in Colossians 4:14.
3. The Muratorian Canon attributes the authorship of both the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts to Luke the physician.
4. Possibly the largest and most convincing piece of evidence is some refer to as the “We Passages.” The author uses the term “we” to refer to his participation in Paul’s second and third missionary journeys as well as his journey to Rome.
5. If Luke did accompany Paul on these various missionary excursions and to Rome he would have been an eyewitness too the events recorded in Acts.
6. Luke’s fact checking ability is very solid. Luke’s ability to correctly write about the Roman officials during the first century is very impressive and without error. In addition he is extremely exact when it comes to the geographical information and historical information of the cities throughout the coastal Plain, the road from Jerusalem to Caesarea, and the relation between the Temple and the Antonia fortress in Jerusalem. Dr. Horton suggests that Luke spent two years checking facts in Jerusalem while Paul was in prison Caesarea.
7. Luke was also able to accurately describe the social and cultural settings of many of the places thought Palestine during the first century. He could not have accurately written about places as diverse as Jerusalem and Antioch without actually visiting those places. In addition to those two he covers other cities like, Philippi, Athens, Ephesus, and Malta. Unless one visited those cities and spent time there it would be very hard to write with such clarity as Luke does.
8. In Luke’s Gospel he focuses on healings more than others and has a more focused approach to explaining the specific diagnosis of the person who was sick. Also, when he recorded the parable Jesus spoke about how it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven, Luke uses the more classical Greek word for a surgeons needle whereas the other Gospel writers used the more common word for a regular needle. It would be safe to assume that a doctor would have naturally used the word for a surgeon’s needle because of his familiarity with the medical language.
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