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The book of Acts occupies a keystone position in the structure of divine revelation. To see
how important this book really is, it is only necessary to imagine a Bible without the book of
Acts in it. It is the only reliable history we have of the establishment and early activities
of the church.
The Old Testament furnishes a "shadow of good things to come," and contains many prophecies of the golden age of gospel blessings. The Epistles present in various connections a profound discussion of the plan of the ages. The book of Acts is a moving picture of the divine scheme in actual operation as the heralds of truth spread quickly over the earth saving sinners and establishing churches. Many allusions in the Epistles which would otherwise be mystifying are made clear in the light of the plain narratives of Acts. Frank recognition of the character of the book and the place it occupies in the New Testament would have made the appearance of top-heavy systems of theology, which have done so much harm in obscuring the simplicity of the gospel, impossible. It is not too much to say that this book furnishes a factual standard by which the rest of the Bible is to be measured and understood. The evidence for the Sonship and redemptive work of Christ in the four gospel accounts is so complete that the failure of anybody to be convinced who examines it reflects either on his ability or his honesty. The gap between the Gospel accounts and the Epistles is too wide to be crossed without the bridge that Acts affords. The Epistles could never have been written without the work being done which is recorded in Acts, and they are best and most quickly understood when studied in historical settings abounding in the book of Acts. This sane and fruitful method would ruin about all the sectarian sermons of a textual nature built up in top-heavy grandeur by doctors who kept one eye on the text and the other on the speculative theology of the creeds, but then the ruins would be replaced by something far richer and more vital. A rediscovery of the book of Acts precipitated the Restoration Movement of the 19th century and resulted in many thousands of befogged religionists, as well as ordinary sinners, finding the "foundation of the apostles and prophets" with Christ Jesus as "the chief cornerstone" (Eph. 2:20). A mind saturated with a knowledge of Acts is far less likely to be "corrupted from the simplicity and the purity that is toward Christ." The four Gospel accounts furnish an unfinished climax in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and His ascension to heaven. The last meeting with the apostles and the giving of the great commission, the great Magna Carta of salvation, demanded something to complete the climax. Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit, the spread of the gospel over the earth, the trials and triumphs of the church, all this and more which are found in the book of Acts, glorify the climax with which the Gospel accounts close. Luke starts in Acts where he ends his Gospel account. The last chapter of Luke and the first chapter of Acts form a perfect dovetail. As there could have been no great commission without the events recorded in the Gospel accounts, we could never have known its power and seen it in operation without Acts. A preacher today without Acts is as futile as a builder without tools or a soldier without weapons. And yet a lot of the old theology which still tarries to mystify conversion and glorify feeling over faith was constructed out of odds and ends of religion and philosophy in almost total disregard of it. Some inane things can have far reaching consequences in religion as elsewhere. Without the book of Acts there could be no definite understanding of the proper division of the Word. It makes clear that the Gospel has supplanted the law, that salvation is gracious and not legal; Yet it makes clear the conditions of faith by which it may be enjoyed by all. It is futile to go to Old Testament history, Jewish institutionalism, prophets, or psalms for detailed information to direct sinners into the kingdom of heaven. The Epistles and the book of Revelation have their places, but were certainly not written primarily for this purpose. It is an aggravated case of spiritual blindness and often perverseness that insists on detouring around the great commission, Pentecost, and the cases of conversions in Acts, and steering sinners to the morality of the Decalogue, the precepts of Proverbs, or even the gripping story of the thief on the cross. Jesus abolished the law on the cross, and the testament "by which we are sanctified" was sealed by His blood and went into effect after His death. The terms of pardon to aliens which it contains were first announced to sinners by Simon Peter on the day of Pentecost. It followed the probation of the will and the qualification of the apostles as executors by the coming of the Holy Spirit. Without this Gospel there could have been no Christians and no churches of Christ; with it, the record of the triumphal march of Christianity, which is Acts, was possible. A recognition of the fact that pardon was offered to sinners on the simple terms of the Gospel — faith, repentance, confession, and baptism — that at the same time they became Christians, citizens of the kingdom of heaven, and members of the church, the "one body," would do much to eliminate the theological confusion and partyism of modern times. The only law these early disciples were bound by was "the apostles' doctrine." Accorded its true place in the structure of revelation, the book of Acts not only makes a human creed unnecessary, but its very existence absurd. Certain exponents of speculative theology which create and maintain partisan setups, have come to recognize that the book of Acts, undoctored by their speculations, is hostile to their schemes. They resent the emphasis that some of us are giving this inspired record in our preaching. Partisans in the ranks are often heard to strenuously object that we preach too much on Acts. Such expressions as these come to our ears: "They preach nothing but Acts." This is not true, of course, and the criticism is inspired by sectarian leaders. The scheme of redemption foretold by the prophets is fulfilled in the plan of salvation contained in the Gospel. Sinners who are saved by the power of the Gospel and constitute the church are enjoying the blessings the prophets of the Old Testament foretold. The book of Acts reveals this as a certainty. The whole scheme is thrown out of balance and rudely perverted when such books as Daniel and Revelation are made to usurp the emphasis that properly belongs to Acts. It is supremely important that the book of Acts be allowed to maintain its rightful place in the structure of divine revelation. |