Book of Acts , livre ebook

© 1994, 1995, 2000, 2008 C. Peter Wagner
Published by Chosen Books 11400 Hampshire Avenue South Bloomington, Minnesota 55438 chosenbooks.com
Chosen Books is a division of Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan. www.bakerpublishinggroup.com
Chosen edition published 2014
ISBN 978-1-4412-6891-4
Previously published by Regal Books
First edition published as The Acts of the Holy Spirit Series: Spreading the Fire, Blazing the Way and Lighting the World in 1995. Second edition published as The Acts of the Holy Spirit in 2000. Third revised and updated edition published as The Book of Acts in 2008.
Ebook edition originally created 2011
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New King James Version . Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Other versions used are:
GNB —Scripture taken from the Good News Translation, Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.
THE MESSAGE —Scripture taken from THE MESSAGE . Copyright © by Eugene H. Peterson, 1993, 1994, 1995. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.
NIV —Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version ®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.
TLB —Scripture quotations marked ( TLB ) are taken from The Living Bible , copyright © 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189. All rights reserved.
CONTENTS


Foreword
By Ralph Winter

Our Timeline for Understanding Acts
1. God’s Training Manual for Modern Christians
2. How Jesus Attracted 120 Followers
3. History’s Most Powerful Prayer Meeting (Acts 1)
4. The Spiritual Explosion at Pentecost (Acts 2)
5. One Hundred Thirty Converts a Day Can Shake a City (Acts 3 and 4)
6. Follow These Signs to Salvation (Acts 4 and 5)
7. Should Foreigners Run the Church? (Acts 6)
8. Samaria: Preaching on the Other Side of the Tracks (Acts 6, 7 and 8)
9. Meet Paul—The Greatest Missionary of All Time (Acts 9)
10. Peter Blazes the Trail to the Gentiles (Acts 9, 10 and 11)
11. Planting the First Gentile Church (Acts 11)
12. The Power of Herod Versus the Power of Prayer (Acts 12)
13. Onward to the Nations (Acts 13)
14. Extending God’s Kingdom Upsets the Enemy (Acts 14)
15. Solving Conflicts in a Multicultural Church (Acts 15 and Galatians)
16. The Famous Jerusalem Council (Acts 15)
17. Goodbye, Barnabas; Hello, Silas: Reorganizing the Mission (Acts 15 and 16)
18. To Europe with Power (Acts 16)
19. You Win Some and You Lose Some (Acts 17)
20. Corinth to Antioch to Ephesus (Acts 18 and 19)
21. Invading Diana’s Territory (Acts 19)
22. A Long Trip Toward the Jerusalem Jail (Acts 20 and 21)
23. What to Do with This Troublemaker? (Acts 21 to 26)
24. Destination: Rome (Acts 27 and 28)
Endnotes
Scripture Index
Subject Index
FOREWORD

In this remarkable book, C. Peter Wagner concedes up front that his commentary is not the first ever written on the book of Acts. By his count, his book is commentary number 1,339 of the commentaries on Acts that have been produced in English! However, what Wagner does with Acts could hardly have been done before; never has an internationally known missiologist turned his heart and mind to such a task.
In Wagner’s hands this unique book of the Bible is seen as the very hinge (the one full-blown biblical description) of a mighty move of God—a move that had been foreshadowed from the time of Abraham, but not fully unleashed until the events chronicled in Acts. From that point on, the rest of history would continue to reveal the kind of transitions that we read about in The Book of Acts .
Acts explains how a true heart faith in a living, loving, self-sacrificing, forgiving, holy heavenly Father would expand as the kingdom of God encompassed more and more of the world’s diverse cultures. But it is much more complicated than that. Acts portrays the consternation of the holdouts, in addition to the amazement and joy of the recipients of God’s blessing. It shows the legalists on both sides who could not see the need for true faith within the cultural forms of either Jew or Greek. Wagner’s commentary clearly demonstrates the excitement that can result when a heart faith is transmitted by earthen vessels (men and women) of one nation to another. This extraordinary commentary provides a stirring account of those specific events that took place after centuries of Jewish witness had attracted maybe a million Gentiles to the back row—a mere second-class status—in the thousands of Jewish synagogues throughout the Roman Empire and places beyond. In Wagner’s book we see and feel the exuberant delight of those astounded and grateful Gentiles who allowed Paul’s gospel to sink into their hearts. The explosive implication, which was revealed earlier to Abraham, was that all the world was, and is, invited to receive this faith, this fellowship with the Almighty, regardless of the clothing and cultural specifics of those who desire to receive it.
We also see the perplexity and fury of those Jews—devout and otherwise—who could not for the life of them perceive the continuities of their faith in the detested Gentile outer garments any more than many of us today can readily identify our version of that same faith in the many astounding garments that it already wears throughout today’s global reality.
In this volume, the book of Acts is clearly exposited as illuminating other writings of Paul, such as his loyal defense of the Jewish tradition in both Romans 9–11 and Romans 14. Above all, the way that Wagner handles these events relentlessly presses home the vibrancy and authenticity of the work of the Holy Spirit both then and now. The result is that we cannot help but catch the warm encouragement of that same spiritual reality in our own lives today.
The book of Acts rightly understood—and Wagner’s work excels all others in this—throws penetrating light on the present enigmas of missionary outreach to the last people, tribe and tongue on Earth. It helps us cope with the major “resistant” blocks of Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, Japanese and others, as well as with the smallest human community anywhere at all.
The Book of Acts dispels once and for all the thought that the New Testament tells how a true faith was developed out of a defunct Jewish tradition. Rather, it portrays with great accuracy how a true faith in Jewish clothes, often invisible, could become an equally true faith in a radically different form. It also provides a paradigm to understand how that same true faith could become highly visible, and also how it could wane drastically from time to time as subsequent history unfolded.
Acts, as Wagner sees it, is not the end of the story, but rather the most definitive biblical account of exactly how our faith, with all its complexity, can and will engage and encompass every people, tribe and tongue in this generation.
I cannot think of any single biblical commentary that deserves more praise or more serious attention than The Book of Acts. Peter Wagner gives us all a new Acts for new times, one of crucial value and of almost unique significance in biblical literature.
Ralph D. Winter Director, U.S. Center for World Mission Pasadena, California
OUR TIMELINE FOR UNDERSTANDING ACTS

Not all scholars agree on the dates for the sequence of events in the book of Acts. Although the matter has been thoroughly researched by competent specialists, there is not yet consensus. I will not repeat the arguments for different timelines that are readily accessible in the various critical commentaries, but it is necessary to form an opinion. Here are some of the chief dates that I am adopting (all dates are A.D .): 30
Pentecost 31
Persecution from fellow Jews becomes severe 32
The gospel moves from the Hebrews to the Jewish Hellenists
Philip evangelizes Samaria
The gospel enters North Africa 33
Saul (Paul) is converted, travels to Jerusalem 34-36
Paul in Damascus, Arabia, Jerusalem
Peter evangelizes Judea 37-45
Paul in Cilicia and Syria
Peter continues in Judea
The missionaries from Cyprus and Cyrene begin to win Gentiles in Antioch 46
Paul goes to Antioch
James takes leadership of the Jerusalem church 47-48
Paul’s first missionary term 49
Paul’s furlough
The Jerusalem Council 50-52
Paul’s second term 52-53
Paul’s second furlough 53-57
Paul’s third term 57
Paul’s furlough and arrest 58-61
Paul in Rome (where he eventually dies) 61-62
Paul’s possible release (acquittal) 63-64
Paul’s final arrest

1
GOD’S TRAINING MANUAL FOR MODERN CHRISTIANS

Many modern Christians are not satisfied with Christianity as usual. They are fed up with playing church. The status quo has little appeal. Their desire is to look back at the end of the day, or the end of the year, and say, “Praise God! His kingdom has advanced, and He has allowed me to be a part of it!” They don’t want to be spectators; they want to be participants in the great work that God is doing today.
For those desiring to be a part of God’s action both in their churches and in the workplace, I know of nothing that will help more than thoroughly understanding the book of Acts and applying what we learn from it. Acts was designed to be God’s training manual for modern Christians. Seeing and understanding what worked so well almost 2,000 years ago can directly apply to your service to God today, and it can provide a welcome po