In part two of this series, I focused
on the first four books of the New Testament, the gospel accounts of the life,
death, and resurrection of Jesus, the Christ.
It is now time to turn attention to the remainder of the New
Testament. Following the four Gospels is
The Book of the Acts of the Apostles, often referred to simply as Acts. As I mentioned previously, Acts is a companion
volume to the Gospel according to Luke.
Beginning with the ascension of Jesus, it continues with an account of
events leading to the formation of the early church. Pivotal to the story is the conversion of
Saul, persecutor of early Christians, into the believer Paul, fervent preacher
of the word. Acts provides details of
Paul’s three missionary journeys into Asia Minor and beyond, ending with his
imprisonment in Rome.
One of my favorite passages in Acts
occurs in Chapter 16. The narrator tells
how Paul chose Timothy to join him in the work, describing their travels. Verses 7 through 10 read, “When they had come
opposite Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did
not allow them; so, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. During the night Paul had a vision: there
stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia
and help us.’ When he had seen the
vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that
God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.”
