Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• The opposition of the Nazarenes 13:54-58 (cf. Mark 6:1-6)
  13:54 Jesus' hometown was Nazareth (Luke 4:16). The local synagogue attenders wondered where Jesus obtained His authority. The wisdom in His teaching and the power in His miracles demonstrated remarkable authority, but where ...
• Revelation about the church 16:18-20
  16:18 "I say to you"(cf. 5:18, 20, 22, 28, 32, 34, 39, 44; 8:10) may imply that Jesus would continue the revelation the Father had begun. However the phrase occurs elsewhere where that contrast is not in view. Undoubtedly it ...
• Jesus' teaching about the nature of defilement 7:14-23
  Jesus continued His response to the critics by focusing on the particular practice that they had objected to (v. 5). The question of what constituted defilement was very important. The Jews had wandered far from God's will in...
• Structure
  Longenecker identified five phenomena about the structure of Acts that the reader needs to recognize to appreciate what Luke sought to communicate."1. It begins, like the [Third] Gospel, with an introductory section of distin...
• Outline
  I. The witness in Jerusalem 1:1-6:7A. The founding of the church 1:1-2:461. The resumptive preface to the book 1:1-52. The command to witness 1:6-83. The ascension of Jesus 1:9-114. Jesus' appointment of a twelfth apostle 1:1...
• 2. The command to witness 1:6-8
  The key to the apostles' successful fulfillment of Jesus' commission was their baptism with and consequent indwelling by the Holy Spirit. Without this divine enablement they would only have been able to follow Jesus' example,...
• The descent of the Spirit 2:1-4
  Luke introduced the beginning of Jesus' earthly ministry with His baptism with the Spirit (Luke 3:21-22). He paralleled this with the beginning of Jesus' heavenly ministry with the Spirit baptism of His disciples (Acts 2:1-4)...
• Peter's exhortation 2:37-41
  2:37 The Holy Spirit used Peter's sermon to bring conviction, as Jesus had predicted (John 16:8-11). He convicted Peter's hearers of the truth of what he said and of their guilt in rejecting Jesus. Their question arose from t...
• Peter's proclamation 3:12-16
  "In his former address Peter had testified to the power and presence of the Spirit of God at work in a new way in the lives of men through Jesus. Now he proclaims the power and authority of the name of Jesus by which his disc...
• Peter's exhortation 3:17-26
  3:17-18 If Peter's charges against his hearers were harsh (vv. 13-15), his concession that they acted out of ignorance was tender. Peter undoubtedly hoped that his gentle approach would win a reversal of his hearers' attitude...
• Saul's reception in Jerusalem 9:26-30
  Luke concluded each of his narratives of the Samaritans' conversion (8:4-25), Saul's conversion (9:1-31), and Cornelius' conversion (10:1-11:18) with references to the mother church in Jerusalem. He evidently wanted to stress...
• A. The extension of the church to Syrian Antioch 9:32-12:24
  As Jerusalem had been the Palestinian center for the evangelization of Jews, Antioch of Syria became the Hellenistic center for Gentile evangelization in Asia Minor and Europe. The gospel spread increasingly to Gentiles, whic...
• The raising of Tabitha at Joppa 9:36-43
  9:36 The site of Joppa (modern Yafo, a suburb of Tel Aviv) was on the Mediterranean coast 10 miles west and a little north of Lydda. It was the ancient seaport for Jerusalem (cf. 2 Chron. 2:16; Jon. 1:3). Tabitha (lit. "Gazel...
• 2. The conversion of Cornelius 10:1-11:18
  The episode concerning Cornelius is obviously very important since there are three lengthy references to it in Acts (chs. 10, 11, and 15). It deals with an important issue concerning the mission that the Lord gave His discipl...
• Peter's message to Cornelius 10:34-43
  Peter's sermon on this occasion is the first sermon in Acts addressed to a Gentile audience (cf. 14:15-17; 17:22-31). It is quite similar to the ones Peter preached in 2:14-40 and 3:11-26 except that this one has more informa...
• The giving of the Holy Spirit to Gentiles 10:44-48
  10:44 Peter did not need to call for his hearers to repent on this occasion. As soon as he gave them enough information to trust Jesus Christ, they did so. Immediately the Holy Spirit fell on them filling them (v. 47; 11:15; ...
• Peter's defense of his conduct 11:4-17
  Luke recorded Peter's retelling of these events to his critics to impress the significance of this incident on his readers further. Peter stressed particularly God's initiative (vv. v. 8, 9, 12, 15, 16, 17a) and his own inabi...
• The spiritual initiative of the Antioch church 11:19-26
  11:19 Luke's reference back to the persecution resulting from Stephen's martyrdom (7:60) is significant. It suggests that he was now beginning to record another mission of the Christians that ran parallel logically and chrono...
• The supernatural deliverance of Peter 12:1-19
  "Peter's rescue from prison is an unusually vivid episode in Acts even when simply taken as a story about Peter. Because it is not connected with events in the chapters immediately before and after it, however, it may seem ra...
• 2. The mission to Cyprus 13:4-12
  Luke recorded the events of Paul's first missionary journey to document the extension of the church into new territory and to illustrate the principles and methods by which the church grew. He also did so to show God's supern...
• The disciples of John the Baptist 19:1-7
  This is the first of two incidents taken from Paul's ministry in Ephesus that bracket Luke's description of his general ministry there.19:1-2 Two roads led into Ephesus from the east, and Paul travelled the northern, more dir...
• Appendix 1
  Sermons and Speeches in Acts984SpeakersOccasions and or HearersCitiesReferencesPeter (1)Selection of successor to JudasJerusalem1:16-22Peter (2)Signs on the day of PentecostJerusalem2:14-36Peter (3)Healing of lame man in the ...
• The body and its members 12:12-14
  Paul now compared the body of Christ, the universal church, though by extension the local church as well, to a human body. Again his point was not that the church needs to have unity but that it needs to have diversity.12:12 ...
• C. Correction of another apostle 2:11-21
  Paul mentioned the incident in which he reproved Peter, the Judaizers' favorite apostle, to further establish his own apostolic authority and to emphasize the truth of his gospel.2:11 Peter had shaken hands with Paul in Jerus...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

• Peter's Apologia
  And the apostles and brethren that were in Judaea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. 2. And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him, 3. Saying, Thou w...