PREFACE TO THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

The purpose of this commentary is to give a living picture of the expanding church through the lives and activities of some of the early Christians including Peter, John, Stephen, Philip, Paul, Barnabas, Silas, Aquila, Priscilla, Apollos and others. After preaching many sermons on the Acts for over fifty years and teaching in the seminary classes, it was a joy to take the Bible and several commentaries and make an intensive study of this great book. It is my prayer that ministers, teachers, and others will find this study helpful in their efforts to expound God's Word to their congregation and/or classes. Maybe it will "prime the pump" as you prepare a sermon or a Sunday School lesson. I claim neither originality nor any degree of inspiration beyond that enjoyed by any of the servants of Christ in this age. I am reminded of what Emerson said concerning originality, "Every man is a quotation from his ancestors." The reader will find very few original concepts in this manuscript, because the thoughts contained therein are the results of every book I have ever read, every sermon I have ever heard preached, every lecture I have ever attended both in the classroom and chapel services along with my relationship with my brethren through the years. I have gleaned thoughts and principles from several sources, and it is hoped that I have faithfully given credit where credit is due.

I thank God for the Acts of the Apostles because it is the only book that gives the history of the early church. It tells the reader of the dedication and consecration of great men and women as they saw missions fields before them and dared to accept the Great Commission at its face value. The book occupies an indispensable place in the Bible. It serves as a bridge between the Four Gospels and the Epistles of Paul, Peter, James and John.

I suppose my interest in the Book of Acts was first whetted as I studied a textbook entitled The Life and Letters of St. Paul by J. W. Shepard; the class was taught by one of my mentors, Doctor Robert Dobson at Wayland Baptist University in 1952. I was again made to appreciate the life of Paul as a student in the seminary under Doctors Gerald D. Kellar, D. N. Jackson and W. J. Dorman as we made our way through the missionary journeys of the great apostle to the Gentiles, Paul the Apostle. I have been made to appreciate anew the great sacrifices that the apostle made to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. As a result of his dedication and persistence the gospel came to Asia Minor thence to Europe and then to Great Britain and finally to America, and I heard the gospel and was saved almost 70 years ago. Praise God for the Apostle Paul and those who followed in his footsteps as they preached the gospel to earth's remotest bounds.

When one remembers that Doctor Luke wrote 2,158 verses in the New Testament, even more than the Apostle Paul (2033) or the Apostle John (1415), a study of Luke's Gospel and his Acts of the Apostles is very important to the Bible student. In my mind Luke is the greatest of all church historians.

John W. Gregson

February 2000