Page 62 - LD215 History of the Church in Africa A4 final

A History of the Church in Africa

Spirit in using the followers of Jesus to expand the church. Then it ends
with Paul as a prisoner in Rome who is still engaged in the business of
taking the gospel to the nations. Someone has said there is not a formal
conclusion to the book of Acts. This is appropriate because we are still
involved in taking the gospel to the ends of the earth. The mandate
has not changed. The conclusion does not come until the church has
completely fulfilled the mission of God.

The Spread of Christianity

The first seven chapters of Acts concern events surrounding the life
of the church in Jerusalem and they show that believers worshiped in
the Jewish temple. Luke concludes Acts chapter two by stating: “And
the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved”
(2:47). Since many of the pilgrims who had come for the celebration of
Pentecost from distant lands had returned to their homes, it is possible
that the message of the gospel was already being heralded far and wide
by Spirit-filled messengers.

Meanwhile, the apostles were still living in Jerusalem. However,
when persecution broke out in Jerusalem, Luke notes that “all except
the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria” (Acts 8:1).
It was the intention of the Holy Spirit to move the church from a Jewish-
temple focused life and ministry to a missionary movement that would
reach the nations. Michael Griffiths expresses this thought beautifully:

The Jews had a centripetal (proceeding toward a center) view of
the world with Jerusalem at its center and all the nations coming
to the old Jerusalem to worship. The message of Acts is to throw
that whole view into reverse.… It tells us that the power of the
Spirit of the Outgoing God is a centrifugal (proceeding away from
the center) force that flings them out towards the frontiers. No
longer do the Gentiles have to come in as the Jews expected
them to do. Now the witnesses have to go out—to the ends of the
earth. (14–15)

Paul, a Pentecostal Missionary

Acts 9 tells us about Saul (Paul), a devout Jew and Roman citizen,
who was strongly opposed to Christianity and dedicated to stopping

::: 52 :::