Mar. 29, 2026

Last week we ended with Paul spending time in Jerusalem with the Apostles then brought to Caesarea and then sent to Tarsus. This week we pick up in Acts 9:31 with the churches throughout the region having peace and being edified.

Acts Lesson 16 Study Questions

1.    Galilee: The Book of Acts tells us nothing about the planting of churches in Galilee. We don’t know _____ started these churches, how they did it, or all the great works of God which took place in these young churches. This reminds us that Acts is only a ________ history of God’s work during this period.

2.    The fear of the Lord…the comfort of the Holy Spirit: Each of these are needed in the Christian walk. At any given moment a disciple of Jesus may more need the _____ of the Lord or the _________ of the Holy Spirit. Often, God wants the comfortable to be afflicted (gaining the fear of the Lord) and the afflicted to be comforted (by the comfort of the Holy Spirit).

3.    Aeneas, Jesus the Christ heals you: Peter clearly identified who healed – Jesus the Christ. Peter was only His instrument. Jesus healed with the _______ of Jesus, but Peter did not heal with the power of Peter. Peter relied solely on the _______ of Jesus.

4.    Luke noted that Tabitha was full of good works and charitable deeds which she did. Some people are full of good works and charitable ______, but they are only full of them in their minds and hearts. They don’t actually ____ them as Tabitha did. This is why Luke added, which she did.

5.    Peter simply tried to do as Jesus did. Jesus was his ______. He wasn’t trying to lead Jesus anymore, as he did when he told Jesus not to go the way of the cross in Matthew 16:22. Now Peter was letting Jesus ______ him.

6.    When he had called the saints and widows: Acts 9:32 and 41 mention the saints in Lydda and Joppa. This is the first time Christians are called _______ in Acts. When the Bible calls Christians saints, the idea isn’t of a super-perfect people; the idea is of a people who are different. Saints are set _______ from the world at large; they are distinctive.

7.    He stayed many days in Joppa with Simon, a tanner: Because of this, we see Peter was becoming less concerned about _________ traditions and ___________ notions than before. This work of God in Peter’s heart laid groundwork for what God would do in Peter in the following chapter.

8.    Cornelius was in the category of what the Jews called God-fearers (one who feared God). These were Gentiles who loved the God of Israel; they were sympathetic to and ___________ of the Jewish faith. Yet they stopped short of becoming _____ Jews in lifestyle and in circumcision.

9.    He saw clearly in a vision an angel of God: This was not a dream, nor did an angel __________ appear to Cornelius. This was a vision that came in the “mind’s eye” of Cornelius. At the same time, it was so vivid that Cornelius would later say, a man stood ______ me in bright clothing (Acts 10:30).

10.    “God does not need sound waves to fall on an ear drum to ______ to a man. When it pleases him to do so, he can _______ directly to one’s mind where all sound waves are finally interpreted.” (Lovett)

11.    Peter was saved, Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit, and Peter had been greatly used by God. At the same time, Peter was still Peter. God didn’t use him because he was ________, but because he was in the right direction and he was __________. 

12.    “By the time the drama had been acted out the _____ time, Peter must have begun to get the idea that God was trying to _____ him something, even though he did not know exactly what it was.” (Boice)