Featured Commentary on Acts

Amendation: by "flattening out" I mean that Progressive Dispensationalists do not see such a hard break between the Old and New Covenants.

 

Shall the pot say to the potter?

 

So Progressive Dispensationalists have a bent of Covenantal Theology in them but still recognize certain Dispensational distinctive, such as the distinction between Israel and the Church.

 

I own it but haven't really looked at it.

 

Yes, IHM believed in Apostasy, was an Arminain and loved Redaction Criticism.

 

We used his Luke commentary in Seminary

 

Peter Ruckman's will probably give you something fresh. You may not agree with all he writes, but it's excellent teaching and he blasts the hyper-dispensationalists.

 

A common phrase observed in PD hermeneutics is, “Already, not yet”...
where Israel and the Church are similar but different;
there is often fulfillment (or double fulfillment) of OT prophecy in a fuller way in the context of the Church.
A big difference concerns Christ’s taking the throne of David...where, when, how

Anyway, I originally brought this up because when you are working your way through the Book of Acts, where one stands on these issues can take you to different places.

Bock, as an originator of PD, should be especially sensitive to these subtleties in his commentary on Acts.

Rob

 

Pohill(NAC)and Bock (Baker) are my go to commentaries for Acts. I recently acquired Marshal but have yet to read it.

I prefer Bock over the ones listed.

***listed commentiares for Luke....fixed it

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

 

Um... Peter Ruckman was a hyper dispensationalist...

 

And big time KJVO believe!

 

Amen!
He taught this Arab man right here to believe the book and God has opened my eyes and strengthened by faith in the word of God ever since. Thank you Lord Jesus!

 

Maybe relative to you

 

I'm finishing up teaching Isaiah this month and grabbed a commentary that's been quite useful.

... and then paused...

"I wonder if they do Acts?"

turns out they do...

...and I've got a digital copy!​

.

Proclamation Trust’s Teaching series​

Teaching Acts, Unlocking the book of Acts for the Bible Teacher by David Cook (2007)

The series is purposely arranged to be a practical tool for teaching the book from the pulpit or in a Bible class.​

It provides overviews, suggested outlines (“Planning a Series on Acts”), and identifies key themes, structures and literary styles.

A good commentary and not too pricey!

Rob

AUTHOR’S PREFACE​

This book is written for preachers. Preachers are busy people. As well as preparing to preach with some expertise at least once each Sunday, they generally have to administrate, coordinate, chair, visit, console, counsel, rebuke, correct and evangelize! For this reason, books for preachers, such as those in this series, must strive to be succinct.
The introductory chapters will help preachers get their bearings in Acts, and then to prepare three teaching series to take a congregation or small group through the whole book of Acts. Each of the main chapters takes the preacher through the process of preparing an expository sermon from the text. They include comments on the text and its context, identification of the big idea and the big questions raised by the text which the sermon will seek to answer, some possible points of contact between the message and the audience, dominant pictures which engage the hearer, and some hints on the application of the passage. Issues of application are always difficult, however. In an interview for the Leadership Journal, Haddon Robinson comments that ‘more heresy is preached in application than in Bible exegesis’ (“The Heresy of Application” Leadership Journal, Oct 1, 1997). Readers are referred to the book, How to Prepare a Bible Talk, published by SMBC Press (2003) and my chapters, “A Method of Preparation” and “Illustration and Application”, for an elaboration of the need for Big Idea, Big Question, Dominant Picture and Application in expository preaching.
A word of warning! Too often as preachers we let the commentaries do our thinking for us. Under pressure, we immediately go to the commentaries, without first thoughtfully reading the text itself. If that is our ‘method’, our preaching is likely to be a regurgitation of the commentator’s thoughts on a passage. The result is powerless preaching. Read the text thoroughly and thoughtfully, using different translations, and only then consult the commentaries for extra insights, clarification etc. So if you haven’t done so already, start reading the text of Acts!
I am grateful to the faculty and students of Sydney Missionary and Bible College who listened and gave feedback on a series of sermons on Acts, delivered in Principal’s Hour in 2006. Thank you to Kay Hoe Tan for his research assistance and to Tim McMahon who edited the manuscript. Tim’s attention to detail and ability to turn preached material into written form were invaluable. Finally, thank you to all the team at The Proclamation Trust, particularly Robin Sydserff, for his enthusiastic commitment to this series.
I trust that you find this book a help as you seek to be a faithful and engaging preacher of the book of Acts.
David Cook,
Sydney, December 2006

David Cook, Teaching Acts: Unlocking the Book of Acts for the Bible Teacher, ed. David Jackman and Robin Sydserff, Teach the Bible (Ross-shire, Scotland; London, England: Proclamation Trust Media; Christian Focus Publications, 2007), 9–10.

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Peter Ruckman taught that men were saved by works in the Old Testament and that they also will be by works in the tribulation. That is a feature of Hyper Dispensationalism.

In Millions Disappear: Fact or Fiction? Ruckman says: “If the Lord comes and you remain behind, then start working like a madman to get to heaven, because you’re going to have to. ... You must keep the Ten Commandments (all of them, Ecclesiastes 12:13), keep the Golden Rule (1 John 3:10), give your money to the poor, get baptized, take up your cross, hold out to the end of the Tribulation, wait for Jesus Christ to show up at the Battle of Armageddon, and be prepared to die for what you believe. In the Tribulation you cannot be saved by grace alone, like you could before the Rapture.”

 

Jesus disagrees with him, as Jesus stated that ALL whom he has saved go up at His returning!