First, what should be some obvious caveats. When you are reading books over a century old as many (most?) of these are, the language will be challenging. The sentence structure is a bit more complex. You simply cannot rush through it. You might need a dictionary at hand for words you have never heard in your life and which may no longer even be in use. Consider it a learning experience. Don't read too much at once, maybe 8-12 pages, depending on the length of a chapter or even a section in a chapter. Then stop and think awhile. Your critical thinking cannot help but improve.
So why is this book worth all that trouble? Suddenly you will see the Gospels as Jesus' method of teaching his disciples instead of a history/biography and/or a defining of the rules of the new Kingdom. You will understand why Jesus may have chosen the parables he did at the time he did. You will feel the impact of certain teachings on the disciples themselves. For instance, even though I knew it and could have told you if you had asked, John 15 and the vine analogy occur the night Jesus was betrayed. Within an hour or two, If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned (John 15:6), was no longer theoretical, but painfully real about someone they had known very well for over three years. I had never thought about that before, completely divorcing this chapter from its context. This book will help you feel with the apostles the effects of Jesus' teachings in a tangible way.
Another warning: Bruce has a habit of paraphrasing and extrapolating. Keep a Bible handy so you know when one stops and the other begins. As for the paraphrasing, it is another way of helping you see the impact of Jesus' words and actions on his disciples. It may or may not be exactly what they were thinking and feeling at the time, but you would never have even considered the possibilities without it.
DeWard has other books in this series that are well worth your time. They are classics for a reason. A guest writer has already reviewed Albertus Pieters's book on Revelation, The Lamb, the Woman, and the Dragon, and proclaimed it the best out there (see right sidebar for Book Reviews and scroll through it). And everyone interested in evidences ought to read Haygood's Man of Galilee. I heard J. W McGarvey's Original Commentary on Acts quoted from as a child. Go to DeWard.com to find the complete collection of 14. More may be in the works. Keep an eye open for them.
Dene Ward