SERIES: Acts #1
TOPIC: Early Church; Ecclesiology, Obedience, Priorities, Resurrection, Witness, World
TITLE: FAITH OF THE FATHERS: How a Few Nobodies Turned World Upside Down!
TEXT: Acts 1:4-8
Gathering [the apostles He had chosen] together, [Jesus] commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, "Which," He said, "you heard of from Me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, "Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?" He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth."FOUNDATIONAL INQUIRY: What themes are conspicuous in the Acts of the Apostles?
CONCISE OUTLINE
I. The Preeminence of the Living Lord!Asked another way …
II. The Prominence of the Holy Spirit!
III. The Power of the Authentic Church!
1. What was preeminent in that church’s life? [That is, what was clearly the most important thing to the leaders and people of their fellowships?]TRUTH/CONTEXT: The book may be divided into three distinct sections based on the outline of 1:8b ...
2. What was prominent in the ministries of that church? [That is, does any factor stand out over all others?]
3. What power was exhibited? [That is, if their ministries were effective, what energized them?]
“… you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem (Chapters 1-7), (8-12), and in all Judea and Samariaand even to the remotest part of the earth (13-28).”If someone were to want to know what an authentic Christian community looked like, it would probably be best to look at a definition near the time of Christ … aka: the “early church.”
In looking one would have to look at the whole community of believers because the “local” church was not a known entity. Where would one look? The Book of Acts … the Acts of the Apostles!
SUCCINCTLY: The Great Commission of the Gospels [Matthew 28:16-20] is commenced in the Book of Acts.
EXPANDED OUTLINE
FOUNDATIONAL INQUIRY: What themes are conspicuous in the Acts of the Apostles?
I. THE PREEMINENCE OF THE LIVING LORD!APPLICATION: What would the witness of the early church have been IF there was no “rushing wind,” IF the thousands were not saved, IF no healing of the lame, IF no healing of the blind, IF no churches planted because there were no Stephens, no Philips, no Pauls, no Apolloses, no Pricillas or Aquilas?A. The context was the three decades after the death of Jesus …II. THE PROMINENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT!
B. J. Vernon McGee said Christ’s ministry after the resurrection was more important than that during His three years the Gospels write about. Think about that! Why?1. Because He’s alive … He was dead now He is alive! That proves everything!C. This knowledge caused the name of Jesus be the first thing on their mind when the awoke, the last thing on their mind when they laid down to sleep, and every moment in between … nothing else seemed im-portant in the light of Christ Jesus the Lord.
2. All Christ’s promises were now be seen in that light.
3. The church could now look forward to those promises future with great confidence that they too would be fulfilled … absolutely!
D. Christ opens the book, Paul closes the book preaching Christ dead, buried, resurrected, ascended and coming again at the end. Everything in between is too!
E. Stephen is martyred in that name; Peter and John are persecuted because of that name.A. “‘… IT SHALL BE IN THE LAST DAYS,' God says, 'THAT I WILL POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT UPON ALL MANKIND … ’” [Acts 2:17]III. THE POWER OF THE AUTHENTIC CHURCH!
B. This spirit was “the promise of the Father” mentioned in 2:23.1. In the book we have the promise of the Holy Spirit by Jesus in 1:5 & 1:8!C. Paul's Macedonian vision (16).
2. We have His coming as a “mighty rushing wind” (2).
3. People speaking in unknown tongues (2).
4. Persecution but Holy Spirit power (4).
5. Lied to (5).
6. Philip sent to and carried away from the Ethiopian Eunuch (8).
7. Paul on the road to Damascus (9).
8. Cornelius (10).
9. Conversion of the Gentiles.
D. His shipwreck and snakebite (19).
E. The baptism of John’s disciples (28).
F. And the overall scriptural truth of Zechariah 4:7 ["not by might nor by power but by My Spirit says the Lord"].A. Ten days following the ascension we have Pentecost. This is the beginning of what the church has known as Pentecostal power.
B. Pentecost follows the Feast of Fruits by 50 days …
C. Passover = death (no seed falls to the ground, no fruit.
D. Feast of First Fruits = Resurrection (new life)
E. Pentecost = full fruition (the church harvest)
F. Churches: Damascus (9); Antioch (11); Cyprus (13); Perga (14); Galatia (14,16); Philippi (16), Thessalo-nica (17 + Berea and Athens); Corinth (18); Ephesus (18); and etc. Even to Roman officials and cities with Paul.
G. In slightly less than 30 years the Good News is preached “to the remotest part of the earth.”
H. Prophetic fulfillment: “He says, ‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.’” [Isaiah 49:6]
Why in this day and age do we not see Pentecostal power in the church? Why is the Holy Spirit only seen in the third world?
CHALLENGE: Is Jesus alive to you? Or is He still dead and buried? Oh? You say, "He is risen indeed!" But is He coming again in judgment?
Were all of those promises that were fulfilled in His resurrection for a bunch of old Jews and Gentiles too distant to identify with or can you feel the power of His resurrection course in your veins? He's alive! He is alive!
FEEL HIS POWER TODAY … NOT WHEN YOU ARE READY FEEL HIM NOW! KNOW HIM PERSONALLY!
Posts
