SUPERNATURAL #8: PREACHING THE WORD
THE THEME OF ACTS: (Acts 1:8).
“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
PREACHING THE WORD = OVER 30 TIMES IN ACTS: Here are only five examples…
4:31 they spoke the word of God with boldness
6:4 but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word
6:7 Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly…
13:49 And the word of the Lord was being spread throughout all the region
19:20 So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed
THE BIG IDEA: The church in Acts continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine - in the Word (Acts 2:42). God’s desire for His church is that we would continue to preach the Word!
COMMENTARY ON THE CHURCH TODAY:
• Too many churches today are moving away from preaching the Word.
• I was listening to a sermon by the preacher of one of the largest and fastest growing churches in Canada, and was grieved in my heart by the lack of Scripture in his message.
• QUOTE: “How little of Scripture there is in modern sermons compared with the sermons of those masters of theology, the Puritan divines! Almost every sentence of theirs seems to cast side lights upon a text of Scripture; not only the one they are preaching about, but many others as well are set in a new light as the discourse proceeds. I would to God that we ministers kept more closely to the great book.” (Charles Spurgeon, How to Read the Bible). Note – this was written over 100 years ago!
• Incidentally, the church podcast I listened to – not only have they stopped preaching the Word, they have taken the name “Christian” out of their church’s name, they have started hosting violent MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) events in their church as an ‘outreach’. (Ironically, the event was designed to raise money for Mercy Ministries, a place of healing for young women who have been hurt by violence. Something is wrong here! • MY COMMITMENT TO YOU: If you come to our church, you are going to hear a sermon based on God’s Word. It’s God’s Word that brings life and freedom!
• Paul said, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation.” (Romans 1:16). Too many preachers today are watering down the truth in an effort to be ‘politically correct’ and draw huge crowds!
KEY TEXT:
“1 Now Saul was consenting to his death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. 3 As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison. 4 Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.
• Here we see the disciples mourning Stephen’s death. Last week we talked about why sometimes people don’t get healed. (If you weren’t here, get the CD!).
• Here is an example of a cause and effect in the Bible: Because of the persecution (“therefore”), the disciples were scattered everywhere, preaching the Word.
• Remember Acts 1:8? Jesus had told them to get the power of the Holy Spirit to be His witnesses – first in Jerusalem, but then in Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the Earth.
• They had gotten comfortable, so God let them be shaken out of their comfort zones.
• God allows things to come into our lives to shake us out of our comfort zones too!
KEY TEXT: Continued
5 Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. 6 And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. 7 For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. 8 And there was great joy in that city.” (Acts 8:1-8).
• Who was this man, Philip? He wasn’t an apostle or a pastor – he was a waiter!
• Here is the second example (like Stephen) of a regular guy in the church being used in a supernatural way by the Lord. He preached Jesus, and did many signs and wonders.
• As He preached the Word (not man’s ideas), what happened? Lives were transformed:
o Those demon possessed were delivered, those who were sick were healed.
o And – there was GREAT JOY in that city.
• Where does joy come from? It is a fruit of the preaching of God’s Word!
“But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized.” (v. 12).
• What was Philip preaching? Not the latest spiritual fads to go through the church:
1. The Kingdom of God is at hand! (signs and wonders)
2. The powerful, life-transforming name of Jesus!
• Some people wonder what it means that our church is a Foursquare church. It means that we preach Jesus: Saviour, Healer, Baptised in the Holy Spirit, and Soon Coming King!
SPURGEON QUOTE:
You remember the story I told you of the Welshman who heard a young man preach a very fine sermon-a grand sermon, a highfaluting, spread-eagle sermon; and when he had done, he asked the Welshman what he thought of it. The man replied that he did not think anything of it.
• "And why not?"
"Because there was no Jesus Christ in it."
• "Well," said he, "but my text did not seem to run that way."
"Never mind," said the Welshman, "your sermon ought to run that way."
• "I do not see that, however," said the young man.
"No," said the other, "you do not see how to preach yet. This is the way to preach. From every little village in England - it does not matter where it is - there is sure to be a road to London. Now, from every text in the Bible there is a road to Jesus Christ, and the way to preach is just to say, `How can I get from this text to Jesus Christ?’ and then go preaching all the way along it."
• "Well," said the young man, "suppose I find a text that does not have a road to Jesus."
"I have preached for forty years," said the old man, "and I have never found such a Scripture, but if I ever do find one I will go over hedge and ditch but what I will get to him, for I will never finish without bringing in my Master." (Charles Spurgeon, How to Read the Bible).
CHALLENGE:
At the end of our story, Peter and John come down to Samaria and prayed for them to receive the Holy Spirit. “So when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.” (v. 25).
• The church in Acts continued STEADFASTLY in the apostles’ doctrine (Acts 2:42).
• Challenge – God wants all of us to continue steadfastly in the Word – read it daily!
• We need to read the Word if we want to build our faith (Romans 10:17).
• Jesus said, “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” (Matt. 4:4). God’s Word strengthens our spirit muscle, faith.
• God’s desire for His church is that we would continue to preach the Word!
CLOSING TEXT:
“15 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." 19 So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.” (Mark 16:15-20).
• Jesus wants YOU to GO and BE His witness! Share His Word with others...
• Invite people to come to church where they can hear the Word preached.
• As we preach the Gospel – what happens? People are saved, delivered and healed!
Beausejour Community Church Website: www.beausejourchurch.ca
Pastor Chris Jordan’s Blog: http://thelandofpromise.blogspot.com/
