Tonight we begin a journey to explore the unfinished work of Jesus Christ as the pages of Acts unroll before us. From the infant stages of the early church to our contemporary existence today, the work of the Kingdom of God is still actively being finished. This is an exciting adventure we live, the Christian life, and this expository exploration of our heritage will provide us with fresh enthusiasm and fire to continue to walk out the plans and purposes God has for our generation.
I want to encourage you to take advantage of the notebook, and to secure a copy of the tapes of each weeks message so you can continually go over the information in the coming weeks and lifetime you have ahead. The first notebook has space for 12 tapes and the notes for the first twelve lessons along with additional study helps and practical application guides.
One thing I hope becomes quite obvious to you is the early church had things going for it that over the generations the church has seemed to lose. They had a freshness of discovery, there was an anticipation in their lives of something which was beyond themselves, but something which was about to be brought to pass in their midst. There was an awakening to all the Lord had told them and was at that moment working out in their lives. The early church was a church of power, it was a church of outreach. You will see how they continually faced mounting persecution but through the power of the Holy Spirit was able to conqueror their fears. As we go through the verses of Acts, we will see an incredible commitment which existed in the early church and how they were able to see past their personal needs reaching out and influencing society at large for the Kingdom of God. This was indeed a church that turned the world right side up, a church which serves as a model for us today to make a similar impression as we travel through our time, and leave the world better than when we came. The first church was alive with a sense of anticipation that Jesus would one day fulfill His promises and come back for a glorious church.
I have been looking forward to sharing this expository study with you, so together we can be stirred for our time and our era. The events we will read and study are not just logos, printed words, but they are words which are alive with spiritual understanding. What happened then is still happening today. In small pockets of believers, applying the word of truth and using it to touch heaven and change earth. There is an army today which does not hold to the doom of this day but cherishes the word of God and His promises and is making a way through the garbage of a generation to bring hope. Are you part of that army? I hope so. It is my prayer this study of the Book of Acts will bring a desire within you to rise to new heights in your Christian walk and commitment, that God will pour out a fresh anointing and presence of His Holy Spirit on all of us, and in this hour we will resolve to make an impact with the time we have here on planet earth. The Book of Acts not only shows us what God has done in the past, but what God is doing and wanting to do in the present. God is the same today as He was 2,000 years when the early Christians paved the way for us today. So lets look at what we will accomplish through this study…
I. Introduction.
A. Discover a Fresh Revelation of Jesus. Through the power of the Holy Spirit we have the opportunity as we read through the accounts of the early church to gain fresh perspective on Jesus.
B. A fuller expression of the power of His resurrection. The opening verses will bring us a fuller understand of the resurrection as well as the additional notes provided for you.
C. An unwavering faith in His Word. What Jesus promised He delivered.
D. A fresh baptism of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes we need to look beyond our present circumstances and look to God.
E. A spirit of unity among believers. What caused the early church to explode with the dynamics it did? We will see how believers, united, brings this into play.
F. A renewed practice of the discipline of prayer. One thing that can be said of the early church, they were people of prayer, something that needs to be recaptured for the church of the 21st Century to move forward with the same and greater impact today.
The real power of the Church will come when each and every believer personally allows the Holy Spirit to live and direct all the areas of his or her life. To live completely and at all times in the power of the Spirit.
So with this introduction behind us, we look ahead as we embark on this journey together through the Book of Acts. Your notes have a preface which deals with the authorship, Luke, and other background information which shed light on Acts which you can read later, and our focus tonight will be on the first three verses of chapter one.
II. The Message
The first account I composed, Theophilius, about all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when He was taken up after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen.
Acts begins is the opening of the evangelistic work of God. Jesus ascension. The work of redemption has been completed and the next phase of the Christian life has begun, to tell the world of the redemptive power of God.
During Jesus earthly ministry most of the work had been done by Christ. He did the preaching and teaching, He performed the miracles all the while training the disciples to take over the work, now, Acts ushers in the time when not only they will shoulder the responsibility of evangelism, but we also we follow in the footsteps of the early church, in the footsteps of Jesus.
Luke begins by speaking to stating to Theophilus, a Greek word which is translated :Friend of God” or “loved of God” that he had written a prior composition, which we know is the Gospel of Luke. The Gospel of Luke contains an account of the earthly ministry of Jesus, the things that He began to do and to teach until His ascension into heaven.
A. Orders given to carry the message.
Jesus did not spend all this preparation time only to have the disciples not follow through on the importance of His teachings. What is it they would teach? Kingdom Principles. Things like Heaven is available to all who will call upon the name of the Lord, He promised to never leave us or forsake us, that He would send a Comforter, the Holy Spirit to dwell with us. That whatever we ask in His name will be given, that power is available to witness and live in this world, and other such teachings which was commonly shared among them by Jesus when He walked with them. The orders given were orders for evangelism. How are we doing in this regard as a church? How are we doing in our personal life?
Paul thought it so important that we know, understand and share the message of the Kingdom that he prayed in Colossians 1:9-11 For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God’ strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience. There are two things which will cause the church to suffer from doing its task in this day. I want us to briefly look at:
B. The Cause of powerlessness in the church
1. Ignorance of Biblical Truth. If we are to be people like those in the days of the early church, then we are going to have to be knowledgeable of the Bible. That means we are not only going to have to read it once, but read it again and again, searching for truth, and understanding how we are to live. Part of Paul’s prayer not only for the people of Colossi but for us as well. Without Biblical knowledge how can we expect to unleash the power of God in our lives or in the lives and situations of others? We cannot. This leads to the second factor:
2. Too few who know the truth live by it. The greatest message of mankind, Jesus, should be lived to the fullest. Yet, how often do people proclaim a message yet not live by it. Do as I say but not as I do. How can I expect others to come to Christ unless I am living a life through Christ that is appealing. Nineteenth century Scottish Preacher Robert Murray McCheyne is quoted as saying, “Do not forget the culture of the inner man—I mean of the heart. How diligently the cavalry officer keeps his sabre clean and sharp; every stain he rubs off with the greatest of care. Remember you are God’s sword, His instrument—I trust a chosen vessel unto Him to bear His name. In great measure, according to the purity and perfection’s of the instruments, will be the success. It is not great talents God blesses so much as great likeness to Jesus. A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hand of God.
We have all been called to be ministers of God, and as such we must give heed to these words. Sound doctrine supported by holiness of life is essential for all who would minister the Word of God. Jesus ministry in the Spirit’s power demonstrated the pattern for believers. The effectiveness of our ministry is dependant on our clear and deep understanding of the Word of God.
III. The Manifestations.
To those He also presented Himself alive, after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days, and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God. Acts 1:3
A. Eyewitness Accounts.
Verse three states Jesus presented Himself alive after His death with many convincing proofs. Dr. Louis Gottschalk, a historian, said, “Ability to tell the truth rests in part upon the witness’s nearness to the event. Nearness is here used in both a geographical and chronological sense.”
Acts 1:21-22 Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.
1 Corinthians 15:5-8 And He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as it were one untimely born, He appeared to me also. This being in reference to Paul on the Damascus Road.
Acts 5:30-32 The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead—whom you have killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.
While the multiple numbers of New Testament eyewitness accounts are not a 100% guarantee of reliability, it would be extremely difficult to argue that each one made the same mistake in identification. These were not fleeting accounts by some stranger in a dark alley. These eyewitnesses spent time with Jesus. They knew Him, they loved Him, and He appeared to them over a period of 40 days.
B. Personal Risks.
The Bible clearly shows the cowardice of Jesus followers prior to His crucifixion. Peter denied Him three times, they had all fled out of the Garden when the guards came to arrest Him, they hid out in the Upper Room following His death. Why did they do this? Because they were afraid the same thing that happened to Jesus would happen to them, and crucifixion was not a pleasant way to die. So what was it that changed them? Why would a person go from being fearful one minute to bold the next? The logical explanation is they had an encounter with the risen Lord, Jesus came to them following His resurrection. And look at the result in Acts 4:17-21 But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must want these men to speak no longer to anyone in this name. Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” After further threats they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened.
Acts 5:40 records, His speech persuaded them. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.
The phenomenon of the transformation of the disciples cannot be explained outside of the resurrection. Amidst incredibly hostile conditions, the disciples were immovable in their certainty of the resurrection of Jesus. Even the transformation of Paul serves as one of the most profound transformations of an individual in all of the New Testament history. They were absolutely convinced of the reality of the resurrection and this gave them a boldness to preach the gospel to the very people who had crucified Christ. They had no doubt in believing in the Kingdom of God and the promises Jesus made during His earthly ministry.
C. The Resurrection.
The resurrection is Key to the truth of the Gospel. If this never happened, there would be no Christianity today. So how can we know two thousand years later the resurrection is real and not a hoax. Lets look at some evidence, although in our time together I cannot go over all the truths.
1. The Empty Tomb. If you are going to have a resurrection, you are going to need an empty grave. I have a couple of historical truths for you.
a. The existence of many famous tombs are known. You can travel to cemeteries around the world and find the remains of well known and lessor known people. The remains of Confucius, Buddha, Muhammad and others, there location is known. In fact, recently, through DNA testing, they were able to identify the remains of one of the soldiers in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and release those remains to his family. Years ago they paraded around the remains of King Tut and the treasures of his tomb, and the Roman Catholic Church just had the remains of one of their saints tour the nation. Now for those who would like to put the dead to rest in their graves, Jesus presents a problem.
b. Jesus Tomb was empty.
Luke 24:5-6 And as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee.
There are sources, both Jewish in the above passage and also Roman sources that acknowledge the traditions, the tomb was empty. Josephus, a Jewish historian, states it in his writing from that period, there is a compilation of fifth century writings called the Toledoth Jeshu which state it, in addition to a collection of hostile sources which also admit the tomb was empty. Justin Martyr in his writings relates the Jersusalem authorities sent special representatives through the Mediterranean world to counteract the story the tomb was empty, telling people his followers stole his body. Why would someone bride Roman guards and propagate a stolen body explanation if the tomb was still occupied? There would be no need to. The stone was rolled away and Jesus rose from the grave just as He said. Time does not permit going through the system of Roman guards, the details that pertain to the execution of the entire Roman guard if a prisoner escaped which would be the end result if the seal had been broken and the stone rolled away, the body missing. So lets move on to the next point.
D. Growth of the Church.
According to Encarda Encyclopedia, there are currently over 1.7 billion Christians living around the world. All of this springing from the humble beginnings of an empty tomb. As we look through the Book of Acts we will discover the amazing growth of the early church and what caused it to explode. Why did this happen? It was the result of the power of the resurrection.
Acts 4:33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all.
Romans 1:4 and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.
If the resurrection was not real, then the church would be non-existent today. We know the church is growing, and the church continues to grow as a result of the reality of the resurrection of Christ and the reality in the lives of Christians and in the world. We continue to celebrate Easter, people continue to pledge allegiance to the Lamb of God because He is not dead, but risen. If the resurrection is not real, then the church would have died in the first century where they would have been able to present reliable evidence against the claims of resurrection, but instead of presenting evidence against it, evidence for the resurrection continued to mount and the early church exploded with growth. These first verses of Acts signal the start of a revolution which is still gaining and growing in momentum and will continue to do so until Jesus comes again.
There is one more manifestation I want us to look at tonight.
E. Changed Lives
(have someone share a testimony of how Jesus Christ has changed their life.)
1. Paul’s desire for the Ephesians Church
In Galatians 1:18-20 Paul wrote, I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms.
Paul said this is my prayer for you, church this is also my prayer for you as well. That the eyes of your heart will be enlightened, that tonight before you leave this place you will have a deeper understanding of the importance of the resurrection and how it plays out in the Book of Acts.
Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 1:12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day. He also said in Colossians 2:2 Purpose in that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ.
1 John 4:13, We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of His Spirit.
For forty days following the resurrection Jesus appeared to a large number of people, testifying of the truth of His resurrection. That He is alive, and able to help them then, and us today. He spent time speaking to them of the kingdom, His sovereign rule over all of His creation and his spiritual authority over His people on earth, the structure of His kingdom.
He is still speaking today. We need to ask ourselves, are we truly listening. Do we really care. Will we respond to the voice of God. Romans 8:11 says, And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you.
Romans 8:11 states That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
1 Peter 1:3-5 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his mercy he has given us new3 birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
Folks, we have a wonderful adventure ahead of us as we go through the verses of Acts. I want to encourage you to find a practical application and begin to ask God to show you how you too can be as the disciples of the early church, growing and going for the Kingdom.
PRAYER
