THAT OTHER MAN
INTRODUCTION.
Read Poem- “THAT OTHER MAN” By Aubrey Morman
It was a blessed event the day Christ was born
There came hope for the hopeless, the lost and the forlorn.
But it was so sad that He had to die,
The soldiers would gamble, only a few would cry.
As He hung on the cross He said, “Father forgive,”
He knew He had to die that others might live.
He suffered such agony there between earth and sky,
I’m sorry that for me He had to die.
But God in the beginning had this great plan,
That He would offer His Son for sinful man,
And there on the cross He shed His blood,
The prophecy was true that said He would.
Jesus was buried in Joseph’s tomb that day,
It was like it was over in that land far away,
But, alas it was not, for the rock was rolled back,
Jesus was alive! Everything was on track.
He appeared to His disciples, He had only a few,
The Old Law was over, now they lived under the New,
The Apostles would go into all of the world and preach,
And others who believed were taught to teach.
So the Church was started, 3,000 were baptized,
They were taught about Jesus, their sins they realized.
They obeyed their Lord in that land far away,
Anyone can be a Christian if they will only obey.
The Church had it’s beginning with only a few,
But in it were workers and the Church really grew,
The Gospel was preached, and it mightily spread,
You see, Jesus is alive, He is not dead.
So, the years would come, and the years would go,
And trouble would come, wouldn’t you know.
The Devil is active, he never does rest,
He tries to get us all, more so the best.
The battle is on but my Lord will win,
You see, it was He who died for my sin.
So, with God’s help I’ll do what I can,
Lord, may we also help, “That Other Man.”
SERMON
The poem said that GOD had a plan; so, why did He need a plan? Well, it was because of that word-SIN. God created man in His own image, Male and Female He created them, and their names were Adam and Eve.
They lived in Perfect harmony with God, and they lived in that prefect environment called the Garden of Eden. They had only one rule, “do not eat of the tree of good and evil.” Only five pages deep into the Bible we find they couldn’t even keep that one rule. Eve was tempted and ate, and then offered it to Adam and he also ate. So, SIN enters the world and death came because of SIN.
God cannot tolerate Sin so Adam and Eve were put out of the Garden of Eden. Some may say, “Well, what does that have to do with me because I’m not Adam and I didn’t eat of that tree?” The Apostle Paul explains this in his letter to the Church at Rome. He said that we are all Adam’s Child and have his nature. We have all sinned.” There is none righteous, no not one.”
Our sin is what separates us from God and that brings. Death. So, we all need to be part of God’s plan or we will die—physically and Spiritually.
The two big words of the Bible are “BUT GOD.” “But God” had a plan reconcile man back to Himself. Why would God even care, because we would get what we deserved. But God, loved us and wanted to recreate us in His image. He wants us to love Him back and He wants us to care for each other like He cares for us. Now I know we are concerned about where we’ll spend eternity, but are we really concerned about the condition of “The Other Man”?
God’s plan was first concealed—but then it was revealed a little at a time over many generations. The first great event took place involving the man called Abraham. But why Abraham? Well, I don’t know!
Abraham believed in God and he had faith in God. But was he the only man on earth to do that?
I just don’t know—but I do know God made a promise to Abraham and we call this promise a Covenant. God told Abraham that all the world would be blessed through his descendants.
All God asked of Abraham was to do three things: to leave something, to enter something, and to become something.
Hebrews 11:8—“By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance: and he went out, not knowing where he was going.”
10- “for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.”
God asked Abraham to leave his native land, to enter Canaan, and the last thing God asked Abraham to do is recorded in Genesis—“to become a blessing”. Many people seem to miss this last part—so, remember it—I’ll come back to it.
Now... all the rest of the Bible is either directly or indirectly related to this promise, which God made to Abraham. This was the first great event of God’s plan for mankind.
THE 2ND GREAT EVENT
The next event God provides to save mankind happened in Bethlehem. The Angel Gabriel approaches a young woman named Mary and told her that she would have a child and His name would be called Immanuel, which means “God with us”.
Galatians 4:4,
“But in the fullness of the time came, God sent forth his Son, born of a women, born under the Law,”
And so Mary gave birth to that child in a lowly stable in Bethlehem—just as the Prophets had foretold. She lay Him in a manger, and there in that cradle was the HOPE of all mankind!
You see, this child was the Son of God —the promised seed of Abraham! He came into the world as flesh and dwelt among us. You can read about that in John chapter 1.
When Jesus was grown He made his way to John the Baptist who baptized Him even though he was without SIN. Then John announced to the people who Jesus was and God repeated to the people in a voice that came from heaven, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.”
For the next three years Jesus lived with the people, and He taught them as one who has authority, and He healed the sick, He made the blind to see and the lame to walk. Jesus performed great miracles, which proved He was the long awaited Messiah—the true Son of God. Jesus came to fulfill God’s plan to save man. He came to die for the SINS of the world.
God’s holiness demanded this infinite penalty. Our sin had to be atoned for. There was a price to be paid and only Jesus could pay it.
THE NEXR GREAT EVENT WOULD BE HIS DEATH ON THE CROSS OF CALVARY
After an unjust trial before a kangaroo Court, a scourging, and a crown of thorns placed on His head, He carries the cross to Golgatha.
He is saying the strangest thing, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”
The form used of this Greek verb- FORGIVE- also indicates that Jesus prayed this pray of intercession more than once. You see, this verb is in the imperfect active indicative, which denotes repeated action. In fact in Luke 23, the NASV verse 34 is translated in the following way:
---34---“But Jesus was saying, Father, forgive…”
If this translation is correct, Jesus prayed this prayer over and over again.
· That would mean that, maybe, when they arrived at the Place of the Skull, Jesus looked about Him and prayed, “Father, forgive them…”
As the centurion crushed Him to the ground and tied His arms to the cross beam, He prayed, “Father, forgive them…”
· When the blunt spikes tore through each palm, He prayed, “Father, forgive them…”
· When they lifted that timber high and dropped it into a hole with a forceful jolt that surely tore His flesh, He prayed, “Father, forgive them…”
· When the crowd cursed and reviled Him, He prayed, “FATHER, FORGIVE THEM…”
· When the soldiers parted His garments and gambled for the seamless robe, He prayed,
· “Father, forgive them…”
No one knows how many times He prayed this prayer that would pierce Heaven’s blue; but Jesus is continuing to intercede for the transgressors.
I believe that Jesus continues to pray this prayer for you and me, and “That Other Man,” “Father, forgive them…”
And There Was A Reason For His Prayer.
Jesus’ last phrase was, “…for they know not what they do.” Jesus said that they didn’t realize the significance of their act against Him. Today we would say, “They don’t have a clue!”
There was a great deal that Jesus’ crucifiers Did know.
· JUDAS knew he had betrayed Christ.
· CAIAPHAS knew he had resorted to bribery and other illegal acts to bring Jesus to the cross.
· The CHIEF PRIESTS knew they had brought false charges against Him.
· PILATE knew he was condemning an innocent man to death.
· The SOLDIERS knew He didn’t deserve such an awful fate.
· The CROWD knew mocking a person in such agony was sadistic.
· They all knew the act they had committed against Jesus was e ---8---the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory…”
CRUCIFIED BETWEEN TWO THIEFS
In the beginning the crowd taunted Him ,and so did the two thiefs.
But Luke says THE OTHER thief did something. The OTHER began to change. Now in Greek text the word “other” literally implies “ other of a different kind.” The scripture says in the being he was numbered with those who were shouting abuse including his partner and the others, so He was the same as them. But now he is being considered as one of another kind. I believe at this time he is being changed. He was becoming different because he told his compatriot , “ What’s the matter with you? Don’t you even fear God, since you’re under the same sentence of condemnation? Don’t you realize that we’re getting what we deserve, but this man is innocent?”
Did you know that in our world today that other man can change! When this criminal changed he said the most important sentence of his life, “ Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
I want you to know that in the Greek it is the imperfect tense. If you remember our first lesson we explained it is used to indicate repeated action in the past. So, this thief made this request to Jesus more than once. As he saw Jesus’ life and his own ebbing away, he prayed “ Remember me! Remember Me! Jesus, remember me when you come into Your Kingdom.”
I think we should also notice that this is not a plea for present relief or release, nor was it a request for position or power. No, this repentant criminal merely wanted to be remembered when Jesus came into His Kingdom. His request was for mercy he knew he did not deserve. We need to do the same thing! So does everybody else around us, which includes that other man. Do we really care what happens to him?
Who is that other man? Well, he could be anybody we know or meet. Yes, he could be that person that cause dissention among us, or a nice person we know a Christian that has gone astray, a person of another religion, a neighbor done the street that is a good moral man, or it might even a member of our own family. We know who “ that other man” is, don’t we?
THEN COMES A CRY OF COMPASSION
Jesus takes care of His final earthly business. He takes care of His Mother. Looking at the disciple John and His mother he says, “Woman behold your Son and behold your Mother.” What else did He have to leave her but earthly security.
Pretty much everything He had was borrowed. Look at His life that has been recorded in the Bible that we CAN read. I mean not only was He born in a Borrowed manger. Jesus preached one of His greatest sermons from a borrowed boat, rode into Jerusalem on a borrowed colt ate the last supper in a borrowed room, crucified on a borrowed cross, and was buried in a borrowed tomb. What did Aubrey say in the poem, “Jesus was buried in Joseph’s tomb that day.”
2 Corinthians 8:9, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.”
“ The soldiers would gamble, only a few would cry.” But Jesus did leave His Mother something far better that earthly riches. He left her IMMORTALITY. Jesus was her Son , but He also was her SAVIOR.
Well, not long after that third statement-at about noon-our text says that, “ darkness fell over the whole land,” and as it did an eerie silence surrounded the PLACE OF THE SKULL. Now, we need to understand that when John described this event he did not mean the sky was a little overcast, or that there was some kind of natural eclipse of the sun.
No, this was not some natural event that brought darkness to the earth that day. The sun was covered by a supernatural act of God, and this just didn’t affect Golgotha –the Bible says that DARKNESS fell over the whole land. You might say that MIDNIGHT came at MIDDAY. It was a deep darkness-darker than the darkest night. I don’t believe that the stars or the moon were visible. It may have been like the light of the world had gone out. Maybe it was like in the beginning as described in Genesis when it said,
“ The earth was with out form and void and darkness was upon the face of the earth.”
Now, this two night day should not have surprised the Jewish religious leaders because it had been foretold hundreds of years before by the Jewish prophet Amos, who wrote, “ And it shall come to pass in that day, sayeth the Lord God , that I will cause the SUN to go down at NOON and I will darken the earth on a clear day.” ( Amos 8:9)
Then suddenly, at 3:00 pm out of the depths of that darkness came the anguished voice of the abandoned Son of God. Now most of the Biblical epic films show Jesus very weakly-barely struggling to get those words out but that is what the Bible says happened. No, God’s word tells us that Jesus’ 4th cry from the cross was a THUNDERING cry! Look at verse 46. Matthew says that “ Jesus cried out with a…LOUD voice..”
You see, the translation “cried out” comes from a combination of two words. One means “ to shout”, and it is prefixed with the word “UP”- so it meant, “to shout/scream up.” In the scriptures this combination of words is used to refer to a guttural scream-or a passionate, loud groan.
Do you remember the words of Psalms 22-a clear prophecy of this moment?
We should notice that this statement from the cross is first quoted exactly as Jesus would have said it in ARAMAIC: “ Eli, Eli, Lama Sabachthani.”Well, what did that cry mean? What was Jesus saying when He said He was forsaken by God?
I Believe, of all the words from the cross these are the most difficult to understand. Well, if you feel baffled your not alone. The famous preacher of the past, “God forsaking God! Who can understand that?”
I’m not sure we can understand HOW, but I do believe that we understand WHY. Let me point out two things about this cry.
IT WAS A CRY OF DESPARATE SEPARATION
You see, for the first time in all of eternity, Jesus was separated from-forsaken by-His Father. Now all of His life he knew what it was like to be forsaken. The members of His own family had forsook Him for a while. People in His own hometown turned against Him. His Nation rejected Him. As John put it, “ He came unto His own and His own received Him not.” In the 6th chapter of John he tells us of a time when many of Jesus’ followers, “turned and walked with Him no more.” Even His closest twelve disciples forsook Him in His hour of need and fled in Panic.
So, Jesus knew what it was like to be abandoned-forsaken.
You know, if you think about it, up to this point, Jesus had always had GOD. Well, Jesus’ own words of ANGUISH tells that in a real sense, GOD was not there for He had turned His face away from His own Son.
I really believe that one way that we can tell this is by the way that Jesus addresses His Father in this moment. Jesus spoke three times to His Father on the cross. Two of those times, Jesus called Him “Father”, but not this time. No, here He Jesus calls Him GOD. It is if you walk up to your Father and addresses Him as “MISTER” rather than “ dad” or “ Daddy.”
Why would a loving GOD forsake His Son? David had said in Psalms 37:25, “I have never seen the RIGHTEOUS forsaken.” He did say that –but you see, for the first time in Jesus’ life, Jesus was not righteous. He was not pure and sinless. And this caused GOD to turn His back on Him. This made it impossible for our loving but Holy GOD to look at Him.
2 Corinthians 5:21- “God made Him –Jesus-who had no sin to be sin for us.” 1st Peter 2:24 puts it this way, “He himself-Jesus- bore our sins in His body on the tree.”
This what happen: all the sins of humanity have been gathered in one pile of evil and somehow that pile has been laid on Jesus Christ- all the lusting, all the idolatry, all the materialism, all the hatred, all the envying, murder, drunkenness, all the prejudice, every sinful thought, every sin of omission, ALL OF IT!
If you will try to imagine every sinful act that has ever been committed or ever will be- the terrible smell of it- a mass of filth so horrible-so revolting that you would have to turn your face to keep from smelling it so that it wouldn’t make you nauseated and your eyes water.
If, we can imagine that then we can get some idea of the revulsion that was in the holy heart of GOD that day. I mean on that day that one spot called Golgotha was the most hated spot in God’s universe. No wonder He looked away from His Son. The fact is GOD is Holy and a Holy God cannot tolerate sin- even if that sin is on His own Son. You see God, By His every nature, cannot dwell in the presence of sin.
We should understand that our sins will separate us from GOD, and if we will multiple that billions and billions of times we might get some feeling of why Jesus cried out in desperation,
“Where are you GOD I can’t feel your presence any longer!”
To fully understand we need to go back to the Old Testament and read Leviticus 16 to see what occurred there which was to be re-enacted at the cross. He is the one, eternal SCAPEGOAT because for once and for all , all the sins of eternity were place on Him. As Jesus cried out, “ My God, My God why have you forsaken Me ?” He’s being shut out from His Father’s presence. That is why He cried out with a loud Shout, “ My God, My God why have you forsaken me?”
IT WAS ALSO A CRY OF SUBSTITUTION
2 Corinthians 5:14, “For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died.”
Isaiah 53 says, “ He was pierced for OUR transgressions. He was crushed for OUR iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him and by His wounds we are healed.” You see, the truth is, on the cross Jesus did for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves. He was a pure offering- He had no sin-so He was able to carry ours.
Yes Christ did that. He offered Himself as a sacrifice for our sins, ONCE AND FOR ALL!
Never again would the Priest have to make sacrifices in the temple. Never again would it be necessary for BLOOD to be shed for the forgiveness of sins. Christ was God’s one, final, acceptable sacrifice.
JESUS SAID “I THRIST”
“Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished- so that the scriptures would be fulfilled-said, “I am thirsty.”
An average person would probably not have known that because there was so many prophesies to be fulfilled. The scholars say there were 332 Old Testament prophecies that described the Messiah. Jesus fulfilled every one of them during His life and death. The probabilities of a person being able to do this is astronomical. It would be impossible! There is no room for doubt that Jesus was who He said that He was. In the last 24 hours of His life, over 20 scriptures from the Old Testament were fulfilled.
So, in order for all prophesy to be completed, He said, “I am Thirsty.” The prophecy that was fulfilled is found in Psalm 69.
Psalm 69: 21, “ They also gave me gall for food
And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.”
2-WITH THOSE THREE WORDS JESUS WAS ALSO SAYING, “I UNDERSTAND.”
“THEANTHROPIC PERSON”. This comes from two GREEK words: “theos” meaning God and “Antropos,” meaning man. If you combined those two you get the best word to describe Jesus, and it is the GOD-MAN.
As God He could say, “ I tell you the truth…before Abraham was born, I am”. And as man He could say, “I am thirsty”. Jesus was not a deified man nor was He a humanized God. He was the God-man: forever God and now, for ever Man.
I mean everything about us. Jesus is the perfect High Priest and the perfect one to stand between God and us.
Verse 14 says, “For He is our peace.” He is the Prince of Peace.
In 2nd Corinthians 5;17, it says, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.”
AND FINALLY THE WORDS,”IT IS FINISHED”
What was FINISHED?
ATONEMENT HAS BEEN MADE.
GOD INAUGURATED IT
CHRIST FULFILLED IT, AND WE ACCEPT IT
THE ATONEMENT WAS FINISHED AT THE CROSS
SATAN IS DEFEATED
The Greek word used here is
TETELESTAI-It is finished
TETELESTAI- All prophecy has been fulfilled
TETELESTAI- types are completed
TETELESTAI- the old covenant is finished
TETELESTAI- the suffering of Christ is finished
TETELESTAI- propitiation and atonement has been made.
“FATHER INTO THY HANDS I COMMEND MY SPIRIT”
It is difficult to die. It’s especially difficult when you are only 33years old. Can you imagine what it would be like to be crucified on a Roman cross? The cross of Christ became an altar-ordained by God-where, by the death of His Son, God would open the way for sinful men that they might be able to draw near to God.
Wouldn’t it be a shame if after all that God had planned for us from the foundation of the world, and all the things Jesus went through offering us a free gift of salvation, and we refuse to accept it! We need to accept-today!.
The World and the Resurrection.
1st Corinthians 15:14 and 19
---14---“…And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.”
---19---“If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men, most to be pitied.”
· If Christ is not risen, the Church is ridiculous.
· If Christ is not risen, there is NO hope in this life or the next.
· If Christ is not risen, the Christian martyrs who gave up their lives for the cause of Christ Jesus, died foolishly and the Christian religion is no more valid than pagan religions.
· If Jesus is not truly resurrected, He is not the Son of God. Jesus would be a hoax.
· If Jesus is not the Son of God, there is no salvation—no forgiveness—no Holy Spirit. There is nothing!
The Truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is crucial to the Truth of the whole Bible!
We need to understand, if we have a dead Savior, the He might have been a good teacher of the law—maybe even a wonder-worker—and be remembered and loved by those who knew Him. But He would not be the Son of God. Only a risen, living Christ could be called Savior, the life and light of the world, the life giver—and as such, to be preached to all men.
Why Do We Believe In the Resurrection?
We believe in the resurrection because of the evidence. John writes, in John 20:31—
31---“…but these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of god; and that believing, you may have life in His name.”
Christians believe there is overwhelming evidence to prove the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus of Nazareth—
· accused by the Jews
· tried before the Roman governor, Pilate
· crucified between 2 thieves at Golgotha
· buried in a tomb in a hillside, which was sealed with a huge stone and guarded by Roman centurions—
this Jesus arose from the dead early on the Sunday morning following His death—and He is still alive and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty….even today!
Question: Why is the Truth of the resurrection important?
It is the resurrection of Jesus Christ upon which we Christians stake our lives!
· Because He is risen, we are brought from death into life—from darkness into the light.
· Because He is risen, we believe in the goodness and wisdom and power of God.
· Because He is risen, we know He lives today and rules today as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and all things—no matter how bleak and hopeless they may seem—work together for good for those who love Him.
Because He is risen, we worship a living being rather than believing the story of an unusual man. We do not worship the legend of a suffering servant. Certainly, we do not worship an object of wood or stone. We worship a living person who is with us as we trust Him.
Being assured of the resurrection, we are filled with glorious hope. Our Faith is not just wishful thinking, because the evidence of the resurrection is convincing. It gives us our reason to believe!
Only Jesus can say, “I was dead, but now I am alive!”
The Lord has risen, indeed!
THE DAY THE WORLD CHANGED
Text: Acts, Chapter 2
The Church of our Lord was never an afterthought. It was purposed by God before the world was created. God’s people, Paul writes in Ephesians 1:4—
“…just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world.”
In Chapter 1, verse 2, as he addresses the chosen of God, Peter says, “…according to the foreknowledge of God the Father.”
Yes, the Lord’s Church was God’s plan to save mankind. It was a Church of Prophecy.
Isaiah prophesied about a day in the future—I believe it is the day the world was changed:
Isaiah 2:2-4
---2---“Now it will come about that in the last days
The mountain of the house of the LORD
Will be established as the chief of the mountains,
And will be raised above the hills;
And all the nations will stream to it.
---3---And many peoples will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
To the house of the God of Jacob;
That He may teach us concerning His ways
And that we may walk in His paths.”
For the law will go forth from Zion
And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
Jeremiah prophesied about a new day:
Jeremiah 31:31-33
---31---“”Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,
---32---not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD.
---33---“But this is a covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it’ and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”
The Prophet Joel prophesied about this day—this day that the world would change:
Joel 2:28-32
---28---“It will come about after this that I will pour out
My Spirit on all mankind;
Well….when would this happen?
Daniel prophesied about the time this would occur.
Daniel 2:44 “In the days of those kings, God will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will, itself, endure forever.”
Now we come to the New Testament during the Kingdom of Iron—the Roman Empire. Here we find John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Lord, say: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”
Then John pointed Jesus out to the crowd and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.”
After Jesus’ ministry, His death, His burial, and His resurrection, we find Him with His disciples. And this was right before His ascension to sit at the right hand of God. In Acts 1, verse 4, He tells them to, “Go into Jerusalem and wait for the power to come from on high.”
Acts 2:1
---1---“And when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.”
Verse 14 said that Peter stood up and raised his voice and told them what DAY this was! He said this was the day spoken of by the prophet Joel; and, he quoted the same prophecy of Joel we read a few minutes ago. THIS pinpoints the day that the world changed!
See, the Apostle actually preached a simple message of Jesus being the Son of God, and that he was crucified. This was a message of hope because He was resurrected from the dead. This message they preached is simply called “The Gospel”. It is the only message with power to save people from their sins. Then and Now!
When those people heard the gospel, I want you to notice at how they responded in verse 37 “Now when they heard of this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the Apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?”
I don’t know anywhere in the Bible that the question they ask and the answer they received is any more specific. They ask a direct question and they got a direct answer. They ask with sincere hearts, and Peter and the apostles responded with an honest answer. They delivered the keys—the entrance into the Kingdom of Christ. Look at their answer in verse 38
Acts 2:38-39
---38---“Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
---39---“For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”
Well, A direct question deserves a direct answer and they got it! It deserves the same today!
So another question is how did they respond, and the answer is found in verse 41
Acts 2:41
---41---“So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls.”
A congregation of the Lord’s church was born that day. It was a day the world changed. It happen right in the city of the Old Jerusalem. Yes, a New Jerusalem was born and the Kingdom of God now would advance throughout the world. The scripture said it would begin in Jerusalem and go all over the world.
The church in Jerusalem was a very special congregation of the Lord’s people,
Acts 2:47
---47---“…praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.”
Yes, the first Congregation of the Lord’s church was together in Jerusalem with the apostles who were instructing them.
What have we learned today about the Lord’s church?
1st —It was a Church of prophesy
2nd —It was composed of baptized believers who were truly converted and Transformed.
3rd —They became a great congregation that serves as an example for all the future Congregations that would follow, because they…
A—Learned about sacrifice and giving
B—Learned to live in Unity and Love
C—Learned to pray in times of trouble
D—Learned to Meet Problems head on and solve them in a Christian Manner.
The result was they experienced God’s grace and they Grew.
