back to indexActs III Week 1 (5-15-13)
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The freedom that you've given us, that we would use it, Lord, 00:00:04.640 |
vigorously to grow and to mature and to be good stewards of everything that you've given us. 00:00:10.880 |
So we pray that you bless us, that you would guide us, 00:00:13.680 |
that your Holy Spirit would empower us in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 00:00:18.080 |
Okay. So, today we're looking at Acts chapter 1 through 17, 00:00:23.520 |
and I know there's quite a few people who were not with us 00:00:28.160 |
in the first two sections of the study of the Book of Acts. 00:00:32.560 |
So what we're going to do is, in order for all of us to be on the same page, 00:00:37.040 |
or at least for those of you who weren't here for the study of the first part, 00:00:40.800 |
that you are not going to fall behind. So this is actually the third part of 00:00:47.760 |
three-part study in the Book of Acts. We did the first part a while ago, 00:00:53.040 |
and we're doing chapters 18 through 28 for this section. Okay. 00:00:58.480 |
But before we get into that, we want to make sure that we're all on the same page. 00:01:03.200 |
So what I want to do is I want to take some time to review, 00:01:07.040 |
okay, review over the Book of Acts and what we've learned, 00:01:14.560 |
and then starting from next week, we'll jump into chapter 18. Okay. 00:01:19.040 |
So today is going to be reviewed. So if you weren't here with us for the first 00:01:24.240 |
couple times that we did it, it'd be a good day for us to for you to catch up. 00:01:29.760 |
I don't have any handouts for you today, but we are going to have group 00:01:33.360 |
opportunities for us to do this together. So Acts, this has an introduction. 00:01:39.120 |
What is the main verse that outlines the structure of this book? 00:01:46.960 |
Acts 1-8. Okay. So the Book of Acts is one of those books that is outlined, 00:01:51.680 |
and it follows that outline to the T. We can pinpoint at what point does the gospel go from 00:01:58.800 |
Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria to the remotest part of the world. It is divided very neatly that way. 00:02:05.280 |
So once you understand that, Acts 1-8 is the outline of the Book of Acts. 00:02:09.680 |
So if we say chapter 7, what part are we in? Are we in Judea, Samaria? 00:02:14.400 |
Are we in chapter 28, what part are we in? So you'll have a clear view of where we are in the 00:02:21.120 |
Book of Acts. Okay. So Acts 1-8 is an extremely important verse, and I encourage you, if you 00:02:25.920 |
have not memorized that verse, to memorize that verse because that will give you, not only is it 00:02:31.200 |
in and of itself a powerful verse, but it gives us an outline of what we are studying. Okay. 00:02:35.120 |
Acts 1-8. Which apostle is called to lead among the Jewish church, and which one was called to 00:02:41.840 |
bring the gospel to the Gentiles? Peter and Paul. So you can kind of outline where Peter steps in 00:02:52.320 |
and where Paul steps in, right? In the Book of Acts, where the ministry is, when the primary 00:03:00.720 |
focus of the gospel ministry is for the Jews, Peter is the primary character, right? He's the 00:03:08.800 |
one up in the front, he's the one giving the speeches, he's the one being persecuted and being 00:03:12.640 |
sent to prison, okay? But once we move to the work of the Gentiles, Apostle Paul takes over, 00:03:19.600 |
Peter is not even mentioned anymore. Okay. So those are the two main human characters, 00:03:24.720 |
the apostle to the Gentiles and then the apostle to the Jews. Sorry, I got that backwards. Apostle 00:03:30.800 |
to the Jews and then apostle to the Gentiles. Okay. So, but in reality, those two people, 00:03:36.480 |
even though they may be the main characters, they're just the people that the Holy Spirit uses 00:03:41.680 |
to bring the gospel forward. So the real main character is who? 00:03:46.880 |
Those of you who were with us from the beginning, who's the main character? 00:03:53.280 |
The Holy Spirit, right? So the Holy Spirit is the main character behind. So if you are starting 00:04:00.400 |
with the book of Acts, what I want to encourage you to do is to circle every time you see the 00:04:08.000 |
word Holy Spirit in the book of Acts. Okay. I'm not going to tell you exactly how many times that 00:04:12.800 |
word Holy Spirit is mentioned, but the Holy Spirit is mentioned all throughout the book of Acts and 00:04:18.400 |
you can't read anything that happens in the book of Acts without the mention of how the Holy Spirit 00:04:24.320 |
moved them, how the Holy Spirit empowered them. So again, even though we will study Paul, we'll 00:04:30.720 |
study Peter, the main character behind them is always the word of the Holy Spirit. That's really 00:04:34.880 |
the theme of the whole book of Acts, how the Holy Spirit empowers people to do his work, his way. 00:04:40.480 |
What makes the period of the Acts really unique, unlike any other period in the Church's 00:04:52.560 |
history? It's extremely important that we understand this or else you have bad, 00:04:56.400 |
bad hermeneutics. This is where bad application, bad understanding of the movement of the Holy 00:05:01.680 |
Spirit, the Church, a lot of it comes from the book of Acts. One of the fundamental principles 00:05:08.800 |
of hermeneutics and how to understand and apply the scripture is how to interpret, 00:05:14.000 |
how not to interpret narratives, right? So what makes this period of when the book of Acts is 00:05:20.080 |
written unique? What makes it unique? Okay, we still have the apostles, 00:05:35.760 |
which we don't have today. That's unique during that period. The period of the apostles, 00:05:47.200 |
so we're going to be doing things in group activities, so we need everybody to sit down. 00:05:50.800 |
You can bring your dinner, you can have your dinner, okay? But this is the format. Okay, let me 00:05:59.040 |
reiterate for those of you who came late, we're reviewing the first 17 chapters that we studied 00:06:06.320 |
and we're going to start from chapter 18 is going to start from next time, okay? So this is kind of 00:06:12.400 |
get everybody caught up so that you're not lost even though you jumped in for this one. How many 00:06:17.760 |
of you are coming to this class for the first time? You weren't here for the last two. Okay, 00:06:24.640 |
so there's about a third of you. All right, so anyway, that's what we're doing today, okay? And 00:06:30.480 |
from now on, this is going to be the format, so please don't sit on the side and if we need more 00:06:36.000 |
tables, we'll set up more tables because I want you guys to interact with the groups, the smaller 00:06:48.400 |
All right, and another thing is we're going to try to start at seven o'clock as close to that 00:07:06.320 |
as possible. So don't make, if you're in a habit of like, well, seven, we'll get in there, seven, 00:07:12.160 |
ten, seven, fifteen, you're going to miss 15 minutes of Bible study. We're going to start at 00:07:15.680 |
seven o'clock. I think it's only fair to do that because people who show up at seven o'clock have 00:07:21.120 |
to wait 10-15 minutes, so I think it's only fair to start at seven o'clock. So try to come 00:07:26.400 |
6.55 if you can, okay? So we're going to do our best to try to start at seven o'clock, okay? 00:07:33.200 |
So that we can finish, when I say we're going to finish, about 8, 10, and 15, 00:07:37.600 |
so that we will hopefully not go over that unless we absolutely have to, okay? 00:07:42.640 |
All right, so the Book of Acts, the reason, another reason why it's, it's period is, 00:07:50.800 |
that's important is because it's in between two covenants, right? We have the old covenant and 00:07:58.160 |
we have people who met Christ and yet they didn't, they weren't baptized, right? So they were under 00:08:04.880 |
the old covenant and now the Holy Spirit has come, they heard about it, but they're kind of in 00:08:09.360 |
transition between the covenants. So that's a period that is unique to the Book of Acts that 00:08:15.520 |
is not repeated in the church history, so we will, we have never experienced that ever after that, 00:08:20.640 |
okay? So that makes it unique. So the reason why all of this is important, we're studying the Book 00:08:25.200 |
of Acts and we're not studying it to say, you know what, Paul performed miracles, so that's what we 00:08:31.200 |
should be doing today, you know? I mean, they got baptized by the Holy Spirit later on after they 00:08:35.920 |
met Christ, maybe that's what happens today too. So we have to be careful that we're not applying 00:08:41.040 |
the things that we are learning in the Book of Acts in that direct manner because it's a narrative, 00:08:46.080 |
right? And it is unique to what happened to the early church, okay? So again, so we're studying, 00:08:52.960 |
so we're studying principles that are taught and we apply principles, but we can't pull from them, 00:08:58.720 |
just like, you know, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they went into the fire, they didn't 00:09:03.360 |
get burned, so that means if I'm faithful, I will never get burned, right? You would never apply it 00:09:10.000 |
like that because you know that that's a narrative, it just tells us what happened, it is not, these 00:09:14.080 |
are not instructions to teach us what we ought to do. So we have to be careful when we're studying 00:09:18.720 |
the Book of Acts that you don't get major doctrines from what you study and say, "This is what happens, 00:09:23.920 |
so therefore this is what we are supposed to do," okay? So we don't study the Book of Narratives 00:09:29.360 |
that way, so we have to make sure that when we're studying the Book of Acts that that is the 00:09:33.920 |
foundation on which we build and study. Why is the study of the Book of Acts so important? 00:09:39.520 |
It reveals God's sovereign hands in the establishment of the church and the spread of the Gospel. 00:09:47.840 |
Jane, can you sit with me? I'm going to have to break this habit. 00:09:52.240 |
It shows how the Holy Spirit was a vital instrument in the empowering and spreading of the Gospel. 00:10:00.880 |
And again, 41 times in 40 verses, the word Holy Spirit is mentioned, I guess, 00:10:11.120 |
so I mentioned that that is his theme. It provides background information for the letters of the 00:10:15.520 |
Apostles. So if you're reading Thessalonians or if you're reading Corinthians, you know, 00:10:22.640 |
it'll give you some insight as to why he wrote that letter and what are some of the details, 00:10:28.080 |
like Philippi, right? We mentioned that last time we were there. What is one thing that is mentioned 00:10:33.120 |
about the Book of Philippi that is unique to that particular city because what we learned about that 00:10:40.000 |
city? It mentioned something in the letter of Philippi. It was a Roman colony. What were they 00:10:50.240 |
proud of? That they're Roman citizens, right? But that was their source of pride and that's why Paul 00:10:57.120 |
emphasizes to them that our citizenship is not here but up in heaven because that's what they 00:11:01.920 |
were bragging about. So those kind of things are insights that you'll get as you study the 00:11:06.560 |
background of the different cities that you may have missed just doing quite a time on your own, 00:11:10.880 |
but again, that's why it's important. And ultimately, it is a history of our personal faith. 00:11:18.960 |
We're not just studying a historical document. This is very personal. This is how we came. We 00:11:27.600 |
came about. This is how we got the gospel. You know, when Apostle Paul is afflicted and he's 00:11:32.320 |
dragged to prison, stoned and mistruth, all of that, those things are the things that God allowed 00:11:37.680 |
in order for us to have the gospel, right? This is not just something that we're learning, you know, 00:11:42.640 |
3,000 years ago that's completely detached. Without their suffering, we wouldn't be here, 00:11:48.160 |
right? Ultimately, God's the one who's behind it, but it's through their suffering, not just them, 00:11:53.440 |
but for 2,000 years of people persevering and walking in faith and having the courage to preach 00:11:59.440 |
the gospel led us to where we are today. So, the study of the book of Acts is the beginning of that. 00:12:04.480 |
So, we ought to study it. Again, if we are detached and again, if we don't have a personal 00:12:10.240 |
walk with God, anything that we study in the book of Acts or anything that we study in the Bible, 00:12:15.280 |
you're just studying history. You're just studying theology. So, if you happen to be one of those 00:12:19.600 |
people who like history, you might be interested, but if that's not the case and you're not walking 00:12:25.760 |
with God, studying the Bible is very laborious. You're studying documents. I mean, you think, 00:12:31.440 |
"I did that back in college. Why do I need to do this again?" Right? So, it's extremely 00:12:35.920 |
important for us to understand that this is a study of our personal history. 00:12:40.800 |
All right. Just ignore that we're having a lot of problems. We're in the middle of fixing it. 00:12:48.080 |
We had a problem starting next week. Please sit on the tables out on the sides. 00:12:53.840 |
Because we're having, we're going to start, from now on, we're going to be having group stuff. 00:12:58.000 |
So, I set up about six or seven per table. Okay? So, I'm trying not to have more than seven per 00:13:06.240 |
table. If we need more, we'll set up more tables. All right. So, the author of the book, the gospel 00:13:18.960 |
of Luke, ends with the ascension of Jesus, and then Acts begins with the ascension of Jesus. 00:13:26.160 |
Okay. So, these two books are connected. It really should have been one book, right? But the reason 00:13:32.000 |
why they didn't connect Luke and Acts together is because John, you know, they had a choice of 00:13:37.280 |
either putting John in the front of the gospels or at the end of the gospels, but I think they 00:13:42.320 |
thought it was inappropriate to put John at the end because the three synoptic gospels, you know, 00:13:47.680 |
belong together and Matthew would have been the most logical choice of putting that up front 00:13:53.600 |
because Matthew's gospel is the gospel that connects Jesus to the fulfillment of the Messiah, 00:13:59.600 |
the prophecy of the Messiah, right? So, Matthew would have continued basically the fulfillment 00:14:05.920 |
of what God said through the prophets in the Old Testament. So, they chose to put Matthew in the 00:14:10.480 |
front. Therefore, in order to put, you know, in order to put that in the front, they had to put 00:14:16.080 |
John in the back, right? But in reality, if you study the book of Luke, it really should have been 00:14:21.520 |
together, Luke and Acts, because this was a written account of Jesus, the book of Luke, and Acts is a 00:14:29.040 |
written account of what happened after Luke by the same guy for the same person, theophilus. 00:14:33.360 |
All right. So, this is a broad outline. Again, if you weren't with us in the study of the book 00:14:44.800 |
of Acts for the first two parts, this is kind of give you an idea. The book of Acts is very neatly 00:14:50.960 |
divided, right? Acts 1-8 tells us, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon 00:14:58.480 |
you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the remotest part of the world." 00:15:34.840 |
- Alright, so, first, the major division of the book 00:15:45.320 |
So chapter one through 12 is mainly the work with who? 00:15:55.560 |
So the gospel, not that the Gentiles are not here 00:15:58.280 |
in the gospel, but the main part of the works 00:16:08.640 |
Switches to Paul, and his three missionary journeys begin, 00:16:37.480 |
So if you think of it in a broad perspective, 00:16:44.720 |
And then chapter 13, there is a deliberate mission work 00:16:54.400 |
The end part of it is Paul being captured in Rome, 00:16:56.880 |
and then he spends a big chunk of it in prison. 00:17:18.440 |
chapter seven can go either way because it's transition, 00:17:21.080 |
but chapter one through seven is primarily work in Jerusalem. 00:17:25.200 |
Primarily, it's not exclusive, primarily in Jerusalem. 00:17:42.280 |
So persecution breaks out, people begin to spread out, 00:17:45.160 |
and the first place they go to is Samaria, right? 00:17:47.560 |
And the gospel begins to go out as a result of that. 00:17:56.320 |
it's a deliberate planned act to go to the Gentiles, right? 00:18:10.960 |
and then transition to Judea and Samaria, right? 00:18:19.680 |
You don't need to worry too much about the dates. 00:18:22.080 |
All done in the power of the Holy Spirit, Acts 1.8. 00:18:28.240 |
So this kind of gives you a picture of what's happening. 00:18:33.320 |
It begins in Jerusalem, and the persecution begins, 00:18:41.240 |
And then we'll see, starting from chapter eight, nine, 00:18:44.120 |
and 10, the gospel just kind of spreading out. 00:18:54.640 |
is Antioch is here, and you'll see the gospel 00:19:01.000 |
Second missionary journey comes all the way up this way. 00:19:16.680 |
Remember when the Holy Spirit comes at the Pentecost, 00:19:21.680 |
and they were all amazed because they were able to hear 00:19:25.040 |
them speaking in tongues in their own language? 00:19:27.560 |
And these are all the different peoples that are mentioned, 00:19:30.920 |
because each color represents a different region. 00:19:40.440 |
from all over the world come and be there for the Pentecost. 00:19:49.240 |
the first Christians are people from all over. 00:20:00.320 |
And so it's basically north, south, east, and west. 00:20:11.440 |
and the gospel goes out from Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria, 00:20:17.960 |
and they're preaching the gospel to their hometowns, right? 00:20:27.160 |
of what we've been studying and what we're going to. 00:20:33.360 |
and this is the reason why I'm having you sit in your groups, 00:20:50.840 |
Book of Acts, Acts 1-8, Chapter 1-7, 8-12, 13-20. 00:20:55.360 |
Well, it'd be 13-17 because that's where we stopped, okay? 00:21:01.880 |
and then go back here in your groups that you have. 00:21:10.360 |
put down which of them belong to which part, okay? 00:21:15.880 |
So, and I want you guys to do this as a group project, 00:21:29.160 |
and then I'll have a second part to that after you finish. 00:21:32.400 |
So I gave you two pens, so you don't have to fly it over. 00:22:21.680 |
I'm gonna have you put it in order eventually. 00:24:09.760 |
It would defeat the point if you used the Bible. 00:24:15.120 |
There's not a test to see if you can read it. 00:28:08.160 |
I don't want you to worry too much about that. 00:28:12.120 |
For now, make sure you put it on the right spot. 00:30:53.600 |
Is this an event that happens during his journey? 00:33:01.000 |
but so that when you see it, you know it's there. 00:33:28.320 |
You don't say, well, what's 11, what's 16, what's 18? 00:33:32.880 |
So that when you look at it, you can see what it is. 00:36:22.720 |
Just one through seven, if you think it happened 00:38:05.280 |
but you should be able to recognize what that is. 00:38:12.960 |
It's not a test, it's for you to exercise your mind 00:38:27.600 |
If you have the general area of where you think 00:38:31.480 |
this happened, it'll be easier to memorize later. 00:42:27.000 |
And again, for those of you who came a little bit late, 00:42:30.160 |
we're doing review for this week because there's, 00:42:34.080 |
I forget how many, but I think I counted about 00:42:37.400 |
a third of the people who are in our group now 00:42:42.240 |
and we're gonna make sure that we're on the same page 00:42:50.080 |
and then we'll be able to pick up our third one, 00:43:03.760 |
Again, like I said, Book of Acts is a continual connection 00:43:13.240 |
then you're not gonna understand what led to that. 00:43:24.520 |
what happened in AD 54 that led to that, right? 00:43:33.040 |
and then that event happens, and that leads to another. 00:43:35.400 |
And in the connection of all of these things, 00:43:41.840 |
The persecution, the spreading of the gospel, 00:43:48.700 |
come to Jerusalem, and the Pentecost happening, 00:43:53.880 |
but not stuff that people were able to control, right? 00:44:01.760 |
leads to another event, leads to another event. 00:44:03.400 |
So it's important for us to connect chapter 18 00:44:06.880 |
to what's been going on in the first 17 chapters, okay? 00:44:13.040 |
what we're learning, but it'll help us to connect 00:44:28.760 |
like a lot of the stuff that we are learning, 00:44:31.640 |
comes from what we see in the early church, okay? 00:44:40.120 |
we're going to do our best to start at seven o'clock, okay? 00:44:43.840 |
So again, seven, as close to seven as possible. 00:44:47.720 |
We're going to be having Bible study in this format. 00:44:50.200 |
We're gonna have more group discussion, group interaction. 00:44:53.840 |
So if we run out of chairs, run out of tables, 00:44:57.840 |
We'll set up, you know, we'll take the tables aside. 00:45:08.460 |
you know, everybody's just gonna sit wherever. 00:45:10.140 |
And it's okay, you can choose to sit wherever, 00:45:16.020 |
So that's why we set up seven chairs per table. 00:45:22.140 |
if those seven, you know, chairs are filled up, 00:45:35.660 |
So starting from next week, we'll have a schedule for snacks. 00:45:38.460 |
So we're gonna use those funds to have snacks 00:45:46.500 |
then I'll send you an email for what to do, okay? 00:45:58.260 |
Let's just look at the events that took place 00:46:34.640 |
Okay, these don't necessarily have to be chronological. 00:46:51.480 |
Can you give us a number so that they can all? 00:47:55.260 |
Yeah, give us a number and tell us what it is. 00:48:24.060 |
Have somebody designate it so that we can just go 00:51:20.740 |
All right, I think we pretty much covered everybody, right? 00:51:46.940 |
Chapter seven is a transition to Judea and Samaria. 00:52:08.180 |
So, if you notice that the propelling of the gospel 00:52:11.460 |
to the next stage happens as an intense persecution happens. 00:52:28.020 |
And then that takes us to the Gentile world, okay? 00:52:38.260 |
Okay, and that's where the transition happens. 00:52:48.580 |
All that stuff is taking place as a foundation laying 00:52:56.340 |
Stephen dies, so what happens in chapter eight? 00:53:05.460 |
They flee because Saul is going after the Christians, right? 00:53:12.460 |
So, as a result of the fleeing, what happens? 00:53:20.300 |
So, the first place that we see the gospel going to is, 00:53:35.300 |
Judea is kind of like the province that Jerusalem is in. 00:53:41.860 |
So, once they come out of Jerusalem, they're in Judea. 00:53:48.620 |
So, as they take off, chapter eight, they take off, 00:53:52.260 |
What's the first event that we see in chapter eight? 00:54:05.540 |
So, again, hopefully this won't take too long. 00:55:09.500 |
Okay, so I want you guys to check your answers with this. 00:55:12.180 |
But the reason why I put it in these three different colors, 00:55:18.300 |
The reason why I put the first section in white 00:55:37.300 |
Where they're being put into prison, coming out. 00:55:40.860 |
They're being beaten, and James is martyred as a result. 00:56:01.500 |
Because once the gospel goes out from Judea and Samaria, 00:56:11.180 |
So all this time, the work has been centralized in Jerusalem. 00:56:17.780 |
is about what happens in Jerusalem and Judea, right? 00:56:24.780 |
We're talking about redemptive history is mainly, 00:56:28.300 |
not only, but mainly focused in Jerusalem and Judea, right? 00:56:36.080 |
that it was going to start there, it was going to spread. 00:56:38.220 |
So once it gets out of Jerusalem, it doesn't creep out. 00:56:44.260 |
And so what we're learning only happens in how many years? 00:56:51.100 |
Approximately, we don't know the exact numbers. 00:56:57.860 |
From the book of Acts, it's somewhere around 33 AD. 00:57:18.060 |
So imagine, it didn't just stop at the book of Acts, 00:57:24.020 |
That kind of movement happened for the first 300 years. 00:57:29.060 |
Not that after 300 years that the gospel stopped, 00:57:36.580 |
and it got organized, they started to try to deal 00:57:39.220 |
with the problems, the doctrinal issues started 00:57:40.980 |
to get united, and then with that came the politics, 00:57:44.140 |
and all of a sudden they had to manage the church 00:57:51.820 |
These 30, 40 years was exactly how the church was 00:57:57.620 |
And that's how the Christianity spread all over 00:58:00.860 |
to India, to Egypt, to England, and all over the world. 00:58:05.860 |
So again, so this green thing, I put it in green 00:58:09.460 |
because this continues on, it's just gonna continue 00:58:12.880 |
I'm just gonna review for the next 15 minutes. 00:58:29.020 |
Take a look at that, 'cause I don't want you guys 00:58:30.540 |
to do wrong, look at your paper, look at that, right? 00:58:33.780 |
And see if there's anything that you need to correct. 00:58:40.180 |
I'm gonna give a quick overview of what's happening 00:58:52.820 |
the exact chronology, just make sure that it's 00:59:11.740 |
Okay, I'll give you time to take a look at that. 00:59:49.460 |
those of you guys who were with us from the beginning. 00:59:54.900 |
He resurrects, he reveals himself to many people, right? 01:00:04.940 |
He said the Holy Spirit's gonna come upon you 01:00:10.700 |
And that's the theme throughout the whole book of Acts 01:00:15.300 |
Today, if there's one lesson that we're gonna learn 01:00:22.100 |
and you are ineffective when you're not filled 01:00:24.900 |
It is not about methods, it is not about organization, 01:00:30.980 |
It is how much they were filled with the Holy Spirit, right? 01:00:34.740 |
If they're filled with the Holy Spirit, they're effective. 01:00:38.380 |
And then at the end, he confirms his disciples, right? 01:00:51.180 |
Jesus confirms him back in John 21, "Do you love me?" 01:00:55.180 |
And he's restored his personal relationship with Jesus, 01:01:05.340 |
Chapter two, the main thing that happens is the Pentecost. 01:01:13.020 |
The old covenant has gone, the new covenant coming. 01:01:20.420 |
The Holy Spirit is able to indwell the Christians. 01:01:26.620 |
Because we've been washed with the blood of Christ. 01:01:29.900 |
We have become new because Christ has forgiven our sins. 01:01:34.980 |
So now we have become the temple of God, right? 01:01:38.020 |
So now the Old Testament saints could never experience that. 01:01:48.820 |
That's the first beginning of his new community. 01:01:51.700 |
So again, this is an example of what happens. 01:02:02.380 |
They hear the gospel, they get cut to the heart, 01:02:19.860 |
3,000 people come to Christ, and they're baptized. 01:02:26.020 |
and the church has four things that they were committed to. 01:02:29.340 |
They were committed to apostles, teaching, fellowship, 01:02:34.860 |
And those are the things that the early church 01:02:39.740 |
And these are the things that, again, today as a church, 01:02:42.940 |
when we say, "What is the essence of the church?" 01:02:44.540 |
We say, "Here it is," 'cause that's what we see. 01:02:46.940 |
Chapter three begins with the healing of the beggar 01:02:54.220 |
and that results in Peter preaching his second sermon, 01:03:01.740 |
So the church is exploding in Jerusalem, right? 01:03:05.060 |
And then chapter five, we see the first problem that comes, 01:03:25.220 |
"and more than ever, believers were added to the Lord, 01:03:43.780 |
all of that led to the growth of the church, right? 01:03:48.660 |
it wasn't because the church was a nice place 01:03:51.820 |
it wasn't a place where they felt safe, right? 01:03:54.740 |
In fact, they got persecuted because they came to church, 01:03:57.060 |
they got uncomfortable because they came to church. 01:04:03.580 |
And Luke is trying to go out of his way to emphasize that. 01:04:10.500 |
And then chapter six, we find another problem 01:04:25.900 |
because of that, they establish seven deacons. 01:04:33.380 |
and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly 01:04:35.340 |
in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests 01:04:38.820 |
So we continue to see this theme over and over. 01:04:57.340 |
to Judea and Samaria is because they're fleeing 01:05:01.060 |
And it is at this section where we find Philip 01:05:08.940 |
And Peter and John come to baptize the Samaritans 01:05:15.620 |
were one of the two brothers who wanted to bring fire 01:05:19.700 |
because they didn't believe what Jesus came through. 01:05:24.660 |
who comes to baptize them with the Holy Spirit. 01:05:27.060 |
And again, in chapter eight, the Ethiopian eunuch converts. 01:05:43.860 |
So we don't know much about the Ethiopian eunuch. 01:05:47.860 |
Possibly he goes back to preach the gospel to Ethiopian. 01:05:51.100 |
In chapter nine, Apostle Paul, in order to go 01:05:58.540 |
and drag the Christians back all the way from Damascus, 01:06:02.820 |
It was not just, he wasn't just going to a neighbor's house. 01:06:06.780 |
He was committed, and if he wasn't going to drag 01:06:40.060 |
Remember in Joppa, Tabitha, what's her other name? 01:06:49.380 |
And she dies, and then he brings her back to life, 01:06:52.500 |
and then that begins to spread, and then the next thing 01:06:58.340 |
An important man comes to Christ here in Caesarea. 01:07:17.980 |
Centurion comes to Christ, and what's the significance 01:07:30.620 |
That do not call unclean what God has, I declare clean. 01:07:36.980 |
and then Jesus connects Peter with Cornelius, right? 01:07:51.700 |
So, chapter two is the Pentecost for the Jews, right? 01:07:56.260 |
Chapter 10 is the Pentecost for the Gentiles, 01:08:18.860 |
so basically, chapter five is Ananias and Sapphira. 01:08:50.900 |
we're first called Christians in that area, okay? 01:09:12.300 |
Remember, that's a transition into the Gentile world 01:09:23.380 |
and then now the gospel goes to the Gentile world, okay? 01:09:33.860 |
and that takes us to the Gentile world, okay? 01:09:37.460 |
Chapter 13 and on is the beginning of the three journeys. 01:09:44.340 |
where Paul and Barnabas are sent out from Antioch. 01:10:12.220 |
and that results in the conversion of the governor here. 01:10:26.020 |
and he bears tremendous fruit here in Antioch. 01:10:42.860 |
and he is so effective that many people come to Christ 01:10:48.060 |
And because of that, he ends up coming to Iconium, right? 01:10:53.980 |
goes to the synagogues and preaches the gospel 01:10:56.420 |
and these guys are chasing him over here, right? 01:11:23.620 |
even though his mom raised him as a Jew, right? 01:11:30.100 |
because of these guys coming and getting him, 01:11:37.380 |
he goes back to strengthen these churches, right? 01:11:49.780 |
in between the first and second missionary journey, 01:11:53.420 |
Something very important happens in chapter 15. 01:11:57.300 |
Jerusalem Council and what is the first decision 01:12:06.740 |
Right, the Judaizers, the circumcision group comes 01:12:23.540 |
and the reason why they go to the second missionary journey 01:12:28.260 |
and second, to take the letter to these Gentile churches 01:12:30.660 |
to tell them you do not need to be circumcised, 01:12:49.380 |
I'm not Paul, but Barnabas wants to take Mark 01:12:54.660 |
and he goes back to Cyprus, which was his hometown, right? 01:13:03.140 |
Who does he pick up as a partner to replace Barnabas? 01:13:09.220 |
Luke joins this mission because it is in his second journey 01:13:16.380 |
That happens in second missionary journey, okay? 01:13:29.940 |
and so that's why you see his name on some of the letters. 01:13:35.860 |
He wants to come back and visit some of these churches. 01:13:37.980 |
Well, what happens here where he can't go into Asia? 01:14:27.700 |
And so Lydia is a key figure in Philippi, right? 01:14:53.660 |
And it's in Athens where his spirit is provoked 01:14:57.660 |
and then he goes to the marketplace for the first time 01:15:02.660 |
where prior to that, he's always going to the synagogues. 01:15:05.460 |
He's deliberately targeting the Jewish people 01:15:11.060 |
that would be willing to hear and make sense. 01:15:13.980 |
But he's deliberately going to the marketplace 01:15:26.500 |
So I didn't go into the detail of what he said 01:15:30.900 |
All right, so we're gonna finish the Bible study here 01:15:48.500 |
One of the guys who organized one of the camps, 01:15:56.540 |
is a lawyer and that's how he makes his money. 01:16:00.540 |
He actually spends his money to support the pastor. 01:16:03.380 |
He has a network of about 70 different churches 01:16:06.540 |
that he works with and he recently was government sanctioned 01:16:11.540 |
to represent government, which is a big deal in that area. 01:16:19.660 |
what he's doing, I mean, he's literally risking 01:16:23.580 |
And he says the only reason why he's doing that 01:16:25.700 |
is to use it as a platform to preach the gospel. 01:16:31.940 |
who was working in the midst of Muslims and Hindus 01:16:37.500 |
and just like that young guy that I talked about on Sunday. 01:16:48.220 |
how to understand the Bible, just like things that say 01:16:55.460 |
make sure you read the passage before that and after that. 01:16:58.300 |
You can't just pull passage out of it and then explain 01:17:01.180 |
and then say that this is what the Bible says. 01:17:03.660 |
The basic principles that I think if you've been 01:17:06.140 |
a Christian for a while, you've probably heard it many times. 01:17:12.820 |
But these guys have been preaching the gospel, 01:17:18.060 |
So they were so hungry and we were encouraged 01:17:20.780 |
because everything that we said was going to directly 01:17:23.940 |
translate into equipping the other Christians 01:17:37.700 |
in equipping a church that's being persecuted. 01:17:40.000 |
And again, it just kind of gave me an appreciation 01:17:50.860 |
I ate beef jerky for four weeks, not four weeks, 01:17:59.300 |
but we have abundance of food, we have air conditioning, 01:18:11.540 |
I like this guy, 'cause we're just so abundant. 01:18:13.900 |
And it just kind of gave me more appreciation 01:18:22.420 |
we can easily get bored with all of this stuff. 01:18:26.580 |
And I have to be here because I'm a Christian, 01:18:31.020 |
Not realizing how precious this is around the world, 01:18:34.060 |
and how precious it has been all throughout church history 01:18:39.860 |
there are brothers and sisters who are literally 01:18:47.600 |
And so it just, again, everything that we're studying 01:18:57.480 |
all the blessings that God has given us in our church, 01:19:02.640 |
and that you can feel better and you can have more theology, 01:19:07.040 |
the more we can get involved with things like that. 01:19:09.440 |
In India and China, you know, in other parts of the world 01:19:12.280 |
that maybe some of you, if you are properly equipped, 01:19:23.360 |
You know, anything, everything that I taught, 01:19:28.200 |
more than two, three dozen people in our church 01:19:33.800 |
and you're equipped, if what we're trying to do 01:19:42.300 |
we just tapped into two guys who have a network. 01:19:50.060 |
but within that network, we met two other pastors 01:19:58.380 |
But what we're trying to do through the network 01:20:09.260 |
are gonna involve their lay people to help out in this. 01:20:19.300 |
So we taught in one camp in front of 150 people. 01:20:24.220 |
It's not as effective because we can't answer questions. 01:20:26.740 |
So if we broke that up into four, five different pieces, 01:20:35.540 |
just to go through with them, it would be a tremendous help. 01:20:38.420 |
And then those people who can't teach theology, 01:20:48.640 |
So there's so many opportunities to serve around the world. 01:20:59.580 |
and we can have a great place to worship God, 01:21:11.700 |
many other places around the world who desperately need us. 01:21:24.600 |
to be able to preach the gospel more effectively. 01:21:30.300 |
I mean, there's a lot of other things that I wanna share, 01:21:58.020 |
but next week we're gonna have more discussions 01:22:08.020 |
Heavenly Father, we wanna praise and thank you 01:22:10.460 |
We thank you, Lord God, that you've blessed us 01:22:15.160 |
Lord, we admit that at a time we are spoiled. 01:22:37.460 |
I pray, Father, that you would raise up a church 01:22:41.180 |
that would be broken for our brothers, Lord God, 01:22:58.740 |
that our church would not be a kingdom of our own, 01:23:01.620 |
but that we would play a small part, Lord God, 01:23:18.860 |
of why we need a strong church, a equipped church, 01:23:31.060 |
So for that end, we pray that you will bless us 01:23:32.940 |
that our studies, Lord, would lead to greater fruit. 01:23:36.780 |
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