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The Sin of Not Giving God the Glory

Posted: September 5, 2012 in Sermons in Acts
Tags: Herod the Great, John MacArthur, John Philips, Josephus, Steward Custer's Witness to Christ, Super pacs, Warren Wiersbe

The Herod Family was one of the most infamous families in history. Herod the Great was the Herod when Jesus, King of the Jews, was born. Out of jealousy and insecurity, Herod had all small boys under two years of age murdered in Jerusalem. What kind of monster would kill little boys to keep his job? Herod the Great also murdered his wife, his mother, and three of his sons. The last son was murdered just five days before his own death. Shortly before he died, he arrested important Jewish leaders and ordered that when he died the Jewish leaders be executed so there would be mourning for him in the Jewish nation. Hopefully, the wailing would drown out the applause.

Herod the Great’s grandson is Herod Agrippa 1 of Acts 12. In Acts 12:1-5, Herod Agrippa 1 martyred James the apostle during prime time or the Jewish Passover feast. Herod Agrippa 1 executed James to curry favor with his political constituency. Some politicians will lie, steal, cheat, and even murder to win a vote. Not much has changed in politics. Today we have Super pacs in attack ads stooping to new lows. When his plot worked and “pleased the Jews” Herod Agrippa 1 arrested the leader of the apostles, Peter.

The early church prayed and God supernaturally sent an angel who broke Peter out of jail. The angel “smote Peter on the side” in Acts 12:7. Later in the story the angel will smite someone else but for very different reasons. When Herod Agrippa 1 learned of the escape of Peter, he executed at least four guards in Acts 12:18-19.

Because his numbers were dropping in the polls, Herod runs from his problems. He flees to Caesarea. The problem with running from your problems instead of facing and resolving your problems, is that you carry your problems inside of you where ever you go. Instead of life getting better in Caesarea, life got worse because Herod Agrippa 1 was still a very proud man.

Herod Agrippa 1 not only was angry at believers in Palestine, but he was angry with the citizens of Tyre and Sidon. We don’t know why. People like Herod don’t need much of a reason to be always upset with someone.

The people of Tyre and Sidon were dependent on Herod for food, so they needed to gain back his favor. They probably bribed Blastus for an opportunity to persuade Herod to remove the blockade. Herod took advantage of the situation to throw around his clout. So Herod gathered the peons in the Herodian amphitheater that his grandfather, Herod the Great, had built. Josephus, the first century Jewish historian described this scene:

“Herod put on a garment made wholly of silver, and of a contexture truly wonderful, and came into the theatre early in the morning; at which time the silver of his garment being illuminated by the fresh reflection of the sun’s rays upon it, shone out after a surprising manner” (Antiquities XIX, vii, 2).

As Herod gave his speech, the citizens of Tyre and Sidon shouted, “It is the voice of a god, and not of a man.” They probably were just trying to flatter Herod. But vain Herod believed every blasphemous word. Because Herod did not correct them, but rather gloated in their snow job, “immediately an angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms and breathed his last.” This was very likely the same angel that “smote Peter on the side” in 12:7 to deliver Peter from Herod’s hand. That same angel “smote” Herod in judgment.

Bengel notes the contrast between the divine and human histories: “struck by an angel…eaten by worms” (quoted by Stewart Custer in Witness to Christ, p. 178)

Here is one medical doctor’s description of this particular tapeworm:

The root word skolax means a specific head structure of a tapeworm. Since the word skolex is applied to the head of tapeworms, Herod’s death was almost certainly due to the rupture of a cyst formed by a tapeworm. The disease is characterized by the formation of cysts, generally on the right lobe of the liver; these may extend down into the abdominal cavity. The rupture of such a cyst may release as many as two million scolices. The developing worms inside of the cysts are called scolices and when the cyst ruptures, the entrance of cellular debris along with the scolices may cause sudden death. (Dr. Jean Sloat Moron, quoted by John MacArthur, Jr. The MacArthur N T Commentary, Acts 1-12, p. 327).

Again, Josephus, wrote that after Herod collapsed, he had to be carried off stage, and it took Herod five days to die of worms i.e., millions of tapeworms.

This kind of worm is mentioned only in one other place in Scripture. It was used by Jesus to describe the tortures of Hell in Mark 9:42-48. Three times Jesus referred to the skolax or tapeworm that dies not. The same medical doctor said that the skolas or tapeworm “keeps propagating itself. Each section of the worm is a self-contained unit which has both male and female parts.” Jesus used this feature of the tapeworm to remind sinners that their suffering in Hell is conscious and never ending. As Herod suffered agonizingly for five days so will every one who rejects Christ writhe for eternity in fire that is never quenched and where the worm dies not.

Herod suffered his fate “because he gave not God the glory.” Every person in Hell is there because he or she “gave not God the glory” by trusting Christ as Savior. The terrible irony is that “every knee will bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10-11).

A very important contrast is drawn by Luke in 12:24, in the face of Herod’s persecution and attempt to stop the church, “the Word of God grew and multiplied.” “The worms are set in contrast with the Word. Both are God’s instruments. Herod might want to destroy the church, but the Word of God marched gloriously on. The armed might of government may be mobilized against it, but the Word of God knows no boundaries to its empire, no barriers to its progress” (John Philips. Exploring Acts, p. 234). Both worms and the Word worked internally. One to the sinner’s torture and the other to the believer’s delight and progress.

Wiersbe added: The early church had no “political clout” or friends in high places to “pull strings” for them. Instead, they went to the highest throne of all, the throne of grace. They were a praying people, for they knew that God could solve their problems. God’s glorious throne was greater than the throne of Herod, and God’s heavenly army could handle Herod’s weak soldiers any day or night! The believers did not need to bribe anyone at court. They simply took their case to the highest court and left it with the Lord!

And what was the result? “But the word of God grew and multiplied” (Acts 12:24). This is another of Luke’s summaries, or “progress reports,” that started with Acts 6:7 (see 9:31; 16:5; 19:20; 28:31). Luke is accomplishing the purpose of his book and showing us how the church spread throughout the Roman world from its small beginnings in Jerusalem. What an encouragement to us today!

At the beginning of Acts 12, Herod seemed to be in control and the church was losing the battle. But at the end of the chapter, Herod is dead and the church—very much alive—is growing rapidly!

The secret? A praying church!

Missionary Isobel Kuhn used to pray when in trouble, “If this obstacle is from Thee, Lord, I accept it; but if it is from Satan, I refuse him and all his works in the name of Calvary!” And Dr. Alan Redpath has often said, “Let’s keep our chins up and our knees down—we’re on the victory side!”

God works when churches pray, and Satan still trembles “when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees” (The Bible Exposition Commentary).

Sermon: Great Opportunities Brilliantly Disguised as Impossible Situations (Acts 12:1-17)

Posted: August 27, 2012 in Sermons in Acts
Tags: America's Most Wanted, child abduction, Chuck Swindoll, E. M. Bounds, John MacArthur, John Walsh, national center for missing and exploited children, Something Happens When Churches Pray, Thomas Watson, Voice of Martyrs, Warren Wiersbe

Chuck Swindol wrote, “We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.”

John Walsh, the host of the T.V. reality program America’s Most Wanted, in 1981 had his 6-year-old son Adam abducted outside a Florida shopping mall. Adam was found two weeks later murdered. John Walsh and his wife Reve, were devastated and angry.

They wanted to sue the department store from which Adam had been abducted. When Adam first disappeared, no one at the store wanted to help them find their son and they later discovered that a security guard who worked there had actually ordered 6-year-old Adam out of the store. The Walshes were outraged. But the Walshes soon dropped the suite. Instead, John Walsh focused on solving the growing problem of child abduction.

In 1984, Walsh cofounded the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an organization that works to prevent child victimization. This organization has a program called, “Aide Adam” which has been implemented in 1300 stores. When a customer reports a missing child, a storewide alert is announced, and a description of the child is given to designated employees, who then search for the child and monitor the exits. If the child is not found in 10 minutes, employees contact the police. This organization has helped parents to recover more than 48,000 missing children.

The Walshes did not curse the darkness they lit a light. They did not run from their problem, they ran to their problem. They did not focus on the cloud but the silver lining.

What is your problem? Is it physical, financial, relational, personal, or spiritual? In Acts 12, Peter is unjustly imprisoned. Are you incarcerated in a prison without bars?

1. Is Our Problem a Humanly Insolvable Problem?

A. This was the 5^th and the worst persecution. Peter’s life was not getting easier, but more difficult.

The First Persecution: In Acts 4, Jewish leaders threaten Peter and John

The Second Persecution: In Acts 5, Jewish leaders beat all the apostles including Peter

The Third Persecution: In Acts 7, the enemies of the gospel martyr Stephen, the deacon

The Fourth Persecution: In Acts 8, the entire church is persecuted and scattered

The Fifth Persecution: In Acts 12, the church’s first preacher is murdered and Peter is arrested. This is Peter’s third imprisonment and this time it is maximum security on death row. Peter was surrounded by 4 guards and bound by 2 chains. This was the last day before his execution.

B. Is your Problem Humanly Insolvable?

Some believers really have the kind of problems as did Peter. Others only think they do. Have the authorities threatened us? Some believers wilt under the slightest criticism. Have we been beaten with rods? What would really be good for some of us is to visit the ICU of High Point Regional or Brenner’s Children Hospital at Baptist Hospital and stand for a few minutes in the rooms of people dying of brain cancer or some other terminal disease. Or go to the family waiting rooms of the ICU and watch family members come back from their loved one’s room where they had held back the tears but now can’t hold them back any more.

Has anyone threaten to kill any of us? Go to Voice of Martyr’s website and read about present day martyrs. A friend of mine who has done mission work in Egypt, told me of a believer who was witnessing and caught by the Muslim authorities and stripped of his clothing and hung upside down for a week in a solid concrete room where he was fed but defecated on himself for a week. When released, he was told, next time you are caught, you and your family will be killed.

Have we been forced from our home as fugitives for our faith? Have any of us been homeless for Christ?

2. How Are We Responding to Our Problems?

A. By Praying to the God of the Impossible. How can we pray to the God of the impossible?

1) In Acts 12:5b, the church prayed “without ceasing.”

In Luke 22:44, this word is used to describe Jesus praying in the Garden. He prayed “earnestly” or desperately. The other option is to worry. Worry has never helped solve any problem it only compound the problem.

2) The church prayed corporately.

Luke writes that “the church” prayed. There is closet room prayer and there is prayer room prayer. On Wednesday evenings we pray corporately. The early church prayed corporately in Acts 1, 4, and 12. Warren Wiersbe has a little but book entitled, Something Happens When The Church Prays.

3) The church prayed specifically.

The church prayed “for him.” On Wednesday evenings we pray for pastors. E. M. Bounds wrote, praying for pastors would help the preacher. It would also help the listeners. “Preaching never edifies a prayerless soul.”

4) The church prayed patiently.

For one week they prayed up to the last night before Peter was to be put to death. Why did not God answer on the first day instead of the last? For their sake. They needed the practice. For Peter’s sake. He needed the testing. For our sake. We needed an example. “It is always to soon to stop praying.”

B. By Resting in the Promises of God in Acts 12:6

1) How was Peter reacting in prison the night before his death?

He was sleeping. He was resting on the promise Jesus gave in John 21:18 that Peter would not die until he was old. You and I also have promises: “For with God nothing shall be impossible.” “You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind in stayed on you.” Are these promises a soft pillow for your weary mind at night?

2) Are you resting or resisting?

Instead of quoting verses to God and praying to God are you talking to every one else? Are you reacting like a mature, adult believer or like a babe in Christ? The answer is in 1 Corinthians 3:1-3. If instead of praying and claiming God’s promises we are envious, causing strife and division because of our gossip and complaining then we are reacting not as Peter but as immature babies.

At one of John MacArthur’s pastor’s conferences, a pastor walked out on the platform dressed like a big baby. All he had on was an adult pamper, a bottle in one hand, a pacifier around his next and the Bible in the other hand. His sermon was on Christians who act like babies.

3. How Does God Respond to Prayer and Resting on His Promises?

A. He intervenes (Acts 12:7-11)

Someone said, “A humanly impossible situation is the platform from which God loves to work.”

Thomas Watson, the puritan preacher wrote about this miracle, “The angle fetched Peter, but prayer fetched the angel.”

B. God did not do what is possible for us to do. God miraculously removed the chains. But Peter had to put on his clothes, shoes, and coat. We must pray, rest on His promises and then He will do the impossible.

C. God answers prayers in one of three ways.

1. He says no! James was not delivered (12:1, 2) but Peter was (12:11). God said, “No, I will not spare his life but I will bring him home.”

2. God says yes. When a sinner prays, “Lord be merciful to me a sinner” God immediately answers with a “yes”. When we believers confess our sins according to 1 John 1:9, God instantly answers our prayers with a “yes”.

3. Other times God says not now but later. This is the case with this praying church.

4. What Should We Do However God Intervenes?

Tell others and give God the glory. Peter told others the good news and gave God the glory in 12:17. When you text, tweet, face book, email, phone call, stand around and talk to believers, share the good news of what God is doing and give Him the glory.

This passed week, we had a friend of one our members saved at the cottage prayer meeting on Thursday evening, over 200 men responded to our Men’s Breakfast, 30 preachers and eleven churches participated in our conference. This morning the man saved is coming forward plus our new student ministries pastor and wife are coming to join our church. Tell others this good news and give God glory!

The Divine Healer verses Faith Healers

Posted: July 30, 2012 in Sermons in Acts
Tags: Bennie Hinn, Dateline, faith healer, John MacArthur, Joni Eareckson Tada, Kenneth Hagin, Mark Driscoll, prosperity message

Dateline did an expose on Faith Healer Bennie Hinn. The expose revealed his lucrative ministry, 200 million a year, and also the heartbreak he brings to people who go to his healing services and are not healed because they are to severely handicapped. The expose also uncovered his false message that it is God’s will for all people to be healed and not be sick. It was not God’s will to heal eight year old Grace Brulotte, of Fernie, British Columbia who couldn’t walk because of arthrogryposis multiplex congenital. Today she is a budding artist and singer.

At Bennie Hinn’s website he states: “God’s will for us to walk in divine health and a right relationship with Him is emphasized throughout His Word.”

This misconception that it is not God’s will for any person to be sick or poor is part of their Prosperity message. What about Jesus? Jesus was homeless and was murdered. Jesus did not experience a Prosperity Gospel.

In Acts 9:32-42, the apostle Peter heals two people who would be rejected by Bennie Hinn’s screeners. In 9:32-35, Peter healed a paraplegic at Lydda. In 9:36-42, Peter healed a dead woman at Joppa, by the name of Dorcas, i.e., he raised her from the dead. Let’s ask and answer three questions about divine healing and faith healing that you might be asking as we contrast divine healing that God has always performed and the faith healing movement: Why could the apostles heal severely handicapped people or even raise the dead? How did the apostles heal? What about healing today? Can we expect paraplegics or quadriplegics to be healed?

1. Why Could the Apostles Heal?

The apostle Peter performed such spectacular healings because he had the apostolic gift of healing. The same gift that Bennie Hinn claims to possess and all Faith Healers. The apostles had the same gift of healing Jesus possessed. In Mark 2:1-12, Jesus healed a paraplegic much as Peter did in Acts 9:32-35 at Lydda. In Mark 5:37-41, Jesus raised the dead much as Peter did in Acts 9:36-42 at Joppa.

A. The apostolic gift of healing is no longer operative because God is no longer dealing directly with the Jews

Jesus and the apostles healed so the unsaved Jews would believe their message that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. The gift of healing was a sign gift. Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:22 says that the Jews require a sign because they lack faith to believe God’s messengers. This description was not a compliment. Jewish Nicodemus said to Jesus: “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher from God: for no man can do these miracles that you do, except God be with him” (John 3:2). The same truth was preached by Peter in Acts 2:22: “You men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you.”

This spiritual weakness of lacking faith and needing a sign has characterized the entire history of the Jews beginning in Exodus 4. When God called Moses to lead Israel out of Egypt, Moses said, “they will not believe me” (4:1). God gave Moses the gift of sign miracles “that they may believe that the Lord God of their fathers has appeared unto you” (4:5). One of those sign miracles was the sign gift of healing. God said, “Put now your hand into your bosom or shirt. And he put his hand into his shirt: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow. And God said, Put your hand into your shirt again. And he put his hand into his shirt again; and plucked it out of his shirt, and, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh” (4:7).

B. The apostolic gift of healing is no longer the authenticating sign

This authenticating sign of healing is longer needed. Israel as a nation is now temporarily rejected because they rejected Christ as their Messiah. We also have the completed canon of Scripture (1 Corinthians 13) . Today the authenticating sign of a correct message is not healing but adherence to correct doctrine. This is the new litmus test as Paul defends in Galatians 1:6-9.

C. The apostolic gift of healing is no longer valid because there are no more apostles

When the New Testament was nearly completed the gift of healing was already waning. Paul who healed many people in 2 Timothy 4:20 wrote, “Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick.” The answer to the first question, “Why could the apostles heal?” is they had the apostolic gift of healing. Paul told the Corinthians “truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you” (2 Corinthians 12). Because there are no more apostles who saw the resurrected Christ and were taught by Him, there is no longer the apostolic gifts.

2. How Did the Apostles Heal?

The apostles healed just like Jesus but not like the Faith Healers. The apostles and Jesus healed anywhere, completely, extreme cases, and the dead.

A. The Apostles healed anywhere.

Peter healed in homes in Acts 9. Faith Healers must be on TV or have staged platforms with screeners to accept only people who have backaches and headaches. Why do Faith Healers not go to hospitals and move from room to room and sick patient to sick patient.and start healing? They could if they had the apostolic gift of healing.

B. The Apostles healed completely.

Peter’s healed paralytic walked away. Faith healer Kenneth Hagin in his book “How to Keep Your Healing” tells of a pastor who supposedly was totally healed of deafness in a large healing meeting. But by the time the meeting was dismissed, he couldn’t hear a thing. Hagin writes, “He put his hearing aid back on.” Hagin explains why some healings don’t last: “If you don’t have enough faith in you to hold on to what you have, the devil is going to steal it away from your” (Kenneth Hagin. How to Keep Your Healing, Tulsa: Rhema, 1989, 20-21). Peter did not ask the paralytic man in Acts 9:32-35 if he had faith. Obviously, dead Dorcas could not exercise faith.

In contrast to Tabitha being called a disciple in the second healing by Peter in Acts 9, Aeneas is not. Most likely Aeneais was not a believer. MacArthur writes, “There are no examples in the New Testament of believers being healed (though Lazarus, Dorcus, and Eutychus were raised from the dead) (MacArthur. The MacArthur NT Commentary, Acts 1-12, 281). These unbelievers did not have faith to be healed.

C. The Apostles healed extreme cases.

Jesus healed extreme cases in Matthew 4:23 “Jesus went about healing all manner of sickness” and 9:35 “Jesus went about healing every sickness” not just high blood pressure or bursitis. The people healed in the New Testament were acutely sick or handicapped with blindness, paralysis, or deafness to verify they were healed by Jesus and the apostles. Healing was a sign gift. The healing had to be visible and verifiable. The apostles were not screeners for Jesus so the handicapped could not be seen by Jesus. The opposite was true.

D. The Apostles healed the dead.

Peter raised Dorcas, Paul raised Eutychus. Jesus raised three people. If Faith Healers have the apostolic gift of healing why do they get sick and die. Faith healer Oral Roberts died. Faith healer Kathryn Kuhman battled with heart disease for 20 years before she died of heart disease in 1976. Why do Faith Healers not go to cemeteries during the day and raise the dead from graves and Funeral Homes in the evenings and raise the dead from coffins? They could if they had the apostolic gift of healing.

3. What about Healing Today?

A. God can still heal.

Sometimes we are accused of not believing in healing if we do not believe the apostolic gift of healing is operative today. This is incorrect.

This is Mark Driscoll’s argument for the gift of healing for today: Some say that healings ceased in the first century; that they didn’t exist thereafter; that this happened in the early church and it’s not for us. Well, we say God is the same yesterday, today and forever. God doesn’t change. People’s needs don’t change and additionally, there’s nowhere in Scripture that says that healing will stop, right? They infer it from one section in 1 Corinthians 13, we’ll get to in a few weeks, but there is no evidence in Scripture that healing was just for, you know, 70 years or 100 years. There’s no evidence of that whatsoever.

This is a misrepresentation by Driscoll. We believe God still heals when it is His will. We just do not believe in Faith Healers like Bennie Hinn or the apostolic gift for today.

1) We believe God heals through confession of sin according to James 5:16: “Confess your sins one to another, and pray one for another, that you may be healed.”

2) We believe God also heals through prayer. Peter prayed in Acts 9:40 before he raised Dorcas to life. James 5:13 asks, “Is any among you afflicted?” Then answers, “Let him pray.”

3) God heals through doctors. In Matthew 9:12, Jesus said, “They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.” We are not like those who attend faith healing churches and believe going to a doctor is a lack of faith.

In March of 2009, Greg and Jalea Swezey saw their 17-year-old son Zachery fall ill. He was bedridden for days with a fever, diarrhea, and vomiting. The family summoned church elders from Olympia who anointed the ailing teenager’s body with olive oil and prayed over him. But — surprise, surprise — this was no substitute for a good old fashioned appendectomy, a relatively safe and simple procedure that has reduced the mortality rate for appendicitis to less than 2 per 1,000,000 cases. Zachery, a high school junior who played basketball, wrestled, and participated in band and choir, died with his parents sitting at his bedside . Most rational people would head to the hospital in that situation, but the Swezeys are the textbook definition irrational. They are members of the Church of the Firstborn, and believe in “faith healing” — praying to a higher power to cure sickness, rather than relying on the scientifically-proven power of modern medicine (The Daily Weekly reported). Skeptics and Atheists love these stories. But these fringe examples do not represent Biblical Christianity.

Paul instructed sickly Timothy to “Drink no longer water but take a little medicine for your stomach’s sake and your often infirmities” (1 Timothy 5:23). Luke who recorded many miracles in the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles was a physician. Obviously he was not against going to the doctor. When we are sick or our children are sick we should go to our medical doctor and pray to our Great Physician.

B. God doesn’t always heal.

God can still heal. But believers who love God get sick. There are four cases of sick believers beyond the book of Acts. Three of the four were not healed. Epaphroditus was sick nearly unto death but got better (Philippians 2:27). Timothy had to take medicine for his sickness (1 Timothy 5:23). He was not healed. Trophimus was not healed by Paul (2 Timothy 4:20). Finally, the apostle Paul was sick with a thorn in his flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7). Paul prayed three times for healing and God said, “No.” But God supplied him with sustaining grace instead so that the power of Christ would rest upon him. In other words, Paul would not have accomplished what he did had he been well. God’s strength was made complete in Paul’s weakness.

Joni Eareckson Tada has been a quadriplegic for 36 years as a result of a swimming accident when she was 17 years old.. She was interviewed by Christianity Today.

She begins every morning with a two-hour routine—washing, dressing, exercising. She needs at least seven helpers each week just to meet the day. Joni Eareckson Tada can do very little for herself—not turn over in bed, not brush her own teeth, not apply makeup. She was 17 when she broke her neck, so most of her life has been spent in this condition, dependent on others for the most basic daily functions. Joni not only requires two hours in the morning to get ready for the day but she also requires two hours to go to bed each night. Since her body will tolerate the strain of sitting up for only so long each day, she needs to be prone by eight o’clock, sleepy or not.

She wrote in her book, A Step Further, about her hope and prayer for healing,

On a rainy afternoon in the early summer of 1972, about fifteen people gathered together in a tiny oak church not far from my home. The group consisted of close friends, family, and church leaders whom I had called together to pray for my healing. By the time our brief service was over, the rain had stopped. Exiting through the front doors of the church, we were greeted by a beautiful rainbow in the misty distance. It gave me just one more reassurance that God had heard our prayers. God had indeed heard . . . but He did not heal. By Stephen Davey in a sermon on Acts 9:32-42

The list of her accomplishments as a handicapped believer is staggering. She paints by holding the brush between her teeth. She has authored best sellers. She hosts a daily radio program. She speaks regularly. She has been a strong advocate for the disabled. Joni was a presidential appointee to the National Council on Disability for over three years. Like Paul and his thorn in the flesh, Joni has experienced the power of Christ on her life because she has accepted God’s will for her life which has not included healing.

God can heal, but if He chooses not to heal His grace is all sufficient and His strength is complete in our weakness and we will can uniquely experience His power unlike those who do not suffer.

Sermon: How To Get Started or Jump Started in the Christian Life (Acts 9:18-31)

Posted: July 23, 2012 in Sermons in Acts
Tags: 12 disciples, godly friends, new believer, newborn babes, religion, The Mormon Church, theology, Wiiiam Barclay

The evening I got saved at Gospel Baptist Church, a godly deacon came up to me and said, “Now you need to get baptized.” What he was saying in essence is, “You need to get started off on the right foot in your new Christian walk.” Paul had several persons in his life as well who encouraged him to get started correctly and biblically. The first person was Ananias.

Paul travelled to several important places in his early years as a new believer and at each of these locations he took his first baby steps as a babe in Christ. All believers need to take these same baby steps to grow as newborn babes in Christ.

In Acts 9:18-31, we will highlight the first 10 years of his Christian life from the age of 35-45. Paul travelled Jerusalem to Damascus, Arabia, Damascus, Jerusalem, and finally to Tarsus. Maybe you have been saved for awhile and you need to jump start your walk with Christ. For example, maybe you need to be baptized or start seriously studying God’s Word, or start witnessing to unsaved friends, or fellowshipping with strong believers. Paul’s example can encourage you.

1. He was Baptized at Damascus (Acts 9:18-21)

A. He was baptized and joined the church in 9:18. Paul received his sight and was immediately baptized even before he ate after three days of fasting. He took care of his spiritual needs before his physical needs. Why is this important? Because this is what Jesus taught in Matthew 28:19-20.

B. He joined a small group in the church in 9:19. Why is this important? Because Jesus created a small group with His 12 disciples and Paul also surrounded himself with a spiritual support group of godly friends. The best way to fulfill the “one another” commands in the NT is through small groups.

C. He also started witnessing at Damascus in 9:20-21. Paul did not wait until he was thoroughly grounded in the Scriptures. Paul preached Jesus as the Son of God. This is the only time in Acts that this title is given to Jesus. Paul used it often in his epistles: (Rom. 1:3-4,9; 5:10; 8:3, 29, 32; 1 Cor. 1:9; 15:28; 2 Cor. 1:19; Gal. 1:16; 2:20; 4:4, 6;1 Thess. 1:10). Before his conversion, Paul thought Jesus was a blasphemer, now Paul knows He is the Son of God. He witnessed as a brand new believer. Paul was like the Samaritan woman in John 4:28.

I witnessed to the first person after I got saved on my 18^th birthday. He was a high school buddy. Later I was able to win him to Christ. I had lunch with him several weeks ago and he reminded me of that.

2. He Grew Spiritually in Arabia (Galatians 1:17)

In between 9:21 and 22, Paul travelled to Arabia based on his testimony in Galatians 1:11-17.

A. Paul retreated to Arabia for spiritual growth to allow God to fully reveal the gospel to him as Paul discusses in Galatians 1:11, 12. Paul now read the OT with a new set of eyes.

B. Paul went to Arabia near Sinai according to Galatians 4:25. Paul states his visit to Arabia the context of not consulting with flesh and blood. Sinai would have been the appropriate place to retreat. Sinai was sparsely populated and here God gave the OT law (which Paul would have to rethink).

Many times new converts need to be reprogrammed in their thinking. They have to unlearn the importance of religious works and learn the importance of God’s grace. Paul had allot of religious baggage to unpack.

C. Paul grew in those 2 to 3 years as Acts 9:22 shows. He increased in spiritual “strength” and his ability to defend the faith. The word for “strength” is the same as in Ephesians 6:10. These two thoughts are connected. Paul grew spiritually strong which resulted in his defending the faith. In 9:20, Paul is a witness. Three years later after intense study, Paul is an apologists. He was able to “prove” that Jesus was the Messiah. When he was first converted he preached Jesus was “the Son of God.” This knowledge is absolutely necessary for salvation. But now three years later he is able to prove from the OT Scriptures that Jesus is the OT predicted Jewish Messiah. The word “proving” is the Greek word sumbibazon which means to join together. Paul joined together the OT prophecies concerning Christ with their fulfillment to prove Christ was the Messiah. Possibly he linked Isaiah 7:14 with the virgin birth of Jesus in Matthew 1:23 and the Micah 5:2 with Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem and Isaiah 53 with Jesus’ death on the cross.

Christians should “be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15). The Mormon Church is filed with former Baptists. 40 percent of all Mormon converts are former Baptists. There are 231 Mormon converts each day from the Baptist faith.

D. Paul paid a price for his bold witnessing in Acts 9:23-25. Paul adds a few more details in 2 Corinthians 11:32-33 about his escape. Gentiles not just Jews were offended at Paul’s witnessing. He was lowered through a window in a house built on the wall to escape his martyrdom.

William Barclay put it this way: “No one persecutes a man who is ineffective and who obviously does not matter. George Bernard Shaw once said that the biggest compliment you can pay an author is to burn his books. Someone has said, ‘A wolf will never attack a painted sheep.’ Counterfeit Christianity is always safe. Real Christianity is always in peril. To suffer persecution is to be paid the greatest of compliments because it is the certain proof that men think we really matter” (The Acts of the Apostles, 77).

3. He Fellowshipped with Strong Believers in Jerusalem (Acts 9:26-29)

Jerusalem is where it was happening spiritually. Jerusalem was the epicenter of a great revival. In Galatians 1:18, Paul tells us that he wanted to go to Jerusalem to meet Peter the spiritual leader of early Christianity. Paul saw the need to have spiritual friends and mentors in his life. But Paul was initially not welcomed (Acts 9:26). The disciples were possibly afraid Paul was a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Maybe Paul had been in hiding for three years so he could secretly invade the church.

Barnabas was the successor of Ananias in Acts 9:27. Where Ananias left off Barnabas picked up. Barnabas was living up to his name in Acts 4:36: Son of Encouragement. Paul adds in Galatians 1:15-17 that Barnabas introduced Paul to Peter and James. Paul was able to spend 15 days with Peter, the leader of the church.

Barnabas did not hold Paul’s past against him. Barnabas was not like us when someone gets saved or starts coming to church whose background is not perfect as if our background is perfect. We are more like the Pharisees in John 8 who wanted to stone the woman caught in adultery instead of like Christ who accepted her and said, “Neither do I condemn you go and sin no more.”

Barclay makes another good application: “The world is largely divided into people who think the best of others and people who think the worst of others; and it is one of the curious facts of life that ordinarily we see our own reflection in others, and we make them what we believe them to be” (page 78).

4. He Served God in Difficult Circumstances in Tarsus (Acts 9:30-31)

Just as the result of Ananias’ ministry in leading Paul to get baptized, join the church and a small group resulted in Paul witnessing, and the result of Paul’s spiritual growth in the Word in Arabia resulted in witnessing, the result of Barnabas encouragement resulted in Paul witnessing even more in 9:28-29.

Each time Paul witnessed, however, he had strong reactions against him. This time Paul has to be sent back home to Tarsus in Acts 9:30-31. These are the silent years in Paul’s life. Paul was in Tarsus for approximately 7-10 years. Back home Paul experienced rejection from his family. We learn this from another testimony of Paul’s in Philippians 3:8. Most likely Paul’s wealthy dad who was a staunch Pharisee who paid for Paul’s tutoring to become a Pharisee disowned his now Christian son. There was no Welcome Home Son banner hung across main street in Tarsus.

Paul also experienced rejection in his witnessing. Paul lists his sufferings in 2 Corinthians 11:23-24. The sufferings listed by Paul in 2 Corinthians 11 are not found anywhere Acts. These are called synagogue punishments. Paul probably preached in the synagogues in Tarsus and received from the Jews five lashings (40 stripes save one) which was a form of synagogue discipline.

Let’s think of the important people God used in Paul’s life:

1. Stephen was a witness to Saul of Tarsus in Acts 7.

2. Ananias was Paul’s first friend as a Christian who helped Paul take his first baby steps as Christian of getting baptized, joining the church and a small group.

3. Barnabas took over where Ananias left off and aided Paul’s continued spiritual growth.

This adds new meaning to Paul’s insight in 1 Corinthians 3:6, “I have planted, Apollos watered but God gave the increase.” Who planted in your life? Who watered what was planted? Whose ministry in your life has God given the increase? In whose life am I planting? In whose life am I watering so God can give the increase?

Sermon: Disciple Making Disciples (Acts 9:10-19)

Posted: July 15, 2012 in Sermons in Acts
Tags: Augustine, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, D. L. Moody, damascus road, Edmund Halley, G. Campbell Morgan, Isaac Newton, John Pollock, John Wesley, law of gravity

Every one of us, sometime during our school years, learned the story of Isaac Newton’s famous discovery. You may remember the story. Newton was sitting under an apple tree one afternoon, and a ripe apple fell from one of the limbs and hit him on the head. At that moment, Isaac Newton discovered the need for Excedrin! No, he discovered the Law of Gravity.

Few of us learned, however, that if it were not for another scientist named Edmund Halley, the world might never have learned of Newton. In fact, it was Halley who:

• challenged and mentored Newton through his original ideas;

• corrected Newton’s mathematical errors;

• coaxed the hesitant Newton to put his discoveries into writing;

• edited and supervised Newton’s publications;

• even financed Newton’s first edition.

Historians call it one of the most selfless examples in the annals of science. Newton began almost immediately, to reap the rewards of scientific prominence and prestige, while Halley withdrew into the shadows and received little credit. One biographical statement about Halley said that he did not care who got the credit, his mission in life was to simply advance the cause of science. In fact, the only reason we even know the name of Halley is because of the comet that was named for him. Halley calculated that the comet would appear every seventy-six years and then, would disappear once again into the vast heavens.

Our study today, resembles the story of Edmund Halley. It is the story of a man who launched the prominent career of another man and then, disappeared from sight. His name was Ananias, and his brief appearance occurs in the book of Acts, chapter 9. Like the comet and its discoverer, he appeared for just a moment and then, withdrew into the shadows of history, never to be heard from again (Stephen Davey in a sermon on Acts 9:10-19).

Ananias was Saul’s first friend after his Damascus road conversion. Paul had what every new believer needs: another Christian who is mature to help him/her get started. Ananias was that person. What Stephen was to Paul before his conversion, Ananias was after his conversion. Not only does the sinner need someone to lead him to Christ, but the new convert needs someone to help him grow in Christ.

Ananias discipled Paul or at least started the discipling process. Ananias teaches us that disciples disciple.

1. To Disciple another believer, we first must be a Disciple of Christ (Acts19:10-16)

Ananias is called a disciple in Acts 9:10. Luke’s favorite description of believers in Acts is “disciple.” Luke uses different names: 9:2 “of the way” 9:13 “saints” 9:14 “all that call on your name” 9:30 “brethren.” More frequently, however, Luke calls believers “disciples” as in 9:1, 10, 19, 25, 26, 36, 38.

Before Jesus ascended back to Heaven He gave the church His Great Commission in Matthew 28-19-20. The command in the Great Commission is “Make Disciples.” So what does a disciple look like?

A. A disciple loves God’s Word (Acts 22:12a).

Twenty years after his encounter with Ananias, Paul will recall what Ananias did for him right after his conversion. In Paul’s testimony before a Jewish mob, Paul described Ananias as “a devout man according to the law.” Ananias was like the blessed man in Psalm 1 who “delights in the law of the Lord and his law does he meditate day and night.” Are you delighting in God’s Word day and night?

B. A disciple has a good testimony (Acts 22:12b).

When your name is mentioned, what do people think? The Ananias of 9:10 was better than the Ananias of chapter five. The Judas of 9:11 is better than the Judas who betrayed Christ. The Saul in chapter 9:11 is better than the OT Saul. When your name is mentioned, will it be associated with the Ananias of Acts 5 or Acts 9? With the Judas who was a religious hypocrite or the Judas of Acts 9? With Saul of the OT about whom we are not sure if he were a believer or the Saul of Acts 9?

C. A disciple fellowships with God (Acts 9:10-16).

We can’t fulfill the Great Commission of Jesus in Matthew in 28 to make disciples without first fulfilling the Great Command of Jesus in Matthew 22 to love God with all our heart. In 9:10-16, Ananias shows his love for God.

1) To fellowship a believer must be surrendered “Behold, I am here, Lord.”

Ananias and the Lord were on speaking terms and Ananias was surrendered to do God’s will. Abraham with his son Isaac on the altar and his knife outstretched responded when God called him with “Here am I.” Have you spoke these words of surrender to God?

2) To fellowship a believer must be led as Ananias is in 9:11-12.

God led Philip to the Ethiopian in 8:26. God leads Ananias to Saul in 9:11-12. God knew this was a difficult task for Ananias. So the Lord gave Ananias a clue of Saul’s conversion with the words “behold, he prays.” For the first time Saul the Pharisee who prayed in public to be heard of men (Matthew 6:5) prayed in private to be heard of the Lord. Paul would later instruct us to “pray when you pray” (Ephesians 6:18).

To whom this past week did God lead you to take out for a meal or to meet with in order to disciple?

3) To fellowship a believer sometimes struggles as in 9:13-14.

Apparently Ananias did not catch clue and thinks it necessary to inform the Lord of the dangerous situation he has heard from the refugees from Jerusalem. The Lord patiently listens and then clearly relieves Ananias’ fears in the news of Saul’s conversion in 9:15-16.

2. Once we are Disciples of Christ then we can be Disciplers of Believers (Acts 9:17-19)

A. Disciplers Identify with people (Acts 9:17).

Believers who spend time with God are led to minister to people. How can we minister to people or make disciples?

1. By welcoming them to the family of God or our church family.

Ananias, as we would say, shook Saul’s hand or gave him a hug. Have you ever been to an unfriendly, cold church? I hear over and over again from visitors that our church is a friendly church.

2. By forgiving one another. Ananias called Saul “Brother” not “Persecutor.”

Saul had persecuted perhaps friends and family members of Ananias. But Ananias knew Saul had been forgiven by God so he is willing to forgive. We forgive others because we have been forgiven.

3. By helping people physically and spiritually.

Ananias helped Saul receive his physical sight first and then be filled with the Holy Spirit. So often serving people’s material and physical needs is the gateway to serving them spiritually.

Our Hospitality Committee performed this ministry this past week when one of our members pasted away. The son said if he lived closer he would attend this church. Our Family Care ministry also performed this ministry this week. Two different Family Care leaders contacted me about their members. They are ministering physically and spiritually.

B. Disciplers identify believers with the church (Acts 9:18).

1. Once a person is saved the NT pattern is to be baptized and join the church as first seen on the first day of the church in 2:41.

Ananias ministered to Saul not being an apostle or deacon like Philip in chapter 8. This ministry is for every member, not just leaders and elected officers.

2. After you are baptized and join the church, what do you do? Eat!

That is what 9:19a says. Christians like to be with Christians. Look at the example that Jesus left. Turn back a few pages to John 21:6-14. Jesus grilled fish for His disciples. I loved grilled salmon wrapped in grapes leaves at Green Valley Grille. I doubt Jesus grilled salmon, but you know what ever He grilled was good. But this was the 3^rd time Jesus had appeared to His disciples as a group after His resurrection.

Jesus met with two disciples on the road to Emmaus right after His resurrection and ate with them (Luke 24:30). Jesus met with His disciples as a group on the first Easter Sunday when Thomas was not present and ate with them (Luke 24:42). He ate “broiled fish and honeycomb.” Jesus met with His disciples one week later when Thomas was present and eating is not mentioned (John 20:24). Maybe it is just assumed they were eating. Jesus met with His disciples for the third time and grilled fish for them (John 21:12).

Ananias helped Paul make new Christian friends. John in First John is teaching believers how to have assurance of salvation or as John says “Know” you are a believer (5:13). How can you know you are a believer? There are three tests:

1) You believe that Jesus is the Son of God (5:1a, 5). Doctrinal Test.

2) You love God’s people (5:1b). Social Test.

3) You obey God’s Word (5:2). Moral Test.

Ananias got Paul involved in a small group (Acts 9:19b). It was not enough just to join the church. Paul needed to get in a small group to build relationships and friendships. Even Jesus had 12 men He associated with for three years. Paul from this point will surround himself with a group of disciples. We need each other.

3. Disciples identify believers with God’s work (Acts 9:15-16).

What Jesus informed Ananias about Paul in Acts 9:15-16, Ananias does tell him in 22:14-15.

Believers have been chosen by God. Paul you will be rejected by men because of your witness, but you have not been rejected by God. All believers have been chosen by God according to Jesus in John 15:16.

Jill Morgan, the daughter-in-law of G. Campbell Morgan, wrote in her book, A MAN OF THE WORD, “In 1888 my father-in-law was rejected for the ministry. Morgan was seeking entrance into the Wesleyan ministry in 1888. He had passed his written exam but faced the test of giving a trial sermon in front of a panel. When the results were released, Morgan had been rejected. He wired to his father the one word, “Rejected,” and sat down to write in his diary: “Very dark everything seems. Still, He knoweth best.” Quickly came the reply: “Rejected on earth. Accepted in heaven. Dad.” (Source unknown). As G. Campbell Morgan went on to prove, rejection on earth is often of little consequence in heaven.

“Ananias the obscure, never heard of before or since, the first example of a historical pattern that great ambassadors for Christ, however much prepared in other ways, are brought to their vocation by unimportant agents. Augustine hears a child’s voice repeat, ‘Take up and read!’ John Wesley listens to an anonymous Moravian reading Luther; D. L. Moody, wrapping up shoes in a store, pauses for a few words from his Sunday School teacher; Charles Haddon Spurgeon, sheltering from a snowstorm, hears a workingman in a snowbound minister’s pulpit” (John Pollock. The Man Who Shook the World, Wheaton: Victor Books, 1973, 22).

Sermon on Paul’s Conversion (Acts 9:1-9) Part Two

Posted: July 10, 2012 in Sermons in Acts
Tags: A. T. Robertson, F. B. Meyer, holy spirit convicts, religion, religious zealot, theology

We have studied the important influence of the Christian witness. But the Christian witness is only the human instrument powerfully used by the Holy Spirit. My Mom was the human witness in my life. The Holy Spirit used her repeated witness in my life and brought to fruition her witness when our church was having a series of preaching series. Each night I would go home from those services and lie im my bed when all the lights were out and the Holy Spirit would remind me I was religious but lost. In my heart and mind, where He was doing battle with me, I would argue with Him: “But I am a church member, and a member of our youth group.” But He was relentless. He reminded me that if I died during the night before morning I would go to Hell. He reminded me also that if Jesus returned I would be left behind. The Holy Spirit hunted me down just like He hunted Saul of Tarsus down in our text.

1. The Christian Influence

2. The Holy Spirit Influence

Jesus said John 16:8, the Holy Spirit convicts sinners of rejecting Christ. But the Holy Spirit does not work in a vacuum. He uses flesh and blood. He uses warm bodies. He uses Christians who witness like Stephen who preached the gospel to Saul.

A. Holy Spirit Conviction made Saul “exceedingly mad” in Acts 26:11 and 9:1.

F. B. Meyer said that “the phrase was used to describe a wild boar uprooting tender vines.”

A. T. Robertson, in his Word Pictures of the New Testament, wrote, “Threatening and slaughter had come to be the very breath that Saul breathed, like a war horse who sniffed the smell of battle.”

Saul was not content to rid Jerusalem of Christians, he must track them down and destroy them wherever they fled his persecution. Saul’s first missionary journey is not in Acts 13, but here in Acts 9 when he goes to Damascus, a week of travel away, as religious zealot for Judaism.

B. Holy Spirit Conviction was individual in 9:4 when Christ specifically called “Saul, Saul.”

Saul was the only one in this posse of Gestapo like persecutors to see Christ. Saul was the only one to hear the actual words in 9:7. The others, possibly Temple Police, travelling with Saul saw the bright light but not the person of Christ. They heard the voice but did not understand the words.

In John 3:8, Jesus described the Holy Spirit working with sinners as mysteriously as the wind blows:

“The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound thereof, but cannot tell from where it comes and where it goes: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.”

If you have watched skies you have noticed one level of clouds moving to the east and higher aloft another level of clouds hurrying to the west. Some people in a church service like this service today hang on every preached word while others daydream, nap, talk, text, or plan what to do tomorrow.

In Acts 9, God audibly called Saul to Himself. Today, God calls through the Gospel today as Paul explains in 2 Thessalonians 2:14: “Whereunto He called you by our gospel.” When God called me to salvation, I heard no literal voice. His call was much louder than that in my conscience as the gospel was preached.

C. Holy Spirit Conviction has to do with rejecting Christ in 9:4, “Why are you persecuting me?”

In John 16:8, Jesus said, “When he is come, he will reprove the world of sin….of sin, because they believe not on me.” The night I got saved, the Holy Spirit did not deal with my drinking, cursing, or other sins. Just the sin of rejecting Christ as my Savior.

D. Holy Spirit Conviction is hard to fight in 9:5.

The ox goad was a sharp object used by farmers to stir animals in a certain direction. Saul is pictured as an stubborn ox. But Saul’s conviction was equal to his need. Because Saul was so deceived, his conviction was severe. Matthew, on the other hand, was gently called by Christ and immediately followed. Saul was no match for God. There was once a Broadway hit entitled, “Your Arms are too Short to Box With God.” This is what Saul discovered.

Saul was hard not because he was sinfully immoral life. But because of his rejection of the gospel. He was not sin hardened, he was gospel hardened. The hardest people to win to Christ are not death row sinners but lukewarm church attending sinners who yawn through the invitation.

The easiest sinners to win are the young who have not yet hardened their hearts against God. That is why children’s ministries are so important.

3. The Influence of the Unbeliever’s Faith

A. Saul realized that he was in the presence of God when he said, “Who are you Lord or God?”

When the Lord said, “I am Jesus” Paul’s spiritually blinded eyes were opened. Next Paul says in 9:a “Lord” (not Jesus) but “Lord or God what will you have me to do.” Paul will later tell sinners how to be saved in Romans 10:9, “that if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus (i.e., Jesus is God) and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead you shall be saved.” Perhaps this is the reason, Paul was blinded for three days after his conversion. To remind him of his former spiritual blindness. Paul would later write about sinners who are blinded by the god of this age (2 Corinthians 4:3-6).

Paul thought Jesus was a blasphemer who was properly put to death for claiming to be God. Paul thought Jesus was dead. But now he sees the truth. In Acts 26:19, Paul says, “I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision.” Obedience is necessary for salvation. In Romans 1:5, Paul writes that he “received grace for obedience to the faith.” When the Philippian jailor cried out in Acts 16, “What must I do to be saved?” Paul, did not say, “you can’t do anything.” No, Paul responded, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.”

B. Saul is converted.

Jesus instructs Paul in 9:6b, “Arise and go into the city, and it shall be told you what you shall do.” God saved Paul to open the blinded eyes of other sinners. The more complete statement is in Acts 26:16-18 “Arise, and stand upon your feet: for I have appeared unto you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of these things which you have seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto you. Delivering you from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send you to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me’” (Acts 26:18). Salvation is not just fire insurance so we can escape Hell. We are saved to serve the Lord.

C. We know Paul was converted because of his changed life.

Paul the proud Pharisee expected to storm Damascus on his breathless stallion, but instead he humbly had to be led by the hand of another in 9:7-8. The enemies of Christ in Damascus were expecting Saul as their champion and the friends of Christ were expecting Saul to be their persecutor. But Christ reversed all of that. Paul would later write, “If any man be in Christ he is a new creation, old things are passed away and behold, all things are become new.”

With God there are no hard cases! No one is beyond the reach of the Gospel!

When Paul writes 1 Timothy, Paul is near the end of his life and ministry. To Timothy, Paul writes about his conversion: “who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whim I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering, for a pattern or example to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting”

In other words, “Timothy, if God can save me, I know He can save anyone.” Don’t give up on that loved one, friend, co-worker, or neighbor you think is impossible to reach. If God can save the chief of sinners, He can win the one you for whom your are burdened.

Sermon: Paul’s Conversion (Acts 9:1-9) Part One

Posted: July 9, 2012 in Sermons, Sermons in Acts
Tags: Amazing Grace, chemical and biological weapons, F. F. Bruce, George Lyttleton, human-rights, John Newton, Kim Jong-Il, Open Doors USA, political prisons, religion, saul of tarsus, theology, William Willimon

John Newton, the slave trader, who actually became a slave himself before becoming captain of his own slave ship, later confessed Christ as his personal Savior. He wrote the well-known hymn, Amazing Grace: Amazing grace, how sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I’m found. Was blind, but now I see. Newton was called to preach and became an evangelical influence in the Anglican Church. When he was older in speaking about Heaven, he wrote

There are three wonders about heaven to me:

• The first wonder will be the number of people who are there that I did not expect to see.

• The second wonder will be the number of people who aren’t there that I expected to see.

• The third and greatest wonder of all will be to find myself there!

If in the first century, believers died before Saul of Tarsus was converted they were surprised to later see Saul in heaven. Saul was the foremost persecutor of the believers. He was the leader of the Jerusalem Holocaust.

It would be like one of us going to heaven or even more poignantly, a believer from North Korean going to heaven and being welcomed by Kim Jong-Il. For eighth straight years, Kim Jong-Il led North Korea as the number one persecutor of Christians. 40,000 to 60,000 Christians are in political prisons.

“It is certainly not a shock that North Korea is No. 1 on the list of countries where Christians face the worst persecution,” said Carl Moeller, president and CEO of Open Doors USA. “There is no other country in the world where Christians are persecuted in such a horrible and systematic manner. Three generations of a family are often thrown into prison when one member is incarcerated.” Christians are used as guinea pigs to test chemical and biological weapons. Saul of Tarsus was the Kim Jong-Il of the first century. He wanted to eradicate all believers from the face of the earth.

The conversion of Paul is ranked with the resurrection of Christ as proof of Christianity.

George Lyttleton, an 18^th century English statesman, and rejecter of Christianity sought to disprove the conversion of Saul of Tarsus on the Damascus road by writing a book on the subject. But his study convinced him of Saul’s supernatural conversion and led to Lyttleton’s own conversion. He wrote a book, however, not to disprove but to prove the conversion of Paul was credible entitled Observations on the Conversion and Apostleship of St. Paul. In his book, he wrote, “The conversion of St. Paul alone, duly considered, was of itself a demonstration sufficient to prove Christianity to be a divine revelation.”

Paul’s conversion is given more attention than any other conversion in Scripture. Luke the historian records the Paul’s conversion three times: 9:1-31; 22:3-21; 26:12-18. William Willimon writes that “only an event of greatest importance would merit such repetition by an author whose hallmark is brevity and concision” (Acts. Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching. Atlanta: John Knox, 1988).

Critics have tried to explain away the supernaturalness of Saul of Tarsus’s conversion by claiming that Paul’s experience was an epileptic seizure, a sunstroke or Saul’s deliberate conversion to Christianity to spite the high priest’s daughter who had rejected his love. The epileptic seizure theory has gotten the most attention.

In 1987, D. Landsborough published an article in the Journal of Psychiatry in which he explained Paul’s conversion as an attack of epilepsy ending in a convulsion when Saul fell to the ground. But two other contributors to the same Journal said Landsborough’s theory failed to explain Paul’s companions hearing a voice, seeing a light, and their falling to the ground.

F. F. Bruce disagrees that any of these human explanations could have produced Saul’s “total conversion of will, intellect, and emotion which dictated the abiding purpose and direction of his subsequent life and activity” (Acts, NICNT, 183). Salvation is a supernatural experience that has no human explanation.

Paul’s conversion is in the context of other important conversions:

1. In Acts 8, an Ethiopian Black man is converted

2. In Acts 9, Paul a Jew is converted

3. In Acts 10, Cornelius the Gentile is converted

Luke is recording the spread of the Gospel from Jews to Gentiles in Acts. So the first Gentile convert was a black man in Acts 10. But he travels back to Ethiopia. Paul the Jew is mentioned next because although a Jew, he will become the church’s first missionary to the Gentiles. The first Gentile to be converted and stay in Palestine is Cornelius. Luke is stressing the universality of the Gospel. “Red and yellow, black and white, they are all precious in His sight.”

All the necessary influences of conversion are seen in Paul’s conversion. Like Saul of Tarsus there is the Christian Influence, the Holy Spirit Influence, and the Influence of the Sinner’s faith.

1. The Christian Influence “And Saul yet” (9:1) picks back up the narrative of Saul that ended in 8:3. In between 8:3 and 9:1 is the narrative of Philip’s ministry in Samaria. Before Philip’s ministry in Acts 8:4, Stephen indelibly impressed Saul of Tarsus.

A. Paul was influenced by Stephen in Acts 7.

Paul had never seen a Christian like Stephen in 6:15. Paul was accustomed to his sour faced, pharisaic co-laborers who looked like they had been baptized in pickle juice. Paul had never heard a message like Stephen’s in chapter 7. It was the gospel preached in the power of God with much conviction (7:51-52). Paul had never seen any one die like Stephen. Stephen died praying for his enemies, loving and forgiving them (7:60). Luke’s detailed information about Stephen’s appearance, words, actions, was probably from Paul’s recollection because of the impact they had on Saul as a sinner.

B. Paul was influenced by the innumerable Christians he persecuted.

In Acts 8:3, Paul dragged them from their houses off to jail. In 26:11, Paul made them blaspheme God. In 22:4, Paul was responsible for their deaths. In 9:1, 2, Paul has legal papers to go to Damascus and extradite Christians who fled his persecutions. Christians in Acts are called “The Way.” In Matthew 7, Jesus said there is a broad way on which sinners are travelling and there is a narrow way on which believers are travelling. And in John 14:6, Jesus proclaimed, “I am the Way. No man comes to the Father but by me.” In Acts 9, Saul is on his way to Damascus to persecute the way when he has a head on collision with the The Way and now he is in the Way.

C. Paul was influenced by Christian family members in Romans 16:7.

More people are won to Christ by consistent caring Christian friends and family members than any other witness. I thank God for the Christian influence of my Mom on me. She led me to church where the gospel was preached until I came to Christ.

In my next post the other two influences in Paul’s conversion will be examined.

The Persecuted Church (Acts 4:5-12)

Posted: May 8, 2012 in Sermons, Sermons in Acts
Tags: Accessibility, Albert Molhler, Communism, Exclusivity, Inclusism, Islam, Johann Tetzel, John Stott, Martin Luther, Oprah Winfrey, Pluralism, Roman Catholicism, Terrance L. Tiessen, Tim Keller's The Reason for God

Luke, the church’s first historian, records the first persecution of the church in Acts 4. Jesus predicted, “I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail.” In spite of Hell attacking the church, Jesus promised, “Hell will not succeed.”

From the first century of Jewish persecution there have been major onslaughts against the church. After the Jewish persecution, the Roman Empire wage war on believers. For example, Nero martyred the apostle Paul.

The next great attack on the church was the Roman Catholic Church in the Middle Ages or the Dark Ages. This was followed by Atheistic Communism. This persecution continues in Communist China.

Today the major foe of Christianity is Islam.

On November 10, 1483, Martin Luther, the great Protestant Reformer was born into a strict German Catholic family in Eisleben, Germany. His dad wanted Martin to be a lawyer which career he pursued at the University of Erfur. In 1505, at the age of 21, he was walking home from law school when in a severe thunderstorm a bolt of lightning that struck the ground near him. He cried out to his patron St. Anne, “Help me and I will become a monk.” At the age of 21, Luther became an Augustinian Monk at the monastery of Erfur for the next 20 years of his life.

Luther sold all his possessions and began trying to earn salvation by works just as the RCC taught and teaches. He went without sleep, endured bone-chilling cold without a blanket and beat himself. He later wrote of his attempt to earn God’s righteousness, “If anyone could have earned heaven by the life of a monk, it was I.”

Luther was ordained a RCC priest on April 3^rd, 1507 and served his first mass. By 1512, at the age of 28, Luther had earned his doctorate in the Bible and was ordered to teach at Wittenberg University. It was while he was teaching Romans 1:17 that the righteousness of God is not earned by practicing the Sacraments of the church but the righteousness of God is received as a gift by faith. “At last meditating day and night, by the mercy of God, I … began to understand that the righteousness of God is that through which the righteous live by a gift of God, namely by faith… Here I felt as if I were entirely born again and had entered paradise itself through the gates that had been flung open.”

Soon Luther began to speak against the works righteousness of the RCC. In October, 1517, Luther nailed his 95 theses or arguments against the sale of indulgence on the door of the castle church at Wettenberg. The RCC preacher Johann Tetzel was notorious for selling indulgences with which loved ones could buy their deceased loved ones out of purgatory. Tetzel would preach, “As soon as the coin in the coffer or offering plate rings, a soul from purgatory heavenward springs.”

In January 1521, Luther was excommunicated from the church by Pope Leo X. In April 1521, Luther was summoned to appear before an assembly of RCC officials in order to recant his teachings against the RCC and the Pope.

Luther refused and boldly stood his ground, “Unless I can be instructed and convinced with evidence from Holy Scripture or with open, clear, and distinct grounds of reasoning … then I cannot and will not recant, … Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me: Amen.” He was condemned a heretic and spent the next ten months in hiding.

That scene reminds us of Peter’s first stand against persecution for the Gospel in Acts 4.

In Acts 4:5, 6, Peter has been summoned to stand against a similar body of religious persecutors just as Martin Luther was. The religious inquisition before whom Peter stood was called the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin is referred to in Acts as the “council” (Acts 4:15; 5:27; 6:12; 22:30).

This is the same group of religious leaders that condemned Jesus to death (Matthew 26:57-68).

Now Peter stands before the same group. They ask him, “By what power, or by what name, have you done this (4:7)?” They unknowingly serve Peter his text from which to preach.

Peter first refers to “Exhibit A” who is the healed lame man who had been made “whole” by the resurrected Christ whom the Sanhedrin had crucified and whom God had raised from the dead (4:8-11).

Then Peter proclaimed one of the most important truths in regard to salvation ever stated in 4:12 and which is under fierce attack today: “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

Tim Keller writes a book defending the faith entitled The Reason for God. Keller addresses seven objections, which skeptics fire at Christianity.

Exclusivity is the first objections. This objection has been thrown at me when discussing religion with unbelievers. The objectors usually say, with rising blood pressure, something like: “You are arrogant and intolerant to think you are right and all other religions are wrong,” or “Your superior thinking about your religious views is dangerous and detrimental to world peace.”

Keller discusses “three approaches civil and cultural leaders around the world are using to address the divisiveness of religion.”

The first approach is to outlaw religion.

This has been futilely attempted by countries like Communist China, who “expelled Western missionaries after World War II,” only to see the number of Christians explode.

The second approach to the divisiveness of exclusivity is to condemn religion.

This strategy is more efficient than the first and goes like this: Create an environment that makes religions which claim exclusivity look unenlightened and outrageous. This brainwashing is accomplished by drilling certain axioms into the public’s thinking which gain the status of common sense. Keller analyzes four of these axioms. Perhaps you have been baffled by them in previous skirmishes with skeptics.

“All major religions are equally valid and basically teach the same thing.”

“Each religion sees part of spiritual truth, but none can see the whole truth.”

“Religious belief is too culturally and historically conditioned to be ‘truth.’”

“It is arrogant to insist your religion is right and to convert others to it.”

The proponents of these views are holding to an exclusive view of religion. They have their own alternate view and articles of faith. They arrogantly condemn other religions (Exclusivism) which do not hold to their view. They are guilty of the very charge leveled against exclusivists plus hypocrisy.

The third approach is to keep religion completely private.

This view states that a person can privately practice his religion and even evangelize but must keep religious beliefs out of the public. The reason given for this view is that religious views interjected into any moral debate are “conversation stoppers.” Keller argues any opposing view interjected into the argument over moral issues stops the conversation. The political debate over abortion polarizes even when argued strictly from secular views concerning choice. Again, as in the other views, the opponents of Christianity’s exclusivity are guilty of that which they are accusing us. To point out this hypocrisy is a strategy to disarm skeptics.

The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life reported that 52% of American Christians surveyed believe that people from some non-Christian faith can be saved.

A staggering one out of two does not believe that salvation is exclusively through Jesus Christ.

In an interview with USA Today, Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, said “that much of this confusion can be traced to the superficiality that marks far too many evangelical pulpits. The disappearance of doctrinal understanding and evangelical demonstration can be traced directly to the decline in expository preaching and doctrinal instruction. A loss of evangelistic and missionary commitment can be fully expected as a direct result of this confusion or repudiation of the Gospel.”

There are several versions of this rejection of Jesus Christ as the only way to salvation. The first version is pluralism which teaches that every person is going to heaven no matter what he believes. Pluralism says there are many paths to God who may be called either Buddha, Allah, Jehovah, or Jesus. An example of pluralism is Oprah Winfrey.

Oprah grew up in a Baptist church where she developed her speaking abilities. She now holds five one hour long services a week with an audience of 10 million. What is her message? Jesus Christ is not the only way to Heaven. One clip in The Church of Oprah video shows Oprah blatantly denying Jesus as the only way to God. The New York Times says Oprah is the leader of a worldwide cult.

“How can there be only one way to heaven or to God?” Oprah asked her audience in a previously taped show.

One woman in the audience asked, “What about Jesus?”

Oprah defiantly answered, “What about Jesus?…There couldn’t possibly be one way.”

That may be the gospel of Oprah, but that is not the Gospel of John. Jesus said that there is only one path to heaven in John 14:6 and He is that path: “I am the (not a) way, the (not a) truth, and the (not a) life, no man comes to the Father, but by me.” This statement in the Gospel of John is significant since John wrote the Gospel to tell people that Jesus is the Son of God and believing in him you can be saved (20:31). Either Jesus is the Son of God and the only way of salvation as he said in John 14:6 or he is a liar.

The apostles followed the example of Christ in preached exclusivity: Acts 4:12 “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name [not Buddha, Mohammed, nor Moses] under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

In addition to pluralism there is inclusivism which is not as board as pluralism. Inclusivism teaches that people are saved because of the death and grace of Christ, but people from other religions will be saved who never heard of Jesus “through no fault of their own.”

One form of inclusivism (sometimes called accessibility) states that salvation is through nature or general revelation. This is the view of Terrance L. Tiessen:

“All who have ever been saved, who are now being saved, or who ever will be saved, are saved because Jesus Christ died and rose again for them…. Nevertheless, God does not require a faith that would be impossible for anyone by virtue of their ignorance. In the Day of Judgment, God will hold all people accountable for their response to the revelation that was made available to them, and only for that revelation. God may graciously save some who do not believe in Jesus as Savior if they are ignorant of him through no fault of their own.”

Does God save people who have only general revelation from nature and not the special revelation of the death, burial, and resurrection Jesus Christ? Paul answers that question in Romans 1:20: “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and deity: so that they are without excuse.” If a person dies without hearing and responding to the special revelation of the gospel that person is without excuse. Instead of general revelation being sufficient to save if someone has never heard of Christ, general revelation is sufficient only to condemn.

Tiessen continues, “All people meet Jesus Christ personally at the moment of death, and they respond to him in a manner consistent with the response they had been giving to God and His revelation during their lifetime. At that moment, those who had received forms of revelation less complete than the gospel but who had responded in faith, by a work of the Holy Spirit, will joyfully find in Christ the fulfillment of all their hopes and longings” (Terrance L. Tiessen, Who Can Be Saved? Reassessing Salvation in Christ and World Religious, Downers Grove, IVP. 2004, 478).

Can people be saved after death? In Luke 16:26, Jesus told the story of the rich man in Hell. The rich man in Hell asked Abraham to send Lazarus to dip his finger in water and just put one drop of water on his tongue. Abraham responded: “Between me and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from here to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from there.” There is no purgatory, postmortem like second chance.

Some are agnostic concerning the fate of those who die never having heard the special revelation of the gospel.

John Stott, the famous British pastor and widely read author, expressed his agnosticism: “The fact is that God, alongside the most solemn warnings about our responsibility to respond to the gospel, has not revealed how he will deal with those who have never heard it” (David Edwards and John Stott, Evangelical Essentials: A Liberal-Evangelical Dialogue, Downers Grove, IVP, 1988, 327).

The Scriptures have declared with certainty the eternal future of those who are not reached with the gospel. Romans 3:23 says that “all have sinned” because they were born sinners (Romans 5:12). The result of those who die in this universal sin condition (including those who never heard) is eternal separation from God (Romans 6:23a); unless that sinner places faith in Christ and receives the gift of eternal salvation (Romans 6:23b). How can sinners be saved by faith in Christ? Not by nature’s outstretched hand pointing to a higher power. Someone has to give them the gospel (Romans 10:13-15). If you have any doubts about this subject take the time to carefully read and study these verses.

Because Paul believed his inspired by God Words in Romans 10:13-15, he traveled on three missionary journeys in Acts. Paul did not qualify these verses in Romans 10:13-15 saying, “If you missionaries cannot make it to the field, don’t worry about it all religions are equal or at death they can receive Christ.” Pluralism and inclusivism are not the Scriptural views on salvation.

Exclusivism is the clear teaching of Scripture. There is only one way of salvation, and that is exclusively through faith in Christ. Does this mean that the person who has never heard the gospel is without hope?

While general revelation is insufficient to save it does point to God as Psalm 19:1 says: “The heavens declare the glory of God.” If a person responds to the light in nature, because God is just, He will give more light or make sure the gospel gets to that person.

Cornelius is an example in Acts 10. Inclusivists believe that Cornelius was a believer before Peter preached the gospel to him. They say that 10:2 describes him as “devout.” Also, inclusivism is heard in 10:34-35, when Peter preached that “God is no respecter of persons: but in every nation he that fears him, and works righteousness, is accepted with him.” This is John Sanders’ view: “Cornelius was already a saved believer before Peter arrived but he was not a Christian believer” (John Sanders, No Other Name: An Investigation into the Destiny of the Unevangelized, Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1992, 254).

This conclusion is incorrect for several reasons. First, in Acts 2:5, Luke describes the Dispersion Jews who were in Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost as “devout.” After Peter preached, 3000 of them got saved. “Devout” as used by Luke only means a person is religious. Also, after Peter preached the gospel to Cornelius and the Gentiles were saved, Peter returned to Jerusalem and related this groundbreaking event to the Jewish leaders. He recounted how the angel told Cornelius that a man named Peter would come to his house and he “shall tell you words, whereby you and all your house shall be saved” (11:14). The angel used the future tense concerning Cornelius’ salvation. When Peter arrived at Cornelius’ house, Cornelius was not saved; when Peter left, Cornelius was. So Cornelius was not saved apart from or before he heard the gospel.

When Peter preached that God is no respecter of persons and that “in every nation” God accepts persons, Peter was referring to examples like Cornelius. Peter did not mean every person in every nation is accepted by God no matter which religion he was in. In Acts 4:12, Peter said Jesus is the only way. Cornelius is an example of a person who responded to the light he had in general revelation and God in His justice and fairness gave him more light (the special revelation of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ). There is hope for those who have never heard. God providently leads missionaries or believers here in America to those responding to the insufficient light of general revelation to give them the sufficient light of the special revelation of the gospel.

God is not only just and fair but God is love. God’s concern for the lost has been demonstrated when He gave His Son to die for the sins of all people, including those who have not heard. “It is not His will that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). The love of God and the death of Christ are inclusive of all sinners. His salvation is exclusive for only those who receive Christ as Savior.

The Power of Preaching (Acts 3:11-26)

Posted: April 30, 2012 in Sermons, Sermons in Acts
Tags: Church, hell fire club, John MacArthur, John Phillips, Mark Dever's Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, preaching, theology

The power of preaching is demonstrated in the following story told by Mark Dever: “Charles Spurgeon tells how George Whitefield the great eighteenth-century evangelist, was hounded by a group of detractors who called themselves the ‘Hell-fire Club.’ When Whitefield would stand outside preaching this little group of guys would stand off on the side and mimic him. They didn’t believe a word of it. The ringleader was called Thorpe. One day Thorpe was mimicking Whitefield to his cronies, delivering his sermon with brilliant accuracy, perfectly imitating his tone and facial expressions, when he himself was so pierced that he sat down and was converted on the spot” (Mark Dever’s Nine Marks of a Healthy Church).

Luke also valued the power of preaching. He records two of Peter’s sermons in as many chapters in Acts 2 and 3. These two sermons were blessed and used by God to convert the lost. Both of these sermons like any good sermon answered questions.

John MacArthur noted: “As He had for Peter’s first sermon on the Day of Pentecost, God provided the introduction” (Acts, page 102). The dramatic introduction for Peter’s first sermon was God filling 120 believers that resulted in 3000 Jews coming to Christ. The dramatic introduction for Peter’s second sermon was the conversion and healing of a handicapped beggar that resulted in 2000 more conversions (4:4). Both of these supernatural events provoked questions.

Peter’s Pentecost sermon answered the question by his audience after 120 Spirit filled believers went into the streets witnessing: “What means this?” in 1:12.

Peter’s second sermon answered the question by his audience after a beggar who was handicapped all his life for over 40 years was supernaturally healed and converted and began to run and leap and praise God: “Did you preachers heal this man?” in 3:12.

What questions should sermons answer?

1. What does this text mean?

2. How do you know this is the meaning?

3. What does this look like in real life?

4. What does this have to do with my life?

1. What Does This Mean? (Acts 3:13). This is called Explanation.

Just as He at based his first sermon on Scripture (Joel 2; Psalm 16; 110), he founded his second sermon on Scripture. Peter answers with Scripture (Acts 3:13). Peter answered his audience with this response: we did not heal and convert this man. God did. “The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of your Fathers has glorified His Son” (Exodus 3:6). He healed and converted this man.

This is the text Jesus used in Matthew 22 to prove the resurrection of the dead to the Sadducees who did not believe in the resurrection. Peter answers spiritual problems with God’s Word not man’s wisdom.

I heard a lecture this week on how to handle criticism. The solution was to get plenty of sleep, eat healthy foods and exercise. What about prayer? What about reading God’s Word?

2. How Do You Know This Is The Meaning (Acts 3:13-15a)? This is called Argumentation. There is always resistance and push back to preaching.

Peter argues his point through a series of convicting contrasts. In Peter’s first sermon he used “you” only once in 2:23. In his second sermon Peter uses “you” four times. This is the second time most of these Jews heard Peter preach. This is Peter’s second chance to give them the gospel and he hammers on their sin of rejecting Christ.

A. You delivered Jesus to the Romans to be crucified and God glorified Him.

B. You denied Christ while even pagan Pilate was determined to let Him go free.

C. You Jews denied the Holy One and the Righteous about whom Pilate said, “I find no fault in Him” and desired the unholy murderer, Barabbas, a murderer like all of you.

D. You killed (murdered) the Prince or Source of life (only because He willingly died) and God raised Him from the dead.

3. What Does This Look Like In Real Life (Acts 3:15b-16)? This is called Illustration.

Not only was Peter a witness of the resurrected Christ, but so were his listeners, because they had witnessed the healing and conversion of the handicapped beggar who was saved by faith in Christ. In Peter’s first sermon, he answered a series of questions:

If Christ was such a miracle worker why did puny man put Him to death? Because it was God’s will for Christ to be put to death.

If God raised Him from the dead where is He? He is at the Father’s right.

How do we know He is at the Father’s right hand? Because He just poured out the Holy Spirit and changed these 120 believers into bold witnesses.

In his second sermon, Peter does a similar thing. Christ is resurrected and you are witnesses. You have witnessed the healing and conversion of a beggar you have seen almost every day begging in front of the Temple having been carried there by friends. Now he is totally transformed because he put his faith in the resurrected Christ.

Peter had a living, breathing illustration.

4. What Does This Have To Do With My life (Acts 3:17-21)? This is called Application.

You were ignorant of what you did (3:17) but God was not (3:18). Sinners ignorantly reject the truth because they are blinded by Satan. They are dead in trespasses and sin. It is like saying to a blind person, “Why can’t you comprehend the beauty of that sunset?” And yet God used these spiritually blind people to do what He ordained from eternally past. Which the entire OT had predicted with great precision (When Christ would be born, how He would be born, where he would be born, how He would die, and How He would rise from the dead.)

Because ignorance is no excuse you must “Repent” or change your mind. Change your mind from rejecting Christ to receiving Him by faith. The handicapped beggar by faith received Christ.

Repent so that your sins can be forgiven or blotted out (3:19a). Blotted out meant to wipe ink off a document. Unlike modern ink, ink in the ancient world had no acid content. Consequently, it did not bite into the papyrus used for document. Instead, it remained on the surface where it could easily be wiped away by a damp sponge. God wipes our sins away completely (MacArthur, page 117).

Repent because Christ is returning (3:19b-21). When Christ returns He will bring refreshing showers of blessings (Ezekiel 34:26) if you have repented. If you have not repented there will not be showers of blessings there will be a lake of fire.

5. Lastly In A Sermon There Is Exhortation (Acts 3:22-26).

You have answered all the questions and now you press for a verdict, a decision, a response. Peter exhorts by referring to three OT prophets.

A. Moses (3:22-23). Just as people could obey Moses and be blessed or disobey him and be judged so the prophet like unto Moses (Jesus) can also be obeyed and blessed or disobey and cursed. The majority of Peter’s audience disobeyed.

In A.D.70, the Romans sacked Jerusalem, destroyed the Temple and killed more than 1 million Jews. The rest were sold into slavery.

B. Samuel (3:24). Just as the first coming of Christ was predicted by prophets (3:18) and those God inspired prophecies came to pass so has Christ’s second coming been ordained by God (3:24). Just as the first coming fulfilled Scripture so shall the second will also come to pass. Are you ready? We don’t know when but do know how, “In a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump.”

C. Abraham (3:25-26). If you obey and repent you will be blessed because God would much rather bless than judge (3:25-26). He has already blessed each person (3:25). We call these blessings on all of mankind common grace blessings. These unsaved Jews grew up in Judaism and had been exposed to the Law. Yet they were unsaved. Some have more common grace blessings than others. The unsaved Israelites listening to Peter’s sermon had many common grace blessings that Peter refers to in verse 25.

But if you repent you will have the saving grace blessings of sins forgiven (3:26).

What kind of response did Peter experience? Some got mad (4:1-3). The rejecters interrupted Peter’s sermon and arrested them. Some got saved (4:4). But the number of men who were now converted had swollen to 5000 not counting the wives and children. These were two powerful days of preaching.

“It was three o’clock in the afternoon when all this began. Hours had elapsed, and now it was evening. But what eventful hours! Would that the church could have more such eventful hours. Three thousand were saved at Pentecost—thousands more were now added. The arrest of Peter and John could not stop the Holy Spirit from going on with the work. All that night news would be coming in of rejoicing among the thousands who had been born again that day” (John Phillips, Exploring Acts, page 79).

Five Important Ministries of the Church (Acts 2:42-47) Part 1: Teaching God’s Word

Posted: April 17, 2012 in Church Ministries, Sermons, Sermons in Acts
Tags: Andrew Sullivan, Erwin Lutzer, follow Jesus, Forget the church, John MacArthur, John S. Hammett, Newsweek, St. Francis of Assisi, Warren W. Wiersbe

Art Linkletter once saw a little boy drawing a picture. He was furiously coloring away with an intense look on his face. Linkletter asked him, “Son, what are you drawing?”

The little boy replied, “A picture of God.”

Linkletter informed the lad that no one knows what God looks like, to which the boy confidently responded, “They will when I get through” (Sermon illustration used by Stephen Davey). Luke is giving us his picture of what the church is to look like. But not all agree with his picture.

Andrew Sullivan of Newsweek wrote an Easter article entitled “Forget the Church, Follow Jesus.” Sullivan found some serious errors in modern day religion such as child molestation in the RCC, liberalism in mainline protestant denominations, and self-centeredness of the prosperity gospel. But he went on to condemn evangelicals for believing in the supernatural death and resurrection of Jesus, the inerrant Word of God, and belief in the major doctrines of Scriptures.

He believes Christianity is in a crisis. Instead on majoring on doctrine, such as, the supernatural resurrection of Jesus, Sullivan believes we should just read His words and follow Christ’s example.

Sullivan quotes St. Francis of Assisi “Preach the gospel always, use words if necessary.” The problem with this quote is, you can’t preach the gospel without always using words.

You can’t Forget the church and just Follow Jesus. Someone appropriately responded with another article entitled, Forget Anderson and Follow the Church.

Jesus loved the church and gave Himself for it (Ephesians 5:25). The Church is God’s institution as well as human government and the home. Because these three institutions are not perfect we do not abandon them. None of these three institutions is perfect. We don’t abandon human government or we will have anarchy. We don’t abandon marriage or we will have adultery.

The first church in Acts was a model church but not a perfect church as the rest of Acts clearly shows. You have the first known sin in Acts 5 when Ananias and Sapphira selfishly did not give all they said had given.

We can focus on the imperfections or our perceived imperfections of the church or we can focus on the blessings of the church. This is what Luke does in Acts 2:42-47.

Luke describes five ministries that all churches should be practicing:

1. Teaching God’s Word

2. Fellowshipping with God’s People

3. Worshiping God

4. Serving in God’s Work

5. Evangelizing the Unsaved

Each of these ministries are related to the nature of God and the more Godlike or Godly we become the more our church will reflect Him in these ministries. These are God centered ministries not man centered. John S. Hammett makes point very clear in his book Biblical Foundations for Baptist Churches.

1. Our church should emphasize teaching God’s Word because God the Father is truth (John 3:33 “God is true”; 7:28; 8:26) and God the Son is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6) and God the Spirit is “the Spirit of truth (John 14:17, 26). Therefore, the church is “the pillar and foundation of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15). The more godly we become as a church the more we will teach the truth of God from His Word.

2. Our church should emphasize fellowshipping with God’s people because the three persons of the Trinity eternally have and are in fellowship with each other. We are made in their image as social creatures. We are “the people of God” not the rugged individuals of God and the more united we are in fellowship the more we will reflect the fellowship of the Trinity. The more godly we will be.

3. Our church should emphasize worshiping God because the essence of worship is giving and God has sacrificially given His Son for our salvation. The more we give and reflect Him the more godly we are.

4. Our church should emphasize servicing in God’s work because Christ came not to be served but to serve and give His life a ransom for our redemption. The more we serve in God’s work the more godlike we are.

5. Our church should emphasize evangelizing the lost because God sent His Son to die on the cross not as a good example as Andrew Sullivan says, but as a substitute for our sins that “whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” The more godlike we become the more we will evangelize.

Evangelism in the early church was not a program but a way of life. One of our mothers this past week was able to lead her son to Christ in devotions at home. This is the early church in action.

1. The Teaching of God’s Word (2:42) “And they continued stedfastly in the apostle’s doctrine.

Luke first gives the immediate results (Acts 2:37-41) of Peter’s preaching when people went to church for the first time:

1. Conviction

2. Salvation

3. Baptism

4. Church membership (None of these are options in the Christian life for spiritual growth)

Next, Luke gives the continued results (Acts 2:42-47) of Peter’s preaching which are the five ongoing ministries. What happened after the first day people went to church?

1. Teaching God’s Word

2. Fellowshipping with God’s People

3. Worshiping of God

4. Servicing in God’s Work

5. Evangelizing the Unsaved

Acts 2:42 first says that these new converts “continued stedfastly” that is they were continually devote to these ministries. Luke uses the word again in Acts 6:4 to describe the apostles complete devotion to prayer and the Word of God after they restructure the organization of the early church. These new converts in Acts 2 did not start and stop. There were no Nine Day Wonders in the early church which only proves they were never saved. Listen to some strong words by John:

“They went out from us, but they were not of us; for it they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us but went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us” (1 John 2:19).

John MacArthur observed, “Many churches today are made up of largely of unsaved individuals. Amazingly some even try to design a church were non-Christians can feel comfortable. This can’t be the good of a church that is devoted to holiness and righteousness in all areas of life, such a church will be unpopular with sinners. In this first fellowship all the professors were possessors” (Acts, page 80).

Now Luke gives the first ministry that model church was continually devoted to: Teaching God’s Word

Teaching is listed first because all of the other ministries are built on the foundation of teaching God’s Word.

Erwin Lutzer said that prayer is more important than preaching in the life of the church. Scripture does not teach that. In the Pastoral Epistles teaching is mentioned more than 30 times. If a church properly teaches God’s Word prayer will not be neglected but be more effectively practiced (1 Tim 4:6, 11-16; 6:2-3).

A. Jesus was a Teacher of God’s Word (Jesus is called teacher 45 times in the Gospels and rabbi 14 times).

Andrew Sullivan cited Thomas Jefferson’s action of cutting all miracles of Jesus out of the Gospels and just leaving His words as the example we should follow. In other words, Jefferson, like Sullivan rejected the supernatural. The problem is that Jesus did not reject the supernatural. In His own words He said He would rise from the dead. It is interesting that the model early church continued stedfastly in “the apostles’ doctrine” not Jesus words. I guess Jefferson cut that part out also.

Jesus’ follower were and are called “disciples” or learners. As Peter later wrote, believers are like “newborn babes” who “desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow thereby” (1 Peter 2:2).

Jesus commissioned His Church to make disciples or learners of God’s Word by winning people to Christ, baptizing them, and teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have taught you (Matthew 28:19-20).

B. Pastors are teachers of God’s Word. Pastors according to 1 Timothy 3:2 “are apt or able to teach.” Pastors are called “pastor/teachers” in Ephesians 4:11. The entire organization of the early church was totally reorganized so the pastors could devote themselves to the study of God’s Word in order to teach and preach.

C. All believers are to be teachers of God’s Word. Paul in Colossians 3:16 commanded all believers to “let the Word of God dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another.”

1. Through Sunday School

2. Women’s and Men’s Bible Study

3. AWANA

4. Power Zone

5. Through our regular services

6. Through your conversions with people (Acts 8:4)

7. Through daily taking in God’s Word like the Bereans in Acts 17:11 who “searched the scriptures daily.” Study at home with commentaries. Go to bible.org for helps to study God’s Word at home.

Wiersbe, “Their Christian faith was a day-to-day reality, not a once-a-week routine.”

MacArthur said, “A believer should count it a wasted day when he doesn’t learn something new from, or is not more deeply enriched, by the truth of God’s Word” (Acts page 83).

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