Christians
Acts 11:19-30, Eph. 4:1-12, Galatians 2:1-2, and 11 Here we witness Christians moving through uncharted ways, led by the Holy Spirit. I: “Who was I, that I could Withstand God?” vs. 17 1. The charge against Peter was that he “visited” and “ate” with men who were not Jews. 2. The Jews couldn’t conceive of God saving Gentiles by Faith. 3. This plagued the Church and hindered it’s reaching the whole world. (Still does). Rockham: “It’s almost inconceivable how in the 17th Century a good Protestant English Captain could be praying and reading the Bible on deck, while beneath the hatches he was carrying a cage of slaves.” II: These “Scattered” through “Tribulations.” 1....
Adventure for Christ
Acts 15:25-26 “Our beloved Barnabas and Paul.” I: Hazard: 1. A chance. 2. Exposure to danger or harm. 3. Something risked or staked. Gamble. 4. To put the risk of being lost. 5. To venture. (A gambler will often stake every Earthly thing he has on chance and be willing to lose hours of rest and sleep.) You may have to face the wildest of beasts, the tongue. II: Men that Live Haphazardly. 1. Men of Venture. 2. Men of Pleasure. 3. Men in search of wealth. 4. Men in search of knowledge. 5. Men that are willing to take a chance. III: “Hazarded Their Lives:” (Heb. 11) 1. “Here the stakes were life.” 2. Barnabas staked his life and all that he had. 3. Paul put his life up as the Stake. 4. At Damascus they conceited to kill him. 5....
Procrastination, Ignorance, Scorn
Acts 24:24-29, 26:24, 29 I: Felix and the Voice of Procrastination. 1. Paul reasoned of righteousness. 2. Paul reasoned of temperance. 3. Paul reasoned and Judgment to come. 4. Felix tumbled: His conscience was stirred. 5. “Go thy way for this time.” Not now. 6. “When I have a convenient reason.” 7. “I will call for thee.” II: The Voice of Ignorance, Festus. 1. His loud mouth drowned out the voice of truth. 2. He was rude, he was ignorant, he was wrong. 3. He was willfully ignorant of the truth. III: King Agrippa and the Voice of Scorn. 1. He became scornful to cover the Truth. 2. He chose to remain just as he was. 3. He scorned the words that he knew he ought to...
Receive Ye the Holy Spirity
Acts 18:24-19:12, Matthew 28:19-20 I: The City of Ephesus: 1. Called the Light of Asia. 2. A busy Seaport with extended docks. 3. Famous for Literature and Art. 4. Her Principle Glory was the Temple of Artemis, which ranked as 1 of the 7 wonders of the Ancient World. Its walls and pillars were of gleaming marble, the interior was fitted with ivy; Cypress and Cedar. It’s length was 425 ft. and its width was 220 ft. Its stately columns numbered 127 each erected by a King. They were 60 ft. high. The Temple was 220 yrs. in building. The enormous cost was shared by the whole of Asia. The Chief Treasure was an image of Diana, the female goddess. 5. Here was the Dark Cloud of Oriental Magic and a city worshiping Immortality. II: Appolos, the Young Preacher....
Seeking A More Convenient Time
Acts 24:24-27 We live in a day of people seeking convenience. God’s work goes undone because His people seek a convenient time to do it. Souls are in Hell today because they sought a convenient time to be saved. Our jails are being filled today with young men that Mother and Dad failed to find a convenient time to take them to the house of God or to instruct them right. We are cursed with a rash of convenience; we have become a self-centered in thought and action, finding no time for God. I: Felix Listened to Paul Concerning the Faith in Christ. 1. He sent for Paul with a hope of personal gain. 2. He was dressed in fine robes and his beautiful Jewish wife set by his side. 3. Paul came in ragged prison clothes with chains upon him, but witht he fire of God...
Spiritual Catarats
Prov. 29:18, Acts 26:6-19 When our vision of Mans last condition and God’s Plan to save him becomes dim, we become lukewarm in our service. When we lose a vision of the Churches responsibility to a lost world, our hearts grow cold to her needs to meet her responsibility. The Urgency of our mission is lost and we are content to dewll in the house by the side of the road. Like the little dog in Northern California last week, that was confused as to how to help his drowning master. While help tried to reach him, the dog fought to keep them away. I: Without A Vision People Perish. 1. Abraham’s vision remained clear, Lots became near sighted. 2. Jacob allowed his vision to become dim and God wrestled with him all night. 3. Israel longed for Egypt when...
Stephen, the Martyr
Acts 6:8-12, 7:51-60 The 1st to Preach the Gospel as a world-wide gospel. I: Stephen Confronts National Pride. 1. Pride and Prejudice, A Mark of the Nation. 2. They preferred their stuffy little world. 3. To open the gospel to all offended the Pharisees. 4. Stephan’s Message: a. Any ground is Holy Ground when one finds God there. b. Abraham called from a far country. c. Jacob lived much of his life in Egypt. He was buried in Shechim in despised Samaria. d. Moses was born and educated in Egypt. e. It was at Mt. Sinai, in Arabis, where the Law was given. 5. The Jews were in the Habit of rejecting Gods Will for their natural pride. 6. All this reached its climax in the crucifixion. II: “They were Cut to the Heart.” 1. Once too often they were faced...
The Divine Must
Acts 19:21, 20:1-38 “After the uproar was ceased, (A special offering was being raised).” Paul’s farewell to the Museum Fields of Asia. I: Macedonia and Much Exhortation: 1. A desire to visit and strengthen. 2. Much exhortation. “A calling near.” “To call near with much discourse.” a. “I haven’t shunned to declare unto you at the council of God.” vs. 27 b. “By the space of 3 yrs. I ceased not to warn everyone night and day with tears.” c. “Exhort one another.” 3. The right attitudes: “with tears.” II: Eutychus and His Kin. vs. 6-12 1. Exhortation the Saints at Troas. 2. Sunday night a special meeting. 3. Many lights, Eutychus sat in the 3rd story window. 4. “Paul...
The 2nd Coming and the Resurrection
Acts 24:15, 4:33, Cor. 1 15:1-26, and 35-58 The resurrection and 2nd coming was the theme of much preaching in the Early Church. I: How Many Christians Really Believe? 1. Do we believe in a Literal Resurrections? 2. Can God raise up Man from the dust of time? 3. Do we refuse to have faith in that we don’t understand? II: Did the Saints of Old Believe in A Literal Resurrection? 1. Job said, “For I know that my redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day, upon the Earth and tho after my skin-worms destroy the body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.” Job 19:25-26 2. Abraham believed Isaac would be raised from the dead. Heb. 11:19 3. Enoch and Elijah changed bodily and caught up. 4. Elisa’s bones gave life to a dead soldier....
The Steps of A Good Man
Acts 9:8-9, Galatians 1:15-17 The steps of a good man are ordered of the Lord, and His stops. The pauses in Life can sometimes be as meaningful as the pause in good music. Paul had 3 periods of Retirement. I: The Pause for Confirmation. Acts 9:8-9 1. 3 days of darkness. 2. 3 days to confront a new life in Christ. 3. 3 days of earthshaking changes. 4. 3 days to hear the call to preach. 5. No fuss, no refusal, but a time of turning. What had happened to him? 6. The chief of Sinners had met Jesus. 7. Here he faced and accepted the demands of his new relationship (A bond slave). II: The Pause for Instruction. Gal. 1:15-17 1. Led by the Spirit into the Arabian desert. 2. Taught by Jesus to come to grips with giant issues. 3. No schooling better than this; short...
They Continued
Acts 2:41-47 People are drawn towarde those of good will and fellowship. Everyone liked to feel that they belong. I: The Results of Peters Message on the Church. 1. 3,000 added to the Membership. 2. They gladly received his word. 3. They were glad to be Baptized. 4. They became members gladly. 5. They took God for their God, and His people for their people. (There is no healthy Christian Life in isolation). Deliberate neglect of Christian Fellowship will bring about Spiritual Malnutrition. 6. “They continued steadfastly … in Doctrine.” “They applied themselves.” Jesus spoke of some that came with joy, but quit under pressure of the World. Matt. 13:20 7. They were constant in attendance to preaching and prayer. 8. Their prayer life...
Unauthorized Preaching
Acts 4:13-20 John Bunyan spent 13 yrs. in prison for unauthorized preaching and refusal to attend the State Church Services. Peter and John were faced with a charge of Unauthorized Preaching and must face the mighty Sanhedrin. I: Persecution. 1. Initiated by the Sadducee s. 2. They were powerful in Government. 3. They controlled the Temple. 4. Much of their wealth was in Land and Property. 5. They lived for the present material world. 6. They didn’t believe in a future. (Their Heaven or Hell was now). 7. It was their concern to cultivate the Good Will of the Romans. 8. They feared the disturbing elements of the growing church. 9. If Peter was right, they were wrong. 10. If the Church lived, they must die. II: Preaching. 1. No fear but sure of His ground. 2....
