Acts
Study of the acts of the
Apostles
And the Early Church
Chapter 2
Who is in the text?
120 in upper room, devout
Jews in Jerusalem, The Holy Ghost, 3000+ newly converted saints
When does this text take
place?
On the day of Pentecost,
which if the Feast of un-leaven bread, which is a remembrance of when the Jews
were freed from Egypt. Held a couple times a year. Christ was crucified during
one of the times this festival was held.
What is happening in the text?
1 – The fulfillment of
scripture by the outpouring the Holy Spirit evidenced by the speaking of other
tongues.
2 – The one of two times
the question of salvation is asked and answered. First sermon of the first
church.
3 – The first altar call,
3000+ souls saved
4 – Actions of the first
church
House to house, breaking
bread, continuing in the scriptures, benevolence.
What is the key verse(s) in
the text? What does this verse tell you?
Acts 2:1-4 - This is the
outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This is God in us. The power behind holy living.
Acts 2:37-38 - This is
salvation laid out in plain English.
Acts 1:41-47 – Actions of
the First church
Going house to house,
breaking bread, continuing in the doctrine of the apostles, benevolence
After prayer and meditation
of this text, what did God reveal to you?
The Holy Spirit is for us.
The church is not the
building.
Salvation will require an
act of faith
I want to briefly address
my last study note, “Salvation will require an act of faith.”
Now I do not claim to be Baptist,
Apostolic, Pentecostal, Methodist, Lutheran, Holiness, or any other
denomination based on a particular interpretation of scripture. I am a
Christian. I believe in Jesus Christ as not only the Son of God, but as God,
Himself, in the flesh. With that being said, Jesus, before he ascended, left us
with a mission. Do we know what that mission is? let me remind you:
Matthew 28:19
Go ye therefore, and
Go ye therefore, and
1 – teach all nations
2 – BAPTIZING THEM IN THE
NAME OF THE Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
3 – teaching them to
observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you…
Mark 16:16
Go ye into all the world and
Go ye into all the world and
1 – preach the gospel to
every creature.
2 – He that believeth AND
IS Baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned….
Now I see a common
denominator in these two God inspired (2 Timothy 3:16) renditions of Christ’s
commandments. It seems to me that this common denominator is essential to what
he wanted for all creatures. Yes, folks, I am talking about baptism. In my study,
we addressed it because it was asked why. Now of course we could take it
Romans, and Galatians, but why when we can take it back to the Word of God,
himself. So in this quick study, I want to show you how important it is to God
and that we, as the church, stop treating this act of faith as some secondary
requirement and make it the essential element that it is.
Peter, Bishop of the first
church, preached his first sermon on the day of Pentecost. Right after the Holy
Ghost had come, evidence of God’s prophecy and promise, and many were saved
that day. But my highlight is on the results of the sermon. He preached, and
men asked what must we do to be saved, his response was simple; REPENT, and be
ye BAPTISED in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall
receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Notice the response from
the man who walked with Christ, ate with Christ and loved Christ. REPENT and BE
BAPTISED. Yet I will hear in churches today that baptism is not necessary for
salvation. Need I refer back to what Jesus commanded or what Peter Preached at
the Altar call.
Or let me go to Peter’s
letter to the churches and highlight this portion of scripture:
I Peter 3:17-21
For it is better, if the
will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing. For
Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might
bring us to God,, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
by which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; which sometime
were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of
Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is eight souls were
saved by water. The like figure whereunto even BAPTISM DOTH ALSO NOW SAVE US
(not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good
conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
God has always had that in
his plan. Look at Genesis as a whole. We have creation with man, then sin, then
repentance. Where, you ask? Many scriptures of the New Testament say he that
calleth upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Yes? Genesis 4:26 “And to
Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began
men to call upon the name of the Lord.” REPENTANCE. Then in the next following
chapters we have the Flood. The whole earth encompassed by water. Full emersion
of the earth after repentance. HMMMMMM we have repentance and then full
emersion in water of the earth. And Peter said REPENT AND BE YE BAPTISED… HMMMM
I Peter 3:21. Not enough. Look at the positioning of the TABERNACLE. You enter
the tabernacle and the first place you hit is the altar. Which is the ALTAR OF
REPENTANCE. where you made sacrifice for your sins. And after the altar was the
LAVER. A huge pool with a mirrored column so the priest could WASH their body
cause they were not allowed in the holy place with blood on them. You want
more. Look up the laws and see that a lot of them when sacrifice was made, the
people were to WASH. More?!?!?!
Acts 2:41 Then they that
gladly received his word were BAPTIZED: and the same day there were added unto
them about three thousand souls. 3000 baptisms in one day.
Acts 8:36-38 And as they
went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunich said, see,
here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, if thou
believe with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. and he commanded the chariot to stand
still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunich; and
he baptized him.
Acts 10:44-48 While Peter
yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.
And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came
with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the
Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. then
answered Peter, Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized,
which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he commanded them to be
baptized in the Name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days.
I don’t need to go on any
more. Baptism isn’t a fad of Christians but a necessity. Let’s stop the madness
and get it right.
REPENT,
BE YE BAPTIZED IN THE NAME OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST FOR THE REMISSION OF SINS
AND YE SHALL RECEIVE THE GIFT OF THE HOLY GHOST. AMEN
Chapter 3
Many times, we have gone to
church “lame” and wonder why we don’t the breakthrough or blessing we need.
It’s time we stop begging for handouts and start receiving what we need in the
name of Jesus. Last night’s study was on Acts 3. It was a good group discussion
with many viewpoints given about the chapter. From have faith in the name of
Jesus to repentance and salvation. I will share what I taught on last night.
In Acts 3, we see a story
on prayer and breakthrough. It starts off with the hour of prayer. No, not an
hour of prayer, but it was the time of prayer. The story goes on to say that at
this time, every day, a man, lame since birth, would be placed outside the
temple gate to beg. Peter and John, on their way to the temple, were stopped by
this man. Peter tells the man to look at him and the man looked with expectancy
to receive alms from them. Peter then says I have no money to give, but what I
do have I will give, In the name of Jesus get up and walk. It says that Peter
then took the man by the right hand, and the lame man leapt up and stood. Then
he began walking and praising God all the way into the temple. It’s an amazing
story and an amazing lesson for us all to learn.
Lame means to have a body
part or limb so disabled that it impaired freedom of movement. Story says this
man was lame since birth. So all he did was stand outside the church and beg.
And notice the time, during the hour of prayer. Many of us are lame in the
spirit and instead of entering into the hour of prayer, we will settle just to
beg. This man spent his whole life in a lame state of mind. When he stopped
Peter and John to ask alms and was bidden to look, the first thing I want to
point out is that he looked with expectancy.
Matthew 21:22 says that we
should go to God in prayer with expectancy. However, what we expect should not
be what will not help us. If your prayer be in the will of God, then expect it
to be done. I say the will of God, because money is not the answer. Yes, money
is a necessity, but it is not an answer. Money would not have given him what he
expected all along. Money would have still left him lame. Money would have kept
him still begging outside the church. Money would have kept him in bondage to
his situation. The healing of power of God in prayer does much more that money.
Look what God did that
money could not. It says when Peter took hold of him by the right hand, it could
mean that Peter took hold of the lame man in the power that was invoked by the
name. It says the lame man lept and stood. It says that the lame man walked and
praised God. . Lameness prevents you from praising God. Lameness prevents you
from walking in his designated path for you. Lameness will keep you from
leaping to the next level. Lameness prevents you from standing on God’s Word.
Lame also means lacking
needful and desirable substance. Lameness leaves you lacking needful substance.
It prevents prayer. He was outside the prayer room begging instead of Going to
God in prayer. It prevents devotional study. During the hour of prayer, the
holy scripts were read, in which he never heard or read, “By his stripes we are
healed.” It prevents worship and corporate worship. Before his healing, he
neither praised God for what he already had, nor did he fellowship with
believers. All which are needful in the Christian walk. Lameness leaves you
lacking in desirable substances. Lameness prevents blessings. Because of his
mindset, he was missing out on the blessings of God that come through prayer.
It prevents miracles. Because he never prayed, he never sought his miracle. It
prevents breakthroughs. He was mollified in the spirit to beg in his current
state instead of praying to move beyond his current state. It prevents release
from bondage. He lived in his lameness which kept him in bondage in the mind.
All those truly desirable things we pray for and want from God.
Enter into the hour of
prayer, seeking God’s will, not money.
-Min Mike Jones
Pew 2 Pulpit Ministries
Thoughts from the Pew
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