February 12, 2017
Morning Service

Acts

 

            We began this study with what Jesus said in Matt. 16:18; “I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”  Then we see Jesus give the keys of authority to this church to Peter.  We see Peter open the doors to this Glorious Church in Acts chapter two to the Jews.  We see 3000 accept his call to repentance and baptism, which is the entrance to this Glorious Church.  Luke, who wrote the book of Acts, stated “and the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”  So we see that these 3000 were added to the existing church, the original 12 Apostles.   Once these 3000 made the commitment to become Christians, they had to have some kind of direction, and goal.  So this is what was said;

Act 2:46-47  And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,  (47)  Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

As we can see the adding to the church continued, daily.  It was something amazing that God was doing among His people.  And only the common, ordinary people were accepting this mighty work of God.

            Then we see Peter use the keys of authority again in Acts chapter 10 to open the doors to salvation for the gentiles.  However, before we get to the household of Cornelius, we see in chapter six, that the church is growing to such an extent that the Apostles can’t take care of everything by themselves.  They tell the people to choose 7 men, honest, of good report, and full of the Holy Ghost, to be their servants, or deacons.  At this time there are no Pastors, or organized churches, just the Apostles, and now the deacons.  Then in chapter 7 we see Stephen stoned for his faith in Christ.  This scattered the church, and Phillip, one of the original deacons went down through Samaria preaching a great revival.   We see in chapter nine, a young man who had been persecuting the church, converted, by a miraculous appearance of Jesus Christ.  His name was Saul of Tarsus, who eventually became Paul the Apostle to the Gentiles.

            Now we come to chapter 10, and the conversions of the gentiles.  Luke gives us this miraculous account of how this came to pass.  But after all is said and done, and Peter has given them words whereby they must be saved, he commands them to be baptized.

Act 10:48  And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days.

 

·        Now, all mankind has access to this Glorious Church that Jesus said He would build.  He is alive and well sitting at the right hand of the Father on high.  His work is being continued by His Apostles, and those that He calls.

·        Now what we see is a group of people believing that the Messiah has come, and they are trying to live, and worship with people who don’t believe that the Messiah has come.  Most of these people who were Jews worshipped together in the Synagogue every Sabbath.  Now, of course the gentiles didn’t, for they were not thought worthy, by the Jews.  Hopefully we can see the conflict that would go on in every service because of their differences.  All this arguing could not produce a satisfactory worship environment.  So how is God going to bring about a system of worship that will be acceptable to Him, for all people?

·        Peter has used the keys of authority to open the doors to salvation for the Jews, and now the Gentiles, and now God brings on the scene, Paul the Apostle.  God through His divine Word gives Paul the authority to speak in His name.

·         Act 26:14-18  And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.  (15)  And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.  (16)  But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee;  (17)  Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee,  (18)  To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

·         Paul, himself, telling us of this authority;  1Co 14:37  If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.

·        God chose the Apostle Paul to give us what He wanted us to have concerning this Glorious New Testament Church.  God allows Paul to be the author of 2/3 of our N.T. writings.  In them, we build our faith, to please God, and to give us direction for our journey.

·         Paul said this:  Gal 1:11-12  But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.  (12)  For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.

·        So let’s look at the big picture;  God now has added to the church a great number of people who cannot worship with Jews, without conflict.  So God chooses the Apostle Paul to instruct these disciples on how they should behave themselves in the Church of God.  He writes to a young man, Timothy, who is to be a Pastor, and leader in the church, instructing him on the order of authority, and order of worship in the church.

·        In 1^st Timothy, Paul tells him of his calling, and authority.  He then proceeds to tell him concerning the leadership of the church, the Bishop, or Pastor, and the Deacons.  There is no higher earthly office in the church than the Pastor, or Bishop.  We will find that older men, and probably some deacons made up a presbytery, or counseling body to the Pastor, but the final say went to the Pastor.  The church is autonomous, which means “self sustaining.”  There is no authority besides Christ in heaven, and the local Pastor.  There is no outside, headquarters, it is to be locally guided by men called of God.

·         Upon giving Timothy these instructions, Paul says this;  1Ti 3:14-15  These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly:  (15)  But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

·        The only place I know  where there is a description of what went on in an early church meeting is found in ICor. 14.  You can read there what went on in a meeting.  Without question, the church had to continue to evolve into what the Lord wanted it to be.  The Apostle Paul leads us to what God wants in the way of knowledge, and worship.

So, at this point we see Paul telling Timothy what the leadership of this church should be.  We begin to see this Glorious Church with some earthly authority, and direction.  These called out ones, with God’s power, will soon spread all over the world.  We now see that each group of followers should have a leadership of a Pastor, and deacons. 

Today we have looked at authority in the church.  In the future, the Lord willing, we will look at the several parts of worship, and the gifts in the church.

ALMIGHTY GOD, HELP US TO SEE THIS GLORIOUS CHURCH, THROUGH THE EYES OF YOUR HOLY WORD.  AMEN.