Evangelism & the
Jerusalem Church
-Introduction
-Matt 16:16-19; Col 1:18, Eph 5:27
-We need to be the church
that Jesus built. Our souls depend upon it.
-Therefore, we must abide
by the doctrine of Christ (2 John 9-11, Matt 28:20)
and must follow the N.T.
pattern.
-Acts 2 - the establishment of the
church - From there it spread and grew.
-Today, nearly 2,000 years later, that
church still exists.
-It still contains the
message of the Gospel and the responsibility of spreading it.
-It still contains the
doctrine of Christ and the responsibility of conforming to it,
defending it and
enforcing it.
-So, the church of the 21st
century can be, and must be, the church of the 1st century in
terms of church authority,
organization, worship, overall mission and doctrine.
-The Church at Jerusalem
-Acts 2:41-47
-At this time, the apostles were the
teachers. They were the leadership on earth.
-They had received the
baptism of the Holy Spirit and were being guided by Him.
-Under such guidance and
Divinely inspired teaching, we find the church in its purity.
-Man-made
doctrines and man-made organizations were not diluting the truth
nor
shadowing the identity of Christ’s church - not yet. Unfortunately,
that
would not be
the case for very long.
-When you consider the overall work of
the church - evangelism, benevolence and
edification - we find a wonderful
example in the early church at Jerusalem.
-Tonight, let’s focus on evangelism.
-Evangelism - Christ-Centered
-Acts 2 - The church was established
in response to evangelism.
-The church continued to grow through
evangelism.\
-Acts 5:17-20, 25-28
-This evangelism was Christ-centered.
-Acts 2:22; 3:11-19;
4:1-4,8-12; 5:28-32,40-42
-Are doctrinal issues
important? - Yes! Is proper worship important? - Yes! Is
proper
church organization important? - Yes! Yet, this is not where the
apostles
began.
They began with Jesus - the message of the Gospel.
-I’m afraid we sometimes talk to
people about what they should do without first talking
to them about why they should
do it.
-The message of the Gospel
provides the why.
-Evangelism - The Truth Unchanged
-Acts 2 - the message - Jesus - Lord
and Christ - died for our sins. We must take that to
heart,
repent and obey.
-Acts 2:36-38
-Acts 3:13-19 - (Compare Acts 2:38 and
Acts 3:19)
-In the face of persecution: Acts
4:10-12, 23-29
-Remember, these things
were taking place in Jerusalem. This was the central
location for the Jewish
leadership - those who despised Jesus, rejected Him
and had Him crucified.
-There was
going to be some resistance to the Gospel of Christ. There was
going to be
persecution brought against those who followed Christ.
-Yet,
there was a request for a different message. The request was for
boldness.
-Today, there are those who don’t like
God’s truth. Instead of following the doctrine
of Christ, they follow the doctrines
of men.
-Due to a desire to be
more acceptable to more people, some have suggested that
we “filter” our message
a little, “water it down” so that it will appeal to more
people.
-We don’t need another
message. We don’t need to alter the truth. Perhaps, we
need more boldness.
-Acts 5:27-32, 40-42
-Evangelism - An Individual
Responsibility
-Acts 6:7
-The Gospel was spreading. The church
was growing.
-The Gospel is a powerful
message (Rom 1:16). It can lead to “unexpected” results -
i.e. the
priests in Jerusalem.
-Acts 8:1-4
-vs 1 - “...and they were
all scattered...except the apostles”
-There were a great number
of disciples scattered. What did they do? - vs 4
-They realized their individual
responsibility in spreading the Gospel of Christ.
-They didn’t depend on a
select few to do it.
-Their courage in the face of
difficulties motivated by their love for their Savior, set the
church on a course of rapid and
far-reaching growth.
-Summary and Invitation
-We need to evangelize. We need to be
Christ-centered in our approach. We need to
stand boldly upon the Gospel of
Christ and realize that there is no need to alter it, filter
it or water it down. We need to
remember the power of the message and we need to
consider evangelism on an
individual, personal basis.
-If we will work at the task at hand,
we will see results - some that might even surprise us.
-What about you? Have you responded
to the Gospel of Christ?
-If not, Believe (John
8:24), Confess your faith (Matt 10:32), Repent of your sins (Luke
13:3,5)
Be Baptized into Christ (Acts 2:38)
-If you’ve previously obeyed the
Gospel, have you remained faithful? If not, confess your
faults, repent of them and pray for
forgiveness (1 John 1:7-9, Acts 8:22-24)
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