Being the Apostolic Church Part 1
by Rev. Kirby Williams
Striving to emulate the activities and attributes of the pristine Apostolic church.
Text: Acts 2:41-42
Date: 09/12/2021, the Combined service.
Series: "Your Word is Truth"
Description:
One of the greatest events in the history and development of the church occurred on the day of Pentecost, just 10 days after the Ascension of Christ. On that momentous day, the Holy Spirit descended upon the fledgling church with power and glory and 3,000 souls were saved. The verses that follow in chapters 2-4 of Acts give us one of the few glimpses of the Apostolic church in its pristine state-- before external persecution and internal corruption set in. In our text for this lesson, Dr. Luke describes four attributes of this body of believers, as they set about to worship Christ and advance the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. In this message we will analyze the first of these attributes-- their devotion to the teaching of the Apostles. After determining exactly what that teaching was, we will step back and consider how we measure up-- as individual Christians, as a particular church, and as the church at large. Ultimately we will view this germinal church as a model to emulate-- as both individually and corporately we strive to "be the Apostolic church"
View:
Options:
I. Introduction, Gen. 2:23, Jer. 31:32, Isa. 61:10, 2Cor. 5:17.
II. Exposition of the text, Acts 2:41-42.
A. Context. Acts 1:5,8, 2:2-4, 36-39.
B. Marks of the Apostolic church.
1. A mass of conversions, vs. 41.
a. A church of true believers.
i. The tragedy of "cheap grace".
ii. Weeds among the wheat, Matt. 13:24-30; Rev. 2:14, 20.
b. The pristine church.
2. The attributes of the germinal church, vs. 42.
a. Devoted to the Word.
i. Defining "the Apostle's teaching".
• Bearing witness of Jesus, Acts 2:36, John 14:26, 17:14,17.
• Grounded in the Old Testament, Acts 2:16,17,25,34,35; Luke 24:27.
• Preaching the Resurrection, Acts 2:31-32.
ii. A deep devotion to the Word.
iii. A doctrinal crises in modernChristendom.
• The foundation of good doctrine.
• How far have we fallen?
• A serious problem.
• The claim that doctrine divides the church, Gal. 1:8-9, 1Cor. 11:19.
III. Application
A. Devoted to the Word.
IV. Conclusion
