CHRIST AT THE CENTERBeing an Acts 29 follower of Jesus.
This week I want us to look at the centrality of Jesus in the early church throughout the book of Acts. A great lesson for us in the modern church.
One of the great lessons from church history, is that we don’t learn from church history. If that is the case, and it is, then we are doomed to repeat the mistakes of others when we could be moving forward in a greater effectiveness and maturity as Acts 29 followers of Jesus.
Acts was written by Luke to review and expand upon what Jesus had begun to do.
Acts 1:1; 10:34-43
In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that
Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up...
Peter at the home of Cornelius in Caesarea after his vision of clean and unclean animals.
So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching
good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
Why is the centrality of Christ so important to Jews and Gentiles the world over?
Jesus’ witnesses spread his gospel in Jerusalem, the capital of the Jews.
Acts 1:1-6:7.
Jesus’ witnesses spread his gospel throughout Judea and Samaria.
Acts 6:8-12:24.
Jesus’ witnesses carry his gospel to the ends of the earth, to Rome, the capital of the Gentiles. Acts 12:25-28-31.
They like us are followers of the living Word - Jesus.
God can do amazing things through ordinary people when He empowers them through His Spirit.
He took a group of fisherman and used them to turn the world upside down starting in Israel.
Acts 17:6 And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also...
He took Saul of Tarsus and changed him into the greatest Christian evangelist and author of almost half the books of the New Testament written to the entire Jewish and Gentile world.
God can and does the same through us as Acts 29 people if we are willing to have Him change our hearts, empower us by the Holy Spirit, and impart His passion for the spreading the gospel of Christ throughout the world.
Jesus commanded us to wait for the empowering of the Spirit, then go in His Name to activate the Great Commission of Matthew 28.
"You are just as spiritual as you want to be." -Leonard RavenhillWe are followers of the written Word - JESUS.
The Written Word always reveals the Living Word.
The Old Testament was about the Law revealed to the world through the Jews.
It showed how holy God is and how unholy humanity is. God took thousands of years to reveal all that is necessary to be able to stand in His Presence.
He wants a forever family and he wants you to be part of the family but on His terms.
The New Testament is about Faith revealed to the world through Jesus Christ alone. Faith allows us to appropriate all Jesus has done to break down every wall between us and God.
Acts shows us how amazing that change is when we look at the beginning of body ministry. The wisdom of God is being seen through the church.
THE LESSONS OF HISTORYThe OT shows an external anointing on individuals like Moses.
Numbers 11:17 “And I will come down and talk with you there. And I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them, and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you may not bear it yourself alone.”
God takes some of the Spirit on Moses and distributes it to 72 others - a shadow of the coming NT church.
THE MAN OF GOD MODELWe love to see people use their spiritual gifts but modern day ministry that magnifies the man or woman of God at the expense of the Body of Christ must be rejected.
Many leaders have never been discipled so they fail to make disciples. Instead they make dependent followers and it ends up all about them and their ministry rather than about Jesus and His ministry.
Sadly, believers want their ‘stars’ just like culture does.
Believers, without training or an opportunity to exercise their gifts, end up living vicariously through their favorite ministers and his or her slant on the scriptures at the loss of true incarnational living.
The NT teaches an internal abiding of the Spirit of God on all saved individuals who have been placed into His Body the church - the many membered body.
THE BODY OF CHRIST MODEL - GOD IN THE MIDST OF HIS PEOPLE 1 John 2:27
But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.
The Gifts of the Holy SpiritRomans 12:4
For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, [5] so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. [6] Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; [7] if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; [8] the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
1 Corinthians 12:4
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; [5] and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; [6] and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. [7] To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. [8] For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, [9] to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, [10] to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. [11] All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.
Ephesians 4:8-16 Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
Please go to www.lifecentre.org and click on Partnership and complete the 96 question ‘Spiritual Gifts Test’ and start serving with the gifts God has given you to bless His people.Why preach Jesus? Why is Jesus at the center for believers?
Because Jesus told us to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, (Jesus is His righteousness) and all these things will be added to you.”
Matthew 6:33 ESV
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. Colossians 1:15 - 18 ESV
