Last week we had a special service where we observed both the Lord’s Supper and baptism, and I preached a sermon specifically about understanding the ordinances of the church. We took a one-week break from our series in Acts.

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This week, we’re back in Acts.

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You may recall that the last major event that happened in our study of the Book of Acts was the killing of Stephen. That’s where we’re going to pick up our study this morning: just after the death of Stephen.

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Before we go any further, let’s pray together.

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(prayer)

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Today’s sermon is entitled “The Gospel Expansion Begins.”

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You see, up until this point, all of the work of the Church was focused in and around Jerusalem. However, the death of Stephen and the persecution of the church would serve as an expansion of the reach of the gospel.

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Let’s learn about that and more in today’s passage.

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First, let’s learn about . . .

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‌I. The ravaging of the church.

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Let’s start off by looking at Acts 8:1–4:

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“Saul agreed with putting him to death. On that day a severe persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the land of Judea and Samaria. Devout men buried Stephen and mourned deeply over him. Saul, however, was ravaging the church. He would enter house after house, drag off men and women, and put them in prison. So those who were scattered went on their way preaching the word.”

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Notice, first of all, that it says Saul agreed with putting him to death.

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Of course, it’s been a couple of weeks since we were in Acts, but if we were reading straight through, you would remember that the him that is spoken of here is Stephen.

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Also, you would remember that those who killed Stephen took off some of their outer garments and kept them under the watch of a man named Saul.

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This is the same Saul. This is Saul of Tarsus. Luke (the author of Acts) is revealing more and more about Saul of Tarsus, as he will become a central figure in the Book of Acts.

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So, Saul agreed with putting Stephen to death.

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What’s more, we see that on the day that Stephen was killed, a severe persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem.

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Remember, when it speaks about the church in Jerusalem, it’s talking about the people, not a building. A severe persecution broke out against the followers of Jesus in Jerusalem.

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Luke tells us what happened as a result of that persecution.

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Verse 1 says, “ . . . all except the apostles were scattered throughout the land of Judea and Samaria.”

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So, the twelve apostles stayed in Jerusalem, but we see the majority of the followers of Jesus scattered throughout the land.

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Don’t forget, there are not just a few Christians at this point. As we’ve learned throughout the first seven chapters of Acts, the Lord continued to add to the church daily those who were being saved.

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There was great expansion of the church in Jerusalem, and now we start to see the expansion of the church outside of Jerusalem.

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Verse 4 says that as they were scattered, they “went on their way preaching the word.”

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Lest we forget, we must remember what Jesus said in Acts 1:8. He said,

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“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

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We see this happening here, don’t we? The gospel reach is expanding into Judea and Samaria right here in Acts 8.

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However, Saul is not having it. He is on a mission to stamp out this expansion of the Church.

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Verse 3 says Saul was ravaging the Church.

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Saul would actually go house to house and drag off men and women to put into prison.

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Saul wa

In my office, I have some different pictures of my family. I don’t have those pictures because I forget what my family looks like. I can identify them in a lineup at any time. I have pictures of them because I love them, and I want to focus on them.

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So also, the Lord gives us physical signs of certain things that help us remember who He is, what He has done, and how He loves us.

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For example, a wonderful sunset helps us remember that God is an awesome Creator.

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A newborn child helps us remember that God is the giver of life.

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A warm embrace from a Christian brother or sister reminds us of the gift and power of Christlike love.

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Well, today, we will learn about the ordinances of the church. We’re going to learn that the ordinances of the church are physical symbols that help us remember and focus on the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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Today’s sermon is entitled “Understanding the Ordinances of the Church.”

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Before we get into this, let’s pray together and ask God’s Spirit to lead us.

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(prayer)

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At First Baptist Church Bartow, we believe that there are two ordinances of the church: baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and we will look at both of those this morning.

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Before we get into the two specific ordinances, let’s talk about what ordinances are.

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Our first area of concentration is this:

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‌I. The ordinances of the church are opportunities to focus on the gospel.

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Many of you may not know what an ordinance is when it comes to the church. You may hear the word “ordinance” and think of a city ordinance.

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Well, that’s not what we’re talking about this morning.

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An ordinance is something that is commanded or decreed.

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We call these ordinances because they were ordained, decreed, or commanded, not by a legal official but by our Lord Jesus Christ.

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These two ordinances are directly from the lips of Jesus Himself, as we’ll see later in the sermon. Anytime Jesus says to do something, we must pay attention.

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These two ordinances, or sacraments as they are sometimes called, are not only ordained by Jesus Himself, but they are also beautiful reminders of the gospel, and they are opportunities for us to focus on the gospel. Listen to what the Bible says about this:

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Speaking of the Lord’s Supper, Jesus says in Luke 22:19, “ . . . Do this in remembrance of me.”

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Also, we’ll talk about this more later, but Paul says of baptism in Romans 6:5, “For if we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be in the likeness of his resurrection.”

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You see, the ordinances help us focus on Jesus and His work.

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We’ll see this even more as we explore the ordinances in just a moment.

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Some Christians who came before us, the Protestant Reformers, used to say that the ordinances were visible words of the gospel. I like that. We hear the gospel preached with audible words and see the gospel displayed with visible words through the ordinances.

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So, we hear the gospel preached through sermons and Bible study, we sing about the gospel through musical worship, we fellowship because of the gospel, we give for the sake of the gospel, and we see the gospel displayed in the ordinances of the church.

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Let’s look now at the ordinances.

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First, . . .

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‌II. We remember the gospel in the Lord’s Supper.

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The beginnings of the Lord’s Supper go back to the last meal that Jesus and His apostles would share before His crucifixion.

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Jesus and the apostles were all Jewish, and they were preparing to celebrate the Passover meal.

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The Passover meal remembered God’s grace in passing over the people of Israel when all the first-born of Egypt died, and it remembered God’s deliverance of the Israelites from Egyptian slaver

You may recall that we were introduced to Stephen a few weeks ago.

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We learned that he was one of the seven men chosen to serve the church by serving the widows of the church.

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In our last sermon together, we saw his heroic stand before the Freedmen’s Synagogue and the Sanhedrin (the full Jewish court).

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Remember that he was full of grace and power. Remember that he was performing great wonders and signs. Remember that he was full of the Holy Spirit. Remember that his face was like the face of an angel.

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Do you remember all of that?

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Well, last time, the sermon was called “The Stand of Stephen (Part 1).” I’ve cleverly entitled this sermon, “The Stand of Stephen (Part 2).”

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This sermon is going to be a bit different because we’re covering an entire chapter.

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This chapter contains sort of a sermon from Stephen that is broken up into themes or sections.

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So, we’re going to look at a lot of Scripture, and hopefully learn a lot from God.

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Before we go any further, let’s go to God in prayer and ask Him to speak to us.

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(prayer)

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I want to look at verse 1 before we go into the main part of the passage.

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It says in verse 1,“‘Are these things true?’ the high priest asked.”

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Well, the things to which the high priest is referring are the accusations that were brought against Stephen. Remember, he was accused of speaking against Moses and God, he was accused of speaking against the temple and the law, and he was accused of saying Jesus would destroy the temple and change the customs of Moses.

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So, the high priest wants to know, “Are these things true?”

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Well, let’s hear what Stephen has to say.

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First, as we dive into this passage, notice that Stephen provides . . .

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‌I. A review of Israel’s past.

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Ok, I’m going to read a lot of this passage. Let’s look at verses 2-50:

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2 “Brothers and fathers,” he replied, “listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he settled in Haran, 3 and said to him: Leave your country and relatives, and come to the land that I will show you.

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4 “Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. From there, after his father died, God had him move to this land in which you are now living. 5 He didn’t give him an inheritance in it—not even a foot of ground—but he promised to give it to him as a possession, and to his descendants after him, even though he was childless. 6 God spoke in this way: His descendants would be strangers in a foreign country, and they would enslave and oppress them for four hundred years. 7 I will judge the nation that they will serve as slaves, God said. After this, they will come out and worship me in this place. 8 And so he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. After this, he fathered Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day. Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.

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9 “The patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt, but God was with him 10 and rescued him out of all his troubles. He gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and over his whole household. 11 Now a famine and great suffering came over all of Egypt and Canaan, and our ancestors could find no food. 12 When Jacob heard there was grain in Egypt, he sent our ancestors there the first time. 13 The second time, Joseph revealed himself to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to Pharaoh. 14 Joseph invited his father Jacob and all his relatives, seventy-five people in all, 15 and Jacob went down to Egypt. He and our ancestors died there, 16 were carried back to Shechem, and were placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

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17 “As the time

1. What is a Christian?  What makes you Christian?

Do you think if we all divided up into sections with the people around you and were asked to define, “What is a Christian?” we would all come up with the same answer?  We might come close, since most of us have been here hearing the same messages together.  Outside of us, here are some common answers:

Someone who goes to church every Sunday, or regularly

Someone who believes in one God who created the heavens and the earth

Someone who was born into a Christian family

Someone who believes Jesus was crucified and rose from the dead three days later

Someone who celebrates Christmas and Easter

Someone who doesn’t drink, smoke, or use profanity

If you were asked out in public if you are a Christian (which is not very likely), answers from those of us in this group might range from:  Yes; what do you mean by that?; yes, but who’s asking?; I am, but I’m not like (fill in the blank with whatever particular group you don’t want to be associated with).

Many of us became a “Christian” – and we believe that happed because we prayed a prayer.  Some mistakenly believe that happened because you were baptized; some because you completed a class of some sort.

Some of us were raised with the understanding that our brand, our denomination, or our tradition – our part of “The Church” – is the true brand, denomination, or tradition.

Some of us may know people who say they were a Christian and who might feel like they were emotionally-manipulated at some time…but not anymore.  To which some of us would respond – “Oh, no, there is no “was a Christian” – once a Christian, always a Christian.”  Some people grew up with a tradition with an understanding that if you committed certain sins, you ceased to be a Christian – so if you crossed any of those lines (like going on a “non-Christian date” as a Christian), you drove home below the speed limit – as safe as you could – because you believed that if you were killed in a car crash, having done what you’d done, you’d “split hell wide open”, and because you were so miserable, you got on your knees and said, “I want to be a Christian again – I’m back,” because you lived in this uncertain state of “Am I or aren’t I a Christian?”

And some people, maybe someone here, grew up believing that you had to pray a prayer to be a Christian…and maybe you prayed that prayer 100 times, wondering how much you needed for it to take, because deep down, you don’t really feel anything or have enough knowledge to know.

For some, being a Christian is all about what you believe.  For others, it’s all about how you behave.

Q: Isn’t it interesting how all of us associate with what we think is the same thing – being a Christian, but we have all these different approaches to it?

On top of that , there is a group of people who would say they hate Christians and anything to do with them.  They’d say Christians are judgmental, homophobic moralists who think they’re the only ones going to Heaven (and maybe even think they secretly relish the fact that everyone else is going to hell).

And, I’m pretty sure we all know people who are, or have been those people who, fit into almost all these different categories.  I have some 2. Good News, and I have some Bad News.

Here’s the Good News:  None of what I’ve just talked about is described as “Christian” is in the Bible. [Really!  Aren’t you glad?!]

But here’s the Bad News:  Everything you’ve thought about “Christians” might be wrong.

In fact, the word “Christian” only appears 3 times in the Bible.  First-century Christians didn’t call themselves Christians.  It was a derogatory term used by outsiders to describe followers of Jesus.  It was not un-like how we label groups of people we are not part of, or don’t associate with, because we perceive a difference in that groups’ likes, beliefs, or behaviors – like in high school, where there were:  “Rednecks”, “Nerds”, “Dead-heads”, “Jocks

‌Some of you may recall some of the happenings during the final days before the crucifixion of Jesus.

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You may recall that Jesus was betrayed, that He was arrested, and that He stood trial before a group of religious leaders.

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Though today’s sermon is not particularly about that time, I want to go back and look at that for just a moment.

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Listen to what we read in Mark 14:55–58:

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The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they could not find any. For many were giving false testimony against him, and the testimonies did not agree. Some stood up and gave false testimony against him, stating, “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with human hands, and in three days I will build another not made by hands.’”

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So, in this passage, we see Jesus falsely accused, and we see Jesus misrepresented by what He said.

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Well, today we’re going to look at a man named Stephen who committed his life to following Jesus. We’re going to learn that Stephen went through a strikingly similar situation as Jesus, not only in today’s passage but in what will come.

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Today’s sermon is entitled “The Stand of Stephen (Part 1).”

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Before we go any further, let’s pray and ask God to speak to us through His Word.

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(prayer)

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Before we get into the meat of the sermon, remember that Stephen has already been mentioned in Acts. He was mentioned just last week as one of the seven chosen to serve the widows who were part of the church.

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Now, he’s mentioned again in this passage.

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Speaking of the passage, let’s dive into it. Look at Acts 6:8-15:

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8 Now Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Opposition arose, however, from some members of the Freedmen’s Synagogue, composed of both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and some from Cilicia and Asia, and they began to argue with Stephen. 10 But they were unable to stand up against his wisdom and the Spirit by whom he was speaking.

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11 Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, “We heard him speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 12 They stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes; so they came, seized him, and took him to the Sanhedrin. 13 They also presented false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking against this holy place and the law. 14 For we heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us.” 15 And all who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at him and saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

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Ok, let’s look at two defining characteristics of this passage.

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First, . . .

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‌I. There was something sinister about the opposition.

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Put yourself in the position of those who opposed the cause of Jesus for just a moment. Not just those in this moment but those all the way back to when Jesus Himself first started ministering.

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They did all that they could to stop Jesus and His ministry, yet they continued to fail, and the ministry of Jesus continued to flourish.

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Then, they went so far as to have Jesus killed, yet Jesus rose from the dead to new life, and His ministry only got stronger.

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Then, after Jesus was gone from the earth, the apostles continued the ministry of Jesus, and God blessed their work. Even after the Jewish leaders questioned the apostles, imprisoned the apostles, threatened the apostles, and beat the apostles, their ministry still continued to thrive.

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Now, it’s not just the apostles who are doing great ministry; even regular people, like this Stephen guy, are doing great ministry in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

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Do you think that these guys might be frustrated about their inability to stop the mission of Jesus?

Folks, we have problems in our church.

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Now, don’t get nervous; I’m not saying that we have any major problems. We’ve had major problems in the past, but by God’s grace, we don’t have any major problems now. However, we do have problems.

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We have disagreements from time to time. We have disunity from time to time. We have mishaps, misunderstandings, and miscommunications. We have grumbling, gossip, and griping. We have prideful people, problem people, and pretender people.

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I’ve often told prospective church members, “If you’re looking for a perfect church, don’t come here, because we have imperfect people.”

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Now, again, I’m not saying we have a bad church. God has been so good to our church, and I’m proud of the church that God has shaped us into. However, we do have problems.

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Well, take heart, church: We are not the only church to have problems. All churches have some problems. In fact, we’re going to see that problems are something that the early church encountered in the Book of Acts.

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Today’s sermon is entitled “More People, More Problems.”

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Before we dive into this sermon, let’s go to God in prayer and ask Him to speak to us.

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(prayer)

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Ok, let’s look at the passage together, from Acts 6:1-7:

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1 In those days, as the disciples were increasing in number, there arose a complaint by the Hellenistic Jews against the Hebraic Jews that their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution. 2 The Twelve summoned the whole company of the disciples and said, “It would not be right for us to give up preaching the word of God to wait on tables. 3 Brothers and sisters, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we can appoint to this duty. 4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” 5 This proposal pleased the whole company. So they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a convert from Antioch. 6 They had them stand before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.

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7 So the word of God spread, the disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly in number, and a large group of priests became obedient to the faith.

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Ok, so let’s see what’s going on in this passage and what we can learn for our own lives.

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First, . . .

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‌I. The early church developed problems.

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We see this reality right away in the passage, don’t we?

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Verse 1 says, “ . . . as the disciples were increasing in number, there arose a complaint . . .”

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Now, of course, we know that there had already been a lot of complaints leveled against the apostles and the church, particularly from the Jewish leaders.

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However, the complaint in this passage was different because it wasn’t coming from outside the church; it was coming from inside the church.

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As the followers of Jesus increased in numbers, a complaint arose. More people, more problems.

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By the way, it’s worth noting that most scholars believe a good amount of time passed between what we witness in Acts 5 and Acts 6.

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We don’t know exactly how much time passed, but some say it could have been as much as five years that passed.

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Here’s the point: some time passed, and it gave more time for the disciples of Jesus to increase in number. As those numbers increased, a problem arose.

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Well, what was the problem?

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Luke (the author of Acts) says the Hellenistic (or Greek) Jews complained about the Hebraic (or Hebrew Jews).

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This description might be a little confusing because they were all Jewish. They were all Israelites. They were all Hebrews.

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However, there were some Jews who were more traditional, probably lived in and near Jerusalem, and were more old-school Jewish in terms of cult

Anyone who has served in a leadership position in an organization knows that sometimes you can meeting something to death.

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Sometimes, people have meeting upon meeting upon meeting, only to end up not really getting something accomplished.

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Other times, they may have tons of meetings that end with a terrible decision being made.

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Well, one thing that the Jewish leaders in Acts did a lot was have meetings. A lot of those meetings centered on trying to stop the apostles and the early church from having any success.

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Today’s passage is no exception. However, as you can probably guess, since we’re here in this room today, they were unable to stop the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

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Today’s sermon is entitled “The Failure of Fighting Against God.”

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Before we go any further, let’s pray and ask the Lord to speak to us.

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(prayer)

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Ok, let’s look at this passage and discover four activities that took place in this time and place.

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First, . . .

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‌I. The leaders were meeting.

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Let’s look at Acts 5:17-18:

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17 Then the high priest rose up. He and all who were with him, who belonged to the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. 18 So they arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.

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The leaders in Jerusalem were tired of all the success the church was having.

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Luke (the author of Acts) describes them as “filled with jealousy.”

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So, they decided to have another meeting of some of the leaders of Israel. This is what they do; they meet.

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It seems as if this meeting was an impromptu meeting. It seems that they were out and about, and saw the apostles ministering, then they were filled with jealousy.

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So, what do they do? They have a quick meeting and decide to arrest the apostles.

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Notice that the passage says they arrested the “apostles.” It doesn’t single out Peter and John in this passage. So, it is likely more than just Peter and John who are arrested.

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So, what resulted from this meeting was that they arrested the apostles and put them in jail.

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There’s another meeting we’ll read about in just a moment with even more important leaders, but let’s see what happens next.

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Next, . . .

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‌II. The apostles were missing.

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Look at verses 19-24:

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19 But an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail during the night, brought them out, and said, 20 “Go and stand in the temple, and tell the people all about this life.” 21 Hearing this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach.

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When the high priest and those who were with him arrived, they convened the Sanhedrin—the full council of the Israelites—and sent orders to the jail to have them brought. 22 But when the servants got there, they did not find them in the jail; so they returned and reported, 23 “We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing in front of the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside.” 24 As the captain of the temple police and the chief priests heard these things, they were baffled about them, wondering what would come of this.

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We can gather that the first meeting was not an official full meeting.

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However, it resulted in the apostles being jailed overnight until the entire Sanhedrin could gather.

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The first meeting was simply the high priest and some Sadducees. This second meeting involves all the important leaders. This is the big meeting.

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However, there is one major problem now: the apostles were missing.

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You can’t have a big questioning of suspects without any suspects.

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Can you imagine being the person who had to tell the leaders that the apostles were gone?

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The guards probably looked at each other and said, “Uh oh.” “You know those guys that

You may recall that last week we learned about a man who showed tremendous generosity by selling some property he owned and donating the proceeds of that property to the church. That man’s name was Barnabas.

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Well, today, were going to learn about a man (and his wife) who sold some property and donated part of the proceeds to the church, and they ended up dropping dead. Well, what happened? What’s the difference between Barnabas and the other two?

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That’s what we’re going to learn in today’s passage in a sermon entitled “Shock and Awe in the Early Church.”

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Before we go any further, let’s pray together and ask God to speak to us.

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(prayer)

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Today’s passage is taken from Acts 5:1-16. Let’s look at the passage together and then learn what God has to say to us.

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1 But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property. 2 However, he kept back part of the proceeds with his wife’s knowledge, and brought a portion of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

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3 “Ananias,” Peter asked, “why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the proceeds of the land? 4 Wasn’t it yours while you possessed it? And after it was sold, wasn’t it at your disposal? Why is it that you planned this thing in your heart? You have not lied to people but to God.” 5 When he heard these words, Ananias dropped dead, and a great fear came on all who heard. 6 The young men got up, wrapped his body, carried him out, and buried him.

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7 About three hours later, his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 “Tell me,” Peter asked her, “did you sell the land for this price?”

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“Yes,” she said, “for that price.”

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9 Then Peter said to her, “Why did you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.”

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10 Instantly she dropped dead at his feet. When the young men came in, they found her dead, carried her out, and buried her beside her husband. 11 Then great fear came on the whole church and on all who heard these things.

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12 Many signs and wonders were being done among the people through the hands of the apostles. They were all together in Solomon’s Colonnade. 13 No one else dared to join them, but the people spoke well of them. 14 Believers were added to the Lord in increasing numbers—multitudes of both men and women. 15 As a result, they would carry the sick out into the streets and lay them on cots and mats so that when Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on some of them. 16 In addition, a multitude came together from the towns surrounding Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed.

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Well, obviously this is a fascinating story from the Bible; a true story, by the way.

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In the weeks, months, and years that the church first began, we see a lot of shocking and awesome events take place, and we are learning about one of those today.

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So, what’s going on? Well, I want to walk through this story by pointing out two foundational truths about the relationship between God and His church.

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First, . . .

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‌I. God expects purity in His church.

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Plain and simple, the Lord doesn’t mess around when it comes to how much He loves His church.

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The church is called the Bride of Christ, the Body of Christ, the Temple of God, and so much more.

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Ephesians 5:25 says, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her.” Jesus gave Himself for the church. Jesus loves the church.

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The church is utterly important to God, and He wants the church to be pure. He doesn’t want the church to be tainted by sin, deceived by false teachers, lied to by liars, or taken advantage of by scoundrels.

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So, we see in this passage that when someone seeks

Perhaps you’ve been in a situation before where something big happened, and you get back with your friends or family, and they ask, “How did it go?” Perhaps it was a job interview, a marriage proposal, or maybe even something that could be dangerous.

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Well, we see a situation in today’s passage where we essentially get the answer to the question, “How did it go?”

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You may remember from last week that Peter and John stood before the important leaders of Israel, and they were being questioned about the healing of a disabled man and their speaking in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

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You may recall that the meeting ended with the leaders telling Peter and John not to speak in the name of Jesus, and Peter and John saying that they cannot help but speak about what they had seen and heard.

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In today’s passage, the rest of the disciples will hear about what happened; then we will see how they respond.

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While we hear about what happens, we will see “The Great Traits of the Early Church.”

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Let’s pray together and then see what the Lord has to say to us.

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(prayer)

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Last night my family and I went to celebrate a milestone birthday with my mom, and we were so grateful that my brother was able to go as well (he’s in town for a few days). We went to a wonderful Italian restaurant in Lakeland and just had a great experience. Some of the traits that made this restaurant great were that it had great food, great service, and wonderful portions. Honestly, it was a wonderful time and wonderful way to celebrate my mother. Those traits I mentioned made a great dining experience.

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Well, today we’re going to notice three great traits of the early church, which made them the God-filled, God-glorifying force that they were.

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First, we see their . . .

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‌I. Great faith.

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Let’s begin by looking at verses 23-30:

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23 After they were released, they went to their own people and reported everything the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 When they heard this, they raised their voices together to God and said, “Master, you are the one who made the heaven, the earth, and the sea, and everything in them. 25 You said through the Holy Spirit, by the mouth of our father David your servant:

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Why do the Gentiles rage

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and the peoples plot futile things?

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26 The kings of the earth take their stand

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and the rulers assemble together

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against the Lord and against his Messiah.

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27 “For, in fact, in this city both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, 28 to do whatever your hand and your will had predestined to take place. 29 And now, Lord, consider their threats, and grant that your servants may speak your word with all boldness, 30 while you stretch out your hand for healing, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

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Ok, so let’s wrap our heads around what’s going on here.

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Peter and John report back to the other disciples, and we see in verse 24 that it says, “Whey they heard this . . .”

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The they in verse 24 is the other disciples. They heard what Peter and John said.

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The this in verse 24 is the news about what happened to Peter and John. The this was essentially the answer to the question, “How did it go?”

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Notice also what they did when they got this information. Look at verse 24 again. It says, “ . . . they raised their voices together to God.”

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The reaction of the disciples to what happened to Peter and John (which included threats to never speak about Jesus again) was to raise their voices to God. Why? Because they had great faith in the One True Living God of the universe.

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We see the great faith of the disciples when they acknowledge all that th

We are back in our series called “The Church Unleashed.” Today, we will be in Acts 4:1-22. Go ahead and find your place there in your Bible. The title of today’s sermon is “Compelled by Christ.”

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Since we’ve been out a few weeks, let me give a quick update on what’s going on in Acts before I read the text:

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The book begins with Jesus gathering His followers and telling them that He is leaving, but He will send the Holy Spirit to be with them, and when the Holy Spirit comes, they will receive power and be witnesses for Jesus.

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Then, the Holy Spirit indeed comes, and miraculous and powerful events take place on the day of Pentecost, wonderfully displayed through the many people who respond to Peter’s preaching.

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Then, we see the first church start to take shape as the people come together for prayer, fellowship, generosity, and teaching.

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Then, we see Peter and John heal a lame beggar while Peter powerfully shares a Holy Spirit-filled message and calls the people to repentance.

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That brings us to where we are today. Remember (as I just said), a lame beggar was healed by the power of God, and Peter brought a strong message afterward to explain the power of God. It is that healing and that message which serve as the background for what we’ll learn about in today’s passage.

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So, join me now in Acts 4:1-22:

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1 While they were speaking to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple police, and the Sadducees confronted them, 2 because they were annoyed that they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. 3 So they seized them and took them into custody until the next day since it was already evening. 4 But many of those who heard the message believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.

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5 The next day, their rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem 6 with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and all the members of the high-priestly family. 7 After they had Peter and John stand before them, they began to question them: “By what power or in what name have you done this?”

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8 Then Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit and said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders: 9 If we are being examined today about a good deed done to a disabled man, by what means he was healed, 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified and whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing here before you healthy. 11 This Jesus is the stone rejected by you builders, which has become the cornerstone.

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12 There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.”

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13 When they observed the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed and recognized that they had been with Jesus. 14 And since they saw the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say in opposition. 15 After they ordered them to leave the Sanhedrin, they conferred among themselves, 16 saying, “What should we do with these men? For an obvious sign has been done through them, clear to everyone living in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. 17 But so that this does not spread any further among the people, let’s threaten them against speaking to anyone in this name again.” 18 So they called for them and ordered them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.

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19 Peter and John answered them, “Whether it’s right in the sight of God for us to listen to you rather than to God, you decide; 20 for we are unable to stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

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21 After threatening them further, they released them. They found no way to punish them because the people were all giving glory to God over what had been done. 22 For this sign of healing had bee