Lesson 3

Alright, if you take your Bibles and turn the book of Acts, please. The book of Acts. In Acts chapter 5, see how far we get this morning. If you're just tuning in, then I apologize for the delay. We had some technical issues. So we left off, we spent a whole lesson last week learning about speaking in tongues. And I thought we spent a lot of time on that, but I was told afterward that it was appreciated by a couple of people. So I'm glad we spent the time and got some of that understood and out of the way. And so we're going to look at some of the miracles and the sensation of those miracles. Remember, I told you that Jesus said there would be signs and wonders of the miracles that would be performed by those who believed. And then right after that, it said, and the apostles went out and they preached the gospel and those miracles were performed. So that was done for that particular time period. People who claim that there are apostolic miracles being performed today, are lying. They're just wrong. It's not mistaken. It's just lies. It's not being honest. So now, if you have someone, you know, that a preacher lays hands on and they look like me and I come out living and a preacher lays their hands on me than I do like this, I'm healed. You can see that all day long at Pentecostal Church. But now you take someone like Chris over here, who we know has physical impairments, and you can see physical impairments. If you take someone like him and you let someone lay their hand, they wouldn't touch him at the Pentecostal Church. They wouldn't touch him at a healing service. And if they lay their hands on him and he wasn't healed, then they would say he didn't have enough faith. It's Chris's fault. You never see that in Scripture. But they won't touch someone like him. But I'm going to put him up in front of the camera. Then I'm going to put him up on stage. So those things have ceased for the time being. Now in time, some of those things will come back. The Bible says so. But for now, they've ceased because they performed that limited purpose of confirmation that they were intended to do. Acts chapter 5 verse 12, look here if you will, please. And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people. They were all with one accord in Solomon's porch. And of the rest, there's no man join himself in them, but the people magnified them. And believers were more added to the church, to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women. And so much that they brought forth the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow them. There came also a multitude of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks and them which were vexed with unclean spirits, and they healed everyone. And they were healed every one. All right. Now, so everyone's getting healed. Demons are getting cast out. Infirmities, sicknesses, they're all being healed. And it's being done by the apostles. The predominant apostle in the end was the apostle Paul, which we'll get to here in just a little bit. But I want you to see what happens now in 2 Timothy chapter 4. 2 Timothy chapter 4. In fact, if you don't have time to turn that spine, you can write it down in your notes. But in 2 Timothy chapter 4, I want you to listen to what Paul told Timothy. 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 20. [Praying in the Spirit] Look here now if you would in verse 20 with me. "Arrest us abode at Corinth, but trophimus have I left Edmal-Eton sick." Now, here's an apostle who left the man named Trophimus sick in a town called Maledon. Now, how come he didn't just lay his hands on him and heal him? Because the confirmation, the confirming signs had already taken place. And it shows us this documents that those miracles were in the process of cessation. Or he would have just healed him. And if they always had the gift of healing, then no one would have died. I mean, they would just... "You may not wake up with a bad headache." You know? "It's the only self." You know? I mean, no one would have ever died. But you see, he let this man sick. The apostle Paul was powerless to perform a miracle and heal this man. He was either powerless or he was cruel in that he left him sick. Wanted to... Either way, you see, we have a problem. Philippians chapter 2 verse 25 and 26. But don't turn there for time's sake because we will run out of time. But in Philippians 2 and 25 and 26, Paul said, "Yet I suppose it necessary to send to you a paradise, my brother, and companion and laborer and fellow soldier, but your messenger, and he that ministers with my wants. For he longed after you all and was full of heaviness because that he had heard that he had been sick." In fact, he went on to say, "Indeed, he was sick, nine to death, but God had mercy on him." And so again, you see, people were getting sick and people were dying. A lot of them were dying because they were being persecuted for their faith. One of the... When we call someone... When someone's killed for being a Christian or for what they believe, we call that being a martyr. That's martyrdom when someone's killed for their faith. And one of the first martyrs in the after Jesus resurrection... I mean, John the Baptist was a martyr in the New Testament. Jesus was a martyr in the New Testament. But one of the first martyrs after Jesus resurrection was a man named Stephen. And one of the main persecutors of that man was a man named Saul. He was one who was really persecuting believers, putting them in jail, causing them to die. And Acts chapter 8, if you'll go ahead and turn there, please. Acts chapter 8. If we say an Acts, it'll be easy for you to turn. We won't lose time. Verse 1. So in Acts chapter 8, this is right after Stephen was martyred in chapter 7. In Acts chapter 8, it says, "And Saul was consenting unto his death." I mean, Saul was good with Stephen dying. He was glad he died. He's all about killing these Christians. And then it says, "And at that time, there was a great persecution against the church, which was at Jerusalem. And they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. The apostles stayed on. The apostles didn't run. Everyone else, they're running for their lives. They're scattered everywhere. But the apostles ran, but they hid. They didn't leave the area. So all these Christians, they're fleeing. They're trying to find political, religious asylum. They're trying to find a sanctuary to go because they're being persecuted. And this shows us that just because you become a Christian, doesn't mean God shields you from everything. The charismatic people, they get up there and they say, "Oh, man, you're a child, the king, you're this, you're that. No weapon formed against you shall prosper." And they quote these things, they mis- teach them. And then they tell you that everything's going to be coming up roses. And all you have to do is just speak the word of faith and you'll be delivered from whatever ails you. And it's not true. Here, the Christians in the early church, they were being killed. They're being driven from their homes, their jobs. They leave everything behind. But see, all of this was part of God's plan. It says they were scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria. And now look here in verse two, "And devout men carried Stephen to his burial and made great lamentation over him. As for Saul, the one who was glad he died, he made havoc of the church, entering into every house and hailing men and women, committing them to prison." So Saul still going out persecuting people. Then in Acts chapter eight verse four, "Watch what happens." I told you this was all part of God's plan. "Therefore, they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word." How about that? So the devil's trying to discourage these people. The devil's trying to stomp out Christianity. And so here they are in Jerusalem, and they flee here, they flee here, they flee here, and they're going everywhere. And everywhere the believers are going, the gospel's going. They go telling people what happened back here in Jerusalem. They tell people about the Savior who came, fulfilled the prophecies, who died for their sins and rose again, and everywhere they go, all the devil's doing by trying to put the fire out, he's spanning the flames and making a spread. And that's the wisdom of our God. So the churches begin being established. We first had the original church there at Jerusalem. Now there's only one church, but that church exists in many locations. So in the Bible, you will see the word church. You will also see the word churches in their book, True. And I explained it this way, because I retired from the Department of Public Safety, the Texas Department of Public Safety. We had one director that oversaw the one department that we were all members of. But that one department existed in many locations. So my office, I had an office in Jacksonville, and I started off at an office in Arlington later on. I had my office was in Garland later on, when our retired office was in Athens. In each place, it was the Department of Public Safety, DPS Dallas, DPS Athens, DPS Tymer, all the same place. And in each place, you had local people who were in control under the ultimate control of the director of headquarters. That's the way it is for the church. You have one director, that's God. You have one church, that's the Church of Jesus Christ. But the church exists in many locations, like the Department of Public Safety does. You can get your driver's license in Kauffman, you can get your driver's license in Athens, or in Dallas, or wherever you happen to live. And so it's the same department, different locations, it's the same church, different locations. So the church is the church, and then you have the church at Antioch, you have the church at this location, the church at that location. Those are churches, local bodies that belong to the church. Make sense? All right. So let's look here now, because as they start spreading out, and people start believing, what happens? When people start believing in the news, you've got to gather in the people here that now believe the gospel. What do you have now? You now have what you want, you now have a new church. Remember what Jesus said? We're two or three together together, there am in the midst of it. You have some come over here, and they tell people, they start believing in the gospel. Now what do you have? Now you have a new church. And they all belong to that one church. All the same thing. So let's look here now, Acts 11, these are how the churches started spreading across the world. And here we are at a church in May Bank. And you know where we started? Right there in Jerusalem. Isn't that amazing? Right there in Jerusalem is where we started. And it just started spreading out, and out, and out, and out, just like Jesus said it was, going to all the world and preach the gospel. So hey, wherever they got scattered, they preached the gospel. Don't ever know what happened. Look here now, Acts 11, verse 19. Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen traveled as far as Venus, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only. So they're preaching the word to the Jews. The Jews were scattered everywhere because of their rebellion against God. Whenever we learned about how Syria came and got them in Babylon, and how they got dispersed, they started getting spread out. So what they would do naturally, when they went to another town, they would be to the synagogues. That was a gathering of their people and say, hey, they tell their fellow Jews, let me tell you what happened. The Savior's come. Yeah, His name's Jesus Christ. This is what happened. This is what He did. And He died and He rose again. Now look how the Scriptures showed that He was going to do that. This is the good news. And in the synagogue, some believe and the others would not. Some were the lion of Cain and some were the lion of Seth. Okay, just like we learned back in Genesis. Someone who crucified or killed the believers, and someone to join the believers, just like when Jesus was here. Okay, and so it caused a great disturbance. But they're preaching to the Jews because that's their fellow people. They figured, hey, they need to know. Verse 20, and some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which when they were come to Antioch, spake into the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus. Now they come to Antioch. Now they're preaching Jesus to the Gentiles. And the pen of the Lord was with them and a great number believed and turned into the Lord. Isn't that great? They turned into the Lord meaning they believed the gospel and by believing they're turning from the lies they once believed, the false gods they once served. And now they're believing in the gospel and serving all the true God. Verse 22, the titings of these things came into the ears of the church, which was at Jerusalem. They heard about it. And they sent forth Barnabas that he should go as far as Antioch. So there's a man named Barnabas here who is very mighty in God's word. And they said, wow, these Jews are going out preaching the gospel where they go and they hear about this large group of people who believe in Christ in this town called Antioch. Well, so let's say this is Antioch right here. You've got a large group of people here. You have no leadership. You have no organizations. You just have a large body of believers that heard the word. They need to be established in the faith. Can you imagine becoming a believer in hearing the good news and not having anyone teach you any further than that and establishing and providing organization? So they sent Barnabas. Here goes Barnabas. He's going to come in here and help organize this church and get them established in God's word. Okay. So he goes all the way to Antioch. Verse 23, who when he came had seen the grace of God and had seen the grace of God was glad and exhorted or encouraged them all that with purpose of heart that we cleave unto the Lord. For he was a good man and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith and much people was added unto the Lord. Man, he stays there. He preaches. People keep coming to faith in Christ. The church starts growing. Verse 25, then departed Barnabas to Tarsus for to seek Saul. Why? Guess what happened to old Saul, the one who was persecuting people and putting them in jail. Saul became a Christian himself. He met Jesus on the way to go persecute some people and Jesus revealed himself to him. Said, now you go to this man here. He's going to tell you what you need to know. The man shared the gospel with Paul. Paul became a believer. And next thing you know, Paul used to be putting people in jail and now preaching the gospel himself. He is now an apostle. Jesus made Paul an apostle. Paul, the one who used to persecute the church and put Christians in jail, wrote the majority of the books of the New Testament. It's amazing. That's our God. So Barnabas is like, man, look at all these Gentiles here. You know, there's one thing Barnabas knew. He knew that Paul had a heart for Gentile people, non-Jewish people. But he knew Paul wasn't about just trying to tell the Jews. He wanted to tell everybody the good news. Well, here's a bunch of grations over here in Antioch. And he's like, I'm going to go get Paul. I need some help here. I want to tell you, when I first started pastoring this church, and this is a small church. When I first started pastoring this church, I remember thinking, I need some help here because I can't do everything. And I started praying to God. I said, God, please give me another man who can partner with me, who is faithful in the Word of God and can help me teach these people. I prayed sincerely for that. And the next thing you know, God's sending me Brother Shepherd. He's been here ever since. I never expected Brother Shepherd. I mean, especially as far as he drives to come minister to us. And here he does every Sunday faithfully. Well, the same thing here, because there's a whole lot more people in Antioch than there is in Maybank at this church. All right. I mean, they have a big, they have a mega church in Antioch. And so he says, I'm going to go get Saul, verse 26. And when he had found him, he brought him under Antioch. He said, come on, Brother. I need you to help. Let's go to Antioch. And he came to pass in a whole year. They assembled themselves in the church and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. Isn't that something? The story we're reading about now, if you're a Christian, you say, I'm a Christian. The reason you call yourself a Christian, or someone else calls yourself a Christian, is because these gracians here in Antioch, they first started getting entitled by Christian. Which means a little follower of Christ, a little Christian, a miniature of Jesus. And then there's a bunch of Christians over there. And so they stay there a whole year, assemble those people, and they teach those people a whole year, getting them established in the Word. They're going to do that until they can finally turn that church over to someone who God, who they notice God has gifted in teaching the Scriptures themselves. Who excels in it. And then they're going to be able to turn that over to them. Then they're going to go somewhere else and help them and turn the church over to someone there, then move to somewhere else, and just keep repeating the process. They're evangelists. What we call today missionaries. I still call them evangelists. I don't call them missionaries. So they teach much people now. Yeah, they're called Christians first in Antioch. All right. Let's go to Acts chapter 13, please. Acts chapter 13. We've made a pretty good time this morning for starting so late. Just turn to the first one, please. Acts chapter 13. Now in the church at Antioch, there were prophets and teachers. Let me turn up the page here. The Barnabas Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manian, who had been brought up with area of the tetrarch, and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul, for the word to which I have called them." So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. This must be a different translation. It is a different translation. Excuse me. Sent them away. Whatever. You should have noticed that didn't sound like King James. So let me go to... I'll pick it up from that table there. Who's it is? So it's saying the same thing, but still I want to make sure we're following along together. So they sent them away. So what happens here, the Holy Spirit tells them, tells the church, you take Paul or Saul, same thing. If you see the apostle Paul is the apostle Saul, it's all the same thing. Like calling me rich or Richard. It's all the same thing. So they take Saul in Barnabas, in Barnabas, and separate them for a special work that God wants them to do. And here's what that work is. They're going to leave Antioch. Everything starts here at Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit comes, fills the church there. They get persecuted. Christians started scattering as they scattered the news candidates. The news scattered churches started popping up. Now you have this large church here and they've got teachers and prophets and all now. They've got people after years time that they're established. And so now God says, "Semorrh called the inferior of Paul's missionary journeys." That's what this is. He takes a journey. The reason they're called missionaries today is because of the great commission that Jesus gave to go on all the world, preach the gospel. The reason I don't call them missionaries is because the Bible doesn't call them missionaries. It calls them evangelists, people who share the good news. And another reason I don't call them missionaries is because today the idea of a missionary has changed from fulfilling the great commission to going out drilling water wells, teaching schools, feeding the hungry. Has nothing to do with the great commission. Okay? Anyone can feed the hungry. The church is the only people that can give people the bread of life. We're the only people who have the truth is Jesus' church. And so it's up to us to share it. So I still call them evangelists, which is what God's Word calls them. So they're going out from city to city to city. And as they travel, all these different places, as they travel... Hang on. More technical trouble here. Isn't this great? It's okay. And as they travel in all these different places, more churches pop up. Well, guess what happens with those churches? Those churches say, "You know what? We were taught to do what God told those apostles to do." So as they're going out in all the world preaching the gospel, we're going to send some people out in all the world preaching the gospel. And next thing you know, they started going from place to place, crossing continents. And finally went to Europe. And then from Europe, they came over to North America. And when it got into North America, it reached me and you. And now here we are, products of Barnabas and Saul going out. And all the world preaching the gospel. Products of people who, when they were persecuted, they didn't say, "Well, I quit this Christianity stuff. I'm not going to stay a Christian if this is going to cause me to be persecuted. If I got to put up with this." No. They stayed faithful to the truth. And aren't you glad they did? Because now we know the truth. And don't you know they're glad they did because their persecutors are now in hell and they are now the Lord Jesus in God for them. So with that, that's the gospel given to the world. And we're willing next week, we'll take up where we left off. We'll probably get into the ordinance of the church or something like that. Any questions?