Why The Early Church Had Power, Acts 1:1-14 #150
by Walton Marsh
INTRO: The early church was mighty in its infancy. The plague of apathy, the disease of inertness and indifference and unconcern, was not known among this church. They were zealous, all fired up to carry out the Lord's will. The freshness of the resurrection was reflected in every aspect of their lives.
What has happened to us today! Aren't we in love with the Same Lord? Shouldn't we bear the same family likeness as the early church. What made them vigorous-convincing in their witness can make us vigorous and alive also. Today I want to share with you the things that made them different and the things that we have lost in the last 2 millinia
I The were In Fellowship with the Risen Lord
A The resurrected Lord was with them.
1 Physically for 40 days.
2 Then He was in the Holy Spirit since then.
The same impowering Spirit of Christ that they had is ours today. He is here for anyone who will seek him. He is the Spirit of Christ here to give us the same vigorous testimony - the same dynamic faith as the diciples . This power of the Holy Ghost comes when you have fellowship with Christ. When you keep company with HIM.
A Our problem
He is only a Sunday visitor
We keep company with the world
We are not even looking for him
3 How can we have fellowship with the Lord.
A We Must KNOW HIM as Savior.
Sad truth is that a lot of PROFESSED Christians do not KNOW the Lord. Not saved. Listen, if you are not SAVED you cannot possibly have a LIVING relationship with the Lord. You can only pretend to know him.
B You must have Fellowship in the Ministry of Christ.
What is this ministry? 2 things.
1 Preaching the Gospel (matt 28 )
2 Teaching the saved
C The Fellowship of his suffering (Phil 3:8-10) Listen folks, as long as we are more interested in this world of glamour and glitter, and in our own comfort and wealth you will not have close fellowship with the LORD. You cannot have the fellowship of His sufferings while sitting in the AC watching the Plasma TV.
The power of the early church was in their fellowship with the Risen Lord.
II They were obedient to the Risen Lord.
A Christ commanded them to wait (vs4) and they waited. They waited for power from on high.
B Obedience is a bad word today. Unpopular word.
If we are to succeed in our work for the Lord we need to obey him. When the disciples returned to Jerusalem they didn't discuss all the new theories of attracting a crowed or managing a religious organization. They didn't brainstorm to come up with some big SHOW so people would come and listen to them. They OBEYED THE LORD AND WAITED FOR THE SPIRIT.
Today the same rules apply. We need to do GOD's work in his way. Not in the World's way. We need to be in the Spirit and let the supernatural power of God germinate the seeds of the Gospel which we plant.
III They were united in the Spirit of the Risen Lord VS 14
We call each other Brother and Sister because we have bond in love rooted in the Risen Lord's love for us.
A The early church was in one ACCORD. All through the book of Acts it is stated that the church was in ONE ACCORD. (2:1, 2:46, 4:24, 5:12,)They were all working for the same thing. The evidence of this ACCORD was their prayer life. They were a praying church, all praying for the same thing.
B If we are to have the power and vigor of the early church we need to be in one accord. This starts with Praying together. Not for OUR WILL to be DONE but for GOD's will to be done. Praying for the salvation of our neighbors. Praying for the courage to preach the Gospel. Praying for the Power of the Spirit to fall on us.
C The Church that is unified is FIRST in ONE ACCORD in prayer and supplication.
1 The result of this prayer and supplication was the coming of the power of the Holy Spirit upon them (2:1) Again as a result of ONE ACCORD. This means that each individual surrendered their personal agenda to the Lord. They were ONLY concerned for the Lord's work and His will and not their own.
We call each other Brother and Sister, but then we stab each other in the back. Gossip and spread tales and sow seeds of discouragement. What we need to be in One Accord is REPENTANCE. Repentance to God and a rededication to surrendering our personal agendas to HIS HOLY AGENDA.
IV They believed the WORD OF GOD
When Simon Peter stood to preach he did not expound his own ideas, he opened God's word and taught the scripture.
A A church that is alive will be one that preaches GOD'S word, not man's word.
We now have a movement in our country away from God's word. Churches are not teaching and preaching God's word. Instead they are focusing their energies on things that are pleasant, and attractive and non confrontational. They are teaching and preaching only the EASY, SOFT, and Happy part of the word of God. The most important thing is to ATTRACT men. Listen to me good when you trim God's word to suit the itching ears of the backslidden, you are not preaching the Word. You are serving up a false doctrine. When you trim God's word to suit the deaf ears of the lost, who want to hear that they are OK. You are preaching false doctrine. The GOSPEL must be proclaimed, not some easy to swallow "I'm OK, you're OK Christian Kool aid.
Conclusion
The early church had power because they had a living, daily relationship with the risen Lord. They were obedient to Him because they KNEW HE WAS THE TRUE AND LIVING GOD. They KNEW THAT without him they would perish. Because of this they were FOCUSED.
If we are to win our world, our county our town our neighborhood to the Lord we need to rededicate ourselves to a DAILY FELLOWSHIP WITH THE RISEN LORD. Not some Sunday visit. Not some half hearted commitment.
Invitation. Look at your life. Look at your heart. Who do you serve? Are you fellowshipping with the Lord or the World.
