Acts 2:14 But Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: “Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words.
The Book of Acts is invaluable when it comes to learning the importance of preaching, and how the Word of God is to be preached. The Book of Acts' official title is "The Acts of the Apostles". Other writers of times past have deemed it "the Acts of the Holy Spirit" since the Holy Spirit or His "acts" are mentioned some 40 times throughout the book. In this post today I would like to consider the book of Acts from the standpoint of seeing what we can learn about those who preached and the sermons they delivered.
1. The Book of Acts is a Book of Sermons
The Book of Acts could be nicknamed "The Acts of preaching" since roughly 20 sermons or portions of sermons are recorded:
a. 1 by Jesus, God in human flesh, in Acts 1
b. 5 by Peter, an Apostle, in Acts 2,3,4,13.
c. 1 by Stephen, a Deacon in Acts 7
d. 1 by Phillip, a Deacon in Acts 8
e. 1 by James, half brother of Jesus according to the flesh and biblical author in Acts 15
f. 11 by Paul, an Apostle in Acts 9, 13,14,15, 17, 20,21,24,26 & 28.
2. The significance of preaching in the early church
In surveying all of these sermons, here is what you discover about their contents and significance:
a. 10 of the sermons focused on the Resurrection of Jesus Christ
b. Many of the sermons focused on the Actor of salvation, Jesus Christ; the accomplishment of Christ's cross and resurrection and the application of salvation to all who believe by the Holy Spirit
c. All the sermons were saturated with scripture and explained contemporary situations in light of those scriptures
d. The early church as a movement did not progress nor see conversions apart from the sermons preached. The early church's central ministry had to do with the preaching of the Word that equipped it to do its main task: the great commission.
3. There was opposition to preaching in the book of Acts
Every message recorded in the Book of Acts had some type of direct or indirect opposition. Peter had to deal with many of the Jews who opposed the early church and heretics that threatened the church. In the book of Acts, we see people attempting to twist and change the message preached by the Apostles. Such oppositions and persecution drove the church to its knees and made the preaching much bolder, better and clearer. Rather than abandoning preaching, we see preaching only increase throughout the book of Acts.
Conclusions
In this brief survey of preaching in the Book of Acts, we discover that God ordained preaching as His primary vehicle of communicating the scriptures to the church at large. Jesus Christ, the head of the church, uses preaching to strengthen the church in times of opposition and urges His church to retain the practice of heeding the preaching of God's Word. The essential elements of the message of scripture and the scriptures themselves are the marks of true biblical preaching. Without the preaching of God's Word, the church would lose its direction and identity as Christ's main vehicle for carrying forth His great commission. May we all today pray for those who preach the Word. May those of us who preach the Word live the Word we preach. May all of us be faithful to the Lord and do His bidding, His way and for His glory.
Revelation 1:19-20 (19) Therefore write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after these things. (20) As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
Over the past couple of days we have been looking at reasons to want more of Jesus. In looking at Revelation 1:12-20, the cry erupting from my heart has been: I want more of Jesus. I want more of His presence and power in my life. John has shown us thus far two reasons for wanting more of Jesus: His shining light (Revelation 1:12-16) and His strengthening love (Revelation 1:17-18). In today's post we want to consider one more reason to want more of Jesus: His Supreme Lordship.
Wanting more of Jesus means wanting more of His Supreme Lordship. Revelation 1:19-20
How much of your life and mine belongs to Jesus Christ? 1 Corinthians 6:20 states - "Therefore you have been bought with a price, glorify God in your body." It is clear then that Jesus Christ has rights to every area of our lives. When we speak of Christ's Lordship, it refers to His Authority, Dominion and Kingship. Lordship says that what Jesus says in His Word for me to do, I am to do. Second question: "How much of your life are you willing to let Christ have control?" I imagine that for every Christian, the way you answer the question is a little bit different than the first. Why? Because by right and fact Christ is Lord, however in experience we think we can give almost all to Jesus.
Whether we are speaking about individual Christians or entire churches, Christ's Supreme Lordship will test how much I really want Jesus. In Revelation 1:19-20 the Supreme Lordship of Jesus Christ is uncontested. Notice where we see Christ's Supreme Lordship both demonstrated and experienced:
Wanting more of Jesus' Supreme Lordship through His Word - Revelation 1:19
Revelation 1:19 gives what is almost universally recognized by Bible teachers as the outline of the entire book of Revelation. Once again Christ is telling John to "write these things" like He did in Revelation 1:11. If you and I are truly serious about wanting more of Jesus, we should and must desire more of His Word. This verse outlines the book of Revelation as it centers around the Revelation of Jesus Christ's Person, Power and Plans:
1. "Therefore write the things which you have seen" points us to John's initial vision of Jesus Christ in Revelation 1.
2. "and the things which are" corresponds to the seven churches in John's day in Revelation 2-3. I would also include Revelation 4-5 since those two chapters represent in a way what the Lord is doing in Heaven right now.
3. "and the things which will take place after these things." speaks to the future unfolding of events in Revelation 4-22. In this outline I see some overlap in chapters 4-5 since in eternity, past, present and future look the same to God.
Christ's supreme Lordship is revealed through His Word. The great late pastor and theologian Dr. W.A Criswell writes in his commentary on Revelation about Revelation 1:19 - "The Great Executor of this Divine plan is none other than Deity Himself. Christ is not one thing in one age and another thing for another age and another time and another country and another people. Christ is the Lord God, 'the same yesterday and today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8). So in wanting more of Jesus' supreme Lordship, I must want to be exposed to more of His Word, but notice another truth found in Revelation 1:20...
Wanting More of Jesus' Supreme Lordship means recognizing His Lordship over His church. Revelation 1:20
A Christian who is not restricted by health or circumstance or occupation needs to be with God's people whenever they meet. (Hebrews 3:12-13; 10:24-25) I dare to say that how a Christian treats their Bible and treats their church attendance will tell an awful lot of how much they want Jesus. Christ's Supreme Lordship over His church is uncontested. He is the One who stands amidst His church, providing her light to work by and live by and holding her destiny and success in His hands. Being that Christ died for His church (Acts 20:28), authored the church's design (Matthew 16-18) and gave her the great commission (Matthew 28:18-20; 2 Corinthians 5:15-21), it on stands to reason that every Christian be connected to a local expression of His church.
Whenever you and I are with other Christians, they urge us onto love and good deeds until the day of His appearing. (Hebrews 10:24-25) Through the local church we experience Christ's molding and shaping of our lives by His gifted and called leaders. (Ephesians 4:1-13) Christians who willfully choose to skip the time needed to be with God's people are Christians who will never consistently want more of Jesus. (Ephesians 4:14) Does it means that there may not be the potential of hurt in the local church? No. But without the local church, no Christian can ever hope of being rightly and jointly put together with other Christians in love. (Ephesians 4:15-16)
Conclusion
We have for the past few days been exploring the idea of wanting more of Jesus. In wanting more of Jesus, what are we saying? We want more of Jesus because of His shining light in us and over us. Secondly, we want more of Jesus because of His strengthening love. Whenever He says "do not fear", it calms the heart and clears the mind. Then the third reason for wanting more of Jesus is because of His Supreme Lordship. I would rather surrender under the Supreme Lordship of Christ in His Word and over His church than to try to figure it out all on my own. May you and I be a people who want more of Jesus in our lives.
Revelation 1:17-18 "When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying,“Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, 18 and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades."
In yesterday's post we began considering the idea of wanting more of Jesus Christ. The cry of my heart this week has been: I want more of Jesus. The Apostle John enables us to meet that need. We saw yesterday in Revelation 1:12-16 we discovered the first reason to want more of Jesus: His shining light. As the Savior and Lord amidst the golden lampstands of His church, Jesus Christ shines in her midst. Likewise from Revelation 1:16 we discovered Jesus Christ's face shining like the brilliance of the sun in its strength as the light over His church. As 1 John 1:7 notes: "If we walk in the light even as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin."
In today's post we consider a second reason for wanting more of Jesus: His Strengthening Comfort.
The Strengthening Love of Jesus. Revelation 1:17-18
How Jesus has strengthened others with His love
Once John saw the complete view of the Glorified Ascended Savior, the text tells us that: "I fell at His feet like a dead man." The prophet Daniel, writing 600 years or so before John, had a similar response to seeing Jesus Christ before the flesh. In Daniel 10:9-10 we read: "So I was left alone and saw this great vision; yet no strength was left in me, for my natural color turned to a deathly pallor, and I retained no strength. 9 But I heard the sound of his words; and as soon as I heard the sound of his words, I fell into a deep sleep on my face, with my face to the ground." The phrase translated "deathly pallor" in 10:8 could also be rendered from the original language "my inner strength left me, my health suddenly went the other direction and my body began to destroy itself to death."
Like John, Daniel's vision of the Heavenly Christ resulted in the same effects on his physical being. Remarkably and wonderfully, both men received the same response from the Savior. In Daniel's experience the Pre-incarnated Christ dispatched an angelic emissary to say to him in Daniel 10:12 "Do not be afraid". In John's experience the Incarnate Christ skipped the angel and went to John Himself and told John in Revelation 1:17 "Do not be afraid, I am the First and the last."
Jesus Christ strengthened both John and Daniel with His love. Throughout the Gospels we see Jesus uttering these strong and loving words: "Fear Not." For example when the disciples were caught in the middle of a storm, Jesus walked out to them on the water and yelled out to them: "Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid." (Matthew 14:17) When Peter, James and John followed Jesus up to the Mount of Transfiguration, and they saw a glimpse of His Divine glory, fear entered into their hearts. Yet Jesus told them in Matthew 17:7 "Get up and do not be afraid." Then of course when Jesus was giving His disciples their final instructions before ascending into Heaven, He told them in Matthew 28:10 "Do not be afraid."
Wanting more of Jesus will result in you be strengthened by His love
Do you know that the Apostle John was present there for all of those episodes, and now He was hearing those familiar words from His Master: "Do not be afraid." Jesus was strengthening Him with His love. Do you know that Jesus does that for you and me dear Christian? His strengthening love of affirmation: "fear not", is given to us by the Holy Spirit as explained in 2 Timothy 1:7 "for we have not been given a Spirit of fear, but rather of love, power and a sound mind." Whenever you are worrying, we take our prayers to Him and the promise is given of the "peace of God surpassing all understanding" being the guard over our hearts in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)
In all these passages where Jesus is saying "do not fear", He is getting His people ready for a greater level of ministry and Christian living. Whenever you and I are challenged to grow or reach out to others, it can be scary and overwhelming. Nevertheless Jesus' strengthening love will raise us up to stand on our feet and do the Master's bidding.
How we know Jesus is able to strengthen us with love that is greater than our need
The strengthening love of Jesus is more than enough, based upon the fact of Who He is and what He is able to do. In the remainder of Revelation 1:18 we find four descriptive titles of Jesus:
a. "I am the first and the last". He shares in the same Deity as the Father, who in Isaiah 44:6 identifies Himself as "the first and the last", as well as Revelation 1:8.
b. "the the Living One, who was dead, behold I am alive forever more." Jesus is more powerful than death, for he raised from the dead.
c. "I have the keys of death and hades". Jesus' strengthening love is far more powerful than satan, who at one time had the power of death until Christ snatched it from him in His resurrection. (Hebrews 2:14-15) The strengthening love of Jesus Christ ensures the victory of believers and the church in accomplishing the mission given to her by the Lord - not even hell can defeat the church. (Matthew 16:18)
My prayer is that you and I would want more of Jesus. His strengthening love tells us "do not fear". Let us rest in Him today and seek Him with all of our heart.
Revelation 1:12 "Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands."
As you study the book of Revelation, the one desire that should continue to grow in your heart is wanting more of Jesus Christ. John's experience thus far in the Book of Revelation has been a "hearing experience". But as we will soon see, John's experience of Jesus in this Divine revelation will turn into a "seeing experience". Like Job in Job 42:5 - “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You." John is going to see and hear Jesus in a way that he hasn't experienced since the early years of his Christian life some sixty years before. As we will see in today's blog, the full-length vision of Jesus Christ, as well as John's response to it, will lead to the glorified Christ commissioning John to write his blessed apocalypse. Reading these verses makes me want more of Jesus Christ.
As we begin considering Revelation 1:12-20, we ask the following question: "Why should you and I want more of Jesus Christ?" Consider the fact that Jesus Christ is...
1. Shining Light. Revelation 1:12-16
2. Strengthening Love. Revelation 1:17-18
3. Supreme Lord. Revelation 1:19-20
Jesus Christ is the Shining Light. Revelation 1:12-16
John says in Revelation 1:12 "I turned to see". What did He turn to see? The text continues: "the voice which was speaking with me, and I turned around and saw seven golden lampstands." John saw "a voice" and "the lampstands" and then in verse 13 we read: "and in the middle of the lampstands I saw one like "a son of man". Now thankfully the book of Revelation has a built in interpretive system to unfold some of its mysteries. Revelation 1:20 explains - "As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches."
Jesus Christ shine light in the midst of His church. 1:12-15
Notice then what John sees: he sees the voice of Christ speaking to Him, which elsewhere is described as God's written word. (Colossians 3:16; 1 Peter 1:23) The lampstands or the church is the the next thing John sees. God has ordained in this age that the church, proclaiming the scriptures shows forth to the world the Lord Who is in her midst. (Matthew 5:16
The lampstands in these verses hearkens one back to the days of the Old Testament tabernacle and temple. (compare Exodus 25:31-40) In those worship centers no windows were present. Once the priests entered into the interior room called "the holy place", the only source of illumination was the seven branched lampstand or "menorah", which in the Hebrew tongue means "light bearer, lamp". The Golden Lampstand in the Old Testament was designed to illuminate the interior of the tabernacle or temple and to symbolize the Divine presence of God in the innermost room called "The Most Holy Place". Without that Lampstand, the place of ministry in the temple would had been plunged into darkness. Exodus 30:8 instructed the priests to tend to the lampstand every morning and evening to insure that the light was not quenched.
Jesus Christ is the light shining over His church. 1:16
It is with the lampstand imagery that God shows John that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Shining light in his church. As you go down through the verse, Revelation 1:16 states - "In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength."
In the vision John sees Jesus holding the "seven stars" which Revelation 1:20 reveals to be "seven angels" or "messengers", most likely the pastors of the seven churches. No pastor can preach God's word apart from the Great Shepherd. The sharp two-edged sword corresponds to the scriptures by which He reigns over His church. (compare Hebrews 4:12)
The description of Christ's face is extraordinary: "and His face was like the sun shining in its strength." (Revelation 1:16) Scripture uses the sun as a word-picture for the glory of the Lord. In Psalm 84:11 we see God described as a "sun and a shield." In Malachi 4:2 the prophecy is given of Christ coming as the "Sun of Righteousness with healing in His wings". The glimpse of Christ's Divine Glory given to John, Peter and James on the Mount of Transfiguration is described as "His face shone like the sun". (Matthew 17:2)
The sun is a light bearer, a middle sized star that is 93 million miles away from the earth. Big enough to contain over 1,000 earths, our sun energy output in one second could light a major city for hundreds of thousands of years.
Jesus Christ's glory shines light over His church. Without Him, the church would have no guidance, no power, no message, no existence. (Philippians 3:20-21; Acts 26:13) Jesus Christ's light shining over and in His church insures that we will have an open heaven We need Jesus' shining light to shine in our midst and above us.
more tomorrow....
