August 25, 2013
Morning Service

·         1Jn 4:1  Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

·         From this word of warning, and many more like it in the Bible, it behooves us to make sure the things we are being taught are what God wants us to know.

·         Jesus made this statement, “I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”  Thou art Peter, and upon this Rock ( the confession by Peter that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God ) I will build it.

·         Satan has tried to destroy the church, but to no avail.  He has tried using the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life, but none have succeeded.  There have been those in the church, and still are, that have fallen away from the fellowship of the church, but the church marches on more determined than ever.

·         So, continuing to try the spirits, or the teachings of the Bible, while I was studying, I saw a cry for unity, and wondered why so many different denominations?  It was very clear that the plan to be saved was easy to understand:

1.       to hear the gospel message,

2.      receive and believe it,

3.      to repent ( change from following the things of the world, to following Jesus’ teachings ),

4.      to be baptized unto the receiving of the Holy Spirit of God, to help us live the way God wants us to live,

5.      then to continue a daily walk with God, studying His Word that we might know His will.

·         Very clear in the Bible, illustration after illustration in the Book of Acts.  Then Jesus Himself said “He that believeth, and is baptized shall be saved.”  Believeth what?  The gospel, or good news concerning who Jesus really is, and that He is building His church for salvation.

·         So if Jesus said He was going to build His church on the truth of Himself being the Christ of God, or the Messiah, then it must be defined in the Bible.

·         While reading the book of Acts, the history book of the New Testament, it is not long into it that we read this: Peter preaching his first sermon uses the keys of the kingdom to open the door to salvation for the Jews, this is said:

Act 2:47  Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

 

·         Added to the church.  The first mention of the word church.  The word church means ( called out ones), and the disciples had already been called out of the world by Jesus, so they were the beginning of the (called out ones ) the church that Jesus said He would build.  So these that were now believing what was being preached by Peter, were added to their group of believers, known as the church.

Act 2:41-47  Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.  (42)  And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.  (43)  And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.  (44)  And all that believed were together, and had all things common;  (45)  And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.  (46)  And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,  (47)  Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

·         Remembering that Jesus told Peter to feed His sheep, all these people that have now been added to the body of believers, the church, are going to need fed the Word from God.  Peter, and the other Apostles have this Word.

 

·         What we have just discussed happened on the festival day of Pentecost.  Thousands of Jews had returned to Jerusalem from all over the world.  They will be taking this new found knowledge back to their homeland to share with others.

·         So as Peter stays in Jerusalem, and feeds the new converts, It’s not long before it becomes very clear that the Apostles can’t take care of all the needs of the people.  So we see in Acts six that the first Deacons are chosen by the people, then the Apostles lay hands on them, and pray for them.

Act 6:2-5  Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.  (3)  Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.  (4)  But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.  (5)  And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch:

·         So now we see a structure of order coming into view.  The Apostles, and Deacons.

·         In chapter seven of Acts we see Stephen become the first martyr of the church.  This causes the church to flee Jerusalem, and preach this good news to other areas.

·         Then in chapter eight we see Philip, one of the first Deacons in the church, preaching a great revival in Samaria.  He is later called the Evangelist.

·         Then in chapter nine we see the great persecutor of the church, Saul of Tarsus, converted, and called to become the great Apostle Paul.

·         The Lord says this to Ananias, who He sent to help Paul to obey the gospel:Act 9:15  But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:

·         A chosen vessel:  So chosen that the Lord allows him to write 2/3 of our New Testament Scriptures.

NOW THE STAGE IS SET FOR THE CHURCH TO LAUNCH OUT, AND SPREAD ALL OVER THE KNOWN WORLD.  PAUL SPREAD THE GOSPEL AS FAR AS THROUGH TURKEY, MACEDONIA, AND GREECE.  ESTABLISHING CHURCH FELLOWSHIPS WHEREVER HE WENT.

·         The church has gone through some very difficult times, but remains strong.  In our continued studies, eventually, in order for people to understand what we teach, I wrote down some of the things we teach.  They are found on our web page, thebrideofchristfellowship.com. 

NOW I WANT YOU TO UNDERSTAND, THIS IS WHAT GOD HAS GIVEN ME TO TEACH.  IF YOU READ, AND STUDY YOUR BIBLE, I BELIEVE THAT YOU WILL SEE THAT THESE THINGS ARE TRUE, AND IN THE WILL OF GOD.  HOWEVER SHOULD YOU DISAGREE, OR HAVE A DIFFERENT OPINION ON SOMETHING, THAT’S OKAY.  ALL I WOULD ASK IS THAT YOU KEEP AN OPEN MIND, AND A CONTINUED DESIRE TO STUDY GOD’S WORD.  WE CERTAINLY SHOULD BE ABLE TO DISAGREE IN THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST. 

WHAT WE TEACH:

The number one topic on our list of what we teach is:

1.The Bible is our rule of faith and sets forth our standard of living.

Beginning next Sunday, the Lord willing, we will begin teaching this list of things we believe. 

 

 

Almighty God, we would continue to seek Your will in all that we do, and we will do it all in the name of Jesus.