The Spread of the Gospel

Selected Scriptures

Last week we concluded our study of the book of Acts, but there has not yet been a conclusion to spreading the gospel around the world. The book of Acts is a selective historical account of certain of the apostles carrying out Jesus’ command that, after the Holy Spirit came upon them, they were to be His witnesses "both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth" (1:8). I say Acts is selective account because Luke’s concentration is on Peter in chapters 1-12 and Paul in chapters 13-28. With the exception of John and James, the other apostles are only mentioned by name in chapter 1, and Luke only references James and John while they are still in Jerusalem. The reason for the focus on Peter and Paul is because God used Peter to open the door to taking the gospel to the Gentiles, and Paul went through that door spreading the gospel throughout the Roman world. They are the representatives of what the other Apostles did and the models for us to follow as well.

This morning we are going to quickly retrace the spread of the gospel from the early church in Jerusalem to Judea, Samaria and then on through Paul to the Roman world, but we are also going to trace its spread through the other apostles to other places by looking at clues given in some of the epistles and the history given to us in church traditions.

The Continuing Ministry

Acts 28:15-31

History. A word that puts some people to sleep at its very sound. They claim that history is boring and a waste of time. Or as one man put it, "history is now costing us more than the stuff is worth." One pessimist said that history is "little more than a register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind" (Edward Gibbon). It is said that "a lot of history isn’t fit to repeat itself," and that is true in more ways than one. Sadly, those who depreciate history and fail to learn it are the ones most likely to repeat it. It is not that history actually repeats itself, for it will be new people that carry out the actions, but those who do not learn the lessons history can teach us will repeat the same folly as previous generations.

Cicero said, "Not to know what happened before one was born is always to be a child." A child is innately self centered with their understanding limited to their own experiences. As one matures they learn to gain knowledge and understanding from the experiences of others too, both past and present. That is one of the things history should do for us. We should learn from the examples of others. From the negative side we should learn to avoid the folly and errors of those who have gone before us. From the positive side we should learn from the success and wisdom of those who have gone before us. History It also gives us the foundation we need to live wisely in the present for it tells us why things are as they are today.

For the last 16 months we have been studying the New Testament’s one book of history, the Acts of the Apostles. Today we conclude that study with Paul’s arrival and ministry in Rome. We have learned much as we have studied the transition from the Old Covenant of the Mosaic Law to the New Covenant that came with the birth of the church. and then next week I want to talk about what tradition tells us about what happened to the other apostles. The examples of Peter, Philip, Barnabas, Paul and his companions have not only been an inspiration that we also should be telling others about Jesus, but they have also set the example of what to tell people and how to do it.

Malta to Rome

Acts 28:1-14

Last week we traced the start of Paul’s journey that would eventually take him to Rome. Paul had been imprisoned for two years in Caesarea and after giving up hope of getting a fair trial in Judea he appealed to Caesar, so he was being sent along with other prisoners to Rome. Paul had been assured by the Lord that he would stand before Caesar, but God had not revealed how he would get there or what he would have to go through before he arrived.

We also saw that all that Paul went through does not fit the caricature of Christianity that many people have been sold. As I said last week, many people have had a false gospel marketed to them with a message that if they will just believe on Jesus and have faith then nothing bad will happen in their lives. That is why so many of them depart from Christianity when the troubles and trials of life come upon them.

True Christianity is not based on the avoidance of problems in this life but on the truth of the nature and work of God and our responsibilities and response to Him. God is holy and just. He created the world in perfection, but man disobeyed His commands and brought upon himself God’s wrath. Even so, God loved mankind and provided a way for man to be redeemed from his sin and adopted back into God’s family. Jesus Christ, the Messiah promised by the Prophets, paid for man’s sin by His death on the cross and then rose from the grave promising eternal life to all who believe in Him. Salvation is from sin so that you might be a new creature and live in righteousness. Salvation is not from the troubles that come as we deal with the sin of others, our own sin and living in a sin affected world.

In Matthew 13:18-23 Jesus explained the parable of the sower that he had given to his disciples saying, 18 "Hear then the parable of the sower. 19 "When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, the evil [one] comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road. 20 "And the one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word, and immediately receives it with joy; 21 yet he has no [firm] root in himself, but is [only] temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away. 22 "And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 23 "And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit, and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty."

There are many who hear the gospel, but only a few respond and continue on to bear fruit. The narrow way is difficult and so many turn back to the ease of the broad path oblivious that it is taking them to destruction. This is a tragedy seen all too often in our own time and land because too many people hear only a distortion of the gospel. They then believe that if they become a Christian that God will never let anything bad happen to them. Some churches even teach that if bad things happen to you like health problems and such, then it is because you lack faith. How tragic because it is so far from the truth and leaves people devastated and hopeless when bad things do happen.

How to Give Your Testimony

Acts 26:1-32

In 1 Peter 3:14-16 the apostles writes, "But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, [you are] blessed. And do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled, 15 but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always [being] ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; 16 and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame."

Those words are as important today as they were when Peter wrote them. The question is how to do it? How do you respond with gentleness and reverence to those that are slandering you and treating you unjustly? How do you keep your focus on what is important and do what is right when your emotions may be the complete opposite? Over the last few weeks we have seen the example of Paul and his ability to fulfill what Peter later wrote.

Faithfulness in the Midst of Injustice, Part 2

Paul Before Festus- Acts 25:1-27

Last week we left the story of Paul at Acts 24:27 when the Roman governor Felix was replaced by Porcius Festus. Paul had been faithful to proclaim Jesus Christ even to those who treated him unjustly including Felix, the governor. Paul should have been released from his imprisonment upon his arrival in Caesarea since the letter from the Roman commander, Lysias, was clear that Paul had not broken any Roman laws, and though there were accusations against him pertaining to Jewish law, there was nothing worthy of death or even imprisonment (Acts 23:27-30).Felix did promptly hold a hearing a few days later when the chief priest, elders from the Sanhedrin and Tertullus the lawyer arrived to falsely accuse Paul of treason, religious heresy and temple desecration. Felix did let Paul defend himself and Paul refuted every single charge.

Paul was not guilty of treason because he only been in Jerusalem for 12 days, at least 5 of which he was in custody. He had come to Jerusalem to worship. There were no witnesses of him causing a riot or of even having a seditious conversation. He was not guilty of religious heresy because "the Way" which his accusers claimed was an illegal sect was just as rooted in Judaism and held to the same hope in the resurrection of the dead as did the rest of Judaism, so it was protected under Roman law. And finally, Paul was not guilty of Temple desecration for he had been in the temple to bring alms, present his offerings and go through a purification rite. He was not the cause of any crowd or uproar. He was in no way involved in any sort of temple desecration but was doing quite the opposite in showing the utmost respect toward it by performing the practices which were to take place within it. The problems were caused by certain Jews from Asia who had not come to the trial.

Pastor Scott L. Harris

Grace Bible Church, NY

October 29, 2006

Faithfulness in the Midst of Injustice

Acts 24:1-27

The sermon last week ended with Paul being taken to Caesarea under heavy Roman guard. When the Roman commander, Lysias, found out about the conspiracy of forty men to murder Paul, a Roman citizen whom he was responsible to protect, he acted wisely and moved him to a more secure location. This was especially true since he had already taken Paul before the Sanhedrin and had determined by their response that the accusations were regarding questions about Jewish Law, but there was no accusation deserving death or even imprisonment.

Paul is now in Caesarea held in custody at Herod’s Praetorium. This complex of buildings had been constructed by Herod the Great and now served in several capacities including the governor’s residence. On the basis of Lysias’ letter and Paul’s Roman citizenship, Felix, the governor, could have and should have freed Paul when he arrived. Instead he kept Paul under guard while he waited for the Jews to come and make their accusations. This would begin what would become a series of Roman trials that would give Paul the opportunity to present the gospel to the most powerful people in that region and eventually to Caesar himself.

Promises and Protection

Acts 21:11-35

Over the ten years that we have had the sign out in front of the church I have had people occasionally call or stop by to say something about it. Sometimes they are complimentary and sometimes they complain. I had someone make an appointment with me this week to talk about the sign. He told me his background and that he was a Christian and which evangelical church he was attending. His stated motive for coming to see me was to give his assessment that the sign had too many messages that caused people to think about their sin and not enough things about the love of God. He believed that we would be more effective if we had more of the later and less of the former. That opened up a discussion that lasted over an hour which even included the nature of the gospel. I thanked him for coming and assured him I would review the messages we have put up in consideration of his thoughts. I looked over the last four years of messages and found that they were very balanced. There were positive things about God and His love, grace and mercy to mankind as well as some pointed statements about sin, but the vast majority of messages were proverbial statements and quips regarding how to live a better life before God and with men.

As I considered some of the other statements the man made that revealed what was really bothering him, I recognized that his misunderstandings were fairly common to Christians in America. First, there is a misconception of the gospel message that has become quite common. Second, there is a misconception about how God wants us to deal with our human frailties.

Contention & Conscience

Acts 22:25-23:11

In our study last week we left the apostle Paul in a very precarious predicament. He had gone into the temple in order to fulfill his vows that would demonstrate his respect for the Mosaic Law and Jewish customs, but instead a riot ensued when certain Jews from Asia grabbed Paul and started making false accusations against him. They claimed that Paul preached to all men everywhere against the Jews, the law and the temple and that furthermore he had brought Greeks into the temple. None of is was true, but truth has never been the concern of evil men who will say whatever they think will help them achieve their goals. The people quickly rallied together to deal with a person they had been told was a great blasphemer. They dragged Paul out of the inner temple courts into the outer court and began to beat him.

Paul’s Arrest

Acts 21:27-22:24

A person’s character is not proved by what they say but by what they actually do. I think everyone here would agree that it is easier to make a claim than it is to live it out. There are those who boast about what they would do in a given situation and then when the situation comes they do quite the opposite. Their claim to be bold and courageous is proved false by their actions of cowardice when the situation is actually faced. Likewise, the person who acts bold and courageous when facing the situation proves their character to be just that.

In our study last week we found that Paul was resolute to do the Lord’s will despite the repeated warnings that he would face bondage and affliction when he got to Jerusalem and the begging of his friends not to go because of that. Paul told them in Acts 21:13,

Pastor Scott L. Harris

Grace Bible Church, NY

September 24, 2006

Resolute to Do the Lord’s Will

Acts 21:1-26

How do you respond to someone that tells you that they know God’s will for your life? I wish that was a rare occurrence, but it has always been true that there are people that like to control the lives of others. In religious circles this is often done by someone claiming they know God’s will for you. This is more prevalent in some churches than others, but it can occur nearly anywhere.

Warnings to the Church

Acts 20:29f

Review

We will continue this week in our study of Acts 20 and Paul’s charges and warnings to the Ephesian elders. Last week we examined the first part of his message to them in which he reminded them of his ministry among them, his integrity and his future plans before charging them with their responsibilities and warning them about the dangers to come. In order to set the context for our study today of Paul’s warnings, we are going to quickly review from the beginning of his speech starting in vs. 18.

Integrity & Ministry in God's Church

Acts 20:17-28

In our study last week we followed Paul as he went through Macedonia and Greece encouraging the churches that he had started on his Second Missionary Journey. The third part of the Jesus’ Great Commission to the church, "teaching them to observe all that I commanded you," is a life long endeavor for not only will there always be something new to learn about God and the commands, principles and precepts that He has given to us, but we will need to be reminded of those things we have learned in the past and encouraged to apply the lessons to our lives. You not only have to know it, you also have to apply it, and that is often the difficult part. In order to apply a Biblical truth you often have to break an old habit and establish a new one which at times can be a difficult task. Then there is the emotional element that sometimes comes into play and we need encouragement to get us moving again. That is one of the reasons we need to be in fellowship with one another.

Paul and his ministry team left Philippi and landed in Troas. After ministering there for a week including an all night meeting they sailed quickly down the coast bypassing Ephesus but landing south of it at Miletus. Paul was hurrying to be in Jerusalem by Pentecost and he knew that if he went to Ephesus it would be very difficult to be there for only a brief time. That is where we will pick up the story this morning in Acts 20:17.

Living in the Power of God - Acts 19:11-41

Please turn in your Bibles to Acts 19:11 this morning as we expand on what we went over briefly last week. In this chapter Paul has started on his third missionary journey and has reached the city of Ephesus which is a port city on the Aegean Sea in the province of Asia. He had been their previously for a very short time at the end of his second missionary journey. This time he is there for lengthy period of time. He spent three months speaking out boldly and reasoning in the synagogue about the kingdom of God, but after some of the Jews became hardened and began speaking evil of the Way he turned to the Gentiles and concentrated his ministry with them speaking at the School of Tyrannus for 2 years. This was a private school that Paul rented for part of each day so that he could teach about Jesus Christ to whoever would come. Verse 10 tells us that this ministry was effective so that all who lived in the province of Asia, but Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord from those who had been taught by Paul As we move to verse 11, Luke gives us some additional details about the ministry that Paul had in that city and then contrasts the power of God working through Paul with the failure of religious rituals resulting in fear among the unbelievers and greater holiness among the believers.

Ministry in Ephesus, Part 1

Acts 18:23 - 19:20

In our last study of Acts we left Paul in Antioch after the completion of his second missionary journey. This would have been about 52 A.D. Turn to Acts 18:23 where we pick up his story again as the Third Missionary Journey begins.

Establishing Disciples

Acts 18:1-22

Our study this morning in the book of Acts is very appropriate since our Vacation Bible School theme, Set Sail, was centered on the conversion and missionary journeys of the Apostle Paul, and that is the section of Acts we are currently studying. It is also appropriate in view of Pastor Carrero’s message last week concerning the Great Commission that Jesus gave His disciples, and hence to us as well. Our study today in Acts 18 will cover Paul’s example of being obedient to Jesus’ command to make disciples.

Reaching the Worldly Wise

Acts 17:16-34

Introduction

This morning we come to an extremely interesting section of Scripture because it not only gives us insight into the mind of Paul, but also a wonderful model of the proper approach to reach the unsaved with the gospel. But I should warn you from the beginning that Paul’s example is quite the opposite of what has become popular in American evangelical Christianity.

Tragically, the methodology of many of the people who call themselves "evangelists" do not follow any Biblical pattern, but instead use the models of modern marketing. That is not to say there are not principles derived from marketing that cannot be used in proclaiming the gospel, but it is to say that there is a big difference between selling Jesus and proclaiming him. The actions of some religious salesmen have greatly tarnished the wonderful Biblical title of "evangelist." Paul never marketed Jesus. He never became a hawker of the gospel.

Men Who Upset the World

Acts 17:1-15

This morning we return to our study of the book of Acts. Since it has been about three months since our last study in it we need to have a brief review as a reminder of important things we have already learned and set the context for this morning’s study. We have been careful about this because many have fallen into error, even serious heresy, because they failed to do the proper background study and taken Scripture passages out of context or interpreted them in contradiction to the intention of the author.

Remember that Luke, a traveling companion of Paul, is the author of Acts. He is writing to Theophilus, the same man he wrote when he complied the gospel account. Luke gives him a selective historical overview of the working of Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit through the apostles to fulfill the command given in 1:8, "but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth."

Expanding Ministry

Acts 16:6-40

Last week we examined the conflict that occurred between Paul and Barnabas as they planned their second missionary journey. They both desired to return to the cities in which they had proclaimed the gospel on their first missionary journey in order to strengthen the believers there. However, they could not agree about whether Barnabas’ cousin, John Mark, should go with them on this trip. Barnabas wanted to take him along, but Paul did not because John Mark had deserted them on the first trip. Tragically, these two men who were so foundational to the spread of the early church ended up in a "sharp disagreement." They allowed their passions to control them to the point that they were contentious and provoking to one another and ended up separating from each other. They did not behave as they should have. Barnabas took John Mark and sailed off to Cyprus while Paul choose Silas and headed north through Syria.

In our study of Acts 5 a couple of weeks ago we saw the first internal threat to the early church in the sin of Ananias and Sapphira, who lied even to the Holy Spirit in their effort to gain prestige within the church under false pretenses. God judged their sin very quickly and the church was purified as all who heard of their deaths became fearful. Sin is serious.

A couple of weeks ago I pointed out that much of American Christianity has fallen into the trap of the belief that underlies the message of the health, wealth & prosperity preachers. Those preachers push this idea into a right and demand of being able to name and claim whatever you want from God. Of course, the safety net for their heresy is that if you do not have those things it is because you do not have enough faith. Most American Christians do not go that far, but they have bought into the idea that God will protect them from all harm and meet their needs and desires. The truth is that though we can trust in God’s protection and provision for our needs, He has not promised to meet our wants nor has He promised that we will escape all physical or emotional harm. In fact, Jesus promises just the opposite for those that will follow Him. In passages such as Matthew 5:10-12, Matthew 10:16-23, John 15:20, John 16:32,33, Luke 21:12,13 Jesus made it clear to His disciples that they would face tribulation because of their relationship with Him. Paul put it bluntly in 2 Timothy 3:12, "all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted."