Acts Chapter 2 - Marks of Teaching

for each one of us.

And it is a complete guide

for our faith, what we believe,

and what we practice.

You and I must be careful not to divide the Scriptures.

It's a complete whole.

And all written under the superintendence

of the Holy Spirit.

Hadn't Jesus Himself said these words

in John 16 and verse 13,

when the Spirit of truth comes,

He will guide you into some truth?

Partial truth?

No, when He, the Holy Spirit of truth, comes,

He will guide you into all truth.

We don't need any more

than what is written in this book.

This is our foundation.

This is where we stand as believers.

And we are to devote ourselves

to the apostles' teaching.

It's the foundation of the church.

Ephesians 2 and verse 19 says this,

that we are God's people

and members of God's household

built upon the foundation

of the apostles and prophets

with Christ Jesus Himself

as the chief cornerstone.

We move the foundation

and the building collapses.

There is no church

in the meaningful sense.

So thank God

for His word.

The third thing

that I want to bring before you

this morning is this,

that their teaching

was full

of the Lord Jesus Christ.

After Peter explains

what has happened

on the day of Pentecost,

how he speaks about

Joel the prophet,

what does he do?

Well, he speaks

about Christ.

Christ.

And we shouldn't be surprised.

Why?

Well, because the Holy Spirit

of truth,

his task is

to bring glory

to Christ.

And that's exactly

what is happening

as Peter preaches

from verse 22

onwards

right through

to verse 41.

He's saying

who this Jesus is

and what they must do

about this Lord Jesus.

So he speaks

of the Lord Jesus Christ.

He speaks of His miracles.

Those signs

that pointed

to who He was.

He speaks about

the crucifixion of Christ.

He has a lot to say

about the resurrection

of Christ.

He speaks about

the glory

that He has gone to.

He speaks to us

very clearly

of the Savior,

the Lord Jesus Christ.

And the people heard

and they believed

about this

Lord Jesus Christ.

What shall we do?

Repent

and put your trust

in Him.

And you will receive

the forgiveness

of your sins.

Your problems

of sin,

the problem of sin

will be dealt with

and be baptized.

You see,

the apostles

knew what Jesus

had said.

Go into

all the world

and preach

the gospel.

And I'll be with you

and teach them

everything

that I have

commanded you.

So they told

of Jesus

and they glorified

Jesus

and they taught

the sayings

of Jesus.

Their teaching

was full

of a glorified

Christ.

The real Jesus

was proclaimed

in the power

of the Spirit.

and they

continued

steadfast

in the apostles

teaching

which glorified

the Lord

Jesus Christ.

And we know

that's true.

When they were

persecuted,

what did they do?

Well,

they went everywhere.

And what did they do

when they went everywhere?

They preached

Christ.

Wouldn't it be

wonderful

if you went

down the streets

of Carragaleine?

And people

weren't talking

about the weather.

Although there's

a lot to talk

about the weather

at the present time.

But people's

conversation

was about

the Savior.

But is

our conversation

about

the Savior?

Oh,

that we might

know that

movement in

our hearts.

For I know

myself,

and know that

it is true

of you also,

that sometimes

your hearts

are cold

as far as

the Savior

is concerned.

Oh,

that the Lord

will come

afresh to us.

And with a power

that perhaps

we have not

known before,

that we're

full of Christ.

because we

have taken

notice

of what the

scriptures say,

and we will

become devoted

to the

apostles'

teaching,

which was

full of

Christ.

The fourth

thing I want

to say this

morning,

their devotion

to the

apostles'

teaching

was

continuous.

A literal

translation

of verse 42,

the first

part of

verse 42,

says this,

they were

continually

devoting

themselves

to the

apostles'

teaching.

And let's

think,

these apostles,

who were

they?

Well,

they were

unlearned,

ignorant

men.

they hadn't

been to

theological

school.

They hadn't

had the

education of

the scribes

and the

Pharisees.

No,

they were

fishermen.

They were

ordinary

people,

but empowered

by the

Spirit of

God.

And later

we read

that the

whole world

was turned

upside down

as a

result of

the

apostolic

teaching.

As people

heard it,

they sought

to communicate

to others.

They were

continually

devoting

themselves

to the

apostles'

teaching.

They were

steadfast.

They were

single-minded.

They were

hungry for

the Word,

if you like.

Not just

the milk,

but also

the meat.

They sought

to regulate

their lives

according to

the apostles'

teaching.

They were

steeped in

the teaching

of the

scribes and

Pharisees.

People who

had constantly

misinterpreted

the scriptures.

But there

was this

change of

direction.

And they

devoted

themselves

continually

to the

apostles'

teaching.

teaching.

So I'll

ask you the

question as I

asked myself

as I prepared

this message.

How devoted

am I?

How devoted

are you?

do you have

a longing

to know

more?

More

of our

blessed

Trinity,

the Father,

the Son,

and the

Holy Spirit?

Do you

long to

know more

of what

God says

to you

and to

me

in His

words?

Or is

your heart

cold?

Are there

days when you

don't even

bother to

pick up

your Bible?

When you

come on

a Sunday,

you say,

well,

I've heard

it all

before.

Instead of

coming with

anticipation.

Do you

bother to

get out

for the

Bible study

in the

midweek?

Oh, I

know there

are various

reasons why

you can't

be there.

But examine

those reasons,

whether they

are genuine

reasons.

And I'm

not just

saying this

to older

people.

I'm

saying it

to young

people as

well.

Somewhere

along the

line,

somebody

said or

suggested

that the

Bible study

was just

for people

of a

certain age.

Where do

you find

that in

this book?

Oh, I

know you

have your

studies,

and perhaps

it's just as

simple as

meant not

spending quite

so much

in Facebook

so that

you can

be at

the

Bible

study.

You have

to answer

that.

I can't

be your

conscience.

Are we

growing in

our Christian

faith?

As I

prepared this

message, I

thought of the

Apostles'

letter to the

Ephesians in

chapter 1.

1.

And I

presume the

Apostle Paul,

when he's

writing to

the church

at Ephesus,

expected the

people to

understand what

he was saying,

or at least

for the elders

of the church

to instruct

the people in

what he was

saying.

And he

uses words

there.

Another

part of

our

understanding.

In

chapter 1,

he speaks

about being

chosen.

He speaks

about being

predestined.

He speaks

about being

adopted.

He speaks

about redemption.

He speaks

about the

riches of

God's grace.

He speaks

about the

sealing of

the Spirit.

And so

much more.

Do you

long to

know more

of these

truths?

And how

they apply

in your

daily life?

And there's

so many more

scriptures.

Are we

growing in

our Christian

experience?

are we

devoting

ourselves to

the apostles

teaching?

And is

the truth

gripping

us?

Did the

early church

have an easy

time?

No, they

didn't.

How did

they deal

with their

difficulties?

Well, we

might look at

Acts chapter

Acts 4 · chapter mention

4, where

Peter and

John are

thrown into

prison.

But the

word was

in fire

in their

bones.

They were

threatened.

They were

told to

be quiet.

Oh, they

said, but we

cannot help

speaking about

what we have

seen and

heard.

And when

they left

prison, they

pray.

And their

prayer is

recorded for

us in

Acts 4 and

verses 24 to

31.

And what

do they see?

What do they

understand?

Well, they

see the

ruling

authority, the

sovereignty of

God over the

affairs of

men.

They see the

triumph of the

Lord over the

authorities and

powers of this

world.

And they pray

for more power

to get on with

the work of

spreading the

gospel.

And if we go

into Acts 6

and 7, here we

have Stephen.

And he holds

the truth,

apostolic truth,

before the

people.

And people

look at his

face as it

was the face

of an

angel.

Israel.

And when

persecution

broke out

through the

apostle Paul,

those who

had been

scattered went

everywhere,

preaching the

word wherever

they went.

They were

gripped by

the truth.

The truth

was part of

themselves.

The word of

God was hid

in their

hearts.

Oh, that

we might

devote

ourselves to

the apostles'

teaching in a

way that

perhaps we've

not done

before.

I ask you

a question.

Do you

find yourselves

arguing with

apostolic

teaching?

It's evident

that the

apostle Paul

recognized that

there was a

tendency for

people to

argue with

apostolic

teaching.

Paul writes

and encourages

Timothy, and

he encourages

him to preach

the word, to

get on with

apostolic

teaching.

Why?

Well, it was

an imperative.

Paul knew

human nature,

the tendency

to go after

the novel

because people

had itching

ears to hear

what they

wanted to

hear.

Some, you

see, in

the early

church began

to cherry

pick.

I can

believe this,

but I

can't believe

that.

I'm happy

with John,

but I

don't like

Paul.

I'm happy

with the

New Testament,

but not

the Old

Testament.

I like

what John

taught about

love, but

I don't

like what

Paul had

to say

about

predestination.

I'm happy

with teaching

about heaven,

but I

can't accept

judgment

and hell.

We can't

do that.

It's the

whole

word

of God.

And we

must accept

it and

submit to

the apostolic

teaching,

the whole

truth,

and nothing

but the

truth.

The early

church devoted

themselves to

apostolic

teaching,

and so

must we.

Now, I'm

conscious of the

fact that there's

so much more

that needs

to be said.

and you

say, you

haven't said

anything about

fellowship,

about baking

a bread

and a

prayer.

You haven't

said anything

about giving

to the

poor,

etc., and the

various things

that follow.

I know I

haven't.

But you see,

all of these

flow out

of our

faithfulness

to the

word of

God.

You see,

fellowship

comes about

as we

hold on

to this

truth,

as we

devote

ourselves

to this

truth.

It's

unity

in the

truth.

Jesus

says, I

pray for

those who

believe on

me through

their message

that all

of them

may be

one.

So,

fellowship

is based

on the

truth.

Remove

the truth

and we're

just a

club like

any other

club.

And

fellowship

brings

together

nations.

It brings

together

ages.

It brings

together

male and

female.

It brings

together

the married

and the

single.

It brings

together

the educated

and those

who have

comparatively

little

education.

For

barriers

are broken

down

in

Christ.

And

when we

break

bread,

we will

break

bread with

perhaps a

new

understanding

of all

that has

happened

to us

in

Christ.

And

when we

pray,

we will

pray after

the mind

of Christ.

They're

all

interwoven.

And

when we

go out

into the

world

and into

our places

of employment,

into our

schools,

into our

colleges,

we will

want others

to know

of Christ.

Christ.

So may

you and

I be

granted

strength

to devote

ourselves

to the

apostles'

teaching,

this

truth

on

fire.

Pray for

your

pastor.

Pray for

the elders

of the

church

that they

too

will know

this power

of God

resting

upon them.

what a

difference

it will

make

in our

individual

lives,

what a

difference

it will

make

in our

church

life,

and in

the

goodness

of God,

what a

difference

it will

make

in our

community.

Amen.

Let's

pray.

Father,

we thank

you that

you've

given us

your

word.

We pray

that we

will be

mindful of

that

word.

Help us,

O Lord,

to know

your

word,

to be

well-versed

in your

word.

And may

your word,

O Lord,

come to

us so that

we're not

just hearers

of your

word,

but doers

also.

O Father,

we look

to you

and pray

that you

will come

upon all

of us

as individuals

and corporately

with the

empowering

of your

Holy Spirit

so that

others will

be affected.

And this

we pray

in Jesus'

name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.