This study was first taught on September 18, 2016

Topic: Before the Acts (1)

(use the audio to study)

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Background
In the first part of this series, we surmised that the Book of the Acts of the Apostles is essentially a documentation of the Acts of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the Early believers in Christ; and that the accounts given in the Book were documented by Luke, the physician, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit Himself, which made us conclude that the Holy Spirit is the Author of the Book of the Acts of the Apostles and we, the believers today, and for all ages, the “Theophiluses” (lovers of God) it was written to—for we noted that when God writes to one person and it is made public, He writes to all!

Sone other observations we made about the Book of the Acts of the Apostles include:
• The Book of the Acts of the Apostles documents the first thirty (30) years of church history, immediately following the life, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ;
• The Book of the Acts of the Apostles tells us about the message, mission, and ministry of the church of the living God;
• The Book of the Acts of the Apostles also reveals the power, passion, prayer, progression, and persecution of the church; and,
• Not to adhere to the foundation laid down for the operation of the church of the living God, is to operate unscriptural ‘churches’.

Scripture Text(s)
Acts 1:1; Luke 1:3-4
Having established the Authorship and audience of the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, we note from our first scripture text that the Book is essentially, a continuation of the Gospel of Luke, with implications thereof. And this we shall be looking at today, and the next one or two weeks.
In addressing this subject, “Before the Acts”, we will be emphasizing the progressive nature of the believer’s growth from the new birth to maturity. May the Holy Spirit grant us the grace to fully grasp the import of this subject, Amen.
Luke 1:4; Mark 16:15-18; John 14:12ff; 7:37-39; 20:30-31; Mark 3:13-15; John 5:39; Acts 26:27-29; 2 Timothy 1:12-14; Luke 24:6-8, 25-27, 44-49; Acts 19:1-7, 13-20; 14:21; 11:19-26; Matthew 28:19-20.

Conclusion
We live in a society where the natural order of things is wont to be overridden; where children want to be, and are in fact, treated as adults even by their own parents, even before they attain puberty; where age is taken as a sign of maturity, rather than the proven exercise of wisdom, discretion, and discipline. Sadly, this trend has permeated, and is gaining traction in the church of the living God. In many churches today, spiritual babies are put in charge of sensitive matters, like the nurturing of souls—the classical case of the blind leading the blind (Matthew 15:14); of babies nurturing babies (1 Timothy 3:6)!

The proper order, is that, those who are born again are taught the word of God; that is, they are discipled, before being sent forth to serve. But what we find today, are people who barely know what it means to be born again, being placed over churches as pastors, or themselves going out to establish churches! We find people whose ‘umbilical cord’ to the world (the flesh) is yet to be severed and buried, being made ministers in many churches; we find people who can barely read Scripture, calling themselves ‘prophets’ and making pronouncements, and being followed by men who are uninitiated in the things of God. The sad result of this trend, is that churches are full of babies, carnal men and women, and even ‘worldlings’ (the unsaved), even in high places; continuing as though all is well. These things ought not to be so.

Hence, we must make discipleship the core of our own lives, and ministry to others. We must, however, first be assured/convinced/fully persuaded of the gospel before we can get into the Acts—effective evangelism, and other ministry services; we must also be continually growing in faith and grace, before, and as we can go forth to preach and cast out devils, lest we be ashamed and become offended because we of the suffering that shall arise from the preaching and practice of the gospel. We need teachers, who themselves have been taught the word of God, and who are living as they should in accordance with the word of God—really, disciples who can disciple others (2 Timothy 2:2)!

Brethren, before we talk of doing the work of God—which is what the Acts is about—, we must first be assured/convinced/fully persuaded of what we believe of Christ—the mark of a true disciple of Christ. Before the ‘Acts of the Apostles’, there must first be the becoming a disciple; for, discipleship must precede the Acts!

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