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- Preaching the Living WORD through
the Written WORD - 2 Tim 4;:2 - |
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“EMPOWERED BY THE SPIRIT TO BE HIS WITNESSES” (2013 GBC THEME REVIEW) (The Church’s
Witness) (Acts 1:8)
(2/17/13) Grace Bible Church, Gillette, Wyoming Pastor Daryl Hilbert I. THE CHURCH’S EMPOWERMENT II. THE CHURCH’S INDWELLING III. THE CHURCH’S WITNESS A. The Meaning of Witness 1. The Greek word for witness is ma,rtus which carries the root meaning, “to bear in
mind,” to remember,” especially as “that
which demands much care or deliberation; he who considers or deliberates
much.” 2. It came to apply to
“one who remembers, who has knowledge
of something by recollection, and who can thus tell about it,” i.e., the
witness” (TDNT). We see this usage in such passages as
Dt 17:6; 19:15 (LXX); Mt 18:16. 3. In the NT, it was
especially applied to those who witnessed Christ’s death and
resurrection announcing the reality of the gospel. 4. Those who announced the gospel became
subject to persecution to the point of death. The term “martyr” took on the meaning of those who suffered death
for confessing Christ (Ac 22:20; Re 17:6). “These verses, however, should not be understood as if their witness
consisted in their suffering death, but rather that their witnessing of Jesus
became the cause of their death)” (Zodhiates, Complete Word Dictionary, NT) B. The Consideration of the Witnesses 1. The Apostles were the Immediate Context a) Though we would all apply Ac 1:8 as an appeal to all
believers as “witnesses,” the immediate and biblical context was that the
initial witnesses were the apostles. b) The resurrected Christ specifically
gathered the apostles together (Ac 1:4a), commanded them not to leave
Jerusalem (Ac 1:4b), commanded them to wait for the Holy Spirit (Ac 1:4c),
and revealed that they would be empowered by the Holy Spirit to be His witnesses
(Ac 1:6-8). 2. The Apostles were Appointed by God a) The apostles were not a group of random
followers who were willing to volunteer. Rather, they were
chosen by Christ Himself (Lk 6:12-16; Jn 15:16). b) The apostles were
specifically chosen to be His witnesses (Ac 1:2). “Chosen” is the
Greek word ekle,gō
which means a choice selecting out from among others. A
different Greek word is used in Ac 10:41 to express
a similar idea. Procheirotone,ō
is made up of pro, which
means “before,” chei,r which means
“hand,” and te,nō which means to
“stretch.” Combined we get the idea of stretching out the hand beforehand to
choose or appoint. So God’s purpose for the message
of salvation was to be announced by a specific group of men, hand-picked
beforehand, to be representatives of the gospel. This would also include the
apostle Paul (procheirizō - Ac
22:14-15; 26:16). c) The apostles were God’s authoritative spokesmen to preach, teach, and write God’s truth and
salvation. 3. The Apostles’ Qualifications a) The premier qualification was that they
had to have witnessed the resurrected Christ (Apostles - Jn 20:26-28; Ac 1:3;
*Ac 1:21-22; 2:32; 3:15; 5:31-32; 10:39-41; Paul - Ac 9:3-6 cp. Ac 22:6-11
cp. Ac 26:12-15; Ac 13:31-32; 23:11; 1Co 15:8; Ga 1:12). b) Though numerous other individuals
witnessed the resurrected Christ (1Co 15:6), an apostle had to have been
commissioned by the resurrected Christ (Apostles - Lk 24:46-49; Jn 20:19-21;
Ac 1:8; 10:40-42; Paul - Ac 22:15; Ga 1:1). c) They had to have been empowered with
miraculous power by the resurrected Christ (Apostles - Ac 2:43; 3:6-9; 4:33;
5:12, 15-16; 9:34, 40; cp. He 2:3-4; Paul - Ac 14:3; 19:11; 28:8-10). C. The Example of the Witnessing 1. When Jesus told the apostles that they
would be His witnesses, what was it that He wanted them to do? He wanted them
to “solemnly testify” (diamartu,romai
- affirm solemnly, Ac 10:42) to the world everything they had witnessed,
namely the resurrection of Christ and the offer of forgiveness and eternal
life. 2. Simply put, the apostles were to
evangelize. The word evangelize comes from the Greek word euangeli,zō
and literally means “good” (eu) “news” (aggelos). It was used some 15 times in the book of
Acts to show the apostles fulfilling their commission to evangelize the world
(Ac 5:42; 8:4, 12, 25, 35, 40; 10:36; 11:20; 13:32; 14:7, 15, 21; 15:35;
16:10; 17:18; cp. Jesus - Lk 4:18, 43-44). 3. It is often translated “preaching” (Ac
5:42; 15:35) and sometimes “preaching the good news” (Ac 8:12; 13:32) or
“gospel (Ac 8:25, 40; 14:7, 15, 21; 16:10).” 4. They evangelized from the Scriptures (Ac
8:35), continuously (Ac 5:42), under persecution (Ac 8:1-4), locally and
abroad (Ac 8:1-4, 40). 5. They also “announced, proclaimed, and
publically heralded the gospel” (kêru,ssō - Acts 8:5; 9:20; 42; 15:21;
19:13; 20:25; 28:31). D. The Content of the Witnessing 1. What was the content of their preaching?
What did they preach? What is the gospel? 2. According to 1Co 15:1-4, the gospel (euangelion - “good news”) is what Paul
preached (1Co 15:1a), what the Corinthians received by faith (1Co 15:1b),
what the Corinthians were saved by (1Co 15:2a). More specifically the gospel
message was Christ’s death (1Co 15:3) and resurrection (1Co 15:4) according
to the Scriptures. 3. This was the message the apostles
preached and we can see aspects of that gospel recorded in the book of Acts.
They preached Jesus Christ (Ac 5:42; 8:35; 11:20), His death and resurrection
(Ac 17:18), entrance into the kingdom of God (Ac 8:12), as promised to the
fathers (Ac 13:32), bringing spiritual peace and forgiveness to all who
believe (Ac 10:36). 4. The book of Acts contains the gospel
message and Ac 10:34-43 especially summarizes all the aspects of the gospel
(Ac 10:39-40), the apostles’ witness (Ac 10:41-43), and the Holy Spirit’s
ministry (Ac 10:44). IV. OBSERVATIONS AND APPLICATIONS A. Believers are also
chosen from the foundation of the world (Ep 1:4; Col 3:12; 2Ti 2:10; Tit 1:1;
Jm 2:5; 1Pe 1:1; 2:9; 2Jn 1:1) not only to believe but also to become
witnesses through the testimony of the apostles and the Scriptures (Ac 2:42;
10:43; He 10:16; Jn 20:29) as well as the Holy Spirit (1Jn 5:6; Ro 8:14-18). B. Believer also are to: 1. Preach the gospel under commission of
Christ (Mt 28:19-20; 1Pe 3:15; cp. 1Th 1:8). 2. Preach the gospel of Christ crucified and
resurrected (1Co 2:2; 15:1-4). 3. Preach the gospel of peace through Christ
(Ro 5:1, 10). 4. Preach the gospel and the offer of forgiveness
of sins (Ac 13:38; Ep 1:7; Col 1:14). 5. Preach the gospel under the empowerment
of the Holy Spirit (Ac 1:8). 6. Preach the gospel in spite of persecution
(Php 1:29; 1Th 2:14-16; 2Ti 3:12). |
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