Acts chapter 1 and verse 8 the Bible says this but you shall receive power after that The Holy Ghost has come upon you and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth The theme, I guess, of the book of Acts or the subtitle there underneath it is the ascending Lord. We know that Christ is now ascending up into heaven and they're going to, they're receiving the Holy Ghost come upon them. He says there in that verse, you should receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you and ye shall be witnesses. The key word is witness. witnesses between the two used 21 times in the book of Acts the first used chapter 1 a most significant use of course chapter 1 8 as well just a great another form of the Great Commission he says look the Holy Ghost is coming upon you Jesus had been promising them that and he said the Holy Ghost is going to come upon you and when he does you will be you shall be witnesses unto me Not just here. Beasts is both in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and the uttermost part of the earth. Around the world, we've been called, we've been given the Holy Ghost and we've been called to be witnesses. The theme is the power of God for witnessing. Isn't it a blessing that God just didn't say, hey, you're not gonna get the Holy Ghost, but you're gonna have to go out and be a witness all by yourself. No, he says, I'm going to give you the Holy Ghost. You notice he doesn't say just, I'm gonna give you the Holy Ghost. He says, you're going to receive the Holy Ghost. And then after you receive the Holy Ghost, you're gonna receive power. you're going to receive power. You're going to be filled with the Holy Ghost, that Spirit filling then that allows us. When we give ourselves over wholly to the Holy Ghost and we allow Him to have all of us as we've been given all of Him, then God gives us power to be witnesses. If you want the power and if I want the power of God to be a witness, I need to allow, I must allow the Holy Ghost to fill me. I need to be filled with the Spirit. When we go out witnessing in the flesh, if we're not right with God, if we're not in tune with God, if we don't have a close personal relationship with God, we'll struggle in our witnessing. We want, I want when I go out witnessing, when I go out to share the gospel, wherever I'm at, if I'm sharing the gospel with somebody, I want the Holy ghost to be the one that's testifying in the heart of that person. And in my heart, that's that, that he's the one that's doing the work as I'm sharing the word, but I have to make sure that I'm walking with the Holy spirit of God. He says, you shall receive power. After that, the Holy ghost has come upon you and you shall be witnesses. If we have the Holy Ghost living inside of us, and if we are Spirit-filled, we will be witnesses. We will be witnesses. Anybody that would say, well, I know that I'm saved, so I've received the Holy Ghost, and I know that I'm right with God, which would mean, in turn, that I'm filled with the Holy Ghost. If they're not witnessing, then something's not right. Because if you're saved, and if you're walking with God, you will be witnessing. He says you receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you and you shall be witnesses. It's a command but also he says that's a natural, by their fruits you shall know them. It's a natural outworking of somebody that is saved and walking with God is that they will be reproducing, they will be producing fruit in their own life but also in the lives of other people. The date of the writing is AD 63. It covers a period of 32 years. The writer is Luke. We saw about Luke and his background in the book of Luke when we studied that book, so we won't take the time to look over that in this particular study, but it was written to Theophilus. His name means lover of God or friend of God. It was written from the city of Rome. So it was written to an individual and just a recounting of these acts. The book is the 44th book of the Bible, 5th book of the New Testament, 28 chapters, 1,007 verses. The purpose of the book is to set forth God's plan for witnessing to the lost. as we've mentioned several times of late here, God has a plan. God doesn't just say, go witness to the lost without giving us a plan. He says, it would be kind of like me telling you, hey, go build a house. Well, where's the plans? Where's the blueprints? He says, here's all the plans. He lays out His plan. He gives the power, He gives us all the tools that we need, and then He gives us the plan. set forth God's plan for witnessing to the lost. In the key verse, chapter 1, 8, that we already read, the disciples were told to witness in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, and the uttermost part of the earth. It's not just in this particular area, and it's not just on the mission field. Both of those thoughts, by the way, are wrong, and there's Christians today that have both of those ideas. Hey, first of all, it might be somebody that says, I don't go witnessing here, or I don't share the gospel with people here, but I give money to missions so that there's witnessing done on the foreign field. That's skipping Jerusalem. That's skipping your Jerusalem. People that say well I share the gospel here and so then I don't give money to missions and I don't support missionaries and I don't support evangelists or other people that travel around and and Spread it in Samaria and in Judea. I just I just witnessed right here He says Jerusalem, it's not Jerusalem or Judea or Samaria or the outermost parts of the earth He says, I want it all. I want you to witness in Jerusalem and in Judea and in Samaria and in the uttermost parts of the earth. We ought to be involved in every area. Every single one of us ought to be involved in all of those areas across the board. The divisions of the book, first of all the witness in Jerusalem recorded in chapters 1-7. It starts out, you know that the ministry there kind of starts and has its home base there in Jerusalem. And chapters 1-7 you see the ministry there at home and then you see it begin to expand into Judea and Samaria recorded in chapters 8-12. And then the witness in the uttermost part of the world recorded in 13 to 28. You can see the growth of the influence of the gospel of Christ as you go through the book of Acts. You see it growing and the borders expanding. In a church today, if it's not growing, if a church isn't growing, it's dying. We need to be growing, not just in numbers, although in numbers, but also each of us individually. You should be closer to the Lord and have a better relationship with God today than you did a year ago. If you're not growing, you're dying. You should know more about your Bible today than you did a year ago. You should know more about God's plan for your life and God's design for your life. We've been going over that on Wednesday nights. How God created you and for the purposes, all of those different things. We ought to be growing. Every day if we're not growing we're dying It's it's important. That's one, you know, I'm excited about the idea of getting a bus But I'm excited about a lot more than the idea of getting a bus understand a couple of things If the Lord provides us with a bus Then that means we need a bus driver That means somebody that's willing to make the commitment to say, I'll be faithful to drive that bus. It means we need bus workers, people that are willing to say, not just I'll ride that bus on Sundays, but willing to say, I'll go visit that bus route. I'll go visit in those homes. I'll spend time investing in those families, in those lives, and endeavoring to grow that bus route. We have already Sunday school teachers in place downstairs that'll be teaching all the different classes for those different ages. And that's one of the reasons that we started a children's church for our main Sunday morning service to teach our young people, but understand that there's a lot more. And then you've got the additional, of course, financial expense of putting gas in a bus and insurance for a bus and all these different things. There's a lot that goes into it. but that's part of growth. Those things all come along with growth. And there's a lot of people that say, well, we want to have a bus, and I want to have a bus. But that's going to take a commitment from all of us as a whole to be able to say, hey, Not only do I want a bus, but I'm willing to be a worker on a bus, or I'm willing to be a driver on a bus, or I'm willing to help in a class, or I'm willing to go visiting on Saturdays, or I'm willing to help financially with the additional expenses of a bus. All of those things. Understanding that it all goes together. It's part of the process of growth. Outline here. It says a Rome number one Peter and the church at Jerusalem chapters 1 through 12 the Jews Letter a the church empowered in the upper room chapter 1 and 2 Then let her be there the church Established in Jerusalem. They received the power there in chapter 1 and 2 you can see the whole the Holy Ghost come upon them And then they're established in Jerusalem chapters 3-7, the organization of it, the early persecution in chapters 3-5, and the first martyr, chapters 6-7. The church is extended to Judea and Samaria in chapters 8-9. The church is enlightened concerning Gentiles in chapters 10-12. We've seen that a lot in the book of Romans as we've studied through the book of Romans, the idea of the church understanding what God's plan was not just for the Jewish people but for the Gentiles and for the expansion of the ministry and the work of God. Then Roman numeral 2, Paul and the church at Antioch, chapters 13-28, Gentile believers. So 1-12 is primarily to the Jews and then you see at the end of that the church is enlightened and taught a little bit about God's plan for the Gentiles and then you see God institute that plan through the life of Paul and others in chapters 13-28. Letter A, the church is enjoined to send missionaries. Then, letter B, the church is enlarged to the uttermost parts. First missionary trip in chapter 13 and 14, the first church council in chapter 15, the second missionary trip in 15 to 21, and then Paul's arrest and imprisonment from 21 to 28. And to see some of those things, to read through a lot of that, there's a lot of wonderful things in the book of Acts. Some miscellaneous things about it, first of all, key men in Acts, God's man, that being Simon, God's martyr, Stephen. Of course, we know that Paul was there and witnessed that. And then God's missionary, Saul. Of course, later changed his name to Paul. Acts gives particular attention to the following things. Number one, the person, the Lord Jesus Christ, the person of salvation, the power that comes through the Holy Spirit. The preachers, Peter, Paul, Stephen, Philip, he pays attention to showing us how he used each of them individually and where he used them in different places at different times. The places, Jerusalem, Antioch, Rome, the places that God used this ministry and that God used these individuals to reach. And the program. Notice the program. God's program hasn't changed at all. How do we reach Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost part? Through witnessing and through missions. Through witnessing and through missions over and over again. Us being confrontational soul winning, here and abroad, of us letting people know that if they're not saved, they're on their way to hell, but letting them know that they don't have to stay that way. this is the direction that you're headed. You know, as we were driving this week up to North Carolina, I followed the GPS on my phone, had it plugged in there, following the GPS, and if I had to get off, if we had to make several times we stopped to check the load, make sure everything was strapped down right, or stopped to get a bite to eat or something, and every time you would veer off of that path, The GPS would adjust the route, update the route, and say, you need to get back on the path. This is still the plan. This is still the plan. You need to get back to the plan. You need to get back to the plan. It's not, hey, we need to lower our standards and change our Bible and change this and change that and make it more appealing to the flesh. That never was, never has been, and never will be God's plan. How do we reach more people, Pastor King? Through witnessing and missions. Through soul winning, through knocking on doors, through going out in our lifestyle, but also in our actions and in our words, through sharing the gospel with people, through reaching the people with the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's how God expands His ministry and expands our opportunity to influence. The book of Acts, a couple things about it. Number one, covers a 32 year span of time from the beginning and from the beginning events to the end when Paul's in prison there in Rome. Records the Acts You know, people say the acts of the apostles, but it really records the acts of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost and what He does in all of these different situations. You see in individuals' lives how everything from Philip in the Ethiopian eunuch to Paul's conversion to witnessing to the rulers at Rome to thousands of people being saved in the first couple of chapters at Pentecost and all those different things, you see the working of the Holy Ghost. You see all throughout the book, God using individuals, groups of people, churches, the body of Christ as a whole, the Holy Ghost working in all of those areas. Number three, it contains numerous sermons on the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. It is also a record of actual history Not just a storybook. It is an instruction manual for Christians. Gives an exposition of Christian doctrines. Contains a number of thumbnail biographies. Tells you, in other words, a little bit about a number of different individuals that are involved in the ministry in different areas. Has a strong missionary emphasis. records several notable conversion stories, stirs revival, and builds up those who read it. You know, it's hard, really, to read the book of Acts and not be encouraged and challenged spiritually. If you really read and study the book of Acts, it will, it'll be a blessing to you, but it'll be a challenge to you as well. to get busy in the work of God. And the whole book is just a tremendous, tremendous blessing. Some chapter content there gives you, as we did with the last book, kind of one word titles for each of the chapters, and I'm not going to go through all of them right now. You've got that there in your notes, but it just kind of will help you as an overview if you're studying through the book. And I do understand that we put these recordings up, and it's hard for the people that may be listening to a recording that don't have all of these lists of chapters, but just for the sake of time, I'm not going to go through all those this morning. Several missionaries in Acts. By the way, if you ever tell anybody, if you know of anybody or somebody that's listening to the recordings, We're always happy to make available any notes or anything that we pass out. I can send those to people through email. You're welcome to make copies. I can get copies to people. Anybody that would like to take advantage of those things, we're happy to make those available. Several missionaries in Acts. Barnabas was a missionary exhorter. Saul was a missionary teacher. John Mark was a missionary helper. Silas, a missionary evangelist. Timothy, a missionary pastor. Luke, a missionary doctor. Apollos, a missionary orator. Aquila, a missionary tent maker, and Priscilla, a missionary assistant. Differences in early churches and present church. This is a good list to just kind of remind us. If you look at these things, it's a very real picture of where the church has come from and where it's at today as far as godly churches or churches that claim to be fundamental New Testament Baptist churches. Back then, the church was receptive to the Word of God. In other words, if that's what the Bible says, or if that's what God said, then that's what I want to do. Tell me what it says. Tell me what I ought to do. Today, people are rebellious to the Word of God. I don't care if that's what the Bible says, this is what I feel, or God hasn't convicted me about that. They're not receptive to what the Bible says. God said it. That settles it. Back then, they were obedient to the Spirit, moving in their hearts. Even in things like, hey, arise and eat this, what was thought to be unclean in those meats. And Peter, I can't eat that. And he says, what I've called unclean, don't you call unclean. And the lesson, I mean, it was a fundamental change in everything that they had been taught up to this point in so many areas. And what did they do? If the Holy Spirit said it, if God said it, That's what we want to do. They were obedient to the spirit today, disobedient. People don't listen to the prompting of the Holy spirit. They resist the spirit. So often people are receptive to the devil and they'll resist the spirit rather than being resistant to the devil and, and, and responsive to the spirit. They, there was added to the church. Then what do you see today? And so many, so many churches that used to be great bastions of the faith. They're being subtracted from certain good churches that stand for right are shrinking and dying all over our country. Not all of them, but many of them are. They continued in prayer. What do you see today? A ceasing of prayer. People just don't pray like they used to. Continuing instant in prayer. What a statement. What a condemnation today is so many Christians That we don't continue instant in prayer. We ought to be always always in the mindset of prayer Steadfast in service as opposed to unstable in service steadfast. They couldn't be moved This is what God told me to do and they were faithful in service and then you've got people that yes God told me to do this But they'll use anything and any excuse to distract them or detract from their service to the Lord As opposed to somebody that said, I will not be, this is what God has given me to do and I will not be distracted from it. You can't get me off of that spot. It's almost a king on the mountain mentality of, hey, there's nothing gonna come between me and doing what God told me to do. Steadfast in service, fearful of God. Back then, they feared God. What do we have today? in many Christian or claiming to be Christian circles, no fear of God. No fear of God. I can't help but think of somebody like Donald Trump running for president, making a statement like, I've never asked for forgiveness for anything. That that is a great condemnation of our nation today. He's not the only he's he's bold enough to say that but he's not the only one in that condition He's not the only one in that condition by a long shot. I need to ask for forgiveness every day Sold their possessions Back then they sold their possessions and I know I'm not a socialist Okay, I don't think we need to have all things common and all that but I will tell you the people in that day sacrifice for the ministry People today very seldom. Do you find people today that are willing to really sacrifice for the ministry? When it comes to possessions and finances and things like that, it's hard to find that anymore they they were all with one accord and They were all of the same mind. They were all on the same page. And you see Paul drive that over and over again throughout the epistles, the importance of unity. And what do we see today? Discord. Churches all over the place that are falling apart, being torn apart over the most foolish and insignificant little things. Some being over a major thing, you know, people changing the Bible and other things like that. Those are important things. We need to stand for what's right. But a lot of times there's just discord and gossip and things that just tear churches apart. They went from house to house. The people would go and fellowship from house to house. Now they jump from church to church. Oh, I go to the... I've never been. This is prevalent in this area. Those of you who have been here a while, you know this. Talked to people almost every week. Well, we're not members of any church. We just go to this church for a while We go to that church for a while We just kind of go around and we need to get involved and you know what that tells me for sure They're not involved in ministry anywhere We need to get in and get committed get busy and stay They were glad Now today you have a lot of sad Christians, a lot of unhappy Christians. Why? Because of all these other things. It all goes together. Then the last one here, they praised God, and today we have a lot of people that praise man. There's a lot of man worship. You look at some of these mega churches and things like that. You don't hear the people that are commenting and commending those churches and those ministries. It's all about the man. the whoever is leading it. It's not about God. Now, that's not true. There's some great churches that have thousands of people that are doing a great job of steering people to God. But in many cases, it's become man worship, not God worship. It's so important that we follow after God. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I thank you for this morning. I thank you for this, Lord, great book of the Bible, the book of Acts, and so much that we as Christians not... Lord, there's a ton in there for somebody that just got saved in the book of Acts, but there's also so much in there for somebody that's been saved for years and years and years.