Christ’s Blueprint for the Church: Preaches the Gospel
Christ’s Blueprint for the Church -
“Preaches the Gospel”
INTRODUCTION
We began our study of Acts and the Blueprint for the church of Christ last month, noting Paul’s words from Ephesians 3:8-11: “To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, 10 so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
The church was in the eternal plans of God. During the Old Testament times, it was a mystery, hidden for ages. But, God chose Paul, among others, to share His grace with mankind. Notice that Paul was given grace: 1.) to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; and 2.) to bring to light for everyone what is the plan.
Those two purposes of God giving grace to Paul highlight for us the importance of preaching in God’s plan of salvation. He was called to “preach” and to “bring to light.”
The church picks up where Jesus left off in His teaching. Let’s turn to the book of Acts.
The text begins: “In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:1-3).
So, Jesus is a Teacher. Jesus lived His life teaching. He taught publicly and He taught privately. He taught men and He taught women. He taught the poor and He taught the wealthy. Jesus taught the religious and He taught the irreligious. Why? Because obviously, man cannot be saved in ignorance.
Prior to Jesus ascending into heaven, He told His disciples that they should wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father, when they would receive the Holy Spirit. At that point, He says, “You will be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
PREACHING NEEDS TO BE FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT:
When the church of Christ begins in Acts 2, the Holy Spirit guided Peter and the rest of the apostles to preach, to teach the Gospel. Notice verse 14: “But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words.”
The first thing Peter does is he quotes from the Old Testament - from Joel 2:28-32. In verse 25, Peter quotes David in Psalm 16. In verse 30, he quotes 2 Samuel 7. In verse 34, he quotes Psalm 110. There are some 36 explicit citations of the Old Testament in the book of Acts. That’s more than one per chapter. Clearly the Old Testament was an important source of authority and teaching for the apostles and they believed that their audience needed to know the Old Testament.
Almost of all of chapter 7 - Stephen’s sermon to the Jewish Sanhedrin - is a summary of Old Testament history. That’s how important the Old Testament is to Christian preaching.
So, the church of Christ, as it follows the pattern for the church in the book of Acts, will study and teach the OT. There are 39 books in the Old Testament. We need to know those books. We need to study those books. We cannot understand the New Testament as thoroughly as we need to or as we should if we do not study and understand the Old Testament.
In 2 Timothy 2:15, Paul writes to Timothy and says, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” In 3:16-17, he says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” So, when Paul tells Timothy to “preach the word,” (2 Tim. 4:2), he means for Timothy to teach the Old Testament.
PREACHING NEEDS TO BE ABOUT THE LIFE OF JESUS:
Looking back at Acts 2 and Peter’s sermon, we see that Peter taught about the life of Jesus - “a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst” (2:22). Peter understood that it was through His miracles that Jesus proved Himself to be the Son of God, that through our knowledge of those miracles, we have reason to believe what Jesus taught about Himself (John 20:30-31).
When Peter preached to the first Gentile audience, he also told them about the good works and miracles which Jesus did - “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him” (10:38).
So integral is “Jesus” to the preaching of the church that when Simon, the deacon from the church in Jerusalem, went down to Samaria, Luke writes that he was “proclaiming Christ to them.”
I love jokes. I love anecdotes. I love history. I love warm-fuzzy stories. But you can’t build your life on those. In 1 Corinthians 3:11, Paul told the Christians in Corinth, “For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”
You can’t build your life on jokes or anecdotes or history or warm-fuzzy stories. The only foundation that is sure and stable is Jesus Christ. That’s why we’ve got to study and preach and teach the life of Jesus.
PREACHING NEEDS TO BE ABOUT THE CRUCIFIXION:
Peter moves from the life of Jesus to the crucifixion in Acts 2:23 - “this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.”
But, before we can understand the significance of the crucifixion, we’ve got to understand the significance of sin. That will take us back to Genesis 3. It will take us through the Law of Moses as we observe that one who is hanged on a cross is cursed by God, Deuteronomy 21:23. In the Law of Moses, we see the importance of animal sacrifices, that blood, in some way, takes away sin (Leviticus 17:11; Hebrews 9:22).
In order to preach about the crucifixion, we’ve got to preach about sin. Now, this
is the part of preaching and teaching that so many people do not like. We do not like to be corrected. We do not like to be rebuked. We want to think that whatever we are doing is fine. But sin is what separates us from God (Isaiah 59:1-2). So, the preaching of the church of Christ must preach on sin.
Notice that Peter did not pull any punches with his audience: “you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men.” Notice how Peter dealt with this sin in Acts 3:13-15: “The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. 14 But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses.”
To preach on the crucifixion is to preach on sin. To preach against selfish attitudes. To preach against the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. If a man is not preaching against sin, he is not preaching what needs to be preached.
“I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2).
Of course, preaching and teaching what we need to do to take off the old man also includes putting on the new man. The Bible - because it is God’s manual for human life - is the best psychology and self-help book on the market. If we want to be good to other people, if we want to be good parents, good spouses - there is no substitute for studying the will of God recorded in the Bible.
PREACHING NEEDS TO BE ABOUT THE RESURRECTION:
The bad news is the crucifixion. Most of us do not like to see other people suffer. We feel for those who are experiencing tragedy in their lives. The bad news was in verse 23. The good news is in verse 24 - “God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.”
The resurrection. What does it mean that the resurrection is a central part of our preaching? What does the resurrection mean? It means an end to this physical life. It means an end to pain. It means an end to the hustle and bustle of this life that, too often, seems pointless. It means an end to fear. It means an end to death. If Jesus rose from the dead - “it was not possible for him to be held by it” - then it proves that He holds the keys of life and of death. It means we can rise from the dead as well. It means death to sin. Death to temptation. Death to the very process of dying.
So the resurrection means hope. It means optimism. It means faith. It means love. The “resurrection” is mentioned more than two-dozen times in the book of Acts. It is clearly an important theme of Christian preaching.
FINALLY, PREACHING NEEDS TO TELL US ABOUT SALVATION:
When Peter had grounded his preaching in the Old Testament, and told about the life of Jesus, His crucifixion, and His resurrection, he draws his lesson to a conclusion in verse 36: “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
The Jews then understood that they needed to respond. Faith demands a response. If you don’t obey, then you don’t really believe. So, they asked Peter what to do to be saved. And Peter told them.
“Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).
When Philip preached Jesus to the Samaritans, they heard and were baptized (Acts 8:12). Simon the magician also believed and was baptized (Acts 8:13).
The Ethiopian treasurer was told by Philip to confess his faith and be immersed into water (Acts 8:37-38).
Saul of Tarsus was told to be baptized to wash away his sins (Acts 22:16).
Cornelius and his family and friends having heard the word and believed it were commanded to also be baptized in water for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 10:47-48).
Lydia and her household were baptized (Acts 16:15) as well as the Philippian jailer (16:33). Finally, the Corinthians, when they heard were believing and being baptized (Acts 18:8).
So, preaching has to do with more than just preaching the crucifixion and resurrection. It also involves answering the question “What must I do to be Saved?”
Take home message: Teach and preach the Bible. It alone is God’s power.