A. Jesus is the “true vine” (John 15:1a; Psalm 80:8; Isaiah 5:1-7; Jeremiah 2:21)
B. The Father is the vinedresser (John 15:1b-2)
II. The branches are individual Christians
A. The responsibility to bear fruit (John 15:2)
B. The apostles’ current state (John 15:3)
C. The command to abide in Jesus and to allow Him to abide in you (John 15:4a; Ephesians 1:3, 7; 2 Timothy 2:10)
D. Apart from Him, we can do nothing (John 15:4b-5; 2 Corinthians 3:5; Philippians 4:13)
III. A warning and a promise
A. Warning against apostasy (John 15:6; Matthew 13:41, 49-50)
B. The promise of prayer (John 15:7)
IV. Bearing fruit
A. Soul-winning (John 15:8; Matthew 13:22-23; 1 Corinthians 3:5-8; Matthew 28:19-20)
B. Brings glory to the Father (John 15:8)
C. “So you will be My disciples” (John 15:8)
A. Apollos, educated and eloquent, “knew only the baptism of John” (Acts 18:24-26a; Mark 1:4; Matthew 3:7-8)
B. Aquila and Priscilla corrected him privately (Acts 18:26b)
C. Apollos was corrected and continued his work for the Lord (Acts 18:27-28)
II. Paul and the Ephesians
A. “Into John’s baptism” (Acts 19:1-4; Matthew 3:1-2; Acts 2:38; Matthew 28:19)
B. Their reaction to Paul’s teaching: humble obedience (Acts 19:5)
C. The gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:6-7; Mark 16:20; 1 Corinthians 13:8-10)
III. “Do I need to be rebaptized?”
A. Infant baptism
B. Sprinkling or pouring (Romans 6:3-5)
C. Going along with the crowd/trying to please others
D. Viewed as unnecessary/unessential (1 Peter 3:21)
E. Baptized into a church/fellowship that operates contrary to New Testament authority (2 Timothy 2:10; Galatians 3:27)
A. The content of our conversations (2 Timothy 2:22; Colossians 3:5, 8; Ephesians 4:29)
B. We must not lie (Proverbs 12:22; 6:16-19; Revelation 21:7-8)
II. Speech that pursues peace
A. Avoid strife and discord (Proverbs 6:16-19; 2 Timothy 2:23; Romans 13:13-14)
B. Stop gossip (2 Corinthians 12:20; James 1:26; 1 Timothy 3:11; 5:11-13)
III. Filled with proclamation
A. “I love to tell the story” (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 17:23)
B. Why? (1 Peter 2:9-10; Romans 10:14-17)
A. Common ground – a desire to worship (Acts 17:22-23)
B. Paul knows the “unknown God” (Acts 17:24-25; Genesis 1:1; Hebrews 1:2)
II. God wants us to seek Him (Acts 17:26-28)
A. Sidenote: racism is sinful (Acts 17:26; 10:34-35)
B. Men should seek the Lord (Acts 17:27; Hebrews 11:6; Luke 2:44-48)
C. He CAN be found! (Acts 17:27-28; John 8:31-32)
III. Repentance required (Acts 17:29-30)
A. Idolatry must be rejected (Acts 17:29; Romans 1:23)
B. Repentance is commanded for “all men everywhere” (Acts 17:30; Hebrews 11:25; 1 Thessalonians 1:9)
IV. Judgment is coming (Acts 17:31)
A. “There’s a great day coming” (Acts 17:31; Ecclesiastes 12:13-14; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Matthew 25:31-46; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9)
B. The Judge is the Man who was raised from the dead (Acts 17:31; Romans 6:5; 1 Corinthians 15:12-20)
A. Patriarchal Age – “to the fathers” (Genesis 1:27-28; 6:13-22; 15:1; 17:1-2)
B. Mosaic Age – “by the prophets” (Deuteronomy 34:10; 2 Peter 1:19-21)
II. “God…has in these last days spoken to us by His Son”
A. “These last days” (Acts 2:17, 21, 14-16, 1-4)
B. The danger of rejecting the Son (John 12:48-50)
III. Why should we listen to Jesus?
A. He is heir (Hebrews 1:2; Matthew 11:27; 28:18)
B. He is creator (Hebrews 1:2; John 1:1-3)
C. He is the brightness or radiance of God’s glory (Hebrews 1:3)
D. He is the express image of God’s person (Hebrews 1:3; John 14:8-9)
E. He is the sustainer (Hebrews 1:3)
F. He is High Priest (Hebrews 1:3; 9:11-14)
G. He is King (Hebrews 1:3)
A. The way to heaven (John 14:2-3, 5)
B. We are powerless to achieve this on our own (Romans 3:9-12, 23; Ephesians 2:8-9)
C. He is the way – the only way to heaven (2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 3:18)
II. “I am the truth”
A. He is the truth Himself, united with the Father (John 1:14-17; Hebrews 1:1-3; John 14:7-10; 1:1)
B. The truth provides freedom (John 8:31-32; 1 John 2:3-6)
III. “I am the life”
A. Abundant life here (John 10:10b)
B. Eternal life in heaven (John 3:14-16; 5:24; 1 John 5:12-13)
A. At the riverside (Acts 16:11-13)
B. Lydia (Acts 16:14-15)
1. A successful businesswoman
2. Religious
3. Obedient
II. Trouble
A. The possessed slave girl (Acts 16:16-18)
B. The loss of profits (Acts 16:19-24)
C. Paul and Silas in prison (Acts 16:25-26; Philippians 4:4)
III. The jailer
A. His concern for his life (Acts 16:27-28)
B. His concern for his soul (Acts 16:29-30)
C. Paul’s instruction (Acts 16:31-32)
D. The jailer’s obedience (Acts 16:33-34)
A. The desire to visit the churches to ensure they were sticking to the faith (Galatians 1:6-7; 1 Corinthians 1:10-11; Philippians 4:2; Acts 2:42)
B. It is good to visit with brethren
II. The division (Acts 15:37-39a)
A. Barnabas wanted to take Mark (Acts 12:12; 1 Peter 5:13; Colossians 4:10)
B. Paul disagreed because of Mark’s past performance (Acts 13:13)
C. The sharp contention (Hebrews 10:24; 1 Corinthians 13:5)
III. The destinations (Acts 15:39b-41)
A. Paul and Silas went through Syria and Cilicia (Acts 15:23)
B. Barnabas and Mark started in Cyprus
C. Mark later reconciled with Paul
1. He was a “comfort” (Colossians 4:10-11)
2. A “fellow laborer” (Philemon 24)
3. “He is useful to me for ministry” (1 Timothy 4:9, 11)
I. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego (Daniel 3:1-18)
A. Nebuchadnezzar’s golden image (Daniel 3:1-15)
B. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego’s refusal to bow down (3:16-18)
C. We must not compromise, but stand up for the truth (Jude 3)
II. Ezra (Ezra 7:10)
A. Seek (Matthew 6:33; 7:7-8; Colossians 3:1-2)
B. Do (Matthew 7:21; Romans 6:16-17; Hebrews 5:9)
C. Teach (James 1:25; Matthew 28:19-20; 2 Timothy 2:2)
III. Jesus
A. At age 12 (Luke 2:46-47)
B. Nicodemus (John 3:1-3)
C. Identifying and addressing needs (Colossians 4:5-6)
A. Background (Galatians 2:11-13)
B. Face-to-face discussions (Acts 15:1-5; Galatians 2:1-2, 14-16)
II. The defense (Acts 15:6-18)
A. Peter (Acts 15:6-11; 10:34-35)
B. Paul and Barnabas (Acts 15:12)
C. James (Acts 15:13-18; Amos 9:11-12)
III. The declaration (Acts 15:19-35)
A. Prohibitions against idol worship (Acts 15:19-21)
B. Inspired by the Spirit (Acts 15:22-29)
C. The purpose of the Law (Galatians 3:19, 23-29)
D. The reaction to the letter (Acts 15:30-35)
But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. (Acts 8:12)
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