A. A principal characteristic (Acts 6:5, 8)
B. Faith is the foundation (2 Peter 1:5-8; Mark 16:16; Acts 8:36-37)
II. Full of power
A. “Great wonders and signs” (Acts 6:8; 1 Corinthians 13:8-10; Mark 16:20)
B. Wouldn’t it be easier to evangelize today with miracles? (John 20:30; Acts 6:9, 11-13; 7:54, 59-60; Luke 16:19-31)
III. Full of Scripture
A. He knew it! (Acts 7)
B. We can know it too! (Ephesians 5:17-21; Colossians 3:16)
IV. Full of light
A. They could not deny who Stephen stood with (Acts 6:15)
B. True Christians cannot help but shine the light of Jesus (Matthew 5:14-16; Philippians 2:15)
V. Full of wisdom
A. Insurmountable wisdom (Acts 6:3, 10; 7:57)
B. Through the Scriptures (2 Timothy 4:3-4; 3:15)
VI. Full of courage
A. Stood up to the opponents of truth (Acts 7:51-56)
B. We must stand for truth regardless of consequences (Galatians 4:16; Romans 1:16; Ephesians 4:15)
VII. Full of love
A. “Do not charge them with this sin” (Acts 7:57-60)
B. The attitude of Jesus (Luke 23:34) and Paul (Romans 9:3; 10:1)
A. Learning is where faith begins (Genesis 1:27; 1 Timothy 6:7; Rom. 10:17)
B. The more we want to learn, the more we can learn (Mt. 5:6; 1 Tim. 4:13)
II. The power to teach
A. Jesus taught the apostles who taught others who taught others who taught others… (2 Timothy 2:2; Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 5:42; 8:4; 20:20)
B. We must be willing to guide those who want to learn (Acts 8:30-31)
III. The power to live the Christian life
A. Walk the walk (Ephesians 4:1-3; 1 Timothy 6:11-12)
B. In all that we do (Colossians 3:17), always abounding (1 Cor. 15:58)
A. Rapid growth caused neglect (Acts 6:1)
B. The apostles’ priorities (Acts 6:2)
II. The solution
A. Delegate responsibilities (Acts 6:3; Exodus 18:17-18, 21)
B. Let someone trustworthy handle “that” so we can focus fully on “this” (Acts 6:4)
III. The result
A. The church was pleased (Acts 6:5-6)
B. The church grew even more because “the word of God spread” (Acts 6:7; Romans 1:16; 2 Timothy 3:15; James 1:21; Acts 5:28; 8:4; 17:6)
I. The adjective “Holy” describes all three Persons of the Godhead
A. The Father (Exodus 15:11; 1 Samuel 2:2; Psalm 103:1; 105:3; 106:47; 111:9; 145:21)
B. The Son (Luke 1:35; Psalm 16:10; Acts 2:27; 3:14; 4:27, 30; Hebrews 7:26)
C. The Spirit (it’s in His name: the Holy Spirit!)
II. “Be holy, for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:13-16)
A. The children of Israel (Leviticus 11:44, 45; 19:2; 20:7, 26; Deuteronomy 7:1-6)
B. Christians (1 Peter 1:13-16; 2 Corinthians 6:17-7:1; 1 Peter 2:9; Romans 12:1; Ephesians 1:3-4; 5:27; Colossians 1:22)
C. It is a daily decision (Colossians 3:12-13)
D. Imitating our High Priest (Hebrews 7:26)
1. Harmless (Matthew 10:16; Philippians 2:14-15)
2. Undefiled (Psalm 119:1)
3. Separate from sinners (1 Corinthians 15:33-34)
A. “Be strong and of good courage” (Joshua 1:6, 7, 9, 16-18; 21:43-45)
B. Strength comes from God and is found in Christ (Romans 8:1; James 4:7; Philippians 4:13, 19)
II. “Put on the whole armor of God…” (Ephesians 6:11)
A. Spiritual armor (Romans 13:12-14; John 8:12; 2 Corinthians 6:3-7)
B. “Wiles” = schemes, tricks
III. “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood…” (Ephesians 6:12)
A. Do not underestimate the devil’s smarts (2 Corinthians 11:3; 1 Timothy 4:2; 2 Timothy 3:7)
B. Do not underestimate the devil’s strength (1 Peter 5:8)
A. Arrested for preaching (Acts 5:17-18)
B. Miraculously released to continue preaching “the words of this life” (Acts 5:19-20; John 6:66-68)
II. Continued boldness
A. Swift obedience (Acts 5:21a; 16:32-33)
B. Jewish reaction (Acts 5:21b-28; Matthew 27:22-25)
C. The apostles refuse to back down (Acts 5:29-32; Deuteronomy 21:22-23)
III. The council’s decision
A. They “plotted to kill them” (Acts 5:33)
B. Gamaliel’s advice (Acts 5:34-39; Jude 3)
IV. The apostles’ response
A. Rejoiced at suffering (Acts 5:40-41; Matthew 5:10-12)
B. “They did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ” (Acts 5:42)
A. They were not interested in Him as the Messiah (John 6:26-27)
B. The work of God is that you believe in Him whom He sent (John 6:28-29; Hebrews 11:6)
II. Jesus’ works vs. Moses’ works
A. They wanted physical bread (John 6:30-33; Nehemiah 9:15)
B. Jesus challenged a higher focus, a deeper discipleship, an active faith (John 6:34-40)
III. The rejection of the Jews
A. Offended at the suggestion of eternal existence (John 6:41-42)
B. Jesus required 24/7 spiritual devotion (John 6:43-59)
C. “This is a hard saying”…too hard for some (John 6:60-66)
D. There is no alternative to Jesus (John 6:67-69)
A. The effort to keep the church pure does not drive people away – it draws people in (Acts 5:13-14)
B. If we are serious about growing, we must be serious about sin (1 Corinthians 5:1-7)
II. Power demonstrated through the gift of the Holy Spirit
A. Unusual miracles (Acts 5:12, 15-16; Matthew 9:20-22; Mark 6:56; Acts 19:11-12)
B. Always successful (Acts 5:16)
III. The purpose of miracles
A. Confirm the Word (Mark 16:17-20; Acts 3:9-11; 4:4; 5:12, 14)
B. Why don’t we have miracles today? (1 Corinthians 13:8-10; James 1:25)
A. “The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God”
B. God sees things differently than man (1 Samuel 16:6-7; Luke 16:13-15)
II. Galatians 6:3
A. Context (Galatians 6:1-5; cf. Romans 3:23)
B. How should the Christian think of self? (Mark 12:31; Romans 12:3; 6:18)
III. James 1:21-25
A. If we are going to wear the name “Christian,” we must have the attitude of Christ
B. How important is it to do what we hear? (Matthew 7:24-27)
IV. 1 John 1:8
A. By recognizing sin in our lives, we give ourselves the opportunity to make it right with God (1 John 1:9)
B. Contrast between light and darkness (1 John 1:5-6; Romans 6:16-18; 6:1-2)
I. The selfless nature of the early church (Acts 4:32-37)
A. All things in common (Acts 2:44-45; 4:32-35; 6:1)
B. The grace of giving (Acts 4:33; 1 Corinthians 8:1-8)
C. The example of Barnabas (Acts 4:36-37)
D. Was the early church a form of communism? No! (Acts 4:32, 34; 2 Corinthians 8:2; 9:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2; Acts 12:12; 1 Timothy 6:17-19)
II. The deception of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11)
A. Their sin was deception: “You have not lied to men but to God” (Acts 5:4)
B. Attributes of God on display in this account
1. Omnipotence (Acts 5:5, 10)
2. Omnipresence (Jeremiah 23;23-24)
3. Omniscience (Acts 5:4; Jeremiah 17:9-10)
C. Punishment similar to Nadab and Abihu (Leviticus 10:1-2) – “Both make the point: God’s Word and His spokesmen must be taken seriously” (Copeland)
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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