SUBJECT TEXT--~A~ct;2_s.2;l.:.!:8!..___________ _ CLASSIFICATION: - --EXPOSITORY TITLE "THE CHURCH TRIUMPHANT" --BIOGRAPHICAL - -TEXTUAL --TOPICAL SCRIPTURE READINv------------- - --DEVOTIONAL DELIVERIES: Date Hour Place lvv ·+A Rttul~ and Commenb: p,g,c A.A1. §;n, A'Ylf~7,X VV' X+- 7 / J..effeQ ..2.i:,ntll~y'A1) f.tt.5T&RS .A-,vn ,1,)- F,~c, ?- -)..~ -'13 A-fi'l , -5,r-, A->1f du; r;x {'rl-'f t-f+Y 1 ! Y:Y.y. t-rW 0G<T / l!>-J I- fl 'r kmu t+/ Cm-iv. A.,M ~ >-J-4, 71 't~Y.Y. rr,v Prf..A -,1-m1 I~~+? 0 -,-,4-bgn4t,~ ~-36-'/8 A-M G-A-1--nt5?lfl~ ~ C1./.'f.Y. -i--t:J;) weJvr~w (-li-tJ'f" /r,/14, s ;..ATcJtV 1,-ID - ()8 A,/4 Wt~<n'-1.dt? 4 6.Y.1tt!V J. ~ fJ3,C </-J./-0"3 ,t,J, wn1cr1;/1d1,_/..,,f _5'4-rlt'V? i?,C., J.-0 i A11J (i'A"'l~h I )6jl1. 1-tt!J/~ Fie. BIBLIOGRAPHY ____________________________ THE CHURCH TRIUMPHANT • I CRIPTURE: Acts 1:8 PEW /!,;/~Le_ f'· flf-~ / INTRO: NO OTHER INSTITUTION IN ALL THE WORLD HAS BEEN THE OBJECT OF SUCH UNCEASING EFFORT TO MARTYR · ITS L~ADERS, PERSECUTE ITS MEMBERS AND ERADICATE ITS MEMORY FROM THE FACE OF THE EARTH AS THE CHURCH. THE BOOK OF ACTS RECORDS THE THRILLING STORY O? THE GROWTH AND VICTORIES OF THE CHURCH TRIUMPHANT . FROM A HANDFUL OF 120 MEMBERS IN CHAPTER~, THE INFANT CHURCH GROWS TO 3,000 IN CHAPTER~ BY CHAPTER ~ITJU'HE CHURCH EXPLODES TO MORE THAN 5,000 ! IN THE FACE OF PERSECUTION AND MARTYRDOM Tllf CHURCH IN ACTS CONTINUES TO MARCH ON LIKE A M IGillY ARMY . ,..,..,., '"' • ~ ~ -- - --- - -- THE ,..CHURCH TRIUMPHANT" IS THE THEME THAT ECHOS THROUGHOUT THE 2~ CHAPTERS OF ACTS. THIS IS THE THEME THE CHURCH TODAY NEEDS TO HEAR THAT IT MIGHT BE CHALLENGED TO BECOME THE CHURCH TRI­ UMPHJH·.J.T\lfN O1.IR TIME. "7Ac,s /;g · I. 'THE PURPOSE OF~ THE=~ CHURCH~=~~ TRIUMPHANT= - -NOTE: Christ knew that for the church to become the "church triumphant" its marching orders must be clear, its pu ose spelled out in such a manner as no man could misunderstand. And so he says: --Acts 1 :8 --NOTE: The marching orders are clear! The purpose of the church is without question! "Ye shall be WITNESSES!" 1. The e of Witnessing WM+ 1'i • . --Acts 1 :Ba "Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost_~ come u on you. ) -} - -EXEGESIS: There were .some things the disciples could not know ( :7) but the one thing they could know was the experience of power. The Holy Spirit is the promised power. Equipment for service came in this enduement. Our age knows much about atomic power, the ene:ivg y in nature which transcends man's powers. That energy_un­ seen has always been present in the universe, but not harnessed until our day. So it was with the disciples as they waited ·n the Upper Room. The power was there but they dtd not enter into its benefits until the appointed day of disclosure . Up to that time t hey were limited in knowledge, but now they would experience unlimited -2- strength for their task. The Acts is the record of the acts of the Holy Spirit t hrough the church. Supernatural strength is furnished by t he Holy Spirit's presence within the disciples. A wit­ ne ss is one who bears testimony . (Baker, pp. 12, 13) . --APPLY: Power is never achieved when ursuea for itself. In the d ivine economy, as we have glimpses of it in the Bible , power always goes with a commission. It came to the disc iples at Pentecost; it comes to anyone whe never he squarely faces an undertaking .. Churches pray often _and v...e.hemently, "O Lord, give us power," and forget that an essential part of the answer is in their owp hands . ~ That answer is to tackle something definite for which t hey ne€d power. (Luc-cock , pp . 12 -13) . n _l ~ 2. The Sub ect of w· essing - T~ ~ °T ,t · --Acts 1 :Bb "And ye shall be w itness es unto ~ " ':i}.J..i {le. ' --NOTE: Throughout The Acts this is the em ha s i ~ .,, com romises _~her commission, she neglects Christ at c er peril. (Baker, p. 12~ Vi __I Cor. 2 :2 (Paul) "For I am determined not to know a ny t hing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified!" - -APPLY: We ..are to be witnesses of"C hrist no matter what the cost . In Greek the word for witness and the word for martyr i s t he same word (Martus). A witness had t o be ready to become a martyr. To be a witness means to be loyal no_m..?tter wh_~t the cost. (Barclay, p . 5) '7tt ~ / 2 . Tlie S here of Witnessing - 7._-e. Pe~r~ete'f "f "" -- cts 1 :Be "In Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria , and unto the uttermost part of the earth. " - -EXEGESIS: The book of Acts illustrates perfectly the - sphere of witnessing: (a) the church in Jerusalem ~ Chapters l-r:--7; (b) the church in~Judea and Samaria,~ Chapters 8-8; (c) the church in the~, D:r/- ,: ---~ EA1trH11 "4LJTT!'~/110S1' ,,,,rr 0 ,,.,,. C hapters 10-28 . (Baker, p . 12). - -ILLUS: In aviation effective use is made of a device - 3- known as an "artificial horizon" as an aid in landing in a fog. There is a tragic suggestion in the words, for the gospel has been 'mprisoned by painfully artificial horizons­ not the divine horizon of human need, but.the man-made horizon of borders of breed or birth or class interest. The great commission to go into every corner of the world's life is inherent in the dangerous, explosive nature of the I truth itself. (Luc cock, p. 15) . - - ru'PLY: ;Ne. dare not forget the urgency for geographical and numerical expansion. I~ permanent- oom ls ion - l.a i n the tjJe1:! a in f the church. ..........When th at com - pulsion is relaxed, creeping paralysis sets in . .:M•~~-A few years ago when Mrs. Sara King Iselin, a "sos ial arbiter" of New York and Newport, died, and Assoc-iated Press dispatch carried this paragraph:~ "She was known a the most exclusive of 'the great ladie~ ·oft e c1 y. o new names had been added to her invitation list in twenty­ five years." No new names in twenty-five years! There is a Mount Everest of achievement in rigid exclusiveness !)Yet that perfection of complacency has been almost reached by many a church. There have been no widening circles, no movements from Judea to Samcy_ii r,.to the ends of the earth, in the life of too many churches. They sit like "great ladies" in musty parlors, awaihtng rigor mortis. The Church Triumphant' s sphere of witnessing is \ destined to reach every realm of human experience. (Luccock, p. 6). T~XA.5 DOO • ·• -> .- - BRIDGE : In fulfilling :its purpos~ the church has \encountered opposition in the form of persecution. PERSECUTION OF THE CHURCH TRIUMEHA.NT- - cts 12:1-3 (READ) ~ I - -NQlftE: The persecution under Herotl Agrippa I was the third major assau1t upon the disciples, the first being by the Sadducees and the next by the Pharisees. Herot lost no opportunity to strengthen himself with the Jews; and when the Jerusalem disciples approved of Peter's conduct in the home of Cornelius, he may have seen an opening for -4- increasing his favor with the Jews, (Stagg, p. 128). - ..;EXEGESIS : The infant church knew the blast of evil which came from the dictatorial powers of the state. The i ssues of the first century were centered in the demand of the state to worship the Emperor as the kurios or the Lord. In this the citizens of the Roman Empire might have any religion they chose, but everyone must be subservient to tl:iis final worship of the god-emperor as the deity. Christians found that they could not acknowledge the em­ peror in this way and so they were persecuted and killed because of the.tr refusal. They confessed that Jesus the Christ was THE LORD, the Kurio5i. (Baker, pp. 73-74). 1 . Persecution Without" (Open Antagonists) - -Act 2:1 READ) --NOTE: Well J:b.ere' s nothin-g novel ca bout that. There's nothing new in that statement. The Herods of the world have always hated the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ! That ungodly monster who was the grandfather of this HeroiL.sought to~ ,Moythe infant Jesus. And now his "worthy descendant 11 seeks to destroy the infant church. And so right from the vepy beginning the Church learned to cope with such oppostion and such antagonists and soon learned not to fear greatly no matter how mighty Herod looked on his throne. And how little and insignifi­ cant the Church seemed to be. Because they learned there is a pw-ner on their side, fighting in them and through them, they knew that they could conquer the mighty Herods ! But notice the rest of this sto in A s 12 :2 - (READ)! ) And t hi s has been :the story through the centuries. The enemies of the Church have laughed in triumph. They have destroyed the ins ,' tution that claimed to hava the blessing of God ·upon it J,u"ftime and again as they have rejoiced in their victories t hey have found that theirs were but empty and hollow victories--they have been "eaten of worms" and die BUT the Word of God grows and multiplies! > .So we hgye learned~not t(0fear greatly those · open forces of e vil.