Visions of the Early Church

1. Paradise Productions presents Foundation Stone 2 Visual: The Holy SpiritActs chapter 1-4 Visions of the Early Church

2. Topics Index • Jesus tells His Disciples to wait! They obeyed. • And so received the Promise of the Holy Spirit • To give them Power to be a Witness • To the International Jews at the Feast of Pentecost • To gather a Harvest of 3000 souls of men • To start Christianity with a BIG BANG! • The healing of the lame man & 5000 more souls • Persecution by the Priesthood & resulting boldness! • The Financial plan for the Church. • Great unity.

3. Jesus commands them to wait! ACTS chapter 1 verse 4-5 • ”4 And, being assembled together with them, comman-ded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. 5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.”

4. Wait for the promised Holy Spirit! 8 “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”

5. Did they wait? Yes! They Obeyed! Acts 1:12 • “Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day's journey. ”

6. Why wait in Jerusalem? Because that’s where they were! The Mount of Olives that overlooks Jerusalem, is just across the valley of Hinom, next to Jerusalem.

7. In an Upper Room in Jerusalem 13 And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, & James, & John, & Andrew, Philip, & Thomas, Bartholomew & Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, & Simon Zelotes, & Judas the brother of James. 14 These all continued with one accord in prayer & supplication, with the women, & Mary the mother of Jesus, & with his brethren.

8. Chapter 2. --Fasting & praying! 1”And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting”

9. The received the Holy Spirit! ACTS 2:3. “And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. ”

10. Jews heard it & came together. • 5 “And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. 6 Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.” • 7 “And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?” • 8 “And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?”

11. So Peter witnessed to them... 14 “But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words”

12. Peter socked it to them with a convicting sermon & salvation And what were the results of his witnessing?

13. A harvest of 3000 souls! • 41”Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.”

14. Teaching, Fellowship, Prayer! • 42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

15. The Church started with a bang. • 43”And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.”

16. Real Christian Communists. • 44 “And all that believed were together, and had all things common. 45 And sold their posses-sions andgoods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.”

17. They Shared ALL Things! • 46 "And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart.”

18. The Ecclessia had started. • 47 “Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church (Ecclessia)daily such as should be saved.”

19. ACTS Chapter 3. • 1 “Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.”

20. 2. “And a certain lame man… • from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple; 3 Who seeing Peter & John about to go into the temple asked an alms.”

21. And Peter fastening his eyes upon him... • “..with John, said, Look on us. 5 And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them. • 6 Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.”

22. Walking & Leaping & Praising! • 7 “And he took him by the right hand, & lifted him up: & immediately his feet & ankle bones received strength. • 8 “And he leaping up stood, & walked, & entered with them into the temple, walking, & leaping & praising God.”

23. saw him walking & praising. • 9 “And all the people saw him walking and praising God10 And they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple: & they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happen-ed unto him.”

24. Peter preaches to the crowd. • 12 “And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk?”

25. 5000 saved & join the Church! . And what were the results of Peter’s witnessing? 5000 more souls joined! • 9 “Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand.”

26. ACTS 4: The Priests get mad. • 1 “And as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, & the Sadducees, came upon them,” • 2 “Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead.”

27. Peter & John thrown in jail. • 3 “And they laid hands on them, and put them in hold unto the next day: for it was now eventide.” • Why were the priests so amazed at Peter & John?

28. Were they highly educated? • No! It was the work of the Holy Spirit! The religious leaders were amazed! Acts 4:13 • “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.”

29. They had power and boldness! • They marveled because they saw that same power in Peter and John that Jesus had when He walked the earth. They were bold, despite the fact they hadn't had a formal education. They just went ahead and witnessed anyhow, and they had tremendous power! It was obvious they had been with Jesus: They had the Master's power to do the Master's work!

30. The Priests Sadducees. • The religious leaders that observed them couldn't understand why they had so much courage and so much nerve and so much boldness!

31. For they had been with Jesus! • "They perceived that they’d been with Jesus." • Peter & John knew whatJesus taught, they knewhow Jesus practiced. They knew Jesus! Theydidn't have anything else but Jesus and boldness, but they really got results.

32. The final analysis of the priests: • They couldn’t deny the proof!Acts 4:14 • “And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.”

33. “We can not deny it!” Acts 4:16 • “Saying, ‘What shall we do to these men? For, indeed, that a notable miracle has been done through them is evident to all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.’”

34. Peter’s Transformation. • Think a bit about Peter. This was the same man who some weeks earlier had denied Jesus. Now he is deter-mined to witness, no matter the cost. He is speaking boldly before huge crowds of people. What has brought about such a transformation? • The Holy Spirit!

35. The First Crisis of The Church. • Peter and John being thrown into jail. What type of a crisis was it? Internal or external? • It was an outside attack. Persecution! • Question: What was the result of this crisis? Why did the Lord allow them to get tossed into jail? Why couldn't He have spared them from that apparent defeat and that terrible shame and reproach?

36. They called out to God. Acts 4:24 • 24 “So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: "Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them.” • The disciples got together to share what had happened & praised the Lord together.

37. They spoke with boldness. Acts 4:31 • “And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the Word of God with boldness.” • Were they scared stiff now because they had been told not to speak in this Name any more, and not to preach Christ? • No! They spoke the Word of God with boldness.

38. One in heart & soul! Acts 4:32 • “Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common.” • God has a marvelous plan for His believers --this Book of Acts!--A blueprint for a way of life! This is the pattern for missions!

39. Acts! A Pattern for Missions. • This is the way His followers ought to live and act and spread the message! This is a pattern, an example, and it's still going on! God has a spiritual pattern for His followers: Prayer, praise, study, teaching, doctrine, and witnessing activity.

40. Financial Plan for Missions. • What was the result, economically, for the believers? They may not have had all they wanted, but none of them lacked anything they needed. See Acts 4:34 • “Nor was there anyone among them who lacked.”(See Acts 4:33) • “And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.

41. What are Apostles? • The apostles became powerful witnesses as a result of all they were going through and because of the moving of the Holy Spirit in their lives. • “Apostle” is a person sent by another; a messenger; an envoy. This word is generally used as designating the body of disciples to whom Jesus primarily entrusted the organization of the believers and the dissemination of the gospel, "the twelve“, as they are called. (Matthew 10:1-5; Mark 3:14; 6:7; Luke 6:13; 9:1).

42. Closing Prayer. • Thank You Lord for the gift of the Holy Spirit. We ask You, Lord Jesus, for a "renewing of the Holy Ghost!" (Tit.3:5). Please give us all a greater measure of Your Holy Spirit, that Your mighty power can fill and inspire us! We can’t do all of the things you want us to by our own power or will, but we know You can work through us, as You have done through your followers over the ages. You tell us "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit!" (Zec.4:6). Empower and inspire us. Please give each of us a greater measure of love, and greater power to witness. Amen!

43. And NOWWE are the LATTER or last Church! The Last Ecclessia!Visit our site:www.98.to/paradiso/