One of our TV listeners visited
our services yesterday, last Sunday, and coming out of the
door of the church, he said to me, I've been watching you and
listening to you for a number of years, and you've helped me. You've been a good teacher. Well,
that's what I want to do. I want to teach. I want to be
a pastor and teacher. I want to help you understand
the Scriptures. and the way of life in Christ
Jesus, our Lord. You see, we're not going to shout
people into the kingdom of God. We're not going to sing them
into the kingdom of God. We're not even going to weep
them into the kingdom of God. We're going to preach them into
the kingdom of God. That's right. The Lord hath chosen by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. How shall they call
on him in whom they've not believed? And how shall they believe in
him of whom they've not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent? And
I just don't want to stand here and grab my ear and holler into
this microphone and shout and scream and say old phrases. And I want to teach you what
the Scripture says about God and about men and about Christ
and about salvation, about eternal life. I want us to search the
Scriptures, whether these things be so. And my subject today is
the message of the early church. Now, the disciples and the members
of the early church are our patterns, and they are our examples. These
people were devoted to God, the apostles, Matthew, Mark, Luke,
John, Paul, the apostle Peter. These men and their followers,
the believers who believed as a result of their preaching,
They were men and women who were devoted to God. They were cast
out of the synagogues, out of organized religion. They were
persecuted. They were hated. They were even
killed for the gospel, but they were devoted to God, consecrated
to God. And then they were devout in
their worship. They were faithful in worship. Upon the first day
of the week, the Scripture says, they met together to break bread,
and Paul preached to them, and they continued in fellowship.
They continued in fellowship. and breaking of bread from house
to house. And then these people who are our patterns and our
examples, they were devoted to one another. They loved one another. They sold their possessions and
gave to those who had need. The scripture says they had all
things common. When one part of the body of
Christ was in need, the other came to their rescue. They wept
with those that wept and they rejoiced with those that rejoiced.
They had all things common. And these people were dedicated
to the preaching of the gospel, to witnessing, and to missionary
work. It says they were scattered abroad,
and they went everywhere preaching the gospel, declaring the good
news. And they were doctrinally sound.
They continued in the apostles' doctrine. They didn't go off
into customs and traditions and all manner of things. They continued
the Apostles doctrine and they did not shun to declare all the
counsel of God and they were examples. They were examples
of faith, example of good works, they were examples of holiness,
they were examples of honesty, and they were examples of godliness.
These people were devoted to God, they were dedicated to one
another, they were devout in their lives, they were people
who were dedicated to preaching, They were examples, but here's
my question. What did they preach? What was
their message? That's what I'm interested in
more than anything else. What was the message of the early
church? What echoed from the pulpit? What did they preach when they
gathered together? What did their preachers proclaim?
Well, it can be summed up in one word. The message of the
early church can be summed up in one word, and that word is
Christ. Christ. That's what they preached.
They preached Christ. Paul said in 1st Corinthians
1.23, but we preach Christ and Him crucified. In 1st Corinthians
2, verse 2, he said, I've determined, I've determined not to know anything
among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And then Philip
in Acts the 8th chapter, it says, he opened his mouth and began
at the same scripture Preached Jesus Christ that was their message
Christ was their message. Listen to this in Acts chapter
4 the authorities called the disciples together and Commanded
them not to speak at all nor to teach in the name of Jesus
Christ That was their message and that's why they were persecuted.
That's why they were jailed That's why they were hated and this
is what the authorities commanded them not to preach the name of
Jesus Christ. Listen to Acts 5. They said,
did not we command you that you should not teach in the name
of Jesus Christ? But you have filled Jerusalem
with this doctrine. And Peter replied, well, we ought
to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised
up Jesus Christ, whom you crucified. And him hath God exalted to be
king Savior to give repentance to Israel forgiveness of sin,
and we're witnesses of these things This is our message Jesus
Christ in him crucified I want you to go back to Peter's message
at Pentecost All of you familiar with it acts the second chapter
you have your Bible there why don't you turn to the second
chapter of Acts and let's see an example of The preaching of
the early disciples an example of the preaching of the early
church The message of the early church. What did they preach?
All right, let's look at Peter's message. In Acts 2, verse 22,
he starts out this way. Ye men of Israel, hear these
words. Those are his opening comments.
Ye men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man
approved of God. That's where he started with
Christ. This message started with Christ and it ended with
Christ. And it started with Christ, a man, a man, Jesus of Nazareth,
a man approved of God. Now, Peter knew that he was God.
In fact, when the Lord Jesus said, whom do you say that I,
the Son of Man, am? Peter was the one who said, Thou
art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Peter was present
when Thomas fell on his face and said, my Lord and my God. Peter was present when the father
spake from heaven and said this is my beloved son hear ye him
So Peter knew that it was God, but he started his message out
this way Jesus of Nazareth a man a man Approved of God they preached
that he is God But they preached that he is in every way a man
in the flesh Approved of God sent of God now watch the second
thing that same verse verse 23 He said, Jesus Christ, a man,
Jesus of Nazareth, a man, approved of God by miracles and signs
and wonders, which you yourselves also know. Him being delivered
by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge or foreordination
of God. He said this, Jesus of Nazareth
is a man, but he was delivered and he was sent to you, ordained
of God. He was sent from God into this
world. This man, Jesus Christ, whom
we preach, in whom we trust, whom we believe, is a covenant
Redeemer. He was the Lamb slain from all
eternity, from the foundation of the world. He is the one that
God sent, and the one God ordained, and the one God appointed, and
the one God approved. They knew and preached that Jesus
Christ, in all of His birth, life, death, resurrection, and
everything, all of it was ordained of God, promised of God, prophesied
of God, and pictured of God in the Old Testament Scriptures.
That's what he said. What was their message? To preach
Christ. Jesus of Nazareth, a man, but a man ordained of God, a
man sent by God. All right, what's the next verse?
You have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. They preach Christ incarnate,
they preach Christ ordained of God, and they preach Christ crucified. Yes, the death of Christ was
the wicked work of men, but the death of Christ is the will of
God. He was delivered by the determinant
counsel and foreordination of God, but you took him and with
your wicked hands have crucified him and slain him on a cross.
But the purpose behind his suffering on that cross was to die for
our sins, according to the Scriptures. As Peter said in his epistle,
we know that we're not redeemed with corruptible things such
as silver and gold from our vain conversation received by tradition
from our fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as a
lamb without blemish and without spot. What did the early church
preach? What was their message? The man,
Christ Jesus, the God-man. God in human flesh, God incarnate,
yes, as simply as I can state it, as simply as I can put it,
I believe that Jesus of Nashville, born of Mary, who worked in a
carpentry shop, who lived on this earth, who died on a cross,
who was buried and rose again, is God Almighty in human flesh. All God and yet a man, the God
man, divine nature and yet human nature, and that God The Father
sent Him. God predestinated His coming,
for ordained His coming, sent Him with authority. The Father
sent Him into the world. God sent His Son into the world,
made of a woman, made under the law. Jesus Christ came into the
world and was clothed in human flesh. And He actually died on
that cross. He didn't fall asleep. He didn't
faint. He didn't swoon. He died on that
cross in a human body. And he died for our sins. He
was our substitute. He was our sacrifice. He was
our sin offering. He actually died. They took his
body, dead body, down from the tree and wrapped it in grave
clothes and laid it in a buried tomb. He died. That's just so. And that's what they preached.
And then notice the next verse, Acts 2, 24. They preached Christ
resurrected. Peter said, whom God raised from
the dead. whom God raised from the dead.
I'm telling you men of Israel, hear my words. A man, Jesus of
Nazareth, a man, foreordained of God, sent into this world. You with wicked hands have crucified
and slain, but God raised him from the dead, having loosed
the pains of death because it was not possible for him to be
held by death. He is alive. He lives because
he is life. Now, Paul dealt with this over
in 1 Corinthians 15. He said, if there be no resurrection
of the... I say some among you, there be no resurrection of the
dead. He said, if Christ is not raised, if Christ be not raised,
there is no resurrection. If Christ be not raised, our
preaching is vain. If Christ be not raised, your
faith is vain. If Christ be not raised, we're
false prophets. If Christ be not raised, you're
yet in your sins. If Christ be not raised, the
dead are perished. But he says, now is Christ risen
from the grave and has become the firstfruits of them that
slept. They preached the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, most of their persecution,
especially from the Sadducees, came because of their preaching
the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Most of their persecution. came
because they preached the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
But they didn't stop there. Look at verse 36. This is all
one message by the Apostle Peter at Pentecost. An example of what
they preached, their message. He said in Acts chapter 2 verse
36, Therefore let all the house of Israel know that God hath
made that same Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ,
This is our message. Jesus Christ is the Lord of creation. All things were made by him,
for him, through him. He has preeminence over all things.
He is the Lord of heaven and earth. All authority, he said,
is given unto me in heaven and in earth. He is the Lord of the
living and the dead. He died that he might be Lord
of the living and the dead. He is the Lord of life, as the
Father hath life in himself, even so hath the Son of God hath
life in himself, and he hath quicken whom he will. He is the
Lord of salvation, neither is there salvation in any other.
And he is the Lord over all flesh. He said, Thou hast given me power
over all flesh. This is what Peter said. That
man who was born of Mary and walked the streets of Jerusalem
and the shores of the Galilee, that man was ordained of God
approved of God, predestinated of God, and sent into this world.
He is God in human flesh. And you crucified Him and nailed
Him to a cross, but God raised Him from the dead. And when God
raised Him from the dead, God declared to this whole world
that Jesus Christ is both Lord and Christ, that all things are
in His hands. All judgment, all authority,
all salvation, all life, all creation, all power, all authority,
Everything is in Christ and one day and God has given him a name
above every name highly exalted him and given him a name above
every name that is the name of Jesus every knee will bow in
heaven earth and under the earth and Every tongue is going to
confess that he is Lord to the glory of God the Father. That's
their message and They didn't stop there Peter didn't quit
there in verse 38. He he commanded He commanded
faith in Christ. He commanded repentance toward
God and a confession of faith in Jesus Christ. They said, well,
what are we going to do, men and brethren? What are we going
to do? He said, repent and be baptized, every one of you, in
the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you
shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. That's what they
preached about Christ. And they commanded and demanded
faith. in the Lord Jesus Christ. Let
me show you another example of what they preached, the message
of the early church. Peter was up on the housetop one day and
some men came to his house, some messengers from a Gentile man
by the name of Cornelius. They came to the house inquiring
to see Peter. God had sent them there. Well,
before Peter came downstairs and greeted these Gentiles, God
spoke to Peter in a vision. He sent down a sheep. with all
kinds of animals that were declared unclean by Old Testament standards
and laws. And he said, Peter, rise, kill,
and eat. Oh, no, he said, not so, Lord. I've never killed or
eaten anything common or unclean. And the God said, don't call
anything common and unclean that I've cleansed. Arise, kill, and
eat. And about that time, they came
up to Peter, and they said, there's some men here to see you. And
he went down to them. And he said, where are you from?
And they said, from Cornelius, a Gentile. And God spoke to Cornelius
and said, send for you and for you to come down there and preach
to us. And so Peter went, having been
taught of God, that he was to preach the gospel also to the
Gentiles. All right, he went down there.
Now let's see what he preached. Let's see what was the message
of the early church. When Peter visited the Gentile
Cornelius in his household, sent there by the Spirit of God This
is what he preached in Acts 10, 36. He said, the word that God
saith unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ,
that he's Lord of all. That was his first point. He
said the same message that God gave to Israel is the message
he's given to you, and that is peace by Jesus Christ. Peace
and rest and forgiveness and mercy by Jesus Christ because
he is Lord of all. All right, notice his second
point. in verse 39. And we are witnesses of all things
which Jesus Christ did, whom they slew and crucified on a
tree. He was crucified on a tree as
a substitute for sinners. That was his second point. All
right, watch his third point. Verse 40. Him God raised up the
third day and showed him openly. And we are witnesses of his resurrection. What is Peter preaching? It's
the same thing he preached to the Jews. Same thing he preached
to Pentecost. He's preaching the incarnation
of Christ, peace through Jesus Christ, the crucifixion of the
Lord Jesus Christ, and the resurrection of the Son of God. And then listen
to him in verse 43 as he brings to a close this message. And
to him, to Christ, give all the prophets witness that through
his name, whosoever believeth on him, should receive remission
of sins. My friends, if we would be faithful
to our God, if we would be faithful to his precious word, if we would
be true to our heroes, if we would be sincere in our desire
to see men truly saved, not just brought to join our religious
organization, not just added as proselytes to our denomination,
not just statistics that we report that we've won to Christ, But
if we truly desire to see men redeemed and brought from death
to life, we will preach what the apostles preached, and that's
Christ and Him crucified. For neither is there salvation
in any other. For there's none other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Other foundation
can no man lay than that which is laid, Christ the Lord. For
He of God is made unto us all that we need, wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. Now, in closing, every grace,
you say, well, now the apostles preached Jesus Christ and Him
crucified to sinners. They preached Christ and Him
crucified to people seeking life and seeking redemption. But what
about teaching the church? What about edifying the people
of God? What about exhorting the people
of God to holy living and to Honesty and to integrity and
to righteousness and to love and all these other things Did
they also preach Christ when they preach these subjects? Well,
let's find out I'm saying that every grace and every guilt and
every fruit of God is understood and experienced in Relation to
the Lord Jesus Christ and that's the way the early disciples preached
it. For example, take the subject of love Take the subject of love
We're exhorted to love one another how as Christ loved us and gave
himself for us John wrote the book of John exhorts people to
love one another and John says here in his love not that we
love God but that he loved us and He said he that is born of
God will love and the example of love is Jesus Christ love
for us Greater love hath no man this than this that he lay down
his life for his friends But Christ laid down his life for
his enemies. You see, that's the way they preach love. They
exhorted people to love one another as Christ loved us and gave himself
for us. And even our Lord said that.
He said, a new commandment I give you, that you love one another
as I loved you. All right, what about the subject
of forgiveness? Forgiving one another. Ephesians
4, verse 30. The Apostle Paul writing to the
church at Ephesus, he said, be ye kind. one to another, tender-hearted,
forgiving one another. Because if you don't, you'll
lose your reward. Because if you don't, God will
take something away from you that's precious to you. Oh, no.
He said, forgive one another as God, for Christ's sake, has
forgiven you. That's the basis. That's the
motivation. That's what constrains us, is
Christ's love for us and Christ's forgiveness on our behalf. All right? What about giving? What about preaching on giving?
Getting folks to give, to share with one another, to help one
another along the way, to support the minister of the gospel, those
who are missionaries and other things. Paul writing to the church
at Corinth says, he says, now you are bound in faith and you're
bound in utterance and you're bound in all these different
graces. See that you're bound in the grace of giving. All right,
how is he going to enforce that? He says, for you know the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ, how that he was rich, and yet for
your sakes he became poor. He bases the motivation for giving
on the love of Christ for us and the death of Christ for us,
and Christ emptying himself that we might be full. Paul said this,
he said, the love of Christ constraineth me. The motivation for giving
of myself and the motivation for living for God, I'm motivated
because Christ loved me and gave himself for me. What about preaching
the resurrection? What is the hope of the resurrection?
What is the hope of eternal life? Christ said, because I live,
you live. And Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 says, we'll be resurrected
because Christ died and was buried and rose again. What about witnessing?
Well, our Lord Jesus said, as my father sent me, Even so, sinned
are you. It's based on Christ. Everything
we do is according to our relationship with Christ. What about godly
living? Romans 16. Paul said, In that Christ died,
he died unto sin. But in that he liveth, he liveth
unto God. Likewise, reckon ye yourselves
to be dead indeed unto sin, and alive unto God, through Jesus
Christ our Lord. That's your motivation. That's
your reason. In that Christ died, he died
unto sin. In that he liveth, he liveth
unto God. Likewise, you reckon yourselves
in the same way to be dead indeed unto sin and alive unto God through
Jesus Christ. What about comfort? In 1 Corinthians
4.13, some of the people in the early church had died. And these
people were so troubled and so bereaved and so filled with sorrow.
Some of their loved ones had died. They'd taken them out to
the cemetery and buried them. And Paul was going to comfort
this church. And in 1 Corinthians 4, verse
13, he said, I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren,
concerning them that are asleep, that you sorrow not as those
who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus
died and rose again, even so, them that sleep in Jesus will
God bring with him when he comes. For the trump of God shall sound,
the voice of the archangel, and the Lord Jesus shall descend
from heaven, and those which are alive and remain shall be
changed and caught up together with those that sleep to meet
the Lord in there. Therefore, he said, comfort one
another with these words." You see what I'm saying? The early
church preached Christ. They preached Christ. If they
met a sinner, who were seeking salvation, who were seeking redemption,
who wanted to know how God saved sinners, they preached Christ.
Christ incarnate, Christ crucified, Christ buried, Christ risen,
Christ seated, Christ our intercessor. They called for that man to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's when the Philippian jailer
came to Paul and said, what must I do to be saved? He said, believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. Rest in Christ. Trust in Christ.
Commit your way to Christ. It was Christ and Him crucified.
And then when they preached to the early church and talked to
them about loving one another, about forgiving one another,
about showing mercy to one another, about giving, about the hope
of the resurrection, about holy living, any of these things,
it was based on Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And that was
their motive, Christ and Him crucified.