Preaching Christ

Read Acts 8:1–5 “And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison. Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.”

Acts 8:5 KJV 1900

Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.

What Does It Mean To Preach Christ?

I went around the congregation and asked this question and here are the answers I received from people:

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Per my last sermon over Biblical Authority, it would only make sense to go to the Bible to figure out how to preach Christ, not our friends, family members, or even fellow Christians, we may all be wrong

The Bible will record the following in Acts 8:12

Acts 8:12 KJV 1900

But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

Let us spend the remainder of our time study these 3 things

The Kingdom of God

The Kingdom of God is a very important thing to preach when we share Jesus, because the Lord’s Kingdom, His church is distinct in its structure, unity, and headship.

We will examine Isaiah 2:1–3 first and figure out where and when this kingdom started

Isaiah 2:1–3 KJV 1900

The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass in the last days (that is when the old law ends) That the mountain of the Lord’s house (which is the church of Christ, 1 Tim 3:15 “But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.”) shall be established in the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills; And all nations shall flow unto it. (Read Luke 24:47—49) And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, To the house of the God of Jacob; (again this is the church of Christ) And he will teach us of his ways, And we will walk in his paths: For out of Zion shall go forth the law, (unlike some may say, there is a law in the New Testament) And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. (Just like how we read from Luke’s account)

So we are starting to put all of this together, we know where the Kingdom, that is the church will start, but when?

How will we know the right time? Thankfully Daniel tells us exactly when Daniel 2:44–45 “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.”

Daniel 2:44–45 KJV 1900

And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.

Know that we know where and when, we need to know what will happen that day, how will we be certain we have the Kingdom of God, that is the church?

Joel tells us! Joel 2:28–32 “And it shall come to pass afterward, That I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids In those days will I pour out my spirit. And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, Blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, Before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: For in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, As the Lord hath said, And in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.”

So where at in the Bible will I see people in Jerusalem, bringing in a new Law, preaching a new message, in the time of the Roman Empire, while performing miracles?

Turn in your Bible to Acts 2:1—4, 14—16, 36—41, 47

The reason we preach the Kingdom of God, that is the church of Christ, is because this is the only place wherein mankind will be saved

This is how Jesus was able to accurately say

Mark 9:1 KJV 1900

And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.

Luke 24:49 KJV 1900

And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.

At this point in time you have heard preaching concerning the Kingdom of God, now we must talk about the name of Jesus.

The Name of Jesus

If you can remember back to the last lesson I delivered you will know that in Acts 4:7, 10 that the name of Jesus is the authority or power of Jesus

Let us look at some verses about the authority which Christ alone holds

Authority and Lordship

Matthew 28:18 “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.”

Philippians 2:9–11 “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

The Samaritans in Acts 8 here were used to following Simon and his alleged power, Phillip would show them that Christ is the only authority in religion.

Salvation is in His name

Acts 4:12 “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

John 12:48 “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.”

All That He Commanded

Mark 16:15–16 “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”

1 Timothy 1:3 “As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine,”

Galatians 1:8–9 “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.”

2 John 9 “Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.”

To preach Jesus’ name means we have to point to Him as the all authoritative power, no one else can be our guide, no other book can be our Book

Baptism

In order to preach Christ we have so far learned that we must preach those things concerning the Kingdom of God, the name (or authority of Christ) and finally we arrive at baptizing both men and women

If you would please turn with me to John 3:1—5

(K.M. illustration where you point out all the man, woman, pharisee, saduccee, night, day stuff.

What we need to do is speak where the Bible has spoken, and the Bible shows the only way to enter the Kingdom of God, to have your name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, and spend eternity in heaven through water baptism.

Acts 8:26–40 “And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet. Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth. And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing. But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea.”

Something you need to understand is if you were baptized into anything else you are currently lost.

If you are listening to the sound of my voice and were baptized in some denomination, you are not a member of the Kingdom of God

Acts 19:1–5 “And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John’s baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.”

You cannot be taught wrong and baptized right.

If you have not been baptized for the remission of your sins and added to the Kingdom of God, which is the church of Christ you have to realize that you are currently standing condemned to a devil’s hell.

Christ is not coming back to save any denomination, good people, or religious folks, He is only coming to save His obedient sheep who have done what He has spoken

1 Sam 15 (Go there and make application)

Please do not be like Saul and think that you have done the Lord a favor, God is providing an opportunity for you to go to heaven, do not say no to Him

Matthew 11:28–30 “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”