Sermon Tone Analysis

A Mark of True Believers

Jesus’ to his disciples in Acts 1:8

Acts the history of how the HS caused this to happen

also records how the Devil tried to sabotage the growth of the church each step of the way

today’s message: Gospel of Jesus Christ moves from Jerusalem & Judea into Samaria

in spite of the vicious persecution which had forced them to flee Jerusalem they were not cowering in fear

just as Peter and John refused to be intimidated by the threats and the beating by the ruling authorities so the rest of the disciples kept on telling others about Christ when they were forced to flee Jerusalem

wherever they went they were witnessing

they had done this in Jerusalem and the church had grown phenomenally

when they were scattered they kept on witnessing

this was a habit of life for them

they could not stop talking about Jesus

wherever they went they talked about Christ

although some are specially gifted as evangelists all Christians proclaim Christ

witnessing to who Christ is and what he has done should be the goal of all our conversations

the will of God for every believer: to bring Christ with them wherever they go both in speech and in conduct

Jesus Christ is our example!

remember his purpose to say only what he heard his Father speak and do only what he saw his Father doing

his will was to do his Father’s will

so it should be with every genuine believer, to speak Christ’s words and to do Christ’s work

true followers of Jesus are walking and talking billboards

What Were They Doing?

“preaching” vs. “proclaimed”

our word evangelist or evangelism comes from the greek word for “preaching”

preaching a more explanatory kind of communication while proclamation is more of a statement

which kind is determined by the audience

those with more understanding: proclamation

those with little understanding: preaching

preaching the gospel in a nutshell:

proclaiming

Jesus is the Christ, i.e., he is the Messiah

Examples of the use of the word “preaching”

Ez 20:46; 21:2; Am 7:16; Mic 2:6

preaching against Israel and prophesying against it were synonymous

Mic 2:6 - preaching of wine and strong drink = extolling their benefits and advocating for their use

Mt 4:7 - preaching = repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand

“you should turn from your sins because judgment is coming”

Mt 12:41, Lk 11:32 - Jonah, a prophet, preached to Nineveh

Mk 1:7 - preaching is saying something true about the greatness of Jesus

Lk 3:18; 4:43, 7:22, 16:16 - preaching is telling others the gospel, good news

Acts 5:42 - preaching that Christ is Jesus

Acts 10:42 - Jesus is the one appointed by God to be judge

Rom 2:21 - preaching against stealing

Gal 1:8-9 - preaching a false gospel

Gal 1:11 - preaching man’s gospel

Gal 3:8 - preaching the faith

1Pet 1:12 - preach the good news by the HS sent from heaven

1Pet 4:6 - preached … that … they may live in the spirit

Examples of Proclamation

may involve a prediction, a command, a declaration of praise, a condemnation, a call to war, call to worship, a prediction or prophecy, witness or testimony (lk 8:39)

prophets, kings, Jesus and apostles proclaim

nature proclaims (Ps 19:1; 97:6

people proclaim by their actions (Is 3:9

2Ki 23:16 - proclaimed = predicted

What is proclaimed: faith, gospel, God’s name, God’s attributes, laws, commands and instructions, peace, fasts, the Lord’s death, the resurrection, Jesus Christ the Son of God, another gospel, antichrist proclaims self God, eternal life

conclusion: the gospel must be communicated with words

actions are not enough

must speak the truth of the gospel

by this unbelievers judge your behaviour

without speaking the truth you are lumped in all the other “good people”!

words must be backed up by actions but without personal testimony how can people believe?

What Were They Preaching & Proclaiming?

those scattered preached “the word”

word = logos

Jesus is the Word

compare to v.5 where Luke says Philip “proclaimed the Christ”

Christ = anointed

purpose of anointing: to endue the anointed with power, majesty and strength

priests and kings were anointed

“Anointed” = God’s chosen One, the Messiah

Christ and the Word are one and the same

to preach the word is to preach Christ

The Example of Philip

Luke narrows the focus from all who were preaching to Philip’s ministry in Samaria

there are two Philips in the NT church:

first: Philip the disciple/apostle from Bethsaida in Galilee

was a disciple of John the Baptist before Jesus called him

brought Nathaniel to Jesus

mentioned in Jn 12:20-22, 6:7, 14:8-9, Acts 1:13

tradition says he went to what is now modern day Turkey as a missionary and was martyred there

second: one of the 7 chosen to oversee the ministry to widows

having proven himself faithful in the task of ministering to them God gave him a wider ministry

parable of talents:

as we prove ourselves faithful God gives us more to do

often called the “evangelist” to distinguish him from the Apostle Philip

he is the only person given this title in the NT

went to Samaria to preach the gospel

ministered to the Ethiopian eunuch

preached from Azotus to Caesarea (Acts 8:40)

last mention of Philip in Act 21:8-9 when Paul and his entourage stopped at his home on the way to Jerusalem (had 4 virgin daughters who possessed the gift of prophecy)

The Samaritans

came from the northern 10 tribes which separated after Solomon died

were exiled by God in 722BC to the land of the Assyrians for repeatedly violating the covenant and rejecting all of God’s warnings and threats

when exiled the Assyrians sent other peoples to live in the land who then intermarried with the Jews who remained

the result

warn church against intermarrying with unbelievers

became a mixed race with a corrupt religion

they opposed the rebuilding of walls of Jerusalem under Nehemiah (Neh 6:1-14)

built their own rival temple

only accepted the first 5 books of the OT and rejected the rest