Seven Loves of a Healthy Spiritual Life: Love Doctrine

Acts 2:42-47

42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

43 And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.

44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common;

45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.

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,

47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

These verses contain a summary of the church throughout the rest of the book of Acts.

Love Doctrine

vs 42: And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine

We truly desire to be true to what the Apostles taught

What was the Apostle’s Doctrine?

These are the things that makes an Apostolic so unique.

Central to the church, is the revelation of the Oneness of God, Baptism in Jesus Name, The Necessity of the infilling of the Holy Ghost (with the evidence of speaking with other tongues), a Godly lifestyle, the fruit of the Spirit, and the Gifts of the Spirit.

Each generation has traits (styles) that identify them.

Revival comes through sound teaching of the Word of God.

(1 Peter 1:23) Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

(1 Timothy 4:16) Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.

(Hebrews 2:1) Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.

One of the toughest subjects to deal with as a preacher is doctrine . . .

Too often, the congregation responds with boredom because they have heard it all before - and it is discouraging to preach in that atmosphere!

But what you don’t use — you lose!

A love for preaching will be evident in the response to preaching.

The anointing is not a one-way flow, it is meant to come back full circle.

Good cooks love to cook for people who love to eat.

The First Century Church had an appetite for the Word of God

The appointment of deacons (delegation) - so the apostles could give more time to the word

The sermons recorded in the Book of Acts were full of doctrinal teachings

Paul once taught until midnight (Acts 20:7-12) Eutychus went to sleep and died because he fell out of a window - and they had to pray the prayer of faith for resurrection!

Continuing in the Apostle’s doctrine is a fulfillment of the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19) Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, ...

Apostolic Doctrine:

By no means will this be an exhaustive study of Apostolic Doctrine, but a brief overview of some key points that make Pentecostals stand out in a Postmodern World.

God’s Word is Inerrant: this simply means that God’s word is not written with mistake.

- Translators can make mistakes, but God does not

- Most oldest scrolls: dead sea scrolls

- What the KJV was interpreted from…not a perfect translation, but highly reliable.

Other Pentecostal leaders do advocate the usage of other texts for study of the Word

Such as: New American Standard Bible, English Standard Version, New International Version, New Living Translation

(Consider Brief discussion of what to consider when choosing a Bible to study in conjunction with KJV)

The Deity of Jesus Christ in the New Testament

Colossians 2:9 KJV 1900

For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

Colossians 2:9

In Greek, “the” or what is known as the definite article is used to signify a noun. Many cases where Jesus and God are mentioned only one article is used in order to show 1 person…that Being Jesus is God as we read in Colossians 2:9.

King James Version Chapter 1

according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Thes 1:12b

New Living Translation Chapter 1

because of the grace of our God and Lord, Jesus Christ.*

2 Thes 1:12b

What are we trying to say here:

Deity means rank or essential nature of God. Simply put, a Apostolic oneness look into the Scriptures identifies that there is no rank in order when it comes to the God-head. God is one. God is Jesus, who was fully man and fully God.

The Name of God

The name of Jesus includes a short version of Yahweh (in Hebrew spelled yod hey waw hey)…the Hebrews did not record the consonants in their spelling as we have in English (a, e, i, o, and u). Thus, the actual pronunciation of Jehovah or better stated Yahweh is not known.

Jesus actually comes from the Hebrew name Yehoshua but shortened to Yeshua. This means “Yahweh Is Salvation.” or Yahweh Savior.

Jesus is the supreme name that God has given the NT Church to reveal salvation unto both the Jews and Gentiles. This is the only name by which we may be saved.

Acts 4:12 KJV 1900

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

Acts 4:12

Philippians 2:9–11 KJV 1900

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.

Phil 2:9-11

In closing, I would encourage you to take this time to study up on Apostolic Doctrine. Here are two great resources to better your understanding of the Word:

Apostolic Identity in a Postmodern World - Dr. David K. Bernard

A History of Christian Doctrine (3 volumes) - Dr. David K. Bernard

Prayer

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