Life On The Highest Plane
The workers were sent by the Lord. Having been chosen and called they were also commissioned by the Lord. With the assurance and authority of a sent-one these first century ministers and missionaries went forth. Laymen, also, like Ananias were divinely commissioned for service.
Acts 22:21, "And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles."
Acts 9:17, "And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit."
Every Christian is needed somewhere in some kind of work in God's vineyard. Every Christian has been ordained to some task by God. Every member of Christ's body has been set in his position as an eye, an ear, a hand or a foot so that the Head may work through him for the accomplishment of some particular task. Only as every member of the body is functioning properly can the work of the Head be perfected.
1 Corinthians 12:14, 18, "For the body is not one member, but many. But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. If they were all one member, where were the body?"
Ephesians 4:11-12, "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; ... For the perfecting of the saints, and the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ."
Not even the weakest, the youngest, nor the apparently most ignorant and incapable is left without his share in God's work. In fact, God delights to choose those who in themselves are impotent and inadequate in order that the glory of achievement may be altogether His.
1 Corinthians 12:22, "Nay, much more those members of the body which seem to be more feeble, are necessary."
2 Corinthians 4:7, "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us."
The Lord Jesus determines and directs the work of those whom He has chosen and called. As we study the various phases of the work of the early Church we shall see that the whole field of Christian activity was adequately covered. In the accomplishment of the evangelization of the world the Holy Spirit gave every believer something to do and He set some apart for tasks which required special gifts.
There were witnesses in the first century Church. In fact, this was the primary work of each. The Holy Spirit came not upon a select group on the day of Pentecost but upon each one of the one hundred and twenty that each might be a witness.
Who is a witness, and of whom, and of what, does he witness? It is very essential to understand this if one would grasp the importance and the power of this form of Christian work. A witness is one who tells what he has seen and knows.
Acts 22:15, "For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard."
Of whom did those in the early Church witness? The power of the Holy Spirit was given only to those who witnessed of Christ Jesus. From the beginning to the end of Acts we see them witnessing in all places and unto all classes of people of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Of what concerning Christ did they witness? Invariably they witnessed not to His work in the flesh but to His work on the Cross and from the throne. They told others not of "the Jesus of history" but of the Christ of Calvary.
There were preacher-pastors in the first century Church.
Acts 20:28, "Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Spirit hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood."
Definite instructions given them regarding what they were to preach were followed implicitly. They preached the Word of God. Will you glance through the book of the Acts and note the number of times it is said that they preached the Word? Will you note also its marvelous power both of attraction and conviction? Multitudes, even whole cities, came to the place of worship, not to see a pageant nor to hear a concert nor a discussion of some notable book nor a moralization of current topics nor a rhetorical discourse, but to hear the Word of God. And wherever the Word was preached sinners were convicted, converted, and baptized by ones and twos, by hundreds and thousands.
~Ruth Paxson~
(continued with # 5)
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