Lessons from Acts 1-19

Now tonight we should be turning to Acts chapter 19. We should be picking up with verse 8. We know that Paul has made it to Ephesus. He promised he would return. Of course this is kind of the beginning of the third missionary journey. But in our study through the book of Acts we have gotten to a very important time in the birth and the development and the telling of the history of the New Testament church. Now I know that's a mouthful. I talked about the birth of the church. I talked about the development of the church and the history of the church. And I'm going to come back to that kind of language often on through the message.

But with the salvation in the inclusion of Apollos and these 12 men in Ephesus here in chapter 19 that we studied about last week now, we finally have the completion of the birth of the church. Another way of saying that. Here in chapter 19 we have the church completed and that all of the different groups of people are in the church. Now when it comes to our understanding of the birth of the church we must understand that the church was born in phases or at different stages with four distinct groups of people.

Now most of the time we will hear that the church was born in Acts chapter 2 when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the day of Pentecost. Now that is true. I'm not saying that's an error. But that is not all of the story. Actually when we look at the birth of the church in its totality, Acts chapter 2 is just part of the story. Acts chapter 2 is really the inaugural of the beginning of the process. Now let me explain what I mean. I'm going to unpack all this for us and I think you'll get it. The church was born in Acts 2 when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the day of Pentecost. We know that story.

Thousands of Jews had gathered in Jerusalem for Pentecost as promised in the Old Testament Scriptures the Holy Spirit of God was poured out and then Peter stepped forward to explain what was happening and in that explanation now he preached Jesus as the promised Messiah of God to those thousands of Jews. The result was about 3,000 were saved and the 3,000 were baptized and added to the number of the believers. So the church was born. But these were all Jews now and this was the inaugural or the first phase of the birth of the church. Then the church was born in Acts 8 when Philip went into Samaria preaching the Word. We know that story.

We know those events. The church had been scattered out of Jerusalem from persecution brought on by Saul and that caused Philip to go into Samaria and in Samaria he proclaimed Christ. He performed great miracles and both men and women believed and were baptized. Of course Simon the magician caused quite a stir by believing but he proved to be a false convert to Christ so the church was born. And these were Samaritans and the Samaritans were half Jew half Gentile. This is the second phase of the birth of the church.

Then the church was born in Acts 10 when Peter went into the house of Cornelius the Roman centurion preaching Jesus starting with John the Baptist. We know that story how both Cornelius and Peter received unique visitations from God. An angel of God came to Cornelius telling him to sin for Simon Peter and Peter had a vision from heaven teaching him that no animal made clean by God was unclean. Of course the animals in Peter's vision were symbolic of people. Well Peter obeyed the vision and the call to go to the home of Cornelius.

Upon entering the home he declared how he understood that God showed no partiality with men and nations and he preached Jesus in the gospel. Now as a result Cornelius and those within his home believed and they were baptized. So the church was born and these were Gentiles, non-Jews, not Samaritans, Gentiles. This was the third phase of the birth of the church. And there's one more group and this group can be missed. The church was born at the beginning of Acts chapter 19 when about 12 men in Ephesus believed savingly from Paul's preaching. Now I kind of include Apollos but a lot of scholars don't.

We know this story from last week's message but Paul went back to Ephesus as he had promised. He found some disciples of John the Baptist who had received John's baptism but they had never even heard of the Holy Spirit and what happened after John. Paul explained John's baptism and then he shared Jesus in the gospel. They believed and they were baptized about 12 men in all. So the church was born and these were Old Testament saints, Old Testament believers.

They were believers in the Old Testament sense but they had not come from the Old Covenant into the New Covenant and this was the third and the last phase of the birth of the New Testament church. Now this is my point and this is obviously very big picture. We must understand that the gospel and the church did not come onto the scene on a blank canvas. The gospel, Christianity, and the birth of the church did not appear in a vacuum. A vacuum meaning emptiness. Just think of the major people groups that we have seen from Acts 1 to Acts 19.

We've seen the Jews, we've seen the Samaritans, we've seen the Gentiles, we've seen those lingering Old Testament saints, those followers of John the Baptist, as well as Paul and all of those other apostles and those other leaders who were what I call second tier leaders behind the apostles and with the apostles. And think of the earth shattering change that really had to be made. All those peoples and groups had to move from the Old Covenant that had been followed by the Jews and the nation of Israel for generations, centuries, to the New Covenant which really just burst on the scene.

And the changes that were taking place so fast were monumental earth shattering. These changes were hard, harder than we realize, and took more time and work than we realize. And tonight we will see how understanding what I have briefly explained here really does help us today. But let me continue because I'm working my way to a few questions that come out of chapters 1 to 19. Again this is very big picture. And as I have been working my way through these chapters now for quite a while, these questions have come up in my mind. This type of message has come across my thinking many times but I believe it's time to address it now.

As a matter of fact, when I was in chapter 2, chapter 8, chapter 10, now in chapter 19, again, this was all in my mind. Now when we look at these four phases of the birth of the church, we see certain things that were universal happen in every circumstance. But we see some things that were not universal. Let me restate that. When we look at the birth of the church in Acts 2, chapter 8, chapter 10, and 19, certain things happen in every one of those stories and instances but certain things did not. First, speaking in tongues. In Acts 2, when the Jews were brought into the church, tongues in the speaking of tongues was present.

But in Acts 8, when the Samaritans were brought into the church, tongues were not present. But in Acts 10, when the Gentiles were brought in and in Acts 19, when the Old Testament saints were brought in, tongues were present. Last in Acts chapter 19, we saw this last week, not only were tongues present but prophecy was as well. Second, the delayed reception of the Holy Spirit or the immediate reception of the Spirit. In Acts chapter 2, there was a delay. The believers were all gathered together, that small band, when the Spirit fell upon them and they began speaking in tongues long after they had believed. In Acts 8, there was a delay.

The Samaritans believed and they were baptized but they did not receive the Spirit until Peter and John came from Jerusalem and laid their hands on them. In Acts 10, there was no delay. The Gentiles heard the gospel believed and the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard and believed. And in Acts chapter 19, there was no delay. Those Old Testament saints heard of Jesus, believed, they were baptized, and when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them. Third, this laying on of hands to receive the Spirit. In Acts 2, there was no laying on of the hands associated with the outpouring of the Spirit.

But in Acts 8 with the Samaritans, Peter and John arrived from Jerusalem later after they had believed and been baptized. Peter and John laid their hands on those who had believed. They received the Spirit. As a matter of fact, it was Simon who saw that and he wanted to buy the gift. In Acts 10, there was no laying on of the hands when Cornelius or the Gentiles believed. In Acts 19, when the Old Testament saints believed, Paul laid his hands on them and the Holy Spirit came upon them. Fourth, the presence of an apostle. This certainly can be overlooked because this isn't as dramatic.

In Acts 2, when the Jews believed and were brought into the church, the twelve apostles were present for all of those events. In Acts 8, when the Samaritans believed and they were included in the church, there was no apostle present at first. Later, when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that the Samaritans had received the Word of God, they sent Peter and John, they were apostles, to Samaria to investigate. In Acts 10, when the believers believed and were brought into the church, the apostle Peter was there in the middle of it all. In Acts 19, when the Old Testament saints were brought in, the apostle Paul was there.

So we see differences in these events. Some you may have seen, others you may not have noticed, and I know I went through that very quickly. But we see differences. But what are the commonalities? First, in every one of these events, in Acts 2 with the Jews, in Acts 8 with the Samaritans, Acts 10 with the Gentiles, and with with Acts chapter 19 and the Old Testament saints, someone proclaimed the Word of God. Peter preached in Acts 2 to the Jews. Philip preached Christ in Acts 8 verse 5 and Acts 8 verse 12 to the Samaritans. Peter preached Christ in Acts 10, 34 to 43 to the Gentiles.

Paul taught and explained of Jesus in Acts 19 to the Old Testament saints. Second, in all of these events, the message of Jesus, the gospel, and Jesus as the promised Messiah of God, promised in the Old Testament, was central in the preaching and teaching. Jesus was at the heart of all that was declared. In Acts 2, Peter preached Jesus as Lord in Christ. In Acts 8, Philip preached Christ. In Acts 10, Peter preached Jesus Christ. In Acts 19, Paul called them to believe in Jesus. Third, in each of these events with these groups, those who believe were baptized. Water baptism.

Remember now the pattern we have seen all through from chapter 1 to chapter 19. I've mentioned it many times. The Word of God and the gospel in Jesus was proclaimed, those hearing savingly believed, and as a result they were baptized. We see their baptism specifically stated in Acts 2, 41 with the Jews, and Acts 8, 12 with the Samaritans, and Acts 10, 44 with the Gentiles, and in Acts 19, 6 with those Old Testament saints. Fourth, in each of these groups there was a manifestation or a witness of the Holy Spirit, and we see this listed in the scripture.

So there were certain things common in each of these events with each of these groups believing and coming into the church. Someone preached the Word of God. Jesus and the gospel was central in their preaching. Those who heard the gospel and believed were baptized. There was a manifestation or a witness of the Spirit in all who believed and all who were baptized from Jew, Samaritan, Gentile, and those Old Testament saints. Now notice what we've seen. This is a lot. I've covered a lot of ground. I know that. At each of these four phases of the birth of the church, we see that certain things were universal.

Certain things were seen in each event, but some things were not universal. Some things were not repeated, and this will come into play in a few things we need to learn. This will come into play really in some things that relate to us today. Now this leads me to a series of questions, and out of these questions comes some lessons, and out of this comes some application that I believe will really help us here tonight. Some of these things I have addressed when we covered these events, but putting this all together like this I believe will be helpful. Last week I kind of teased us a little at the conclusion of the message.

Now I will say this before I transition. I will answer some questions, but I could stir some up, and remember now there's no such thing as a dumb question. There's no such thing as a dumb question. So first I got two big questions, and this is going to lead to some smaller ones, and now I'm not going to be exhaustive here. I promise I could go further. As a matter of fact, I struggled where to stop and to start. So the first big question, why was the gift of tongues given? Why was the gift of tongues given?

From what is seen in Acts 2, 8, 10, and 19, the gift of tongues was given as a supernatural sign authenticating what God was doing in the salvation of, acceptance of, and inclusion of these different people groups into the church and God's kingdom on earth. This gift authenticated and demonstrated that these different people groups were indeed brought into one body, the body of Christ, this new thing called the church. Let me give some specifics. First, tongues confirmed the giving and the receiving of the Spirit. Tongues confirmed the giving and the receiving of the Spirit. This is seen clearly and distinctly in Acts 10 verses 44 to 48.

In those verses we see how the Jewish believers knew that God had saved and accepted the Gentiles, and that was a big deal. And he had given them the same Holy Spirit that he had given them. Let me read verses 45 to 47. This is Acts 10. And the believers from among the circumcised, that would be the Jews now, who had come with Peter were amazed because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, "Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?" So what we're seeing here is this.

Tongues confirmed the giving and the receiving of the Spirit. And the Jews are clearly showing us that. Second, tongues confirmed that these different and very divided groups of people had been included into one church. There were not to be two or three different churches. The Jewish church, the Samaritan church, the Gentile church. There was to be one church. Third, tongues authenticated and confirmed the apostles and their work and their message as from God. In other words, tongues were not just personal experiences.

Tongues were given not to, not just to authenticate these individuals, but these apostles and their work and their message as all from God. In his commentary on Acts chapter 10, John Calvin mentions this saying of the Spirit's miraculous manifestation, and I'm quoting, "An excellent seal of the calling of the Gentiles." He goes on to say that God used tongues to seal both Peter's doctrine and also their faith. Fourth, and this one is very important, tongues were a visible proof that Gentiles were accepted by God just as the Jews. Of course, this is seen in Acts chapter 10 going back to those verses.

Notice how the verses show that the tongues were a visible proof that Gentiles were accepted exactly like the Jews. And I'm reading the verses. "And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter now, the apostle, were amazed because the gift of the Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles." Well, how did they know that? Verse 46, "For they, Jew and Gentile, were hearing them, the recently converted Gentiles, they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, 'Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?'" Now, this is my point.

Tongues in Acts chapter 2 to chapter 19 were a supernatural sign during a transitional time in the work of God. This supernatural sign was given at the birth in the establishment of the church. It was for authenticating, demonstrating that God was approving of these people and these things and these works. And these things took place to authenticate the work. Notice in each of the groups represented, tongues were given to authenticate and confirm the apostles, their message, their work, their gospel as from God and those who were being received as from God. Now, I'll finally get to a question that many want me to ask and answer.

Is tongues necessary for salvation? Some believe that. Some who may even be your neighbors. Well, the answer to that is no. There are many places I can go here, but I will point to two places in the Scripture. First, the Samaritan believers did not speak in tongues. Remember that? The Jews did in Acts 2. The Gentiles did in Acts 10, but in Acts 8 it doesn't say the Samaritans spoke in tongues. At least Luke didn't tell us that. And if it was necessary, I believe God would have inspired Luke to tell us they did.

But second, and this one is more definitive, in 1 Corinthians 12, 29 to 30, Paul says that not all believers have the gift of tongues. Listen to what Paul says. "Are all apostles?" Obviously no. "Are all prophets?" Obviously no. "Are all teachers?" Obviously no. "Do all work miracles?" Obviously no. He's asking these questions expecting a no answer. Verse 30, "Do all possess gifts of healing?" No. "Do all speak with tongues?" No. "Do all interpret?" No. So just off those couple of verses, we can see that tongues are not required for salvation. If it was, he would have said so. He just said it wasn't.

And besides, that would violate salvation by grace and grace alone. To say that tongues are necessary would violate the teaching of Ephesians 2, 8 to 9. And one of the fundamental rules of interpreting Scripture, one of the fundamental rules of what's called hermeneutics, that means interpreting Scripture, is if your interpretation in one place contradicts Scripture in another place, well your interpretation is wrong. Next question. This is for us. This is something folks want me to ask and answer, "Is tongues valid for today?" Now there is a debate on this subject, obviously, with basically two positions.

I'm really minimizing it quite a lot. First, the sensationalist view. Not sensationalist, but sensationalist as in ceasing. And they believe the gift has ceased. Many of the reformers held this view. John Calvin did. Matthew Henry, the very respected English Baptist, he held this view. Speaking of a modern pastor, John MacArthur, he held this view. This position believes that basically when the apostles died and moved off the scene, when the New Testament Scriptures were completed, the apostolic miracles and sign gifts ceased and tongues ceased. In other words, they really weren't needed anymore.

Others who certainly are respected do believe that tongues can still exist today. Warren Wiersby does. He basically believes that tongues are not necessary for salvation, but God still can give the gift if it is necessary. Now, I believe the gift has ceased. And what I mean by that is this. The apostles have died. Those apostolic, miraculous, sign gifts died with them. We don't need that. We have the completion of the New Testament Scripture. And I believe these apostolic gifts and workings of tongues died as well. But I also do believe that in certain circumstances there can be what we would see as a type of tongue.

Let me give you an example. I have heard missionaries tell stories of being in circumstances where one was preaching and it was a foreign language to others and they heard what was preached. I never forget my home church pastor told the story once when he was pastoring in South Texas in the 80s. He was preaching and they had a lot of Hispanics in the church and they had interpreters. There was a lady that came and talked with him after the service and it became clear through the conversation that she didn't have an interpreter but he said she could tell him many things he said in the message. And she didn't speak English.

What I'm trying to show you is this. In my opinion these apostolic, miraculous gifts have died. But in certain circumstances can God sovereignly, miraculously call something to happen where someone hears someone preaching a different language and they understand it something like that I believe that can happen. I guess I'm a lot like MacArthur but yet I'm a lot like Wiersby. I kind of leave the door cracked there. Number two, the second big question. Why the delay between the believers believing in Jesus and receiving the Spirit? Why this delay between when some believed and some received the Spirit?

We must remember and understand that the delays in giving and receiving the Holy Spirit were part of the different phases of the birth in the establishment of the church. Remember now these things took more time than we realize. These things didn't happen on a blank canvas. They didn't happen at a vacuum and they didn't happen in a matter of two or three days. In Acts 2 with the Jews, the disciples, the original band of believers now, they waited because Pentecost did not yet happen. Jesus commanded them to wait for the promised Holy Spirit and he did that in Acts 1, 4 to 5 and Acts 2, 1 to 4.

Simply that was just God's design for those early believers who were Jews. That would include the original 12. In Acts 8 with the Samaritans, they believed and they were baptized. But there was a delay in the outpouring of the Spirit until Peter and John arrived as seen in Acts chapter 8, 12 to 17. Now remember now they were apostles coming from the mother church in Jerusalem. So this delay was for a purpose or purposes. The apostles were there laying hands on them for a purpose. They came from Jerusalem, the mother church for a purpose.

These things happened as they did to prove and to demonstrate to the Jerusalem church that the Samaritans were coming in and this was all for the establishment of one church not two. Simply this was God's design now. Remember these were massive, massive revelations and changes. Massive revelations of God's plan to God's people. These were difficult things for them to accept. Remember the Jews had hated the Samaritans for centuries. Now I'm getting to some questions that some want me to ask an answer. Is there a delay today? Does this kind of a delay happen today? No. This is not the biblical pattern.

This delay here was unique for their day and their time and their unique circumstances never to be repeated in time in the life of the church. Acts 10 is a demonstration of the biblical pattern for us today. Sinners hear the gospel, they savingly believe, and they immediately receive the Spirit. That's the pattern not Acts 8. So some of you want me to ask an answer. When do we receive the Spirit? Well let me read a few verses and you tell me. Ephesians 1 13. Ephesians 1 13.

Paul says to the Ephesian church and believers, "In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation and believed in him were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit." Does that sound like a delay? Romans 8 9. Paul's writing to the Roman church and believers, "You however are not in the flesh but in the Spirit." What is he saying? You're a Christian, you're born again. "If in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you, anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him." So if someone says they're born again but they don't have the Spirit, well that contradicts Paul and that refutes a delay. Galatians 3 2.

Let me ask you only this. Did you receive the Spirit, Holy Spirit, by works of the law or by hearing with faith? What is he saying? You heard the gospel, you believed it with faith, you received the Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12 13. This is the last one. "For in one Spirit, capital S, Holy Spirit, we were all baptized in the one body. Jews or Greeks, slaves are free. We all were made to drink of one Spirit." And what we see here is this, the clear pattern from Acts 10 on. Lost people hear the gospel, savingly believe the Spirit comes to dwell within them.

Next question, for us now, does this delay seen in Acts chapter 2 and chapter 8 teach some kind of a second blessing theology? You know there's some that believe that you can have a second blessing of the Holy Spirit. Well is that what these verses teach? Well to answer that question, what do those verses I just read earlier teach us? It's simple. We receive the Spirit at our conversion. We receive the Spirit when we are born again. And to pull these events now from Acts 2 and Acts 8 out of their context to teach a second blessing experience is to pull them out of their text and to violate them.

We do not see this delay repeated after the church is complete, nor do we see any kind of a delay, any kind of a second blessing teaching concerning the Holy Spirit in the remainder of the New Testament. But, but we must remember that Ephesians 5 18 commands us to be filled with the Spirit, controlled by the Spirit, guided by the Spirit. This is an ongoing command and an expectation for the believer who already possesses the Spirit. We're to be filled with the Spirit. We are to continue to be filled with the Spirit. We are to be controlled by the Spirit and to continue to be controlled and guided by the Spirit.

Now, let me kind of personalize it. Let me kind of get down to me. In the Christian life, we must see that we are to continue to be filled with the Spirit. We are to continue to be guided by the Spirit. But if I allow sin and disobedience to come into my life, well I'm really not being spirit-led, Spirit guided. That doesn't mean I lose the Spirit, no. I'm sealed, remember? But we know that Paul teaches we can quench the Spirit, we can grieve the Spirit. Now, I'm not giving you those verses. I can't give you everything. You've got to go study it on your own. You go study what it means to quench the Spirit.

You go take your study Bible, maybe your commentaries, and you study what it means to grieve the Spirit. So, what I'm trying to show you is this. We receive the Spirit at the new birth. We are sealed with the Spirit. We don't lose the Spirit, but yet we are to be constantly being filled, constantly being guided, constantly being controlled. We can sin and quench the Spirit. We can grieve the Spirit and we can choose not to be controlled by the Spirit. That's called sin rebellion. And I do not believe in a second feeling, but I do believe in a unique empowering. We are seeing where Paul goes from city to city.

He was uniquely empowered as an apostle. In any man of God, any woman of God that is walked with God very long can articulate when God the Spirit worked in them in a unique way for certain unique things to do in life. Maybe witness to the lost, maybe teach a class. Listen, if we teach God's Word, whether it's to preschoolers, teenagers, or adults, and we step back and say, "I can do that." Well, we're pretty arrogant and egotistical. If we don't step back and say, "I didn't do that. God did that through me." That's a unique empowering. I can tell you how God has empowered me in each step of the way in my ministry. It's bigger than me.

It's greater than me. I don't have the ability to do these things and this is mysterious and it's experiential. I know that. Now, let me show you what I have been touching on. This is big picture. There's a lot more I could have said. I have been helping us understand the phases of the birth of the church, the unique transitional nature of the book of Acts, especially chapters 1 to 19. But I have also been touching on the person and the work of the Holy Spirit. Now, this leads me to guide you to a good resource. A good systematic theology helps here. A systematic theology is this.

Basically, an author, a commentator, usually a group of scholars take Scripture and systematize it. Well, you can study the Godhead. You can study God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. They take Scripture and systematize it. What I'm aiming at is this. You can get a good systematic theology and study all about the work of the Holy Spirit and the person of the Holy Spirit. I brought two of mine here. I have several. This one by Wayne Grudem is a very, very good one. It's called Bible Doctrine Essential Teachings of the Christian Faith.

It will tell you all about the person of the Holy Spirit, works of the Holy Spirit, even some different views. One that's a little more thorough is the Bible Doctrine Book, A Systematic Summary of Bible Truth by John MacArthur. It's a very respected one. It's going to be a little deeper and a little wider. As a matter of fact, when you start studying things like the Spirit, they're going to tell you what different denominations may believe about the Spirit. This is a very good purchase. As a matter of fact, you'll use it more than you know. More than you know. And if you need to borrow mine, you can borrow them.

I'm very good at buying books and giving them away. That's okay. But now I want to make a shift, and I'll be quicker in this section of the message. From those practical questions that led to making some application for us in our day and stirring up some questions, I want to make a shift to a very important big-picture understanding of the Book of Acts. The Book of Acts is the history of the birth, the spread, and the partial development of the church. Let me restate that. The Book of Acts is the history of, written by Luke now, the birth of the church, the spread of the gospel in the church, and the partial development of the church.

The full development of the church is seen further in the epistles. So Acts is just part of the story. Let me give you an example. You'll get it as soon as I say it. Elders are seen in the Book of Acts, but their qualifications are seen in the pastoral epistles, 1 Timothy and Titus. So when we want to study the office of the elder, even the office of the deacon, we don't go to the Book of Acts. We see them there, but the epistles tell us their qualifications and function. But back to the Book of Acts. It is vital for us to understand the transitional nature of the book. I will explain and I will show how some miss this.

Last week I said, much of what we see in this transitional book is descriptive, not prescriptive. Much of what we see in the Book of Acts is descriptive of things never to be repeated. These things are not prescribed. They are not to be copied. They are not to be repeated. I'll give you an example. Acts chapter 2. Those events at the Day of Pentecost are never to be repeated. That was a once-in-a-lifetime event. And if we try to stage some kind of a Day of Pentecost event, we're copying something that we're not supposed to copy. So how do we relate to these things? If they're not prescriptive, do we ignore them?

If they're not prescriptive, as in we're supposed to do them, do we skip over them? Do we tear all of this out of our Bible? Andy Stanley says that a lot of the Old Testament should be just ignored. He's wrong. We must never forget that the Book of Acts is authoritative, God-inspired, God-given scripture. But not everything in the book is to be repeated or copied for us today. So we distinguish between those transitional, never to be repeated events and the enduring spiritual principles found in those events that should be copied. And when we find those enduring, timeless spiritual principles, we obey them, we copy them, we apply them.

Now listen as I work through Acts 2, Acts 8, Acts 10, and Acts 19. I'll be a lot shorter here. You will see and you'll understand you'll be able to take this to other places in Scripture on your own. The light bulbs will just come on. First Acts 2, the birth of the church at Pentecost when the Jews believed. Everything that happened at Pentecost wasn't as foundational. The giving of the promised Holy Spirit, foundational. The 3,000 Jews who believed when Peter preached and their inclusion of the church, foundational. These things were foretold of in the Old Testament. If they had not happened, God would have been proven a liar.

But this was a one-time event. I've said it over and over. But on the other hand, listen to a few principles that are meant for all time and all people. The Spirit indwells all believers. The preaching of the gospel for the salvation of sinners. That's seen at Pentecost for all time and all believers. It is the Spirit of God who brings lost people to faith in Christ. That happened at Pentecost. It happens today. God fulfills His promises. Those are spiritual principles found in Acts 2 that are applicable for us today. You could add to that list. Second Acts 8, the birth of the church in Samaria.

Everything that happened in Samaria was foundational. The delay in the giving of the Spirit until the apostles arrived from Jerusalem dispelled the centuries old hatred and feud between the Jews and the Samaritans. The things that happened in Acts 8 were foretold of, promised in the Old Testament. If they wouldn't have happened, God would have been made out to be a liar. But that's a one-time event. But listen to a few principles that are timeless and meant for all people here. The gospel is not for one race or one class of people. The gospel is not for a pure race of people. The Samaritans were half-breeds, half Jew, half Gentile.

The gospel tears down race, religious, social barriers. God fulfills His promises. And if He didn't fulfill His promises here, again He'd be a liar. That's just a few principles pulled out of Acts 8. You could add to it. Third Acts 10, the birth of the church in the home of Cornelius when the Gentiles believed. Everything that happened there was foundational as well. The angelic vision and heavenly vision was foreshadowing of what was to be revealed. And that is, God did not distinguish between races of men. The tongues were a visible and experiential affirmation to the Jews that the Gentiles had received the same Holy Spirit as them.

They were included in the church too. Again, principles that are timeless out of Acts 10. The gospel saves those near God and the gospel saves those who were far off. The Jews were near God, the Gentiles were far off. The Gentiles symbolized those who were far off from God. The gospel unified the most separated and divided people. It still does today. The gospel even heals the most racially divided people alive. And again, God fulfills His promises. He said these things would happen and if they had not happened, He would have been a liar. 4th Acts 19, the birth of the church seen in the Old Testament saints in Ephesus.

Again, foundational events. These men represented those lingering Old Testament saints who believed the light of God that they did know but it wasn't enough. They had not heard the gospel. They had not heard of Jesus. They were not examples of Christians who had believed but needed some kind of a second feeling. They were not Old Testament believers who just needed their doctrine straightened out. They believed the light that they did know but that was not enough light to save them. They had not truly been saved because they had not heard of Jesus. Principles here. Old Testament light is not enough to save.

Partial light is not enough to save. Only Jesus and the gospel can save no matter how sincere one may be when they have the light that they have been revealed. And God fulfills His promises because here we see in a sense the completion of the Old Covenant because these twelve represent the last of the Old Testament saints who believed in Jesus and were brought into the new. Now notice how what I have worked through, this is a lot, relates to what we are studying in the book of Hebrews. John MacArthur helps us here. He really helped me and I'm quoting him. MacArthur says the theology of the transition is in the book of Hebrews.

Remember now Acts is all about transition. He points to the fact that the theology of the transition is in the book of Hebrews. The history of the transition is in the book of Acts. The results of all of these transitions are seen in the epistles. Now what does that mean for how we relate to the book of Acts? The rest of scripture. We do not get our doctrine of Christ fully from the book of Acts. We get that from the book of Hebrews, other New Testament scriptures. If we get our doctrine of Christ only from the book of Acts it will be incomplete.

Remember Acts is a historical account of the birth growth and development of the New Testament church. To see the church fully developed, to see the doctrine of Christ fully developed we've got to get into the epistles. Also we do not get our doctrine of the church fully from the book of Acts. We get that from the epistles. We begin in the book of Acts but we must move to the epistles. An example, we see deacons and elders in the book of Acts. I mentioned this. But we see the development of the office fully in the epistles. We see that in the pastoral epistles, Timothy and Titus.

Remember Acts is a transitional book taking us from Israel in the Old Covenant to the beginning of the New Covenant, the birth of the church. And the birth of, the growth of, and the development of the church took some time and those events involve some once-in-a-lifetime people, once-in-a-lifetime events, the Apostles, and some once-in-a-lifetime unusual circumstances never to be repeated. Now let me show you how close to home this gets. Our Pentecostal friends. Of course Pentecostalism is a broad brush. Pentecostalism is a mixture of a lot of different beliefs. Some Pentecostals are what we would call Orthodox.

Some are not now, but let me get to one thing that we can run across with Pentecostals that we may know. Quite a lot of Pentecostals we know base much of their doctrine in practice, almost all of it out of Acts chapter 1 to 10. Specifically, some teach that someone who does not speak in tongues as evidence that they have been saved, they're not saved. Let me restate that. Specifically, some here, some Pentecostals that base so much out of Acts 1 to 10, they teach that if someone doesn't speak in tongues as evidence of being saved, they are not saved. Another way. Some Pentecostals teach and believe a second feeling of the Holy Spirit.

So they'll get filled with the Holy Spirit all the time, filled with the Spirit in all of it. These circumstances and emotional experiences and services. And they base that teaching on Acts 2 and Acts 8. Another way. Some teach in a form of apostolic succession. Some actually believe that they're modern-day apostles. So I know this is a unique message for me within our study of Acts, but much of this information has been simmering on the back burner really since Acts chapter 2, really since Acts 1. And when we completed this section of the book of Acts last week, the inclusion of the last group, I knew it was time for this kind of message.

Now, I conclude with two things. First, questions. Ask them. There's no such thing as a dumb question. Ask them. But you go study. You take this and study on it some more. You pray over it some more. And you continue to dive a little bit deeper and I'm gonna tell you it'll become clearer and clearer and clearer. Last thing. The title of the message. I did call it lessons from Acts chapter 1 to 19, but I also call it how we relate to the transitional nature of the book of Acts. You see, lessons from Acts 1 to 19. But this is really how we relate to the transitional nature of the book of Acts. Again, this has not been exhaustive.

This has not been exhaustive.