Oct
07
2009
Robert Smith: The Church's One Foundation
SESSION 7
SPEAKER: Robert Smith, Associate Professor of Divinity at Beeson Divinity School
TITLE: The Church’s One Foundation (Acts 8:26-40) (Audio here)
THE GIST: Acts 8 gives us a picture in miniature of the fulfillment of the Great Commission. As Christians are scattered, they went about preaching the gospel everywhere. Our task is to preach Jesus Christ from all the Scriptures through the power of the Holy Spirit.
BRIEF OUTLINE:
A Glimpse of the Great Commission’s Fulfillment
- Scattering from Jerusalem to Ethiopia (the ends of the known world at the time).
A Glimpse of the Kingdom
- Believers from all tribes and tongues. We should be ready to see people in the kingdom who don’t look like us.
Preaching Christ
- The emphasis in the passage is that the Christians preached Christ.
- The people saw signs – the attestation of the proclamation. The proclamation of Christ is the antecedent to the subsequent results. Christ is enough!
- The emphasis in the Bible is on the oral more than the visual. Hear, O Israel… The still small voice… Be quick to hear… If anyone has ears to hear…
Preaching One-on-One
- Philip is called to leave the masses and preach to one person. God promotes us downwardly.
- The Spirit was working ahead of Philip’s arrival. The Spirit gives us understanding of Scripture.
- Philip preached Christ from Isaiah. He made a beeline to Jesus.
- The eunuch rejoiced at the news. Some can’t live with Jesus; we can’t live without him.
MEMORABLE QUOTES
We preach an unalterable, immutable gospel in a changing world.
Your theology must not just be a theology of the seat, but a theology of the feet.
Arianism is experiencing a revival today in our preaching. It’s not that we don’t believe in Christ, but we have limited him. Jesus is not in a box. He is still omnipotent, still works wonders, and is the eternal Son.
When life breaks down, Christ breaks through!
God’s delays are not God’s denials.
The work of the Spirit is never separated from the Word. It is always Spirit and Word.