N EW D URHAM B APTIST C HURCH P ASTOR F RANK C UOZZO L ESSON 3 “T HE P OWER OF THE F IRST C ENTURY C HURCH ”

Acts 1:8, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Where did the First Century Church get its power? Acts 4:33, “And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.” They did not simply witness the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ but they did it with great power! We have within us today that same power that they had by God’s Holy Spirit Who is living within. NDBC Adult Sunday School L ESSON 3: T HE P OWER OF THE F IRST C ENTURY C HURCH

Jesus told His disciples in Luke 24:49, “And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.” God told them not to attempt to do His work until they had His power. The power of the first century church was not about how they performed or what their strategy might have been, it rested entirely upon their dependence and allegiance to the Lord God in the Person of His indwelling Holy Spirit. NDBC Adult Sunday School

Physical Power- People can depend upon their own brute force or power to get God’s work done. They think that they can muscle their way through life without needing God. Financial Power- Some think the answer is to give more money, raise more money or to talk more about money to get more done for God, however we could give untold millions to God’s work and neglect the power of God’s Holy Spirit and God’s work will never be accomplished. Mental Power- Knowledge and worldly education are often poor substitutes for the power of God’s Holy Spirit. NDBC Adult Sunday School

Jesus taught His disciples about God’s Holy Spirit. He said in John 14:16-18, “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.” Jesus continued in John 16:7-8, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.” NDBC Adult Sunday School

The Disciples were empowered on Pentecost and filled with God’s Holy Spirit just like Jesus told them. Acts 2:1-4 says, “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” The result of Peter preaching after being filled with God’s Holy Spirit is recorded in Acts 2:41, “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.” NDBC Adult Sunday School

The believers in the First Century Church served the Lord, filled with His Spirit and enabled by His power. Paul reminded young Timothy in II Timothy 1:7, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” Too many believers and churches are living with the spirit of fear, timid, frightened and afraid to attempt anything great for God. We sit empty, not knowing and never discovering, never realizing and never experiencing what God by His mighty power can accomplish in and through our lives and in our churches. As you look through the book of Acts, we see some obvious things that the Holy Spirit, Who is a Person, did in the lives of these first century believers. NDBC Adult Sunday School

First, He Changed Their Speech. They went from being poor, uneducated fishermen who talked much about their livelihood to men who were filled with the Spirit of God to bring the gospel of God to people who needed God. Look at the example of Peter and John in Acts 4:13, “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesu s.” * Read also verses 1-12 of Acts Chapter 4. NDBC Adult Sunday School

Secondly, He Gave Them Courage. As we just read, Peter and John spake boldly to the Religious rulers of their day. Where did this boldness come from? It came from God’s Holy Spirit! Acts 4:31 tells us that after the encounter with the religious rulers and upon returning to the assembly that had a prayer meeting. The Bible says, “And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.” May God give us courage and boldness to preach the gospel in our day as well! NDBC Adult Sunday School

Third and lastly, He Gave Them Vision. These first century believers were initially Jews who confined God to themselves. They had the attitude that God was the God of the Hebrews and they were chosen of God. But something happened to them when they were filled with the Holy Spirit of God; They got a vision for ALL people. After Peter received a vision from God to go to a Gentile named Cornelius, he went and preached the gospel to him and his house. They trusted Christ and received the Holy Spirit just like the Jewish believers on Pentecost. Acts 11:1 says, “And the apostles and brethren that were in Judaea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God.” NDBC Adult Sunday School

God sent His Holy Spirit to the church after Jesus ascended and it was for the purpose of continuing the work of the ministry that Jesus and His disciples began. As we yield ourselves to God’s Holy Spirit, He will change our speech and give us the courage and vision to do what this first century church did and turn the world upside down. NDBC Adult Sunday School