Acts 3:1-4:4

“For the Jew First…"
Acts 3:1-4:4

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.” [Romans 1:16]

What was for the Jew first? “…the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation.”  We oftentimes forget that the Church began with Jewish believers in the city of Jerusalem. We will be reminded of that important historical fact in our passage this morning.

“…many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of men came to be about five thousand.” [Acts 4:4] In the span of days, the New Testament church grew to over five thousand! It was an incredible harvest! It was the fruit of the Holy Spirit at work. And the two important components to note were the location [Jerusalem] and people [Jews].

We use the term “Gentile Church” and sometimes forget that the expansion of the Church included Gentiles. There were prominent “religious Jews” who became Christians. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus are examples. These were prominent leaders in the Sanhedrin and became disciples of Christ. No doubt they were in this 5,000-member church. 

The New Testament church is a universal work of Jew and Gentile. Historically speaking [and shown in this book of Acts], the term Gentile Church only highlights the fact that Gentiles are included, not Jews are excluded. And this we will see as we progress in our study of Acts.

Jesus has gone from the scene physically, but He is very much at work in His Church through the Holy Spirit. This is revealed in Acts 3 and beyond. Like their Lord, the disciples performed miraculous signs that pointed to a vital message: Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and by believing in Him you have eternal life. 

The signs point to the I AM message. Sound familiar? It was the blueprint of the Gospels, and most recently highlighted in our study of the Gospel of John. This, too, is the blueprint for ministry in the Church today. 

Preaching, teaching, and serving God and people. That is what Jesus did. It, too, is what we ought to be doing as His bride [the Church].
Acts 3:1-4:4 Outline.

1.    The Sign [vv.3:1-10]
2.    The Message [vv.3:11-26]
3.    The Response [vv.4:1-4]