Publisher's Synopsis
The Church is coming together of the called out people of diverse cultures, classes, lifestyles, races and theological persuasions called out of the life of darkness of sin into becoming redeemed members of the body of Christ. The Church comprises people who share the love of Jesus. Jesus is the rock on which the Church is built(Matt. 16:18; 1Cor. 10:4). Jesus said, "on this rock I will build my Church"(Matt 16:18b). It was founded by Jesus Christ and is a divine-institution and revelation. The Church was established to be the Bride of Jesus (Rev 21:2) but here on earth to continue the work which Jesus Christ began. The book of Acts of Apostles shows us that what Christ once did, the Church was now doing. In terms of increase and number of miracles that were performed, greater things happen today through Christ in His Church than through Christ in the flesh. It was Christ in His Church that turned the ancient world upside down (Acts 17:6).One major way to discover how Church life was established and lived out is to look at the Acts of the Apostles. Church life today is so very different from the church's beginning when she was endued with power on the Day of Pentecost. There would be a considerable hope for the future if the Church of today would reflect the principles and purposes of the first century Church. In the first five verses of the opening chapter of Acts, Luke sums up what he had dealt with in the 24 Chapters of his Gospel-the purpose of Christ's coming to this world, His suffering on the cross, His resurrection, His appearance and instruction to the apostles, His promise of the Holy Spirit(Luke24:49), and His ascension to heaven (Lk. 24:51). What Jesus began both to do and teach (Acts 1:16) in the Gospels is continued in Acts. Through the Holy Spirit, the risen Christ continues ministering in the lives of those committed to Him, bringing them into His Church. He had told the Apostles in Luke 24:49. 'Tarry in the city of Jerusalem, until you are endued with power from on high." On the day of Pentecost-one of the greatest days in the history of the Church, the Holy Spirit fell. His coming produced a transformation in the lives of ordinary everyday people, who became extraordinary people doing extraordinary things in extraordinary way. The early Church eagerly and responsively opened themselves up to the Holy Spirit and the strange phenomenon of speaking in unknown tongues that prompted the un-lookers to accuse them by saying "they are drunk" and "they are mad.'' If Christianity had ended with the Gospels it would have been a gospel without life and power, not a gospel that would conquer the world. The significance of the events recorded in four Gospels had to be understood by Jesus' followers and conveyed to others in the power of the Holy Spirit. Religion without Holy Spirit is only good on facts and rules but lack empowerment. There are many present-day highly trained pastors, eloquent and well versed in Scripture like Apollos before he was accurately tutored by Aquila and Pricilla (Acts 18:24-27) who occupy pulpits but no experience or dependence on the Holy Spirit. The result of this lapse is what someone has termed 'refined ineffectuality and cultured emptiness.' Training and refinement may be good but they are no substitute for the Holy Spirit and a God-dependent life. The Holy Spirit longs to indwell us and empower us in this era in the same way that He empowered the early Church.
