Ronnie Stevens

PAUL’S CONVERSION and OUR OWN
Acts 9:15-25

I.  Patterns which are Unusual and Distinct

A.  A Spectacular Public Conversion    (Acts 9:3-8)

1.  The Burning Bush     (Exodus 3:2ff)

2.  The Damascus Road     (Acts 9:3-8)

3.  “Most conversions are a gradual realization
      of what God has already done.”
                          --Donald Grey Barnhouse (1895-1960)

B.  Immediate and Prominent Ministry Engagement     
      (Acts 9:20-22; Galatians 1:15-18)

II.  Patterns which are Common and Shared

UNITY AND ITS FRUIT

 Acts 4:32-37

 I.  The Perils of Protestantism            4:32

 II.  The Internal Evidence of Unity        4:32

 A.  Unanimity in the Congregation

 B.  Heart Unity

 C.  Soul Unity

 D.  Authentic Koinonia

 III.  The External Expression of Unity       4:33

 A.  Great Power

 B.  Faithful Witness

 C.  Abundant Grace

 IV.  The Economics of Unity               4:34-35

 A.  Abundance: Where Does It Come From?

"Golden Age of the Church"

Acts 4:31

Acts 4:23-31

"The Gospel Unleashed"

"The Irresistible Gospel, Part III"

Acts 4:13-22

I.  Confidence and Its Source 

“…they observed the confidence of Peter and John…

and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.”   Acts 4:13

A.  The Paradox of Christian Confidence

B.  The Present Availability of Daily Fellowship with the Lord Jesus

“I have just spent five hours with the Most High God.”

                                                                John Knox (1514-1572)

II.  The Gospel and the Intellect

"The Irresistible Gospel, Part II"

Act 4:13-22

I.  The Gospel is Truth                    vv. 13-14 

A.  The Truth about Identity 

B.  The Truth about Transformation

II.  Truth does not always benefit the Wicked    vv. 13-14

A.  Truth is a liability for the unrepentant.

B.  The unrepentant deploy the Truth in the service of lies.

III.  Where the Gospel is Detected, the Gospel is Attacked.    vv. 15-18

A.  Resistance to the Gospel is a Conspiracy.       v. 15

B.  The congregation of Satan at worship

The Irresistible Gospel 

Part 1

Acts 4.13-14 

I. The Lesser and Greater Lights Contrasted      Acts 4:13

       A.  The Light which Comes from Research – Academics

                    agrammatoi kai idiotai

                    unlettered  and  lay people

                    uneducated and untrained

 B.  The Light which Comes from a Relationship – Apprenticeship

 They…began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.   v. 13

THE SCANDAL OF PARTICULARITY

Part 2

Acts 4.12

I.  The Doctrine Preached by Peter has provoked the ‘The Scandal of Particularity’

A.  ‘Scandal’ in this case means the offense caused to unbelievers by the doctrine

B.  ‘Particularity’ refers to biblical claims that Jesus ALONE can save

II.  The Doctrine Opposed by Human Logic

A.  The Impulse to Overrule God

      (The Prejudice which Overestimates Human Capacity)

B.  The Impulse toward Self-Salvation Strategies

     (The Prejudice which Underestimates Human Depravity)

"The Beautiful Miracle, Part II:  What The Miracle Means"

The Beautiful Miracle: Lessons at the Gate

"Samuel Had A Mother"

"The Age that was Golden, Part II"

"The Age That Was Golden, Part I"

"The Road to Emmaus"

Palm Sunday:  The Triumphal Entry

"The Signs of True Repentance"

The response to Peter's sermon.

"Peter at Pentacost, Part III"

"Peter at Pentacost, Part II"

God's Plan and Human Responsibility

"Peter at Pentecost"

"The Christian Pentecost, Part II"