[private levels="basic,premium"]
By Robert C. Ewing
[wpm_download id="1153" text="Download" color="#21759B" text_color="#ffffff" size="medium" ]
“For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ,” (1 Cor. 3:11 NKJV). He is the chief cornerstone for His Glorious Church and everything that is build upon it comes from Him. The Church is in this perspective the extension of Himself. But there is another builder, the subtle deceiver that has generated a lot of confusion by building up his Babylon church, where any way of worship, to any kind of god is allowed. Satan’s goal is to pervert God’s ONE WAY of worship and blurring God’s Truth with deceit. Someone then may ask, how can I recognize the true from the false church? Who is the one that is building this church? How can I identify him? The answer to this and all the rest of the questions is Jesus of course, and He, fore-knowing what was going to happen revealed Himself seven instances in John’s Gospel declaring us WHO He is. It’s therefore relevant to really know Who is the Faithful One that is building true real Glorious Church, and by that to recognize His works. By having this understanding all confusion will be cast away the mind of those who wholehearted are seeking the best from God.
Each of the twelve churches in the book of Acts are going to show the stamp of the Great I Am (Jehovah in the O. T.), revealing His characteristics in these churches.
The Seven I am in the gospel of John paired with the 7 churches of Acts.
1.- The Bread of Life (6:22- 71) This revelation was a hard word for many of His followers, and even his 12 disciples had to face this challenge, “do you also want to go away?” But Peter’s answer gave the right approach to receive the Bread of Life. “You have the Words of Eternal Life.” By eating this Bread you will live forever, you will never die. The very same message, for many was a “hard saying,” while for the apostles was “life eternal.” Jesus didn’t care what they were going to think of what He was saying, He just gave
the Word of Life.
1.- Jerusalem church (Acts 2-8) is going to show Jesus as the Bread of Life that was the foundation for that church. Christ taught the 12 to live not by natural bread alone but by “every Word that proceeds out of His Father’s mouth.” When the Holy Spirit came on them at Pentecost, Peter opened his mouth to feed that hungry multitude, and at the end of the message where Peter is giving them the “words of eternal life,” so the hearts of the hearers were contrite and they couldn’t resist any more without asking “what shall we do?” They were reflecting their need of this Bread of Life, so Peter continued whit many other words to exhort them. So those who gladly received the Word, or Bread of Life, were added to the Jerusalem church, those 3000 souls never hunger nor thirst again. How wonderfully expressed are those last verses of Acts 2 where the whole church shared the bread from house to house being continually edified in the bread of the Word of the apostle’s doctrine. Living in that church was a daily delicious feast with the real Bread of Life.
After a time of fruitfulness, miracles and multiplication, they had to experience the broken bread in the fellowship with the 7 sufferings of Christ (Is. 53:4-7), through the persecution ‘till the ends of the world.
Here we see the first demonstration of who Jesus is, the living Bread. It is not a matter of reciting the Bible every Sunday, or trying to explaining it with the natural mind, we are talking here of life. The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Jesus will edify a church through words that will give life to the hearers, and we ministers have to be channels of for this life to get to the people so they may be edified. When human mind blocks, because of lack of understanding, the pure Bread of Life, it is removing the life of it, and the church is not going to be edified on man’s understanding but on the real, pure, undefiled Word of God.
2.- The Light of the world (8:12). This second revelation of who Christ is, comes immediately after the story of the woman taken in adultery. There Jesus’ light shinned so brightly that no one could hid from it and one by one departed from that place feeling guilt by the words of light brought by Jesus, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” But he who follows him will have the light of life.
2.- Samaria church ( Acts 8:5-8) was born out of darkness, being rescued from the sorcery where Simon (Satan’s tool) had them. Many faults can be found in those Samaritan people, but again Jesus light will shine upon those who rest in their own righteousness to lighten their wicked hearts revealing their need to walk in Jesus’ light. Philip call to the Samaritans was not as Peter to the Jews, he wrought signs and wonders by the Holy Ghost, so they would clearly see the difference between darkness and light, that difference was so outshining that the same Simon the sorcerer looked for it. After believing and being baptized, still he couldn’t come out of his astonishment seeing all the miracles that were done. Anyway God was not through whit him, because when Peter and the apostles came to baptize the believers in the Holy Spirit, the “I am the Light of the world” shined on him showing to Peter the bitterness and iniquity in Simon’s heart. Repentance is required every time the evil thoughts from the heart are manifested by the Light.
One of the most common practices in churches is to point out to the errors or faults of others, but this is not the way Jesus wants the church to be edified. There is a real need that the Light of the world shines upon our personal lives first, so we may become perfectly pure before bringing others to judgment, otherwise Jesus will point out again to the self-righteous accusers rather than the accused ones.
We have to remember that not only Jesus is the light of the world but we too (Mat. 5:16).
3.- The Door of the sheep (10:7). Both, the shepherd and the sheep enter through the door, not so the thief.
One of the main purposes of a door is to provide protection. Through this parable Jesus is revealing Himself as the sheep’s protection.
3.- We find in Damascus church (Acts 9) another way Christ was edifying His church. Saul of Tarsus, with his unleashed wrath was persecuting the saints, but when he was approaching to Damascus thinking to bring those believers in Christ to prison, he found that his way was shut by the “Door of those sheep.” Saul fell to the ground facing the Great I Am in this roll that is precisely intended to protect His sheep. If we carefully notice in the passage, Jesus says to Saul, “I Am Jesus whom you are persecuting,” showing that He is ready to stop the attack of persecution with His own presence.
When Saul entered the Door, his life was totally changed, and when the Jews plotted to kill him, again the Door provided a escape for him, this time through the wall in a large basket. Seems that this was not the only time Saul knew Jesus as the Door to escape, because time after time in his ministry we find him being delivered from death. Those who live in persecution, hidden in underground churches, overflow with testimonies on how the Door of the sheep has delivered them from persecution. Psalm 121:8 literally reads; “Jehovah (I Am) shall preserve your going out and your coming in…
4.- The Good Shepherd (10:11-30), the one who lays down His life for the sheep. And not only that but even gives them eternal life and no one will snatch them from His hand. Also in vs. 16 He is speaking of another sheep that He must bring together to have only one flock with only one Shepherd.
4.- Caesarea church (Acts 10). This fourth church is no doubt founded upon the basis of the “Good Shepherd.” He prepared Peter in advance to meet Cornelius’ men, and also led Cornelius to find Peter. He puts them together, and fulfills His prophecy of bringing the other sheep that were not of the Jewish fold. Of course He was speaking of the Gentiles that He knew would open their hearts to receive Him. This church is a great example on how Jesus is the Good Shepherd, leading them to the green pastures of salvation, giving them everlasting life, and assuring them that not even the jealousy of the some with their legalism and traditions would snatch them out of His and His Father’s hands. This “Good Shepherd” is still gathering together His sheep all over the world, and He doesn’t want several flocks, He is making only one, are you of His sheep? Men’s headship has divided Jesus’ flock, but those who know the voice of the Shepherd will hear Him and will follow Him, regardless of men’s threatens.
5.- The Resurrection and the Life (chapter 11). This jewel of a chapter is one that has so many details in it, like faces to a diamond, that it’s impossible to thoroughly describe it in few words, therefore we’ll only make reference to a few key points. Jesus waited 2 more days when He heard that his friend Lazarus was sick, He declared that the sickness was not unto death, but for the glory of God. Every step He took was against any logic, or natural reason, as expressed by the disciples, Martha and Mary, and the witnesses. When the time came to utter the word of resurrection, He was fully confident in His Father’s backup.
5.- Antioch (Acts 11:19-30; 13:1-3; 14:26 -15:2; 15:30-41). As in the case of John 11, the story of Antioch church is a well detailed one. This church was not born out of men’s plans, is was for God’s glory only. The persecuted saints preached the gospel to the Hellenists there, and when those in Jerusalem heard that they had received it, they sent Barnabas, not Peter this time. Barnabas, when he saw the grace of God and the multitude of people that was receiving the Lord, didn’t return to Jerusalem, but went to Tarsus to seek Saul (notice his name hasn’t changed yet.) We can say that because of Antioch’s church Saul was resurrected to the ministry, being brought by Barnabas to teach the believers for a full year. After a year of teaching those believers, they were called Christians for the first time in history. This church of Antioch is so intimately related to Paul that we can’t speak of one without the other. Three times Paul left the church to go to his missionary trips, and each time he left to preach other places it was as a “death” to the church, but his return was as a “glorious resurrection.” With a little imagination we can understand the deadly pain that it was for the church to be left by his spiritual father, the one that not only brought them to life and maturity by the revelation of the gospel of Christ, but the one that also fought for her liberty from legalism, knowing that it could be the last time they saw him. The apostolic ministry is a continual process of death, burial and resurrection, not retaining the present things as theirs, but giving themselves to others, and leaving the glory to God. Those true apostles don’t struggle to be acknowledged, they are dead to names and to personal glory, knowing that this is God’s way for the next resurrection. Antioch is an apostolic church, she didn’t retained the ministers, but trained and sent them away (apostle means “the sent one”). This is the real process of death burial and resurrection for an apostolic church, her vision has to be one that trains ministers to send them to the missionary field. When this vision is lost in order to increase in numbers or influence, the death process will have no resurrection whatsoever. The same thing is true for each minister with an apostolic calling, when he struggles to retain his actual position in the local church, because of security or comfort, is losing the opportunity, by biding himself as Lazarus was, to experience a glorious resurrection to a ministry that will have more of the mighty Christ in it. Instead, both churches and ministers have to be fully confident in the Father’s backup, removing the blocking stone and releasing the word of resurrection, so the I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE may be manifested in every death.␣
Here we see a threefold ministry of the Lord being reflected in the following churches.
6.- The Way, the Truth and the Life (14:6)
a) the Way, Jesus is the one and only way. He is the only access to the Father and therefore the only way to salvation.
b) the Truth, Jesus not only preached the truth, He was the truth personified. Pilate asked Jesus, what is truth? Then, without waiting for the answer he went ahead to deliver Him to be crucified. Knowing Jesus is knowing the Truth, outside Him there’s no truth.
c) the Life, Jesus is not the Author of life and the Giver of life, He is life itself. By this we mean that life is worthless without Him. He wants to life His life through us.
Here we see a threefold ministry of the Lord being reflected in the following churches.␣
a) Philippi church. Acts 16 and 2 Cor. 2:12, 13 show how Paul was trying to go to other places but the Spirit didn’t allow him ‘till the way was open to Macedonia. God’s ways are different than man’s. It took a whole process of redirecting Paul from his original purpose to go back with Barnabas and visit again the churches (Ac. 15:36). This time Paul had Silas and not Barnabas, and Timothy instead of Mark, he was not permitted to go where he wanted to go, and when he finally made it to Philippi, he ended up in jail. All of these would have been enough for someone with little faith and a short vision, but all of this is needed so we can learn that Jesus is the way.
Man’s ways are always limited, and when circumstances or people change, they usually lost the compass and end up not knowing where to go. How many ministers have questions in their hearts when things don’t walk the way they thought? Should I go back or go ahead? Did I choose the right men to come with me?
Jesus is still speaking to you “I AM THE WAY,” look at me, follow me, praise me, lift up my Name on high. Don’t look at the circumstances, set your eyes upon Jesus, and He will make a way, because He is the Way.
b) The twin churches of Thessalonica and Berea started when the truth of the Gospel was taught in the synagogues. Paul reasoning with them every Sabbath was showing by the Scriptures that Jesus had to suffer, die and rise again, an that He the Christ, this is the central theme of the Scriptures, this is the foundation of every truth. But the envy of the Jews against Paul, made the brethren to send Paul to Berea, there again the truth prevailed. Notice that there were more Jewish converts in Berea because, as it’s expressed in Acts 17:11: “These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.”
Persecution is many times the sign that we are preaching the truth (1 Thes. 1:6). This truth is a never ending revelation of knowing Christ more and more each day. The moment someone thinks he knows everything, is the moment he begins to divert from the truth. This is the reason why denominations cast away and even persecute the those that come with a fresh understanding of God’s truth. These truths have been the triggers of every great move of God, nevertheless when this new move becomes established and it’s leaders think they now know all the truth, another denomination is born. Ephesians 4:13 reveals that we should continue growing under the fivefold ministry ‘till we all get to the unity and knowledge of the Son of God, to the fullness of Christ. Jesus Christ is the unchangeable Truth, and no man has the exclusiveness of it.␣
c) Corinth church is going to be edified upon Christ’s life. Paul’s preaching in that city’s synagogue showed Christ’s life, Acts 18:5 says that Paul was pressed in the spirit, which means “pressing upon vehemently, urging,” as if the life within was pressing to come out. “I am the Life” came to Paul in a vision by night to encourage him, revealing him that He had many people in that city.
Corinth was known as a hub of sinful life, and the Corinthians were used to have that kind of life, but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. Jesus came to that city to show them a new life in Him. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that he preached Christ, and Him crucified as the foundation stone for that church. It is very interesting to see that Christ’s crucifixion ministers life to those who receive it, because in that cross, our old life was also crucified, so we may life the new life in Christ.
Also in those two letters Paul is showing to the Corinthians that in Christ we are “new creatures,” so they didn’t have to life the old life again. We may continue on and on looking at the different situations within Corinth church, discovering how Paul, in every circumstance, taught them to live their lives in Christ. God’s way to call people out of their sin is to give them a new life by which they could be transformed into a real Christians.
7.- The True Vine showing four ways to bear fruit by:
a) Laboring (15:1). Bearing fruit
b) Pruning (15:2, 3). Bearing more fruit
c) Abiding (15:4-7). Bearing much fruit
d) Going and bringing forth fruit (15:16). Bearing fruit that remains.
This 7th I am is going to be reflected in these last four churches in Acts.
a) At Ephesus church (Acts 19, 20) Paul worked longer and harder than in the other churches, even in 1 Cor. 15:32, he refers to this comparing the opposition found in Ephesus to fighting with beasts. The Vine here, communicated the grace for hard laboring, not in self-effort, but in love dedication.
b) Troas church (Acts 20:4-12) is an example of pruning in the cutting of Eutychus’ life, but this experience instead of stopping Paul’s teaching, gave him and the church strength to continue until the morning. Pruning is not meant for death, more fruit will come out of it. Do not fear when the loving hand of the Husbandman do some pruning in your life or church, He knows very well what He’s doing and you’ll rejoice in the abundance that follows. More of the True Vine is going to be manifested.
c) Tyre church. In Acts 21:3-6 we find how Paul was tested if he was going to abide in the word he had received from the Lord or would change his mind in going up to Jerusalem. Abiding in the calling even when sufferings would come takes us to a higher realm. God always tests the church’s faithfulness to His calling, abiding in it is the key to success in God’s will. Faithfulness brings much fruit.
d) The long and troubled trip to get to Rome gave Paul the opportunity to preach the gospel to the main authorities in the Roman empire. Also it was there where he wrote the epistles that have brought fruit that remains, even in these days. Walking with the Lord is a continual adventure, sometimes filled with danger and opposition, but others with joy and glory, but the thing that really matters is when we look back to realize in wonder, that this path has been sown with the good seed that bears fruit that remains, not only on this earth but eternally in heaven.
[/private]