Word Study Wednesday (or Thursday)

It’s Word Study Wednesday (oops! Thursday). We have begun our series on Salvation and Witnessing. Today we will look at our first lesson from the book of Acts. We actually began this series last week so take a look at my previous post for a clear understanding of the gospel message given in 1 Corinthians 15:1-8: Word Study Wednesday – Acts 2 .

In the book of Acts we have at least eleven different witnessing situations. When taking a look at these situations we need to ask ourselves the following questions: Who is the Audience? Did they quote scripture from the Old Testament? How was the gospel message presented? Was the person filled with the Spirit? What were the results? Were there witnesses (evidence or proof)?

We will take a look at Acts 2:4, 2:14, and 2:22-42. In order to keep this lesson as short as possible, I will ask questions and then look at the answers at the end.

1. Who is preaching (look at verse 14)?
2. Look at verse 4, was the speaker filled with the Spirit?
3. In verse 22 who is the audience in this witnessing situation?
4. Take a look at 1 Corinthians 15:1-8. Remember that this is the gospel message. In verses 23-24 of Acts, do we see any of the gospel message from 1 Corinthians 15 in these two verses?
5. What part of the gospel message is found in verse 38 (see Mark 1:14-15 for more of the gospel message)?
6. In verses 25-28, we see a quote from the Old Testament. Look at your cross references in your Bible where this is quoted from.
7. Where is verse 34 quoted from? (look at your cross references)
8. Look at verses 37 and 41 to see the results of this message preached?
9. What did the speaker accuse the Jews of in verse 23? Did this take boldness?
10. Were these people witnesses to the crucifixion in verse 22-23 and 32? (recall that witnesses were mentioned in the gospel message given in 1 Corinthians 15:1-8)
I hope you take the time to answer these questions, because they will help you better understand how to present the gospel.

Summary
Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit when he preached this message. Remember he had been a coward just a few days before and now he is boldly proclaiming the gospel message by accusing the Jews of killing Jesus the Son of God. Because he is witnessing to a Jewish audience, he uses the Old Testament scriptures, which his Jewish audience would be familiar with. He mentions that Jesus died and God raised Him from the dead. Notice in verse 32 he mentions witnesses (witnesses are important to validate the truth). He also told them to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of Sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (verse 38). As a result of this sermon, 3,000 souls were saved. In verse 42 we are told that they were continually devoted to teaching, fellowship, and prayer. So once we win someone to the Lord, we must teach them how to study the Bible and pray (disciple them). They also need to be in fellowship with other believers.

Stay tuned next Wednesday for another lesson on witnessing from the book of Acts.