Onward Christian Soldiers
Like a mighty army moves the Church of God
Brethren we are treading where the saints have trod.
Hell’s foundations quiver at the shout of praise!
Christians lift your voices, loud your anthems raise!
Onward Christian soldiers marching as to war
With the Cross of Jesus going on before!
1. Like
gasoline on a fire.
“But you
shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be
witnesses to Me in Jerusalem , and in all Judea
and Samaria
“And devout
men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. As
for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off
men and women, committing them to prison.” Acts 8:2-3 (NKJV)
“Therefore
those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. Then Philip
went down to the city of Samaria
“Went everywhere preaching the word. The rage of the persecutors only extended the reign
of Christ. The scattered saints, long prepared at the feet of the apostles,
went everywhere as preachers of Christ. The blood of Stephen was the seed of
the church.” —People's New Testament, Johnson’s Notes
a) The Kingdom of God
“Now after
John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God , and
saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God
“But when they believed Philip as he
preached the things concerning the kingdom
of God
“The
unmistakable reality of the miracles wrought by Philip convinced the people
that he was attended by the power of God; and that was enough to make
them acknowledge the authority of God in what he communicated to them.
In order that men may believe the Gospel, it is only necessary that they
believe it to be, in reality, the word of God. But the Holy Spirit convinced
them that what they heard was the word of God, by attending it with a sensible
demonstration of the power of God. That they believed was but the natural
result of what they saw and heard.” McGarvey—Acts of the Apostles
2. The Triumphant
March of Life!
“Christians
have done just about everything to sterilize the Gospel. The Church is no longer, as in the first
centuries, the triumphal march of Life through the graveyards of the world”. Evdokimov
“But the Jews
who were not persuaded, becoming envious, took some of the evil men from the
marketplace, and gathering a mob, set all the city in an uproar and attacked
the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people. But when
they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of
the city, crying out, "These who have turned the world upside down have
come here too. Jason has harbored them, and these are all acting contrary
to the decrees of Caesar, saying there is another king--Jesus." Acts 17:5-7 (NKJV)
“Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and
Silas away by night to Berea
Where there
was a Jewish synagogue, this is where Paul began. Here he found people, both
Jew and Gentile, who believed in Jehovah God and the Old Testament Scriptures.
He would show how the prophets predicted the death and resurrection of the
Messiah, and that this proved Jesus to be the Messiah who was to come, Three
Sabbath days. This is how long he argued in the synagogue. Many of them were converted.
Some were Jews. A large group of Greeks - Gentiles who wanted to learn about
the God of Israel, and who came to the synagogue regularly, but had not converted
to Judaism and been circumcised. And
many of the leading women. Wives of the
leading citizens, who had much influence.
“For they themselves declare concerning us
what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to
serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom
He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to
come.” 1 Thess 1:9-10 (NKJV)
