Adventures In Acts: Mission

Adventurous Mission

Acts 5:17-32 , 17 But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy 18 they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. 19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, 20 “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.” 21 And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach. 

Now when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the council and all the senate of Israel and sent to the prison to have them brought. 22 But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, 23 “We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them we found no one inside.” 24 Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them, wondering what this would come to. 25 And someone came and told them, “Look! The men 

whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.” 26 Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people. 

27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, 28 saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” 29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. 30 The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. 31 God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 32 And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”  ESV 

Acts 8:1-5 , At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. 3 As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison. 4 Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. NKJV 

We have been in a series through this Summer entitled Adventures thru Acts…I’m so grateful with a World that has lost its collective mind we have Jesus who is still on the Throne and His Kingdom…AMEN!!! 

Last week I spoke to you about the Kingdom Agenda…The Kingdom Message is the ONLY message Jesus brought…everything Centered Around the Kingdom of God…and this is the Message that the Apostles Taught and eventually gave their lives to…most by Martyrdom. The Greatest Thing about the Kingdom is that the Kingdom is eternal and everlasting…and so is its King…”of His Kingdom there will be no end…” 

One of the keys about the Word of God and the things we are walking through in the Book of Acts… 

In Acts 5 and Acts 8…all those who persecuted the Church and the Apostles…Thought they were doing the Right Thing! 

But be of Good Courage…even if persecuted, misunderstood, or even mischaracterized…we have a Mission that cannot be stopped. 

• • Jesus told the disciples during one of their last times of hanging out… 
  • Go into all the World and make disciples (Jesus followers) … 
    1. The Apostles took this to heart and unleashed on the World…the Good News that the Kingdom of God had come… Acts 17:6 “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too 
    2. I love this statement because their perspective was the disciples were turning the world upside down…but to God’s perspective these disciples were turning the World right side up… NKJV 
    3. Perspective – since you have received Christ have you ever looked back and thought…”What in the world was I thinking and doing?” 

• • • I recall walking into a convenient store a year or so after giving my life to Christ and the attendant of the store had his hair cut like the lead singer of “Flock of Seagulls” and I was wearing a Petra t-shirt. He started in on my shirt…He had no idea who they were and one year earlier I didn’t either. We started talking and I was introducing Him to a whole new world of Music…then I shared with him the person their music sang about…and in the store he gave his life to Christ. He entered a whole new world. 

• • 1. This Mission Cost these Apostles… In the text I just read the Apostles were ALL Thrown in Jail by Religious People… 
       • In Acts 8 Saul is overseeing the persecution of the Disciples… Saul is a Pharisee of Pharisee and a Roman Citizen… 
       • He carried dual-citizenship and was unmerciful towards the church… 
       • READ THROUGH THE TEXT in Chapter 8… Acts 8:1-5 

At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 And devout men carried Stephen to his So, what Happened before this Particular Occasion… Peter had been preaching and many were turning to Jesus… And people were dropping dead over lying about their offerings…Ananias and Sapphira People had brought their sick and dying out to the streets so that when Peter would walk 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. 4 Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. NKJV  

You would think the World would be so excited… But in our text…the Apostles are thrown in Prison… The Common Prison…so everyone could see them, and they’d be put on display for everyone to know and see. But God had other Plans… See the Mission of Christ isn’t always greeted with Blessing, praise, and favor. You can be right in the middle of the plan of God and attacks come…. Attacks happen for three reasons: 

1. One you are living in the Plan of God 
2. Secondly, we are outside the plan of God. 
3. Thirdly, you are alive and breathing oxygen. 

So circumstances cannot dictate to you if you are living out God’s plan, you have to know His word. Sometimes you can be doing everything in the Plan of God and end up in bad places… But you must know the Mission is more important than our comfort. 

Matter of Fact all through the Book of Acts you will read about Miracles, People Following Jesus…then the life of the Person sharing the Good News is either in prisoned, beaten, or even Killed for the Mission of Christ. Methods All through the book of Acts…Different Methods are used to Promote the Good News of the Kingdom In Acts 23 – the People set out to Kill Paul…they were going to Ambush him on his way to his next destination…Paul’s nephew heard of the plot and warned Paul…Acts 23:20-25 

20 And he said, “The Jews have agreed to ask that you bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though they were going to inquire more fully about him. 21 But do not yield to them, for more than forty of them lie in wait for him, men who have bound themselves by an oath that they will neither eat nor drink till they 

God Provided a Strategy…listen to me…at times we need a strategy as to what to do in certain situations… Acts 9 – they are coming after the Apostle Paul to kill him…so they lowered him down out of a window in the wall by using a Basket…It Just have killed him; and now they are ready, waiting for the promise from you.” 22 So the commander let the young man depart, and commanded him, “Tell no one that you have revealed these things to me.” 23 And he called for two centurions, saying, “Prepare two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen to go to Caesarea at the third hour of the night; 24 and provide mounts to set Paul on, and bring him safely to Felix the governor.” 25 He wrote a letter NKJV 

Sometimes you must use your Common Sense Acts 5 – God provided a Supernatural Miraculous way of Deliverance. 

See here is the Point…Sometimes God provides the Miraculous Supernatural move of His hand, other times He gives a Strategy…then other times God expects us to Use Common Sense. 

One of the Trickiest parts of walking with Jesus is sorting out our part from God’s part. Sometimes when following Jesus is the hardest, we want to shift our responsibility onto God’s plate. 

In All these Methods the Mission Moved Forward and Continued. Assignment In our Opening Text the Apostles were behaving like Ambassadors An Ambassador represents the Kingdom in which they are from…not the Kingdom they are currently residing in…I shared that last week a bit. An Ambassador speaks for, has access to and represents the Kingdom He is sent to represent. Notice this…the Apostles didn’t behave like Diplomates! 

2 Cor 5:20 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us ESV 

Diplomats are also sent from another Kingdom or Country… His job however is to negotiate a comprise whereby both parties will be satisfied and live peacefully But the Kingdom of Darkness is never satisfied and there is no peace in that kingdom…. 

29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.” Now most of my Christian life…I’ve heard this scripture used in a manner that supports someone’s own personal, rebellious attitude, agenda, and wants. 

Usually against a Pastor or Leadership…. But that is not the way the Disciples used this verse or the way they stated it…. They were confessing we are Ambassadors…we are not diplomats We are not negotiating on this Message If you imprison us, we preach If you let us go, we preach If you kill us…in the Process of Dying…we Preach!!!! 

This is the picture of the Early Church…nothing was about their benefit except Heaven being their home. 

At Arlington National Cemetery and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. One of the most powerful places I’ve ever visited. Every hour on the hour, 365 days a year, soldier comes up to take over for the next hour. They face each other and the soldier going off duty says something to the new guard who is coming on duty. The same can be said of the 21st Century Church…Orders Remain Unchanged!!!! My Prayer for my own life is: Lord don’t let me fall more in love with my experiences and encounters with you than I do Your Mission Lord 

“Orders Remain Unchanged”!