Today I'm Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Imagine this. The God of the universe has a plan. He has a game plan for this entire planet and the universe.
Now get this, that same God, as a plan for your life. Want to discover what it is? Stay with us. Have you ever asked yourself, is there a point to all this? To the chaos, the headlines, the struggling, the striving?
I'm Dave Druy, and today on Living on the Edge, Chip Ingram answers with a resounding yes. God has a sweeping, unstoppable agenda for this planet, and it includes you. Today, Chip launches a series called The Jesus Revolution. Join the movement. And later in the program, you'll get to hear about a very special opportunity that's just begun here this month with our mid-year match.
Well, more on that after the message. But now here's Chip with a lesson titled, The Call to All. I want you to think for just a moment that the one who created All that there is has an agenda for this planet. The Creator. The one who spoke and the cosmos came into existence, the Alpha and the Omega.
the one who's all-knowing. All-powerful. He has an agenda for all things. And he has an agenda for all people. To understand that agenda on our part, we have to go back to literally the dawn of creation.
Beyond the great cosmos to this one privileged planet. And scientists know what I'm talking about. The unique... Situation in which the Earth orbits and where it's at in this galaxy. And then on this one small planet, the pinnacle of God's creation.
Mankind Ignited the Greatest Love Story. Ever. In fact, as you open the Bible, you find that in Genesis chapters 1 and 2, and then later at the very end, chapters 21 and 22 of Revelation, we have the picture of God's great love story.
So often, so much of life and so much of what it means to follow God or hearing about Christ has fallen into religious ears instead of it's a love story. God lived in perfect harmony. In relationship with the Godhead, self-existent, transcendent. in need of nothing and in need of no one, but chose. to create free moral beings in his image.
Place them in a perfect environment. And in Genesis 1 and 2, we get the picture of Knowing and being known. The God, the Creator with the pinnacle of His creation, Adam and Eve. Loving and being loved. And then the course of the time The greatest divorce that has ever occurred in all of the universe occurred.
In a moment of weakness and temptation, our first parents decided that they wanted to be like God. That they wanted to do their own thing. And so something happened. It literally says that there was a fall. Sin entered the world.
And the actual creation even groans to this day. And the explanation for hurricanes and earthquakes and things that the world was never supposed to happen happened when sin entered the world. God in His great, great mercy. Killed an animal and clothed our first parents and covered their shame and their nakedness. And then he set them outside of this perfect environment because the tree of life.
Was in it. And if they would eat of it, they would stay in this fallen state forever and ever and ever. and ever. And what you need to understand is There's a perfect environment in chapters 1 and 2 of Genesis. And there is a day that will come when the Creator of all of life, With whosoever would trust and believe in the gift of Christ will live in a perfect environment called the kingdom of God, a new heaven and a new earth.
But all of Scripture From chapter 3, verse 21, all the way through. to chapter 20 of Revelation. is the great tsunami of God's grace. What I want you to get in your mind is that From the very first moment when God clothed our parents, He began this unstoppable wave of grace. This grace that wanted to redeem, this grace that wanted to reconcile, this grace that wanted to forgive and atone for.
Because God promised. He promised from the very first time in Genesis 3, through multiple prophets and multiple times, that one day a Messiah, a Savior, a deliverer would come. And that the tsunami of grace would be clear and vivid, and that God would live among us, and He would love us, and His life would demonstrate the Father's heart. Full of truth and grace, and then his death would actually pay for once and for all the sins of all people of all time. And that tsunami grace was offered to the nation of Israel, and they rejected their own Messiah.
And Jesus died, and then he rose three days later, and having paid for the all sin of all men of all time, and conquering death, and conquering Satan, He starts a new wave of grace called the church, a supernatural community where. The living Christ who walked on the earth in his physical body would now, God the Holy Spirit would come and live inside his followers who trust him. And that tsunami wall of grace would rise higher and higher and forcefully move. And Jesus would say, the gates of hell could not and will not prevail. against his church.
And where's church? The founder of the church is Jesus, and Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are the story of our founder, Jesus. And the book of Acts is a story of his followers. Of what happened after he left and empowered them, and this tsunami wave of grace moving forward. And if you open your Bibles to Acts chapter 1.
We're going to go on a journey together. The author is Luke. He's a doctor. He's a researcher. Luke and Acts are almost like a documentary.
And he does all the research and he's writing, many people believe, to a person of great influence, Theopolis. And at the very end of Luke chapter 24, Jesus opens the mind of his disciples to understand the scriptures, and then he gives them this assignment. He says, This message of the kingdom of God of repentance will be preached through every nation and the earth, and I will empower you, and you'll be my messengers. You'll be the unstoppable tsunami force of my grace and love to go to all the earth and let them know there's hope. There's deliverance in me.
And then In Acts, he continues his documentary. And we pick it up, and he says, In my former account, Theophilus, I wrote of all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven. And after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen, After his suffering, speaking of the cross, He showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs. That word, literally, in Greek, is a sure sign. This is the idea of supernatural, miraculous things that they experienced.
It was Thomas touching the holes in his hand, it was him walking through a wall. It was. multiple things so they knew Over forty days The New Testament has ten specific occurrences. That in a resurrected body, he comes to his disciples and lets them know: this is real. I really rose from the dead.
It wasn't one person here or one person there. And then he did some teaching. He says that convincing proofs that he was alive, and then he appeared to them for over 40 days and spoke about the kingdom of God. And all that means is the rule of God. This is how life works when God is in control.
I'm going to send you to finish what I began. And he's giving them instruction, and he's opening their mind to the Old Testament and giving them a picture of what's going to happen and what their role is in it. On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command, Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift. My father promised what you've heard me speak about. For John baptized you with water.
But in a few days, you'll be baptized. with the Holy Spirit.
So when they met together, they asked him, and the tense of this verb literally is they were continually asking him until they got an answer, Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel? He said to them, It's not for you to know the times or the dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. And you will be my witnesses. And then he tells him, sort of, the game plan is the outline of the book.
You'll be my witnesses, literally, the word we get, our word martyr. You'll be my martyr. You'll be my eyewitnesses. You're the ones that have seen. You're the ones that have heard.
You're going to experience my power. And you're going to be my witnesses in Jerusalem. The city? Judea, the area, Samaria, the area beyond that, and to the uttermost parts. of the earth.
You're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram, and we'll continue our message in just a moment.
Well, something special is happening here in June at Living on the Edge. It's a powerful mid-year match. For a limited time, every gift to this ministry will be doubled in size, meaning twice the reach, twice the impact for every dollar given. You can learn more about it at livingonthege.org, and Chip will have more details after today's message.
Now let's get back to our lesson. And so what you see is God's agenda first and foremost is he says to his followers, you finish what I began. And then second, he says their focus was to fulfill the global agenda. not their national political interests. And so they're thinking, great, Jesus has come, he's the king, he's risen from the dead, he's the man, we're going to sit on the thrones, let's go for it.
And he goes no. And he says, guys. Stop thinking about your political interest and your national interest and what you want done for you and your protection and your comfort. He says. There's a global agenda.
You're to be my witnesses where you are.
Next to where you are Extended from where you are. and to the uttermost parts of the earth.
Well, as he does that, then he gives them some assurance, because I don't know about you, but if you got that word from Jesus at that point in time with your worldview, A, it'd be a little disappointing, and two, it'd be impossible. Like, are you kidding me? I mean, I mean, Peter's pretty forthright. I can see him. Hey, John, there's 120 of us.
Is he joking? I mean, he may come through the wall and give us some assurance or something again, but I mean, 120 of us, we're going to go to the ends of the earth.
So, the third part of his agenda he makes very clear: he says, their assurance of success. was the indwelling Holy Spirit And the certainty of Jesus' return. What he wants them to know in this very first launch of the church and this tsunami wave of grace is: you can't do it. And so we pick up the story in verse 9. After he said this, he was taken up before their eyes, and a cloud hid them from their sight.
And they were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. two angels show up. Men of Galilee, they said. Why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven will come back in the same way you have seen him go up into heaven.
The difference He came the first time as a Savior to say, whosoever Whosoever would turn from your sin and receive the free gift of forgiveness purchased in my blood, I want to love you and to save you and to forgive you. When he comes back, He'll come back as judge. He'll come back on a white horse and upon his thigh it'll write faithful and true. And he will now balance the scales in justice and equality and perfection as he ushers in a new heaven and a new earth. Finally, they responded in obedience to Jesus' words.
And look to scripture. for their marching orders. You know, they're going to just obey what he said.
Now can you imagine they were running for their life just a few days ago? They've had these amazing emotional experiences. I mean, what would you talk to with like your best friend or your wife after Jesus showed up, came through a wall, ate some fish, talked about some things, you felt his hands, you know, you've seen two or three amazing miracles, and you realize this is real, this is God, this is the Messiah.
Now, what do we do? And then he goes up into the sky and says, I want you to go back to Jerusalem and pray and wait. And that's, don't do anything until you get the power.
Well, we pick up the story. Verse 12, then they returned to Jerusalem from the hill. Called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day's walk from the city. And when they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. And those present were Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, and Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James, the son of Alpheus, and Simon the zealot, and Judas the son of James.
and they all join together constantly in prayer. along with the women and Mary. The mother of Jesus and his brothers. And so we pick it up. Look at verse 15.
In those days, Peter stood up among the believers and a group numbering about 120, and they said, Brothers, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who served as a guide for those who arrested Jesus. He was the one of our number and shared in this ministry. With the reward he got for his wickedness, Judas bought a field. And then he fell headlong, his body burst open, and his intestines spilled out. And everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called the field in their language Akhildama, for it is the field of blood.
Now, be before before we go on, you need to understand. The story of Judas, if you're familiar with the Gospels, he betrays Jesus. And afterwards, he has this worldly sorrow and realizes what he's done, and he doesn't repent. But what he does is he takes the 30 pieces of silver and he throws it into the face of the The high priests, and they're thinking, This is blood money, we don't want it. And so they bought this field where, you know, people that can't afford a grave.
And so, It had become known that this field is called the field of blood. And so they're reciting kind of what's happened in the days following all this. Just, I mean, can you imagine the uproar and what's occurring? And then Peter Is in community and he's talking. And he's the point person at this point.
And he quotes Psalm 69, and he says, it's written in the book of Psalms, verse 25. May this place be deserted, let there be no one to dwell in it. And Peter says, you know, that Psalm was talking about the issue with Judas. And then he quotes Psalm 109, verse 8, and it says, and may another take his place of leadership. And so all they know is we're supposed to stay here and to pray and to wait and to tarry.
But the Bible is really clear that we had 12.
Now we got 11. we're supposed to discern who's the next one.
So we pick up the story. Verse 21, therefore it's necessary to choose one of the men who've been with us from the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us. Beginning from John's baptism. to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. for one of these must come and become a witness with us of his resurrection.
By the way, do you get their mission? Their mission wasn't: let's start a religion and be a little bit moral than other people. Let's start a religion and be really kind and nice. Let's just start a religion and see if we can help the world out and make our lives more comfortable. They said, no, no, no.
There's 11 of us and we've been given a global assignment. We are to be witnesses. We're to what we hear, what we see, what we experience of the resurrection. that there's life after death. A Savior came, redemption occurred, reconciliation.
I mean, these people are positive, focused, and missional. And then now notice what happens. He says, so they proposed two men, Joseph called Barsabas. and also Justice and Matthias. And then they prayed, Lord, you know everyone's heart.
Show which of these two that you have chosen. to take over this apostolic ministry with Judas left. to go to the place where he belongs. Then they drew lots. And the lot fell to Matthias, so he was added to the eleven.
Now you might ask, you know, why would they draw lots? It's because that's the Old Testament way to discern God's will when you're not sure. I mean, they knew both of these guys were qualified. That from the time that Jesus was baptized by John to the time that he ascended, they've all been in these groups together. And both of these guys are.
As far as we know, very, very qualified. And then there's this very interesting word. It says that you, O Lord, and there's this very interesting word, but you are the God who searches the heart. Only you know. Who have you chosen, Lord?
You know people's motives. You know what's going on down deep inside. And so, because the Holy Spirit hasn't come. And when he comes, what's the promise? Jesus said, John 16, he'll guide you into the truth.
But but right now As Old Testament saints waiting for the Holy Spirit, they cast lots. And What they did is obey the next thing that God showed them. And what he said was, go pray. They prayed. and they did it for ten days together.
And then they said, oh. The Bible's clear that the next thing to do is not go. Not talk. It's to replace. Judas.
Now here's what you got to understand. All through the book of Acts, it is both descriptive and prescriptive. And so what you do is you look through a lens and you say in Acts chapter 1, we have Jesus giving his agenda for the planet to the very first followers of Christ. This is exactly what you're to do now. The question then is, how do you take what are the principles from Acts chapter 1 to what is Jesus' words to us, his body, now, the 21st century?
And I'd like to suggest there's four very clear applications to what Jesus wants, this unstoppable tsunami wave of grace to build up in and through us and to go out from us. Four things. Number one, we are to be confident in Jesus' presence and purpose. You know, if there's one thing I observe more and more about Christians, it's like we have a self-image problem. We're always concerned about what people think.
And well, I can't do that, or I'm inadequate, and you know, I'm sure God uses other people, but not really me. And there's sort of this passive, the world's a really hard, difficult. That's not how they felt. There's a reason that Jesus for 40 days taught them Bible studies about the kingdom reign of God and did miracles. Why?
There's 120 of them and they're going to reach the world. By the way, 2,000 years later, they're doing pretty well. Why? They had confidence in the person of Christ. And they had confidence in the purpose of Christ.
Here's the principle. The principle from the very words of Jesus, his kingdom will come and his will will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Now you know that great movement of God from Genesis chapter 3 that went through the Old Testament and there were prophets in the Old Testament and then Jesus comes and there's a supernatural birth and there's a resurrection. And then there's movement of the early church. I want you to know this tsunami wave of grace, it's going to happen, and He's going to return. And you either jump on and ride that wave of grace and be a part of God's kingdom agenda, or you're a spectator. And you watch it go by.
And the enemy of your soul will lure you into thinking that there's security in a 401k, or if you can get into that school, or have that girlfriend, or that boyfriend, if your kids turn out like this, and seduce you into all kinds of things that may be good things as a byproduct. But they're not the unstoppable agenda. And he calls you, and he calls me to ride the wave. To get on what God is doing. Because it's gonna happen.
It's a done deal. You're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram and a message titled The Call to All. We've just begun a study in Acts called The Jesus Revolution. Join the movement. And Chip has more to tell us about the exciting mid-year match we mentioned earlier coming up in just a moment, so stay with us.
What a way to launch this profound series. From Genesis to Revelation to the book of Acts, Chip painted one sweeping picture. God has been building an unstoppable tsunami of grace from the very first moment sin entered the world. And you and I have been invited to ride that wave. Be confident, be clear, be dependent, be obedient.
That's the call, and it's for all of us. And before we continue, let me remind you that every message in this series will also be available on the Living on the Edge podcast. And for Chip's full-length sermons, subscribe to the Chip Ingram Sermon Podcast wherever you listen.
Well, now here's Chip with more on the heart and mission of this month's special mid-year match. There's a difference between watching a game and playing one. And honestly, a lot of Christians have been watching from the stands for a long time. They show up on Sunday, they sing the songs, they listen to the sermon, and then they go home and nothing really changes. But in Acts chapter 2, something happened that turned spectators into participants overnight.
The Holy Spirit showed up, and ordinary people became an unstoppable force that changed the ancient world forever. That's what I'm teaching right now in the Jesus Revolution. The same Spirit who filled the upper room is available to every believer today. Look, Christianity was never meant to be a spectator sport. The people in Acts didn't watch the revolution from a safe distance.
They stepped into it. Here's my calling for this month. Get serious with God. Lose the idols. Join us.
Every single day, say to yourself, I'm going to join the revolution. I'm going to listen to Living on the Edge. If you do it by radio and know you can't hit it every day, go to the app store or go to the podcast store. Join us and ask God to stir again in your heart what you experienced early in your Christian life or what something in the rearview mirror. God wants to speak to you and to use you.
Join the revolution as together the movement that Jesus started is forcefully going all around the world. Don't miss out. If Chip's challenge stirred something in you today, don't let it pass. Become part of the movement today by joining this mid-year match with a gift of any amount. Go online to livingontheedge.org or call us at 888-333-6003.
Every dollar you give this June is doubled dollar for dollar by a generous group of ministry partners. That means your generosity goes twice as far, reaching twice as many people with this same unstoppable message. Again, just go online at livingonthege.org. Call us at 888-333-6003 to give today.
Well, I'm Dave Drury. Coming up, the Call to All continues as Chip Ingram unpacks four clear applications for 21st Century Believers. Join us next time on Living on the Edge. Yeah. Today's program is produced and sponsored by Living on the Edge.
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