Unstoppable - The Call to All, Part 1

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 has a plan for your life.

Want to discover what it is? Stay with us. We're so grateful you've joined us as Chip begins a new series called Unstoppable, God's Agenda for Planet Earth, including you. Over the next several programs, Chip will walk through the launch of the First Century Church, detailed in Acts chapters 1 through 5. And along the way, he'll unpack how God can use our lives in the same extraordinary ways he used the disciples' lives.

It's an intriguing thought, so I hope you'll make time to be with us for this entire series. Okay, if you have a Bible handy, turn now to Acts chapter 1 for Chip's message, 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 in 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, placed 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 in 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, literally it 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 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. It's the movement of God, you know we've seen the pictures like you see, if you're in one of those buildings and that tsunami wall is coming, it's unstoppable.

Unstoppable destruction, we've seen it happen recently. 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.

And so you'll actually see on your notes, I put a little chart where you can see where that Old Testament begins, and so He chooses an Abraham, and the Abraham, and there's a story, and then there's a law with Moses. And in the law we get all the inklings about sacrifices and redemption, and then the Ten Commandments come, and then there's this nation of Israel, and the goal of this nation would be this pinnacle and draw all the world as they would see the greatness of our God until we get to the cross. And all the prophets and all the time with the story of Israel, 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 is 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 one, we're going to go on a journey together. And on this journey together, we're going to watch and discover what did God do? How does this grace push forward?

How does it move with just unstoppable force century after century after century? Because if you do not understand what God was doing in that early church, you'll never understand His agenda for your life. If you can't get that the eternal God of the universe has a plan, and it's not just a plan for the plan it, it's a plan for every person on the planet of which you are one. And those of you who call Christ your Lord and you're following Him, you've got to understand this was the game plan for the first century church, because it informs His game plan for the 21st century church.

The first century church, what was God's agenda then? And what you're going to learn in the first five verses is that His followers are given the task to finish what He began to do and to teach. The end of Luke, 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 in 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 40 days, the New Testament has 10 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. 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 which 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. And in your Bible you might circle that phrase Holy Spirit.

In the book of Acts, it occurs 70 different times. The second person of the Godhead is going to take up personal residence inside the human bodies of His followers and they're going to live the way Jesus lived when He walked on the earth. They will feel and care for those the way Jesus cared and feel for those when He walked on the earth. They're going to finish what Jesus began. Now if you were a Jew at this time and you were well schooled as these men were and He talked about the Holy Spirit and the kingdom of God, your mind would drift back to Ezekiel chapter 36. The Holy Spirit was not a new concept for Old Testament saints. And you would think because Ezekiel talks about the coming of the Spirit and the restoration of the kingdom and God promises in Ezekiel 36 there's coming a day when the kingdom's going to be restored, Israel's going to be restored, there's going to be peace, the crops are going to be great.

Israel as you knew it in the old days is going to happen and it's going to be wonderful. And they thought maybe this is the time. So look at verse 6. Notice the question the apostles ask.

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 them sort of the game plan, it's 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. 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. See, when they heard about the Holy Spirit, they're a lot like us. They thought, oh, great, you're going to take down Rome? These cultural wars are going to be over? The religious wars are going to be over? I mean, this was a wicked time of life. I mean, this was a polluted time filled with corruption and filled with all kind of idolatry. 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. You see, there's this parentheses, everything that God promised to Abraham and David will be fulfilled. But this parentheses, this is the time of the church, the supernatural agency of blessing of God's purposes on the earth will be the church and it's a new thing.

Paul describes it and explains it in chapters one, two and three of the book of Ephesians. 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 world view, a, it'd be a little disappointing and two, it'd be impossible. Like, are you kidding me? I mean, Peter's pretty forthright. I can see, 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 the tsunami wave of grace is you can't do it. And so we pick up the story in verse nine. 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. Now, it's really interesting scholars when you study this talk about three different specific words that talk about the ascension of Jesus in those verse nine, verse 10, separate words he has taken up. He's received into heaven.

The picture is now imagine you're listening and it's one of those times and Jesus is speaking and he's talking about what's going to come and he's giving you this assignment. And like mid-sentence, he just starts to elevate and elevate and elevate. And then this bright cloud comes around him and he elevates. And the word here for, it's literally like they're awestruck.

It's a medical term doctors when someone would go like, that's the word used here. And in that moment, they're snapped out of it by a couple angels who say, hey guys, what surprises you about this? This same Jesus who promised to return, who's talked to you about the kingdom of God, who gave you the outline of the great tsunami of grace of redemption and reconciliation. Just the way he's left, he's going to come visibly, physically, bodily. He left at the Mount of Olives, he'll be coming back at the Mount of Olives. 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 and justice and equality and perfection as he ushers in a new heaven and a new earth.

And so what he tells the guys is, you know, verse eight, you can't do this. It's the spirit of God in you. You're going to receive power, but it's not you. It's going to be the spirit of God in you and you can endure anything because life is not just about now. You have a friend at the right hand of the father who's praying for you now.

You have an advocate and you can know for certain that whatever you have to go through, he's going to come back. He will make things right. And earlier he told them there's great reward for those that go through a difficult life in a fallen world.

Finally, they responded in obedience to Jesus' words and look to scripture for their marching orders. And so remember what he said? He said, I want you to go back until you get the promise. Remember the promise? You're going to be baptized with the Holy Spirit. So I want you to go back to Jerusalem and you're going to learn it's about, they call it a Sabbath day's walk, which is about two thirds of a mile. And then we go back to literally the articles there, the upper room, the same upper room.

It's on the third floor, holds between 120 to 150 people. And 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 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 till 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 Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas, the son of James. And they all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus and his brothers. And in your Bible is where it says in prayer, literally it's and the prayer. Remember when they asked Jesus in Luke 11, teach us to pray? And he teaches them the Lord's prayer.

And at the end, he gives a little illustration. And then he says, ask, seek, knock. And then at the end of it, he says, and seek the father and ask him to give you the Holy Spirit. See, they're not praying just general prayers. One prayer, the prayer we know they're praying, they're praying that prayer they've taught them. And they're praying, God, you promised the Holy Spirit. We're asking you to bring him in our life right now. So they meet Jesus.

He goes into the air. The angels say this. And so guess what? They go and they get before God. One scholar that I trust a lot says as best we can figure from the time he ascended until Pentecost next week, when the Holy Spirit comes, it's about 10 days.

So there are 10 days kind of in community. They're praying and they're sharing. And, you know, during that time of sharing, what you're going to find is, you know, they're they're looking at the Old Testament passages and saying, you know, I wonder what we should do.

What's the next step? 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 a 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 fed fell headlong. His body burst open and his intestines spilled out. And everyone in Jerusalem heard about this. So they called the field in the language in their language.

Akhildama, for it is the field of blood. Now, before we go on, you need to understand. So the story of Judas, if you're familiar with the gospels, he betrays Jesus. And afterwards, he has this worldly sorrow and realize 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 high priest. 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. You've been listening to part one of Chip's message, The Call to All. He'll be right back with his application for this teaching from his series, Unstoppable, God's Agenda for Planet Earth, Including You. Chip's teaching through the first five chapters of the Book of Acts, revealing God's plan to rescue this lost world. We're learning how God raised up the early church and the apostles to carry out this mission. And more than 2000 years later, we're continuing that assignment. Through this series, Chip highlights the growing pains and hardships of the first Christians and explains what we can learn from them to be better Christ followers and disciple makers today.

To check out all the resource details for Unstoppable, go to LivingOnTheEdge.org or call 888-333-6003. App listeners simply tap Special Offers. Well, Chip, so much has changed so fast, say even in the last year in the terms of the church's place on the world stage. In that context, what's significant about why you chose to air this series now? Well, Dave, God's plan hasn't changed. And this is Jesus telling the disciples to go into all the world and make disciples. I mean, there's 11 disciples and about 120 pretty committed followers and 500 people that have at least had some experience and have seen He's resurrected. And they watched Him ascend.

And we take a lot of this for granted. And the book of Acts is the story of how Jesus, by way of the Holy Spirit inside the disciples, turned the world literally upside down. And some of the lessons that we find in this particular series are so relevant to today.

I mean, the persecution, the growth, the faith, all the kind of things they experienced. I find myself saying, God, I need a fresh wind of faith. I need to see how you really work. I need to remember again that you work in supernatural ways.

And I need to expect you to do that in my life and through my life. And I find myself going back and reading the book of Acts. So we're going to look at the first five chapters of Acts.

I mean, verse by verse. I just want to encourage our listeners, stay with me. This is an exciting, encouraging series that I think will really bolster your faith. Thanks, Chip. Now, if you really want to get the most of this series, let me encourage you to get Chip's message notes and follow along as you listen every day. These message notes include scripture references, questions, and additional insight from Chip.

Another thought would be to share the Chip Ingram app so you and a friend can listen and study this series together. Okay, Chip, let's get to that application. As we close today's program, I realize this was sort of a history lesson in some ways.

But I want to pull back the lens. I want you to think with me that the God who created all that there is. I mean, I gave you this really big picture from the very beginning of creation to the fall and to reconciliation and redemption and God visiting the planet. Then I took you to the first century, and I just want you to pull back the lens of time with me and realize the God who visited the planet in the second person of the Trinity, the Lord Jesus, He actually had a plan.

I mean, He had a design, and He entrusted this design to regular, ordinary people that He hung out with for about three years. His followers, they were going to finish the job. The agenda was actually global. Now, can you imagine someone saying, I mean, even if it was like a commercial agenda today and says, We want to get this product in every country in the world. We've got satellites. We've got TV. I mean, we've got all kind of technology.

Jesus gave them that agenda, and guess what? They did it. They did it without much technology.

They did it without satellites. They did it in the power of the Holy Spirit. Here's what I want you to get out of today.

If you are a Christ follower, you are a part of an unstoppable tsunami wave of grace that is forcefully, powerfully pushing through world history, and God has a place for you to ride on this wave and make an incredible difference. But you'll never understand His plan for you until you get His plan for the universe, for the first century church, and then in our next broadcast, we're going to find out His plan in the 21st century. You know, a great way to stay engaged and connected to Chip and Living on the Edge is with the Chip Ingram app. You'll get free access to Chip's messages, his message notes, and much more.

Not only that, but it couldn't be easier to call or email directly from the app. We'll be with us again next time when Chip continues his series, Unstoppable. Until then, this is Dave Druey saying thanks for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge.