The Book of Acts - The church established and spread

The book of Acts is really a book about God’s vision for the church. It is a book that lays out what God want’s the church to do, and what the church should stand for, and what the church isn’t going to fall for.

And so today, I want to focus on what happens in the Book of Acts as God’s vision for the church starts unfolding.

now In some ways, Acts is a bit like a company strategy induction document.

There is a mission statement at the beginning, and then it tells the story of how this mission has been accomplished by God’s people, throughout the insitution of the church.

Now last week we focussed on Pentacost, pouring out of the Holy Spirit on God’s people, and the critical role the coming of the Holu Spirit played in God’s Redemption history as part of teh story that spans from Garden to Garden city.

Today we are going to change tack a bit and look at teh story of the whole book of acts in brief and see what it is that Acts hopes to teach us.

So let’s dig in, let’s first look at the mission statement in the book of acts.

Mission Statement

Acts 1:7–8 CSB

7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Now we look at this last week too, and we saw how the Holy Spirit was given to the church so that the church would be empowered to bear witness to Jesus. How the Holy Spirit was given so that we humans would have the power to and the ability to bear witness.

But what we didn't look at is exactly how this was going to play out. And Actually v8 becomes a kind of mission statement where Jesus outlines exactly what his organisation - the church is going to persue, and tells us exactly how he intends to achieve that mission.

The mission statement for the church is: “You will be my witnesses”.

The strategy is: in Jerusalem first, then in Judea and Samaria, then the ends of the earth.

And that then is how the Book of Acts is actually structured too.

It follows the spread of the gospel

Firslty in Jerusalem

Then in Judea and Samaria

Then to the ends of the earth.

So Jerusalem first.

Jerusalem

Acts 5:12–21 CSB

12 Many signs and wonders were being done among the people through the hands of the apostles. They were all together in Solomon’s Colonnade. 13 No one else dared to join them, but the people spoke well of them. 14 Believers were added to the Lord in increasing numbers—multitudes of both men and women. 15 As a result, they would carry the sick out into the streets and lay them on cots and mats so that when Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on some of them. 16 In addition, a multitude came together from the towns surrounding Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed. 17 Then the high priest rose up. He and all who were with him, who belonged to the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. 18 So they arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. 19 But an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail during the night, brought them out, and said, 20 “Go and stand in the temple, and tell the people all about this life.” 21 Hearing this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach. When the high priest and those who were with him arrived, they convened the Sanhedrin—the full council of the Israelites—and sent orders to the jail to have them brought.

Now notice here friends, they were in Solomon’s collonade. This is part of the Temple complex in Jerusalem.

The Holy Spirit was powerfully working through them, and sick people were being healed, demon oppressed people were set free. And this was having a major effect on the people there.

Believers were being added to the Lord in increasing numbers - multitudes of both men and women.

These signs, these wonders were there in part to authenticate the message of the Apostles. As they were bearing witness to Jesus, they did so with signs and wonders.

But even though there was this massive outpouring of God’s blessing on people as the Gospel was being preached, opposition to the Gospel message started spreading.

In the passage just before this, we get a story of how the growing church faced opposition from the inside.

It is the story of Annias and Sapphira, who lied to the Church and pretended to give more money to the cause of the Gospel than they actually did. And they were judged instantly for their Hypocrisy.

Attacking the church’s unity from inside is one of the strategies Satan loves to use to halt or stop the spread of the Gospel.

It is precisely for this reason that the New Testament is so full of instructions to the church to guard the unity of the faith so closely.

And why the leadership fo the church is to guard against heresy and sin from within the church so strongly.

But what happens here is the other tactic Satan loves to use - Opossition from outside of the church community.

In Jerusalem it came from the High Priest and from teh Sadducees - the people of religious power in the day.

The Gospel enraged them, it directly challenges the power the hold, and they throw the gospel preachers in jail.

Only to find that the Lord broke them out and sent them back to the temple to preach some more...

But here is the lesson. Living a life of Gospel faithfulness will result in spiritual opposition.

Setting yourself up against the powers of darkness in this world is going to cause the prince of darkness to fight back against you.

Satan does not care about churches who are inward looking, who are ineffective, who don’t want to preach the gospel. They are no threat to him.

But it is a hallmark of Gospel faithfulness that you expereince opposition when you decide to pursue Jesus’ mission - to bear witness in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and now in our day and age - to the ends of the earth.

We see just how far and how strong the opposition to Jesus’ message is in Acts 7, with the first Martyr.

The First Martyr

Acts 7:54–60 CSB

54 When they heard these things, they were enraged and gnashed their teeth at him. 55 Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven. He saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 He said, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” 57 They yelled at the top of their voices, covered their ears, and together rushed against him. 58 They dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. And the witnesses laid their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 While they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” 60 He knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” And after saying this, he fell asleep.

This is what Gospel Faithfulness might look like. This is Stephen the first Martyr.

In Acts we see persecution begininning with threats, then imprisonment, then floggings, and now death.

And the question Acts is asking us here - do I really want to be like Jesus.

You see Stephen is highlighted as someone whose life most closely mirrors Jesus.

Stephen reminds us, that pursuing Christ, not just as a Church, but as an individual is costly. IT might cost us… everything.

It is a life of suffering - that is worth it!

But is it worth it, for you?

How expensive does the cost of following Jesus have to get before we are unwilling to pay it.

At what level of suffering will we abandon our witness to Christ?

This is a question we need to think about BEFORE the suffering comings. Before the cost needs to be paid. Because the way humans work is that when we are under extreme stress, when we are under duress, we go on autopilot.

We need to have our scripts sorted in our heads, and in our hearts, so that when we get to a situation that is going to cost us, we are playing from a pre-determined play book.

Jesus, on the cross gives us the best example of this.

on the cross, in the middle of the torment he was in, he goes to the place in his mind that is most familiar - God's word.

and when in the depths of his suffering he cries out My God why have you forsaken me, he is quoting from psalm 22.

His script is sorted!

when you are in the middle of trouble, in the middle of temptation, in the middle of spiritual assault - you already need to have your script sorted. That's is the worst time to start thinking about how you might react if something bad happens.

which is why we need to think Now about how we will handle Persecution.

and this is the program, the script we need.

This is the script:

Will I deny Christ? no.

Will I compromise Biblical truth? no

What if it costs you your freedom? no

What if it costs you your life? no.

What if it costs you your children? no

why? Because I count it all loss, in view of the all surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

Now the cost to me is most likely not going to be my life.

IT is unlikely that Dan’s death squad will come looking for me.

I think it is far more likely that the cost will be imprisonment for holding to biblical views, which are increasingly considered far right wing extremism.

For teaching a biblical view of sexuality. Insisting that marriage is between man and woman. Insisting that unborn babies are in fact living human beings.

If you set your heart on obeying Jesus, on living a faithful Christian life, of bearing witness to Christ, you will face opposition.

Yes, Salvation by Grace is absolutely free.

But following Jesus will cost you.

Worship that costs us nothing is worth precisely what it costs.

Leon Morris

So persecution breaks out against the Christians in Jerusalem and it culminates with the death of Stephen.

But notice now what happens:

The persecution has the exact Opposite effect of what the persecutors wanted.

All Judea and Samaria (chapter 8-12)

Acts 8:1–8 CSB

1 Saul agreed with putting him to death. On that day a severe persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the land of Judea and Samaria. 2 Devout men buried Stephen and mourned deeply over him. 3 Saul, however, was ravaging the church. He would enter house after house, drag off men and women, and put them in prison. 4 So those who were scattered went on their way preaching the word. 5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah to them. 6 The crowds were all paying attention to what Philip said, as they listened and saw the signs he was performing. 7 For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed, and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.

This is the second stage of Jesus’ mission statement. You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem. Yes they were, and the Christians were persecuted and so they fled to the surrounding area.

So they get to Judea and Samaria, and this is exactly what JEsus intended.

So those who w ere scattered went on their way preaching the word. Phillip went down to a city in Samaria, and proclaimed the Messiah to them.

Now, because we are all theologically astute, and because we have paid attention to Israel’s purpose in the Old testament, we are all very aware of what is happening here arent we?

No?

Well remember what the purpose of ISrael was? It was to bring God’s presence and blessing to the nations around them.

Remember back to when Israel finally took possession of the land of Canaan, and they built the temple in middle of the city nation.

And in teh centre of the temple in the Holy of Holies was God’s presence.

But Israel, was physically ine middle of the known world of the day.

Remember this picture all the way back from Deuteronomy’s sermon?

Well Israel was supposed to radiate out God’s blessing as a nation out to the nations around them.

And here finally that is exactly what finally happens.

Salvation is first to the Jews, then to the gentiles.

And not only does the benefits of having God’s presence in the centre of the temple radiate out to the world.

God’s presence itself, in teh form of the Holy Spirit radiates out tot eh world.

And actually, the Gospel spreads like a virus.

Jersualem is Wuhan.

Persecution is the plane.

And the disciples are the carriers.

But what is different about Samaria and Judea, is that unlike the Jews who lived in Jerusalem, the people here had only some knowledge of God. They had the Torah, but not all the prophets.

these people actually had some understanding of who God was, but obviously their understanding was incomplete.

And in this Acts gives us a bit of a clue as to what our own witnessing strategy ordinarily should be.

We reach out to those closest to us first, in culture, likes, understandings of the world, and only once we have exhausted those options do we veer into the broader world.

This is teh strategy Jesus has in mind for the church.

Jerusalem - same same,

Judea and Samaria - same same but different.

Ends of the earth - not same, just different

Who is in your same same box?

These are the people who live in your neighborhood. Who go to your schools. Who work in your offices and factories. Who play in your footy teams. Who share your hobbies.

This is most probably your initial mission field. You are called to bear witness to Christ, to them.

You have access to these people in a way no one else does. This is your Jerusalem.

If you are wondering where to start - start there.

That brings us to the Ends of the Earth

Ends of the Earth

Acts 11:19–26 CSB

19 Now those who had been scattered as a result of the persecution that started because of Stephen made their way as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. 20 But there were some of them, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who came to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks also, proclaiming the good news about the Lord Jesus. 21 The Lord’s hand was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord. 22 News about them reached the church in Jerusalem, and they sent out Barnabas to travel as far as Antioch. 23 When he arrived and saw the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged all of them to remain true to the Lord with devoted hearts, 24 for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And large numbers of people were added to the Lord. 25 Then he went to Tarsus to search for Saul, 26 and when he found him he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught large numbers. The disciples were first called Christians at Antioch.

Acts 12:24–25 CSB

24 But the word of God spread and multiplied. 25 After they had completed their relief mission, Barnabas and Saul returned to Jerusalem, taking along John who was called Mark.

Acts 13:1–4 CSB

1 Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, a close friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 As they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then after they had fasted, prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them off. 4 So being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.

Acts 28:30–31 CSB

30 Paul stayed two whole years in his own rented house. And he welcomed all who visited him, 31 proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.

So Acts takes a bit of a different turn. Notice that the disciples start moving away from speaking to the same same.

Even though they spread to Judea and Samaria, and as far as Phonecia and Antioch, they always went to the Jews.

Bearing witness to them.

But God’s plan was always to be a blessing to the ends of the earth. To the gentiles.

And so Saul, who was there at the stoning of Stephen, becomes the missionary to the gentiles. Although he travels all throughout the world though, he still follows Jesus’s strategy outlined way back in chapter 1.

In every town he enters, he goes first to the synagogue, to the same same, then once the people there ultimately and almost invariably reject him and hte Gospel, he goes to the rest of the city. Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and the ends of the earth.

And in cities where there are no synagogues, he finds a place and starts preaching and teaching, trying to find common ways in which he can communicate the gospel.

But what happens ultimately is that in many places churches are planted. And as Paul trains up the people in these various places the pattern is almost always the same.

He and his fellow workers appoint elders, who manage the churches, and then they move on to the next town and preach the gospel, train the people up, appoint elders, and then move on.

And all the while Paul has this idea in his mind, that he would go to Rome and proclaim the gospel there.

Why Rome?

Because the ancient world has changed from when Israel was instituted as the centre of the known world.

This is what the anient world ended up looking like.

Now there was a new center, a place from which the Gospel could radiate, from which God’s presence could spread.

People often ask why is it that JEsus was born during the Roman era. Why did God wait 400 years after ISrael returned from the Exile in babylon before Jesus came to earth?

Because something had to happen - the Roman Empire had to be built. You see Rome did something the rest of the world had failed to do.

For all it’s attrocities and cruelty, Rome did some amazing things that were critical to the spread of the Gospel.

They built roads, that coudl take the message wherever it needed to go. People everywhere spoke at least 1 language in common. The roads were relatively safe, there was the Pax Romana, the roman peace which made travel throughout the empire a possibility.

Adn all of these things were vital to the spread of the gospel.

But in the midst of doing all that, the Roman Empire relocated teh centre of the known world, away from Cannaan, to Rome.

And so for Paul to travel to Rome, was a strategic move. He went there to because that is where the influence was.

But as it turned out, during his various journeys, Paul suffered greatly. He ended up being arrested. And he wanted to go to rome many times, but he was delayed, shipwrecked, told by the Holy Spirit not to go etc.

And Ironically it was only as a prisoner, being in chains for preaching the Gospel, that Paul finally ends up in rome.

But his court case is delayed.

And delayed.

And at the end of the book of acts here, Paul is under house arrest in Rome. And you would think that for a missionary like Paul this would be a hinderance.

But no. He writes letters, to the churches he established, to fellow beleivers, to other gospel workers, and they ultimately end up in our Bible and we still have these words today to as God’s gift to the church.

But there is a lesson for us here too.

Paul was absolutely sold out for the Gospel. Acts ends with himin prison writing letters.

But ultimatley Paul too is executed for his faith in JEsus.

But he devoted his life to spreading the gospel. And he did it strategically, but he did it under the Holy Spirit’s direction in response to Jesus’ own commands.

Jesus announced what that mission would be to bear witness to him, that the Holy Spirit would be given so that people would have the power to do that bearing witness Job.

Then he gave the strategy - jerusalem, judea, samaria, ends of the earth.

The mission hasn’t changed.

Bear witness to Christ.

The strategy hasn’t changed. We still go to the same same first, then same same but different, then to the different.

The question is just whether or not we will obey him?

And be the church of Acts chapter 29.

As a local church we are committed to this.

Are you coming?

Amen

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