“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Acts 1:8
The last words of Jesus before ascending into heaven were a command (Matt. 28:18-20) and a promise (Acts 1:8). First he commanded his followers to “make disciples of all nations.” Then he promised that they would succeed. The message of the book of Acts is the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise in chapter one. The disciples were witnesses for Jesus in Jerusalem, all over Judea and (even) Samaria and to the end of the known world of that time (Rome).
The story of Acts does not really end. The account concludes with Paul testifying in Rome. “He lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance” (Acts 28:30-31). Those are the last words of Acts, but they are not the end of the story. What Luke started in his gospel as “an orderly account,” he deliberately left open-ended when he put down his quill. He documented the advance of the gospel from Jerusalem to Rome, confident that the message of the kingdom would continue to spread all over the world.
So the story of Acts continues today. We are part of the ongoing fulfillment of Jesus’ promise in Acts 1:8. Jesus sent his disciples on a mission, and we are on that same mission. Jesus gave his disciples a promise, and that promise still applies to us! We are the church on mission, and it is a mission that cannot fail. Listen to the end of Luke’s gospel.
“Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”
Luke 24:46-48
Just as the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus were “written,” decreed in the sovereign, unstoppable plan of God, so the message of forgiveness is “written.” It must be fulfilled, it will be fulfilled, it is being fulfilled all over the world right this very minute. The question is not whether the gospel will reach to “every tongue, and tribe and nation.” The question is whether we will be a part of the completion of this work.
When he called the disciples “witnesses,” Jesus was announcing the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy.
“All the nations gather together, and the peoples assemble. Who among them can declare this, and show us the former things? Let them bring their witnesses to prove them right, and let them hear and say, It is true. ‘You are my witnesses,’ declares the Lord, ‘and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me. I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior.'”
Isaiah 43:9-11
Israel was meant to be a witness to the supreme glory of the Lord their God. They were to be the faithful servant of the Lord. He chose them from all the other nations, He blessed them with prophets, the land and the law. He called them to represent Him in very specific ways (e.g. the Sabbath). But on every point Israel failed to be faithful, they failed to be servants of the Lord, they failed to be witnesses to His glory.
Jesus, of course, was the true Servant of the Lord. He succeeded at every point that Israel failed. He was faithful when tempted in the wilderness. He kept every detail of the Law both in spirit and in fact. He obeyed the Father’s will wholeheartedly and submitted even to the point of an excruciating, humiliating death. Having risen from the dead in victory, Jesus ascended to the Father in glory and poured out the Holy Spirit who would transform the disciples into servants of the Lord who would succeed!
Like Jesus, they would be anointed by the Holy Spirit. Like Jesus, they would be empowered for righteous living and powerful ministry. Like Jesus, they would proclaim the kingdom of God boldly. And like Him, they would face opposition, persecution and death. But the message would continue to spread. More witnesses would be raised up. Nothing could stop it. And still today, nothing can stop the advance of the gospel!
So let’s be clear. What is unstoppable? You and I are very stoppable. We are quite fallible; easily distracted; some of us may be disqualified altogether.
- God’s plan is unstoppable. “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Hab. 2:14).
- God’s power is unstoppable. “No weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their vindication from me, declares the Lord” (Is. 54:17).
- God’s Spirit is unstoppable. “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2 Tim. 1:6-7).
- God’s Gospel is unstoppable. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Rom. 1:16).
- God’s Church is unstoppable. “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18).
For the next year we will study and apply the book of Acts. We will draw inspiration and encouragement from the explosive growth of the early church and seek to live out the priorities and values that defined them. Our prayer is that we will grow in our confidence in our Unstoppable Savior and that as a result we will grow in our boldness to proclaim His supremacy and victory.
The book of Acts is structured around the advance of the Gospel first in Jerusalem (Acts 1-7), then in Judea and Samaria (Acts 8-12) and on to the end of the earth (Acts 13-28). Look at the key summary statements that punctuate the book:
“And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.”
Acts 6:7
“Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last. But the word of God increased and multiplied.”
Acts 12:23-24
“And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region.”
Acts 13:49
“This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks…So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.”
Acts 19:10,20
May the Word of God advance in each of our hearts and lives. May we hear, believe, apply and obey all God says to us. And may the Word of God advance through us in Tampa Bay, and to the end of the earth!
There will be challenges and struggles. We will face opposition and increasing persecution. But nothing can stop the church on mission! God will gather in His elect from the four corners of the globe. We get a glimpse of how the story ends in Revelation 7.
“After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’”
Revelation 7:9-10
With this confidence, let’s follow the example of Paul, as pictured in our Unstoppable graphic, and commit ourselves to running the race marked out for us.
“However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.”
Acts 20:24