Remaining Confident On Mission

Introduction

There is nothing more gut-wrenching as a parent than to see your child sick or suffering and have no ability to stop it....

I don’t think the feeling of being powerless is restricted to parenting. There are times in the church where it appears to be powerless.

Context of the church : riddled with strife, conflict, pastors overwhelmed by issues feel powerless

Context of the community: does the church have a legitimate voice in the culture? If we perished today, would the community care?

Context of the home: families still broken

Is the church powerless?

Jesus taught his disciples that they would be empowered to do the same kind of work he was doing.

John 14:12 HCSB

“I assure you: The one who believes in Me will also do the works that I do. And he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.

Jesus promised that every one who believes in Him, every genuine Christian, will have the power to do the same kind of works Jesus was doing; proclaiming the gospel with power. How will that happen? The answer is in Jesus’ ascension, “When he goes to the Father.” What happens then?

Just before Jesus ascended into heaven, he promised his disciples:

Acts 1:8 HCSB

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.”

When Jesus returns to heaven, he will send His Spirit to live inside of every believer. This is the Baptism of the Holy Spirit that happens at conversion. Jesus will live inside of you and use you to advance his kingdom by proclaiming the message of salvation with the power of signs and wonders. Proclamation & Power

In our text this morning, that is exactly what you see the apostles doing; they are proclaiming the gospel message and validating that message with the power of signs and wonders. What I believe the church needs to hear this morning more than ever is: yes, the church has power.

You might ask, if this is the case why does the church seem to appear powerless, at least at times? Its not that the church lacks power, I think it lacks confidence in the power of the gospel.

There have been times in my faith when I have lost confidence in the power of the gospel, which in turn caused me to loose sight of God’s mission. I have found solace in reading of people like the prophet Elisha, particularly in 1 Kings 18-19. In 1 Kings 18, he appears unstoppable. He gathers the prophets of Baal together and Israel to prove Yahweh is God. He sets up a sacrifice and calls the prophets of Baal to a competition with Yahweh. They'll call on both of them to send fire from heaven. Whoever shows up, that will be the God who Israel serves. Elisha is so confident in the power of God that he begins to mock the prophets of Baal and belittle Baal himself. When they are finished , Elisha calls Yahweh to send fire down from heaven, and God responds by consuming the sacrifice, the water, and the rocks. Then his confidence climaxes when he has all the prophets of Baal killed and turns the hearts of God’s people back to God. In 1 Kings 18, Elisha is Kobe Bryant, putting up 81 points against the Raptors in 2006. Unstoppable. Then you read 1 Kings 19.

Jezebel is not having all of her prophets her go down like that. She makes an oath to kill Elisha, and he bolts for a mountain. He’s so distraught that he asks God if he could just die already. He’s so off course that God asked him, “What are you doing here?” Why aren’t you on mission?

I can’t blame him though. It wasn't that Elisha didn’t believe in God or know that God can deliver him. He just experienced God throwing down fire from heaven. For whatever reason, he lost sight of God’s mission. His issue was not just a matter of faith alone, but confidence in Maybe he lost sight of God’s determination to complete his mission. maybe he lost sight of the end goal. maybe he was just tired of being a prophet, I don’t know. But I do know he was not supposed to be on that mountain. All God’s people have a common problem. At some point in our faith, we loose courage, we loose sight of God’s plan, his mission, and his determination to complete His mission. The apostles show us we are empowered with the same Spirit that empowered them.

The Holy Spirit Empowers you to proclaim the gospel with power.

This morning I want to shore up your courage and your confidence in the power of the Gospel. I want to give you five imperatives to help you to be confident in advancing the kingdom of God.

Because He empowers, you must pray for boldness (Acts 4:29-30; 5:12).

Acts 5:12-16 does not happen in a vacuum. It was born out of prayer. Turn in your bibles to

Acts 4:29–30 HCSB

And now, Lord, consider their threats, and grant that Your slaves may speak Your message with complete boldness, while You stretch out Your hand for healing, signs, and wonders to be performed through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.”

Proclamation & Power

After Peter and John were released from prison for preaching the gospel, the church rejoiced and prayed. In Acts 29-30, the ask God to embolden them to preach the resurrection of Jesus with confidence. And they ask God to accompany that message with signs and wonders done in the name of Jesus Christ.

Why does God use signs and wonders?

Signs and Wonders have always played a role in God’s redemption. Think about the Exodus Story for a moment. God’s message in the Exodus is “I will save you.” He conforms that message by sending Moses and Aaron, who throw their staffs down at Pharaohs feet and God turns them into snakes. God sends ten plagues to convince Pharoah Yahweh is truly God. He leads his people with a pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night. God splits the Red Sea to allow his people to walk on dry land to their salvation as he brings the water together to destroy the Egyptian Chariots. He feeds them for forty years with manna. Their shoes and clothes never wear out. And when they finally enter to Promised Land, he splits the Jordan River and brings down the walls of Jericho with the sound of their trumpets. God uses signs and wonders to validate and conform his message.

When Jesus arrives, the signs and wonders continue. He heals the sick. He casts out demons. he feeds thousands of people with only a few loaves and a couple of fish. he tells the sea to calm down and the wind to be quiet. He walks on water and He raises the dead. Jesus used signs and wonders to validate and confirm his message; I have come to save you. Repent and believe the gospel. Why does God use signs and wonders with his message of salvation?

God makes it clear that salvation is His work and no man can boast in His work.

Ephesians 2:8–9 HCSB

For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— not from works, so that no one can boast.

God has made it clear to Israel, you cannot save yourself from the Egyptians. I must use my power and my works for your salvation. The same message is given to the church. You are dead in your trespass and sins. You have no ability to save yourself from my wrath. God says, “I must use my power to work on your behalf, and all the glory belongs to Me.” When the sick are healed in a way that says, “That was a miracle” God gets the glory. When demons are cast out in Jesus name, setting the captives free. God gets the glory.

Signs and Wonders are not a means of salvation by themselves. They always point to the message. Jesus taught on numerous occasions that seeking signs for salvation will not save a person. He actually calls that wicked (Matthew 12:39). The message is the main thing. It is through faith you are saved. Faith comes by hearing. And you see that happening in Acts 5:12, as the apostles are both proclaiming the gospel and confirming the the gospel through the power of signs and wonders.

What about signs and wonders today?

I believe the gifts still exist today. That makes me a contuaionist, I guess. When I read

1 Corinthians 13:10 HCSB

But when the perfect comes, the partial will come to an end.

I take the “perfect” to mean when Jesus returns. Others interpret the “perfect” to mean the completed cannon of scriptures. I’m not convinced of this argument, at least not yet. I try to have an open mind about the gifts. It is my conviction that the New Testament clearly teaches that God gives spiritual gifts to the church for the common good of the saints

1 Corinthians 12:7 HCSB

A demonstration of the Spirit is given to each person to produce what is beneficial:

and to empower her mission to evangelize the world

Luke 24:48–49 HCSB

You are witnesses of these things. And look, I am sending you what My Father promised. As for you, stay in the city until you are empowered from on high.”

John 14:12–14 HCSB

“I assure you: The one who believes in Me will also do the works that I do. And he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, I will do it so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.

1 Corinthians 14:24–25 HCSB

But if all are prophesying and some unbeliever or uninformed person comes in, he is convicted by all and is judged by all. The secrets of his heart will be revealed, and as a result he will fall facedown and worship God, proclaiming, “God is really among you.”

I believe we are to earnestly seek them

1 Corinthians 14:1 HCSB

Pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, and above all that you may prophesy.

Paul could have the Corinthian church, who was immature and misusing the spiritual gifts, that they should not pursue them because they will be gone with the apostles. Instead, he encourages them to continue seeking them.

Furthermore, the signs and wonders were not limited to the Apostles.

Acts 6:8 HCSB

Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people.

I have never experienced speaking in tongues or healing a person, nothing extraordinary like that. My experiences however, does not validate my position one way or the other. I cannot help but be convinced that the Spiritual gifts are still of the church today because the scriptures seem clear to me that they remain and are to be pursued.

I think Jon Bloom’s advice is good.

Soak in 1 Corinthians 12–14, Romans 12, and Ephesians 4. Read the book of Acts over and over until it ruins you for your worldly comfort and pursuits and fuels your desire to experience the reality of the kingdom you read there. Jon Bloom

What do the signs and wonders have to do with prayer

John 14:12–14 HCSB

“I assure you: The one who believes in Me will also do the works that I do. And he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, I will do it so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.

Maybe our prayers are not bold enough. Maybe the church seems powerless because we do not seek to use the spiritual gifts like healing, tongues, prophesy for the sake of the kingdom. What is the aim of signs and wonders, especially in relation to spiritual gifts? The aim is to love better. It is to extend the grace of God in a way that restores, reconciles, and redeems the broken. Jesus says we will do the same works he did, even greater works those if we pray for them. Ask in my name and I will do it to the glory of the Father.

Does your prayer life reflect the power of the gospel? Does it reflect the boldness of the prayer in Acts 4:29-31? Does your prayer life for the church and the kingdom of God reflect confidence that whatever you ask in the name of Jesus, he will do it?

Because He empowers, you must go to the hard places (Acts 5:12)

Acts 5:12 HCSB

Many signs and wonders were being done among the people through the hands of the apostles. By common consent they would all meet in Solomon’s Colonnade.

Its appropriate to notice the setting where the Apostles ministry is taking place. They are not demonstrating the power and proclamation of the gospel inside the church. They are on mission in Solomon’s Portico.

Solomon's Portico was a colonnade built by Solomon on the temple. This portico ran along the eastern wall of Herod’s temple in the court of the Gentiles. It had two rows of columns, while the colonnade on the south side (known as the Royal Portico) had four rows. The portico was the scene of Christ’s teaching at the Feast of Dedication (John 10:23), and where Peter gave a sermon there after his healing of the lame man (Acts 3:11). More importantly for our context, it was the place where rabbis met with their Disciples to engage in public teaching.

Solomon’s Portico was the local mission field. It was the place the early church was to advance the the kingdom of God. Jesus told them they would testify in Jerusalem. I think they first thought it would be in the back streets and alley ways by the way they were hiding in a room. I doubt any of them thought they would be in the temple proclaiming Jesus. They were fully aware of what happens to people who proclaim Jesus in the temple. That is why we know the apostles being in the Portico was an act of God. Had God entrusted His kingdom to the strength of men, it would have never made it out of a room in Jerusalem. They were hiding from those who killed Jesus. At Pentecost, the Spirit came and moved them out of the room and into the streets.

As a matter of fact, The Holy Spirit drove them to the darkest place in Jerusalem at the time; the temple. These were the people who spent the past three years plotting and succeeding in killing the Messiah. In verse 5:13, You can see why some of the church was hesitant to go with the Apostles. It would be like you or me walking into a radical Muslim Jihadist camp and calling them to repent and believe the gospel. You can see why it caused their knees to shake and their stomach to become upset. The Great Commission is scary work. Jesus never promises us that the work will be easy and comfortable. He says we must count the cost of being a disciple. Paul says to us over and over we cannot enter the kingdom of God without trial and tribulation. Jesus has not left you powerless. He gave His Spirit to empower you to go where it was unsafe, uncomfortable, unwestern to gather the nations before Him. The temple was a hard place to do ministry. It was costly to your freedom, your health, and your life, and yet the Apostles were working gloriously for the kingdom.

John Gibson Patton (24 May 1824 – 28 January 1907),was a Scottish Protestant missionary to the New Hebrides Islands of the South Pacific. In those days the natives of Tanna were cannibals. He spent his life and his family bringing the gospel to a hard place. Three months after their arrival, a son, Peter, was born on February 12, 1859. But just 19 days later, his wife Mary died from tropical fever. His newborn son died soon after at 36 days of age. John buried his wife and child together, close to their house in Resolution Bay. He spent nights sleeping on their grave to protect them from the local cannibals. He spent his life joyfully advancing God’s kingdom by making much of Jesus among cannibals.

When I read John Gibson Patton’s biography, it made me tremble. What in the wold compels a man to go to one of the darkest places in the world and to risk loosing so much? What empowers him to be so bold as to live among cannibals? A Holy Spirit-empowered passion for Jesus. Remember, jesus said you will be empowered to testify. he never said the testimony will be in easy places. He says it will be in every part of the world.

I just wonder if the church appears powerless because we refuse to minister the gospel in the hard places where the power is most needed. We dread the idea of leaving our comfort. Gods power is most displayed in our weakness. When are we any more weak than when we are giving our lives for the sake of Jesus in the hard places?

My daughter Abigail loves people with special needs. She has told my wife and I many times she wants to work or minister to people with special needs. Ghana is a country where people with special needs are severely neglected. They need to the gospel. They need the church to come with power to gather these broken people to the kingdom of God. I’m afraid if my daughter stays to long in the western church she would never hear of such a thing. Would anyone tell her to go? Would anyone pray for her to be bold? Would any one encourage her to leave the comfort of America and go to the hard places? Would anyone remind her:

2 Timothy 1:7 HCSB

For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.

Because He empowers, you must remain courageous (Acts 5:13)

Acts 5:13 HCSB

None of the rest dared to join them, but the people praised them highly.

There is a lot of discussion about who the “rest” are as well as the “them.” I take the rest as Christians, both in the community and who were watching from a far. The “ them” are the apostles, all them who gathered at Solomon’s Portico.

Some of the church did not have the confidence to join the apostles on the front line. The word “dared” conveys the idea of lacking boldness or confidence. The infinitive “to join” is to associate with them. The people were impressed with the apostles faith and ministry, but for whatever reason, they were not willing to proclaim the gospel with the apostles at the portico.

You can’t come down to hard on them. Peter and John were just arrested at Solomon’s Portico for preaching the resurrection. The religious elite made it clear there will be severe consequences for teaching about Jesus; being arrested, beaten, and even put to death. Remember, this is a hard place to do ministry. Sometimes the fear of persecution or rejection is enough to shake our confidence on the power of the Gospel.

But you will notice, the ones who are lacking courage are inspired by the ministry of the apostles. Look at he second half of verse 13, “but the people praise them highly.” The word used for “praise” is used seven times in the New Testament often referring to God. To think highly of God or to extol God. The Apostles were highly regarded by those who dared not join them. Those who lacked courage were inspired.

Who are the apostles?

The group hiding in a room scared out of their minds.

Thomas the one who doubts the resurrections and refuses to believe until Jesus shows himself

Peter, the leader of the group, who denies Jesus three times

And Later Paul joins the group. The one who persecuted and killed Christians out of zeal for the temple.

What made these men so highly regarded was not their natural character, but the power of God displayed in their life. They were all broken men who were living our their redemption in Jesus. The Holy Spirit empowered their courage as an answer to prayer to be bold and used. As a result, teh chuch was inspired by their courage.

Where did Stephen come from? Stephen was filled with the Holy Spirit and power Acts 6:8, but he also watched the ministry of the Apostles. It is very likely he was in the group who dared not join them. Stephen goes no to proclaim the gospel message with power, and has the courage to die for it becoming the first Christian martyr. A martyr is one who testifies of Jesus by giving their life.

God loves using redeemed broken people to restore broken people.

The church is filled with faithful people who are worthy of being highly regarded.

Because He empowers, you must reap the harvest (Acts 5:14)

Acts 5:14 HCSB

Believers were added to the Lord in increasing numbers—crowds of both men and women.

We’ve already read in

Acts 2:47 HCSB

praising God and having favor with all the people. And every day the Lord added to them those who were being saved.

John 4:35–37 HCSB

“Don’t you say, ‘There are still four more months, then comes the harvest’? Listen to what I’m telling you: Open your eyes and look at the fields, for they are ready for harvest. The reaper is already receiving pay and gathering fruit for eternal life, so the sower and reaper can rejoice together. For in this case the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’

Matthew 9:37 HCSB

Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few.

God knows whom he is calling to Himself, and every single one of them is going to come (John 6). The harvest is not the issue. The issue are the laborers. That is what Jesus tells his disciples to prayer for in Matthew 9:37-38. Prayer for more workers who will reap the harvest. In His sovereign design of things, he has chosen to use us to go and get them, to reap the harvest of His salvation work. God is going to produce a harvest. He will ensure the work you do for his kingdom produces fruit. This work is not done by the pastor alone, but by the church.

When Martin Luther set out on the work which shook the world, his friend Myconius expressed sympathy. “But,” he said, “I can best help where I am. I will remain and pray while you toil.” Myconius prayed day by day, but as he prayed he began to feel uncomfortable.

One night he had a dream. He thought the Saviour himself approached and showed him his hands and feet. He saw the fountain in which he had been cleansed from sin. Then looking earnestly into his eyes the Saviour said, “Follow me.” The Lord took him to a lofty mountain and pointed eastward. Looking in that direction Myconius saw a plain stretching away to the horizon. It was dotted with white sheep—thousands and thousands of them. One man was trying to shepherd them all. The man was Luther. The Saviour pointed westward. Myconius saw a great field of standing corn. One reaper was trying to harvest it all. The lonely laborer was spent and exhausted, but still he persisted in his task. Myconius recognized in the solitary reaper his old friend Luther.

“It is not enough,” said Myconius when he awakened, “that I should pray. The sheep must be shepherded; the fields must be reaped. Here am I; send me.” And he went out and shared his old friend’s labors.

Because He empowers, you must advance His kingdom (Acts 5:15-16)

It was believed in antiquity that the shadow was an extension of the person. The miraculous Peter were performing we profound, and people believed that if they could even get inside his shadow that they will be healed. The text says all were healed, and it is very well that the power of God was so evident in Peter that his shadow healed people.

The point is this. Peter was advancing God’s kingdom. In God’s kingdom the lame will walk. The blind will see. The deaf will hear. Those who are held captive by demonic forces will b set free. In God’s Kingdom, Jesus will reign as the true righteous peace giving King. And all his people will rejoice.

Our church represents His kingdom on earth while he is gone. We must advance his kingdom by through mercy and service. Jesus said he did not come to be served but to serve. That is our heart. Mercy is our means. The poor must be fed. The sick must be healed. Those on the byways and byways must be reached, and invited into the supper. We must seek to advance God’s kingdom with such an impact that if we were to disappear, Litchfield and Montgomery Country, even the state of Illinois would be devastated.

Conclusion

The Holy Spirit Empowers you to proclaim the gospel with power.

John Patton prayed bold for the gospel to be advanced in the New Hebrides Islands. He put fee to those prayers and went to the hard place.

His biography is filled with countless experienced empowered courage.

God reaped a beautiful harvest and joyfully advanced Gods’ kingdom. His life spent in danger and loss, but before he died, the entire island of Aniwa came to Christ, and In 1899 he saw his Aniwa New Testament printed. Furthermore, he saw the establishment of missionaries on twenty five of the thirty islands of the New Hebrides.