Unstoppable Message

·     One of my favorite words is unstoppable.

o  There is something that is coming and there is nothing anyone or anything can do to stop it.

§  Unstoppable, referencing an earthquake, a tornado, a tsunami, a train, even a stampede.

·     Unstoppable is the word that comes to mind when you look at the early days of the church.

o  Conflict and controversy threatened to take the group down, but instead of killing it, these challenges fueled the fire that spread across the first-century landscape, continuing to burn significantly and reach people even today.

John 14:6 Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”

   1.Jesus claims He is the only Way to God the Father.

a.He is the Way our troubled world needs.

b.He is the Truth our confused society desires.

c. And He is the Life that all people have been searching for.

                                            i.     We must share The Message of Truth in a troubled world.

                                         ii.     We must share the only Truth that gives hope and rescues souls for eternity.

d.Some people argue that this Way, through Jesus Christ the Son, is too narrow-minded.

                                            i.     In reality, it is wide enough for the whole world, if they choose to accept it.

1.I am the bread of life.     

2.I am the light of the world.

3.I am the door.

4.I am the good shepherd.

5.I am the resurrection and the life.

6.I am the way, the truth, and the life.

7.I am the true vine.

                                         ii.     Instead of worrying about how limited it sounds to have only one way, we should be saying, “Thank you, God, for providing a sure way to get to you!”

1.There is hope in nothing, no thing, and no one else.

a.As the Way, Jesus is our path to the Father.

b.As the Truth He is the reality of all God’s promises.

c. As the Life, He joins His divine life to ours, both now and eternally.

Acts 4:1 “While Peter and John were speaking to the people, they were confronted by the priests, the captain of the Temple guard, and some of the Sadducees. 2 These leaders were very disturbed that Peter and John were teaching the people that through Jesus there is a resurrection of the dead.”

e.Vs. 1 & 2 Just like the Devil to interrupt, distract, disengage, and work to divide God’s plan and purposes.

Acts 4:3 “They arrested them and, since it was already evening, put them in jail until morning. 4 But many of the people who heard their message believed it, so the number of believers now totaled about 5,000 men, not counting women and children.”

   

   2.Vs. 3 & 4 When you hear the unstoppable message of Jesus Christ you have only two options believe or disregard.

a.Agree or disagree.

b.Accept it or argue it.

                                            i.     There is no other way to heaven.

1.None.

a.That’s what scripture teaches.

b.The church did not decide this, mankind did not decide this, God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and God the Holy Spirit decided it.

Acts 4:5 “The next day the council of all the rulers and elders and teachers of religious law met in Jerusalem. 6 Annas the high priest was there, along with Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and other relatives of the high priest. 7 They brought in the two disciples and demanded, "By what power, or in whose name, have you done this?" 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them,

·     It’s imperative that we be filled with God’s Holy Spirit when sharing His unstoppable message.

o  Not be filled with judgment, ridicule, opinion, or confusion but with the Holy Spirit.

§  Galatians 5:22-23 tells us, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”

·     The fruit of the Holy Spirit is the result of the Holy Spirit's presence in the life of a Christian.

Vs. 8"Rulers and elders of our people, 9 are we being questioned today because we've done a good deed for a crippled man? Do you want to know how he was healed? 10 Let me clearly state to all of you and to all the people of Israel that he was healed by the powerful name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, the man you crucified but whom God raised from the dead. 11 For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says, 'The stone that you builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.' 12 There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved."

c. We didn’t do this, Jesus did.

d.See, what had happed was…

                                            i.     In Jesus Christ His name is powerful, in fact all powerful.

1.In His name is salvation.

2.In His name is deliverance.

3.In His name is healing.

4.In His name is forgiveness.

5.In His name is direction.

6.In His name transcends joy, peace, and Life everlasting.

7.In His name shame is removed.

8.There is no other name to compare.

9.In His name is strength for the journey and power for every situation.

10.             In His name guilt is erased.

11.             In His name addiction disappears.

12.             In His name resides mercy.

13.             In His name lives an all inclusive, all are welcome grace.

a.His name.

e.At the name of Jesus every knee is going bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Philippians 2:6-11

                                            i.     This will not be a mandatory declaration but a true declaration of truth from the heart.

1.At the Last Judgment, even those who are condemned because of their unbelief will recognize Jesus’ authority and right to rule.

2.People can choose to acknowledge Him here and now or at the Judgment, regardless there will be a sincere acknowledgement of the heart.

a.I choose to acknowledge Him now.

                                                                                                  i.     No other man died for our sins, no other man came to earth as God’s only Son, no other man rose from the dead, no other man offers forgiveness of our offences against God, and no other man is returning to receive all those who believe but the man Christ Jesus.

Acts 4:13 “The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus.”

f.   My greatest desire in the entirety of this world, to be recognized as one who is with Jesus.

                                            i.     I’ve been recognizing myself with Him, I am recognizing myself with Him, and I will always acknowledge and recognize myself to Him, eternally. 

Acts 4:14 “But since they could see the man who had been healed standing right there among them, there was nothing the council could say.

·     What can this world possibly say about a changed life?

o  What scientific principle or philosophical answer could possibly suffice?

o  What agnostic, atheist, unbeliever, or cult can deny a changed life or miraculous healing?

15 So they ordered Peter and John out of the council chamber and conferred among themselves. 16 "What should we do with these men?" they asked each other. "We can't deny that they have performed a miraculous sign, and everybody in Jerusalem knows about it. 17 But to keep them from spreading their propaganda any further, we must warn them not to speak to anyone in Jesus' name again." 18 So they called the apostles back in and commanded them never again to speak or teach in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John replied, "Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him? 20 We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard." 21 The council then threatened them further, but they finally let them go because they didn't know how to punish them without starting a riot. For everyone was praising God 22 for this miraculous sign—the healing of a man who had been lame for more than forty years.”

·     The believers pray for courage.

Acts 4:23 “As soon as they were freed, Peter and John returned to the other believers and told them what the leading priests and elders had said. 24 When they heard the report, all the believers lifted their voices together in prayer to God: "O Sovereign Lord, Creator of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them—25 you spoke long ago by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor David, your servant, saying, 'Why were the nations so angry? Why did they waste their time with futile plans? 26 The kings of the earth prepared for battle; the rulers gathered together against the LORD and against His Messiah.' 27 "In fact, this has happened here in this very city! For Herod Antipas, Pontius Pilate the governor, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel were all united against Jesus, your holy servant, whom you anointed. 28 But everything they did was determined beforehand according to your will. 29 And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word. 30 Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus." 31 After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness.”

   3.God left the problem but gave the believers strength and courage to deal with it.

Acts 4:33 “The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God's great blessing was upon them all.”

a.We must be bold, take risks, be outrageously courageous in sharing the unstoppable message of Jesus Christ.

                                            i.     The message of the cross is unstoppable.

                                         ii.     God can open closed doors.

1.We have immovable objects in our lives, but with God we become the unstoppable force to move right through them!

Acts 5:12 “The apostles were performing many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers were meeting regularly at the Temple in the area known as Solomon's Colonnade. 13 But no one else dared to join them, even though all the people had high regard for them. 14 Yet more and more people believed and were brought to the Lord—crowds of both men and women. 15 As a result of the apostles' work, sick people were brought out into the streets on beds and mats so that Peter's shadow might fall across some of them as he went by. 16 Crowds came from the villages around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those possessed by evil spirits, and they were all healed. 17 The high priest and his officials, who were Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. 18 They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. 19 But an angel of the Lord came at night, opened the gates of the jail, and brought them out. Then he told them, 20 "Go to the Temple and give the people this message of life!" 21 So at daybreak the apostles entered the Temple, as they were told, and immediately began teaching. When the high priest and his officials arrived, they convened the high council—the full assembly of the elders of Israel. Then they sent for the apostles to be brought from the jail for trial. 22 But when the Temple guards went to the jail, the men were gone. So they returned to the council and reported, 23 "The jail was securely locked, with the guards standing outside, but when we opened the gates, no one was there!" 24 When the captain of the Temple guard and the leading priests heard this, they were perplexed, wondering where it would all end. 25 Then someone arrived with startling news: "The men you put in jail are standing in the Temple, teaching the people!"

b.After miraculously freeing them, the angel charged the apostles to go back to the temple and pick up where they left off:

                                            i.     Don't lower the flag.

                                         ii.     Don't soften the message.

                                       iii.     Don't get strategic, subtle or clever.

1.Back to work, boys.

c. In spite of the religious leaders' attempts to douse the passion of the church, Acts 6:7 “So God's message continued to spread. The number of believers greatly increased in Jerusalem, and many of the Jewish priests were converted, too.” 

   4.You just can't stop what God is doing.

a.No matter what move man makes, God trumps it, and His purposes move forward.

b.No matter what laws culture passes God honors those that honor His Word and His hands are never tied.

                                            i.     His message is never muted.

                                         ii.     No matter what opposition is thrown in its path, the church of Jesus Christ is an unstoppable force and message for God.