Important Precautions Concerning Christian Ministry (Part 2) Series

IIMPORTANT PRECAUTIONS CONCERNING CHRISTIAN MINISTRY

Part 2

Acts 1:6-11

Just before He ascended, Jesus had one final conversation with His Disciples. The intent of this conversation was to prepare them for the future. He told them about the upcoming arrival of the Holy Spirit and He explained to them that they would be empowered to be His witnesses in “Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria” and even to “the uttermost parts of the earth”. Jesus had chosen these men for a specific mission; soon that mission would commence.

God has a specific and important mission for the members of Stockdale Baptist Church as well! In His infinite wisdom, God has given us the Book of Acts as an instruction manual concerning what we should do until the day that Christ returns. The last time we assembled we began to look at some “Important Precautions Concerning Christian Ministry”. I would like to continue to examine that subject today.

We have already covered two of these important precautions. 1) We Must Not Be Distracted By The Unknown and 2) We Must Not Forget The Source Of Our Power. Today we will consider the fact that 3) We Must Not Neglect Our Responsibility and 4) We Must Not Lose Our Focus.

By way of review, let me remind you that We Must Not Be Distracted By The Unknown. The Disciples asked Jesus, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" Rather than focusing on the future, Jesus turned their attention to what they should do in the present. He simply declared that God had a plan for the Kingdom and there will come a day when it is established, but those details are under God’s control and He has not chosen to reveal it.

Like the Disciples, there are times when we get distracted by the future. However, we cannot spend our days gazing into the clouds and looking for the signs of Christ’s return. We cannot neglect our calling! We have been called, equipped and empowered to be Christ’s witnesses throughout the earth.

- As we seek to reach the world with the Gospel:

WE MUST NOT FORGET THE SOURCE OF OUR POWER

The Disciples are told that they were to be witnesses of Jesus Christ. Their influence would begin locally and it would eventually spread to the rest of the known world. For these men to be successful in this mission, they must first be indwelt with the Holy Spirit. The same is true for us; we will never be what God wants us to be apart from His Spirit living, working and moving in us. We must never attempt to serve God on our own. If we try, we will surely fail. Our only hope of success is to serve Jesus with power that only the Holy Spirit can provide. If we will remember the source of our power, there is no limit to what we can accomplish for God. By ensuring that we are not distracted by the unknown and by realizing the source of our power we will have the right mindset for our future ministry as individuals and as a church.

- As we move deeper into the text we will see the third precaution concerning our future ministry and that is:

III. WE MUST NOT NEGLECT OUR RESPONSIBILITY

v8b and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

It was not enough for the Apostles to possess the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit had to possess them as well. What I mean is that they had to be submissive to the direction of the Holy Spirit. They had to be obedient to the Great Commission that the Lord had given them. As Christians, we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, but we must be submissive and obedient to His guidance and direction. The Bible warns us not to “quench the Spirit.” (1 Thessalonians 5:19). Paul says that we are to be “filled with the Spirit”. (Ephesians 5:18)

All of the amazing things that we will read about in Acts, happened because men and women were filled with the Holy Spirit. We can see amazing things today, if we will be submissive to and filled with the Spirit. The Apostles would begin their ministry in Jerusalem, in time they would travel to Judea; and eventually the Spirit would send them to Samaria. Jesus went on to say that the Apostles would be His witnesses to the end of the earth. God was going to use these men to spread the Gospel in Jerusalem, the very city where Jesus was despised, rejected and crucified. He would use them in Judea, a place with a large Jewish population that was hostile to Christ and His followers. He would use them to minister to the people in Samaria, a place with a despised half-breed population; a place filled with people that the Jews usually had no dealings with. Then they would go to the uttermost parts of the earth, ministering to the Gentile nations that were yet unreached with the Gospel. This shows us that spreading the Gospel and being witnesses of Jesus should not be limited to the places we choose or the people we like. God intends for His Gospel to be shared with everyone, everywhere.