WHAT IS OUR MISSION? (3)

Our mission is described in the Acts of the Apostles as establishing the Kingdom of the Spirit of Jesus.

First of all, there is The Promise of the Spirit in Acts 1. The main topics of our Lord’s instruction during the forty days between his resurrection and his ascension were the Kingdom of God and the Spirit of God. The apostles misunderstood the nature of the kingdom. Jesus had to correct their understanding by teaching them that God’s Kingdom is spiritual in its character. It is the reign of God in the lives of his people. It is the divine rule in human hearts and lives in the power of the Spirit. Not that it is a purely internal experience in our hearts for it has external consequences in the way we live.

God’s Kingdom is also international in its membership. It would extend beyond Israel to Samaria and then to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). Luke writes about the expansion of the Kingdom of God to Rome. Within about thirty years a small Jewish sect became a cosmopolitan Christian community. The barriers of race, color, nation and tribe are broken down.

God’s Kingdom is gradual in its expansion. The whole period between Christ’s ascension and Christ’s return was to be filled with the Christian missionary enterprise. They were to be his witnesses to the end of the age. Only when the gospel had been preached to all nations would the end come (Matt.24:14).

Secondly, in Acts 2:1-41 Luke describes The Coming of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost. He lists fifteen areas around the Mediterranean from which the hearers of the Gospel came.  This is a reversal of the confusion of the Tower of Babel. Peter explains what had happened beginning with Jesus. His first word is Jesus and it must be ours as well. Jesus is the heart and soul of the good news. But which Jesus did Peter proclaim? He preached the objective Jesus of history and of Scripture, rather than the subjective Jesus of experience or speculation. Peter gave a rundown of the saving career of Jesus. Jesus was a historical figure wonderfully attested by God with signs and wonders. He was crucified by the wickedness of men and for the purpose of God. God had raised him from the dead as the prophets foretold and exalted him to his right hand to be both Lord and Christ. From that position of supreme honor and executive power Jesus had poured out the promised Holy Spirit. They must repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ to receive the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Thirdly, Luke describes The Community of the Spirit in Acts 2:42-47. The church multiplied in one day twenty-six times, from 120 people to 3,120. It was a learning community studying the apostles’ teaching, which is to be found in the New Testament. The Spirit teaches them through the Scriptures. They devoted themselves to the fellowship of the Spirit. They became generous stewards of what they had and met the needs of one another. They devoted themselves to worship: the celebration of the Lord’s Supper and prayer. It was both formal and informal – in the temple and in their homes – both joyful and reverent. The Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.  The Holy Spirit was reaching out through and beyond the church to those still outside its fellowship. Evangelism was the work of the Holy Spirit bringing people into the church continually. So it should be with us.

(Ted Schroder, John Stott: A Summary of his Teaching, pp.95-97)