.png)
It's going to cost you your life to serve Jesus and His mission.
The Apostolic Church is supposed to be persecuted. Why aren’t we persecuted?
2 Corinthians 4:9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. 11 For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.
Acts 8:1 On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. 2 Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him.3 But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison. 4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.
The apostles and the church not only had a hunger for God, but also for His mission. His mission is to go everywhere and preach the Gospel. The apostles were going to do it no matter what. They did it: broke, not having all the fancy things, homeless, beaten, scattered, talked about, hiding, in public, in jail, whatever it took and whatever they had to go through to get it done. We are too comfortable, relaxed, passive, fearful, entertainment oriented, traditional, and money hungry!
We are not saying that the church should be broke and downtrodden. We are saying if it came to that we would still get the job done. Most people would quit. Not us. We will get it done no matter what. Money doesn’t control us, attendance records and false success doesn’t control us, the American culture doesn’t control us, and the lust of the filthy flesh doesn’t control us. If we have to die for the cause we will. If we have to go homeless for the cause we will, if we have to lose close relationships for the cause we will. This church is unstoppable!
Where is the boldness and faith of the early church. They were not wimps afraid to say things.
Acts 4:12 Salvation exists in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” 13 When they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they wereunschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and recognized that they had been with Jesus.14 And seeing the man who had been healed standing there with them, they had nothing to say in response.
Acts 4:31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken.And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
Yes they were controversial, yes they were pioneers, yes they were revolutionaries and yes they were rebellious to the religious models of their day.
They rebelled against men getting circumcised. They rebelled against following the law. Instead they were led by the Spirit and lived by faith. They rebelled against preaching for money. Instead they went every where preaching and if people gave them anything or not they were ok, because they understood that God was their source and that the church is not a corporation or an LLC. They rebelled against isolation but challenged all believers to be together and not forsake assembling together. They were together. They rebelled against sin and preach against it and challenged people to stop doing it.
Today will you accept the challenge to become this kind of Church? Will you do your part? Does this mean anything to you? Does your heart pound for such an adventure?
It’s dangerous and you might lose everything for it, but you must be fearless, bold, rebellious, and endure to the end.
Discover your purpose or your life’s assignment. Start building your legacy like Peter, John, Paul, Aquilla, and Pricilla, Mary, Phillip, and other great men and women that we read about in the Scriptures. Don’t hold back another day.
It’s supposed to cost you your life.
Col 3:3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life,appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
2 Corinthians 5:15 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
1 Corinthians 6:19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.