Unstoppable

Mark Dunagan
05/17/15 - Sunday Morning

Unstoppable

The church that Jesus established was unstoppable.  In fact, when Jesus talked about establishing His church, He used even stronger language than "unstoppable" when He proclaimed, “Upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it” (Matthew 16:18).

 “Gates” symbolize power. Why? Because, among other things, the military forces of an ancient city always sailed forth from its gates. And seeing that the term “Hades” refers to the abode of the dead (Luke 16:19ff; Acts 2:27), the place where departed spirits remain until judgment (Revelation 20:13), could there be a more fearsome army?  Some here see Hades as referring to Satan’s reign of death (Hebrews 2:14).  And therefore can stand for all the conspiracies of the powers of evil combined:  the demons, Satan, and ungodly men.  Even still, if we were to ask the Lord, “Jesus, will all the powers of darkness stop the church?”  "Absolutely not!", would be the definitive answer of our all-powerful Creator.

The Unstoppable Church

From the Day of Pentecost when the church is established (Acts 2:47), this living relationship, this spiritual house, this body of Christ composed of individual believers was and always will be simply unstoppable:

• Persecution, threats, intimidation by powerful civil and religious authorities could not stop it:  Acts 4:13, 17-19.
• Physical needs among the members and poverty could not stop this group of people: Acts 4:32-37
• When two members started to act like hypocrites, God essentially said, “I will have none of that”—and struck them dead (Acts 5:5).  Yet such divinely directed discipline did not even stop the spread of the gospel (5:14).
• When an oversight happened, this congregation was not torn apart, but instead rather rallied and solved the problem, and converted even more people: Acts 6:1,7
• When persecution hit and Christians like Stephen lost their lives (Acts 7:60; 8:1-4) the church only spread.
• When a talented and gifted opponent arose and sought to wipe out the church—the opponent encountered the power of God and the gospel and was converted:  Acts 9

The Unshakeable Kingdom: Hebrews 12:28

"Unshakeable Kingdom" is another way of describing the unstoppable church.  In the rest of the book of Acts we find:

• The gospel penetrating community after community and congregations being successfully established: Acts 14:23
• Cornelius and his household are converted, which initially creates some controversy among some Christians—yet the church rallies: Acts 11:18
• James is brutally killed, and still, immediately after this, Paul starts the first one of his missionary journeys (Acts 12:2; 13:1). 
• False teachers try to derail congregations and God’s people come together and rally and the error is opposed: Acts 15
• Imprisonment of believers not only does not stop the gospel, but the jailor and his family become part of the church in Philippi: Acts 16:25-34.
• Paul is run out of town in Thessalonica, but not before a good church is established.
• In the immoral city of Corinth, the gospel penetrates many good and honest hearts that had grown tired of enslavement to darkness (Acts 18:10).
• In the city of Ephesus, a center for the occult and idolatry, the gospel is very impactful (Acts 19:20,26). 
• Every time that Paul and others are arrested, such, in turn, later provides a “captive” audience for the imprisoned preacher (Acts 25-28).

Philippians 1:27-28

“Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of your that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; in no way alarmed by your opponents—which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God”.

The above passage enlightens us a number of important qualities that made the early church so unstoppable:

• They were firm in their dedication to the gospel.
• They stood together, side by side in this quest.  They refused to let any sin or error undermine their commitment to Jesus.
• They refused to yield to fear or intimidation.

The early Christians were like a courageous army of soldiers that just continued advancing while everything the world tried to do to slow them down—failed.  They were a divine force that could not be silenced.  

Which is a Sign of Destruction for Them

Instead of being intimidated by the world, we need to realize that our consistency in being faithful to God is far more intimidating than anything in the world.  The world finds us rather unnerving when a congregation of believers just keeps marching fearlessly forward.  The world has the media. The world has, for the most part, college and universities. The world has the political and justice system. And yet nothing seems to stop the Kingdom of God. They refuse to give up or allow discouragement to take root.  Sunday after Sunday they worship.  Decade after decade they are preaching the truth unashamedly as if from their housetops, in season and out of season, when it is socially favorable and when it is not.  Unbelievers and former believers find it unnerving when they meet Christians some twenty years later and find those Christians to be completely unmoved by the darkness in the culture.  Rather, those who have God deep within their hearts,  are just as fervent, adamant and determined to serve Him as ever. 

Are We Unstoppable?

Someone has recently noted that too many people in American denominational churches are often stopped quite easily when it comes attending and supporting their group.  If the speaker that draws in the crowd is not in town, then the attendance drops.  If the music program is not "awesome"—then numbers drop.  If service times changed, or they are annoyed by this or that person within their congregation, they stay home.

What Would It Take to Stop You?

Well—what about the body of Christ?  Is the congregation in Beaverton easily stopped—or are we unstoppable just as the early church was unstoppable? Or a more personal question would be, “Have YOU stopped?”  Someone noted that we live in a world of low expectations.  Various articles might tell parents that at the age of 15 you should expect that your child can kind of clean up his room, or do a chore, or do….whatever, but not all three!  What?  100 years ago at 15 you were considered an adult, with adult responsibilities. Application:  Have we settled for low expectations for being a follower of Christ as well?  Does the church here in Beaverton seem like the same church that you can read about in the Bible in reference to the unstoppable nature of those believers?

We are Still Talking About Jesus Christ—Right?

It would be easy to excuse ourselves for stopping spiritually,  given all the pressures we are under, yet when we remember the privilege of the unfathomable blessing of being a follower of Jesus Christ—THE Jesus Christ, THAT realization puts into perspective the challenge of faithfulness as worth it. The level of commitment Jesus is looking for is uncompromising. In fact, when someone came to Jesus and said, “Lord I will follow you, but first allow me to go and bury my father, or first allow me to go and say goodbye to the family” (Luke 9:59-62).  Jesus, in essence, replied, “Well forget it, then.”

Jesus wanted his followers so committed, that they would follow even when such meant great discomfort, inconvenience or even pain or loss of life:

• Following Christ even when that means following Someone who had no dependable place to sleep at night: Luke 9:58
• Being willing to die with Him: Luke 9:23
• To follow Him to the point of moment by moment, hour by hour, year after year self-denial and daily cross bearing. Luke 9:23
• To follow Him even when and if all your family encourages you to go in the opposite direction: Luke 14:26ff.

No one sustains this level of loyalty unless they deeply love their Savior. And love grows when we take time daily to nourish the relationship through meaningful communication, which in the case means setting side time daily for reading and meditating upon the truths of scripture, and pouring out one's heart in prayer and praise and asking God for all you need — including the courage and faith to be  spiritually unstoppable. 

Mark Dunagan | mdunagan@frontier.net
Beaverton Church of Christ | 503-644-9017
www.beavertonchurchofchrist.net