A Life on Mission
Notes
Transcript
Open with Summary of series:
Bryce showed us the Command of Missions in Matthew 28:18-20)
I preached- How God builds a Church (Acts 2:42-47). I explained that God is reaching the world through the local church.
Don Currin preached from 2 Cor. 5:14-21 concerning God urging sinners to come to Christ through us
Today I’m going to show you from Scripture that God has called all believers to live on mission:
What I don’t mean:
Every Christian packs up and moves off.
What I mean:
The Christian life itself is a life of mission.
As we live our lives we are to be sharing the gospel in word and deed.
1. Every Christian is obligated to live on mission because of who they are.
A. Jesus tells us who we are.
Jesus says:
You are the salt of the earth.
You are the light of the world.
There’s a lot of talk in our world today about identity. There is even confusion. If you are saved let me help you out. I can tell you your identity:
A sheep of the Good Shepherd
A child of the Living God
A member of the body of Christ
A chosen race
A royal priesthood
A holy nation
God’s possession
You are the salt of the earth
You are the light of the world
By virtue of the new birth, you are all these things. (Explain the ramifications of the new birth)
It is Christ who has made us what we are. He has exalted us.
He has the Authority to tell us who we are. No one else does.
It’s settled.
B. Believers are on earth to combat the corruption and darkness of this world.
We’ll explain those two things a little later: salt= battle corruption, light= battle darkness.
To save the world God is saturating the earth with the gospel.
Every Christian has the same story.
We were lost
We heard the gospel
God opened our eyes to its truth
We called on the Lord for salvation
God saved us
Think of how many witnesses there are to the saving grace of God.
If one tells you something you may not believe it.
If two or three even.
Untold millions throughout history have testified to the same reality: Jesus saves!
God has sent every believer into the world to tell the same story.
Why?
To destroy the works of the devil.
This is God’s plan= Saturate the earth with a people who tell the same story from Calvary to Armageddon.
2. The Christian life is to be one of influence (13).
A. Every Christian is exceedingly useful in this world.
Jesus chose salt as an analogy for a reason. It had many uses in the ancient world.
It was used for: purification, preservative, protect newborns (rubbed with salt), fertilizer, sign of a covenant.
Our word “Salary” comes from the Latin which means “Salt money”.
Roman soldiers were actually paid sometimes in salt.
Expression: “He is not worth his salt.” Not a good worker.
Salt of the earth= a valuable person.
To be called salt is a compliment.
Such a useful commodity there have been wars fought over it.
Every Christian has value.
I don’t care where you go in this world, you’ll find salt.
Every culture. Every country. Every people group.
B. Every Christian is useful in this world because every Christian influences others.
No refrigeration in ancient world.
Salt used as a preservative. It kept bacteria from forming.
Meat would spoil quickly without salt.
The salt would have to be rubbed into the meat.
Contact= influence.
This world is corrupt. It’s like a rotting piece of meat. Christians are here to slow down the process.
We are to live in such a way that when people are near us, they don’t want to sin.
They should know sin grieves us.
They should know sin offends us.
Illustration: Man at dump asking me if I had pornographic magazines.
Boss telling me a dirty joke.
You might ask “What does it matter if they sin when they are not around you anyways?”
Because when a lost person dies, they give account for every single sin they committed. If I can help them commit a few less I have in some sense eased their suffering.
Our goal is to influence them to come to Christ.
Salt makes people thirsty.
Salt stings when it gets in a wound.
Salt gives flavor.
Through our character and conversation people should have a desire to come to Jesus.
Think of the people you are near.
Job
School
Club/meeting place
How are you influencing them?
Is your witness for Christ discouraging them from boldly sinning?
Is your witness for Christ stimulating questions about eternity?
C. If we are Christians only in name, we are worthless.
Jesus asks the question “How do you restore saltiness to salt?”
He says salt that isn’t salty is useless. It’s good for nothing. Don’t take the analogy too far. He’s not suggesting a loss of salvation. If He were, it would also mean you can’t get it back if you lose it.
Here is what He is saying:
If we do not function as a believer, we are useless and in danger of judgment. He’s talking about people who are Christian in name only.
If we expect to win people to Christ, we must live for Christ.
Will people take financial advice from a broke man?
Will people take fishing advice from a man who catches no fish?
Will people take career advice from a person who can’t keep a job?
People need to see us:
Conquering sin
Rejoicing in evil days
Forgiving when wronged
Loving others
Praising God
Serving in our church
We must intentionally rub shoulders with lost people.
Illustration: Rice in the saltshaker. Reason? So the salt doesn’t stick together. God has the saltshaker, and He shakes us over this lost world!
Illustration: Do you know what happens to a body that does not release salt? It becomes bloated, unhealthy.
We are the body of Christ! If we are not releasing salt into this world our church will become unhealthy.
3. The Christian is to reveal things to a lost world (14-16).
A. Believers are the light of the world.
We reflect Christ. Just as moon gets its light from the sun, we reflect the Lord Jesus who is truly the Light of the World.
How did we become the light of the world?
If you see a lamp burning you know someone lit the lamp.
Christ lit us!
When He saved us He made us the light of the world.
Salvation is life transforming. How do you know if a light is on? You can see it.
Jesus says a city set on a hill cannot be hidden. That’s obvious. It can be seen for miles away.
Jesus says when people light a lamp they put it on a stand so it can give light throughout the house.
Jesus says no one lights a lamp and then puts a basket over it. That would be foolish.
Put all this together.
Here we have a city on a hill. The people in the city light lamps in their home. When darkness comes that city shines bright from all the lights in the homes.
Here comes a weary traveler. He is lost. No streetlights. No flashlights. His torch can only illuminate what is directly around him. Then he sees a city shining in the darkness on the hill. He makes his way to that city and is rescued.
We’re that city folks!
Exalted by Jesus!
Illuminated by Jesus!
I want JSBC to be like that city. I want us to shine bright in downtown Dublin.
B. Believers are to let their light shine.
What this does not mean:
Merely:
Where a shirt that says “Too Blessed to be Stressed”
Jesus fish on car
Wear a cross around neck
Tattoo only God can judge me on your face
Those things are fine, except the face tattoo one.
Jesus is talking about more than wearing an accessory.
This is a life that reveals things to people.
1. It reveals sin to people. Very few people in our world will call things sin any longer. The believer reveals that there are things that grieve God. The believer reveals that sin is dangerous.
2. It reveals Christ to people. We point people to Jesus. Were not ashamed to say His name.
Let me warn you:
People who have been in darkness don’t like light.
Go turn on the light when someone is sleeping, and you’ll find out.
This is why Christians are hated by many. We are turning on the light. We are showing people what sin is. We are pointing people to Christ as the only way to salvation.
We’ve been convinced that to let your light shine means to be cheery. To go about your day whistling and smiling. There’s nothing wrong with being happy. But that’s not what Jesus is talking about.
The world is in darkness. They are in trouble. You are the light of the world. You shine your light on the dangers in this world and point people to safety.
Illustration: Imagine you’re with a group who are lost in a forest but you’re the only one with a flashlight. What do you do? Do you run ahead? Do you lag behind? Do you turn off the light?
No!
You point the light and say, “Don’t step there!”
Shining your light in the darkness doesn’t mean you’re the happy one in the group. That’s foolish! It means you’re the one who can help!
C. When we win someone to Christ God is glorified.
Jesus says to let our light shine so that they may see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven.
How do they glorify Him? They get saved!
I wanna win people to Jesus, don’t you?
What do I need to do? I need to shine bright.
I need to live for Christ.
Interesting that in Matthew the preaching ministry of Jesus begins with a call to missions and ends with one. Bryce preached the first message, the command to missions from the end of this book. Chapter five begins the preaching ministry of Jesus.
From beginning to end Jesus is telling His followers to be on mission.
This is our life folks! It’s a life on mission.
Every Christians purpose.
We must ask the question: What are good works?
I think primarily Jesus is talking about the verses immediately preceding this.
The Beatitudes.
Be humble.
Mourn over your sin.
Hunger and thirst for righteousness.
Show mercy.
Be holy.
Be a peacemaker.
Endure persecution and suffering in a godly way.
Live loudly for the Lord!
Live for Christ and God will draw people to Himself through your witness. There is no greater privilege than that.
Let me end by shining the light on Jesus.
Nothing reveals the darkness in this world like the crucifixion of Jesus.
Look at what this world did to Jesus.
He was savagely killed.
But He was killed for our sins.
He rose again.
We must repent and trust in His work.
Would you do that today if you have not?