Instructions for Service

Introduction

>>>Turn to Mark 6 – reading verses 7-13

Title of the sermon: Instructions for Service

PRAY! PRAY! PRAY!

This morning, we are emphasizing missions as we seek to reemphasize the work of missions and the local church.

Why then are we seemingly taking a random Sunday to embark on this endeavor? Simply put, we want to highlight the work that God is doing through His people around the world and to do it well.

None of this could occur without prayerful consideration and careful planning. Now this thought should not be too far from our minds because this is what is said of a missionary before he/she enters the field.

There must be prayer and careful planning. And this is true whether you are going overseas or if you are planting a church in a more localized area.

Maybe you are familiar with the missionaries that we support, or maybe there are missionaries that you support individually. And while this is an admirable thing, I ask you this. How often do you consider the work that they do?

Not just the work that you may read about in newsletters, maybe not even the story as to how they are where they are. But the behind-the-scenes things.

No missionary or church planter can put everything into a newsletter that has occurred even on a monthly basis.

But before all these things can occur, there are some steps that must take place. Every missionary that is sent out must have three critical things. And it is these that we see the Master’s means of sending out the first missionaries.

They are…

1. A Careful Sending (v.7)

2. A Dependence upon God (vv.8-11)

3. A Message that leads to Christ (vv.12-13)

I. A Careful Sending (v.7)

It is appropriate to begin looking at this portion of Scripture by seeing the means of being called to mission work.

There are a few things to notice in verse 7 about Jesus’ sending of the disciples into the world.

- They are called by God

- There is a support system around them (spiritually and physically)

- Their God given calling is in the authority of Jesus Christ

Called by God

The disciples are directly chosen by God for this task. Sure, there was excitement, maybe some fear, but the catalyst of the operation is God Himself.

In every instance of those called by God for a specific work we see the same carrying out throughout the entire Bible. That is a clear calling for that work.

Why is it important for one to ensure that God is calling him to missions?

Consider this quote from David Brainerd, who lived in this very Lehigh County, and ministered to the Indians in Pennsylvania and New Jersey from 1743-1747. He writes in his diary on

“Wednesday, May 18. My circumstances are such, that I have no comfort, of any kind, but what I have in God. I live in the most lonesome wilderness; have but one single person to converse with, that can speak English. 367 Most of the talk I hear, is either Highland Scotch or Indian. I have no fellow-Christian to whom I might unbosom myself, or lay open my spiritual sorrows; with whom I might take sweet counsel in conversation about heavenly things, and join in social prayer. I live poorly with regard to the comforts of life: most of my diet consists of boiled corn, hasty-pudding, &c. I lodge on a bundle of straw, my labour is hard and extremely difficult, and I have little appearance of success to comfort me. The Indians have no land to live on but what the Dutch people lay claim to; and these threaten to drive them off. They have no regard to the souls of the poor Indians; and, by what I can learn, they hate me, because I come to preach to them. But that which makes all my difficulties grievous to be borne, is, that God hides his face from me.”

One who goes into missions and is not called will not be able to withstand this level of hardship and difficulty. And by the way, this was recorded only a little over one month when he first began to minister to the Indians.

Paul Washer advises those who are considering missions work saying, “When you think about being a missionary don’t think that you want to run off on to the mission field to do something. Doing something is not necessarily the will of God but doing that which is according to His word.”

Moses is a good example of a sure calling. His calling is evident in Exodus 3:9-10… Moses’ calling was to deliver the people of Israel from the hand of Pharoah.

Moses had his many shares of difficulty and hardship with the people of Israel. A missionary must be called and not just have a mere desire from the heart. We must always remember that a missionary’s end goal is the name of Jesus Christ being glorified!

If you are considering missions to any extent this morning, ask yourself this question. Why am I considering missions? Is it for something self-willed, or is it for the glory of God?

A Support System

A support system is critical in missions. Jesus understood this. This is why He sent them out in pairs and not on their own. Let’s consider Moses again.

When Moses was complaining to Yahweh God that he could not perform the calling that Yahweh had given him, Yahweh gave him his brother Aaron to help him. But Moses is still the man chosen for the task.

This is what it means to have a support system both in the spiritual and physical sense. Aaron was to help Moses as the signs and miracles are performed in the face of Pharoah. Aaron was also to serve as a means of protection. Pharoah looked upon both men, and not just one.

Consider when you are going to Allentown, Philadelphia, or maybe a place that you are not familiar with? Do you feel more comfortable by yourself or with someone else? The same is true for those in Scripture.

A story that comes to mind from Scripture is the one about the good Samaritan. We all know the story, but I want us to consider it from a different perspective. Turn to Luke 10, reading verses 25-30… I intentionally stopped at verse 30. Did you notice the situation surrounding the Jewish man? He walked alone, “and fell among robbers” (v.30).

Why did Jesus send them in pairs? Because there was a very real possibility of being attacked by robbers on the road, or maybe a wild animal. Jesus was not so concerned with His message going forward that He forgot about the reality of sin in the world. In other words, Jesus knew the world around Him.

Solomon got this point too. “But woe to the one who falls when there is not a second one to lift him up” (Ecclesiastes 4:10).

Hence why the disciples are given the Holy Spirit, camaraderie among the disciples and fellow believers, and physical protection, in this case a sword.

This calling is authoritative

Jesus sends the disciples out in Matthew 10:1 with “authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of sickness.”

Note that Jesus did not send them out in weakness or powerless. He sent them out with God given authority.

Missionaries today are sent out with authority from God. They might not be casting demons out of people or laying their hands over people to heal them in that instant.

But what authority they do have is what is given to them in the Word of God. As we will see in our third point, the authority of God that the missionary possesses is given to point all who see and hear to the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

I would interject here that this authority is given to all who are under subjection to Jesus Christ. This is why we have urban missionaries in the US. You may have heard it said that you do not need to go overseas to do missions. But look around at the neighbors that God has given to you, or those whom you see at work, or wherever God has deployed you.

Do you have a love and concern for the people that God has put into your life who are not followers of His? If you do not have that while living here, you will not if you go elsewhere.

II. A Dependence upon God (vv.8-11)

Calling is important, but what to take (or not) is as well.

There are many individual points in verses 8-11, but they all lead to a dependence upon God.

The disciples are to take a staff for the same reason they are to go out in pairs. A staff would protect them at length from robbers or predators.

Notice in verse 8 what Jesus tells them not to take… food, bag, and money. Why would Jesus say this? Does He not care for their well-being? Of course He does! But what matters more to Him is their allegiance and dependence on Him!

What follows is said of early 19th century missionary to Muslims, Henry Martyn. “By such considerations as these by prayer, — by reciting Scripture, by praying over it, — by casting himself simply upon Christ, — and by looking upon pain and suffering as his daily portion (which thought wonderfully served to tranquillize his mind), Mr. Martyn was carried through a season of great tribulation” (Memoirs of Martyn, Part IV, p.150).

In both circumstances, either the disciples or Rev. Martyn were sent out completely dependent upon Christ.

This is the only way for a missionary to be sent.

Forsaking all

Not only were the disciples to be dependent upon Christ, but they were to forsake all comforts and pleasures for this work. I must say this. This is not the case for everyone to the extreme degree. But to one degree or another some things will be forsaken.

For the disciples, they had left their professions to follow Christ. Some were fishermen and one was a tax collector. Peter says in Matthew 19:27 that he and the others have “left everything and followed You.”

This forsaking of things is true of every Christian believer. Again, you and I who live in this country are abundantly blessed, yet we have had to forsake friendships, possibly a job, or status to be followers of Christ.

Jesus tells them that they do not need to bring any food with them. This tells us two things. 1. That man does not live by bread alone, but by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of Yahweh (Deuteronomy 8:3) and 2. That Jesus promised to meet their physical need.

If they were to take food with them it may have distracted them from the task at hand. It may have caused them to miss something that the Lord was teaching them.

You may have experienced this in hindsight. You may question why God is taking something away, and it is not until some time later that you see what God did in that situation by taking that something away.

Listen to this play out in Luke 22:35-38… Did you see it? Jesus reminds the disciples of when He sent them out (our passage) and how they were provided for the entire time. Jesus wants to teach the disciples the need to depend upon Him in our passage.

No bag, no money

It is easy to see why food would not be necessary, but what about the bag and the money?

The bag that was carried around in Jesus’ day was one that would be possessed by a beggar. In other words, all that the beggar had for that day was placed in his bag. It was all he had to live on, whether it held food and/or money.

Jesus is telling the disciples that they don’t need a bag to share the gospel, nor do they need money.

To live like the commoner

Another aspect of not taking these things, but to wear sandals and forsake the second tunic in verse 9 is to live like the common people.

Now if you remember, sandals were quite significant in another event in history. Moses reminds Israel in Exodus 29:5 that over the 40 years in the wilderness, their sandals did not wear out.

Why do I bring this up? Because the roads and alleyways in first century Israel were not nicely paved and marked! The sandals of their day were also not made as well as they are today.

Yet, Jesus tells them to wear sandals, not to take an extra pair, but to wear one pair of sandals.

This was also the reason for not wearing two tunics. One commentator writes on wearing two tunics, “Men of comparative wealth would wear two, but Jesus wanted the disciples to identify with the common people and travel with minimum clothing.” -John MacArthur

Amy Carmichael, missionary to India, prized looking like those whom she was ministering to. It is said that “She would dye and stain her light skin brown with coffee or tea bags, and her brown eyes helped her fit right in as a Hindu. No one would guess that the dark-skinned woman wearing a light blue sari, which was associated with the lowest caste, the untouchables, was a missionary from Ireland” (https://www.theologyfortherestofus.com/amy-carmichael-mother-to-india/).

Impartiality with dwelling places

On such a trip, Jesus gives the disciples their residency along the way.

Staying in people’s homes was not an uncommon occurrence. Acts 16:15 speaks of Paul staying at Lydia’s home upon her request to be taught more and Acts 17:5-7 tells of Jason who “has welcomed them” (Paul and Silas).

Several commentators note that the purpose for the “wherever” in verse 10 is to not show partiality. Regardless of the accommodations the disciples were to show gratitude.

This is true of us today. We live in a day where we have every modern convenience, and it can cause us to be lazy and inconsiderate. But for the disciples and those who have gone before us, the living conditions that they had would be deplorable in our sight! May this thought be far from our minds and hearts!

A time for righteous judgment

Along with the promise of being provided for is the promise that there will be houses that will not be receptive to the message.

The righteous judgment was to be carried out in the shaking of the dust off the disciples’ feet. Paul does the same thing but with a garment in Acts 18:5-6 to the Jews who would not listen to the word of God.

In no way does this mean that the disciples failed in their mission. In the same way it does not mean that a missionary has failed if there is very little fruit during the first years of being on the field.

Yet these people who would not receive them needed to know that they were not just rejecting the disciples, but the Creator of all things!

III. A Message that leads to Christ (vv.12-13)

So far, the disciples have been called, they are trusting in God, and now they proclaim the message that transforms lives!

I need to say this about the message of the gospel and missions. ‘Missions work is not missions work unless the gospel of Christ is shared.’ This is what Jim Elliott and the 4 men with him sought to do in their short time among the Auca tribe in Ecuador before being killed.

Unquestioned obedience

What is amazing about the disciples and every missionary after them is their unquestioned obedience to the call and faith in Christ.

In verse 12, Mark writes that after the disciples were given their orders they went out. This, mind you, with no hesitation, no second thought, no questioning. They went out and did it.

For anyone who might say, well this is just one account in Mark, listen to the parallel passage in Luke 9:6 which says, “And departing, they were going throughout the villages, proclaiming the gospel and healing everywhere.”

It led me to ask this question, ‘As uncomfortable at times are some of Jesus’ commands do I follow without reservation or hesitation?’ I think this is a valid question. The disciples were being sent out into a hostile world to preach a message that many would sneer and growl at.

Verses 12 and 13 are a little different in nature as they stress obedience to the call and the promised results if followed faithfully.

Verse 13 is the guaranteed results of following the Master faithfully. Again, even the shortest mission’s trips can bear eternal fruit!

There was no telling of those who would turn from their sins after hearing the gospel as was found in our Scripture reading this morning. Yet, Ezekiel was called to preach this message even if there was zero immediate fruit that came from it!

Salvation is the message

Churches today have gotten so caught up in the various ministry aspects within that they have lacked an emphasis on missions. Not just supporting it but doing the work in their own communities. I say this lovingly, the disciples were sent to preach the message of salvation, not to start up a senior saint’s group or a group for drug addicts.

Please listen to me rightly, I am not saying these things don’t matter, because they do. But to get the context of Mark 6:7-13 right, we must acknowledge that the focus is on the salvation of souls, not another church ministry or program.

Listen to Jesus in Luke 13:1-3… What is the message that Jesus preached and that the disciples were sent out with? That’s right, repent of your sins or perish (Matthew 4:17)!

Equally as true with the message of salvation is that it is not a cultural message. What I mean by that is the disciple’s intent in going and Jesus’ intent in sending them was not to ‘change the culture.’ That is a common phrase today. There is an emphasis on changing the culture.

The change that needs to take place is the totality of a person’s life. In other words, the disciples would have asked as do I at this moment. Have you trusted in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins? Have you forsaken your former way of living in darkness? Have you turned from the slavery of your sin to freedom in Christ?

There is only one message. Bill Mounce says it well, “repentance denotes a radical turning from sin to a new way of life oriented toward God.

Listen! The goal of the missionary is not to have the largest mission’s church or the most programs and events. No! The goal is to see a multitude of people saved in the name of Jesus Christ!

Faithfulness rewarded

Verse 13 tells us of the fulfillment of the work of the disciple’s as they obeyed the call to go and preach repentance.

As the disciples preached the good news, they were filled with power from on high to cast out demons and heal people.

In other words, Jesus kept His word when He said that the disciples were given authority to perform these things.

And what was the result of the preaching, demon casting, and healing? Look at verse 14, “King Herod heard of it, for His name had become well known.”

The name of Jesus spread amidst the faithfulness of the disciples. Today, the name of Jesus spreads as missionaries share the good news of Jesus Christ and it spreads as His people in this country share the good news as well.

Conclusion

Is this your goal this morning? Do you have a burden for the lost? Has the Lord been pressing upon you a burning desire to see people come to Jesus Christ?

If this is not true of you at this moment, I would ask you to remember the radical change that took place in your life. The moment when God saved you. Where were you? What sins were you committing? Maybe they were not the most heinous as the world sees it, but to God they most assuredly were.

Are you answering the calling of God upon you to go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19)? If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ this morning, this call is for you.

These three things: a calling, dependence upon God, and the message of salvation are not just for overseas missionaries. They are not just for pastors and elders. No! They are for every single Christian believer.

I say these things not to condemn you, but to assist in setting you on fire for the nations to come to Christ.

I close with Isaiah 60:1-9… May it be said of this church that we played an obedient part in bringing the nations to Christ.

Let’s pray!

Benediction

Psalm 115:13-15