The mission of a disciple pt.1

When I worked in sales we learned the hard way to never order anything without an upfront deposit. The guy told me go ahead and order it I called my boss he said it is ok to go ahead because the state is the one producing the money. See their order took priority because of the authority they had behind it 

What is our mission as Christians. I think in the most basic answer it is to love and enjoy Christ, and to make and train disciples. And when we think of these things if youre anything like me we get discouragedthat you either do not do this effectively enough or you do not do it at all. Why do we get so discouraged and give up our mission so easily. Because we forget the authority we bring with us while fulfilling the calling God put on our lives. 

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Through His authority, Jesus commissions His disciples to multiply themselves 

Jesus commissions believers to... 

Have faith in His authority

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When we pick up here in the passage Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead, after rising from the dead He told the disciples go to galilee and i will meet you there. So they go to galilee and He appears to them again. And let this be the first application point. If you ever see anyone die and rise from the dead after 3 days be very careful to do exactly what they say.  

But before we even get into what Jesus is going to tell them to do I believe it is necessary we lay a foundation before we go any further. We have to ask ourselves sure they saw this man rise from the dead and yesHe told them very clearly what they are to do next. But what could ever make a man do what these men have done and what they are about to do. They hiked this long mountain in belief of a promise that Jesus made to them. They are about to be sent on a mission that will change the world and 2000 years later will have people in Eclectic Alabama on the literal other side of the world talking about this man they see. What would ever make someone do that?  

Faith. Im not talking about the faith you grew up with. When you had that question in the Bible and your parents told you, you just have got to have faith. When you are in that rough season and your pastor tells you to keep the faith. Im not saying these are necessarily wrong ways of using the term but often times we use use it interchangeably with trust and hope and I dont think thats exactly right.  

At the most fundamental definition faith is trusting God enough to rely on Him and obey Him. 

Do you have true saving faith?? So you see what we mean now when we talk about growing in faith. You have probably been around circles where they talk about someone growing in faith. This is what they mean they are relying on God more and obeying Him more faithfully.   - I can’t Imagine what you may be going through but faith can you through it because the one who your faith is in rules

If you are a Christian in this room you hear this and most likely say yes yes I want this faith. This ability to rely on God. Oh yes wouldnt it be so nice to depend on Him and trust Him when times are hard and know that He is doing everything for a purpose. Or when times are good rely on Him in a way that I am following Him faithfully. And obeying Him yes how I would love to have my sin taken from me to trust Him in the fulness He deserves.  

I know you want this Christian I know you hear this and desire it. So how does God strengthen this thing in us we call faith. Here is the bad news, we as humans are so stubborn. We learn so slowly and what we learn we often forget. God brings about hard times. Troubles. Afflictions. And in these we learn to depend on God. We have no choice what else are we going to rely on, what is going to help us in a trial we must rely. And through His fatherly care we learn to rely on Him and the importance of living for Him. We live for Him because He says it results in true life. The world has nothing better than what He has told us to live for. He offers true life.   - I don’t know what your trial is but if you submit to the Lors your love for Him will increase and your obedience will undergo a powerful transformation

Cats freaking out at vet. They don’t trust the process. But we know our father

You see everyone we cannot understand the rest of this passage without first understanding the foundation of Christianity. Which is true saving faith. 

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And i think it is important for us to understand faith before I ask this question. You see as i was reading this passage i got to the part where is says the disciples saw Jesus and they worshipped Him. But some doubted. Now in the context here I believe the disciples doubted are they truly seeing Jesus I mean they just saw this guy crucified on a tree.   what is worship?

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. (Romans 12:1, ESV)

Yet they still worship Him. So as we discuss Jesus sending us on mission. Is there any room for us to have doubts in our faith?  When I have worked jobs in the past where I wasn’t sure if I liked it it affected my work ethic

Can i worship Jesus if i still have doubts is that possible for me. Can i still tell people about Jesus if I have doubts is that possible. 

Some doubts might be did Jesus rise from the dead, can i really trust the Bible, can Jesus really forgive some of the sins I have made in the past, what if im not even sure if im saved, am i a Christian if idont tell people about Jesus? 

If I have these doubts will Jesus accept my worship? The only answer to this question is when I start believing that worship depends on me and not on the one being worshipped, then I lost the whole point. Why do we try to hide the doubts and hinderances to our faith when here in the passage the disciples are putting them exactly where they belong which is at the feet of Jesus.  

Christians are absolutely allowed to have doubts as long as the doubts turn our dependence onto the Lordship of Christ. We will never escape sin until we die, we have corruption mixed into our faith we almost cant help but doubt. But as we live our life determined that Jesus has authority over it, our faith grows. In good seasons Christ is in the middle, in bad Christ is in the middle. In trajedy He remainsthe same, in triumph His majesty is revealed. If Christ authority is recognized and He is seated on the throne of our hearts then we are can have confidence that He will accept and use our worship. The more sure we are to recognize Christ as the center of our life the more our faith is made sight by our obedience that flows from His Lordship 

There is a difference between weak faith and absent faith 

Have an outward ministry 

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Ym told me the coolest prize they ever had was when they gave away a truck one year 

Here we are going to learn that Jesus was given a prize for His obedience to the Father. The Father promised that if Jesus was to go and life a perfect life never sinning, die, and rise from the dead then anyone who put their faith in Jesus to save their sins would be forgiven and gain access to the Father. So when Jesus came down from His seat in Heaven, and lived this perfect life, and died a criminals death at the hands of sinners, and rose again from the dead He was given anyone who would put their trust in Him and He is given all authority over Heaven and Earth.  

What does it mean that He has been given all authority. It means that He is made king and He is made mediator. Who else would you rather have be king and mediator (expound) 

But now with this in mind we are going to talk about what it means to have an outward ministry because Jesus teaches us that we are meant to have an outward ministry and an inward ministry. Everyone who recognizes His authority as being the King of the Heavenly Kingdom and we recognize ourselves as being members of the Heavenly Kingdom. We are meant to have an outward and inward ministry.  

When we start talking about what an outward ministry is we cannot get past the first two words in verse 19. What is the first one go. It is an action verb. We are being told to go and do something. Therefore is the second one. Jesus is saying based off of what i have just told you, go. Go means Jesus is sending us. He doesnt say sit there and. He doesnt say casually no. Jesus says if you see my authority and you see the calling I have put on your life to be my representatives on Earth then go and do exactly what I did while I was here and call people out of their sin to follow Me.  

We are going to talk about the specifics of what Jesus wants us to do it. But for now I just want to point out that Jesus says that when He sends us we are proclaiming His triumph over death and His being placed as King over the people of God. The gospel you proclaim would mean nothing if Jesus did not rise over the dead if God did not fulfill His promise to Jesus of what He would give Him it would never matter. But because God promised, Jesus went, and God fulfilled now we can know that when we go out into the world we are sent under the authority of Jesus. Our gospel has power because of the authority Jesus carries.  

Now we are told to go and make people aware of His kingship. Make people aware of His authority. And no that when they reject us, when they make fun of us. They are rejecting His authority. If you ask me, let me be associated with His authority over the approval of other people.  

Go therefore and make disciples. Make disciples. This passage is overestimated and underestimated.  

In overestimated is God really calling us to drop everything right now and go spread the gospel to all people? And on the underestimated side is Jesus just trying to say as you come across people share the gospel with them. I think this is the best way to interpret this passage, every disciple of Jesus. Every kingdom citizen has been commissioned by their master to multiply themselves. 

Do you love the Lord, live to see others have the same love. Have you found peace under His wings, tell others of the hiding place. Have you been saved from your sin, tell others where to find forgiveness.What God has done in you seek to do that with others. And it starts with a first step. I imagine there are many people in your school who are not Christian that need to hear the gospel. And I imagine others who are thinking they are Christian but in reality they are not. Whatever the case everyone around us, where God has placed us needs to hear of the authority of Christ, the reality of His Lordship and the consequences of it. And the benefits of associating yourself with Him.  

And as we tell others about Him we baptize them, which means initiate them into the faith through baptism. And more than that we baptize them into a name. The name of God. And when you are baptized into the name of God your identity changes. You see when you put on a jersey you are associating with that team. You have a last name you are associating with a family tree. When you profess faith and are baptized you are associating with God. You take on a new name. A new identity. A new way of life. We will talk about that next week. 

But what does it mean to share the gospel. To tell them about the reality of the Lordship of Christ. Expand 

Walk in feel better. that doesnt happen. Same thing with evangelism isnt instant