THE FEW, THE MANY, THE MISSION

THE FEW, THE MANY, THE MISSION With grateful acknowledgement of these sources of direction and inspiration: the Holy Spirit; the Word of God; Jerram Barrs, The Heart of Evangelism; George Beasley-Murray, Jesus and the Kingdom of God; Leroy Lawson, Matthew; John MacArthur, Matthew 8-15 and Hard to Believe; Evelyn Underhill, The Spiritual Life November 28, 2004 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] Introductory "Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness." (Matthew 9:35) Verse 35 is really a summary of the ministry of Jesus recorded in more detail in chapters 8 and 9. The Holy Spirit inspired Matthew to pay considerable attention to not only the teaching and preaching of Jesus, but also His miracles. Even a breezy read of these two chapters convinces you that Matthew was emphasizing the miracles and healing of Jesus, as well as the broad variety of them. He is making it unmistakably clear to us readers that Jesus is Lord He is Lord He is Lord over nature (He calmed the sea), Lord over the demonic and the realm of evil (exorcisms), Lord over sickness (multiple healings) and even Lord over death (raising of the ruler's daughter). Not only does He exercise this authority Himself but He gives similar power to His disciples (chapter 10), commissioning them to drive out evil spirits and to heal "every disease and sickness." (10:1) And in verse 38 we will meet the Lord of harvest. We have here a stirring reminder of His lordship over all creation. It is important that we keep this truth before us, because this world is in a bidding war, trying to get us to trade our allegiance to Christ for any of a number of lesser gods. But be certain, saints, "He is the image of the invisible God, the pre-eminent one over all creation. For by him all things were created . . . . all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things and in him all things hold together"… (Colossians 1:15-17) "…in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word." (Hebrews 1:2-3) "And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way." (Ephesians 1:22-23) "And He made know to us the mystery of his will…which he purposed in Christ . . . to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ" (Ephesians 1:9-10) And when the Lord Jesus visits our planet and starts demonstrating the power and compassion of God among us we learn that the rule of God, the kingdom of God, is dawning among us. And that is exactly what Jesus was doing-announcing the arrival of the kingdom of God. Verse 35 say He was, "preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness." Let me pause long enough here to point out what I believe the Holy Spirit is emphasizing-that healings and miracles are signs of the coming and the presence of the kingdom of God. If that is true, then two exhortations are mandated. One, we should never pass up an opportunity to pray for someone who has a need, especially a non-believer. It is pure and perfect ministry to that person, it is directing that person to the only source of help, it is the fulfillment of the very intercessory ministry the church is called to and it is opening up an opportunity for the kingdom of God and the glory of God to manifest itself. Always pray and serve others in the name of Christ, expecting Him to answer and glorify Himself. And the second exhortation is this--when God's answers manifest, we should acknowledge them and give Him thanks and honor. In other words when God works through you in answer to your prayers for someone, glorify the Lord. Matthew 5 says you are the light of the world and you should let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. Bob, tell as many as you can the story of how God revealed your cancer to you and healed you of it! Dennis, let everybody know that God took away all four of those AVM's in your brain and you're expecting Him to take care of the fifth one as well. Joe, never miss a chance to tell how the Lord amazed the doctors by shrinking that tumor. Recently God has healed a mouth sore, met a financial need, healed the deep wounds in a marriage, provided a job, delivered somone from alcohol, sexual addiction, overeating, mental illness, bulimia. Praise the Lord, saints! He deserves the glory for what He does. We always say "credit to whom credit is due" and God is so due! As you glorify Him, the kingdom gets announced as well. People will say, "God is alive; He is among us, active in our lives, answering prayers, helping and healing, encouraging and empowering, liberating and loving, saving and sending. He is Loving If verse 35 shows us that Jesus is Lord, then verse 36 shows us He is also loving. "When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." As we tsk-tsk the evil around us in this dark and sin-ravaged world, as we shake our heads over the depravity of people's behavior, there is one thing we ought always to remember. Jesus loves every person, no matter how lost and deep in sin they might be. Get the full impact of that--Jesus is the One whom sinners have offended, and He has compassion on them. The one who said of those who crucified Him, says of even the most wretched sinners we know, they are harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. And guess who Jesus has recruited to be like a shepherd to them? The church! We must remember that every person in this world is someone for whom Jesus died. Every man, woman and child we will meet this very day Jesus considers worthy to die for. In the national memorial building on the Murrah Building site in Oklahoma City, 168 empty chairs are placed in the location where each person sat when he or she died. Beyond that memorial and across another street is a statue constructed by St. Joseph's Catholic Church. The statue's powerful image is of a tall, white-robed Christ. He stands with his back to the busy street and the place where the federal building once stood. The representation of Christ faces a brick wall in which there are 168 empty spaces-one space for each person who died. With bowed head Jesus faces that symbol of loss, covers his face with one hand, and weeps. In all the tragic turns of this life and this sinful world, Jesus Christ weeps with us. It was never His will that such suffering and death would be part of our existence. We chose to sin, and we chose to die. we rebelled and have been separated from Him. But in Christ "God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting men's sin against them." (2 Corinthians 5:19) Thank the Lord that though we spurned Him, He has paid the price through Jesus to win us back to Him. He forgives us, He heals us, He gives us eternal hope and His precious Spirit. And all that He has given to you He asks you to extend to others. "Freely you received, freely give." (Matthew 10:8) Jesus said "I am the good shepherd" (John 10:11) He is the One who answers in person the need of every human being who feels abandoned, hurt, sick, hopeless and shell-shocked in this world the devil has made so cruel. If you feel like you identify with those who are harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd, then come to Jesus, the good shepherd. The he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest field." In His earthly ministry Jesus only rarely referred to His own deity. He usually made any reference to God by saying "My Father" or "Our Father" or "The Father". Here, the Lord of the Harvest is God and this designation includes Jesus as the third member of the trinity. Essentially, Jesus is saying to those who would soon recognize His identity as the divine Son of God, "Ask me for laborers." It is utterly amazing to me that God so often modifies what He does for us--even the redemptive stuff-on the basis of whether or not we will ask Him for it. If we will not ask Him for even thoroughly kingdom things, He will not do it. You did not become a Christ-follower without asking for His grace to save you. Very often God provides things for us even when we ungratefully forget to ask Him for them. But there are some things He tells us to pray for. And this is one - harvesters. That's why we ought to pray for those whose names are in our harvest basket-and those in our hearts. That's why we ought to always pray for people's healing and deliverance. That's why we should ask for miracles from God. That's why we should ask Him for our daily bread, and forgiveness, and protection from temptation, and deliverance from evil. (Matthew 6:9-15) If we don't we reap only the empty promise of James 4:2, "You do not have because you do not ask God." By the way, we as a church are going to begin being more deliberate about this very thing. You'll be seeing new opportunities for corporate prayer for our church's outreach, both in Life Groups and in other new venues. The leaders of this church are committed to obedience to this direct command of Jesus-to pray for laborers. We have in these two verses three identities: the few, the many and the mission. The "few" are the workers. The "many" are the harvest field-and it is huge, Jesus says. The "mission" is the ministry to which we have been called-helping others come to faith in Christ and become part of God's end time harvest. We'll look at each of these,, in reverse order. The Mission First, the mission. This is a full-participation mission. That is, all the members of the kingdom are participating in the harvest in one fashion or another, using the unique gifts the Lord has given them. Your particular strength may be in strengthening the worship ministry of the church, or being a good small group leader, or children's worker, or maintenance person, or administrator. But, whatever your strengths and gifts, what you do ought to contribute as directly as possible to the mission of the church-encouraging unbelievers to come to faith in Christ-being part of harvest. And whatever your strengths, you can pray for people and let God use you in impacting their lives for the kingdom. In Matthew 10:, Jesus "called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness." You have that same authority. If you see evil, demonic activity, pray it down in Jesus' name! Greater is the one who is in you (namely, the Spirit of God) than the one who is in the world (namely, the devil). In verses 5-8 - "These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: 'Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, preach this message: "The kingdom of heaven is near." Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give." And later, in verses 32-33: "Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven." People who come to Christ will always be willing to testify to Him. If you are not willing, you may not yet have come to Him. Then, there is the Great Commission at the close of Matthew's gospel: "All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-20) Brothers and sisters in Christ, that is our mission. And it is specifically our mission here in the St. Louis metro-east area. Do you know how I know that? Because, we are here! In His gracious providence He has permitted you and me to live where we live, so that we could get to know the people we know, so that we could be a Christian influence in their lives. Isn't His plan wonderful? The Many That brings us to the next point-the many. That is, very simply, the entirety of those around us who do not yet know Christ and His salvation. These people whom God loves and longs to reach are the potential harvest. There are lots of them, Jesus says-the harvest is plentiful. The lower the percentage of Christians, then naturally the higher the percentage and numbers of unbelievers. I shouldn't have to, but unfortunately, I need to define what I mean by unbelievers. In many quarters of the church today, there is a tendency to not be so non-judgmental, and so "tolerant," and to include among the saved those who practice any form of religion, as long as they are sincere. So, just to be perfectly clear, as clear as Jesus made it, a Christian is a person who trusts fully in the death and resurrection of Christ for his salvation. A Christian knows he is absolutely lost, if it were not for Christ's sacrifice on his behalf. And a Christian is one who has come to the Father through Jesus exclusively, the Way, Truth & Life. Now that we know who is a Christian and who isn't, we can be pretty sure by the behavior and testimony that there are a lot more people who are not than who are. Worldwide, there are three billion who do not profess faith in Jesus Christ. In the United States, polls indicate that 50.2% of all people say they identify with a religious congregation. When you remove the non-Christian cults and religions, mosques and synagogues, there are roughly 29.5% of those who "identify with a Christian congregation." Even if every one of those 65 million were truly devoted to Christ, that still leaves a rough total of 150 million who do not confess faith in Christ and are headed for a Christ-less eternity. In our St. Louis area, survey results indicate that 75% of the residents around us do not actively identify with the Christian faith. These are "the many." And we are called to serve them. In John, chapter 4 Jesus referred to the harvest as well, and He said, "Do you not say, "Four months more and then the harvest"? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together." I refer to that passage primarily because I want us to be reminded that the harvest mission is not a mournful labor, but a rewarding, fulfilling experience for us! The Few And that brings us to. . .us! We are the "few" Jesus mentions. It should not surprise us that there aren't as many of us, the "few" as there are of them, the "many." In Matthew 7:14, Jesus predicted, "Small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." The disparity between the "few" and the "many" becomes even more pronounced when you define Christian in the strictest and most biblically accurate ways-those who are living faithfully and obediently in the fullness of God's Spirit. If you are committed to Jesus Christ as Savior and lord, you are among "the few." That is, you are part of the small remnant of those who are sincere about their faith and their desire to serve the Lord. The "few" are those who take seriously the call of reaching others for Christ, with a view to bringing them into the kingdom with us. The Few and The Many So God is sending us, the few to serve the many. What an awesome task! How will we ever get it done? The answer to that question is simple. We won't get it done . . . HE will! By His power at work within us, He will get it done. The job of the few is to trust Him to get it done, and to stay faithful to the task. I was commenting to someone again the other day how this society in America, with all of our freedom and possibilities, is perhaps among the hardest mission fields of all. People are so preoccupied with materialism and hedonism they seem to ever give God a second thought. They don't come to the Lord to relieve their burdens, because, most of the time, they're thinking, "I'm fine! What do I need with a Savior? Besides, I've got other things I have to do besides go to church on Sunday mornings." But, here we are, the few among the many, and our job is clear. Preach the message, pray for and serve people in Jesus' name. Reap whatever harvest He gives us. The modern world is said to have made discipleship harder. But it has also made evangelism easier. "Today's world is said to be multiplying crises all around us. But we must never forget that, for the gospel, each crisis is an opportunity." -Billy Graham. Billy Graham went on to say, "Every generation is strategic. We are not responsible for the past generation, and we cannot bear full responsibility for the next one; but we do have our generation. God will hold us responsible as to how well we fulfill our responsibilities to this age and take advantage of our opportunities." Here's the simple key to getting God's will done-just do what He tells us to do, and let Him worry about the big picture. You see HE is the Lord of the harvest and we are not. We are the intercessors, asking Him to send laborers into the harvest, and we are His witnesses laboring in the harvest. He will use every faithful act of obedience you perform for Him. Every time you step out in faith and witness for Him you glorify Him. Every time you sincerely pray for the laborers for the harvest you are smack in the middle of His will. Your very life as you live it for Him in the power of the Spirit is your participation in the mission. You are a missionary! Here's the beautiful part. God is helping us not only by empowering us through the Holy Spirit, but by providing opportunities for us wherein we can serve His mission. Opportunity is important. Without it nothing gets done. But often opportunity seems to hide from us. Years ago there were two shoe salesmen from different companies who were sent to a people group in South America that had just been discovered deep in the jungle. When they arrived one of the salesman wired his company right away, saying, "This was a terrible mistake. Nobody here even wears shoes! I'm coming home!" The other salesman likewise wired his company, but his message was a little different: "This was an awesome idea! Nobody here is wearing shoes! Ship as many pairs as you can as fast as you can!" The New Testament talks about opportunity, too. In Ephesians 5:15-16 the apostle Paul wrote, "Be very careful, then how you live not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil." You see it is our small part in the mission that we remain open and alert about every chance to witness, pray, perform a good deed or just talk with someone about the Lord. We are called to be opportunists. It's kind of exciting, really, when you think about it. We are His secret agents, serving His mission in this world, receiving regular instructions from Him about opportunities He has sent our way. We find this also in Colossians 4:5-6 - "Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone." Friends, even though we often don't realize it, our days are chocked full of opportunities to live out our mission before others. It is the wise Christian who walks in the fullness of the Spirit, staying alert to these opportunities and being instantly obedient to every nudge from the Lord. Now, we're not going to destroy the entire plan of God in the world if we miss a few cues-God will get His work done through someone else if we miss it-but it's such a shame to live a life of inattention to the things of God and miss the deep blessing of being involved in His mission all the time. In the fourth act of his play Julius Caesar, Shakespeare has Brutus trying to convince Cassius to help him in an impending confrontation. He speaks these famous words: There is a tide in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; omitted, all the voyages of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat and we must take the current when it serves or lose our ventures. Conclusion How will we be kingdom opportunists? We are called to: Pray - It has always struck me as a bit odd that Jesus didn't just ask us to pray that people would become Christians. But He said, "Pray for laborers." I suppose, for one thing, He doesn't ever break in on someone and break their will and force them into faith. He has a game plan-to use other believers to influence them. In the middle of a drought we don't pray for a good crop-we pray for rain, knowing that is the way to get the good crops we want. Jesus asked us to pray for laborers who will effectively and compellingly preach to the lost. Prepare - And, of course, the New Testament is clear in its teaching that we ought to be ready to give to anyone who asks a reason/answer for the hope that is in us (1 Peter 3:15). We should be prepared for those opportunities God sends us by being mentally and spiritually sharp, having spent our time in prayer and in the Word of God. God can use an unprepared Christian, but He rarely does. Preach - While some are gifted as evangelists, the other 99.9% of us Christ-followers are not called to preach as evangelists, but we are commanded to witness to those God brings our way. Be ready to share your testimony (90 second explanation of what your faith in Christ means to you), salvation scriptures (take the Beginnings course and you'll learn to share the basic plan of salvation with others). And thirdly, be ready to challenge others to give their lives to Christ in faith, urging them, but with gentleness and respect. Begin by praying this prayer each day (then learn to pray it each hour): RWA PRAYER (Ready, Willing and Available) [Open in a New Window] Lord, I want to be ready today for whatever ministry opportunity You want to send my way. Help me by Your Spirit to be alert, to hear and respond. I am willing to be used by You to influence other persons to come to faith in Christ. So I am asking You to sovereignly lead me to at least one person today who needs to hear the good news. Make it clear to me when they arrive in my life, so I won't have to question whether or not it is Your leading. And finally ,I need to admit to You that I do not feel confident to be Your witness to this person, so I ask for the power and wisdom of Your Holy Spirit to give me what to say. Amen.   [Back to Top]