The Priorities of Jesus' Mission

Alexander hong

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Jesus' prioritzed prayer and preaching in his mission to save the lost.

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Introduction

If I were to ask you, what should the main priorities of ministry, I’m sure there would be several different responses.

Evangelism. We need to do more soul winning.

Discipleship. We need to train more people so that they could reproduce themselves.

Fellowship. We need to grow more in community and love for another.

Bible Study. We need more people to study the word.

Missions. We need to be more faithful to missions.

I say amen and amen to all of these. But when we look in the life of Jesus, what did Jesus prioritize in his mission to save the lost? Jesus did all these things, but we can see most of his ministry had these two priorities in place.

In our text this morning, we see two priorities that would characterize most of Jesus’ ministry. His ministry included evangelizing, discipling, missions. But the power of his ministry came through his dependence upon the Father’s will. Jesus prioritized prayer (worship) and preaching (evangelizing, discipling, missions).

If Jesus prioritized prayer and preaching, we as God’s people should make this the priority of our ministry as well. Let’s read our text this morning.

Scripture Reading:

Mark 1:35–39 ESV

And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.

Recap

You remember Jesus was in the Synagogue on the Sabbath. He taught with authority. His authortative teaching was validated by his power in the casting out of demons. He then proceeded to the home of Simon where his mother-in-law resided. Jesus healed her as well and as soon as the Sabbath was ending Saturday night, people brought tons of people to the house of Peter to continued to be healed.

It must have been a long day of ministry for Jesus that went late into the night. And when the crowds were finally dismissed and went home, I’m sure Jesus probably stayed in the house of Peter that night.

And in those days, everyone lived together. Your family would be there, but so would your extended family. Lolo and Lola were there. In Peter’s house, there was his mother in law, his brother Andrew, and James and John and Jesus. There must have been a lot of people living under Peter’s roof.

And notice Jesus’ first priority in his mission to save the lost…which was prayer.

I. The Priority of Prayer (v. 35)

On my iphone, I have Screen time feature that tells me how much time I spend on my phone or on social media. I confess, too often, that I waste too much time on my phone.

Prayer Time. If Iphone developed a app that tells you how much you pray, would you be ashamed?

Well, if there was a app that log how much you pray, I’m sure most of us would feel guilty as well.

Many of us don’t prioritize prayer like we ought because we are either too distracted, too lazy, or too busy.

What is prayer?

Calling upon God to come through or fulfill his promise.

But look at the life of Jesus. He was focused upon doing the Father’s will. He was a busy man too. Yet, Jesus prioritized his prayer life.

Mark 1:35 ESV

And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.

It was probably Sunday morning. The text says rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed...

Very early in the morning could mean from 3 am to 6 am. That is why the text tells us it was still dark. Everyone was still sleeping.

I only imagine how many people were in that house. Have you been to Pastor Ed’s house before? When it’s early in the morning. You have 3 or 4 people laying on the couches in one room. Another two in another room. People upstairs. Sometimes there would be people sleeping in the Garage when missionaries are over. It is a packed house.

And some of those people in the house snore loudly. I won’t mention names. But you get the picture.

Well, Peter’s house may have been similar. Jesus just needed to get out of the house and be alone. And Jesus departed and went to a desolate place.

It is interesting the word desolate place can be translated wilderness. ESV rightly translates it desolate place because there was no one there. And wilderness as you remember was the place of testing or the place of fellowship with God as we have seen.

Jesus withdraws and goes to an isolate place to be alone with his Father. In other words, Jesus goes to the place of worship. He goes to the place of prayer.

And the text says he prayed. The imperfect tense is used meaning that Jesus prayed repeatedly and fervently. Jesus was in continual supplication to the Father. He must have been praying for hours.

The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel according to Mark Journey Inward, Journey Outward (1:35–39)

Mark records Jesus praying only three times in the Gospel; here (1:35), following the feeding of the five thousand (6:46), and in Gethsemane (14:32–39).

The text doesn’t tell us what he prayed, but the point says he prayed repeatedly.

Jesus is showing us his need to be with the Father. His prayers were an example of the Son’s submission to the divine will. And if Jesus’ prioritized prayer, the obvious application is that we must prioritize prayer!

Barnhouse

“If Jesus in His great power and oneness with God could feel the urgen necessity of communion with the Father, how much more you and I need to go to the Father for the strength that fills our weakness and the knowledge that fills our ignorance…Prayer brings us into a fellowship with God at that nothing else can provide”

Prioritize Prayer!!

If you don’t plan to pray, you will fail to pray (Repeat). If we won’t prioritize prayer, then we won’t pray.

Let’s be honest for a moment here. Most of us will check our phones the first thing in the morning before we pray. How many of us first priority is to go to the Lord in prayer when we awake?

Jesus’ first instance and thought in the morning was to go to the Father in prayer.

2. Find a Place to Pray!

Just as Jesus physically went out to pray, we should too. He couldn’t pray while Peter was snoring! So he went out to the desolate place.

Where is the that place for you? Is it a prayer closet you have in your house? Is it the couch or chair you go to when everyone is asleep? Is it in your car before you enter work? Monday through Friday the church building is empty. Where is the right place for you to be undistracted and focused on the Lord.

3. Read Books on Prayer

I have a few recommendations. Our small group is reading Prayer. Another favorite book is a book by Tim Keller on Prayer. We have Praying the Bible by Donald Whitney. A Praying Life by Paul Miller. Praying with Paul by Don Carson. Read a book to encourage your soul in prayer.

4. Learn to Quiet Your Soul Before the Lord

We are people who are activity driven. Jesus was prayer driven. In other words, he prayed before he did things. His prayers motivated him and moved him to activity. We often do activity without prayer.

Martin Luther, when once asked what his plans, for the following day were, answered: Work, work, from early until late. In fact, I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.?

This is the great secret that the greatest men of God have learned throughout church history. The great secret in their godliness was shown in their prayers. George Meuller, known for his orphanages in England said,

“I saw more clearly than ever, that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was, to have my soul happy in the Lord. The first thing to be concerned about was not, how much I might serve the Lord, how I might glorify the Lord; but how I might get my soul into a happy state, and how my inner man may be nourished…I saw that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the Word of God and to meditation on it.”

-George Mueller

Many of you don’t know the secret of being still before the Lord. Or worshipping the Lord and presenting your requests before him.

The text doesn’t tell us what Jesus prayed for, but I’m assuming he was praying that:

God’s Holy Name be Glorified

God’s Kingdom would come

God’s Will be Done

God would Provide for His need

God would forgive the sins of others because He had no sin of his own

God would deliver him from the evil one.

5. Pray with the Church

The ladies have organized a prayer group before service. Pray that the Lord will attend the preaching of the Word.

Spurgeon when asked of his great success in London, he said, “My people pray for me”.

This is why it is a blessing to be a member of the church. Pray through Membership directory.

If you attend service consistently, you will participate in prayer. We pray at least 5x during our services and and 7x during communion. Just being with the church should get you in the habit of praying.

Mark Dever has said,

“We should pray so much in our church gatherings that non-believers get bored. We talk too much to a God they don’t believe in”

“If we cannot prevail with men for God, we will, at least, endeavor to prevail with God for men” Sprugeon

We also have a prayer meeting where we pray corporately for specific needs and the needs of the church.

6. Confess your Prayerlessness

And many of us simply need to confess our prayerlessness and ask God to help us begin, including me.

Prayer is essential to the success of any ministry. Prayer is what made Jesus dependent and strengthen in the Father’s will. And prayer is also what is going to make us dependent and strengthened in the Father’s will.

7. Preachers and Teachers need to Pray

Spurgeon

Again in his lectures to his students,

“The best and holiest men have ever made prayer the most important part of pulpit preparation” pg. 45

“The fact is, the secret of all ministerial success lies in prevalence at the mercy seat”

If there is going to be power in the pulpit, there needs to be prayer in the pew. But if there is going to be power in the preaching, there must be prayer that goes before, during, and after the sermon.

Prayer teaches us that we cannot accomplish anything apart from God’s power and His Spirit working through the Word.

Transition: If Jesus prioritized prayer, so should we. Must his prayer life moved him to be obedient to God’s will in proclaiming the message of the kingdom.

II. The Priority of Preaching (vv. 36-39)

In his classic word, Preaching and Preachers, Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones famously said,

The most urgent need in the Christian Church today is true preaching; and as it is the greatest and the most urgent need in the church. It is obviously the greatest need of the world also.

Lloyd-Jones, D. Martyn. Preaching and Preachers (p. 17). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

And he goes through several chapters tying to prove his case. He said that greatest men in history have moved people by their words. Think about men like Abraham Lincoln. Or Winston Churchill during WW2. Or men like Martin Luther King Jr.

Lloyd-Jones, D. Martyn. Preaching and Preachers (p. 17). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

How much more those who preach the eternal truth of God’s Word. As you look throughout history, every reformation in history was a recovery of the Word of God.

In happened in Nehemiah’s Day after the Jews returned from Exile. It happened during the time of Jesus’ and the Apostles. It happened during the Reformation period. It was a recovery of the Word of God.

He goes on to say that the Lord’s ministry was primarily one of preaching. Miracles were secondary. Miracles were meant to confirm the truth of what he was preaching that the Kingdom of God was at hand.

As we saw last week, Jesus would teach first. Then devils were cast out. The same pattern was given to the disciples.

Luke 9:1–2 ESV

And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.

Even after the disciples were growing after the Spirit of God was poured out at Pentecost, you remember what the Apostles devoted themselves to?

Acts 6:4 ESV

But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

They were following the pattern of their master. But early on, they didn’t get this lesson.

A revival of true preaching has always heralded these great movements in the history of the Church. And, of course, when the Reformation and the Revival come they have always led to great and notable periods of the greatest preaching that the Church has ever known. As that was true in the beginning as described in the book of Acts, it was also after the Protestant Reformation. Luther, Calvin, Knox, Latimer, Ridley—all these men were great preachers. In the seventeenth century you had exactly the same thing—the great Puritan preachers and others. And in the eighteenth century, Jonathan Edwards, Whitefield, the Wesleys, Rowlands and Harris were all great preachers. It was an era of great preaching. Whenever you get Reformation and Revival this is always and inevitably the result.

Lloyd-Jones, D. Martyn. Preaching and Preachers (pp. 31-32). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

Lloyd-Jones, D. Martyn. Preaching and Preachers (p. 31). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

My soul needs to be happy in the Lord

Mark 1:36–38 ESV

And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.”

Mark 1:

And Simon, Mark distinguishes him as the leader of the pack, those who were with him probably referring to James and John searched for him.

Preaching is the greatest need of the church

The word searched for him is used of hunting or aggressively looking for him. They may have been frazzled when they woke up and did not find Jesus in the home.

Notice what they said to Jesus’ “Everyone is looking for you.”

In other words, this is a mild rebuke from the disciples. Even Jesus’ disciples did not understand their Master.

What are you doing over here Jesus! We got work to do! Look at all the people crowding at our house and your here alone praying!

Obviously, the disciples did not prioritize prayer like their Master. Jesus prioritized prayer before ministry. The disciples prioritized ministry before prayer.

Being vs. Doing

Tim Keller has said, “God draws us in to send us out”

There is nothing wrong with ministry. There is nothing wrong in healing the sick and casting out demons. But Jesus’ did not come just to be a mere miracle worker, but a one who would bring good news.

The Message of Mark a. Faithfulness as Well as Relevance

Everything that is done or said in the service of God must be in harmony with the good news of the kingdom. The proclamation is prior because within the message are the criteria for testing everything else. There is the centrality of love, the commendation of grace, the challenge to repentance, the invitation to faith. Above

Many of us like tasks. Just tell me what to do. Just give a tasklist to check off. But many of us don’t prioritize our souls. Jesus is telling us that we need to prioritize Him before we prioritized the needs of others.

The New International Greek Testament Commentary: The Gospel of Mark The Mission Expands beyond Capernaum (1:35–39)

But Jesus has other priorities; his primary mission is not to be a wonder-worker but to proclaim the kingdom of God.

The New American Commentary: Mark (4) The Departure from Capernaum and a Tour of Galilee (1:35–39)

However, Jesus’ primary mission was not to be a miracle-worker but a redeemer. The disciples failed to understand that the popularity itself made Jesus want to withdraw.

Being vs. Doing

The great secret of Christian ministry is that all Christian ministry must come from the overflow of a satisfied and glad heart in God. A heart satisfied with God will meet the real needs of others.

John Piper defines love “"Love is the overflow and expansion of joy in God, which gladly meets the needs of others" (44).

I think he is right. We can’t give to others what we don’t have to ourselves. If we love others in a dutiful way, even though the action may be right, the heart posture may be wrong. Because we feel like other people are burdens to us.

But when we are happy in the Lord, it will be a joy to serve others, not a burden.

Many of you in the church are Martha’s. You like serving. You like fellowship. You like doing things. Many of you think ministry is boring and difficult because you are not happy in the Lord. You have not worshipped the Lord. You have not spent time with the Lord and are amazed with his love for you.

But how many of you are like Mary’s? Being alone with the Lord. Learning to get your soul happy in the Lord. Sitting at the Lord’s feet in humble devotion to him. Once the soul is satisfied in God, then it is ready to serve the Lord.

Mark 1:38 ESV

And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.”

The New International Greek Testament Commentary: The Gospel of Mark The Mission Expands beyond Capernaum (1:35–39)

But Jesus has other priorities; his primary mission is not to be a wonder-worker but to proclaim the kingdom of God.

The New American Commentary: Mark (4) The Departure from Capernaum and a Tour of Galilee (1:35–39)

However, Jesus’ primary mission was not to be a miracle-worker but a redeemer. The disciples failed to understand that the popularity itself made Jesus want to withdraw.

Attracted to Jesus but not in Love with Jesus

Many people want to come to Jesus for the wrong reasons. They want to come to him so that he may do something for them. But Jesus come to show us our greatest need is not necessarily to be healed physically, but to be healed spiritually and eternally.

The Message of Mark a. Faithfulness as Well as Relevance

Illustration: Screen Time Feature tells you how much you wasted your Time.

Prayer Time. If Iphone developed a app that tells you how much you pray, would you be ashamed?

We prioritize our tasks over prayer. Jesus prioritize his prayer over his tasks.

The Message of Mark a. Faithfulness as Well as Relevance

Jesus Purpose was to Proclaim Good News

Luther-I have so much to do today I have to pray longer!

Mark 1:39 ESV

And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.

Mark 1:38 ESV

And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.”

Jesus goes into various village and barangays! His purpose was to preach the gospel.

John 5:30 ESV

“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.

John 8:28 ESV

So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me.

He was the servant of Yahweh. His beautiful were beautiful because he is proclaiming that the reign of God has begun with his coming.

Prayer is calling upon the name of the Lord to fulfill his promise. Recommend books on Prayer. Prayer. A Praying Life. Prayer.

Isaiah 52:7 ESV

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”

Prayer book. Model prayer. Set aside time to pray. Prayer meeting. Prayer before services. Quiet place to pray. Starbucks in prayer. Membership directory prayer. Go to Church. Pray yourself. Look to Jesus’ example and life.

What were the priorities of Jesus?

-George Mueller

The New International Greek Testament Commentary: The Gospel of Mark The Mission Expands beyond Capernaum (1:35–39)

But Jesus has other priorities; his primary mission is not to be a wonder-worker but to proclaim the kingdom of God.

ttractionalism and Enthusiasm for Jesus should not be confused with faith.

He prioritized prayer. He needed to be submissive and dependent on the will of His Father.

The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel according to Mark Journey Inward, Journey Outward (1:35–39)

Mark records Jesus praying only three times in the Gospel; here (1:35), following the feeding of the five thousand (6:46), and in Gethsemane (14:32–39).

Attractionalism and Enthusiasm for Jesus should not be confused with faith.

He prioritized preaching. He needed to obedient to the Father’s will to proclaim good news for those who are lost in sin and darkrness.

Mark 1:39 ESV

And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.

The New American Commentary: Mark (4) The Departure from Capernaum and a Tour of Galilee (1:35–39)

However, Jesus’ primary mission was not to be a miracle-worker but a redeemer. The disciples failed to understand that the popularity itself made Jesus want to withdraw.

There was power in prayer and preaching. His teaching was confirmed by the power of his miracles. Lives were changed and lives were delivered from the kingdom of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of light because Jesus’ prioritized prayer and the Word of God.

The Message of Mark a. Faithfulness as Well as Relevance

There is no secret magical formula to ministry success because the work of the ministry is supernatural.

It takes the power of God by His Spirit working through the Word of God to raise the spiritually dead and conform them to the image of Jesus Christ.

Let us be a people of prayer and proclamation of the Word of God so that God would be glorified in working through us that which only God can accomplish.

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