Ordinary Men, Extraordinary Calling
Notes
Transcript
Ordinary Men, Extraordinary Calling
Mark 6:7-13
Open your Bible to Mark 6.
One of the most amazing features of the Gospels are the men Jesus chose to be His disciples. If you and I were putting together a ministry team, these are probably not the kind of people we would choose to represent us. Think about it
· Several were fishermen
· One had been a tax collector for Rome
· A couple of them were quick tempered
· One of them was a revolutionary
· One was a traitor and not even a believer
All were common, ordinary men.
These men lacked spiritual understanding. They lacked humility. They lacked faith. They lacked commitment. They lacked power. They were always getting into trouble; missing the point of Christ’s teachings; lashing out at people who were different; saying the wrong thing; walking away from their commitment; among other failures and problems.
In spite of their weaknesses, Christ used these men to turn the world upside down for His glory. If He can use them, surely, He can use us too! That gives me a lot of hope today!
Jesus called these men to follow Him a while earlier. For some time now they have been following Jesus from place to place, listening to Him teach and watching Him perform miracles. Since He called them, they’ve been in seminary. Jesus has been training them so that He could send them out with the message of the Gospel.
Our passage for today gives us the details of Jesus commissioning His disciples for their first missionary outreach.
This passage has something to teach everyone who considers themselves to be servants of the Lord. It has something to say to those who want to serve the Lord. Today, I want us to see that just as Jesus had a mission for the original twelve disciples, He still has a mission for us.
Let’s look at their commission and their work. And while we do that, we can learn more about how He expects us to serve Him in these days.
Let’s pray and then we’ll read our text.
Pray!
And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits.
He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts—
but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics.
And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there.
And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.”
So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent.
And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.
The first thing we’ll look at is the mission of the twelve.
The Mission
The Mission
Jesus calls His men to Him and sends them out on a preaching mission. He sent them out two by two and gave them power over demons. Let’s consider their mission.
They were sent out “two by two.” Matthew may give us an idea of how they were paired:
The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother;
Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;
Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
Could you imagine if you had been Judas’s partner?
There are a couple of reasons Jesus sent them out this way.
· It fulfilled the Law for every testimony to be established by at least two witnesses
· It provided them with companionship, encouragement and someone to pray for them
· John the Baptist did the same when he sent out his followers
· The early church followed this example in sending out Barnabas and Saul
It’s still a great way today. When two people go out to share the Gospel together, they can encourage one another, pray for one another and help one another stand in this evil day. When you go out to tell the world about Jesus take someone with you, it will make the job easier.
We’re told that Jesus gave them “authority.” He was giving them His power when He sent them out. They were representing Him as they ministered around the country and would be able to do the things that He did.
Jesus would even later say:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.
When Jesus saves someone, He gives them the power and authority to carry His message to the world.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
We may feel inadequate for the task, we may be weak in words and we may feel that our testimony lacks power, but Jesus has promised to give us His power. And His power is more than enough to get the job done! Knowing that, we can go out into the world and share the Gospel because He has called us and empowered us to do exactly that!
There was the mission of the twelve and next we see the mandate of the twelve.
The Mandate
The Mandate
As part of His commissioning, Jesus gave His men some very specific commands. Looking at what He told them has something to say to us about our own service to the Lord.
They were told to take nothing with them for their journey. They could take a walking stick, the shoes on their feet and the clothes on their backs. They couldn’t take food, a bag or even money.
The idea is that they were to go just as they were, without making any special preparations. They were to go with their full faith in Christ and in His ability to take care of them.
And that’s still God’s plan for His people!
We’re saved by faith and He expects us to live by faith! He wants us to walk in complete dependence on Him and on His power to supply our needs.
And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
If He sends us out in service, we can trust Him to take care of us.
There is also the idea here of urgency. Jesus wants them to go now! The fields were ready for the harvest and it was time to go.
There’s still an urgency that comes with the Gospel message. The time to tell the world is today, not tomorrow, not next week or when you get the extra time. The time to go is right now. If He has it on your heart to tell someone about Him, the time to do that is today.
They were told to take only one coat. In those days it was usually just the rich people who could afford two coats. Jesus was sending them out as common men among common people. They weren’t supposed to put on their finest clothes, wear designer suits and Italian shoes and come across as though they were better than the people they encountered.
There’s a good lesson for us.
Sometimes we’re guilty of acting like we’re better than the lost world around us. We look down our self-righteous noses at others and talk about how much better we are than they are. The truth is the only thing that separates us from the most wicked of sinners is the pure grace of God!
If it weren’t for His grace in our lives, we would be as bad, or worse, than they are! Shame on us for thinking that we’re better than anybody! Shame on us for sticking our religious noses up into the air, parading around before a lost world, acting like we’re something special! There was a time when we were just like them.
Apart from the blood of Jesus and the grace of God, we still would be!
They were to accept the hospitality of the local people and stay in whatever house they were invited into. They weren’t to seek out better accommodations or look for more comfortable lodging. If the first thing offered was a Motel 6, then they couldn’t switch to a Hilton if it were offered. They were to take what they were given and be happy with it.
The English church of the 18th and 19th Centuries was rocked by scandal. The pastors were notorious for seeking their comfort above the needs and welfare of their churches. They were more famous for their knowledge of hunting dogs and for the wines in their cellars that they were for preaching the Word of God or ministering to the needs of His people.
The same could be said about many preachers in our day. They live like kings while their people struggle to support their lifestyles. Some of the megachurch pastors of today, with their luxurious mansions, air-conditioned doghouses, private jets and limousines have left a bad taste in the mouth of this generation.
The Christian life isn’t about being comfortable. There are times when serving Him is anything but comfortable. Our duty is to take whatever He gives us with a heart of gratitude and learn to be content with the things He provides.
Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
If you’re serving Him, you can trust Him to take care of you. That’s His promise and He’ll stand by it.
So, if the disciples entered a village and they and their message was rejected, they were to leave that village and shake the dust off their sandals. The Jews often did this when they were returning from a journey to a pagan land. Before they crossed back into Israel, they would shake the dust off their clothes and off their shoes. It represented a total disassociation from the pagans and the pollution of their land.
In this case, Jesus told His man to do this as a sign that those who rejected the Gospel would face a harsh judgment someday. In fact, their punishment would exceed the judgment that fell on ancient Sodom and Gomorrah. Why? All Sodom and Gomorrah had was the testimony of a wayward believer named Lot. These villages had the testimony of Jesus Christ Himself! They would face a harsh judgment for rejecting His offer of salvation.
The primary message of the disciples was a message of hope and salvation. However, those who rejected the offer of salvation were given a message of judgment and condemnation.
The message of the church today is also a message of hope and salvation. We’re meant to point the way to Jesus, extending His offer of salvation to all who’ll believe it. We’re to point the way to Heaven, but we must never neglect to warn sinners about the judgment of Hell.
No one likes that message in our day.
We’re ridiculed for preaching that there is a real place called Hell where lost souls suffer for eternity. Let the world kick against that message! Let lost people accuse us of being out of step with this modern world. Let them mock our pleas for them to turn from their sins and come to Jesus. Let them say what they will, but the truth is still the truth!
The only way into Heaven is through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
The only way to avoid Hell is through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
That’s our testimony! It’s a testimony of deliverance to those who receive it. It’s a testimony of condemnation to those who reject it!
There was the mission of the twelve, the mandate of the twelve and next the message of the twelve.
The Message
The Message
The message of the twelve was a simple, straightforward message. It was a message that could be understood by all who heard it.
They preached that men should “repent.”
I’m not sure that we really understand what that word means today. It means, “to have a change of self (heart and mind) that abandons former dispositions and results in a new self, new behavior, and regret over former behavior and dispositions.” It means to change your direction.
When genuine repentance takes place the change in a person’s life is radical and powerful!
Most of the time repentance is only preached in its negative sense. People are told that they need to stop doing certain things, and that’s true. But repentance is far more that that!
Repentance has both a negative and a positive aspect. Repentance looks backward, but it also looks forward. Repentance says, “I’ll stop doing the things I shouldn’t do and I’ll start doing the things I should. I’ll stop living a life of sin and I’ll start living a life of holiness.”
Repentance arises out of a heart that is sorry for the wrongs it is guilty of committing.
For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.
That’s the kind of grief that produces a desire to change the way your living. That’s genuine repentance and it’s not something we see a lot of today.
There aren’t many voices calling for repentance in these days. Most people don’t like to be told that they’re wrong and need to change their lives. They don’t want to be told that sin is sin. It isn’t relative. It’s not about your worldview or perspective. It’s about the truth we find in God’s Word.
I want to tell you that you will never have the blessing of God in your life until you repent of your sins. You’ll never have assurance of your salvation until you repent of your sins. And if we’re being honest this morning, if you refuse to repent of your sins, you’re probably not saved to begin with!
One of the characteristics of being saved is a changed life.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
If you can live in sin, without seeing the need to turn from it and repent, most likely you’re not saved.
No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God.
Let me make it as plain as I can today: The message has not changed!
God still commands sinners to repent of their sins if they want to be saved from their sins.
The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,
That truth applies to you. It applies to me. It applies to every person in the entire world. Repentance is essential for a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.
There was the mission, the mandate, the message and finally the ministry of the twelve.
The Ministry
The Ministry
The disciples went out in the power of the Savior and they saw Him move and work in power and glory. Their experience has something to say to us in this day.
Now, we’ll probably not see the same things that these men saw. What Jesus did through them is what we know as sign gifts. They were signs that were designed to give validity to His message. During the time of the apostles, they didn’t have the complete Word of God. They needed proof and God gave it to them by working powerful, clear miracles among the people.
Today, we see Him confirm His word by changing people’s lives.
The greatest miracle is the salvation of a soul. It so far outweighs healings and the casting out of demons that they’re not even in the same category!
When Jesus saves a soul, it eclipses even His power in creation.
It’s amazing to think about God making everything out of nothing. But, to think that He could take a lost, hell-bound sinner and make them into a child of God is marvelous beyond words! To think that He would love the lost and reach out to them in grace is amazing. To think that He’d die on the cross to redeem them from their sins is wonderful beyond belief.
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
To think that He would save people who are trapped in their sins is a miracle the mind can hardly comprehend!
Our Savior is in the life-changing, soul-saving business! One of the most amazing truths I’ve ever learned is that He wants us to have a part in His ministry. When we hear His call, accept His commission, walk in faith and share His message with a lost and dying world, we can expect Him to honor His Word and save the lost.
Here’s the invitation today:
· If you’re saved and sense Him calling you to share your faith, you need to come. If He is calling you to serve, you need to answer that call and go where He sends you.
· If you’re saved and you’ve been holding back out of fear of failure or that your needs might not be met, let go of them today. Come before Him and commit to doing what He has called you to do.
· If you’ve never repented of your sins and trusted Jesus, and He’s drawing you to Himself, you need to come today and be saved.
· If you’ve made a profession in the past, but your life has never changed and you’re still controlled by your sins, you need to come today and get it settled once and for all. Follow Him in genuine repentance.