Sermon Tone Analysis

!! Introduction

To under take this project required much more study than I anticipated.

The language of scripture contained 200 different semantic contexts applicable to the subject.

Exercising authority involves at least three major language domains, they are: 1. Help, care for; 2. Guide, discipline, follow; and 3. Control, rule.

The domain ‘Help, Care for’ contained 50 contexts.

The domain ‘Guide, Discipline, Follow’ contained 43 contexts.

And the domain ‘Control, Rule’ contained 107 contexts.

The scope of this study is huge.

One article will not suffice.

This subject matter is rarely mentioned in any literature I researched.

However, the question of how authority was exercised in New Testament times is answered in scripture.

The evidence is abundant and easily understood.

This article barely touches the subject.

This article has three sections.

They are: Authority Exercised: The Mission; Authority Exercised: The Model; and Authority Exercised: The Map.

It is hoped that three words will trigger the essence of this message in your memory: Mission, Model, and Map.

!

Authority Exercised: The Mission

!! Jesus and Mission

Jesus our Lord came to this earth with a mission.

He was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.

(Matt 15:24) Among Israel He came seeking the lost.

(Luke 19:10) He came to serve, not be served.

(Mark 10:45) He came to give His life as a ransom for many.

(Matt 20:28) He came as the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world.

(John 1:29)

Jesus came to prepare the people of God for the redemptive kingdom which was at hand during His lifetime.

This redemptive kingdom was predicated upon Him being offered as a sacrificial lamb.

The hour of His glory was connected to the cross of Calvary.

All of His teaching, all of His ministry and all of His work were connected to His mission.

No clearer determination of His fulfilling His mission is recorded in scripture than His final trip to Jerusalem.

(Read Luke 9:51; 13:22; 17:11; 18:31-33; 19:11, 28, 41) He was determined to go to His death in Jerusalem.

His mission must be fulfilled and He had all authority in heaven and on earth to complete it.

!! The Disciples and Mission

Unlike Jesus, the disciples did not have inherit authority within them.

Their authority was derived from Jesus.

And unlike Jesus, they did not have a part in deciding what their mission was to be.

On the contrary, Jesus having all authority in heaven and on earth gave them their mission.

We disciples today like the disciples of the 1st century A.D. have no inherit authority and have no part in deciding what our mission is going to be.

The authority we do exercise comes only because of the mission given to us by Christ.

All authority delegated to disciples of Jesus Christ are directly connected to the mission He gave us to fulfill.

We have no authority from above except as it relates to the great commission.

!!!

The Mission Defined

And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

(Matthew 28:18-20)

 

And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.

“He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.

(Mark 16:15-16)

 

And He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.(Luke

24:46-47)

 

These three passages reveal our single mission.

Everything we do as ministry or everything we do as work must be connected to the mission.

Otherwise, lost focus and failure to accomplish the mission will result.

From these texts let us answer very basic questions: Who? What?

When?

Where?

Why? How?

!!!! Who is to fulfill the Mission?

The scriptural answer is ‘them’.

Jesus spoke to /them/.

He said to /them/.

The ‘them’ in each of these texts were the apostles.

But more to the fact is that they each one were a disciple of Jesus.

Who is to fulfill the mission today?

Disciples fulfill the mission.

However, the disciples formed a community belonging to Christ.

A disciple is person following another in the sense of adhering to the teachings or instructions of a leader and in promoting the cause of such a leader.

The apostles were committed to adhering to Christ’s teachings and promoting His cause.

Nothing could be more needed today among us as followers of Christ.

A community is a unified body of people; a group of people with a common characteristic living within a larger society.

These eleven disciples and a handful of others committed to Christ formed the community of Christ.

They were unified and held in common the reality of being devoted to their Lord Jesus Christ.

They would lay down their lives in service to His cause and mission.

This community was distinct from the society in which it dwelt.

A disciple is to fulfill the mission with Christ and other disciples continually expanding the community of Christ.

!!!! What is the mission?

The scriptural answer is ‘make disciples’.

We are to take a people from where they are in a pagan society and lead them to adhere to the teachings and instructions of Jesus Christ and promote His cause.

In doing so, they become a part of the community of Christ of which He is the preeminent leader.

!!!!

When is the mission to be fulfilled?

The scriptural answer is ‘as you go’.

As a disciple lives out their life, they are focused on making disciples of those people with whom they interact.

The mission is to be fulfilled in the present time, now, today.

It is to be fulfilled everyday.

It is to be a natural part of life as a disciple.

!!!!

Where is the mission to be fulfilled?

The scriptural answer is ‘all nations [ethnic groups] in the entire world’.

Christ’s mission is a world-wide mission covering every ethnic group under the sun.

It is a global mission.

Disciples are to be willing to teach anyone and everyone.

!!!!

Why is the mission to be fulfilled?

The scriptural answer is ‘the people of the world are condemned and must come to repentance to receive remission of sin; they must hear and obey the gospel to be delivered from their sins.’

Eternity is in the balance for every soul and Christ’s mission is the only hope for the souls of men.

Disciples must fulfill this mission to rescue the souls of men.

!!!! How is the mission to be fulfilled?

The scriptural answer is by ‘repentance and remission of sins being proclaimed through the preaching of the gospel’ and ‘teaching them to observe all that Jesus had commanded them.’

Two words need to be understood: preach and teach.

/Kēryssō/ – preach: to publicly announce religious truths and principles while urging acceptance and compliance.

This is announcing in the public market place with a goal of one making a decision to follow Christ.

This word is translated preach in Mark’s gospel and proclaim in Luke’s gospel.

This is accomplished by skilled disciples.