Sermon Tone Analysis

Are you going or have you been sent?

My question this morning is are you going somewhere in life or have you been sent?

This may seem like a strange question or you may be wondering what I mean.

Are you going or are you sent.

Let me illustrate.

Ron and Gennie and I have something in common.

We all have spent sometime in Orlando Florida this year.

There is a major different between us though, besides they were there a lot longer, They went to Florida but I was sent.

While these words may sound alike and even seem synonymous, there is stark difference in the outcomes that accompany the words sent and went.

Went is the past tense of the verb go.

Sent is the past tense of the verb send.

They both connote action and movement.

However, the action is derived from different instigations.

Basically, I can never send myself.

Someone has to initiate the action of my being sent.

I can go.

I can choose where to go.

I can choose when to go.

I can choose how to go.

I can choose not to go.

I can choose what I do when I arrive at the place I am going.

I can choose nearly everything associated with the action of going.

Being sent is another matter altogether.

Someone else chooses to send me.

Someone else chooses my destination.

Someone else chooses my mode.

Someone else chooses what I do when I arrive at the place to which I am sent.

Biblical disciples, those who have surrendered fully to Christ and have daily taken up their cross to follow Christ, live as sent beings.

Let’s look at Genesis 12 verses 1-3

Did Abram go or was he sent?

Abram didn’t simply go to a far-off land; he was sent by covenant God (Genesis 12:1-3).

What about The seventy followers of Christ that went out to preach the Gospel?

Did they go or were they sent?

did they simply go on a trip; No they were sent as sheep in the midst of wolves

on their mission from Christ (Matthew 10:16).

What about Ananias?

Did he just wander into the presence of Saul, the most notorious persecutor of Christians of the

time?

Let’s look at verse 17 of Acts chapter 9

So did Ananias just go to visit Saul, the greatest persecutor of the church at the time?

No!, he was sent by God (Acts 9:17).

The Elliots, Saints, Flemings, McCullys and Youderains didn’t simply go on an evangelistic endeavor; they were sent by Christ to the tribe in Ecuador in the 1950s.

And John Chau didn’t simply decide to go on a mission; he was called and sent by Jesus Christ our Lord to bring the Good News of salvation to the people of the North Sentinel Island.

What is it about being sent that we need to more fully comprehend and be obedient to?

What is Day of the Christian Martyr?

According to church tradition, June 29 marks the martyrdom of the Apostle Paul.

This year, Christians around the world will take time on June 29 and throughout that weekend to honor the Lord through the legacy of those who have sacrificed their lives for the advancement of the gospel.

The Voice of the Martyrs invites you and your congregation into fellowship with our Christian brothers and sisters who are persecuted for their bold and faithful witness at any cost.

Turn with me in your Bibles to Romans chapter 10.

We want to examine this morning what it means to be sent by God.

Context of Romans 10:13-17

As we read the epistle to the Romans, Paul writes concerning God’s love for and relationship with Israel.

A cursory reading might lead one to the conclusion that the construct of Romans chapters 9-11 only affects God’s relationship with Israel.

However, the timeless principles found in God’s Word always inform our present and future.

Yes, Paul went to great lengths to describe how Israel was God’s chosen people, misunderstood that the righteousness of God could only be found in Christ, and pursued the false hope of righteousness by trusting in the law (Romans 9:30).

The confession that all who call upon the name of the Lord will find salvation (Romans 10:12-13) indicates that a righteousness pursued through any other avenue except Christ is futile, as exemplified by Israel.

So, Paul is writing specifically about Israel’s faulty trust in the law; however, the backdrop of the foundation he laid in Romans 1 indicates that each pursues their own righteousness (Romans 1:17-23) even in the face of God’s clear revelation (Romans 1:19).

It is in Romans 10:13-17 that Paul specifically addresses the topic of “how”: How do those who are pursuing their own righteousness move from self-reliance to trust in Christ alone?

Praise God that He provided a clear understanding of the biblical disciple’s role in His redemptive mission!

Let’s work through some passages of Scripture to better understand the following: Who is sent?

Why we are sent?

To whom are we sent?

How we are sent?

What results from being sent?

Who Is Sent?

PAUL DESCRIBES HIMSELF NUMEROUS TIMES AS “AN APOSTLE” (ROMANS 1:1; 1 CORINTHIANS 1:1; 1 TIMOTHY 2:7).

A. The very meaning of apostle in the Greek language [apostolos] is “one who is sent with orders” and applied to the disciples Christ selected, including Paul [Strong’s G652].

Specifically, in Galatians 1:1,

Paul fills this meaning with some specific information: “Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead.”

“One who is sent with orders” — not sent from man but sent through Jesus Christ and God the Father Let’s look at what Peter has to say.

The Apostle Peter’s language indicates that we who have been “called out of darkness into His marvelous light” are the ones sent.

a. “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

(1 Peter 2:9)

3. The prophet Isaiah gives an explanation of being sent by God in the beautiful response, “Here I am, send me,” following his eyes being opened to the majesty and glory of God on His throne (Isaiah 6:1-8).

JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD SENDS HIS OWN FOLLOWERS...

in the power of the Holy Spirit to cross multiple boundaries (Acts 1:8)

to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18-20)

to model His own mission as being sent from the Father (John 20:21)

to announce that the kingdom of heaven is near (Matthew 10:7)

Jesus’ instructions were given to ordinary people: those he called from lives as fishermen, tax collectors and other backgrounds.

Very few were counted among the spiritual elite (Simon the Zealot and Paul the Pharisee), yet many were called and sent on His redemptive mission, obediently trusting in the power and presence of the Holy Spirit.

In reality, they were no different from each of us.

Why Are We Sent? (Romans 10:13-16)

PAUL SETS FORTH A LOGICAL PROGRESSION.

A. Those who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.

(v.

13)

1.

How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed?

(v.

14)

a. Belief is expressed in calling upon the name of the Lord.

2. And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard?

(v.

14)

Hearing about Christ precedes belief in Christ.

John Chau was sent to a group of people who have never heard the message of Christ.

3.

And how are they to hear without someone preaching?

(v.

14)

a. Hearing about Christ demands a voice proclaiming Christ.

4. And how are they to preach unless they are sent?

The obedience of biblical disciples proclaiming the message of Christ is foundational to the end result of those calling upon the name of the Lord to be saved.

Being sent indicates that we have received the message ourselves, trusting in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Application question: Can you see this pattern in your own journey of coming to faith in Christ?