Sent Out

Intro

Been talking about the Christian response to tyranny

how to fight righteously when necessary.

but that’s defense. do we have an offense?

yes. it’s our witness.

Theme verse:

Acts 1:8 “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.””

Our offence is witness - we are called to witness.

Nations are won to Jesus by WITNESS.

And to be a witness is not just for someone with the “gifts of evangelism” - it’s for everyone

Matt 10:1-4 “And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. 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.”

Matt 10:5-15 “These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay. Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals or a staff, for the laborer deserves his food. And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. As you enter the house, greet it. And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.”

FIRST - EVERYONE is a witness.

"follow me and I will make you fishers of men”

This is NOT just a commandment for the apostles.

They weren’t apostles yet, they were still just in disciple boot camp. And we know all disciples are commissioned in witness and empowered by the Holy Spirit to do so.

This is their first mission, remember the first time you shared the Gospel? Butterflies?

SECOND - Are you sure… this is their first mission?

Healings, casting out demons, raising the dead.... what?

This is just level 1. They aren’t even going outside of their own people yet.

In other words, we may not be casting out demons and such like they were, but what makes this level 1 is that THEY WERE IN THEIR BACKYARD.

ill: foreign missions fundraisers - “how many folks have you preached the Gospel to that are following Jesus now around here?”

in other words - this is the type of witnessing that is the simplest for the believer to do. to your neighbors

the reason we don’t? because we are ashamed of Christ.

our witness might cost us something and we don’t want to risk it.

Third - the soil has been prepared in advance.

Remember the parable of the sower? - the seed on prepared ground

this ground has already been prepped.

prepped how? demons, dead, sick, lepers

the soil has been prepared by trial.

Think of it, in your own life, when do you run to Jesus the fastest? When times are hard. Difficult.

The same is true of those around us.

those who are experiencing trials, we should be prepared even more to give them Gospel answers.

AND - he has prepared his disciples

what to tell them “the kingdom of heaven is at hand”

The holistic message. The king of everything is near. The kingdom is nearly at fruition. He proved it by his miracles. He proved it through his disciples by his miracles. “I am over all things. You don’t have to suffer like this anymore.”

They were equiped to go forth and show Christ as a relative message. The ruler of their everyday.

AND - he gave them power.

Christians are given the Holy Spirit to empower us for witness. But how?

sometimes we make this more complicated than it actually is. “holy spirit power” and we think some ambiguous spiritual meaning.

I mean, it could be healing the sick. it could be casting out a demon...

but it could also be the power in your life in repentance - life change.

healing from addiciton - perversio made straight - angry made calm and self controlled. - vulgar made pure - panicky made patient and trusting, lazy made hard working...

but either way - they see the power. Somethign significant has happened.

And if you’re going door-to-door (cold call) it doesn’t matter much. They didn’t know the old you.

you can still minister the law and the gospel to them, and maybe some seeds are sown, but that’s not the normal process of how folks are saved.

So how does this holy spirit power - this change - really land?

when you’re around people who knew the old you.

they’ll know if you’re a fraud.

some will hate you for it… true. But some will bre attracted.

AND - he would provide for them everythign they needed to do it.

the same is true for us. He sets the standard. He sets the pace. He sets the provision.

later on Jesus would instruct them to bring their savings and their swords - but not here - here he’s teaching them a lesson.

If he does this for them.... on their pilgrim disciple making journey

will he not do this for you? so have faith.

Matt 4:19 “And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.””

1 cor 1:20-21 “Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.”

he’s not pickign professionals. the trained. the polished. the wise.

so. feel out of your depth? Great. you’re the best candidate.

you’re the best option. God ordained it for you. You’ll yield the most fruit. So don’t be shy.

Too often we’ve sat on the sidelines because we feel inadequate - without ever realizing that God ordained it to be that way.

Therefore - YOU HAVE THE MOST LIKELY CHANCE OF SUCCESS.

He has made it so.

We are called tow witness

we are empowered by the spirit to do it

we have been commissioned to do it

we have even been told that it WILL be effective

Gal 3:8 “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.””

When Abraham wondered how many would be in the family of God? Sand. Stars.

To be a fisher of men - implies that you’ll catch them.

a fisherman with no fish is just a dude in a boat.

and the Biblical precedent is a MASSIVE catch of fish.

AND NOT ONLY THAT

you have been promised victory

Matt 16:18 “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

1 John 5:4 “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.”

So … be sent

Matt 10:5 “These twelve Jesus sent out.....

be sent. you have a calling. you have been equipped. and in your perceived weakness - you have been promised victory so be sent.