Our Mission.
A number of Churches that I have visited have this sign across the door as you exit after the service, and it did not take long for me to find a number of variations on the internet. The Church building is a place where the followers of Christ are prepared for the mission that he has given them.
Our Mission.
Let me introduce my message today with two questions.
Do you consider yourself a true Christian, meaning “a Disciple of Christ Jesus” who is compelled by God’s love to do his will?
What is the Mission that you and I, who claim to have surrendered our lives to Christ, have been been given?
Our Mission.
We have a mission.
Matthew 28:18-20. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
John 15:16.
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit, fruit that will last and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. The true test is not how many respond to the alter call or how many recite a sinners prayer, but how many choose to be disciples.
The marks of discipleship.
A short while ago I ministered on the marks of Discipleship and today I want to recap a bit and add to these so that we can see what our mission entails and whether or not we ourselves are true disciples.
The Disciple of Christ loves Jesus more than anyone else.
Luke 14v 25-27.
Large crowds were travelling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters yes, even their own life such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
Matthew 10:37-39.
Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.
You love Jesus more than yourself (Self-denial)
Satan when tempting Job implied that love for oneself is a greater love than love for others.
Job 2:3-5. Then the Lord said to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason. Skin for skin! Satan replied. A man will give all he has for his own life. But now stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.
Luke 9:23-24.
Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.
Luke 14:27.
And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
The modern gospel offers people divine health and wealth, Jesus offered his disciples a cross.
Galatians 4:13-14.
As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you, and even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus himself.
Philippians 4:11-13.
I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
Jesus Gospel.
If we were preaching the same Gospel that Jesus preached, would our Churches be as full as what they are?
John 6:66-67.
At this, many of his disciples turned away and no longer accompanied him. Jesus asked the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?”
Jesus had just finished feeding the multitude (5000) earlier in this chapter and in the wake of this miracle he offends most of his followers and does not try and get them back.
Jesus was not looking for fans, he was not trying to fill the local stadium, he was not trying to get the local press to report on how many attended or how many responded to the alter call and recited the sinners prayer. Jesus called people to follow him and offered them a cross and told them that they would suffer, be insulted and hated.
Jesus Gospel.
If we were preaching the same Gospel that Jesus preached, would our Churches be as full as what they are?
Our Modern day gospel.
Peace be with you!
God will prosper you!
If we were preaching the same Gospel that Jesus preached, would our Churches be as full as what they are?
At Sandra’s funeral on Thursday 11 June a lady who works for Rosh said that at her church they had a “Great man of God” (Supposedly) who told them to go home and pray for 7 days and come back the next week with R700 in an envelope and place it in the basket provided and God would prosper them and bless them and answer their prayers. At the same church you have to give R350 if you want deliverance.
This is the false Gospel we see on our Christian channels today, it may not be so blatant but in all it’s variations it boils down to exactly the same thing.
If we were preaching the same Gospel that Jesus preached, would our Churches be as full as what they are?
A recent report on the USA spending stated that the Christmas spending had dropped by 1%, but the figure was still close to 500 billion dollars.
The average spending per family in USA on Christmas day worked out to be $832.
3 billion people in the world, that means almost half of the world’s population live on an average of $2 per day, that is $730 a year, less than the average American family spends on Christmas day on decorations, presents and food!!
Do you really think that God cares that you did not get the silver Mercedes you were praying for?
If we were preaching the same Gospel that Jesus preached, would our Churches be as full as what they are?
Pastors should be concerned when they have a big Church and a large following because Jesus who gave sight to the blind, healed the lepers, made the lame walk and raised the dead left a church of 120 faithful followers who prayed for the promise of Pentecost.
But our modern day “Great men of God” make appeals for millions to finance their new jets and building projects and TV broadcasts that go out into a lost and dying, sin-sick world and instead of a message of hope they propagate their gospel of covetousness.
If we were preaching the same Gospel that Jesus preached, would our Churches be as full as what they are?
Jesus said that the Pharisees were great missionaries but their converts were not converted to the truth. Being mission minded is great, but you must have the correct message, the one we find in the Bible, not one cooked up in Hell. Vast sums of money are spent broadcasting the “Gospel!!” into foreign lands, but the bulk of it does not remotely resemble the Gospel Jesus and His disciples preached.
Matthew 23:15. You Pharisees and teachers of the Law of Moses are in for trouble! You’re nothing but show-offs. You travel over land and sea to win one follower. And when you have done so, you make that person twice as fit for hell as you are. Even Satan can perform miracles, but often people are not even healed, they are just sent away and are told to lie and tell everybody that they are healed. It’s called “POSITIVE CONFESSION”
You love Jesus more than yourself (Self-denial)
Philippians 3:7-18.
But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings,
becoming like him in his death,
and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
A true disciple will walk in obedience to the Word of God.
John 8:31-32.
To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
John 8:31. (ESV)
If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples.
John 15:7. (KJV)
If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
God’s Word does not abide in us by memorization but by obedience.
Mark 4:23-25.
He who has ears to hear let him hear. Consider carefully what you hear, with the measure you use it will be given to you and even more. He who hears will be given more, he who does not hear even that which he has will be taken away.
The true disciple will embrace the Father’s will.
Luke 9:23.
Then he said to them all: Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.
When praying in the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus said to the Father
Matthew 26:39… My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.
42 He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.
44 So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.
Matthew 7:21.
Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
The true disciple will love fellow disciples as Jesus does.
John 13:34-36.
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
Loving our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ requires our participation and effort, it does not just get dropped into our laps as a gift you can’t refuse.
The true disciple will join in Jesus mission.
John 15:8,16.
By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples…. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.
What do you think Jesus meant by bearing much fruit?
This should explain it…
Genesis 1:27,28.
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.”
The Lord wants us to make Disciples.
The true disciple will join in Jesus mission.
Matthew 28:16-20.
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
Additional marks of discipleship.
You hate the things God hates and you love the things God loves.
The Truth of God’s Word out-weighs your self-esteem.
God disciplines you when you sin.
The true Christian hears the Lord’s voice.
Story: There was a man who had not been to church in 5 years and the new Pastor is asked to go and pay him a visit.
Pastor: I hear you haven’t been to church for 5 years.
Man: Yes I must really get back, it is just that I love sport and I need time to garden and wash the car.
Pastor: I hear you drink a lot and become abusive.
Man: Yes that is true I must stop that and get back to church.
Pastor: I hear that you have had an affair and your wife is wanting to leave you.
Man: Yes I have a weakness for other women and I must get change my behaviour, I will see you in Church on Sunday.
Do not love the world.
Story continued:
Now Sunday comes and everybody sees the man who has not been to church for 5 years come through the door and they are very exited because a lost sheep has come home.
They are wrong!!!
A goat has just walked in to the church.
The man is not doing the things he loves and has decided to do something that bores him.
1 John 2:15-17.
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.
Do not love the world.
I got another pig illustration:
If you have a pig tied up and you get a pail of slop and a plate of food and you set the pig loose it will head straight for the pail of slop.
The problem is not self discipline it has to do with the nature of the pig. Those who have received God’s divine nature as they have responded to the true Gospel and repented experience a change in appetite.
James 4:4.
You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
You cannot fix the problem you have with church attendance, you need the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit as you see your sin.
Do not love the world.
It is very easy in the ministry, especially as a new Pastor to go running after people who are not interested in serving the Lord. Concerned family members ask you to visit someone who is not wanting a visit and so you end up sowing seed on rocks or watering rocks and obviously there is no fruit.
Even in church if you don’t give an alter call and try coerce people into saying a sinners prayer some Christians think that you have missed a big opportunity.
If people are really searching there will be an effort on their part. We don’t have to try and do the work of the Holy Spirit by using clever salesman tactics to get some confession and prayer out of them.
Jesus did not make following him an easy thing to do.
Do not love the world.
What Jesus are we preaching?
The Cost of Following Jesus
Luke 9:57-62.
As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
He said to another man, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
Is this the Jesus we are preaching or are we preaching a Jesus who will give you everything your carnal heart desires.
Do not love yourself.
Self instead of Christ.
The big problem right at the start of the modern gospel is that it attempts to build up man’s self esteem. That never happened when people came face to face with Jesus.
Internet article: There are times you realize that even as a Christian, you’ve bought into a non-Biblical philosophy.
I’ve had to admit this error when it comes to the false philosophy of self-esteem.
The devastating results are everywhere, and many secular psychologists that once supported the premise of building self-esteem are now recanting. Yet, most of us are still defending self-esteem philosophy as if it were Scripture. But, before I go further, please let me stress that treating your children kindly and lovingly is godly. But teaching them they are wonderful is not. Even though the self-esteem philosophy has been “Christianized” and accepted for many years, most of it is in direct opposition to the words of Scripture.
Do not love yourself.
The response of those who have an encounter with the Lord was not one of heightened self-esteem.
Peter. Luke 5:8.
When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!
Isaiah 6:1&5.
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple.
“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined!
For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.
Do not love yourself.
Job’s encounter with the Lord.
God had told Satan about the uprightness of Job and Satan then said it was only because of the protection and prosperity God gave him that Job served God, so God allowed Satan to take everything from Job including his children his possessions and his health. Job questions God and then in Job 38 to 42 God answers Job. This is Job’s response to what God said to him
Job 42:1-6.
Then Job replied to the LORD: I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. You asked, Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge? Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. You said, Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.
Do not love yourself.
How can you claim to have had an encounter with the almighty God and remain unchanged?
Many are going to have that false claim denied by Christ Jesus himself when they remind him of all their wonderful church activities and he says “Depart from me I do not know you”
There is a big difference between you knowing someone and them knowing you.
If you go to the White House and say you know Barak Obama and you want to see him, you are not going to get in. However if Barak Obama says he knows you and says come in it is a different matter. There is a danger in the western world, where we have been so exposed to the Bible and have become familiar with certain doctrines and teachings of Christianity, that we make the mistake of thinking that all that head knowledge is a substitute for an intimate relationship with Jesus in which we die to our own selves and surrender ourselves to His will and purpose.
Counterfeit Christianity is self centred.
In many countries today Christianity is not the popular religion of choice as it is in much of the West. Here a much higher price is paid to be a follower of Christ, although that term can scarcely be applied to the hundreds of thousands in western countries who call themselves Christians, yet do not pray except in personal difficulty, or when wanting some new additional blessing, whose church attendance is based on the weather outside or whether someone has not offended them with some triviality, or if they feel like it etc. They do not tithe and the money they do give is given begrudgingly with the expectation of great reward.
Very far removed from those who still say “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him”
The Lord disciplines his disciples.
Another sign that you are a true disciple, a son of God, is that you are disciplined when you sin.
As Christians we are not walking in sinless perfection, but when we sin, particularly when we allow a repetitive sin to take hold of us, God will discipline us.
Hebrews 12:5-8.
My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son. Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all.
The only reason that people who are living sinful lifestyles seemingly live charmed lives with no evidence of God’s discipline, is that they are not his children.
The Lord disciplines his disciples.
1 Corinthians 11:27-34.
So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves.
That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment.
Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world. So then, my brothers and sisters, when you gather to eat, you should all eat together. Anyone who is hungry should eat something at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment.
Are you a disciple of Christ?
We are instructed to Examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith.
Go look in the mirror of God’s Word and tell me what do you see.
Do you see some wonderful person who needs applause or do you see a sinner in need of God’s grace.
Jesus does not call you to change your life, he calls you to lose your life.
If tithing scares you let me tell you the bad news, Jesus is not calling you to give 10%, he is calling you to give 100%.
Do you do what Jesus instructed or are you just paying lip service to the Christian faith?
The true Christian hears the Lord’s voice.
John 10:3-5. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice…… All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them…...
I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.
The true Christian hears the Lord’s voice.
The big problem that confronts modern day Christianity is not a God that doesn’t speak, but Christians, like the Jews of old, do not listen.
Jeremiah 6:10. “To whom can I speak and give warning? Who will listen to me? Their ears are closed so they cannot hear. The Word of the Lord is offensive to them; they find no pleasure in it.”
Obedience is the response that keeps the dialog going. If we refuse to do what God tells us, we risk deafening our spiritual ear.
Mark 4:23-25. He who has ears to hear let him hear. Consider carefully what you hear, with the measure you use it will be given to you and even more. He who hears will be given more, he who does not hear even that which he has will be taken away.
Our Mission.
Jesus knows you, he knows your sin, he knows your sinful thoughts.
He knew the woman taken in adultery was guilty and did not try defend her guilt, he just let the crowd know that he knew their sin as well.
He knew the Samaritan woman had been married 5 times and that she was living with another man but he offered her water that would take away her carnal thirst. (He wasn’t there to give her some seminar on self-esteem)
Jesus sees beyond the façade and pretence we put up for others to see and he offers us water that will not only satisfy and lead us into a life that is abundant and satisfying. Living water that will remove the carnal cravings which are so evident in the lives of many who claim to follow him and which the modern apostate gospel promises to satisfy.
The response of the Samaritan women at the well as she drank of the living water was to immediately get involved in Jesus mission and she went back to the village and told them to come to Jesus.
Our Mission.
John 4 28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?”
39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers. 42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Saviour of the world.”
She did not have to go to Bible college or University, she immediately got involved in Jesus Mission to reach out to a lost and dying world. Not with some shallow message of health and wealth and no troubles but with the message of forgiveness from sin and a new regenerated heart.