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Back to Sermons Index Back to Home Page 11th September 2005MISSION - BEING GOD'S MESSAGE TO THE WORLD ! a.m. version Pastor Linton SmithThere is a story about a life saving station. It has been
around for a long time. Let me read it to you.. We are always in danger of going down that pathway..
of losing sight of our purpose.. and evolving into a mere club. We need to
remind ourselves of that as we build.. and at all times! We need to remind ourselves again and again that we have a
mission – given to us by Jesus – to make Him known to people.. to
introduce people to Him.. so that they can know and worship God.. be part of His
family.. and spend eternity with Him! Warren writes, Jesus calls us not only to come
to him, but to go for him. Your mission is so significant that Jesus
repeated it five times, in five different ways, in five different books of the
Bible [TPDL p282]. The five different books of the Bible are Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts. In Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Acts Jesus tells us what to do. In John He tells us how to do
it.. In
John 20:19-21 we read.. On the
evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with
the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said,
“Peace be with you!” After
he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed
when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father
has sent me, I am sending you.” As the Father sent me, I am sending you. Literally.. Just as the Father sent me. We are to continue the mission of Jesus.. and we are to
go about it in the way He went about it. Let’s explore this today.. At the very beginning of John’s Gospel we discover that
THE FATHER SENT JESUS..
q
TO BE HIS
VERY IMAGE! John writes.. John 1:14.. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. The Word is Jesus. In John 1:1 we are told that the Word was with God, and the Word was
God. Jesus was with God the Father.. and was fully God.. and became flesh..
one of us.. and pitched His tent among us! And so John could say, We have seen
His glory! In John 14:9 Jesus says.. Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. People
who were privileged to see Jesus.. saw the Father!
In Colossians 1:15,19.. Paul says that Jesus [He] is the image of the
invisible God.. For God
was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him.. Jesus was God in human form.
He was the message. He could
say.. Look at me.. at my character.. and see the Father – see what He is like!
Here is the first thing to
note about carrying out the mission of Jesus. We ourselves are the message. We are not the same as Jesus. He was
God in human form. We are not gods in any form but we are to be like Jesus in
character, and so like the Father! In Ephesians 4:24 Paul urges
us to.. Put on the new self, created
to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. In Galatians Galatians 5:22,23
he shows us how to become like God.. The fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and
self-control. We cannot be godly people, have a
Christ-like character.. in our own strength. Only the Spirit of God can make us
like Jesus.. and does.. when we
believe He lives in us.. depend on Him.. and allow Him to do His work. In an old song.. William Longstaff
tells us what we are to do.. Take time to be holy; The world
rushes on; Spend much time in secret with Jesus
alone. By looking to Jesus, Like Him thou
shalt be; Thy friends in thy conduct His
likeness will see. Jesus came not just to deliver a
message. He was the message. And the same is true of us. We
are the message. Where we
live.. where we study.. where we work.. we are the message.. and people are
reading us all the time. Are they seeing Jesus? Are they seeing God? We
read on in John’s gospel and we discover that
THE FATHER SENT JESUS.. q
TO DO HIS
WORKS! In John 5 we read about a man who had been an invalid for 38 years. Day after day he
lay on a mat by a pool in Then we read in.. John 5:16-19.. Because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted
him. Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day,
and I, too, am working.” For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill
him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own
Father, making himself equal with God. Jesus gave them this answer:
“I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what
he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. The Son - Jesus -
can do nothing by himself; he can do only what He sees his Father doing. The
Father was working.. and so was Jesus. When people
looked at Jesus.. they
saw the character of the Father.. and when they looked at the things He did..
they saw the Father at work. In Acts 10:38 Peter says.. God anointed
Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and.. he went around doing
good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with
him. He went around doing good..
and healing.. When people saw what He was doing.. they saw the Father at work. Here is the second thing to
note about carrying out the mission of Jesus. We are not the same as Jesus. He was God in human form, but we are to do good works.. we are to demonstrate the message by the good deeds we do! In Matthew 5:16 Jesus says.. Let your light shine before men, that they may see your
good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. Paul.. Ephesians 2:10.. We
are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which
God prepared in advance for us to do. Peter.. 1 Peter 2:12.. Live
such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong,
they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. And Paul says.. in Titus 3:8.. This
is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those
who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is
good. Literally.. good works! These good works may be
‘out of this world’ kind of good works.. because God still does
extraordinary things..[Cranium May 2005..] or they may be simple, loving
things.. that touch the heart. Whatever the good deed.. large or small.. spectacular
or ordinary.. The things we do speak much louder than the words we
say! The ultimate work Jesus did was to lay down His life. In John 10:14,15 He says.. I am the good shepherd.. and I lay down my life for
the sheep. He laid down His life as the
atoning sacrifice for our sin. We cannot do what He did. He was God in human
form. But we are called to be like Him.. to offer our bodies as living
sacrifices.. to pay the price.. whatever it may be.. to live for Him! We
read on in John’s Gospel. and we discover that
THE FATHER SENT JESUS.. q
TO SPEAK
HIS WORDS! In John 8:28 we read.. So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am the one I claim to be and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me.” And in John 17:8 Jesus said to His Father.. I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. Jesus came to be the very image of the Father.. to do
His works.. and He came to speak His words! He spoke about the Father who loves
us.. whose heart breaks over our rebellion.. who longs for us to return to Him..
trust Him.. be part of His family.. and ultimately spend eternity with Him! Here is the third thing to note about carrying out the
mission of Jesus. We are not the same as Jesus. He
was God in human form. But we are to speak the words of God. The early believers have left us a great example.. Not very long after Jesus had died and risen.. and the Spirit had come.. and the number of believers grew
dramatically to many thousands.. persecution broke out in We read.. in Acts 8:4.. Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. Literally.. they gossiped the gospel! Later.. In Acts 11:19-21 we read.. Those who had been scattered by the persecution in
connection with Stephen traveled as far as And then Barnabas was sent to Here were believers who were passionate about speaking
God’s words.. speaking His
message.. telling people about Jesus.. so that they could be reconciled to God!
Paul wrote to the Corinthians.. 2 Corinthians 5:19.. God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s
sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. Our mission is the same as
theirs. We are to be like Jesus.. we
are to do good deeds.. and we are to speak. We must speak! Paul tells us
why.. Romans 10:17.. Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. I think most of us find it hard to speak about Jesus. If we do.. listen to Peter.. I find what he says very
helpful.. Peter wrote to people who were suffering because
they were Christians.. were likely to be put in prison.. perhaps killed.. at
least put on trial.. He said.. 1 Peter 3:15.. Always
be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for
the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.. He tells us how to go about speaking to others about
Jesus.. Be prepared.. be ready.. study.. learn.. so that
when an opportunity comes.. you will know what to say.. Be gentle when you do speak.. Respect the person to whom you speak.. listen.. ask permission
to speak.. We began with a story about a life saving station. They
forget their mission! Are we like them? Let’s admit it to God.. say we are
sorry.. ask for forgiveness.. and make a fresh start! Jesus said.. As the Father has sent me, I am
sending you! I am sending you to be the message, to demonstrate the
message by your good deeds and to speak the message. Let’s respond by
saying, Here am I, send me!
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