Sermon Central
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So Send I You
Contributed by Jerry Shirley on Apr 16, 2015 (message contributor)
Summary: link inc. to formatted text, audio, PowerPoint
So Send I You
http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/SoSend.html
"As the Father hath sent me...so send I you"
His mandate is my mandate. [say it!]
Jesus said this to all of His disciples. But He also said this to EACH of His disciples. [Collectively as a group / to Peter, John, etc.]
Are you a disciple? Then these words are for you as well. He says it to all of us and each of us. Picture Him putting His hands on your shoulders, looking into your eyes, and saying your name, repeating this charge!
Whatever the Father sent Jesus to do, Jesus now sends us to do.
And if we are willing to obey this command, then whatever the Father was to Jesus, Jesus will be to us!
1. His mandate is my mandate.
For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.
It says He sent Jesus to be the Savior.
He didn't send Him to deliver the Jews from the Romans, but rather all people from sin.
He didn't send Him to be a humanitarian, though He is the embodiment of compassion to those in need.
He didn't send Him to be a teacher, though He gave great teachings.
He certainly wasn't sent to be a politician!
ill.--a certain politician went on a roadtrip in a van. I won't give the politician's name or their husband's name! The politician said, I want to talk religion on this trip, so I'm taking with me a Hindu priest and a Jewish rabbi.
The van broke down in the country. They went to a farm house for help, and had to stay the night. The farmer said, I only have 2 extra beds. One of you will have to sleep in the barn.
The Hindu priest said, I volunteer. They all went to bed. Later, there was a knock at the door. The farmer opened the door and it was the Hindu priest. He said, I can't sleep out there, I didn't know there was a cow out there. In my religion that is sacred.
The Jewish rabbi took his place. A few minutes later there was a knock at the door. The farmer opened the door. It was the Jewish rabbi, who said, I didn't know there was a pig out there. That's an unclean animal in my religion.
The politician said, Good grief. What difference does it make? I'll sleep in the barn. A few minutes later there was a knock at the door. The farmer opened the door. ... It was the cow and the pig.
Certainly God didn't send Jesus to the world as a politician. He sent Him as the Savior!
If God thought our biggest problem was the economy He would have sent an economist. [Entertainment - comedian / health - doctor]
But God perceived that our greatest need involved our sinfulness...our alienation from Him in rebellion. So He sent us a Savior!
Christ's mandate is our mandate.
This means that our job, duty, responsibility and privilege is to seek those who are lost and to help them meet the Savior! That's our real job/business.
It is my mandate, not because I'm a preacher. It actually has nothing to do with it. It is my mandate because I'm one of His disciples.
As a 12 year old boy Jesus said, I must be about my Father's business. His business is my business.
And no matter your career, your REAL job is keeping people out of hell! Your workplace is how you provide for your family while you do your main business of seeking the lost!
ill.--DL Moody was never ordained a preacher. He was a shoe salesman who got a burden for souls! He started a Sunday school in Chicago, picking up boys and girls in horse-drawn carriages like a bus ministry.
[I have heard about churches that refused to run buses because of the oil spots the buses would leave on the parking lot. Can you imagine Moody's parking lot?!]
One day Moody witnessed to a hoodlum on the street. The man got irate, and threatened to punch Moody's lights out. He shouted, Why don't you just mind your own business! Moody said, This is my business, helping lost souls, and walked away. 3 months later, in the middle of the night, came a fierce knocking at his door. It was that hoodlum. He had been haunted by Moody's words, and wanted to be saved. He soon became a leader in Moody's church, and saw many others get saved, right up until the Civil War began. He enlisted and was one of the first casualties in the war. But not before He made God's business His business.
