So Send I You
John 20:21
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.
Luke 19:10
For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
John 3:17
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
1 John 4:14
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.
We have a lot of people here who really get this, and as a result, the population of heaven climbs higher!
ill.--right now I have a list of YOUR family and friends that you have for me to witness to and work with. What a privilege. Thanks for your heart for souls!
His mandate is my mandate.
2. His mission is my mission.
• To reveal the Father.
14:8-11a "You're looking at Him!"
Just as Christ's mission was to reveal the Father, it is our mission to reveal Christ, so He can also introduce them to the Father.
People are supposed to see Christ in us, and then the Father.
Matthew 5:16
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
ill.--a little girl asked her dad, How big is Jesus? Bigger than me? He said, Oh yes, and even bigger than daddy! She looked puzzled. What is it, her dad asked. She said, My s.s. teacher said I can have Jesus in my heart, but if He's that big, won't He stick out?
Think now of the many people in your life, and YOU are the only Jesus they will ever see and the only Bible they will ever hope to read!
• To reveal the Father...
• To redeem man.
Revelation 5:9
And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy ... for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood...
Redeem = to buy back. [picture a slave market where a good hearted master purchases a man in order to set him free!]
I'm free!
Free from the penalty of sin- hell.
Free from the power of sin- habits.
Free from the presence of sin- heaven.
People today say they don't want to serve God...they want freedom. And so they remain in their sinful ways, puppets of the devil...who continues pulling their strings.
The only true freedom is found in Christ!
John 8:32
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
I cannot redeem a soul, but I can point them to the One who can!
• To reveal the Father...
• To redeem man.
• To raise up a church.
Jesus said, Upon this rock I will build my church.
1 Corinthians 3:9
For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.
Think of a construction site. Just as this building was built one brick at a time, this church has been built one soul at a time.
His mission is our mission!
We have a great location, beautiful building, wonderful programs...and yet lost people aren't flocking in!
I've read the Bible thru many times, and there's not one verse which commands the lost to go to church. But there sure are a lot of verses which command us to go out and get them!
ill.--if we're honest, it's hard enough to get ourselves to church, and we WANT to be here! If you've got kids, it's a major ordeal to get to this place...you have to start preparing on Saturday!
There's always somebody who's not ready, or who's hair isn't cooperating...somebody who forgot to brush their teeth, somebody who's shoes are on the opposite feet, and as for that pretty pink dress on baby girl -- this seems like the perfect occasion to unleash a record-breaking mudslide like this world has never seen before!
At our house over the years, it's a good thing we finally made it to church, because we lost our religion trying to get there!
We've got a couple hundred people on the books, but the FBI couldn't gather them all together on the same Sunday!
What makes us think unsaved people will beat the door down?
We are to go out and bring them in...compel them to come!
Raise your hand if someone brought you to Jesus.
His mandate / mission...
3. His motive is my motive.
"My father sent me...so send I you."
What motivated Jesus? Though He was God, He was man! He had human motives like we do.
What motivated you to be here today? You could be sleeping right now. Some of you are! That's why I preach so long...I know some of you need extra rest!
What motivated Jesus to reveal the Father, redeem man, and raise up a church?
4 things:
• Obedience. Philippians 2:8
And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
If you aren't going after souls, you aren't just missing a blessing. You are disobeying! I know you may have a calling, like singing, teaching, working behind the scenes...thank you for that. But 'So send I you' isn't a calling, it's a command!
ill.--"Son, take out the trash." "Sorry dad, that's not my calling. My calling is to watch TV and eat Cocoa Pebbles." "No, you will take out the trash or you will be standing up because you won't be able to sit on your calling!"
• Love. Matthew 23:37
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
I can see warm tears streaming down Jesus' face as He said this. And here's our tragedy today: We're a dry-eyed church in a hell-bent world! We don't love the lost like we should, or else we would do what we could to reach them. We're more concerned with our comfort than their conversion. We do much more socializing than soul-winning. We put more thought into intra-church politics than extra-church promotion!
ill.--Imagine that a very wealthy person offers you $1,000 for each person you witness to this week. No limit! You do it 100 times that's $100k! How many of us would be motivated? Be honest now!
Isn't a soul worth more than money? Why won't we do for simple obedience and love what we would do for money?
• Necessity. John 3:14-15
14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
There was no plan B contingency. There was no alternate, back-up method. If Jesus didn't die on the cross, there was no other way for mankind to be saved!
The same is true with evangelism. God's plan is for people to tell people, and there's no back-up plan. He won't send angels to do it. He won't write it across the sky.
It's God's way...and it's the only way. "What if we don't do it?" We must do it!
Picture Him putting His hands on your shoulders, looking into your eyes, and saying your name, repeating this charge, So send I you!
• Joy. Hebrews 12:2
2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
What was the joy set before Him? What could He peer into the future and see, that helped Him to endure the cross? What was that joy? It was the joy of seeing people like you and me get saved. "When He was on the cross, I was on His mind!" People like you and me.
What do we see as we look at the lost world around us? People like you and me!
If your Christian existence has become a bit 'hum-drum', you need to get on the trail of some lost souls! Sharing the gospel is the joy of a lifetime!
ill.--my dad gave me a motorcycle. It brings me a lot of happiness. It's nicer and newer than any vehicle we have ever had. It's really a great time. But that joy doesn't even show up on the radar compared to the joy of leading some of you to the Lord!
This year I've been given Cardinals season tickets. Do you know how valuable that is...especially to me?! If you are bored, let me tell you all about it. But listen: I'm a wordsmith - and yet I can't adequately express to you how much it means to me when I get to lead a soul to Christ! There are no words for that!
What a joy would it be to see someone get saved today!
You are Christ's love letter to the world. "So send I you!"
http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/SoSend.html
