The Way: To the Mission Field
Scripture Reading: John 14:1~6
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God ; trust also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going." 5 Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" 6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
I. The Introduction
What is a missionary? What is the right definition for the word missionary? An on-line dictionary says that a missionary is “One who is sent on a mission, especially one sent to do religious or charitable work in a territory or foreign country.”
One who is sent on a mission? Jesus was on a mission! He was a missionary! John the Baptist, the Apostles, the disciples of the Apostles, and, when you put your faith in Jesus Christ, when you let Him be Lord and Savior of your life, YOU became a missionary. Did you know that? You became the one who is sent. Many people give far too much credit to missionaries. They say, “Oh, God must really appreciate what you’re doing.” Or, “You’re probably going to get lots of rewards when you get to heaven.
We’re all missionaries! When we became a child of God, we became missionaries for God. There are “missionaries” right here in this church that have been born in this country, ‘born-again’ in this church, and minister right here. I’m not talking about those that have been sent from a foreign country, I’m talking about those that have lived their whole lives in one church and one area of the world.
The definition that I read earlier, “One who is sent on a mission, especially one sent to do religious or charitable work in a territory or foreign country.” The first part of that definition, “One who is sent on a mission…” tells us the essential meaning of the word, Missionary. We are all on a mission, a mission for God! And, for this mission to be fruitful, to undergo inspection, to withstand the judging fire, and to be evident to believers and non-believers, it must have PROOF! That word, PROOF, is broken down into five steps in today’s message
P = The Preparation
R = The Request
O = The Ordination
O = The Obligation
F = The Fulfillment
This gives others and us the proof that we are indeed accomplishing the mission that God put us here on earth for. The proof that we are following God’s will for our lives.
Did you know the number one question that people have for pastors is, I’m not sure what God’s will is for my life, can you help me?
People everywhere struggle with knowing God’s will for their lives. But, they don’t have to. God tells us in His Word that He will help us with anything we ask. Why not the most important thing, His will for our lives?
Psalm 32:8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.
As we continue with Jesus on The Path to Jerusalem we will see the proof in His youth, His adolescence, and His adult walk with the Father.
What’s the PROOF? Where’s the PROOF? How do we know that the PROOF we see is proof that we are actually accomplishing God’s will? Well, there’s proof in the PROOF.
II. The Message (The Way: To the Mission Field)
A. The Preparation
Jesus prepared for His mission way before the creation of the world. And, when He was a young, He learned and followed His earthly father and mother’s teaching of the Old Testament scriptures and the teaching in the outside courts of the synagogues. So, by the time He reached the appropriate age to enter the temple as a young man, He had been prepared and met the laws and conditions to do so.
Our preparation as young children should not be that much different. As children we should have been schooled and taught the scriptures, and been given a good example by our fathers and mothers. However, that is not always the case. Whichever way we happen to arrive at the age of being able to know what it means to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we will arrive. We will be presented with the choice.
1. Born Again
This is the most important fork in the road for us. This is the most important decision for us, whether or not to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Some will decide to make the right choice to be born again, but many more will not.
(a) A Life Born of the Spirit
For those that do accept Him as their Lord and Savior, it is a life that is born of the Spirit, the Spirit of God. Jesus tells us this fact in Scriptures, when in John 3:6, He says, “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.”
Being ‘Born Again’ and having a ‘Life Born of the Spirit’ is essential, and it will get you into heaven. But, more proof of Preparation should be evident to you and to those around you. You must have a changed life.
(b) Changed Life
A life that is given over to Jesus will experience changes. Changes for the better. Paul emphasizes this in Ephesians 4:22, “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires.”
He is telling us that we are being taught to put off our old selves. This means that we are commanded to have a changed life.
He further emphasizes in 2nd Corinthians 3:6 “He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant--not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”
Putting off the old self and having the birth of new life means exactly that, a changed life. A changed life means a better life for you and those around you. One of those things that should change along with our life is our attitude.
(c) Changed Attitudes
Paul also tells us in the same chapter of Ephesians (4), verse 23 and 24 “to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”
But wait, more proof of preparation is needed.
(d) Changed Speech and Actions
We need to allow the Spirit to prepare us by changing our speech and actions. The Bible is very clear about gossip, about controlling the tongue, and about saying what is right. Jesus even told us that, “it’s not what goes into the man that defiles him, but rather what comes out of man.”
The Apostle Peter also admonishes us in 1 Peter 1:15, “But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;”
(e) Changed Associations
But, yes, more is needed! We need to change our associations. The people that we use to go around with are not acceptable associations anymore. And, when or if we do happen to be around them we should be examples of Christ before them.
Psalm 1 is very clear about what happens to the person that ‘hangs’ around with those that are not righteous. Very soon you are doing the same evil things that they are doing.
(f) Changed Outlook
When we allow the Spirit to change our inward look at ourselves, then our outlook will begin to show signs of change as well. The way that we look at material things, promotions, different classes in life, and lifestyles will change. However, it does need help and the Spirit is willing to help you even in this area of your life.
2. Spiritual Maturity
There is no other way to begin our preparation than to be born again. In Matthew, chapter 3, Jesus began His earthly mission by first going to John the Baptist to be baptized. Then He got started. When we place our faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are then call on to go through those changes that we just mentioned. These changes should take place very soon after you are born again. Then, we began the climb up the mountain to Spiritual Maturity. There are three things that help us to grow spiritually, God’s Word, God’s Spirit, and God’s Church. These will help us to accomplish growth in God’s eyes and will offer PROOF of growth to those around us and offer an example to follow by other new Christians..
(a) Grow in God’s Word
We are told, asked, and commanded in God’s Word to study and meditate on God’s Word. The book of Psalms has numerous references to meditating on God’s Word. Paul tells us in 2nd Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,”
In order to mature spiritually, we must eat God’s Word daily, so that we will not lack any nourishment.
(b) Grow in God’s Spirit
Spiritual Maturity also involves growing in God’s Spirit. How is that accomplished? It is achieved by total surrender to His leading, by yielding to His murmuring in us, His urging in us and His leading in us.. How will we know that it’s the Spirit and not the desires of the sin nature that wishes to have control over us? By staying in the Word and reading the word and praying through the word. The Spirit will only speak of God’s good things.
(c) Grow in God’s Church
As we grow in God’s Word, and Grow in God’s Spirit, we will (because there is no way around it) grow in God’s Church. But, what do we mean Grow in God’s Church? This is the physical proof of Spiritual Maturity. As we read and study the Word, there is more of the Word in us and available to God for His use through us to teach others, therefore we grow. As we grow in God’s Spirit, we can more easily discern His leading, discerning, knowledge, wisdom, etc., thereby enabling us to accomplish His will not only in us, but through us as we minister to others. So, you can see how you are growing in God’s Church, and are offering the physical proof that others need to rely on you as a Christ-like example.
(d) Then we have grown in God’s eyes.
These three, growing in God’s Word, Spirit, and Church will in turn demonstrate and prove to ourselves that we are growing in God’s eyes. And, the cycle will move up to the next higher level.
Matthew25:21 "His master replied, ’Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
Preparation Summary:
Proof must have preparation before it can be allowed to move on to The Request.
B. The Request
The ‘R’ in PROOF means request. After God has prepared you He will come to you, like He did to Barnabas and Paul, and say, (Acts 13:2) “…the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
1. Set Apart
Set apart is the sanctification of the saint, the perfection of the saint, the calling out of the saint. Has the Spirit set you apart from the rest of the crowd for a certain mission? …for a certain ministry?
Jesus was set apart for His mission on this earth. There was never a mission like His, nor is there a mission like His ever going to be needed again. He was set apart when, in Matthew 3:16, we see “As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him.”
2. Burdened
When the Spirit of the Lord sets us apart from the rest He will burden us, or place within us a desire to do the ministry that He has laid before us. You will read the confirmation in your quiet time, you will feel the affirmation in your spirit, or maybe you will receive recognition by others as to your burden as you yield to His burdening in a particular ministry.
C. The Ordination
Preparation for Ministry and The Request to Minister are followed by the ordination to minister both by God and Man. It is well said in Acts 3:3~4 “So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. 4 The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus.”
Many people in the world do not recognize the sending power of God, or, they question an individual’s claims to have been sent by God, so, man has devised The Sending, or the Ordination. This is the formal declaration by an organization that acknowledges to the world that they are sending you out to be … whatever God has called you to do.
However, the most important point of the sending by an organization is that organization’s pledge to support someone in prayer. Money is fine, much needed materials are great, but prayer is the sustaining power in the PROOF.
In Acts 3:3, we see a laying on of hands, a public acknowledgement to those looking on, and, an acknowledgement before God that Barnabas and Saul (Paul) were called to do what they were about to do.
Recognition by a major church organization or group is good, and may seem crucial to the success of the mission, however, the most important proof that you were called to that ministry is when God ORDAINS it. Without God’s involvement, there will be no provision of mercy, grace, or wisdom, or any of the crucial ingredients to a successful ministry. Pray as hard as you can, but if God is not in it, it won’t succeed. We need HIS ORDINATION to succeed.
We see several times in the Bible where a book starts with "________, called to be _______" What are you called to be? What goes in that last blank?
D. The Obligation
Paul says it so aptly in Romans and 1 Corinthians, and I’ll put the two together, because it sounds so good.
Romans 1:14 “I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. (1 Cor 9:16) Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!”
1. The Joy of Submission
There is no greater joy than to KNOW you are in a right relationship with God. There is no greater joy than to KNOW that everything is going HIS WAY. And, there is no greater joy than knowing that you WILLINGLY submitted to His call. James tells us (James 4:8) “Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
So, though it is an obligation, it is not something that we will dislike. There will be joy associated with our submission. We will gladly embark on the ministry that He has called us to. God knows us and knows what we are gifted with, because He created us and gave us the gifts and talents in the first place.
2. -The Sin of Omission
1 Corinthians 7:17 “Nevertheless, each one should retain the place in life that the Lord assigned to him and to which God has called him. This is the rule I lay down in all the churches.”
And, let me repeat it again (1 Corinthians 9:16b), “…Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!”
Not only is it a sin not to do what God has called you to do, but there will be a empty feeling within you as you go through your life. Paul tells us that he is compelled, obligated by God to preach the Gospel. You, my friend are obligated, compelled by God to accomplish the ministry that He has specially designed for you. And, it will be Woe to you if I do not …!”
3. The Joy of Being Used
There is within each human being a desire to succeed and to be wanted by others. Knowing that GOD WANTS US to do his work produces joy welling up from deep within the Spirit that He has placed in us.
Paul tells us (2 Corinthians 5:20) “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us…”
James 1:2-4 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
4. The Sin of being Useless
Why should we even consider not be used by God and not enjoying the joy of being used by God? Yet, many Christians in the world today are sinning because they are useless. As they neglect the Word, the Word will neglect them, as they cease to talk to the Father, the Father will cease to talk to them.
We are called on to come close to God, and He will come close to us. If we do not stay in the word, we will be used less, and become useless.
Paul tells us in the short book of Philemon 1:11 “Formerly he [Philemon] was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.”
E. The Fulfillment
1 Corinthians 3:12 If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. 14 If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. 15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
Summary: Your life in Christ before others is the PROOF that Christ is in you! Without the PROOF I cannot convict you of being a Christian. Paul tells us that these things (Christianity) were not done in a closet or in some remote area of the world so no one could see.
Is there a warrant out for your arrest?
