This is the manuscript of the tenth sermon in the "Doctrines Of Our Faith Series".
The doctrines of our faith serve the same function for our spiritual lives that the skeletal systems do for our physical lives. So the doctrines of our faith support and protect our beliefs.
Today's doctrine is the doctrine of missions, the strategy of the kingdom of heaven, better know as the Great Commission.
One of the amazing attributes of the great God we serve is the meticulous way in which he has laid his plans and mapped his strategy for the universe, particularly for the earth and the human race he has placed on it. If you read the creation account in Genesis. You will see that there is nothing haphazard about God’s planning, He leaves nothing to chance.
A beautiful demonstration of this is the way in which our Lord Jesus Christ set forth his plan for the establishment and growth of his kingdom.
Matthew 28:19-20 CEV Go to the people of all nations and make them my disciples. Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to do everything I have told you. I will be with you always, even until the end of the world.
To hear an audio of the sermon click on the YouTube image at the end of the manuscript.
The doctrines of our faith serve the same function for our spiritual lives that the skeletal systems do for our physical lives. So the doctrines of our faith support and protect our beliefs.
Today's doctrine is the doctrine of missions, the strategy of the kingdom of heaven, better know as the Great Commission.
One of the amazing attributes of the great God we serve is the meticulous way in which he has laid his plans and mapped his strategy for the universe, particularly for the earth and the human race he has placed on it. If you read the creation account in Genesis. You will see that there is nothing haphazard about God’s planning, He leaves nothing to chance.
A beautiful demonstration of this is the way in which our Lord Jesus Christ set forth his plan for the establishment and growth of his kingdom.
Matthew 28:19-20 CEV Go to the people of all nations and make them my disciples. Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to do everything I have told you. I will be with you always, even until the end of the world.
To hear an audio of the sermon click on the YouTube image at the end of the manuscript.
Scripture Reading:
Acts 1:8-11 CEV But the Holy Spirit will come upon you and give you power. Then you will tell everyone about me in Jerusalem, in all Judea, in Samaria, and everywhere in the world.” After Jesus had said this and while they were watching, he was taken up into a cloud. They could not see him, but as he went up, they kept looking up into the sky. Suddenly two men dressed in white clothes were standing there beside them. They said, “Why are you men from Galilee standing here and looking up into the sky? Jesus has been taken to heaven. But he will come back in the same way you have seen him go.”
Introduction
This is the tenth in our series “The Doctrines Of Our Faith”.
Remember the doctrines of our faith support and protect our beliefs.
The first doctrine we discussed is that the Bible is divine revelation, or the Living Word. The second is the doctrine that the One we believe in and worship does exist and He is Almighty God. The third doctrine is that God Almighty who we worship and who we know exists took on human form and came to earth and actually lived among his creation as one of us. Almighty God is also the Incomparable Christ. Our fourth doctrine is that the Holy Spirit is the third person in the Godhead, or Trinity and that He is equal with God The, Father, and God the Son. He was sent by the Father after the Son Jesus returned to heaven to complete the plan of redemption by seeing to it that every person feels a call toward God's saving grace.
The fifth is the doctrine of mankind from generation, to degeneration, ending with regeneration.
The sixth doctrine is that sin is the thing that spoiled everything in mankind’s relationship with God.
Sin resulted in a curse on mankind bringing decay, disease, disorder, and death.
Because Christ became that curse for us, when a person repents of his or her sins, asks forgiveness and asks Jesus to come into their lives as Lord and Savior God takes that cursed and broken vessel and reshapes it.
2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
As new creatures, with new hearts God calls us us out from the world, which was our seventh doctrine that those new creatures who have been called out are the church or the body of Christ.
The eighth doctrine is that we the "called out" have been justified or acquitted by God.
Last week our ninth doctrine was the doctrine of repentance. No doctrine in the Bible is more important than the doctrine of repentance. Before people can be reconciled to God, justified, acquitted, through his Son, Jesus Christ, they must experience repentance.
Today we are going to talk about the strategy of the kingdom, carrying out the Great Commission, or the doctrine of missions, which brings us to our text for today.
Before we read the text I want us to understand that this doctrine of missions is not just giving to mission or missionaries as we do every third Sunday. That’s good thing and in doing that we help to execute the strategy. However the Great Commission is for each one of us individually. Now let's read our text:
Acts 1:8-11 CEV But the Holy Spirit will come upon you and give you power. Then you will tell everyone about me in Jerusalem, in all Judea, in Samaria, and everywhere in the world.” After Jesus had said this and while they were watching, he was taken up into a cloud. They could not see him, but as he went up, they kept looking up into the sky. Suddenly two men dressed in white clothes were standing there beside them. They said, “Why are you men from Galilee standing here and looking up into the sky? Jesus has been taken to heaven. But he will come back in the same way you have seen him go.”
Introduction
This is the tenth in our series “The Doctrines Of Our Faith”.
Remember the doctrines of our faith support and protect our beliefs.
The first doctrine we discussed is that the Bible is divine revelation, or the Living Word. The second is the doctrine that the One we believe in and worship does exist and He is Almighty God. The third doctrine is that God Almighty who we worship and who we know exists took on human form and came to earth and actually lived among his creation as one of us. Almighty God is also the Incomparable Christ. Our fourth doctrine is that the Holy Spirit is the third person in the Godhead, or Trinity and that He is equal with God The, Father, and God the Son. He was sent by the Father after the Son Jesus returned to heaven to complete the plan of redemption by seeing to it that every person feels a call toward God's saving grace.
The fifth is the doctrine of mankind from generation, to degeneration, ending with regeneration.
The sixth doctrine is that sin is the thing that spoiled everything in mankind’s relationship with God.
Sin resulted in a curse on mankind bringing decay, disease, disorder, and death.
Because Christ became that curse for us, when a person repents of his or her sins, asks forgiveness and asks Jesus to come into their lives as Lord and Savior God takes that cursed and broken vessel and reshapes it.
2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
As new creatures, with new hearts God calls us us out from the world, which was our seventh doctrine that those new creatures who have been called out are the church or the body of Christ.
The eighth doctrine is that we the "called out" have been justified or acquitted by God.
Last week our ninth doctrine was the doctrine of repentance. No doctrine in the Bible is more important than the doctrine of repentance. Before people can be reconciled to God, justified, acquitted, through his Son, Jesus Christ, they must experience repentance.
Today we are going to talk about the strategy of the kingdom, carrying out the Great Commission, or the doctrine of missions, which brings us to our text for today.
Before we read the text I want us to understand that this doctrine of missions is not just giving to mission or missionaries as we do every third Sunday. That’s good thing and in doing that we help to execute the strategy. However the Great Commission is for each one of us individually. Now let's read our text:
Text:
Matthew 28:19-20 CEV Go to the people of all nations and make them my disciples. Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to do everything I have told you. I will be with you always, even until the end of the world.
One of the amazing attributes of the great God we serve is the meticulous way in which he has laid his plans and mapped his strategy for the universe, particularly for the earth and the human race he has placed on it. If you read the creation account in Genesis. You will see that there is nothing haphazard about God’s planning, He leaves nothing to chance.
A beautiful demonstration of this is the way in which our Lord Jesus Christ set forth his plan for the establishment and growth of his kingdom.
Matthew 28:19-20 CEV Go to the people of all nations and make them my disciples. Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to do everything I have told you. I will be with you always, even until the end of the world.
Therefore, if our Lord has planned so carefully and outlined so explicitly, it is imperative that we, the church, act on our role as God has set it forth in his Word.
Every commission (an instruction, command, or duty given to a person or group of people) that Jesus left for the church has been given to individuals to perform, and not just to the church as an organization. Remember our discussion in doctrine seven about the church being called out and the description of the church being a spiritual body—an organism composed of all believers, and as a local, earthly organization of saints. This commission is given to the members of that organism, and not just the organism itself.
The picture is that of an army moving forward under the orders of an officer. A person with the rank of Captain is an officer. .
Hebrews 2:10 NKJV For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
Jesus is the Captain
In fact, the military concept of the church is found throughout the New Testament. So we can look at the doctrine of missions in this military context.
2 Timothy 2:3-4 CEV As a good soldier of Christ Jesus you must endure your share of suffering. Soldiers on duty don't work at outside jobs. They try only to please their commanding officer.
Ephesians 6:10-12 CEV Finally, let the mighty strength of the Lord make you strong. Put on all the armor that God gives, so you can defend yourself against the devil's tricks. We are not fighting against humans. We are fighting against forces and authorities and against rulers of darkness and powers in the spiritual world.
I. Since we are part of God's Army and we have a captain we can expect that the captain issues orders. Let us see, first, that Jesus, the “Captain of our salvation,” has issued orders.
Just before Jesus ascended from the Mount of Olives, leaving behind a group of disciples. Before his disciples were to go out to preach and witness, it was imperative that they wait until they received the power from heaven.
Luke 24:46-49 CEV He told them: The Scriptures say that the Messiah must suffer, then three days later he will rise from death. They also say that all people of every nation must be told in my name to turn to God, in order to be forgiven. So beginning in Jerusalem, you must tell everything that has happened. I will send you the one my Father has promised, but you must stay in the city until you are given power from heaven.
They followed orders and waited before acting.
The result of their waiting was the coming of the Holy Spirit, which was the infusion of God’s presence into their total beings.
Acts 2:1-4 CEV On the day of Pentecost all the Lord's followers were together in one place. Suddenly there was a noise from heaven like the sound of a mighty wind! It filled the house where they were meeting. Then they saw what looked like fiery tongues moving in all directions, and a tongue came and settled on each person there. The Holy Spirit took control of everyone, and they began speaking whatever languages the Spirit let them speak.
When Jesus was arrested and crucified His disciples were afraid of doing anything.
Mark 14:50-52 CEV All of Jesus' disciples ran off and left him. One of them was a young man who was wearing only a linen cloth. And when the men grabbed him, he left the cloth behind and ran away naked.
John 20 :19-20 CEVThe disciples were afraid of the Jewish leaders, and on the evening of that same Sunday they locked themselves in a room. Suddenly, Jesus appeared in the middle of the group. He greeted them and showed them his hands and his side. When the disciples saw the Lord, they became very happy.
When the Holy Spirit came that fear became a fearless courage to communicate the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ.
Acts 2:4 CEV The Holy Spirit took control of everyone, and they began speaking whatever languages the Spirit let them speak.
Paul later said that there is power in the good news of salvation.
Romans 1:16 NIV For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.
When believers are possessed by the Spirit of God, they have available the power to perform the tasks God has for them to do and the spiritual sensitivity to discern where and what the tasks are!
John 14:26 CEV But the Holy Spirit will come and help you, because the Father will send the Spirit to take my place. The Spirit will teach you everything and will remind you of what I said while I was with you.
It is an insult to God and a grief to his Spirit when we go about his work haphazardly and unprepared. We are to wait until we are armed with his power; then we are to be “at the ready” to go and do as we are impressed by his Spirit.
Luke 24:49 CEV I will send you the one my Father has promised, but you must stay in the city until you are given power from heaven.
II. Not only has our Lord issued orders, but he has also provided the equipment for his marching army.
What is this equipment?
The first and most powerful weapon is the Word—the “sword of the Spirit.”back to our first doctrine, the Bible is divine revelation, or the Living Word.
Paul gives us the picture of the Christian’s armor in Ephesians 6, and he is careful to identify, that our weapon is the sword of the Spirit.
Ephesians 6:13-17 NKJV Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;
The writer of Hebrews tells us that the Word is “a two-edged sword,” which “cuts asunder, both to the dividing of bone and marrow, and soul and spirit.”
Hebrews 4:12 CEV God's word is alive and powerful! It is sharper than any double-edged sword. His word can cut through our spirits and souls and through our joints and marrow, until it discovers the desires and thoughts of our hearts.
When Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness, the one weapon our Lord used with expertise was not his personality as the Son of God, or his perfect, sinless humanity, but the Word of God! In answer to each of the three temptations from Satan, Jesus said, “It is written.”
As I said before there's power in the word of the gospel, the good news.
Romans 1:16 NIV For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.
The other major weapon for the Christian soldier is prayer.
We sing about prayer, preach about prayer, and teach lessons about prayer; but most of the time there is a deafening silence between God’s people and his throne of grace because we have become so prayerless! We are so busy, even engaged in religious activity, that we do not make time to pray. And the paradox of it all is that it is through prayer that we are able to learn to use the sword of the Spirit!
Why? Because prayer is the key that releases understanding and discernment concerning what God would say to us through his Holy Word. Then, as we study God’s Word, we are able to see ourselves in the light of the Word and discipline ourselves so that we available for God’s use.
And, incidentally, we are not to do all the talking in prayer. One of the most amazing experiences a Christian can have is learning to be still before God and listen to him.
III. Finally, not only does our Lord issue orders that we are to follow, and provide the equipment to carry out those orders, but he also supplies the motivation for service.
The greatest motivation of all is God’s love.
We cannot understand the love of God. There is no way we can humanly figure out the reason a perfect and holy God expresses such compassion to creatures who are basically evil and contaminated with sin.
Also, the love of Christ is motivation.
2 Corinthians 5:14-15 CEV We are ruled by Christ's love for us. We are certain that if one person died for everyone else, then all of us have died. And Christ did die for all of us. He died so we would no longer live for ourselves, but for the one who died and was raised to life for us.
Our need combined with the love of God and Christ ought to motivate us to carry out his mission until he comes.
Listen to this from Romans it should motivate us to go out and tell others about salvation through Jesus Christ.
Romans 3:10-18 CEV The Scriptures tell us, “No one is acceptable to God! Not one of them understands or even searches for God. They have all turned away and are worthless. There isn't one person who does right. Their words are like an open pit, and their tongues are good only for telling lies. Each word is as deadly as the fangs of a snake, and they say nothing but bitter curses. These people quickly become violent. Wherever they go, they leave ruin and destruction. They don't know how to live in peace. They don't even fear God.”
Christians do not have to leave the neighborhoods where they live or often our own homes to find people in spiritual need. Time is precious and opportunities are fleeting.
Conclusion
Some will accept the good news, and some will reject it. Some will receive Christ, and others will turn their backs on him. But the strategy of Christian missions is to make available to every living soul the good news that Jesus died to make eternal life possible for all who will receive it. And whose task is it? Not some elaborate organization or well-equipped institution. It is the task of every individual child of God.
Matthew 28:19-20 CEV Go to the people of all nations and make them my disciples. Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to do everything I have told you. I will be with you always, even until the end of the world.
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