God has been on a mission since the garden, and He has always sought those who would work with Him
He is militant about this – there is no middle ground in this Great Co-Mission
Matthew 12:30 “He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.
Luke 19:10 For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.
IF YOU FOLLOW JESUS, YOU WILL ALWAYS END UP AT THE DOORSTEP OF THE LOST
Matthew 4:19 And He *said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
> He has an agenda for us…to make US into His program for saving the world
> Not just “teach you how to fish for men” – make you fishers…
A SIMPLE THREE STEP PROCESS:
Mark 3:14-15 And He appointed twelve, so that they would be with Him and that He could send them out to preach, and to have authority to cast out the demons.
THE CHURCH IS LOOKING FOR BETTER METHODS. GOD IS LOOKING FOR BETTER MEN
He appointed…
1. so that they would be with Him
> First, we must get to know Him and learn His ways
> He did not chose the twelve until he had been preaching for a while – saw their response
> THE GOSPEL IS NOT MERELY A BELIEF SYSTEM..IT IS A WAY OF LIFE. IF JESUS IS MERE DOCTRINE TO US, WE CANNOT PREACH THE FULL GOSPEL
> Who is your Jesus – a belief system? A self-help guide? A promise keeper? A miracle worker? Or a supernatural transformer of the inner man—restoring us to perfection in God’s mage??
2. that He could send them out to preach
> Yes, the good news DOES need to be preached – not just assumed that people even know what we are talking about!
THIS IS THE GOAL OF JESUS’ WORK IN US – TO RESCUE US, THEN MAKE US TO BE RESCUERS
3. to have authority to cast out the demons
> i.e. To preach the full gospel… He still does this!
THE FULL GOSPEL INCLUDES THE POWER TO SET PEOPLE FREE FROM EVERY REMNANT OF THE DEVIL’S WORK IN THEIR LIVES
1 John 3:8 The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.
Acts 10:38 “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
IF JESUS NEEDED THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, HOW MUCH MORE DO WE NEED IT?
Acts 1:8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
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