A mission requiring the cunning of snakes without the venom to harm their opponents...

As the sun rose in the early morning sky a young man rose from a restless night sleep. A restless night sleep that flowed from anticipation. You see, the young man had been approached by a new teacher who had invited him to leave his career as a fisherman behind to instead follow Him as a disciple. This new teacher explained that instead of catching fish, he would become a fisher of men. Instead of spending his time and energy in the back waters of the Sea of Galilee, he was going to be this teacher’s apprentice who would help proclaim His message. A message that proclaimed that the kingdom of Heaven was at hand.

As a young Jewish man, he had grown up hearing stories about this kingdom. As a young Jewish man, he grew up hearing stories about a day in the future when God would send a rescuer, a deliverer, a Messiah, who would come to bring the Jewish people back to God and back to prominence in the world. And now this new teacher had arrived proclaiming that the time had arrived for the Messiah to arrive. He had watched this teacher do the miraculous; he had watched this teacher teach like no other teacher he had ever heard.

And with each and every day, the anticipation built that this could be the time. This could be the time for the Messiah arrived to kick out the ruthless ruling Roman empire and usher in the kingdom of Heaven and bring the Jewish people back to their rightful place in the world. The anticipation built because it was becoming clearer to him that His teacher could actually be that Messiah.

The anticipation built because last night, after dinner, this new teacher explained to him and the fellow disciples that tomorrow they would be heading out to proclaim the message that he had heard Him proclaim. His teacher explained that tomorrow, he would head out throughout the Jewish nation to proclaim the message “the kingdom of Heaven is at hand”.  His teacher told him that he would receive instructions and be sent out to tell others about this new teacher and His message about the kingdom.

So, of course he could not sleep. I mean how could he even think to sleep. He grew up his whole life hearing messages about the Messiah and the kingdom of Heaven and now he was going be one of the ones who would help proclaim the message that the Messiah was coming to kick out the Romans and usher in that kingdom. There would be no sleep that night. As soon as that first light appeared over the horizon, he was up, packed, and ready to go. He was the first to show up to meet with his teacher and receive his instructions.

And then his teacher, Jesus appeared to begin the meeting. And he could not wait for the meeting; he could not wait for the instructions. So he leaned in and began to listen. He began to listen to his teacher Jesus as He began to give instructions that would forever change his life.  He leaned in as Jesus gave instructions that would forever change his perceptions about the kingdom of Heaven.

Instructions that another one of the disciples, a former tax collector named Matthew would record for us to read today. Instructions that still apply to us today. Instructions that have to potential to radically change how we view Jesus and the Kingdom of Heaven. And it is in these instructions that we will discover a timeless truth about the kingdom of Heaven. So let’s look in at this meeting and discover those instructions together, beginning in Matthew 10:5-15:

These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them: "Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans; but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. "And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give. "Do not acquire gold, or silver, or copper for your money belts,  or a bag for your journey, or even two coats, or sandals, or a staff; for the worker is worthy of his support. "And whatever city or village you enter, inquire who is worthy in it, and stay at his house until you leave that city. "As you enter the house, give it your greeting. "If the house is worthy, give it your blessing of peace. But if it is not worthy, take back your blessing of peace. "Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet. "Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city.

Matthew begins to give us a front row seat to this meeting as Jesus sent the twelve disciples on a short-term mission trip. And on this short-term mission trip, Jesus instructed the disciples to proclaim the following message “repent, the kingdom of heaven is at hand”. Sound familiar. Jesus not only invited the twelve disciples to become a part of the kingdom of heaven, Jesus invited the twelve disciples to be a part of the kingdom mission that He was given to invite others to be a part of the kingdom of heaven.

And as part of His instructions to the twelve disciples, Jesus explained that the message was to be proclaimed only to the lost sheep of Israel. In other words, Jesus instructed the disciples to proclaim His message about the kingdom only to the Jewish people. Now a natural question that could arise at this point is “Why would Jesus tell the disciples to go to Jewish people first? If that question is running through your mind, you are asking a great question.

You see, Jesus sent the disciples to the Jewish people first because in God’s plan of rescue and repair that would bring the opportunity for all humanity back into relationship with Him, it was through the Jewish people that the Messiah would come to bring the opportunity for salvation to all men, so the message of the kingdom of Heaven would need to begin with the Jewish people.  Jesus gave the disciples a kingdom mission to call the Jewish people to recognize and feel remorse for how they we reliving their lives so that they would have a change of heart and attitude that would change the trajectory of their lives that was moving away from God back toward God.

And to verify that their message was in fact from God, Jesus gave the disciples the power and authority to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers and cast out demons. Now all of these actions were miraculous actions could only happen by the supernatural action of God and would thus serve to verify the message of the kingdom of Heaven.  Jesus also instructed these twelve men to rely on the hospitality of the hearers of the message to provide for their needs so that God would receive the glory and so that the disciples trust would be in God’s activity though them.

Jesus then explained to the disciples that there would be differing responses to their mission and their message. While some would receive and welcome their message, others would refuse and reject their message. And for those who rejected their message, Jesus explained that it would be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah, which were two cities that God destroyed in the Old Testament by reigning fire from Heaven down upon them, than for those who reject the message of the kingdom of Heaven delivered by His disciples. But why would He say that?

Jesus point was that it would be more tolerable for those who lived in Sodom and Gomorrah that it would be for those who rejected the message of the kingdom that was being proclaimed by the disciples because, while those who lived in Sodom and Gomorrah were equally liable for judgment due to their selfishness and rebellion against God, they never heard the message of the kingdom of Heaven as clearly as the Jewish people were hearing it from the disciples. And to reject the message of the kingdom after hearing the message and witnessing the signs so clearly would result a greater degree of condemnation.

However, after giving the disciples these initial instructions, Matthew tells us that Jesus changed the tone of His instructions in a striking way. A way that Matthew records for us beginning in verse 16-25:

Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves. ¹⁷ "But beware of men, for they will hand you over to the courts and scourge you in their synagogues; ¹⁸ and you will even be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. ¹⁹ "But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for it will be given you in that hour what you are to say. ²⁰ "For it is not you who speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you. ²¹ "Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. ²² "You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved. ²³ "But whenever they persecute you in one city, flee to the next; for truly I say to you, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes. ²⁴ "A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. ²⁵ "It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household!

Jesus explained to His disciples that He was sending them out as sheep in the midst of wolves. In other words just as a wolves attack and try to kill sheep, who are helpless and notoriously stupid when attacked, the disciples would be attacked by those who were opposed to Jesus and the kingdom mission that they had been given by Jesus.

And because of that reality, Jesus commanded His disciples to be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves. In the Jewish culture of the 1^st century, serpents were a symbol of cleverness in the culture, while doves were a symbol of purity.

Jesus was painting a word picture that called the disciples to be wise in avoiding danger but harmless in not forcibly opposing their enemy. The disciples were to have the cunning of snakes without the venom to harm their opponents. The disciples were to be cunning when it came to their own survival and the approval of their message.

Jesus then revealed to His disciples that they would experience a harsh response and harsh opposition from some when they heard the message of the kingdom of Heaven. Jesus explained that they would not only be exposed to the possibility of physical punishment; He also explained that they would be criticized and slandered by those who heard the message of the kingdom.

Now, I want us to take a minute and imagine ourselves as one of the disciples. I want to take a minute and place ourselves in their shoes. Would your excitement about this mission trip increasing or decreasing as this conversation continues? If you were apprehensive at this point, just look at what Jesus says next, beginning in verse 26-33:

Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. ²⁷ "What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops. ²⁸ "Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. ²⁹ "Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. ³⁰ "But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. ³¹ "So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows. ³² "Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. ³³ "But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.

Now that’s encouraging. Thanks for the pep talk Jesus. How about “don’t worry guys. Everything is going to be fine. It’s going to be smooth sailing”. Instead, Jesus told His disciples "Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. In other words, Jesus basically says “make sure that you have your fear focused on the right object. You better fear with an eternal perspective in mind.”

Jesus then painted another word picture for His disciples, this time of sparrows. In the culture of the day, sparrows were considered small and could be purchased with the smallest Roman coin. Yet while sparrows were relatively worthless in Jesus day, Jesus explained that God knew and controlled the direction of their lives. Jesus then explained to the disciples that they were worth far more than sparrows, and that God cared and was in control of every aspect of their lives.

Jesus wanted to let His disciples know that while they would face danger and even the possibility of death as they proclaimed the message of the kingdom, that nothing would happen that would take Him by surprise or frustrate His purposes and plans. And because of that reality, Jesus explained that everyone who pledged their allegiance to Jesus as Messiah, Jesus would acknowledge as part of the kingdom of Heaven before God the Father. And everyone who rejected Jesus as Messiah, would be rejected by Jesus before God the Father.

Now if you were a disciple, would Jesus words here ease your anxiety? If you were a disciple, wouldn’t you still be feeling anxious? Friday, we will see Jesus reveal for us a timeless truth about the kingdom of heaven in what He says next…

The kingdom of Heaven calls for repentant followers...

Last week we began to look at a section of an account of Jesus life in the Bible, called the gospel of Matthew, as a man named John the Baptist began to proclaim the message “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand”. If John the baptizer was communicating this message in the language that we use in our culture today, his message would sound something like this “Repent, recognize and feel remorse for how you are living life. Change your attitude and your mind when it comes to the trajectory of your life that is moving away from God and turn back to God, because God is coming soon. The kingdom of God is approaching and will be here soon”.

           

A natural question for those listening to John’s message would be “is John the Messiah, the rescuer, the redeemer”? John denied that he was the Messiah. And to demonstrate that he was not God’s promised Messiah, John contrasted the baptism that he was providing with the baptism that will come when the kingdom of Heaven appeared through the Messiah. John explained that while the water baptism he was providing was an external sign, the baptism of the Holy Spirit that will come for those who enter into the kingdom of heaven will be internal. For those who refuse the kingdom of heaven, John explained that their baptism will be of fire.

Matthew then gave us a front row seat to the encounter that the messenger of the kingdom of Heaven had with the kingdom of Heaven in Matthew 3:13-17, where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. Jesus told John that He needed to be baptized not because Jesus had ever sinned; Jesus wanted to be baptized because He wanted to identify Himself with sinful people, even though He never sinned.

This act was Jesus way of identifying Himself with us so that He could allow Himself to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful life so that God the Father could treat us as though we lived Jesus perfect life. Matthew then recorded God the Father’s response to Jesus desire to identify with rebellious humanity as all three members of the Trinity were present as the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus to empower Him to accomplish His mission of revealing the kingdom of Heaven as God the Father proclaimed “this is my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased”. And a little later in Matthew’s account, we see Jesus uttering a familiar message, beginning in Matthew 4:17. Let’s look at it together:

From that time Jesus began to preach and say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

Sound familiar? Matthew tells us that Jesus began to communicate the same message that John the baptizer began. “Repent, recognize and feel remorse for how you are living life. Change your attitude and your mind when it comes to the trajectory of your life that is moving away from God and turn back to God, because God is coming soon. The kingdom of Heaven is approaching and will be here soon”.  We then see Jesus begin to call others to respond to His message. We see the call and the response in verses 18-22:

Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. ¹⁹ And He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." ²⁰ Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. ²¹ Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them. ²² Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

Matthew tells us that Jesus saw four fishermen and invited them to be a part of the kingdom of Heaven and to embrace and be a part of a kingdom mission. And these four men immediately left their nets and followed Him. Now I don’t know about you, but that just seems strange, doesn’t it? I mean, don’t’ you think it would be weird to just leave everything behind to follow a guy you just met? So what is going on here? In another account of Jesus life, the gospel of Luke, Luke gives us further insight into what happened. So let’s discover what happened in Luke 5:1-10:

Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret; ² and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. ³ And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon's, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the people from the boat. ⁴ When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch." ⁵ Simon answered and said, "Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets." ⁶ When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break; ⁷ so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink. ⁸ But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus' feet, saying, "Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!" ⁹ For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; ¹⁰ and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men." ¹¹ When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.

Luke tells us that Jesus asked if He could use their boat as a stage to speak from. After speaking, Jesus performed a miraculous act by filling their nets with fish. Peter, seeing what had happened, responded to Jesus by recognizing that the trajectory of His life needed to change. Jesus responded to Peter’s recognition by inviting Him to be a part of the kingdom of Heaven. And Jesus responded to Peter’s recognition by inviting Him to be a part of His kingdom mission to invite others to be a part of the kingdom of heaven.

And it is here that we discover a timeless truth when it comes to the kingdom of heaven. And that timeless truth is this: The kingdom of Heaven calls for repentant followers.  Just as it was for the crowds that came to listen to John the Baptizer; just as it was for the crowds that came to listen to Jesus; just as it was for Peter and his fisherman friends, the kingdom of Heaven calls for repentant followers.

The timeless reality is that the kingdom of Heaven does not call perfect people. Instead, the kingdom of heaven calls for flawed, fallen, and broken people who recognize and feel remorse for how they are living life. The kingdom of Heaven calls people who desire to change the trajectory of their life that is moving away from God back towards God.

And Jesus call to be a part of the kingdom of Heaven is always the same- “follow me”. And when we respond to Jesus call to follow Him by believing, trusting and following Him as Lord and Leader, we receive the forgiveness of sin and experience the relationship with God that we were created for as a part of the kingdom of Heaven.

Now you may be wondering “well what is the kingdom of heaven like”? That is a great question and we will spend the rest of this series unpacking the answer to that question. Throughout this series, we simply want you to ask the question “am I a part of the kingdom of Heaven”.

Because the timeless reality is that the kingdom of heaven calls for repentant followers...

A Kingdom requirement for both the religious and irreligious...

This week we are looking at the reality that when we read the letters that make up the Bible, we discover that God had, from the very beginning of time, had a plan and promise in mind when it came to how He would respond to our selfishness and rebellion. A plan and a promise that would bring rescue, restoration, and healing from the consequences of the corruption that our selfishness and rebellion brought into humanity.

God had a plan and a promise; a promise of a new kingdom. In Matthew 3, we see a man named John the Baptist proclaim a pretty rough and tough message about this new kingdom; repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. If John the baptizer was communicating this message in the language that we use in our culture today, his message would sound something like this “Repent, recognize and feel remorse for how you are living life. Change your attitude and your mind when it comes to the trajectory of your life that is moving away from God and turn back to God, because God is coming soon. The kingdom of God is approaching and will be here soon”.

Matthew then explained that as people heard the message of John the baptizer, they responded by being baptized in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins. All Jerusalem was going out to him and were being baptized as a public proclamation that they were identifying and aligning themselves with his message.  The people of Jerusalem recognized their need to repent from their selfishness and rebellion and change the trajectory of their lives that had been moving away from God back toward God. These people recognized their need to be right with God before the Messiah, the promised one of God appeared to usher in the kingdom of Heaven that they were waiting for.

And as Matthew continued to give us a from row seat to the event from history, we see Matthew introduce us to another group who also came out to see John the baptizer. Let’s meet them together, beginning in Matthew 3:7-10:

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸ "Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance; ⁹ and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our father'; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. ¹⁰ "The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

Here Matthew introduces us to the Pharisees and the Sadducees, who were the leaders of the two largest religious denominations of the Jewish people.  These were the religious people; they went to church and had their lists that they followed and tried to convince others to follow on what it meant to be right with God.

However, as these religious leaders approached John the Baptizer, Matthew tells us that John looked at these religious people and called them a brood of vipers. Now a viper was a poisonous snake that inhabited this region of the world. John’s point was that these religious people were like poisonous snakes that were infecting the Jewish people with religion, instead of leading them into a relationship with God.

John then called these religious people to do the same thing as the irreligious people who were coming to see and hear him- repent. The religious people needed to repent from their religion and bear fruit in keeping with repentance. John was basically saying to these religious leaders “you need to change the trajectory of your life from religious performance for God to a genuine and authentic relationship with God that results in a change in your lifestyle.” John here is revealing the reality that an inner desire to change will produce external changes, or fruit, that will be evident in one’s lifestyle.

John then raised the stakes with the religious people of his day by stating “and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our father'; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.” John was basically saying to the religious leaders of his day “don’t think that just because you were born Jewish that you are part of the kingdom of Heaven. It is God’s supernatural work in our lives that makes us part of the kingdom of Heaven, not just our physical birth into the right family, ethnicity, or culture.”

Matthew tells us that John concluded his scathing comments against the religious people of the day by painting a word picture of a tree being cut down by an axe to proclaim that time was running out. John basically said to these religious leaders, and the crowds that were listening “just as an axe is at the root of the trees before they are destroyed, time is running out before you will face judgment if you do not repent and produce the fruit that demonstrates a changed life. A failure to recognize and feel remorse for a life that is in a trajectory away from God will result in judgment from God.”        

Now a natural question for those listening to John’s message would be “is John the Messiah, the rescuer, the redeemer”? We see John answer this question in Matthew 3:11-12. Let’s look at it together:

"As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹² "His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

Here we see Matthew explain that John denied that he was the Messiah. And to demonstrate that he was not God’s promised Messiah, John contrasted the baptism that he was providing with the baptism that will come when the kingdom of Heaven appeared through the Messiah. John explained that while the water baptism he was providing was an external sign, the baptism of the Holy Spirit that will come for those who enter into the kingdom of heaven will be internal.

For those who refuse the kingdom of heaven, John explained that their baptism will be of fire. The fire refers to the fire of judgment of those who reject the kingdom of Heaven. John then painted to a word picture to explain to the crowds listening what the Messiah would do when the kingdom of Heaven arrived.

Now a winnowing fork was used in Jewish agricultural society during harvest to sift through grain. Piles of grain would be scooped up by the winnowing fork and thrown into the air. The heavier grain would fall to the ground, while the worthless chaff would be blown away by the wind. The wheat would be then gathered into a barn, while the chaff would be gathered to be burned with fire.

John painted this word picture to explain that the Messiah will sift through all of humanity and gather all of those who recognize their need to change the trajectory of their lives to follow God into the kingdom of Heaven, while allowing the rest of humanity to experience the eternal judgment that awaited those who reject the kingdom of Heaven. Matthew then gives us a front row seat to the encounter that the messenger of the kingdom of Heaven had with the kingdom of Heaven in Matthew 3:13-17:

Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him. ¹⁴ But John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?" ¹⁵ But Jesus answering said to him, "Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he permitted Him. ¹⁶ After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased."

Now can you imagine what John must have been thinking and feeling? Here is a man that has been proclaiming, God is coming, the kingdom of Heaven is coming, and there right before his eyes is the promised one of God, the Messiah Jesus. And then the Messiah, who you have just been saying will provide a greater baptism that people will publicly proclaim and identify with than yours, asks you to baptize Him?

Matthew tells us that John responded to his situation by stating “I have need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me”? John recognized his need for identification with the message of the kingdom and responded by wanting Jesus to baptize him. However, Jesus replied to John’s request by saying “permit it at this time for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness”. But what does that mean? And why would Jesus, God in a bod, without sin, without a need to change the trajectory of His life, want or need to be baptized?

You see, Jesus told John that He needed to be baptized not because Jesus had ever sinned; Jesus wanted to be baptized because He wanted to identify Himself with sinful people, even though He never sinned. When Jesus stated that He fulfilled all righteousness, Jesus was explaining that He fulfilled all the requirements necessary to be our rescuer and deliverer from our selfishness, rebellion, and sin. And one of the ways that He did that was through this act of baptism.

This act was Jesus way of identifying Himself with us so that He could allow Himself to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful life so that God the Father could treat us as though we lived Jesus perfect life. Matthew then recorded God the Father’s response to Jesus desire to identify with rebellious humanity in verse 16.

We see all three members of the Trinity present as the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus to empower Him to accomplish His mission of revealing the kingdom of Heaven as God the Father proclaimed “this is my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased”.

And a little later in Matthew’s account, we see Jesus uttering a familiar message. A message that we will look at on Friday…

A messenger announcing a message about God's promise and plan...

The past two weeks we have discovered that, as followers of Jesus, we are to live as ambassadors of Jesus who are to represent Jesus as we speak and act on His behalf. We discovered that, as followers of Jesus, we have been rescued from something and we have been rescued for something. We have been rescued from a position of hostility against God to a position of being and ambassador for God.

We discovered that the selfless love of Jesus should compel and motivate us to live our lives as an ambassador of Jesus that places Jesus as large and in charge of our lives and that shares that claims of Christ and the message of the gospel with those around us who are far from Jesus. And we discovered that, as followers of Jesus we are an ambassador that is used by Jesus to make other followers of Jesus. We discovered that just as Jesus was on a mission to make followers of Jesus, as followers of Jesus we have been given a mission by Jesus to be used by Jesus to make other followers of Jesus.

Now the reason why followers of Jesus are called to be ambassadors to Jesus that speak and act on His behalf because of who Jesus is and what Jesus has accomplished. You see, when we read the letters that make up the Bible, we are entering into the history of God’s creation and passionate pursuit of rebellious humanity.

The letters of the Bible chronicle the reality that while humanity was created by God to live in a loving relationship with God and one another, all of humanity chose to selfishly reject that relationship to instead love themselves over God and others. And it is that selfish love over God and others that has led humanity throughout history to act in ways that have hurt God and others. And it is this selfishness and rebellion against God and others that the letters that make up the Bible refer to as sin. And it is this sin that separates us from the true community and relationship with God and others that we were created for.

However, when we read the letters that make up the Bible, we discover that God had, from the very beginning of time, had a plan and promise in mind when it came to how He would respond to our selfishness and rebellion. A plan and a promise that would bring rescue, restoration, and healing from the consequences of the corruption that our selfishness and rebellion brought into humanity. God had a plan and a promise; a promise of a new kingdom.

A kingdom that would be marked by rightness and justice. A kingdom that would be marked by peace and wholeness. A kingdom that the letters that make up the Bible refers to as the kingdom of heaven. A kingdom that we are introduced to in a section of an account of Jesus life in the Bible, called the gospel of Matthew.  Let’s jump into this introduction together, beginning in Matthew 3:1-6:

Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, ² "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." ³ For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, "THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, 'MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT!'" ⁴ Now John himself had a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. ⁵ Then Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan; ⁶ and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.

Matthew begins this section of his account of Jesus life by introducing us to a man who was called John the Baptist. Now when Matthew called John the Baptist, it wasn’t because he was a Baptist instead of a Methodist or a Presbyterian; John was called a Baptist because of what he did. John wasn’t a Baptist, he was a baptizer. Matthew tells us that John the Baptizer lived out in the wilderness and wore an outfit made of camel’s hair with a belt that probably had one of those huge belt buckles on it. He lived off the land, eating locusts and honey.

And Matthew tells us that John the Baptizer had a pretty rough and tough message; repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. This morning, can you imagine what that must have looked and sounded like? I mean here is a dude who lives out in the wilderness who eats grasshoppers covered in honey. Here is a dude wearing a hairy garment who was probably a pretty intimidating guy. John sounds like a pretty rough and tough dude. And then this pretty intimidating, rough and tough dude starts saying in a loud voice “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand”. Can you imagine what that must have looked like? Can you imagine what that must have sounded like?

Now to understand John’s message, we first need to understand some terms that John used. First, when John uses the word repent, this word repent literally means to feel remorse that results in a change of one’s mind and heart. To repent means more than simply feeling sorry for something you did; to repent means that you feel sorry for what you did and the sorrow that you feel drives you to change something in your life. To repent is to change the trajectory of your life that is moving away from God back to God.

John explained that the reason we need to repent was because the kingdom of heaven is at hand. John here was proclaiming that repentance was a requirement for experiencing a relationship with God in the kingdom of Heaven. A natural question that arises here is “what is the kingdom of heaven” and why is it at hand? When John referred to the kingdom of heaven, he was referring to the royal reign of God. In addition, the phrase “at hand” literally means to draw near in a temporal sense.

If John the baptizer was communicating this message in the language that we use in our culture today, his message would sound something like this “Repent, recognize and feel remorse for how you are living life. Change your attitude and your mind when it comes to the trajectory of your life that is moving away from God and turn back to God, because God is coming soon. The kingdom of God is approaching and will be here soon”.

Matthew then backed up John the baptizer’s claim that the kingdom of heaven was coming soon, by quoting from a section of a letter that is recorded for us in the Old Testament of the Bible, called the book of Isaiah. Some 600 prior to this event from history, in Isaiah 40:3, the prophet Isaiah predicted and proclaimed God’s promise to the Jewish people that He would send a rescuer, a redeemer, a Messiah, who would deliver the Jewish people from oppression and establish them to a place of prominence in the world.

Matthew then explained that as people heard the message of John the baptizer, they responded by being baptized in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins. But why were the people responding this way? 

To understand why they were responding this way, we first need to understand what baptism is. Baptism is a public proclamation and a public identification with an inward reality that has occurred in our lives. All Jerusalem was going out to him and were being baptized as a public proclamation that they were identifying and aligning themselves with his message. 

The people of Jerusalem recognized their need to repent from their selfishness and rebellion and change the trajectory of their lives that had been moving away from God back toward God. These people recognized their need to be right with God before the Messiah, the promised one of God appeared to usher in the kingdom of Heaven that they were waiting for.

And as Matthew continued to give us a from row seat to the event from history, we see Matthew introduce us to another group who also came out to see John the baptizer. Tomorrow, we will meet them together…

The mission of an ambassador of Jesus is to be used by Jesus to make other followers of Jesus...

This week we have been asking the question “What is the mission of an ambassador?” To answer that question, we are going to look at a section of an account of Jesus life that is recorded for us in the Bible called the gospel of Matthew. In Matthew 28:16-17, we looked on as the disciples wrestled with the doubts that flowed from two fundamental questions. The first question was “What now? What are we supposed to do now?” And the second question was this “How are you going to be present with us? If you are in Heaven, and we are here on earth, how is your presence going to be present in our lives?” The disciples doubted how God’s presence could be present with them as they moved forward on earth while Jesus was in Heaven.

We looked on as Jesus approached the disciples and explained that “all authority has been to Me in heaven and on earth”. In other words, Jesus declared to His disciples, and to His followers throughout history, that He is large and in charge of everything. God the Father has formally given Jesus the right to exercise command and control over all of creation. Jesus wanted His disciples to understand that He was Lord and Leader and was the one whom God had granted the power to exercise control over the universe and to guide God’s kingdom mission.

And we looked on in Matthew 28:18-20 as Jesus gave His followers a mission; and that mission is to make disciples of all nations. In other words, as followers of Jesus, we are to strive to make disciples, or followers of Jesus, as we are living our day to day lives in the areas of influence that we have been given by Jesus.

We discovered that we are to make disciples by going to those who are far from God. Whether at home, at school, at work, or in our relationships; in whatever area of influence we have; we are commanded to live our lives as missionaries that are engaging, investing, and inviting those who are far from God to become followers of Jesus.

We discovered that we are to make disciples by baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. A major part of discipleship is to be used by God to bring those who are far from God to a place where they place their confident trust in God’s transformational activity through Jesus and publicly identify themselves as partner in the community of faith that is investing their time, talent, and treasure in the kingdom mission we have been given by Jesus.

You see, evangelism is not a separate activity from discipleship. Evangelism is the first step of discipleship, where a person responds to what God has done for them through Jesus life, death, and resurrection by believing, trusting and following Jesus as Lord and Leader. And baptism is a step of identification with Jesus as His follower and with the kingdom mission that He has given us as His followers.

We discovered that we are to make disciples by “teaching them to observe all that I commanded you”. Now the word observe, in the language that this letter was originally written in, literally means to persist in obedience. In other words, a disciple of Jesus will naturally grow in their faithfulness and obedience to Jesus over time.

And as followers of Jesus and as a church, we are called to create environments where people are able to understand and embrace the message and teachings of Jesus in a way that results in their spiritual growth and spiritual good. That is why, as we talked about two weeks ago, we have three strategic goals for everyone who attends City Bible Church. And the reason why we have these three strategic goals is because we believe that these three goals accomplish Jesus command to make disciples in a way that fulfills the kingdom mission that we have been given by Jesus as ambassadors of Jesus.  

First, we have as a strategic goal that everyone who attends City Bible Church would be investing their time, in addition to consistently attending a Sunday worship gathering, as part of a community group. Second, we have as a strategic goal that everyone who attends City Bible Church would be investing their talents serving God by serving others on a ministry team. Third, we have as a strategic goal that everyone who attends City Bible Church would be investing their treasure as an act of worship through weekly and proportional giving.

As a church, we believe that the Jesus teaches us that making disciples that are growing and maturing in their relationship with Him requires that we invest our time in a community group, our talents in a ministry, and our treasure through giving. And so often, most sermons on this event from history end tend to end here. But that is not where this event from history ends. Jesus still has more to say. And in what Jesus says next, we see Jesus make an amazing statement that helps answer the question as to whether or not God’s presence is present. So let’s look at this statement together, which is at the end of Matthew 28:20b:

and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

Jesus grabbed the attention of His disciples with what is translated in our Bibles today as lo. This would be like me standing and saying “Yo, listen up!” You see, Jesus wanted to have the disciples undivided attention because He was about to introduce something new; something previously unheard of; something that would have been viewed by the disciples as unusual.

And what was so new and unusual was this: “I am with you always, even to the end of the age”. Jesus here is promising His disciples, and followers of Jesus throughout history that He is fully present.  Just because God may seem silent, that does not mean that God is not present. Just because we cannot see God, that does not mean that God is not present.

You see, God’s presence is evident when followers of Jesus are engaged in community with one another and on mission with one another. When followers of Jesus gather together in community to worship, we experience God’s presence in powerful ways. When followers of Jesus gather together in community groups, we experience God’s presence in a powerful way as we support and encourage one another.  When followers of Jesus invest their talents serving God by serving others, we are used by God to reveal His presence to others. When followers of Jesus invest their treasure, we are used by God to reveal His presence to others as we create environments where people can explore faith, grow in their faith, and experience community.

We are never any closer to God’s presence here on earth than when followers of Jesus are engaged in God’s kingdom mission in community with one another, because God has divinely designed the church to be the vehicle that He uses to reveal His presence to one another and the world. And it is here, in this event from history, that we see Jesus reveal for us the timeless answer to the question “What is the mission of an ambassador?” And that timeless answer is this: The mission of an ambassador of Jesus is to be used by Jesus to make other followers of Jesus.

Just as it was for early followers of Jesus; just as it has been for followers of Jesus throughout history, the mission of an ambassador is to be used by Jesus to make other followers of Jesus. And once again, as followers of Jesus, we are confronted with the reality that Jesus never asks us to do something that He has not already done.

As followers of Jesus who are ambassadors of Jesus, we are used by Jesus to make other followers of Jesus as we invite others to explore faith and experience genuine and authentic community. As followers of Jesus who are ambassadors of Jesus, we are used by Jesus to make other followers of Jesus when we invite others to invest their time in a community group as we invest our time in a community group.  As followers of Jesus who are ambassadors of Jesus, we are used by Jesus to make other followers of Jesus when we invite others to invest their talent on a ministry team as we invest our talent on a ministry team. And as followers of Jesus who are ambassadors of Jesus, we are used by Jesus to make other followers of Jesus when we invite others to invest their treasure in an open handed and generous way as we invest our treasure in an open handed and generous way.

So here is a question to consider. As a follower of Jesus, are you engaging in the mission that you have been given by Jesus as His ambassador? Are you speaking and acting on Jesus behalf in such a way that you can be used by Jesus to make other followers of Jesus?

 Because as we have discovered the mission of an ambassador is to be used by Jesus to make other followers of Jesus...

What does it really mean to "make disciples?"

This week we are asking and answering the question “What is the mission of an ambassador?” from an event from history that is recorded for us in an account of Jesus life in the Bible, called the gospel of Matthew. Yesterday we looked on as Matthew brought us into this event from history by providing for us the context in which this event from history took place.

After being raised from the dead, Jesus provided instructions for the disciples to travel to Galilee to meet up with Him there. The disciples, following Jesus instructions, traveled to Galilee, where they met up with Jesus. Matthew tells us that when they saw Jesus, they worshipped Him, but some were doubtful.  

The disciples doubt flowed from two fundamental questions. The first question was “What now? What are we supposed to do now?” And the second question was this “How are you going to be present with us? If you are in Heaven, and we are here on earth, how is your presence going to be present in our lives?” The disciples doubted how God’s presence could be present with them as they moved forward on earth while Jesus was in Heaven.

In the midst of this scene of the worship of Jesus as “God in a bod” and the doubt that the disciples were feeling as to what they were to do with their future and with whether or not Jesus presence would be present, Matthew tells us that Jesus took the initiative. Jesus did not wait for the disciples. Instead, Jesus approached the disciples and explained that “all authority has been to Me in heaven and on earth”.

In other words, Jesus declared to His disciples, and to His followers throughout history, that He is large and in charge of everything. God the Father has formally given Jesus the right to exercise command and control over all of creation. Jesus wanted His disciples to understand that He was Lord and Leader and was the one whom God had granted the power to exercise control over the universe and to guide God’s kingdom mission.

And because of the universal authority that Jesus possess; because Jesus is large and in charge of all of creation; Jesus has the right to give His followers Divine direction when it comes to the question “What is the mission of an ambassador?” And as Jesus continued to take the initiative with the disciples, He proceeded to give His disciples and followers of Jesus throughout history a divine directive that answered that very question. So let's look at that directive together in Matthew 28:19-20a:

"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you;

Now whether you regularly attend church or whether this is your first Sunday in church; whether or not you regularly read the Bible, you are probably at least somewhat familiar with what Jesus says here. You are probably familiar with Jesus words here because this is one of the two sayings of Jesus that are described with the adjective great. This statement is often referred to as the “Great Commission”.

Jesus here is giving His followers a mission; and that mission is to make disciples of all nations. The phrase “go and make disciples of all nations” in the language that this letter was originally written in, literally reads “as you are going, make disciples of all nations”. Jesus is not commanding His followers throughout history to go. Jesus is commanding His followers throughout history to make disciples as they go.

In other words, as followers of Jesus, we are to strive to make disciples, or followers of Jesus, as we are living our day to day lives in the areas of influence that we have been given by Jesus. Now a natural question that arises here is “well how are we supposed to make disciples? And how do we know that we are actually being successful in making disciples?”

First, we are to make disciples by going to those who are far from God. Whether at home, at school, at work, or in our relationships; in whatever area of influence we have; we are commanded to live our lives as missionaries that are engaging, investing, and inviting those who are far from God to become followers of Jesus. We do not need to go to a foreign country to be a missionary. As followers of Jesus, we are called to be missionaries wherever we are. And in our day to day lives, God has already positioned us in areas of influence where we can be a missionary to those who are far from God.

Second, Jesus explained that His followers throughout history are to make disciples by baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Now a natural question that could arise here is “What does baptism have to do with making disciples?” You see, when we see baptisms occurring in the letters that make up the Bible, we discover that baptism is an outward act that serves to publicly identify one as being a follower of Jesus.  A person who is being baptized is publicly proclaiming “I am a follower of Jesus who desires to be a part of a community of believers who will encourage me and hold me accountable”.

So a major part of discipleship is to be used by God to bring those who are far from God to a place where they place their confident trust in God’s transformational activity through Jesus and publicly identify themselves as partner in the community of faith that is investing their time, talent, and treasure in the kingdom mission we have been given by Jesus.

You see, evangelism is not a separate activity from discipleship. Evangelism is the first step of discipleship, where a person responds to what God has done for them through Jesus life, death, and resurrection by believing, trusting and following Jesus as Lord and Leader. And baptism is a step of identification with Jesus as His follower and with the kingdom mission that He has given us as His followers.

Third, Jesus explained that His followers throughout history are to make disciples by “teaching them to observe all that I commanded you”. Now the word observe, in the language that this letter was originally written in, literally means to persist in obedience. In other words, a disciple of Jesus will naturally grow in their faithfulness and obedience to Jesus over time. While there may be occasions where a follower of Jesus acts out of selfishness and rebellion to commit sin, a follower of Jesus, over time, will live a life that is becoming more like Jesus in their character and conduct.

And as followers of Jesus and as a church, we are called to create environments where people are able to understand and embrace the message and teachings of Jesus in a way that results in their spiritual growth and spiritual good. That is why we are such huge proponents of community groups here at City Bible Church. That is why we create environments such as Kids Konnection, AWANA as part of Element children’s ministry, along with Fusion student ministries. We desire to create environments where followers of Jesus can explore faith, grow in their faith, and experience and become a part of a genuine and authentic community of followers of Jesus.

That is why, as we talked about two weeks ago, we have three strategic goals for everyone who attends City Bible Church. And the reason why we have these three strategic goals is because we believe that these three goals accomplish Jesus command to make disciples in a way that fulfills the kingdom mission that we have been given by Jesus as ambassadors of Jesus.  As a church, we do not ask for more than these three and we do not ask for less than these three, because we believe that these are the three things that Jesus asks us to invest in as a part of His great commission and His Great Commandment to love Him with our total being and to love our neighbor as ourselves.

First, we have as a strategic goal that everyone who attends City Bible Church would be investing their time, in addition to consistently attending a Sunday worship gathering, as part of a community group. Community groups meet throughout the week throughout the community and are smaller environments that are designed to foster supportive and encouraging relationships that help you take that next step when it comes to a relationship with Jesus.

This strategic goal matters when it comes to the question “What is the mission of an ambassador?” because the circles of community groups create transformational environments where people can develop loving and supportive relationships that challenge us to take that next step when it comes to our relationship with Jesus.

Second, we have as a strategic goal that everyone who attends City Bible Church would be investing their talents serving God by serving others on a ministry team. Regardless of your age or stage of life, and regardless of the gifts, talents, and abilities you have been given by God, there are opportunities to reveal and reflect Jesus by serving in a ministry.

This strategic goal matters when it comes to the question “What is the mission of an ambassador?” because we believe, and we have repeatedly seen, that transformational spiritual growth occurs when we are leveraging the spiritual gifts, talents, and abilities that God has given us in a selfless way that serves others.

Third, we have as a strategic goal that everyone who attends City Bible Church would be investing their treasure as an act of worship through weekly and proportional giving. This strategic goal matters when it comes to the question “What is the mission of an ambassador?” because we believe, and we have repeatedly seen, that transformational spiritual growth occurs when followers of Jesus display an open-handed generous attitude toward the treasure that they have here on earth. As followers of Jesus, when we are generous, we reflect the generosity of God, who demonstrated His generosity by giving what was closest to Himself to rescue what was furthest away.

And the investment of your treasure enables us as a church to create environments where people can explore faith, grow in their faith, and experience authentic community in a way that fulfills Jesus command to make disciples.  As a church, we believe that the Jesus teaches us that making disciples that are growing and maturing in their relationship with Him requires that we invest our time in a community group, our talents in a ministry, and our treasure through giving.

And so often, most sermons on this event from history end tend to end here. But that is not where this event from history ends. Jesus still has more to say. And in what Jesus says next, we see Jesus make an amazing statement that helps answer the question as to whether or not God’s presence is present.

Friday we will discover what Jesus says next…