The Mission

Scripture:
Matthew 28:18-20 “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19Go £therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” £Amen.”

Definition of mission: The act of sending, or the state of being sent; a being sent or delegated by authority, with certain powers for transacting business; commission.

I. The Lord prepares the way before us.
A. He sends angels to prepare the hearts of those we encounter.
Genesis 24:6-7 “But Abraham said to him, “Beware that you do not take my son back there. 7The Lord God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my family, and who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, ‘To your £descendants I give this land,’ He will send His angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there.”
B. The mission of the angels is to help us on our mission.
Hebrews 1:14 “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?
C. Whatever the Lord asks of us and where ever the Lord sends us, we know He is with us.
Exodus 23:20-23 “Behold, I am going to send an angel before you to guard you along the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. 21“Be on your guard before him and obey his voice; do not be rebellious toward him, for he will not pardon your transgression, since My name is in him.  22“But if you truly obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. 23“For My angel will go before you and bring you in to the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites; and I will completely destroy them.
• Jehovah would send an angel before them, who should guard them on the way from injury and destruction, and bring them to the place prepared for them, i.e., to Canaan. The name of Jehovah was in this angel (v. 21), that is to say, Jehovah revealed Himself in him; and hence he is called in Ex 33:15-16, the face of Jehovah, because the essential nature of Jehovah was manifested in him. This angel was not a created spirit, therefore, but the manifestation of Jehovah Himself, who went before them in the pillar of cloud and fire, to guide and to defend them (Ex 13:21). But because it was Jehovah who was guiding His people in the person of the angel, He demanded unconditional obedience (v. 21), and if they provoked Him (תַּמֵּר for תָּמֵר, see Ex 13:18) by disobedience, He would not pardon their transgression; but if they followed Him and hearkened to His voice, He would be an enemy to their enemies, and an adversary to their adversaries. (Keil & Delitzsch Commentary)

II. A great need and a great cry brings God’s greatness out of God’s people.
A. Moses never suspected he had what was needed to bring deliverance to God’s people.
Exodus 3:7-10 “And the Lord said: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.  8So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. 9Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.  10Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”
B. There are great needs all around us.
1. The blind beggar.
2. The man at the Gate Beautiful.
3. Meeting the needs around us is simply a way of advancing the Kingdom or “fulfilling our mission”.
C. The mission is to bring the rule of higher authority into the earth to contradict the rule of lesser authority.
Mark 3:14 “Then He appointed £twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, 15and to have power £to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons:”
D. We can fulfill the mission because of the greatness of the one who lives inside of us.
I John 4:4 “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.”
Colossians 1:27-29 “To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
28Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. 29To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily.”
1. Notice that He works mightily in me.
2. Nothing is impossible with God.
3. With God, we can and will complete our mission.

III. Will you accept the mission?
A. Those accepting the mission bring pleasure to the heart of God.
Proverbs 25:13 “Like the cold of snow in time of harvest is a faithful messenger to those who send him, for he refreshes the soul of his masters.
B. Through our worship and interaction with God, we are being prepared for the mission.
Isaiah 6:1-8 “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!” 4And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. 5So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone!  Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts.” 6Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. 7And he touched my mouth with it, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged.” 8Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”
1. It’s not just about getting together to have a good time.
2. Meeting with God is an experience that continually transforms us so we are better prepared for the mission.
C. Here I am, send me.