Sent By The King
Luke 9:1 10
INTRODUCTION
To be a Christian is to be a missionary. Jesus gives a mission to everyone who
associates with Him. His first close associates were the twelve. Those twelve men
were carefully prepared by the Lord through His personal ministry, and then He sent
them forth. It was a deliberate involvement of them in His mission to the world. A
little later there were seventy men who had given evidence of commitment to Him so He sent them forth just as He
had the twelve. Before He went back to heaven He gathered all of the believers together and gave them a similar
assignment. Ever sense His return to heaven His followers have felt themselves to be a people with a mission.
The sending forth of the twelve by the King has the basic essentials of our being
sent. Even though their mission was to a special region for a specific period of time,
the things that happened in connection with their mission are true of our mission. As
we begin our emphasis on foreign missions, 1 want us to be reminded of some of these basic principles that effect
our mission.
I. WE ARE SENT WITH POWER.
“Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure
diseases." That such power was essential is easily seen if you remember who these men were and why they were
being sent. Jesus knew who they were and He knew the demands of the mission, so He made the necessary
provisions far them. He bestowed upon them for this mission the power that they would need.
A. This power includes ability.
The word translated power means just that.
He bestowed upon them a supernatural ability to do what He was sending them to do. They had abilities that they
had not received naturally or learned. They were able to
communicate the word and to confront evil powers in a way that was definitely supernatural.
Before He ascended Jesus assured us that all of His disciples have this power. "Ye shall receive power after that
the Holy Spirit is come upon ye, and you shall be witness unto me." It is the same word. In the Acts we see people
just like ourselves ministering in a power that was definitely supernatural. They received their ability from the Lord
Himself.
As we carry out the mission the Lord has given to us we can expect the same divine enablement. He will endue us
with the same kind of power.
B. This power includes authority.
This authority was especially seen as they confronted the demonic world. The powers of darkness had made a
special invasion in connection with the manifestation of God in flesh. Jesus and His disciples confronted the
presence of these powers of darkness where ever they went. Jesus bestowed upon the twelve the authority they
needed over these powers of darkness. This enabled them to see the captives of the darkness set free.
This is special. There is a special courage that comes when you know that you are working under the authority of
the King of Kings. In his account of the Great Commission, Matthew gives prominence to this. He reminds us that
Jesus said, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and in earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all
nations.'' It is as if Jesus transferred the authority that He has received to this little band of disciples. Where ever
they went, they were working under His authority. As they worked in His name, they had this special spiritual
authority.
We still have this. Jesus has not withdrawn His authority from His people. We are to still go under His authority. We
are to call upon men to repent and to turn to God in faith as His representative. When we so deliver the message
of God, it is as if God Himself stood there delivering the message. He has given us all of the power that we need to
carry out our mission.
II. WE ARE SENT WITH A PLAN.
The instructions Jesus gave to the twelve were rather specific. Their mission was to be rather narrow. They were
not to try to do everything, but rather a specified assignment was given. It is essentially the same plan that we
have. As they went forth two by two, there were two things that they were to do.
A. A plan of proclamation.
“And He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick." ''Preach" is that word that means to
authoritatively deliver a message.
It means to speak as a herald of the king. In their case they were to specifically
announce the "kingdom of God." This means that they were to make known to men that
they could come under the rule of God in the present if they would repent of their sins,
and accept His messenger who had come.
This is surely at the heart of our mission. The church is commissioned to proclaim. We are instructed to preach the
Gospel to every creature. God's plan has always been to deliver His message to the world through commissioned
messengers. They may in some instances be men who have been called to do this as a full time vocation, or they
may be men who do this as they pursue other vocations. But in either case they see their primary mission in the
world to be that of proclamation. They desire that all may know the Good News.
B. A plan of ministry.
This group was instructed to "heal the sick." They were to be concerned about the physical welfare of people as
well as their spiritual. They were to be concerned for the whole person. Along with this commission they were given
the power to heal all kinds of diseases. This they did! They did not feel that they were off course when they spent
time looking after the physical needs that they met.
God has not changed His plan for us. Our mission still includes the whole man. As far as I know God has not given
any of us the power to heal the sick. We do have the power to pray for the sick and to see them healed in answer
to prayer. We do have the power to give encouragement and aid to the sick. We do have the power to build
hospitals to heal the sick. We do have the power to express concerns about the total needs of the people that we
meet. We must not limit this to Just the physical needs. The need that we meet may be material, mental, or
emotional. God's plan is that we reach to help lift the burden whatever it might be.
This is an important concept. If the church is to get a hearing for its mess¬age, it must be a caring community. We
must be concerned with the whole man .... not just his soul.
This is the plan that God has given us. We are sent to proclaim and to minister.
III. WE ARE SENT WITH A PRIORITY.
The words of instruction that the Lord gave to the twelve are really just for them. The instructions applied to just
this specific mission on which they were sent. Later, Jesus would change the instructions as their mission was
changed. However, even these very personal instructions have one principle that needs to be emphasized. The
instructions about what they were to take with them simply instructed them to travel light. They were not to allow
their concerns with physical comfort to keep them from fulfilling the mission. They were not going on a vacation, but
rather on a mission. They were not to take “staffs, a bag, bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece.''
This would also determine where they would stay on their mission. They were instructed to find a good home that
would receive them, and to spend the time of their mission in that home. They were to depend upon the Lord and
the people to whom they ministered for the basic essentials of life. The mission was to take precedence over their
concerns for social graces, and their concern for financial security and comfort. Their mission in life was to carry
out the plan set up by the Lord.... to this end they must be totally committed.
This principle is so important! The fulfillment of our mission in the world must be the first concern of life. Is it first in
your life?
It should affect where we live, how we spend our money, how we spend our time, who our friends are, yea,
everything about our lives. This does not mean that you have to quit your job, and take up the mission full time, but
it does mean that you see yourself above everything else as a person sent on a mission by our Lord.
We need to approach our churchmanship with this sense of priority. We, as a church, must ever evaluate what we
are doing to make sure that it is in line with the mission that we have been given. We must be sure that our
individual involvement in the life of the Church is enabling the fulfillment of this mission. We must approach our
stewardship with this in mind.
CONCLUSION
It really makes a difference! We must realize that we have been sent by the King. We had a dear lady who realized
this in Texarkana. When she retired from her position, she moved to Texarkana. Instead of living in a nice
comfortable home, or in a nice apartment, she moved into an old hotel in the older part of the city. It was inhabited
by the poor, the old, and the transit element in the community. She moved there so she could witness to the people
who lived there. She witnessed to those in jail daily. She would walk to the two main hospitals in town to witness. In
the cold of winter, or the heat of summer, you would find her daily on her round of witness and ministry. She was
always a challenge to me as her pastor.
God wants you to be a missionary for the King right where you are. Are you ready?
