The Mission of the Kingdom

The mission of the kingdom tells us how to see our city and the entire world around us.

Note: This transcript was auto generated and may have errors.

[00:00:00] Well, happy Father’s Day to all the fathers. We have a special gift for you. But in keeping with the spirit of the holiday, it’s just the gift of encouragement. Good job guys. Well done. One of the more interesting things to talk about, or just to observe in people, is the way that people understand the world around them. It’s one of my favorite discussions to have with people. Sometimes you’ll hear this called worldview, but most people don’t use that word. I think it’s interesting that people will often have very strong views about how the world should be, but they never really thought about why it should be that way based on their view of reality. And there’s no there’s no case made. There’s no there’s no argument made for why the world should be one way and not a different way. And you can see this especially at times like now in in an election year where everyone is absolutely convinced they know exactly how the world ought to be. Some have very clear arguments based on positions that they’ve held for a while, and a view of what’s right and wrong, and arguments for those things. Others will just have very strong feelings, but rooted in nothing more than than preferences or sentiments. And I like having those discussions. I love having those discussions with people. You feel that way. Great. But why? Why do you feel that way? Those are usually fun. Christians have a view of the world that’s communicated to us by God in His Word.

[00:01:41] And so, for example, as Christians we have strong ethical views. But those views, those are recorded for us in Scripture, and they are rooted in the character of God himself. That’s the position from which we we argue, we we have a view of, of time and history that establishes our direction. We have a linear view of time that has a beginning, a time when God created starts with God’s creation of our world, and then we have an end to this age that we anticipate in the future. And so we have a linear view. We’re moving in a direction. Not everybody sees the world that way. Hindus famously see time as an eternal cycle of ages without beginning or end. We have a view of humanity that is something more than simply a highly developed animals. Like we’re just part of the animal kingdom. And innately, everybody knows that. Everybody knows that. That’s why when when a kid falls into the gorilla pit, they shoot the gorilla to save the toddler. They never do that the other way around, do they? But Christianity, Christianity explains why everyone knows. Everybody knows that. But a Christianity explains why. Everybody knows that we have been made in the image and likeness of our creator. We are far more valuable. We. We are special creatures uniquely designed to care for the rest of God’s creation. There’s so many unique aspects to a biblical understanding of the world.

[00:03:19] In our passage today, Jesus gives us one of the most important parts of a biblical worldview. He gives us the mission of the Kingdom of God. This passage, which you just heard read, is a list of instructions from Jesus to his mission team. And it gives. He gives a lot of details that are specific to his time and his historical context, and so they don’t apply to us directly today, some of the details of it. But he gives these detailed instructions within a broader view of seeing the world the way God sees the world. And that is very much for us today. That’s timeless. The mission of the Kingdom tells us how to see our city and the entire world around us. One of the most important aspects of of growing as a Christian is continually allowing the Bible to change your view of everything. And the fact is, sometimes even Christians see the world wrongly. We don’t look at the world correctly. We understand the gospel. We understand what Jesus has done for us. We’re we’re so thankful for that. But we don’t see the rest of the world the way God sees the world. But we need to. We need to because we because God has a plan for the world. And we’re a part of that, that plan. If you’re saved by trusting in Jesus Christ as the substitute for your sins, praise God. That’s a wonderful thing. God has opened your eyes and your the your heart and your mind to see and know Jesus.

[00:04:55] You now have a new life in Christ, but that new life comes with a built in purpose that’s part of a greater mission. And if you don’t see the world around you, the way Jesus sees the world around you, then you won’t fulfill your purpose. Imagine we’re all part of a naval unit together, and so we’re on an aircraft carrier together. We’re traveling to our mission, and on this boat with us, we have a large amount of food and water and medical supplies, but we also have weapons and aircraft. And we get to our location and we we get on shore. We encounter the people on the ground there. Now we’re seasoned soldiers. We’ve been in battle together against the enemy, but we’ve also been on humanitarian aid missions. We’ve we’ve served as ambassadors and protectors. We we have a lot of skills. There are a lot of outcomes that we can accomplish as a unit. So what are we going to do now that we are face to face with the people at this location? How are we going to see these people? We need to know two things. We need to know what’s happening there. We need to know that the political situation. What is the social climate? What are these people hostile? Are they scared of us? Do they need us or do they want to kill us? But just as important as understanding what’s happening on the ground is knowing the mission that we’ve been given by our superior officers.

[00:06:27] We need to know what our authorities expect us to do in that new environment. And our passage today shows us Jesus mission in those terms. What’s happening here in the world and what are we ordered to do? So keep your Bibles open. If you have them, keep your Bibles open. It won’t be on the screen today. So you want that passage in front of you. Luke chapter ten I want to share with you seven ways God sees the world that must shape the way we see the world. And I’ll be jumping around a little bit in this passage, uh, to show you these. The first thing that God sees is that the harvest is plentiful. When Jesus looks at the world as messed up as it is, what he sees is a big harvest. And so he gathers together 72 of his other disciples, not the 12 this time. These are 72 other disciples. And he instructs them to go into all of the towns where Jesus is about to visit. And what they’re going to do is they’re going to go and prepare the way for Jesus by staying with the people of that village, healing the sick. They’re going to preach the gospel to them. They’re going to tell them about the kingdom of God. And then Jesus is going to show up, and he’s going to complete the job with his teaching and healing and his calling of new disciples.

[00:07:50] And the reason Jesus is going to do this is because he has a fundamentally missional view of each one of these communities. He knows that each one is a field that is ripe for harvest. And we’ve seen this, this, this farming metaphor throughout the book. The harvest is the people who will hear the gospel. They will they will hear the preaching of the gospel, and they will repent and they’ll follow Jesus. That’s what Jesus sees when he looks at villages that he has not even visited yet. Okay, he hasn’t gone there yet. The gospel isn’t present there yet. But when he looks at those villages, he sees people who are ripe for harvest. People in those villages haven’t heard about grace and forgiveness. They haven’t heard about the kingdom of hope. But when the gospel comes to them, they will join with Jesus. And you see this, this very same situation in acts chapter 18. So it’s not just Jesus day, even in the next generation. Paul’s day in acts chapter 18, Paul is in Corinth and the people there are opposing him, and he could become very discouraged at that point. But the Lord appears to Paul in a vision and says to him, do not be afraid, but go on speaking, and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you.

[00:09:17] And you say, well, how do you know that? How do you know that, Lord? For I have many in this city who are my people. They’re not his people yet. At least they don’t know it yet. But there the Lord’s people. God knows the city has lots of people who are his meaning. They will hear the gospel and they were going to change their hearts. That’s the encouragement to keep on speaking. God is going to use the preaching of the gospel to bring the harvest of his people that he knows are already out there. Jesus said, go on out there. I know they’re out there. Harvest is plentiful. This is such an important starting point for us today. As Christians. We have to start here. God’s inclination toward the unreached masses in any location is fundamentally missional. It’s not positive, as we’ll see here in a moment, but it’s also not negative. He doesn’t see the unreached masses of people as evil communities that have to be avoided and condemned. He sees them as filled with his harvest and ripe for harvesting through the preaching of Jesus and His graces. This is this is a missional way of viewing. So why do we need to see this way? Why do we need to see like that? The masses of people in Rochester who don’t know Jesus are neither enemies to crush nor family to affirm. They are an opportunity for the gospel to be preached so that God can bring in his harvest.

[00:10:51] That’s how we’re to see our place too. I’ve noticed a lot of Christians have an avoidance mentality. Have you noticed this too? They have sort of an avoidance mentality when it comes to the world, particularly when it comes to places or institutions where non-Christians gather. The thinking is if we gather with them, if we spend time in those community groups, we’ll become like them. And they don’t want Jesus anyway, so why bother? Why bother with them? But church, Jesus would have us see the unbelieving world as a place where he will use us to bring in his harvest of people he wants us to, to be as excited to share the gospel with non-believers as he is, precisely because that’s how God changes the hearts of unbelieving people. The problem isn’t that there are too many lost people. The problem is. The laborers are few. That’s the problem. Isn’t it interesting that when Jesus points out where the hang up is in God’s mission, the problem isn’t that the harvest is too small, but that that there aren’t enough Christians engaged in harvesting. That’s that’s the problem. What I mean is, when Jesus tells his people to pray about the mission, he doesn’t say, hey, make sure that you you pray for all those evil people out there. Make sure you do that. He affirms that his people are out there and he says, pray for more people to go and do the hard work of reaching them.

[00:12:30] That’s what you should be praying about. In the context here. He’s talking to the 72 that he’s sending out. And so Jesus is saying that as they go out, they should pray that God would add to his disciples from these villages so that they will then turn around and join on with the harvesting team. And so what will happen is there will be a snowballing effect to the size of the missions team, as people are added to the Kingdom of God. Now, in a minute, we are going to see. We’re going to look at Jesus hard condemnation against those who refuse to receive the gospel. So it’s not as if that the only failure in missions is the unwillingness of the church to do the hard work. It’s not the only failure, but it is on the church to look at itself and ask the question, are we laboring at the mission of Jesus? Are we? Are we laboring at the mission that Jesus has for us? Are we as one team, all pulling in the same direction to accomplish the mission that Jesus has laid out there in front of us? And if the answer is no, and a lot of times, and a lot of places, the answer is no, then we need to be praying that God would raise up more of his people to get involved in reaching out and sharing the gospel with lost people. See one of the biggest hang ups.

[00:13:52] One of the biggest hang ups in the church today is that there’s a disconnect between trusting in Jesus and becoming a laborer. In the mission field of the church. There’s a disconnect between those things. Trust in Jesus. I don’t necessarily have to join on as a laborer in the mission of the church and Jesus mission. It’s not true. There is no disconnect there, but there is in our hearts and minds. This is not a call. What Jesus is doing here. This is not a call to raise up specialty missionaries. This is a call for the church to pray that all Jesus disciples would make disciples who will also go out and make more disciples, laborers, workers, everyone who who follows Jesus will be involved in the work of spreading the kingdom of God. And there’s something I want you to notice very carefully here. Okay? Please notice this very carefully. Jesus is not telling his team to pray that God would raise up people to work instead of them. Okay, do you see that there? He’s not saying pray that some other people will be raised up to go instead of you guys. He’s telling laborers he’s sending out to pray that more laborers would come alongside of them. Everybody always gets hung up here. Everybody always gets hung up on whether or not they have the gift of evangelism. With 99.9% of all Christians absolutely certain that they do not have the gift of evangelism, they’ve never been more sure of anything in their lives than they do not have the gift of evangelism.

[00:15:34] Do you love your children? Maybe, but I’m certain I do not have the gift of evangelism. Never been more certain of anything in my life. You notice that? That’s always the conversation. I don’t have it. Listen, church, you don’t have to have the gift of evangelism to be a worker in the field that God has sent you into. Share the gospel. Let’s make disciples. According to Ephesians, for those who have the gift of evangelism are there to equip the saints for the work of the ministry. What would an evangelist equip the saints to do? To share the gospel. Every single one of us, every single one of us is called to be salt and light sharer of the gospel. In the community where God has put us, every single one of us is to have our eyes on the mission field called Rochester, or Pine Island or Mayo or IBM, wherever God has you. And if you’re nervous about that, if you’re nervous about that, call that part of being a disciple. You can be comforted by this third way that God sees the world. See, God sees his provision. Notice once again, just as he did when he sent out the 12 that Jesus tells this group not to take anything along with them. Can’t take money this time. They can’t even take sandals along with them.

[00:17:03] Now that might be a reference to a second pair of sandals. Or it might be that he doesn’t want them wearing sandals so that they will identify with the poor. It’s hard to say here, but there’s one obvious reason not to carry along a knapsack. Do you see how he says you can’t take that along? And the reason is you can’t take anything with you if you don’t have a sack to put it in. And this time he tells them not to talk with anyone that they meet along the way, which shows just how much the focus and the urgency of the mission has that it has here. These disciples are to have this focus and urgency in completing their mission. Now, as I said back in chapter nine, when we looked at the first time that Jesus sent out a mission team, the reason for limiting what they can carry is so that they will be entirely dependent on Jesus as they do this work. The method Jesus uses here is not for all time. In fact, Jesus himself will change the way he sends his people out, even in his own lifetime. He’ll expand on what they can carry. But what doesn’t change is the confidence we have, that there is no mission that God gives His church today that he will not supply, for he will give you what you need. He will give you what to say. The Holy Spirit will prompt you and give you the words you need in the moment that you need them.

[00:18:22] He will give you everything necessary to do the mission. And that’s vital knowledge as we share the gospel, because the work itself can be very difficult and scary. Here’s another thing that God knows about the world God sees that his people are lambs in the midst of wolves. See how he changed the metaphor up on us here. He changed it, didn’t he? Before? We were just happy farmers heading out into God’s right field to bring in his people by sharing the gospel. Jesus says, at the very same time that you are doing that, we are also tasty little lambs in the midst of ravenous wolves. In fact, he says, I’m sending you out that way. This is Jesus action. How can both be true? And why would Jesus do that? The answer to both of those questions is that Jesus is giving us two pictures of the same reality. The harvest of God’s people in this world is sure, but bringing it in will be costly. Okay, it’s certainly there. It’s ripe for harvest. It’s going to be costly to bring it in. The work is absolutely fruitful. It’s also absolutely dangerous. Now notice the instructions that Jesus gives to bring in, to bring peace to the homes where his people will potentially stay. And he says there are two outcomes that can happen. You’re going to be entirely dependent on those people. And there are two outcomes that can happen.

[00:19:55] They might get what Jesus calls a son of peace. And this is a person who’s receptive to the gospel. They might they might receive Jesus worker, and then he or she can can do some fruitful work in that place. On the other hand, they might encounter people who don’t receive them and reject the gospel and turn them away. And in that case, they should go out into the street and they should declare that they are shaking their the dust off of them. They’re off their feet. And to let them know that the kingdom of God has come very near to them, but that they have rejected the kingdom of God. And Jesus knows full well, even as he sends them out, that not everyone will respond favorably to the gospel. Not everyone will will want Jesus, and they will then reject the people who try to bring them. Jesus try to bring them the gospel. Historically, this has meant everything from social rejection to murdering Christians for their faith and everything in between. So again, does God see the world positively or negatively? Neither. He sees it. Missionally. Should we then avoid the world or embrace the world? Neither. We should engage the world. That’s what we’re called to do. We are sent to do the difficult, labor intensive, costly job of representing and sharing Jesus good news in the midst of the world that contains both God’s good harvest and ravenous wolves who will potentially harm us.

[00:21:41] That’s the kingdom of the. That’s the mission of the Kingdom. That’s what we’re called to do. You want to follow Jesus? That’s the mission of the kingdom. And Jesus knows full well that there will be wolves who will reject the gospel. And he does not mince words about those who reject it. Because here’s what God sees. God sees those who reject the gospel are in grave danger. He brings a condemnation to Chorazin and Bethsaida, two cities in Galilee where apparently they had been thrown out. Either Jesus had been thrown out or his workers had been thrown out. In the Old Testament, two towns that received God’s condemnation were Tyre and Sidon. And Jesus says, if those towns had experienced the signs and wonders that had been done in Chorazin and Bethsaida, then than they would have repented. Capernaum is another place that rejected Jesus. Jesus says it doesn’t have to have heaven in its future. It has Hades in its future. God’s judgment. Final condemnation. And of course, the city names here represent the people in those cities. It doesn’t represent the land of those cities. It’s it’s the people who reject the gospel. It’s the people who receive this judgment. Jesus mission for us as a church is to share this good news of the Kingdom of God with whomever we can, knowing full well that we’ll receive rejection a lot of the time. Some people will hear it and they will be changed.

[00:23:17] They’ll hear us and then they will hear Jesus through us. That’s verse 16. They’re going to see Jesus in us and through us. But it’s also fully part of Jesus plan that there will be those who reject us, and that means they’re going to reject Jesus. And Jesus says that means that they are at the same time rejecting God the Father. They are rejecting the one true God. They’re rejecting their creator. They are pushing away the only access they have to a saving relationship with God when they reject you, when you bring the gospel. If you’ve closed your ears. If you’ve closed your heart to Jesus, you too have pushed away the only access you can possibly have to God. And you will receive the same condemnation for your sin that Jesus describes here. Church. I think it’s very important to note that while there is condemnation in this passage, it is Jesus doing the condemning. It’s not his workers. So the workers are sharing the gospel. The laborers are healing. They’re doing good works in Jesus name. They’re also bringing honest warnings. Okay, so they’re going to shake off the dust as a testimony against those who reject Jesus. They are not afraid to talk about what it means to turn away Jesus, that they will say that to people who are actively doing, there’s no problem with you lovingly but firmly warning your friends and family that they are in grave spiritual danger.

[00:24:52] That’s part of the mission. But final judgment is in God’s hands. It’s not in our hands. Here’s the six way God sees the world. God sees Satan fall. He sees Satan falling as we carry out the mission. Look at verse 17 there. 72 come back to Jesus. They report how excited they are at seeing that they they were able to cast out demons in Jesus name. And Jesus says that he saw Satan fall like lightning. I don’t know if he had a vision of this happening or if this is just a turn of phrase. But either way, Jesus is aware that when people carry out his mission in his name, it topples and destroys Satan. How does God see the world? How does God see what is happening in our world right now? He sees a spiritual battle won through Jesus and in the name of Jesus. I believe one of the most compelling evidences for the truthfulness of God’s Word and for the hope of the gospel, is the way that it makes sense of the spiritual battle that’s happening all around us. I just think that’s one of the most compelling things that we find in Scripture. If you want to explain why there’s so much hate and violence and greed and pridefulness and depression, if you if you if you want a source for all of the grinding poverty of spirit in the world, you can find it in the Bible’s careful explanation of what’s going on spiritually.

[00:26:27] There are demonic forces everywhere. Evil is everywhere. Rachel and I were just talking this week about how some people think that evil is is really just only those those dark things in the world, those sinister, scary things like stuff from the some from horror movies. But the, the, the evil presence of satanic influence is found everywhere. It’s in your friendly local library. It’s in your office. It’s written into law. It’s found in the unbiblical advice that your friend gave you. And while Satan has no true power over those who know Jesus and are now in Christ, it doesn’t stop him from trying to trip you up in your walk with the Lord. He tempted Jesus, so he’s going to tempt us to. So how do we defeat then? How do we defeat Satan? By declaring the gospel of Jesus. That’s how we do it. By declaring the gospel of Jesus. We preach the gospel to ourselves every day. We share the good news of Jesus with others. That’s the method. And using that gospel message, God opens eyes. He opens hearts to believe, and Satan loses ground. When that happens, Satan loses the fight to for souls, for hearts and for minds. He loses influence and he falls like lightning. God sees this spiritual battle being waged in the hearts and minds of all humanity. So then how do we see? How do we see people in this world? As Paul put it in Second Corinthians 516, we don’t regard people as simply flesh, as simply animals.

[00:28:14] We see them as spiritual creatures engaged in a spiritual battle, and our job is to bring them the message of the victory of Christ and what he has accomplished on the cross. He died so that you don’t have to succumb to the penalty of your sins. He conquered death so that we can live and we can have life. We can be set free from sin and death. And that’s how our passage ends, the seventh way. God sees the world. He sees that his people will live. He sees that his people, those who are in Christ, they’re going to to live. Jesus says to the 72. Don’t rejoice because evil spirits are subject to you. Rejoice because your name is written in heaven. That’s a symbolic way of saying that a Christian who trusts in Jesus has absolutely nothing to fear, because you belong to God. That reference to to power over serpents and scorpions, that’s a metaphorical way of describing the spiritual battle that God wages through his church against the evil in this world. Don’t worry, we’re not going to start snake handling here at Calvary, okay? It’s going to be fine. It just means that there’s no demonic power to fear. There’s nothing out there that should scare you. You belong to God. This dangerous mission that’s been described. There’s nothing to fear in being faithful to it. If you. If you don’t see a harvest.

[00:29:44] You say, I’m going to engage in this. I’m going to share the gospel. I’m going to be a salt and light missionary to my community. I’m going to be brave. I’m going to say things to people. I’m going to help people see Jesus, and I’m probably going to get rejected for it. If you don’t see a harvest, if you get rejected, don’t worry, you belong to God through a relationship with Christ. Your place is secure with him. If you see great success in sharing the gospel, if people start to listen and come to to to faith in Jesus, praise God, but don’t find your identity in it. Don’t find your identity in it. You’re not special because you accomplished a lot. Your value comes from being a citizen of heaven. I know I’ve thrown a lot of theology and worldview at you this morning. It’s pretty thick in this passage, so let me attempt some a summary at how God sees the world and the way we should see it too. And I’m going to put it in terms of our city. Rochester is a place where God’s people still live in the midst of darkness and evil. They don’t know Jesus yet, but they are out there. They’re out there. The greatest obstacle to reaching them is not their sin. It’s the lack of a gospel proclaiming presence in their lives. And so God has raised up his church, many churches. We’re one of them.

[00:31:13] He’s raised up his church, and we’re tasked to take the powerful good news of Jesus into this city and share it in every way that the Lord gives us opportunity. And we’re going to face a lot of rejection when we do that. It’s going to cost money and time. We’re going to lose friends. Maybe we’re going to lose family. It won’t always be comfortable, but there will be people who will reject us because they reject Christ and ultimately reject the one true God and the salvation that comes only through Christ. And they will bite like wolves when they do that, but it will be worth it. It will be worth it because God’s people are in the midst of them. And so we work hard at reaching them, and we pray that God will add to the number of people on his harvesting team that he will add to his missions team. The Kingdom of God will expand as Satan is defeated and new citizens enter into it. As. As the gospel overcomes hearts and breaks bonds and overcomes addictions and transforms thinking and people enter into it, demonic strongholds will topple at the name of Jesus and the real joy in this world. The true joy that we all long for is found when we are safely identified as citizens of the Kingdom of God, when our names are written in heaven. That’s how God sees the world. That’s Rochester. Calvary. That’s the mission that we’ve been called to by Jesus. Would you pray with me?