Mission Sanyati
2 Timothy 2:1-13
September 2, 2012

This morning I’m going to give you something a little different
Than we are used to.
It’s going to be about half sermon, half testimony.

I do encourage you to come back tonight and hear the testimonies,
but there are a few things I want to share with you as a church this morning.

This morning I want to give you an account
Of how your mission team did while in Zimbabwe.

And to do that, I’m going to share with you a text
That I shared with them two Sunday nights ago,
As we were about to begin our full week of ministry.

I think we did study part of 2 Timothy a few years ago,
But let me refresh your memory as to what this letter is about.

• The author is Paul, and the recipient is the young preacher named Timothy.
• Timothy was pastoring the church at Ephesus, and Paul had taken him under
his wing.

And this is good because Timothy was facing several obstacles.

One of those obstacles was his age.

Paul actually wrote to him in the first letter:
1 Timothy 4:12 “Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe.”

Timothy did not have the luxury of age on his side as a pastor.
He was a young man and this put him at a disadvantage
when trying to be the shepherd of a congregation older than him.

But that wasn’t the only problems that Timothy faced.

Ephesus was a church misguided.

1 Timothy 1:3-4 “As I urged you upon my departure for Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus so that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines, nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to mere speculation rather than furthering the administration of God which is by faith.”

The leadership at Ephesus was bad.
They were teaching strange doctrines
And focusing on things that didn’t matter.

And Paul had asked this young pastor to start righting the ship.

And there are other issues as well, that we won’t elaborate on.
• They had sort of a mixed up idea of the role of men and women.
• They were unclear on the qualifications for elders and deacons.
• There was a heresy spreading about abstaining from marriage and food.
• And there was a bit of a misunderstanding as to how to handled widows.

But the point is, Timothy had been handed an enormous job of
Re-focusing the church at Ephesus.

By the time we get to the second letter,
We find that Timothy has had enough. He wants to quit.

He may even be feeling pressure to quit from other sources.

And so this letter is one that is very beneficial
To all who desire to be ministers of the gospel.

And so our first Sunday night in Sanyati, this is the passage we studied
In order to allow God to challenge us in the right way.

This morning I want to show you the passage,
But I also want to express to you as we study how well our group did
In following this direction.

There are actually 5 commands from Paul to Timothy found in these first 13 verses.
#1 BE STRONG
2 Timothy 2:1

Paul’s command here to Timothy is an obvious one.
“be strong”

But as we learned over and over in our preparations for the trip,
It is not our own strength we are interested.

Paul doesn’t tell Timothy to be strong in his own knowledge.
• Or to be strong in speaking ability.
• Or to be strong in appearance.
• Or to be strong in negotiating.

Paul is very clear when he tells Timothy “be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.”

Paul doesn’t want Timothy to be strong in himself, but strong in the Lord.

Luke 24:49 “And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

Acts 1:8 “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
Certainly Paul understood this power.
Colossians 1:28-29 “We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.”

So we were reminded that on our own we could accomplish nothing,
And that is true, not only in Africa but in all ministry every day.

And we then looked at
One of the most amazing statements in all of Scripture.

It is a doxology written by the apostle Paul.
Ephesians 3:20-21 “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.”

We were challenged to close our eyes and
Think about what a perfect day would be in regard to ministry.

And you can do that this morning.
Go ahead and think something that it would be awesome if God did.

Now know that God “is able to do far more abundantly
beyond all that we ask or think”

HOW?
“according to His power that works within us”

And so we allowed Scripture to remind us that in order to minister
We must be strong, but not in our own strength.

AND I SAW THIS TEAM DO THAT VERY THING.
• Joe and Tommy went in God’s strength and not only taught deacons, but the whole church, and then fielded questions from the church body.

• Leo preached on Sunday morning without notes, and came away amazed at how clear his thoughts were.

• I actually saw Lance be given about 10 minutes notice before he was asked to speak to a group of men at Sanyati Baptist.

• I stood outside the window and heard Derek (who has only spoken 12 words in his whole life) give a devotion at the hospital on trusting God.

• I wasn’t around the women much, but I know nearly everyone of them shared their testimony, some taught devotions, and beyond that, they walked miles as they ministered to the women in the area.

• Peggy wasn’t sure she was physically strong enough, and yet somehow she made it.

• Carrie wasn’t sure she could leave my side, but God gave her grace.
The point is, this team went and worked and preached and ministered and loved, and they did not do it in their own strength,
They did it in the strength of God’s Spirit.

I couldn’t be prouder of them.
Be Strong
#2 ENTRUST
2 Timothy 2:2

After telling Timothy to be strong Paul encourages Timothy
To do something that is not easy for some people to do.
Paul told Timothy to share the load.

You may remember when Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt
He was literally wearing himself out shepherding God’s flock.

His father-in-law Jethro gave him some advice.
Exodus 18:17-22 “Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “The thing that you are doing is not good. “You will surely wear out, both yourself and these people who are with you, for the task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone. “Now listen to me: I will give you counsel, and God be with you. You be the people’s representative before God, and you bring the disputes to God, then teach them the statutes and the laws, and make known to them the way in which they are to walk and the work they are to do. “Furthermore, you shall select out of all the people able men who fear God, men of truth, those who hate dishonest gain; and you shall place these over them as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens. “Let them judge the people at all times; and let it be that every major dispute they will bring to you, but every minor dispute they themselves will judge. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you.”

What Jethro told Moses is the same thing Paul told Timothy.
No one ever said that any of us were a one-man show.
We are all parts of the body of Christ.

This may be one of the greatest lessons I learned on this trip.
• God has not just raised up preachers…
• God has not just raised up teachers…
• God has raised up an entire body.

And this body must function like a body.
• The eye has to let the hand do its job.
• The hand has to let the feet do its job.
• The mouth must give way to the ear.
• The ear must work side by side with the eye.

One of the reasons Timothy was discouraged
Is because he bore the burden alone.
All the burden of doctrine fell on Timothy…
All the burden of defense of truth fell on Timothy…
All the burden of correction fell on Timothy…
All the burden of pastoring fell on Timothy…
And Paul told Timothy to entrust some of these duties to others.

Don’t just let God work in you, but also let God work in others.

And I saw this team do that as well.
There were no one-man shows there.
• There were several who stood before the church to teach.
• There were several who stood before the church to share.
• There were several who stood before the church to sing.
• There were several who shared the gospel with the lost.
• There were several who showed compassion to the hurting.
• There were several who did physical labor.

You cannot look back on this team and say, “So and so did it all”.
Because that isn’t true.

They understood that God could use each and every person
And they trusted God to do that.

And that included the young members of our team.
• Derek worked like a dog on that roof and then shared in the hospital.
• Nia interacted with the kids at V.B.S. like no one could.

God didn’t just use one person on this trip, God used them all.

I couldn’t be prouder.

Be Strong, Entrust
#3 SUFFER
2 Timothy 2:3-4

“Suffer” there is a bit of a harsh word,
It is probably better to mention it as “Endure”.

2 Timothy 4:5 “But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”

Paul told Timothy to “Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.”

The idea there is that Timothy put on the mindset of a soldier
And not that of a civilian.

And then Paul told Timothy what he meant.
(4) “No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.”

Civilians have to take care of everyday things.
Soldiers only have to do what they are told.
And this is what believers are.

In fact Jesus taught us:
Matthew 6:31-33 “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Focus on the kingdom, not your comforts.
Focus on Christ’s work, not your fleshly desires.

Paul wanted Timothy to quit focusing on everyday things
And zone in on the things that mattered.

And in that he said, “Suffer hardship with me”

Don’t continually focus on making this life more comfortable.
Put the mission before your comfort.
(You can’t shy away from things just because they are difficult)

AND I SAW THIS TEAM DO THIS ON A DAILY BASIS.

I wouldn’t say we suffered in Sanyati,
But I certainly wouldn’t say it was comfortable either.

• By Thursday the temperature was 102, and the men were on a metal
roof, with the exception of Tommy who spent a couple of days in the
attic.

• At night there were 4.2 million roosters that had no sense of sunrise and
crowed all night. (sleep was lacking)

• There is really no telling how much walking the women had to do to go
from one ministry to the next.

• Showers were taken with no hot water.
• Electricity was sporadic at best.
• Dirty hair and smelly clothes is just a way of life.

And yet I never saw a single person focus on those things
To the detriment of the mission.

Whatever obstacles they faced, they endured.
They worked
They walked
They pushed on and they pushed through

I watched this team go on mission, not vacation and they were focused.

They didn’t look for the easy way out.
They didn’t search for a more comfortable job.
They did what was necessary, and they did it daily.

I couldn’t be prouder

Be Strong, Entrust, Suffer
#4 CONSIDER
2 Timothy 2:5-7

Here Paul simply gives Timothy two things to “consider”
He just wants Timothy to shape his thinking.

There are two analogies for him to think on.
(5) “Also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules.”

Simply going through the motions is not enough.
You have to do it the way God says to do it.

An easy example of this could be found from Paul’s first letter to Timothy
Where he told Timothy that he did not allow a woman
To teach or have authority over a man.
It was the job of the men to teach other men.

Now does that mean women are totally incapable of teaching?
No.

Look at the women that went, they are smart women who know the word.
(And we actually had a missionary tell us it was ok if we did)

But we told that missionary it wouldn’t happen.
Our ladies would not teach the men,
Our men had to step up for that task.

WHY?
Because it’s not enough just to compete,
We must compete according to the rules.

And that is what Paul told Timothy.

He also said:
(6) “The hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops.”

You work according to God’s will with an expectation of reward.
We don’t go to be paid.
We don’t expect gifts or glory.
But we do expect that God will honor His word.
In short, there is a blessing on the other side of obedience.
And as Timothy faced an uphill climb,
He needed to know that if he worked hard then God would honor him.

AND I WOULD SAY THE SAME TO OUR TEAM.

We are studying Matthew’s gospel about the Pharisees who love honor
And through that we know that at times the church can pass out honor
To those who don’t deserve it.

But Jesus was clear when He said that servants were the greatest,
And that is what I saw this team do.

I never saw it be about them.
• I saw them leave every location having done everything they could to
bless those they were around.
• I saw them serve.
• I saw them work.
• I saw them sweat and ache and work and strive for the kingdom.

• Peggy was sick almost from day one, and she pushed through it.
• Lance was bruised up in the first 20 minutes and still went to work
in spite of Marcella’s orders.
• Leo’s knee was swelling and still he worked.

I watched these people give in the midst of a hospital filled with AIDS and tuberculosis and yet serve continually.

They considered what Paul said, and not only competed but did so according to the rules and all in order to be pleasing to God.

I couldn’t be prouder.

Be Strong, Entrust, Suffer, Consider
#5 REMEMBER
2 Timothy 2:8-13

And here Paul’s admonition to Timothy is clear.
He was not on a good-will mission.
He was not on a humanitarian mission.

His purpose was clear.
“Remember Jesus Christ”
• Timothy wasn’t in Ephesus to make friends.
• Timothy was in Ephesus to make disciples.

Paul had this passion so rich in his heart
That it actually caused him to be imprisoned.
(9-10) “for which I suffer hardship even to imprisonment as a criminal; but the word of God is not imprisoned. For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory.”

And you notice what Paul said.
“I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen”

Paul knew that God had His elect still in the world.
Paul didn’t know who they were,
But he knew they wouldn’t be saved apart from the gospel.

And so Paul pushed through every conceivable hardship
In order to make sure the gospel reached as many people as possible.

And Paul reminded Timothy that this was his calling as well.
(11-13) “It is a trustworthy statement: For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him; If we endure, we will also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He also will deny us; If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.”

There Paul reminded Timothy that God’s faithfulness would not fail.
God was going to save His chosen ones.

But if Timothy wanted to be a part of what God was doing
He would have to remain faithful as well.

AND THIS WAS THE ATTITUDE I SAW FROM THIS TEAM.
• I never saw one of them “check-out”
• I never saw one of them “give up”
• I never saw one of them decide to take the easy road.

Every time I looked up someone was not just being kind,
But was sharing the gospel, they knew why they were there.

They didn’t just bring love and compassion to the people of Zimbabwe, they brought the gospel of Jesus Christ.

• I heard them preach repentance.
• I heard them preach forgiveness in Christ.
• I heard them testify of Christ’s ability to change a life.

And I couldn’t be prouder of what they did.

 
And now church, this is NOT a sermon meant to get you to run up and pat them on the back; that is not the purpose.

I simply want you to know that you
Can be proud when you send a team on the field.

I want you to know that your financial giving and your time spent in prayer
Was not wasted, this team did what you sent them to do.

FURTHERMORE I WANT TO CHALLENGE YOU.
I don’t know of a mission trip in this church yet, where after it was over someone didn’t come and tell me, “I should have gone on that trip”.

If that was you this time, I want to encourage you
To head Paul’s commands to Timothy as this team did.

• Be strong in Christ
• Trust that God will use you as He uses others.
• Endure what seems hard like a good soldier.
• Do what Christ says the way He says to do it.
• Expect that Christ will reward you for your sacrifice.
• And Remember Jesus, what He has done for you, what He can do for others, and that He still has chosen ones scattered throughout the world who need to hear the gospel.

I saw this group faithfully respond to God’s call,
And I want to encourage everyone here to do the same.

And don’t play the “I just can’t do it” card
• I saw a 10 yr. old love the African people.
• I saw one of the shyest teenagers I know teach a hospital devotion
• I saw two 70+ women commit to minister indefinitely (one just off of a
broken pelvis)
• I saw a mother with 3 young girls move over for 6 months

YOU CAN SERVE IN GOD’S STRENGTH
That may not mean Africa, although you will certainly have more opportunities.
It may be your neighbor or family member.

But I want you to follow the example set by this team
To move beyond your comfort and dare to let God work in you
To accomplish His task of redeeming the world to Himself.

2 Timothy 2:1 “You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.”

Mission Possible
Zechariah 4:1-14
August 12, 2012

Well, here we are.
A trip that began on February 12 with the sign up deadline
Has finally arrived.

I want to tell you church from the beginning here how proud I am of this group that has responded to the call.

They have been pushed extremely hard.
• Each has written and shared testimony.
• Each has given a Bible study to the group.
• They have been given a devotional study through the entire book
of Romans.
• They have been given numerous sermons to read and study.
• They have each been assigned Bible studies on the trip to prepare
for.

They have met every Sunday afternoon for the last six months
To plan, share, and pray fervently for this trip.
I don’t know of a single meeting that lasted less than two hours.

They have devoted themselves to this trip,
And I am so grateful to them for their tremendous attitude
And willingness to rise to the occasion.

In addition I wanted to say how thankful we all are to each of you.
Just to know that you have prayed for us.
I can’t tell you what an encouragement it has been
Simply to have you ask about the trip.
Not to mention your generosity to give and provide supplies.

Your excitement has continually encouraged this team.

I want to thank our prayer partners
Who have faithfully met with us and stood in the gap on our behalf,
Mine was Charlie Morris.
You will never know what an encouragement you have been.

And I especially want to thank Rita Harris,
She has accepted the role of liaison to keep the church informed
And her input to us and you has been priceless.

I want to thank Neal Hindman for agreeing to be our emergency contact,
In the event that someone here has to make decisions on our behalf. We are grateful to have a man who will seek God’s will and act accordingly.
But most of all I am thankful to God for this trip.
He has already used it in such a powerful way in so many lives,
That even if He returns tomorrow before we actually leave,
None of this will have been a waste.

(I would say, that if He returns, I would hope He does so before the 16 hour flight).

AND NOW THE TRIP IS UPON US

And this morning I want to share with you what has been
The most direct truth that God has been teaching me throughout this process and one that I have adopted as sort of a theme verse for this trip.

You may have already noticed it on many of the T-shirts,
But the verse we put there was Zechariah 4:6

“Then he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel saying, ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD of hosts.”

So let’s look at it together.

Now, as in all studies of Scripture, you really need to know some background here to fully appreciate the chapter we are about to study.

The book of Zechariah is a post-exilic book,
Meaning it deals with events after the people returned from exile.

You may remember, it was Cyrus who let the people return,
And now the task is to rebuild the temple and ultimately the wall.

The specific setting for Zechariah’s prophecy is that
As they began to build the temple they hit a snag.

Ezra 4:1-7 “Now when the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the people of the exile were building a temple to the LORD God of Israel, they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers’ households, and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we, like you, seek your God; and we have been sacrificing to Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here.” But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of fathers’ households of Israel said to them, “You have nothing in common with us in building a house to our God; but we ourselves will together build to the LORD God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia has commanded us.” Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah, and frightened them from building, and hired counselors against them to frustrate their counsel all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia. Now in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. And in the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and the rest of his colleagues wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the text of the letter was written in Aramaic and translated from Aramaic.”

The letter basically reminded the king of Persia that Israel
Used to be a strong nation with a people who defied kings in the past.

And the letter asked him to issue a decree to stop their work.

The result of the king receiving this letter was as follows:
Ezra 4:23-24 “Then as soon as the copy of King Artaxerxes’ document was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe and their colleagues, they went in haste to Jerusalem to the Jews and stopped them by force of arms. Then work on the house of God in Jerusalem ceased, and it was stopped until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.”

And there is the setting.
God’s people returned,
But now they have been opposed and ultimately the work has stopped.

The mission has hit a snag, and that brings us to our text.

There are 4 things I want you to see in this chapter.
#1 A DISCOURAGED PROPHET
Zechariah 4:1

What we find here is that angel comes to give Zechariah another vision.
(He has already had several)

But this time, unlike the previous,
We learn the condition in which the angel finds Zechariah.

Zechariah says the angel “roused me, as a man who is awakened from his sleep.”
The implication here is that Zechariah
Had either grown apathetic, or discouraged.

Being asleep in Scripture often pictures a person who isn’t as focused and ready as they should be.

After giving the practical expectations of Christian living, Paul said:
Romans 13:11 “Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed.”

Paul wasn’t implying that believers were spending too much time in bed,
But rather that they were not paying attention,
That they had grown apathetic and complacent.

And it is very likely that Zechariah found himself there.

He knows what God wants – He wants the temple, but the snag in the process has certainly done a number towards discouraging Zechariah.

This can be very burdensome to the heart of a preacher.
It is difficult when a man who speaks for God sees no fruit of his labor.

The temptation is to get discouraged and seemingly give up.
Zechariah here has fallen into apathy.
• But the angel wakes him up.
• The angel confronts him and tells him to get on the alert.

And this angel is about to explain to this discouraged prophet
How this impossible mission is about to be accomplished.

A Discouraged Prophet
#2 A DIFFICULT VISION
Zechariah 4:2-5

So the angel wakes Zechariah up and gives him a vision
That he at least partly doesn’t understand.

“I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold”

This was not uncommon, and it symbolized that at least in part
Israel was the light of the world.

It ultimately and perfectly pictured Christ who would be the light of the world.

“with its bowl on the top of it”

This is a little different.
This lamp actually worked on a gravity flow system.

The bowl containing the oil was set on top of the lamp
So that oil would flow down into the lamp and keep the lamp burning.

“and its seven lamps on it with seven spouts belonging to each of the lamps which are on the top of it;”

So this is a large lamp with a total of 49 flames.

Here is where the difficult part came for Zechariah.
(3) “also two olive trees by it, one on the right side of the bowl and the other on its left side.”

So now we not only have a lampstand, but we also have a bowl on top,
And here we find that that beside the bowl, we have two olive trees.

The figure is that there is a never ending supply of oil
Running from the tree, into the bowl and feeding the lamp.

SOMETHINGS IS SUPPLYING POWER TO THE LIGHT

Now it is obvious that Zechariah understood the lamp, the bowl, and the 49 spouts, but he did not understand these trees.

(4) “Then I said to the angel who was speaking with me saying, “What are these, my lord?”

And the angel even seems a little surprised that he doesn’t know.

(5) “So the angel who was speaking with me answered and so to me, “Do you not know what these are?” And I said, “No, my lord.”

So we have A Discouraged Prophet, A Difficult Vision
#3 A DIVINE REMINDER
Zechariah 4:6-10

Now here is where the message gets very important to us.

(6) “Then he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel saying, ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD of hosts.”

Now I love what God is doing here.
The message is for Zerubbabel, but who is it given to?

It is given to Zechariah, he is in turn supposed to relay it to Zerubbabel.
(Zerubbabel is the governor, he needs to hear this)

But the other person who needs to hear this is Zechariah.
(That’s why the angel appeared first to Zechariah and not straight to Zerubbabel)

And notice the message he is supposed to render.
“Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit” says the LORD of hosts.”

And we know what he means.
• This project you are working on.
• This difficult project…
• This project that has been stalled due to opposition…

This project will not be done in your own “might”.
This project will not be done by your own “power”.

This project will only be accomplished “by My Spirit”

Only God can accomplish this great project.

But through God it will be accomplished.
(7) “’What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain; and he will bring forth the top stone with shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”‘”

Zerubbabel faced a mountain – it was a figurative mountain.

The mountain was his project, it must have seemed impossible to move.
But God promised this mountain was coming down.

And WHEN this temple will be built,
(That is what God means by “he will bring forth the tops stone”)

And as the temple is finished there will be “shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”

NOW WHY GRACE?
Because all will realize that God did this by His divine power.
And so when it is built, He will get the glory.

Now, for a moment let’s rest in that truth.
• We face our mountains don’t we?
• We face our impossible missions.

But Jesus has always told us
Where the power to pull down a mountain comes from.
Matthew 17:20 “And He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.”

It doesn’t take strength to move a mountain, what does it take? FAITH

I can tell you the mountain this trip faced back in February.
A mountain of money – $64,000 to be exact.
And we had about 7 weeks to get it.

None of us had that kind of strength.
But that’s ok, because mountains aren’t moved by our power.

God’s Spirit moved in the hearts of His people
And in less than 6 weeks we had more than that.

And when the money came in, we didn’t praise our strength,
We didn’t praise the people, we praise the grace of God to provide!

God pulls down mountains by the power of His Spirit.
We cannot overemphasize the importance of the Spirit of God,
He is the One who makes impossible missions possible.

And incidentally, God has taught me the importance of this,
Not just for mission trips, but also for everyday life.

• You can’t be the spouse you need to be by your own power…
• You can’t be the parent you need to be by your own power…
• You can’t be the employee you need to be by your own power…
• You can’t be the Christian you need to be by your own power…

Everything must be done in the power of God’s Spirit.

That is what Jesus meant in John 15 when He told us to “abide in Him”
Saying “apart from Me, you can do nothing.”

And that is what God just told Zechariah to go tell Zerubbabel.

But that is not all that God has to say.
(8-9) “Also the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will finish it. Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.”

This part of the message was not for Zerubbabel, this was for Zechariah.

It is apparent that Zechariah, along with his discouragement,
Was having a few doubts.
He was doubting whether or not he had heard God correctly.

That is easy to do.
• When you hear from God and you move forward
• And then it seems like nothing is going according to plan,
• You can sure wonder if you really heard from God or not.

And so God has a little confirmation for him.
“The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will finish it. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you.”

You may remember when God called Moses to go back to Pharaoh and lead his people out, Moses was a little apprehensive.

God had proof for him.
Exodus 3:12 “And He said, “Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain.”

It was a confirmation after the fact.

That is the same type of thing God does here for Zechariah.
I am the one speaking to you.
You just trust Me, and when it is done, you’ll know it was me.

We all thought God called us to go,
But looking at that mountain of money can cause you to question.

But once the mountain moved, what tremendous confirmation!

That is what God is doing for Zechariah.

And yet God has one more thing to tell him.
(10) “For who has despised the day of small things? But these seven will be glad when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel — these are the eyes of the LORD which range to and fro throughout the earth.”

And here we find another reason Zechariah was a little discouraged.

He was preaching to get the temple rebuilt,
But not only was their opposition from outside Israel,
But there was also scorn from within Israel.

In fact Ezra tells us that the people alive now who had seen Solomon’s temple were weeping over had pathetic this one was.

Ezra 3:12 “Yet many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ households, the old men who had seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, while many shouted aloud for joy,”

Haggai also recognized their scorn.
Haggai 2:1-9 “On the twenty-first of the seventh month, the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet saying, “Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people saying, ‘Who is left among you who saw this temple in its former glory? And how do you see it now? Does it not seem to you like nothing in comparison? ‘But now take courage, Zerubbabel,’ declares the LORD, ‘take courage also, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and all you people of the land take courage,’ declares the LORD, ‘and work; for I am with you,’ declares the LORD of hosts. ‘As for the promise which I made you when you came out of Egypt, My Spirit is abiding in your midst; do not fear!’ “For thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘ Once more in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land. ‘I will shake all the nations; and they will come with the wealth of all nations, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the LORD of hosts. ‘The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine,’ declares the LORD of hosts. ‘The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘and in this place I will give peace,’ declares the LORD of hosts.”

Haggai heard their scorn as well, but promised this temple would have more glory than Solomon’s. It did too – Jesus would preach in this temple.

But that is the scorn Zechariah has faced.
To many of the people this was “the day of small things”

And so even the negative and skeptics inside Jerusalem
Were discouraging this mission.

And there have even been some on this team who have faced that.

We will admit the support for this trip has been great.
But it hasn’t been universal.
(Some faced family members with scorn, some faced co-workers with scorn, some faced fellow Christians with scorn)

And scorn from a fellow believer cuts even deeper.
And it is apparent that their mocking had gotten to Zechariah too.
He was listening to the grumblers who mocked his mission.

But God said, “For who has despised the day of small things?”

That is to say, “Who do they think they are?”
Furthermore, “Why does their opinion matter?”

They may despise this mission, “But these seven will be glad when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel – these are the eyes of the Lord which range to and fro throughout the earth.”

God tells Zechariah that there may be some
Who despise what you are doing, but not God, He is glad.

And really, if God is pleased with the mission
Does it matter what anyone else thinks?

Paul told the Philippians
Philippians 1:27-30 “Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; in no way alarmed by your opponents — which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God. For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me, and now hear to be in me.”

Peter told the scattered believers
1 Peter 4:12-14 “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.”

And that is the Divine reminder that God gives here to Zechariah.

Zechariah was discouraged because he didn’t know how this mission would ever be accomplished, God said it will be by My Spirit.

Zechariah was discouraged because he wasn’t sure he had heard God correctly, God said, when the mission is accomplished you’ll know for sure.

Zechariah was discouraged because there were some who opposed his mission, God said, don’t fret them, this mission makes me glad.

Those are good things to remember when you go on mission.
Those are good things to remember when you face a mountain.

God can do it. God will do it. And God will be pleased with it.

A Discouraged Prophet, A Difficult Vision, A Divine Reminder
#4 A DIRECT EXPLANATION
Zechariah 4:11-14

Zechariah still hasn’t forgotten about those two trees.

Now, the angel did answer, Zechariah just didn’t understand the answer.

(11) “Then I said to him, “What are these two olive trees on the right of the lampstand and on its left?”

But apparently the Angel thinks he should know by now
And doesn’t answer.
(12) “And I answered the second time and said to him, “What are the two olive branches which are beside the two golden pipes, which empty the golden oil from themselves?”

Again he asks, who are these branches that carry the oil?

And the angel almost seems surprised that he doesn’t know still.
(13) “So he answered me, saying, “Do you not know what these are?” And I said, “No, my lord.”

It’s almost like the angel said, “You still don’t know?”

(14) “Then he said, “These are the two anointed ones who are standing by the Lord of the whole earth.”

These two branches that let oil flow through them to the bowl that supplies the candle, these are the “two anointed ones”
These are two selected, spirit-filled men that God has chosen.

They are also faithful men for they “are standing by the Lord”

They are Zerubbabel and Joshua.
They are men that God has filled with His Spirit.
They are men that are faithful to God to fulfill His word.

And here then is the point.
• You have a lamp that must shine, but in order to do so it needs oil.
• You have a source of oil in the tree,
• But notice that the oil is flowing through these two branches, namely Zerubbabel and Joshua.

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

God is accomplishing His purpose, by His Spirit,
But He is doing it through His people.

The fact we are reminded of?
God uses His people.

His people can’t do it on their own,
Their own power and strength won’t cut it.

But when God’s people are filled with God’s Spirit and are faithful to God, He can move mountains through them.

Now group, we saw this.

God supplied all the funds we needed for this trip.
• One week we saw a check for $1500 on Monday.
• On Tuesday we were given four kruggerand totaling $6700
• On Wednesday we were given a check for $8000

At one point late in March we did the figuring
And God had supplied over $1600 a day for this trip.

But did God just drop it from heaven?

HOW DID HE SUPPLY IT?
He did it through His people.

BUT GROUP you may remember, I told you then when the money arrived,
That the purpose of that money was simply to show you
What God could do through His people.

Now, I am encouraging you to be the people He works through in Africa.
You must be filled with His Spirit.
You must be faithful to Him.

God works through His people.

And that is the message of God to Zechariah.
It is also the message that Zechariah turned and preached to the people.

Would you like to know the effect that sermon had on Israel?
Ezra 5:1-2 “When the prophets, Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them, then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak arose and began to rebuild the house of God which is in Jerusalem; and the prophets of God were with them supporting them.”

Listen to Haggai.
Haggai 1:14-15 “So the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and worked on the house of the LORD of hosts, their God, on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month in the second year of Darius the king.”
When God’s people realized
That God could accomplish great things through them
And that pleasing Him was more important than pleasing the crowd.

They went back to work and the mountain was moved.
The temple was rebuilt.

The application is obvious.
• We’ve already seen God use His people to move one mountain.
• God used this church and other believers to fund this trip.

Now, mission team, let God use you to move another one.
Go and be light in the darkness of Africa.
Go and supply oil to the lamps of those churches.
Let God use you to build up His people in Zimbabwe.

But be filled with the Spirit and faithful to God,
For your power and strength are nothing without His.

John 15:1-11 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. “Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. “These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.”

That was Jesus way of saying:
“Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit” says the Lord”

Isaiah 6:6-8
Thus far in our missions month of study,
We have seen very important truths from the word of God.

1) Namely, that we are redeemed for a purpose.
2 Corinthians 5:18-19 “Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.”

2) That we are under obligation to fulfill this purpose.
Romans 1:14-15 “I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.”

We are INTENDED to evangelize…
We are COMMANDED to evangelize…
We are OBLIGED to evangelize…

That forces us to shift our thinking,
From if I will get involved in missions
To How do I get involved in missions.

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE AN EFFECTIVE MISSIONARY?
We see one of the most famous commissioning service in the Bible.

We will travel back to look at the day God called Isaiah.
5 Things Isaiah Needed.
#1 A COMMITMENT TO GOD’S MAJESTY
Isaiah 1:1-4
Before God called He allowed Isaiah to catch a glimpse of His glory.

Verse 1 shows us GOD’S PERMANENCE.
He very simple sees God on His throne.

How our lives change when we realize that God,
And not us, is on the throne.

Anyone who can justifiably dismiss the commands of God Has forgotten this truth.

HOW ELSE COULD IT BE EXPLAINED?

If God commanded us to go, and we do not,
What else is to be concluded
But that we do not believe God is the authority?
This truth had to be solidified in Isaiah’s mind.

When Paul was charging Timothy to preach, he put one visual in his mind first.
2 Timothy 4:1-2 “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.”

How badly we need to remember just who God is.
We do not have the right to determine which commands are optional.
HE IS GOD – HE IS KING – HE IS LORD – HE IS THE AUTHORITY

Isaiah 40:21-26 “Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. He it is who reduces rulers to nothing, Who makes the judges of the earth meaningless. Scarcely have they been planted, Scarcely have they been sown, Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth, But He merely blows on them, and they wither, And the storm carries them away like stubble. “To whom then will you liken Me That I would be his equal?” says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high And see who has created these stars, The One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, Not one of them is missing.”

It is by no mistake that Isaiah first was reminded of God’s glory.
As was Ezekiel
And remember Paul’s conversion

Verses 2-3 shows us GOD’S PERFECTION
Seraphim won’t gaze at His glory
Seraphim hide their unsightly parts

His perfection is further revealed by their praise.
“And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.”

Revelation 4:8 “And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, “HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY,WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO COME.”
God is so Holy that they will not dare look upon Him.
God is so Holy that they intentionally cover their filth.
God is so Holy that they never stop proclaiming it.

Verse 4 shows us GOD’S POWER
His voice shakes the very foundations of the world.
This is power!

How often we have seen this power throughout the Scripture.
THIS IS A SCENE OF GOD’S MAJESTY
THIS SCENE IS PART OF OUR MOTIVATION FOR MISSIONS

If you don’t believe His power and authority, you won’t obey.

But also it motivates us because we are committed
To seeing that He gets the glory that He deserves.

The main reason for evangelism is
A love for God and a commitment to His glory.
This above all else is the reason God offered salvation.
Isaiah 48:9 “For the sake of My name I delay My wrath, And for My praise I restrain it for you, In order not to cut you off.”

Isaiah 48:11 “For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act; For how can My name be profaned? And My glory I will not give to another.”

Isaiah 49:6 “He says, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

Isaiah 45:20-25 “Gather yourselves and come; Draw near together, you fugitives of the nations; They have no knowledge, Who carry about their wooden idol And pray to a god who cannot save. “Declare and set forth your case; Indeed, let them consult together. Who has announced this from of old? Who has long since declared it? Is it not I, the LORD? And there is no other God besides Me, A righteous God and a Savior; There is none except Me. “Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God, and there is no other. “I have sworn by Myself, The word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness And will not turn back, That to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance. “They will say of Me, ‘Only in the LORD are righteousness and strength.’ Men will come to Him, And all who were angry at Him will be put to shame. “In the LORD all the offspring of Israel Will be justified and will glory.”

God’s plan of salvation has always been about glorifying God.
That is our motivation for evangelism and missions.

Do you realize that today,
Allah will be credited for doing something that only God did?
Someone will eat, and give the credit to Buddha?
Someone will recover from illness, and give praise to a Hindu god?

We go and tell of God’s greatness
Because He deserves to be worshiped by all of His creation.

Psalms 96:1-6 “Sing to the LORD a new song; Sing to the LORD, all the earth. Sing to the LORD, bless His name; Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day. Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples. For great is the LORD and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the LORD made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before Him, Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.”

Isaiah 42:8 “I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images.”

DO YOU REMEMBER WHY PAUL PREACHED AT ATHENS?
Acts 17:16-17 “Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he was observing the city full of idols. So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the market place every day with those who happened to be present.”

Paul wasn’t motivated to preach because of the people in Athens.
Paul was motivated because false gods were getting God’s glory
It provoked him.

Missions isn’t just done out of a love for people.
Mission is done out of a love for God.

We must be committed to God’s majesty.
#2 A COMMITMENT TO GOD’S MERCY
Isaiah 6:5-8

Isaiah rightly responds to God’s glory.
It is impossible to be in God’s presence and not feel the need to repent.

And look at what Isaiah says.
“Woe is my, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.”

It was right for Isaiah to notice that his lips were unclean.
Matthew 12:34b “…For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.”

Then, due to Isaiah’s repentance,
God forgives and cleanses him of his sin.

Notice the sin isn’t just forgiven, the sin is removed.

God saves us from sin – COMPLETELY
He forgives us, and He removes it.

It is at this point that an amazing thing happened.
Verse 8, “Then I heard…”

The verse doesn’t say, “Then God said”
Until Isaiah repented, he could not hear the call of God to go.
It baffles me in churches all the time,
The sheer number of people
Who hear no calling of God to missions at all.

“Well God’s not calling me to go…”
YES HE IS – Read the Great Commission.

It is more accurately stated.
“I can’t hear God calling me to go…”
Neither could Isaiah until he repented.

And motivated by the mercy, Isaiah responds with a hearty, “Here am I. Send me!”

He wasn’t just going because God deserved it.
Now he was going because he was grateful to God.

This is certainly another reason we evangelize.
We long for others to share in this wonderful mercy that we have received.

This was one of Paul’s great motivations.
1 Timothy 1:12-16 “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus. It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.”

1 Corinthians 15:9-10 “For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.”

Missions is about loving God.
And love for God comes from experiencing God’s mercy.

1 John 4:19 “We love, because He first loved us.”

Luke 7:44-47 “Turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. “You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet. “You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume. “For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.”
THIS IS ANOTHER REASON WHY PEOPLE DON’T EVANGELIZE.
You can’t offer something you have not received

Majesty, Mercy
#3 A COMMITMENT TO GOD’S MESSAGE
Isaiah 6:9-10

CAN YOU BELIEVE THE MESSAGE HE WAS TOLD TO PREACH?
God told him to basically bind them up in unbelief.
Verse 10 records God telling Isaiah to “Render the hearts of this people insensitive”

The King James says, “Make the heart of this people fat”
He tells Isaiah to smear their eyes over so they cannot see.
He tells Isaiah to clog their ears so they cannot hear.

“otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and return and be healed.”

Now that doesn’t sound like a message of salvation.
It sounds like God is trying to purposely hide the truth from them.

HOW CAN THAT BE?
WHY WOULD THEY PURPOSELY BE HINDERED BY GOD?
Matthew 13:10-15 “And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. “For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. “Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. “In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE; FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES, OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES, HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.’

Luke 8:18 “So take care how you listen; for whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has shall be taken away from him.”

Even Jesus purposely hid the truth in parables.
It was the most severe form of judgment
Cast upon those who suppressed the truth they had been given.

You say, “THAT’S NOT A GOOD MESSAGE TO PREACH.”
NO MESSAGE IS MORE QUOTED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT.
It is God’s message.

And this is the point.

God is sending us with His word, even if it doesn’t seem to make sense.
INSTEAD, WE WANT TO PREACH A MORE APPEALING MESSAGE.
You cannot be an effective missionary like that.
It takes a commitment to God’s message.

Romans 1:16-17 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.”

Romans 10:17 “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”

Isaiah 55:11 “So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”

God’s word is all that works. And it does work every time.
It either convicts a sinner to repentance,
Or it hardens a sinner under judgment, but it works every time.

You cannot be an effective missionary without a commitment to God’s message.

Ezekiel 2:4-7 “I am sending you to them who are stubborn and obstinate children, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD.’ “As for them, whether they listen or not — for they are a rebellious house — they will know that a prophet has been among them. “And you, son of man, neither fear them nor fear their words, though thistles and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions; neither fear their words nor be dismayed at their presence, for they are a rebellious house. “But you shall speak My words to them whether they listen or not, for they are rebellious.”

Majesty, Mercy, Message
#4 A COMMITMENT TO GOD’S MISSION
Isaiah 6:11-12
After being told the message he was to preach,
I think we would all agree that Isaiah’s question is logical.
HOW LONG?

“Until cities are devastated, and without inhabitant, houses are without people and the land is utterly desolate.”

Until there are no more people to preach to.
Until judgment comes and takes them away.

Now, imagine the life of Isaiah.
He was specifically told to go and preach a condemning message Until condemnation was complete.

HOW MANY TIMES DO YOU THINK HE WAS TEMPTED TO STRAY FROM THAT COURSE?
Read the Bible, you won’t find any of the prophets who had it easy.

Jeremiah 1:17-19 “Now, gird up your loins and arise, and speak to them all which I command you. Do not be dismayed before them, or I will dismay you before them. “Now behold, I have made you today as a fortified city and as a pillar of iron and as walls of bronze against the whole land, to the kings of Judah, to its princes, to its priests and to the people of the land. “They will fight against you, but they will not overcome you, for I am with you to deliver you,” declares the LORD.”

Ezekiel 33:30-32 “But as for you, son of man, your fellow citizens who talk about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses, speak to one another, each to his brother, saying, ‘ Come now and hear what the message is which comes forth from the LORD.’ “They come to you as people come, and sit before you as My people and hear your words, but they do not do them, for they do the lustful desires expressed by their mouth, and their heart goes after their gain. “Behold, you are to them like a sensual song by one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; for they hear your words but they do not practice them.”

Acts 18:5-7 “But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, solemnly testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. But when they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”Then he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God, whose house was next to the synagogue.”

The point is, IT TAKES COMMITMENT
1 Corinthians 9:16 “For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.”

Majesty, Mercy, Message, Mission
#5 A COMMITMENT TO GOD’S METHODS
Isaiah 6:13
Isaiah’s commissioning is especially discouraging.

But even Jesus said only a few would be saved.
Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

BUT TAKE COURAGE, THERE ARE A FEW!
Isaiah was only promised 10%, but there were at least 10%!

It is hard to do it God’s way, but we must trust at all times
That He can and will bring His elect to salvation.

Jesus knew this.
John 6:37-39 “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. “This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.”
Jesus knew God’s elect would come,
His passion was just to do what God wanted.

And so, we must be committed to God.
His Majesty, His Mercy, His Message, His Mission and even His Methods
To know that while they may seem absurd, they will work.

Paul summed it all up like this.
2 Timothy 2:8-10 “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to my gospel, for which I suffer hardship even to imprisonment as a criminal; but the word of God is not imprisoned. For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory.”

We must have that same commitment.

Are you committed to the fact that God is worthy of worship?
Are you committed to the spreading of the mercy you have received?
Are you committed to God’s message even when it seems foolish?
Are you committed to the mission even when it is difficult?
Are you committed to God’s methods knowing that His will, will be done?

DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES?
Isaiah 6:8 “Then 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!”

“My Part”
Romans 1:14-19

There is really two ways that we can look at missions.
One is we can look at the big picture, and the grand scheme.
We look at all the unreached people groups, we look at all the countries, we look at all the missionaries, and we pool together to reach a monstrous task.

This is what Baptists are doing with the Lottie Moon offering. We all pool our resources together to try to reach the big picture goal.

Certainly that is valuable and useful.

But there is also another way in which we must look at missions, and that is to look at it personally.

We all know that salvation of our world is bigger than one man can accomplish. We know we can’t do everything, but that does not mean we are allowed to do nothing.

So our question then becomes, “What is my part?”
What is God calling me to do.

I can’t go to every country in the world, but I can go to some of them.
I can’t speak to every lost person in the world, but I can speak to some of them.
I can’t fully fund every missionary out there, but I can fund some things.

What is my part?

When we read the Bible, we are often times amazed at what some of the men accomplished.

We become amazed at the things that Paul did.
We are amazed at the things Peter accomplished.

But what we find in their lives, is not that they were any better than us. We find that they were just committed to doing their part, and God took their obedience and worked wonders through them.

When we approach missions month, that is the question we must all answer.

What is my part?
We can pray as a church, what does God want us to do, but really even that is beyond your or my control.

All we can really ask is what God wants me to do.
In our text this morning, Paul is going to answer that question.

Paul shows us four facts that help us understand what our part is in God’s great scheme of redeeming a lost world to Himself.

#1 OUR CALLING IS CLEAR
Romans 1:14
“I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.”

Now notice what Paul said.
At this point, Paul is not talking about a passion in life.
At this point, Paul is not talking about a desire in life.

At this point, Paul is talking about an obligation.
Paul is talking about repayment of a debt.

Paul was “under obligation”

WHY?
1 Corinthians 6:20
“For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”

Romans 6:22
“But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.”

See, Paul knew that he was indebted to God.
Paul was a sinner, but Jesus had come and paid His ransom.
Paul knew that as a result, he was now indebted to Him.

Which is indeed salvation.
People all over the world want to come to Christ, but still maintain control of their life.

Of course this is impossible.
Jesus required that if you are to save your life, you must first lose it.
You have to give all rights to yourself to Jesus.
He must become Lord of your life.

In simpler terms, He paid off your debt, and now you belong to Him.
No more do you just do what you want.
You do what He wants.
No more do you follow your passions.
You follow His passions.

Paul understood this.
He was “under obligation”

And this obligation spread to all men.
“both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.”

He was obliged to take the gospel to them all.
Now it doesn’t take too much understanding to realize that this obligation is ours as well.

We aren’t encouraged to spread the gospel, we are commanded to spread the gospel.

Matthew 28:18-20
“And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. “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; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Acts 1:8
“but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

ARE WE NOT UNDER THE SAME OBLIGATION THAT PAUL WAS UNDER?

Remember what we read last week.
2 Corinthians 5:18-19
“Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.”

We are the ones who now carry the torch.
Not just because we want to, but because we obliged to.

Is there really anyone here who has truly given their life to Jesus, that really wonders what their purpose is?

If we are confused as to why we are here, then we are ignoring what the Bible has repeatedly told us.

We are here to lead the lost to Jesus.
And not only are we encouraged to do it, we are under obligation.

Jesus came and paid a high price for us, and now we belong to Him.

Our calling is clear.
You see this in Paul’s life, you can also see it in Peter’s.

Matthew 4:18-20
“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. And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.”

We often times get so sidetracked in programs, and ministries, and meetings, and church related activity, but have we forgotten what we were called to do?

Programs are not required…
Meetings are not required…
Activities are not required…
WE ARE REQUIRED to go to the lost with the life giving message of salvation.

We are under obligation.

That is what made men like Peter and Paul effective.
They just got real honest about what they were called to do.
The calling was clear to them. They were under obligation to the lost.

So are we.
That leads us to the truth.

#2 OUR RESPONSE IS REVEALING
Romans 1:15-16a
“So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel,”

DID YOU CATCH THAT?

“for my part”

Paul knew he couldn’t save the world.
Paul knew he was but a part in a greater work.
But Paul knew he had a part to play.

That part was to preach the gospel to those whom God had called him to preach.

That is what God asks you to do.

And Paul was eager to do it.

ARE WE EAGER TO DO OUR PART?

In churches today, people no longer want to preach the gospel, they want to draw men to church.

But that’s not our part, that is the role of the Father.
John 6:44
“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.”

In churches today, people no longer want to preach the gospel, they want to seemingly save people. (i.e. add them to the church role)

But that is not our part, that is the role of the Lord Jesus
Hebrews 7:25
“Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”

In churches today, people no longer want to preach the gospel, they want to give people assurance of their faith.

But that is not our part, that is the role of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 8:16
“The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,”

OUR PART IS CLEAR
We are to preach the gospel.

Romans 10:14
“How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?”

1 Corinthians 2:1-2
“And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.”

God does the drawing, Jesus does the saving, the Spirit does the confirming, but we are called to do the preaching.

Someone has to tell them the truth.
That is our part!

And Paul said he was “eager to preach the gospel”

Reminiscent of Isaiah
Isaiah 6:8

But we often treat Paul, or Peter, or Isaiah like they are exceptions to the rule.
Normal Christians don’t have that same passion.

Acts 2:43-47
“Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.”

Acts 9:17-20
“So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized; and he took food and was strengthened. Now for several days he was with the disciples who were at Damascus, and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”

Acts 3:1-10
Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer. And a man who had been lame from his mother’s womb was being carried along, whom they used to set down every day at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, in order to beg alms of those who were entering the temple. When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he began asking to receive alms. But Peter, along with John, fixed his gaze on him and said, “Look at us!” And he began to give them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, “I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene — walk!” And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened. With a leap he stood upright and began to walk; and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God; and they were taking note of him as being the one who used to sit at the Beautiful Gate of the temple to beg alms, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.”

All throughout the Bible, you see people get saved and immediately go to sharing it.

This is not the exception to the rule, this is what God expects of us.

1 Peter 3:15
“but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;”

A true Christian ought to want to preach the gospel.
A true Christian ought to be eager to present the truth.

But here is the kicker.
Although we all ought to be eager, the truth remains that we all aren’t eager.

WHY?

Well Paul answers that question.
And we may not like the answer.

He tells us why he is a Christian who is eager in the midst of Christians we are not.

WHAT IS IT THAT MAKES PAUL EAGER WHEN OTHERS AREN’T?

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel”

Paul was not ashamed of the gospel.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE ASHAMED?
– too embarrassed or afraid to present it.

Paul’s point is easily seen. He said he was eager to preach the gospel because he wasn’t ashamed. There is no doubt Paul is implying here that those who aren’t eager to present the gospel are ashamed of it.

Now that kind of flies in our face.
We don’t like to think that we might be ashamed of the gospel.
And we certainly don’t want to admit it.

In fact, it may surprise us to find that that is exactly what we are.

DO YOU THINK PETER WAS SURPRISED WHEN HE FOUND OUT HE WAS ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL?

Matthew 26:69-75
“Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, and a servant-girl came to him and said, “You too were with Jesus the Galilean.” But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you are talking about.” When he had gone out to the gateway, another servant-girl saw him and said to those who were there, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.” And again he denied it with an oath, “I do not know the man.” A little later the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Surely you too are one of them; for even the way you talk gives you away.” Then he began to curse and swear, “I do not know the man!” And immediately a rooster crowed. And Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said, ” Before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.”

I promise you Peter was surprised to find out that he was ashamed. Why just hours before this, he had sworn to go even to death for Jesus.

Yet when it came right down to it, Peter was ashamed.
I think this is where we often fall.

Oh, we aren’t ashamed of Jesus in church. We gladly talk about Him, and lift Him up. But we find a new timidity when we get out into the world.

We find that we lose our eagerness to proclaim the gospel.
We aren’t eager because we are ashamed.

But we must get past being ashamed of the gospel, and this is why.
The third truth we see.

#3 OUR PREACHING IS POWERFUL
Romans 1:16-17
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.”

Not only does Paul tell us that he is not ashamed of the gospel, he goes on to tell us why we must not be ashamed of the gospel.

“for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes,”

In churches today, when we focus on winning the lost, much emphasis is wrongly placed.

We place emphasis on attracting the lost…
We place emphasis on understanding the lost…
We place emphasis on not offending the lost…
We place emphasis on the environment of our church…
NONE OF THOSE THINGS ARE THE POWER

There is one thing that manifests God’s power unto salvation.
HIS WORD

John 12:50
“I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me.”

Acts 17:11-12
“Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. Therefore many of them believed, along with a number of prominent Greek women and men.”

DID YOU CATCH WHY THEY WERE BELIEVING?

God’s word was leading them there.
The gospel is powerful!

Psalms 19:7-11
“The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them Your servant is warned; In keeping them there is great reward.”

In churches today, we place too much emphasis on making sinners feel comfortable. We don’t want to offend. We want their church experience to be a pleasant experience. We want them to leave feeling loved, we want them to feel a part of our group.

THAT IS NOT BIBLICAL!

A sinner should not feel comfortable in the presence of God.
A sinner should be offended right down to his core being before God.
An unrepentant sinner should describe church as anything but pleasant.
An unrepentant sinner should feel true love, which leads to repentance.
And there is no way a person living in sin should ever feel a part of the group.

“For what fellowship have light with darkness?”

CAN WE NOT SEE THIS APPROACH IS STRAIGHT FROM THE ENEMY?

He is the one who wants to make sure we leave sinners right were they are. Let them come to church, but don’t ever suggest that their lives need to change.

And we have figured out how to do that.
We try to portray the attributes of Jesus, but we leave out the message of Jesus.

We try to show emotional love…
We try to show emotional compassion…
We try to show emotional peace…

We try to show what we feel are the attributes of Jesus, but leave out the message of Jesus.

I’ll tell you what we do in churches today.
We preach Christ.
We do not preach Christ crucified.

1 Corinthians 2:1-2
And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.”

1 Corinthians 1:17
“For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void.”

In short, we purposely eliminate the only thing that has the power to save.
THE GOSPEL

The gospel message is clear.
You are a sinner, as am I.
You’re sin warrants that you die and go to hell.
But the love of God was manifested in that He sent Jesus to die instead of you.
And if you want eternal life, you must confess your sin, turn from your sin, take up the cross and follow Jesus.

That is the good news of the gospel.

But somewhere we decided that if it didn’t sound good, it wasn’t the gospel, and if it did sound good, it must be the gospel. NOT SO!

Look at the preaching of John the Baptist.
After calling the Pharisees brood of vipers
And telling the crowds to share all their possessions
And telling the soldiers to not take money by force
And telling the tax collectors to be honest

John says this.
Luke 3:15-18
“Now while the people were in a state of expectation and all were wondering in their hearts about John, as to whether he was the Christ, John answered and said to them all, “As for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. “His winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” So with many other exhortations he preached the gospel to the people.”

We wouldn’t consider John’s message good news, but that is precisely what Luke called it.

How did we expect John to reach the lost?
…by acting like their sin was ok?
…by just making everyone feel comfortable?
…by making sure they all felt loved?

NO!
John preached the gospel to them, and it was leading to repentance.

You can be friend people all day long, and we should be compassionate.
But listen to me clearly.
There is only one thing that has the power to lead men to salvation, and it is not your smile.

It is the gospel!
There is power in it.

Look at what happened when Peter determined to quit being ashamed and to preach the gospel.

Acts 2:14, 37-42
“But Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: “Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words…Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!” So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”

There is power in the word of God.
You aren’t called to save anyone. You aren’t called to persuade anyone.
You are only called to preach the gospel to them, and let it do what it does best.

WHY IS THE GOSPEL THE POWER OF GOD FOR SALVATION?

Vs. 17, “for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”

The reason the gospel is the power of God for salvation is because it is the only thing that perfectly reveals the righteousness of God.

Namely the righteousness of God that is attained through faith in God.

Nothing else does that.
Give them a Christian book
Give them a copy of the Koran
Give them the Lubbock Avalanche Journal

Only the gospel reveals God’s righteousness.

If we think for one second that we will lead anyone to Jesus without the gospel, we are gravely mistaken.

We may get them to join our church, but we will never lead them to confess their sins, turn from their wicked ways, deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Jesus.

Only the gospel has the power to do that.
We must not be ashamed – our preaching is powerful!

We are called to proclaim the only thing that can truly set men free, and that leads to our fourth truth.

#4 OUR COMPLIANCE IS CRITICAL
Romans 1:18-19
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.”

The simple fact of the matter is that if we are unwilling to play our part, it is extremely costly to an unbelieving world.

Did you notice what Paul said?
He didn’t say, God’s wrath was coming some day on sinners.
He said “the wrath of God IS revealed”

They are living under God’s wrath right now.
Look at the remainder of chapter 1 to see how.

Verse 24 says, “Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.”

Verse 26 says, “For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural”

Verse 28 says, “And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper,”

We think that people who worship idols will get God’s wrath…
We think that homosexuals will get God’s wrath…
We think that disobedient will get God’s wrath…

They are already under God’s wrath. It is God’s wrath that is allowing them to be where they are. He has given them over to it. They are destroying themselves.

There is a world out there that as we speak is literally suffering under the wrath of God.

And we have the power to change that.
It is critical that we play our part.

Look at what Jesus said to Peter in order to encourage Peter to no longer be ashamed.

John 21:15-17
“So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My lambs.” He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, ” Shepherd My sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Tend My sheep.”

Jesus wanted Peter to reach the lost.

Tsunami hit last year and swept thousands into eternity without Jesus Christ.
Every 10 seconds someone in Africa dies of AIDS
America is on the decline like no nation ever before

People are going to hell in scores
How long until we are willing to play our part?

How long will you neglect your obligation?
How long will you be ashamed of the gospel?
How long will you allow the lost to go to hell unwarned?

Charles Spurgeon had a quote:
“If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. If they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees. Le no on go there unwarned and unsprayed for.”

John 4:35
“Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest.”

 

The Wisdom of Jesus
Luke 2:39-52

Being just two days after Christmas, and because a lot of our people are still out,
I didn’t think it best to jump back to Kings just yet.

So this morning we are going to look at a very interesting passage.
We are going to study the entire adolescent life of Jesus.

There are some heretical gospel accounts
That try to speak some of Jesus adolescent life.
(Stories about him healing a bird or making birds out of clay, etc.)

But Biblically we have very little insight into His life after birth.

Matthew gives us a little and the rest is found here in Luke.

Matthew tells us that sometime around the time that Christ was 18mo. to two years of age, that magi from the east visited and then that He spent some time in exile in Egypt.

And the other adolescent truth is found here in Luke,
And in this passage it contains
The only spoken words of Jesus prior to His ministry.

In Luke 2:42 we find Jesus as a 12 yr. old boy.
We won’t see Him again until Luke 3:23 when He is a 30 yr. old man.

Furthermore that means that everything God wanted you to know
About the adolescent life of Jesus can be found in this passage.

Had God wanted you to know anything more about this period
It would have been included, but this is all God desired that you know.

And that alone makes this passage tremendously important.

And so naturally after we have studied His birth a little,
It is only fitting that we take this Sunday
And take a Scriptural look at His adolescent life.

And namely the truth about Him I want you to see is His wisdom.

The gospels give much credence to the wisdom of Jesus.
And each gospel writer had His own way
Of showing you the wisdom of Jesus.

AND WHEN LUKE WANTED YOU TO SEE HIS WISDOM,
THIS IS WHERE HE CHOSE TO DO IT.

When Luke wanted you to see the wisdom of Jesus,
He looked at His adolescence.

(40) “increasing in wisdom”
(52) “increasing in wisdom”

And so this morning we are definitely going to see the wisdom of Jesus.

Before we do, let me just take a moment and clarify what wisdom is.

A common adage today is that “Wisdom comes with age”,
But that is not always true.

Experience does come with age, but not necessarily wisdom.
We find many men in Scripture that age had no effect on,
They were just as foolish in their golden years as they were while younger.

Some think that wisdom comes with knowledge.
In other words that you find wisdom in a university.

I don’t disregard the importance of knowledge as it pertains to wisdom,
But knowledge alone does not make you wise.

Jesus would say:
Matthew 11:18-19 “For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘ He has a demon!’ “The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”

You don’t measure someone’s wisdom by giving them a test.
You measure someone’s wisdom by watching their actions.

Wisdom is seen when a person rightly acts
Upon the knowledge and experience they possess.

If you know the facts and don’t act accordingly you are called a fool.
If you know the facts and apply it to life you are considered wise.

So it is not age or knowledge, but rather obedience that renders one wise.

This is what allowed the writers of the Old Testament
To make this conclusion:
Job 28:28 “And to man He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to depart from evil is understanding.'”

Psalms 111:10 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments; His praise endures forever.”

Proverbs 9:10 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”

Job, David, and Solomon all came up with the same conclusion.
Knowledge of God is important,
But it is obedience to that knowledge that makes a person wise.

And this morning that is very clearly seen in Jesus.
More than just His ability to win an argument
I want you to see the tremendous wisdom of Jesus.

And so this morning let us look at the wisdom of Jesus.
3 things I want you to see.
#1 HIS WISDOM DEVELOPED
Luke 2:39-40

And so our text picks up after the initial birth of Jesus.

“When they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city of Nazareth.”

WHAT DID THEY PERFORM?
Luke 2:22-24 “And when the days for their purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “EVERY firstborn MALE THAT OPENS THE WOMB SHALL BE CALLED HOLY TO THE LORD”), and to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the Law of the Lord, ” A PAIR OF TURTLEDOVES OR TWO YOUNG PIGEONS.”

Mary had to go through her two weeks of purification,
Jesus had to be circumcised,
And an offering on account of Him being the first born and holy to God.

(Furthermore it indicates the poverty of Mary and Joseph since the actual offering was a lamb, but turtledoves were allowed in cases of poverty)

But they finished all the requirements of the Law and then went home.

And then in verse 40 we have the first 12 years of Jesus life.

So if you want to know what went on during His childhood,
Here is the entire record.

(40) “The Child continued to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.”

We most certainly see the human aspect of Jesus here again.
He “grew”

If there is one characteristic that all children have in common, this is it.
They grow up, often in a hurry.

He had become fully man, and as such
He had to grow up just like every other human being.
Scripture also says that he became strong.

This can be seen in a physical sense,
But the text seems to indicate it more in a spiritual sense,

Since it goes on to reveal how He became strong
And that is by “increasing in wisdom”

And remember, that is not simply a knowledge thing.
It doesn’t say Jesus became “smart”, it says that Jesus became “strong”.

And He did so by “increasing in wisdom”

That means He was routinely taking what He learned
And applying it and obeying it.

Deuteronomy 4:5-7 “See, I have taught you statutes and judgments just as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should do thus in the land where you are entering to possess it. “So keep and do them, for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ “For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as is the LORD our God whenever we call on Him?”

Wisdom is applying and obeying God’s word.

That is furthermore seen in the book of James.

James introduces wisdom in the first chapter.
James 1:5 “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”

He takes it a step further in the end of the chapter.
James 1:22-25 “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.”

James echoed what Moses taught and that is
That wisdom is found in doing what God commands.

This is what Jesus did.

Furthermore both of those Bible teachers indicated
That there was blessing found in wisdom.

And we see that in Jesus as well.

(40) “and the grace of God was upon Him.”

This is obviously not saving grace, since Jesus did not need salvation.

Rather this is speaking of God’s favor.
God was pleased with Jesus, God bestowed favor on the child,
Because even as a child He took pleasure in doing what God commanded.

And let me just say even to the kids in here for a moment
That wisdom is not limited to the aged.

A child who does what his parents command is a wise child.
Certainly Jesus was this.

And so we see the first twelve years of His life
Is characterized by developing wisdom.

He was learning and perfecting the art of submission and obedience.
He was growing into the man God intended Him to be.

His Wisdom Developed
#2 HIS WISDOM DISPLAYED
Luke 2:41-50

And of course this is the longest section of the text,
For it tells a story that reveals to us the true nature of Jesus’ wisdom.

So let’s first work through the story.
(41-42) “Now His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when He became twelve, they went up there according to the custom of the feast.”

Every Jewish man who lived within 15 miles of Jerusalem
Was commanded to attend the Passover.
Others hoped to attend one in their lifetime.

Nazareth was about 80 miles
And so the fact that they went every year
Indicates the devotion of Joseph and Mary.
(Probably a 4 day walk)

Furthermore it was only commanded of men to go not women,
And so the fact that Mary continued to go says something of her devotion.

And when Jesus became 12 He went with them.
(A man at 13, Jesus was on the brink of manhood)

(43-44) and as they were returning, after spending the full number of days, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. But His parents were unaware of it, but supposed Him to be in the caravan, and went a day’s journey; and they began looking for Him among their relatives and acquaintances.”
So they stayed “the full number of days”, which was 8 days
From Sabbath to Sabbath and then they started home.

And because in a caravan the women walked in front of the men
To keep them from getting separated,
Mary and Joseph each assumed that Jesus was with the other.

And at night when they started getting ready for bed,
It became apparent that Jesus was not with them.

Instead, “the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem.”

He wasn’t disobeying His parents,
He just hadn’t had enough of the glorious event
And continued to seek out truth and to apply it.

(45-46) “When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem looking for Him. Then, after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions.”

“three days” – one day traveling away, one day traveling back, and one day searching Jerusalem.

And when they found Him we see again His desire for wisdom.
He was listening to the teachers and asking them questions.

This was not a debate, this was a 12 yr. old boy
Seeking out the perspectives of the teachers of the Law.

His humanity sought to learn…
His deity sought to evaluate…

The amazing part is that this 12 yr. old boy has been 3 days
Without His parents and doesn’t seem the least bit stressed.
What did He eat?
Where did He sleep?

But His mind is truly on spiritual things.

(47) “And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers.”

They had the common response to Jesus, and that was amazement.

And as a side note we realize that the last time anyone was able
to answer one of His questions was when He was a 12 yr. old boy.
They would never be able to answer them again.

And so in some sense His wisdom is on display.
(48-49) “When they saw Him, they were astonished; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You treated us this way? Behold, Your father and I have been anxiously looking for You.” And He said to them, “Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?”

And so after 3 anxious days Mary and Joseph find Jesus
And Mary is in typical mother fashion.

She is flustered.

“Son, why have You treated us this way?”
How often we ask such questions of God when in reality
It is only because we cannot see what God is up to.

“Behold, Your father and I have been anxiously looking for you.”

And that turns out to be a massive statement on behalf of Mary
Because it causes a very serious remark from Jesus.

“Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?”

You may even notice that the word “house” is in italics,
Meaning it is not in the original manuscript.

This causes some translations to say, “about My Father’s business”

Literally it just says, “I had to be in My Father’s”

And more importantly He is referring to God’s will.

But there is a tremendous enlightenment from Jesus here.

Mary just scolded Him for causing His father anxiety.
Jesus responded by reminding Mary that He is in His Father’s will.

It seems that Mary was forgetting that Jesus’ Father was God,
And that Jesus would put His will first at all times.

Remember that Simeon gave a harsh prophecy to Mary after Jesus birth.

Luke 2:34-35 “And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed — and a sword will pierce even your own soul — to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

Here Mary is feeling the sword.
Jesus would do God’s will even if it was against her own.
But even beyond that this is where
Jesus wisdom was on greatest display.

Jesus is 12 yrs. Old and yet He knew who He was.
He knew He was God’s Son.

This is very significant.

In the ministry we see it all the time.
At seminary we called them the “Momma Called”.

Their calling to the ministry had more to do with their mother pushing them
Than it did with God calling them.

And some could think that of Jesus.
That He grew up so well, that all those around Him
Told Him He ought to be a preacher.

But this was not true.
Jesus knew who He was before anyone else

And no one else had to tell Him, He was aware of it.
His wisdom was on full display here.

(50) “But they did not understand the statement which He had made to them.”

Certainly Mary and Joseph hadn’t forgotten that Jesus was virgin born,
Or the circumstances surrounding His birth.

What they didn’t understand was His great wisdom,
That even at 12 years old He was only concerned with
Doing His heavenly Father’s will.

Even at age 12 His wisdom had already surpassed
Those that raised Him and those that questioned Him.

For 12 years He developed His wisdom and now His wisdom is on display.

And then comes the truly amazing part.
#3 HIS WISDOM DEMONSTRATED
Luke 2:51-52

How many people in here have kids that are smarted than you?
If your kids are anywhere between the ages of 12 and 19
It is certain that they are.

Their words, their mannerisms, they’re responses
Indicate that they think they are smarter than you.
But that is not how Jesus revealed wisdom.

He was already wiser than anyone around,
• But did He rub it in their face?
• Did He take over the household?
• Did He role His eyes and belittle His dumb carpenter of a father?

(51) “And He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and He continued in subjection to them; and His mother treasured all these things in her heart.”

And there we have in one verse years 13 through 30.
18 years of His life summarized right there by one word. SUBMISSION

Wisdom isn’t about what you know,
It’s about what you do with what you know.

And despite the fact that Jesus really was wiser than His parents
He obeyed God’s word to honor His father and mother.

Matthew 11:19 “…wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”

We know Jesus was wise, not because of what He knew,
But because of what He did with what He knew.

But that is not the only way He demonstrates wisdom.

HE WAS ALREADY WISE, BUT:
(52) “And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature”

By age 12 He was already wiser than those around Him
And yet He continued to increase in wisdom.

Proverbs 4:7 “The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom; And with all your acquiring, get understanding.”

And because of this intense desire for wisdom,
He continued to have God’s favor on His life.

“and in favor with God and men.”

Because He sought to know and obey, because He always showed wisdom, He continued to have God’s favor on His life.

Proverbs 3:33-35 “The curse of the LORD is on the house of the wicked, But He blesses the dwelling of the righteous. Though He scoffs at the scoffers, Yet He gives grace to the afflicted. The wise will inherit honor, But fools display dishonor.”

And so from Jesus we learn a tremendous amount about wisdom.
• It is not about what you know…
• It is not about what you have experienced…

It is about what you do with what you know and have experienced,
And namely in regard to how you serve God.

James summed up wisdom better than anyone, and as we see it,
Ask yourself if this sounds like Jesus?

TURN TO: JAMES 3:13-18

This was Jesus.

He was wise, demonstrated by His submission
And obedience to the commands of God.

He developed wisdom…
He displayed wisdom…
He demonstrated wisdom…

And one other thing I want you to understand is that this
Was foundational to the life of obedience that He lived.

We see His 3 years of ministry and we marvel at His obedience to God.
We marvel at the way He silences those who argue with Him.
We marvel at His extreme submission to God will in all areas.

But please understand that those 3 years of amazing obedience
Were built on 30 years of formulating wisdom.

To walk like Jesus, you must value what Jesus valued,
And for Him it was wisdom.

He applied what God’s word said
And He is without a doubt the wisest that any man has ever seen.

James 1:21-25 “Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.”