Amazingly, after Jesus had finished preaching the Sermon on the Mount, He comes down off the mountain and begins ministering to people in need. We learn many lessons about why and how to do missions from the example of Jesus.
- TEXT: Matthew 8:1; Acts 1:8; 13:46-49; others
- SERIES: The Gospel of Matthew (Built on the Rock)
- SPEAKER: Jason Dollar
- DATE: January 15, 2012
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Matthew 7:24 – 8:3 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” 28 And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, 29 for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes. 8:1 When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. 2 And behold, a lepercame to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” 3 And Jesusstretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
INTRODUCTION
Plenty of Bible passages teach us that followers of Christ should do all within our power to spread the truth of the Gospel to the ends of the earth (Isaiah 66:18-19; Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 13:10; Acts 13:47; 2 Corinthians 10:16; etc). These are all powerful, convincing passages. So strong and numerous are they, that surely we cannot conceive of a biblical Christianity that does not include a desperate desire to move the Gospel to those who need to hear it.
In addition to these wonderful verses, we bring Matthew 8:1. It simply says “When he came down from the mountain.” This is a picture of our missionary God leaving the mountaintop, upon which he had preached the greatest sermon ever, and coming down to the masses to reach out to those who so badly need him.
If Jesus left the mountain for the masses, shouldn’t we His followers do the same?
Why Missions?
God commands missions
Acts 13:46-49 And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, “‘ I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’” And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region.
Missions spreads knowledge of the glory of God
And thus knowledge of how / why human beings exist at all.
Colossians 1:9-10 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.
Missions spreads joy
Luke 2:10-11 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
Missions is merciful (Mt 8:3)
Missions unifies a diversified humanity
MLK Day is a good time to celebrate this reality
Missions does not destroy the diversity however :
Revelation 7:9-10 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!
How Missions?
Prayerfully and biblically
2 Thessalonians 3:1 Finally, brothers,pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored,as happened among you.
Local, regional, global
Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.By sending and by going
Acts 13:2-3 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.
Short-term, mid-term, long-term
- Short-term: no more than a month at a time with the goal of encouraging and building existing churches / ministries.
- Mid-term: either staying up to 2 years, or returning for ongoing visits every 2 to 3 months.
- Long-term: living there with the goal of planting a church (or churches) or participating in deep ministry projects such as orphan work, community renewal, etc.
Physical needs and evangelism
Mt 8:1-2
Matthew 15:30-32 And great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and they put them at his feet, and he healed them, so that the crowd wondered, when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel. Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.”
APPLICATIONS
- Pray
- Eat / Give
- Go
