The Great Commission

Thank you for all the testimonies. Thank you for Sister Sarah. You did exactly what I was intending to do. Thank you.

Okay, it’s been a long service already. Let us not quite sure a lot to share, but we will truncate this. There was a slide I was going to show, but let’s save that until next week. We have one more Sunday before we leave.

Let me read from Luke 9:1. And then we’ll start Luke 9:1.

¹ And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, ² and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. (Luke 9:1-2, ESV)

Father, we want to understand how to receive this power and authority from you, Lord Jesus, through our faith in you. We pray that we would receive every power, all authority in heaven, before you send us out to Mexico, Taiwan, Indonesia, wherever you send us in this next month.

Father, we pray even here in Southern California, Bellflower, all the different cities in Southern California.

I pray that your power and authority would rest upon you, your people, and we would do the very things that the apostles did. In Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.

So how do we prepare for a mission trip? And there are many different ways to prepare. A lot of churches have a lot of meetings and preparation, and it’s weeks upon weeks and months of preparation. They prepare skits and songs and evangelism, trainings, testimonies and supplies, and there’s quite a bit of logistics that go into planning a mission trip.

And for us, we’ve been just not doing that much. And I want to defend why. I think the most important thing we need to prepare for is this power and authority.

We need to ask Jesus for his power, his authority over demons, and to cure diseases. Who has this access to power and authority of Christ? Is it only the twelve? Some theologians will argue it’s only the twelve. And after the twelve, there hasn’t been anybody with this type of power and authority.

And I beg to differ. Scripturally, it can’t be just the twelve, because even in Luke 10, did you know that Jesus sends out 72 more? So are they also apostles? Why don’t we even know their names? They do the very same things that the original twelve apostles did.

And so that’s my case. For there’s nothing special about these apostles. We all can be apostolic in the sense of we have the same power and authority of Jesus available to us. And once we receive it and we obey him, we can cure diseases and cast out demons.

Matthew 28. This is the Great Commission according to the conservatives. It specializes in teaching, teaching everyone to observe everything that Christ commanded them. We’re supposed to take this message to all the nations. If you’re a conservative, Bible-believing church, you will focus on this version of the great commission.

Great Commission simply means we’re on a co-mission with God. He wants to go to these places, and we’re joining where he’s already wanting to move. This Great Commission, the conservatives, have Matthew 28.

But if you read Mark 16:15-20, and you can do this on your own, this is the charismatics’ version of the Great Commission, the same message.

But here there are things like speaking in new tongues and casting out demons and laying hands on the sick. And even when serpents bite you with their poison, supernaturally protected, this is a charismatic version of the very same great commission.

And it’s the power and authority of Christ that is available to all believers in God’s universal church.

There’s only two necessary ingredients to receive this power and authority. We read about that in Mark 3:13.

¹³ And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. ¹⁴ And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach ¹⁵ and have authority to cast out demons. (Mark 3:13-15, ESV)

The only two things we need are our track record of being with Jesus. That’s number one.

And then second, the willingness to be sent out to preach and to cast out demons. Maybe nobody around here will call me Apostle Ray. But in a certain sense, we can all be apostolic. We can all be with Jesus.

And when Jesus tells us to go, and we have a willingness to obey him, we can do the very same things, because the same power and authority is available to his church even today. Jesus begins by instructing them to go out in pairs. We read that in Mark 6:7, Luke 10:1.

And so it’s the twelve in Mark 6, it’s the 72 in Luke 10. And so we’re talking about if there’s per town, if there’s one home that welcomes them, then we’re talking about six homes that these twelve apostles visited and did their ministry out of these homes.

And then in Luke 10, you have 36 homes per village that accepted these 72 others who went out in pairs, two by two. So why in pairs? I think there’s practical reasons for safety, for propriety. You don’t want to be a single man going into a home.

Who knows what you will do? Who knows how it looks when you come out of that kind of a home? So you want to be. You want to be proper, you want to be safe.

We can all go through difficulties. We can all be lonely. We need a prayer partner. We need someone to pick us up, someone who has our back. It’s wise counsel that he sends us out two by two. But I think there’s also a deeper meaning, like, for the Christian. Is there any Lone Ranger Christian? Like, there’s this.

The Lone Ranger was this western popular, I don’t know, in the sixties or seventies, and he’s this cowboy who rides off into the sunset alone. And so we take that phrase and say, are we Lone rangers as christians? No, there’s no such thing. There’s no solo hero. And just by myself, I will go out and I will do this. No, we go out in pairs in a spiritual sense as well. None of us are going out individually. We are going with Jesus. We’re going with his authority, his presence, his anointing.

And this is a metaphor in a spiritual sense as well. We are going out in pairs. Missionaries know that they can’t do missions without Jesus. Church planters know they can’t do church without Jesus. Every believer knows during a trial, we can’t do this without Jesus.

There’s something that we are supposed to take away from this mission experience, and it’s very deliberate how Jesus is instructing them, because they’re supposed to learn. Even when I come back, I am utterly dependent on Jesus, and we’re supposed to have that mindset, whether on mission or back at home.

Jesus instructs the disciples, the twelve, as well as the 72, most notably, what not to take and what little to take. And it’s by design.

In Luke 9:3, he says, take nothing for your journey. No staff, no bag, no bread, no money, and not two tunics, just the clothes on your back. That’s all that you take.

Do we ever do missions this way? I think we should. I think we should do it someday. We should do missions exactly the way the Lord commissioned the original twelve and the 72, with no plan.

Just this word from the Lord that he tells us to go. Take nothing with you. Think of the dependence on the Lord that you need to not have money, and you don’t know where your next meal is going to be.

You don’t know if you’re going to have a roof over your head. You don’t know if there’s going to be danger in this neighboring village, and you’re supposed to go with nothing. It’s by design. Jesus is trying to teach us to church. You need to depend on me.

You can’t do life without me. You can’t do missions without me. I’m going to strip you of everything so that you feel totally naked and vulnerable, so that you will lean on me.

You think you’re alone, but I’m with you. I’m there with you. And that’s what the missionaries are supposed to learn.

What if we did missions like that? No car, we just hitchhike, hike across the border? No passport, no money. Someday, Lord willing, we’ll do this. Wouldn’t that be fun? Wouldn’t it be scary?

Wouldn’t it be faith-building if we did missions exactly the way the Lord told us to do? A one-way ticket? We have no idea. Will we have the money to fly back? We don’t know. It would be so exciting to do missions the way the Lord had the original missionaries do missions for us.

We’re going to apply this. No phone, no tablet, no laptop. We’re going to shut down all the technology. What wonders it will do for our soul. Just a week of just being unplugged. That’ll do wonders for our soul.

Mark 6:7. It’s probably a different mission trip from Luke 9. And I say this because in verse 7, he calls the twelve. He sends them two by two, gives them authority over unclean spirits, and then in verse 8, he says, take nothing except a staff. So no bread, no bag, no money in their belts, wear sandals. And I don’t know why. This one’s a little different. The instructions are a little different. Maybe the staff was needed for protection. Maybe it’s a mountainous area, you need it for hiking. I don’t know.

This was a different mission, it seems like, to the twelve, but the same principle applies pretty much. Take nothing with you and just depend on me.

In Luke 10:4, he says to the 72, no money bag, no knapsack, no sandals and greet no one on the road. Maybe this was a friendly bunch. Maybe they’d be sidetracked talking to the people in the marketplace. Maybe they would not get to the destination because they get sidetracked.

And he gives a different instruction for these 72. Make sure you don’t talk to anybody on the road.

Just get to where you need to get to focus on what I’m telling you to do. And these are not rules.

And it’s strange, because even in Luke 22, this is after the Last Supper and after Jesus predicts Peter’s denial prior to the final prayer at the Mountain of Olives. Before Jesus is arrested, he says in Luke 22:35.

³⁵ And he said to them, “When I sent you out with no moneybag or knapsack or sandals, did you lack anything?” They said, “Nothing.” ³⁶ He said to them, “But now let the one who has a moneybag take it, and likewise a knapsack. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one. ³⁷ For I tell you that this Scripture must be fulfilled in me: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors.’ For what is written about me has its fulfillment.” ³⁸ And they said, “Look, Lord, here are two swords.” And he said to them, “It is enough.” (Luke 22:35-38, ESV)

So this one is a different season, a different context. Jesus is about to be arrested. This is not a mission trip. This is a dangerous season they’re entering. And this one, Jesus says, take your sword up, defend yourself. Take some extra money with you. So these are not rules that we just, and every day we are living this way. But we ask Jesus day by day, what do you need for us to take? And he guides us.

Jesus gives a strategy and they go, and a strategy is basically this: find a person of peace. And when that person of peace opens up their home, stay there until you depart.

All the ministry happens in that home. And it’s interesting. We’re going to be building a home. We know the name of that family member. Next week, we’re going to show the picture of that family. We’re going to pray for blessing upon that family, and we’re going to actually be able to fulfill exactly what Jesus says.

We know the family, we know Alfonso the Father, we know Adriana the mother, children, we’re going to see their picture. We’re going to pray for the peace of God to rest upon them.

We don’t want them to have just a momentary experience of goodwill and charitable generosity that they received. They had a good week, and then after we left, it’s like back to normal. No, we want the peace of God to rest upon the home that we build and for them to build a spiritual home in that place, for them to be discipled in that home, for Jesus to come into that home and to establish peace.

We’re going to be praying for that family. I pray that you join us while we’re there. The blessing that comes in the form of salvation, healing, deliverance is contingent on the people’s response to missionaries. Do they open up their home? Do they want to hear this message? Do they want to hear more about this Jesus that we’re sharing about? Their response to the missionary is the key factor of whether the blessing is going to come and the peace will rest upon that house or not.

It’s my testimony that when a minister usually starts a ministry, it usually runs indefinitely. And there was a season at Caltech when we were ministering there for a bunch of years. There was a stretch when there were persons of peace saying, come to this campus.

Many of you know them. You know Andre, you know Dongyun, you know different people who graduated from Caltech, and they wanted us to be there. They wanted us. They wanted to be discipled, they wanted to spiritually grow. And they were saying, we need you on this campus.

And as long as they were there and the invitation was there, it’s like we’re going to their home and we’re proclaiming peace of God upon that campus.

And then as these students graduated, and then we had a handful of students remaining, we asked them, do you want us to keep doing this? Do you need us to be there? And one by one, they said, no, we’re pretty busy.

And the Lord, he told me, make sure you keep asking me, and make sure you keep asking the people, is there a person at peace?

Because if not, the ministry should stop. It should stop. It shouldn’t just continue.

I thank sister Janet and sister Ivy. You are persons of peace for us in Bellflower. We are here partially because you’re here, and we are praying for the Lopez Hacho family for peace over that household and Ensenada, the house that we will build next over the week after next.

And so what is our strategy for Bellflower, for So Cal and the ends of the earth? Let’s keep asking Jesus. He gave a very specific strategy to the twelve and to the 72.

Let’s ask the Lord, what is the strategy to reach our neighbors here and around the world?

Whereas Jesus, sending them, says in Luke 10:1, he sent out the 72 ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. So if Jesus wants to minister into an area, the first thing he does, he sends missionaries to that area. They are preparing the way for the king, and they’re getting mountains low and valleys filled up and just preparing hearts through repentance.

It’s a preparatory work that the missionaries are doing. Jesus sends his workers to these fields, to these houses, to these people, because he himself wants to save them and minister before them.

Luke 10.

² And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. (Luke 10:2, ESV)

And we may say, is it really plentiful? I can’t tell. Is it plentiful in LA? I’m not sure. Is it plentiful in California?

Maybe? Of course there’s need. But are there persons of peace who say, you need to be here? If it’s not here, maybe it’s in Mexico, maybe it’s in Taiwan. Maybe it’s in Indonesia. Maybe it’s in another place.

We need to go wherever the harvest is plentiful. And there’s persons of peace that the Lord himself wants to meet. He also warns, in Luke 10:3, we’re being sent out as lambs in the midst of wolves, so it’s not an easy journey. We need to have spiritual guards up. Not everyone who seems friendly is friendly.

We’re being sent out into a difficult, potentially dangerous situation.

What are they asked to do on the mission trip? Luke 9:6.

⁶ And they departed and went through the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere. (Luke 9:6, ESV)

Mark 6:12, preaching a message of repentance, casting out demons, anointing with oil those who are sick and healing them. Luke 10:9, healing the sick and proclaiming the kingdom of God has come near.

What happens to people who reject us? Jesus says, in Luke 9, Mark 6, Luke 10, just shake the dust off your feet as an act of judgment.

They are not rejecting you, he says, they are rejecting me. So don’t take it personally. If they don’t receive you, they’re not receiving me.

Conclusion, should we all quit our jobs and live as missionaries in another country? I don’t think that’s necessarily the case. Wherever you are, you are on missions. This great commission applies to all believers. And so whether abroad, locally, whether in front of thousands, or in front of a handful of people, your family, we are supposed to be doing the same exact work of proclaiming the kingdom, preaching repentance, healing, deliverance.

It should be happening all over the place, wherever believers are gathered.

I just want to end with 1 Corinthians 3:4.

⁴ For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human? ⁵ What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. ⁶ I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. ⁷ So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. (1 Corinthians 3:4-7, ESV)

What if we have an amazing mission trip in Mexico, Taiwan, Indonesia, over the next week or month, and we have all of these amazing testimonies? Are we going to brag that we’re so great, that we did it? Was anything that we did?

Or are we going to understand that God is the one who gives the growth? He gets all the glory from beginning to end. It’s all God’s work, and that’s why he gets the glory. He instructs us where to go. He tells us to do it in pairs. He reminds us of our need for Jesus.

He gives us. Jesus gives us his own power and authority, without which we can’t do anything. He tells us to take nothing, so we utterly depend on Jesus.

Moment by moment, the person of peace. Another laborer has been sowing into that person, watering that heart to prepare for the reaping of that salvation of that soul. And so we just did different parts, but God did the increase.

God gets all the glory. God is the one who gives us strategy. He tells us how to reach people.

And he will do the same for us at the hill, as long as we keep asking him. Jesus will tell us where to go, which are the very places where he himself intends to go. And he tells us what to do: preach the gospel. Preach a message of repentance, turning away from sin, and a message that reminds people of the nearness of the kingdom of God. And all the while, heal the sick, cast out demons.

And our message will be confirmed by the accompanying signs and wonders that will come for those who exercise power and authority.

As we are sent out, may we never, ever dare steal God’s glory and think that we did something. No, we played a small part. Mainly it was our willingness to go. That is the main thing that we should be applauded for. We are just willing to obey Jesus. Everything else, God gets all the glory because he does it from beginning to end.

Okay, let’s pray.

Father, we just thank you, Lord, for reminding us, and through all the different testimonies, how you’re working. Even now, even before we leave for Mexico and Taiwan, Indonesia, Lord, you’re already working.

We pray that those you’re sending amongst us, the six of us from here and the eleven or so from Canaan going to Mexico, the Simule household for Taiwan and Indonesia, we pray that you fill us with your power and your authority. Without this, we have nothing to offer. We have no spiritual resources in ourselves.

We are totally relying upon you and your power and your authority. You gave it to your church. We ask that you pour it out in this week, in preparation for our mission trip.

We pray that we would see signs and wonders. We pray that we would proclaim your peace upon the Lopez Hacho household, Alfonso and Adriana and the seven children. We pray that your peace would rest upon them.

We’re gonna be praying for them, for the peace of God in Christ to rest upon them, not just while we’re there, not just as we hand over the keys of their home, but for the rest of eternity.

May your peace rest upon the nine people in that household. Thank you, Lord.

We pray that you minister to us as we partake in the Lord’s Supper. Thank you for your body that was broken for us and your blood that was shed.

In Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.