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SENDING out disciples

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Jesus describes our Heavenly Father as seeking the lost (Luke 14:22-24), and throughout the ages God has sent others out to share in that effort.  In the Old Testament, God sent Moses to deliver the Israelites from bondage, and he sent prophets to call the Israelites back to himself.  In the New Testament, God sent his Son to die on a cross, and Jesus sent out his first twelve disciples, as well as seventy-two latter, on short-term mission trips with the message God’s Kingdom is near (Matthew 10:7-8, Luke 10:1,3).

At the end of his ministry, Jesus commissioned all of his followers to go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19-20), and the early church set apart missionaries for the purpose of carrying the gospel to foreign lands (Acts 13:2-3).  Disciples are a people sent out, and sending out disciples is an essential activity of the Church.  Jesus even instructs his followers to pray that God would provide more workers for the harvest fields (Matthew 9:37-38), more people to go. 

The good news is we are not sent out alone.  Jesus promises to be with us always (Matthew 28:20), and to provide us with the power from Spirit of God, power specifically for the purpose of being witnesses.  Jesus said,

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”  Acts 1:8

One of the primary purposes of the Spirit’s transforming work in our lives is to empower our witnessing efforts.  The church is to send disciples out with the authority of Jesus (Matthew 28:18) and power of Jesus Spirit (Acts 1:8), to demonstrate the selfless love of Jesus and pursue the lost.  In other words, the Holy Spirit is not given simply for our benefit, so that our influence and kingdom can grow larger and more prosperous.  The Spirit’s transforming work in our hearts and minds is to empower us for sharing the gospel.  God changes hearts and minds so the world can hear the message of the gospel. 

The transforming power of the Holy Spirit was obvious in the lives of the first disciples, men and women whose hearts were previously full of doubt and whose minds were filled only with thoughts of self-interest, were changed to people of faith and self-sacrifice.  We read in the book of Acts the believers were of “one heart and mind” and that “none of them claimed anything as his own, but rather everything was held in common.”  They shared all things!  And the result was that the message of the gospel was preached “with great power” (Acts 4:32-35). 

Jesus said, “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35).  We grieve the Holy Spirit’s transforming work in our lives if we aren’t loving toward one another, and the result is that his work of transforming us and our effectiveness in being God’s witnesses is significantly diminished.  Paul wrote,

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.  Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.  Ephesians 4:30-31