MARKS OF THE CHURCH:  MISSION

JOHN 17:17-19

JUNE 1, 1997

 

The work of grace in our hearts never produces thumb-twiddling in our actions.  God's saving work brings life to dead sinners.  Such life cannot be hidden!  Nor can renewed lips be silenced.  Lively saints are sent into the world by the living Lord to bring spiritually dead men to life through the message of the gospel.

 

All too often we are led to believe that this work belongs to the realm of the 'professional'.  Yet when we consider the marks of the church which are noted in this prayer, we do not see any believers excluded from them.  All believers are to know the joy of the Lord, His holiness, sanctification by the truth, and mission in this world.  While you will always have different degrees of growth and experience, there is level ground in the characteristics which mark the redeemed of the Lord.  To some measure, all will have these evidences working in their lives because of the prayer of Christ and His provision.

 

If I use the term mission in any setting other than the church, its usage is clearly understood.  If the state department gives a mission to an ambassador, then he knows what he is to do.  If a soldier is sent on a mission by his commanding officer, then he realizes that he has a particular task to accomplish in obedience to his commander.  In the sports world, I've seen athletic teams state that they have a 'mission', to win a championship.  Quite clearly, mission implies that a given person or group of people are dedicated to carry out a particular task or goal in order to honor the desires of the one who sent them.

 

Someone has written that 'the Great Commission is the Great Omission'.  The challenge of our text is to realize that we are on mission in this world.  It is not an option but a divine necessity for those who have been redeemed by the blood of Christ to stay on mission to this sin-darkened world.

 

Our Lord compares the whole work of mission to His own essential work.  He interweaves our mission with our sanctification. Could it be that with the great emphasis in our day on methods, programs, and strategies, that we have left out the one vital matter related to the work of evangelization:  sanctification?  Let's see how mission marks the church as genuine in its faith and sanctification.

 

I.  Basis for the mission

 

We must not attempt to lift verse 18 from its context.  While this verse has been oft-quoted to spur Christians on in the work of evangelism, it is often separated from its foundation, that of sanctification.  I would express it like this.  Because we have been justified we, out of gratitude and obedience, have a mission to carry the gospel to the world.  But because we are being sanctified, we can and must effectively carry out our mission to the world.  Justification gives us the right to carry the gospel to the world.  Sanctification gives us the light and the power to do so.

 

When you neglect the work of sanctification in our mission to the world, then you must resort to all sorts of techniques, manipulation, and schemes to attempt to get the job done.  The unfortunate thing is that when we attempt to accomplish God's work apart from God's ways we get the results of what man can do, not what God can do.  Consequently, we are seeing multitudes of people make religious decisions without any inward change of life and conduct.  That is not biblical mission.  We must consider with all seriousness our basis for mission in the church.

 

1.  Sanctified in the truth

 

It is important to see how this text flows from a singular thought.  "Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is truth."  With that essential statement, we know that Christ is speaking of a reality which will come to pass for every believer: their sanctification.  The means of sanctification is the Word of God--heard, studied, meditated on, embraced, and applied in the believer's life.  He continues, "As Thou didst send Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world."  There is the call to mission for the church.  All of us are included in this great work of being sent into the world as Christ was sent.  But the connection with sanctification continues.  "And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth."  The conjunction "and" shows us that Christ is not speaking of an unrelated matter when He speaks of sanctification, mission, then again, sanctification.  He is showing that sanctification in truth is the basis for the Christian's mission to the world.  Our Lord set Himself apart to the work of the cross and resurrection, that we might be sanctified in the truht.  And in being sanctified we are also being sent on mission into the world.

 

Sanctification fits a believer for mission.  We must think again of what is taking place in sanctification.  It is two-fold:  we are being separated from the world or from 'common use' so that we are distinct in our character and lifestyle; and we are being set apart unto the usefulness of the Lord, to fulfill His purpose, to do His bidding.  Sanctification works certain things out of us that are not Christ-honoring.  And it works certain attitudes and practices in us so that we practice righteousness.

 

It would be ludicrous for a person who lived like an unbeliever to be telling others they needed to be saved.  I recall with horror the night in a Mississippi town when a teenager took the microphone at a 'youth rally' and began to give what all expected to be a testimony.  He told the audience, 'Now, I'm not saved, but it would be a good thing for you to be saved.  I've never been saved and don't know if I ever will be, but you need to know that God can save you'.  You can imagine that the whole meeting was a joke!  Who would listen to a person exhorting others to be saved when he had not profited by the gospel himself?  

 

Sanctification shapes the believer so that he looks and acts like a believer.  This work of the Spirit continually reproduces the life of Christ in the child of God.  Otherwise, a person has no testimony.  What testimony is it that 'I made a decision and you need to make one too', if Christ is not evident in your life?  

 

We are continually purified in the work of sanctification by dealing with sin, repenting of sin, turning from dead works, practicing works of righteousness.  Clean vessels are God's choice for mission.  When He was getting ready to send Isaiah to prophesy to the nation of Israel, the Lord first purified him by the live coal from the altar (Isa. 6:1-8).  Before putting Peter in front of the masses on the day of Pentecost to proclaim the gospel, our Lord humbled him, stripped him of his arrogance, and filled him with the Spirit.  Our Lord is not interested in pretty or exotic vessels, just clean ones to carry the message of His gospel.  It is not our outward appearance which appeals to the world that God uses, but the hidden authority of a changed life through the new birth and the ongoing work of sanctification.

 

Sanctification equips us for mission through the means of the Word.  Since we are sanctified by the truth of God's Word, there is a residual impact of being equipped for the mission of proclaiming this Word to others.  In sanctification we are growing in our knowledge, understanding, and application of the Word of God.  As we do, we are coming to understand all of those truths which relate to the salvation of sinners.  We are coming to grasp more of the glory and holiness of God, the sinfulness of man, the merit of Christ for sinners, the work of regeneration, and the grace of repentance and faith.  When we have these truths in our heads and hearts they can easily flow from our lips in Christian witness.  You need not worry about a canned approach to evangelism or being stuck because you get asked a question.  The truth is flooding you in sanctification so it in turn flows from you in mission.  

 

When your life reflects the message of the gospel and your head is full of the truths of the gospel, then you will be emboldened for the work of mission.  

 

2.  Sent by the Redeemer

 

The second basis for our mission to the world is that we have been sent by the Redeemer.  "I also have sent them into the world."  Our Lord has taken on the administration of the gospel by sending out the redeemed into the world.  It is His prerogative to do so.  He came "to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10) and now, He sends us to do the seeking after the lost.  As He prepared to return to the Father, Jesus told His disciples, "...as the Father has sent Me, I also send you" (John 20:21).  "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations..." (Matthew 28:19).  "...You shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth" (Acts 1:8).

 

We must realize that this sending out of the disciples is for every believer.  None of us is excluded from His commission.  Brethren, we must let this truth sink in deeply.  The "them" of verse 18, is not limited to the Twelve.  It is expanded to the multitudes who have been recipients of the saving grace of God.  We know this because of the unity between all believers.  He prays not only on their behalf but on our behalf, "I do not ask in behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word...."

 

"But," we retort, "I cannot carry the gospel because I am not a good talker..., I don't feel a call to evangelize..., I'm too shy...."  To all of these excuses, I would point you to the previous verse, "Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is truth."  It is that sanctifying work going on in us that enables our stammering tongues, that makes us conscious of the call of all believers to Christian mission, and that gives us boldness to proclaim the good news to others.

 

Our Lord equips those He sends through His sanctifying work in our lives.  It is the knowledge that we are "sent" by the Lord of the universe that can keep us going forward in Christian witness.  Because we are sent we have nothing to be ashamed of nor to be hesitant about in Christian mission.

 

In that great period of the 18th and 19th centuries when the Spirit came in mighty, awakening power, wonderful measures of sanctification occurred in God's people.  It is interesting that the whole modern missionary movement followed out of this work of the Spirit.  Those whom the Lord justified and sanctified, He sent into the world with the gospel.  Thus you had multiplied conversions throughout every village and hamlet in the colonies and later, our young nation.  Missionary societies sprang up and missions volunteers stood in line to go to the ends of the earth to carry the good news of Jesus Christ.  Those believers lived with a consciousness that they were sent by the Lord to do the work of mission.

 

That work of sending has not changed.  Some will go to other countries that desperately need the gospel.  But all of us must go wherever God would take us: to our neighborhoods, our schools, our sports teams, our jobs, our social circles, our civic organizations, our recreation.  May the Holy Spirit emblazon upon our minds that every believer has a basis for mission in the work of sanctification and the sending by our Redeemer!

 

II. Object of the mission

 

Notice the repetition in verse 18 of the phrases, "the world" and "send,"  "As Thou didst send Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world."  Both of these words help us to understand the object of the mission which Christ has given to His church.

 

1.  Need of the world

 

The use of the term, "the world," obviously points to the mass of humanity spread across the globe.  It refers to the various tongues, tribes, peoples, and nations scattered on every continent.  The message of the gospel is for the world.  Christ lived and died to save people from the breadth of the world.  "...For Thou wast slain, and didst purchase for God with Thy blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation" (Rev. 5:9).  The mass of humanity has no personal nor collective merit to offer God  in order to give them a right standing before the holy and eternal Judge of the universe.  The world desperately needs the Redeemer and His holy, saving work.

 

When we consider the condition of unbelieving man, that he is a fallen creature, identified with Adam in both the fall and God's judgment, we begin to perceive the object of our mission.  Man persists with a nature that is bent against God.  His desire is for everything but God.  He stands arrogantly opposed to the Law of God and the demands of the gospel.  He has no righteousness of his own that is sufficient to clear him before the justice bar of God.  God demands that everyone in His universe live wholly unto His glory.  But man has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.  He stands condemned and under the weight of sin, guilt, and shame before a holy and righteous God.

 

But there is hope!  "As Thou didst send Me into the world...," offers the world a message of hope.  Yes, man is unrighteous, fallen, and under condemnation before God, but God has sent His Son to redeem sinners, to become their righteousness, to give them a right standing before God's justice throne, and to bring them into His family.  The object of the mission is to see sinners brought into a saving relationship to Jesus Christ!

 

Here is the gospel, the good news of what Christ has done on behalf of sinners from every tongue, tribe, people, and nation.  It is, "Namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them..."(II Cor. 5:19).  But how will sinners know about this wonderful hope given to men from every tongue, tribe, people and nation?

 

2.  Design of God

 

The passage I quoted from II Corinthians 5:19 continues, "...and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation."  He does the reconciling, but we deliver the "word of reconciliation," that is, the gospel of Jesus Christ.  That is exactly what is meant in our text.  "As Thou didst send Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world."  God's design is for the message of reconciliation to be proclaimed by those whom Christ has sent, i.e., the ones who have experienced this work of reconciliation through Christ.  Christ sends those who are being sanctified into the world to deliver the message of reconciliation.

 

Have you ever wondered why God did not choose another way to get the gospel to the lost?  Why not use angels?  They are cooperative with the Lord in every way.  They never balk at His commands.  They always display the shining radiance of having been around the throne of God.  They have a commanding knowledge of the truths of reconciliation.  They are "messengers" (Gk. angelos) by the very definition of the Greek word, so obviously they can speak well.  Yet God did not give this work to angels.  Why?  The design of God is to use the lives and lips of those whom Christ has redeemed to declare the good news to fellow-sinners.

 

Do you realize that in the design of God that the least believer is superior as a messenger of the gospel than a host of angels?  Not that we have greater abilities than the angels, nor that we have greater knowledge than the angels.  God has chosen to use those who have experienced reconciliation in Christ to deliver that same message to sinners.

 

In Acts 10, we find that an angel spoke to the Gentile, Cornelius, and told him to send to Joppa for Simon Peter who would deliver a message from God to him.  The angel did not give the gospel though he was surely capable of relaying it to Cornelius.  Instead, God's design was to use Peter to deliver the good news of Christ and His saving work to Cornelius, who in turn came to Christ, along with his family and friends.

 

Think of the wonder of this truth!  God has chosen for His own glory and purposes to use us to deliver the most important message of the most important work that God has for anyone!  Peter expressed this great reality in his first epistle.  "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession [that's sanctification!], that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light."  Notice that flowing out of our sanctification is our being sent to proclaim the good news of Christ.  What qualifies us?  Peter continues, "for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God [again, see the whole work of sanctification in this phrase]; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy" (I Pet. 2:9-10).  "You are the people of God," he declares.  "You have received mercy," he tells us.  God gets greater glory in His priceless message being delivered by those who have experienced saving grace, than in angels who can know nothing experientially about this saving grace.

 

What is the object of the mission?  That our God may be glorified in the saving of sinners through the work of Christ, a work declared by those He has reconciled to Himself.

 

III. Comparison in the mission

 

Sometimes it is the little words in a text that seem to speak volumes.  In this case, the words "as" and "also" point us to a comparison between the mission of Jesus Christ and those He has sent to declare the gospel.  "As Thou didst send Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world."   Obviously, there are many areas where we cannot compare with our Lord.  He is God.  We are sinners.  He came from heaven to earth.  We have yet to see heaven.  He perfectly obeyed.  Our obedience lacks consistency.  He came to save sinners.  We can save no one, but we can declare Christ and Him crucified.

 

I would point us to three simple areas of comparison to help us understand the strength and focus our mission to the world.

 

1.  As a representative

 

Jesus Christ was sent into the world by the Father as the Representative of the Godhead.  The Father did not come and take on humanity, nor did the Holy Spirit.  It was the Son alone who came representing the Trinity before the creation.  Men have not gazed at the Father nor the Holy Spirit, but at the Son of God alone.  In the work of redemption, it was the Father who purposed the work, but the Son who carried it out on behalf of the Godhead, while the Holy Spirit applies it to the individual.  Jesus said, "If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father."  He also stated, "I will send another Comforter who will abide with you forever," in which "another" means 'another of the same kind or of the same nature'.  Yet it was the Son alone who became incarnate as the divine author of our salvation.

 

We do not represent the Godhead as our Lord did, but we do represent our Lord in His saving work.  Because we have been reconciled to God in Christ and He has given us the word of reconciliation, "Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us" (II Cor. 5:19-20).  We are both representatives and mouthpieces before the world.  As Christ's ambassadors, we are to live with His interest before us.  We are to seek to enable the world to understand what our Lord is like, what He has spoken, and what He has done.  This is where we again see the whole work of sanctification.  For sanctification is simply that work of God's Spirit in the believer in which the believer is being made in the likeness of Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:29).  Would it be right for an ambassador for Christ to resemble the world more than he does Christ?  That is why sanctification is always necessary to separate the believer from the things of the world and resemblance to the world, setting him apart to a likeness of Jesus Christ.

 

As a representative we have the privilege of being a spokesman for our God.  Paul said that as Christ's ambassadors before the world, it is as if "God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God."  Should we not pause before such a thought that the God of this universe would speak through us?  How can we treat lightly the message of truth which He desires to speak to the world?  Can we neglect to "study to show ourselves approved to God as workmen who do not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth?"  None of us would deny that Jesus spoke the word of God to the world (Heb. 1:1-3).  But now He has committed that "word of reconciliation" to our stammering tongues.  My brethren, I can only exhort all of us to see the lofty privilege of being spokesmen for the Lord, so that we both prepare for it through hearing and studying the Word and engage in it through proclaiming the good news.

 

2.  With authority

 

Jesus Christ came to earth with all of the authority of heaven!  He had the backing of the Father in all that He did and in every word He uttered.  His saving work was effective for us because the Father sent Him with the authority to accomplish the work of redemption (v. 4).  But what about us?  

 

As far as we are sent by Christ, we are by the same token enabled by His authority.  C.H. Spurgeon said, "Be sure that, when Jesus sends you, you are invested with authority, and they that despise you do it at their peril....God is with you, be not afraid; your Lord will not let your words fall to the ground" [MTP, vol. 36, 272].  I think that one of our biggest battles in Christian mission is fear.  We fear that we might fail or that we might say the wrong thing or that we may not be accepted.  The encouragement of our Lord is to realize that when we proclaim the gospel, wherever that may be, we go with His authority and power.  We are not to concern ourselves with what others may think or how much success we have in the world's eyes.  We are to be faithful to the message of the gospel in proclaiming it clearly and passionately to an unbelieving world.  His authority causes the message we speak to penetrate stony hearts and plant the saving seeds of the gospel.  And we have a right to proclaim that message to sinners, because we have been given authority by the Redeemer to speak on His behalf.

 

3.  With a distinct purpose

 

Jesus came to earth for the purpose of saving sinners.  He knew what the Father sent Him to do and He was faithful to His holy charge.  He laid down His life for the redemption of men from every tongue, tribe, people, and nation.  He did not come to do 'a thousand-and-one' things.  He came for the glory of God to give His life a ransom for many.  When the last days of His earthly ministry approached, He set His face toward Jerusalem, the place of suffering and death, and did not turn to the right nor to the left.  His purpose was clear and He stayed with it.

 

In the same way, Christ sends us; not to redeem sinners, but to declare faithfully that message of the cross of Christ.  We must stick to our purpose.  It is easy for the church to get side-tracked on doing a thousand wonderful things.  But we must keep the proclamation of the gospel central to all we do.  We must not waver from our God-given purpose. We must not waver for Christ has sent us.  We must not waver for the world desperately needs the saving word of the gospel.

 

Conclusion

 

Do you see that you are being sanctified that you might be sent into the world with the gospel?  The mission is not just for the few, but for all of us.  Some are more gifted in one way, some in another.  Use what means and abilities God has given you for the furtherance of His kingdom.  We must use our resources, our personalities, our tongues, our homes, our hospitality, our acts of service, our kindness to the end that sinners might hear the good news of Jesus Christ and Him crucified; and that in hearing, the Holy Spirit might awaken their lifeless heart to repentance and faith--the saving of their souls.  My brethren, this is our mission.  We must be faithful because we have been sent and the world needs the word of reconciliation given to us.

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