I’ve been talking about the discipleship pattern that the Lord Jesus Christ has left for us to follow. As I said in my last message, Jesus tells us what to do, then He shows us what to do, and finally He sends us out to do it.
First, Jesus tells us in John 3 that we must be Born-again, that is accepting the salvation He offers as a free gift, Ephesians 2:8-9, “8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
Implicit is the Holy Spirit of God coming to live in us. This Jesus did at his water baptism by John the Baptist. The Spirit descending upon Jesus like a dove and filled Him. As Believers, we receive the Holy Spirit when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
Secondly, Jesus tells us in Acts 1:8 that we shall receive power to be witnesses to Him. To be a witness is to speak and act upon what Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, is doing in our lives. A witness can only attest to what he has seen, heard, or knows as fact.
Jesus experienced this empowering of the Holy Spirit while He was in the wilderness being tempted by the devil. The scriptures say that Jesus came out of the wilderness in power to do ministry. As Believers, we receive that empowerment to do ministry when we surrender to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The Gospel writer Luke calls this the Baptism of the Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts.
Salvation and receiving the Holy Spirit is about believing in Jesus Christ; empowerment by the Holy Spirit is about believing in the Holy Spirit in you!
The final step in discipleship is to recognize your mission. Then to say or do, in the name of the Lord, which the Holy Spirit shows you.
The mission is the subject of today’s message. Show More
Many Christians go through life wondering what they are called to instead of learning how to fulfill the single mission all believers have in common!
The “what we are called to” is the Universal call to all believers – the Great Commission is that all Disciples of Christ are commanded to make Jesus known.
The “how we are to fulfill the call” can happen in several ways.
Gifts to the Church – “Five-Fold Ministries” – Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor, Teacher described in Ephesians 4:11.
Ambassadors of Christ – The Motivational Gifts – prophecy, ministry, exhortation, giving, leading, and mercy described in Romans 12:4-8.
The “fruit of the Holy Spirit,” “Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-control.” Galatians 5:22-23.
The “Gifts of the Holy Spirit,” “Word of Wisdom, Word of Knowledge, Gift of Faith, Gift of Healings, Gift of Miracles, Prophecy, Discerning of Spirits, Tongues, and Interpretation of Tongues” 1 Corinthians 12:1-11.
As we will see, the commission is easy to know when we look at Jesus’ mission statement. You don’t get to choose your calling; Jesus calls you to partner with Him.
STEP THREE: RECEPTION OF THE MISSION OR PURPOSE JESUS WAS CALLED TO
We find a general statement of Jesus’ purpose or mission in 1 John 3:8, “He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.
A more detailed statement of purpose is found in the words of Jesus in Luke 4:18, “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.”
The first part of the statement is so important to understand, “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me because He has anointed Me.” Any work that you do in the name of the Lord must be a result of the Spirit of the Lord directing you and, in the authority, and power of the Holy Spirit.
So many, in their desire to please the Lord, try to accomplish in their own strength what only the Holy Spirit can do. The anointing is the work of the Hoy Spirit. Don’t confuse anointing with style or performance, or mannerism.
Let’s continue with the rest of Luke 4. What do these six statements of His intent mean? And, how was He to do all of this? First, we must recognize that Jesus has a double meaning in each of these six statements. One is spiritual, and the second is physical. In each case, Jesus was speaking in spiritual terms, but to prove He had the authority and power of God to touch these spiritual needs, He also demonstrated His ability to bring physical and emotional healing to those who heard and believed in His message.
To preach the gospel to the poor. The word gospel means “good news,” and in the original Greek is “evaggelizo,”, from which we get the word evangelize. The good news is that the Kingdom of God is present and available to all who would put their trust and faith in Jesus Christ. The poor are those who are spiritually impoverished as well as those who are in physical need or lack.
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted. Jesus came to bring hope, healing, and wholeness to those who have been broken or crushed by the choices or circumstances of life.
To proclaim liberty to the captives. Liberty to those in spiritual bondage to the Devil as a result of worshiping the creation rather than the creator.
Recovery of sight to the blind. Jesus came to give sight to those spiritually blinded by legalistic religion.
To set at liberty those who are oppressed (downtrodden);
To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.
All debts are canclled. The prophecy of Is. 61:1, 2 describes the deliverance of Israel from exile in Babylon in terms of the Year of Jubilee, but its ultimate fulfillment awaited the coming of the messianic age. Jesus boldly claims to be the promised Messiah, and His defined ministry here becomes the ongoing essence of the good news of the gospel of the kingdom of God.
Luke later makes it clear He passed this same ministry on to the disciples in Luke 9:1-2, “1 Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. 2 He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.
Then ministry is given to the entire church in Acts 1:4-5, 8, “4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Jesus did all of this through the Holy Spirit by which He was anointed. “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me.” How can we expect to do any less than to learn how to trust the anointing of the Holy Spirit that is in us?
