A Significant Training Mission

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all right let’s take our Bibles this morning and turn to the gospel of Mark and we are looking at chapter 6 Gospel of Mark chapter 6 this morning we’ll be looking at verse 7-13 let me read that Mark 6:7 and he summoned the 12 and began to send them out in pairs and gave them authority over the unclean spirits he instructed them that they should take nothing for their Journey except a mere staff no bread no bag no money in their belt but to wear sandals and he added do not put on two tunics and he said to them wherever you enter a house stay there until you leave town any place that that does not receive you or listen to you as you go out from there Shake the Dust off the soles of your feet for Testimony against them they went out and preached that men should repent and they were casting out many demons and were anointing with oil many sick people and healing them let’s pray Lord this morning as we look at this and examine this passage of scripture I pray Lord as we glean the truth from it that we too uh would be prepared to do some form of ministry within the church and that we would understand that it is not always an easy task or sometimes it is very difficult task but I pray Lord knowing that whatever you call us to do in using our gifts you always Supply everything to do it and so Lord help us to grow in our dependence upon you every single day and I pray this in Christ’s name amen now the last time we had learned that when Jesus visited his hometown of Nazareth where he was brought up from about Age 2 to 30 his hometown folk did not receive him with open arms or give him a grand welcome something was already happening uh taking place within the recesses of the towns people’s hearts the town’s people thought that they knew who Jesus was however the source of their conclusion was just fleshly worldly and demonic in other words they got Jesus wrong why did they get Jesus wrong because the greatest wickedness that exists amongst Humanity was present with with them and that great wickedness is the wickedness of unbelief that the town’s people by the town’s people incessant questioning asking actually asked in a derogatory manner just push the people further away from seeing the truth about Jesus and of course Satan will provide anything you can to keep people from the truth about Jesus but nonetheless the spirit of God through his word is about showing people who Jesus really is so it was and it is the sin of unbelief that is behind all rejection of Jesus Christ and as the gospel of Mark chapter 6 in verse number six says and if you look there it says and he wondered at their unbelief Jesus has wondered remember at several things in scripture one was unbelief one was great faith great unbelief and great faith and remember God will will not work where he is not wanted where he is not trusted unbelief leads to God resisting people and rejecting uh restricting his power amongst people but if you notice in the text in verse number six it says one thing it did do this this rejection did not stop Jesus nor hinder his mission for it says and he was going around The Village’s teaching that was his main task was to teach so there will be times when the message maybe more often than we would like the message is rejected we we shouldn’t be surprised when the message of the Gospel is rejected we shouldn’t be surprised when it is rejected in our workplace and in our families and in various places we go to share the truth in fact at this particular Junction in scripture Jesus commissions his Apostles and sends them on their first on the job training mission it was a very significant training Mission and the reason why it was significant is because it will reveal if the apostles are whether they learned anything at all it will reveal whether they’re ready for Ministry and it will reveal ultimately do they really trust Jesus it’s going to reveal certain things I mean we could talk about truth we could discuss it amongst each other but when you take truth and what you’ve learned and put it into practice it’s a whole another thing that goes on and God’s going to do that with all of us we can’t just be talking about Doctrine and truth and what we’re learning we have to be doing it now bear in mind that this conflict narrative is set in a similar Sage construction as other parts of Mark remember the top of the bread uh looked at last time that was that was the the rejection Story number one the opposition of jesus’ Hometown people but Jesus there was teaching his Apostles about re being rejected that and in being rejected re for the message that he would teach also that the mission to the Lost World often re will result in some kind of resistance or hostility and that those closest to those who are giving the truth out and teaching the truth and living the truth are sometimes not recognized as being uh Christians or being gifted or being called to do anything and then also that he was teaching them that those who are opened uh who are not open to Jesus may discover that God is no longer open to them so this Mission this first rejection mission was definitely part of training the apostles for what’s coming so this morning we look at the B section the middle of the samage uh type of construction and so this is going to to be the mission of the twel Apostles that this uh visit prepared the disciples for their first given mission where they would go out without Jesus but with all that is needed to accomplish the mission and then of course the next rejection story is going to be the next time I come and preach and that’s going to be the arrest and death of John the Baptist when John the Baptist shows up in scripture it’s significant all right so we remember he showed up at the beginning of jesus’ ministry right that’s when he was locked up Jesus started his ministry now we’re going to see a training mission of the Apostles and then John the Baptist being killed meaning that John the Baptist ministry in the world is finished and now the apostles are going to take over and they’re going to preach the truth so that’s how it’s packaged so far the apostles have observed Jesus for about one year they had firsthand experience regarding jesus’ Mission as the son of man they heard him teach they heard him preach they witnessed his authority over demons over diseases and his power over nature where even the wind and the waves obeyed his voice they witnessed the servants Heart of Jesus they witnessed his compassion and his care and his tireless Ministry towards all kinds of peoples they witnessed his dependence upon the father by his prayer life they witnessed all kinds of responses to his message from joyful reception to indifference to Violent rejection even his own Hometown Family rejected at least at this point in the ministry now it was time to send out the 12 on a test mission on a preliminary mission to get them ready to go out there there and do the work of God without Jesus going with them so the 12 went from being disciples to Apostles now remember a disciple is a learner they’re a mere student the 12 were then called to be Apostles an apostle is a sent one someone commissioned by his master accompanied by his master’s Authority and sent out in his master’s name if we Trace back backwards in the gospel of Mark we will find that there is a definite forward movement from God first calling them to be disciples to be Learners to now them being Apostles not now of course not everybody’s called to be an Apostles actually there’s only 12 Apostles and so let’s just Trace that back for a minute his calling back in chapter 1 and verse 16 through 18 and of course Jesus who is unqualified by the religious leadership picks unqualified people it says in verse number 16 of chapter 1 and as he was going along by the Sea of Galilee he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net in the sea for they were fishermen and Jesus said to them follow me and I will make you become Fishers of Men and then it says immediately they left their Nets and followed him so see Jesus he wasn’t an official Rabbi or scribe he didn’t go to any of their schools or study under any of their rabinal teachers so in a very real way he was unqualified to call people to himself in in fact rabbis never called people to themselves people came to them usually by their own recommendation so Jesus is Calling unqualified fishermen as his students he makes a personal summons to four fishermen in that passage to follow him but without display of their knowledge of the Torah that wasn’t required nor was a qualifying exam given nor was any academic credentials required for them to follow Jesus the only requirement for a disciple is follow me and I will make you fishes of men and so they followed and they became disciples they became students they became Learners and Servants of Jesus Christ and he promised them I will cause you to become Fishers of Men and so only as Jesus is followed can he be known to learn to do can only be learned and done as one follows Jesus Christ so this call was based on the authority of Jesus they did not search for him he search for them and then called them to service for he saysf follow me and I will make you do something I will make you become Fishers of Men so at least seven of our Lord’s disciples were professional fishermen Peter Andrew James and John had met Jesus trusted him as their lord and savior they were called to be disciples and the process we have been seeing of being a disciple is slow and is often painful and heart-wrenching but nonetheless God will take us through that process even as he grows us so Christ called them away from their boats away from their Nets away from their lucrative family fishing Enterprise to be disciples and then they followed him and then there came a time that Jesus was going to make a designation between this whole lot of disciples and then the 12 that were among those disciples and so we see in Mark chapter 3 in verse number 13 how does he do that where it says there uh in verse number 13 of chapter 3 it says and he went out again by the seashore and all the people were coming to him and he was teaching them in other words in the Gospel of Luke when he went away from them he went to a mountain to pray and what did he pray for in Luke chapter 6 he prayed for who among the disciples would be the apostles and so it tells us in scripture he chose from those disciples 12 of them and then he named them Apostles so these 12 apostles were they were going to have a different calling than just a regular disciple they were going to he summons them in Chapter 13 uh in mark Mark CH 3 and verse number 13 He summons them to himself all right and then we notice that U they become his inner circle that only those that he chose become his inner circle and then it tells us in scripture he appointed the 12 that they would be with him and that he could send them out after he they spent some time with him and then this group of Apostles and faithful disciples were giving teaching along the way like I said he’s been probably been they’ve probably been with Jesus about a year the 12 are following him more specifically and closely than anyone else and then in chapter 12 in verse excuse me chapter 4 verse 10 we are given information about what he says about what they’re learning and he says in verse number nine he who has ears to hear Let Him hear and as soon as he was alone his father followers along with the 12 began asking him about Parables and he was saying to them to you it has been given the mysteries of the kingdom of God but those who are outside get everything in parables in other words he was saying to the twel some are given understanding others are withheld understanding well the Apostles of course are going to to get have the major amount of understanding given to them by Jesus and of course who were were this group of people they were the group of people that are found in scripture sitting at the feet of Jesus soaking up his teaching it was that they were doing the will of God by sitting at his feet they were being treated by Jesus as the true family of God it was those who have repented of their sins and turn to Jesus putting their full trust in him for forgiveness of sins and entrance into the kingdom of God so the mysteries of the kingdom of God were given to his faithful disciples specifically the 12 disciples that he had called so in other words he was saying to him who has New Life In Christ shall be given spiritual understanding but to him who does not have new life in Christ shall be given shall not be given understanding and so that is the inside crowd we’ve been looking at and the outside crowd so Jesus has now this Inner Circle of men that he is training and these men are going to take the gospel to the whole world and of course was their mission successful we’re sitting here as witnesses that their mission was and is successful and so will ours be ours will be successful too right so we come today to the test run of the Apostles the commissioning of the Apostles to be his official representatives and so here this morning from verse 7 to 13 in chapter 6 we see his commissioning so Jesus called the 12 together and gave them some marching orders right this is almost like a military thing the Lord’s doing he’s calling them together and he says okay here are your marching orders go out and do the ministry all right now we’re going to learn some things from it and the first thing we learn in verse S that they’re commissioned to go in pairs notice what it says in verse 7 and he summoned the twel and began to send them out in pairs so that means that Jesus divides his 12 Apostles into six pairs going two by two was really an advantageous way to do ministry in other words God doesn’t want us do to do ministry alone there’s really no such thing as lone wolves or loners in the church or in Ministry there shouldn’t be that’s a dangerous thing see Jesus divides them up and he divides them up for very uh for several good reasons number one going two by two provides companionship it provides encouragement all right one person may be doing being doing good one day the other person may not be doing so good and vice versa and so you can encourage one another all right and so you can pray for one another you can share the ministry of what’s going on with one another secondly it’s also a level up protection and what I mean by protection is a level of wisdom protection because in the Old Testament Ecclesiastes tells us in chapter four in verse number nine two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor for either if either of them Falls the one will lift up His companion but woe to the one who falls when there is no one there to lift them up so it’s a wisdom issue too and it could could also be that they are uh and of course that wisdom is still in the church that’s why the Lord calls for a plurality of Elders not just one Elder a plurality of deacons not just one all right there’s always this team effort and uh that goes in Scripture it also May provide or share uh share the responsibilities amongst each other because they’re gifted differently and so they would go out with different giftedness and then it will provide two witnesses to verify what was spoken and done because you’re going to find in Scripture that once they were done with missions they came back and reported to Jesus right sometimes one person don’t get all the facts right right but when two people are there they become the evidence that they gather Ed will be confirmed by two or three Witnesses in this case two so he tells them listen go out in prayers that’s the first thing of of their uh marching orders the second thing in their marching orders is found in verse 7 also that he will confer Authority on them to act look what it says verse 7 and he was giving them authority over the unclean spirits now he was Jesus was gifting and fitting the apostles with powers like his own he would give them Authority in other words he would give them the right to act it is both the right to do a thing and the power to ex exercise the right to do that thing and of course that thing is going to be preaching teaching casting out demons in this case they are coming not in their own power but they are coming in the power of God and so Mark highlights the greater gift the power to expel demons the power that is contained in the authority that has been given to them by Jesus Christ and what is going to be is that their main activity is going to be preaching the gospel which of course messes up the kingdom of Satan and then of course their other activity is going to be to cast out demons and to to further dismantle the kingdom of Satan so they were they were going to have authority to cast out demons the 12 are specifically appointed Servants of the Kingdom to car help carry out the work of Christ and then to prepare to help and spread the message and then exercise demons following jesus’ example in word and inde deed in fact in other missions this was so intriguing to the apostles and to others that went out that in Luke it said when they came back to report to Jesus one of the first things they said to Jesus was even the demons are subject to us this is an amazing thing we speak and they and we tell the demons to leave and they leave that’s an awesome thing but Jesus says don’t Marvel at that Marvel at this that your names are written in the Kingdom of God in the Kingdom of Heaven that’s what you ought to be marveling at because that’s where it’s all leading to and so this Mission clearly signals an in Breaking of the Messianic Reign into the world so in other words in the marching orders Ministry is to be done together not alone secondly Ministry is to be done in the power of God you and I have no power to do anything unless God gives it to us and because we have the indwelling spirit because we have the word of God then we are given power to do the work of the ministry not the same power the apostles had we don’t have the power to cast out demons right that was a gift given to the found laying the foundation of the church but that gift died with the apostles now if you preach the gospel the demons do leave because they can’t stay around where the gospel is being preached they can’t stay around where the gospel is being lived they have to leave and go somewhere else they still cause havoc and still try to mess up our testimony But ultimately they can’t stick around all right a third thing in their marching orders is maybe more hits more home to us and that’s this the command to learn dependence on the Lord the command really to learn dependence on the Lord the orders which Jesus issues are to teach the apostles as well as us absolute dependent on the Lord now this will be the most important lesson to learn and to learn it thoroughly and this is a life L lesson that we all have to learn all life and Ministry must be comp accomplished in the full dependence on the Lord see until this lesson is learned a person is is not ready for more extended or responsible Ministry this must be learned now how does how does the Lord help the disciples or the apostles learn the lesson well look in verse number eight there’s several things verse number eight and nine that are important that he tells them number one in verse number eight and he instructed them that they should take nothing for their Journey except the mere staff all right in other words take nothing except a staff for walking and protection against wild animals all right so that’s all you take take a staff and then he says in verse number eight no it says and he instructed them that they should take nothing for their Journey no bread no bag meaning that they weren’t to take anything to eat uh they weren’t to carry Food Supplies in their pouch or supplies at all and then in verse number eight no money they were to take for he instructed them that they should take nothing for the journey except their mere staff no bread no bag no money in their belt that means that no money for the belt in which coins were usually carried to buy bread and supplies and then he says in verse number nine to wear sandals in other words don’t go barefoot but don’t take another pair and then he says listen he added do not put on two tunics take the tunic that you’re wearing that’s the you know they used to have an inner garment and then an outer garment the outer garment was used in the daytime or taken off in the daytime but at night it was used as a blanket so that would be the tunic all right he says to them listen just take what’s on your back don’t take anything else don’t take two now this is significant the only other place that we find such a command like this is found in Exodus where God instructs the Israelites what to take on their flight from Egypt remember what he said to them now you shall eat it in this manner with your loins girded all right meaning clothe all right secondly sandals on your feet and thirdly a staff in your hand be ready to leave at the right time don’t take a lot and where were they going they were going into the desert and in the desert what’s in the desert nothing’s in the desert so see in the desert that’s the only place you can possibly totally depend on God you got to depend on God for food you got to depend on God for water you got to depend on God for how you’re going to stay out of the sun you’re going to have to depend on God about your sandals and of course it tells us that their sandals didn’t wear out so see this is a picture of what the Lord did in the past and now he’s doing it again now the Lord didn’t require his dis disciples his Apostles to do this on every Mission but this training mission was important for them Jesus was forbidding them from begging for their needs or for going other places to supply their needs so if one is really depending on the Lord to Pro to provide for their person then they will be freed up from worry they will be freed up from worry concerning their bodily needs so Jesus sends them out under his com command and will supply all everything in all respects to them while they actually minister so thinking about this for a moment what is the greatest way a Christian can show dependence on the lord well the greatest way a Christian can can show dependence on the Lord is when they fellowship with God In Prayer in prayer many years ago actually the year was 1898 right in New York City where there was a New York City Prayer Revival and one of the first meetings a lay person got up with a bunch of businessmen and asked a few questions to them the first question he asked to the group is this and he was speaking about their habit of prayer he said will everyone who spends a half hour every day in prayer raise their hand one person out of the whole group raises their hand he says how about 15 minutes not even half the group raises the hand he says well how about five minutes and of course everybody’s hands went up now of course that does tell us something now this is was this was in 1898 we have way more distractions today than then but they had their own distractions life was much harder in many ways right so the question came up in the group what is the cause of prayerlessness and one says is it not unbelief and of course the answer to that is unbelief but another question came up that says then what causes unbelief amongst Christians and one replied this well if the life is not one of self-denial of fasting and prayer that is letting the world go and letting the power of the flesh influence your service to God if you do that if you continue to do that the result will be the open sin of prayerlessness in fact it was amazing I was driving my car and you know sometimes churches have church signs with sayings on it I’m looking I’m driving and I’m going you know uh and I look at the church sign and it’s it’s funny this is what the church sign said on the road this church is not only air conditioned it is prayer conditioned I says I like that I would rather have a church prayer conditioned than air conditioned it is so important to pray even in the gospel of Mark we’re getting there when the apostles came to a group of people and couldn’t cast out some demons they came and asked Jesus why can’t we cast this demon out and Jesus said to them this kind cannot be delivered but anything by anything by prayer and fasting so see prayer is significant a life lived according to the Flesh and not according to the spirit is where prayerlessness originates now scripture does teach that there are two conditions possible for Christians one is walking according to the spirit and the other is walking according to the flesh now these two powers are in irreconcilable conflict with each other all the time so if you are saved by the spirit and each day live according to the flesh well the sad condition of deadness and failure in prayer in the inner chamber will be the result so if I were to ask those same questions today in our own prayer life that shows our real dependence on God how would it go in fact as I was reading this story one man came up to the person who asked the questions and saysi confess I don’t even pray five minutes a day and the man asked him why he says because I’m so busy and I think that would be a lot of our answers that were just so busy but you know what the apostles had to learn this important character quality of depending and trusting fully in God so what does he do he says listen I don’t want you to trust your supplies I don’t want want you to trust your money I don’t want you to trust your training I don’t want you to trust anyone on till you learn to trust me alone see that’s the lesson that we all have to learn to learn all Ministry is to be done in full dependence on the Lord and that is something that I would say that I myself have questioned myself on whether I really do that am I really trusting God or am I depending on something am I leaning on something else see I think if we really pray if we get to the place where we enjoy spending a half hour and an hour with God every day and we enjoy being there you know what we won’t want to leave but I tell you what we will be why why don’t we have victory over sin why aren’t our marriages better why aren’t we more Godly why haven’t we won more people to Christ the answer is prayerlessness because that’s where the power is because the power is when we’re dependent on the Lord that’s where the power is it’s not our skill our ability our knowledge how long we’ve been a Christian it’s are we dependent on God in prayer and we practice that so when when we leave that time we are ready for Ministry we are ready for anything Satan has to has to throw at us we are ready because we gained in prayer time victory over the flesh that when we leave there we know we won’t Walk In the Flesh we’ll walk in the spirit because remember that’s the only two things Christians could do to walk in the flesh or to walk in the spirit so Jesus sends them out under the command that I will supply all your needs in all respects you must learn that lesson if you don’t learn that lesson then you can’t do much else and then the fourth marching order is found in verse number 10 of Mark chapter 6 he commended them to the caring Providence of God now before I read the p passage it’s this Providence of God is that of an unexpected giving of hospitality by people you don’t even know so the apostles were to go out they were to go to a town and they were to go out with limited support to teach them they they must live by faith and proceed in dependency upon God look at verse number 10 and he sent said to them wherever you enter a house stay there until you leave see when the apostles entered a town or Village and preach the gospel of the kingdom of God and a person receives the message he will likely invite the two into his home to provide Hospitality that’s what they did did back then also it’s found this way in the gospel of Matthew chapter 10 it says in to whatever City or Village you enter inquire who is worthy in it and abide there until you go away and as you enter the house give it your greeting see Jesus is really saying to them listen go there until you leave until you’re finished ministering in that place don’t look for something nicer if you happen to receive Hospitality for somebody who’s a little poor doesn’t have such such good means don’t look for a nicer place don’t look for a place with more amenities stay right there and bless that house with your presence and with your message so see basic needs were taken care of shelter was taken care of in other words they were taken care of under the providential care of God another thing that we need to learn that the doctrine of Providence means god is actively involved in the world in the church in his people’s lives he is actively involved so that means that there are no events which appear to be quite ACD well there are are events which appear to be accidental but they are really controlled by God and in this case it was going to into someone’s house whom you didn’t know and them offering Hospitality to you and you receiving that Hospitality from the hand of God so everything in this trial everything in this trial mission was to give expression to the seriousness and the urgency of the message they brought and from whom they brought it now this becomes clear especially if their message of the kingdom of God was rejected and the apostles were to be prepared for rejection so while doing Ministry God’s Providence may be may appear to be be at times pleasing and at times hard but be be prepared for both because God is in control of both situations so he commended them to the Providence of God and then one last thing in verse number six chapter 6 verse number 11 through1 13 He commissioned them to stick to the plan no matter what and this is going to be a significant thing to the disciples no matter now no one wants to be rejected however the negative experience of rejection was to be followed by a response if some reject the message it might cause some to alter the message in order for it to be more receivable and that has been done let’s water down the truth let’s water down the gospel let’s make it a lot easier to take all right but remember God’s message cannot be changed he is the source of the message the message does not originate with us so we have no right to change it or fool around with it in order to make it more pal palatable for other people to receive and if you look at the first part of the Gospel of Mark chapter 6:1 it says and any place that does not receive you or listen to you as you go out from there you’re to do something so in other words he was saying listen you are going to go places that they’re not going to receive you you’re not going to be a welcomed guest amongst them so if a town or Village does not receive you or welcome you nor listen to what you have to say the apostles were not to stay there they were to leave but they were to leave with this message and if you notice in verse 11 that they were to leave and they were to do something they were to say something they were to act on something and it says as verse number 11 as you go out from there shake off the dust from The Souls of your feet as a testimony against them so remember the gospel is going out to do two things it’s going out to save people and it’s going going out to provide judgment for people and that’s what we see here that they were to shake off the dust that stuck to the bottom of their sandals and this signifies that Heralds of Jesus Christ have actually been in that place and have been rejected they did not welcome God’s message they did not welcome God’s messenger they did not believe his message and so it was a sign of judgment and exclusion from the kingdom of God and judgment will come to those who reject the gos gospel no one should ignore what God is doing through Jesus Christ the Jesus Christ of Nazareth no one should should ignore him or reject him and it is reported in the book of Acts that when the word of the Lord was spread spreading throughout the regions the Jews in instigated a persecution against Paul and barn Barnabas and drove them out of their D district and what did what did par Paul and Barnabas do in Acts 13 they shook off the dust on their feet in protest against them and then they went to Iconium but then it says this in Acts and the disciples were continually filled with joy and the Holy Spirit you just got kicked out of a town nobody wants you nobody wants to listen to you and they they’re rejoicing you know why because they get it they understand rejection is a large part of ministry in this Lost World who’s control by S Satan who flesh dominated who a world system that is helping all those things go in the opposite direction not for God but against God so their unbelief and rejection of Jesus Christ so polluted the ground that the Apostle Paul follows Christ’s command that if they don’t hear you shake off the polluted dust from your feet against them for judgment and it’s interesting that Matthew takes this whole narrative a little bit further and he says this in Matthew shake these things off your feet and protest protest to them and then it says this truly I say to you it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment then for that City that’s an a incredible statement that God did God judge Sodom and Gomorrah did he wipe it off the face of the map yes he did well judgment will surely come to those who reject the gospel and in some ways it’s not just IND individual rejection it’s regional rejection that whole groups of people reject the gospel and are under the Judgment of God that’s something that you know what the bottom line is when you and I come to the Judgment there will be really only one question for us what did you do about the Lord Jesus Christ that’s it that’s the question there’s really only one answer and that’s receiving the Gospel of Jesus Christ right so this all these things the Lord was teaching them to prepare them for the future Ministry and I think that there’s a lot of connections for us in our own life as we grow in Christ as we start ministering in Christ so what happens here this last one is that they stuck to the plan so when they left from that place that rejected them they did not deviate from the original message and Miss Mission the next verse gives really a summary description of the activity of the 12 and they went out two by two on their test mission and if you notice in verse number 12 the first great work which is the same work as Jesus Christ price is that they went out to preach that men should repent there’s the message right preach so that people may repent and believe and then secondly work the second work is to cast out demons and heal the sick with the application of olive oil see they were to cast out demons or anointing with oil many sick people and healing them those are the things that remember that Miracles were always to authenticate agents of Revelation until the apostles were able to cast out demons able to heal because they were agents of Revelation so they can again write the New Testament for us so they can receive God’s word and write it so see that’s what they were to do so they didn’t deviate from the original message the original message was always repent and believe the gospel what the message that John the Baptist preached repent and believe the gospel what’s the message that Jesus preached repent and believe the gospel of the Kingdom what’s the message that we preach repent and believe the gospel of the Kingdom that is the message there is no other message and so they didn’t deviate now there’s no more Apostles however the observations for Preparation in Ministry are still the same Ministry is to be done together Ministry is to be done in the power of God Ministry is to be done in full dependence upon the Lord as we walk in the spirit Ministry is to be done keeping in mind the Providence of God may bring acceptance or rejection but God will always supply for what we need and then Ministry is to be done while keeping true to the message remember we’re to pre it says in Timothy a pastor is to preach in season and not of season I don’t know what season we’re in we’re in and out of seasons in the United States but the thing is is that it looks like world there’s many revivals going on in the world there’s many people coming to Faith that we wouldn’t believe uh would come to Faith they are so see we’re still still in the time in which the gospel is being preached and people are coming into the Kingdom so it’s still an exciting time to live but God wants you to minister he wants you to use your gifts in the church body he wants you to take the gospel to those who have not yet heard it he wants you to realize it’s difficult to Ministry to minister to people and sometimes you will be rejected don’t worry about that get up and keep going God will take care of the rest and always stay true to the message don’t mess with it don’t mess with it and I think that all those put together is what Jesus prepares the apostles for because John the Baptist is going to be killed in the next passage and they’re going to take over to preach the gospel to the world to give us the New Testament and then to carry on the unfinished work of Christ when Christ ascends into heaven after the resurrection and then he sends his Spirit the F the promise of the father to indwell Believers to indwell the church to carry on the same message the same Ministry until the Lord comes again see that’s that’s the the job that we have is to carry on that work so I just pray that some of these lessons today you would take and examine yourself and one of the things that I I’m concerned about the most in our day and in our church is is the level of prayer that is taking place for everything that’s going on because I tell you what if we’re not praying we don’t have any power if we’re not depending on God then what are we depending on we’re depending on something else other than God we need to be praying way more than we do way more let’s pray Lord thank you this morning for the word of God I uh Lord appreciate how you lay things out in scripture for us to understand for us to weave in our own life so we can examine ourselves with it and I do pray Lord I I pray Lord that it surely would not just be an academic exercise but Lord I pray that we would really consider these things Lord prepare every one of us for a Ministry in your church that could benefit the health of the body Lord make us people of prayer I pray Lord that our our inner closets would be visited Often by us daily by us as we seek your face in prayer as we bring our request to you as we consider the needs of the body and the needs of our family and the needs of the world and bring them before you that you would Empower us to get out of there and go and minister in a way where we know we’re depending on you we know we’re going in your power and we know Lord that your Providence is going to be available to us wherever we go that we would take notice of it and I pray Lord that we would take a message to the people that comes from the word of God and not mess it up Lord help us to do that bring Glory To Your Name by The Works that you give us to do and I pray this in Christ’s name amen