So the question is, “Who will go? Who will
proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ where the church is not yet planted
and flourishing? Should I go? I ask myself this at least once a year. And
I mean it seriously. I am willing to go. I think every follower of Jesus
is bound by the cords of love and obedience to say, “I am willing to
follow you wherever you lead me.” Every believer in Jesus should say,
“Here am I, send me, if that is your will.”
It is not the Lord’s will that all of his
followers be frontier missionaries. But some he calls. How he does it is a
wonderful and mysterious thing. No one can explain how the work of God in
your life rises to the level of a compelling call to missions. This is the
work of the Holy Spirit, and it is marvelous and unfathomable in our eyes.
But this we know, from Scripture and from church history and experience,
that one of the instruments God uses to awaken a compelling calling to
missions is the preaching of the word of God. And specifically the
preaching of passages of Scripture that describe the mandate and its costs
and blessings. So that is what I want to do in the time we have
left.
Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the
midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. 17 Beware of men,
for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, 18
and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness
before them and the Gentiles. 19 When they deliver you over, do not be anxious
how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be
given to you in that hour. 20 For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of
your Father speaking through you. 21 Brother will deliver brother over to death,
and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them
put to death, 22 and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one
who endures to the end will be saved. 23 When they persecute you in one town,
flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all
the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. 24 “A disciple is not above his
teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 It is enough for the disciple to be
like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the
master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his
household. 26 “So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be
revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 27 What I tell you in the dark, say
in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. 28 And do
not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who
can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a
penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30
But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear not, therefore; you
are of more value than many sparrows.
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