Christ Church

Compassion, Called, Commission

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Introduction

Ready or not, a new season and a new school year is upon us. It’s good for us to review Christ Church’s mission which is “All of Christ, for all of Life, for all of Moscow.” Our mission of course is nothing short of the Great Commission that Christ gave to his Church––the evangelization and discipleship of the nations. That mission is our mission. And here we are in Moscow, Idaho attempting a small part of that Great Commission. In our sermon passage in Matthew 9 and 10, Jesus sends out his disciples on a pre-Great Commission. The way Jesus instructs and prepares his disciples exemplifies how his disciples will advance the Great Commission and how we advance Christ’s mission in Moscow. Jesus has 1) compassion on the crowd 2) calls and equips the disciples 3) commissions them to proclaim the gospel.

Compassion for the Crowd (Mt. 9:35-38)

So let’s begin by looking at Jesus’ motivation which is his compassion for the crowd. Jesus is on mission and we should take note of what he is doing––teaching in Jewish synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of his kingdom, and healing every disease and every affliction. This ministry of course draws a crowd. How does Jesus respond?

“When he saw the crowd, Jesus had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (vs. 36).  What happens to a sheep without a shepherd in the wilderness? Freedom…for a time. But soon they will be hungry and thirsty and tired of following themselves or another sheep. A sheep without out a shepherd is soon a dead sheep, and so Jesus has compassion for the life of these people. We all begin in the crowd as those who are helpless and harassed. We were among those wandering sheep without a shepherd. We were the diseased and afflicted of mind and soul. Our lives stank! Have you received the compassion of Jesus?

Jesus filled with compassion says to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” The harvest is the souls of men, and it is abundant. Imagine the abundance of the wheat fields on the Palouse, countless grains of wheat. Jesus looked to the present crowd of hundreds, maybe of thousands. That would represent only a handful of wheat. But Jesus lifts his eyes to the nation of Israel, to the Roman Empire, and to all the nations through the centuries and says the harvest is plentiful. So Jesus turns to his disciples and instructs, “Therefore, pray to the Lord of the Harvest to send forth laborers into his harvest.” Apparently, some of the disciples prayed and they were the answer to their prayer!

Disciples Called and Equipped with Authority (10:1-4)

“And Jesus called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction” (Mat. 10:1). Jesus has both compassion and authority. He has the authority to heal and caste out and save, and he has the compassion to want to. He Jesus calls his disciples and equips them with authority. Those he has compassion on, he calls and equips and now commissions them.

Commissioned to the Work (10:5-8)

“These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, ‘Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And proclaim as you go, ‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons” (Mat. 10:5-8). How capable would these disciples to do one let alone all of these tasks? Touch and heal that guy whose nose if rotting off. Go into the funeral home and raise the corpse. Command the demon to scram. Preach the kingdom. But, Jesus gave them authority and so they are equipped. Augustine rightly prayed, “Lord, command what you will and grant what you command!”

How fearful and wonderful this must have been. What a blessing for the disciples to participate in this restoration of life through Jesus. Imagine the joy of the family whose mom’s been healed, the astonishment for the friend who’s been released from demon’s hold, the celebration after twisted limbs and broken backs are made right. The disciples were sent out with the advanced proclamation that Jesus makes all things new! Jesus accomplished this mission through the cross and resurrection.

Another Commission

Jesus has again shown compassion to a crowd and again called his disciples in order to send them out on a mission. All authority is in his hand. Christ commands again his disciples to go. But unlike in Matthew 10 where Jesus says “Go nowhere among the Gentiles,” Christ’s command is now “Go everywhere!” Go to the Gentiles and the Samaritans and the Corinthians and the Romans and the Moscowvites and the Chinese and the Saudis. Go to all nations and declare Jesus as King and his kingdom is now here. The harvest is abundant and so is his abundant compassion.

May our church be devoted to “All of Christ, for all of Life, for all of Moscow!”

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Apostles Creed 14: And Sits at the Right Hand of God the Father Almighty

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What we now know as the Apostles Creed descended from an earlier form of the creed, known as the Old Roman Symbol. The beginning of the creed dates from as early as the second century. We do not have any direct evidence that it was penned by any of the apostles, but it is an admirable summary of the apostolic teaching.

Introduction
In the creation of Adam as pictured on the Sistine Chapel ceiling, God the Father has a right hand. But the God of the Bible is Spirit, and has no right hand—for He has no body at all. At the same time, with few exceptions (e.g. Acts 7:55), the Scriptures repeatedly tell us that Jesus is seated at the right hand of God. What does this image mean? What are we being instructed to believe?

The Text
I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the Holy Ghost, and born of the virgin, Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into Hades. On the third day He rose again from the dead, ascended into Heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Summary of the Text
“The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, Until I make thine enemies thy footstool” (Psalm 110:1).

At the culmination of the Ascension, Jesus came before the Ancient of Days in the throne room of God (Dan. 7:13-14). Upon that entry, He was given an absolute and universal dominion over all things. This is where God invited Him to sit at His right hand until the end of human history. This enthronement of Christ is indicative of His faithful completion of all that the Father had given Him to do. The last day of resurrection excepted, the remainder of the great work of redemption was to be done by a Spirit-empowered Church.

“Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith, all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him” (1 Cor. 15:24–27).

This session of Christ, His seating at the right Hand of the Father, is a doctrine repeated over and over in the New Testament, and it is the basis for all our labors. The fact that Christ is seated is an indication of His completed work. As our prophet, priest, and king, He has accomplished the work the Father assigned to Him.

Prophet
“Thou wilt shew me the path of life: In thy presence is fulness of joy; At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16:11).

Seated as He is by the Father, Jesus teaches and instructs us through His Holy Spirit. We know that this psalm speaks of Christ because the previous verse (v. 10) is quoted in Acts and applied to Jesus (Acts 13:35). Jesus taught His disciples that His Spirit would come to instruct them, and that instruction is part of the prophetic office (John 14:26; Matt. 10:19-20; 1 John 2:27).

“Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear” (Acts 2:33).

Now using the language of the psalm, Jesus is the one who shows us the path of life. He teaches us. He is the resurrection and the life (John 11:25). For those who believe in Him, out of their bellies living water would flow (John 7:38-39), referring to the Spirit. The Way is established because the one who lived it perfectly, and who also taught it perfectly, has now been seated at God’s right hand.

Priest
“Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens” (Heb. 8:1). “But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God” (Heb. 10:12).

Here we are taught that Jesus completed His priestly work. He died on the cross, once for all, and after He ascended into Heaven, at some point He applied the blood of His sacrifice to the heavenly altar (Heb. 1:3; 9:12), also once for all. And then—because our salvation is complete—He sat down. From that position, as a seated priest, He continues to pray for us. “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us” (Rom. 8:34).

Notice the gospel logic here. Christ died, rose, and was seated at God’s right hand. He prays for us there. So who is he that condemns?

King
“Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him” (1 Pet. 3:22).

We saw earlier that the appearance of Christ before the Ancient of Days resulted in Him being given universal dominion. This position is one of authority and power.

“Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven” (Matt. 26:64; cf. Mk 14 62).

The Great Commission instructs us to bring the nations to obedience. Jesus is Lord. Jesus is the King—the King of kings. We must do as He says.

Prophet, Priest, King
It is hard to cover all the references to this doctrine in just one sermon. There are a number of other passages we don’t have time to address (Mk. 16:19; Acts 2:34; Eph. 1:20; Col. 3:1; Heb. 1:3; 1:13; 12:2). There are many aspects to this, and a multitude of possible applications. But at the end of the day, the charge is this. We are not up and doing because it is all up to us. We stand because Christ is seated.

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