So send I you

Journey 63, 64

Jesus sent His apostles into the whole world to preach the Gospel. Let us look at the demands of a sent one:

The value of a sent one

The commission of a sent one

The support of a sent one

The effect of a sent one

The ultimate price of a sent one

The privilege of being a sent one

 The Greek word, ‘apostolos’ means sent one. Jesus told his disciples, ‘as My Father sent Me, so send I you.’ His Father honoured and glorified Him on the earth and He glorified His Father in Heaven. It is a two-way street. His Father told Him what to do and what to say, and He told His Father how He felt in prayer. He said I do nothing except what My Father tells me. He prayed: ‘My Father, if this cup can pass before Me, let it be, but if not, not My will but Thine be done!’

He used to call His followers disciples, which means ‘disciplined ones’ and then He called them ‘friends’ (John 15). But eventually Jesus called them ‘apostles’.

The progression is clear: He did not start off calling them apostles. They first had to learn from Him and become friends. He also called them, ‘My brothers’, when he told Mary Magdalene after His resurrection that she should go to ‘My brothers’ and tell them I will be with them soon. He first had to go up to His Father in Heaven to bring the sacrifice of His own blood on the heavenly altar for the sins of mankind before He could visit them. Then He appeared in a locked room where they were hiding and revealed Himself to them in His resurrected form. He appeared to 550 disciples after His resurrection.

When he ordered them to wait in Jerusalem for the endowment of power when the Holy Spirit comes upon them, only 120 obeyed. There could have been 550 if they were all obedient.

Out of the 120 we know of 11 that laid down their lives for the Gospel’s sake.

Jesus said, ‘they kill the sent ones and stone the prophets’. Jesus also said, ‘a prophet is without honour in his home town.’

What is the privilege and advantage being a prophet or an apostle?

God reveals His plans and purposes to His servants the prophets. He speaks to apostles about what He wants to accomplish in the Church and explains mysteries to them so that they can preach the mysteries of Christ to people in a simple way.

There are rewards of a prophet and rewards of a sent one. If you receive a prophet in the name of a prophet you receive a prophet’s reward.  What can a prophet give you? He can give you a prophecy. That is a prophet’s reward. When you believe someone is truly a prophet or a prophetess of God, then their gift will operate in your favour and they will be prompted by the Holy Spirit to prophecy to you, to encourage, comfort and exhort you.

If you receive an apostle in the Name of an apostle He will inspire you to ‘Go!’ into your world to be a witness of Jesus Christ and His glorious Gospel. Dr. Gray (MVBC) used to say, ‘God wants to honeycomb the world with believers. He wants believers in every walk of life.’

Everybody is not called into the full time ministry. Everyone is not supposed to be a pastor of a church. But everyone can function in the ministry to help to build the body of Christ and extend the Kingdom of God.

When a city or a church does not receive a sent one, their house will be left desolate, according to the words of the Master. Desolation means, without possession and without friends. It also means to be unhappy, miserable, and full of anguish and despair, it describes a wretched life.

How do you receive a sent one? You say, ‘blessed is he that comes in the Name of the Lord!’

Jesus said, if they receive the ones He sent, they are receiving Him. If they receive Him, they are receiving the One that sent Him.

When we appoint and anoint under shepherds to help to shepherd the flock the members of a church need to learn how to receive and accept them as sent ones. If they do not receive them, they will not receive the ones that sent them either. Then they are actually rejecting Christ and God the Father.

One of our Harvester Pastors in Malaysia described me as ‘God’s Missile’. I asked him what he meant by that. He said, ‘whenever God pushes your button, you go!’

I shared with them that two thirds of the word ‘G-O-D’ is ‘G-O’! And ‘D’ stands for ‘dere!’ in other words, Go there!

Today you can receive your commission. If you fill in your name in Matthew 28:19, 20 and publicly state that you are willing to be sent, you become a sent one!

The blessings of a sent one are eternal. They will continue to manifest forever! Everyone can be a sent one, although everyone cannot be an apostle. But you can be sent into your world today: you can be sent into the sphere of life where you operate.

The ultimate price of an apostle is to be willing to die. That is the first thing the Lord spoke to me about after He called me with an audible voice to be an apostle on the 24^th of June 1984 in Dubbo, New South Wales, Australia, at 6 AM in the Blue Lagoon Motel.

Apparently there was a pastor in Dubbo who proclaimed that there are modern day apostles and also ordained apostles during the time that the name ‘apostle’ was a swear word among believers! There was an open heaven to hear the call for apostles in Dubbo at that time!

We believe that Cape Town has become such a city where there is an open heaven to hear the call to be a sent one because we have been proclaiming it here for the past 20 years!

Receive your call today!

Old Aunty Raper prophesied over me when I was 12 years old in 65 Gardener Avenue, Brakpan, where we lived when my parents pastored the Apostolic Faith Mission Church, ‘Young man you have a calling from God. God will use you also in other lands.’ I have spent my life and all I possess to fulfil that prophecy. By the grace of God I have been to 98 nations to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and hopefully I will go to all the nations of the world in my life time!

Maranatha! Jesus is coming soon!