Looking Ahead

“As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.”

John 15:9

This is a reminisce of the oppression faced in early 2020 and the following months. I waited to publish it until I came into my own personal direction and resolve.

Delivering the Mail

Jesus had special love for the men who chose to follow Him. They were more than just followers, they were called apostles. ‘Apostle’ means ‘one sent forth’, like the mailman is sometimes called a “POST-man.” Jesus sent out twelve apostles initially to evangelize the earth. In church history, the first Gospel witness to any people or nation is given the title of apostle.

Christ himself was an apostle. In Hebrews 3:1, Paul says, “Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;” Jesus was “One Sent Forth” of God Himself. “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” (John 3:17)

One of the greatest witnesses the world has ever seen was an apostle “born out of due time” (1 Cor. 15:9). Paul the missionary said to the Gentiles: “If I be not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to you:” (1 Cor. 9:2).  Paul considered his calling more special than just being in the right place, observing the life of Christ as a spectator. Paul said that his apostleship was “the gospel… committed unto me.” (Galatians 2:7-8) Paul went where no one had gone before with a message no one had ever preached before.

Know, and Go.

It wasn’t just the special revelation that Christ had died for the sins of all the world, Jew and Gentile included, that made Paul’s apostleship precious to him. True, the more you know of Christ, the more you love Him. Yet there is no way you can think that Paul’s relationship with Christ was a private one.

Paul interrupted religious proceedings. Paul protested at pagan worship rituals. Paul spoke up when public wickedness was on display. Paul discipled a teenage young man. He taught in schools and classrooms. He ministered through music and singing. He sat by sick beds and comforted the dying. He counselled troubled families. He offered devotions while on public transport. He sat with women by a riverside to pray. He faced off with angry businessmen after disrupting their economy. He contended with demonic beasts and dark forces.

Often, he prayed with his head on the bars of a jail cell. Sometimes from the outside-in; sometimes from the inside-out.

He learned new languages. He wrote letters, some of which became Scripture, some which did not. He proclaimed Christ to kings, and he proclaimed Him to prisoners. Often, he prayed with his head on the bars of a jail cell. Sometimes from the outside-in; sometimes from the inside-out. He illustrated the Gospel from every book he read. He wove Christ into every conversation he had. He testified from his tent-maker’s booth, and from a courtroom witness stand. He surrendered his rights as a Roman citizen and was persecuted, and he invoked his rights and was executed for Christ.

An exemplary, extraordinary calling lived out.

Yet Paul’s mission was the same as ours: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15) Paul didn’t just GET some Good News, he GAVE it. When he was sent, he went.

Self-Addressed, Stamped Envelope.

What university told Paul he could defy the powers that be? What organization financed his traveling expenses? What legislature allowed Paul the freedom to incite a mob? Answer to all: NONE. Paul never had permission to do ANY of what he did from man. Even other Christians shrank from the prospect of association with the crazy-eyed Paul.

When everyone says it’s a bad idea to speak out for Jesus Christ, what do you do? What have I done? Paul went even when it was awkward to do so. But Paul had stopped looking around and resolved to look ahead.

So Send I You

The Lord Jesus is not telling you to walk an unmapped trail. He goes before you.

My friends, we do not need to seek the approval of God to go. The permission is IN the Commission. If God told us to do it, we have His blessing.

Vance Havner once said that a person was like a mailbox. A mailbox was made to be an inlet. We were made to receive the Gospel. A mailbox is also an outlet: just as easily as it receives, with a little cost, it sends a letter anywhere in the world. And just like that, with a small sacrifice on our part, we can be “a-post-les”.  There is someone lost who is looking for their apostle. Somebody is waiting for YOUR witness. How long will they wait?

“Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.”

John 20:21

Send Thou, O Lord, to every place
Swift messengers before Thy face,
The heralds of Thy wondrous grace,
Where Thou Thyself wilt come.

Send men whose eyes have seen the King,
Men in whose ears His sweet words ring;
Send such Thy lost ones home to bring;
Send them where Thou wilt come.

To bring good news to souls in sin;
The bruised and broken hearts to win;
In every place to bring them in
Where Thou Thyself wilt come.

Gird each one with the Spirit’s sword,
The sword of Thine own deathless Word;
And make them conquerors, conquering, Lord,
Where Thou Thyself wilt come.

Raise up, O Lord the Holy Ghost,
From this broad land a mighty host,
Their war cry: “We will seek the lost!
‘Til Thou, O Christ, wilt come!”

---