Grace Baptist Church, Nokomis, IL.

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We’ve been talking a lot about evangelism. I want focus specifically the next four weeks on why I began this series in the first place. Our church began a new visitation ministry. I want us to be sure to remember that this is only one way to foster evangelism. We ought to be living out the gospel daily, looking for opportunities in our daily lives. These next four weeks apply to all of us, whether or not you are on a visitation team.

To talk about how we are to go about visiting our community, I’d like to look at Matthew 10. This is when Jesus sent out his disciples to tell people the gospel. Jesus gave instructions which we can apply to our own efforts to share Christ with the lost.

“And he 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. The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. 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, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay.” (Mat 10:1-8 ESV)

The book of Matthew doesn’t mention this detail, but the disciples were actually sent out in twos. This created accountability. This fostered encouragement. This provided safety. This helped them to seem trustworthy. In our church, we send out groups of three for many of the same reasons. The sending out in twos was not necessarily to be modeled.

In our culture, having a team of three makes more sense. It says to those we seek to reach that we are serious and dedicated to the task. It puts all ages at ease when we have a mix of people represented on our team. The number of people on a team is not the most important issue.

Matthew didn’t want to emphasize the formation of the team, but it’s commission and authority (v. 1). Jesus called them to Himself. They were an unlikely group: they ranged from those who were despised to those were were quick-tempered to one who would betray Christ. We ought never look down on ourselves and think we aren’t equipped to share Christ. And when Jesus sent them out, He sent them with His authority. Why don’t we heal every disease today (v. 8). God is certainly able to heal people today. He does heal people through prayer. We see it time and time again. But do people today have the gift of healing? There are some who claim to have the gift, but we are often skeptical of them. Those who make it a public spectacle don’t seem to be genuine. I leave room for the gift of healing today, but I think those who the gift don’t make a show of it, but use it as the Spirit leads them, as we all do with our spiritual gifts. But let’s not get too hung up on the part of this passage that we don’t understand as much. The point is, we have the authority of Christ! So don’t be afraid.

Jesus then limited the scope of those His disciples were to preach to (v. 5-6). But isn’t the gospel for everyone? Why would Jesus limit them like this? Jesus’s ministry was actually very limited as well. When God’s chosen nation rejected Christ by killing Him on the cross, the invitation was then finally officially opened to the Gentiles. Jesus was teaching His disciples an important principle for ministry. If we try to reach everybody, we will end up reaching nobody. We desire to tell all people, but in order to be effective, we must be selective.

What is the message we are to share? Jesus gave His disciples a curious message to proclaim (v. 7). Our message is only slightly different today. Instead of “The kingdom of heaven is near,” our message is “The kingdom of heaven is here!” Yet it’s still the same message. Jesus is our King, and we are to point people to Him as the only One who can save us from our sin.