05/09/26 HE SENDS US AND GOES WITH US
As I get older and my energy ebbs and my abilities are more limited, I still dream, envision ministries that can be done, that should be done. I see the looming opportunities for ministry, for service, for outreach, even in areas that I am not gifted, called, or equipped. I see great possibilities for church believers of various levels of attainment and growth.
I see things the way they are, and I know what the Bible says about the destiny of a Christ hating society, therefore I am not Pollyannish. Still, there is great opportunity for the fully committed and totally surrendered Christian. There are fields of ministry today that did not exist in our yesterdays and will not exist in our tomorrows. Now is the accepted time, today is the day of salvation and service.
The old question still echoes through the corridors of time, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us...?" The world is filled with adventure seekers, social justice warriors, change agents, political firebrands, inventors of evil things, and self-serving leeches. The worldly agenda is being fulfilled, the carnal ranks are overloaded, the hellish plans are racing forward, but only occasionally do we see a blood-washed, Spirit-filled, single-eyed believer answer, "Here am I; send me." Where is the Church, where are the mighty men of valor, where are those who are charging the gates of hell and sounding the alarm and rescuing the perishing and setting the prisoners of sin free?
Jesus came to seek and to save, and to send the sanctified into the world to drive back the darkness and deliver the captives from their chains of sin and death. The local church is charged with the duty to lead, teach, equip and enable soldiers of the cross to march forward in victory. As the song says, "Rise up oh men of God, be done with lesser things. Give heart and mind and soul and strength to serve the King of kings."
There is an increasing need for God-called and Spirit- filed and anointed preachers, teachers, pastors, but there are few who are answering the call. Most church folks fail to see how they fit into the Great Commission, whether at home or abroad. Today's need is for willing servants, who will surrender their lives and their abilities into the hands of God. God can make the unthinkable become the reality, whatever your strengths or weaknesses are, God has a plan and He can make it become a reality. But we need to be totally surrendered and obedient.
Jesus said...
John 9:4
4 "I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work."
We are told...
Matthew 28:18-20
18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
SONG... Work For The Night Is Coming
by Anna Louisa Walker Coghill
1 Work, for the night is coming:
Work through the morning hours;
Work while the dew is sparkling:
Work mid springing flowers;
Work when the day grows brighter;
Work in the glowing sun;
Work, for the night is coming,
When man's work is done.
2 Work, for the night is coming:
Work through the sunny noon;
Fill brightest hours with labor:
Rest comes sure and soon.
Give every flying minute
Something to keep in store;
Work, for the night is coming,
When man works no more.
3 Work, for the night is coming,
Under the sunset skies;
While their bright tints are glowing,
Work, for daylight flies.
Work till the last beam fadeth,
Fadeth to shine no more;
Work, while the night is darkening,
When man's work is o'er.
Jesus said...
John 20:21
21 "...as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you."
SONG... So Send I You
1954
The Investment
by Margaret Clarkson
1 So send I you to labour unrewarded
To serve unpaid, unloved, unsought, unknown
To bear rebuke, to suffer scorn and scoffing
So send I you to toil for Me alone
2 So send I you to bind the bruised and broken
Over wandering souls to work, to weep, to wake
To bear the burdens of a world a-weary
So send I you to suffer for My sake
3 So send I you to loneliness and longing
With hart a-hungering for the loved and known
Forsaking kin and kindred, friend and dear one
So send I you to know My love alone
4 So send I you to leave your life's ambition
To die to dear desire, self-will resign
To labour long, and love where men revile you
So send I you to lsoe you life in Mine
5 So send I you to hearts made hard by hatred
To eyes made blind because they will not see
To spend, though it be blood to spend and spare not
So send I you to taste of Calvary
"As the Father hath sent me, so send I you"
SONG... So Send I You (same tune)
1963
The Return
by Margaret Clarkson
1 So send I you- by grace made strong to triumph
O’er hosts of hell, o’er darkness, death, and sin,
My name to bear, and in that name to conquer-
So send I you, My victory to win.
2 So send I you- to take to souls in bondage
The word of truth that sets the captive fee,
To break the bonds of sin, to loose death’s fetters-
So send I you, to bring the lost to Me.
3 So send I you- My strength to know in weakness,
My joy in grief, my perfect peace in pain,
To prove My power, My grace, My promised presence-
So send I you, eternal fruit to gain.
4 So Send I you – to bear My cross with patience,
And then one day with joy to lay it down
To hear My voice, “Well done, My faithful servant –
Come, share My throne, My Kingdom, and My crown!”
As the Father hath sent Me, so send I You.”
