Apostolic People: Send Me
May 7, 2005
Dear Friend of Mary Craig Ministries,
The Holy Spirit is sent and He sends. The Holy Spirit is sent by the
Father and the Son to teach, to empower, to guide into all truth, and to comfort. (John 14.26; 16.7, 8; Acts 2.4;
Gal. 4.6) He’s on a mission to "convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment." (John
16.8) He has a message to be carried to the nations (1 peter 1.12; Isaiah 48.16; Isaiah 61.1). The Holy Spirit,
the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of the Father, is apostolic.
This is why some are chosen vessels, like Paul and Barnabas and the Twelve.
They are separated to the gospel of God, to God Himself, appointed ambassadors, anointed, empowered and sent on
a mission with a message. They are sealed. They are witnesses unto Jesus unto the uttermost parts of the earth.
(Acts 1.8)
God is looking for apostolic people who hear His call and are willing
to go on His mission and carry His message to the nations. Apostolic
people connect with others, have a passion for what God is doing, and exude a vibrant joy and reverence in the
presence of God. They stay focused, steadfast, faithful, patiently enduring the trials of life as they fight the
good fight of faith. They are not easily distracted, love truth at all costs, care about Christ and His Body, give
wholehearted praise and worship to the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world, and draw people with the
light and life of Christ within them. Grace covers them with an attractiveness that is the beauty of holiness.
With boldness they preach and teach and evangelize with an anointing full of the dynamic life of the Holy Spirit.
They keep up with the Spirit today.
Apostolic people understand God’s good news and ardently want to herald
it around the world. They laud God’s grace and proclaim God’s mercy and goodness. They also know who they would
be without Jesus the Messiah in their lives.
Isaiah was just such a man. A prophet, he was aware that God’s people
had revolted against Him. They were weighed down with iniquity, and their sins and rebellion caused them to be
devoured and cursed, cut off from the Source of all life and blessing.
One day in the year that King Uzziah died, Isaiah saw the Lord sitting
on a throne, high and lifted up. He saw seraphim calling out one to another saying, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is
the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory." (Isaiah 6.3)
Sound wonderful? Isaiah said, "Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because
I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD
of hosts." (Isaiah 6.5)
Isaiah was undone. He was okay until He came into the presence of holiness
and saw the LORD. Then, he had no hope, except that one of the seraphim flew to him with a burning coal in his
hand taken from the altar with tongs. The seraph touched Isaiah’s mouth with it and said, "Behold, this has
touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin is forgiven." (Isaiah 6.6, 7)
Grace. Isaiah experienced God’s grace. He was cleansed and forgiven by
the grace of God. Behind the chaos of the day was a God of order, ruling over the affairs of the earth, a holy
God, just and true. Isaiah received the privilege of seeing beyond the visible world to the majesty of God seated
upon a throne. God was in charge and functioning in His role effectively. But to see God is also to see self. Isaiah
saw himself and knew that the guilt of his sin and iniquity would be his ruin. He needed to be cleansed and forgiven
by a holy God who ruled as Creator/Redeemer.
Grace. As grace moved in, Isaiah was free to serve. Grace touched his
heart, his life, his reason for living. With guilt removed, he wanted to serve. And so, at this point, he hears
the voice of the Lord, saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" (Isaiah 6.8)
He’s really listening in on a heavenly conversation. And like most of
us when we overhear something very interesting, he is compelled to interject his response.
"Here am I. Send me!" (Isaiah 6.8)
Okay. With this, God tells him, "Go, and tell this people…"
(Isaiah 6.9) and suddenly Isaiah becomes a man sent on a mission with a message. His was a message of judgment
to a stubborn and rebellious people, nonetheless, God’s covenant people chosen and loved by God. He also carried
the message of a coming Messiah, a message of grace.
Today we need to catch the vision of God’s Godness—His holiness, His justice,
His majesty, His love, His grace, His heart and soul. And we need to be witnesses, men and women on a mission for
Christ with a message to tell. It’s "Go and tell." It’s also "Show and tell."
Here on the home front, I’ve been teaching on spiritual gifts and callings.
Last week and this week we’ve been discussing the gift of apostle. I was struck by the fact that most of the attention
on apostles goes to Paul or to Peter or to John and then maybe to Judas and then to one or the other of those considered
more prominent among the list. For some reason, I was intrigued by James, son of Alphaeus.
James, son of Alphaeus, appears on all four NT apostolic lists. We have
no record of him saying anything, questioning anything, doing anything, going anywhere, etc. in the canon. He’s
obscure. Matthew the tax collector also had a father named Alphaeus, so maybe they were brothers or half brothers.
And some link James the Less or James the Younger in Mark 15.40 with this James. It would be like calling him "Junior"
or "little" or "small in stature" or "less influential." Alphaeus was a common name,
so that doesn’t help. And if this James was James the Less, then it’s possible that he was Jesus’ cousin (John
19.25; Mark 2.14; Mark 15.40). It’s all conjecture.
Traditions vary, too. One says he preached in Persia (ancient Iran); that
he took the Gospel there and the people refused to hear him preach. Another says he preached in Syria and Egypt,
and in one of these places he was crucified on a cross suffering a martyr’s death for Christ. Hippolytus identifies
that this James was stoned to death in Jerusalem: "And James the son of Alphaeus, when preaching in Jerusalem,
was stoned to death by the Jews, and was buried there beside the temple." Eusebius doesn’t mention James in
his Church History. He died a martyr’s death, but we’re not sure how he died.
Why does this apostle intrigue me? Because he’s like millions of believers
who never make the history books, live in obscurity, receive no earthly acclaim, and yet go quietly along being
faithful to the call of God on their lives.
This is what we can say about James the son of Alphaeus. Jesus attracted him. He wanted to follow
Jesus. He was willing to pay the price, to turn his back on his profession and lifestyle, his home, everything,
to make the ultimate sacrifice. He learned about Jesus. He took Jesus’ yoke and learned of Him.
This James passed a crucial time of separation. In John 6, everyone’s
enjoying the church picnic, as it were. They were all filled and loving the good feeling of the free food. They
failed to grasp the divine dimension of the day, the supernatural supply. They were more interested in the physical,
in satisfying their physical needs. So Jesus startles them to see who’s going for the real food.
Jesus starts talking about eating His flesh and drinking His blood. He’s
not advocating cannibalism here in John 6. He’s saying to move beyond the picnic to the Person, to Him. It’s not
enough to have physical needs met. The spiritual food is the real food. We need to take in all of Jesus, everything
He is, says, and does. All of Jesus satisfies the all of me.
Now many of the learners or disciples heard this and considered it hard,
a hard saying. The word is skleros
and means stiff, unbending. This saying is not just hard to understand. It’s offensive, unacceptable, uncompromising,
absolute, impossible to swallow. Only Jesus gives us life, and we have to take Him in, all of Him to have eternal
life. That’s "hard." And many of Jesus’ disciples withdrew and didn’t walk with Him anymore. (John 6.66)
What about the rest?
Peter speaks for the group. "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have
words of eternal life." (John 6.68) Our James was in that group that remained!
He committed. He didn’t bail. He didn’t bolt. He counted the cost, learned
his lessons, stuck it out, and paid the price to follow the Lamb wherever He goes.
This James should encourage us all. Jesus chooses all kinds of people.
He can take a worthless sinner like you and me, cleanse us, fill us with His Spirit, sanctify us and send us out
on missions with His message of the gospel of grace. What is Apollos and what is Paul? They’re just the messengers,
and so are we. We’re not the glorious ones, Jesus is. This James understood that and lived his life accordingly.
He honored, exalted, and remained loyal to Christ. His reward? He is one of the twelve apostles of the Lamb (Rev.
21.14) who will hear the Master’s "well done, good and faithful servant." He is a pillar of the Eternal
City. He also receives crowns.
Susan Smith and I leave on a mission trip to Eastern Europe June 24th. Do
you share our passion for souls? You can help by praying about
what the Holy Spirit might lead you to do in the areas of prayer and giving to the extension of the gospel. You
can designate your gift for "world missions."
Thank you for reaching out and touching lives.
Lives are being changed, transformed by God’s love. Together we are making a difference, one heart at a time, in
nation after nation.
Next month we go to Bulgaria and Romania.
Just the Messenger,
Mary Craig
P.S. In the area? Worship with us 4:30 p.m. Sundays, at Craighouse®, located in the Pompano Plaza
at 114 E. McNab Road, Pompano Beach, FL 33060. After the service, join Rev. Jim Craig to discuss the message or
have prayer with Dr. Mary Craig. Visit www.craighouse.org for a map and for more events.
Peace be unto you; as the Father has sent Me, so send
I you. (John 20.21)