Set Aside For…

Morning!

Raises his cup of coffee

It is April 11th of 2025.  It is another cool, cloudy morning this morning with a high of 52 forecast.  Looks like there is a chance of rain this afternoon so don’t forget your umbrellas.

Jesus is risen.  Easter is coming up, and in case you didn’t know, that’s the day where Christians remember and rejoice that Jesus is risen from the dead.  Now, my instinct is to stop here for the day.  To stop and consider this— Jesus is risen from the dead.  It is not just a saying.  It is not just a metaphor.  It is plain as day.  Our Lord and Savior, Jesus, whom we follow, is alive.  He is God.

Our Lord was persecuted— Beaten, His skin torn by whips, forced to carry His own cross through the streets of men who mocked Him, Then raised up on that same cross and crucified.  And all of it—without cause.  And all of it—for us.  He took our place so that we could live forever with Him.

With His death, He descended to the lowest parts of hell and took back the keys of death.  And then—He rose.  He ascended to take His place at the Right Hand of God.  The cross was the reason He came to earth to begin with.  It was the Work He was set aside to do.  But the cross— The cross is just the beginning of the story.

Let’s turn to Matthew…

Matthew 28: 1-7

“Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.  And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it.  His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow.  And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.  But the angel answered and said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.  He is not here; for He is risen, as He said.  Come, see the place where the Lord lay.  And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him.  Behold, I have told you.’”

Jesus was crucified, died on the cross, buried in a stranger’s tomb.  Then, several days later, it wasn’t His disciples who came to the tomb looking for Him.  It was Mary Magdalene and the other Mary.  Now, there’s all kinds of cultural and spiritual significance in the fact that women were the first to know—and I’ve heard that preached many times. I encourage you to look into it if you never have. But that’s not where we’re going today.  The women encountered something unexpected— An angel.  This angel rolled back the stone, not for Jesus to get out, but for the women to see in— To see where the Lord had been.  And then something extraordinary happens.  The angel delivers the good news.  Jesus is risen.  But that’s not all.  The angel doesn’t just proclaim the Gospel— He gives the women a task.  He gives them a purpose.  They are to go.  They are to tell.  They are to deliver the good news to the disciples.   The first evangelists were Mary Magdalene and the other Mary.

The two women encountered the Truth that Jesus is risen and they were given a purpose.  To minister to the disciples, to deliver to them the good news that Jesus is risen indeed.

Our story continues…

Matthew 28: 8-10

“So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word.  And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, ‘Rejoice!’  So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him.  Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid.  Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.’”

Rejoicing, the women obeyed the call to deliver the Gospel.  Then Jesus reveals Himself to them.  Meanwhile…

Matthew 28: 11-15

“Now while they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened.  When they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, saying, ‘Tell them, ‘His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept.’  And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will appease him and make you secure.’  So they took the money and did as they were instructed; and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.”

The moment the Gospel began to work and be spread is the moment the lies to suppress it began to work.  No rest for the wicked.  Our story continues…

Matthew 28: 16- 20

“Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them.  When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.  And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.  Amen.”

The disciples were called and separated by Jesus and taken to a mountaintop—just like Moses.  The Gospel was confirmed by Jesus revealing Himself, but some still doubted.  The Great Commission.  The purpose given to Jesus’ disciples.  We are to set ourselves apart from the world.  We are to ready ourselves for sanctification.  And then, after having been prepared by Jesus, we are to go forth and make disciples of all nations.  It’s a huge commission.  The commission of the Church.  Our ministry.

It’s what we’re supposed to be doing, our purpose.  Delivering the good news that Jesus is risen from the dead and then we are to be teaching others how to know Him.  It is modeled here in our text.

So how are we doing with that?

Paul teaches…

Ephesians 4: 1-16

“I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with long-suffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.  There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.  But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.  Therefore He says: When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.’  (Now this, ‘He ascended’ - what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth?  He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)  And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head- Christ- from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”

So we come to the question of the day.

What is our ministry?  To deliver the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ— That Jesus is risen from the dead, and died for our sins,

That whosoever believes in Him will have everlasting life.  And—

To equip the Church to deliver this message.  The edification of the Church.  Now, that’s a fancy word.  Here’s what it means.

Edify: (verb)

- To instruct and improve especially in moral and religious knowledge: Uplift

So how are we doing with that?

We are to set ourselves apart from all filthiness—from sin.  We are to put aside all malice, all evil talking.  We are not to fashion ourselves according to what we once wanted, because we have been given a new purpose—

A purpose that has been given to us by the risen Jesus Himself.  And that purpose is what?  To go forth and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Are we ready to do that?

Do we have a Bible?

We have what we need.

Psalm 119: 137-144

“Righteous are You, O LORD, and upright are Your judgments.  Your testimonies, which you have commanded, are righteous and very faithful.  My zeal has consumed me, because my enemies have forgotten Your Words.  Your Word is very pure; therefore Your servant loves it.  I am small and despised, yet I do not forget Your precepts.  Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and Your law is truth.  Trouble and anguish have overtaken me, yet Your commandments are my delights.  The righteousness of Your testimonies is everlasting; give me understanding and I shall live.”

Paul teaches us that we are to be gentle teachers— That we are to be long-suffering teachers.  Disciples who bear with one another in love.  We have a new purpose in Jesus.  Is what we are doing lining up with that?

How are we doing with knowing our Gospel message?  Jesus died—crucified on the cross—the Son of God, the sacrifice for the sins of all men,

That whosoever believes in Him and His resurrection will have everlasting life.  That’s the basic way I’ve prepared my one-liner Gospel.  It took me some time to get comfortable with it.  I had to practice what I was saying at first—mainly because I didn’t want to get my theology wrong.  But the theology of the Gospel is hardly what’s important when delivering the Gospel to someone who doesn’t know it—or needs to hear it.  I say that because people who haven’t heard the Gospel, or who need to hear it, generally won’t understand too much theology at first.  It’s important to know and understand, don’t get me wrong— It’s just not necessarily important in delivering the Gospel itself.  The corresponding text I use—as you hear at the end of the show—is John 3:16.  Because always remember:

Knowing the message with confidence is the first step to delivering the message.

Practice.  Practice.  Practice.

We spend time on that which is important to us.  But our time—as we’ve been discussing—is holy.  It is to be set apart for God.  How much time have we devoted to our Gospel delivery so far this week?  We’ve got a weekend coming up.  How much time will we be devoting to the Gospel this week?  It’s a good question for us to be asking ourselves, especially with Easter right around the corner.

Paul continues…

Ephesians 4: 17-24

“This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.  But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.”

So, what is our ministry?  What is our purpose given by Jesus?  To deliver the Gospel.  Right where we are.  To those who are around us right now.  We are to do that with wisdom and with gentleness.  We are to deliver the Gospel— And we are to help the other saints do the same.

Have you given some thought or prayers to what that looks like for you?

I think that’s a good place to start today.