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Here - In Christ's Place

by Pastor Thomas Schaller
May 13, 2009
Unedited

Are we here in Jesus' place?

2 Cor. 5:20 - now then we are ambassadors of Christ...we pray you in

Christ stead (or place); that's how Paul prayed. We talk to you in
God's place.

Isn't it amazing, when we assemble together, that we are here, on the

earth in the place of Christ. There are so many similarities to us and
Christ. We are here in his place. He is gone. He ascended to heaven,
seated at Fathers right hand. The father sent the HS into the world
into us, that Christ would dwell in our hearts and we would be here in
his place. There is tremendous authority on the earth through
believers. We have delegated authority in this world, to help, teach,
comfort, evangelize, heal, disciple, impart wisdom, manifest love, and
divine order, with design, in a plan where you are given talents.

In the parable of the talents...some have 5 some have 10. How many?
5..some have 2...some have 1. If you have 5 talents raise your hand.
Let's speak to you from the Word here.

2 Cor. 5:14 - for the love of Christ constrains us. Let's go back to
Luke. Turn back for a more historical reference. This is Luke 10:1.
After these things, the Lord appointed 70 others also. He sent them
two by two...into every place where He would come.

When God sends you out, He will come after you. He sent the 70 out,
and He would come to those places later. We are in here in His place.

vs 2 - the harvest truly is great. I don't think there is a missionary in

the world that could say, this world is covered. The harvest is great.
There is gt. need anywhere. Chicago...Pastor Harry; John and Lori...P.
Drew. Pastor Allen going to Lincoln Nebraska. Down in Chile, Pastor
Duane left tonight. In Argentine, My son called with Pastor Drew.
Pastor Scibelli in Africa. Ladies have come from Zambia...

The harvest is plenteous. The laborers are few. We have graduation

this month. Think about it. I love it. Sunday night, we put our hands
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on them, and God is sending them back to home countries and diff.
places, and some to stay here in Baltimore.

How many have passion for ministry? How many have 5...2...or 1
talent? In this parable, the one who had one buried it. That is common
in life.

vs 2 - pray the Lord of the harvest will send forth laborer's into his
harvest. That's His request for us, to pray. We've seen prayer happen
and God send laborer's. Prayer is effectual. 20 years ago, they are felt
today. We pray. Go your ways.

vs 3 - I send you as Lamb's among wolves. Thanks for the warning

Lord. You are very kind to us. You are sending us forth unto the
wolves? Yes. Many who live in unbelief. You will labor in the word, in
discipleship, in love, in good works, and I will be with you. You will be
like Lambs in the midst of wolves. I will be with you. I'm praying that
God will give me passion for the lost. I'm thinking about it daily. Our
graduation means a lot to me. We trained them to be laborer's. In our
church, we learn to be laborer's.

vs 4 - carry neither scrip..or purse. Whatever house you enter, say

peace to this house.

How do you go soul winning? You meet someone you don't know. The
best type of person to meet is someone totally opposite you. You are
old, meet a young person. You are rich, meet a poor person. You are a
man, meet a woman. Jesus was Jewish. He was a man, a Rabbi. She
had a diff. religion. They met at a common point: Give me some
water. You know what water is. Give me a Coca Cola.

I met some guys at the mall with tattoo’s...they could care less about
me. I said, Can I talk to you about your tattoos. They pulled up their
sleeves.

Listen to me! Its happening here in our hearts. We are becoming more
and more very genuine people. That is a gt. asset in ministry. When
we are genuine and in our heart, in our blood is flowing something that
JC put in us. That is that we actually care. We are thinking daily about
what we are doing on earth, in the highest sense of meaning.

When Jesus sent the 70 out, he said, I'm coming. The same is said
today. You go to college park, Loyola...Black and Decker, court house,
prison house, Jesus says, I'm coming behind you. Pray that the Lord
will send laborers into the harvest. God cares about people. He is
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speaking to them.

Our ammunition, our stuff, our mind, our heart, our ministry, our
efforts, are what we have to give, is simply what we carry in our
hearts. Its precious seed, Psalm 126. In our church, I feel this, with
every portion, the ministry of the HS, the Lord put this in our hearts.
Its this: Yea! I know the water. Can you give me water? Jesus said, let
me tell you something about your life. She is interested. The
heightened interest with two people, we can say, hey, do you know
that church down the road. They have a great Sunday school. Do you
have a lonely heart? There are loving people there. God wants to talk
to you. Jesus came so you can be a new creature, you can have a new
identity.

What am I saying? Lord, I know this church is growing. The ministry is

amazing. But, Lord put in me more deep than ever, that people of the
world, you have ordained for us to be here in Christ's stead. WE are
here with poised quietness, long patience, fervent prayer. WE are here
in the night. WE, in our prayers at night and mornings, we are here in
Christ's stead.

The thing about the parable of the talents, the guy with the one talent,
gets discouraged. He's even afraid of losing it. He buries it. The other
guys, they took a risk with 5, with the 2. The guy with one should
have taken a risk too. This is the heart of ministry. We all took a risk
when we became a believer. After we found grace and mercy, we said,
Ok! Lets go! Then, we came back to church, and again and again.
THen other decisions were made. These are the laborer's that Jesus
asked us to pray for. The fields are ripe, they are great for harvest.
Really, great for harvest.

Whatever city you go in, vs 8, they receive you, eat what they set
before you...heal the sick, and say to them, the KOG came to you.

A story in Mass. years ago, I knocked on a door. Inside the house

there was a man laying on the floor with the TV control and holding his
eye. I spoke to the woman a little bit. I said, are the children coming
tomorrow? She said, Yes. I said, what's wrong with him? Can I pray
for his eye? I asked God to heal his eye in Jesus name, and I went out
the door.

The next morning, I was preaching there, that man was in the back
row. He was putting his hands over his eyes, back and forth, through
the msg. He came to show me. After the msg, they came up, and his
wife said, He is healed. Isn't that a great story.
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Jesus said, Heal the sick. Wherever you go, go into the highways and
byways. If they don't receive you, wipe the dust off your feet.

vs 6 - he that hears you, pastor, misses, hearth me. Jesus, you can't
be serious. Jesus said, yup! In case you didn't hear me, read it, its in
your Bible, He that hears you, hears me. Wow! You mean, we are here
in Jesus place. We have something from God. WE have an identity that
isn't us...

You mean we are here for people that are hurting? Yes. They are
sheep without a shepherd. I've sent you into this world. Don't bury
your talent. When you have one talent, we say, leave me alone. I have
one talent. No one is going to take it. Leave it alone. Jesus is saying,
come on.

When is the last time you shared your faith. Not like going to someone
and go up being afraid, and start quoting Bible verses, and nervous
and scare the person. I'm talking about us, when we say, do you have
some water. What’s the football score? What's going on in the
economy? What's your family like? What's going on in your life? How's
your life?

When Jesus spoke to the woman at the well, she was fascinated that
He spoke with her. He got her attention. He cared about her. You had
5 husbands. The man you are now with is not your husband. Let me
tell you, there is a day coming, when they that worship God, worship
in Spirit and truth.

Have you ever had a conversation where that person is totally in

awe...they've never met anyone like you? Get ready! Its the most
awesome and exciting thing about ministry. God gives us divine
appt's. We stand there in the presence of God. God spoke to that
person. They are deeply affected by what you said and who you are.
We pray for that.

I'm praying: this summer, our people, you and I, in this city, we love
Maryland. God is here. He sent us. I pray that this summer will be
amazing summer for people to be touched by God. We’ll take our
talents and invest them. At the end of the summer, the year, the
decade, we'll say, wow, I've got 10..11...they are multiplying my way.
I've never thought I could be so edified...and have so many friends. I
never realized church life is a huge family. Jesus really did put his
hand on these 70. When they came back, they said, the demons
flee...the dead are raised. What is happening? This is amazing!
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Jesus said, don't rejoice in that, but rejoice that your name is in
heaven. Don't rejoice that a demon fled. Praise God. But, go to the
invisible realization that your name is in the book. Every laborer must
shift from the visible to the invisible. What we are doing is not bec. of
what we see, but bec. of what we believe. We believe there is a
heaven. Christ is risen. There is victory. There is something in our
hearts saying: This is the most imp. thing of life; the GREAT
COMMISSION. All the words we can say in Christ’s sted...all the
prayers we can pray in Christ's sted...all that can happen in Christ's
sted.

vs 16 - he that despises you despises me. I saw Satan fall from

heaven, vs 18. I give you power to tread over all the power of the
enemy.

WE have an enemy. Do we know he has power. WE have power to

tread upon him. In a Hindu country...Buddhist, communist, in S
America, there is a power. Jesus gives us power to tread over the
enemy.

Listen: the enemy is strong, but if you bind him, you take out of his
house, all his gold...all his documents...are taken out of his house.
Jesus said this. The devil, we have power over him. He doesn't want
us to know we have it. He doesn't want us to speak about the Bible.
He doesn't want us to know the BIG issue in life is people.

The crown of rejoicing is a HAPPY Church. Its happy bec. we have

rejoicing in our heart. The deep level is that peace in our hearts. Its
there where we grapple with real issues.

We say, Lord God, sin isn't good. I want to follow you. Every woman,
get behind your godly man. That's my man. The wife says, That's my
man. He's my man. He's my man. I like it. Its true! A woman gets
behind her man in her heart. What is God's heart. God gave you that
man to help him, in your love, kindness, godliness, you are to support
and help him. He is following God in the great commission and the
church. The mark of our assembly is to be here in Christ’s stead, find
those in great need, meet them one by one. You never know where or
who they are. This is where we are...

We don't bury the talent. WE use and invest it. I think of these young
people getting on airplanes, going home with something in their hearts
that God gave them. Its not for sale. Jesus made us laborer's.
Wherever we go, we guard our heart. We love the Bible. We continue
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in the faith, the Word. Its possible all our lives to be laborer's in Jesus
stead. We are here in Christ's stead.

Lets close in 2 Cor. 5 -- vs 16 - wherefore, know we no man after the

flesh. We don't have the time...we don't know Christ after the flesh or
ea. other that way. WE don't have fleshly conversations with people.

I remember, years of knowing pastor stevens. Someone asked me,

have you ever had a personal conversation with Pastor Stevens? I
said, I don't know. I knew him by being with him around people.
That's why we make so much progress in the KOG. Its like, how well
do we know. Maybe we could know one...but actually, how many of us
know Jesus? How tall was he? What was the color of his eyes? WE
don't care. The BIG thing is: His nature is love. Its been shed in our
hearts. This is how we know one another. Not after the flesh: I like
bowling...or fishing...we don't know. We know this: we have one talent
and we are using it and find God. We have 2 talents and are finding
God.

vs 17 - if any man is in Christ, He's a new creation. That's what we

have. Do you realize this? That's our theme. Our fellowship is in Christ.
This is how we know ea. other. This is the fuel, the energy of God. The
Spirit of God, its the energy, the nature and power among us, its His
love.

vs 18 - All things are of God.

vs 20 - we are ambassadors of Christ. We have a ministry of
reconciliation.

NOw, as people come here for convention. In the months ahead, I

think, God is doing deep and gt. works in people. I know it. I believe
it. I've seen it.

One Hungarian brother got a call to put a carpet somewhere. He found

out the address was in Washington. Its a bus and give them a price.
He had one disappointment after another. The man was a famous
man...The Hungarian said, I'm a Christian. This man followed him in
the rain and said, what is that. This man said, I've been thinking about
heaven and hell. I asked God to do something. He sent you. This man
said, I want to become a Christian. He said, are you sure about that?
He said, yes! They prayed right there.

I believe there are demons in this world, against us. There are lies.
There is carnality in the world system. I believe we are resisted by the
enemy. But, also, we know Christ. WE are here in his place. He sends
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us. WE have power to pray, to heal, preach, forgive, love, sit in prison
somewhere, for some of our brothers and sisters, that's exactly where
they are. Jesus put us here. It doesn’t matter how many talents you
have, but are you using what you have? It may sound crazy! But, how
many of you got saved bec. someone told you about Jesus Christ?
People have become believers because we were trained and went by
faith. They got saved.

One more story. One of our people was in an Islamic country. This
man accepted Christ. He went home and told him mom. She cried all
day. She cried the next day. She said, you can't be a Christian. He had
to leave town for 6 months. He said, Mom, its true. You know what? In
that city, there's a huge number, on the border of Afghanistan, there
is 80 people there in that fellowship.

Jesus said, we are his people and there is something great going on
here. Its in our heart and mind. WE believe it and walk in it. Its very
imp. People are on the edge of heaven and hell. WE are here. I don't
know what's going on. I have one talent. Let me use it.

The Lord says, Ok! Risk it. Years later, we say...wow...wow...that's

amazing. That's what's happening bec. we are here in His place. Would
you pray with me?