The Sent Man by Apostle Michael Orokpo: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

Every Believer Is Created for Kingdom Advancement

There is a widespread assumption that kingdom advancement is only for the five-fold ministers — apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. But Ephesians 4:11-12 corrects this directly: the five-fold gifts are given "for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ." The job of the five-fold is to equip the saints for ministry — not to be the only ones in it. The reason it appears that only five-fold ministers go into missions is deficiency in the training and commissioning of ordinary believers.

Every believer in God's heart should be equipped, empowered, and sent. Man was created to know the Lord — John 17:3: "This is life eternal, that they may know thee, the only true God." In knowing God, a person is transfigured to become like him. Man was also created to worship and glorify God — Isaiah 43:21: "This people I have created that they may show forth my glory." And man was created to advance the kingdom.

Jesus taught us to pray: "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" — Matthew 6:10. His entire life characterized this prayer. Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:20 called himself an ambassador of Christ, establishing that all believers are to be equipped for the same work — Ephesians 4:12.

If a believer is not advancing the kingdom — regardless of age or accomplishment — their existence counts for nothing at the end. When they return to God, a life not given to his agenda will count for nothing, no matter how long it was. This is why it is critical that every believer wakes up to this reality.

In John 20:21, just before his departure, Jesus breathed upon his disciples and said: "As the Father hath sent me, even so send I you." The sent mandate was not reserved for the twelve — it was given to all who believed.

The Sent Man: What He Is

A sent man or woman is one who is:

• Chosen before the foundation of the world — Jeremiah 1:5: "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet." Kingdom service ordination predates existence. Romans 8:29-30 confirms: "Whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate... moreover whom he predestinated, them he also called." Your calling was concluded before you were created.
• Called in time — Mark 3:14: "He called them to be with him so that he might send them." The calling comes first. You cannot be sent without first being called.

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• Empowered and commissioned with authority — John 20:21: "As the Father hath sent me, even so send I you." Acts 13:2: "Separate unto me Paul and Barnabas for the work whereunto I have called them."
• Deployed to represent God's interest — a sent person is not on earth as a wanderer or a tourist. They are on earth as a person on mission, sent by God to establish his counsel on the face of the earth.

The Calling Must Come Before the Sending

God does not send whom he has not called. Without the calling, people end up sending themselves. The calling is where the disciplines of the Lord are found and applied.

Hebrews 12:6-8: "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons... but if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons."

Sons are sent people. God scourges every son he receives. Those who endure that process are those being shaped for deployment. The church is numerous — but sent people are few — because process has been violated.

Many have genuine callings but refuse the full course of the process accompanying them. When God brings a called person into a class of service — placing them under someone less gifted than they are — the temptation is to break out prematurely. Those who do end up going out with gifts but without formation. Appetites remain unchiseled. The result is ministry reduced to reproach. What should have been a global contribution ends up in obscurity.

Look at what happened to Peter when Jesus called him: "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Before the making came the following. There was an anger issue in Peter that had to be handled. The calling begins with being with him — and being chiseled by proximity.

Empowerment Is Necessary Before Sending

Luke 24:49: "Wait until ye be endued with power from on high." Acts 1:8: "Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me."

Speaking in tongues is not the same as carrying power. Power is different. As a person passes through the various classes of process — encounters with God, instruction, service, seasons of humbling, and grace — God opens gates of empowerment. Revelation that was once merely memorized suddenly becomes animated and real to the spirit. The person does not need to be taught the thing anymore; it is now known by experience.

Moses did not stand before Pharaoh hoping something would happen. He had been on the mountain. He had the encounter. He walked in the assurance of empowerment that came from that encounter. God will not send you naked. He waits until you are able to carry power, because he is your Father — he does not want you to become a casualty of war.

A Unique Strategy and a Specific Location

When God genuinely sends a person, he gives them a unique strategy. God gave Moses a rod with a specific function — it was not decorative. Carrying another person's strategy without receiving your own produces nothing, because it was never your assignment. John the Baptist was told: "He that sent me to baptize with water" — the baptism was not novelty, it was a specific strategy with a specific purpose: he was looking for the one upon whom the Spirit would descend.

John 1:33: "And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he." He had a strategy directly from the sender.

God also assigns a location. Acts 1:8: "Ye shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." The sent person starts where God places them — and finds their provision there. God told Elijah where to sit. As long as he remained there, ravens brought bread morning and evening. The provision follows the assignment and the location.

God additionally gives a mandate — a clear, specific assignment the person can articulate. It is not ambiguous. The mandate speaks of the message, and the message produces specific, consistent fruit.

Character Requirements Before Sending

Before God sends, he looks for specific character qualities:

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• Faithfulness — Luke 16:10 and 12: "He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much... if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?" Faithfulness in another person's work qualifies you for your own.
• Brokenness — arrogance that refuses instruction disqualifies. When God does not see character, he cannot put his credibility on someone or model them to a generation. Many gifted people finish in obscurity because character was never formed.
• Genuine love for God and for people — John 21:15-17: before commissioning Peter to feed his sheep, Jesus asked three times: "Lovest thou me?" Love for God and for people is the qualifying heart condition for deployment.

What God Expects from the Sent

• Accuracy in delivery — 1 Peter 4:11: "If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God." A sent person delivers with precision. They do not go out to apologize for what they carry. God's dignity is invested in them. Daniel was ten times better than his peers — not to impress, but because an excellent spirit rested on him. Isaiah 60:15: "I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations."
• Absolute obedience to the assignment — loyalty is first to the call, not to comfort or salary. Daniel refused to bow to the king's image even at the cost of his favor, because compromise destroys authority. Romans 15:4: the patterns of scripture were written for our learning — the dogged loyalty of sent men to their assignments is one of those patterns.
• Christlikeness — 2 Corinthians 5:20: "We are ambassadors for Christ." 1 Corinthians 11:1: "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ." When God looks down, he is expecting to see Christ-likeness in the sent person. They model the sender.
• Fruitfulness — God expects impact. Not necessarily in volume, but in qualitative mark-making that outlasts the person. Do not be lost in any crowd — among doctors, academics, apostles. Make your mark. Leave something generations will still draw from.
• Endurance — John Mark abandoned Paul's team the moment opposition came. When asked to bring him again, Paul refused: anyone who cannot endure cannot be sent. 2 Timothy 2:3-4: "Endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier."
• Signs and wonders — Mark 16:17: "These signs shall follow them that believe." Signs and wonders are not reserved for prophets. Every believer who goes out is expected to demonstrate authority. The sent person does not call for the pastor when there is a demon to cast out or a sick person to pray for. They act on the authority they carry.

The Fields of Mission

Every believer has a mission field:

• Marketplace missions — centered on one's area of expertise. A doctor in a hospital is an apostle to the medical world. A lecturer is a missionary to academia. A blogger is a missionary to media. Daniel 2:48 shows Daniel fulfilling his assignment inside the Babylonian government structure — wherever you go daily is your platform.
• Systemic missions — the structures that form civilization: governments, boardrooms, systems of influence. God may place a believer there — as an administrator, a billionaire, a butler — to make kingdom impact from within.
• People group missions — your family is a mission field. Your friends, your community. Paul was sent to the Gentiles — Acts 8:5 shows Philip going to Samaria as an ordinary believer (a deacon, not an apostle), preaching Christ, and the city was filled with joy.
• City missions — those with capacity to shut down a city for the gospel. Jonah 3:2: Jonah was sent to Nineveh.
• Nations — Jeremiah 1:5-7: "I have set thee over nations and over kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant."
• The church — for those called into the five-fold. Ephesians 4:11-17.

The Blessings of the Sent

• Divine presence and backing — Mark 16:20: "And the Lord working with them." Matthew 28:20: "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." Being sent guarantees divine presence. When God is with you, who can be against you.
• Authority — Luke 10:19: "Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy." When sent, authority is carried — not borrowed. Words release things. When spoken in the right context, things happen.
• Provision — Matthew 6:33: "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." The moment you throw yourself into God's errand, you become God's responsibility. Provision flows from directions you did not arrange.
• Fulfillment — at the close of life, the sent person knows their time was not wasted. They can say with Paul: "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course" — 1 Timothy 4:7-8. Nations impacted. Souls transformed. Nothing fulfills more than a life deployed for God's purposes.