And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two, and gave them power over unclean spirits, and commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only, no scrip, no bread, no money in their purse: but be shod with sandals, and not put on two coats. [Mark 6:7-9 KJV]

From the scriptures above, what sufficiently do you need to be a disciple on divine duty, and effectively minister the good news unto men?

A. “…and gave them power over unclean spirits” (vs.7) The first need, is the power from on High. This power must be GIVEN unto you by Jesus Himself. Bible says “He GAVE THEM POWER…” No man is born with this power naturally. It is not muscular power or human power or the power of wisdom. You do not have it, and you cannot purchase it from anywhere. Except God gives it to you, you do NOT have it.
B. “…[Jesus] commanded them that they should take nothing…[except] a staff only…” (vs. 8). The second necessity for any disciple of Jesus is clearly stated here. It is the Staff. Each disciple MUST CARRY HIS OWN. It is expected that each disciple must possess a copy of this staff. Even though the power of the Spirit is GIVEN to you, you are expected to OWN a staff by yourself. No one will give this to you. You must personally possess and take the staff with you. This staff is the Bible, the word of God. It is the staff that will show you the way to go. It will direct you and guide you.

For anyone who wants to engage in the work of the Spirit, the only tool or equipment to do this work is the power of the Holy Ghost, just as every occupation has its distinct equipment for its execution.

Think about it, as the carpenter uses his carpentry tools to work (e.g. hammer, file, nails, saw), so also do doctors have their tools different from that of the carpenter (e.g. needle, stethoscope and syringe). The sewing mistress has her separate tools (e.g. sewing machine, needle and scissors), while the farmer also has his distinct tools (e.g. hoe, cutlass, tractor). No matter how skilled you are in the job you do, you cannot achieve anything except you use the right tools.
No man can use the tools of a profession to execute a job in a different profession just because he is good at what he does. For example, no matter how skillful a doctor is, you cannot expect him to bring his expertise to your farm. He cannot say, “Since I am an expert in surgery, do not worry I will come with my medical tools to help you work in your farm”. No matter how energetic he is, because he is coming with the wrong tools, he will sweat and drain all his strength in that farm, yet, nothing will ever be achieved. Even though you are well skilled in using surgical needles, you cannot weed grass with it.

For the work of the Spirit to be done, the only effective equipment to use, is the power of the Holy Ghost. When you get the Holy Ghost, spiritual work will move on smoothly. But when you lack this, you will continue in the drudgery of a useless work that will never yield any good.

However, the power of the Holy Spirit does not work in isolation, it works pari passu with the STAFF of the disciple. As Jesus gave His disciples power over unclean spirits, He quickly commanded them to carry their staff along. Since the power of the Holy Spirit is to be GIVEN UNTO YOU by Jesus, you will need to wait for it until it comes on you. But for your staff, you must deliberately take that along. You will not wait for heaven to give you a staff (the Bible) like you would wait for “power” to come, no, you take it. God expects me to sit with my Bible in quiet meditation to receive grace and revelation. I must equally wait on Him to release the power without which my staff will be weak in my hands.

NECESSITY OF THE
WORD AND THE SPIRIT.
The word of God is hammer that can break the rocks into pieces (Jeremiah 23:29), but strength and power is needed by the man who will carry that hammer before it can be effective. The hammer in the hand of a baby is as good as useless. Even though the hammer can break the rocks, and it is very powerful in itself, yet the hammer in the hand of a little child can do no damage at all, in fact, it will pose threat to his very life since the weight thereof is bigger than he can possibly carry.

The word of God, the staff of the believers is a two-edged sword that pierces to the dividing asunder of souls and spirit. It pierces deeply, cuts and slays men by its double edges. But as potent as this sword is, it is ineffective in the hands of the one who is unskilled. The depth of penetration of the sword of the Spirit largely depends on the strength of the man who handles the sword. The sword in the hands of a powerless man is extremely weak. This weakness is not in the sword, it is in the man. The reason why Jesus first of all gave His disciples power before He sent them forth with their staffs therefore, was to give effectiveness to the word of God that they carried. It is necessary that every believer must tarry before the Lord to receive power before his sword can be effective in his hand. The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God is great, but it is weak in the hands of the man who lacks the power of the Holy Ghost.

These two, The WORD OF GOD and THE HOLY GHOST POWER, are the two essentials of a disciple. Apart from these, you are not required to take any additional thing with you as a necessity. Whatever you add to these, will become a heavy burden that will eventually weigh you down.

"Do not think you need a lot of extra equipment for this. You are the equipment. No special appeals for funds. Keep it simple.” [Mark 6:8-9 MSG]

For Gods works, the real equipment or vessel for the work is not gadgets or money, Bible here says, "You” are the equipment...

As Jesus called the twelve and sent them forth two and two just as He is sending you and I forth today, all we need is the Bible, the divine oracle that guides, directs, and reveals God. The Second accompaniment is the divine breadth of Gods power. Without these, you can do nothing. Without the power of the Holy Ghost, your preaching and teaching will be mere noise making.

"…and commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only, no scrip, no bread, no money in their purse...” [Mark 6:8-9]

On the journey that God sends His disciples to undertake on His behalf, it is not for them to go and live a life of comfort, but instead, to go and be His Ambassador. Jesus mentioned some unwanted extra luggage that must be discarded:

1. NO SCRIP:

What is scrip? Other translations call it “wallet for a collection bag” (AMPC), “knapsack” (TLB), “travelers bag” (NLT), “bag”, “beggars bag”… In other words, Jesus is insisting very clearly that for His disciples on Kingdom service duty, they must not take along with them any manner of special bags for the solicitation for funds. All manner of soliciting or begging for financial assistance or compelling men to give by force, is NOT a part of the essential needs of Gods worker on duty. The Holy Ghost and the Word are sufficient.
It is not that money would not be used in Gods work, but money must never become a prerequisite before Gods work can be done. The sustenance of the “Spiritual ministry” unto which you are called, is not in the tithes and offerings. Cash and finance may keep the religious organization functional, but it does not in any way move forward the actual work of God. Anything that it is money that can do it, take note that such is NOT the work. Money cannot do the REAL WORK because the REAL WORK is spiritual. Whatever money did is only ancillary. Money may be good and helpful, but unless the Spirit of God has worked, vain is all the other things that money did for you.

You can grow the earthly church with offerings, but never the spiritual church. You can grow number, and get men comfortable and excited in the things of the flesh, you can even compel men to keep coming to your assembly by the grandeur that money executed for you, but all that never translates unto Kingdom growth. God wants a spiritual work to be done in human lives, and IT IS ONLY THE HOLY GHOST THAT CAN ACHIEVE SUCH. The work of God is a spiritual work, money cannot do it.

The focus of the early church was purely on the Spiritual, and that was when the work of the Lord really progressed. When there was no money, it did not stop God from working. Money may help with the administration and logistics of ministry, but administration and logistics IS NOT the work. The work is “that Christ may be formed within the hearts of men, so that Christ Kingdom may grow on earth”.

Today, many have lost focus, thinking that money is the key, but NO! the Holy Ghost is the Key. In Jesus ministry, when it was expedient for the multitudes to eat lest they faint in the way, though they needed money to feed the multitudes, they were not going about with offering bags or envelopes for donations. God alone was sufficient to do His works, and this He did miraculously with plenty left-overs. It is because many have neglected God that the focus has shifted to money, hence, they go around with scrips and money bags. Even though money seems to solve many visible problems, but it is an alternative that has created greater problems and blocked God.

Money has never been the first things God releases unto any of His servants whom He called. Jesus always gave men power of the Holy Ghost to do His work. It is not by power (of the flesh or the strength in human arms) it is not by might, but by the Spirit of the Lord.

EXAMPLE OF MARY
"Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." [Luke 1:34-35]

Something was so impossible for Mary to do, and she asked “How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?” Mary saw the impossibility of doing what only God could do. Money, knowledge, ability, strength, medical interventions and all the ideas of men could do nothing in this matter, because it was “the work of God”. The instructive answer of the Angel is the clear answer of the mind of God to everyone who wants to work the works of God. The angel said to her: “The Holy Ghost SHALL...therefore also, THAT HOLY THING...shall be... GOD."

When the Holy Spirit has worked, and the power of the Highest (which is still symbolic of the Holy Spirit) has overshadowed you, the ONLY clear result of His divine work is TO REVEAL GOD. Bible says "therefore (because of the working of the Holy Ghost), that holy thing which shall be born of thee SHALL BE called ... GOD". This connotes that when the Holy Spirit has worked, His outcome will be "God" and Godliness. Whatever the Holy Spirit does, the result thereof will simply be "the revelation of God". When the Holy Ghost works, His outcome cannot be compared with the normal, human results. Money may be used to execute some things, but the product of money can never be heavenly, but earthly.

When the Holy Ghost works (NOT money or human ideologies), His results are beautiful, heavenliness ensues, something not available on earth results. There is a divine beauty, a note of the divine attributes and nature of God that comes forth. If men on the streets and in the churches have not conformed to the divine nature, it is not that the men are stubborn rather, it is because God has not found a man through whom His Holy Ghost can work seamlessly to produce a supernatural result. Except the Holy Ghost has worked in you, no matter how much millions of Dollars are used, you cannot, like Mary, have the holy thing called the Son of God born of thee. Nothing godly can be done on earth except the Holy Ghost has worked. Whatever revelation of supernatural occurrence we are longing for, it CANNOT happen except the Holy Ghost has worked. Inasmuch as we can do some things by several other means and we are not passionate for ONLY the things that the Holy Spirit MUST do, we can never have a lasting spiritual result.

Of course, we will use money in the church, but whatever money does, is only ancillary and additional, they are never the core of divine works which the Holy Ghost alone must do. Money cannot save souls, it will take the convicting power of the Holy Ghost through the instrumentality of Gods word to bring any man on his knees of surrender.

If believers are growing more and more worldly and materialistic, and there is no passion for souls, for God and for heaven, if when 2 brothers meet, their discussions are more about shares, economy, politics, investments and life in this world, without a hunger for God and heaven, it is an indication that money has been working, money has been in charge, the HOLY GHOST has been cleanly edged out. Our operations and activities may resemble that of the Holy Ghost at work, but the results cannot resemble the spiritual beauties that radiate if it was the Holy Ghost that worked.

2. NO BREAD:
Jesus is trying to paint it very clearly to every of His children that your sustenance is not in your pocket or in what you can do. God is your sustenance. Trust in God is necessary and paramount as a disciple. Many terrible things are being devised today (especially by the clergy) in the name of sustenance. The glorious word of life is being twisted to give space for “bread” for men at the altar. Much infiltrations and adjustments are being added and inferred from scriptures to compel continuous provisions of bread for men at the altar.

We have imported “the prophets offering” as an official part of service, in the quest that men of God should always have bread. We take advantage of the weak by imposing on them: “thou shall not see the man of God empty handed”. Counseling fees are charged before you can see the man of God. Money bags and envelopes are used as gate pass to receiving breakthroughs. Prayers are offered for money, handkerchiefs are sold for money, anointing oil is sold in exchange for cash. All kinds and sizes of offerings are demanded just to keep the church running. The provision of bread has been hijacked from God and it is like men have taken over that aspect.

God does not need to bother again on provisions, since we know how to make it by ourselves now, a covetousness that has beset the clergy. BUT Jesus is saying: “take no bread with you”. Jesus is saying, “do not worry about what you will eat, I will take care of it. You go and concentrate on the preaching of the gospel, I Jesus would make sure that the aspect of sustenance for you will never fail”.

If man were to be in charge of bread, man will fumble since he does not know those who are clean and worthy to provide bread for the sanctuary. Human eyes cannot discern the hidden devices of men hearts, that is why God who sees into the secrets would want to handle this by Himself. Therefore, let Him.

3. NO MONEY:
Is this a repetition? Is there not a resemblance between “No scrip” and “No money”? These three issues that Jesus is dealing with are closely linked, the bag, the bread and the money. It shows that this is mainly the worries of those whom God calls into His service. The major headache is about money, bread and sustenance. Lots of people do not want to appear to suffer before the eyes of men, especially those who discouraged them from answering the call of God into His service. So you find them scheming just to make sure they are comfortable while serving God.
When the Master says “No money”, it is not a repetition of “No scrip”. Those addressed here are not the people soliciting for money through offering bags (the solicitors for money are those with the scrip). These are those who have created other carnal means of getting money. Still Jesus says, “you do not need to be your financier despite how rich you may be, your trust must still be in God”.

There are those just to sustain themselves and their ministries, never trust in God. They will engage in some businesses to make money to fund the work. Some will write books, even spiritual books, but the aim of those books is not for souls to be blessed, it is so that they will sell much and make gains to help themselves and not suffer in the work. The motives behind their works, is money, not souls. They become businessmen. They will raise up all kinds of merchandise and boast that “at least, I am not usurping anybody, I am only using my energy and skills to help myself”. Because these men trusts are not in God but in what they can do to help God, the spiritual energies they should commit to divine assignments get dissipated in business and merchandise. They operate in the flesh thinking they will achieve spiritual results. They begin in the flesh, hoping to end in the spirit. Instead of passion for God and for souls, they would be cumbered with vigils of prayers for business boom.

What you have, should not be what you depend and trust in. You must release your all for God and never put your trust in them. Jesus therefore is saying, “do not take money along with you. Your trust is in Me, not in your pocket or what you can amass for yourself...”

"…be shod with sandals, and not put on two coats.” [verse 9]

In addition to the above, the disciple must be kitted. His feet must be in the sandals. The feet represent the gospel. He must be a soldier, not diluting or mutilating the word of life. No two coats are allowed. No extra coat for show off. No fashion parade. No double mindedness. No changeable suits of apparel or an extra pair of shoes. He is a disciple, a soldier, and his mind must never be on how he will be comfortable. His trust in God must be implicit, never jumping from house to house scouting for comfort and hospitality, thereby compelling men to expend their all to serve his covetous appetite. The gospel field is not for comfort seekers. Recruitment into discipleship is NOT that you may make it or to compete with the world in fashion, comfort or affluence. The disciple is in Gods vineyard for Jesus and for souls.