The Purpose of Missions

Revelation 7:9–12 KJV 1900

9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; 10 And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. 11 And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, 12 Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.

Introduction

In Revelation 7 we see a glimpse into heaven in the future during the time of the Great Tribulation.

And John sees in this vision a great multitude of people that cannot be numbered.

These are the people throughout history who were saved.

The redeemed.

And notice that it says that they are of all nations, kindreds, people, and tongues (or languages).

How did all these nations hear the gospel and how did this people get saved?

Well in almost all the cases its because missionaries took the gospel there.

So we see in this verse a little glimpse into the end of the book you could say of this great mission to get the gospel out.

Missions today is a part of this great victory. (Note: In the tribulation an angel preaches the gospel as well.)

But for the most part this is the result of missions.

And its obviously a victory lap. Its a joyous moment.

We don’t lose in the end. We win.

Right now things may seem dark and difficult but brethren we are on the winning side.

The task of sending the gospel out is the right task.

Now I want to notice something important in this text.

What are the redeemed, and the angels, and seraphims, everyone in heaven doing around the throne?

V11…they are worshipping God.

V12…they are praising God.

We seem the same in Revelation chapter 4.

Revelation 4:11 KJV 1900

11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

Everyone is praising God and singing and everyone in heaven knows that they are there because of Gods grace and for the purpose of … glorifying God.

For the pleasure of God.

The endgame of missions therefore…

The purpose of missions is to glorify God.

The purpose of missions is to lift up Jesus Christ…

Jesus Christ is the #1 reason we labor in the Great Commission.

He is worthy to be preached to all nations.

Now this may seem obvious…and it should be.

But oftentimes when we preach on missions, when we have missions conferences, this obvious and important fact can tend to get lost behind other things.

Usually when we preach about missions…we will focus solely on the purpose of keeping people out of hell.

A big reason I got saved and you got saved is because we didn’t want to go to hell.

We don’t want our lost family to go to hell.

We don’t want our friends to go to hell.

And we don’t want the lost souls on the mission field to go to hell either.

And God doesn’t want them to go to hell.

As much as you and I don’t want people to go to hell, God is way more concerned and desires that they be saved.

2 Peter 3:9 KJV 1900

9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Luke 19:10 KJV 1900

For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

So we know that a huge purpose of missions is to keep people from going to hell.

This is a good motivation and a biblical one...

But what I want us to realize tonight at the start of this conference is that this is not the primary purpose of missions.

Nor should it be our primary motivation.

Its a purpose and its a motivation…but it is not our primary one…or at least it shouldnt be.

Biblically speaking, the primary reason that we should be willing to give up our lives and sacrifice and labor and send people to the field…is because of Jesus Christ

We want to please and honor and glorify our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

This is our mission, this is our purpose, this should be our great desire.

Because that is why man was created, and that is the purpose for that multitude being in heaven…to praise and lift up the name of Jesus.

All creation was made for His pleasure.

This perspective on missions is vastly superior to that of just trying to keep people out of hell.

Example: The missionary in Africa who came to this realization when no one wanted to get saved.

When we are trying to reach the lost because of a desire to glorify Christ, not just because we want them to be saved, we cannot fail at the task.

Example: The preacher who wanted to know when was the last time a missionary led someone to the Lord…I would ask when was the last time you explained the gospel to someone.

Cry of the Moravian Missionaries when they boarded the boats to be sold as slaved:

“May the Lamb that was slain receive the reward of His suffering”

How did they manage to be motivated to sell themselves into slavery in order to reach the lost?

Because they had the right motivation.

They were not just doing it for the lost, their primary motivation was Jesus Christ.

Note: This is my motivation for being a missionary as well. I am not in Colombia just because I don’t want them to go to hell. I am there because my Lord told me to go…and He is worthy to be obeyed and for His name to be preached to the Colombian people.

I cannot control whether a lost person receives or rejects the gospel…but either way I succeed when I preach the gospel.

When love of Christ is your primary motivation, You cannot fail when you preach the gospel.

The secondary purpose of them not going to hell may not have been accomplished…but the primary purpose was…Christ was glorified…Christ was obeyed…Christ was lifted up.

He is worthy that His gospel be preached to all men.

Example: Our soul winning team in Colombia…how we teach this…and how the group has grown and they are always excited and full of joy even though Colombia is a country that we rarely see immediate fruit from soul winning.

We have joy because we do it for Christ.

And we also have fruit that comes in time.

1 Corinthians 10:31 KJV 1900

31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

If we have this correct perspective about what success in missions actually looks like…there is a tremendous joy and delight that will result.

Let me quickly give you three things that will become a joy and delight in your life if you do all for the glory of Christ...

1. His will becomes your delight

Psalm 40:8 KJV 1900

8 I delight to do thy will, O my God: Yea, thy law is within my heart.

You can be involved in the great commission through personally witnessing to others in your home town, through sending missionaries to the field through giving, or going to the field yourself.

When we have our eyes focused on Christ and desire to please Him and lift Him up, just the act of obeying Him is a joy.

Christ said go ye into all the world…and we are so desirous to obey His will that we delight to do it.

Notice, this is the result of just loving deeply our Lord Jesus Christ.

When we love Christ…we want to do what He wants to do.

Example: Adam and bowling

When we love Christ…when our eyes are focused on Him…we will want to do what He wants to do!

And what Jesus wants to do is go reach others with the gospel!

What Jesus wants to do is send others to the mission field!

If our eyes are on Him…we will want to obey Him.

John 14:15 KJV 1900

15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

For the person who loves Christ…his commandaments are not grivious…missions is not an unbearable burden.

Its a joy.

I delight to do thy will of God.

If you today would say that going soul winning or giving to missions or serving the Lord is unpleasant to you…you have a love problem.

Your eyes are not on Christ and your love for Him is not what it should be.

And if you fix this problem, everything will change.

When you do it for the glory of Christ, His will becomes your delight.

2. Sacrifice will become your delight

2 Samuel 24:22–25 KJV 1900

22 And Araunah said unto David, Let my lord the king take and offer up what seemeth good unto him: behold, here be oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing instruments and other instruments of the oxen for wood. 23 All these things did Araunah, as a king, give unto the king. And Araunah said unto the king, The Lord thy God accept thee. 24 And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. 25 And David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord was intreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel.

Here we see David refuse to offer unto God that which cost him nothing.

Today we have a problem amongst Christians.

Many are there to receive…they are there to be ministered to…they are there to be helped…but they themselves do not want to sacrifice to help others.

This once again is a love problem…we have lost our first love.

When we are delighting to do the will of Christ…we will want to give.

We will want to give so much that others won’t be able to stop us from doing so.

We will want to give sacrificially.

Not just what doesn’t affect us but what does affect us.

And we won’t be sad about it…we won’t be crying as we put the offering envelope in the plate…we will be smiling.

Example: The church of Indians in Mexico

Example: My choice of going to Africa or buying a motorcycle

I was excited to give and go to Africa…I was excited to write my missions check…I just wanted to be a part of something that lifted up Christ.

Brethren, we get ahold of that…the joy of giving sacrificially…God will bless it in tremendous ways.

Don’t give to God what doesn’t cost you anything.

Have that love for Christ that will push you to give sacrificially.

What a joy it is to give in that way.

Note: God blesses us more than we give…today I get to ride a motorcycle on the mission field.

Note: God let me drive the Challenger on this trip just because He wanted to bless me.

He didnt have to bless, He is just good.

3. His presence becomes our delight

Psalm 91:1 KJV 1900

1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

My testimony: salv to the Amazon river

Being a missionary is the greatest job anyone could ever have.

I have the best job in the world.

Not because its easy, not because it without sacrifice, danger, etc.

Its because Im living my life abiding under the shadow of the Almighty.

Psalm 16:11 KJV 1900

11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life: In thy presence is fulness of joy; At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

I can tell you this verse is true…if God were to call you to go…don’t be afraid of that.

What you will find walking in His presence…being right where He wants you to be…is fulness of joy and pleasures forevermore.

Psalm 37:4 KJV 1900

Delight thyself also in the Lord; And he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

His desires become our desires.

If God doesn’t call you to go…you can find the same thing doing what He has called you to do.

Loving Him…delighting in His will…delighting in obedience…walking in His ways.

Conclusion

Hebrews 12:1–3 KJV 1900

1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

What is missions all about?

Is it about winning the lost so they don’t go to hell…yes it is.

But its about much more than that.

Its about Jesus Christ.

And its important that we remember this

Otherwise we might be weirded and faint

If we have our eyes focused on Christ…if our love for Him is right, if our heart for Him is there…His mission will be our mission.

And His mission is reaching this lost world with the gospel.

Invitation