Billions with No Name
Notes
Transcript
And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.
And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them.
What is the gospel?
If you were to share the gospel with me how would you start? What might you say in telling me how to be saved?
I started tonight how the what and how to share to the gospel because tonight’s lesson is more about the why? or to inspire us to share the good news. But sometimes we don’t do somethings because we don’t want how to do it, not because we don’t want to. But by by starting this way we have a basic understanding of how, what we lack in the motivation. That is what tonight’s lesson is all about.
The man of Macedonia who appeared in a vision to the apostle Paul represents billions of people in the world who have never heard the gospel. It has been estimated that nearly two thirds of the world’s population has never heard a clear presentation of the gospel in their lives! Their cry may not be as direct as the one here in Acts 16, but as we watch the news from around the world, people are crying out for peace, joy, fulfillment, and rest. They are craving meaning to life and for hope when life ends. Paul immediately responded to the call given to him to take the gospel to the needy. Will we?
Currently, there are some 8 Billion people on earth. Did you know that God knows every one of them by name? He knows where each one lives?
Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.
But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
If God knows the whereabouts of every bird and every hair that falls to the ground, He is surely aware of every lost soul, and that thousands of them are falling into a place called Hell every day.
If someone guaranteed us that they could change our life in thirty minutes, would we want them to share that message? If they could ensure us that we would never have a financial worry or never get cancer or our children would turn out right or that we would be protected from any dangerous attack, would we want that information? Of course we would.
So, why, when we have a message to share that not only changes man's life, but man's eternity—would we hesitate to share it with others?
This message is for every person. When God sent His Son to this world to save men from their sins, He did so out of love for all mankind.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
God's love and Christ's sacrifice for sin was not selective—it was inclusive. When Jesus Christ died on the cross, He died for all.
For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
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.
It seems as though we have developed selective hearing. Yes, we want our children to be saved. We want our best friends to go to Heaven. We want someone we like to hear the gospel. But what about those we have nothing in common with, or who perhaps even dislike us? Should we not love the unlovable enough to give them the love of Christ, considering the fact that God loved us when we were yet sinners?
While we will not often hear a lost person cry out to us, "What must I do to be saved?" those around us are crying for the truth. They don't call to us with their voices, but they are crying loudly and clearly with their actions. The drug abuse, the crime on our streets, the alcohol consumption, the materialistic greed, the attempted suicides, the wars, the terrorism, etc. are all voices saying, "Come and help us. We are not at peace. We have no joy or fulfillment. We have no hope." With whom does the fault lie, that much of the world today is lost? Is it God's fault?
Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;
Have you ever had a need but not known how to get to the root of it or how to ask for help with it? What are some needs that may open people's hearts to their greatest need—salvation? What are some ways we can compassionately share Christ as they share those needs with us?
The problem is not the seed or the soil: the problem is a lack of sowers. Will you listen with your heart to the voice of billions without a name?
fault is not God's, and the problem is not the harvest. The harvest is plentiful! The problem is a lack of laborers to gather the harvest.
A Plea Received
A Plea Received
In a very real sense, every Christian has received the call to share the good news of the gospel with every person in the world.
And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
But in today's text, Paul received a special call to preach the gospel to specific people.
And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.
Paul knew that the help the Macedonian people needed most was to hear the gospel.
A. The Need for Missions
A. The Need for Missions
For the gospel to change lives, it must be preached - or proclaimed.
Sometimes people have vague ideas for what “the gospel” is. But the Bible gives us a clear definition of the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15.
Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
The Fast that God records in the Bible exactly what the gospel is, is wonderful; but it must be proclaimed. Most people will not pick up a Bible and search out God’s truth on their own. They need you and me to share it with them.
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
The Bible compares the gospel to a seed. And if a seed will bear a harvest, it must be planted.
Every farmer understands the importance of sowing seed into the soil. After they have harvested their crops in the fall, they often save seed to plant next year's crop. Or, they may purchase seed for the following year's crop. Either way, they store in the barn or shed the seed that is going to be planted in the ground, so they will be able to reap a harvest the following year.
What would happen if the farmer just left his seed in the barn, rather than preparing his soil and planting the seed in the ground? He would have no harvest the next year.
A farmer has to go through many painstaking hours and days to prepare the soil and plant the seed, and then on a good year, with the right conditions and plenty of work, his seed will increase many fold!
The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts: And in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts.
Have we left the seed of the gospel in a Book? Have we left it inside the building of our churches? Do we simply have it in the barn of our brains?
For the gospel to change lives, it must be proclaimed!
A. The Need for Missions
B. Be The Necessity of Men
B. Be The Necessity of Men
Paul was continually awed by the privilege of being used by God to declare the gospel. He was glad the Lord chose to use people to preach the gospel and that the plea in Acts 16:9 was given to him specifically.
But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace,
To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood:
God is good to us in using us to declare the gospel. After all, everything God created is His servant. If He had wanted to, He could have used the stones to preach the gospel, the birds to sing it, or the thunder and lightning to declare it. But He has chosen to use us!
Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: Thou hast established the earth, and it abideth.
They continue this day according to thine ordinances: For all are thy servants.
And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.
God is always looking for people who will be awed by the fact that He wants to use them, and who will respond with a surrendered and willing heart.
There was once a famous professor who, upon his retirement, thanked the university for paying him a salary all those years for something he would have gladly paid to do! l If this professor was awed by the fact that he was allowed to teach at a prestigious university, how should we feel as people who are allowed to share the gospel for the King of kings and Lord of lords?
As God looks for a man or a woman to proclaim the good news today, will He find things as they were in Ezekiel's day?
And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.
Or will He find someone like Isaiah?
Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
A Prompt Response
A Prompt Response
We see that the moment God asked whom He should send, Isaiah responded, “I’ll go!”
Paul, Likewise responded immediately to God’s call to go into Macedonia.
And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them.
A. A Surrendered Purpose
A. A Surrendered Purpose
Paul recognized that this was not just the voice of a man calling for help. This was God's calling! We must understand today that it is not just the lost who are crying out in their misery of sin for help. The Lord is commanding us to go and help.
It has been said, "If you want your life to count, live it for something that outlasts it." The only things that will outlast our life are the Word of God and the souls of men. Our fortune or fame will not go with us to eternity. Everything we possess is temporary, but the souls of people are eternal.
The purpose for which we live is often very short-lived. I'm sure Paul would have loved a comfortable life with safe streets at night as he slept and with friends around him to enjoy. But Paul's desire was beyond the temporal.
Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.
Is your purpose in life bigger than your paycheck? A surrendered purpose says, "Not my will, but thine be done" (Luke 22:42). We know what God's will is:
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.
Are you structuring your life around His will?
A. A Surrendered Purpose
B. A Strategic Plan
B. A Strategic Plan
Once we surrender to God's will to declare the gospel, it's important that we make specific plans to do so.
Acts 16:10
... immediately we endeavored...
As soon as Paul knew that this was God speaking to him and that it was His plan for him to take the gospel to these people, he endeavored. This word encompasses a plan of action or strategy. Many Christians have heard everything in this lesson before—many times over—and have believed it, but they have never done anything about it.
Someone has calculated how a typical lifespan of seventy years is spent. Here is the estimate:
Sleep - 23 Years - 32.9%
Work - 16 Years - 22.8%
Watching TV - 8 Years - 11.4%
Eating - 6 Years - 8.6%
Travel - 6 Years - 8.6%
Leisure -4.5 Years - 6.5%
Illness - 4 Years - 5.7%
Dressing - 2 Years - 2.8%
Religion - .5 Year - .7%
Total - 70 Years
That includes a lot of time spent on things that don’t really matter - on things that won’t count for eternity.
Don’t waste your life on self. It isn’t always easy to carry out God’s plan and purpose, but His plan brings joy and peace.
In fact, the will of God is good and it’s perfect.
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
God will give you many opportunities to respond to the “voice of billions” if you will intentionally and strategically plan your day and week to take advantage of the opportunities that are in front of you.
1. A Plea Received
2. A Prompt Response
A Preaching Requirement
A Preaching Requirement
As we have already mentioned, declaring the gospel is every Christian's calling. But did you know that God Himself provides us with the ability to do so as part of the "armor of Christ" we are instructed to put on in Ephesians 6?
And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
A. A Messenger
A. A Messenger
God is not looking for ability—He is looking for availability! We show up, and we are given the great honor of being an ambassador for Jesus Christ.
We are not the message; we are merely the voice of the message. Our purpose is not to make ourselves known; it is to make Christ known.
John the Baptist gave us a good example in this when he was asked who he was. He replied that he was there to prepare the way for Christ.
He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.
Paul likewise clarified that his message was not himself, but Jesus.
For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.
A. A Messenger
B. A Method
B. A Method
The word preach simply means "to proclaim or herald." While some men are called to a full-time ministry of preaching, every Christian is called to proclaim the message of the gospel. And the gospel is proclaimed through sharing the Word of God.
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
When Paul responded to God's call and surrendered to preach the gospel to the Macedonians, God's Holy Spirit empowered that truth that he proclaimed. The Holy Spirit does the same through us.
For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
You may not be called to preach a sermon from behind the pulpit on Sundays, but as we are discovering in these lessons, God loves to use the common—sometimes even unnamed— people to accomplish His work. And the greatest work there is in all the world, is telling someone how to be saved.
Declaring the gospel isn't simply a directive, with no rewards. Following God's commands brings great blessing.
A. A Messenger
B. A Method
C. A Message
C. A Message
It's important for us to remember that the message we are to share is God's message. It's the good news of the gospel.
Acts 16:10
... assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them.
We have a message from God. We don't have to invent the message, tweak the message, or change the message—we just need to proclaim it and watch God change lives through it.
It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Jesus Christ gives us our marching orders as individual Christians and as local church bodies of believers.
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Sadly, we are way behind in our assignment. Many have disobeyed the order completely; others have neglected it; others are busy with other matters seemingly more pressing. Some of these who disobey, neglect, and are too busy may be those of us here in this room.
The good news is, we can change that right now, today, in each of our lives.
Will you hear the voice of billions of unnamed people - people across the street and across the ocean? How will you respond to that voice?