Missions (2)
Notes
Transcript
Missions
Text: Romans 10:13–15 (KJV 1900)
13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
14 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?
15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent?
Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.
Introduction:
Originally, Israel was to be God’s witness of Himself to the Nations of the earth.
* Before the food of Genesis, men had a witness of who God was because, according to the book of Genesis, Adam had lived right up until the days of Methuselah.
* After the Great flood of the Book of Genesis, 8 people, Noah his wife and his sons and their wives, walked off of the arc into a new world.
* Noah taught His sons, and they in turn taught their sons and daughters of God and what God was like, but as time went on the truth about who God is, and what He is like began to be a distant memory.
* The memories of who God was began to be corrupted and turned into fables and stories of Pagan gods.
* Men began to portray God as many different gods that were powerful in the heavens, but acted like sinful men.
* They fought and argued, lusted after one another’s wives, played with the lives of men.
* With the assistance of Satan, men had turned the memory of a Holy God, creator of the universe, into a system of vile idol worship that we call Paganism.
* According to the Apostle Paul, when men served, worshiped, and made sacrifice to these false god’s, they were in reality actually worshiping devils:
1 Corinthians 10:19–20 (KJV 1900)
19 What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing?
20 But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God:
and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.
* These stories evolved over the years and are now know to us as Greek Mythology, and the ancient religions of the orient such as Buddhism and ancient Hinduism.
* Men had corrupted the story of the flood and now they believed that they needed to fear the heavens.
* Out of this corrupted view of God came stories like the legend of Atlas, who held the world on his back, Hercules who protected men from the Heavens.
* In the midst of this confusion and corruption of his name, God in his mercy intervened in the history of mankind, and set about to establish a witness of Himself in the world.
* A witness that would show the true nature of the one true God, a Holy God.
* God chose a man called Abraham, and set him apart, and promised that through His descendants, He would raise up a nation of people whose purpose was to be witnesses of who He was, and what He was like, to the entire world.
* God gave to the descendants of Abraham the Law and the commandments that revealed the Holiness of God.
* God gave to Israel the Prophets that revealed the will of God, and the future of God’s plan for the nations of the earth.
* And so, by the God’s chosen nation, the nation of Israel, the Word of God came into to the world- the Scriptures.
Romans 3:1–2 (KJV 1900)
What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? 2 Much every way: chiefly,
because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.
* God had chosen the nation of Israel to be His ambassadors to the nations of the world.
* Israel was supposed to bring the nations of the earth to faith in God. They were God’s appointed witnesses in the world.
* Turn with me and look at what God said to the Prophet Isaiah in Isaiah chapter 56:
Isaiah 56:1–8 (KJV 1900)
Thus saith the Lord, Keep ye judgment, and do justice: For my salvation is near to come, And my righteousness to be revealed. 2 Blessed is the man that doeth this, And the son of man that layeth hold on it; That keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, And keepeth his hand from doing any evil.
3 Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the Lord, speak, saying, The Lord hath utterly separated me from his people:
Neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree. 4 For thus saith the Lord unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, And choose the things that please me, And take hold of my covenant; 5 Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls A place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.
6 Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Lord, To serve him, and to love the name of the Lord, To be his servants, Every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, And taketh hold of my covenant; 7 Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, And make them joyful in my house of prayer: Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; For mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.
8 The Lord God which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him.
* When Israel later turned its back on God, and refused their Messiah, the King, God set aside unfaithful Israel and, appointed a new people to carry on the witness of Himself to the world:
The Great Commission
Matthew 28:16–20 (KJV 1900)
16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. 17 And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 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.
* The apostle Paul speaks of this in 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 18:
2 Corinthians 5:18–20 (KJV 1900)
18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ,
and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ,
as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.
Body:
* So brothers and sisters of the church, we have been commissioned by God as His ambassadors to the nations of the world.
* Let me once again remind you of the verses or our test this morning:
Text: Romans 10:13–15 (KJV 1900)
13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
14 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?
15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent?
* Now turn with me now to John chapter 4 and verse 31:
* In John chapter 4 and verse 34 we come into the story of Jesus witnessing to the woman at the well.
* The disciples had brought food to Jesus and were trying to persuade Jesus to stop and eat. Here is where we enter the story:
John 4:34–35 (KJV 1900)
34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
35 Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest?
behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.
* Jesus gives his disciples two commands that I would also like to give to us as a church as well this morning:
I. Lift up your eyes.
* We need to “lift up our eyes,”, , or in other words take some time from our busy lives, and our church programs- pause what we are doing and take the time to open our eyes to the need of the Gospel in the world.
* It is good and right that we spend time and money studying the Bible.
* It is good and right that we spend time and money to witness to the folks in our local area with things like the Wagon Trains and the camp that we are trying to get off the ground.
* But I suggest to you this morning that it is also good that we spend time and money supporting foreign missions and missionaries and take part in sending them around the world, in places where the Gospel of Jesus is not being preached.
* This is the very purpose of the existence of the church.
* Supporting missions and missionaries should be a part of the ministry of every Bible believing church.
II. Look on the fields.
* We need to look around for specific places where we can help.
* Churches that are part of a collective body such as the Southern Baptist Convention, or the Presbyterians, or Methodists and so on, have large general funds that they all share in together that help send out missionaries.
* We are an independent church. That means that we are not part of any organization or convention, or group of churches, so how can we help send out missionaries?
* Here is how missionaries, that are not part of a large denomination, get to the place where they are going to start churches.
* Most, as the start out, continue to work, and on the weekends travel to churches who are interested in helping them get to the mission field.
* Each church will listen to the missionary present their burden for a particular place.
* If the church feels led by the Holy Spirit to help this family get to their respective mission field, they will then commit to some amount of money each month to help them get to the mission filed and do their work.
* That amount is left up to the Holy Spirit and the churches. Some churches may set aside $25 a month, and some may be able to do much more, depending of the size of the church and their zeal for mission work.
* Some churches set up a separate “Missions” fund to help support missionaries, and if the fund for some reason does not meet what they have obligated themselves for, then the church makes up the difference form the general fund.
* Before the missionary and his family begins to present his work to churches, he works with what is called a “mission board” to establish how much money will be required to meet their needs each month in the country where they are going.
* When promises for that amount is reached, the missionary and his family leaves the county and sets up housekeeping in his new country.
* Most of the time the missionary makes a commitment for at least 4 years to stay in that place and start churches before returning back to the states.
* Now the church does not just make a commitment of money to a missionary that take on, but they also are committing to help hold his family and work up to God faithfully in prayer.
* They are committing to maintain a personal relationship with that particular missionary and his family.
* The missionary is also committing to each church to be held accountable by that church, to make sure that they are faithfully preaching the Gospel, starting churches, and living a Godly life.
* A church that is looking to start supporting foreign missions, gathers information on the areas of need, and invites missionaries to come and present the need for where they are going. This is “looking on the fields.”
III. People are waiting in need of Jesus. We need to do something now:
* There are three compelling reasons that every Bible believing church should be involved in supporting missionaries:
1). Because the time is short.
2). The doors may shut.
3). We may find ourselves disobedient to the Lords command:
* Again I remind you of The Great Commission that Jesus gave to this church as He ascended into Heaven:
Matthew 28:16–20 (KJV 1900)
16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. 17 And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 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.
John 4:34–35 (KJV 1900)
34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
* Like Jesus, it should be our will also to finish the work in which God has called his Church to do.
Conclusion:
* In our text we read “how shall they hear without a preacher?
15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent?”
* I as you as a church this morning “are we taking part in sending anybody out to the nations that need the Gospel the most?
* As your pastor, I challenge you to let the Holy Spirit give you a great burden for foreign missions, and a love for missionaries and their families.