:: Why you should go to the mission field-Part 1 "Reasons" ::
This is the greatest evangelistic sermon for missions preached by the late keith green. *Please take into account that this sermon was preached in the early 80s and certain calculations will be outdated now. Yet the figures can help you all understand my point*
I hope it will bless you as much as it blessed me.
__________________________________________________________________
Why should you go to the mission field?
1). Because the Lord has told you to go.
Mark 16:15 "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creation."
This Great Commission was given to every believer and follower of Christ. If you are a disciple of Jesus, then you are included in the great commission! There are no such things as 1st class, 2nd class or 3rd class christians. Jesus' command is definite and clear - it is His great mandate, His "Great Commission" to the soldiers in His holy army. We must go, because our great General has commanded us to go.
2). You should go because the need is so great.
Matthew 9:37-38 "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore, beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest."
Remember hell is not just for the weekend! More people are alive today, and more souls are at stake , than the total number of people who have ever lived in the face of the earth in all of human history!
There are over 2,700,000,000 people who have never heard the Gospel at all, and there are only 5,000 to 7,000 missionaries worldwide. If we do our math, it means 1 missionary to 450,000 people! An estimate of 80,000 people perish everyday without the gospel which is 55 people a minute!!!!
Does it matter to you? Do these figures move you?
3). God gives special anointing and grace to those who leave their own land, people, and culture to do God's will and spread the Gospel.
Genesis 12:1-3 "And the Lord said to Abram, 'Go forth from your country and from your relatives, and from your father's house...and I will bless you and make your name great; and so you shall also be a blessing; and I will bless those that bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
Abram ( later to be renamed Abraham by God ) is only one of the many people in the Bible who God used mightily only after he left his own people, his own land, and his own culture. Look at the travels and ministries of people like Jacob and Moses - both of whom had to go into other lands to learn from God and be used by Him.
No matter where you look in the Bible, God always gave a great anointing a and blessing to those who served Him in a foreign land. Look at Joseph and Daniel. They were the only two men in the Bible who God raised up as successful, secular officials in foreign and heathen cultures - and they remained faithful witnesses and servants of God to the very end, and often at the risk of their very lives!
What about Jonah? He was a good example of someone who didn't want to go to the mission field and preach to heathens! Stubborn, rebellious, and selfish - and yet God "made him an offer he couldn't refuse." ( I pray that God would freely move like that in all our lives, "helping" us to make the right decisions about going.)
And then there's the apostle Paul - who had such a burden for his own people and country, Israel. Oh , how he would have loved a ministry among the Jews! But what did God say? "Go! For I will send you far away to the Gentiles." (Acts 22:21) That's what God commanded, and "go" he did. Never was there a missionary like Paul. Take a look at II Corinthians 11 if you'd like to see a list of his qualifications: beatings, imprisonment's, stonings, mobs, shipwrecks, the list goes on and on - and so did Paul, obeying his Master who bought him.
Remember Jesus' words about this subject, "A prophet is not without honor except in his home town, "(Matt. 13:57)
4). Oswald J. Smith said "No one has a right to hear the gospel twice, while there remains someone who has not heard it once"
2 Corinthians 4:3-4 "But if our Gospel be hidden, it is hidden to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not, that they might not see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God."
Has it occurred to you that Jesus wants every creature to hear the Gospel? If you had 20 children to feed and plenty of food to feed them all with, do you think it would be right to give 3 of the children 10 meals, 7 children only 1 meal, and the remaining nothing - causing them to die of starvation? That's exactly what we're doing with the Gospel in the world today!
Because we believers are so deaf to God's call to go into all nations, we keep most of God's resources to ourselves! We keep feeding and reaching the same people over and over again. I am not saying there should be no Gospel preached in America, I am saying that there needs to be a spreading out of the soldiers of God, to fight the enemy where his greatest strongholds are - "where Christ is not already named"!
5). Time is short. More and more countries are closing their doors to missionaries and the Gospel, and we must go now.
John 9:4 "We must work the works of Him who sent me, as long as it is day; night is coming, when no man can work."
In the past, missionaries were welcome to various countries and lands to preach the gospel, but now doors are closed to them.Though it is true that many Christians can still go to be subtle witnesses as doctors, teachers, engineers, etc., the Gospel can no longer be openly preached in many lands.
6). God desires every creature in the world to hear the gospel preached to them and the gospel published in every nation. Unless you get directly involved, there is no hope of that ever happening in our generation!
Acts 1:8 "...And you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth."
Matthew 24:14 "And this gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come. "
2 Peter 3:9 "The Lord is...patient toward you, not wishing for you to perish but for all to come to repentance."
Is there any doubt in your mind that God wants everyone to be saved? If you believe this, and you really love Jesus, then WHY are you so timid about getting involved in this great thrust to bring the Gospel to all the nations? Do you think that while you're reading this, God isn't grieved that His Church is being so lazy and disobedient about fulfilling his commission? He knows that you agree with the Scriptures, and He's listening to every excuse you're turning over in your mind like, "Yes, I know that more people need to go...but He just couldn't mean ME! I'm...just not the 'missionary-type'..."
In Part 2 of "Why YOU Should Go To The Mission Field,"we will look at the mostly common excuses ever told and we will see what "type" of Christian you really are...
I hope it will bless you as much as it blessed me.
__________________________________________________________________
Why should you go to the mission field?
1). Because the Lord has told you to go.
Mark 16:15 "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creation."
This Great Commission was given to every believer and follower of Christ. If you are a disciple of Jesus, then you are included in the great commission! There are no such things as 1st class, 2nd class or 3rd class christians. Jesus' command is definite and clear - it is His great mandate, His "Great Commission" to the soldiers in His holy army. We must go, because our great General has commanded us to go.
2). You should go because the need is so great.
Matthew 9:37-38 "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore, beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest."
Remember hell is not just for the weekend! More people are alive today, and more souls are at stake , than the total number of people who have ever lived in the face of the earth in all of human history!
There are over 2,700,000,000 people who have never heard the Gospel at all, and there are only 5,000 to 7,000 missionaries worldwide. If we do our math, it means 1 missionary to 450,000 people! An estimate of 80,000 people perish everyday without the gospel which is 55 people a minute!!!!
Does it matter to you? Do these figures move you?
3). God gives special anointing and grace to those who leave their own land, people, and culture to do God's will and spread the Gospel.
Genesis 12:1-3 "And the Lord said to Abram, 'Go forth from your country and from your relatives, and from your father's house...and I will bless you and make your name great; and so you shall also be a blessing; and I will bless those that bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
Abram ( later to be renamed Abraham by God ) is only one of the many people in the Bible who God used mightily only after he left his own people, his own land, and his own culture. Look at the travels and ministries of people like Jacob and Moses - both of whom had to go into other lands to learn from God and be used by Him.
No matter where you look in the Bible, God always gave a great anointing a and blessing to those who served Him in a foreign land. Look at Joseph and Daniel. They were the only two men in the Bible who God raised up as successful, secular officials in foreign and heathen cultures - and they remained faithful witnesses and servants of God to the very end, and often at the risk of their very lives!
What about Jonah? He was a good example of someone who didn't want to go to the mission field and preach to heathens! Stubborn, rebellious, and selfish - and yet God "made him an offer he couldn't refuse." ( I pray that God would freely move like that in all our lives, "helping" us to make the right decisions about going.)
And then there's the apostle Paul - who had such a burden for his own people and country, Israel. Oh , how he would have loved a ministry among the Jews! But what did God say? "Go! For I will send you far away to the Gentiles." (Acts 22:21) That's what God commanded, and "go" he did. Never was there a missionary like Paul. Take a look at II Corinthians 11 if you'd like to see a list of his qualifications: beatings, imprisonment's, stonings, mobs, shipwrecks, the list goes on and on - and so did Paul, obeying his Master who bought him.
Remember Jesus' words about this subject, "A prophet is not without honor except in his home town, "(Matt. 13:57)
4). Oswald J. Smith said "No one has a right to hear the gospel twice, while there remains someone who has not heard it once"
2 Corinthians 4:3-4 "But if our Gospel be hidden, it is hidden to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not, that they might not see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God."
Has it occurred to you that Jesus wants every creature to hear the Gospel? If you had 20 children to feed and plenty of food to feed them all with, do you think it would be right to give 3 of the children 10 meals, 7 children only 1 meal, and the remaining nothing - causing them to die of starvation? That's exactly what we're doing with the Gospel in the world today!
Because we believers are so deaf to God's call to go into all nations, we keep most of God's resources to ourselves! We keep feeding and reaching the same people over and over again. I am not saying there should be no Gospel preached in America, I am saying that there needs to be a spreading out of the soldiers of God, to fight the enemy where his greatest strongholds are - "where Christ is not already named"!
5). Time is short. More and more countries are closing their doors to missionaries and the Gospel, and we must go now.
John 9:4 "We must work the works of Him who sent me, as long as it is day; night is coming, when no man can work."
In the past, missionaries were welcome to various countries and lands to preach the gospel, but now doors are closed to them.Though it is true that many Christians can still go to be subtle witnesses as doctors, teachers, engineers, etc., the Gospel can no longer be openly preached in many lands.
6). God desires every creature in the world to hear the gospel preached to them and the gospel published in every nation. Unless you get directly involved, there is no hope of that ever happening in our generation!
Acts 1:8 "...And you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth."
Matthew 24:14 "And this gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come. "
2 Peter 3:9 "The Lord is...patient toward you, not wishing for you to perish but for all to come to repentance."
Is there any doubt in your mind that God wants everyone to be saved? If you believe this, and you really love Jesus, then WHY are you so timid about getting involved in this great thrust to bring the Gospel to all the nations? Do you think that while you're reading this, God isn't grieved that His Church is being so lazy and disobedient about fulfilling his commission? He knows that you agree with the Scriptures, and He's listening to every excuse you're turning over in your mind like, "Yes, I know that more people need to go...but He just couldn't mean ME! I'm...just not the 'missionary-type'..."
In Part 2 of "Why YOU Should Go To The Mission Field,"we will look at the mostly common excuses ever told and we will see what "type" of Christian you really are...
Lord, if it pleases you, it pleases me. @
7:53 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home