ISAIAH
6:1-8; LUKE 16:19-31
·
THE RESPONSIBILTY TO INVADE:
I have recently had the privilege of attending a conference called, “Kingdom
Invasion” in Singapore. The conference’s central theme was about influencing
our nations with the Gospel and the teachings of Jesus Christ. A
resource person by name Lance Walnau shared about the Seven Cultural Mountains that
shape our society: Arts and entertainment, Business, Education, Family,
Government, Media and Religion. He stated that, as Christians, we haven’t
conquered these mountains as we ought to in order to expand our influence in
the shaping of our society for the Kingdom of God. Every follower of Jesus has
the responsibility to invade these mountains with the governance of God (not political but soteriological and ethical). This
is our mission in life.
·
ETYMOLOGY OF MISSIONS:
This term has derived from the Latin word missio, meaning, “to be sent”.
It is equivalent to the Greek term apostoles.
·
God reached Adam
in the Garden of Eden and promised the sending of His Son to redeem the
humanity (Gen 3:15). He sent prophets to turn people’s hearts to himself and later
sent His own Son to save the mankind from eternal condemnation. Jesus sent the
apostles and now,
the body of Christ is sending her members.
·
Why should we do missions anyway?
1. BECAUSE IT IS THE HEARTBEAT OF GOD
·
ISAIAH’S VISION: Isaiah participated in the heavenly worship which led
him into better revelation of God, self-realization and a time of personal
cleansing. All this has finally culminated in his commissioning to preach God’s
Word. We will feel God’s pain when we truly experience Him in our worship
(Isaiah 6:1-8).
·
Bob Pierce, the founder of World Vision: “Let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God.”
·
Our worship is incomplete until it is
driven by the passion to lead others into it. You cannot experience God’s glory
and not respond to God’s commissioning.
·
WORSHIP
IS THE GOAL OF MISSIONS: John Piper: “Missions
is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because
worship doesn't.”
·
THE GREAT COMMISION: Jesus commanded
his disciples to go, preach and teach the nations what he taught them (Mat
28:19).
2. BECAUSE OF THE CRY OF
THE CONDEMNED
·
THE PARABLE OF LAZARUS AND THE RICH MAN: The rich man
cries out about his own torment and pleas for missions to his father’s house (Luk
16:27).
·
There is a continuous and unstoppable
cry from the hell which every Christian needs to hear and respond to.
·
The dead will not come back to preach. It is
our responsibility to rescue the perishing before we rest in the grave.
·
“You
have one business on earth – to save souls.” ― John Wesley
·
Hell is a real
place for the unforgiven where gnashing of teeth is (Rev 20:15; Mat 13:50). The
sinners are lost without God forever (2 Thes 1:10).
3. BECAUSE OF THE URGENCY
TO RESCUE
·
Now is the time. The harvest
is ready now (Joh 4:35).
·
ILL: A
small boy was once distributing gospel tracts in a street. He knocked on a door
and no one opened it. He pushed the tract into the house through a little space
under the door and walked away. A man was inside the house trying to kill himself
due to depression and when he read the tract, he gave his life to Jesus and
testified in the church the next Sunday. If the boy was late for a minute, one
soul could have been lost.
·
“The gospel is only good news if it gets
there in time.” ― Carl F.H. Henry
·
PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY.
·
If you see the trouble and do not warn
people about it, you are responsible for their lives. Apostle Paul was willing
to go to any extent for the salvation of his people (Eze
33:6; 1 Cor 9:16; Rom 9:3).
CONCLUSION:
·
Missions works this way: Someone has to
Send/give, someone has to go and preach, people hear it and believe the
message, they pray and Jesus saves them (Rom 10:13-15).
·
PRAY: “The history of missions is the history
of answered prayer.”― Samuel Zwemer.
·
GO:
o
“Some
wish to live within the sound of church and chapel bell. I want to run a rescue
shop within a yard of hell!”― C.T. Studd.
·
SEND/GIVE:
o
Jesus’
mission was funded by people (Luke 8:1-3)
o
Paul
received help for his missions (Phil 4:10-20) and recommended church to support
the servants of God (Rom 16:1-2).
o John encourages
the church to support the Gospel workers (3 John 5-8).
o “The church that
does not evangelize will fossilize.”― Oswald J. Smith
Note:
This sermon outline is shared online for fellow-pastors to share the Word of
God with their congregations and encourage them in their faith life. Preached at
Quirk Memorial Baptist Church, Visakhapatnam by Pastor Prem Kumar Havaji.
Prem.havaji@gmail.com.
