The Head, The Heart, And The Hands In Regards To Missions Series

THE HEAD, THE HEART, AND THE HAND IN REGARDS TO MISSIONS

Text: Philippians 2:7-15 ;John 3:16 W. Max Alderman

INTRODUCTION: I am going to consider the total man when I consider Missions with you tonight. I will show you how the head, the heart, and the hands must be involved in missions. If you get this simple principle involving missions your attitude towards missions will never again be the same. I trust that we may all be helped.

MISSIONS: First, may I just chat with you for a few minutes in regards to the philosophy of missions. Every last one of you believes something about missions. Your belief is based on what you have been taught and what you accepted after being taught. We will explore this further in our message.

The greatest mission endeavor was expressed when Christ Jesus came to planet earth in what we refer to theologically as the kenosis. The emphasis here is on the fact that Christ humbled Himself to come where I am and where you are. As the song says, “He came to me!” In no way were we His equal. For that reason He took on the form of a man and became obedient to the cross, even to the death of the cross. His mission was to get us back to heaven.

The great story of missions as it involves man is shown in the Book of Acts. Acts 1:8 describes the way that man is both commissioned and empowered to carry out his mission.

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. (Acts 1:8)

It was God’s purpose for man to scatter over the earth with the Gospel. Man did not willingly do that at first and God then had to scatter man through chastisement in the form of persecution as shown us in Acts 8:1-4.

Act 8:1 And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.

Act 8:2 And devout men carried Stephen [to his burial], and made great lamentation over him.

Act 8:3 As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed [them] to prison.

Act 8:4 Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.

The church was enjoying old time religion but was not going beyond their city walls with the Gospel. Someone said that the Church at Jerusalem had (1) The Masses or people (2) It had the Miracles (3) It had the Message, but that it did not have MISSIONS. For that reason the Lord had to scatter the church to get it to do what He wanted it to do. For a church to be greatly blessed of God it needs to have Missions as a number one priority. Nothing means more to the Lord than reaching precious souls. May we now consider how the head, heart and the hand must be working together for there to be MISSIONS.

I. MISSSIONS MUST START IN THE HEAD

The head is where the brain or the mind is. That is where your cognizance is. That is where your thinking takes place. For you to believe old time religion you must take it into your mind. The mission’s conference serves the purpose of educating you to what the Bible has to say about missions. The bottom line is this: What I believe is not important unless it is what God’s Word teaches. That in and of itself is what makes belief important. Is it Bible? Will I allow myself to be conformed to His image by the transforming of my mind? Romans 12:2 illustrates how this should happen. “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.”

A. You Must Recognize the Truth

If you realize that Truth never changes then you must know what the Truth is. The King James Bible does not only contain the Word of God; it is the Word of God. As simple as it may sound, the menu for this mission’s conference is the Word of God. The Word of God is a lamp to your path insuring that you walk in His ways. David knew this when he said, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” (Psalm 119:105).

B. You Must Respond to Truth

For this mission’s conference to accomplish what is needed there must be a teachable spirit. If you are unwilling to let the Word of God fall on good ground and respond favorable to it, this conference will not achieve its purpose. Your attitude this week should be, “God has something to say and I will listen to what is being said.”