Bunbury
7/02/10
Sun am
“A local church w/ a global vision”
Intro: In the great event of the second coming of Jesus Christ when it seems as though the entire world comes under the sway of the devil – God has a plan!
We sometimes forget as Christians that this world; although currently under the devil’s influence, is God’s world.
The people of this world are His people, He paid for them w/ His blood.
B/c of this the world is to be a part of our vision as the local church.
Jesus said ..... Matthew 13:38 (NKJV) The field is the world, .....
He has called every church & every believer to have a vision for a lost & dying world.
T/m I want to preach a simple sermon “A local church w/ a global vision”.
Text: Matthew 24:14 (NKJV) And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
# 1. The gospel message for all the world.
A. We have been commissioned to preach the saving gospel to the world.
a. The truth of the matter is that we can’t save anyone but we can preach to them!
Vs 24. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world .....
i. This is the calling of every believer today – to preach the gospel.
ii. It’s the calling of every church today – to preach the gospel.
iii. We can’t save anyone but we can preach & it’s the preaching that has the power to save.
b. And it’s the foolishness of the preaching of the gospel that God has chosen to reach the world.
i. Some might be inclined to criticise a church that merely preaches & doesn’t build schools / hospitals / orphanages.
ii. All those things may be good in th/s but the church has been called to preach the gospel throughout the world.
1 Corinthians 1:21 (NKJV) For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
iii. Why? B/c the preaching of the gospel works in every nation / amongst all people.
*** PNG preaching to the people in the Boroko shopping precinct. Around 120 people gathered around me & Coral to hear me preach w/o microphone / notes / assistance. Most bowed their heads w/ me prayed a sinner’s prayer out loud. What attracted them wasn’t a white man in a black nation but the simple / unique gospel message.
B. If we’re going to preach this gospel in the whole world we better get busy.
a. Few Christians realise what a mammoth task it is to even preach the gospel to the whole world.
i. Let me make it little clearer to u/s .....
*** If you were to catch a flight to Beijing, China & preach the gospel – unhindered by authorities – to 1,000 people a day, we would sense great victory in doing so. After all ..... 1,000 every day hearing the gospel??? That’s fantastic, what a powerful ministry!!! After a year 365,000 people have heard the gospel, 10 years later 3.65 million people, 100 years later 36.5 million ..... are you getting the pict?
Great results but China has 1.33 billion people or 19.64% of the world’s population right now – today! To reach this many people @ 1,000 / day it’s going to take over 3600 years! And remember ...... that’s just to preach to them, not get them saved / discipled / sent out to win other Chinese.
ii. As a fellowship we still have not reached the entire world, in fact more than 100 nations remain w/o any fellowship church.
*** We have nations in which we have churches but very few in number. We have 2 churches in Indonesia, the world’s 4th most populous nation! We have a Bible study in France – a nation of 65+ million people!
b. Your involvement can make a major difference.
i. The immediate response of our hearts is .... what difference can I make, I’m only one!
ii. YES BUT YOU ARE ONE! And you do make a difference!!!
*** We have people in our churches all over the world today that have had their lives permanently impacted by one ordinary Christian like you coming to their country. They will never forget your sacrifice / encouragement / example ..... they are strengthened to this very day by a saint like you that took time to go to their nation / city / church & win / inspire them to live for God.
iii. Your involvement computes out into souls – when you invest in world evangelism you’re investing in eternal souls.
# 2. A witness to the nations.
A. People everywhere need the saving gospel to touch their lives – they need witnesses.
a. This means that we are going to need be witnesses going throughout the entire world.
i. The idea of a witness is the thought of someone who bears testimony or gives evidence.
ii. There is nothing so powerful as the evidence / testimony of a life changed by the power of the gospel.
iii. God is looking for people who will simply testify of His awesome saving power to people living in darkness.
Vs 24. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations,
b. God’s great mercy is extended to every nation of the world / every tribe / tongue / people.
i. There’s no one that God wants left out ..... no one He wants to be denied this great gift of salvation & eternal life.
ii. Even if we don’t care about them – God does & He has ways of changing our heart.
*** Some years back now I was standing in life to get my coffee at the Perth conference. I was talking w/ another pastor & in the course of our conversation something came up about India. I didn’t know much about India & I didn’t care much about Indian people at the time. My comment to the other pastor was – “Who cares?” He then added the real meaning of my statement by asking “Let em burn huh?” which was exactly what I meant.
Not too long after that conversation I went to Fiji to preach for the first time. One night a little Indo Fijian lady came out to one of the services, her body racked w/ disease & it appeared as though the only real hope this woman had was to receive a healing touch from a living God. As I began to minister to that woman the Holy Ghost caused that statement to begin ringing in my ears – “Who cares? I do! & you need to care!” God got a hold of my heart that night & a love for the poor desperate Indian people began to grow in my heart / thinking. Now I care!
iii. We could think about any number of different nations around the world & say who cares?
iv. But these are people just like you who get hungry / don’t want to see their children die in squalor / need somewhere to call home.
*** I remember being in the main avenue that runs through Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar w/ Coral. As we stood in the downtown area we looked on both sides of the avenue where we saw a staircase ascending upon the ridge both ways. On those staircases hundreds of people – buying / selling / trading / manufacturing – some even living there w/ their families. My wife & I were gripped by the scene – look at them we said to each other. My wife asked me ..... “Would you come here for these people?”
That’s not such a simple matter when you’re talking about the world’s 4th poorest nation where poverty is rife & 3 – 4 year old children follow you through the streets begging. That’s not easy in a nation where in the main avenue of the capital city there is a constant smell of urine. That’s not easy in a nation where the price of food is roughly double what you pay here. That’s not easy in a nation where you don’t speak their language.
v. What these people need is a simple witness & somebody has to go there to give it to them.
B. W/o a witness multiplied millions will perish in a devil’s hell.
a. The fact is that God holds us responsible for people we have never met & know nothing about.
i. Cain asked God a question after he had murdered his brother Abel .....
Genesis 4:9 (NKJV) Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”
ii. The short answer to that question is – yes, you are your brother’s keeper!
iii. In other words ..... yes God does hold you responsible for your fellow man.
iv. Yes God does expect you to make sacrifices for the lost & dying world in which you live .....yes, you are your brother’s keeper!
b. God expects you to do everything w/i your power to win a lost & dying world.
i. It’s true that God expects you to impact the people around you w/ the gospel first – they are your primary responsibility.
Acts 1:8 (NKJV) But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
ii. It is true that Jerusalem needs to be the starting point .... our own backyard / neighbourhood / city / nation.
iii. But we are not to stop there we are to have a vision / burden / dream & we certainly already have a calling to go into all the world.
Vs 24. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations,
c. God is one day going to ask you what you did about personally fulfilling that calling that He placed upon your life.
i. What have you done to take the gospel into all the world & be a witness to dying masses of humanity?
ii. More imptly – what are you doing? Present tense / right now / current?
iii. Can you stand up & proclaim “I am taking an active part in being a witness of the gospel to the nations”?
iv. What will you do in the future if you aren’t able to do something right now?
*** As a missionary in Fiji we held crusade after crusade in the suburbs around Suva city. I knew that there were enough desperate people out there that we could just continually hold crusades & reach new groups of people - & we did.
v. If we don’t actively take part in some way – going / giving / sending then their blood will be upon your hands – you failed to be a witness to them.
Vs 24. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations,
vi. Can you honestly claim to be fulfilling that great calling in your own personal life?
# 3. God’s plan for harvest.
A. The mind boggles at the immensity of the task at hand.
a. Having travelled through many nations of the world myself I can see we here in Australia find it difficult to grasp the immensity of the task.
i. There are a number of cities around the world today that have metro population the size of our entire nation.
*** 640 million people live in the world’s largest 300 cities!
*** China & India alone comprise nearly 37% of the world’s population.
*** The world’s 4th most populous nation (Indonesia) is only a 4½ hour flight from here.
*** Even in the U.S. there is one person born every 7 seconds & every 11 seconds someone dies. Imagine what places like China / India / Indonesia are like!
Vs 24. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
b. Irrespective of the magnitude of the mission God calls us to be involved.
i. And what God calls us to He equips us for..... my experience is that when we step into the realm of world evangelism that God provides the resources.
ii. He calls us to things beyond ourselves but He never calls us to things beyond Himself.
iii. Yes we have a mind boggling task b/4 us but we also have a mind boggling God sending us!!!
Isaiah 40:12 (NKJV) Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, Measured heaven with a span And calculated the dust of the earth in a measure? Weighed the mountains in scales And the hills in a balance?
Isaiah 40:15 (NKJV) Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket, And are counted as the small dust on the scales; Look, He lifts up the isles as a very little thing.
iv. Let’s not forget the great inspiration given to us by the apostle Paul when he said ....
Romans 8:31 (NKJV) What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
B. We are running out of time to fulfil this calling of the Christian & the church.
a. Jesus warns us that the preaching of the gospel will precede His return.
Vs 24. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
i. We are beginning to see signs of the end everywhere.
*** Recently we witnessed the earthquake that devastated Haiti w/ approx 200,000 people losing their lives & a further 4,000 having limbs amputated after being rescued. An earthquake in a land sharing a common boarder w/ the Dominican Republic .... on the same island!!! One side of the boarder (in Dominican Republic) life continues as normal, unaffected by the quake, one the other side in Haiti death / destruction / devastation everywhere!
*** December 26th 2004 saw a further 250,000+ people losing their lives w/ countless thousands being displaced.
ii. Jesus H/s warned that prior to his coming there would be signs denoting His return.
Matthew 24:7 (NKJV) For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.
iii. We are now hearing regularly in the media reports of global food shortages.
iv. Even in first world nations like ours we are beginning to witness shortages that we have never seen b/4.
v. Hospitals / govt services / emergency services are struggling to cope w/ the burgeoning demands of the world today.
b. We don’t have forever to complete this mission – time is running out!
i. Jesus warns us that .......
Vs 24. ........the end will come.
ii. We don’t have forever to commit to the task at hand ....... the question is what are we going to do right now?
2 Corinthians 6:2 (NKJV) For He says: “In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
iii. Now is the accepted time church for you & I to reach out to a lost & perishing world!
C. Our text is not only a warning – it’s a prophecy.
a. Jesus warns us of the imminent end of all that is here on earth as we know it but He also reassures us that the gospel will be preached in all the earth.
Vs 24. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
i. There are few things that delight the heart of God (I believe) as much as a people who have committed th/s to reach a perishing world.
Isaiah 52:7 (NKJV) How beautiful upon the mountains Are the feet of him who brings good news, Who proclaims peace, Who brings glad tidings of good things, Who proclaims salvation, Who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”
ii. I don’t know about you ...... but I don’t usually find feet beautiful!
iii. But God says even the feet of those who dedicate th/s to the undertaking of bringing the gospel to all people are beautiful.
b. Where are your feet taking you? To your own selfish ambitions / goals / plans?
i. Or has God’s call to go into a lost world directed your feet onto the paths of righteousness?
ii. Like I said ..... Jesus words are a prophecy – the gospel will be preached in all the world!
iii. It’s just a matter of whose feet are going to take them on that mission.
