It may or may not surprise you that the Barna Research Group, a Christian organization, found that among American adults who said that they were ''born again,'' seventy-five percent couldn't even define the Great Commission.
Also, it may or may not surprise you to know that according to those who do the studies, it is estimated that probably 95% of all church members have never led anyone to Christ.
WHAT IS THE GREAT COMMISSION?
The great commission is found in Matthew 28:19-20 Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.
Basically the purpose of every church is to carry out the GREAT COMMISSION.
We hear in our neighborhoods where we talk about neighbors trying to keep up with their neighbors.
• If their neighbor get a new car, they get a new car.
• If their neighbor get a new lawn mower they get a new lawn mower.
This is a fact of life!!!
But also in our churches we have churches trying to keep up with other churches.
Illus: (True Story) Two men were in a donut shop talking and bragging about their churches.
• One of them said, “We just bought a chandelier that cost $50,000 dollars”
• The other fellow was not going to let him out brag him, he said we are buying a NEW ORGAN that is going to cost almost a hundred thousand dollars.
• One fellow said, the governor comes to our church.
• The other fellow said the Mayor come to our church.
Listen, if our church is going to try and keep up with other churches we need to keep up with the New Testament church where they understood the church is HERE TO CARRY OUT THE GREAT COMMISSION.
Illus: Dr. Odell Belger said when I first got saved and started reading my Bible I came across the book of Acts and I wondered why this book was called the BOOK OF ACTS. I was a new convert, I did not know!
I later found out that it was called ACTS because it contained the ACTS OF THESE NEW TESTAMENT CHRISTIANS.
What was there ACTS, it was to carry out the GREAT COMMISSION of reaching the Lost for the Lord.
Listen, the reason that churches today are carrying out the GREAT COMMISSION they do not even know why God put the church here.
• Listen, there are churches all around town and they can not remember when someone got saved in their church.
• There are churches all around town and they can not remember when they baptize a new converts.
As a Bible-preaching preacher I get concern and so should every Christians when weeks and weeks go by and we are not baptizing new converts.
Let’s take a good look at the Book of Acts, that begins after the Great Commission was given, to see what we must be doing as an INDIVIDUAL and as a CHURCH.
First, let us look at-
I. THE PURPOSE OF MISSIONS
One of the reasons that churches are not carrying out the Great Commission is because we have been given an awesome responsibility.
We see that responsibility in Acts 28: 26-27, we read, “Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.”
This is no easy mission that has given the church.
For example, in the reaching of the Jews, the Lord said they would be trying to reach people who:
1. Hear, but they would not understand
2. See, but they will not be able to see
• Why will they hear but not understand what they hear?
• Why will they be able to see, but yet spiritually they are blind?
Because the Bible tells us the people we are to reach for Him are DULL OF HEARING and with EYES THAT ARE CLOSED!
There are two kinds of salesman, one is more difficult than others. For example…
(1) When a car salesman see someone pull up on their car lot they know they did not come there to buy a hamburger. They came there looking and perhaps buy a car.
This makes a car salesman job somewhat easy.
All they have to do is convince the customer they have the car they need.
(2) But there is another kind of salesman that go from door to door, his job is much more difficult.
Why? This salesman is invading the customers territory un-invited.
Illus: When this type of salesman comes to a house, most of the time before he opens his mouth, the home owner have already made up their mind that they are not “Buying” what the salesman has to sell.
In fact they are trying to figure out how they can get rid of this salesman that came to their home un-invited as fast as they can.
When this is the case, the salesman’s task become more difficult.
It is even more difficult for a salesman, when he pulls up at the front door and the customer go out the back door.
The lost world today is not running TO God, they are running FROM God as fast as they can run.
But a good salesman knows how to make a sale!!!
The Bible tells us Proverbs 11:30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; And he that is wise winneth souls.
Illus: For example, a salesman was demonstrating unbreakable combs in a department store.
He was impressing the people who stopped by to look by putting the comb through all sorts of torture and stress.
Finally to impress even the skeptics in the crowd, he bent the comb completely in half, and it snapped with a loud crack.
Without missing a beat, he bravely held up both halves of the 'unbreakable' comb for everyone to see and said, "And this, ladies and gentlemen, is what an unbreakable comb looks like on the inside!
But in carrying out the GREAT COMMISSION we have been given a difficult assignment.
We must go to a lost world that is DULL OF HEARING AND THEY DO NOT WANT TO SEE THE TRUTH.
But why must we seek to reach them for the Lord, because…
A. THERE IS A DEBT TO BE PAID
According to the Word of God, every Christian is a DEBTOR TO THE LOST WORLD. That is, we owe them the gospel.
Look at Rom. 1:14 16, Paul said, “I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”
We Christians know we should pay our debts.
We call people who do not pay their debts…DEAD BEATS!
Listen, if 95% of the Christians today have never personally won a soul to the Lord there is a lot of dead beat Christians in the church today.
• There are preachers who have never won anyone to the Lord.
• There are Sunday School teachers who have never won a soul to the Lord.
• There are deacons who have never won a soul to the Lord.
• There are Christians who have never won a soul to the Lord.
Can God bless a church full of dead beats who are not paying their spiritual debts…DO NOT THINK SO.
Illus: Suppose this church had Christians that did not pay their electric bill, house payment, car payment and credit card bills. THEY ARE DEAD BEATS!!!
You do not have to be a german scientist to figure this out, GOD COULD NOT BLESS A CHURCH LIKE THIS!!!
And God cannot bless a church who will not pay their spiritual debt.
The Bible tells us we are DEBTORS!!!
One of the reason God bless this church in the book of ACTS was because they recognize they had a debt to pay to a lost world and they paid that debt!!!
Notice, the apostle Paul recognizes this debt. He said, “I am debtor…”
Notice, Paul recognize he was a debtor and Paul tells us in Romans 1:14 I am debtor both to Greeks and to Barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.
Every human on the face of the earth fits into one of these categories. And we owe every one of them the gospel.
This is not a annual debt, monthly debt, or weekly debt, this is a DAILY DEBT that we owe to mankind.
THERE IS A DEBT TO BE PAID!!!
But notice something else Paul stated:
B. THERE IS A DUTY TO BE PERFORMED
Paul said, “I am ready”. That is, I recognize that I have a spiritual debt to the lost, and “I am ready”.
• I will not keep finding excuses to keep from paying this debt - “I AM READY!”
• I will not selfishly use all my time on myself, I owe this debt “I AM READY!”
THERE IS A DUTY TO BE PERFORMED, and we need to quit stalling and perform it.
• There is a debt to be paid
• There is a duty to be performed.
Also, notice-
C. THERE IS A DIRECTION TO BE PURSUED
Notice that Paul, in an effort to reach the lost, said he would pursue this matter in this fashion; to the “Jew first, and also to the Greek”
Christians should want to see the whole lost world saved. But our concern for lost souls should start with our own family and friends.
Illus: I have problems with some students who are studying to be missionaries. For example, while they are studying they are not trying to win their family, friends and neighbors to the Lord what makes you think they will try to win the lost in other countries.
Illus: A church had a pastor that was a Baptist pastor. The church came to a stand still. A deacon after several years of standing still ask his pastor, he said,
• “Pastor, do you have a burden for this church.”
• Do you know what he said, “Not really” and they got rid of him.
Paul was a Jew, and he knew that soul winning should start with his own people first.
Notice, he said he was a debtor to, “Jew first” and then he will broaden the circle to reach others.
When a person first gets saved, he should draw an imaginary circle around himself:
1) He should include every family member in that circle. He should witness to them, and let them know he is praying for their salvation.
2) Then he should draw another imaginary circle around that circle, and include every friend of his in that circle.
3) Then he needs to draw another imaginary circle around that circle, and include his neighbors.
4) Then he should draw another circle around those three circles, for people that he comes into contact with in the normal course of business dealings.
5) Then he should draw a circle around those four circles, and include those who live in other countries
And while he can not go to these areas personally, he can pray for these people to come to know Christ, and he can help support missionaries so they can hear what they must do to be saved from God’s Word.
Charity starts at home, but it does not stay at home. It reaches around the world.
We have looked at THE PURPOSE OF MISSIONS.
But also, let’s look at-
II. THE PLAN FOR MISSIONS
Once we have done everything we know to do to reach a person for Christ, and all of our efforts have been in vain, THEN WHAT DO WE DO?
The Word of God tells us what to do in situations like this.
For example, after Paul started with HIS OWN PEOPLE, FRIENDS, NEIGHBORS, he then turned to the GENTILES.
Look at Acts 28:28, we read, Be it known therefore unto you, that this salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles: they will also hear.”
Salvation was first brought to the Jews. But the Word of God says these people:
• Did not want to hear about it anymore
• Did not want to see what they must do to be saved
So Paul then directed his attention to the Gentiles.
And notice what he said of them, “…they will hear it.”
Illus: Christians need to learn what every good fisherman already knows. That is, if the fish won’t bite in one place, move on to where they are hungry and will bite.
The devil has been very effective in getting some Christians tied up for years with a lost person that does not want to HEAR or SEE what God has for them.
Listen, after witnessing to the lost, if they do not receive the witness of God’s Word, there comes a time when you need to move on, and concentrate on someone who has not had a chance to hear the gospel yet.
“But preacher, if I spend years talking to that person I might be able to win them to the Lord.”
I am not saying that you should totally give up on them. What I am saying, is this, why should they be given thousands of opportunities to be saved, when others have never had one opportunity to be saved?
It is true that you might win someone to Christ if you spend years of your resources trying. But if you spent the same resources (time, money, and prayers) dealing with people who want to HEAR and SEE what God has for them, you might have won a dozen or more to Christ.
Illus: When you are driving and you come to a “Dead End”, you do not just stay there, you try and find another road that will lead you to your destination.
The same thing is true in witnessing; if you come to a dead end, ask God to show you where you can go to find a sinner who is looking for salvation.
When PLAN A falls through, turn to plan “B”.
Look at-
A. THE PERSEVERANCE OF MISSIONS
The mission of the church is no easy task. If it was, there would be more doing it than there are now.
Illus: We sometimes hear of a church moving into a new community. They build a church building for people to worship in, and in no time it is packed to capacity.
Illus: That is, they are like a fishermen that just found a fishing hole where the fish are biting.
It is always good to hear these things, but listen, for the average church it is a spiritual battle to get people to attend church, and to get people to give their hearts to the Lord Jesus.
Paul said, in verses 30-31, “And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him.”
When the opportunity is there, we need to take advantage of it.
Paul spent two years, because there was an open door to him. He said in verse 31, “…no man forbidding him.”
He also went to other places where the door was closed, and he would move on to other locations because there was no opportunity there to win anyone to Christ.
But while he was there, God opened doors for him to teach and preach the Word and he persevered.
He later wrote to Timothy and said to him, in 2 Timothy 4:17, “Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”
Look at some of the things he acknowledged in this verse of scripture. He said:
• HE HAD THE LORD’S PRESENCE - “The Lord stood with me”
• HE HAD THE LORD’S POWER “and strengthened me”
As we PERSEVERE in the work of God, the Lord is WITH US and he will STRENGTHEN US.
We have looked at THE PERSEVERANCE OF MISSIONS but let’s look also at-
B. THE PEOPLE OF MISSIONS
Look at verse 30 “Received all that came in unto him”
We never know what lost soul the Lord Jesus may put before us, but whoever it may be, we have to open our HEARTS and our CHURCH DOORS to them.
Christ died for everyone, and if a church does not love everyone that walks through those doors, God cannot bless that church.
If Christ loved them enough to DIE FOR THEM, we should have enough love in our heart to REACH OUT TO THEM!
Illus: Dr. Odell Belger tells that he visited the First Baptist Church in Hammond Indiana, where the late Dr. Jack Hyles was the pastor. The Sunday that he and his wife visited, they observed:
• 28,000 in attendance that Sunday morning in the worship service
• 705 babies in the nursery.
• Over 300 women nursery workers taking care of those babies
But as Dr. Belger sat in the balcony of the morning worship service, the thing that caught his eye as he looked across the congregation was that you could see:
• A well dressed woman with a nice fur coat, sitting beside some little child in ragged clothes, that rode on one of their buses
• A man that was wearing a $300 to $400 hundred suit, sitting beside a man that did not even have a coat and tie to wear to church
• A graduate from college, sitting beside someone that never made it through high school
• An African American woman, sitting beside a white woman, and sharing a song book together
This is what Paul had in mind. IF GOD SENT THEM, HE RECEIVED THEM.
Shame on these churches where:
• If you do not drive a certain kind of a car, they prefer you not pull up in their parking lot
• If you do not wear a certain name brand of clothes, they prefer you do not come into their church building
These people have forgotten the MISSION OF THE CHURCH. Shame on them!
Illus: A dedicated Christian, Donald Smith, was a construction worker. He is now with the Lord. Often his work required him to go out of town and he would have to spend the night in these towns. He was in Charleston, South Carolina on a Wednesday evening. He had forgotten to pack his dress clothes so he could go to the mid-week service at one of the local churches. But he was a Christian that loved the Lord, and wanted to go to church. So he drove his pickup truck to this large church that was down the road from the motel where he was staying. He got out of his truck and headed for the sanctuary, when an usher stopped him, and told him he did not have the proper clothes to come in. Bro. Don did not argue with him. Naturally his feelings were hurt, but he got in his truck and drove around town until he could find another church that he felt would allow him to come in and sit on the back row to hear the preaching of God’s Word.
Some of these churches have forgotten THE PEOPLE OF MISSIONS.
While people should wear the best they have to the house of God, the mission of the church is not a fashion parade.
Conclusion:
Christians have the AWESOME RESPONSIBILITY to reach the lost for Christ.
Who are these who we should seek to win…
• OUR FRIENDS
• OUR FAMILY
• OUR NEIGHBOR
• THE GROCER
• THE DENTIST
• THE GAS STATION ATTENDANT
…all have an appointed time to die. The mission of the church is to do everything we can possibly do to reach them for Christ before they die.
I. THE PURPOSE OF MISSIONS
A. There is a debt to be paid
B. There is a duty to be performed
C. There is a direction to be pursued.
II.THE PLAN FOR MISSIONS
A. The perseverance of missions
B. The people of missions
