More Territory for the Kingdom
Various Scriptures
September 26, 2004
Introduction
Well, I know what happens after a good meal on a Sunday afternoon, so I’m going to try to make this message worth staying awake for, okay?
And we’re going to dive right in because I want to be sensitive to your schedules.
I want us to look at four questions that need to be addressed when considering the issue of missions. Ready? Here we go. The first question is…
What are we to do?
Matthew 28:18-20
Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
What does this verse say we are to? Possibly every missionary you have ever heard uses this verse when they talk about the work around the world. But what is the command here? To go, right? Wrong!
In the original Greek language of the New Testament, verse 19 has one command in it.
That command is this: make disciples. Not go, not baptize, but make disciples. A literal translation of this verse would read, “as you are going, make disciples.”
What is a disciple? Basically, a disciple is a follower of Jesus. It’s someone who has put their faith in Christ as I described this morning, and is intentionally seeking to learn from Him and live for Him in the everyday world.
I don’t know about you, but I think there are enough hypocrites in the world, and Jesus doesn’t want any more. He didn’t want any in the first place!
One of the objections some people have about giving their lives to Jesus or coming to church is that “there are too many hypocrites.”
I have two answers to that: first, don’t let the fact there are hypocrites in the church stop you. There’s always room for one more!
Second, you need to understand that Jesus hates hypocrisy even more than you! Look at how He addressed the religious leaders in the gospels.
He called them vipers, and all sorts of stuff. My favorite is “whitewashed tombs full of dead men’s bones.”
I mentioned in this morning’s message that one of the desires of God is that is name is honored. God says that when our walk doesn’t match our talk, God’s name is blasphemed.
That is why discipleship, and making disciples is so important. Discipleship is the antidote to hypocrisy.
My point here is that the goal and the command of the church isn’t just for more people to call themselves Christians, but to help more people become people who both believe and live for Christ.
But…
Where are we to do it?
Jesus tells us in Matthew 28 that we are to make disciples in all nations, but Acts 1:8 gives us another piece of direction.
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
From these two verses, I want to very quickly give you four places we are to make disciples. The first place is…
1. Locally.
Jesus told the disciples to start in Jerusalem, right where they were.
If you’re like most people, you tend to think of missions as being in Africa or China or something. And while it’s very important that we go there, we need to remember that there is a need right here.
You know, I’m just going to take a wild guess and say that not everyone in this area is a follower of Christ.
Not everyone has taken the gift of eternal life that Jesus offers and is living for Him, right? So I’d say there’s still some work to be done around here.
But two things: first, don’t use that as an excuse to not consider serving somewhere else. Second, if you are going to use that as an excuse, then you’d better be doing something to help reach this local area for Jesus, and not just talking about it.
Am I getting a little too close for comfort? Too bad. It’s the truth, and we all need to hear it now and again.
So look at the needs of those locally who need Christ.
The second area we need to consider is…
2. Regionally.
What I mean here is to consider what might be happening in other parts of South Dakota or North Dakota.
You know one of the neediest places in the world, both in terms of material needs and spiritual needs?
The reservations in South Dakota. And when people outside the reservations come and show the love of Jesus by telling them how they can have eternal life and by helping alleviate some of the poverty, it’s a major deal for the kingdom of God.
Look outside the local area.
The third area of missions is…
3. Nationally.
Look at other parts of the country for opportunities to make disciples.
This is just a natural extension of what we’ve just been talking about. In our passage for this section, Jesus is saying start here, then branch out to Judea and Samaria, which was basically the rest of the country of Israel at that time.
Then what did Jesus say after that? Go to the ends of the earth, which is the fourth area of missions and that is…
4. Internationally.
As I mentioned earlier, this is where most people think of when they think of missions.
And the need is massive, folks. There are people all over the world going to a Christless hell because we can’t get people overseas fast enough.
I went through these four things relatively quickly, because I need to move on to some other things, but also because you have probably heard most or all of that stuff before.
But before I move on, let me just tell you that between Pastor Virgil and I, we can put you in touch with lots of missions agencies within church denominations or para-church organizations.
If you are considering a call to missions, tell Pastor Virgil, and I guarantee he’ll help you out.
Well we’ve looked at what to do, making disciples, and we’ve looked at where to do it, basically everywhere, and now we look at the third question for this afternoon, and that is…
How are we to do it?
First, we need to acknowledge that we must do this under the power and direction of the Holy Spirit, as seen when we looked at the last question.
But under that power, there are two main ways to be involved in missions locally and around the world.
And by the way, I’m assuming that you already understand the need for prayer. We all need to pray for God’s work around the world, but I’m not going to focus on this today.
Allow me to read Romans 10:14-15 -
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"
The first main way is by…
1. Going.
Well duh, Pastor Brian! Tell us something we already know, why don’t you?
Well, it still needs to be said. People need to be willing to take the gospel to those who need to hear it.
Because you see, Jesus has left the job up to us. To people.
God doesn’t use angels to tell people about Jesus. The only time in Scripture this has ever happened was when the angels came to the shepherds announcing Jesus’ birth.
In the book of Acts, an angel comes to Cornelius the centurion, and tells him to go get Peter so he could hear about Jesus.
It’s OUR job, and Jesus expects us to do our job, whether it be with our friends and family or around the world.
You and I are here today because the original disciples took this seriously, taking the gospel as far as they could, and then those people kept it rolling all the way to our current generation.
And we need people today who are willing to consider actually going and taking the gospel to the people.
There are literally thousands of opportunities, and the ages involved in these range from teens to retired senior citizens.
Folks, people are dying all over the world without Christ. Who’s going to tell them how they can have heaven? It needs to be us in our generation.
Consider a 1-day, 1-week, or 1-month missions trip to see what God would do in and through you, and maybe see if He would call you to something more long-term.
The second way to help in making disciples around the world is by…
2. Sending.
In other words, doing what we can to make it possible for others to go, if we have not been called to go ourselves.
Paul asks in our verse here, how can they preach unless they are sent?
This is where I find myself. Years ago, I thought God was calling me to be a missionary. So 6 months after my wedding, my bride and I moved to Colorado Springs, CO to train with an organization called The Navigators, which was the organization through which I gave my life to Christ as a freshman at SDSU in Brookings.
While I was there, I met a number of missionaries, who gave me lots of insight to what missionaries go through and what’s expected, as well as the joys of seeing the gospel bear fruit.
God has not seen fit to send me as a career missionary anywhere. I have gone on some short-term missions to Arizona, New York, and other places, and Lord willing, I plan on traveling to Cambodia in the next year or two to help at our Bible college for a couple weeks, teaching young pastors.
But God has given me a desire to help people get to the mission field. My family supports missions financially on a personal level, and I’ve pushed a rather ambitious missions funding agenda through our church, and God is using it.
I’m asking God to bring people to our church who are willing to serve as missionaries both here and abroad, and I want our church to be able to support them in a substantial manner.
What about you? Maybe God’s not calling you to leave your area, but what’s to stop you from helping someone else go?
It takes money to travel – because believe it or not, the airlines don’t care about your good intentions. They want money to fly you somewhere. Now how’s that for greedy?
Has God blessed you to be able to pay your tithe, pay your bills, and have some left over to help finance the building of the Kingdom in other places?
If not, why not ask Him to do that? The Bible says in 1 John 5 that if we pray according to God’s will, He hears our prayers, and He gives us what we ask for.
You think it’s God’s will to have people take the gospel to the far corners of the earth? I think so. Try it, I double-dog dare you.
Let’s move on to the last question I want us to look at this afternoon:
Why are we to do it?
This is an area that you might see my face get all red, because this area right here is at the bottom of everything I believe about reaching the world for Jesus.
John 14:6 says this:
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Folks, it’s just a fact that outside of Christ there is no hope for heaven for anybody.
Whether you’re sitting here this afternoon, or they’re sitting at home watching the Vikings game or out in the field, or in a rice paddy in China.
Without Christ, there is no hope.
And unless you are convinced of this, down to the core of your being, you will not have much of a heart for missions.
Folks, if Jesus is not the way that He claimed to be, then He was a liar. Plain and simple. Either that or He was a loony toon.
There is no other choice. And if He’s right, and He is, then we need to do all we can to tell as many people as possible about Him, because without Him they face hell.
Well Brian, what about all those nice people in other religions? Won’t they get to heaven if they are sincere about what they believe?
No! Not unless Jesus wrong.
Now listen up very closely, because I don’t want you to miss this:
God doesn’t send people to hell for not hearing about Jesus. People go to hell as punishment for their sins.
Jesus said in John 3 that to reject His light causes us to remain in God’s wrath. That means that people are in God’s wrath to begin with, and Jesus has given us a way out.
If you have taken God’s free gift of eternal life for yourself, you are no longer an object of the just punishment you deserve for your sins. Jesus has taken that punishment for you.
But there are billions of people both in this area and abroad who aren’t hearing about the eternal life Jesus brings.
Jesus is the only way to God. It doesn’t matter how sincere a person is in whatever faith they possess or don’t possess. You can be sincerely wrong about things, and this is too important to be wrong about!
Are you willing to gamble your own soul and the souls of others that Jesus was wrong? I’m not.
If you’re outside of Christ and think you don’t need Him, you can’t afford to be wrong, because if you’re wrong, you will pay for that wrong choice for eternity.
That’s why we do it. That’s why we consider missions. That’s why we pray for our friends and loved ones to come to Christ, and that’s why we look at how God would have us be involved on a personal level by either going or sending with our pocketbooks and prayers.
Do you understand? I don’t think I can put it any more plainly. With Jesus, there is heaven. Without Jesus, we face the punishment our sins deserve.
Conclusion
Is God calling you to missions? The answer is yes. He’s calling all of us to make disciples of all nations.
Are you willing to get involved? That’s the real question. If you aren’t willing to get involved at some level, then all your Missionsfests from now ‘til Jesus returns are purely academic and don’t mean anything.
If you are willing, then let me just once again invite you to visit with Pastor Virgil. He’ll make sure you get all the info you need to become involved in making disciples, both here and/or abroad, if that is where God would have you serve.
I’m going to pray here in just a moment. And after the service, I’m just going to hang around for a while. If you want to talk to me about anything I’ve said today, or you want more information about something, I’d love to talk to you.
If you’d like me to pray with you about anything, I’d love to do that.
And if you’d like to give your life to Jesus because you realize that you haven’t really put your faith in Him like the Bible says, then you can bet that I’d love to help you with that.
Again, thank you for inviting me here today. I pray that you have gotten something you can take home with you and pray about.
And I pray that God would use this church, and the people in it, to win many people to Christ, for the advancement of His Kingdom and the glory of God forever.
Let’s pray.
