It is always encouraging to get reports from various countries on how our resources are being received and what they are accomplishing. The following report comes from Myanmar, S. E. Asia.
“God's Plan for His Disciples in the Burmese manual is now at hand. Thanks for your faithfulness and prayer. I told my church members that we have a book for discipleship. We shared together one of these lessons. They learned new insights from studying God’s Word. One of our ministers said that she didn't have a chance to study at a Bible College, but this study is for her. Brother, we don't wait to study GPHD.” Oh, that this eagerness was more universal in the church! Paul made a distinction between churches based on their eagerness. “The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so” (Acts 17:10–11). It is interesting that the phrase “all eagerness” infers the whole being engaged “for the sake of the glory of the Lord himself and for the sake of showing our desire” toward Him. This attitude is what prepares men and women to fulfill God’s plan and purpose in this world. It is also an evidence that they allow the Spirit to work in them through the Word of God so they become a living expression of this plan and purpose. This is what brings glory to God.
0 Comments
One of the misconceptions the Church has fostered through mission efforts, over many years, is that mission work is in foreign fields and not locally. Let’s take a look at Acts 1:8; “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”” The force of the words “and in” is ‘and both in.’ This may seem like a small, insignificant detail, but it helps us understand the principle that Jesus intended for our mission focus, that it should be ‘both in our Jerusalem and…to the end of the earth.’
It is true that none of us can be in two places at the same time, but we can broaden the focus of our hearts to include all that God wants to accomplish through His people. Let me give a few suggestions that might direct your thoughts and prayers in this ‘both and’ direction. 1. Ask the Spirit to enlarge your understanding of God’s plan for ALL PEOPLE GROUPS. 2. Pray daily for the unreached people groups around the world and in your own community. 3. If you are able to travel, ask God to direct you to an indigenous person and prepare them for reaching their own people in their own culture. 4. Discover what people groups and languages from around the world are in your community. 5. Ask the Spirit to enable you to share the gospel with someone from your own experience, disciple them to become teachable and faithful, able teach others to be the same. There is no exact method that every one must use for spreading the gospel, but there is ONE Holy Spirit who directs the Church to finish the task we have been left on earth to fulfill. Let Him lead! “It is our unspeakable privilege to be caught up with [the Lord of glory] in the greatest movement in history – the ingathering of the elect “from all tribes and languages and peoples and nations” (Revelation 5:9) until the full number of the Gentiles comes in. Then the Son of Man descends with power and great glory as King of kings and Lord of lords, and the earth is full of the knowledge of His glory as the waters cover the sea forever and ever. Then the supremacy of Christ will be manifest to all, He will deliver the kingdom to God the Father, and God will be all in all. (1)
There is something about this magnificent view of what God has called us to do that captures my heart and mind. I want to devote myself and all that God gives me to accomplishing this purpose. Without seeing this broad view through the eyes of the Spirit, we will doubt that our little efforts can contribute anything to reach peoples at the end of the earth. We begin thinking this way when we lose sight of the greatness of our God. We become preoccupied with lesser things, things of this world, time wasters and energy suckers, and self-seekers. We doubt the power of God because we mentally confine what He can do by limited thinking and resources. Jesus pointed to “greater things” that would happen after the Spirit came (John 14:12). We have forgotten His promise because we refuse to let the Spirit take full control of out hearts and minds. I AM PREACHING TO MYSELF AS WELL AS TO YOU! The world has yet to see what God will do through a person who is fully surrendered to divine control. Will you join me in asking the Spirit to surrender us? We cannot do it on our own and need Him to empower these jars of clay. (1) John Piper, Let the Nations be Glad – The Supremacy of God in Missions, Baker Academy, 1993, page 154. There are two countries in East and Southeast Asia where, for the moment, it seems that we are restricted from entry. To the human mind and expectations this is disappointing, at least until we look at the larger picture of what God is doing.
My mind goes back to Paul in Acts 16. He had just found a young man named Timothy who was teachable and willing to go with Paul for further ‘training in the ministry.’ After this encounter in Lystra, Paul set out with his new disciple to preach the gospel and make disciples elsewhere, but they were “forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the Word in Asia. And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them” (16:6-7). Was Paul discouraged by this? Absolutely not! Paul remained expectant that God would open another door for effective ministry somewhere else. Here is our challenge. If we are determined to follow our man-made agenda, we will miss opportunities that God has already planned for us in order to accomplish His eternal plan. Our challenge is joining Him in what He is already doing. None can deny the fact that many Asian people groups have immigrated west into countries that are open for us to work in. This is an open door for us to train them in the principles of Scripture so they can return to their indigenous people with a fresh vision from the Lord to reach those we cannot reach. “And a vision appeared to Paul in the night, a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us”” (16:9). We are willing to be redirected to where God wants us. Are you? Don’t miss HIS OPPORTUNITIES! This is a very interesting expression. In a prophetic setting, it is promised to the Messiah, Jesus. “Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession” (Psalm 2:8). This is also promised in Psalm 22, “All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you” (22:27). His worship will come from every people group; “From the ends of the earth we hear songs of praise, of glory to the Righteous One” (Isaiah 24:16). How will this happen? Certainly the ‘ends of the earth’ will come under the reign of Christ and His judgment (Revelation 14:7). If the nations (ethnos – every people group) are going to worship the Lord, there must be a way that the salvation message will reach them. Paul was committed to accomplishing this goal. Even though he was not present at Pentecost, there is no doubt in my mind that he heard the instructions through the other apostles that Jesus gave them in Acts 1:8; “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” In the words of John Piper, “God has ordained that salvation come to the nations through sent messengers whose obedient preaching of the gospel brings salvation to the nations.” I want to be obedient to God’s method and power so we reach the ends of the earth. Do you? We have faced many disappointments. Yes, some have made us wonder whether we should keep ‘pushing’ where the soil is difficult, or move on to other fields that we sense God calling us to. In recent events, we have been amazed at the divine timing of trips, connections and God’s provision. We are also amazed at persons whom we doubted would be receptive, but have suddenly proven very open and faithful to receiving the principles of God’s Word.
What makes the difference? Have we forgotten the sovereign work of God by the Spirit? Jesus pointed out to Nicodemus in John 3:8, “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8). The greatest joy in any ministry is through being led by the Spirit to where He has already begun to work. The longer I work in any ministry, the more I find it difficult to develop a human plan or program and then follow it. I am afraid of launching out without a clear sense that we are being led by God. What happens when we follow a divine lead? Back to Paul and Barnabas; “When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the Word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed” (Acts 13:48). Just imagine this celebration! Don’t overlook the sovereign action of God in ‘appointing’ these Gentiles “to eternal life.” Every celebration that brings glory to God results from accepting and working with what God has already started. We need to stop asking God to join our plans and start joining Him in His. It should not surprise us that some, or should I say many, will refuse the presentation of the gospel regardless of how it is presented. Many methods are said to be the best way of sharing, preaching or illustrating the gospel, but none are a guarantee. The Book of Acts demonstrates that the gospel spread in many different ways. What is important is that it is proclaimed, and I will add, lived out by the person presenting it. We should not be surprised at the hard heart of mankind.
Now to my point in this blog. In the effort to give this life saving message to others, we will encounter those who reject it, sometimes in very strong ways. Paul and Barnabas faced this rejection, but they made sure to leave a witness to the truth. “Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, “‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth’” (Acts 13:46–48; see also Acts 1:8). If there are those in one people group who refuse the gospel, it is God’s way of redirecting our attention and energies to another; as we say in this ministry, go where God is already at work. In this case, Paul and Barnabas’ own people, the Jews, “thrust [the gospel]` aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life.” This is heart-breaking, but not discouraging. Why? Notice how Paul goes back to his initial calling; “‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’” If we allow opposition to cloud our vision we will be diverted from God’s plan for us and the gospel. There are important principles to remember when sewing the seeds of the gospel. In the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:1-23), Jesus explains that there are different types of soil (the path, rocky ground, shallow soil, places with plenty of thorns, and good soil). Each has their own ability to receive the seed, germinate and grow into maturity.
How should we respond to these conditions? Several things are evident in the passage. The sower did not take time to analyze the soil before sowing the seed. He simply broadcast the seed and let it fall where it would. We who preach the gospel do not know the hearts of those we preach to. They are known only to God. What we can observe is the response to the Word spoken. Paul presented the gospel to his fellow Jews hoping they would respond. His attitude toward them is clear in Romans 9:1-3; “I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.” And then; “Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved” (10:1). When we preach the gospel, do we have that deep yearning for the lost? If we do, where the seed falls does not matter because we have God’s heart in us, “who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). Salvation through Jesus Christ was always on Paul’s mind. For some time after his conversion, he would go to the local synagogue to tell his Jewish people about the power of God in Christ to forgive and save (Acts 9:20; 13:5, 14, 43; 14:1). In all these interactions with the Jews, Paul never assumed that their knowledge of the Old Testament was adequate to lead them to salvation. In Acts 13, he refers to David in the Old Testament as a means of pointing them to Christ, their Messiah. Notice what he says in the synagogue at Antioch of Pisidia:
“Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by Him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:38–39). Forgiveness was something very different from the requirements of fulfilling the law. In making this offer, Paul points to Christ as the only means of receiving forgiveness and freedom from what the law required to be justified with God. In presenting the gospel to others, let us not assume that any understand forgiveness or freedom. We may need to begin with basic principles that will lead them to this understanding. We looked at the condition of man yesterday; a sin condition that has condemned mankind to eternal death. For us to be released from this judgment of God, there had to be a basis and power that was greater than our condemnation. Since the human race was infected by sin, God sent His sinless Son with the power to break the sting of sin through cleaning and make us righteous and reconciled with God.
Paul knew this sin-breaking power and loves to proclaim it in the gospel. Notice the way he presents it in this passage: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16). The world considers this message foolish, only because it has never known its power. Paul contrasts the wisdom of the world with the wisdom of God in the gospel. “Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe” (1 Corinthians 1:20–21). David knew that you had to taste and see what the Lord offered before you realized it was good (Psalm 34:8). Otherwise, the salvation of the Lord will seem foolish to the human mind and heart. When we accept the message of the gospel, we will experience its power. Until then, it remains a foolish idea. This is where we need to rely more thoroughly on the Holy Spirit to work in those who hear so they will be opened by Him to see their need and the gospels power. |
Archives
December 2023
Link To Our Old Blog:
|