We have a wonderful example in Paul’s attitude toward a people group he had never seen. It was in the Fall of A.D. 57 when he left Ephesus and went to Macedonia that he wrote the second letter to the Corinthians. From Macedonia, Paul was determined to return to Jerusalem one more time in an attempt to persuade them of the gospel of grace. During this time though, he also had Rome on his heart. Some disciples who heard the gospel, migrated to Rome for various reasons.
As Paul thought of these believers, he sat down in the winter of A.D. 57/58 to write them a letter that would further establish those at Rome in the gospel; “For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome” (Romans 1:11, 15). These are the words of a man with a deep, unwavering passion. It was face-to-face discipling that Paul felt was necessary so he could “impart…some spiritual gift to strengthen” them. A letter was good, but not good enough for Paul. He expected that when he arrived in Rome, he would “preach the gospel” to them so they would be firmly established in its pure grace and power in Christ. Much of what I have written about up to this point is preparation for a moment like this. I have no doubt that God has worked in many hearts who read this blog. Do you have the same eagerness that Paul had? It is not a matter of having a full understanding of all the future holds, but knowing that God has placed a burden on your heart for a specific people group. When a burden like this is from God, we had better not ignore the prompting of the Holy Spirit. The “way” may not be clear at the moment as to how things will work out, as it was unclear for Paul, but if we are submitted to the Holy Spirit, He will work it out.
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In the sixth letter that Paul wrote, the letter with a complete explanation of the gospel, he said, “Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations” (Romans 1:5). This verse contains a powerful summary of what God intends for all who are in Christ.
· Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, God has made available to all in His Son all we need for proclaiming in word and life the gospel to every people group on earth. · Because of Jesus Christ, “we have received grace” – the “kindness of God” that supplies all we need to fulfill His will in a way that glorifies Him (see Titus 2:11-14; 3:4-7). · Not only that, “we have received…apostleship” – “the office of a special messenger” with the good news of eternal life in Christ Jesus which is received by faith as a gift. · God intends that this grace and message would be proclaimed through us in the power of the Holy Spirit so that the nations will obey the truth. · “So that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:10–11). There is a witness throughout Scripture that His name will be exalted among all nations (Psalm 45:17) because the gospel is preached and God prepares hearts to receive the message. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, then you have received this grace and God has made you a messenger, and “entrusted to [you] the message of reconciliation…God making His appeal through us…be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:19-20). Have you considered this gift and the responsibility that goes along with it? In the last few blogs, we have looked at some startling facts regarding unreached people groups who have not heard the gospel or there is no Christian representation among them. How will they be reached? The centuries march by and it seems the progress is very slow. At the same time, I believe God is stirring the Church as never before with a renewed understanding of God’s heart for the nations. We can no longer allow complacency to blind our eyes and deafen our ears.
The Holy Spirit wants to rekindle a fervor for spreading the gospel to the unreached in many ways. One point of awakening is realizing that we have substituted earnest prayer “for all peoples” with activity that produces little or no eternal results. Jesus quotes Isaiah 56:7 in Luke 11:15-19 when He confronts those who used the temple as a place of merchandise rather than a place of prayer. Notice the prophetic nature of these verses in Isaiah. ““And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to Him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it, and holds fast My covenant— these I will bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples”” (Isaiah 56:6–7). It was always God’s intent that “all peoples”, the “foreigners” would be His, serve Him, love His name, and be to His eternal glory. Israel lost God’s plan for the nation, but are we in danger of losing His vision and purpose for the Church; to bring light to the nations, people groups, so they will bring praise to His name? As good as the church at Ephesus was, they abandoned the love they had at the beginning. This was very serious in the eyes of the Lord. “Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent” (Revelation 2:5). Will the Lord our Head say the same to us? Jesus showed us the attitude that every missionary must carefully consider. “And Simon and those who were with Him searched for Him, and they found Him and said to Him, “Everyone is looking for You.” And He said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” And He went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons” (Mark 1:36–39).
Why were they looking for Jesus? He had already preached in their synagogue and healed “a man with an unclean spirit” (1:23) as well as “Simon’s mother-in-law” (1:30), and “He healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons” (1:34). Was it just the healing of body they were looking for? Jesus had come to heal their eternal soul with the message of freedom from sin only found in Himself. This point is made in Chapter 2:5 when He says to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” That message is at the core of the gospel, which we must preach! In light of this principle, consider the top 10 largest unreached people groups in the world. Is one of these the NEXT people group you will help reach? 1. Shaikh in Bangladesh 135,300,000 2. Japanese of Japan 120,700,000 3. Shaikh in India 89,200,000 4. Yadav (Hindu) in India 62,500,000 5. Turk in Turkey 55,400,000 6. Chamar (Hindu) in India 54,800,000 7. Han Chinese, Ziang in China 38,300,000 8. Sunda in Indonesia 37,600,000 9. Java Pesisir Lor in Indonesia 36,900,000 10. Persian in Iran 36,600,000 The combined number of those in this list for India alone is 206,500,000 people. If we combine all the unreached people groups just in India, they would total 1,336,061,420. Will you get involved in some way? Follow Jesus’ model and “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also”. There is a vast work to be done and it will be accomplished by those who submit to His example. In this blog we often refer to people groups. Let’s answer the question: What is a “people group?
"For evangelization purposes, a people group is the largest group within which the Gospel can spread as a church planting movement without encountering barriers of understanding or acceptance" (Source: 1982 Lausanne Committee Chicago meeting.) In most parts of the world, lack of understandability acts as the main barrier and it is appropriate to define a people group primarily by language, with the possibility of sub‐divisions based on dialect or cultural variations. Such a list may be referred to as an ethno‐linguistic list of peoples. In other parts of the world, most notably in portions of South Asia, acceptance is a greater barrier than understandability. In these regions, caste, religious tradition, location, and common histories and legends may be used to identify the primary boundary of each people group. Language can be a secondary boundary. What distinguishes one people group from another? Ideally, "people group" would always be defined to mean (a) all individuals in the group who understand each other reasonably well and (b) cultural / relationship barriers aren't so high that the transmission of the Gospel is seriously impeded.” (Joshua Project) Even if these numbers were slightly off, I think we can agree that there is much work to be done. It is our passion to equip the indigenous Christians to have the eyes of their heart enlightened with God’s eternal plan for reaching these UPGs. The question is not whether it is possible to reach them, the question is; what can I do to help the Church reach them. Take these facts and begin with prayer, asking God what he wants you to do. It was a rare thing for Paul to ask for prayer in any of his letters. He was physically in prison, but his heart was deeply involved in God’s work across Asia Minor and what he hoped would be his final destination, Rome. In his third letter from a prison cell he writes, “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison--” (Colossians 4:2–3). He did not deny that declaring the gospel, the “mystery of Christ” had put him in chains, but that was not his concern. He was expecting God to “open…a door for the word”!
We are expecting God to open a door that the gospel might reach the Sentinelese. Please pray for B. as he passionately pursues reaching the Sentinelese people on Nicobar Islands near India. He is willing to give his life to reach this unreached people group. Let's keep this bold, but humble young man before our Lord. The way into the heart of these people may seem impossible from our human perspective, but “all things are possible with God” (Mark 10:27). There are leaders from North Andaman who desire to reach another unreached people group, the Jarawa's. One of these leaders, Pastor S. has been imprisoned for reaching out to this stone-age people group. Another young man, D.G. was just married in May, but desires to reach the Sentinelese people on the Nicobar Islands. To go there could mean he may lose his life. K. from another ministry also has the same heart for unreached peoples. Tim is going back to train leaders, January 16 to 17, 2018. God is gathering His key workmen who are “not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16). Many have been praying that God will open this door, and we ask you to join this growing crowd. You and I may not be physically able to go on the front lines, but we can be there in our hearts through fervent prayer. It is a joy for me to bring you these reports. Each place on this earth where God has called us to ministry has been a challenge in one way or another. Ecuador was like a burning ember that never seemed to catch fire, until now. God has answered many prayers for this country and South America, and the key men God has brought to us. Now, a fire is ignited in a few hearts that cannot be quenched because God’s Spirit is clearly at work.
They have received the new English revision of the “God’s Plan for His Church” (GPHC) manual and are working to get it translated so that the Spanish version can be printed in January 2018. Pray for clarity in the translation. Several of the church leaders from the first GPFHC group of graduates continue to meet every Wednesday. One of the graduates has a new group in his neighborhood that is well on its way to becoming a new church. As I write these reports, my mind turns again to the example of the church at Thessalonica. Paul and Silas were there for only four months, but these new converts had received the gospel “in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction” and this happen through “much affliction” (1 Thessalonians 1:5-6). Our efforts will be empty unless they are empowered by the Spirit. We want to “turn the world upside down” (Acts 17:6) through effective ministry! Please pray for this kind of effectiveness through NFI! Tim will go to Vietnam where he will meet with a young man from the Andaman Islands who is training through the manual and will be able to see firsthand how God uses GPHC in VN. We know that multiplication was not only Jesus’ model but also the Apostle Paul’s as he developed many Timothys, enabling the gospel to go from Jerusalem to Rome in only 25 years. Paul planted churches all over Asia Minor in 10 years where there were no churches prior to that. This was accomplished as a result of 3 missionary journeys.
There are many Timothys throughout Vietnam who are both indigenous and self-supporting. This is hard to believe, considering our Western models! One of them reports: “We have just returned home, after training in Thanh Hoa Province. 57 were in the course; 5 Pastors, 3 leaders and deacons, and house church leaders. These are an Antioch model in the Vietnamese villages who are willing to go to many places. Going tomorrow to continue training in Malaysia and there until October 30.” You can imagine the thrill it is to see this spontaneous growth and expansion of the gospel and equipping the local church to expand God’s work. We ask you to pray for these disciples. The news coming out of the current training in Yangon is very heart warming. “J…” is living with the students and he tells us; “I am encouraged. They (the students) are studying past 9 p.m. Praise the Lord for a hunger and thirst for God’s Word.”
A few of the students said: · This training is “teaching me how to plant a church.” · This is “giving me a hunger to read the Word of God more and more.” · “I am learning that there are a lot of heroes in the Bible.” There were occasions in the Book of Acts where God was creating the same hunger and desire as we are seeing today. “And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women” (Acts 17:2–4). Look at the variety of forms and approaches Paul took in order to generate interest in those he spoke to. He “reasoned” or use a method of discussion “from the Scriptures”. “Explaining and proving” was a way of “opening the minds” of those who listened and “to show beyond doubt” that what the Scriptures said was true. In using these methods of persuasion, Paul was also proclaiming the glorious gospel of Jesus in such a way that “some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas”. All who hear will not be persuaded, for the Spirit’s work is sovereign, and we must depend on Him to open hearts and give understanding. We have often followed the Western model of lecture. I am finding more and more that to draw in persons into a discussion of the Bible is far more effective, especially when we foster questions. Do you want to be more effective in spreading the gospel? Let the Spirit lead you and don’t let tradition make you insensitive to Him. We want to share what is taking place the last couple weeks through our training in Yangon, Myanmar. Tim is there with a “Timothy” from the US and this is his report on the training:
I wanted let you know that “J…” is a great help by following-up and encouraging the disciples to press on in our intense three-week training. He is staying at GTP training center with the students, helping them at night complete their homework, particularly helping them develop an inductive bible study method, "How to Study the Bible", which is crucial in their application and lifelong learning process. We are so thankful to his church for sending Jonathan with me! This is like the Antioch Model. Please know that he is a great asset to the ministry! Normally, I have been here by myself in this three-week training; having “J…” reminds me of Timothy and Epaphroditus in Philippians 2:19-25.” Keep these twenty-five students in your prayers, that they will grasp the principles of Acts and Paul’s method of planting churches. There are still about 50 unreached people groups in Myanmar. Through these students, God is able to reach them with the gospel. |
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