Lesson 365 - Senior
Memory Verse
"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world, Amen" (Matthew 28:19, 20).
Cross References
I The Macedonian Call
1. Jesus commanded His disciples to proclaim the Gospel message everywhere, [LUK:24:46-47]; [LUK:10:1-2]; [LUK:14:21-23]; [MAT:10:7-14], [MAT:10:23]; [MAT:28:18-20].
2. The preaching of the Gospel is urgent business, and the people of God are to be busy publishing the news of salvation to every creature, [MAK:16:15]; [JHN:4:6-8], [JHN:4:31-38]; [MAT:20:6-7]; [ROM:13:11-12]; [1TS:5:4-8]; [MAT:25:24-30].
3. The vision of the Macedonian, given to Paul, is typical of the Gospel call to every Christian, [ACT:16:9-10]; [ACT:26:16-20].
4. The outermost parts of the earth are to be reached with the Gospel message, [MAT:24:14]; [PS:96:3]; [ISA:42:4].
Notes
Whitened Harvest
When the demoniac of the Gadarenes was delivered from demon power by Jesus, he greatly desired to accompany Jesus wherever he might be going. However, Jesus told him to return to his own house and show what great things God had done for him. Whereupon he returned and published throughout his town what great things God had done for him, and in so doing he became a home missionary. No one who has become truly converted has lacked a desire to publish the news of God's great salvation. The missionary spirit cannot be separated from the Gospel, because the Gospel message concerns all the peoples of the world.
While the skin of a man may be white, black, yellow, or red, the soul of man is the same in any part of the world. Sin is sin anywhere, and in any generation; and the necessity of the Blood of Jesus Christ to wash away that sin is the same everywhere.
The Gospel is to all, and for all, and it is the happy business of God's people to proclaim its truth wherever man can be found. Many times God prospers His people; He gives them an abundance of material good, Christian companion-ship, fellowship, happiness, peace. But these things are given only on one condition: that they be used to help others. Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because they were proud, full of bread (things), they were idle, and they did not strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. (See [EZE:16:49].) Israel is today a byword, a persecuted people because they refused to use what God gave them for the benefit of a brother. But happy are those who are putting forth every effort for the extension of the Gospel.
The world is large, and its peoples are many, and urgency is the watchword of the Christian. Never a day goes into yesterday that does not see countless numbers of human souls pass into eternity, their destiny forever settled by the way they have lived. It is to hasten the work of God that the Lord calls to all Christians: "Why stand ye here all the day idle? . . . Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive" [MAT:20:6-7]). It is the business of the Holy Spirit to convict sinners of their sins, and to reprove, and to call men to judgment, and tell of things to come. A child of God, and especially one who is sanctified and has the baptism of the Holy Ghost -" the Holy Spirit leading and guiding -" is going to be out working for God, working in co-operation with the Holy Spirit.
When the disciples came to Jesus who had been talking to the Samaritan woman at the well of Jacob, they asked Him to eat. He informed them that He had meat to eat that they knew not of. They, not understanding His meaning, thought that someone had given Him food. But He clarified His thought to them by telling them that the meat He had which gave Him strength was to do the will of His Father who had sent Him, and to finish that work. In that sense every true child of God is speeded on his way by the knowledge that he is doing the will of the Father. Such knowledge often makes Christians seemingly tireless and inexhaustible in pressing the Gospel cause. The work of the Father was the all-consuming passion of the life of Christ, and it is said of Him, "For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up" [PS:69:9]). The life of Christ was consumed by His efforts to do the will of His Father; and in like manner, and in proportion to the ability and grace that God gives, the Christian should have a love and a passion for the souls of men that transcends all other loves and desires.
We have an obligation before God. Let us not lose the vision of what we are supposed to do. We need to pray desperately that God will bring these many weary, sin-sick souls in, and that God will give us a cup of cold water to give to them -" the cup of consolation, of good news that there is a way out of sin and a way to escape eternal death through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Each one of us cannot go into every nation. But, thank God, He has given us the privilege of going into all the world through prayer and through faith and through the yearning of heart that brings the power of God down to save, to sanctify, to baptise with the Holy Ghost and fire -" to lead out of darkness into light. Those who cannot go can give of their substance; they can do with their heart what their hands find to do -" preparing the house of God, or ministering to the sick, or telling the Story on the street corner, or going to the hospitals, spreading the Gospel through the literature, or whatever it might be that God has given them to do. And whatever is done, let it be done not for the honour and glory of self, but for the honour and glory of God alone.
Missionaries, Home and Abroad
Most Christian organisations and church groups divide their missionary programs into two groups; namely, home missionary endeavours, and foreign missions. Home missions usually consist of any and all efforts being put forth to evangelise and convert the great number of people at home and in nearby neighbourhoods. The building of local churches and the establishing of congregations of believers in the homeland is usually classified as "home missions." It should not be thought that home missionary efforts are less in importance than those of the foreign field. In some instances, foreign missions can only be carried on because of the support lent to them by Christian groups at home.
Where people are active in home missions they usually branch out into greater fields of endeavour. It is true that when a group of Christians send some of their number to the foreign field for the preaching of the Gospel, God prospers the church at home to provide support for those sent abroad.
A unique example of a missionary group was the Bible class, sponsored by Christian sailors aboard the aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. Enterprise, in World War II. These men formed an evangelistic group to supplement the regular services aboard ship, for the purpose of converting some of their shipmates to Christ. Despite the adversities of shipboard life during wartime cruising, men were converted to Christ. Also, an active part was taken by the Bible class in foreign missions. These men were true missionaries, and laboured to convert the men near by, and also helped some who we labouring in other fields.
To Every Creature
It is the express will of God that every living soul know of the saving grace of Christ. God has blessed every effort that has been made by the few or the many, to carry out Jesus' great command to "preach the gospel to every creature."
In Every Language
Charles Wesley wrote, "O for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer's praise." While it is hardly possible for one man to sing the Lord's praises in a thousand different languages, yet it has been done in the printed Word. The American Bible Society, in their 1952 report, declared that the Bible, or some portion of it, has been published in 1059 languages. The whole Bible has been published in 197 languages, a complete Testament has been published in 257 different languages, and at least a Gospel or some other whole Book of the Bible has been published in 605 languages. There are also some 90 other languages in which some portion less than a whole Book of the Bible has been published.
The Psalmist said, "The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it" [PS:68:11]). The work of publishing the Gospel, and bringing about the conversion of sinners is mostly unnoticed by the world. Nevertheless, it goes on daily, by the consecrated few, and is a literal carrying out of the parable of the leaven and the bread. The leaven hid in three measures of meal leavened the whole amount. (See [MAT:13:33].) It is not said in the Scripture that the world will be converted to Christ, but it is said that "this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come" [MAT:24:14]).
Throughout the centuries, the Gospel has been preached in the face of bitter opposition. The men who translated the Bible into other languages often paid for their labours with their lives. God has not left Himself without witness, and no book ever published has ever come near reaching the continuous popularity of the Bible. Year after year, it is the "Best Seller" of all books. In 1952 the American Bible Society circulated over 13 million Bibles and Testaments.
Despite contrary opinions, nothing has ever held the interest of the individual person as the Bible has, for it is alive, and eternal. It tells of the love of God for the individual man, and is the road map to Heaven. Its appeal can be seen in the example set by natives in the Hebrides Islands in the South Pacific some years ago. The whole tribe laboured for five years to earn money to purchase a printing of the Bible in their own native dialect, that they might read of Him who loved their souls and gave Himself for them.
Questions
1. Where did Jesus command His disciples to preach the Gospel?
2. Why is the preaching of the Gospel an urgent business?
3. What is meant by the expression, "The Macedonian Call"?
4. Define the terms "home mission" and "foreign missions."
5. In how many languages has some portion of the Bible been published?
6. What is the most popular Book of all times?
7. Explain what Jesus meant when He told His disciples that He had "meat" they knew not of.