Date: 1 September 2024, 9.30am
Speaker: Eld Elgin Chan Sermon Text: Luke 24:44-49; Romans 10:14-17
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TRANSCRIPT
Introduction:
Sermon title is penned as a question, “Am I Called?” Am I called to missions? Is this what God has appointed for every believer and disciple of Christ? How do I sense that God is really calling me to missions and not based on my own intellectual or emotional decision? We shall see what God’s Word has to say to us regarding our questions and concerns.
Light-hearted quizzes on missions and God’s calling of His servants/prophets.
Mission vs Missions:
General ideas of Missions: missionaries toiling away, church planting, etc.
Mission vs Missions: Any Difference? Can be ambiguous when not clearly defined.
“If everything is missions, nothing is missions.” (a Christian leader)
“Mission”: refers to the all-encompassing mandate of God to redeem mankind through the Gospel (cf: the Lord’s Prayer “Thy Kingdom comes. Thy Will be done on earth as it is in heaven”)
“Missions”: cover everything from evangelism, church-planting, discipleship, Bible translation, mission trips, orphanage/kindergarten ministry, visitation/prayers for sick & needy, etc
Mission (in a nutshell): describes what the church is doing to advance Christ’s kingdom (moving people to the right; translating them from domain of darkness into the kingdom of Christ)
Missions: describes church’s programs & activities to advance Christ’s kingdom across language and ethnic boundaries (cross-cultural immersion)
Mission Diagram: 3 circles showing God’s mission (largest circle), Church’s mission (second circle) and her missions works (smallest circle).
Missio Dei: Latin theological term for “mission of God", or "sending of God".
Coined by German missiologist Karl Hartenstein in 1934 to distinguish it from the mission of the Church. He reminds us that, without God’s mission, there is no Church’s mission to begin with.
What else does the Mission Diagram tell us? That our God is a missionary God who is constantly reaching out and redeeming sinners to His everlasting kingdom.
It also tells us that the Church is God’s instrument to fulfill His mission; she does not own the vision of a lost and dying world, nor the compelling mission to reach out to lost sinners (both terms originated with our loving and compassionate God).
How Extensive is God’s Mission in the Bible?
Bible: very extensive! From Genesis to Revelation (consistent and unifying theme), starting with His calling of Abraham:
4 “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. (Genesis 17:4,5)
We see this in Luke Gospel’s account regarding Christ’s vision of the vast harvest field and His earnest plea for more gospel workers to be sent out into the harvest.
2 And He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. (Luke 10:2). Parallel verse in Matt 9:37.
Lastly, we see this in Revelation where the Holy Spirit and the Bride (the redeemed church of Christ) are inviting all who are spiritually thirty to come and drink freely from the fountain of living waters.
17 The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price (Rev 22:17)
Not to forget: Sandwiched between Genesis and Revelation are numerous accounts in other books of the Bible containing this central & unifying theme of our missionary God reaching out to lost sinners. Classic verse in Isaiah 53:6 which speaks of God’s heartbeat for mission: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”
Salient Points on Mission:
1. God’s Model of Mission: His modus operandi (how God works to build His Kingdom of redeemed sinners)
2. God’s Mandate for Mission: 2 Key Pillars
3. God’s Make-ups in Mission: 3 Key Components (to complete God’s mission)
3.1 The Source of Mission
3.2 The Subject of Mission
3.3 The Scope of Mission
God’s Model of Mission: God Speaking & Sending
The Bible is about God constantly seeking and reaching out to lost humanity. He does this by speaking to His chosen servants & prophets and sending them out with a specific message regarding His plan to build His Kingdom.
We see God’s model of mission in the calling of:
Abraham: God spoke to Abraham to leave his pagan hometown in ancient Mesopotamia & then sent him to Canaan to be a father of many nations (Gen 17)
Moses: God spoke to Moses at the burning bush in the desert of Midian & thereafter sent him back to Egypt to be the deliverer of Israel, with the message to Pharoah, “Let My People Go!”
Samuel: God spoke to prophet Samuel and sent him to Bethlehem to anoint David as the next king over Israel, after God had rejected king Saul for his acts of disobedience and rebellion. Under king David’s reign, he united Israel as one nation and secured peace and prosperity by subduing all their enemies. A man after God’s own heart, David was instrumental in leading Israel to worship their one true God and was fondly known as the sweet psalmist of Israel (2 Samuel 23:1).
OT prophets: God spoke and sent them out repeatedly to warn Israel and Judah of their backsliding ways & to return to Him, with His offer of divine forgiveness and restoration but tempered by His warning of divine judgment for their refusal to return to Him.
Jesus’ disciples: Jesus spoke and sent them out to proclaim the Great Commission in Matt 28:18-20 (also parallel account of sending of 72 disciples in Luke 10).
Paul: Jesus spoke to Paul in a heavenly vision on the road to Damascus and sent him out to be the chosen Apostle and missionary to the Gentiles (while also ministering to his fellow Jews) (Acts 26)
Early church leaders: Holy Spirit spoke and sent them to preach thru’out Asia Minor and the rest of the Roman empire.
God’s Mandate for Mission: 2 Key Pillars
1.To proclaim repentance and forgiveness of sins in His name to all the nations
46 Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His Name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. (Luke 24:46,47)
2. Paul’s Warning: against false teachers distorting or diluting the Gospel
(Galatians 1)
3. To fulfill God’s mission, we must be empowered by the Holy Spirit (we cannot do it in our own strength and wisdom, for God’s mission has to be done in God’s power).
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 ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8)
God’s Make-ups in Mission: 3 Key Components (to complete the whole)
1. The Source of Mission
2. The Subject of Mission
3. The Scope of Mission
1st Component: Source of Mission: God’s Word
44“Then He said to them, These are My words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” (Luke 24:44)
“must”: same Greek meaning as in Luke 24:26
26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into His glory? (Luke 24:26)
Jesus’ death: not an accident nor sinners getting the upper hand but fulfilling God’s sovereign purpose as foretold in the OT Scriptures, esp in the book of Psalms and prophetic writings.
2nd Component: Subject of Mission: Christ’s Sacrifice & Resurrection as the only way to God (v46 &v47)
“Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His Name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem“. (Luke 24:46,47)
Author of Hebrews points to significance of shed blood in OT as God’s pre-requisite for forgiveness of sins (concept of animal sacrifices not popular with Westerners)
“Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Heb 9:22)
Hebrews author is making reference to Leviticus 17 which tells us that an animal’s life has to be sacrificed and its blood shed on the altar by the priest before a human life can be considered “purified” before God.
11 For the life of the body is in its blood. I have given you the blood on the altar to purify you, making you right with the LORD. It is the blood, given in exchange for a life, that makes purification possible. (Lev 17:11 NLT)
Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross, taking our place of punishment, fully and completely satisfies God’s holy demand for sin to be punished and judged. This is affirmed by John the Baptist when he declares, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1: 29).
3rd Component: Scope of Mission: whole world
47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” (Luke 24:47)
“all nations”: all ethnic groups sharing a common history, language, beliefs and cultural identity
What are some of the major challenges facing global mission?
Challenges: 3 main challenges (amongst others)
1) population growth out-pacing evangelism in poor and under-developed nations (mostly nations within the 10/40 windows)
2) Closed doors to evangelism/church-planting by hostile nations (emerging trend)
3) Inadequate resources facing sending churches & mission agencies (recurring issue: lack of missionary trainers/candidates, lack of financial & logistical support, etc)
Imperative: more creative ways to penetrate closed borders (professional tent-makers; sponsoring & training underground church leaders in nearby friendly countries and sending them back after training to do church planting; 24/7 gospel broadcast via social media; churches to partner & share resources with mission agencies to reach out to foreign workers/students in host countries).
Christ’s Promise: Assurance of Gospel’s Advance
14 And this Gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. (Matt 24:14)
In the face of mounting challenges & obstacles, Christ is encouraging His Church not to lose heart but to press on with Gospel proclamation, trusting His promise that the Gospel will continue to march forward to reach the unreached before He comes.
Progress Towards Engaging Unreached People: Global Mission Map and Concept of People Groups by Dr Ralph Winter.
Is there a need for sending and preaching the Gospel?
Oswald Smith (Nov 1889 - Jan 1986), a Canadian Presbyterian pastor/author & missions advocate, founded The Peoples Church in Toronto in 1928 as a sending church in recruiting, training and sending missionaries to various parts of the world. Regarding the urgency to preach the gospel to the lost, Oswald Smith has this to say:
“No one has the right to hear the gospel twice, while there is someone who hasn’t heard it once.”
Paul’s Response:
14 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. (Rom 10:14-17)
Sequence of Gospel Proclamation: Sent, Preach, Hear, Believe, Call (need for a sending church to send out the preacher to preach, allowing the Holy Spirit to open the darkened heart of sinners to hear the Gospel and to believe in Christ so as to enable them to call on the Lord for forgiveness and restoration of fellowship).
Isaiah’s response: despite knowing that his message of salvation will fall on deaf ears and hardened hearts, Isaiah pressed on with preaching God’s message faithfully. Likewise for Paul.
Question: Can we do any less?
NT’s Teaching on Missions:
Christ’s Teaching: Sermon on the Mount
Salt of the earth (Matt 5:13)
Light of the world (Matt 5:14,16)
City set on a hill (Matt 5:14)
Paul’s Teaching:
Ambassadors for Christ:
“Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” (2 Cor 5:20)
Partners in the Gospel
“4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.” (Phil 1:4,5)
The late Dr John Stott shares that Matthew 5:13-16 encompass “the church’s double vocation of service to be ‘the salt of the earth’ and ‘the light of the world.” He elaborates that to be “the salt of the earth” is to fulfill the Great Commandment to love our neighbours as ourselves while to be “the light of the world” is to fulfill the Great Commission by bringing the Gospel light to a darkened world.
To him, this “double vocation to be Salt and Light is integral, not accidental, to God’s Mission. No distinction between sacred and secular as far as God’s mission is concerned.
Closing Thoughts:
God’s Mandate for Mission: for all disciples.
Singapore: Antioch of the East; blessing the nations in Asean and beyond with the Gospel for many decades, and still going strong. May Hermon be steadfast in missions support and involvement, both in local & oversea missions.
May Christ’s vision of the vast harvest field in Luke 10:2 spur us to pray and answer His call for more gospel workers to go forth into the harvest field.
Missions Trips: good avenue for “sensing God’s heartbeat for missions at ground zero” (past missions tripper). Mission field = Ground Zero
For those who sense God’s calling to full-time ministry, it’s good to discern God’s specific calling together with church leaders (pastors & elders).
John Piper’s challenge: to embrace a global mindset for missions: “To belong to Jesus is to embrace the nations with Him.” (cf: Matt 28:19 “Go and make disciples of all nations…”)
Globalization: harvest field at our doorstep - golden opportunity for churches & mission agencies to reach out to foreigners with the gospel.
“Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.” - C.T. Studd
What kind of lasting legacy do we want to leave behind for our children and Hermon in the years ahead? May the words of C.T. Studd challenge us to re-visit our life’s priorities, that we may be faithful ambassadors & witnesses for Christ, moving people to the right and pointing them to Christ’s kingdom of light and truth.
Inspiring story of John F Kennedy’s visit to NASA in 1962 and his encounter with a janitor. When asked what he did for NASA, the janitor promptly replied: “I’m helping to put a man on the moon”. May we be like that far-sighted janitor to point an unsaved person to Christ’s kingdom. Amen.
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