A Great Work to be Done

There is a great work to be done and God has given His church the command to do it. The growth of the human population in the last half of the twentieth century was unprecedented. There are more lost people than ever before on this planet. More people were born in the last quarter of the twentieth century than in the whole history of mankind prior to 1973. One thing this means is that three out of four people have never heard with understanding the way to life in Christ. Even more tragic is the fact that half of the people of the world cannot hear the gospel because there is no one near enough to tell the good news about Jesus Christ.

What is our responsibility to a world filled with so many people without a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ? For an answer to this question we must visit again the commission of Jesus Christ to His disciples, which is also a mandate for Christians in the twenty-first century. Matthew 28:19, 20 is the logical summation of the purpose of the first book of the New Testament canon. Jesus Christ is the King of the Jews, Israel’s long-awaited Messiah. To go and make disciples of all the nations is also the logical summation and natural outflow of the character and plan of God. It has been said that, “the apostles became missionaries not because of a commission but because Christianity is what it is and because of the indwelling Holy Spirit who is an outgoing and witnessing Spirit.” In other words, these verses at the end of Matthew’s Gospel, popularly knows as the Great Commission, are not the reason we are compelled to go to the ends of the earth with the gospel. We as Christians are to have an evangelistic outreach mentality because of who God is and what He is doing in this world. We live, as God’s children, to carry the gospel to all the nations in order that the blind may see, the deaf may hear, and the dead rise from their spiritual graves to experience life in Jesus Christ.

The commission of Christ to His church is based upon the authority given to Him by the Father. Jesus possesses divine crown rights because of His successful work of redemption. He has authority because He is King and He is King because He is the crucified, risen, and exalted Lord. Through Jesus’ authoritative teaching, His right to forgive sins, and His reception of homage due God, He asserted His crown rights. The Lord Jesus Christ in His person, work and position is the authority for Christian missions. This guarantees His absolute control of all opportunities for missionary service (Rev. 3:7; Acts 14:27). Jesus Christ holds the reign of human government in His hands. He never stands helplessly before “closed” mission doors. He opens as He pleases. He can remove the most stubborn dictator and the most determined opposition. Jesus Christ has the keys! The church can therefore move forward confidently to make disciples of all the nations through the baptism of new converts and indoctrination in the whole counsel of God.

What must we do then as Christ’s people? Those who are raised up by the church to do cross-cultural evangelism ought to be given our vigorous and sustained support. When young people from our church want to go into the good work of global missions we need to be alongside of them encouraging them every step of the way. This kind of partnership in world missions requires loyalty to one’s church. Christians who walk away from a Bible teaching, missions-focused church and their monetary responsibilities place an extra load upon those they leave behind. The problem of disloyalty has been a besetting sin of the baby-boomer generation. The consumer mentality of the culture has put a shopping cart in the hands of countless Christian families. When a church no longer “meets one’s needs” off they go to find something else. But the church-switchers must not dissuade us. We can experience more of God’s enablement for generous giving to our Grace Promise plan. Our computers and the marvel of the internet highway provide the opportunity for regular contact with our missionary family. We can intercede for the persecuted church around the world and other needs that present themselves to us.

I have often been inspired by the example of John Wesley. The founder of the Methodist church was a fervent servant of Christ. Every bit of his five feet two inch frame was consumed with a passion to spread the gospel. He would get up at 4:00 a.m. and ride seventy-eight miles on horseback to preach in the next town. One close observer of Wesley’s life has said that “He (Wesley) has generally blown the gospel trumpet and rode twenty miles, before most of the professors, who despise his labours, have left their downy pillows.” Wesley’s zeal for Christ was indomitable. His prayer, “Lord, let me never live to be useless,” was answered. He preached his last sermon at age eighty eight in 1791, the year he died. May God inspire us as a church with Wesley-like tenacity in carrying out the Great Commission in our generation. There is a great work to be done.

Dr. Howard E. Dial
Berachah Bible Church