Transcript THE BIBLE AND MISSIONS

PT 611/411
Biblical Missions
Rev. Dr. John L. Lepera
ThD – Apologetics, Leadership, and Ethics
MDiv – Apologetics and Pastoral Ministry
MABL – Christian Education
MS – Physics and Geology
BS – Teaching Physics and Mathematics
email: [email protected]
THE BIBLE
AND
MISSIONS
The Original Textbook
For Missions
By Paul Brannan as inspired by
“The Bible Basis of Missions” by Robert Hall Glover
Missions Is Not Fueled
By Human Emotions
Some promote missions as a
program
Other people are motivated by
guilt
Many people act out of
sympathy for those who are
suffering
But Missions Is More Than A Feeling!
The Great Missionary
Enterprise Is Not A
Human Concept
It did not originate in the heart of
Paul the Apostle
It was not conceptualized in the
minds of great missionaries such as
William Carey or David Livingstone
Jesus Christ Was God’s
Great Missionary To A
Lost World
Jesus was the
supreme
revelation of
God’s heart and
the expression
of His love
God’s Thoughts Are
Fully Expressed In
John 3:16
“For God so loved the world that he
gave his one and only Son, that
whoever believes in him shall not perish
but have eternal life.” NIV
The central text of the Bible
The cornerstone of missions
Other Texts…
“For God did not send his Son into the
world to condemn the world, but to save
the world through him.” John 3:17 NIV
“He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins,
and not only for ours but also for the
sins of the whole world.” 1 John 2:2 NIV
“The next day John saw Jesus coming
toward him and said, ‘Look, the Lamb of
God, who takes away the sin of the
world!’ ” John 1:29 NIV
From The Beginning,
God’s Plan Was The
Redemption Of The
Whole World
“He created all the people of the world from
one man, Adam, and scattered the nations
across the face of the earth… His purpose in all
of this is that they should seek after God, and
perhaps feel their way toward him and find himthough he is not far from any one of us.” Acts
17:26-27 TLB
Authority For Missions
Rests On The Entire
Bible As It Reveals God
In His Relationship With
Man
The Bible is the story of
God’s search for man
while all other religious
books are man’s search
for God
From The Beginning Of
Time, Diffusion To The
Ends Of The Earth Was
God’s Plan
God shared his plan with Adam and
Eve and repeated it to Noah
"Be fruitful and increase in
number; fill the earth and subdue
it.” Gen 1:28; 9:1 NIV
The Tower Of Babel
Was Man’s Opposition
To God’s Plan
Then they said, "Come, let us build
ourselves a city, with a tower that
reaches to the heavens, so that we
may make a name for ourselves and
not be scattered over the face of the
whole earth." Gen 11:4 NIV
God’s Plan Was To Bless The
Whole World Through The
Jewish People
“I will bless those
who bless you and
curse those who
curse you, and the
entire world will be
blessed because of
you.” Gen 12:3 TLB
Later, God Chose A Man
Abraham became
a missionary
“Leave your own
country behind you,
and your own
people, and go to
the land I will guide
you to.” Gen 12:1 TLB
God’s Promise To
Isaac and Jacob Was
Also World-Wide
“…they shall be a blessing to
all the nations of the earth.”
Gen 26:4; 28:14 TLB
God Showed Moses
How They Would Bless
The Whole World
“…you will be for me a
kingdom of priests and a
holy nation.” Ex 19:6 NIV
Cross Cultural Ministry
Is Evident Throughout
The Old Testament
Elijah and the
widow of
Zarephath
(1 Kings 17:9)
Elisha and
Naaman, the
Syrian
(2 Kings 5)
Solomon’s Prayer At The
Temple Dedication Reveals
God’s Plan For The World
“And when foreigners hear
of your great name and
come from distant lands to
worship you, …hear them
from heaven and answer
their prayers. And all the
nations of the earth will
know and fear your
name…” 1 Kings 8:41-43 TLB
The Psalms Are Saturated
With The Spirit Of Missions
“Ask of me, and I will make the
nations your inheritance, the ends of
the earth your possession.” Ps 2:8 NIV
“Send us around the world with the
news of your saving power and your
eternal plan for all mankind.” Ps 67:1-2 TLB
“…All nations will be blessed through
him, and they will call him blessed.” Ps
72:17 NIV
But The Prophets Present
Some Of The Richest
Missionary Teaching
“ …(I) will make you a
Light to the nations of
the world to bring my
salvation to them too.”
Isa 49:6 TLB
“…all nations will
come to him there...”
Jer 3:17 NIV
Some Of The Prophets Were
Themselves Missionaries
The book of
Jonah is all about
foreign missions
It shows God’s
concern for the
lost and His
patience in
dealing with them
Daniel Was A Foreign
Missionary Who Went
Before Kings and Rulers
Four successive heathen kings
recognized
Daniel’s God
as the most
high God
The Missionary
Idea Seen As A
Bud In The Old
Testament
Bursts Into Full
Bloom As We
Enter The New
Testament
EVERY SECTION
WAS WRITTEN BY
A MISSIONARY
Its primary objective
was to meet a
missionary need
and to promote the
missionary work
The New Testament
is the product of
missions
Professor W. O.Carver
The New
Testament:
Breathes Missions
Incarnates Missions
It Creates Missions
Wherever It Goes
The Gospels Are The
Missionary Message
They present Jesus as Savior
They give us God’s Missionary
to man
The teachings and the ministry
of Jesus were missionary in
character
Why Do We Have The
Gospels?
To preserve the true record
of Jesus Christ and the
message of salvation
They are missionary
documents written by four
men chosen and inspired by
God
The Great Commission Is
Found In All Four Gospels
“Therefore go and make disciples of
all nations…” Matt 28:19 NIV
"Go into all the world and preach the
good news to all creation.” Mark 16:15 NIV
“…repentance and forgiveness of sins
should be preached in his name to all
nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”
Luke 24:47 RSV
“…As the Father has sent me, I am
sending you." John 20:21 NIV
The Word “Gospel”
Means “Good News”
“But news can be news only
to those who have never
heard it, and
News can be good news only
to those who hear it in time
to secure its benefit.” Robert Glover
The Acts of the Apostles:
Is an inspired record of the
missionary work of the Church
Demonstrates the power of the
Holy Spirit in spreading the
Gospel
Was designed by God as a
guide and model of missionary
principles
Acts 1:8 Is The Contents
Page For The Whole
Book
“But you will receive power when
the Holy Spirit comes on you; and
you will be my witnesses in
Jerusalem, and in all Judea and
Samaria, and to the ends of the
earth.” NIV
A Closer Look Shows:
Chapters 2-7 are devoted to
the disciples’ witnessing
“in Jerusalem”
Chapters 8-12 show the
extension of their witness
“in all Judea and Samaria”
Chapters 13-28 show the
expansion of the gospel
“to the ends of the earth”
Acts Shows Us God’s
Plan For World
Evangelization
Chapter 2 records:
The coming of the Holy
Spirit
The enduement with
power from on high
The birth of the Church
Most Epistles Are
Missionary In Nature
They deal with:
Doctrine
Admonition
Discipline and practical
matters faced by missionary
Churches
Hebrews – A
Tool For
Neutralizing
False
Religions
The Revelation Was
Written By A
Missionary In Exile
To comfort the early Christians
To look prophetically at Christ’s
reign in all the earth
“The Kingdom of this world now
belongs to our Lord, and to his Christ;
and he shall reign forever and ever.” Rev
11:15 TLB
Since Reaching The
World Is God’s
Purpose, What Are Its
Implications For Us?
To Be
Opposed Or
Indifferent To
Missions,
IS TO BE OUT OF
HARMONY WITH
GOD!
To Be Anti-Missionary
Or Nonmissionary Is:
To Reject The
New Testament
As Our
Sufficient Rule
Of Faith And
Practice
Every Church And Every
Christian Is The Product
Of Missionary Work Of
The Past
The Fruit of Missions
Can Be Seen In…
Hospitals
and Clinics
Schools
of Learning
Christian
Homes
Law and
Government
Works of
Compassion
Owing Everything To
Missions, We Should:
See the world as God sees it
Share the Father’s love with all
men
Become men and women of
missionary passion
Give ourselves as channels for
the outflow of God’s grace
No One Is Exempt!
God’s Word places upon
“everyone who has heard the
“good news” the solemn
responsibility of taking it quickly
to all for whom it was intended
but who have not yet heard it.”
Robert Hall Glover