Making a Difference in Missions
The Gospel: The Message of Missions
Mark 16:15
Let me once again share with you the quote that I shared with you last Sunday from the missionary Henry Martyn: “The Spirit of Christ is the spirit of missions, and the nearer we get to him, the more intensely missionary we must become.” The closer we get to Jesus the more the things that matter to Him will matter to us. If, as Martyn said, the Spirit of Christ is the spirit of missions, then as we get closer to Him that same spirit will grip our hearts.
We want that spirit to grip our hearts. Last Sunday I focused on the words “all the world” in Mark 16:15 and we thought about the MOTIVE of missions. What is the motive of missions? The motive of missions is telling the world that Christ died for the sins of the world. Christ died for all men and He wants all men--the world--to know what He did for them.
John Stott said, “We must be global Christians with a global vision because our God is a global God.” Jesus died for the world; therefore our motive ought to be to let the world know what He did for them.
4. A.B. Simpson said, “The Christian is not obedient unless he is doing all in his power to send the Gospel to the heathen world.” As a Church, and as individual Christians, we have a global task and a global responsibility. Our focus must extend further than the part of the world in which we live. It must extent to the world as a whole. Reaching the world is the motive of missions.”
Today I want to focus on the words “preach the gospel” and talk to you about the MESSAGE of missions. The message we are to take to the world is the Gospel. R.W. Dale, a British pastor and preacher of another generation said, “The real truth is that while He came to preach the GOSPEL, His chief object in coming was that there might be a GOSPEL to preach.” We have a gospel to preach. As we shall see today, we have a gospel to preach to the world.
Today, let's think about the gospel. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 and first think with me about:
1. The Gospel Doctrinally
Text
What do we mean when we talk about the Gospel? For some, the Gospel is a reference to the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. To others, it is seeking to relieve the socials ills of society. Whereas, the Gospel does not ignore the social needs of people, meeting these needs is not the meaning of the Gospel. Vance Havner said, “If they had a social gospel in the days of the prodigal son, somebody would have given him a bed and a sandwich and he never would have gone home.”
The Gospel means different things to different people. But what does the Bible mean when it speaks of “preaching the gospel.”? The Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:1, “I declare unto you the gospel.” He speaks of the Gospel and then explains what he means by the gospel. Let's examine the definition of the Gospel as we find in 1 Corinthians 15:1 by first considering:
The Etymology of the Word
The English word gospel is derived from the Old English “god-spell” which means “good tidings” or “good news.” The Greek word translated gospel is a combination of two words that means to proclaim or tell good.
The word itself defines the gospel as a message that is told or proclaimed of good tidings or good news. The Gospel is oftentimes referred to as the “Good News.” Indeed, the Gospel is Good News. It is the best news that this world has ever received.
Then think about
The Theology of the Word
In verses 3-4, Paul specifies what he means by the gospel. He says, “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.” Paul defines the Gospel simply as the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The Gospel includes the crucifixion of Christ. As Paul said, “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.” Charles Spurgeon said, “The heart of the gospel is redemption, and the essence of redemption is the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ.” The Gospel is a message of redemption. The Gospel finds its roots in Calvary's cross.
It also includes the resurrection of Christ. We read in verse 4, “And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.” His burial was the proof that He actually died. He died physically but rose victoriously from the dead. This is the gospel; the message of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. When Mark 16:15 tells us to preach the Gospel this is the message to be preached.
An example of the Gospel being preached is found in Acts 5:30-31 when Peter stood before the religious leaders. He said, “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.” Peter preached the Gospel. He preached that Christ had been crucified but rose again from the dead and was now the Saviour.
Again, this is the Good News; Jesus died for the sins of the whole world. He was buried but on the morning of the third day, He arose from the dead as the Savior of the world. The Good News of the Gospel is that there is a Savior who can save man from their sin.
So when Mark 16:15 speaks of preaching the gospel it is referring to preaching the message of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is the message of missions. It is a message that Christ died for the sins of the whole world.
Secondly, I want you think of the Gospel not only doctrinally, but also:
2. The Gospel Personally
As you read Paul's words you can't help but notice the personal nature of the Gospel. Paul speaks of how personal the Gospel is to them.
verse 1
The word “preached” is the verb form of the word translated “gospel.” You could read Paul's words, “I declare unto you the gospel which I gospelized unto you.” In obedience to the command to preach the gospel to “all the world,” Paul had preached unto them the gospel.
Every saved person in this place today is saved not only because Jesus died for you, but also because someone shared with you the Gospel. We are all the products of someone being obedient to the Great Commission. There is not one of us that would have heard the Gospel if someone hadn't been a dedicated and faithful Christian and told us the Gospel. It may have a preacher who preached to you the Gospel, or it may have been a soul winner who came to your home or spoke to you on your job. Regardless of where, each of us are saved because someone shared with us the Gospel.
I look around this place today and think to myself, each of you are the product of someone who lived for God, loved God, who had given their life to God, and was not disobedient to God's command to be a witness for Him.
Thank God for those who took the things of God seriously, otherwise, we would have never heard the Gospel.
In this day of casual, convenient, and contemporary Christianity in which commitment is fast becoming obsolete, how grateful I am for those who knew something about real Christianity. To them, Christianity was more than just attending a service on Sunday morning, or something that was merely part of their life. To them, Christ was pre-eminent and serving God was paramount. The modern Church has been built on the labors of those who were sold out to God. Again, each of us is a product of some dear saint who took the command to preach the Gospel seriously.
The question before each of us in this place is whether someone is saved because of our life? Is there anyone in this place today because you invited them to Church, prayed for them, and talked to them about the Lord? Can you, who are the products of someone else, name one person who is going to heaven because you?
I think of the old song by Otis L. McCoy:
When in the better land, before the bar we stand
How deeply grieved our souls will be
If any lost one there, should cry in deep despair
You never mentioned Him to me.
O let us spread the word, where-ere it may be heard
Help groping souls the light to see
That yonder none may say, you showed me not the way
You never mentioned Him to me.
A few sweet words may guide, a lost one to His side
Or turn sad eyes on Calvary
So work as days go by, that yonder none may cry
You never mentioned Him to me.
Refrain
You never mentioned Him to me
Nor help me the light to see
You met me day by day and knew I was astray
You never mentioned Him to me.
We are saved because someone shared with us the Gospel. Is there someone saved because you shared the Gospel?
Then notice how Paul continues in verse 2. Here he speaks of the power of the Gospel.
in verse 2 in the words, “By which also ye are saved.” Verse one speaks of how they had heard the Gospel and then received the Gospel. When they received the Gospel they experienced the saving power of the Gospel.
Although Paul speaks in the plural, the Gospel had been individually received and the saving power of the Gospel individually experienced. Martin Luther said, “The sweetness of the gospel lies mostly in pronouns, as me, my, thy. 'Who loved me, and gave Himself for me.'“
For every Christian in this place, there was a time when we realized that we were lost and that we needed to be saved. Somewhere and at sometime each of us bowed before the Lord and accepted Jesus as our Savior. The Gospel has the power to save, but it is a power that is personally experienced.
For me, it was in March of 1980 at the age of eighteen. During a revival service invitation, I called upon the name of the Lord for the Bible says, “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13). On that day I put my faith in Christ who had died for me and rose again from the dead. At the moment I put my faith in Him, He saved me.
The word “saved” means to “be delivered” or “rescued.” The songwriter said:
I was sinking deep in sin,
Far from the peaceful shore.
Very deeply stained within,
Sinking to rise no more.
But the Master of the sea,
Heard my despairing cry,
From the waters lifted me,
Now safe am I.
To be saved means that we have been rescued from a life of sin, the wrath of God, and an eternity in hell. I do not know about you, but I find it hard not to have a hallelujah spell to know that I am saved and that I have personally experienced the saving power of the Gospel.
Lastly, I want you to think with me about:
3. The Gospel Universally
I return to our text in Mark 16:15. Jesus said, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Where are we to go? We are to go into “all the world.” Why are we to go into “all the world?” It is “preach the gospel to every creature.”
The offer of the Gospel is to “all the world” and to “every creature.” There are no limits or boundaries to the Gospel. The little children's song says:
Red and yellow, black and white,
They are all precious in His sight.
The Bible says in 1 Timothy 2:4, “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” Jesus died for all men. God wants to save all men. Therefore the offer of the Gospel is for all men.
There are 248 nations in the world with 195 recognized countries along with 60 additional territories under the control of another independent country. There is not one of them that Christ did not die for and not one of them that the Gospel is not offered to.
But how will they hear? Listen again to this verse. There you find a global Obligation on every saint.
I will say more about this next week when our focus is on the words, “Go ye,” but let me close by saying that there rests upon us who have heard and received the Gospel the obligation of making known the offer of the Gospel to the world. The Gospel is offered to “every creature” but someone has to take the Gospel to the world and tell them about the offer of the Gospel.
P.F. Bresee, founder of the Church of the Nazarene said, “We are debtors to every man to give him the gospel in the same measure in which we have received it.”
You and I, we who had heard and received the Gospel are the ones responsible that others hear the Gospel. The world hearing the Gospel is a task that has been given to those who have heard and received the Gospel.
It was the missionary Robert Moffat that touched the heart and life of David Livingstone and influenced
him to become a missionary. When Moffat was on his first furlough in England, David Livingstone asked Mr. Moffat whether he thought that he, perhaps, might also be used in the missionary work in Africa. Mr. Moffat replied, “Yes, particularly if you will not go to an old station but will push on into unoccupied fields.” And then he added, “In the north I have seen in the morning sun, the smoke of a thousand villages where no missionary has ever been.”
There are places around the world that have never heard the gospel for the first time. There are places where a missionary has never been. That failure rests entirely on those who have heard. It is not God's fault they have never heard. The fault lies with those who have been called to go, but they haven't gone.
Do you think that God would give His Son to die for the sins of the world and offer the Gospel to the world and then not send those to make known what He has done for them? I don't think so. I agree with Isobel Kuhn, missionary to China and Thailand: “I believe that in each generation God has called enough men and women to evangelize all the yet unreached tribes of the earth...It is not God who does not call. It is man who will not respond.”
The preaching of the Gospel is a global offer for every sinner and a global obligation on every saint.
In closing, ket me tell you about Oswald J Smith. He was born in 1889 in Ontario, at the age of sixteen and attended an evangelistic crusade held by R. A. Torrey and Charles Alexander, where he was saved. Two years later he began Bible College, eventually graduating from both college and seminary.
His burden for missions showed up early in life. He applied with a foreign missions board, but they turned him down because of concerns about poor health he had suffered throughout his childhood (a problem which he apparently overcame, since he later worked both in the backwoods of Canada and the mountains of Kentucky, then lived into his late nineties).
If he couldn’t go as a missionary, he determined to start a church that would send out missionaries. In 1928 Smith started the Peoples Church, originally called the Cosmopolitan Tabernacle and pastored there for over 30 years..
As a young man he had asked God to enable him to give more than he would ordinarily be able to give, and the blessings he experienced helped him institute faith promise missions giving. With this plan, churches have given multiplied millions to send the Gospel throughout the world.
He also established mission works to reach the northern parts of Canada, to reach Jews and to distribute tracts. They eventually supported over 500 missionaries, and raised more money that any other pastor in history for missions.
In addition to his pastoral and missions works, he wrote 1200 poems and hymn lyrics, over 200 of which were set to music.
He died back in 1986 at the age of 97.
Let me close with a quote from Oswald Smith.
“Why should anyone hear the Gospel twice before everyone has heard it once?”
Why are we a missionary Church? Why is missions important to us as a Church? It is because the Gospel is to be preached to all the world and to every creature.
