How Should We Do Missionary Work?

(Matthew 28:19-20)

I. Introduction.
A. Orientation.
Weve been looking at what the Bible has to say about missionary work,
And weve seen first
That missionaries arent just those who are specially gifted
And sent out to preach the Gospel overseas
In foreign lands and cultures:
Jesus has called all of us to be missionaries.
This is perhaps the main reason
He raised us from the dead
Why we are awake among those who sleep
That He might send each of us
To our families, our friends, and our neighbors
To share the simple message of the Gospel
That they might live.

Weve seen that He didnt raise and send us

To do this only part time, but full time.
This is to be our purpose in life
The reason were in this world
That we might fulfill His Great Commission.

2
And because He calls us to do this full time,
Weve seen that we are to see ourselves as missionaries
Wherever we go, and with everyone we meet:
If the Lord brings a believer across our path,
He wants us to love and encourage them in the Gospel,
That their ability to serve the Lord might be strengthened.
And if He brings an unbeliever,
He wants us to do what we can to introduce them to Jesus Christ.

Dont forget that as long as anyone

Who doesnt know Christ, remains outside of Christ,
They are in danger of Gods judgment.
Everyone who dies without Him
Will go down into hell
There is no question that this is what the Lord says.

B. Preview.
What Id like to consider this morning
Is how we should do missionary work
How we can reach out to others with the Gospel.

The answer to this question is very broad,

But hopefully the principles well look at this morning will help us.
Let me suggest six things:
1. First, we must be armed with the Gospel.

2. Second, we must have the desire to reach the lost.

3. Third, we must live a life that is consistent with the Gospel.
4. Fourth, we must go to those who need Christ.
5. Fifth, we must share the Gospel with them.
6. Sixth, we must seek to get them into a local fellowship.

II. Sermon.
A. First, we must be armed with the Gospel.
Paul writes, For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for
salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek
(Rom. 1:16).
The simple message of the Gospel
Is what the Lord uses to save:
This is the message He brought to you,
The one He used to save you,
The one you already know if you are saved,
The one you are to bring to others.

Now its true that there are things about the Gospel
That can be difficult to understand.
There are also many questions people can have about it.
But you dont need to know all the answers
Before you can begin to evangelize.
All you need to know is the simple message
All you need to do is point people to Jesus Christ.

When the Philippian jailer asked Paul and Silas,

Sirs, what must I do to be saved? They said, Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you
will be saved, you and your household (Acts 16:30-31).
He believed;
The Gospel was preached to his household,
And they believed;
And they were all saved.

On the day of Pentecost,

When the Jews were struck to the heart by Peters message,
They said to Peter and the apostles, Brethren, what shall we do? Peter said to
them, Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the
forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts
2:37-38).
Many of the repented
Which means they also believed
And they were saved.

The thief on the cross,

After he had first cursed Jesus,
Not too much later, came to believe in Him.
He said, Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom! And He said to
him, Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise (Luke 23:4243).
All it took on his part a simple act of faith in Jesus Christ
And he was saved.

5
You dont have to have all the answers.
All you need to know is the simple message:
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever
believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:16).
Invite those you know to trust Jesus,
And know the Spirit will give eyes to see and ears to hear
When and where He wills.
Its not up to you to convert them.
Its only up to you to tell them.

B. Second, we must have the desire to reach the lost.

The only thing that stops us
From sharing the Gospel with others is ourselves.
It doesnt take much time or effort,
But we do have to be willing
We wont share the Gospel,
If we dont want to.

Weve looked at some of the reasons

We might struggle with doing this:
Maybe were not convinced its true
And wed be opening ourselves up to ridicule for nothing.
If thats the case with you,
Then youre likely never going to share it with others.
You may still need to be converted yourself

You cant be saved if you dont believe the Bible is true.

The author to the Hebrews writes, Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for,
the conviction of things not seen (Heb. 11:1).
And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must
believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him (v. 6).

Maybe you do believe, maybe you do know Him,

But when the opportunity comes, your flesh makes you doubt,
To the point where you dont share it.
If thats the case, you need to grow stronger in the Spirit.

Maybe youre afraid of losing your friends.

You need to question just how good of a friend youre being to them,
If youre not willing to share the only truth that will spare them an eternity of
suffering.

Maybe youre afraid youll lose your popularity

Or that youll never be popular,
If youre open about your faith.
Thats what Jesus said would happen, If you were of the world, the world would
love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the
world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to
you, A slave is not greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they will
also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also (John
15:18-19).
If thats whats holding you back,
Remember what your Lord says through James
That you cant be married to Christ and to the world:

7
You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility
toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes
himself an enemy of God (James 4:4).
John writes, Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the
world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of
the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the
Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but
the one who does the will of God lives forever (1 John 2:15-17).
As long as your heart is divided
And to the degree that it is,
You wont have the power you need from the Lord to be His witness
If you want His help, your heart must be His:
Hanani the prophet, said to Asa, king of Judah, For the eyes of the LORD move to
and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is
completely His (2 Chr. 16:9).
Pray that He would give you an undivided heart.

You need to overcome

Whatever is weakening you, by Gods grace,
That you might have the desire to reach out to others.

C. Third, we must live a life that is consistent with the Gospel.

If you know the Gospel,
And have the desire to reach out to the lost,
But your life isnt in order
Youre not living like Christ
You will undermine the message.

8
Jesus said, A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as
I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that
you are My disciples, if you have love for one another (John 13:34-35).
Paul wrote to the Corinthians, You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and
read by all men; being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us,
written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone
but on tablets of human hearts (2 Cor. 3:2-3).

Those to whom you bring the Gospel

Will compare what you say with how you live.
If you confess Jesus Christ, but live like the world,
Youll only convince them that the Gospel isnt true.
But if you confess Him and live like Him,
Youll provide irrefutable evidence that it is.

D. Fourth, we must go to those who need Christ.

We need to go to them
We cant expect them to come to us.

We dont want to dismiss the idea

That the Lord can bring people into the worship services
To hear the Gospel as a direct answer to prayer
Weve seen it happen.
But we dont want to conclude from this
That this is the main way we are to evangelize.
Jesus didnt say, Pray therefore that the Lord would bring the nations to you
That you might evangelize and disciple them.

9
He said, Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations (Matt. 28:19).

The disciples went to those where they were

And worked their way out from there to the rest of the world.
Paul and his companions traveled throughout the Roman Empire.
David Brainerd went to the Native Americans,
Carey to India,
Muller to the children on the streets,
Livingstone to Africa.

The Lord has brought many ethnic groups to America

As we saw before
But we still need to go to them with the Gospel.

E. Fifth, we must share the Gospel with them.

Knowing the Gospel,
Being willing to share it,
Living consistent with it,
And going to where people need to hear it
Are all important,
But if we never actually share it with anyone,
It wont do them a bit of good.
The Gospel is the power of God to salvation,
But only when its communicated.

10
Sometimes, thats all you need to do
Because God has already taken care of the rest.

When Brainerd went to the Native Americans,

The Lord had already prepared them to receive it
They already knew their survival depended
On integrating with the culture of the white man.
They wanted ministers to come and educate them.

When Brainerd pushed deeper into the wilderness,

Even though at first he was only able to preach to a small group of women,
That was all that was needed for the Gospel to spread.
Sometimes all we need to do is share it
Because God has taken care of the rest.

In most cases, though, that isnt all thats needed.

Coming to a complete stranger,
Sharing with them something theyve never heard before,
And then leaving, isnt usually very effective.

Most of the time, we need to get to know them, and they us

Before theyll listen to us.
Careys efforts werent that successful
Until India got to know him
Until he built a bridge to them

11
By spending time in their country,
By doing things to help them,
Such as publishing their classic literature,
As well as the Bible.

When Livingstone wanted to evangelize in Africa,

He sat outside the village where the chief lived for some time,
Getting to know the language, the people, and the culture,
And giving the people the opportunity to get to know him
Before he began to share the Gospel.

History shows us that most who have come to Christ

Have done so in the context of relationship.
The Billy Graham organization has estimated
That of all the people who come forward at their crusades,
A little more than 2% actually become members of churches,
And of those 2%, about 98% were invited to that crusade
By believers who had been ministering to them
Over a period of several years.

You have to build a bridge

If you want to cross over into someones life
And share the Gospel with them.

F. Finally, we must seek to get them into a local fellowship.

12
Jesus didnt send us merely to convert people, but to disciple them.
He says, Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all
that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age
(Matt. 28:19-20).
We need to share the Gospel.
The Spirit must convert them.
But then we must disciple them.

Those who receive Jesus need to confess Him publicly,

Be baptized and brought into the fellowship,
And be instructed on how to worship and serve God with their whole lives.
And then they need to become active as well
In doing the work our Lord has called all of us to do.

Our work can be summarized in three words:

Win evangelize them.
Disciple baptize and teach them.
And send get them involved in the work.

And so know the Gospel.

Strengthen your desire to reach others with the Gospel.
Live a life that is consistent with the Gospel.
Go to those who need to hear the Gospel,
And share the Gospel with them.
And if they come to Christ,

13
Seek to get them into a local fellowship
Where they can be equipped to do this work with you.
Do this because this is what your Savior calls you to do.
Do it because of the love He has shown you.
Do it because you love Him. Amen.
http://www.gcmodesto.org