THE MOTIVE FOR MISSIONS: THE WORLD (Mk. 16:1) #1 Making a Difference in Missions Intro: As we begin our study on Missions there are some questions that need to be answered to assure our thinking is right on the subject. 1. What is Missions? Missions mean different things to different people. To the hungry and homeless, a Mission is a place where they can get a meal to eat and a bed to sleep in. To many when missions are mentioned they think of what they have seen on T.V. of small children with swelling stomachs because of malnutrition. When missions are mentioned to those of us who know the scriptures we think of world Evangelization. Missions are someone going somewhere to tell someone about the Lord Jesus Christ and His saving grace! 2. Who is a Missionary? In one sense every Christian is a missionary and every sinner a mission field. In a scriptural sense a, Missionary is a person sent out by the church to some particular place in the world, for the purpose of Evangelization! 3. Where did Missions begin? Missions began in the heart of God! In the O.T. Moses being sent to Egypt to bring the children of Israel out is a type of missions. In (Gen.3) God going to Adam and Eve to bring them out was a type of missions. In the N. T. Jesus sent out the 12 then the 70. The firs occasion of the Church sending out a missionary is in (Acts.13:1-4). After the Church at Jerusalem failed to carry out the commission given them in (Acts.1:8) But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. God spoke to the Church at Antioch and they sent out Barnabas and Saul. 4. Why do Missions continue? Because The Person of God has not changed! (Mal.3:6 & Heb.13:8). The Power of God has not changed! (Rom.1:16). The Plain of God has not changed! (Mk.16:15). In (Mk.16:15) we have Mark’s version of what has become known as the “Great Commission.” I want us to examine in three parts the words of Jesus, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Today, I want us to look at the words “all the world,” and think about the motive of missions. 5. How may I get involved in Missions? 1.] We need Mighty Power: Somebody has got to pray! 2.] We need Man Power: Somebody has got to go! 3.] We need Money Power: Somebody has got to give! 6. Where is the Mission Field? “the world” In (Mt.13:38) Jesus said “The field is the world;” I. Consider the Revelation of God’s Love to the World. 1. The “world” is the object of God’s love. (John 3:16). It has been called, “Everybody’s Text.” It declares God’s great love; “For God so loved the world.” When we talk about the world we are talking about the people who live in the world, not the planet on which we live. The love of God is a worldwide love.

1 2. Think with more for a few moments about how this love has been revealed. (Jer.31:3) The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. A. Notice the Expression of God’s Love. 1. Note it is a Sacrificial Love.1 Jesus gave His own life to pay for our sins. (1John.3:16) tells us, "Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." The word "perceive" in that verse means "to know, be sure, to understand." In this verse we see love in action, love at its highest: Jesus loving a world of sinners! Loving these sinners to such an extent that He was willing to lay down His life that all those who deserve hell might have life and have it abundantly. He willingly laid down His life for us. Jesus said in (John 10:14, 17-18)"I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. 17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. 18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have the power to lay it down, and I have the power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father." 2. Note it is a Sincere Love. It is easy to love someone when they love you back, but what if they hate you, and despise you, and spitefully use you? Look at (1 John 4:7-10) Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. 8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. 9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. 10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. When the Lord Jesus came into this world, this world was not seeking Him, nor is the world seeking Him today! But the sacrificial and sincere love of God came seeking lost man. As (Lk.19:10) "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." (Rom.5:8) tells us, "But God commended his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." His love is not like human love. Christ died, not for friends, but for enemies. 3. Note it is a Saving Love. NO matter what our situation, NO matter how sinful we see ourselves to be, God's love can save us! (Eph. 2:4-5) declares, "But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved)." By HIS Grace and because of His great love, He, through faith, can save ANYONE! 4. Note it is a Secure Love. It is forever. As the Lord tells us in (Jer.31:3) "Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee." God loves us, and not because of anything within ourselves. There is no reason why he should love us. (John. 3:16) tells us that, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” What is the proof of God’s love? Is it health or wealth? The proof of God’s love is that He gave His Son for us. B. Notice the Extent of God’s Love. 2 1. The extent of God’s love is demonstrated in the extent of His giving. God gave His Son, why did He give His Son and to what did He give His Son? In the greatest act of love the world has ever known, God gave His Son to die for our sins. Jesus said in (John 15:13) “Greater love hath no man this this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” The cross reveals the extent of God’s love. When you ask, “How did God SO love the world,” you need look no further than Calvary. There you see the extent of God’s love on public display. 2. There is not person upon the face of this earth that is not loved by God. God’s love is not limited to a particular race or nationality. Neither is limited to a specific country or place. His love is universal. (John 3:16) declares, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” His love is a “whosoever” love. II. Consider the Requirement of God’s Grace of the World! 1. The Bible says in (Titus. 2:11) “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men.” (John 3:16) speaks of a universal love “God so loved the world.” (Titus 2:11) speaks of a universal salvation. The grace of God has brought salvation to “all men.” The truth of salvation reminds us that the world is not only loved by God, but the world is also lost before God. A. Notice this revealed Grace speaks of a Universal Problem. 1. The word “salvation” reminds us that all men need to be saved. Why do all men need to be saved? It is simply because all men are lost. The Bible is clear about the matter of all men being lost. In (Rom.3:23) we read, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Sin is a universal problem. 2. The whole world is lost without God. All men, regardless of race or nationality, are sinners, sinners who are lost. Sin is a universal problem. Sin is not just a black problem. It is not just a Hispanic problem. It is not just a white problem. It is a universal problem. Every man on the face of this heart has a sin problem. B. Notice this revealed Grace speaks of a Universal Provision. 1. The Bible tells us in (Titus 2:11) “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men.” Through the grace of God, salvation has been provided for all men. Hallelujah, there is not one person who has to go to hell. All men may be lost, but Jesus died for all men. 2. Paul said in (1 Tim. 4:10) “For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men.” Paul said that the reason he labored as He did, and suffered what he did, was because Jesus is the Savior of all men. Paul was a missionary and his great passion was to tell men that Jesus had died to save them from their sins. 3. What is mission’s all about? It is about telling a world that Christ died for their sins! It’s telling the world that Jesus is the Savior of the world! This is why Churches give to missions. This is why missionaries go into “all the world” preaching the Gospel. 4. When I speak of the grace of God required by the world, I am referring to the fact that all men need to be saved. Salvation is a universal requirement.

3 There is no man upon the face of this earth who does not need to be saved. This is the great need among men. III. Consider the Reserved Wrath of God for the world! 1. We often forget that the God of love is also a God of wrath. The Bible says in (Psa. 9:7-8) “But the LORD shall endure forever: He hath prepared His throne for judgment. And He shall judge the world in righteousness…” The Bible says in (Psa. 96:13) “Before the LORD: for He cometh, for He cometh to judge the earth: He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with His truth.” 2. If there is anything that ought to motivate a Church and a Christian to be mission-minded, it is the eternal destiny of those who die without Jesus Christ. God loves all men, but as a righteous and holy God, His wrath is reserved for those who die lost. A. Notice the Tragic destiny of the lost! 1. Understand that those who die lost without God will spend eternity in hell. The Bible says in (Psa. 9:17) “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.” Why do we as a Church make mission’s such a priority? Why do missionaries leave family and friends to serve in distant lands? It is because peoples of the world are lost and dying and going to hell. 2. Isaiah said in (Isa. 5:14) “Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure.” Everyday the population of hell increases by the thousands. According the World Fact Book, there are approximately 8.78 deaths per 1,000 people each year. Considering our world population is over 6 billion; that means more than 56 million die each year, or over 153 thousand every day. 3. Of the 153,000 that die every day, I wonder how many died lost without God? Yes, hell enlarges itself every day. I am safe in saying that every day literally thousands of people die and go to hell. Even as we have sat in this service, hell has been enlarged by several hundred. B. Notice the Threating destiny of the lost. 1. When we see the needs of the world around us, we need to realize that millions of the world is in danger of going to hell. When you meet people does it ever cross your mind that that person will spend eternity in either heaven or hell? To you see them as someone who is in danger of dying lost without God? 2. I think of the words of C.T. Studd said, “Some wish to live within the sound of church and chapel bell. I wish to run a rescue mission within a yard of hell.” This is the motive of missions! The world is lost! The world needs Christ! Missions is doing everything we can that the whole world hears the gospel. As a Church we want to do everything we can to keep people from going to hell. As Christians, we want to do our part to see that the world knows that Christ died for them. 3. Let me ask you in closing, HOW WILL YOU MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN MISSIONS? What will you do help reach the world with the gospel? Will you pray? Will you give? Will you go?

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