Day: July 9, 2007

BF&M – Evangelism and Missions

/ Tim A. / Leave a comment

The greatest joy of my life was meeting Jesus as my Lord and Savior. It was due to a faithful father and mother who loved me, took me to a church where I heard of Jesus, the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, and had faithful pastors who proclaimed it in a Baptist Church.

The second greatest joy of my life is having been used by the Lord to see others trust Him as their personal Lord and Savior.  It is a joy to be a pastor and watch those who have been saved grow and mature more into the image of Jesus our Savior.  One thing every Christian must understand is that we are all missionaries.  It is just that some of us have not been called to go overseas, but we have been called to go next door to our neighbor, our families, and our work associates.

Here is our Statement of Faith on Evangelism and Missions:

XI. Evangelism and Missions

It is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and of every church of the Lord Jesus Christ to endeavor to make disciples of all nations. The new birth of man’s spirit by God’s Holy Spirit means the birth of love for others. Missionary effort on the part of all rests thus upon a spiritual necessity of the regenerate life, and is expressly and repeatedly commanded in the teachings of Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ has commanded the preaching of the gospel to all nations. It is the duty of every child of God to seek constantly to win the lost to Christ by verbal witness undergirded by a Christian lifestyle, and by other methods in harmony with the gospel of Christ.

Genesis 12:1-3; Exodus 19:5-6; Isaiah 6:1-8; Matthew 9:37-38; 10:5-15; 13:18-30, 37-43; 16:19; 22:9-10; 24:14; 28:18-20; Luke 10:1-18; 24:46-53; John 14:11-12; 15:7-8,16; 17:15; 20:21; Acts 1:8; 2; 8:26-40; 10:42-48; 13:2-3; Romans 10:13-15; Ephesians 3:1-11; 1 Thessalonians 1:8; 2 Timothy 4:5; Hebrews 2:1-3; 11:39-12:2; 1 Peter 2:4-10; Revelation 22:17.

The one Scripture which is foremost for the calling for going and being missionaries and evangelist for Jesus Christ and the Gospel is Matthew 28:18-20.

And Jesus came ans spoke to them saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.”  (NKJV).

We count it a privilege, an honor, and it is the Great Commission of our Lord as well.  A commandment to go and make disciples for Jesus.  We are not called to use force, or threat, but the love of Jesus for mankind as He took our place on the cross.  We are not called save;  for we cannot; we are called to proclaim, and leave the saving to our Lord.

The Grief of God

/ Tim A. / 2 Comments

Genesis 6:1-22 continued…

“And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD” Genesis 6:6-8 (KJV).

There are some professing Christians who have began holding to a false doctrine called “Open Theism”. It is the belief that God does not know the future any better than you or I do, or maybe just a little better, but that He certainly has no control of it. The world would really be in shambles if that were true.

God was grieved by the sin of mankind. It was sorrow, not surprise that caused Him grief. He had a plan in place, and according to Scripture [all of Scripture combined] He was going to save mankind, and bring their [our] salvation to completeness.

From the time of Adam’s fall to our own day God is holy and cannot allow sin to continue. Sin must be put away. The only way to put away sin is judgment and/or death of the wicked. The LORD has no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 18:23, 32), rather He seeks that they turn from their wickedness. However, when He gives atonement for sin and it is rejected there is no more sacrifice for sin, except the death of the wicked, and their eternal torment.

Having mercifully spared; God now prepares to judge. In that God repented only means that He sorrowed because of sin, and His hatred for evil. We know that God is Omniscient, ie., All-Knowing.

Wickedness covers the earth. Even with the restraining of God’s Spirit mankind gets progressively more wicked. When the restraint of the Spirit is removed wickedness progresses at great speed. When we see wickedness progressing very quickly we must acknowledge the fact, that God’s judgment is not far away. It is time to repent, turn to God and be saved.

If you will notice the judgment in Genesis six includes the destruction of all who are living – with the exception of eight people and animals in a certain lot.

God gives one family who is spared from His wrath. It is said that this man “Found grace in the eyes of the LORD”. This one He chose out of chaos, out of a cesspool of sin and iniquity, out of all the wickedness of man. There was obviously nothing great about Noah. He was only chosen by God’s grace. God, the LORD, did not have to choose anyone, but for His promise of a Redeemer.

“Grace” means “Unmerited’ or ‘undeserved favor”. When God chose Noah by grace, Noah “believed God” (Hebrews 11:7) and built the ark and “walked with God” (v. 9). It is important for us to remember that the only ones who are saved are the ones whom God chooses. We have no idea whom He will choose so we must be faithful (those of us who are chosen) to proclaim the Word of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ to all with whom we are brought in contact.

Noah, by the grace of God, was chosen to preserve the human race and, God through Noah would bring a Savior into the world that we might be saved. God’s righteousness, holiness, and grace is really something amazing. That He could hate sin, and be the atonement for sin at the same time boggles our minds. PRAISE THE LORD!!!