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Theology of World Missions - Lesson 7

Seeing People the Way Jesus Sees Them

80-2000 project The scope of the Great Commission includes both the nation of Israel and the whole world. Matthew chapters 9 and 10 describe people as lost (sheep without a shepherd) and valuable (the harvest is plentiful). Jesus saw and had compassion. The heart of missions is seeing people the way Jesus sees them and loving them the way Jesus loves them.

Peter Kuzmič
Theology of World Missions
Lesson 7
Watching Now
Seeing People the Way Jesus Sees Them

Seeing People the Way Jesus Sees Them

 

1. Soundtrack of video for "adopt a people group"

2. End of video soundtrack

3. Quote from David Livingstone

4. Quote from Robert Spear

5. The Gospel of Matthew

A. Matthew chapter 10

B. Matthew chapter 9

1. Picture 1 - People as sheep without a shepherd

2. Picture 2 - The Harvest

C. Jesus saw and had compassion


Lessons
About
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Transcript
  • Dr. Kuzmic provides a framework for the class based on 6 specific statements about a theology of missions. Our theology determines our worldview. We must live as citizens of two kingdoms. We need a theologically grounded missiology and a missiological focused theology.

  • Dr. Kuzmic talks about how God saved him and about his cultural background in Eastern Europe.

  • Developing your spirituality and practicing prayer are important elements in achieving a well-balanced theology. The Creator of heaven and earth is Lord of the nations. God promised to bless the whole world through Abraham. Throughout history, different people have applied that promise as a right of privilege for themselves rather than a call to service to others. God calls people, then sends them.

  • The book of Psalms is one of the greatest missionary books in the world. Isaiah's description of Messianic fulfillment at the end of history is a reminder of the role of Messianic people within history, similar to the "already but not yet" of the "kingdom of God" in the New Testament. Quiz questions are included at the end to clarify what Dr. Kuzmic thinks are the important points and because he includes some commentary on central issues of missions.

  • Professor Doug Birdsall first discusses the work of the Church in Asia. He then talks about 3 aspects of missions work: 1. Forming partnerships, 2. Sending churches, 3. Funding. One of the fastest growing groups of the Church in China is composed of urban intellectuals. In India, Mongolia, Nepal and Cambodia, in addition to China, there are great opportunities as well as challenges.

  • Doug Birdsall continues by describing how to establish cross-cultural partnerships. Some of the most important considerations are determining what the needs are, selecting national leaders wisely, and planning for the national leaders to take complete control at some point.

  • 80-2000 project The scope of the Great Commission includes both the nation of Israel and the whole world. Matthew chapters 9 and 10 describe people as lost (sheep without a shepherd) and valuable (the harvest is plentiful). Jesus saw and had compassion. The heart of missions is seeing people the way Jesus sees them and loving them the way Jesus loves them.

  • Discussion of the meaning and application of this key passage of Scripture.

  • Joanne Harding about the AIDs crisis in Africa. It is a tragedy and a major challenge for world missions. A panel of experienced missionaries discusses the calling to be a missionary and practical ways to prepare to be a missionary.

  • Dr David Hilborn, Head of Theology Evangelical Alliance in the UK, discusses the theological framework of universalism, its historical development and the impact that it has on missions.

  • The political and religious climate in Yugoslavia creates unique challenges for people who are preaching the gospel there.

  • Dr. Timothy Tennent points out that the spread of vibrant Christianity in areas of the world besides the west, and the clash of Christianity with major world religions outline the framework for the focus of world missions.

  • Dr. Timothy Tennent shows how Christianity compares to other world religions by citing case studies of discussions with individuals of Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam. Evangelicals must engage more seriously and more profoundly in the thought world of other religions.

  • What does Christ have to do with culture and what does the Church have to do with the world? Isolationists separate themselves and cannot have a significant impact on the world around them. Secularists identify with the world by compromising core beliefs to match the culture and don't have an impact because they are no different from the people around them. The Church often evangelizes from a distance instead of entering into the lives of people.

  • People will often respond more positively to the Gospel if you first find common ground in practical areas and use culture as a bridge for the Gospel into the world. The Gospel has to be forwarded to a new address for every generation.

  • Chuck Davis from Africa Inland Mission describes mission work in Africa and his personal experiences in Congo, Chad and other African countries.

  • The Gospel is a message that addresses sin in the lives of individuals and transforms society in areas like justice and charity.

  • World missions is a fundamental theme throughout the Bible. The book "Christ and Culture" proposes four models to explain the relationship between the Church and the world. Some people emphasize scriptures that focus on evangelism and others emphasize scriptures that teach the importance of meeting peoples' physical needs.

    Note: The David Bosch Grid and Hans Kung Paradigm chart may be posted in the future but are not available at this time.

  • The Lausanne Conference on World Evangelism provided a forum for Christian leaders from different countries and denominations to establish some common goals and principles for communicating the Gospel and caring for people all over the world.

    Note: The David Bosch Grid and Hans Kung Paradigm chart may be posted in the future but is not available at this time.

Dr. Kuzmič provides a framework for a theology of world missions based on a biblical worldview. We must live as citizens of two kingdoms. Our missiology needs to be theologically grounded, and our theology, missiologically focused. The documents that were written by delegates at the Lausanne Conference on World Missions have had a significant influence in defining and encouraging the practical application of a biblical view of world missions.

Theology of World Missions
Dr. Peter Kuzmič
wm602-07
Seeing People the Way Jesus Sees Them
Lesson Transcript

 

Welcome. This is our third session. Of the Theology of Missions class in which we are not only. Looking as we started last time, at the biblical foundations for missions. But we're also looking at the world for a number of you. This is the only class you take in missions. And before you graduate, we need to help you. Become a global citizen if you are not already one. As I did mention, our little diagnostic test showed that we need some we have some catching up to do in some areas. So next week, a week from today, and maybe I'll mention what about that? At the end of the class, we will have a major introduction to Asia and then a month later we will have an introduction to Africa. Those are the two areas where, generally speaking, I know there are exceptions in the class, but generally speaking, there are there are serious deficiencies in your knowledge about the world. So it's a continuous two way more than two way multi-directional journey. Between the nations of the world and the mandate of the Lord. And tonight, I want you to be introduced to the world through an educational video which was produced in the mid-nineties as the evangelical world was gearing for the arrival of the millennium. And there was a major global project to add 2000. How many of you are acquainted with the 82,000 and Beyond movement? Not too many of you. Okay. You will get acquainted through this video. Now, remember, we are not in a cinema. This is not entertainment. This is part of education. So if you can take notes or at least make mental notes on what you see, I hope as we introduce you to different parts of the world.

 

And then go back to some more biblical and theological materials. You will be able to integrate the two in the development of a missionary global vision and mindset. I was doing some amazing things in the world here in Pasadena. When you hear about these things. And now for the first time, we can really share them in visual form. Going to leave you in the faces of friends you do not have. And this video series may change your life, change your church, your group. We hope that this will really be a remarkable tool in God's hands and in your life. India, a fascinating mosaic of sights, sounds and people. Multitudes of people. India covers only 2.4% of the world's land surface, yet this diamond shaped country is home to nearly 900 million people. It is projected that India will surpass China with the world's largest population over the next 25 years, while metropolitan residents crowd the bustling streets of India's large cities. The majority of the population inhabits 600,000 villages scattered throughout the land. Life here has changed little over the centuries. Ancient traditions and customs are woven deeply into the master of ceremonies, lives shaping even the simplest of tasks. Over 70% of the Indian population works the land to support themselves despite their diligent labor. Most Indians live at a subsistence level. Even so, these forbearing people often find joy in the simplicity of life, from state to state and village to village. India is a myriad of diverse people groups, each with their own distinct lifestyles, customs and languages. There are 16 major languages dividing India with over 1600 specific dialects. While most Indians may outwardly appear to be similar, they're actually separated by their unique ethnic differences. Even more diverse and complex is the social caste system was imposed on India long ago as a result of caste, position, language, geographic and cultural barriers.

 

Many related tribes and ethnic groups may seldom interact with each other. Today, there are approximately 300 distinctly different people or groups found in India. India is a melting pot of religious beliefs. Several of the world's religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism originated here, as well as various animistic practices. Today it is 80% Hindu. 12% Muslim. 4% Christian. Plus countless other religious groups. Hinduism. India's largest religion, is a stark contrast to Christianity. Hindus believe that they must go through numerous reincarnations to achieve perfection and thus enter an impersonal state of peace. Readily absorbing elements of any religion. Hinduism boasts 33 million gods that a devotee can choose to worship. Families make special pilgrimages to various holy sites throughout India to worship these guys. Great sacrifices are made in an attempt to gain the gods favor. Millions of Hindus journey at least once in their life to a specific Hindu temple to offer their hair as a sacrifice. Thousands also come each dawn to worship the river Ganges, which is believed by many Hindus to be a goddess. It is said that the Ganges is holy and brings purity, wealth and fertility to those who pay them. 12% of India's population or followers of Islam. The most recent and most widely seen as the Asian religion is five times each day. Faithful Muslims pray to Allah. They diligently follow the revelations and visions of their last Prophet Muhammad, which are found in their holy book, the Koran. Yet in all of their fervency, Muslims admit they have no peaceful assurance that their prayers and actions will lead them to heaven. In India, there is a profound spiritual thirst. Indian sense. There is a deep either need which must be met. Each day, thousands of Indians die, hoping that they are properly prepared to meet their next life.

 

Tragically, most don't know the truth about eternal life that the only living God said his son Jesus, as a sacrifice centuries ago, so that they may truly have everlasting life. Over half of India's 300 people groups have had little or no opportunity to hear the gospel message. Today, there are still 1800 unreached people groups scattered throughout India who are unaware of the compassionate love of Jesus and the salvation that he offers. One of these unreached people groups are the peoples of Northwest India. The real people are the second largest tribal group in India, numbering over 8 million. This large group is actually divided into several culturally distinct subgroups, scattered across four states in an area known as the tribal belt. Some of these groups have been impacted by the gospel and already have growing churches established. However, one build group numbering one and a half million people, has had little or no exposure to the gospel. They are known as the Roger Stone peoples living at a subsistence level. Eels eke out an existence from the depleted soil of the diminishing forests around their villages. The Beatles take pride in their uniqueness as a people expressing themselves with traditional songs and dances. The Rogers study feels have little interaction with the modern world content to live out their days in isolated villages in much the same manner as their forefathers did centuries ago. Through the years, the Beatles have integrated Hinduism with their ancient animistic practices the belief that natural objects have spirits worshiping various animal gods as well as trees and streams. They place idols in their fields and outside of their homes, attempting to bring them good luck, health and prosperity to the community. Having no one else to turn to the Beatles.

 

Look to the village witch doctor for healing, settling disputes, casting spells and performing sacrifices. Fearful and highly superstitious, the Beatles believe that any of this origin is due to an evil spirit or a curse. Despite costly rituals to invoke the Spirit's favor, often these people's needs are left unmet, creating a sense of hopelessness and increasing their bondage to fear. Recently, missionaries in obedience to God's spirit have begun focusing on the righteous study of mission. Agencies such as Youth with a mission are reaching out to this remote tribe, introducing them to a powerful, loving God and the forgiveness found in Jesus Christ. This element is completely unreached. We asked them, Do you know about Jesus Christ? So everybody say, Who is Jesus Christ? They said, It's a God, Jesus. You know, they say, No, no, no, no, no. As the gospel is presented for the first time in these villages, the people are very interested to learn about the compassion and love of Jesus. We share from the Bible that Jesus came and died for you, for us. And Jesus is the only one who can forgive us then. And these are things that only God when where they are here so they can see. You know, they can see the power of Jesus is more powerful than the political. We preach the gospel. And we have shown that Jesus killing in this village and. About 300 people have seen Jesus believed there are signs of swine flu. I've been walking with the bills for nine months, so not for nine months now. We already have 29 deliveries and there are some people still one day, but different languages illegal. So six people to baptism. We want them, these people to go and in this village like to establish the body of Christ and st and then you look here then to reach other villages, those who don't know about Jesus Christ.

 

For centuries, the beings have lived in fear of the idols and spirits that they worship. The church needs to pray that the bills would be released from this bondage of fear, and also to pray that more workers would be raised up to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to the fields and to just share with them the true love of Jesus. Now is the time for us to reach out the bills, because God is often hard to see the Gospel. Because everywhere, wherever we are going, the village people like us are ready to receive Jesus. So it's really the time for for us to go out and preach the gospel. The message of Jesus is spreading throughout India, with increasing momentum, shining the light of hope into the darkness of people's lives and other unreached people. Group being touched with a timeless message of the cross are the Koloa people. They are predominantly found in Central India's Maharashtra state because they speak a common language. They are frequently also referred to as the colony people. This tribal group of 100,000 is one of the poorest in India. As a result of their low social status, the Cold War have been oppressed and exploited for centuries, producing in them a low self-esteem. Ironically, they believe they are superior to other low caste neighbors, even similar people groups as Untouchables. Those that prefer to live separately in small villages called paths. Through the centuries, they've maintained a strong sense of ethnic identity, preserving their own language and customs. In the past, Kosovars had no interest in Christianity as the only Christians they had heard of were some of their lower caste neighbors. Therefore, to the Cold War, Christianity was viewed as a step down in the social order.

 

But in early 1991, Friends Missionary Prayer Band and the Dean Bandhu ministry joined together to share the gospel with the Cold War in a new, more relevant way. The response was tremendous, and by the end of 1991, at least 500 Cold War I had accepted Christ and were baptized when the Gospel was presented to them as a people. And they understood that to become a Christian wasn't to join a new community or to change their path, but rather was to become a follower of this God who is not merely a tribal God or a National Guard, but the God with followers from all nations of the Earth and the very God of the universe. That changed our whole perspective on response to the Gospel. In the tribal tradition, they used to sacrifice a God of of this time of animals. But now there is no need to think about anything because they just are really wonderful. And when the people heard that Jesus, the true and living God didn't require continuous sacrifices, but that He himself died as a sacrifice out of his love for them, they were amazed and wanted to know more about this particular group. Well, they held a tendency of making a decision community wise. Their leader or their leader come to Christ. Then the whole community will come to Christ. I gather now that they are seeing all of the options and they came up to us and told us that only Jesus Christ can change their situation. Nobody is because they are seen inside all of the God global system, even their leaders. But only thing and only hope for them is to become Christian as more color, more identify with Jesus and become less fearful of their oppressors.

 

Many are outwardly declaring their new fate through water baptism. Today as prayers are being lifted up and missionaries are reaching out to the Calabar people with the gospel. There is tremendous potential for many more Calabar to come to know Jesus. Even the leaders are saying, yes, this is the answer. This is the way for us to go. And they're leaving their communities. They're leaving their faith. And they're beginning to move to Christ. And we anticipate in this coming year that many will be turning to Christ. And we'll see what could very well be a major people movement. But people movements don't just happen. We recognize that without the foundation of prayer that is doing the spiritual worship, that is continuing to be an advocate for these people before the throne of God. It won't happen. Part of what the church worldwide needs to actively become involved in interceding for the remaining unreached people groups asking God to provide more laborers and create a greater openness for the gospel message. Historically gold spirit has powerfully influenced the hearts of people as a direct answer to fervent prayer. Today in India, God has established a strategic new model for effective prayer through a mission agency called Friends Missionary Prayer Band. The members of the mission to provide a way to reach the peoples in India. And because of their fervent prayers, miracles are happening in the mission. Founded in 1967 as a totally indigenous missionary movement. Friends Missionary Prayer Band is making a tremendous impact throughout India. A member of India's Adopt a People program, which they call servant people, FB is instrumental in bringing unity to the church. 1400 small groups of 5 to 30 people from various denominations band together in prayer at weekly scheduled meetings.

 

These groups, which are primarily located in southern India, intercede for an hour or more each week for specific northern states or regions and the many unreached people groups located there. People from different walks of life. They come together and pray and people have a band of prayer groups. Likewise, people of the same profession like business class, the doctors, lawyers, engineers. They also come together with great people who work in factories industries during their lunch hour. They come together hardly. They get an hour for lunch break, but they sit about 30 to 45 minutes to pray. In between the lunch hour, that shows how much they are devoted friends. Missionary Prayer Band also challenges their prayer partners to live a simple lifestyle, sacrificially setting aside part of their income above their time to support a missionary who is working among a particular people group. We also teach them the importance of giving. In fact, they enjoy giving to the Lord. They don't think that it is a burden on them, but they think that it is a given privilege for them to give whatever they have to the Lord. Some people, they take a handful of rice every day. They pull together and they sell it and they forward the money to us. And then some children visit the part, a particular penny and whatever the it may, if it goes to the missions. As each prayer group collects enough monthly support, they sponsor an FPP missionary who was sent out to work among an unreached people group in the region, which they been praying for. Some people have chosen to provide an entire missionary salary completely on their own. One committed layman, an engineer in Madras, fully supports 13 missionaries out of his own out by this support.

 

I never had any love. I never heard the good that I'm giving for it to God. Go US send is our motto. And we have sent our missionaries to the forefront of the effort for them. We are trained. It's our bound and duty and also to uphold in prayer so that we can get the blessings in the field. One exciting example of a tremendous breakthrough is the move of God's spirit on the hearts of the Spirit travel group of multiple people. For centuries, there were no known Christians among them. Today, whole villages are turning to Jesus Christ. The of people have accepted Christ in law, in a word. Within a period of ten years. Wherever did that faith? More than 20,000 people. And we hope to reach the rest of the people numbering 55,000 within a period of just three years. These are all happening because of the sacrificial giving and the photographs of the ordinary Christian to India. God is pouring out his blessing in unprecedented ways in response to the concentrated prayer and sacrificial giving of friends, missionary prayer band members. As churches around the world become involved by adopting one of the remaining 11,000 unreached people groups following the tremendous example of MPB, God's spirit will be poured out in greater measure than ever before. One exciting example is the Ebenezer Mennonite Church of Bluffton, Ohio, which is working with a team to reach out to Hindi speaking groups in the Hindu stronghold of North India. Team is a large mission agency which has worked fruitfully for decades in India, planning churches among many unreached groups. Ebenezer Mennonite Church is earnestly praying for and faithfully supporting a team missionary who is not only doing evangelism among Hindu groups, but working on a much needed new translation of.

 

A Hindi Bible which can be used among hundreds of Hindu speaking caste groups. Another church, the First Baptist Church of Greenhills, Ohio, has adopted the Xuelong people during the last two years. The Xuelong had been known to be a highly resistant Buddhist group in Northeast India. But as First Baptist of Greenhills and Churches of the Baptist General Conference began to pray. Coupled with the prayers of Baptist churches in India, God's spirit began to move on the hearts of those who love marvelously. In the last two years, through the work of Indian missionaries with the North Bank Baptist Christian Association denomination, which is the Fruit of Baptist General Conference missionaries, three churches have been planted serving 500 Sioux lines. As we count down to the close of this century, God's challenge to us is clear. If the church worldwide will free itself from distractions and give itself to completing the Great Commission through fervent focused prayer and heartfelt giving, there will be a church for every people and the gospel for every person. By the year 2000. You may consider becoming an ambassador to your own church first, in case your church is not acquainted with the concept of Adopt a People. As you've heard, there are more than 11,000 people groups. Which means it's not linguistic groupings that are unreached. The great missionary statesman Pastor Oswald Smith used to repeat again and again that no one has the right to hear the Gospel twice unless every one has had an opportunity and paraphrasing him to hear it for the first time. So I hope that we will not only have a burden for the lost and the unreached, but we will share it with others and mobilize others. There's a whole series of these videos.

 

And if you are interested to get more of these materials, you can get them writing directly to mission agencies related to that as a useful piece of information in terms of resourcing world missions. Gordon Cornwall has recently established the Center for Study of Global Christianity. Todd Johnson, who is the son in law of Dr. Ralph Winter. And the chief associate of David Barrett in the pioneering, enormously important project that is now available in the second edition and two large volumes called World Christian Encyclopedia. If you have a friend who wants to give you a gift in a book form and that friend is wealthy, I suggest that you ask them to buy for you in the World Christian Encyclopedia because it does take several hundred dollars for the whole set. And there is another accompanying sent published by Oxford University Press. It should be on the desk of every global citizen. Okay. Before you are financially capable of acquiring it. Well, Christian encyclopedia, and I hope you will have an opportunity to meet with Dr. Johnson and Dr. Winter and David Barrett, who is the world premier authority on the global Christianity. I hope you will meet all of these people and I hope you will be able to acquire an encyclopedia. In the meantime. How many have the operation world? Okay. A little death. Less than half of you. Okay. The others. Please don't buy another book until you have bought Operation World. This was a statement of faith and vocation, as it will be the operation world. Talk to those who have them. Talk to the students for majoring in missions. This is a handbook that gives you all of the basic information about every nation in the world. Places, the nations geographically gives them their ethnic makeup, the languages, the population, the capital city, the religious makeup, etc..

 

And then at the end of it, you have a very fine summary of the spiritual state of those nations under the rubric of prayer. Many Christians are using this as a guide to prayer. And I would suggest that you consider that before you leave. Gordon Cornwell and you will not have regrets if you do so. Now. Let us pray for a moment. Almighty God, our Creator. We thank you for Jesus, your son, the missionary par excellence who has entered our history, who has entered human flesh, who became one of us in everything except that he did not sin. Which uniquely qualified him to take our students and have them nailed to the cross. And we as beneficiaries. Of that great salvation. We thank you. For your grace which has embraced us. But we pray for the nations of the world. We pray for ethnic groups. We pray for the groups that we have just observed on this video. And for many others, they do not have a witness, a viable witness. We pray that somehow your church worldwide will be moved continually, move by prayer and by willingness to go help all of us to be willing to go so that those who have not heard yet the saving name of Jesus. May be able to hear. And respond. We pray for the missionaries who work in pioneering situations, especially in southern Asia, in India. We pray, especially for northern India. We pray that you will give the right mix of wisdom and boldness and a great love and the necessary support, financially and otherwise, to all those who are working in those difficult fields. And we remember the people of India. And your church debt, especially at this time of the renaissance of Hindu nationalism and the.

 

Accompanied violence. We pray that you will keep your people safe and the missionaries who work there to stand makers because there is no other way to come and work among them. We pray that you will protect them and provide them with many opportunities to trade nationals, to reach others in their own tribes and beyond them. As we have seen in this wonderful presentation. We thank you, Lord, that you hear us. And now we pray your blessing upon our. Studies tonight. Enlighten our minds. But also move up on our hearts so that we will not take in cognitively only the information from your world and your world. By that, we will have responsive hearts to what you would want us to do. In obedience to you, your great commission, and in reaching out to those who like the Macedonian men in the vision in the Book of Acts, say, Come over and help us. We ask all of these things, Heavenly Father, in Jesus name, and with the help of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Now, what we did last time last Tuesday was to take a rapid overview of the Old Testament in support of the thesis, number one. And that is that the God of the Old Testament is a missionary God. We have a specially paid attention to Genesis 12. The calling of Abraham and the promises made to Abraham. You will recall that I mentioned that that is the most according to many scholars, that is the most unifying text of the Bible. And the rest of the biblical story is a fulfillment of the promise. The matter of fact, for those of you who are new to theological studies, it is helpful to picture the two testaments, the one Scriptures as the book of Promise, the Old Testament and the Book of Fulfillment.

 

The New Testament. Now we are moving into the New Testament today. And we will come to what I call the thesis. Number two, in our attempt to summarize the biblical teaching, and this is all we are able to do in the limited time we have. Namely, to summarize, we move from God of the Old Testament as a missionary God and remember by emphasis was that He is missionary by his very nature. Okay? God is a missionary. God by his very nature. He is a sending God. The sending is in the function of redemption. So God calls people whom he has chosen and. Equips them and sends them. To be witnesses or to speak of the people of Israel, as we did last time, to be a witness to the nations. Now. I recommended the book by Dr. Kaiser Walter Kaiser on the missions in the Old Testament last time. For those of you and some of us had conversations in my office, for those of you who want to do a more specialized study in the New Testament and missions. I recommend the book by Ferdinand Hahn. Ferdinand Hunt. As you see, we're moving now into the New Testament, Christ of the Gospel. He's a missionary Christ. Then we'll have a look at the Book of Acts. The Holy Spirit of Acts is a missionary spirit. Here you see the the underlining Trinitarian theology of missions. And we'll come to the early church and its practice as described in the Epistles. And now we come to the missionary people, God, that Triune God is a missionary God. His church is his missionary church, his missionary community. And then we will come to the Book of Revelation. And show that the climax of the Book of Revelation, which is the climax of the biblical story, the climax of the salvation history, is a missionary climax.

 

So I am inviting you to look at the whole of scriptures. As a missionary book. Okay. From this perspective, so that we will not view missions as an appendix, as some kind of an addition as so often we do, but as foundational and central to the very understanding who we are as God's people and why we are in the world. Now, if you want to do a more careful study on mission in the New Testament, there are many books I could recommend. If you look at our recommended reading, you will find some books there. I want to emphasize I recommend one tonight that I have not put on the reading list, but this is for those of you who want to do a more careful study of missions in the New Testament. And that is the book by Fernando Ferdinand Han, a German scholar. And the title of the book is simply Mission in the New Testament. Let's enter that New Testament. But before we look at the Book of Matthew's, the first book in the New Testament, let me give you a quote by David Livingston that I was surprised how many of you were not able to identify this. Great. Missionary, pioneer, scientist, explorer, especially explorer of the continent of Africa. David Livingston, who was a genius, who could be in the service of His Majesty, the King of England, who was given all kinds of honors and offers. And he refused them all because he considered missions to be the most important task and the highest calling. Here is what he writes in 1850 to his sister, Agnes. Just a little quote from the biography of David Livingston. There have been many biographies of David Livingston written. This one is by WG Blaikie, A, b, l, a, i, k II and old Classic, published first time in 1908.

 

On the life and work of David Livingstone. So David Livingstone writes to his sister Agnes. For it that we should ever consider the holding of a commission from the King of Kings as sacrifice. His sister is concerned because so many people come and tell her your brother is throwing away his life. Why is he doing it? There are those who just couldn't understand because they thought that the missionaries could be people who don't have the first read minds, that missionaries could be poor people who could not succeed in other areas of life. So he's responding to this and he says commission from the king of kings is not a sacrifice. Well, let me go back to the precise quotation forbidding that we should ever consider the holding of a commission from the King of Kings a sacrifice so long as other men esteemed the service of an earthly government and honor. He says if serving the king of my nation is an honor, then serving the king of kings is not a sacrifice, but a much higher honor. He goes on to say, I am a missionary, heart and soul. I am a missionary heart and soul. God had them only son, and he was a missionary and a physician. And that was Livingstone was our poor, poor imitation of him. I am this great man of God. And there are some great women. I've got to have all been very humble. We look back, we read their biographies like this one, and we admire them for their courage, for their genius, for their invention. As you study the story of William Carey and some of you who are missions, majors, of course, are acquainted with that and so many others, they were inventors. They were first rate minds.

 

They could have been very successful in their Western homelands and achieved many things. And yet they called by the Lord, respond and go and they do sacrifice. But they, as Livingstone say, we cannot call it a sacrifice because we are serving the King of Kings and God who had only one son. And he says his savior made him a missionary. So Jesus Christ is the missionary par excellence. He's the model missionary. And so that is the highest calling. And so to conclude that quotation from that letter of David Livingston to his sister Agnes, he says, in this service that is in the missionary service, I hope to live in it. I wish to die in the missionary service, he says. I hope to live in it. I wish to die. What he was saying actually, in this letter. Let everyone know that their attempts to persuade me to give up on my missionary work are futile. This is my highest calling. This is my lifetime calling. Whatever may come. I will stay a missionary and I will live the fullest extent. This calling. And I am willing to die in that ministry. Now, to quote another similar thing. King Another great missionary leader, Robert Spear. We are talking, of course, about these giants of the 19th century, although some of them very gentle. And yet Robert Spear was a traveling secretary of student volunteer movement in the United States. Student volunteer movement, as we am, has sent thousands of the brightest young people from North American universities into the mission fields. Robert Spear was one of those. I don't want to go into the history of missions here. This is not what this class is all about. But when you hear about Mark Admiralty, one of the founders of the great student volunteer movement, many people don't know that he was a recipient of the Nobel Prize.

 

Many people don't know that many of these early missionary leaders were also great diplomats, people of the best training that was provided best education. We have heard about the Cambridge seven city stud, the famous cricket there, and a very rich man who sells everything and gives up his brilliant career in sports to become a missionary. And one could do a quote and refer to many others. But let me just do a little quote by Robert Spear, who wrote in his journal, and I want you to write this down. This is a very brief quotation. It is one that I quote very often when speaking about missions and speaking at. University and college campuses about missions as the most holy, most important, and still the most urgent task in the world. Robert Speer quote, If you want to follow Jesus Christ, you must follow him to the ends of the earth, for that is where he is going. Let me repeat that. If you want to follow Jesus Christ. You must follow him to the ends of the earth, or you must at least be willing to follow him to the ends of the earth. We will come to the Great Commission a little later tonight, and we will see why this is so important. You must follow him to the ends of the earth, for that is where he is going. And as you have seen in the video earlier tonight, he is going to those unreached people, groups whose names you may have never heard until tonight. Whose existence is not acknowledged by the leading universities of the Western world, except by people who specialize in anthropology and focus on some of these tribes. And yet people who are loved by Christ and as Christ takes his servants to these nations, to these peoples, they are doing they are going there in obedience to the Great Commission.

 

And he is going with them because he said, and I will be with you to the very end of the age, I will go with you wherever you go as you go to end the quote. If you want to follow Jesus Christ, you must follow him to the ends of the earth, for that is where he's going. And then Robert Spear writes in his journal, We cannot think of God without thinking of him as a missionary God. We cannot think of God without thinking of him as a missionary God. Now let's come to the Book of Matthew as the Gospel of Matthew. Although not the earliest written is the first canonical in the canonical order Gospel in the New Testament. It is the most Jewish of the Gospels, and I have heard an objection raised to the Great Commission by a Jew who studied with me down at Harvard Divinity School a long time ago. Don't ask me how long ago? Over three decades. I am a little older than I look. Okay. He interestingly took some classes in New Testament, Although being Jewish and taking a doctorate at the School of Divinity, he had a very interesting mixture of views. And in a discussion about missions, he read two scriptures from the Gospel of Matthew, and he says, While Jesus himself. Being a Jew, restricted his mission to the Jewish nation. This gentleman obviously did not read the whole gospel or read it with selective Jewish lenses or with the biblical critical method that would rule out whatever was there of universal nature. And here was his argument. Twice, Jesus tells his followers, or those whose lives He touches that He is sent only to the lost sheep of Israel, for example. Matthew ten six.

 

What happens in matches then? This is what I call the short term missions in Matthew ten and Matthew 28 at which at which we will look later are not contradictory, as some people may think. In Matthew ten. And I hope you bring your scriptures with you. To the class as we study the biblical basis right now of missions, he sends out the 12. And then he gives them all kinds of restrictions. You know, and what they could carry or should not carry, where they should go, where they shouldn't go. And here, in terms of geography, we need to see the context. Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans is verse five. He gives them instructions as he sends them out, go rather, to the lost sheep of Israel. And as you go preach the message, the kingdom of heaven is near. And then you have a similar restriction in Matthew 1524. That's the passage where the Canaanite woman appealed to him on behalf of her demonized daughter. And he responds and says that he was sent only to Israel's lost sheep. And so you have people who say, well, Jesus himself restricted his own mission and and the mission of his disciples to Israel, to the nation of which he was a part. This does, if you read it just in that context, sound disturbing. Maybe even shocking until we remember. And we must emphasize that. That this was a temporary restriction. This was a historical limitation. And referred only to Jesus's earthly ministry. Because he himself already during his earthly ministry, emphasizes that his through his death, the resurrection and the gift of the spirit, salvation would be offered to all nations. And so he laid there in Matthew 28 and will come to that, instructs his followers to take the gospel, to take the good news to all nations.

 

Now, remember, when we were doing our survey of the Old Testament, the if you have had your Hebrew goyim, the nations or all nations. Here we have the Etna, the Greek word Etna, which is a translation in most cases of goyim, is simply in the Navy, translated as the nation. Sometimes it should be translated as the peoples. Etna is the word from which we get ethnic. And he sends them to all goyim or all nations. The two references here to the lost sheep of Israel should not be generalized, but must be seen in the context of the historic limitation during the Ministry of Jesus Earth. Besides that, I have a firm conviction. We don't have time to explore that tonight. That it was actually in Matthew ten that this was Jesus's pedagogy. They are not yet ready to go to Samaritans and to other nations. You will remember that Peter has problems even after the resurrection, after the day of Pentecost, going to others. We will come to that when we come to the Book of Acts in a few minutes. But I want you, if you have scriptures with you. I want you to open Matthew nine and ten. Because I want you to see the ending of Matthew nine and the beginning of Matthew ten together at the end of Matthew nine. From birth 35 on. We have one of those summaries that appear in the Gospels in the Gospel of Matthew. They are very frequent after the Sermon on the Mount. Chapter five, six and seven, you have a rapid which was teaching I five through seven, the teaching of Jesus. It's the ethics of the kingdom. It's about the growth of the kingdom and so on. You have a rapid succession.

 

Of various things that happen, you almost get the impression. Chapter eight and nine, that you are back into the book of Mark. Now, when you have studied or you will study the Gospels, you will see that Mark, which was an earlier gospel, was most probably, I think scholars agree on that. A source. For Matthew, as well as Luke and Mark, which was a summary of the events in the life of Jesus, the way Peter preached them, because Mark served as Peter's translator. Mark, who was not an eyewitness. Okay. But the first gospel. Okay. And so when you go through the book of Mark. You see how quickly things take place. Just look at sometimes on your own tonight. Read chapter one and see how often you find the words. Immediately and immediately this happened. And immediately Jesus picked up and did the next thing. And then again. And immediately it's almost like you have the temperament of Peter. Okay. When you look back to Matthew, you look at chapter eight and nine. You see that he's relying on those events as described in the book of Marc, and you have this rapid succession. You have the man with leprosy in the first few verses. Then you go chapter eight. Okay. And then you go from verse five, the fate of the centurion, and then Jesus heals many. And then you have the cost of the following. Jesus. A little teaching is intercepted here in the book of Mark. There is not much teaching, but here and there there's teaching. And here you have the same, the same paradigm. Then Jesus comes the storm, and then he heals the two demon possessed man. And we come to chapter nine. Now, remember, there was no division in two chapters.

 

When did division into chapters take place? Exactly. In the 11th century. There is no division into versus when there's division and divergence take place. The beginning of the 16th century. 15th, 16th century. Okay. So keep that in mind as you read scriptures, these divisions are very helpful to us or we will be with would have a hard time to look at passages and they do a pretty good job. But other times they break up what belongs together. Okay, you go into chapter nine, Jesus heals paralytic, and then you have the calling of Matthew. And then then Jesus answers the questions about the fasting. And then you have a dead girl and a sick woman, and you have Jesus healing the blind and the mute. As if Matthew says, I cannot continue listening. So many things were happening, and now we'll come to this summary passage. Listen to the summary from Versace five on, Jesus went through all the towns and villages. Teaching in their synagogue, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. This is art, geography and ministry. Summary. He went from town to town, not only towns and villages. Okay, what was he doing? And you have a three fold ministry. He was teaching. Okay, which is a systematic exposition he was preaching, announcing. You could use that as an equivalency of evangelism. The good news of the Kingdom. He's announcing the arrival of the kingdom. So you have him in teaching, preaching. And thirdly, healing every disease and sickness. The three fold Ministry of Jesus, these summaries are very often paradigmatic. They're actually teaching tools. And that's why it is important to see how they outline things or how they summarize them. The three fold Ministry of Jesus to me, is very interesting.

 

The teaching is emphasized first. Now what we come now is a very interesting. He is calling on his disciples to change their remember. To get his perspective. Get his view. And so he turns to them when he saw the crowd, he had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. And then he said to his disciples, The harvest is plentiful. But the workers, if you ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore to send out workers into his harvest field, if I may summarize a summary. He turns to his disciples and gives them two pictures. There is the picture of the crowds like sheep. Sheep without a shepherd. That's picture number one. Now imagine the bleeping sheep on the heels of Galilee. That picture speaks of human need. It speaks of lawlessness. It speaks of pain and confusion. That means there are no shepherds. They were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. That means there are no voices that would be recognized by the sheep, voices that would, on the one hand, take them to green pastures and fresh waters. And on the other hand, protect them from wild beasts. So there is no nurture and there is no protection. They are vulnerable. Now, if we had a time which we don't for a careful exegesis of the passage in its historical context. I would point out that Jesus had quite an odd dose of discipline. Is that the word audacity? That's why I did that, that apology in the first session about my pronunciation audacity. To make a statement like this because the context is still fully Jewish. There were synagogues everywhere. Temple was full there of our Pharisees and Sadducees. There were rabbis and religious teachers.

 

I think there are about 6000 Pharisees. There are about 20,000 lower priests. They saw themselves as shepherd of the sheep. And he says, Now look at the people. He looks at them. Now, remember, these are not Gentiles. These are not people from India. He's addressing. A Jewish congregation. He is reviewing the spiritual state of the Jewish nation. He says they are going hungry and unprotected. That is a picture, of course. Of the world today where there is so much religion. And Jesus says religion by itself is not the answer. See, religion is only an expression of human quest. That's why in Christian theology, we speak about the importance of revelation. It's God's search. It is God's incarnation. It's this Jesus who looks at the crowds and gives this diagnostic picture of humanity. It is he who brings the good news. It's he who here is announcing the good news is teaching the good news of the Kingdom of God, of the Salvific intentions of God for the people of Israel and for the nations of the world. But remember, the audience and the description here at this point is fully and exclusively Jewish. Okay. That's the picture, number one. And as I said, the picture one. Number one speaks of human need. When you viewed the video tonight, you saw and heard something of the human need. People who don't know the living God, people who are lost and hungry, confused and disoriented. Okay, picture number two. The harvest. Now, use your imagination for a moment. Again, that picture. I would like to suggest. Speaks of the possibilities. Speaks of the potential. Speaks about great value in humanity. Just imagine. Golden fields. Ready for harvest. Swayed by the wind. A totally different picture. Of course, it's a picture that speaks also of need.

 

But the need now is for workers. For harvesters. Because what's available out there is bread. Is great value. I have emphasized the Imago Day concept as we looked at the Book of Genesis the very beginning. And I have emphasized that every human being as a bearer of Imago Day. The image of God is of great value. Because we are created by God. We are created for God. And although that image is distorted because of the fall. Because of human sinfulness. God reaches out, God, which is down to us. And through incarnation of Christ and his atoning death on the cross provides for us. For that image to be restored, for that treasure to be found. Remember Jesus in Luke 15, You have the lost coin. The lost sheep and the lost son. The prodigal son. The three stories come from different angles. Describe the great value of humans in the sight of God. And so whenever they are found, there is great joy. There is celebration. There is a feast because this great value, if not found like the harvest, if not bacon in all that looking like gold, if it is not harvested when the harvest time is over, it is lost, it's trampled on. It's instead of becoming a bread, it becomes. What's the what's the word dunk. Is that an acceptable word? Yes. Okay. All right. Let me not use more of the pictures here. I may get in trouble. So this is the picture of the possibilities. And one could carry this on what possibilities we have today to harvest through the electronic media, through the printed page since the Gutenberg era, through the international travel and in so many other ways. Harvesting takes place in marvelous ways. You watch the Billy Graham crusade and then and I was part of it in Europe when it was televised and carried into 30 some nations simultaneously.

 

You know, this is not harvesting anymore. The way my mother used to harvest in the hills of Slovenia with a little sickle. And then we grew up harvesting with that saw. Okay. And now, of course, that is harvesting with the combine harvester. Are you with me with this agricultural terminology in which I am as deficient as you are, seemingly just indicate that you are awake. Well, and if I am using a word you don't understand, just shout out. Then we'll find a synonym. Or you shall the synonym. Okay, so these are the two pictures intermingled with these two pictures. Pictures of the missions, the missionary need and missionary potential and possibility. We have the two verbs. The first verb is used in verses 36. She was for Jesus when he saw the crowds, or he saw the multitudes, seeing as something to do with division. And the second verb follows. He had compassion. Now, the Greek, if you have had your Greek flag stain, the word translated here. He had compassion. He's a one word. It could be translated. This would be a dynamic equivalency translation. He loved them to the point of causing pain to himself, seeing and loving. And I'm dwelling on this passage for a few minutes here because I think we have the ABCs of mission thought here just prior to Jesus's sending out after 12 on a short term missions trip limited to the people of Israel, because what he tells them is you need to see the people the way I see them and you need to love them the way I love them. Seeing and loving vision. Seeing the world missions is primarily a matter of vision. As of course we can. And we do speak about vision and the need for vision in all other areas of life.

 

The world is in need of visionaries. You are obviously a visionary for Christian ministry thinking long term, and that's why you took time and you are paying quite a bit of money to study for several years to be well equipped. That is part of the vision. Preparation is part of the vision for the ministry to which the Lord is calling you so that you would be equipped for it. The famous young lady who was blind and handicapped. My tired mind. Hear it? Yes. Helen Keller. Helen Keller. You may have heard her story. I see. Now the lights on your faces. Helen Keller could achieve so much against all the odds. Was asked in a popular interview once whether there is anything worse than being blind. Have you heard her answer? Helen Keller answered that question and said, Stop for a moment and then said, yes. That is one thing that is worse than being blind, having eyesight, but no vision, having eyesight, but no vision. And there are too many people around us everywhere who have perfect eyesight but no vision, who see only that which is in front of them, who see only the tangible, who don't see the future. Visionaries always see the future, but vision is also see the distant. And so Jesus shares this vision with his disciples. But he also loves them. The crowds, the multitudes who are like sheep without the shepherd. He was moved with compassion. He had compassion on them, the nib says. I think that the other translation moved with compassion, probably describes it better. He was internally moved by his love for the lost. This is another most fundamental assumption for involvement in world missions. Having a vision, having the eyes of you that you put it this way, having the eyes of Jesus and the heart of Jesus, seeing people the way Jesus sees them and loving them the way He loves them.

 

And now, as he shares with them this vision, these two pictures, he does not say, boys. Here is the map. Here are the tools. Here is the text. Goal. Evangelize. Announce that the kingdom is has arrived. Very interestingly, he says to his disciples, he turns to them and doesn't say go. But in this second picture, he says, Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out a barley in. To throw out or to trust out from ball or to throw a volley in means to explode them into another orbit to send out The translation here is to send out the thrust forced into the harvest field, the harvesters. So what he is saying is recognizing the need. And responding to the need is very important, but not sufficient. Because there is the Lord of the harvest. Okay. As we have already shown, he's the Lord of the Nations. The sovereign Lord is the one who sends because he's the one who saves. The one who is involved in saving, is involved in sending. The sending is in the function of saving. That's why they are also called ambassadors. They are his representatives, his spokesman. They don't have their own message. They have God's message. They don't go in there on power. They go in God's power. And that's why the Great Commission in this mini version again begins with a prayer. It doesn't begin with going. It begins with kneeling. Now, I don't want to go further into this. One could say a lot about this, the importance of of praying here as a basic prerequisite for missions. But I want you to notice how we enter now into Chapter ten. I'll forget for a moment that we into chapter ten. Okay. As I said earlier, the divisions came later.

 

He called. So. Next sentence you read. He called his 12 disciples, stole him and gave them authority. If we did a parallel study. Of the Synoptic Gospels. I think it would be easy to show that Jesus himself spends the night in prayer. Okay. He's given them an enormous challenge, but he doesn't want them to be emotionally driven. He doesn't want them to be driven by a fear of what he might say if they don't go. He wants them to listen to God. He wants them to understand who's the harvest field is and in whose name they are going. And so as he spends the night in prayer, he calls them and he gives them authority and he sends them out. I will not do a further exposition here on why he poses the limitations on them. The geographic in terms of luggage, why they are permitted to take and so on. Even the message. This is simply pedagogical. Okay. We will see how he guides them and teaches them. Remember, they are enrolled in the Jesus Seminary, the peripatetic Gordon Convert Jesus Seminary. Okay. This is one of the most important lessons because for the first time, he is sending them out into the inner city and into the surrounding villages, and they cannot learn all the lessons at once. And he will take them on, instructing them further, even when they return and they rejoice. He kind of expands their horizons and gives them a broader theological understanding of what they are involved in. But to me, just a little detail. Verse one, he calls his 12 disciples. Okay, He calls his 12 disciples. Now look at verse five, and the names are listed on authority and the names are listed. And then you jump to verse five.

 

These 12 Jesus sent. Here the verbs say important again. You cannot be sent until you are called. The calling precedes descending. The sending always follows the calling. There is the logic. Okay. And this is kind of a paradigmatic here. I know we don't have time to give careful attention to the very text and the context, but to me, the the other interesting thing is that now these 12 who he sends are for the first time called apostles. As the names are given in verse, verse one, they are disciples. In verse two, they are this, they are apostles. The sending makes them apostles. The calling made them disciples. And one could do a very interesting study of this whole scriptures in the context on what the way is from discipleship to Apostle Schempp. Remember the Greek word? Apostle, Apostle? Has the same meaning as the Latin word from which the English word missionary comes from. So we go from Apostolos. I was there a lot. To meet there would be in the infinite in Latin. To missionary Apostle. The meaning is the same. Apostles are missionaries. So of course there is a narrow technical use here of the word apostle, the 12. Okay. But there is also the broader who was already in the New Testament apostolic in his sending those who have been called instructed and authorized and given a message. So they are now called missionaries. Disciples become missionaries, learners become teachers. And so the static status gets a movement. There is a dynamism. They are being sent. Okay, let me not further stay on this because we have spent probably too much time on this before we take a break. Have you noticed those of you who have taken a New Testament survey or the Synoptic Gospels or the exegesis of this gospel that this gospel begins so does not, of course, with the genealogy the analogy of Jesus of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.

 

Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac was the father of Jacob. Here you have the linkage to Genesis 12. As if the very opening of the Gospel, as if the very opening of the New Testament is indicating, is telling us that the time has come for the promise to be fulfilled, the promise to Abraham, Genesis 12. Okay, So you see the bridge from the promise to Abraham. The genealogy in Matthew begins with Abraham to Jesus, who is the fulfillment? Off the promise. Already in the story of Jesus birth, you have the widening of the horizon beyond the Jewish ethnic environment. When you have the visit and you will have to help me with the pronunciation again the ma, I am a gi, my guy or my better ma gi. Okay. I don't know why they are muggy. That's the right pronunciation in any developed language. Okay. Okay. Who are these mysterious figures? The Mojave. Most probably divers are Austrian astrologers from Persia. And they bring the treasures to home while we read in the text. If you want to check in, that's in Matthew two already. In the second chapter, they bring the treasure to the king of the Jews. And why does Matthew insert them here? Why are they important in this account? Because they are the forerunners of the gentile multitudes. Okay. So they are encompassed in the vision of Jesus. Although Jesus is looking at the Jewish crowds in Matthew nine. But really, his vision is global. And so Matthew, whose gospel is a wonderful pedagogical tool, not only for the Jewish Christians. Inserts these segments and they have a great significance because these foreigners. Are coming to worship, to bow before Jesus, the King of the Jews, and they represent the Gentile multitudes who will come later to worship Jesus.

 

And then Matthew also records in chapter eight, verse 11. I say to you that many will come from the east and the West and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven. Okay, so this is a remarkable prediction. That is also the fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham. And we will take a break and then look at the great commission and move on.