"MISSIONS: A MANDATE FOR MODERN MAN!"

Written and preached by David P. Nolte




MATTHEW 28:18-20

Have you ever watched ants? When you do you usually head for the Raid to spray them, or you put out ant stakes to poison the whole ant hill. But watch sometime before you annihilate the entire tribe. First one little guy finds a chunk of food; it may be a drop of ice cream or a piece of sugar. What he does NOT do is sit and eat it, all the while looking around furtively. What he DOES do is hasten back to the ant hill to tell others of his good find. That's ant evangelism. One ant telling other ants about the good news. So that's what evangelism's all about: one person telling another person the good news. Jesus issued that command just as He was about to ascend to heaven. He said to make disciples (that happens when we tell His good news and people believe it). Then we are to baptize them and nurture them to obedience. Evangelism (which is the thrust of all real missionary endeavor) is His mandate for modern man. Consider His mandate from 3 perspectives this morning:
  1. FOR US IT IS IMPERATIVE:
    1. Please note: Jesus said, "All authority has been give me!" "Teach them to observe all that I have commanded you." You see, that makes missions a mandate; it is not a matter of personal preference, not an option, not one alternative among several.
    2. If we are disciples (followers, students, adherents) of Jesus, then we realize that what He says matters; what He commands carries weight; what He mandates is the final word. May our attitude be that of Paul, then: "I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. Thus, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. 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." Romans 1:14-16 (NASB). What was his attitude?
      1. Obligation: The word here means, "a debtor or one who owes someone something, or one bound by some duty."
      2. Unashamed: the word here means, "not embarrassed by it."
      3. Eagerness: the word here means, "predisposed, willing, ready to do it."
    3. We may try to be more like Cain, and skirt that accountability by asking, "Am I my brother's keeper?" but the mandate of Jesus to make disciples answers, "Yes!" You see,
      1. Every heart with Christ is a missionary and every heart without Christ is a mission field.
      2. Untold millions will remain untold, if we don't tell them.
      3. It is imperative that we lift up our eyes onto the fields white to harvest and then labor in the reaping.
    4. When General Montgomery took over command in North Africa, things were pretty dismal. But he believed in the principle of obedience and expected his orders to be carried out. He said, "Orders no longer formed the basis for discussion, but for action. Previously orders had been queried by subordinates right down the line. I was determined to stop this state of affairs at once." He had discovered the cause of many lost battles in North Africa and changed that.  No more discussion, no more disobedience.  His command was an imperative not an alternative.

Jesus has issued an order; for us it is imperative.

  1. FOR THE WORLD IT IS ESSENTIAL:
    1. Some people don't really believe the Bible, but as the "Toys 'R' Us!" giraffe says, "Well, we do!" And the Bible teaches that those outside of Christ are:
      1. Dead in sin: Ephesians 2:1.
      2. Without hope and without God: Ephesians 2:12.
      3. Under wrath: Colossians 3:5, 6.
      4. Under condemnation: John 3:18.
      5. Blinded by Satan: 2 Corinthians 4:4.
      6. A child of the devil: John 8:44.
      7. Eternally lost: Revelation 21:8.
    2. To underscore how essential it is that the world hear the good news, I tell you about a pastor who put a sign on the worship center clock; it read: "83 per minute!" indicating that each minute 83 people die and go to a Christless eternity.
    3. Thinking about that, consider this:
      1. "Life is short, death is sure, sin the curse, Christ the cure."
      2. "To lose your wealth is much; to lose your health is more; to lose your soul is such a loss that nothing can restore."
    4. Let me illustrate: A college professor was being ferried across a stream and asked the boatman, "Do you understand philosophy?" The boatman didn't. "Then one fourth of your life is gone!" said the professor. He asked, "Do you understand geology?" The boatman didn't understand that, either. "Then one half of your life is gone!" said the professor. "Do you understand astronomy?" Again, the boatman didn't understand. "Then three quarters of your life is gone!" Just then, the boat tipped over and the boatman asked, "Do you know how to swim?" And the blubbering professor said, "No!" and as he sank, the boatman said, "Then all of your life is gone!"

We may not understand philosophy, geology or astronomy, but understand this: for the world, sinking in sin, the good news is essential, for, without the gospel, all their life is gone!

  1. FOR GOD IT IS URGENT:
    1. God cares, if we don't, that people are dying and going to eternal hell. His attitude is seen in these verses:
      1. "Say to them, 'As I live!' declares the Lord GOD, 'I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?'" Ezekiel 33:11 (NASB).
      2. "The Lord isn't really being slow about His promise to return, as some people think. No, He is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to perish, so He is giving more time for everyone to repent. But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and everything in them will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be exposed to judgment." 2 Peter 3:9-10 (NLT). Patient, waiting, but urgent.
      3. Paul reminded Timothy and us, "He wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth." 1 Timothy 2:4 (NLT).
    2. We are urgent about so many lesser things:
      1. Our financial and retirement programs.
      2. Our health and physical condition.
      3. our educational and vocational future.
      4. our reputation and acceptance among our peers.
      5. our family's well being, safety and peace.
    3. God's urgency is that the world be saved! That's the work of missions. That's the thrust of His mandate. That's His urgency.
    4. To get a slight grasp on His urgency, consider Jesica Santillan, the17 year old girl in Durham, N.C., who received a heart and lung transplant - and the blood type didn't match!  Jesica suffered a near-fatal heart attack three days after the operation and a seizure Sunday.  A machine had been keeping her heart and lungs going.  She had been on life support waiting a viable heart and lung! She had but a day or so before her system would shut down. But as of Thursday of this week, she received a viable transplant!  On Saturday, she died.  Her parents and other loved ones had  hovered over her in anxious prayer.  When you saw them, you saw urgency. But what if it were your child? Would you not be urgent?  Would you not be desperate?  Would you not be frantic? Well, as God surveys the world needing a new heart, a new life, a new hope, God is that urgent and more!

Without Jesus we are without a chance; but there is hope. The situation is dark, but there is light.  The light of the cross shines in the darkness. Many love the darkness because their deeds are evil. But those who follow Him walk in the light. Paul wrote to those who love Jesus, "You are to live clean, innocent lives as children of God in a dark world full of crooked and perverse people. Let your lives shine brightly before them." Philippians 2:15 (NLT). Where we cannot be, we can help send others; where we cannot personally shine, we can send the light. That's the mandate for modern man: share the good news, rescue the perishing, send the light.

Montgomery from Lee, Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations, professor, Knight, 3,000 Illustrations, Jesica Santillan, from story by Emery Dalesio, AP writer


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