PAUL'S PHILOSOPHY OF MISSIONS
Intro: Paul was the world's greatest missionary. Many think he was the greatest Apostle. He was both a deep thinker, and a man of action. He was a bold prophet, yet a patient loving evangelist. In this passage we see Paul's view of missions in a nutshell: The message, the vision and the motivation:
I. The Missionary Message is about FAITH in Jesus
Christ (Romans 10:8-11).
A. You must confess Jesus with your mouth.
A public alignment with Jesus Christ.
"I am a Christian!"
Easy to do in church, hard to do in the
world.
The old proverb to never speak about politics
or religion is only half right!
See what Jesus said (Matthew 10:32-39).
B. You must believe in your heart in Jesus'
resurrection.
Some, strange as it may seem, make a hypocritical
profession of faith.
There are many reasons to believe in Jesus'
resurrection (I Co. 15:1-9).
C. It is crucial that we get this right, because
there is a multitude of people
who don't get it (see the Layman article
about evangelism).
II. The Missionary Vision is the whole world (Ro.
10:11-13).
A. Note the use of "anyone, Jew and Gentile,
all, everyone" in these verses.
B. This was a tough message for the Jews of
the first century. Peter had to
defend himself for baptizing Cornelius
(Acts 11:1-4, 18).
C. Paul strongly desired to reach the unreached
(Romans 15:20).
D. There are vast parts of the globe today
where people know nothing of Jesus.
III. The Missionary Motivation is Compassion (Romans 10:14-15).
A. Compassion for the lost. If they don't
hear, they can't believe. They really
are lost, so if we have hearts of love,
we must go and tell.
B. Our generation may be an uncompassionate
generation. Such is predicted
for the latter times (2 Tim. 3:1-5).
C. But Jesus had a loving heart. He gave His
life for you and me. He wept
over Jerusalem that rejected Him. We
are called to be like Jesus, and
to care about the lost people of the world.
Conclusion: The missionary message is one of Faith in Jesus. The missionary vision is the whole world. The missionary motivation is the love of Jesus. May God grant all of us this love. Amen.