God’s Call to Mission - 230403

SPEAKER A Hello. I'mike browning. Welcome to let God speak. God's call to mission is a call to be a blessing to others and be a blessed by them in return. And the Scriptures contain stories of people who've struggled to do just that. And we're going to share some of their stories today. Well, folks, on our panel today we have Kate Simpson. Thank you Kate, for being with us again today. And John Kosmeier. SPEAKER B Thank you. SPEAKER A To you also, John. And before we actually open the scripture and read the stories we're going to talk about today, we'd like to invite everyone to join us in prayer. Father in heaven, we want to thank you so much that as we open the Scriptures, read its messages, that you are there to guide us. And I pray that your spirit will do this for us here in the studio today and all those at home who are watching this program, please, in Jesus name, amen. Amen, John. Okay, John. So talking about reaching other people, are you more comfortable with your own people? SPEAKER B Definitely. Because you speak the same language and you've got the same culture. SPEAKER A Yes. SPEAKER B But you go to other places, you have so much to learn, it doesn't come automatic. SPEAKER A That's true. SPEAKER B You actually have to get to know the people. And we have a good example of this in the Book of Galatians, chapter two. SPEAKER A Yes. SPEAKER B And when you read verse eleven and twelve and I'm reading from the new King James version and it says in verse eleven now, now that word indicates that it's actually a story. It's narrative. Whenever you read the word now in the Bible, that's a story. And so he was Peter, he came to Antioch and Paul withstood him face to face because he was to be blamed for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles, but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself from them. So he was living two lives. You can't do that if you want to be a successful. SPEAKER A He was. Here's an example of someone who had difficulty making that transition as a missionary, he was in Antioch. This is not a Jewish city. SPEAKER B And so they were doing God's work. But he had a lot to teach. SPEAKER A He had a lot to learn. And we'll see that that was some very important things to learn there. Look, going back in history, still on this point, going back in history to Genesis, chapter eleven, if you can join with me there. Genesis eleven. And starting there at verse one, I'll probably read verse one, two and four. It says, referring to right, back in the very beginning, the whole earth had one language and one speech. So everybody spoke the same language. And it came to pass as they journeyed from the east and as obviously as the population expanded, they moved out and occupied more territory and they found a plain in the land of Shina and they dwelt there and they got a bit excited about that. And according to verse four, they said come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower whose top is in the heavens. Let us make a name for ourselves lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth. Which is interesting. So explain to us what's happening here, Kate. Why is this such an important story? SPEAKER C Well, this is the story of the Tower of Babel, which I'm sure we've all heard of once upon a time. And they wanted it to reach unto the heavens. This is going to be some massive big structure like the world had never seen before. And clearly here in verse one, everyone spoke the same language and was of one speech, one tongue. They were gathered together, they were determined to stay together, but God said, not according to my plan. He had other ideas for them. He wanted them to spread out because when the focus is inwards, it turns into evil and trouble when you're focusing in. But they needed to focus out for good, for everybody. SPEAKER A Okay? So God wanted them to move on and they wanted to stick together, build up numbers, be strong, powerful, et cetera, et cetera. So God dealt with that in a dramatic way. And we were talking about this a little earlier, the unexpected. When you're dealing with Gods, the unexpected too often will often happens. And here it did. Chapter eleven still of Genesis and verse seven, god says, Come, let us go down and there confuse their language that they may not understand one another's speech. So this is exactly what God did. The Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth and they ceased building the city. Therefore its name is called Babel because the Lord confused their languages there. Pretty drastic thing to do though, wasn't it? Why did God do that? SPEAKER B As missionaries you have to accept the fact that it is God's will that certain things happen. And this was one of them. Because God knew best. He's the Sovereign God. And when he says scatter you, scatter. If you don't, he will scatter you. And that's what he did. An interesting point, Mike, is that when I talk to young people about the theory of evolution and the history of the world and so on, they want to know how come that there are so many different colors of skin of people in the world? And this is where God probably used that because the darker colored people, they love to live in the hotter climates and some of us like to live in the cooler climates. And God said all right. And they discovered that the people that were of their kin were actually speaking the same language as they were. Whereas you may well have been a different tribe setting. You discovered that your people were talking your language as well. And so God used that he did. And that's why the Europeans are where they are and the colored people are where they are in Africa and Asians and so on. And they all live together because they spoke the same language. Because God's word, we use words. SPEAKER A Language does draw people together, doesn't language? SPEAKER B It does. SPEAKER A Okay, so we have a demonstration of the sovereign will of God here, that God's will was that they should be spreading across the earth. They said, no, we're not doing that. So God says, well, yes, you are. And he did what was necessary to ensure that that happened. And I find that really interesting. So, Kate, how does this help us to understand God's will in sharing the Gospel through the world? SPEAKER C Well, let's read Matthew, chapter 28, verse 19 and 20 for that answer. It says, go ye therefore and teach all nations. Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. So this command, Go ye, it contains a promise. The Gospel will go to the world. And this is the great Gospel commission to the disciples, but to us as well in this age. SPEAKER A And so important. I mean, it's an enormous assignment, isn't it? The whole world. SPEAKER C Yeah, exactly. And the thing about God's will is it will happen. The Gospel will go to the world. But Jesus has given us an opportunity to be involved in this mission and he promises that he will be with us always, even unto the end of the world, and sort of jumping back to the Tower of Babel again. It will happen that it will go to the world, whether we want to be involved or not. Hopefully we do, yes. SPEAKER A That's good. Thanks for that, Kate. I appreciate that. Indeed, God had a nick. This is going back to Genesis again now to Abraham experience of Abraham in chapter twelve of Genesis. And verse one there, the Lord had a message to, well, it's abram, but later we know his name was expanded to Abraham, but here's abram at the stake and abram. And verse one of chapter twelve, the Lord said to Abram, get out of your country, from your family big ask here from your Father's house to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation, bless you and make your name great. And it's an amazing plan that God outlines here, and you shall be a blessing, he says. John so what was God's plan for Abraham? Why did he tell Abraham to do this? SPEAKER B Mike the first word in chapter ten is now. Verse eleven is now. The first word in chapter twelve is now. And so this is absolutely true. God is not talking myths or parables or whatever. This is actual historical fact. SPEAKER A Okay? SPEAKER B And he said to abraham. He said, Abraham, even though you don't have any sons, you are going to be a blessing to the whole world through your descendants. And we're fortunate to be at that end of history where we can look back and say, lord, what have you done? And this is where God had a plan that he didn't tell Abraham about, but it was a plan that was going to affect the whole world. And you know the best evidence for it? Tell me, are you sitting there? I'm sitting here and you're sitting there. We are on the other side of the world talking about the blessings that God gave to Abraham and to all of us. SPEAKER A And we've all been blessed by yeah, that's true. Thank you, John, for that. So he was to leave his family, home, everything. How demanding an assignment was that when you think about it? SPEAKER C Very demanding. Very demanding. Let's read Genesis twelve, verse five for some context here. It said, and Abram took Sarah, his wife, and Lot, his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered and the souls that they had gotten in Haran, and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan, and into the land of Canaan they came. So this is Abraham. He's moving all of his stuff. And that wouldn't have been a small amount of stuff. We're seeing substance, people, everything there. And I mean, not many people like moving on a good day. It's a big job, but Abraham is moving everything here. And to top it all off, he didn't even really know what he was going to get into. It was a bit of the fear of the unknown as well. SPEAKER A It's incredible. All his you know, we shouldn't run away with the idea that he didn't have any possessions. He wasn't just rolling up his Palais here. It was a big move. And if you had a removalist truck, it's a big move today. But he took everything. And not only that, you mentioned the number of people that came with Abraham. It was a large group of people. SPEAKER B It may have been somewhere around a thousand. SPEAKER A That's a lot of people. SPEAKER B So it was a big move. SPEAKER A Yes. Huge. SPEAKER C And all their stuff. SPEAKER A Yes. What would motivate anybody to make a move like that, John? SPEAKER B Well, it's in one very simple sentence. It'd have to be a burning know when the love of God gets into your heart in the hearts of some people, it's like a burning fire and they're not happy unless they're out doing missionary work. For them, it's a mission to get other people to know about God so that they can share in the blessing as well. SPEAKER A Okay, so was this going to be hard work for Abraham from now on, leaving the comfort of his father's home and probably good property, well developed property and so on. So was this going to be quite a hard assignment? SPEAKER C Yeah, there would be troubles, but they'd be good as well. And God makes a promise here again in chapter twelve, verse two and seven, which I'll read, it says, and I will make of thee a great nation speaking to Abraham, and I will bless thee and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing. And verse seven. And the Lord appeared unto Abram and said, unto thy seed will I give this land, and there buildeth he an altar unto the Lord who appeared unto him. God's promising to make Abraham a great nation. And, yeah, he would be blessed and others would be blessed, too, because he. SPEAKER A Followed so God, and God promised him an inheritance, the land he was in, which is pretty remarkable. So God wasn't saying, you don't get any help here. He's going to really bless Abraham and says, I'll make your name great. Well, here we are talking about Abraham a couple of thousand years later, and it's pretty remarkable, right? More than a couple, probably how many years since he was three and a half thousand years. SPEAKER C Yeah. SPEAKER A That's a long time. So God is doing what it will, knows what he's doing. Look, in Hebrews, chapter eleven. There's a scripture there I want to read hebrews, chapter eleven and verse eight, where it talks about this move that Abraham made. Hebrews eleven, verse eight. And here's what it says. By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. There's the inheritance part of it again. And he went out not knowing where he was going. What do you think about that, John? SPEAKER B Mike, how did he convince a thousand people to come with him? And this is where Abraham was a very special man. He had a way he was a missionary that attracted other people. And when he was asked, Where are you going? He would have pointed their finger at them and said to them, I am going where God will show me to go. And it was obvious it was an act of faith. He didn't have a roadmap, he had nothing. SPEAKER A And it inspired people except come. Yeah. And he was able to inspire all those people. SPEAKER B Absolutely. And so he was remarkable, really. And it comes back to another factor which is very important in the life of a missionary. Trust God. Trust God. SPEAKER A Okay. SPEAKER B And he had to inspire others. SPEAKER A It's one thing he did. He was a human being, as we'll see, but he did trust God. Okay. Hebrews when Abraham arrived in the land of promise, Kate, perhaps things weren't all that as good as he had hoped. SPEAKER C No, he went into a bit of trouble to start with, actually. And we see that in verse ten of Genesis, chapter twelve. And there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was grievous in the land, so he had to leave again, he had to move. And this time he was going to Egypt. And this would have been another test of his faith. Like, why now, lord, I just moved all of this way and I have to move. Almost like taking a step backwards. But yeah, Abraham needed to hold on to God to guide him. And that's pretty much what you were saying before, John, is just if we have God in our sights, we can just keep following and we know that God will lead us where we're supposed to go because God's plan would prevail in Abraham's life. SPEAKER A It's a funny thing about our trials. They never seem to come at an opportune time, do they? No, they all come when you're not expecting them and definitely don't want them. Right then that's what happens. SPEAKER C And they often build on each other. The first one you have, you're like, oh, that was really hard. And then the next one comes and you go, oh, this is way harder than the one before, but you've got the strength from the previous one and that helps you keep going. SPEAKER A Okay, thank you. Yes, you do hopefully learn something from the trial. And that is the purpose of it. There's no doubt about that. In chapter twelve, still in Genesis. And now verse eleven, it reads this way now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present. Did we just say that? But painful. I'm still in Hebrews, by the way. I should be in Genesis. But it's interesting how appropriate that particular verse is. That's Hebrews, chapter twelve, verse eleven. But painful nevertheless. Afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness. So, yes, there's a goal in mind with those trials. But anyhow, what we wanted to do was go back to Genesis, chapter twelve, and I wanted to read there verse where were we up to, John? Oh, yes, verse eleven. And it came to pass when he was close to entering Egypt that start. SPEAKER B With verse ten, please. SPEAKER A You want to start at verse ten? There was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there. Yeah, for the famine was severe. And it came to pass when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarah, his wife indeed, I know you're a woman of beautiful countenance. Okay, so that was a problem. Therefore it will happen when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, this is his wife. They will kill me, but they'll let you live. So say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that I may live because of you. He was concerned for his life. So what was the result of that? What is happening to Abraham's faith here? SPEAKER B What faith? SPEAKER A So it suddenly collapsed. SPEAKER B He didn't have it anymore. And this is where you come back to the first word in verse ten. Now Abraham is living a lie. He's got this beautiful wife. Tell them you're my sister so that I survive. SPEAKER A Yeah. SPEAKER B Unfortunately, it was only half a lie because, in fact, he had actually married his half sister. And so there's always a bit of truth in a good lie. SPEAKER A Yes. A half truth is, by definition, of course, a lie, and more dangerous than a straight out lie because of the fact that it's got a little truth attached to it. It gives more credence to what is being said. Okay, so Abraham did indeed marry his half sister. Same father, different mother, and so it was a half truth. It's really interesting that he did this. He took a big risk. What was the result? SPEAKER C Kate we see that in verse 14 and 15 of Genesis. Twelve. Again, it says, and it came to pass that when Abram was coming to Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman, that she was very fair. The princes also of Pharaoh saw her and commended her before Pharaoh, and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. So Abraham has made his own plan against God's will and he's thinking to fix everything. But he's actually caused the very problem that he was trying to prevent. And not only that, he's put other people in danger as well. He's put Pharaoh's house in danger. He's put his wife in danger himself, or because he's taking matters into his own hands. SPEAKER A A very interesting thing. All right, so why do you think God allowed him to do this? I mean, it created peril for particularly Sarah, didn't it? SPEAKER B John it did, and it's very sad. But God took that story of actual fact that happened to tell us about it so that we can lessen the. SPEAKER A Amount of mistakes and learn something about it. SPEAKER B And that is that you have trust and you think you're going to be okay, and then all of a sudden you find that you're the one that really mucks things up. And Abraham didn't take into account of what those people would think when eventually they learned the truth. And that's something that we have to learn. We can try and cover up and hide and so on, when in actual fact it'll be revealed. And then we've been very bad missionaries. SPEAKER A So do you think, Kate, that it's important for us to have opportunities to see our weaknesses? Because clearly we don't see those generally very much. SPEAKER C God let Abraham see where he'd gone wrong. He lets us see where we'd gone wrong so that we have an opportunity to correct it. He doesn't want to leave us where we are. He wants to help us grow and change. SPEAKER A He does. And the interesting thing is, in Genesis, chapter 212, still, and verse 17, it says, the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarah, Abraham's wife. So God responded to look after him. Now, I find this very encouraging, to be honest with you. We all make mistakes and blunders in life and it's good to know that God apparently is prepared to rescue us from our dumb mistakes. John, he's got our back. SPEAKER B Yes. God is very good. SPEAKER A Better than we can hope. SPEAKER B Yes. And this is where it comes back to what I said a bit earlier. And that is that we learn from experience. The mistakes that others make, we too can make them. And I hope that we can learn without having to learn at the absolutely. SPEAKER A Absolutely. So, what about it, Kate? Are you encouraged by the way God treated Abraham here? SPEAKER C Yeah, very much. He lets things happen. We'll just see in Romans 828, it says and we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose. God's got a plan. We can try and fix it, we can make our own way, but God's will prevails. All things work out. SPEAKER A That's right. SPEAKER C And God looks after. SPEAKER A And how much simpler if we go with God's plan A. I know. Instead of making him to resort to plan B or C, even worse still. Okay. All right. Now, moving on in time in history. Now to the believers in Jesus. Now, following the outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, 3000 people baptized. None of 5000 tremendous responses. So Jerusalem was teeming with believers. But Jesus said, remember the Gospel had to go to the whole world. This was his will. So what happened to move all of these thousands of people out of Jerusalem? So they went into the world. SPEAKER B If you read verse one of chapter eight now, once again that word has arisen. Saul was consenting to his death. That was the death of Stephen. At that time, a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem. And they were scattered all throughout the region of Judea and Samaria except the apostles. They stayed in Jerusalem. And so here God was using once again the methods of mission to go out and share the good news of Jesus this time. SPEAKER A Okay, so that was fantastic. Really. So did they go into hiding and lay locate when they moved out? Keep safe? SPEAKER C Absolutely not. It says in verse four of Acts, chapter eight still, therefore, they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word. So when God gives you a message, you better go and preach it. They heard the Holy Spirit urging them out the door. They were motivated and, yeah, they went everywhere. SPEAKER A They couldn't keep quiet. SPEAKER C No. SPEAKER A Couldn't keep it to themselves. Which is pretty exciting, really, isn't it? When the Spirit moves, people move. All right. Why did it take such drastic action as persecution, John, to get these people out amongst the Gentiles, the non Jews. SPEAKER B The Jews and the Gentiles were split. And this is where God had to find some way of helping the Jews who had the good news of Christ coming and his life on earth. And so on. He had to find some way of getting them in amongst the Gentiles so that they could hear the good news, too. And so, God, he even gave Peter a vision. SPEAKER A That's right. He had to work very hard to get his point across. SPEAKER B And when you read here, Acts, chapter ten and verse 28, then he said to them, you know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation? But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean. SPEAKER A That makes it pretty clear. SPEAKER B And so God used dreams to say to Peter, don't call another person unclean. SPEAKER A Okay. So he was prepared to do whatever it took to get this point across to the believers. SPEAKER B At that time in Christianity, there is no room for racism. None. SPEAKER A No. Absolutely. SPEAKER B We're all sons and daughters of God. SPEAKER A Yes. SPEAKER B And this is where we might have a family dispute. SPEAKER A Yes. SPEAKER B But racism not on. SPEAKER A And that's where the screws of this book are so important. SPEAKER B Yes. SPEAKER A Because it makes that very, very clear indeed. In Ephesians, chapter two, verse 19, I'm going to read that says, therefore, now you are no longer strangers and foreigners. Now he's addressing non Jewish believers. Here in Ephesus, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. We're one household and we're all together. Look, our time is flying. God has a greater goal, though, kate, if you can just briefly give us the picture there of God's final and great goal yeah. SPEAKER C To bring everyone together, one big multicultural family where everybody has a place, everybody has belonging, identity and a purpose. SPEAKER A Yeah. I love going to church on the Sabbath morning, and there's people from nations all over the globe in many churches that you go to, and it's just lovely. I find a beautiful experience. I just sit there and think, wow, this is just so beautiful, to see the whole family of God gather together in harmony. So we are enormously blessed like that. Look, there's one more scripture I'd like to look at very quickly before we close here in chapter one of Acts and verse eight, and this is what it says but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. Jesus is talking, and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the end of the earth. And I think we can safely say, John, that's going to happen. SPEAKER B It's already happened. It went to Jerusalem, then to Judea, then to their enemies, Samaria, and then to hello, the uttermost parts of the. SPEAKER A Earth, and we're going to have to leave it there. Fantastic. Jesus is calling us, all of us, to let our light shine right where we are. If he wants us to go elsewhere, then, as we have seen, he'll make that very plain to us. What he does need is a willing heart. Well, we're glad you were with us again on Let God Speak. Remember, all our past programs plus teachers notes are available on our website threeAB Naustralia.org Au. You can email us if you wish on [email protected] Au. Do join us again next time and God bless. SPEAKER D You have been listening to Let God Speak, a production of Three ABN, Australia. Television. To catch up on past programs, please visit 3abnaustralia.org.au Call us in Australia on 024-973-3456 or email [email protected] We'd love to hear from you.