Motivation and Preparation for Mission - 230406

SPEAKER A Hello, I'm Rosemary Malkiewycz. Welcome to let God speak. Motivation is the desire or reason a person has for doing something. Preparation involves the action we take so that our desire can be accomplished. Today we're going to discuss what Jesus has done for us to provide our motivation for mission and how the Holy Spirit enables us to prepare and get ready to accomplish that mission. Stay with us as we discuss this important topic. On our panel today, we have Harold Harker and Kylie Fisher. So welcome, both of you. SPEAKER B Thank you. SPEAKER A Before we start, let's turn to God in prayer. Father in heaven, our dear Father, we thank you for Jesus, who is the reason why we are here. We thank you for the Holy Spirit, who also helps us to tell others about Jesus. As we look at this subject today on motivation and preparation for mission, please help us to understand more fully what you want us to know. And please bless those who are listening to this and who are viewing it, that they also may be turned closer to you and do your work with great joy in their hearts. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Today we're going to be looking at motivation and preparation for spreading the gospel. And since the time of Jesus, people have been doing that for different reasons, different motivations. Around Ad. 63, Paul wrote a letter to the church in Philippi, and he was a prisoner in Rome at the time. So let me read Philippians one chapters, one verses 15 to 18. And then, Kylie, I'm going to ask you about motivations. So I'll just read those verses first. It says, Some indeed preach Christ, even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill. The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely supposing to add affliction to my chains, but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the Gospel. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached. And in this I rejoice. Yes, and will rejoice. So what were some of the motives behind people preaching the Gospel? SPEAKER B Yeah, so we see here two different motives. In verse 17, it talks about people who do it because they love Christ. But we also see that there are some people, sadly, that are preaching the gospel insincerely. It says that they preach it from envy and strife. And we know from other of Paul's writings that there were people that were jealous of him. So they were preaching the Gospel out of envy and strife, and they were not happy about what Paul was doing. Yeah, so that was very sad thing. SPEAKER A Yeah, it's amazing, isn't it? People use it for their own purpose. So, Harold, do we see people doing the same thing today and preaching the Gospel for selfish reasons? SPEAKER C Sadly, sometimes we do. And some preach the Gospel for personal importance or to be famous or for money. Some make it even a business. And then from time to time insights into their motives are shown by the scandals we hear about or their lifestyle and behavior doesn't match the message they have. SPEAKER A That's true. And then in verse 18 it actually says that only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached. And then he says, and in that he rejoices. So how can people preach Christ wrongly and yet it be a good Kylie. SPEAKER B Yeah, so because it can be quite troubling actually, when we do sort of when as you mentioned, there's scandals and things like this and it becomes evident that people that we thought were very sincere, all of a sudden we find out that, no, they had ulterior motives and so forth. So it can be very troubling. But I think we can find a lot of comfort. I find a lot of comfort in Isaiah 55 and verse eleven. This is a beautiful verse. I love actually verse ten as well, which has beautiful description about rain and snow saying how they water the earth and they do that for a purpose, so that plants will grow and so that flowers will blossom and so that we'll have food to eat and we'll also have seeds that we can plant. So the rain accomplishes a purpose. And in verse eleven, it likens that to God's word. Verse eleven says, so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not return to me void or empty, but it shall accomplish that which I please and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. So even when people are preaching the Gospel, insincerely God's overruling providence still works good out of that. We don't know how he does it, but he is able to bring good out of that. And so we can find comfort in that. We don't have to worry about that. But we can trust in God and his overruling providence. SPEAKER A Well, the fact that the Gospel is being preached at all is a good thing. SPEAKER B Yeah. SPEAKER A Even if people are doing it for personal gain, people are finding out about Jesus. So Harold is telling others about Christ optional or is it mandatory for Christians? SPEAKER C Let's see what Jesus said. Matthew 28 and verse 19 and 20. He says, Go therefore and make disciples of all nations. Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I've commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. You know, all Christians are thereby commissioned this is Jesus commission to preach the Good News. It is not an option. Wow. God wants every single Christian to be a witness to the world around them. SPEAKER A That's right. Very important. So Carly, do we first have to receive a higher education in the Scriptures and have a very strong understanding of it in a theological way before we can go and tell others. SPEAKER B Not necessarily. It certainly is wonderful if we do have a lot of Bible knowledge, but we see examples in the Bible of people that had a personal experience with Christ. They did not know a lot about theology and technical terms and things like this, but they were still able to share about Christ. And I want to mention about one really excellent example about this. This is in Luke chapter eight. And verse 26 to 39 is a whole story. And this is a story actually about a man that was possessed with a demon and Christ cast a demon out of this man and a man wanted to stay with Christ. But this is what Jesus said to him in verse 39. That's what we're going to read. Acts eight, verse 39. Jesus said to him, return to thine own house and show how great things God hath done unto thee. It says, he went his way and published throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done unto him. And by the time Jesus actually came back to that town, so many people wanted to hear about Jesus. And that was from this man's personal testimony. It was the story of his personal encounter with Christ. SPEAKER A Very good. There's another story, not the same, but different one in Luke 24, one to nine. It tells the story there about the women who came to the tomb early in the morning, on the morning of resurrection of Jesus. They went to the tomb, they found the stone had been rolled away. And while there an angel spoke to them and told them that Christ had risen from the dead. And so let's pick up the story in Luke 24 and verses five and six and seven. And this is what it says. Then as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, why do ye seek the living from among the dead? He's not here, but risen. Remember how he spoke to you when he was still in Galilee saying the Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and the third day rise again. So the angel reminded them of what Jesus had said, that he would rise again. So what was their reaction, Harold? And how would you react if you were given some amazing news like that? SPEAKER C Let me read the next verse. Verse nine says, then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to the rest. These women were so amazed, they'd gone to the tomb, he wasn't there. And they raced back to the apostles and they told just what they had heard and seen. And when we're given fantastic news, just like those women were, we cannot keep it to yourself. You've got to share good news and we have to share with everyone we know and meet. SPEAKER A Well, we will if we really are excited about what we've heard, just like the ladies did. SPEAKER C Wouldn't the greatest? SPEAKER A Yes, yes. And they would have run back very quickly to tell. So, Kylin, Harold, both of you, what is the good news about Jesus that motivates Christians to go out and witness for him? SPEAKER B Kylie yeah, so look, there's many things about Christ and about the Gospel that motivate us to share things. The first thing that I want to talk about though, actually is the first verse that I want to mention is John, chapter one and verse four. And in this passage this is talking about Christ. And it says there in Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And Christ is the he is the Creator, he's the giver of life. And it's only through Him that we can have life. Scientists have tried to use elements and compounds and things like this to create life, but they've never been able to do it. And only life can give life. And one John five, verse twelve says, he that has the Son has life, and he that does not have the Son does not have life. And Acts four, verse twelve talks about something even more amazing. God is the original creator of human beings, but we have sinned and we have cut ourselves off from Christ, from God, the source of life. But Acts four, verse twelve talks about salvation. Neither is there salvation in any other. There is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. And so Christ not only gives us life, but he also offers us salvation and eternal life. SPEAKER A Wonderful. Harold. SPEAKER C Well, Jesus is the son of God. He doesn't claim just to be a good teacher or a great know. There was Moses and David and other great leaders or just some kind of a demigod or a lesser God. No other religions, no religion has divinity with them. Jesus is the Son of God, he is divine. Let me read to you John 838. Jesus said to them, assuredly I say to you before Abraham was, I am. In other words, he said, I live before Abraham. And further on in John he writes this I and my Father are one, so he's divine. Then the Jews took up stones to stone him. Jesus answered, Many great works I have shown you from my Father. For which of those works do you stone me? And they said, not for a good work, we do not stone you, but for blasphemy, because you being a man, make yourself God. So Jesus was God. That's the difference. SPEAKER A Both wonderful, wonderful motivations, but what other motivations are there? SPEAKER B Kylie yeah, so I love two Corinthians 514 which says the love of Christ compels us. So love is really at the basis of all of these things, but love gives a choice. And so John 316 probably the most famous verse in the Bible, John 316 says, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. So God offers us everlasting life, but we see here that we have a choice, because it's whoever believes in Him. So the more effectively that we as Christians can present the Gospel not only in what we say, but even more by our lives, the greater view it gives people of what true Christianity is and the greater the opportunity that they have to accept it. SPEAKER A And it tells people why we believe this is God. He gives life, he gives salvation, and he lavishes us with his love by dying for us. And have you got anything else, Harold? SPEAKER C Well, when we believe in Jesus, we're all saved by God's grace through faith. Let me read. Paul makes that very clear. He says in Ephesians chapter two, verse eight and nine, for by grace you have been saved through faith. And that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast. You know, no other world religion has this idea of salvation on faith in someone who is a divine being, who's paid a price for us. No other religion. They may have high standards, they may even have good ethical behavior, and they might even try and be healthy and tout health laws, but to produce nice people? No, it's more than that. These religions, they believe that people can save themselves. Here it says, not of works lest anyone should boast. It's not what I do. It's been done for me in Jesus. SPEAKER A That's right. And Kylie, what is another major motivation for the disciples and other believers? To tell others about Jesus? SPEAKER B Yeah. So if we look in one Corinthians chapter 15, and verses 13 to 15, it says, if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen. And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we have found false witnesses of God because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ, whom he raised not up. If so, be that the dead rise not. And then verse 19 says, if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men, most miserable. So the disciples had seen the risen Christ and they realized that he was not just offering them earthly position, earthly glory, but he was actually offering them eternal life. And so, yeah, Christ offers us eternal life. Abundant life. A wonderful joy filled life. SPEAKER A Isn't it wonderful to know that this life isn't the only thing? The terrible things that happen here are never going to happen in eternal life that God offers so precious, so beautiful. SPEAKER B We don't have to fear death. SPEAKER A No. Exactly. It's very, very good. Harold, what role does the Bible, the word of God, play? In motivation to spread the Gospel? SPEAKER C Well, we read about Jesus in the Bible, and our experience with him are sustained. They give us power and strength. When we read in this Word the Word of God, what he has for know. There are so many prophecies in the Bible that point to events. Those have been fulfilled. We can believe it. If you go through the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation, they tell you so many events that were prophesied. And the Bible, well, God says, I tell you the end from the beginning. And here we can have absolute assurance in this book that this is the Word of God. And it tells us about Jesus and he will deliver his people as he's promised. If we want help, if we want power. Jesus promises that in his word. SPEAKER A That's right. Kylie, why is it so important today that we are grounded in the Word of God, including the prophecies for our mission to succeed? I mean, we can go and tell people that doesn't necessarily mean it succeeds. So why are they so important? SPEAKER B Yeah. And we can tell from Bible prophecy that we are living today right in the last days. If you think of the image in Daniel two, we know right where we are in Bible prophecy. So let's have a look at two. Peter, chapter three, and verses three and four, because this tells us what we can expect living in these last days. And Peter says here, knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers walking after their own lusts and saying, where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. So here we see that there will be scoffers and people motivated by Satan that try to undermine and destroy our faith. SPEAKER A That's right. Very much so. Harold, how should we be spending our time now so that we can go out and do the mission? SPEAKER C Well, there's a number of things we need to do. Our preparation would include personal Bible study and know we get together with others who believe in Jesus and want to share his message. So if we get together and we're studying His Word, that's a big thing. We shouldn't be idle in doing nothing, but we should be motivated. We talked about motivation motivated by the love of God that's shown in this gospel. There is no greater motivation than that. We believe in his promises, and so we must. And then we go and we meet together, we sing together, we fellowship together, we worship together. And as we share together in reaching out to others with this great message, jesus says, I'm with you to the end of the age. SPEAKER A That's right. Well, Jesus said to the disciples that they were to witness for him to the world. But first they had to wait. And let's look quickly at Luke 24 and verse 49, where Jesus said, behold, I send the promise of my Father unto you, but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high. So there were two things in that preparation that they had to accomplish for the mission to come to fruition. So, Kylie, what was the first thing? SPEAKER B Yeah, so let's have a look at Acts, chapter one and verses twelve and 14. This is talking about the disciples, and they'd been on the Mount Olivet with Christ. They had seen him ascend back to heaven. That's what's described in verse twelve. Verse 13 lists off the names of the disciples and says that they went to an upper room. And verse 14 says, these all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus and his brethren. So here we see that they were praying, so they were praying. And we see that before the death of Christ, they were all divided, constantly seeking who was going to be the first. But here we see that they continued with one accord in prayer, so they were all united. So that must have been a big topic of prayer. SPEAKER A Very much so. And so, Harold, what was the second preparation? SPEAKER C Well, they replaced Judas. He was one of the twelve, and he killed himself for betraying Jesus. But then they sought God's guidance who would take his place. They organized themselves together and Peter, who had denied Jesus three times, became a leader in this. But they pressed together and they were in prayer at that time. Fantastic. SPEAKER A It is wonderful. Well, let's read Acts two, verse four. And it says, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, which was the culmination to prepare them, and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. So it's an amazing chapter of what happened when the Holy Spirit fell upon them and they started to speak in other tongues. But why were they given that ability? SPEAKER B Kylie yeah, and there's a lot of confusion, I think, today about this idea of tongues. But really, if we look at the rest of the chapter, we can see that it was really so that they could communicate, because at this time, this was the time of the Passover, there were people from many different countries that spoke many different languages and dialects. But they all heard the disciples. I think it's in verse 17. No, not in verse 17. Somewhere in there. Anyway, they heard them speaking the wonders of God in their own language. And so that was really the purpose of it, to communicate the gospel. SPEAKER A And the amazing thing is that the people were first saying, oh, they're all drunk. And then they suddenly realized, hey, hang on, they're speaking my language. But they were all speaking different languages to the audience who are listening to them. So, Harold, is it the same today that the Holy spirit gives the spiritual gifts according to the need for the people who are listening to the message. SPEAKER C Sure. And the gifts that we need to share that we're called to spread the gospel to a sinful, corrupt world. But God has said, I will give you the gifts, these spiritual gifts. We can all use the gift given to us. We can be teachers or preachers, we can just be encouraging people, or leading, or administering, helping, or we can just have the gift of hospitality. But God gives us the gift to share his love for other people. SPEAKER A It's so important that we use those gifts that the Holy Spirit gives us. And Kylie, what example has the early church left for us in today's church? SPEAKER B Yeah, so it's really amazing because the Holy Spirit was poured out, it was sometimes called the early reign. And we living today have the opportunity, hopefully and the blessing to receive the latter reign. Just before the second coming of Christ, there will be a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This is so relevant for us. So in verses 41 to 47, it describes the condition of the church. And it says there that they were all with one accord, they were all eating in each other's plays. That was just a beautiful picture of harmony and it's really lovely. And that was just such an amazing witness to people. In verse 47, it says that the people were praising God and having favor. SPEAKER A With all the people. SPEAKER B And the Lord added to the church daily, such as should be saved. So when Christ comes into our lives and into a group of people in particular, and people see that this group is not motivated by self interest, as we were reading right at the beginning, those preaching the gospel out of envy and strife, but that they have love for one another, that's what will lead people to accept the gospel. SPEAKER C Amen. SPEAKER A That's right. And that's part of our mission, part of our motivation, part of our preparation is that unity, that love for each other, that will show other people. But it also prepares us for that mission. It says they had all things common, they continued together, steadfastly in the apostles doctrine, in the truth of God. And as we finish for today's program, our motivation for mission comes from knowing what Jesus has done for us. We can have eternal life if we accept Jesus and put all of our trust in Him. This news is so fantastic that we want to share it with others. We don't have to wait to share this news. We can share what we know now, but it doesn't need to stop there. Day by day, we can prepare ourselves for more opportunities in mission by studying the Word of God. We're glad you joined us today on Let God speak. All past programs plus teachers notes are available via website threeabianaustralia.org au. Email us if you wish. We'd love to hear from you, so join us again next time. God bless you. 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.