TEXTS: Daniel 3: 19-30; Matthew 24: 9-14
AIM: To remind us that as followers of Jesus, we are all commissioned to courageously take the gospel to all people without counting the cost.
INTRODUCTION: Our Lord Jesus Christ, left His glorious throne in heaven, came down to the earth to physically point the way to the Kingdom of God to mankind. However, as a result of the short time His mission on earth lasted and lack of the type of means of communications as we have today during His time, He could not reach out to all the nooks and cranies of the earth, so he entrusted this task of reaching out to all mankind to His early disciples “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of God the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you and Lo, I am with you always even to the end of the age” (Matt. 28: 19 & 20). While sending His disciples to mission, He warned them to be on guard against religious deception by those He called false prophets.
The disciples should expect to be persecuted, and should also expect the apostacy that so often follows persecution (Matt. 24: 6-8, Matt. 5: 11-12 see also I Tim. 4: 1-4, 2 Peter 3: 3). But despite this persecution, the gospel will be preached to the end of the earth (Matt. 24: 14).
Many of these events, including the gospel reaching Rome – the center of the then known world, the seat of power of the mindless Emperors who persecuted the church relentlessly can be shown to have taken place before the destruction of the temple in AD 70.
The disciples obeyed their master’s command even when there was obvious and imminent danger to their lives because it is not only in this life we have hope (1 Cor. 15: 19). They understood that a crown of glory awaits every martyr. It is said that anyone who is not prepared to die for what he believes is not a believer. Shedrach, Meshach and Abednego demonstrated this. They were prepared to die defending their faith. See their strong statement of unshaken faith – “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnance, and He will deliver us from your hand O king, but if not, let it be known to you that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you set up (Daniel 3: 6-18).
Thank God for their resilience which made nations to acknowledge the Almightiness of our God. Our refusal to compromise our faith, no matter the pressure or temptation will win more souls and change our nation more than the sweetest sermons.
The Hymn “Onward Christian Soldiers” (CH 560), captures the expected attitude in today’s topic, which summarily means “THE CRUCIAL OR VITAL IMPORTANCE OF MISSION. Missions take place everyday in all walks of life, especially in the military settings. However, that which we refer to here is the Christian mission, sometimes also called Evangelism. The purpose of this evangelical exercises is discipleship, winning souls for Christ into God’s kingdom, and discipling them (PROSELYTE). It involves movement across boundaries physical, social, economical, geographical etc., while telling forth the good news of the Gospel of salvation.
The following passages will help us to understand:
(1) How important is the work of mission? John 3: 16, 2 Cor. 5: 11-21
(2) Whom is it important to? 2 Peter 3: 9, Luke 19: 10, Matt. 12: 30, John 3: 16.
(3) Who is to carry out this assignment? Isa. 6: 8, 2 Tim. 4: 5, 2 Cor. 5: 20.
(4) How? Matt. 5: 16; I Cor. 19: 22, I Peter 3: 15, Col. 4: 2, 6.
(5) What are the tools for the work? Acts 1: 8, 2 Cor. 2: 11, 10: 4, Matt. 10: 7-14, John 20: 19-24.
Due to the fact in today’s study, we would elucidate salient points every child of God (Christian) is expected to know by heart about the importance of mission.
Questions for Discussion
- What do you understand by Mission?
- Are we fulfilling our Lord’s great commission in Matt. 28: 19 & 20?
- Can you cite any example of the courage and faith of the three friends – Meschach, Shedrach and Abednego in our world today?
- “Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many” Matt. 23: 11. Discuss.
- Suggest ways or methods of modern mission in order to reach out to many parts of our country and beyond.
- What is the reward of mission?
For Reflection:
Like the early disciples, we should not be weary because of the difficulties in mission work. All followers of Jesus are called to be actively involved in spreading the gospel to all people in the world. The Nigerian church must take its place as a mission church, sending missionaries to all the nook and cranies of our nation and other parts of the world. We must not be content with living for ourselves.
The mission work is tasking and full of danger but at the end it is rewarding. To stay put, and not partake in the work of evangelism, however, is as good as going against God (Matt. 12: 30), in the Christian walk, there are only two sides and no one straddles the fence.
Memory Verse: Matt. 24: 14
“And this gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.”