Participants: Wes McDonald
Series Code: FC
Program Code: FC000404
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00:30 Hello, I'm Wes McDonald; I'd like to welcome you to
00:33 today's Faith Chapel. I have a message from 00:37 God's word for you today. 00:38 But before that shall we bow our heads in prayer. 00:41 Our Father in heaven, thank you that we can 00:45 go to your word and learned from you, 00:48 I pray that you touch my lips and my heart with 00:50 words from on high. And that they will be a 00:53 blessing to all who will view and 00:55 to hear today, in Jesus name, Amen. 01:01 Our message today is "Who Are We Preaching 01:03 To Anyway." In the 24th chapter of Matthew 01:10 we find Christ outlining prophecies that would 01:14 occur in the end times, things that will occur 01:17 just shortly before he would return to gather 01:21 the church to take us up with him to heaven. 01:24 And in every instance, every single prophecy 01:28 which Christ has outlined has been 01:31 fulfilled except one, all of the time prophecies 01:36 have been fulfilled, every single thing has 01:39 been done there is only one thing and one thing 01:41 only in all of those prophecies Matthew 24 01:45 that have not been fulfilled, only one that 01:46 has not been fulfilled and that is Matthew 24 01:50 and verse 14. Let's read Matthew 24 and verse 14, 01:58 I read: And this gospel of the kingdom shall be 02:03 preached in all the world for a witness unto all 02:07 the nations; and then shall the end come. 02:15 Since the time of Christ until today it has been 02:20 nearly 2000 years and the disciples preached 02:25 that Christ was returning, 02:27 they preached the warning message to the world 02:30 to repent and to accept the gospel, 02:32 to accept salvation. And this has been going on 02:36 since the time of Christ until now. 02:39 So, we've been preaching this to the world for 02:41 2000 years and the Bible tells us that when 02:45 the world has been warned, when it has 02:47 been preached to every nation, kindred, 02:50 tongue and people as a witness then Jesus comes. 02:54 The question is, don't you think that if we've 02:59 been doing this for 2000 years roughly that we 03:02 would have accomplished that goal by now. 03:07 This is an important question we need to 03:08 ask ourselves, if we've been preaching it for 03:12 2000 years and if we haven't accomplished 03:16 it by now the question is who have we been 03:18 preaching to? Have we been preaching to the 03:20 right people, have we been covering all 03:23 of the bases, have we been going into the 03:24 remotest parts of the world to preach the 03:27 gospel to people who have never heard the 03:29 name of Christ or is it possible maybe we may 03:33 have spent a bit more time than what was necessary. 03:37 And repeating the same message to, to ourselves 03:41 or to people who already know Christ, 03:44 very important question. In order to answer that, 03:48 I wanna ask you a question for a moment, 03:49 think of your church at home and ask yourselves 03:53 this question, who did your pastor speak to 03:56 last week, was it to you? Regardless of the 04:00 church, regardless of the denomination in most 04:03 cases our brightest and best, our most talented 04:08 people are for ministry, are preaching week by 04:12 week often times to people who have already 04:15 heard a salvation message, who have already heard 04:17 the gospel. So, has your pastor been doing that 04:22 for the last month, the last year, the last 04:24 five years, the last twenty years. 04:27 Have you enjoyed those sermons? 04:29 Has your pastor been able or been permitted 04:32 to preach to others as well during that time 04:35 in the same way. In Revelation 3 and verse 20 04:41 we read: Behold, I stand at the door and knock. 04:48 If any man hears My voice and open the door, 04:52 I will come in to him and sup with him, 04:56 and he with Me. Are we knocking on doors that 05:04 are already open, you know Christ tells us that 05:09 if we'll open the door that implies that the 05:12 door is shut, and that the heart is closed 05:14 to Christ. When the heart is open to Christ, 05:17 Christ doesn't have to knock, he doesn't have 05:20 to knock to get in because it's open and 05:22 you will let Him in. Is it possible that we have 05:25 spent entirely too great a percentage of our time, 05:32 laboring for the benefit of those who already 05:35 know Christ. I want you to think for your church 05:38 again for a moment. Suppose that your pastor 05:42 was sick for a month and one of your local church 05:46 elders or one of the church leaders would 05:49 have to preach for him, maybe visit the sick, 05:51 visit the church members. How many of your 05:54 baptized born again church members would 05:58 be lost forever and not go to heaven, 06:01 because your pastor would not be able to 06:04 be the one who could deliver the message in 06:07 the morning or could not be the one who would 06:09 visit you when you were ill or could not 06:11 be the one who would do this pastoral visitation, 06:15 it would have to be somebody else. 06:16 How many of your baptized born again 06:18 church members would be lost if you pastor 06:21 was sick for a month? Well, you say, well 06:23 of course no one Wes, but suppose that this 06:27 went on for some period of time, perhaps a year 06:30 or several years or worst case scenario suppose 06:33 that every pastor in your country were locked up 06:38 in jail for preaching the gospel for five years 06:41 and in some countries these types of things 06:42 have happened at different points 06:44 there's been difficulties for the Christian church 06:47 in places. Under those most extreme circumstances 06:51 how many of the baptized born again Christians 06:54 who have a relationship with Jesus Christ would 06:57 be lost forever because they would have to hear 07:00 the message from another person, another 07:02 church leader. I've asked this question in different 07:05 parts around world and always the answer has 07:07 been the same, not one would be lost. 07:10 A more important question would be though, 07:15 of the thousands and millions of unsaved 07:17 individuals around the world who have not had 07:21 the privilege of hearing the message from your 07:23 pastor for the last five years how many of them 07:26 might be lost because his best efforts were made 07:31 on your behalf rather than theirs. 07:34 Is it possible that we should begin to focus 07:38 our efforts in a little bit more constructive way, 07:41 should we as church members be laboring 07:43 with our pastors in order to help them to spread 07:47 the message more effectively rather than 07:49 laboring with our pastors to spend their 07:53 time with us, is that possible? 07:56 The reason Jesus has not come back to earth is 08:00 because there are people who need to be warned, 08:04 the reason Jesus has not come back to this earth 08:07 after all this period of time. Is because there 08:10 are still people who need salvation and who 08:12 need to hear salvation, everyone must have the 08:16 opportunity to decide for Christ. 08:19 Otherwise the devil would accuse Christ 08:22 of being unfair if He were come back at one 08:24 moment before that. From 2nd Peter and 3 08:29 and verse 9, let's read this together 2nd Peter 3 08:34 and verse 9: The Lord is not slack concerning 08:40 his promise, as some men account slackness; 08:44 but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing 08:48 that any should perish, but that all should come 08:52 to repentance. Friends, Jesus wants to come, 08:59 He has wanted to come before now and 09:02 if we as Christians both members and ministers, 09:06 pastors alike. If we had been more efficient, 09:11 more faithful to deliver the warning message 09:13 to planet earth Christ would have come long ago. 09:16 We as Christians understand this, 09:18 to thank that holds back Christ from coming as His 09:21 desire to save those that we have not warned yet. 09:25 And so we must labor in a better way. 09:30 In Christianity we look to Paul, the Apostle Paul 09:34 as the acknowledged example for the modern 09:38 minister of today. Paul's example in the field 09:41 is one that we are supposed to copy, 09:44 we're supposed to follow after his example, 09:47 he is the pattern. What did he write in Romans 09:50 the 15th chapter verses 20 to 22, let's look at 09:55 this together, Romans 15 verse 20 to 22: 09:59 "Yea, so I have strived to preach the gospel, 10:04 not where Christ was named, lest I should build 10:09 on another man's foundation. 10:12 But as it is written, To whom he was not 10:17 spoken of, they shall see: and they that have not 10:23 heard shall understand. For which cause also 10:28 I have been much hindered from coming to you. 10:31 Paul is telling these dear Christian believers 10:34 that he has spent so much time laboring for the 10:37 lost in areas where Christ has never even been 10:39 heard of, that he hasn't been able to come by 10:43 for a visit lately. Oh! Imagine how that would 10:46 be today in our setting, this is foreign 10:49 to our thinking, but friends, this is what 10:53 the Bible says, this was Paul example 10:56 and this should be our example too. 10:58 We should love Jesus so much that we are willing 11:02 to sacrifice a few things that we treasure so that 11:05 others may live. Why is it that Christians need 11:10 to hear the same thing 20 times before the 11:12 world hears it once, we have a tough question 11:16 to answer. Let's turn again to our scripture 11:19 and let's read from Romans the 10th chapter 11:23 verses 13 to 16, once again we remember 11:26 Paul is our acknowledged example of the pattern 11:29 for the minister of today. Romans 10 and verse 11:32 13 to 16: For whosoever shall call upon the name 11:38 of the Lord shall be saved? How then shall 11:42 they call on him in whom they have not believed? 11:46 And how shall they believe in him of whom 11:50 they have not heard? And how shall they hear 11:53 without a preacher? And how shall they preach 11:57 except they be sent? As it is written, 12:00 How beautiful are the feet of them that preach 12:03 the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings 12:07 of good things! But they have not all obeyed 12:11 the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath 12:16 believed our report? The reason they have not 12:19 believed our report friends is they have not 12:21 heard our report. And they can't hear our report 12:24 unless a preacher be sent. You notice the 12:28 preachers have to be sent not necessarily 12:30 retained all the time we really must share 12:33 and share a like in order to accomplish God's will 12:36 for planet earth, amen. So, then you may ask 12:41 well how are the churches going to be cared for, 12:44 God loves His church never forget it. 12:49 The church is the bride of Christ, 12:52 Christ loves His bride, the church is the body 12:54 of Christ, Christ loves His body. 12:57 God loves the church as much as anything, 13:01 He died to save the church. 13:03 And so he will not leave the church without 13:06 appropriate care, it has been given to us in 13:11 scripture exactly how he plans to do that. 13:14 Again return to the writings of Luke, 13:18 who is describing what is going on with Paul, 13:21 we go to Acts the 20th chapter this time where 13:25 Dr. Luke wrote the book of Acts about the 13:28 journeys of Paul. We find that Paul here is on 13:32 his way back to Jerusalem and 13:34 he is passing through Miletus and he sends 13:39 to his elders of the church in Ephesus 13:41 and he wants have a meeting with them 13:43 and give them instructions on 13:45 how to care for the church. Let's go there 13:48 now to Acts the 20th chapter, we're going 13:51 to be looking at two verses, verse 17 and 13:54 verse 28 and so, it says: And from Miletus 13:58 he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of 14:02 the church. Who is it that he called? 14:04 The elders of the church remember that 14:08 and then he goes through different instructions 14:11 from this point down to verse 28. 14:13 But in verse 28, we find something pertinent 14:17 to our discussion today. Now, let's go to verse 14:19 28, he is telling the elders there, 14:22 he is speaking to the elders he says: 14:24 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, 14:28 and to all the flock, over the which the 14:32 Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, 14:37 to feed the church of God, which he hath 14:41 purchased with his own blood. 14:44 My question is who is it that has designated, 14:49 who is it that has designated that the 14:52 elders be the overseers over the church, 14:55 who is it? The Bible says that the Holy Ghost 15:00 has designated the elders to be the overseers over 15:03 the church, who is it that is said that it's the 15:06 elders to feed the Church of God? 15:10 The Bible says that the Holy Spirit has designated 15:15 that the elders be the overseers over the church 15:18 and that they are to feed the Church of God 15:20 which he hath purchased with his own blood. 15:24 As I read my scripture I realize that scripture 15:27 warns me very carefully that it is not very wise 15:30 to argue with the Holy Spirit. I don't want to 15:33 give any grief to the Holy Spirit, I don't want 15:36 to grieve the Holy Spirit, by ignoring what the 15:38 Holy Spirit has said and the Holy Spirit has 15:41 definitely said the elders would take care 15:44 of the church, this maybe new to some of us. 15:47 But nonetheless it's here in scripture, 15:50 what does Peter say? Peter says very much 15:54 the same thing let's turn now to 1st Peter 15:57 chapter 5 and verses 1 and 2. 16:00 And let's read together: The elders which are 16:04 among you I exhort, who am also an elder, 16:07 and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, 16:11 and also a partaker of the glory that shall 16:13 be revealed: Feed the flock of God which is 16:17 among you, taking the oversight thereof, 16:23 not by constraint, but willingly; not for 16:28 filthy lucre, but of a ready mind. 16:33 Peter is saying here that the elders are to feed 16:36 the flock of God and in many churches today 16:40 this isn't carried out to the extent that 16:42 it needs to be. But the elders are definitely 16:45 to take oversight over the church and to feed 16:47 the Church of God willingly and not by constraint. 16:51 Let's turn if we will also to Ephesians the 16:55 4th chapter another place where we talk about 16:58 leadership in the church. Ephesians the 4 and 17:02 verse 11 and 12: And he gave some, apostles; 17:08 and some prophets; and some evangelists; 17:13 and some pastors and teachers; 17:15 For the perfecting of the saints, 17:17 for the work of the ministry, for the 17:20 edifying of the body of Christ. 17:26 And looking at the word pastors there that's what 17:29 we usually think of as the leadership of the church 17:33 and then the sense we think of today. 17:35 As we think of that we want to see what 17:38 is meant there, in that passage that word pastors 17:42 as it is translated there is found one time in the 17:45 New Testament and we can look at the 17:48 picture here. It's poimen, that just what it means, 17:51 it literally means a herdsmen or a shepherd 17:54 and it is metaphorically used for the overseers 17:58 over the Christian assemblies. 18:00 Elsewhere in 1st Peter and also in Acts 20 18:04 we find that the overseers of the Christian 18:06 assemblies certainly includes the elders, 18:09 in fact it is specifically pointing to elders. 18:13 And of course Peter himself was an elder. 18:17 In today's church it is clear that we have not 18:21 focused as much attention on the lost as 18:25 we need to. Christ's command is for us to do 18:30 just that, if we do not focus our attention 18:34 on the lost then we delay the coming of Christ. 18:38 Time clicks by, today in North America there are 18:43 more than 300 million people. 18:46 And every year almost 5 million die annually 18:51 and people are dying just year by year by year, 18:56 many of these people. In fact perhaps even 19:00 maybe the majority do not have the saving 19:03 relationship with Christ that they need to have. 19:07 And certainly in other parts of the world where 19:09 they've never heard of the Christ they can safely 19:11 be said as well. Are we spending the amount of 19:14 time in our people who are prepared for ministry, 19:17 our elders, our church people themselves, 19:21 our ministers, are we spending the time that 19:23 we need to for the benefit of the lost 19:26 or have we at times devoted perhaps too much 19:30 attention for our own benefit. 19:33 These are questions that are painful 19:34 and we need to answer them and we need 19:36 to be able to think about that. 19:41 In Luke the 10th chapter and verse 2 and 19:45 in verse 2 the Bible tells us this: 19:50 Therefore said he unto them, 19:53 The harvest truly is great, but the laborers 19:58 are few: pray ye therefore the Lord 20:02 of the harvest, that he would send forth 20:04 laborers into his harvest. 20:09 Have you ever dared to pray that prayer, 20:13 that God would sent forth laborers into 20:16 his harvest, even if it meant that you would 20:20 have to do without them at times, have you ever 20:23 done that? Now, I'm not talking about the church 20:27 that maybe upset and ask for God to send some 20:30 leader elsewhere, I'm not talking about that. 20:33 We're operating under the, under the assumption 20:36 that we love our leadership, we love our pastors, 20:39 we love our elders, we love our deacons. 20:41 Friends, these are God's men and women 20:44 who have been ordained by God to reach the lost 20:48 and that is what they have been called to do in 20:50 addition to carrying for the church. 20:52 But the church needs to be a body of workers, 20:55 a body of an army of workers that surround 20:58 these leaders and together they go out 21:00 to the field. The church itself must have a mission; 21:04 the church members must have a mission for the 21:07 lost so that the church itself does not become 21:10 the mission of the leaders. 21:12 There's nothing wrong with leading the church, 21:15 there's nothing wrong with taking care of 21:17 the church, but as long as the church itself is 21:19 forward moving and they are going forward 21:22 onward Christian soldiers marching off to war 21:25 with the cross of Jesus. Friends, how is it 21:28 with you, are you one who are not spending 21:35 the time with Christ that you need to, 21:38 are you not preparing yourself for work in 21:41 God's army? Have you perhaps been very 21:44 comfortable in the pew and relying upon others 21:48 to do the work of Christ, have you? I think 21:52 I have at times in the past that were many years 21:55 ago that I just would come to church and if 21:57 I didn't like the sermon well I was upset and 21:59 if I loved it, it was great but I was just average 22:02 church member went about my business lived 22:05 good life, but really wasn't actively involved 22:07 in ministry in anyway. Every man, every woman 22:11 needs to be a minister for Christ, have you taken 22:15 that on in your life? Are you willing to take 22:18 that challenge? We need to consider that, 22:21 when Christ tells us here the harvest truly 22:25 is great, but the laborers are few: 22:28 pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, 22:31 that he would send forth laborers into his harvest. 22:35 That is a command of Christ, He's telling us 22:39 specifically what to pray for, it's hard for your 22:43 heart to not be involved in something that you're 22:46 specifically praying for. If you're specifically 22:49 praying for something your heart will be with it, 22:52 your pocket buck will be with it, your love 22:54 will be with it, your influence will be with it, 22:57 everything, your soul, mind, body will be with it. 23:00 Have you devoted yourself fully to the 23:03 cause of Christ, are you praying ardently send 23:06 forth laborers into the harvest, even if it is me, 23:10 even if it is you, even if it is your elders, 23:14 even if it is your pastor, even if it is 23:17 your deacons. Would you be willing to sacrifice 23:20 their laborers for the love of the lost, 23:22 so that Jesus can come soon and we can all go 23:25 to heaven sooner rather than later? 23:28 Have we been on this earth too long already? 23:32 Have we been on this earth too long already 23:35 friends? That's my question, are you tired 23:38 of living on a planet where there is not so 23:42 safe to raise your children? How many 23:44 of your afraid to how any more children for fear 23:47 of the things coming upon this earth? 23:49 These are very real questions and they 23:50 are very, very painful but that is the reality, 23:53 we don't live on a safe planet anymore. 23:56 It's not safe even in the country and the 23:59 disasters that are coming upon us are the signs 24:02 of the end at this point friends nothing 24:06 else matters. The church must have 24:09 a mission, God has defined what that mission is, 24:14 the mission is the lost of planet earth. 24:17 Christ commands us to pray that we send forth 24:20 laborers into the harvest where will we get them, 24:23 how will we pay for them? These are questions 24:27 we must answer, we must pray for, 24:30 and we must plan for. Christ demands it, 24:33 He has given us command, would you be willing to 24:36 commit your life to service for Christ? 24:40 Would you do as President Kennedy 24:45 suggested many years ago in a speech: 24:48 Ask not what your country can do for you rather 24:53 ask what you can do for your country. 24:55 Would we like to rephrase it today and 24:58 say ask not what your church can do for you, 25:01 ask what you can do for your church, 25:04 ask not what your pastor or elders or deacons 25:07 can do for you, but ask what you can do for 25:10 your pastor, your elders and your deacons to help 25:13 them to move the church into unreached areas. 25:17 To go where the name of Christ has never gone, 25:20 to go out and to evangelize the world 25:22 and your neighborhood and the place across town 25:25 where there are no churches with truth. 25:27 Are you willing to commit yourselves to that? 25:31 Christ's love for the lost demands that we do 25:36 just that. Friends, I believe that we need 25:41 to make those the matter of prayer, 25:43 when God's people, when God's people pray 25:48 things happen. If my people who are called 25:52 by my name will humble themselves, 25:54 and pray God will hear from heaven and He will 25:58 answer our prayers. Friends, today let's 26:03 pray for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon 26:06 His church, let's pray for the out Holy Spirit, 26:09 for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit 26:11 be upon our pastors. Let's pray for the 26:14 outpouring of the Holy Spirit to be on our elders 26:16 and on our deacons on every church member 26:19 so that we are transformed into 26:22 a working body that will not be satisfied to sit 26:25 in a pew and expect for our best leaders 26:30 to wait upon us. But rather we will empower 26:32 them and we will follow them to reach the 26:35 lost for Christ. Would you do that with me just 26:38 now dear friends? Would you ask for the 26:41 outpouring of the Holy Spirit and would you pray 26:43 for the Lord of the harvest to send forth 26:45 reapers to his harvest? Let's pray. 26:48 Father in Heaven, we're a disobedient people 26:54 it is our prayer today that you will help us 26:57 to reform into the people you want us to be. 27:00 That we'll be men and women for Christ, 27:02 each one to stand strong who will not need 27:06 to be supportive, but will support others, 27:08 that we will not ask what the church can do for us. 27:11 But we can do for the church for the sake 27:13 of Christ and for the sake of the lost. 27:16 Lord send forth laborers into the harvest, 27:19 whether it would be ourselves or our leaders 27:21 or our pastors or whoever. So, that Jesus can come, 27:25 we pray in Jesus name, amen. 27:30 What a privilege it is to be able to be called 27:34 a Christian. What an honor that Christ 27:37 has placed upon us. I wanna stand strong 27:42 and tall in that honor, I want to be faithful to 27:45 the high calling that God has given to me and 27:48 I know you do too. Friends, day by day, 27:52 let's commit our lives to Him 27:53 and Jesus will come soon. |
Revised 2014-12-17