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The Church and Its Mission Part 2 By Klass Runia

 Last night, I spoke in the last minutes about the great commission proclaimed by the Lord Jesus,
and I pointed out that this commission was proclaimed after Jesus' death and resurrection.
After his death, for the Messiah must first complete his sacrificial work,
and also after his resurrection, the Messiah is now the victor, the Lord who has all authority in heaven and on earth.
Now it's very interesting and very important to note that the great commission is mentioned in all gospels.
When we study the various passages carefully, it appears that the great commission has been given by our Lord on three different occasions.
And each time there are some special aspects. First of all, I would like to draw your attention to John 20 verse 21.
Then the Lord Jesus says to his disciples,
disciples, peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.
Now this time, the great commission is given on the evening of Easter Sunday.
And at the ground of the great commission, the Lord mentions his own incarnation,
which of course is the Missio Dei, the mission of God.
God himself has first sent his great missionary, his Son in the flesh.
Having completed his mission, he now sends his disciples.
That means that the mission of the disciples is the continuation of the mission of the Son.
And both have the same purpose.
The purpose of the mission of the Son is mentioned in John 3 verse 16.
That whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.
The disciples have precisely the same mission.
As Paul makes very clear in 2 Corinthians 5 verse 20.
When he says, so we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us,
we beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
Well that's the first occasion.
The second occasion is mentioned in Luke 24 verse 47, 48.
No, actually 47 and 48.
Jesus says to his disciples first, that's in 46, that he as the Messiah, as the Christ, has to suffer.
And on the third day rise from the dead.
And this had to happen. This was a must.
It was the plan of God with the Messiah.
But that's not the end.
Now his death and resurrection must be preached.
That's in verse 47.
They should be preached to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
And Jesus then immediately adds, you are witnesses of these things.
So here we find as the ground of the great commission, God's promises in the Old Testament.
God has promised it to his people of old and it has happened and it will go on to happen.
Then in the third place, there is of course Matthew 28 verses 18 through 20.
First we read Jesus' royal proclamation.
He comes to his disciples and says to them, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
But that's immediately followed by the royal commission.
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 that I have commanded you.
Now you should note the word therefore.
That means the commission is connected with the proclamation.
Because Jesus has received all authority in heaven and on earth, that means because Jesus is curious, the Lord,
therefore he may claim the world for himself.
Now all nations must be called to subject themselves to him.
That's the emphasis in this form of the commission.
Take disciples of the nations, claim them for me, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
And this then is finally followed by the royal promise.
And lo, I am with you always to the close of the age.
So when you take these three passages together, you see that there is a threefold ground of the great commission.
First the incarnation, then the Old Testament promises, and thirdly Jesus' lordship.
Now there is no contrast between the three. There are only three different aspects.
Perhaps you could summarize it all in one phrase.
The ground is God's eternal plan of salvation in his son Jesus Christ.
First this plan was revealed in the Old Testament.
Then it was realized in the sending and the incarnation of the son.
Finally it is fulfilled in his lordship.
Now in all three forms of the commission we see that God works out his plan of salvation through the intermediary of the church.
God does not call the nations directly, but indirectly through the witness of those who have accepted Jesus as their savior and lord, and who therefore belong to him.
In other words it is being done through the messianic community.
In our day we hear many complaints about lack of assurance.
It seems to be lacking in the life of many Christians.
Why is this so?
Well I wonder whether the answer is, do they not witness?
I am convinced they would be more assured and really convinced Christians if there was more witnessing being done by them.
On purpose I put it in this order.
Many people are inclined to reverse the order.
They say no you must first aim at assurance, you must be assured and only then you can witness.
I believe that is putting the horse behind the cart.
No, we must do our duty first.
God will certainly do his part of the agreement.
If we fulfill the commission, Christ will fulfill the promise.
There is a very interesting detail in the story of the great commission as defined in Matthew 28.
When Jesus appears to his disciples there, some of them immediately worship.
But then in verse 17, Matthew adds, but some doubt it.
Now it's hard to say what it precisely means.
Did some still not believe that Jesus had risen from the dead?
I don't think that's the answer.
I think they were not sure at that moment whether the person who appeared to them was Jesus.
But whatever it may have been, Matthew states it in all honesty, but some doubt it.
Now what does Jesus do?
Does he give the commission only to the people who immediately worship?
No, he gives the commission to all.
He says to all, including the doubters, go, go and make disciples of all missions.
That's the way to overcome doubt, at least one of the ways.
Witness, and you will find out that Jesus promises through.
He is with you till the close of the age.
So we see that church and mission are inseparable.
Now perhaps we should explore this point a little more.
In recent years there has been some theologian who said the church simply is mission.
I think, for example, of H. Kramer, who is very famous for the books he has written.
In one of his books he says, the raison d'être for the church is to satisfy and to meet the need of the world.
The reason that a congregation of Christ exists is that in her, as in his body, the divine moment of mercy goes forth to the world.
Here you see that the whole function of the church is summed up in the word mission.
Others have gone even further.
A Dutch theologian who has been called to, I believe, to Princeton and who is teaching in Princeton now, Dr. J.C. Hukendijk,
in one of his books says that we must oppose all what he calls church-centric missionary thinking.
The true context of mission is the world, not the church.
The correct sequence of movement is kingdom, gospel, apostolate, world.
The church has no fixed place in this sequence.
The church, yes it's there, but simply as an aspect of the apostolate.
Its whole nature is to be defined in terms of its apostolic function.
Properly speaking, the church does not have or engage in mission, but the church itself is mission.
Well, I think on the ground of the Bible we have no right to say this, the church is mission, full stop.
According to scripture, the church has three functions, at least.
In the first place, the church exists to praise God by word, deed, prayer and worship.
This doxological task is so central and all-controlling that it ought to constitute the very core of the life of the church.
Then in the second place, the church also exists to bear the glory of God's word from generation to generation,
and from century to century until faith will be finally transformed into sight.
In the third place, the church also exists to satisfy the need of the world.
The missionary activity of the church is not incidental, but it is a part, as we have seen yesterday, of the very essence of the church.
Through his church Christ stretches forth his hands to those still outside the light of his everlasting salvation.
Now, these three functions are all of them essential, that is belonging to the essence of the church,
and they are not in competition with each other, but they belong together.
I even dare say they interpenetrate, and each one of them qualifies the whole existence of the church.
The whole existence of the church is praise and worship. Everything the church does should be a matter of praise and worship.
But the whole existence of the church is also involved in the process of handing down the riches of the Gospel from generation to generation.
And then again, the whole existence of the church has to do with mission, and should serve the missionary outreach of the church.
But who in the church has to do this witnessing?
Now, in all three forms of the Great Commission the apostles are addressed.
Undoubtedly these men were specially called for this task.
They were appointed by Jesus himself, and from the very start missionary activity is included in their task.
You read that in Matthew 10, where we read of their calling.
Matthew 10 verse 1, and he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over an unclean spirit to cast them out and to heal every disease and every infirmity,
and then the names of the twelve disciples followed.
And then in verse 7 their task is mentioned, and please, as you go, saying the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Now this is their task already before the cross of Christ.
In the Great Commission it is affirmed, only in the Great Commission it gets a much, much wider scope.
In Matthew 10 Jesus says, go nowhere among the Gentiles, and then to no town of the Samaritans.
In Matthew 28 Jesus says, go therefore and make disciples of all nations.
So the Great Commission is first of all given to the twelve apostles, but is it restricted to the twelve apostles?
We find this idea in the writings of the Reformers, at least in some of their writings, both in the writings of Luther and of Calvin.
Now this is certainly not correct.
Take only the promise mentioned in Matthew 28.
I am with you always to the close of the age.
Now of course this goes far beyond the life of the apostles.
The older Roman Catholic theology says, the Pope and the other bishops, as the successions of Peter and the apostles,
also receive this Great Commission and they in turn delegate it to others, especially to missionaries.
I don't think that is correct either.
Surely there is only one correct answer. The Great Commission has been given to the whole Church.
Harold Linsell, the present editor of Christianity Today, says in an essay in a symposium,
clergy and laity alike are bound by scripture to this responsibility.
Every believer therefore has a threefold responsibility for the evangelization of the world.
To go, to give and to pray.
Those who do not go abroad because they are not called, must still give and pray.
It is only when the Church in total takes seriously the commission of Christ
and involves itself seriously in the three ways that true dimension is given to the mission.
I want to repeat one sentence from this quotation.
Every believer has a responsibility for the evangelization of the world.
Does this mean that every believer is an evangelist?
I think we should be rather careful in our language, especially when we use biblical terms.
In the New Testament the verb euangelidestai is hardly ever applied to all believers.
According to the great dictionary on the New Testament, edited by Kittel,
the following subjects of this verb are mentioned in the New Testament.
Jesus himself, John the Baptist, the trowel, Philip the evangelist, Paul, God and the angels.
There is only one exception.
In Acts 11 verse 20, where it is used of some men of Cyprus and Cyrene who preach the glad tidings to others,
but for the rest it is never used of only believers.
The noun euangelistai, evangelist, occurs only three times in the New Testament.
In Acts 21 Philip is called an evangelist.
In 2 Timothy 4 Timothy is called an evangelist.
And then in Ephesians 4 verse 11 it is used in that series of gifts given by the ascended Lord to the church.
Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.
Now from this last passage it is clear that there were more evangelists in New Testament times
than the two mentioned by name, Philip and Timothy.
But it is also quite clear that it is a special gift.
It is a harishma.
And therefore I think the conclusion must be this term is far too specific to be applied to all believers.
An evangelist is someone who has a special gift, a special harishma,
and therefore the task, that special task of bringing the good tidings to others.
Now what about the term witness?
Again that is very popular, especially in evangelical circles.
Every Christian must be a witness.
That is a well known slogan.
But again I would say let us be careful.
In the New Testament this term has a very specific meaning.
The Greek word martis originally is a judicial concept.
A martis is an eye and or ear witness who can testify to facts which he has personally seen or heard.
In this sense it is applied to the apostles.
For they had witnessed, personally witnessed Christ's ministry, his suffering, his death and his resurrection.
Especially in the first sermons recorded in Acts there is much emphasis on this witness character of their preaching.
Because of this unique position they are called to be Christ's martires, witnesses to the world.
So we find it in Luke 24 in the great commission there.
You are witnesses of these things.
And it is repeated in Acts 1 verse 8 where the Lord says
and you shall be my witnesses, the same Greek word in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.
Yet there is more to be said.
In the first place in the New Testament there are also traces of a wider use of the term.
Stephen for example is also called a witness, a martus.
But we find it especially in the book of Revelation.
In chapter 2 Antipas who was killed is called a martus.
In chapter 11 the two prophets who will be killed for the sake of the gospel are called martures.
In chapter 17 those who have been killed are called martures.
Now in all these cases including Stephen the term is applied as you may have noticed to people who were killed for the sake of the gospel.
And here of course we have the origin of our word martyr that comes from the same word martus.
The witness and the martyr are the same.
Yet in the book of Revelation Jesus himself is called Martus in this double sentence of the word witness and mother.
But still the word is used in a more general meaning.
And then we also should remember that it is used in the Lucian form of the Great Commission.
You shall be my witnesses.
Now as we have seen the Great Commission extends to the whole church to all believers.
And therefore we indeed may use the word witness for all believers.
But then of course we are always witnesses in a derivative sense of the word.
Our witness is based on the original witness.
The witness of the apostles which we find in scripture.
What we also should bear in mind is that this witness is first of all a witness about an objective reality.
It is not first of all a witness of personal experiences.
Although I would never exclude them.
If you have no personal experience you cannot give a proper witness to the objective reality.
But the main thing is that you witness just as the apostles did to the great acts of God.
The acts of redemption and salvation in Jesus Christ.
Now Harold Linsell also said we are all responsible in three ways.
We have to go, to give, to pray.
Yet he also stated not all may have to go literally.
Now that raises an important question.
Who then should go?
To make it more personal.
Should I go?
Should you go?
It's a very important question.
The difficulty is that it is so personal that it is almost impossible to give an answer that is applicable to each one in his own situation.
But still I think the question is so important that I must try to say something about it.
I think in the first place it depends on the gift God has given to us.
According to the New Testament each one, each believer gets his own personal gift.
Paul speaks about it in 1st Corinthians 12 and Peter writes about it in 1st Peter chapter 4.
He says as each has received a gift, employ it for one another as good stewards of God's very grace.
So the gifts may be quite different, very great.
Whoever speaks as one who utters oracles of God, whoever renders service as one who renders it by the strength which God supplies.
In order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.
To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Each believer has received a special gift from the Lord.
And I think it is your task to ask yourself before the face of the Lord,
what is the gift you have given me and what do you want me to do with it?
Then secondly, I think it depends on the circumstances of our life.
Not all people, as Mr Linsell said too, not all people are called to be missionaries or preachers or evangelists in the special sense of the terms.
God has a task for every Christian. Some are called to serve him in the affairs of everyday life.
As a farmer or a dentist, a labourer or a lawyer, a teacher, a businessman, a housewife.
Of course they all have to be witnesses.
You cannot be a Christian without confessing your Lord before the Lord.
But some are called to go out.
Now that depends on many factors.
Mainly on the way God guides your life.
In some cases the calls come suddenly.
It may come to one of you, to more than one of you during this conference.
You may not have gone to this conference expecting to be called to that specific service.
But watch out. Watch out.
The Lord may call you.
In other cases it may grow gradually upon you.
And it may be that this very same conference will be the point of maturing.
But one thing I want to say to you.
If and when he calls you have to obey and you must go wherever he wants you to go.
But how can one do this work?
Well the answer to that question is found in the book of Acts.
So we now turn to the book of Acts.
In the first chapter of Acts we find a repetition of the great commission.
In the first six to eight I would like you to take your Bible and read it with me.
For I will refer to Acts quite a few times.
The disciples are together with their Lord.
And then they ask him Lord will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?
And then Jesus says to them chapter one verses six to eight.
This is verse seven.
It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority.
But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.
And you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.
Now in verse eight you find two elements.
First of all there is the repeated promise of the Holy Spirit who will come upon them with his dunamis.
The word dynamo, dynamic, dynamite, dunamis, power.
And in the second part of verse eight we find as it were an outline of the missionary program.
Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the ends of the earth.
Now in the following chapters of the book we see how both parts of verse eight are fulfilled.
In chapter two we see that the Holy Spirit does come upon the disciples and that they do receive his dunamis.
And then from chapter two onward we see how the program is executed.
First Jerusalem, then Judea, then Samaria, then to the ends of the earth which at that time means Rome.
Now again we first ask the question what is the church in the book of Acts? What is the picture of the church?
Well in the beginning of the book we see how the new community which Jesus has gathered around himself
suddenly manifests itself in great power and activity.
And that's quite a change compared with what we read in the Gospels.
The event of Good Friday, the death of Jesus on the cross had a shattering effect on his disciples.
It looked as if the new community had come to its end almost before it had properly started.
To be true they were still seeking each other's company but for the same reason that sheep huddle together in the hour of darkness and danger.
They are scared.
One of them expressed the mind of them all in these despairing words.
We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. We had hoped.
The past purged. They had no hope left.
But then the resurrection followed. Jesus the Messiah arose from the grave and entered into the new life.
It's impossible to estimate the impact of the resurrection upon the lives and minds of the disciples.
But one thing is sure. It completely changed their outlook.
The past, the present and the future. They all became new.
Then he ascended. Having completed his work he returned to the Father.
But he did not leave his disciples desolate.
Before he went he repeated the promise of the Spirit.
The days following the ascension were spent in active waiting upon the fulfilment of the promise.
They were continually together devoting themselves to prayer.
They also selected or elected a successor to Judas Iscariot.
Yet there was no activity towards the outside world.
They were like a ship ready to sail but there is no wind.
And then the last great fact in the history of salvation takes place.
On the day of Pentecost the exalted Messiah pours out the promised Spirit.
All of a sudden the wind springs up and the ship sets sail.
Or to leave the metaphor aside we can say the community becomes a living church.
From this point of view we may call this event the actual constitution of the Christian church.
The coming of the Spirit upon the little band of disciples galvanised them into action.
It constituted them as the church.
It is to be noted that Luke records they were all filled with the Spirit.
The Spirit is given to the community as a group.
By his presence they are united into a new unity and fellowship which hadn't been there before.
Now how does the new community see itself?
Although at first they were not thinking of separating themselves from the other Jews but they continued to worship in the temple.
Yet from the beginning they regarded themselves as a new people.
Not just a sect within Israel but the true Israel.
They are the eschatological people of God, the saints of the latter day.
They are deeply aware of the fact that the last days have arrived and that they are living in the last days.
This eschatological self-consciousness gives such a tremendous impetus to the apostolic preaching.
In these last days there is only one way of salvation, namely to accept Jesus Christ as the Messiah.
As Peter says on the day of Pentecost in chapter 2 for 38,
repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins
and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
It's obvious that on the day of Pentecost itself this new community is not yet separately organised.
Yet it is immediately clear that a division is to come.
Peter testifies to it when he says save yourselves from this crooked generation.
And he is saying that of Israel, Israel of old.
It is no longer enough to belong to Israel as a national entity, even to belong to Israel as the covenant people of old.
But the essential thing is to belong to the people of the Messiah,
the people who have received the Holy Spirit with all his wonderful gifts.
As the spirit of the exalted Messiah, the Spirit does great things in the church,
he really fills the church with his dunamis.
In all sectors of church life this power becomes manifest.
We can only mention a few of the outstanding aspects.
There is the witnessing of the church, the consequent extension of the church,
the truly spiritual life and unity of the church, the mutual love and sharing of material possessions.
There are the charismatic phenomena, there are the signs and wonders accompanying the preaching.
Very hard for us today to have a clear picture of the actual life of the young community.
Yet one thing is evident, it was a really spirit-filled community.
All this is not man's doing, but it is the work of Jesus Christ, the Lord of the church through his spirit.
I think it's not saying too much.
When we call the spirit himself the mark of the church, not only in the first chapters,
but throughout the whole book of the Acts, this is conspicuous.
Wherever the spirit manifests himself, there is the church.
Sometimes the apostles have to accept this in the face of natural prejudice and preference.
For example in the case of the Samaritans in chapter 8, in the case of the Gentiles, Cornelius in chapter 10, I'll come back to that in a minute.
For the spirit does not allow himself to be stopped by human prejudice and preference.
He blows into the sails of the church and it must sail wherever he sends it.
Now where does he send it? Well the simple answer is into the world.
The new church is a church on the move with the gospel and there are no limits.
Of course it's impossible to give you a full description of the missionary expansion as recounted in Acts.
We would need a few separate lectures for that.
I just want to stress a few things.
First of all we see that now the wall of petition between Jews and Gentiles, which I mentioned yesterday, is broken down.
It's already clearly indicated in the commission of chapter 1 verse 8, Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the ends of the earth.
Yet the church itself is very reluctant to accept this fact and to act accordingly.
Again and again we see that God himself has to prompt the church.
First we see it in the case of the Samaritans.
You read about that in chapter 8.
This time God does it through the persecution that followed after Stephen's death.
In verse 1 of chapter 8.
And on that day a great persecution arose against the church in Jerusalem and they were all scattered throughout the region of Judea and Samaria except the apostles.
And then in verse 4, now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.
You should note that this was done just by ordinary believers, not by the apostles, for it is stated that they stay in Jerusalem.
This first expansion beyond the borders of Israel is done by ordinary believers.
Verse 4, those who were scattered went about preaching the word.
And then in the verses 5, following, Philip is especially singled out.
He went down to a city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ.
Later on this action is confirmed by the coming of two apostles, Peter and John.
That's mentioned in verse 12.
Now verse 14.
They sent to them Peter and John.
And on their way back to Jerusalem the apostles followed the example of Philip and the others.
You read that in verse 25.
Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord they returned to Jerusalem preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samarians.
Isn't that interesting?
God used ordinary people, ordinary believers to show the apostles the way.
Of Philip we read further on in the chapter that he is told by an angel to preach to an Ethiopian.
That means the first Gentile is called and baptized.
But apparently this action of Philip had no effect on the church as a whole.
Again the church was reluctant to accept the fact that the barriers had been removed.
More has to happen than just the example of Philip.
God himself must force his church to go to the Gentiles and this time, and that is described in chapter 10,
God does it through a vision he gives to Peter.
Peter doesn't even understand it.
But the coming of the representatives of Cornelius makes it clear to him what he has to do.
So he goes with them and when Cornelius later on recounts the vision he has received, Peter begins to preach.
And thus shows that he has understood the message.
That is in chapter 10 verses 34 and 35.
And Peter opened his mouth and said truly, I perceive that God shows no partiality.
But in every nation, anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.
And this action of Peter is then confirmed by the spirit himself.
For in verse 44 we read, while Peter was still saying this, that means while he was still preaching the gospel,
the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word.
This event is often called the Gentile Pentecost.
But even now the church as a whole is not yet convinced, they were very stubborn there in Jerusalem.
When Peter returns to Jerusalem, he is called to account by the circumcision party that is mentioned in chapter 11 verse 2.
They criticize him.
But then after Peter's explanation, the whole congregation accepts the new situation, we read that in verse 18.
When they heard this, they were silent.
And they glorify God saying, then to the Gentiles also, God has granted repentance unto life.
In the second place we notice, or we have noticed already, but I want to emphasize it again,
that not only the apostles are used in the missionary outreach, but ordinary believers as well.
The mission of the church is not just the task of a few leaders, but of the whole people of God.
We have already seen in chapter 8 verse 4 that the ordinary believers were scattered after the death of Stephen.
It is repeated in chapter 11.
Then the same people go as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch.
And they do not speak to fellow Jews only, but also to the Gentiles.
And God richly blesses them.
In chapter 21 we read that Paul finds believers in Tyre and in Ptolemais.
Now as far as we know, no apostles have been there yet.
This too must have been the work of ordinary believers.
Yes, according to chapter 18 verse 2 there were Christians in Rome.
Who converted these people? Well, we do not know.
There is no certainty whatever that Peter visited Rome before Paul.
It may be that some ordinary Christians had travelled to Rome.
There was a considerable amount of travelling going on in those days.
When Paul later on arrives in Rome, recorded in chapter 28 verse 15, he is met by a deputation of the church there.
So there is only one conclusion possible.
The early Christians and the early congregations as a whole must have been mission minded.
They did not keep the message for themselves.
But they were so full of this wonderful message that they simply had to share it with others.
In Acts we also see that the first official missionaries are sent out by the church.
That is recorded in chapter 13.
Again the Holy Spirit himself starts it.
Verse 2, while they, that is the man mentioned in verse 1, were worshipping the Lord and fasting,
the Holy Spirit said, set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.
So they are set apart by the church, by the Spirit.
Or it is started by the Spirit, but they are sent by the church.
Admittedly it is not mentioned here in this passage that the whole congregation was involved.
At first glance it may look as if only the teachers and prophets mentioned in verse 1 were involved.
Yet I'm sure it was not done without the cooperation of the church, of the congregation.
At least in chapter 14 verse 27 we read that when Paul and Barnabas return
they call the whole congregation together and then they report to the whole congregation.
Now I think a very interesting thing in chapter 13 is that it shows that Paul was called twice.
First he was called personally by God, that is in chapter 9.
Now he is called officially, if I may use that word, by the church, that's in chapter 13.
Now that is still so today.
The internal and the external calling belong together.
Yes the first is the primary one.
The direct call by God, even though it may come through the intermediary of some other person,
a parent, a pastor, a teacher, but still it is a call that comes to you personally,
that conviction the Lord wants me to go.
But this internal call becomes effective only if it is followed by the call of the church.
This too is a call by God but an indirect one.
The internal call alone is not enough.
It might even be a subjective delusion.
We know that it is genuine only when it is confirmed by the external call.
You could say the latter verifies and implements the form.
We may not presumptually grasp the office of a missionary.
God is a God of order, also in the execution of his plan of salvation.
Paul refers to that in Romans 10, the verse is 13 following.
First he says we are living in the time of the universal call to the Gospel.
Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.
But of course you can only heed the call when the Gospel is preached to you, so we need preachers.
But then in verse 15 he says how can men preach unless they are sent?
Now the primary sender of course is God himself.
But again I want to emphasize God sends through the intermediary of the church.
And I think we see that in Acts 13 the two sending agencies, if I may use the term, are mentioned.
The Holy Spirit and the Church.
You can also put it in this way, the Church is the recognized agency through which the Spirit works.
But it is the Spirit that works through the Church.
Finally in Acts we also see the missionary method used by Paul.
We can sum it up in seven points.
First of all Paul always went to areas where the Gospel had not previously been proclaimed.
Secondly Paul went to political centres that were also centres of communication and transportation for larger areas.
Thirdly indigenous churches were formed wherever Paul lived.
Fourthly these indigenous churches had the responsibility of calling and sending men into missionary service
and determining the policy under which they worked.
Fifthly Paul always maintained close contact with the congregation in order to advise and direct them as occasion demanded.
Sixthly each congregation became a centre for spreading the Gospel.
Finally the Christians in one area were conscious of the needs of those in other areas.
I think these seven points more or less sum up the way Paul worked.
And this of course immediately raises the question, should we follow this method today?
Some people have advocated this.
I don't know whether this is true.
I would make a few comments. In the first place you should notice that this method is not prescribed in scripture.
These seven points are largely derived from the historical description in Acts.
Now historical precedent is never normative.
Not even historical precedent in the early church unless it is explicitly stipulated by scripture itself.
But that's not being done.
In the second place we should bear in mind that Paul was in a unique position.
He was specifically called as the apostle of the Gentiles and all his life Paul was aware of this.
This I think was also the main reason that there was such a strong urgency in his missionary labour.
This is the reason why he refused to go to places where others had worked before him.
He was always looking for virgin lands in order to reach as many areas as possible.
As soon as the church is planted anywhere Paul moves on.
In Romans 15 verse 23 he says since I no longer have any room for work in these regions
and since I have longed for many years to come to you I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain.
So far reached his missionary vision. We don't know whether he has ever been in Spain.
But this was really his aim. He mentions it in verse 24 and in verse 28 again.
I shall go on by way of you to Spain.
And then in the third place Paul was not static or dogmatic in his method.
He had a spirit of liability in regard to external methods and organisation.
He followed this method because it suited his purpose.
But if we are in different situations well other methods may be required.
For example if you are working in the valleys of New Guinea or in the mountain areas of Taiwan
I'm sure you simply couldn't follow Paul's methods.
Yet Paul's example remains a glorious and strong incentive for the church of today.
In whatever way we may do it we the church of today should have the same urgency.
There is still so much to be done. There are still so many Spains in our world of today.
Our hearts should be full of prayer for the world.
Yes we all should know the urgent prayer of Walter K. Stanton.
Send forth the Gospel. Let it run southward and northward, east and west.
Tell all the earth Christ died and lives, who giveth power, life and rest.
Send forth thy Gospel, Holy Lord.
Kindle in us love's sacred flame.
Love giving all and grudging north for Jesus' sake in Jesus' name.
Send forth the Gospel. Tell it out.
Go brothers at the Master's call.
Prepare his way who comes to reign.
The King of Kings and Lord of all.
Let us pray.
Lord we have heard the call tonight.
We have seen the vision.
And we pray that each one of us may go to his room, to his house,
with that serious question in his or her mind.
What does the Lord want me to do?
Make us all willing, Lord, to follow your call, whatever it may be.
Whether it is the call to work here in Australia, or to work overseas.
Make us willing, Lord, as the first disciples were willing when the call came to them.
And Lord, if we are not willing or not willing enough,
then we pray that you may scatter us too.
Not Lord that we want to be heard, for we are all afraid of pain.
But Lord we know that your plan has to be executed.
That great plan of salvation that implies and envelops the whole world, the whole universe.
And so again, Lord, at the end of this meeting we ask,
make us willing, Lord, to do what you want us to do.
In the name of Jesus Christ and through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.