Why Christians should do more than others?

EIGHT REASONS WHY A CHRISTIAN SHOULD DO MORE THAN OTHERS:



1. Because more is done FOR him than for others.
2. Because he is more nearly RELATED to God than others.
3. Because he PROFESSES more than others.
4. Because he is inwardly CONFORMED to the Redeemer more than others.
5. Because he is WATCHED more than others.
6. Because if he DOES no more than others - it will appear that he IS no more than others.
7. Because he is appointed to be a JUDGE of others.
8. Because he EXPECTS more than others.

As the disciples of Christ are more than others - so the disciples of Christ do more than others.

Where there is an overabundance of privilege - there should be an overabundance of practice.


To whom much is given - of them much shall be required.

Those should bless most - who are the most blessed.



---From William Secker's Nonsuch Professor

Carrying the Grand Banner of Christ, not just your own little denominational flag

(thanks C. Poe for alerting me to this fine Spurgeon quote)

Here's the nutshell if you've no time to read the full quotation:

‎"We do not regard it to be soul-winning to steal members out of churches already established, and train them to utter our peculiar Shibboleth: we aim rather at bringing souls to Christ.....

..... Our first care must be that the sheep should be gathered to the great Shepherd; there will be time enough afterwards to secure them for our various folds. To make proselytes, is a suitable labour for Pharisees: to beget men unto God, is the honourable aim of ministers of Christ."

WHAT IS IT TO WIN A SOUL?

This may be instructively answered by describing what it is not.

We do not regard it to be soul-winning to steal members out of churches already established, and train them to utter our peculiar Shibboleth: we aim rather at bringing souls to Christ than at making converts to our synagogue.

There are sheep-stealers abroad, concerning whom I will say nothing except that they are not “brethren”, or, at least, they do not act in a brotherly fashion. To their own Master they must stand or fall. We count it utter meanness to build up our own house with the ruins of our neighbours’ mansions; we infinitely prefer to quarry for ourselves. I hope we all sympathize in the largehearted spirit of Dr. Chalmers, who, when it was said that such and such an effort would not be beneficial to the special interests of the Free Church of Scotland, although it might promote the general religion of the land, said, “What is the Free Church compared with the Christian good of the people of Scotland?” What, indeed, is any church, or what are all the churches put together, as mere organizations, if they stand in conflict with the moral and spiritual advantage of the nation, or if they impede the kingdom of Christ? 
 
It is because God blesses men through the churches that we desire to see them prosper, and not merely for the sake of the churches themselves. There is such a thing as selfishness in our eagerness for the aggrandisement of our own party; and from this evil spirit may grace deliver us! The increase of the kingdom is more to be desired than the growth of a clan.

We would do a great deal to make a Paedobaptist brother into a Baptist, for we value our Lord’s ordinances; we would labour earnestly to raise a believer in salvation by free-will into a believer in salvation by grace, for we long to see all religious teaching built upon the solid rock of truth, and not upon the sand of imagination; but, at the same time, our grand object is not the revision of opinions, but the regeneration of natures.

We would bring men to Christ and not to our own peculiar views of Christianity. Our first care must be that the sheep should be gathered to the great Shepherd; there will be time enough afterwards to secure them for our various folds. To make proselytes, is a suitable labour for Pharisees: to beget men unto God, is the honourable aim of ministers of Christ.

C.H. Spurgeon, The Soul Winner, p. 11-12, Pilgrim Publications, 2007.

Are we asking?

Regarding new missionaries...perhaps we have not because we ask not.

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The Lord himself commands us to pray the Lord of the Harvest to send forth laborers, and it appears that God will be pleased to answer prayers that are commanded such as this – if His People actually do pray for such things.

Our Father does, indeed, seem pleased to answer the prayers of his people (Matthew 7:7-11;18:19; 21:22; Luke 11:9; John 14:13; 15:7,16; 16:23-24; Philippians 4:6; Philippians 4:19; James 1:5; 4:2;1 John 3:22;5:14), how much more ready will He be to answer prayers resulting from an explicit request of His Son.

Not merely running; being sent

They were commissioned: 

As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

We witness here a commissioning service in Acts 13, a laying on of hands. This wasn’t ordination, but a formal recognition and separation for a special task.

The Apostle Paul was already a missionary, but now the Antioch church gives him formal recognition and authority unto this new task. Acts 13 wasn‘t Paul‘s ordination service, but a formal declaration that he was to be sent forth with a mission. Such an act confirms the local church‘s commendation of the missionary. It is their seal of approval, a transfer of authority, granting the missionary the right to act in the name of the church for the sake of the Glory of Jesus.

When a church lays on hands this is a testimony that they recognize the fittedness and the preparedness of the missionary to serve in that cross-cultural capacity for which they were commissioned.

It is an affirmation of suitability and, therefore, not a light or casual event. As eager as local churches are to send one of their own to the field, such a serious step should give pause to churches lest they risk turning their ugly ducklings into swans and confirm one who should not be sent. Many commissioning services include a charge both to the missionary and also to the sending church body, reminding them of their mutual obligations.

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Such a laying on of hands is an evidence that the missionary is not merely one who runs forward on his own, but is one who is sent.  He is not laying hands on himself, but the larger body of Christ is testifying that the missionary is truly, indeed, a “sent-out one.”

The Apostle Paul returned to Antioch

Paul went back to his home church and stayed there for a while:

  In Acts 14:26-28 we read the following;

…And thence sailed to Antioch, from whence they had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled. And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles. And there they abode long time with the disciples.

Paul returned home to Antioch and resumed a close relationship with his home church, cheering their hearts and encouraging them by reports of the work. His ministry did not cease once he arrived back home. The missionary ought not to seek merely to bless his target people “over there.” He should seek to bless the “home folks” as well.

Some literature speaks of Paul returning to Antioch in order to “report back” to his authority, but I think this misses the point. Paul wasn’t merely dutifully reporting to his boss; instead, he was celebrating with family! He rejoiced with the church, stayed with them for quite some time, resumed his old teaching and leadership duties, and even engaged in deep theological controversy with the Judaizers in the very next chapter.

Paul wanted to celebrate with his Antiochan family because the missionary task is not a “one man show.” This was their mutual work.

Missions is a state of total war; not all go far away to fight, but all labor on behalf of the war effort.

 What a pleasure when beautiful feet which bring glad tidings of good things have their origin in your local churches and are shod by the loving care of your own people!

The local church - hot-house and nursery for the task of planting in the world

 Small tender plants are often raised in a greenhouse, and small trees are often matured first in a nursery. There, tender shoots are strengthened and readied for the world.

The church functions in just such a way.

Believers are matured and readied for service out in the world. Greenhouse buds are not prepped merely for more long-term residence living in the greenhouse; likewise, our goal in church attendance is not merely to attend more church, but to become well-nourished and prepared as one of God’s roses to make the world more beautiful and sweet.

Whether standing tall or crushed underfoot we are to sweeten the world.

A Solid Port and Steady Winds for the Missionary Journey

A missionary can be likened to a sailing vessel, the missionary’s journey to a great sea voyage. The sweat of many brows and many calloused hands make the vessel seaworthy. Then, the sails are hoisted, farewells are given, and the vessel debarks, often crossing vast spaces and reaching lands far different from home. Sails which are full and rounded with the wind drive the ship onward towards its destination.

Without a solid launching port, the missionary vessel often founders or is lost at sea. One’s local sending church is such a port, a harbor from which to launch the missionary vessel in zealous obedience to the biblical mandate. Much peril was faced by trading companies reaching precious spices in days of old; how much greater is our charter, how much more regal our sending King, and how much more vital the goal of our journey.

Does regular prayer and financial support help “fill the sails” of your missionaries?

Down dropt the breeze, the sails dropt down,
‘Twas sad as sad could be ;
And we did speak only to break
The silence of the sea !

…Day after day, day after day,
We stuck, nor breath nor motion ;
As idle as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean…      

 -Samuel Coleridge Taylor, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

Doldrums were the fear of sailing men of ages past, being stuck on a still and painted ocean until provisions ran out and the crew slowly succumbed to slow weakening and death.

 
 

Don’t let your missionary get caught in the doldrums! Fill their sails with contact, loving affirmation, and enough material support to keep them on their voyage.

God is the one who plants the Church

“…They rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles.”

                                                                                                                             ----------Acts 14

Paul was a very active worker, and yet Acts 14 speaks of all that God was doing.

The entire world is the stage, yet God is the main actor in missions; we merely fill bit parts (and we usually stutter our lines). God is the bringer of results. God plants the Church.

William Carey and co-workers recognized this truth in their Serampore Covenant:

“We are firmly persuaded that Paul might plant and Apollos water, in vain, in any part of the world, did not God give the increase. We are sure that only those ordained to eternal life will believe, and that God alone can add to the church such as shall be saved.

Nevertheless we cannot but observe with admiration that Paul, the great champion for the glorious doctrine of free and sovereign grace, was the most conspicuous for his personal zeal in the word of persuading men to be reconciled to God. In this respect he is a noble example for our imitation.

Our Lord intimated to those of His apostles who were fishermen, that he would make them fishers of men, intimating that in all weathers, and amidst every disappointment they were to aim at drawing men to the shores of eternal life.

Solomon says: “He that winneth souls is wise,” implying, no doubt, that the work of gaining over men to the side of God, was to be done by winning methods, and that it required the greatest wisdom to do it with success.”

Strive to be as involved as possible

If you can support missionaries by prayer, don’t be content to merely read missionary newsletters. If you can support missionaries financially, don’t be content merely to support missionaries by prayer. If you can support missionaries sent out by your own church, don’t be content merely to support those sent out by other churches. If you yourself can go out, don‘t be content merely to support others whom your church sends. Be as involved as possible! As the Church charges the battlements of the enemy, press as far forward into the front lines as possible!