Charles Spurgeon said, "If Jesus is precious to you, you will not be able to keep your good news to yourself. You will be whispering it into your child’s ear. You will be telling it to your husband. You will be earnestly imparting it to your friend... Every Christian here is either a missionary or an impostor.."
Every Christian should consider themselves called to the mission field unless God says otherwise.
The Great Commission (world missions) is not man's idea, it is given to us by God.
Mark 16:15, "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature."
Matthew 28:19-20, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen."
World missions began in the heart and mind of God Himself.
World missions is God's plan to save people around the world from Hell.
World missions is God's plan to make people around the world children of God.
World missions is God's plan to give people around the world purpose in life.
In Matthew 18:11-14, God emphasizes the importance of reaching the individual... the value of one. We talk much about changing society and transforming our nation. That is fine, but it is important to remember that we will never "save" our society until individuals that make up society are saved by the blood of Jesus Christ. We will never transform a nation until the individuals who make up the nation are transformed by the power of the Word of God and blood of Jesus.
The Holy Spirit convicts the hearts of individuals, not crowds.
God saves individuals, not crowds.
We want to reach vast numbers of people with the Gospel, but this must be done one by one. Houses are built with individual bricks and communities and nations are reached one by one.
Our church should understand the value of reaching individual souls for Jesus Christ because...
Jesus Humbled Himself for Individual Lost Souls. (Philippians 2:5-8) Matthew 18:11-14 stresses our Lord's compassion for individuals. We sing that precious song, "Jesus loves even me." I'm not surprised that He would love the whole world, but that He would love me as an individual is almost overwhelming. Jesus refers to Himself as that "son of man." For all eternity He has been and will be the "Son of God," however, to save an individual soul, He became the "son of man."
Jesus Came to Suffer and Die for Individual Lost Souls. If just one little child is only one who would ever have believed on the Lord, He still would have suffered and died for that one. If just one wicked sinner in some obscure faraway nation would be the only one who would believe on the Lord, He still would have suffered and died for that one. Jesus died for individual sinners. Jesus did not take on sins in "bulk," He took responsibility for each individual sin of each individual sinner and paid the judgment of each completely.
Jesus Pursues Individual Lost Souls. The Holy Spirit does not convict the heart of "crowds," He convicts the heart of individuals. Some times it seems that crowds are unaffected by the preaching of the Gospel, however, within that crowd there is often individuals who's heart's are being touched by the Holy Spirit.
Jesus Will Save Even the Most Sinful Individual Lost Souls. There are some individuals so steeped in sin and so hard hearted that it seems hopeless that they would ever be saved. However, our Lord can and will save them if they are just given the opportunity to hear the Gospel and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
In Genesis 1:8, it was one man that God called to save the world.
In 1 Samuel 1, it was one woman that prayed and one child born, and an entire nation was impacted. In 1 Samuel 17, it was one young boy who defeated a giant and gained the victory over the enemies of God's people. In John 4, it was one woman at a well that Jesus led to salvation and a whole town was impacted with the Gospel. In Luke 19, it was just one small little man that Jesus led to salvation.
In Acts 8, it was one man that God sent to the Ethiopian eunuch which lead to his salvation. Our Lord places great value on each and every individual soul.
God saves individual and uses individuals.
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