We Need Missionaries

Romans 10:13–15

For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. But how can they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe without hearing about Him? And how can they hear without a preacher? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How welcome are the feet of those who announce the gospel of good things!

I am reading a sermon by Oswald Chambers. He points out the four “how’s” in these verses. First there is a promise: “call on the name of the Lord and be saved.” But to call you must first believe. To believe you must first hear. To hear someone must preach. To preach someone must be sent. The final responsibility God puts on us to send. If the missionary is sent he can preach. If he preaches people will hear the Gospel. If they hear some will believe. Those who believe will call, and those who call will be saved. But where does it start? With sending.

I am a Southern Baptist. The statistics show that my denomination has been in decline for the last few years. I believe we have been in decline for longer. I believe we have been living off our reputation for the past twenty years!

The latest edition of On Mission Magazine prints some statistics that reveal the main culprit. In 1999 about one in five of our forty thousand SBC churches baptized no one. That’s zero baptisms for a year! In 2006 that was up to one in four churches that baptized no one! That same year half of our churches baptized no one—that is zero baptisms—between the ages of 12-17!

We need to send missionaries to our own churches!

I’ve heard the complaint so many times: “You win all these people to Christ but you don’t disciple them. If we did a better job of discipling the ones we have we’d see the number of conversions go up.” So we have tried to do a better job of discipleship, but what kind of disciples are we producing if we are seeing less people saved—especially teenagers?

We have more literature on how to reach the lost than we’ve ever had—but what good is it doing us?

We simply must do a better job of sending out missionaries. Ah, but, we must do a better of job of being missionaries! We need a renewed emphasis on evangelism and missions or we are going to see our churches whither up and blow away—and our country along with them.

What Is Your "Bochim"?

Judges 2:1–5

The Angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bochim and said, "I brought you out of Egypt and led you into the land I had promised to your fathers. I also said: I will never break My covenant with you. You are not to make a covenant with the people who are living in this land, and you are to tear down their altars. But you have not obeyed Me. What is this you have done?

Therefore, I now say: I will not drive out these people before you. They will be thorns in your sides, and their gods will be a trap to you." When the Angel of the LORD had spoken these words to all the Israelites, the people wept loudly. So they named that place Bochim and offered sacrifices there to the LORD.

Judges chapter one is a sad record of failure. The children of Israel are in the Promised Land, but they fail to drive out the inhabitants of the land. Not the angel of the Lord speaks to them in chapter two and tells them these remaining people will be “thorns in your sides, and their gods will be a trap to you.”

All of these things are illustrations of us of the life of a New Testament Believer. When we become Christians we bring baggage from the old life. There are still sins and habits of the flesh that hang on to our lives like ticks on a dog. For a while they may go unnoticed, but eventually, as they continue to suck, we become of their presence and the pain they cause.

But what we do with these sins when the Holy Spirit makes us aware of them is critical. If we confess and forsake them the Holy Spirit will enable us to drive them from our lives—maybe not entirely, because the flesh is always with us. But these sins are pushed beyond the borders of our daily practice. They can occasionally launch a raid here and there. But they’re not habitual sins that continually stifle and defeat us.

However, there can be some practices of the flesh that we are slow to let go of. We want to hang on to these. It maybe pornography, or an evening beer, or a profane tongue, or a questionable business practice. We don’t want to let go of these because they make us feel good, or make us feel powerful, or make us feel we are in control, or make us feel we are being successful. But eventually they become our Bochim, our place of weeping. Why? If we do not judge our sin our sin will judge us! That sin will eventually come out and become your disgrace. Your testimony is damaged. An opportunity to witness is lost. To say nothing of arrested Christian development—we stop growing. And if we are truly Believers there is nothing more precious to us than the presence of our Lord Jesus. We want to be nearer to Him. Anything that blocks His presence becomes for us a source of sorrow and weeping.

But Bochim can become a place of deliverance and renewal. If we will confess and forsake our sin the Holy Spirit will operate powerfully to set us free. Try it.

The Resolve of Joshua

Joshua 24:14–15

"Therefore, fear the LORD and worship Him in sincerity and truth. Get rid of the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and worship the LORD. But if it doesn’t please you to worship the LORD, choose for yourselves today the one you will worship: the gods your fathers worshiped beyond the Euphrates River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. As for me and my family, we will worship the LORD."

You can hear the resolve in Joshua’s voice. Sadly, this kind of resolve seems to be missing in our society today. If this were being written today it might sound like this: “As for me and my family, we will worship the LORD if He blesses us with a great job and a comfortable income and a fine home and two vacations a year and He leaves me alone so I can enjoy these.” We lack the resolve today to endure hardship and stand faithful when things are not going our way. We no longer have that kind of commitment and strength. We have been taught a more comfortable doctrine. We feast on convenient truth. We live with our shades pulled down so we don’t have to look on the outside world. We ride on our heated leather seats listening to our Bose speakers playing “I’d make any sacrifice for You.” We are a clueless generation of Christians. We have lived selfishly. We have spent our lives on our own lusts. Now we shake our heads as we watch the news and wonder how we got in this shape. We are the clueless generation.

Where is the commitment of Joshua? You can hear the resolve in his voice: “As for me and my family—no matter what comes—we will serve the LORD!”

Do you have that kind of “no matter what” commitment? Do I?

Taking Possession of the Land

Joshua 21:43–45

So the LORD gave Israel all the land He had sworn to give their fathers, and they took possession of it and settled there. The LORD gave them rest on every side according to all He had sworn to their fathers. None of their enemies were able to stand against them, for the LORD handed over all their enemies to them. None of the good promises the LORD had made to the house of Israel failed. Everything was fulfilled.

God’s Word was fulfilled. They took possession of the land.

Now, they had not taken possession of all of it. There were yet enemies to be driven from the land. The fact is: they never took full possession of all God promised to them… just as we have not taken full possession of all that God has promised us. Alan Redpath wrote:

“We have not taken possession of our full charter in Christ. Our deed promises so much more than we have experienced.”

Consider an example. The Bible says: “For His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3, HCSB). Wow! Really? Everything necessary for godly living! Are we living up to that promise? Are we experiencing in our day-to-day living what the Bible says is ours by right of redemption? Are we living each day a holy and fulfilled life?

I have a confession to make: Not me! There is still so much deeded to me in Christ that I have not taken possession of yet.

Are you as convicted as I am? Today may we take another step into what God has promised. May I venture to go today by faith where I have never been and claim what is mine by right of redemption. Leonard Ravenhill said: “One of these days someone is going to come along, pick up this Bible, read it, believe it, and put it into practice—and the rest of us will be ashamed!”

A Good Habit

Joshua 9:14 (HCSB)

Then the men ‹of Israel› took some of their provisions, but did not seek the LORD’s counsel.

The Gibeonites devised a plan to deceive the Israelites. They tricked Joshua and the leaders of Israel into believing they were citizens of a distant country, far outside the borders of the Promised Land. A treaty was struck before the deception was discovered. Now they were in a pickle! God had commanded the Hebrews to destroy all the inhabitants of the land. But God also expected the Hebrews to abide by the treaties and covenants they made. They would keep the treaty, but they would also suffer the consequences of this hasty decision further down the line.

God tells us as Believers to “owe no man anything” (Romans 13:8). Yet we sign on the dotted line and run up the credit card debt. Does God expect us to pay our bills? Absolutely! But will those debts get us into trouble down the road? Quite likely.

Someone said:

“Half of our problems are the result of saying ‘yes’ too quickly. The other half are a result of not saying ‘no’ quickly enough.”

A good habit we should develop is: Always seek the Lord’s counsel first!

He may not tell us what we want to hear, but He will always tell us the truth. In the long run, if we abide by His counsel, we will be much happier—and keep our backsides out of a jam!

Reminded by Snow

Looking out my window reminds me of two passages of Scripture from Isaiah:

Isaiah 1:18

"Come, let us discuss this," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will be like wool."

Can you imagine anything whiter than snow? Look out your window and see how your blood-washed soul looks to God! What an object lesson! Give praise!

Isaiah 55:10–11

"For just as rain and snow fall from heaven, and do not return there without saturating the earth, and making it germinate and sprout, and providing seed to sow and food to eat, so My word that comes from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please, and will prosper in what I send it ‹to do›."

God’s Word is like a snow that falls from heaven and provides moisture to the soil so it can make the seed germinate and grow. This is especially true in the areas where the Spring snows thaw, leaving a blanket of new grass and vegetation beneath. We may be poor work hands, but God’s Word always accomplishes it’s mission.

Ruined Lives Restored

Joshua 6:22–25

Joshua said to the two men who had scouted the land, "Go to the prostitute’s house and bring the woman out of there, and all who are with her, just as you promised her."

So the young men who had scouted went in and brought out Rahab and her father, mother, brothers, and all who belonged to her. They brought out her whole family and settled them outside the camp of Israel.

They burned up the city and everything in it, but they put the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron into the treasury of the LORD’s house.

But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, her father’s household, and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent to spy on Jericho, and she lives in Israel to this day.

Matthew 1:5–6

Salmon fathered Boaz by Rahab, Boaz fathered Obed by Ruth, Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered King David.

Look at that! A prostitute became the great, great grandmother of Israel’s greatest king—and she was in the linage of the Messiah!

We should never doubt that God can reclaim any life, and that any life reclaimed by God can have a highly significant place in God’s plan.

I don’t doubt it. I long for these. I long to see more of these damaged lives being redeemed, restored, and used to advance the Lord’s reputation.

Someone just passed this along to me: it has been said for many, many years that when the Saints win the Super Bowl that hell would freeze over.

The Saints won... and a blizzard hit Washington DC.

Hmmmmmmm!!

Whose Side is God On Anyway?

Joshua 5:13–15

When Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in His hand. Joshua approached Him and asked, "Are You for us or for our enemies?"

"Neither," He replied. "I have now come as commander of the LORD’s army."

Then Joshua bowed with his face to the ground in worship and asked Him, "What does my Lord want to say to His servant?"

The commander of the LORD’s army said to Joshua, "Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy." And Joshua did so.

Whose side is God on? Isn’t He on our side?

The question is not: “Whose side is God on?” The question is: “Whose side am I on?”

God does not take sides. We do not form a team and then invite God to come and join us. God is no team’s mascot!

God is God. There is only one team that matters: God’s team. There is only one side that matters: God’s side. Whose side are we one? In essence that is what Joshua did: he said, “LORD, I want to be on Your side.” God said, “Then take your sandals off your feet, because My side is the holy side and you have to be holy to be in My army.” And notice what Joshua did: he took his sandals off. He did not have to debate with himself about this decision. At this point he chose not to be a leader, but a follower—because to be an effective leader one must be a good follower—and follow the right Leader.

Do not make the mistake that God is neutral. He certainly is not. He is against those who stand on the side of sin. He destroyed Jericho because of their sinfulness. God is not neutral. He does have a side. But it is always the side of holiness.

Whose side are you on?

Monuments and Memorials

Joshua 4:20-24

Then Joshua set up in Gilgal the 12 stones they had taken from the Jordan, and he said to the Israelites, "When your children ask their fathers in the future, "What is the meaning of these stones?’ you should tell your children, "Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, just as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed over. This is so that all the people of the earth may know that the LORD’s hand is mighty, and so that you may always fear the LORD your God."

Isaiah 55:13

“Instead of the thornbush, a cypress will come up, and instead of the brier, a myrtle will come up; it will make a name for the LORD as an everlasting sign that will not be destroyed.”

The common element here is that of a testimonial, a monument, a memorial. The stones placed at Gilgal were to be a memorial proclaiming to future generations what the Lord had done at the Jordan.

We need memorials—testimonials to the intervention, the provision of God in our lives. These monuments serve some specific and necessary purposes:

1. They serve to remind us of God's provision.
2. Consequently, they can be an impetus to our faith.
3. Since they point to God’s blessing they remind us to give glory to the One to whom all glory is due.
4. They are great object lessons for teaching our children and future generations of the sufficiency of our God.

Do you have any faith monuments in your life? Where are they now?

Where To Begin

Joshua 1:6–9

"Be strong and courageous, for you will distribute the land I swore to their fathers to give them as an inheritance. Above all, be strong and very courageous to carefully observe the whole instruction My servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or the left, so that you will have success wherever you go. This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to recite it day and night, so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do. Haven’t I commanded you: be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."

These are the words that God spoke to Joshua after the death of Moses. Joshua had a daunting task ahead of him. Leading the children of Israel was a challenge to Moses—and he had done it for years. Joshua was a greenhorn leader, and his task was to lead the children of Israel into the Promised Land. He was going to lead them in the campaign to take possession of the land. Joshua had to have felt overwhelmed—yeah, maybe a little bit.

The LORD emphasized Joshua’s obedience to His Word. This was the key to Joshua’s success. Had he sat down and tried to draw up a plan to accomplish his mission he probably would not have known where to start. God said, “Here is where you start: get well acquainted with My Word, and obey it.” Obedience to God’s Word is the key to success in anything we do… everything we do.

So where do we start today? Start with God’s Word. Start by getting well acquainted with it. Read it. Study it. Review it. Exercise some mental energy absorbing it. Then begin today to obey it. Do what it says. Look for a command to obey. Look for a principle to apply. Look for a sin to avoid. Put it into practice today. That’s it: a day at a time. Don’t think about tomorrow. Simply focus on obeying God today. Then you will begin to notice a series of victories. Just stick with it. But start now.

Help is Here!

Deuteronomy 33:26

“There is none like the God of Jeshurun,

who rides the heavens to your aid

on the clouds in His majesty.”

“Jeshurun” is another name for Israel. It derives from a root word that means “straight” or “level.” It means, “that which is acceptable, pleasing.” Israel is “the pleasing one, the one the Lord accepts.”

Of course this title refers to every child of God today. Every born again person is pleasing to God and accepted “in the Beloved.”

The message here however is the swiftness with which God comes to the aid of His people. He “rides the heavens… on the clouds of His majesty” to get to us when we are in need.

Do you think that God has forgotten you? That He is unaware of your predicament? That He is overlooking you, or is ignoring you? It is not true! You may not see Him in action yet, but He is with you. He has ridden on the clouds to get to you. You are the object of His full attention right now. The angel of the Lord is protecting you. The Spirit of the Lord is sustaining you. The Lord Himself will meet your needs according to His glorious resources.

Help is not “coming;” Help is here!

A Higher Standard

Deuteronomy 32:51 (HCSB)

For ‹both of› you broke faith with Me among the Israelites at the waters of Meribath-kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin by failing to treat Me as holy in their presence.

Moses did not enter the land of promise because of one mistake. One stinking mistake! How many mistakes did the children of Israel make? And they got to enter the land? Moses put up with so much; he remained faithful, but he did not enter the land because of one mistake. Do you think that God holds His leaders to a higher standard?

The incident is recorded in Exodus 17 and Numbers 20. The children of Israel had no water to drink. They began to complain to the LORD—that must have been a policy procedure. God told Moses to take the rod of Aaron, strike the rock, and water would come out.

It appears to me that Moses made a theatrical display. He should have simply hit the rock, but instead he made it look like a magic trick. The record in Numbers 20 says he told the people: “Listen, you rebels! Should we bring water out of this rock for you?” Then he struck the rock twice. Maybe he was angry. Honestly, I don’t know. What he did was certainly close to what God commanded, because water did come out of the rock. But God says Moses failed to “treat Me as holy in their presence.”

This makes me stand back. Am I guilty of doing anything that diminishes the holiness of God before His people? I live before God’s people. He obviously holds me to a higher standard. Will I uphold His holiness? Will I do anything that causes people to doubt the holiness of God? Have I done anything to take people’s eyes off of God’s holiness and put their eyes on me? Makes me wonder…. I know I’ll make it to heaven, but will I be living under a bush? God is serious about His holiness!! Do you agree? Then this should cause us to evaluate our lives.

The Hidden Things

Deuteronomy 29:29 (HCSB)

The hidden things belong to the LORD our God, but the revealed things belong to us and our children forever, so that we may follow all the words of this law.

There are hidden things, secret things, known only to God. We cannot know everything there is to know about God. Maybe there are some arrogant people out there who believe they can know. Common sense tells us that, if there is a God at all, He must be smarter than us; otherwise, how can He be God? God declared, “For as heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9, HCSB).

We cannot know all there is to know, but we know enough. God has revealed to us everything He wants us to know. “But the message is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may follow it” (Deuteronomy 30:14). It is not hard to find God’s will—it is right here in His book, the Bible. He said, "This command that I give you today is certainly not too difficult or beyond your reach” (Deuteronomy 30:11). Not only can we know His will but we can do His will.

I am not one of those fatalists who believe that we have no choice in this matter—that every outcome is decided in advance by a sovereign God. I believe in the sovereignty of God! But I also believe that this sovereign God has given us the capacity of free will. “I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19). God would not have said, “Choose” if we did not have that ability.

God said, “Here are your options… and here are the outcomes of those options… now choose.” There is a way in which everything is determined in advance. If we choose to obey God we will be blessed. If we choose not to obey God we will be cursed. But the choice is still ours.

God, of course, knows how what we will choose, and He has constructed His plan accordingly—but He has given us the dignity of choice. And God has not only allowed us to choose, but He also enables us to live by our choices.

The Ladder to Success

Deuteronomy 28:13–14 (HCSB)

“The LORD will make you the head and not the tail; you will only move upward and never downward if you listen to the LORD your God’s commands I am giving you today and are careful to follow ‹them›.

Do not turn aside to the right or the left from all the things I am commanding you today, and do not go after other gods to worship them.”

There is a curse for disobedience, but there is abundant blessing promised for obedience. I hear people say, “We should not serve God for rewards.” Where do they get that? I don’t find that in the Bible. That’s like saying, “You shouldn’t get saved just because you don’t what to go to hell.” Do you need a better reason to be saved than not to suffer in misery for the rest of eternity? I don’t understand the reasoning of some people. I know they think we should have higher, more altruistic motives for trusting Christ and obeying God—but the desire to avoid a curse and receive a blessing works just fine for me.

God says we will succeed if we obey Him. We will move up the ladder and be in the lead. That sounds mighty good to me! We may look around and say, “Others did it without God.” Yes, Satan has some examples. He puts them on display so others can see them and think, “I don’t have to follow God to succeed.” Bad choice. There are wicked people who prosper, but prosperity is more than money. Some people live in very fine houses, but they cannot live with themselves. God will give you what you need… plus joy, peace, satisfaction and meaning with it. He wants to put your life on display as a trophy of His grace and testimony to His power.

Let the Ox Graze!

Deuteronomy 25:4 (HCSB)

"Do not muzzle an ox while it treads out grain."

This is another way of saying, "Do not deprive the laborer of his wages." Paul uses this in 1 Corinthians 9:9 and 1 Timothy 5:18.

Oxen were used to thresh out the grain, but they were allowed to graze as they worked.

We live in a society today where our leaders believe that one man should labor for the community, not himself. This "Robin Hood" fantasy is a facade. They talk about "leveling the playing field" or "sharing the wealth." This is the philosophy of communism.

They think a banker should not earn more than a basket-weaver, even though the banker has (probably, but not necessarily) considerably more education and a position of greater trust. This sounds like a sweetheart of a deal to the person who does not have a high-paying position. Shouldn't it? But it kills incentive in the marketplace.

We say, "What about that person who does not have the opportunity?"

Everyone has opportunity. Some have greater opportunity than others, but all have opportunity. The crux of the matter is choice. What choices do we make?

In our country we are doing everything we can to take away the consequences of bad choices.

So you were not born with a silver spoon in your mouth. Some of those who were are wrecks because of bad choices they made. Some who were not are now success stories because they made good choices.

"It's hard!"

Why is hard bad? Hard builds character. Hard helps us to appreciate what we have earned. Hard helps us to stand up when life throws us great difficulties. Hard makes us better people. Hard is good! There are some people who used to believe that. Jesus said, "Through many tribulations we enter the kingdom of God."

This country did not become great through communism. This country became great because we had the audacity to believe that God was right and His principles were the way to a prosperous economy.

Beware those who are trying to reengineer the very foundation of our society. The way to a more prosperous and thriving society is to follow the old rules, the rules of the Bible. Anything else will fail!!

Deuteronomy 20:8 (HCSB)

The officers will continue to address the army and say, ‘Is there any man who is afraid or fainthearted? Let him leave and return home, so that his brothers’ hearts won’t melt like his own.’

Moses was giving the Israelites rules for waging war. This may sound like he was giving any man who did not want to fight an "out" not to go into battle. But this is not true. I see two things here:

1. No man wants to be labeled a "coward." No man wants it to be said about him, "He did not fight because he was afraid." He may be afraid--in fact I think it would be pretty safe to say that any man in his right mind was afraid! But he doesn't want it to be said about him that he turned his back on his friends, neighbors or countrymen because he was afraid. He is afraid, but in spite of his fears he marches forward.
2. But those who are genuinely fearful, and are cowards, must not go into battle because of the negative effect they will have on their comrades. Cowardice is one of those things that runs through the camp like the flu-- it is highly contagious, and demoralizing. We do not want any man who is a risk to run away to influence other men to run away.
3. We want for courageous men. We need men who will not take counsel of their fears, but will subdue their feelings and do the right thing. They will not run away when the going gets tough at work or at home. They will not retreat before the enemy of their souls, or some sweet young thing.

Some of the most inspiring words in the Bible are those in the first part of Deuteronomy 20:

Deuteronomy 20:1–4 (HCSB)

"When you go out to war against your enemies and see horses, chariots, and an army larger than yours, do not be afraid of them, for the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, is with you. When you are about to engage in battle, the priest is to come forward and address the army. He is to say to them: ‘Listen, Israel: Today you are about to engage in battle with your enemies. Do not be fainthearted. Do not be afraid, alarmed, or terrified because of them. For the LORD your God is the One who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.’

The enemy is too big for us, but the battle is the Lord's and He will go before us and fight and win the victory!

God's Program of Social Justice

Deuteronomy 16:19–20 (HCSB)

Do not deny justice or show partiality ‹to anyone›. Do not accept a bribe, for it blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous. Pursue justice and justice alone, so that you will live and possess the land the LORD your God is giving you.

I am not a "social justice preacher," but I do believe in social justice. Some make it the "be all, end all" of their religion. Our purpose, I believe, is to preach the Gospel until all the nations hear and develop Believers. I believe we are to preach justice when we come to that, but that is not the main subject of our preaching or primary focus of our ministry programs. Please do not misunderstand me-- and am NOT saying that we should not be concerned about justice. We must! We are commanded to do so. We should speak out against injustice when we see it. We should praise justice when we see it. We should help those who are weak, marginalized, taken advantage of, etc. But there are other institutions whose primary task it is to provide justice. And for those institutions there are no better foundational rules than these two verses. We read in the paper or watch on the news or hear from people we know how justice is skewed in favor of the wealthy and the influential. This is a great evil in God's eyes-- and it should be in our eyes as well. But we still believe that Jesus Christ is the one true hope of this world and through the act of conversion the Holy Spirit changes selfish people into selfless people and sinners into servants and wicked people into right-living people. And only the preaching of the Gospel can make this possible.