Missions is of God CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
We often think of missions as something that we do in our churches for God. But missions is of God. It’s something he does through us. Missions is a demonstration of:
The grace of God – 2 Cor 8:1 – God bestowed his grace on the churches of Macedonia, otherwise they would have never been able to do what they did for missions – there would have been no joy in their trial and liberality in their poverty if it had not been for the grace of God – the fact they went beyond their power [2 Cor 8:3] is a testimony to the grace of God [notice also 2 Cor 8:9; 9:8; 9:14] – when it’s hard on the missionary to stay on the field or when it is hard for the church to keep giving, we must remember to look to the sufficiency of the grace of God.
The will of God – 2 Cor 8:5 – the folks in the churches of Macedonia gave themselves to the Lord and to Paul and his men by the will of God – in other words, missions is a matter of us being submitted to God according to his will and given to those whom he chooses to use in the furtherance of the gospel – missions is God’s will – we didn’t think of it – and so in times of hardship we stick with missions and the missionaries stick with their fields because of God’s will.
The care of God – 2 Cor 8:16 – in missions God puts an earnest care in the heart of the church for the missionaries and an earnest care in the heart of the missionaries for the church – the care is so great that we are burdened with their needs – and we are glad to minister to their needs because of the care that God puts in our hearts for those who are involved in this work.
The glory of God – 2 Cor 8:19 – and 2 Cor 9:13 – we are here for God’s pleasure – we are to glorify God in all that we do – in missions we are certain that God is glorified – and when the sacrifice is greater, the glory to God is greater – Jesus glorified God in his death – Peter glorified God in his death – I don’t want to be involved in anything that glorifies men – and when men step back and let God do what he wants to do through us, he gets all the glory.
The love of God – 2 Cor 9:7 – obviously because missions is a product of the grace of God and is done according to the will of God it is a great way to experience the love of God – God loveth a cheerful giver – if our young people would find this love of God for themselves, they would not be so infatuated with their youthful relationships and pleasures – the love of God is greater than any human love or pleasure could ever be – if you really want to know the love of God, get involved in missions.
And our response is:
Thanksgiving to God – 2 Cor 9:11-15 – we are so thankful for the grace of God bestowed upon us in providing us with the means to give to missions – we are so thankful for the love of God showered on us when we give – the missionaries are so thankful to God for the provisions necessary to carry out the will of God and they are so thankful for the care of God expressed by the churches God has graciously provided to support the work – everybody involved in missions is thanking God for the abundance of what God is doing in their lives – and this thanksgiving goes on every day.
Conclusion: By the grace of God bestowed upon us, according to the will of God in us, for the earnest care of God through us we should involve ourselves in missions for the glory of God and to experience the love of God, that many may offer thanksgiving to God who is worthy to be praised because missions is of God.