Guest speaker Rev. Jeff Walsh

Priorities

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it” (Matt. 13:45-46 ESV).

In Jesus’ metaphor, the pearl of great price is not the Church (though that is good) nor the Bible (though we need that too), but the kingdom of heaven. All who have come to faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are citizens of the kingdom of heaven under King Jesus. The kingdom is so valuable that we should be willing to get rid of all else in order to obtain and keep it. If you buy a valuable jewel, you don’t keep it hidden away. If the kingdom is so important to us, then we should be eager to share it with others so that they can enjoy it as well.

Many Nations

“Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. As many were astonished at you—his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—so shall he sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths because of him, for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand” (Isaiah 52:13-15).

The prophet Isaiah was pointing ahead to Jesus. The kings of many nations will see that Jesus is the eternal king to whom they must bow down. Jesus makes the kingdom of heaven available, not just to the nation of Israel, but to every nation on earth.

Preach the Gospel

In the book of Romans, the Apostle Paul outlined how salvation is made available to the Gentiles (every non-Jewish person). He wrote of the reason for his ministry:

“For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation, but as it is written, ‘Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.’ This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you” (Rom. 15:18-22).

Paul’s purpose was the preach the gospel to places where Christ was not yet known. Jesus gave that same Great Commission to every believer:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt. 18:18-20).

The word translated as nations (ethnos) refers not to political borders but to ethnic groups or people groups, which is often tied to specific and unique languages. God intends for the gospel to spread throughout the entire world. The book of Acts describes how the gospel spread of Jerusalem to Judea, and then on to Rome, just as Jesus had said in Acts 1:8. Geographical expansion is the normal function of the church.

Unreached People

In our world today, there are more than 15,000 people groups. Roughly 7,000 of those groups are considered unreached—they have no churches, no Scriptures in their own language, and most of them don’t personally know a single Christian. That is about 3 billion people who have no opportunity to hear the gospel right now. At the same time, of all the money that is given for foreign missions, less than 1% goes toward unreached people groups. The rest goes to countries that already have a significant number of Christians and a church presence.

How You Can Help

Every Christian should be involved in the spread of the gospel to all nations. In your own community you can be active in sharing your faith with your friends and neighbors. Some Christians are called to cross-cultural ministry and may move to another country or be involved in planting churches among immigrant groups here in the U.S. All of us should also be giving financially to the work of the missions through the church and other agencies. That’s why we collect an offering each month for Penny Crusade, which is our denomination’s tool to raise funds for the work of spreading the gospel around the world. You can also join in praying for missionaries around the world. (Talk to Jeff if you’d like to receive the weekly Mission Update email for updates on what is happening in our Advent Christian mission fields.)

There is coming a day when all believers will join together in praising God for our salvation, with thankfulness for whatever part each one of us played to spread the gospel around the world.

“After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hand” (Rev. 7:9).

Discussion Questions

1) Read Matthew 24:14 and 2 Peter 3:9. What do these verses say about the spread of the gospel?

2) When you think about those who do not know Christ, who comes to mind? Are there specific individuals or cultures? Perhaps God is calling you to bring the gospel to them.

3) It is said that on average a person needs to hear the gospel three times before they respond. Was that true for you? Have you been involved in bringing someone to faith in Christ?