Dear Friends, Greetings in the soul winning name of our dear Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! This is my first post and I am here with a question for us to ponder upon.
Christians today a mighty froce or minority force?
If some one ask me this question, my answer would both Mighty Force & Minority Force.
I would say “Mighty Force” because if, all the born again Christians faithfully involve in the fulfillment of The Great Comission, Definitely we are The Mighty Force.
I would say “Minority Force because all the Born again believers are not faithfully engaged in the fulfillment of The Great Comission.
Plentiful Harvest Field
There are 196 countries in the world. {192 members of United Nations & other 4} Currently 6.8 Billion people are living in these 196 countries and these numbers are growing rapidly. A calculation says that in 2020 there would be 7.6 Billion population and in 2030 this would grow to 8.2 Billion respectively.
In these 196 Countries, there arte more than 5000 Ethnic groups. Yes, The Harvest Field is very big and is growing very fast.
Some one said “Every heart without Christ is my Harvest Field” In this perspective, Thousands of hearts without Christ are moving around the born again Christians.
In this plentiful harvest field, how many faithful workers are laboring for the Lord?
Few Faithful Workers
“when Jesus had called the Twelve together, He gave them mpower and authority to drive out all demons and to cure disease, and He sent them out to preach the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick.” Luke 9:1,2
“After this the Lord appointed seventy two others and sent them two by two ahead of Him to every town and place where He was about to go. He told them, ” The Havest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among the wolves.” Luke 10: 1-3
After the Twelve, Jesus appointed 72 others and sent them two by two, to the places, where He was about to go! {Jesus has appointed us in His place}
Twelve, Seventy two, Two by Two, Prayer for more workers, Lambs among the wolves are the few points we will have to ponder upon.
The Faithful Few Grew and Multiplied
The number of the workers increased from Twelve to 72 in a very short time.
In the first century when Jesus spoke about the harvest, He did say that the workers were few. Yes, it was true at that time, comparing with the huge number of unsaved people.
Even today, there is a plentiful harvest. But, the workers are not few. We may say that the active workers are few into the harvest field. But, in reality, we have plenty of workers today. But, all the workers are really working in the harvest field.
Twelve, Seventy Two and we really do not know how many workers did Jesus have at the time of His ascension! In acts we see Jesus saying “On one occasion, while He was eating with them, He gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but, wit for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.” Acts 1:4
And in Acts 1:8 Jesus said ” But, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.”
Jesus after His crucifixon, commanded them to wait and receive the power of the Holy Spirit and then to go into all Nations starting from Jerusalem.
In Acts 1:15 we see some 120 believers gathered and heard Peter speaking.
In Acts chapter two, we see the Holy Spirit coming and filling all the God fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. I really don’t know many Nations were there in the world at that time and how many came from each Nation?
But, there were a good number of people who were anointed by the Holy Spirit. Soon after, we see about three thousand people being added into God’s Kingdom. {Acts 2:41}
In the early Church, everyone who were added to the kingdom became witnesses. Of course there were Apostles and Elders who lead them, taught them and equipped them. My point is that whoever came to the Lord became a witness and lead others to the Lord and thus, the kingdom of God on earth grew and multiplied.
The Problem and The Solution
But, gradually the growth of the Church slowed down and we did not multiply the way we should have been. Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism are some of the religions that are rapidly growing in some of the Christian countries.
What went wrong? Why there is no growth as of the early Church? What is holding us back?
The problem is that many of us have become inactive and lazy. Many have not understood their calling and have not realized what He has done for them. They are very busy in earning bread & butter for themselves, for their families also for their future generations.
We are not praying enough for more workers or very busy in praying that we have forgotten that we are called also to be the witnesses of the Lord.
Or On the long run, we might have compromised with the truth and might have lost our nature as lambs and might have become wolves among the wolves.
We think that only full time workers should do the work of the ministry.
Most of the Chruches are becoming the business centers and are keen to earn money from their members. They preach and teach what their believers like to listen.
Today, there are Churches in all the 196 countries. All the churches have the believers and the Missions. If we take a count of all the believers from all over the world ,who call themselves as the born again Christians, to our surprise we would be able to see a real big mighty force, The Army of the Almighty God.
If every individual who has become a member in His body seeks to obey The Great Commission and involve in disciple making ministry, we will soon finish the harvest. The King Of Kings will soon return in His Glory!
What shall we say? Should we still say that there are only few workers or we will seriously get involved in proclaiming the good news?
The church leaders around the world should train their believers to be the witnesses of Christ. They should justify their calling and teach the truth, guided by the Holy Spirit. They should keep their pulpits undefiled.
Should involve their believers in the short term missions, and encourage them to be the disciple makers in their working places.
Should provide them the details of ethnic groups of the world and encourage them to adopt a people group and ask them to pray for them.
No one retires from sharing the Gospel. As long as we live, we have the ability to speak, we should praech the Gospel.
By Him For Him
“He is the image of the invisible God,the first born over all creation. For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him.” Colossians 1 15,16
We are saved by His grace.
We are purchased by His blood.
We are called by Him and are appointed to bear fruits that will remain.
He has commanded us to fulfill The Great Commission
He has given us Power and Authority.
He has promised us with His everlasting presence.
All that we will have to do is to be faithful to Him like David.
In Psalm 40: 1-3, David sings and expresses how God did everything for him.
When you read the psalm you will find what all the things God did for Him.
“He turned to me”
“He Heard my cry”
“He lifted me out of the slimy pit”
“He lifted me out of the mud and mire”
“He set my feet on a Rock”
“He gave me a firm place to stand”
“He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our GOd”
If I ask, “What did God do for us?” most of us will answer exactly the same way David did.
After receiving all these blessings, what did David do? What does the Bible say about that?
If we look at Psalm 78 and read the last three verses of that psalm, we will find
“He chose David His servant and took him from the sheep pens; from tending then sheep he brought him to be the shepherd of His people Jacob, of Israel his inheritance. And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he lead them”
David lead God’s people with integrity of heart and with skillful hands.
So, my friends, let us rise up in the name of Jesus Christ and lead God’s creation the unsaved people to His fold and guide them with integrity of heart and skillful hands. Let us knitted together as one body and act as The Mighty Force and fulfill The Great Commission.
Let us go two by two or as a group {Work in partnership}
Let us preach The Kingdom of God.
Let us heal the sick and drive out the demons.
Let us be the salt and the light.
Let us be His epistle.
Let us put on Him.
” In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16
God bless !
M K Sheriff Daniel