May 2009

There are few absolutes in the world, but this is one—the Bible clearly states that only those who know Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour will have eternal life in Heaven. Anyone not making this choice will spend eternity in Hell. These are the facts from the Word of God and they are indisputable.



Empower Ministries and many other missions organizations are based upon this foundational truth. This truth is the engine that drives missions and ministry anywhere in the world.



Concern for Lost Souls

What a tremendous hour to be alive in human history! We are witnessing the unparalleled expansion of the Church on a global scale, even in the shadow of widespread terrorism, wars and persecution of the Church, which is also unmatched in history. Jesus’ promise to build His Church in the face of all satanic opposition is being fulfilled. Millions are turning to Him as Saviour each year in countries that previously were impervious to the Gospel. It is a privilege to be part of this great end-time harvest.



Sadly, there are Christians who are oblivious to what God is doing throughout the world. They coast through life attending church and hopefully maintaining a spiritual relationship with their Saviour. But, the passion and excitement they once had for Jesus and the Christian life are a mere memory. Instead, their passion comes alive in the pursuit of personal advancement and their excitement is ignited by what they possess. The peril of those who do not know Christ as Saviour slips by them in their quest for immediate fulfillment.



If these words have struck a nerve in your soul, then the following message is a word of encouragement and hope for you. To have a cause—to be on a mission for God—is the absolute fulfillment of life on this earth as God intended it.



The Beginning of Missions

Most people assume that missions began with the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) or with the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2). But it is my firm belief that missions was born prior to this. Luke gives an account of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. As Jesus approached the city, He wept over it and in Luke 19:42-44, said this:



If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.

                                                                                                      

Reaching the lost with the Gospel cannot be driven by a command or a formula. It begins with a heart for those who are blind and heading towards eternal destruction. When we truly see the plight of our neighbours across the street or across the world, then the Holy Spirit sparks a fire within us that burns with passion and compassion. And then we can no longer sit still.



The Common Thread

We read of the great missionary pioneers—Hudson Taylor, Adoniram Judson, William Carey and many others—and see in the story of their lives and ministries a common thread that kept them focused and motivated. Many criticized them for working too hard, but the passion they possessed to see people accept Christ pushed them on. They understood the judgement and eternal punishment awaiting those who do not commit their lives to Christ, and they laboured tirelessly, following Jesus’ example.



Our Lord taught His disciples what motivated Him in ministry, what energized Him through the hard times. He was empowered by the Holy Spirit who rested on Him beginning with His baptism, and He remained focused and sustained by His driving passion for the lost. He taught us that physical food sustains our bodies, but spiritual food feeds and energizes our souls.



But He said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples were saying to one another, “No one brought Him anything to eat, did he?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work. Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest.”                                               

                                                                                                                                 John 4:32-35



Jesus tied these four concepts together: spiritual food, the will of His Father, the Father’s work and the Great Commission. This is important for believers to grasp—evangelism is the will of our heavenly Father. If Christians do not actively participate in winning the lost, we will starve spiritually. The will of His Father and the work of Jesus were the same—to save sinners. That needs to be our motivation as well.



For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.

                                                                                                                                    Luke 19:10



Jesus foresaw what lay behind the curtain of death. He knew the peril that his creation faced and was focused on this one objective of providing salvation through His life, and death on the Cross. Nothing could deter or distract Him although Satan tried repeatedly.



Lessons from the Temptation of Christ

On one occasion, after 40 days of fasting, Jesus was in the wilderness of Judea and physically weakened, when Satan presented to Him alternatives to a sacrificial death (Luke 4:1-13). Likewise today, Satan offers alternatives to the Body of Christ. Jesus realized His decision and possible compromise would affect the well-being of billions of souls for all eternity. We too must understand that our decisions have ramifications that affect the lives of all those around us.



1. Seeds of Doubt

The devil began by taunting Jesus, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” Jesus responded with Scripture because the Word of God is the only foundation we have in this world for understanding what truth is. Likewise, if believers are to withstand temptations and stay on course, they must rely on the Scriptures. Satan’s goal was to plant seeds of doubt—Are you really the Son of

God? Today, the devil continues to sow seeds of doubt, lulling people into a state of apathy saying, You don’t really believe that some people will go to Hell, do you? If the devil can convince people that Hell does not exist, the motivation for missions also does not exist.



Truth can only be understood by knowing Jesus, the One who knows what lies beyond the grave. The more that Christians understand the Word of God, the greater will be our firm conviction that Jesus was telling the truth and there is no other way to Heaven than through Him. The more we, as a North American Church, devour and digest the Word of God, the less effective the devil’s seeds of doubt will be.



2. Distorting the Nature of God

Satan attempted to put Jesus in a situation to test God’s love and care for His Son. In the same way, Satan attempts today to have Christians question the overall plan and rules which God has laid down for mankind. The most pervasive and deadly modern doctrine that distorts the nature and plan of God, one that is crippling the ongoing work of the Church, is the teaching of Universalism. Basically, this belief states that God cannot send anyone to Hell because of His overwhelming, all-consuming love. Followers of this teaching believe that those who accept Christ will be saved and those who don’t accept the Son as Saviour, having some other religious belief, will equally be delivered from eternal pain and suffering. Nothing could be further from the truth. This teaching totally nullifies the work of the Cross and invalidates any mission activity. Why preach salvation in Jesus alone (Acts 4:12) if everyone will be saved, regardless of our actions or inactions? The teaching of Universalism is not scriptural and has the potential to rob believers in Christ of any purpose for their lives and ministries. We must never test the Lord by questioning His unconditional love or His judgement of sin.



3. Wealth, Comfort and Fame

Rich people can be saved. Famous people can be saved. Neither money nor position has anything to do with salvation. The real question is “How do we handle the blessings of God?” Satan tempted Christ a third time by offering Him all the wealth of the kingdoms of the world. He refused. Today, Christians are struggling with the distractions of wealth and position, and not only in North America.



In the large urban areas of China, where the economy is booming and the attainment of wealth is paramount, young Christians who flock to the cities are caught up in the euphoria. They struggle in their faith because the temptation of materialism is so strong. This is by far the greatest stumbling block for the Church today in any country. But we must respond as Jesus did in worship and service to God alone. Only a life fully convinced of the spiritual riches of God can overcome the temptation of physical riches.



A Clear Motivation

Jesus was not sidetracked by these temptations of the devil and neither should we be. He experienced victory over the enemy by standing firm on God’s Word. With a clear goal of redeeming sinful humanity, He set out to fulfill His mission in life with joy.



When disciples of Christ read the Scriptures explaining the eternal state of unsaved lost souls the message should send a cold chill through their bodies. This is the state of the lost and this is the motivating force behind missions. Why was Jesus committed to going to the Cross? Why are missionaries willing to lay down their lives for the Gospel? Why do national pastors work tirelessly to plant new churches? Because people are dying without Jesus, and we need to share with them the story of God’s love immediately.



The clock is ticking. It was not the nails that held Jesus to the Cross on Calvary. He constantly kept before Him the image of those for whom He was laying down His life. He paid the ultimate price so you and I could escape the punishment we deserve and enjoy the delights of our Father in Heaven.



Empower Ministries is built upon the truth of this message. There is an urgency that grips each of us in this ministry. We commit ourselves to labour in a focused, effective and efficient manner in order to accomplish the task set before us because the souls of millions, around the corner and around the world, are waiting to hear the wonderful news of the Gospel—that salvation is found in Jesus Christ.



Note: This article is a portion of The Driving Force Behind Missions, our Dunamos publication. To read the complete article, please request this Dunamos from our office ( or 1.800.575.1863)



All Scriptures from The New American Standard Bible.

© Empower Ministries