OUR MOST IMPORTANT MISSION! 10/16/2021 1. We must talk about God. What was the mission of the Savior when he came to the world? Matthew 1:21: She will give birth to a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. What were the names of the first believers? What was their mission? Acts 11:25, 26. …came to Antioch. For a whole year, the two of them gathered together with the church and taught many people. It was in Antioch that people began to call their disciples Christians. Chrétien - A believer in Christ - Makes others believe. “Christians who do not make others Christians are not Christians!” Just as Christ who cannot save people is not the Christ! God's only way for people to know salvation is to tell! There is no other way! And that responsibility falls on us. Isaiah 43:10. You are my witnesses, declares the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me, and understand that I am the Lord! Many believers pray for many people to believe in God, but they never talk about God! What is stopping us from talking about God? 2. Preach to save people and to save ourselves! The story of the Maravian Missionary Society living with the Eskimos on the island of Greenland, but they were still probing so they did not talk about God. Many years later, a person told the story of Jesus' death on the cross, the islanders believed and complained: "Why are you telling me now?" Romans 10:13-17. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. 14 But how can they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? How shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” 16 But not all have obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” 17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. Paul goes from the result: Saved - Calling - Believing - Hearing - Preaching. The five indispensable links begin with preaching: speaking! Does the businessperson believe that all who know about his product will buy? What is the rate of knowing and buying? They must advertise. Romans 10:17. So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. Romans 10:10. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 1 Corinthians 11:26. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do proclaim the Lord's death till he come. VERB 3. Preaching is a duty, no matter how difficult. Begin preaching at the nearest place. Acts 1:8. But ye shall receive power when the Holy Spirit is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. 2 Timothy 4:2-4. Preach the word; be ready in season, and out of season; reprove, and exhort, and exhort, with all patience and teaching. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, and they will be filled with wrath. but having their ears tickled, they heap up for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires; 4 and they turn away their ears from the truth, and are turned aside to fables. When Pastor Moody preached to a drunken man, he said, “Because you are an evangelist, I will kick you into the sewer.” Matthew 7:6. Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and rend you. Be responsible for the salvation of others if you do not speak! Ezekiel 33:7-9. …Therefore hear the word from my mouth, and warn them from me. 8 When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you shall surely die,’ and you do not warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. 9 But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way and he does not turn from it, he shall die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your life. The story of the missionary Robert Jaffray preaching in China and Indonesia. He dreamed that it was God who was chasing him, and his hands and feet were covered with blood, and he could not wash them clean! Matthew 24:14. This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all nations; and then the end will come.