Christ had a unique ministry, message and manner with which He carried out the great commission.
“And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.”
He was a man of vision and action. No vision becomes reality without corresponding action. His call to the disciples to make them fishers of men was an indicator that they would not be stationary but go to where sinners were and preach the soul-saving gospel to them. Though Christ had the power to heal and deliver, He did not open a prayer house where people would throng. Rather, He went out to seek the lost. Unlike Christ, many Christians refuse to go and preach the gospel to sinners where they are. Believers and Christian leaders need not be stagnant but look beyond their membership to the field of the multitudes of unsaved people outside. Every stagnant church is characterised by politics and performance. Narrow-minded members of a settled church are pre-occupied with the positions, possibilities and privileges. But believers who have the mind of Christ look out to see the multitudes of perishing souls; they are moved with compassion to save them like Christ did.
“But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.”
Another attitude of members of a settled church is that they always pray for themselves, to solve internal problems. But Christ teaches that prayers should be centred on solving the problems associated with winning perishing souls into the kingdom. Sinners need our attention; they need to be sought. And we will seek and win them to the Lord.
1. The Critical Condition Of The Lost
Matthew 9:35,36; Isaiah 59:1-8; Romans 3:10-18; 2 Corinthians 4:3,4; Ephesians 4:17-19; 2 Peter 2:20-22.
“But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.”
These multitudes of religious people were lost. They had pastors and shepherds who cared for material rewards and not the salvation of their souls. The condition of the lost is critical, because they pray but God does not answer; they seek but cannot find Him; they are discouraged and fainting, thinking there is no more answer from heaven. Christian labourers, therefore, must be bold and full of faith to declare to sinners that it is sin that separates them from God. No sinner can be neutral: everyone yields members of his body to either serve Satan or God. And, the Lord cannot hear them except they repent of their evil deeds and be saved. Though the lost attend church, “…there is none that seeketh after God.” Rather, they seek for healing, destruction of enemies, deliverance, children, happiness and prosperity. Believers must not follow the pattern of the lost in their pursuit but seek to win them into the Kingdom. They can identify the lost by their sinful lifestyles.
“Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips… There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
The lost are religious but not righteous. They have Bibles but are spiritually blind. Thus, they read the Word but do not understand or believe it. The lost are vain and seek vainglory in their appearance, attitude and actions. They do foolish things that hurt them and others because their understanding is darkened. Not having the life of God in them, they know a lot of things but do not know the most important thing – how to be saved. Bereft of human feelings, they are wicked to family members. Some of these had known the truth before but have backslid and are now like “the sow that was (returning)washed to her wallowing in the mire”.
2. Christ-like Compassion For The Lost
Matthew 9:35,36; Mark 6:34; Luke 10:30-37.
“But when he saw the multitude, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.”
Christ does not want Christians to be glued to the Bible continuously without corresponding action of obedience; it is no sign of spirituality but of insensitivity to the critical condition of the lost multitudes milling into hell. What if Joshua, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Paul and Christ only read the Word without obeying God’s specific command to them? Read the Bible but also go out to preach the gospel to perishing multitudes of people outside. Compassion will spring up in your heart when you visit the prison, hospitals, streets and orphanages to see the conditions of fellow human beings. Christ-like compassion is not just emotional feelings. Compassion in the heart will lead you to minister to the needs of people you see in schools, markets, communities and other public places. When Christ was “moved with compassion toward them… he began to teach them many things.” Christian leaders and workers who are content with discharging religious duties in their churches behave like the negligent priest and Levite in the Bible. But the mind and expectation of God from every believer is to be dutifully engaged in saving perishing souls as the Good Samaritan did. Believers must be flexible in their plans and count no cost too high to pay and no sacrifice too great to make for the salvation of lost souls or preservation of saved souls. Like the Good Samaritan rescued the half-dead man who fell among thieves, Christ commands every believer to “go, and do thou likewise”. To demonstrate such practical compassion, there must be powerful passion, prolonged prayer, purposeful planning, prepared personnel, personal participation, persistent programmes, and parenting and preservation.
3. Christians’ Commission To The Lost
Matthew 28:19,20; Mark 16:15,16; 2 Timothy 4:1-6.
The believer’s commission is to reach the lost with the gospel and get them converted. Those who get converted are to be baptised in water. Conserving and integrating them into the body of Christ involves “teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” Many churches now concentrate on ministering to themselves as there are no new converts any more in their meetings. But God’s will is to teach new converts that we are winning His Word. Believers do not fear Satan and his cohorts because of Christ’s promised presence. His presence is ever with us, as long as we obey His command to preach the gospel to every creature.
“Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature”. Do not preach politics, church history, personal opinion, denominationalism, tradition or religion but the gospel of Christ. Every believer’s plan must revolve around the fulfilment of the great and last commission of Christ and the apostle Paul. We must make soul-winning our priority.
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