Fearless Missionary

How imperfect we are as human beings. How sinful our very nature, to its core, is. The filth that comes rushing out of our mouths is like an infinite waterfall. The sludge that fills our minds is like a septic tank that cannot be emptied. Our righteous deeds are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6).

But does this stop Jesus from asking us to fulfill His purpose on Earth? Does this stop Jesus from opening His arms and giving out blessings to every filthy rag in existence? By no means. As a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ we have been given a gift that is beyond anything else in this world. That gift is summed up in one word, grace.

Grace is the free undeserved gift of God presented to you; you cannot earn it and you cannot be good enough for it. You can only receive it with a thankful heart.

This is an essential truth that the apostle Paul understood better than most people ever will. In Acts 26 Paul appeals to King Agrippa and lays out his life as a religious leader, in the strictest sect of Judaism; the Pharisees, and how he was confronted by Jesus on the way to Damascus (to persecute Christians there!). This confrontation between Jesus and Paul led to Paul's conversion to Christianity. This is what he is being persecuted and brought before the courts for in Acts 25-26.

What I want to draw attention to is Acts 26:27-29;

"King Agrippa, do you believe the Prophets? I know that you do."

Agrippa replied to Paul, "In a short time you will persuade me to become a Christian."

And Paul said, "I [pray] to God, that whether in a short or long time, not only you, but also all who hear me this day, might become such as I am, except for these chains."

Paul, deemed missionary by Jesus Christ himself, presents the gospel to King Agrippa. This is incredible seeing as Paul is supposed to be giving a defense for himself as to why he should not be killed! Paul persecuted the Christians harshly, Paul watched and organized the stoning of Stephen (the first martyr), Paul made it his life goal to kill the Christians and wipe out the name of Jesus completely, but Paul knew greater than anyone the kind of grace that he had received; he knew how much he had been forgiven. Paul's prayer is that the King would come to know Jesus, and everyone else who is listening to his words. We need to learn from this! We need to look at Paul's example; a fearless missionary. He knew that the gospel contained power, he knew what he had been forgiven and how incredible it was to be able to take part in that gift.

How on Earth can we sit here, being someone who has received this gift from Jesus, and keep it to ourselves?!?! This is selfish! We must go out into all of the world and share with them the incredible gift that Jesus offers! We cannot be afraid that man will hate us, we cannot be afraid that we might look stupid in the eyes of someone else, we must realize that the gospel contains power and that we are not acting on our own accord, but Christ with us (Matthew 28:20, Romans 1:16).

I want to leave this post with a quote from Charles Spurgeon, a fearless preacher of Christ.

"On the other side of Agrippa sat Festus - a man's man, a no-nonsense man, a man who thought Paul was crazy. Perhaps Agrippa thought, "I can't become a Christian! Festus will think I'm crazy too!" And because he wanted the praise of men, he rejected Jesus. "Alas, how many are influenced by fear of men! Oh, you cowards, will you be damned out of fear? Will you sooner let your souls perish than show your manhood by telling a poor mortal that you defy his scorn? Dare you not follow the right through all men in the world should call you to do the wrong? Oh, you cowards! You cowards! How you deserve to perish who have not enough soul to call your souls your own, but cower down before the sneers of fools!"

The Resurrection of the Dead

As I was sitting here reading through the Scriptures, a couple verses stuck out to me in a way that they never have before. What I want to take a look at is Matthew 22:31-33;

³¹ But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, ³² ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”

³³ When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.

To put this in context, this story starts off by a group of Sadducees (a sect of Jews active in Ancient Israel during the second temple period who filled various political, religious and social roles) coming up to Jesus and asking Him who gets to be married to a mans wife in heaven if he dies and then seven of his brothers end up marrying her and they die off also. They ask this question because Moses taught in Deuteronomy that "If a man dies having no children, his brother as next of kin shall marry his wife, and raise up children for his brother" (Deuteronomy 25:5). As this discussion progressed, Jesus began rebuking their question and showing them how foolish they were to think that they needed to marry in heaven. In fact, Jesus says that there will be no marriage in heaven; every need we have will be met completely by the glory of the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.


So, Jesus took this opportunity that the Sadducees gave him and began speaking to them about the true resurrection [The Sadducees also said that there was no resurrection. And of course Jesus knew this]. What an incredible statement we see here by Jesus! These Sadducees were trying to trap Jesus by getting him to answer a question of theirs in a way that they only thought He would be able to. Their intention was to get Jesus to tell them something that was contrary to what the Lord already said (Matthew 22:15). This is something that all of us struggle with every day. We like to ask God for something, or to do something, but we place Him in this box - in the box of our own imagination of what God can say/do/think/etc. But you see, God knows all of that. Jesus took their question, that was full of sin and deceit, and caught them off guard by saying, "But regarding the resurrection..."
Jesus met them on their level, even though they were plotting against Him. This is how good the He is. Jesus wanted them to be saved. He says to them, "[God] IS the God of Abraham and IS the God of Isaac and IS the God of Jacob." What he is denoting here is that the Patriarchs are still alive! How can somebody that has been dead for hundreds of years still be alive if there is no resurrection? This is what Jesus was trying to pound into their heads! Yahweh is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. This is such an incredible message from the Lord. Jesus did not have to go out of His way to not only answer their question but give them reason for why God says what He says. No, He never had to do that. But the point is that He did. Jesus wants all to understand that there is something more out there for them; that after this life, we are going to be resurrected somewhere. He met them on their level, He reasoned with them using material that they would have known by heart, being Jewish and all (Exodus 3:6). What Jesus is saying is that physical death is not the final death, there is no final death. Our bodies are that of flesh and that of Spirit (soul), and the Spirit (soul) lives on to accompany a new body in the afterlife - we are immortal. 


The last part of this passage is what strikes me the most, "when the crowds heard this, they were astonished at His teaching." This is the reaction people have when the message of Jesus is taught. We do not know whether or not anyone in this crowd came to know Christ personally. Some could have been astonished that He was going against what the religious leaders of the day taught and decided to plot against Jesus all the more, and some could have been astonished that He was speaking with such authority that this message could only be from God and therefore true. We know that both of these actions are true reactions of other crowds in the Bible, but this one we do not know for sure. But this IS what we see even today when the message of Christ is proclaimed! People do not know what to think when such a provocative and authoritative message is taught to them. What we get from this passage is that we need to anticipate this reaction and meet people where they are at. If we encounter a Jew who hears the message of salvation through Jesus Christ and is receptive towards it, we need to meet him there. Likewise if we meet a Jew who is not receptive, we need to reason with Him as Jesus did here (and as Peter exhorts us to do in 1 Peter 3:15). This goes for anyone who is willing to hear the Word (that is, Jesus and the Scriptures) spoken. If Jesus could do this, and He says that we will do greater things than He (John 14:12), then we must look to His example when preaching the gospel of Salvation and proclaim the Word of God with authority, compassion, and zeal (Philippians 2:5 NASB).


God is good. He will look past your sin if you let Him. Take the gift that is right in front of you and then share it with the world. Start a revolution for the sake of Jesus, who, for the joy set before Him (that is, knowing of your salvation), endured the cross and the wrath of God so that you did not have to.

A Wise Decision

Acts 5:38-39 Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.”

These two verses, put in context, relate back to when the Pharisees bring Peter and the apostles before the Sanhedrin, which was the supreme court of ancient Israel. This passage is from a man named Gamaliel, a member of the Sanhedrin.

These verses spoke directly to me as I was reading today. What an awesome image we get from this one man. Gamaliel seemed to have some sort of understanding about humanity vs. divine intervention. He knew that if these men were to go around sharing this false message that they created in their own minds, it would eventually fail and become nothing but mere words spoken. On the contrary, he was also aware that if this message was from God, if what these apostles were doing was divinely ordained by the Lord God Himself, then the Sanhedrin persecution of the apostles would do nothing. Gamaliel knew something that the rest of the Sanhedrin did not, he knew how to be patient. He wanted a sign before condemning the apostles, but he knew that they would not be able to do a single thing about it because the apostles would either destroy themselves or succeed no matter how much persecution came their way.

How true is this! We see that the latter part of Gamaliel's statement is what actually happened! These pharisees, the Jewish leaders, ended up killing off the apostles, including Peter. But, dare I ask, what did that end up doing? Nothing. The persecution of the apostles, and Christian leaders since, has done nothing to stop the message of Jesus Christ from being spread throughout the entire world.

Do you know why this is?

Because those fighting against the true followers and ambassadors of Jesus Christ are really fighting against God Himself, just as Gamaliel said.

No matter which way you look at it, this is exactly what Gamaliel stated. He wanted to warn his colleagues that, before they decide to do something rash, they need to think of what they are doing and realize that fighting God is only going to end in their own destruction. How futile it would be to fight with the God of Creation.

As a member of the family of God, as a beloved Child of Jesus Christ, I will stand firm knowing that the Lord Himself is before me and, ultimately, is the one who is continually preaching the message of the gospel through me.

Matthew 28:18-20 "Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (emphasis added)

Romans 1:16 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile."