Why Should I Support Missions?, Part 1

Today on Fellowship in the Word, Pastor Bill Gebhardt challenges you to become a fully functioning follower of Jesus Christ. They believe unless they are sent. That's where we come in.

You see, that's where we come in. That's the responsibility of the church. You see, to take the gospel to all creation. You see, to make disciples of all people groups. People are sent all around the world.

And we're senders. Now we take the gospel across the street, but we send people to take the gospel around this world. That's a very big responsibility that we have as a church.

Now, the question I want to answer this morning is this one. What is the right perspective for us as a church when we support missionaries around the world? Thank you for joining us today on this edition of Fellowship in the Word with Pastor Bill Gebhardt.

Fellowship in the Word is the radio ministry of Fellowship Bible Church located in Metairie, Louisiana. Let's join Pastor Bill Gebhardt now as once again he shows us how God's word meets our world. You know, as things are coming better and better here in the United States, Ranjeet is reminding us it's not that way everywhere in this world. What's going on in India is unparalleled when it comes to this pandemic.

I hope you caught some of the ideas that he said. And he had told me that how many people in their church already they know family members and that that have died. There are no hospital rooms. There's no oxygen in the country.

There are mass cremations of people being done in India and then mass graves. We have supported Ranjeet for the past 10 years. I hope you know him somewhat. He's been here a couple of times.

He's one of the most gifted men that I've ever met and an extraordinary man. And the thing I always noticed most about Ranjeet was he always has had the joy of the Lord on his face, always. He came to the United States, got his master's degree in engineering from Auburn, and then decided he wanted to go into ministry. And his brother came from India and he's in Atlanta. And his parents thought that's where Ranjeet would land. But Ranjeet went to Dallas Seminary and then back to Delhi to plant a church in that particular area. And so when I think about the kind of things that are happening there, they're locked down, which means you don't go out of the house. This doesn't mean that you, you know, you have to socially distance when you're out there.

You're not allowed to be out there. And so what's happening there is kind of an amazing thing, but a reminder that what Ranjeet is doing. Ranjeet is giving the gospel to people on the other side of the world that you and I can't.

But we're part of the process. Jesus gave what he called the Great Commission to his church. Matthew, he says, you need to make disciples of all the nations.

Ethnos means nations, all the people groups. You need to make disciples of them all. And Mark, Mark wrote, go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. That's what we're to do. Here at Fellowship Bible Church, we have believed that in our past.

We believe it now and I pray that we believe it into the future. This is what's most important. You see, one of the things I think that we have to understand and I've said this in the past, but everything that we do as a church, we will do exponentially better when we get to heaven.

Everything except one thing. And we won't win the lost. You see, the stakes are that high. We won't win people to Christ once we're there. This is our opportunity and this is our responsibility to do both of these things. And so it's our job to take the gospel across the street. And it's also our job to help others take the gospel around the world. This is extremely important to God and needs to be important to us. So I want you to open your Bibles first to Romans chapter 10, Romans chapter 10 and verse 11.

Romans chapter 10 and verse 11, the apostle Paul writing. And he says in verse 11, for the scripture says, whoever believes in him will not be disappointed. That's kind of an understatement. Whoever believes in him will not be disappointed. Let me say it the other way. He who doesn't believe in him is really going to be disappointed. That's what's going to happen. Billions of people are going to be really disappointed. And they pretend now that they're not going to be.

I'm going to be fine. We live in a culture that pretty much is, except for a few exceptional people, everybody's going to be in heaven together. But these people are going to be disappointed. And the culture in which we live, what you often hear if you said to a person, you know, do you think you're going to go to heaven when you die? They'll say, yes, I do. And you would say, why do you think that? And they would say, because I'm a good person. And I think that'll work. I think God will grade on the curve and God will say, I get to go because I'm not a bad person.

And that's a sad and tragic mistake. Religious people all over the world will say, I practice my religion and my religion means that I'll be able to get there. But here Paul says, whoever believes in him will not be disappointed. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one will come to the Father but through me. That's the heart of what we believe. He says then in verse 12, for there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord is Lord over all, abounding in riches for all and all who call on him.

What he says there is, this is for everybody. From a point of view of a Jew in the first century, there's only two kinds of people in the world. Jews and Greeks are Gentiles.

Everybody falls into one of those categories. You're either a Jew or you're not a Jew, you're a Gentile. He said, what I'm saying is this applies to everybody, not just Jewish people. This applies to all the Gentile people as well.

It's for everybody. And then he goes on and he says, for whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved. There it is. It's about as simple as it could be.

It's straightforward. Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved. But then he goes on and explains it. Each one of these fours, he goes, how then will they call on him if they have not believed? So now you know what it means to call on the Lord.

You have to believe. You see, you have to believe who Christ is and what Christ has done. That's when you call on the Lord. That's when he will save you. Then it says, after he says that, he says, how will they believe in him whom they have not heard? You see, if you never hear the gospel, you'll never believe in Christ and you'll never call on God.

It'll never happen. So someone has to tell someone, I remember when I heard. You probably remember when you heard.

I heard many, many times before I finally believed it, but I did hear. Then he says, and how will they hear without a preacher? That word preacher doesn't mean me.

OK, it means you. It's a proclaimer. The word means to proclaim. Someone has to tell someone the gospel for them to believe it so that they can call on the Lord. He said, how will they preach? Unless they are sent.

Just as it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news and good things. How will they believe unless they are sent? That's where we come in.

You see, that's where we come in. That's the responsibility of the church. You see, to take the gospel to all creation. You see, to make disciples of all people groups. People are sent all around the world, and we're senders. Now, we take the gospel across the street, but we send people to take the gospel around this world. That's a very big responsibility that we have as a church. Now, the question I want to answer this morning is this one. What is the right perspective for us as a church when we support missionaries around the world?

What is the right perspective that we should have collectively and you should have individually when it comes to this idea? And I found that in Philippians chapter 4, Philippians chapter 4 and verse 10. I've been through this section of Philippians many times in the past, preaching it and teaching it. And every time I've ever done it, I never looked at it from this perspective.

I always looked at it from a different perspective. This is the section where Paul deals with the subject of contentment. And so you end up talking about Paul and his contentment. But there's something else in this section.

There's a whole different way of looking at this section. And it has to do with the idea of supporting missionaries who take the gospel. Now, the first thing I'm going to say out of verse 10 is this. Our giving to missions often needs to be revived. Our giving to missions often needs to be revived. Notice what he says. But I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at last you have revived your concern for me.

Indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity. Paul says that the Philippians need to be revived in their thinking. The word revived is ana thalo, ana means again, thalo means to flourish, for it to again flourish. It's a horticultural term that take dead plants and you nurture them and they come back to life.

They flourish. He said, that's what you have to do. Paul's under house arrest in Rome at this time. He doesn't know if he's going to live or not. This time he does live. He gets out. This is his first imprisonment.

But that's where he's at. It's been 11 years since Paul was in Philippi. So, it's 11 years later and he's writing to them. They had supported him earlier quite a bit. And then something happened to them. And what's interesting of what happened to them in 2 Corinthians 8 and verse 1, Paul describes that the churches in Macedonia were generous even though they were in deep poverty. These churches were extremely poor and were going through really difficult times because of the poverty they had. He's writing it to sort of shame the Corinthians because the Corinthians said they would give a lot of money for Paul and they never did.

They're more the suburbanites. But the Philippians and the Thessalonians are poor. And so maybe one of the reasons they didn't give is because of their poverty, although I doubt that.

It also could simply be the great distance so they lacked opportunity. But there's something else that Paul says here. He says right in the beginning of the verse, I rejoiced in the Lord greatly. He rejoiced in the Lord. Now, you might be thinking, well, he rejoiced in the Lord because the Philippians gave him what he needed. Not true.

He's not rejoicing for himself at all. We'll look at that in just a moment. He's rejoicing in the Lord that they are engaged in spreading the gospel around their world.

That's what they are engaged in. It's interesting to me that that's such an important thing to Paul. One of the things we've done over all the years here at the church is our missions and outreach budget has always been established by the congregation.

It's never been established by the leadership. We'll never say, oh, we're going to take 10 percent of our giving and then give it the missions. We're not going to do that. You need to decide what you want to give to the spreading of the gospel. It's from each and every one of us. See, it's not a church policy type thing. In fact, this kind of giving has nothing to do with general fund giving, has nothing to do with regular giving. This isn't Sunday morning giving. This is giving for the idea of the spread of the gospel. And that's why Paul said he had so much joy in this. And that's the second point. Our giving to missions should produce a tremendous amount of joy.

Wow. Why are they so joyful? Now, notice verse 11, not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. Paul's not joyful because he really needed stuff.

He said, I don't need anything. I'm content. See, I'm already content. Don't think that I'm joyful because you gave me things that I needed. I'm joyful because you gave me things. My joy is for you, not for me. My joy is not for me.

My joy is for you. It's interesting that he goes on then and in verse 12 and he says, I know how to get along with humble means. I also know how to live in prosperity in any and every circumstance. I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.

Wow. Paul is saying he learned the secret. Apparently it is a secret and it's still a secret because I find so many people that are not content.

And I find so many Christians that are not content. If there's one thing that should mark us as people, which should be we are the content people. Paul says, I don't care if I was in the penthouse or the outhouse. I'm content.

I don't care if I'm in prison or in a palace. I'm content. If I have a lot or I don't have anything, I'm content. What's Paul saying? What is contentment?

An inside job. See, that's what Paul was saying. Contentment is an inside job and it marks him as a believer.

What do we often think? Contentment is an outside job. I mean, just take change the circumstances. You think very many people or even yourself have been a little discontent in the last year?

Yeah. Well, it's because the economy is suffering. It makes me discontent.

The COVID is here and that makes me more discontent. You see, it's an interesting thing because what we lack is contentment. What we should always have is contentment. If you just think about it from this point of view, if the whole world around you is discontent and panic and fearful because of what we've gone through and you are completely content, what kind of witness would that be to them? Now, they might think you're deluded but they'd say, how can you do this? How can you possibly be content?

Don't you realize how everything is suffering? Paul would say, sure. I understand. That has nothing to do with contentment. That's not how you measure contentment.

You see, that's what he is saying. Paul was trying to let them know that there's a tremendous amount of contentment that he has and it's a secret. By the way, when I think of Paul, I think that he was shipwrecked, beaten with rods, stoned and left for dead, imprisoned and snake bit. Now, there's a picture of contentment.

Think of this though. He's in his mid to late 60s and he has probably walked somewhere between 4,000 and 6,000 miles in his ministry, walked. I could imagine that maybe very content, walking through Turkey, Greece. Paul says, yeah, I'm content. All these things that have happened because I learned the secret, he says, of all of it. You see, it marks a certain spirituality. Hold your place here and go with me to 1 Timothy. 1 Timothy chapter 6 and verse 6, Paul says this, but godliness actually is a means of great gain, notice then, when it's accompanied by contentment. In other words, he's saying, you want to know what the mark of spiritual maturity is, godliness? It's contentment. See, it's a great gain to be content.

That should mark us. If you think you're a spiritually mature believer and you're not content, you're not a spiritually mature believer. You just think you are. You see, you just think you are. Paul says, no, I said, but if you can do that, it'll make you content. Now, what? Verse 7, for we have brought nothing into the world so we can't take anything out of it either.

Just a reminder, Paul realizes something. What makes you really content? Stuff.

You just love stuff. The more stuff you have, the more content you'll be. Paul says, you know, that's kind of short-sighted because the point will be when you leave, you're not taking any stuff with you. And there are actually people who are really upset as they're approaching death because they can't take their stuff with them. You don't get to take your stuff. I mean, you get to take some half suit that the funeral home puts on the front of you. You get to take that with you.

You don't get stuff. You brought nothing into the world. You're leaving with nothing. But Paul's saying, when I leave, I'm leaving with contentment.

And by the way, when he writes 2 Timothy, that's what he says. I have fought the good fight, you see. I'm content.

They're going to behead me in probably just a few weeks or months, but I'm okay. You see, I'm content. He said, if we have food and covering, with these we would be content. He said, this stuff doesn't mean much to me.

Jesus approached that on the Sermon on the Mount and said, why do you worry about what you're going to wear, what you're going to eat, why? Your father knows what you need. You see, seek first his kingdom. And guess what?

Not only will he add it to it, but guess what you'll be? Content. So you have to ask yourself. And by the way, when you see, since the COVID has begun, the amount, the amount of pharmaceuticals that are being sold to Americans because of their anxiety, stress, worry and fears is unbelievable.

And what does it tell you? They're not content. We're not content.

I need something else to sort of make me content. Paul says, well, there is something else. Now, back to the Philippian passage. Now, when you see this, it's interesting to me that he said, I know how to get along in humble means and also know how to live in prosperity.

In any and every circumstance, I've learned the secret of being filled, going hungry and having an abundance and suffering need. That word contentment is interesting. It's a Greek word that means a certain city or town in Greece. They call certain towns this word we call contentment. It means a town that doesn't need any imports into it to self-sustain itself.

It doesn't need anything from the outside to sustain itself as a town or a city. And Paul is saying that's what you and I can be. You see, he's not saying I deny it. Paul never said I don't want to prosper because when he did it, he said I was content. He said, but if I don't prosper, I'm still content.

It has nothing to do with my contentment. It's kind of an interesting thing. Now, what's interesting about it, too, is that as he goes on here, and he says this particular thing, he said, verse 13, the key to it all, I can do all things through him, he said, who strengthens me. It's a secret. That's a secret.

What's your secret? Jesus. Why are you content at Jesus? You mean under any circumstances, yes.

Well, they're going to behead you. I'm content. You see, that's what Christ offers you and I, contentment.

Think about it from this point of view. If you have the Lord, what could you have any more than that at all? You have everything. And by the way, for those of you who are materially inclined, of which some of you probably are, when you die, absent in the body, present with the Lord, what are you going to inherit? Everything. And I don't mean a little farm on the North Shore and having a... No, I don't mean that.

I mean everything that's in the created universe. You're a joint heir with Christ and it's all his. You've been listening to Pastor Bill Gebhardt on the Radio Ministry of Fellowship in the Word. If you ever miss one of our broadcasts or maybe you would just like to listen to the message one more time, remember that you can go to a great website called oneplace.com. That's oneplace.com and you can listen to Fellowship in the Word online.

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