For the Nations

William Carey exhorted the church of the late 18th century with these inimitable words, “Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God.” Too often, the 21st century church doesn’t expect a thing from God, nor is there much an attempt to do anything great for God. Sure there are churches who have gone out on a limb through the years, but we have all become much too much like a business run corporation instead of a living breathing organism that the Word of God calls the church to be as a body.
So, with this beautiful, passionate, and longest of benedictions in Romans 16, Paul comes to the end of the greatest theological book in the Bible with much the same thought he started with, “according to the command of the eternal God, to advance the obedience of faith among all nations” Romans 16:26 (HCSB). He had previously challenged the church “to bring about the obedience of faith among all the nations, on behalf of His name in Romans 1:5 (HCSB).
If the church has been called to anything, she is called to propagate herself over and over again to any and all peoples. The call to missions rings out loud and clear for the established church to commit to no matter the size nor the financial resources. We have all rec’d the same calling.
Once we are saved, Christians are established by the truth, which explains why Paul wrote this letter: to explain God’s plan of salvation to Christians so they would be established, and so they would share the truth with the lost. After all, we cannot really share with others something we do not have ourselves (Weirsbe, Be Right).
We look around us in the US and think that all the world is like us. Certainly, if they are not, it could only be because they have rejected Jesus as Savior and Lord. Surely they have been told by someone. Yet there are nearly 1 billion 600 million people who have been given only once choice, the choice of hell. They have never even been offered the opportunity to reject the gift of eternal life though Jesus Christ our Lord. That number is staggering. The Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board has right at 6000 missionaries overseas. Let’s do a little mental figuring (alright, I admit, I used a calculator). That means if every missionary was given an assignment to go to these people alone, they would have responsibility over 266,667 people per missionary. This is an all but impossible task. Now, let’s see what could happen if we released the church. There are 16 million Southern Baptists alone, but let’s admit that we can’t find most of them and could only get one out of four to buy into the vision of reaching the nations. Now, we have whittled it down to 4 million. Then, let’s get each of those to commit one week of their time every year to help established missionaries reach the nations who have never heard. We have now moved our mission force from 1 missionary to 250,000 people to 1 missionary to 400 people. A large number, yes, but it could be workable with time. What I am saying is it is possible if the church is released to accomplish this seemingly insurmountable task. And we’re only one of many denominations. What if we all caught the vision to reach the nations? What could happen?
Let’s face it, Jesus didn’t just die for the south or the U.S., but for all the nations…for all. This was always on Paul’s mind and was ultimately what he gave his life for, that all nations, not just the Jewish nation, would know Jesus Christ personally.
The 10/40 window is the area of the world that extends from 40o north parallel to the 10o north parallel and includes countries such as India, China, North Korea, Egypt, Sudan, Libya, Chad, Indonesia, Japan, Mongolia, Iran, and Iraq. It is these nations that we must be willing to put ourselves in his place and understand that it is up to us whether or not this world comes to know Christ and His salvation as well. It is up to us!
We are called to the nations. When I say we, I mean each and every Bible-believing church that includes every individual. Here’s 4 reasons why I believe the Bible says to every one of us about reaching the nations.
1. Every Church Has the Power to Speak the Gospel to the Nations
We read in Romans and see the power has already been provided. “Now to Him who has power to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ (Romans 16:25a).
God has given each of us the power of His Holy Spirit that lives inside each of us. That power was never intended for us to simply consume it upon ourselves. It is working in each one of us so that we can speak the gospel to the nations.
Listen to the words of the Bible that affirms that idea:
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8
We have been given power not to overcome or defeat nations, but that the nations might be saved. It is the message for the nations, the Jew and the Greek and we must tell that they might believe.
If you believe this is true: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek” Romans 1:16. Then we must go!!
2. Every Church Should Understand the Nations Need the Gospel (Romans 16:25b-26a)
according to the revelation of the sacred secret kept silent for long ages, 26 but now revealed and made known through the prophetic Scriptures
For eternity past, the truth that the Gospel would be shared with every nation and nationality was kept hidden. When God attempted to get his people to share the message with the nations, all they could do was avoid that task with much more fervor than they avoided worshipping other gods. As was the case of Jonah when he ran as far he could in the opposite direction.
But as much as the OT believers couldn’t understand the reason that they should proclaim God’s Word of redemption to the world, it was all the New Testament believers could think of doing. They were consumed by it.
So with their desire, God brought the nations to Jerusalem, and as we see in Acts 2, Peter preached willingly and with great power to the people that were gathered from all over the known world for the festival that week.
But our example didn’t stop there. Phillip preached to an Ethiopian Eunuch who brought the Gospel with him back to Ethiopia. Soon, Paul was called to Rome. He then felt a great desire to go to Spain as well. What was the result? The governor accused these men as the people who turned the world upside down! They took these words of Jesus as if they applied directly to them, “This good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world as a testimony to all nations” Matthew 24:14. They could not imagine not being a central part of such an opportunity to change all the world.
3. Every Church Is Commissioned by Jesus Christ to Go to the Nations (Romans 16:26b)
We then read that it is “according to the command of the eternal God, to advance the obedience of faith among all nations.”
Paul’s vision of reaching all the world was being transferred to the believers in Rome. We don’t know how many people there were in that church, but we do know that there were some believers already there, and we also know that there were house churches in Rome. For instance, Priscilla and Aquila had a church that met in their house.
Whatever the actual size of this church was, it was a smaller church that Paul was sharing his vision from God with. This was not the mega-church in Jerusalem or Antioch. So, he reminds them of the commission of Jesus Christ referred to in verse 26 what is called “the command of the eternal God.” This is nothing less than the Great Commission.
His commission has not changed from when it was spoken by our Lord. Whether it be that small, fledgling church in Rome a small 21st century church in Mount Pleasant, SC. Are we only called to go and make disciples of our neighbors? No, the call is to make disciples of all nations. My concern is that we think too small too often. Let’s hear these words again for the first time:
“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” Matthew 28:19
And that wasn’t the first time that Jesus told us that we would have the privilege and opportunity to witness to the nations:
“You will even be brought before governors and kings because of Me, to bear witness to them and to the nations.” Matthew 10:18
4. Every Church Will Worship Jesus Christ with the Nations (Romans 16:27)
“to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ—to Him be the glory forever! Amen.”
Why do we go to the nations? Jesus deserves every nation’s praise. This is how this letter to the Romans ends…with worship. That is how history will end…with worship. It is what we will do in eternity…worship.
Matthew Henry reminds us that all praise is only worthy when it comes to Jesus. He tells us, “All the glory that passes from fallen man to God, so as to be accepted of him, must go through the Lord Jesus, in whom alone our persons and doings are, or can be, pleasing to God.” We will worship Jesus Christ, the King of the nations this way with these words:
“Great and awe-inspiring are Your works, Lord God, the Almighty; righteous and true are Your ways, King of the Nations. Lord, who will not fear and glorify Your name? Because You alone are holy, because all the nations will come and worship before You, because Your righteous acts have been revealed” (Revelation 15:3-4). There will be people from every nation there worshipping around the throne. We are called to be a part of making that happen.
Read Revelation 7:9-12 with me:
“After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were robed in white with palm branches in their hands. 10And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb! 11All the angels stood around the throne, the elders, and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12saying: Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.
Notice that it says that it will be every nation, tribe, people, and even language. That’s people from everywhere, and we are called to be a part of insuring that that will happen. Can you say, “Wow” ?
Jesus is calling His Church, every Bible-believing church, everywhere, no matter what denomination to tell the nations. They wait to hear. What will we do? What will you do?