The Mission Field Just Inside Your Front Door

Wade Webster

The We often talk about the mission field just outside our front door.  While this is certainly true, we might miss an even closer mission field - the mission field just inside our front door.  It is this mission field that I want us to consider in this article.

Our Mates

Some are married to non-Christians.  It should be your goal to win them to Christ. Peter wrote, “Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives, when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear” (1 Peter 3:1-2).  Husbands and wives have the opportunity and the responsibility to try to save each other.  Paul wrote, “For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife?” (1 Corinthians 7:16).

Our Children

Some homes have children who have reached the age of accountability but have not obeyed the gospel yet.  Parents have both an opportunity and a responsibility to talk to them about putting on Christ in baptism.  Other homes have children who are rapidly growing to the age of accountability.  It is not too early to start planting and watering these seeds.  Like Noah, we want to save our houses or families.  We read, “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith” (Hebrews 11:7).

Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Nephews, Nieces, Etc.

In addition to the family members who regularly live inside the home, there are other family members who visit from time to time.  Some of these family members may not be Christians.  Their visits present excellent opportunities to win them for Christ.  For example, grandchildren can invite grandparents to come with them to worship.  It is hard for a grandparent to say no to that. Young people can be a powerful example.  Paul wrote, “Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity” (“1 Timothy 4:12).

Handymen, Appliance-repairmen, Maids, and Babysitters

From time to time, we have handymen and appliance-repairmen come into our homes. This presents us with an excellent opportunity to help them to fix what is broken in their lives.  Other homes have maids and babysitters that come in on a regular basis.  Over time, a very close relationship can be formed with these workers.  What a shame it would be for these individuals to help us with earthly concerns, and for us to help them with eternal concerns. As you know, many servants became saints in the New Testament.  In fact, Paul wrote an entire book about one of these servants.  We read, “For perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose, that you might receive him forever” (Philemon 1:15). 

Friends

Often, friends come into our homes.  These friends are some of the closest relationships that we have on earth.  Solomon wrote, “A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24).  No doubt, you remember that Philip found his friend after he found Jesus.  We read, “The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, “Follow Me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph” (John 1:43-45). Surely, like Philip, we want to introduce our friends to the greatest friend that any man can have - Jesus Christ.  Jesus declared, “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:12-13). 

When you are thinking about mission fields, don’t forget the one just inside your front door.  There are likely some in this field who also need the gospel.

Do You Love Your Neighbor As Yourself?

Wade Webster

The Bible commands us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.  It is the second greatest commandment, right after loving God with all our heart, soul, and mind.   In Matthew, we read, “Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets” (Mat. 22:35-40).  No doubt, all of us would say that we love our neighbor in this way, but do we really? Let’s take a closer look and see.

If your house was on fire and you were inside, what would you want your neighbor to do? No doubt, you would want them to do everything that they could do to get you out.  You would want them to pull you out of the fire.  Well, that’s what they need you to do.  Jude wrote, “And on some have compassion, making a distinction; but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh” (Jude 22-23).

If you had been bitten by a deadly snake, what would you want your neighbor to do?   No doubt, you would want them to do all that they could to help you get the anti-venom that you needed to live.  Likely, you remember when deadly snakes bit the people in Moses’ day.  God’s antidote was a brazen serpent on a pole.  To live, individuals had to look on that serpent.  Today, men have been bitten by a deadly serpent (Satan).  Poison (sin) is rapidly spreading throughout their system. They need God’s antidote.  Jesus said, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:14-16).

If you were dying of hunger or thirst, what would you want your neighbor to do?  No doubt, you would want them to share bread and water with you.  Well, this is the condition that they are in, even if they don’t know it.  Physically, they may have plenty.  However, spiritually speaking, they don’t.  They need the bread of life and the living water.  Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe” (John 6:35-36).

If a thief or a murderer was breaking into your house, what would you want your neighbor to do? No doubt, you would want them to warn you.  Well, the devil is a thief and a murderer.  Jesus declared, “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside” (Mat. 13:19).  Again, He said “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it” (John 8:44).

If a hungry lion was loose in your neighborhood, what would you want your neighbor to do? No doubt, you would want your neighbor to give you warning.  Peter wrote, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world” (1 Peter 5:8-9).

If you were in darkness, and your neighbor had light, what would you want them to do?  No doubt, you would want them to share the light with you. The world lies in darkness.  We have the light.  Jesus declared, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” (John 8:12).

If a wonderful gift was free to all who knew about it, what would you want your neighbor to do? No doubt, you would want them to tell you about it.  Paul wrote, “But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life” (Rom. 5:15-18).

How did you do in answering the questions above?  Are you doing for your neighbor what you would want him to do for you?

Five Things That Justify & Three Observations

Wade Webster

Five things are recorded as justifying us in the Scriptures:

• Faith - “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). “
• Works - “You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only” (James 2:24).
• Grace - “That having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:7).
• The Blood of Jesus - “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him” (Romans 5:9).
• The Spirit - “And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11).
• Christ - “But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not!’” (Galatians 2:17).

The Bible is clear on all five of these things.

What are some observations that can be made from these things?

First, if all of these things are involved in justification, and they clearly are, then justification is not by any one of them alone.  Yet, many in the religious world argue that justification is by faith alone.  I have even heard a few argue that justification is by grace alone through faith alone.  Try to wrap your mind around that.  If it involves both grace and faith, then it is by neither of these things alone.  Think of a simple illustration of this.  At one time Adam was alone (Gen. 2:18), but then God made Eve and brought her to him.  Now, Adam was not alone.  He had a helpmeet.  He had Eve.  To say that Adam was alone would have been to ignore the gift of God. In like manner, once grace and faith are together, faith is no longer alone.  To argue justification by faith alone is to deny the gift (grace) that God has given.

Second, if one of these things can be discarded, then all of them can be discarded. If not, why not?  Would any argue that you could discard Christ and His blood?  Would anyone argue that you could discard grace?  No, none are so bold.  Yet, many try to discard works. However, if works can be discarded, then so can faith. Faith could even be discarded on the basis that it is a work (John 6:29; 1 Thess. 1:3). 

Third, if all these things are connected to justification, then we should be able to see connections between them.  Do connections exist?  We have already seen that grace and faith are connected (Eph. 2:8). Faith and blood are also connected (Rom. 3:25):  Perhaps, the most surprising thing of all is that faith and works are connected (James 2:22). We must not put asunder what God has joined together (Mat. 19:6). 

The Bible is clear on justification.  Have you been justified by these five things?

Wanting Others To Be Saved, Too

David Sproule

The Bible teaches that God “desires all men to be saved” (1 Tim. 2:4).  A diligent reader will learn that not only does God want the reader to be saved, but God wants the reader to want others to be saved also.  Salvation is the message of the Bible and we are the messengers who have been sent.

We have been sent to save the lost. Millions of accountable people are living who have never obeyed the gospel. In God’s eyes, they are lost (cf. 2 Thess. 1:8-9).  They are dying in their sins.  Our responsibility, as Christians, is to do all we can to take the saving message of the gospel “to every creature” (Mark 16:15).

We have been sent to save the wayward. There are many folks who once were saved but have fallen away and allowed themselves to become entangled again in the affairs of this world.  In God’s eyes, they are lost (cf. 2 Pet. 2:20-22).  They, too, are dying in their sins.  Our responsibility, as faithful Christians, is to do all we can to turn back anyone who “wanders from the truth…[to] save a soul from death…” (James 5:19-20).

We have been sent to save our neighbors. The example of the early church was a church that went to “every house” (Acts 5:42), going “house to house” (Acts 20:20), teaching Jesus as the Christ.  Our responsibility, as Christians, is to love our neighbor, seeking their greatest need—i.e., their salvation.

We have been sent to save our children. Our children are not toys to play with; they are “a heritage from the Lord” (Psa. 127:3).  The responsibility of parents is to aim these little “arrows” (127:4) back to the Lord by teaching them the Word and the way of God (Deut. 11:19) and setting a godly example before them that they may “glorify your Father in heaven” and be saved (Matt. 5:16).

We have been sent to save the unbelieving spouse. When the New Testament speaks of the one who is married to an unbeliever, it emphasizes the possibility of the unbelieving spouse being “sanctified” or “saved” by the Christian spouse (1 Cor. 7:14, 16), even if by the Christian’s conduct “without a word” being spoken (1 Pet. 3:1).  Salvation is always to be our emphasis.

Add our family members, friends, government leaders, coworkers, enemies, etc., etc.  God wants all of them to be saved.  Do our actions show that we do, too?

Finding Contacts For Evangelism – Part 2

Wade Webster

In the first part of this study, we noticed some of those that the Bible identifies as contacts - an unbelieving mate (1 Pet. 3:1-2), a friend (John 1:43-46), a neighbor (Eph. 4:25), and a family member (John 1:40-41). In this final part of our study, we will notice many others who fall into this category.

People In The Town Where We Live

“The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” Then they went out of the city and came to Him.” (John 4:28-30).

“Now it shall come to pass in the latter days That the mountain of the LORD’s house Shall be established on the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills; And all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths.”

For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:2-3).

“How I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Acts 20:20-21).

A Co-Worker

“After these things Paul departed from Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla (because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome); and he came to them. So, because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and worked; for by occupation they were tentmakers” (Acts 18:1-3).

One Who Visits Our Church Services

“For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes,” (James 2:2).

A Stranger

“He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing. Therefore love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” (Deuteronomy 10:18-19).

A Runaway

“Therefore, though I might be very bold in Christ to command you what is fitting, yet for love’s sake I rather appeal to you—being such a one as Paul, the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ— I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten while in my chains, who once was unprofitable to you, but now is profitable to you and to me” (Philemon 1:8-11).

Surely, we all can find at least one contact from the categories above. Who do you know who needs the gospel?