If You Love Him ... GO!

If you love Him:

 1) Jesus commanded us to GO!

"Go into the entire world and preach the Gospel to all creation." (Mark 16:15)

There is no one excluded from this command to go and no nation excluded from the need to hear. It was this command, the power of the Holy Spirit and a total dedication to Jesus that sent the apostles out to the nations.

2) There are so many who have never heard!

So many have never heard the gospel once, but so few are prepared to leave everything and GO. "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore, beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest." (Matthew 9:37-38)

More people are alive today than have ever lived on the earth. Every minute thousands die to face the judgment seat of Christ – we must Go!
 

3) There are so few Christians going to the unreached!

"How shall they hear without a preacher?" (Romans 10:17)

Even logic and common sense would tell us that we need to redeploy our workforce. So many are telling so few, and so many have so few to tell them.

An industry would take notice of an unreached marketing area, they would send out advertisers, products, etc., to capture that market – yet so many Christians are more concerned with the marketing of products that have financial gain than in taking Jesus who surpasses any product of this earth.

4) We need to live with an eternal perspective!

"And the Lord said to Abram, 'Go forth from your country and from your relatives, and from your father's house ... and I will bless you and make your name great; and so you shall also be a blessing; and I will bless those that bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.'" (Genesis 12:1-3)

God used many in the Bible after they had left their homes, lands, and people. Joseph and Daniel were two who came into their destiny in foreign lands, risking their lives. Paul was sent to the Gentiles and received beating, imprisonment, stoning, shipwreck, and so much more (2 Corinthians 11). God’s blessing is for those with an eternal perspective rather than an earthly one.

 5) We need to redeploy our manpower!

Paul said, "I aspired to preach the Gospel, not where Christ was already named, that I might not build upon another man's foundation; but as it is written, 'They that had no news of Him shall see, and they who have not heard shall understand.'" (Romans 15:20-21)
 
Many nations have Christian television, papers, churches, books, and more Bibles than they use, while others have so few or even none. Most of our manpower is spent giving those who have heard and heard and heard – giving them more and more and more!

6) Jesus wants everyone to hear the gospel!

Oswald J. Smith said, "No one has the right to hear the Gospel twice, while there remains someone who has not heart it once. The greatest need is where the name of Jesus has never been heard – ‘where Christ is not already named!’”

7) Many nations are beginning to close again; we do not have time to wait around!

"We must work the works of Him who sent me, as long as it is day; night is coming, when no man can work." (John 9:4)

Even in Europe laws are being enforced to restrict the nature of the gospel. This was once an unthought-of possibility. Persecution is rising – we do not have time to wait. This generation must sense the urgency and mobilize NOW.
 

8) This is the time to fulfill the Great Commission!

We can’t leave it to someone else. "And this gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come” (Matthew 24:14).  If we really believe this, we will be urgent about it.

Why is there a battle for this? Because the Enemy knows the power of the Great Commission better than a large proportion of the church does. This world is rushing towards its final destiny – the return of the King. The Church spends so much of its time and money on itself while turning its back on those who have never heard the invitation to the wedding feast.

So why do so many stay?

The following are reasons that I hear over and over again from people who give human logic to counteract the COMMAND to GO where the gospel has never been preached:

1) I have not heard the call to GO.

Anyone who has read the Bible has heard the command to go into the entire world and preach to every creature. We have a commission to move outward from Jerusalem, Judea, to the ends of the earth.

 2)  God needs people to stay at home and earn money to give to missions.

Many of these people are actually spending more on themselves, their local church buildings, and staff than reaching the unreached. While it is a worthy statement, a close examination will reveal that for the vast majority (though not all of them), their call to stay and earn money is primarily for their own comfort. You will find them having a far higher standard of living than those who are being obedient and going to the ends of the earth. Those who are truly staying to give will be as sacrificial as those who have left everything to go!

Those who are earning so they can support mission will do it with the same sacrifice as those who are giving everything to reach the nations.

 3) My family.

"He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me..." (Matthew 10:37)

God is concerned about our family and friends, but we must obey God at all costs. Always we should try and win their hearts to be supportive and even to go with us! I have seen many parents won to Jesus through the obedience of their children who, while loving and honoring them, have been faithful to go to the nations. When we obey Him, He takes care of the rest. (1 Samuel 15:22, Mark 10:29)

God does not divide families. All that He asks is to bless a family. If you go and your family owns the vision, every member playing their part, He will bless and provide for you. He is not responsible for children being hurt by ministry; He is responsible for blessing them.

 4) I need to go to college, to university, etc., first.

When I question young people carefully about this, asking why they are going to college or university, I receive the following answers worldwide:

• Everyone goes in our culture - we are about Kingdom culture, not your nations.
• It is hard to get a job without an education - Jesus provides “our jobs” and he does not demand a college degree. There is no Scriptural evidence for making this a priority. Daniel did it God’s way and achieved the highest success as a missionary!
• I will go after I have been educated - is this really what Jesus has asked you to do?
• You need an education to be a missionary - then the disciples would have failed miserably!
• God has told me to go - then go, but make sure that you are in obedience to Him and that you go as a missionary.
• I need this education to GO - there are many who do need this, e.g. to learn a language or skill for the nation to which they are called. These people have a clear vision, they know where, when, and with whom they are going. They are not just going aimlessly - they are intentional.

5) I need to find my marriage partner; I will never find one on the mission field.

Our first priority is to be married to Him. When we look for marriage before obedience to Him, we make it an idol. When we want to date because we see a lack in our lives, we have not made Jesus our everything. Jesus knows our hearts.

There are so many who were ready to GO, but are still at home because they married and lost the vision. So often marriage has become the obstacle and not the release that we say it will be.

If it is the intention of God that we marry, He will have our marriage partner as we obey, not as we disobey!

6) It is too dangerous these days to go.

It has always been dangerous but that has not cancelled the Great Commission. There is danger everywhere these days. This is an uncertain world. The only safe place is to be found “dwelling beneath the shadow of the Almighty” (Psalm 91) and by being obedient to Him.

Jesus made provision for those who will die for Him: “whoever loses his life for My sake and the Gospel's shall save it." (Mark 8:34-35). Whether we live or die, in comfort, or in sacrifice – we must obey.

 7) We are not welcome in most countries.

Jesus was not welcome on this earth but it did not stop Him from coming!

 8) I don’t have the money.

God is responsible for that! Our part is to obey, His part is to provide! This is a primary reason for even those who want to go to stay at home. He is Jehovah Jireh. However it is also a wakeup call to those who should be giving sacrificially financially.

9) I don’t think I could do it.

Then you are the most qualified person because he has promised that, "When I am weak, then He is strong." He has promised to use the foolish to confound the wise. He has promised! Go on a short term missions trip and discover that He will be faithful.

10) I have plans for my life; I am not willing to give up everything in this way.

God has plans to give you a hope and a future, His plans always are for our good, they have our best interest at heart. We are not our own, we have been bought at a price. The key words are “I am not willing… “ Jesus could have said that in Gethsemane but He chose to give up more than we can imagine – so the nations could be returned to Him as His inheritance.

So…

             What are the reasons that you do not GO?
             What are the reasons that you are not mobilizing young people and children today?

For surely: If you love Him you will obey Him – and GO!

 

More Resources