The Church’s M ission Today
out to the Gentiles. The responsibility in Kingdom mis sions does not rest upon Israel to send but upon the Gentiles to come and to get the truth. Notice further that Old Testament missions are to receive universal ac ceptance followed by universal peace (Isaiah 2:1-4). How fatal is the mistake when one attempts to find Church missions in the Old Testament with its impli cation of universal acceptance. This is where a post- millennial program originates. Certainly there is not one single line in the New Testament that will justify one in believing that the world will be won to Christ in this age. NOW NOTICE CHURCH MISSIONS. The Church is to “ go” after the lost. Everywhere in the New Testa ment the commission is to “ go out,” find the lost, take the gospel to them. The purpose is to “ call out” a people for His name. Notice how perfectly these two pictures are brought out in the Jerusalem Conference, where such things were dealt with and explained. Acts 15:13-18: “And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, harken unto me: Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will find again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, doeth all these things. Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.” We emphasize two words in particular. “ Simeon hath declared how God for the first time did visit the Gentiles to take out of them . . . ” Here the Church is an election. Simon Peter’s visit to the house of Cornelius is a type of missions in this age. “ After this I will return . . .” to do what? “ . . . to build again the tabernacle of David which is fallen down . . and build again the ruins thereof.” For what purpose? That the residue of men may seek after the Lord. Notice your word visit in verse 14 and seek in verse 17. Surely men are not seeking the Lord now. If so, Romans 3:11: “There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God” is made to conflict with the above. Suppose we draw two circles. In both, the center is Jerusalem. Above our first circle we place “ Church Missions” or missions prevailing in this age. Consistent ly New Testament missions begin with Jerusalem (Acts 1:8) and reach out to the ends of the earth. All arrows radiate from Jerusalem, “ both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, in-Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Over the second circle we place “ Kingdom Missions,” with Jerusalem in the center. The arrows here converge to the center. In Kingdom Missions, missionaries are not sent out to the Gentiles, but the Gentiles are required to “ come up” to Jerusalem. Take a few examples. Isaiah 22:1-5: “ The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw con cerning Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations
shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. 0 house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.” The same is true with Isaiah 60:1-5: “Arise, shine; for the light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the bright ness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be en larged; because the abundance of the sea shall be con verted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee.” Universal acceptance shall prevail during the time of “ Kingdom Missions.” If the nations do not “ come up,” judgment shall rest upon them. Isaiah 60: 11-12: “Therefore thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought. For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted.” In the second Psalm we have the promise of universal conversion. “Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.” The “me” here refers to Christ asking the Father, as proven by the preceding verse. “ Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.” (See Acts 13:33.) This passage is often used as a missionary text today. How absurd in the light of the next verse which gives the missionary technique: “ Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” Is this the way we win the pagan? In this in stance we are not left in doubt. We turn to Revelation 2:26-27: “And he that overcometh, and keepeth my words unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.” Without doubt this passage refers to the time of the millennial reign of Christ. Some may object to the statement that all Old Testament missions find Gentiles coming up to Jerusalem by saying, “How about Jonah being sent out?” To this we reply that Jonah was commissioned not to preach salvation but judgment Jonah is a type of Israel and her ministry during the tribulation and Kingdom period. If this simple rule would be followed, the false promise of post-millennialism would disappear. Post-millennial- ism is nothing more than the Church’s going back into the Old Testament and claiming “Kingdom promises” and applying them to the Church, being careful to
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THE KING'S BUSINESS
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