FOURTH QUARTER 2023
SABBATH SCHOOL INSIGHT #6
NOVEMBER 11, 2023
“MOTIVATION AND PREPARATION FOR MISSION”

                                                 Two Motives

Have you ever heard someone say a person is “on fire” for the Lord? Now imagine what an “on fire” Christian looks like. What comes to my mind is a mission-oriented, mission-focused individual. Then one day you are scrolling through social media and are shocked to see these “on fire” individuals leading a different life. The fire seems to have fizzled out as they have drifted or chosen to walk away from the church. Why? What happened? While I do not claim to know the motives and choices behind individual decisions, I would like to suggest that the difference between actually being on fire and “fizzling out” is the motive that produces the fruit. The fruit of missions might look the same on the outside but there are two sources that produce fruit.

One of the most important questions we can ask in life is why. Why do we do what we do? Why do we say what we say? Why do we hold this worldview or position in life? In our walk with God, I think it is especially important to discover the reason why we do what we do when it comes to missions. What are our motives for preaching Christ? It boils down to two things. Self-interest or love for Christ.

It is not the fear of punishment, or the hope of everlasting reward, that leads the disciples of Christ to follow Him. They behold the Saviour's matchless love, revealed throughout His pilgrimage on earth, from the manger of Bethlehem to Calvary's cross, and the sight of Him attracts, it softens and subdues the soul. Love awakens in the heart of the beholders. They hear His voice, and they follow Him. --Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p.430

Maybe it’s for selfish gain, a pat on the back, self-assurance, feeling justified, out of guilt, maybe for our own pride, maybe for recognition or a feeling of accomplishment, to make ourselves feel better, to pay back the debt we owe, or to quiet our fear of an angry God. Whatever the source, if it’s not coming from a love for Christ, we will eventually burn out. We will become exhausted from working the works of righteousness without the power.

Glorious were the results that attended the ministry of the chosen apostles of Christ. At the beginning of their ministry some of them were unlearned men, but their consecration to the cause of their Master was unreserved, and under His instruction they gained a preparation for the great work committed to them. Grace and truth reigned in their hearts, inspiring their motives, and controlling their actions. Their lives were hid with Christ in God, and self was lost sight of, submerged in the depths of infinite love. Ellen G. White, Acts of the Apostles, p. 593.

After Jesus’s death, some women went to the tomb to care for His body. To their amazement and shock He was not there. Their world came “crashing down,” in a good way, as they saw, experienced, and realized that the words that Jesus spoke — were true. As a result, they abandoned all and went to share the good news, the joy they found in the fulfillment of Christ’s words. Why did they do this? Was it out of duty to share the good news? No. They went sharing the news with “fear and great joy” (Matthew 28:8). To share the gospel is a precious duty and privilege, yes, but it is also a response to having personally encountered Christ and realizing His words are true for me personally. How is this a paradigm shift that can propel and sustain mission efforts? Isaiah 55:10,11 says, “For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”

How does realizing the power behind God’s word give us an experience that shift’s our motive from one of selfishness to one of love for God? The Bible says, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). I think Paul speaks to the struggle of the sinful human heart when he said, “For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I” (Romans 7:14, 15). Realizing and experiencing the power of Christ’s transformative word in our lives brings a joy that can come from realizing we no longer have to be in bondage to sin and enables us to operate from a heart of love for who God is and what He has done.

“If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17. Through the power of Christ, men and women have broken the chains of sinful habit. They have renounced selfishness. The profane have become reverent, the drunken sober, the profligate pure. Souls that have borne the likeness of Satan have become transformed into the image of God. This change is in itself the miracle of miracles. A change wrought by the Word; it is one of the deepest mysteries of the Word. We cannot understand it; we can only believe, as declared by the Scriptures, it is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” When the Spirit of God controls mind and heart, the converted soul breaks forth into a new song; for he realizes that in his experience the promise of God has been fulfilled, that his transgression has been forgiven, his sin covered. He has exercised repentance toward God for the violation of the divine law, and faith toward Christ, who died for man's justification. “Being justified by faith,” he has “peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:1. --Ellen G. White, Acts of the Apostles, p. 476.

This is the good news of the gospel, the truth that was hid within Christ.

“Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.... For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also” (James 2:24-26). It is essential to have faith in Jesus, and to believe you are saved through Him; but there is danger in taking the position that many do take in saying, “I am saved.” Many have said: “You must do good works, and you will live”; but apart from Christ no one can do good works. Many at the present day say, “Believe, only believe, and live.” Faith and works go together, believing and doing are blended. The Lord requires no less of the soul now, than He required of Adam in Paradise before he fell—perfect obedience, unblemished righteousness. The requirement of God under the covenant of grace is just as broad as the requirement He made in Paradise—harmony with His law, which is holy, and just, and good. The gospel does not weaken the claims of the law; it exalts the law and makes it honorable. Under the New Testament, no less is required than was required under the Old Testament. Let no one take up with the delusion so pleasant to the natural heart, that God will accept of sincerity, no matter what may be the faith, no matter how imperfect may be the life. God requires of His child perfect obedience. --Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, Vol. 1, p. 373. 

In order to meet the requirements of the law, our faith must grasp the righteousness of Christ, accepting it as our righteousness. Through union with Christ, through acceptance of His righteousness by faith, we may be qualified to work the works of God, to be co-laborers with Christ. If you are willing to drift along with the current of evil, and do not cooperate with the heavenly agencies in restraining transgression in your family, and in the church, in order that everlasting righteousness may be brought in, you do not have faith. Faith works by love and purifies the soul. Through faith the Holy Spirit works in the heart to create holiness therein; but this cannot be done unless the human agent will work with Christ. We can be fitted for heaven only through the work of the Holy Spirit upon the heart; for we must have Christ's righteousness as our credentials if we would find access to the Father. In order that we may have the righteousness of Christ, we need daily to be transformed by the influence of the Spirit, to be a partaker of the divine nature. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to elevate the taste, to sanctify the heart, to ennoble the whole man. -- Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, Vol. 1, p. 374.

My prayer is that we would all come closer to Christ and to press into Him that we may be motivated and find our source for mission in a love for Christ. May we take time to behold Him and let Him shine His loving light into our darkened hearts and understandings. May we surrender ourselves fully to Him and grasp with the hand of faith the riches of His grace and believe His righteousness is our own. “But God, Who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come He might shew the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:4-10).

Maranatha

~Anya Kinsley