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The Amish Voice 6
“The Kingdom of God is come nigh
unto you.”
This was Jesus’ message in Luke 10
to the seventy disciples as He sent them
out: heal the sick and
preach the good news.
Those few words were not
hard
to
remember.
Nothing about repentance
or salvation was said at
this time. Thus began the
sending of groups of
people to speak the gospel
to those outside of their
community.
I recall when I first
heard what God was doing
in
foreign
lands.
Missionaries told of things taking place
among those not living in North
America. We had never imagined such
things. One outstanding story described
how people gathered for worship in
China. Since China is a Communist
country, anything to do with religion was
frowned upon. It was quite dangerous to
be a believer. It was common for those
who taught and preached to be arrested,
disappear, and never be heard from
again. Arranging Sunday services was
dangerous, as the authorities merely
waited until believers assembled, and
then swooped in and arrested them. The
Christians began to pray and something
very unusual happened. Believers would
hear from the Holy Spirit, telling them to
be at Mr. K’s house or some other place
at 6:00 AM. This completely baffled the
authorities as the place and time was
constantly changing. I asked myself,
does God still do that?
We hear many stories of people in
Islamic countries meeting Jesus in a
dream. Their lives are changed so
dramatically there is no doubt that they
have met the real Jesus. Life often
becomes difficult after such an event, but
they persevere. God is on the move, and
I want to be part of it.
Since I was young I have heard many
such missionary stories. I want to be part
of a church that has a vision for reaching
out. It’s about God changing lives.
Here in North America we face very
little opposition, but things are changing.
It seems our people are uncertain about
what we are to say or of what God will
do in our behalf. We are not convinced
of the power in the name of Jesus Christ.
I have heard people say, “We have so
much work to do to get our own lives in
order that you can’t expect us to serve.”
Well, if the good news about Jesus is
doing things to get right with God, then
indeed this expression is valid. But the
gospel is not about what we do, but what
has been done for us. Sure, works will
follow, but God has the plan, not us.
First, people will need to hear and
believe as Romans 10: 13-15 states:
For whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved.
14
How
then shall they call on him in whom they
have not believed? And how shall they
believe in him of whom they have not
heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher?
15
And how shall they
preach, except they be sent? As it is
written, How beautiful are the feet of
them that preach the gospel of peace,
and bring glad tidings of good
things!
Many people speak of loved
ones who have died as being
in heaven. But we know
heaven is not an automatic
destination for everyone. Sin
is in the way. Sin leads to
death as Romans 6:23 states.
First we need to know that sin
makes heaven impossible to
inherit. Sin must be dealt with.
We cannot vote people into or
out of heaven, even with a 100% vote.
No church has such power. God sets the
standard, and we cannot get around it.
Therefore the human race has a severe
problem. No one is perfect; we inherited
a sin nature from our fathers. Every
nation on earth has this problem.
When God spoke to Abraham, he said
that all nations will be blessed by his
offspring. See Genesis 22. In the days of
Jesus, the gospel was first proclaimed to
Jewish people only. No one outside was
yet invited take part in the new covenant.
Only when the apostle Peter preached
the fairly short message to Cornelius and
his family and friends did the church
expand to include non-Jewish people.
Cornelius was Roman, and Jews were
not supposed to even enter Gentile
houses. The wall that kept Gentiles out
was now broken down. And I am glad it
was. Otherwise none of you reading this
would have a chance of getting into
heaven. What God has called clean, do
not call unclean.
—the end
Missionaries
—Eli Stutzman
Illustration by Lydia