The One Thing the Church Was Sent for Into the World...
The church's failure to proclaim God's love has led to the perishing of multitudes, and it is due to selfishness, unfaithfulness, and neglect on the part of the church.
Andrew Murray emphasizes the church's critical mission to proclaim God's love to the world, lamenting the neglect that has led to countless souls perishing without the knowledge of Christ. He highlights the staggering reality of thirty million heathens dying each year, urging Christians to recognize their responsibility in sharing the gospel. Murray asserts that the church was specifically sent to carry God's love to all nations, and the failure to do so stems from selfishness and unfaithfulness. He calls for a renewed commitment to this divine mandate, reminding believers of the urgency and importance of their calling.
Text
The sin of this neglect in the church of God, in not accepting and proclaiming this great 'whosoever' of God's love, in not living to make God's love known has had and is having such appalling consequences, that even Christians fail to realise what is meant. We are told that there are thirty million heathens every year passing away into utter darkness. We count up the years, and think how this has been going on through the ages since Christ gave the great command to his church as its watchword. The mind refuses to take it in. It is as if this wonderful love of God might have interfered, might have done more. It looks as if it is too awful to put upon the church, upon us the Christians of today too, the burden and the guilt of these perishing multitudes. And yet it is so.
The eternal love gave the Son to reveal it on earth. The Son committed it to his disciples, to his body, the church, with a charge as plain as words can make it, to carry that love to every creature, to all nations, to the ends of the earth. That was the one thing the church was sent for into the world, even as he had been sent, and for nothing else. It is due to nothing but selfishness, and unfaithfulness, and neglect on the part of the church, that this holy mission has not been so badly accomplished.
(Excerpted from The Coming Revival, by Andrew Murray , pg. 60)
Sermon Outline
- The Sin of Neglect
- The Great Commission
- The Church's Failure
- Selfishness and unfaithfulness
- Neglect of the church's holy mission
Key Quotes
“The one thing the church was sent for into the world, even as he had been sent, and for nothing else.” — Andrew Murray
Application Points
- The church must take responsibility for its failure to proclaim God's love and make amends.
- We must prioritize the church's mission to carry God's love to all nations.
- Selfishness and unfaithfulness must be overcome in order to fulfill the Great Commission.