“By All Means Save Some!”
(Training message for your House Church and individual use: preached 10/11-10/17/2020)
The following is an excerpt from an article published by Conform to Jesus and written by Chad Damitz.
“Hudson Taylor was a man after God’s own heart. His primary goal was to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to China regardless of the trials he faced with his own family and the opposition from the native people. The story of Taylor is encouraging to me because he was obedient to where God placed him, was confident in prayer, and had an unwavering commitment to share the good news to lost sinners. …
“He broke with the tradition of most missionaries and adopted Chinese culture. When he visited Zhangjiasi, a city where no foreigner had ever been seen before, the people were astonished that Taylor had learned the language. Some were still skeptical because he had a watch that they considered a devilish telescope. Taylor realized his western attire was a stumbling block so he embraced traditional Chinese outfits. In the end, Taylor conformed to Chinese customs without surrendering his convictions. He became all things to all people, finding common ground so that some might be saved through his ministry (1 Cor. 9:22).
“Hudson Taylor’s ability to integrate with Chinese culture is convicting and it should be for Americans. In the United States, where cultural diversity is commonplace, there is still racial segregation in churches. According to the Pew Center, only 7 percent of American churches are racially integrated. This is contrary to the Word of God, which tells us that every tribe, tongue, and nation will glorify God (Rev. 7:9). If we are worshipping the same God, then why is there still segregation in our churches? Let’s be like Hudson Taylor, who embraced cultural diversity and wasn’t prejudiced because he rightly understood that “all men and women are created equal by their Creator.” (Damitz, Chad. “Hudson Taylor – Missionary to China.” Conform to Jesus, 6 Apr. 2013, conformtojesus.com/2013/04/06/hudson-taylor-missionary-to-china/.)
“For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.” (1 Corinthians 9:19)
I. Be an ambassador to the religious…
“And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;” (1 Corinthians 9:20)
A. As a neo evangelical.
“And unto the Jews I became as a Jew,”
B. As a fundamentalist.
“To them that are under the law, as under the law,”
C. Do not assimilate: succeed and accomplish your mission!
“That I might gain the Jews; … that I might gain them that are under the law;”
II. Be an ambassador to the irreligious…
“To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.” (1 Corinthians 9:21)
A. As someone rejecting the world’s authority but
“To them that are without law, as without law,”
B. Still under God’s Word – still moved by God’s love!
“(Being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,)”
C. Do not assimilate: succeed and accomplish your mission!
“That I might gain them that are without law.”
III. Be an ambassador to the disregarded! (Be like Hudson Taylor!)
“To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.” (1 Corinthians 9:22)
A. Be as the homeless, hurt, harmed, and hated – to gain them.
“To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak:”
B. Be “made all things to all men!”
“I am made all things to all men,”
C. “By all means save some!”
“That I might by all means save some.”
Conclusion
Jesus taught us to “save some” by “means” of
- public events such as
- baptisms (Matthew 3: 13-17),
- weddings (John 2:1-11),
- dinners (Matthew 9:10, Mark 14:3, Luke 24:30)
- funerals (Luke 7:12-17),
- burials (John 11:11-45),
- holiday celebrations (John 7:2 cf. 7:37-39), and
- public executions (John 8:3-11); and
- private events such as
- picnic gatherings (Matthew 14:19-21),
- beach trips (Matthew 4:18-22),
- boat rides (Luke 5:1-11),
- mountain hikes (Matthew 5:1-2),
- going shopping (John 4:8), and
- picking up the water (John 4:6-29) and
- personal illness such as
- blindness (John 9:1-38),
- deafness (Mark 7:32-37),
- dumbness (Mark 9:14-27),
- terminal illness (Luke 8:43-48),
- mental illness (Luke 8:27-39), and
- death (Luke 8:49-56); and
- personal challenges such as
- being rich (Matthew 19:16-30),
- being poor (Luke 21:1-4),
- being short (Luke 19:1-6), and
- having a criminal record (Luke 19:7-10).
“By all means save some!” Christian, members of the Body of Christ, Ministers (servants) of the Lord Jesus Christ, “By all means save some!!” Save some! By all means!
Christian, arise from this place and let this be your new watch cry, your war yell both now and unto death.
“By all means save some!”
And to those who would oppose you, what shall we say? (Or to you, if you would, to you if you would oppose us, what shall we say?)
We gave you 4 different main categories and listed at least 23 different examples that our Lord gave of how he, himself, “by all means saved some!” We could speak of similar multiple multilevel multifaceted ways that others who then followed mimicked our Lord; of what that early first church of Jerusalem did, of what Paul the Apostle did, of Augustine, of the Lolards, of the Franciscans, of the Anabaptists, the Moravians, the Methodists, the Salvationists, the Chinese Inland Missionaries (under and beyond Hudson Taylor’s leadership), of the 20th and 21st Century House Church Movement, and now of the Underground Church Movement begun overseas and now mercifully beginning to spread here throughout the West.
We could tell how each time, every single time, the established traditional churches, you established traditional church leaders, you established traditional church members “do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.” That’s right, what St. Stephen said before you stoned him to death, before you killed him – what he said then applies to you today, to you now.
“Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.” (Acts 7:51-53)
Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart! Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You do always, always, resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do you, now! (Right now, you’re doing it again, today!)
Which of the prophets have not your fathers, your fathers, persecuted? All of them. All of them!
You’re doing it again. You’re doing it again!
- Herod! God will have you eaten with worms!
- Pharisees! God will have your temple crushed to the earth!
- False prophets! God will have you revealed and then burned forever!
Hear the words spoken by great Gamaliel in the days of that newly risen movement of the Spirit of God, as promised and sent by our Lord Jesus Christ. Hear the warning! Hear… this… warning, as declared in Acts 5:38-39.
“Now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: but if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.” (Acts 5:38-39)
OUTLINE:
“By All Means Save Some!”
(To Be or Not to Be A Real Ambassador #1)
(A Message to the Ministers of the Lord Jesus Christ)
“And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; to them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.” (1 Corinthians 9:20-22)
- Be an ambassador to the religious…
- Be an ambassador to the irreligious…
III. Be an ambassador to the disregarded! (Be like Hudson Taylor!)
“Now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: but if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.” (Acts 5:38-39)
WORSHIP:
Opening:
Go Forth and Tell (sing along)
I’ll Go Where You Want Me to Go (352)
Message:
VISUALS:
Post Message: