Reaching the Lost, No Matter the Cost

Reaching the Lost, No Matter the Cost (Exodus 23:20)

Exodus 23:20, Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.

Jim Elliot was unsure of what to do after graduating from Wheaton College in 1949. He spent the summer praying for guidance from the Lord. He received a letter about the need for workers in Ecuador. On July 4th, Jim set aside ten days for prayer and on the 14th he wrote, "I asked for some word from God ten days ago, which would encourage my going to Ecuador. It came this morning in an unexpected place. I was reading Exodus 23:20, Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.” Jim Elliot was ready to jump in with both feet. He believed in giving 100% to any task that he would adopt. Exodus 23 sent Jim Elliot eventually to his death, and to his glory. It also brought the Auca Indians, in God's timing, to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

God's Word gave Jim Elliot guidance and direction to do His will, even though His will meant his death. God was leading Jim and four of his friends where they were desperately needed. It was one of the most violent group of people on the planet and these five missionary families knew it. In fact, in this region, Shell Oil Company had to halt construction of its base called Shell Mera, because the construction workers were being speared by the natives in spearing raids. The people of these jungles believed that killing others gave them a sense of self control. It was the main way they resolved their problems. This part of Ecuador was truly an area that revealed the wickedness of men without any restraint to their sinful hearts. Yet, it was their wickedness that created the burden in the hearts of these missionaries. It was their desire to reach these folks with the Gospel no matter what the cost. That desire and the burden of reaching these lost souls helped them to conquer any fear of death they may have entertained.

These missionaries had guns to protect themselves, but they all agreed and insisted they would not use them to defend themselves if attacked. They considered themselves already dead if need be. They said, "They are not ready for Heaven, but we are!" They overcame their fear of death. In the effort to reach these Indians, they all five were massacred by the people they were trying to save. In their deaths, however, God was glorified. God opened the door for their wives and children to enter the village and reach the people for Jesus Christ at a later time. All these missionaries, including their wives, overcame the fear of death.

Acts 1:8, But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. To witness is to bear testimony or give evidence of. Jesus was speaking to the disciples about being witnesses before He ascended into Heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father. Jesus’ last command ought to be our first priority. Being a witness for Christ is telling others what He did for you by His death, burial, and resurrection. We often refer to witnessing as soul winning. Soul winning is one beggar telling another beggar where the bread is. All of us can, and should be a witness of Jesus Christ. We can do this by passing out Gospel tracts, giving our testimony of salvation, preaching or teaching, and door to door soul winning. There are countless other ways of being a witness, but every Christian should do something. There should be ministries in your church such as bus, jail, prison, printing, Sunday School, Christian School, fairs, camps, and other areas of service in which you can take part in the obedience to Jesus’ last command.

In the 1840s, John Geddie left the pastorate of a church in Canada to take his wife and two small children to the South Sea Islands to begin a mission work there. After a voyage of more than 20,000 miles, they arrived in the New Hebrides Islands at Aneityum. The island chain was filled with cannibals, and more than twenty crew members of a British ship had been killed and eaten just months before the Geddies arrived on the mission field. They faced the difficulty of learning a language that had no written form and the constant threat of being killed. Slowly at first, a few converts came, and then soon many more received the Gospel. Geddie continued his ministry faithfully, including translating the entire Bible into the native language and planting twenty-five churches. For many of those years, Geddie labored with little help and little word from home, but God was faithful to His servant. In the pulpit of the church Geddie pastored for so many years stands a plaque in his honor which says: “When he landed in 1848, there were no Christians here, and when he left in 1872 there were no heathen.”

Thankfully, it’s not illegal to witness here in America. Too often, so many believers never tell anyone else about how they can receive salvation through Jesus Christ. We have all kinds of excuses for why it should be someone else’s job. But God has given all of us people whom we can reach more effectively than anyone else.

Prayer, Father, I understand that fear interferes with my fellowship with You. I can’t focus on fear and focus on You at the same time. Forgive me for the times I focused on fear when I knew You have promised to always be with me. Thank You for Your faithfulness in calling me out of fear and into Your presence, where I find peace. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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