Being About My Father’s Business

 

 

Central Thought: Soul winning is the Father’s business in which all believers have a share.

 

Hymn: Must I go – And Empty Handed?

Text: Luke 2:49, 10:11-11; John 9:4; Mark 16:15-18

 

 

“How is it that you sought me? Wist you not that I must be about my Father’s business?”, Luke 2:49. From the Scriptures, these are the first recorded words spoken by the Lord Jesus Christ.  From the onset, He made it abundantly clear that He was here on a mission – to do His Father’s business.  From the first opportunity that presented itself, He launched Himself into this task.  One may be tempted to ask, what is this business of the Father that was such a consuming passion in His life?  It was to bring the message of the gospel to the world; the good news of God reconciling the world to Himself by the sacrificial and substitution death of His Son; to enlist men and women into this business and leave it as a perpetual commission to all who come to believe the message of the gospel.  Therefore, as those who have come to embrace the love of God demonstrated in the gospel, we need to see the task of reaching others to God not only as our duty but see it as the Lord Jesus did – it is our Father’s business.

 

 

Lesson Objectives:

1. To know what the Father’s business is.
2. To understand the urgency of the business.
3. To know the requirement of effective evangelism.
4. To identify what constitutes the evangelistic message.
5. To appreciate the consequences of not evangelizing.

 

1. What is the Father’s business?

The Father’s business is the business of evangelizing the world; it is a world alienated from God by sin – the original sin and the present continuing acts of men which offend God. It is the task of making men understand that as Romans 3:23 says, none is exempted, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God”.  All have sinned and so all have need of God’s forgiveness.  The good news is that by Christ’s death, pardon for sin has been purchased.  All who repent and believe in this finished word of grace have their sins remitted and are reconciled to God.  Having accomplished salvation by His death, the Lord Jesus has left us the business of telling others, so that being reconciled they may escape eternal judgment and damnation awaiting all those who spurn at God’s offer.

 

2. Why is evangelism and urgent business?

From the Lord’s handling of this matter, it was obvious that it was a very urgent business. In John 4:34 He said to the disciples, “My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me and to finish His work”.  To the Lord, nothing else mattered.  The first reason for this passionate disposition was that “the harvest” was already ripe and plenteous, Matthew 9:36-37; John 4:35-38.  The harvest was already ripe and therefore must be brought in to avoid waste and loss.  Just as God is interested in the souls of men for salvation, so also is the devil but with the aim of bringing them to destruction.  That is why we must get them to obtain abundant life in Christ, John 10:10. Secondly, the harvest is plenteous.  There is much to be done and so there is no time to waste.  If as on the day of Pentecost we can win 3000 souls per day, reckon how long it will take to reach the current estimated population of 3 billion that inhabit the world today.  Think of all the barriers the devil has put in the way to prevent men from being saved.  The matter is indeed very urgent, knowing also that there is very little time left to accomplish this task, John 9:4, 1 Corinthians 7:29-31

 

3. What are the requirements for effective evangelism?

• The Holy Spirit baptism: This is very necessary because the Lord Jesus recommended it and underscored the importance of the experience, Acts 1:4-8. The success of His ministry arose from this touch of God, Acts 10:38. The indwelling power of the Spirit is what empowers and emboldens men for effective and fruitful evangelism, Acts 2:37-41.
• Prayer: Prayer is the avenue provided by God for us to draw divine strength for kingdom business. A prayerful life is very necessary in order to regularly renew our strength in God. In prayer we also water the souls of men to make them fertile grounds on which the word of God can thrive and bear fruit.  Furthermore, the prayer of faith breaks the shackles of the devil that hold men in captivity, releasing them to appreciate and appropriate Christ’s sacrifice.
• Love and compassion: It is love and compassion that drives us to reach out to men with the message of the gospel. In Matthew 9:36 we can see that the Lord Jesus was moved by compassion in His dealing with the multitudes that came to Him. Because of their importance, we must constantly pray that God will continuously fill our hearts with these attributes.
• Knowledge of the word: According to 2 Timothy 2:15, we need to study to be workmen of the kingdom, who have a good working knowledge of the scriptures. It helps us to effectively communicate the message of the gospel, which enables the unsaved to reach an informed decision on the matter of salvation, Acts 8:30-35.
• Perseverance: The experiences and circumstances we go through while preaching the gospel can really try our patience. This is especially so, when those we are trying to win, do not even appreciate our efforts. The natural tendency is for us to get angry and give up on them.  Even when the people we are seeking to win ridicule us and are very antagonistic, the Lord expects us to persevere in our effort to win them for the kingdom.

 

4. What are the essential components of the gospel message?

-Romans 3:23: All have sinned and have need of salvation.

-1 Corinthians 15:3: Christ died for our sins. He gave His life as a ransom for us, 1 Timothy 2:5-6.

-1 Corinthians 15:4: He was buried and He rose on the third day for our justification, 1 Corinthians 15:17.

-Acts 16:31: All who repent of their sins and place their faith on the sacrificial death of Christ are pardoned and saved.

-John 1:12: They are given the authority to become the sons of God

-John 14:1-3: The saved will spend eternity with Christ in heaven while the unsaved will languish in the torments of hell.

Reflect on John 3:16: God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him, should not perish but have everlasting life.

 

5. What are the consequences of not evangelizing?

The consequences of not evangelizing cannot be accurately estimated. Suffice to say that in so doing, we fail to raise more laborers for this enterprise.  Who knows whether your convert could turn out to be a Paul, the man who wrote more than half of the New Testament; a Hudson Taylor, the great missionary to China; a Smith Wigglesworth, the great Apostle of faith; Kathryn Kuhlman, the daughter of destiny or a Benson Idahosa, the man with “fire in his bones”.  The list is endless.  Every opportunity not utilized to win souls robs us of men and women like these.

Any unsaved soul that slips into eternity is lost forever and is condemned to the torments of hell eternally. If we could, but failed to tell them of the fate that awaits them, God will hold us guilty of their blood, Ezekiel 3:18.  It is not the wish of God that any soul should perish.  He wills that all men should be saved, 1 Timothy 2:4.  It is therefore imperative that we take this business more seriously than we have previously done.

 

 

Daily Living Application:

That we are saved and are Christians today is the fruit of someone’s evangelistic effort. Such obeyed the injunction of Christ and preached to us, presenting us with the opportunity to be saved.  Our membership of the body of Christ or more particularly a local church assembly is not just for us to sit down and warm benches.  It is our enlistment in the army of men and women busy with our Father’s business.  We must endeavor to utilize the opportunities that present themselves daily at work, in our neighborhood and in the various places where we traffic, to tell someone of the love of Jesus Christ.  We must realize that failure to do so carries grave consequences which we cannot change when a soul dies without salvation.

 

Memory Verse:

Luke 10:2 – “Therefore said He unto them, the harvest is truly great, but the laborers are few: Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He would send forth laborers into His harvest.”