Do You Hear Them?
Blog, Do You Hear Them?, Erik Garthe, Evangelism, God’s Direction, Gospel, Lost, Macedonian Call, Missionary, Missions, No Longer Conformed
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“Come over to Macedonia and help us.” That was the call the apostle Paul heard one night as he was seeking God’s direction for his missionary work (Acts 16:9) He had a vision of spreading the gospel message into all the world.
It was during a journey “through Phrygia and the region of Galatia,” (v. 6) that Paul attempted to begin a new work in Asia. The Bible records that the Holy Spirit prevented him from going in that direction. He went on his way toward Mysia, tried to enter Bithynia, and was again stopped by the Spirit (v. 7). It was later in the journey, when the apostle arrived in Troas, that a new opportunity was presented. In a vision, “a man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him” to come there (v. 9). The next verse says that Paul and his companions went there, “concluding that the Lord had called [them] to preach the gospel to [the Macedonians]” (v. 10). Do you have a vision to reach your world with the gospel? A lost world is desperately calling the church to come and help. In most cases, lost persons don’t even know what kind of help they need. Yet, despair and hopelessness is present everywhere we look. According to the “Macedonian Call”, there are two requirements for every believer who is committed to evangelizing the world. First, we must hear the call when the Lord gives direction. Only those with a vision of evangelism will hear—those with listening ears and willing hearts. Preparation for the call occurs while we are moving in the will of God (vv. 6-8). Presentation of the call is not always with understanding of why help is needed—but simply with a desperate cry for help from the lost (v. 9) Only Jesus can fill the void that our world feels. We must be able to hear that call. Second, we must heed the call when it comes (v. 10). Paul was not praying about whether to go, but where to go. We have the gospel message. Will we declare it? Do you hear them?
Sin cera, Erik
Erik O. Garthe is Associate Pastor at Canton Baptist Church in Baltimore, Maryland.
