Sept. 29 | The End Times and the Gospel
Matthew 24:14, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”
According to the “Joshua Project,” an online database for Christian missions, there are around 16,791 total people groups in the world and 7,275 are still unreached (about 43%). In other words, there are 7.13 billion people in the world and 2.91 billion (40%) have never heard the gospel one time.
The majority of the unreached people groups (over 6,200) live an area known as the “10/40 Window.” The 10/40 Window is the rectangular area of North Africa, the Middle East and Asia; it’s approximately between 10 degrees and 40 degrees north latitude.
In today’s passage, Jesus taught that His second coming was directly related to the whole world hearing the gospel.
The most important job the disciple has in the end times is to preach the gospel to every nation, tribe and language!
Here are four ways you can spread the gospel to those who have never heard it; (1) Pray for the governments and the people in these nations to be open to the gospel. The two greatest hindrances in these nations are Islam and Communism. (2) Pray for the local churches, leaders and foreign missionaries to be granted boldness to preach the gospel despite the hardships they face. (3) Give to mission programs that send missionaries and support local leaders in these parts of the world. (4) Go and do mission trips to reach the unreached.
I believe we are living in the greatest times of harvest ever known to the world- may we not grow weary in well doing, but instead reap the nations for Jesus Christ!
Reflection
Are you actively doing something to help reach the unreached people groups with the gospel?
Action
- Repent of the sins of laziness and selfishness if you haven’t prayed or supported the work of reaching the unreached people in the world with the gospel.
- Pray, give and support the gospel around the world. A.T. Pierson said, “If missions languish, it is because the whole life of godliness is feeble. The command to go everywhere and preach to everybody is not obeyed until the will is lost by self-surrender in the will of God. Living, praying, giving and going will always be found together."
- Reach all those you can around you with the gospel- especially those from the 10/40 window. For example, in Chicago where I live, we are surrounded with people from the Middle East, China and India; let’s reach our neighbors!