Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!
God of All Peoples - WILLIAM CAREY
When God issues a call on a man or woman’s heart, it might come in the roar of a thunderstorm or in the quiet of the night, but he or she hears His voice distinctly.
William had a growing conviction that God wanted to send Christian missionaries into a hopeless world. As he walked the English countryside in prayer, God brought Isaiah 54 to your remembrance: “Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations....thy Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called. For the LORD has called thee...” (Isaiah 54:2, 5–6 KJV).
The Redeemer was not just the God of England or the God of Europe! He was “the God of the whole earth,” and Carey was determined to proclaim this missionary truth! Because of Zinzendorf’s earlier missionary success, at a meeting with a small group of Baptist pastors in Kettering, England, William Carey threw down copies of the Moravian newsletter Periodical Accounts before the men and declared, “See what the Moravians have done! Can’t we Baptists at least attempt something in fealty to the same Lord?”
Yet, every time he broached the subject with Christian leaders, the reaction was always the same. “You are a miserable enthusiast,” he was rebuked. “If God wanted the heathen of the world to be saved, He would take care of it Himself. There are enough unsaved people in our own midst.”
Carey responded, “Surely God means what He says. Surely He means for us who know Him to carry the message of redemption to all men everywhere!”
William Carey (Google Commons) |
In spite of the church’s objections, William sat down to write out his missionary vision. His writings grew into a booklet that he entitled, "An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens." It became known simply as "The Enquiry." In it, William asserted, “If it be the duty of all men, when the gospel comes, to believe unto salvation, then it is the duty of those who are entrusted with the gospel to endeavor to make it known among all nations for the obedience of faith!”
Carey skillfully presented his argument for world missions in five powerful sections. It was an astounding proclamation of God’s call to reach the lost.
Section One of The Enquiry focused on Jesus’ Great Commission: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them...” (Matthew 28:19 KJV). Carey insisted Jesus’ command to evangelize could not be restricted to the early apostles, or else baptizing believers should be restricted as well. “No!” Carey declared. As long as the majority of the world was covered in “heathen darkness,” Christians had an obligation to bring them the message of Christ’s salvation.
“If the English have been blessed to know and live in the grace of God’s salvation for a long while,” he argued, “how could they withhold such a great salvation from those in foreign lands who died without the knowledge of God’s saving grace?”
Section Two of The Enquiry retold the powerful move of the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts, as thousands of Christians were added to the church daily. (See Acts 2:47.) Carey reminded his readers that it was the missionaries of the first and second centuries who had spread Christianity to England, Germany, Spain, France, Egypt, and Libya.
Section Three, entitled “A Survey of the Present State of the World,” was a comprehensive account of the populations, religious beliefs, and locations of all the people of the known world, based on Carey’s eight years of study. British scholars were astounded at its detail; nothing like it had been written before!
Most importantly, Carey pointed out that most countries had “no written language and consequently no Bible, and were only led by the most childish customs and traditions.” With his gift for languages, Carey’s heart burned to provide written Bibles to the lost. Even the most cynical opponents of foreign missions were convicted by the fervor of Carey’s call.
Sections Four and Five of The Enquiry were practical applications of missionary work: the transportation of missionaries to their destinations, survival in foreign lands, and financial provision. He challenged his Christian brothers, “I question whether we are justified in staying here, while so many are perishing without means of grace in other lands!”
William Carey (Google Commons) |
In describing the role of the missionary, Carey actually described himself:
The missionary must take every opportunity of doing them [the lost] good, and laboring, and travelling, night and day, they must instruct, exhort, and rebuke, with all longsuffering and anxious desire for them, and above all, must be instant in prayer for the effusion of the Holy Spirit upon the people of their charge.
Carey ended the booklet with a stirring challenge: “Surely it is worthwhile to lay ourselves out with all our might, in promoting the cause and kingdom of Christ!”
- God’s Generals' ( The Missionaries )