Mat. 9:35 ... "And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction."
This statement summarizes the activities of Jesus among the cities and villages of Galilee. It provides the answer to the question, "What is meant by the phrase, 'the work of the Lord'?" In classes and sermons in church we often use that expression with the assumption that everyone knows exactly what it means. But do they? Many have only a vague idea what working in God's service involves and engage in it poorly because they really do not know what to do. As Jesus toured Galilee and did among the people what the Father had sent Him to do, His activities encompassed three types of work. First, He preached the "gospel of the kingdom." Second, He taught. And third, He healed the sicknesses and diseases afflicting the people. The targets of these acts were the soul, the mind, and the body of every person.
The work of the Lord in our own Christian ministries is still the same three activities -- preaching to save lost souls with the gospel, teaching to perfect minds in the image of Christ, and doing benevolence to relieve physical distress in people. In the Great Commission Jesus ordered us to "go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you" (Mat. 28:19-20). This statement assigns to Christians the dual responsibilities of preaching and teaching. The purpose of preaching is to present to people what God revealed through Jesus so that they will believe it and be converted to Jesus as disciples. The purpose of teaching is to perfect disciples in the image of Christ. The vital work of benevolence is stressed in the statement, "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world" (Jas. 1:27). To "visit" an orphan or widow in the sense used here means to go to them with goods and services that will significantly relieve their hardship and suffering. James calls this kind of religion "pure and undefiled."
From these Scriptures it is clear that "the work of the Lord" is for us today essentially what it was for Jesus in His ministry -- preaching to save lost souls, teaching to perfect saved souls in the image of Jesus, and doing benevolence to relieve physical distress in others.
Although everyone may not be able to engage in formal pulpit preaching, every Christian can -- indeed must! -- preach informally to persuade the lost among his family, friends, and acquaintances to believe and obey the gospel. Most Christians will not be teachers in the sense of having a class to teach in church, but every Christian can -- indeed must! -- teach fellow Christians to perfect themselves in Christ through encouragement, counsel, and kind exhortation.
