Correspondence: 1 Tim. 3:16; Matt. 9:37-38 and Luke 10:2

1 Timothy 3:16; Matthew 9:37‑38; Luke 10:2  •  3 min. read  •  grade level: 6
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Answer: The point of the passage is to bring before us that the mystery of godliness was great indeed. “God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.”
Yes, He was preached to the Jews, and they rejected God’s message as a nation, then God turned to the Gentiles, and gave them also eternal salvation. (See Acts 11:18; 13:46-48; 15:3, 7, 12; 28:25-2818When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life. (Acts 11:18)
46Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. 47For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. 48And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. (Acts 13:46‑48)
3And being brought on their way by the church, they passed through Phenice and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles: and they caused great joy unto all the brethren. (Acts 15:3)
7And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe. (Acts 15:7)
12Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them. (Acts 15:12)
25And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers, 26Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: 27For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. 28Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it. (Acts 28:25‑28); Rom. 1:1616For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. (Romans 1:16).)
Answer: In both places where this verse is found, the needy souls are just round about the Lord and His disciples. We are to pray to Him to send workers into His harvest. We can have fellowship with Him in His sending them. This we see in Acts 13:2-42As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. 3And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. 4So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus. (Acts 13:2‑4). There is no ordination of ministers in Scripture. We are to pray the Lord to send them. This praying with them, and laying their hands on them, expressed fellowship and interest in their service.
We see the first preachers of the gospel outside of Jerusalem after the Holy Spirit was sent down, in Acts 8:1-51And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. 3As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison. 4Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word. 5Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. (Acts 8:1‑5). It was by a storm of persecution they were scattered and sent. They had to go, and they went everywhere preaching the Word. They had no appointment; they needed no license. They were dependent on the Lord, and He provided for them. Paul preached immediately that he was converted that Christ was the Son of God (9:20). A minister set over a congregation is foreign to Scripture. Paul had apostolic authority, but he could not send laborers, except it was their will to go (1 Cor. 16:1212As touching our brother Apollos, I greatly desired him to come unto you with the brethren: but his will was not at all to come at this time; but he will come when he shall have convenient time. (1 Corinthians 16:12)), but he did exhort Archippus to take heed to fulfill his ministry (Col. 4:1717And say to Archippus, Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it. (Colossians 4:17)) which the Lord had committed to him. For one not to do this would be serious loss to the Lord and to us.
Each one of us has some service to do for the Lord, and it begins just where we are. We might well ask ourselves, Are we doing it? If you cannot serve the Lord now where you are, you could not serve Him anywhere else. Do we speak to souls about their salvation now? Do we tell them of the love of Christ and of God now? Then the Lord will guide us where He wants us to be to do His work.
We need to be much in prayer that we might be guided aright. Begin now, cultivate a heart given to praying always. He will help you to help others also.