back to index2017-07-30 How Beautiful are the Feet of Those who Bring Good News
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Romans chapter 10, and it just happens that today as we send off our team, we're also 00:00:09.600 |
landing on the passage on Romans chapter 10, 15. 00:00:16.160 |
So I'm going to read actually from verse 14 to 17, but our main focus is going to be on 00:00:26.320 |
How then will they call upon him in whom they have not believed, and how are they to believe 00:00:35.240 |
And how are they to hear without someone preaching, and how are they to preach unless they are 00:00:40.200 |
As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news. 00:00:43.840 |
But they have not all obeyed the gospel, for Isaiah says, the Lord who has believed what 00:00:49.960 |
So faith comes from hearing, the hearing through the word of Christ. 00:01:01.720 |
We thank you for the things that we are aware of, and we thank you, Lord God, even the things 00:01:07.080 |
that you are doing behind the scene that sometimes we are not aware of. 00:01:11.480 |
But we know that you are sovereign, that no matter how chaotic and lost we feel at times, 00:01:19.320 |
we know that you are on your throne, that you are deserving of worship. 00:01:25.360 |
I pray, Father God, this morning that your word would search our hearts, convict us, 00:01:31.040 |
mold us, encourage and strengthen us, that we may live as you have saved us to do. 00:01:41.880 |
I pray for your spirit, that you would be in the midst of us and that we would be aware 00:01:55.000 |
Paul has been arguing the case of justification, and he has been saying, again, as we read 00:02:02.720 |
in verse 14, how will they call on him whom they have not believed, and how are they going 00:02:07.000 |
to believe in him whom they have never heard, and how are they going to hear without someone 00:02:12.680 |
preaching, and how will someone preach unless they are sent? 00:02:17.560 |
We talked about, I think, a couple of weeks ago, why does God use feeble people like us? 00:02:24.760 |
You think about, we don't have to search through church history, but if we were to 00:02:28.080 |
search through church history, I think you and I would agree, it's amazing that you and 00:02:34.880 |
I mean, even, we're not talking about atheists, or we're not talking about Muslims, or we're 00:02:41.200 |
not talking about, you know, people who are antagonistic toward the church. 00:02:45.600 |
We're talking about the church itself, for a large portion of our history, try to get 00:02:53.480 |
There are people within church history who are martyred, who are burned at the stake, 00:02:59.360 |
who had their heads beheaded, because all they wanted to do was to translate the Bible 00:03:04.240 |
in modern man's English, just to get the Bible to us. 00:03:08.760 |
We have periods in church history where the leaders, the top leaders of the church, were 00:03:13.560 |
going around and selling salvation for money, so that they can raise more money to build 00:03:18.560 |
I mean, you talk about the corruption and the sin, I'm not talking about outside the 00:03:26.760 |
But I don't even need to think, we need to think that far and look at church history. 00:03:36.760 |
We have a hard time understanding each other, like our own sins, our own discipline. 00:03:43.120 |
Why does God use frail people like us to get the gospel out, this such important message 00:03:50.120 |
where people's destinies is at stake, where someone believes they are safe for eternity, 00:03:56.680 |
they don't believe and they're condemned for eternity. 00:04:00.000 |
That why would God entrust this message to us? 00:04:04.000 |
I mean, there is an element of mystery in that, because we won't fully know unless God 00:04:15.280 |
And I was wrestling and thinking about this, and there are a few things that I could think 00:04:19.280 |
about, but one thing that I am absolutely certain about is that our obedience to preach 00:04:25.320 |
the gospel is directly linked to our salvation. 00:04:32.520 |
That God is just as concerned about our sanctification as our justification. 00:04:38.420 |
We have a tendency to put so much emphasis and talk and study about the justification 00:04:43.680 |
of our faith, and then we just kind of like, well, you know, God wants us to live up to 00:04:47.800 |
the calling, and then we just kind of leave it at that. 00:04:50.360 |
Of course, God wants to be holy because he is holy, but there's not enough emphasis 00:04:54.280 |
on sanctification because we think if we're justified, the important part is done. 00:05:01.200 |
The most crucial part of our salvation has been taken care of by justification, so sanctification, 00:05:06.600 |
hopefully you'll be able to do it, to live up to the calling that you've received. 00:05:15.360 |
I want to make it absolutely crystal clear that God is just as concerned about our sanctification 00:05:24.480 |
I remember when I was younger how hard I worked to buy my first car. 00:05:29.880 |
I mean, I worked, and I was willing to do anything. 00:05:32.880 |
I was cleaning up, I was a janitor, I flipped burgers, and I cleaned toilets. 00:05:40.040 |
Sometimes I would clean from 5 o'clock to 5 o'clock next morning, just working overtime 00:05:44.220 |
so I can get the extra money because I was trying to buy this car. 00:05:48.300 |
I bought a car for $1,650, and I drove all the way down to the valley, and I picked it 00:05:58.320 |
It was crazy, $1,650 back then, maybe a little bit more money than now, but it was still 00:06:05.040 |
It was probably equivalent to maybe $3,000 or $4,000 today, but it was still a piece 00:06:11.340 |
To me, because of the time and effort that I put in to get this car, it was my prized 00:06:17.640 |
The thing that, among every possession I owned, that was probably the most precious thing 00:06:22.980 |
that I had because it represented, for me, at least two years of physical labor to get 00:06:29.960 |
When I got that car, you better believe I took care of it. 00:06:34.680 |
I washed that thing, and I remember waxing that piece of junk, and I was waxing it in 00:06:39.840 |
front of my friend's house, and his mom came out, and she literally just laughed at me 00:06:48.920 |
It was a piece of junk, but not to me, not to me because it was precious to me. 00:06:55.320 |
You better believe with all the effort that I put in that I didn't just buy it, and it's 00:06:58.720 |
like, "Ah, this piece of junk, didn't take care of it." 00:07:04.240 |
Consider Christ and what God sacrificed in order for you and I to be saved, to call him 00:07:14.180 |
He didn't sacrifice his only begotten Son and then justified us, and then just kind 00:07:20.300 |
of like, "Oh, hopefully you make it the rest of it." 00:07:23.060 |
You better believe that he's just as concerned about our sanctification as our glorification, 00:07:28.820 |
that he's putting just as much effort and just as much time and energy and love that 00:07:34.340 |
we would be sanctified as much as we are justified. 00:07:39.980 |
It's not like, "Oh, you're justified, so at least that part's taken care of, and this 00:07:47.940 |
Now how does this relate to preaching the gospel? 00:07:52.500 |
Because being obedient to preach the gospel, to be concerned for those who are not yet 00:07:56.860 |
in the fold, is a crucial part of our sanctification. 00:08:02.460 |
We can say that it is probably the crucial backbone behind our sanctification. 00:08:20.820 |
All of this is directly linked to our obedience to the Great Commission, because you can't 00:08:27.380 |
preach the gospel effectively if you are not participating in these things. 00:08:34.000 |
God uses us to bring other people to the fold, because just as much as they need to come 00:08:40.500 |
to Christ, we need to be sanctified in obedience. 00:08:45.420 |
Just as much as Christ loves them, he wants us to love them. 00:08:49.660 |
It is just as important that we love them as Christ loved them. 00:08:53.980 |
As much as he sacrificed for them, he wants us to sacrifice for them. 00:08:57.700 |
As much as he grieves for the lost, he wants us to grieve for the lost. 00:09:02.980 |
There's a reason why God uses imperfect people like us, because it is a vital part of our 00:09:08.420 |
salvation, it is a vital part of our sanctification. 00:09:15.180 |
This morning, as we send off our team to China, I want to encourage us, again, it may not 00:09:23.700 |
be new, but as a reminder to us why this is such a crucial part of our walk with God. 00:09:32.260 |
I don't know about you, but I can honestly confess that when my heart is disengaged from 00:09:38.540 |
the lost, it makes my preaching very difficult. 00:09:44.020 |
It makes my prayers forced, like an obligation that I get to put in my time to pray. 00:09:51.020 |
It makes my giving, like I have to calculate, do I really need to give this? 00:09:58.160 |
Everything that I do is calculated, and it's just something that I need to do. 00:10:06.220 |
But when my heart is engaged with the lost, everything that I'm doing makes so much sense. 00:10:15.220 |
My fellowship with my brothers and sisters, it becomes crucial. 00:10:19.460 |
My giving is not sacrifice, it's participating. 00:10:30.260 |
It's not simply for the salvation of the lost. 00:10:36.060 |
As we are saved, and as Scripture says, we are being saved. 00:10:40.580 |
So I want to talk about why it is so important for us. 00:10:47.140 |
One, the Great Commission is a vital part of our identity. 00:10:55.600 |
The Great Commission is a vital part of our identity. 00:10:59.120 |
I remember years ago, I had a discussion with another brother, he was attending a different 00:11:05.080 |
church, and he was saying how God didn't call all of us to the Great Commission. 00:11:10.560 |
And he was, for whatever the reason, his pastor was telling his congregation that the Great 00:11:16.200 |
Commission was just a commission for the disciples, not for us. 00:11:22.080 |
And there is a case that he can make for that, because it's in the context of God commissioning 00:11:26.760 |
the apostles to go preach the gospel to the most part of the world. 00:11:30.120 |
God didn't call every single one of us specifically to take the gospel to the jungle, or to China, 00:11:39.120 |
But the general call to preach the gospel is an identity. 00:11:47.080 |
In 1 Peter 2, 9 it says, "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a 00:11:51.800 |
people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called 00:11:56.480 |
you out of darkness into his marvelous light." 00:12:00.240 |
He said, not only have we become his possession, a holy nation, he said, all of this happened 00:12:07.040 |
that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness. 00:12:12.760 |
Our very identity as a Christian is an ambassador for Christ. 00:12:21.580 |
If you are a businessman and you don't sell anything, then you're not a businessman. 00:12:28.900 |
If you're a student and you never go to class and you don't own any books, then you're not 00:12:34.380 |
Just because you sign up doesn't make you a student. 00:12:39.840 |
And in the same way, he says, we have become a holy nation, a royal priesthood. 00:12:44.960 |
Our whole purpose of why you and I are here is not, you know, I saved you so now you can 00:12:49.320 |
enjoy the time between now until you get to heaven, and then you can enjoy heaven some 00:12:55.740 |
For whatever the reason, the church in our generation believes that that's the case. 00:13:06.820 |
He says the reason why he saved us is ultimately to save others. 00:13:12.000 |
Our salvation is connected to the salvation of whoever next is coming. 00:13:16.400 |
This generation is responsible for the souls in this generation. 00:13:20.280 |
The next generation is going to be responsible for the souls in the next generation. 00:13:24.040 |
We have been saved in order that we may proclaim the excellencies of him who called us out 00:13:30.560 |
So first, the Great Commission is a vital part of our identity. 00:13:35.760 |
Secondly, the very definition of the gospel, the very definition of our salvation requires 00:13:47.180 |
To say that you are a Christian, that you believe the gospel, requires that we are proclaimers 00:14:01.140 |
You could tell if something is a good news or not a good news based upon the ways that 00:14:06.980 |
If somebody comes to you and says, "Man, I have some news," and their demeanor gets 00:14:11.340 |
really dark, and you're trying to crack jokes and they don't laugh, right? 00:14:16.960 |
And there's a seriousness about their demeanor, and you can already tell this isn't good 00:14:24.460 |
But you can also tell by the way that they're about to present it to you that it's good 00:14:30.780 |
And based upon their body language and their facial expression, you can tell that it is 00:14:34.380 |
fantastic news, that he can't wait to tell you. 00:14:38.500 |
He's building it up to tell you, because he knows the moment you hear it that you're going 00:14:47.620 |
See, that's the definition of euangelion, good news. 00:14:55.760 |
It was a very specific cultural word that the Christians adopted for the gospel message, 00:15:01.380 |
and it was simply used to declare a victory in...if your nation went to war and your soldiers 00:15:09.620 |
came back, and they said, "Did you win or lose?" 00:15:15.860 |
That's the context where they used the word euangelion, good news. 00:15:19.940 |
So the very definition of this term requires that we proclaim it. 00:15:26.680 |
If we say we believe in the good news and to never proclaim it, doesn't that...doesn't 00:15:33.860 |
your body language and doesn't your life itself and doesn't the way you share it or don't 00:15:38.200 |
share it, doesn't that automatically tell the recipient that it may be not good news? 00:15:48.160 |
Maybe the content in and of itself objectively is good news, but clearly you don't believe 00:15:55.240 |
Because if we believe it is good news, I don't know about you, but how many times has 00:16:00.440 |
something really good happened to you and you told nobody? 00:16:06.480 |
You got this job that you've been praying for years and you got this job, and then your 00:16:10.600 |
best friend you have lunch with, he said, "What happened?" 00:16:17.440 |
You go home and your mom is waiting, "What happened?" 00:16:25.960 |
When was the last time something fantastic happened and you just weren't eager to tell 00:16:35.440 |
Something in and of itself, the very thing that we examine, it's very strange for Christians 00:16:42.080 |
to embrace the gospel and not to be eager to tell other people about it. 00:16:47.500 |
So we need to take a step back and ask ourselves, "Why am I not eager to tell other people?" 00:16:55.160 |
To say that I have embraced and believed and I confess and I sing and I memorize and I 00:17:00.400 |
study that I have embraced and I've been changed by this good news. 00:17:07.960 |
And then so nonchalant about telling other people about it. 00:17:14.760 |
The very nature of the gospel itself, the very definition of the gospel itself, it means 00:17:23.640 |
And that's exactly what Jesus said in Luke chapter 4, 8 through 19, "The Spirit of the 00:17:27.440 |
Lord has appointed me because he has anointed me to proclaim the good news to the poor. 00:17:31.200 |
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, 00:17:36.560 |
to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." 00:17:45.280 |
The gospel isn't gospel until we recognize that we are poor. 00:17:53.920 |
Jesus said he had come to bring good news to the poor. 00:18:03.480 |
He says he came to proclaim liberty to the captives. 00:18:08.240 |
What if your belief of captivity is just a theory? 00:18:19.860 |
He says he had come to bring recovery to the sight to the blind. 00:18:24.480 |
What if you're seeing fine and you don't know that you're blind? 00:18:30.000 |
He said he has come to set liberty to those who are oppressed. 00:18:38.180 |
So how does good news become good news to those people who have never been poor, who 00:18:43.600 |
have never been captive, who have never felt like they were blind, and never felt oppressed? 00:18:52.520 |
What is going to attract people to the Savior and cry out to the Savior saying, "Save 00:18:59.760 |
me," if I don't necessarily feel the need to be saved? 00:19:06.720 |
That's the challenge of the gospel in where you and I live. 00:19:13.680 |
I mean, you say Christ came to set the captives free and they're being oppressed. 00:19:19.360 |
And there's a desperation that causes them to cry out to God. 00:19:22.840 |
And they have their own set of issues because sometimes they interpret every deliverance 00:19:30.040 |
But in our generation, in where you and I live, how do we convince people that this 00:19:40.160 |
Just theoretically, when we die, we're going to go to heaven, right? 00:19:46.160 |
See, that's the exact problem that the Jews had in John chapter 8. 00:19:51.600 |
People who thought, "Yeah, he's the Messiah," but Jesus said to those who had believed him, 00:19:55.120 |
he said, "If you abide in my truth, if you abide in my word, you shall know the truth 00:20:09.040 |
And then this discussion goes back and forth. 00:20:11.120 |
And they rejected Christ because Jesus said, "I have come to set the captives free. 00:20:15.420 |
If the Son sets you free, you'll be free indeed." 00:20:21.680 |
So they came to Jesus thinking that he's going to make them great. 00:20:25.840 |
He's going to somehow pat them on the back and say, "Hey, you've been doing a great job 00:20:29.960 |
But yet when Jesus said, "You need to be set free," they're like, "Set free? 00:20:42.600 |
If we see through his eyes what he sees, if we believe that spiritually we are poor, that 00:20:55.040 |
because of our sins we become captives, that without his help we are absolutely blind. 00:21:03.160 |
No matter how much education you have, no matter how much you study the Bible, without 00:21:06.800 |
his grace, without his salvation, we are absolutely blind and desperate and needy. 00:21:19.360 |
There is an enemy who are roaring around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour, 00:21:24.260 |
and I am absolutely helpless without my Savior. 00:21:28.400 |
So the good news only is good news to those people who actually believe that. 00:21:38.640 |
If you don't believe that, the gospel is theology. 00:21:44.880 |
It is something that we need to do because I want to make sure that when I die that, 00:21:55.040 |
I want to make sure that when I die that I go to heaven instead of hell. 00:21:57.920 |
That part I've kind of, you know, I want that as an insurance. 00:22:09.300 |
It changes what we value and what we pursue, what we're entertained by, what is okay and 00:22:21.760 |
It changes us when we believe that it is the good news, that He actually is setting us 00:22:30.720 |
See, proclaiming the gospel is at the core of who we are. 00:22:40.360 |
Nothing, in comparison to eternity, nothing that you are pursuing, whether it's your career, 00:22:50.640 |
well-being for your children, your safety, a nice house, all of these things are not 00:22:56.680 |
sinful things, but nothing that we pursue is as important as people's souls. 00:23:10.520 |
Nothing that we come and cling to God for and pray, pray for safety, pray for security, 00:23:18.800 |
pray for health, praying even for our very lives, isn't as important as the souls. 00:23:26.120 |
Because as Christians, we believe when we die, we're going to go to heaven. 00:23:30.840 |
So while we live, what is it that we pursue, what is it that we passionately pursue that 00:23:35.280 |
is as important as pursuing lost souls to get this good news out to people who do not 00:23:44.080 |
It is at the very core of who we are, the very essence of what we proclaim, and very 00:24:02.480 |
Second Corinthians 5, 14 to 15, it says, "For the love of Christ controls us." 00:24:08.720 |
It forces us to move forward because we have concluded that one has died for all, therefore 00:24:18.040 |
And he died for all that those who live might no longer live for themselves. 00:24:23.240 |
That those who live because of Christ may no longer live for themselves, but for him 00:24:55.040 |
You know the passage in Matthew 9, 36 to 38 where Jesus, after preaching, he sees the 00:25:01.200 |
multitude and he says he has compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless 00:25:08.080 |
Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the labors are few. 00:25:12.360 |
Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out labors into his harvest." 00:25:21.200 |
While I was coming here this morning, I saw this tiny little puppy, the cutest little 00:25:28.000 |
poodle looking puppy, but for whatever reason it was separated from its owner. 00:25:33.160 |
And as I was driving here, I was like, "Wow, that's a little cute puppy. 00:25:39.880 |
And then as soon as I was driving by, a car came and just ran it over. 00:25:56.000 |
Sometimes we have more compassion for a dog that dies, and yet you and I live in a context 00:26:04.040 |
of souls who are dying every single day, and there is no awe and shock. 00:26:12.440 |
We think about orphans who don't need more than women to give. 00:26:17.720 |
We think about animal cruelty, and it moves us. 00:26:20.960 |
Something needs to happen, and it's shocking. 00:26:27.360 |
But why do we profess to believe in a damnation of souls, and we have become accustomed to 00:26:37.560 |
living in the midst of non-Christians, and there's no movement in our heart to bring 00:26:51.200 |
Something strange has happened to the church. 00:26:55.120 |
Something very strange that's inconsistent with what we profess to believe has happened, 00:26:59.760 |
and it has become a normal part of who we are. 00:27:05.600 |
A non-Christian who will open up the scriptures and read what it says and then reads the church, 00:27:12.480 |
I think will have a very difficult time believing that this, what you and I participate in, 00:27:30.440 |
Because when we look at lost souls, do we really believe everything that we've been 00:27:39.580 |
That there is judgment coming, that Christ comes, he's not bringing flowers and commendations 00:27:44.400 |
and medals to pass out, that when Christ comes, there's going to be fiery judgment, a third 00:27:51.180 |
of the nation will be wiped out, and all of that is a warning for them to repent because 00:27:55.020 |
the real judgment is going to come at the end? 00:28:00.860 |
What will cause us to look at them with compassion? 00:28:04.820 |
What will cause us to have the same feeling that you had of this dog that's been run over? 00:28:21.220 |
Until we see them in faith, that we see them through Christ's eyes, that as he saw them, 00:28:32.020 |
he didn't see a bunch of people who were just kind of lost and didn't have health care, 00:28:39.520 |
He saw people who were beaten and harassed, sheep without a shepherd, and he had compassion, 00:28:49.060 |
And so he told his disciples, "Beseech the Lord of the harvest." 00:29:02.340 |
Not because you were hurt, not because somebody in your family member was sick, but you cried 00:29:07.660 |
out for a lost soul, begging God to save them. 00:29:22.580 |
There's something about that that doesn't make sense. 00:29:28.900 |
Now maybe if I just stop talking about it, that we don't have to think about it. 00:29:40.260 |
Either you reject this gospel, reject it and say you don't believe it, reject it and say, 00:29:48.620 |
I'll take some part of it, but I don't receive the other part of it. 00:29:53.420 |
I want to receive the religious part of it, I want to receive the benefits of it, but 00:29:59.100 |
At least have integrity and say, I don't receive all of it. 00:30:07.420 |
But you can't say that you receive all of it, you believe all of it. 00:30:20.900 |
And to be worried about tomorrow like everybody else. 00:30:33.500 |
Even athletes who live in sin will pray before their final game because they desperately 00:30:43.440 |
Even atheists will cry out in a sinking boat. 00:30:49.580 |
Only people who really believe the Gospel; all of it, the judgement, the wrath, the grace, 00:31:00.140 |
the mercy, the salvation, the sacrifice, the suffering, the reward, eternity. 00:31:11.920 |
Only people who really believe that will ever really cry out to God. 00:31:23.280 |
Because the tragedy that is coming upon this earth, if the world does not repent, is not 00:31:32.000 |
something any one of us even want to imagine. 00:31:37.820 |
And the only salvation for that is Christ crucified. 00:31:45.080 |
Either we embrace this truth and pick up our cross and follow Him or reject it and be consistent. 00:31:56.120 |
But you cannot, I cannot and you cannot with a clear face say, "I believe this, but I'm 00:32:16.960 |
I pray that the Word of Christ may be stuck in your hearts. 00:32:32.080 |
And you can just, well, he says things like that because that's his personality. 00:32:37.640 |
He just kind of, whatever he gets into, he gets really into it. 00:32:40.880 |
So you can nullify the message by nullifying me, right? 00:32:43.400 |
But you're not going to be able to nullify His Word. 00:32:53.880 |
Something strange has happened to Christianity in our generation. 00:33:10.200 |
The people in China are dying without Christ. 00:33:14.600 |
People in India are dying without ever even hearing that there is hope in the name of 00:33:22.880 |
And there's people in Orange County that never even had the opportunity to reject the gospel 00:33:32.520 |
They're surrounded by Christians every single day. 00:33:35.280 |
But you ask them what the gospel is, they don't know. 00:33:45.520 |
Well, you try to be a good person and not to hurt people. 00:33:53.340 |
We live among people who are under God's condemnation and the wrath of God is coming 00:33:59.360 |
It may come tomorrow, it may come 10 years from now, it may come 60 years from now, but 00:34:04.000 |
for sure it will come if they die without Christ. 00:34:11.760 |
And then to just block this off is inconsistent with what we profess. 00:34:22.560 |
I'm going to give you three quick things and then we're going to take some time to pray 00:34:29.960 |
How do we better prepare ourselves to be sent? 00:34:33.720 |
We need to become better vessels for God to use, 2 Timothy 2.20. 00:34:38.320 |
Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, 00:34:43.280 |
some for an honorable use, some for dishonorable. 00:34:45.240 |
Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel 00:34:49.460 |
for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every 00:35:01.760 |
Some of us may be internal, some of us it may be external. 00:35:09.640 |
Because if you're not living a life holy, acceptable to God, I guarantee you all your 00:35:15.880 |
prayers is going to be for God's mercy upon you. 00:35:21.320 |
All your prayers is going to be, "Lord, be gracious to me." 00:35:26.200 |
But you will have no energy to cry out for the lost. 00:35:30.480 |
You have no compassion for the lost because all of your energy is focused on you. 00:35:35.880 |
He says if you want to be used for noble purposes, he says get rid of the ignoble things that 00:35:46.240 |
Holiness matters in our sanctification, in our salvation. 00:35:49.600 |
And let me just be blunt and say holiness, what you watch, it matters. 00:36:12.760 |
He says if you invest in ignoble things, you will not be prepared for noble purposes. 00:36:29.920 |
Not just pastors, not just leaders, every Christian needs to master the word. 00:36:35.500 |
Because if we are there to proclaim the gospel truth and you know nothing of Christ other 00:36:40.680 |
than what you've been told, your connection to Christ is just as weak as it was when you 00:36:50.680 |
That's why when your friends disappear, you disappear. 00:36:53.600 |
When your support system is gone, you're gone. 00:36:57.380 |
When the external things, the events and all these things disappear, you also disappear. 00:37:02.640 |
Because your connection to Christ is hanging on a thin thread. 00:37:13.080 |
I'm trying to give them more and more freedom because I want them to have their own faith. 00:37:16.880 |
I don't want them to say, "Well, your dad's a pastor, so you should know all of this stuff." 00:37:20.000 |
At some point, they need to be tested, and they need to come to the word of God, and 00:37:25.500 |
Because if they don't, at some point when all the support system is gone, they're also 00:37:33.200 |
Every single one of us has to master his word. 00:37:36.320 |
Because 2 Timothy 3:16, it says, "All Scripture is breathed out by God, and it's profitable 00:37:40.960 |
for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, that the man 00:37:46.520 |
In the NIV, it says, "Thoroughly equipped for every good work." 00:37:51.040 |
The word for equipped, ex arteso, it means to equip, to outfit, and to furnish. 00:38:00.680 |
Whenever we think about sending people out to missions or evangelism, we always think 00:38:07.160 |
And the training typically involves contextualization, communicating cross-culturally, like knowing 00:38:17.040 |
And so all of these things are necessary things, but the only thing that we were taught in 00:38:21.920 |
Scripture that we needed was his word and the Holy Spirit. 00:38:25.560 |
So all this other stuff is great that we have it, but it doesn't make you any less effective 00:38:31.260 |
if you don't have it, because it was not ordained by God. 00:38:36.400 |
What was ordained was his word, preaching of his word. 00:38:40.480 |
Faith comes from hearing, and the hearing of the word of Christ. 00:38:44.040 |
So the more effective you are in knowing and proclaiming his word, the more effective you 00:38:55.540 |
You notice how he says that, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach good news." 00:38:59.800 |
He didn't say, "People who have beautiful feet preach good news." 00:39:04.800 |
That may sound like semantics, but the difference is, if we're looking for people who are articulate, 00:39:14.000 |
who have influence, who have certain gifts, who have a certain amount of knowledge, a 00:39:20.120 |
certain amount of seminary training, no, he says, "Those who preach the good news, they 00:39:30.600 |
How often do we look for beautiful feet to preach the good news? 00:39:39.460 |
And then finally, we need to pray, and we want to take some time to do that this morning 00:39:44.400 |
for our team that's going out, and even for ourselves. 00:39:53.480 |
When we first went out to China, it felt like God just kicked the door wide open, and he 00:40:00.800 |
And so it wasn't because there was a great heart for China, or there was this love that 00:40:09.880 |
So that's why we went, and we've been going there ever since. 00:40:13.760 |
Right now, the door's starting to open in India. 00:40:16.760 |
It's not this, like, "Whoa, Indian culture and Indian food. 00:40:29.160 |
But there's also, as the door for the country is open, that we're praying that God would 00:40:39.400 |
So we want to take some time to pray for the people who are going, that God would lead 00:40:43.040 |
them to people who have open hearts, that they're eager to hear and have conversations, 00:40:47.560 |
that people who are searching, that God would lead them to them, that they're not forcing 00:40:53.240 |
So let's pray for open doors, as Paul prays for open doors in Colossians 4.3. 00:40:59.520 |
Pray that the people who are going would have boldness to share. 00:41:07.000 |
But when they are able to share, that they would not be afraid of the response. 00:41:11.760 |
They would not be afraid what kind of response that they're going to get. 00:41:16.600 |
As it says in Ephesians 6.19, and also Paul says, "Pray for me, that words may be given 00:41:21.560 |
to me in opening my mouth, boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel." 00:41:30.280 |
There's one thing that I see over and over again in the book of Acts, is when the Holy 00:41:37.400 |
So let's pray for their teams that they would be bold in preaching the gospel while they're 00:41:42.880 |
Thirdly, pray that they will have wisdom in how and to who they speak to. 00:41:50.560 |
James 1, 5, and 6, it says, "If anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously 00:41:54.920 |
to all without reproach, and it will be given to him." 00:41:59.160 |
So whether they are articulate or not articulate, or been to China and talked to before, or 00:42:03.440 |
used to sharing the gospel or not, that God miraculously, supernaturally, will give them 00:42:10.920 |
the exact words that they need, and the conversation will be led to that. 00:42:16.080 |
Fourthly, pray that the gospel may spread rapidly, and that there will be a sense of 00:42:26.120 |
That we would pray for urgency in the gospel. 00:42:28.680 |
In 2 Thessalonians 3, 1, Paul says, "Finally, brothers, pray for us that the message of 00:42:32.360 |
the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored just as it was with you." 00:42:37.200 |
Again, this is something that we have to fight against, because there is no sense of urgency 00:42:42.240 |
in us, because our needs are taken care of, until God sometimes will bring discipline 00:42:47.800 |
in our lives, and force us to see that there's an urgency, that our life is short, whether 00:42:53.320 |
it's through somebody's sickness, or we get fired from a job, or something tragic happens. 00:42:57.920 |
But when we see the gospel as it is, and we see it with eyes of faith, that God would 00:43:05.880 |
God give them a sense of urgency, that the short time that they have there, that they 00:43:13.480 |
And then, finally, pray that the Holy Spirit would use the foolishness of the preaching 00:43:19.280 |
to bring people to Christ, that the souls may be one. 00:43:24.080 |
I'm going to ask the praise team to come up, and we're going to take just a few minutes 00:43:35.280 |
And I want you guys to take just a few minutes to pray, maybe about two, three minutes, to 00:43:40.600 |
And our worship team is going to come and lead us. 00:43:42.200 |
Instead of just me giving you some time to just pray randomly over your things, but take 00:43:46.440 |
some time to pray over our team, over ourselves, over the preaching of the gospel, that God 00:43:56.400 |
would really send, that we would be the ones who send them, and that God would send us 00:44:01.040 |
Let's take some time to pray as our team leads us.