♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -Well, I can't imagine a more fitting introduction to the 2025 Shepherds Conference than to have a choir loft filled with the future teachers and preachers of God's word, singing to a worship center filled with the present teachers and preachers of God's word, and all of the thousands of men who are on this campus to lift high the cross.

We're so glad, and of course that's reminiscent of what the Lord Jesus said in John 12 when he said, "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to myself." And so how fitting that is for that truth to be at the forefront of the theme of all that we're going to do here at Shepherds Conference, proclaiming this Christ to the ends of the earth.

The Lord commanded his followers to go into all the world to make disciples of every nation, and the fulfillment of this great commission that draws us here today remains the chief priority for all of God's people. Our greatest motivation is the glory of Christ. Our highest confidence is knowing that God has chosen to save sinners from every tribe, tongue, nation, and people.

And our certain hope is that the multitude of the redeemed will one day be gathered around the throne of heaven to reverberate with ceaseless praise before the glorious Lamb. So with all of that, we just want to welcome you to this Shepherds Conference, all 5,000 of you dispersed all throughout this campus for this corporate time of worship and praise and encouragement and strengthening.

We have all 50 states represented, plus Guam. We have men from 70 countries here this morning. We have 700 -- yes. Yes. We have 700 internationals with us, and 1,000 of you are here for the very first time. So if this is the first time you've been a guest at Shepherds Conference, would you stand so we can see where you are?

First time, yes. Wow. Wow. Welcome. This morning we have -- and we're going to begin our conference with Dr. Abner Chow, the president of the Master's University and Seminary. He's an elder at Grace Community Church, the head translator for both the Old Testament and New Testament for the Legacy Standard Bible.

And most importantly, he is a preacher of the Word of God. But before he comes, we have more to enjoy from the Master's Seminary Choir and even a moment for us all to join together in song. So let's open our time in prayer and ask the Lord's blessing upon all we're about to do.

Almighty God, we have received our marching orders from above to proclaim your Son to the ends of the earth, to stand together as a willing band of brothers, to be linked with one purpose, with one resolve, focused on one mission, to spend our lives pointing to the Lamb of God, to allow His excellence and grace to flow from our lips forever, to bring to bear upon this fallen world the truth that sin can be forgiven, that hope can be renewed, that souls can be reborn if only they would look to the Cross and bow their hearts before the Champion of Heaven.

There's no higher calling on earth than this. There's no higher mandate than the one we have received from you. So help us, dear God, to drink deeply from the well of your Word that our time together might be a refreshment to your men from the fount of every blessing.

May we be granted the boldness to guard the treasure that's been entrusted to us, and may we be filled with the greatest of joy so that one day we too might join with all who have come before us and crown your Son with many crowns that He alone deserves.

Bless our week together, we pray, in the matchless name of Christ, amen. ♪ Tell Thou my soul ♪ ♪ the greatness of the Lord ♪ ♪ Another blessings ♪ ♪ give my spirit ♪ ♪ Forstender to me ♪ ♪ the promise of His Word ♪ ♪ In God my Savior ♪ ♪ shall my heart rejoice ♪ ♪ Tell Thou my soul ♪ ♪ the greatness of His name ♪ ♪ Make known His might ♪ ♪ the deeds His heart has done ♪ ♪ His mercy sure ♪ ♪ from age to age the same ♪ ♪ His holy name ♪ ♪ the Lord Almighty ♪ ♪ One ♪ ♪ ♪ Tell Thou my soul ♪ ♪ the greatness of His love ♪ ♪ Powers and dominions ♪ ♪ play their glory ♪ ♪ Proud hearts and son ♪ ♪ the hills are good to fly ♪ ♪ The hungry ♪ ♪ and the humble lifted high ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Tell Thou my soul ♪ ♪ the glories of His Word ♪ ♪ The gifts His promise ♪ ♪ and His mercy sure ♪ ♪ Tell Thou my soul ♪ ♪ the greatness of the Lord ♪ ♪ To children ♪ ♪ and forevermore ♪ ♪ ♪ Amen ♪ ♪ Amen ♪ ♪ Amen ♪ ♪ Our Lord Jesus Christ, whom we seek to proclaim to the ends of the earth, is indeed the one true foundation of His church.

And appropriately, our opening congregational hymn is in your hymnal. Please find a hymnal. It's number 354, and it's "The Church's One Foundation is Jesus Christ, Her Lord." Gentlemen, would you please stand as we sing? ♪ ♪ ♪ The Church's One Foundation is Jesus Christ, Her Lord. She exists in creation by Spirit and the Word.

From death He gave His Son to be His Holy Bride. In His own bloody honor and for Her life He died. He left on every nation yet one for all the earth. Her charter of salvation one Lord, one faith, one Word. One Holy Name She classes. Our saints are holy proof that to one Lord She presses with every grace and youth.

It is for that tribulation and to all of her poor. She waits the consolation, the peace forevermore. Till with the vision glorious, her longing eyes are blest. And the great church victorious shall be the Church at rest. To this we honor that union with God the Three in One and this history of union with those whose rest is gone.

O happy ones and holy, forgive us, grace that we are dead, but we can hope with God our King now be risen. And on that's people said. Amen. You may be seated. Trials and testings are inevitable while fulfilling the Great Commission even as God works to conform us to the image of His Son.

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Christ knows our name. And Christ will give us a name. But that does not mean that our name is on the tip of everyone's tongue forever. It is not emblazoned in their heart forever. But there is one name. There is one name that is etched in everyone's heart forever.

Friend or Foe. And it is the one name that makes all friend or foe tremble forever. And that is the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is what the Father does for His Son. And that kind of endorsement, so fervent in the womb and with destiny to this very end, is unparalleled.

No one has endorsement like the Lord Jesus Christ. His redemption is absolutely exceptional. And it's not just that it is endorsed by God. It is effective. Look at verse 2. Christ is unstoppable. He overcomes everything. As it says in the text, He has set my mouth like a sharp sword.

He can slice through everything, overcoming and having victory over all. And He cannot be overcome. In the shadow of His hands, He has concealed me. God protects His Son. He is invulnerable. And so He can overcome everything and never be threatened at all. But on top of that, Christ is God's secret weapon.

His select or choice arrow. Christ is the secret weapon of God. Who does the most damage. Who wins the battle. Who you use at the prime moment. And to that very end, as the last phrase says, He has hidden me in His quiver. Christ is the one who is reserved.

This is Galatians 4. For the fullness of time. So that the fullness of effect would happen. You could think of it this way. When Christ came into this world in His first advent, it was one way. And when He left, it was different. That is the effectiveness of the Lord Jesus Christ.

He is God's secret weapon. The one who changes the tides of history. The one who turns the tides of the war. The one who sets the trajectory of the plan of God. That is the effectiveness of Christ. But it's not just that He's endorsed. It's not just that He's effective.

It's that He's exalted. Verse 3. Exalted. He said to me, "Behold, I am the Lord of Israel, "in whom I will show forth my beautiful glory." There is a term for glory that refers to God's weightiness. The totality of His essence. That overpowers and overwhelms all. But this term refers to the glory and the majestic nature of His glory.

Think of it this way. We can be in awe of the power of God. But here is something amazing to think about. We should also be in awe of the beauty of God. That He makes things that are ugly and twisted and perverted and seemingly unsolvable. He makes them beautiful.

That's the wonder of His redemption. That's the beauty of His salvation. But it's not just that the Messiah and His work of redemption is endorsed or effective or exalted. It is also this. That it required much exertion. Verse four, "But I said, 'I have toiled in vain. I have spent my might for nothing in vanity.

Yet surely the justice due to me is with Yahweh, and my reward with my God.'" Jesus labored in His humanity to the point where it seemed to ask the question, "Is this even worth it? Is this even worth it? What is the point of all this?" He exerted everything on our behalf.

And if He exerted everything, if He gave His all, and He is the God man as we know, then salvation must be amazing. Because it required all that He is. And so here's the question. What do you give to someone who is so exceptional? What do you give to someone who is so exhaustive?

What do you give to someone who is the end of all things? What do you give to His work that is so endorsed, so effective, so exalted, and required so much exertion? Here's what you do. Nothing short of the ends of the earth. Verse six, He says, "It is too small a thing for God." He knew.

He knew that to give the Messiah, just the nation of Israel, just a few peoples or nations even, that would not do justice to who His Son is and what He accomplished. That would not match the value and the weightiness of all that He exerted and all the effect that He had.

And so He says this, "I will give you as a light of the nations so that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth." At this moment, now you understand. Now you understand why God wants the gospel to go to the ends of the earth. God's reason, God's motivation is because of the worthiness of the Lord Jesus Christ.

That's why He wants the gospel to the ends of the earth. And that clarifies everything. The nature of mission, although we of course want souls to be saved, amen, but fundamentally it is about showcasing the Son of God. That is God's agenda in all of this. And because of this, the motivation for mission has to be fundamentally the glory and the worthiness of Christ.

Our people do not need cheap tricks. They need Christ. Give them Christ in His exceptionalness. Make them convinced that there is no one, no one in this world, in all history past, in all history future, that could ever match the Lord Jesus. Give them Christ in His exhaustiveness. Make our people understand that all history and all theology is predicated upon His shoulders.

He is the decisive hero of heroes. Give them Christ that He is the end of all things. All things will be around Him. All things will be focused upon Him and therefore He must be the focus now. Give them Christ in His endorsement by God because He is God Himself.

Give them Christ in His effectiveness. Make them understand that He is the secret weapon of God, the one who turns the tides of everything, the hinge and the lynchpin of all redemptive history. Give them Christ in His exaltedness that He is not only powerful but beautiful and makes all things beautiful.

Give them Christ in His exertion for us. Crush our people with the reality that He was crushed for us. Give them Christ until they can no longer contain themselves and they are so captured and all of their affections are bound to Him that they say, "Give me this world or I die." That is what we need.

Give them Christ. Our people don't need cheap tricks. They don't need to be manipulated. They need Christ and when they have Him, and when they behold Him, and when they are captured by Him, they will go. They will go because they cannot stop from going. And that is what the apostles understood when they heard the phrase "to the ends of the earth." They knew the greatness of the redemption that their Lord had just procured.

They knew how effective it was. They knew how exalted it was. They knew how endorsed it was, and therefore they knew they had to go. They understood they had to go. Why do we go? Because of the greatness of His redemption. Well, we don't just go because of the greatness of His redemption.

Second of all, we go because of the greatness of His reign. We go because of the greatness of His reign. Turn with me to Psalm 72. Psalm 72. Verse 8 of Psalm 72, it says this, "May He also have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river," and here's the key phrase, "to the ends of the earth." We hear the phrase again.

In Psalm 72, in context, it is the climax of all of David's prayers, and it is what Solomon had recorded down as they contemplate, "What is it going to take? What is it going to take to fulfill the role of a Davidic king? What is it going to look like when the Messiah reigns ultimately?" And Psalm 72 gives us that picture.

It tells us in verse 1 that the Messiah will have a faithful reign. It says this, "O God, give the king your judgments and your righteousness to the king's son." In this wicked world, in this fallen place, we often have to settle for a modicum of justice, for a modicum of righteousness in our political system, and we're so thankful to the Lord if justice and righteousness are at least preserved to a small degree.

But there will be a day, there will be a day, when we never have to settle for less. There will be a day when the complete divine justice and the complete divine righteousness of God will reign unhindered and in fullness. That is the faithful reign of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And it's not just that. Look at verse 2, "May he render judgment to your people with righteousness, and you're afflicted with justice." So often in this life, even though the movies say the good guys always win, we know the good guys don't really win a lot. The bad guys always have the upper hand.

But there will be a day when the good guys always win. When good will always triumph over evil in the end. And that is the faithful reign of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ does not just have a faithful reign. He has a fruitful reign. Verse 3, "Let the mountains lift up peace to the people, and the hills in righteousness." Christ's reign is so amazing, as we heard in Isaiah.

It not only rules over nations, it transforms creation. Even the mountains, even the hills. Let me put it this way. You and I have never seen this world as God originally intended. You have only seen it. And you might say, "I enjoy some things in this world. I behold the majesty and beauty of God in this world." True, but you have never seen it the way it was supposed to be.

We look forward to the day when creation isn't just not so bad, or okay, or even nice. We look forward to the day when, as the text says, it is full of righteousness and peace. Where you see this world like you've never seen it before. And you've experienced this land like you've never experienced it before.

That is the fruitful reign of the Lord Jesus. You might say, some people will say, "Well, of course, you can make the world a nice place, but people will ruin the world." Okay. Christ has an answer to that, verse 4. "May He give justice to the afflicted of the people, save the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor." God will make sure all the people of the world are right.

If you are harmed, you will be satisfied. If you are needy, you will be filled. And if you are one who harms, you will be dealt with. Christ will have the most fruitful reign for the earth and its fullness. And it's not just a faithful reign, and it's not just a fruitful reign, it is a fearsome reign.

Look at verse 5. "Let them fear you while the sun endures, and as long as the moon from generation to all generations." The world will fear Christ at this time. And it will be unceasing and forever. It will be constant. And lest you think people are just scared of Jesus because He is so wrathful, and the risk of punishment is so great, notice verse 6.

"May He come down like rain upon the mown grass." Jesus at that time, He won't be fearful in the sense of terrorizing. He will be the greatest blessing. He'll be like the new day dawn and the dew of the new day. He'll be the most rejuvenating. He'll be the most healing.

He'll be the most sustaining. Let me put it this way. We understand fear of people who could hurt us. We understand fear of people who could punish us. But there's a different category of fear. Being so fearful, being nervous, being in awe of one who is not so harmful, but one who is so good.

And at this time, the world will have a fear they have never known before. A fear not of risk of punishment, a fear of one who is so good, like the dew on the new grass. That is the fearsome reign of the Lord Jesus. Well, it's not just a faithful and a fearsome and a fruitful reign.

It is a reign of fulfillment. Notice verse 9. "Let the desert creatures kneel before him, and his enemies lick the dust." Where have we talked about serpents licking dust? At people's feet. At the one, the seed's feet. Genesis 3, 15. This reign will fulfill all the promises of God.

This reign will overcome evil, sin, and death. This reign will fulfill all the promises all the way back to the very first promise made. And there is a reason for this. There is a reason why this reign is so fruitful and so faithful and so fearsome and fulfills all promises.

This is the rule, according to David and Solomon, of the final Adam. This is the rule of the final Adam. Verse 8. The text that we are focusing on for this point. May he also have dominion. Key word right there. The word dominion in the Old Testament is exclusively and first used with the reign of Adam.

Let him have dominion over this earth. And then from that point forward, it is exclusively used in messianic prophecy. Numbers 24. Balaam and his talking donkey. What does Balaam say? He says, "The one who rises from Jacob, the star that ascends from Jacob, he will have dominion." That is messianic.

Psalm 110. We know that's a messianic prophecy. "The Lord said to my Lord, 'Sit at my right hand.'" That is a messianic prophecy, and it says in there, "Have dominion over your enemies." Here, this is a messianic prophecy. May he also have dominion. What kind of dominion? The dominion Adam had.

The dominion Adam had. And how did Adam rule as Adam was commissioned? He ruled over the earth, and therefore what does the text say? "And from the river to the ends of the earth." Here's what Solomon and David understood. What it's going to take to fulfill the Davidic role, what it's going to take to fulfill the Davidic covenant, is one who has the original authority.

The one commissioned by God. The prime authority. The ultimate authority. The one given to Adam himself. And the one who will have this authority must not be like Adam. He must fulfill everything that Adam was not. He is the final Adam. And because he is the final Adam, he possesses that singular, unique, original, ultimate, prime authority.

And that authority means and demands, he owns and dictates every single thing to the ends of the earth. That is the sovereignty of the Lord. Why we go to the ends of the earth? It's simple. We go everywhere Christ reigns. We go everywhere Christ rules. Does he rule there?

Yes, we are there. And we are declaring Christ. Does he rule over there? Yes, we declare Christ. We go everywhere Christ rules. And his authority, such authority that dictates and determines the ends of the earth, is what backs the very mission that we engage in. This is the very logic of Matthew 28.

And to be clear, Jesus' statement, "All authority has been given to me," is not just a validation of missions, even though that is the case. That declaration is the ontological reality, the right and prerogative of Jesus, by who he is and what he has done, that all authority belongs to him.

He is the king of this world, and every land to the ends of the earth owes him their allegiance, because he is the only king. That is the statement Jesus made in Matthew 28, and that is what drives everything. Brothers, I know that in ministry things can be hard, and people can be resistant, and we can get knocked down often as we labor for the Lord Jesus Christ.

But what gets us back up, what allows us to continue forward, is us knowing this, that the detractors, they do not have the last say. They do not have the final say. And in fact, let's be clear, we don't have the last say. It's not as if we just wield all this power autonomously and can do whatever we want and take over the world.

That is not what is going on. But we serve the king who does have the last say. And in fact, he has the only say. He is the Lord of heaven and earth, even to the ends of the earth. That's why we get back up. That's why we continue on.

Because he has decided the battle. And not only does the authority, the reign of Christ, give us authority, it authorizes us to. Sometimes we, or perhaps our people, can feel, "I don't know if I should talk to so-and-so about it." It could feel a little awkward. Maybe they don't, maybe that's just really not the topic for discussion with them.

And of course, we don't want to be belligerent, and we don't want to be pugnacious. That would go against the orders of our king. But we have to understand this. Who sets the topic of discussion? The king. He owns all those people. He owns all those places. And if he says, "This is the topic for discussion," then guess what?

It's the topic for discussion. It is authorized. We are just announcing for the king, and he has set the agenda, and we follow him. Now, speaking of announcing for the king, this is helpful, I think, encouraging, particularly for our people, to understand, in light of the context that we are in, the nature of evangelism.

The very word, euangelizo, means to announce, to proclaim good news. It depicts one, just like the context here, who goes before as a herald of the king, announcing and declaring his victory. Sometimes our people get so discouraged and decline to evangelize because they think they fail if somebody doesn't get converted after their presentation, their proclamation.

And so they just shy away from it because they just don't want to keep failing. That's not the standard of success. The activity the king has commissioned is not conversion, even though we want people to be converted. The activity is declaration. Declaration. Let me put it this way. Recently, in America, we had an event that I learned much about.

It's called the Super Bowl. And at this event, there is commercials. And at this event, there is food and fellowship. And at this event, there is something called football. Which is not the football celebrated by the world. It's distinctly American football. I like it. And what I learned about this event is that there are winners.

And then, there are people who get participation trophies. No, I'm just kidding. Winners and losers. And the team that wins, their fans and their people take to the streets and they celebrate the win. And they parade the win. Now, if you went up to them and said, "Is this parade successful if only it makes converts to your team?" They'd look at you like you are crazy!

Because you are! That is not the criteria for success of declaration. The criteria for success is what? Declaration! They don't care if somebody joins the fanbase of their team. That's wonderful. What they care about is announcing the win. Brothers, we have to be clear with our people. Let's just help them out.

Our success rate at conversion is exactly 0.00%. We don't convert anybody. The Lord does that. But if our people and we declare Christ in His death and resurrection, if we declare Christ and His salvation from our sins, then we have a 100% success rate every single time. That's what we have to remind them.

We go everywhere Christ reigns. And that's what His disciples understood. They understood that the King has called them to announce Him. And He has done so with full authority and full authorization. And whether people like it or not, that's okay. They still announce. They may be the smell of life to those who live and the smell of death to those who perish, but that is the call.

Because we are announcing the King. Because He reigns to the ends of the earth. Finally, here's a final reason. We don't just go because of the greatness of His redemption or the greatness of His reign. We go because of the greatness of the reward for Him. The greatness of the reward for Him.

Turn with me to Psalm 22. Psalm 22. Verse 27 says the phrase, "All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to Yahweh." We have the phrase there again. And we know Psalm 22. We know Psalm 22. It is the suffering of our Lord. Immense suffering. "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" We know that.

And there is intense suffering of Christ. You could say it's Him physically and personally. Verse 14, "I'm poured out like water. All my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax. It is melted within me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaves to my jaws." This is the pain of execution.

The most excruciating execution. But it's not just physically and personally. It's even interpersonally. What are people doing around the Lord Jesus? "Be not far from me, for distress is near." Verse 11, "For there is none to help." Total shunning. Total shame. Total isolation. And those who are around are in total antipathy against Him.

"Many bulls have surrounded me." Verse 12, "Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me. They open their mouths wide at me." Just shunning. Just hatred. Just oppression. Just opposition. And He bore that. But what drives all of that is, of course, the ultimate suffering. The wrath of God. "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" And with that question, "Why?" Jesus expresses what human language and all words and all tongues that have ever existed in this planet can never express, for there are no words and no terms that can ever adequately convey the intense, excruciating suffering and agony of our Lord.

There are no words that can explain that. No words that can express that. And with the question, "Why?" Jesus conveys such unparalleled agony. And at the same time, He asks the question, "Why is this happening?" What's the purpose? What's the point? What's the goal? And what we often forget as we study Psalm 22, we focus so much on the first part that we forget that there's a second part and actually gives an answer.

Look at verse 22 of Psalm 22. It says this, "I will surely recount your name to my brothers." Two interpretive tips for Psalm 22 at this point. Interpretive tip number one. When you are executed, you die. It's not hard to understand. When you are executed, by nature and definition of execution, you die.

When someone drowns, they pass away. When somebody is electrocuted, they die. When somebody says, "Man, I killed him dead!" That would be true. I mean, is there any other way to do that? When you are executed, you die. Okay. Tip number two. Verse 22. "I will surely recount your name to my brothers." When you are still talking, you are not dead.

You are not even mostly dead. So, let's ask the question, "Jesus is executed, so he should be what?" Dead. But he's still talking, so he can't be what? Dead. What is this moment looking at? Not his death, but his what? Resurrection. In fact, this moment is looking at the eschatological resurrection that his resurrection drove.

Notice what the text says. That the afflicted will eat, verse 26, and be satisfied. May your heart live forever. And then even later on, it says in verse 29, "All those who go down to the dust will bow before him." How can you go down to the dust and die and yet bow before him?

Even the one who cannot keep his soul alive because they were raised from the dead. This is a moment that looks to the future. This is a moment that looks to eschatology. And in this moment, Jesus is surrounded by people. He's the leader of them all, as he surely recounts God's name to his brothers in the midst of assembly.

He will praise God because he is the one who is the one leading praise, and he is the one explaining salvation. Verse 24, "For he has not despised, and he has not abhorred the afflicted of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him. But when he cried to him for help, he heard." But it's not just at this time that Israel's gathered around Jesus and worshiping him and being led by him, and he's the center of everything.

It is this, verse 27, "All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to Yahweh." Here is the picture, prophetic picture of Psalm 22. There will be a day when Christ returns, and he will set up his kingdom in Jerusalem. And at that time, it will not just be Israel surrounding him.

It will be the ends of the earth, from one end of heaven to the other end of heaven, from one horizon to the next. You will only see people, people of every nation, tribe, and tongue, filling all the land that is available on this earth, and every continent that is on this earth.

Throughout history, God has preserved a remnant, and we've always been small, and we've always been few, and we've always been the minority. But on that day, the remnant will become the absolute majority, and we will fill the earth. And all eyes will be focused on Christ. Notice what the text says.

All the ends of the earth will remember. What will we remember? We will remember our sin. We will know finally how weighty it is, how disgusting it is to God, and we will remember what the Lord has done for us. All that it took, all the sacrifice, all the effort, all the work to secure our liberation from sin and Satan and death and the very wrath of God, and we will remember that.

And therefore, we will turn to Christ. We will turn and face Him everywhere, from one end of heaven to the other end of heaven, to the very ends of the earth. All the nations, all the people, all the elect will be facing Christ in Jerusalem. All eyes on Him.

And because we are so overcome with who He is, and so overcome with what He has done for us, and all His glory, then what will happen? All the families of the nations, as the text says, will worship, literally in Hebrew, bow down before Him. The whole world at one moment will bow to the Savior.

And we will declare with our heart all glory, honor to the Lamb, and salvation belongs to Him alone. That is what will happen on that day. And at that moment, and at that moment, we know the answer to the question, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Here's the answer.

Praise to the ends of the earth. That is why. They are why. We are why. This is the reward of the Son. And here's what's beautiful. Isaiah prophesies this in Isaiah 53. He says this, "That on that day, the servant will see his seed, as the whole world bows before Him, from one end of heaven to the other end of heaven." He will see His seed, all the elect that He bought from every nation, tribe, and tongue.

And here's what Isaiah says, "His soul will be satisfied." You say, "I love that. I want Him to be that honored." Me too. That's why we go. That's why we go. We don't just go because His redemption deserves it. That's true. We don't just go because His reign demands it.

That's true. We go because that's His reward. And if we can participate in that, in an act of gratitude, in an act of love to our Savior, we go. We proclaim Him because we love the Lord Jesus. And anything that will bring Him honor, and everything that will bring Him praise, we are for with all of our heart because we love Christ.

That's why we go. And so, on that day when Acts 1-8 occurred, and Christ uttered His commission, the disciples understood why they go. You could put it this way, because redemption goes to the ends of the earth, and because His reign of Christ goes to the ends of the earth, and because His reward is to the ends of the earth, then we go to the ends of the earth.

And of course, God doesn't need us. He doesn't depend on us for this. He just graciously allowed us to participate because we are so captured to His Son, because we understand what He deserves, and we understand what His reign demands, and we have this intense delight in Him. And so, of course, we go with all joy because this is a privilege.

Let me just say one more remark. It's not just that the redemption deserves it. It's not just that His reign demands it. It's not just that His reward causes us to delight in Him to do it. It's this. The results are decided. The results are decided. Isaiah 49, Psalm 72, Psalm 22, they're all prophecies.

They're all telling us exactly what is going to happen in the future. Brothers, the outcome has been decided. The outcome is sure. If you are going to the field, if we are engaging in the ministry, we have to know, yes, we may take some hard knocks. We may have suffering.

We may be in over our heads. But in the end, the result is sure. The outcome is sure. So we hang in there, and we do all that we can, because we know that the battle will be won for the Lord Jesus, and the gospel will go to the ends of the earth.

And if we are part of that, and we contribute to that, whatever the Lord decides, it is worth it to us. And so, because of such a great redemption, and because of such a great reign, and because of His great reward, may it be, brothers, that we do not rest until Christ is proclaimed to the ends of the earth.

Shall we pray? Our God and Father, may Your Son be honored and glorified. May His transcendence and supremacy be burned and etched into our hearts, put deeply into our soul, until, indeed, we cry out the words, "Give us this world for Christ, or we die." May it be that our hearts endeavor, for the sake of Your Son, for the sake of the honor that is due to Him, that we labor on and ministry faithfully to the end, even to the ends of the earth.

We give Him all praise and honor now, and it is in Your name we pray. Amen. Thank you, Dr. Chao. What an amazingly powerful way to start our conference this morning, by giving such glory to Christ. Just some helps for you this morning, as we start to navigate our time together.

You have a conference guide, and please make sure that you go through it, especially read the welcome letter from Pastor John MacArthur that's in that, that's worthy of your time. Also, there's helpful information in your conference guide, especially on page four, just things to know that you can peruse and make sure you understand.

Campus map is there, featured articles. Plus, if you have your phone, of course, an app, some of the general information that's in the conference guide is also on the Shepherds Conference app, so download that if you haven't done that already. Concerning hospitality, just so you know, our concierge team are available to help you with all of your needs during the conference.

They're located at the center of our campus, and you can know that by identifying it on the campus map shown in your conference guide. And a gentle reminder, all of you who have registered to sit in the overflow rooms that have red lanyards, please refrain from sitting in the worship center.

We are full capacity, and we appreciate your mindfulness and your honesty. Please also make sure that your name tag is visible every time you're on the campus because only people with registered guest lanyards are able to be on campus. The next session starts at 11 o'clock with Joel Beeke.

You're dismissed. (Music) (Music) you