WEBVTT 00:00:02.640 --> 00:00:14.640 Well, if you are visiting us this morning or if this you've been worshiping with us recently, our normal diet is to expositionally work through books of the Bible verse by verse. 00:00:14.800 --> 00:00:22.719 Uh but we're we're gonna pivot and do a what I like to call a topositional series on church-centered missions. 00:00:22.879 --> 00:00:35.600 As a church that's committed to the proclamation of the gospel here locally and also across the globe, we wanna we wanna instruct our people well in how we understand and think about the topic of global missions. 00:00:35.920 --> 00:00:43.280 So I'll be looking at two passages actually, the text that uh Brother Sam just read for us and Psalm 67. 00:00:43.679 --> 00:00:51.439 And the point of this sermon will be to just lay some groundwork for the rest of the series on how we think about missions. 00:00:51.840 --> 00:01:07.519 I believe a sermon like this, or a series on this topic, rather, is important because many churches and parachurch ministries and well-intentioned missionary candidates care deeply about missions and proc proclaiming the gospel to the ends of the earth. 00:01:07.760 --> 00:01:13.599 Yet often many operate with a weak theology of the church and what missions is itself. 00:01:13.840 --> 00:01:26.719 And when we lose clarity about what the church is, what the gospel is, what is missions, who has the Lord entrusted the task of missions to, then we lose clarity about these core things. 00:01:27.040 --> 00:01:37.519 We can lose our identity and we can fail to understand according to the scriptures who has the authority to identify, equip, send, and support missionaries and what missions entails. 00:01:37.680 --> 00:01:40.719 So this series I'm calling church-centered missions. 00:01:40.879 --> 00:01:45.920 We'll see how many sermons this is, but today I want to focus on this topic. 00:01:46.159 --> 00:01:50.319 The chief aim of missions is the glory of God. 00:01:50.719 --> 00:01:54.560 The chief aim of missions is the glory of God. 00:01:54.879 --> 00:01:57.680 This is why, as a church, uh, I mean, you guys have heard me say this. 00:01:57.760 --> 00:02:03.599 I'm not a big fan of churches creating mission statements and values and all these things that members don't even memorize and can recite. 00:02:03.760 --> 00:02:15.280 But I believe Jesus already gave every church their mission and vision statement, and that is the Great Commission, which is why we say we exist to glorify God by making disciples of Jesus Christ. 00:02:15.520 --> 00:02:19.599 But in this sermon, here's my aim, here's my thesis that I'm going to argue. 00:02:19.680 --> 00:02:30.960 It is this God spreads his glory by spreading his grace, and he spreads his grace through the costly witness of his people to save sinners and restore worship. 00:02:31.199 --> 00:02:33.439 I know it's a mouthful, so let me repeat that. 00:02:33.680 --> 00:02:44.560 God spreads his glory by spreading his grace, and he spreads his grace through the costly witness of his people to save sinners and restore worship. 00:02:44.800 --> 00:02:48.719 If you are using the Pew Bible in front of you, you can turn over to page 506. 00:02:48.879 --> 00:02:51.120 I want to start with Psalm 67. 00:02:51.599 --> 00:02:55.199 Psalm 67 is just seven short verses. 00:02:56.000 --> 00:03:00.719 But before I get to the text in 2 Corinthians 4, we got to remember Paul grew up a Jew. 00:03:00.800 --> 00:03:02.319 He was a master of the Old Testament. 00:03:02.479 --> 00:03:07.199 The Old Testament was his Bible growing up, and he would have been very familiar with Psalm 67. 00:03:08.319 --> 00:03:12.080 Psalm 67 reads as such. 00:03:16.879 --> 00:03:24.319 May He make His face shine upon us, so that your way may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations. 00:03:24.479 --> 00:03:25.520 Verse 3. 00:03:28.319 --> 00:03:29.919 Let all the peoples praise you. 00:03:30.080 --> 00:03:38.400 Let the nations rejoice and shout for joy, for you judge the peoples with fairness and lead the nations on earth. 00:03:38.639 --> 00:03:40.240 Let the peoples praise you, God. 00:03:40.319 --> 00:03:42.400 Let all the peoples praise you. 00:03:42.639 --> 00:03:44.639 The earth has produced its harvest. 00:03:45.120 --> 00:03:47.039 God, our God, blesses us. 00:03:47.360 --> 00:03:54.000 God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth will fear him. 00:03:55.039 --> 00:04:01.439 Now here's why I'm using Psalm 67 to set the agenda this morning before we get to 2 Corinthians chapter 4. 00:04:01.680 --> 00:04:15.199 Friends, from cover to cover, the Bible reveals a God who is on mission to magnify his glory by redeeming sinners who will know him, worship him, and enjoy him forever. 00:04:15.439 --> 00:04:20.639 That is the meta-narrative of Scripture from Genesis to the closing pages of Revelation. 00:04:20.959 --> 00:04:30.399 God is on a mission of the magnification of his glory through the mouths of his people who will praise him, worship him, enjoy him, and know him. 00:04:30.879 --> 00:04:43.439 When many people think about missions, I think we tend to instinctively start with human need, meaning lost people, unreached places, urgent crisis, which all are important. 00:04:43.519 --> 00:04:45.519 Those are realities that do matter. 00:04:45.839 --> 00:04:49.920 But scripture invites us to start somewhere deeper. 00:04:50.160 --> 00:04:59.920 Before missions is ever about where we go and what we do, it's about who God is and what God desires for the cosmos. 00:05:00.480 --> 00:05:12.560 When we look at Psalm 67, it gives us a starting point because God in Psalm 67 blesses his people so that his ways will be known on the earth and his salvation among the nations. 00:05:12.720 --> 00:05:17.199 Now, the majority of the thrust of Psalm 67 is speaking of the nation of Israel. 00:05:17.360 --> 00:05:31.360 For those of you who are familiar with your Old Testament, Israel was sovereignly chosen by God's grace to be his chosen people for the purpose of displaying his distinct glory to the surrounding nations so that they would know the one true God. 00:05:31.600 --> 00:05:38.879 So God's plan has always for, has been for, as Psalm 67 says, for the nations to be glad in God. 00:05:39.279 --> 00:05:41.680 That has always been his plan. 00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:56.720 And the goal is not merely that people would be rescued from their sin and saved from hell, but that they would rejoice in God and all that he is and what he wants them to be as they are made in his image. 00:05:56.959 --> 00:06:05.680 So from the very beginning of the opening pages of Scripture, God has desired worship that stretches to the ends of the earth. 00:06:05.920 --> 00:06:10.399 If you don't believe me, go back to Genesis and look at God's original plan for the entire world. 00:06:10.639 --> 00:06:31.920 Adam and Eve were meant to enjoy God in the garden and complete fellowship and communion with Him, to have children who would multiply, made in God's image, who would spread across the earth, subdue it, and as that happened, more and more people would be enjoying fellowship with God and praising him and enjoying him for all eternity. 00:06:32.079 --> 00:06:33.920 That was the original plan. 00:06:34.560 --> 00:06:36.720 But we all know how that went, don't we? 00:06:37.199 --> 00:06:43.439 From the very beginning, God has desired worship that stretches the ends of the earth. 00:06:43.680 --> 00:06:49.680 So when we talk about missions, we need to understand that missions is not a reaction to failure. 00:06:49.920 --> 00:06:53.519 It flows from God's passion for his glory and for the joy for the nations. 00:06:53.680 --> 00:06:56.639 What I'm getting at there is missions was never like a plan B. 00:06:57.040 --> 00:07:08.319 The idea of missions is not something the church created, it's something we are trying to faithfully live out, modeling what God has shaped us in when you go back to the Garden of Eden. 00:07:08.480 --> 00:07:20.800 In Genesis 3, when Adam and Eve fell, we get introduced to the very first missionary of all time, God the Father Himself, when he promised to undo all that Adam and Eve had done and the serpent. 00:07:21.120 --> 00:07:29.759 I believe the mission of the church, the reason every local church across the globe exists is to glorify God. 00:07:29.920 --> 00:07:31.120 That's fundamental. 00:07:31.360 --> 00:07:35.519 Every church that exists exists to glorify God. 00:07:35.759 --> 00:07:53.279 But to add to that, I would say the mission of every local church is to glorify God by preaching the gospel among all nations, making disciples, and establishing churches of believers who worship God, obey Christ's commands, and grow in Christ-like maturity. 00:07:53.519 --> 00:07:58.319 Now, as you can probably tell, I'm just summarizing in my own vernacular, the Great Commission. 00:07:58.639 --> 00:08:08.879 Every local church exists not to just grow bigger numerically, not to show how they're distinct from other churches, not to make a platform out of any one pastor. 00:08:09.279 --> 00:08:23.120 The local church exists to glorify God by preaching the gospel among all nations, making disciples, and establishing churches of believers who worship God, obey Christ's commands, and grow in Christ-like maturity. 00:08:23.279 --> 00:08:24.560 That's why we're here, friends. 00:08:24.720 --> 00:08:28.240 That's why when you came to faith, you didn't get star trekked into heaven. 00:08:28.560 --> 00:08:33.120 We exist to glorify God by making disciples of Jesus Christ. 00:08:33.360 --> 00:08:38.480 Now, if we're going to talk about missions, I want to give a helpful definition so that we're all on the same page. 00:08:38.639 --> 00:08:40.559 And there could be much said here. 00:08:40.720 --> 00:08:48.639 There could be variations of this, but here's a definition I believe that captures what I see in the New Testament or the entire Bible, rather. 00:08:48.720 --> 00:08:51.840 And this is a definition I'll be using throughout this series. 00:08:52.000 --> 00:08:54.000 Here's my definition of missions. 00:08:54.399 --> 00:09:10.559 Missions involve churches sending qualified workers across linguistic, geographic, or cultural barriers to start or strengthen churches, especially in places where Christ has not been named. 00:09:11.360 --> 00:09:12.639 Let me read that again. 00:09:13.360 --> 00:09:30.720 Missions involve churches sending qualified workers across linguistic, geographic, or cultural barriers to start or strengthen churches, especially in places where Christ has not been named. 00:09:31.200 --> 00:09:37.120 Throughout this series, I want to walk through that definition and define key terms. 00:09:37.360 --> 00:09:45.360 But I would say the local church exists primarily to glorify God by making disciples of Jesus Jesus Christ everywhere. 00:09:45.679 --> 00:10:05.519 Whether that's here in Greensboro, whether that's in New York, or whether that's in Africa, India, or China, we exist to glorify God by establishing healthy gospel preaching churches who will make disciples, who make disciples, who make disciples, who plant churches, who make disciples, and it goes on and on and on. 00:10:06.080 --> 00:10:07.679 But why do we do all of this? 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:12.720 Do we pursue missions in our churches so that people can come to faith in Jesus Christ? 00:10:13.039 --> 00:10:13.679 Yes. 00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:16.559 Do we do it to plant churches globally? 00:10:16.799 --> 00:10:17.440 Yes. 00:10:17.759 --> 00:10:21.840 But what is the chief, the preeminent reason we do all these things? 00:10:22.240 --> 00:10:23.600 To glorify God. 00:10:24.080 --> 00:10:34.000 Not just to see churches planted, though that's important, that is a goal, not because we just want to see people come to faith in Christ and be baptized, though that is a goal and a good goal. 00:10:34.480 --> 00:10:39.759 The preeminent goal that should drive all of missions is the glory of God. 00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:41.919 I love how John Piper put it. 00:10:42.080 --> 00:10:46.960 He says the chief end of God is to glorify God and enjoy Himself forever. 00:10:47.279 --> 00:10:54.080 The reason this may sound strange is that we are more accustomed to think about our duty than God's design. 00:10:54.320 --> 00:11:01.200 And when we do ask about God's design, we are too prone to describe it with ourselves at the center of God's affections. 00:11:01.360 --> 00:11:08.799 We may say, for example, that his design is to redeem the world, or to save sinners, or to restore creation, or the like. 00:11:09.039 --> 00:11:12.960 But God's saving designs are penultimate, not ultimate. 00:11:13.200 --> 00:11:17.840 Redemption, salvation, and restoration are not God's ultimate goal. 00:11:18.159 --> 00:11:25.840 These he performs for the sake of something greater, namely the enjoyment he has in glorifying himself. 00:11:26.320 --> 00:11:31.840 The bedrock foundation of Christian hedonism is not God's allegiance to us but to himself. 00:11:32.320 --> 00:11:42.240 If God were not infinitely devoted to the preservation, display, and enjoyment of his own glory, we could have no hope of finding happiness in him. 00:11:42.720 --> 00:11:54.159 But if he does in fact employ all sovereign power and infinite wisdom to maximize the enjoyment of his own glory, then we have a foundation on which to stand and rejoice. 00:11:54.320 --> 00:11:55.279 End quote. 00:12:25.519 --> 00:12:27.759 Well, not if you're God. 00:12:28.240 --> 00:12:31.440 Not if you're the very standard of what holiness is. 00:12:31.679 --> 00:12:36.159 Not if you're the very definition of what transcendent glory is. 00:12:36.320 --> 00:12:41.440 Not if you're the very embodiment of all that is beautiful and holy and righteous. 00:12:41.600 --> 00:12:43.919 Not if you're the perfect judge of the universe. 00:12:44.159 --> 00:12:48.000 He is owed all the glory and the worship, not man. 00:12:48.720 --> 00:12:50.080 So it would only make sense. 00:12:50.159 --> 00:13:00.080 As a matter of fact, it would be foolish if God was all that the Bible says he is and did not have a desire for everyone to behold his glory. 00:13:00.240 --> 00:13:01.200 I mean, think about it. 00:13:01.279 --> 00:13:03.519 I mean, we all can relate to this in a human sense. 00:13:04.559 --> 00:13:09.759 If you're a first-time parent and you have your baby, what is the first thing you want to do? 00:13:09.919 --> 00:13:20.480 Before a mom even leaves the hospital, they're already posting pictures on Instagram of their precious little baby because they want the whole world to behold my child is the cutest baby on earth. 00:13:20.720 --> 00:13:25.120 It's funny how everybody thinks their baby's the cutest, but but that's God's glory. 00:13:25.360 --> 00:13:31.679 God says, I am the embodiment of everything good and holy and righteous and transcendent. 00:13:31.919 --> 00:13:36.879 Therefore, he deserves to be worshiped. 00:13:37.200 --> 00:13:39.840 But here's what's beautiful about the heart of God. 00:13:40.159 --> 00:13:45.120 He desires to spread his grace and his glory to the entire cosmos. 00:13:45.600 --> 00:13:49.279 God spreads his glory by spreading his grace. 00:13:49.519 --> 00:14:02.399 So if God's heart has always been for his glory to spread among the nations, then we have to naturally ask the next question, which is, then why isn't the world already filled with glad worship of God? 00:14:02.639 --> 00:14:17.440 If God is so glorious and so transcendent and he desires to spread his glory among the nations, so all peoples know his glory and worship him and ascribe the glory due to his name, how come that's not happening on a scale that we know it should? 00:14:17.679 --> 00:14:20.159 Well, that brings me to my first point. 00:14:20.559 --> 00:14:25.279 God is committed to the spread of his glory among the nations. 00:14:25.600 --> 00:14:32.720 Psalm 67, friends, shows us that God's glory is not meant to be hidden, it's not meant to be hoarded by his people. 00:14:33.039 --> 00:14:43.279 God blesses his people so that his ways would be known, his salvation would be seen, and his praise would rise from every tribe and tongue. 00:14:43.679 --> 00:14:47.840 Worship is the ultimate goal, and missions is the means. 00:14:48.080 --> 00:14:54.399 When you look at Psalm 67, he says in verse 1, May God be gracious to us and bless us. 00:14:54.559 --> 00:14:56.159 This is corporate language. 00:14:56.320 --> 00:14:58.559 Bless all your people, Israel. 00:14:58.799 --> 00:15:05.919 May he make his face shine upon us so that your way may be known on earth, your salvation among all the nations. 00:15:06.080 --> 00:15:09.279 Verse 2 is what people most uh look over. 00:15:09.600 --> 00:15:13.919 They think this is all about Israel, though it definitely has a bent towards Israel. 00:15:14.080 --> 00:15:17.360 But you you can't miss in verse 2 that's so that language. 00:15:17.679 --> 00:15:35.759 God bless us, your chosen people, who you chose by your grace, not because we were special, not because we were more infinite or wiser or wealthier than all the other nations of the earth, but bless us so that your way may be known on earth your salvation among all the nations. 00:15:36.240 --> 00:15:38.799 Let the peoples praise you, God. 00:15:39.200 --> 00:15:42.639 Let all the peoples praise you. 00:15:43.120 --> 00:15:49.519 Let the nations shout for joy, for you judge the peoples with fairness. 00:15:49.840 --> 00:15:58.480 God's plan has always been for his glory to be praised from the mouths of people all across the world. 00:15:58.720 --> 00:16:01.039 His plan was never just set on Israel. 00:16:01.200 --> 00:16:11.120 Israel was a means, a vessel by which other nations would also share in the goodness of God and taste and see that he is good. 00:16:11.679 --> 00:16:15.360 He always has desire for his salvation to be seen and known. 00:16:15.600 --> 00:16:31.120 We see the theme all throughout the Old Testament of remembrance, where Israel was supposed to recall back how God would always deliver them by a mighty hand and then to open their mouths and share that with their children and the foreigner so that they too could come to know Yahweh. 00:16:32.159 --> 00:16:37.600 My point is missions is not a New Testament invention. 00:16:37.919 --> 00:16:41.360 God's concern for the nations runs throughout the Old Testament. 00:16:41.600 --> 00:16:47.840 God desires not begrudging acknowledgement, but joyful worship. 00:16:48.000 --> 00:16:50.480 And he doesn't merely rescue people. 00:16:50.960 --> 00:16:55.840 God's not in the business of just saving people to preserve physical life. 00:16:56.159 --> 00:17:02.480 He wants to redeem sinners and salvation and restore their delight in him. 00:17:02.960 --> 00:17:04.799 We are all made in God's image. 00:17:04.960 --> 00:17:06.480 Theologians have debated for centuries. 00:17:06.559 --> 00:17:08.880 What on earth does it even mean and fully entail? 00:17:09.039 --> 00:17:17.119 I have no idea, but we I know for a fact that to some extent we have the privilege of reflecting the very heart and image of God our Father. 00:17:17.279 --> 00:17:20.799 But through the fall, that image has been marred to an extent. 00:17:21.200 --> 00:17:22.799 We have become glory thieves. 00:17:22.880 --> 00:17:24.480 We don't properly worship God as we should. 00:17:24.559 --> 00:17:27.359 We don't ascribe the glory due to his name. 00:17:27.680 --> 00:17:40.880 But God is on a mission to fix what the curse has broken, to restore the image of God in us so that we could properly know who he is and worship him and ascribe the glory due to his name. 00:17:41.200 --> 00:17:44.319 God in our salvation saves us holistically. 00:17:44.559 --> 00:17:46.799 He doesn't just save us from the pits of hell. 00:17:52.240 --> 00:17:56.400 Friends, this matters because it recenters what missions is. 00:17:56.880 --> 00:18:05.039 Missions is not first about strategy, it's not about urgency, it's not even about the right parachurch ministry or the right place to go to. 00:18:05.279 --> 00:18:10.400 It begins with a proper understanding of the worth of God and his glory. 00:18:10.720 --> 00:18:17.119 God is glorious and therefore God is worthy of worship from every people group on the planet. 00:18:17.440 --> 00:18:23.200 And if God is deeply concerned for his own glory, then God's people must be as well. 00:18:23.519 --> 00:18:24.480 Think about that. 00:18:24.640 --> 00:18:26.240 I mean, that's just a natural connection. 00:18:26.400 --> 00:18:37.759 If God is your father and he is clear in his word that he is desperately committed to the exaltation of his glory, then if you belong to him, you should be committed to the same thing he's committed to, right? 00:18:38.000 --> 00:18:46.319 So if God is committed to the spread of his glory to the nations, we as his followers should be committed to the same aim ourselves. 00:18:46.559 --> 00:18:53.519 But if God is worthy of worship and committed to his glory, then something has gone terribly wrong. 00:18:54.079 --> 00:18:59.279 That brings us to the problem that the Bible refuses to minimize, and that is sin. 00:19:00.640 --> 00:19:05.920 Friends, my second point, sin is exceedingly evil. 00:19:06.720 --> 00:19:18.640 Sin is the reason why God is not currently receiving the glory due to his name across the nations because of the curse of sin which entered in human history in Genesis 3. 00:19:19.279 --> 00:19:22.480 Let me just give a sober reality for us all here. 00:19:23.119 --> 00:19:29.279 On average, about 150,000 people die every single day worldwide. 00:19:29.599 --> 00:19:43.519 That number comes from a global mortality estimate of roughly 55 to 60 million deaths per year, which works out to 150,000 deaths per day, 6,000 deaths per hour, 100 deaths per minute. 00:19:44.640 --> 00:19:53.039 Which means every minute, every hour, every day, people are perishing apart from Jesus Christ and dropping straight into hell. 00:19:53.359 --> 00:20:00.960 Because our Bibles say the path to salvation is narrow and few find it, but the path to destruction is wide and many are on it. 00:20:01.200 --> 00:20:06.559 Which means the vast majority of those statistics are people who are dying apart from saving faith in Jesus Christ. 00:20:06.720 --> 00:20:12.559 Either they have not heard the gospel of Jesus Christ or they have heard it and have rejected it to their own peril. 00:20:13.039 --> 00:20:18.400 We tend to forget the severity of sin and its collateral damage across the universe. 00:20:18.799 --> 00:20:25.279 We tend to tell fun stories to our kids about Noah's Ark, pictures of all the cute animals getting on the boat. 00:20:25.519 --> 00:20:32.880 But we tend to forget the part of Genesis 6 when God said, Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with wickedness. 00:20:33.119 --> 00:20:37.920 And how it's a story of God pouring out his wrath on the entire earth to punish sin. 00:20:38.160 --> 00:20:44.640 But then we also see in judgment, we see grace and mercy when he preserves just one family to show his heart and mercy. 00:20:44.720 --> 00:20:47.519 That family, Noah's family, deserve nothing from God. 00:20:47.759 --> 00:20:50.480 They deserve to drown in the flow with everybody else. 00:20:50.640 --> 00:20:57.839 But because our God is merciful, he saved one family who then would be a blessing to many nations. 00:20:58.400 --> 00:21:02.319 Friends, sin is not merely bad behavior, it's not moral failure. 00:21:02.480 --> 00:21:08.160 Sin is not making a mistake, sin is not just making bad decisions, sin is an affront to a holy God. 00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:15.039 At its core, sin is loving the wrong thing most. 00:21:15.680 --> 00:21:21.519 Sin is loving Jesus, uh sin is loving what Jesus calls evil but good. 00:21:22.400 --> 00:21:28.640 Sometimes we get ensnared with loving our sin more than Jesus while professing the name of Christ. 00:21:28.880 --> 00:21:34.160 It is giving to created things the glory that belongs to the Creator. 00:21:35.039 --> 00:21:38.720 Sin robs God of his glory. 00:21:38.960 --> 00:21:44.960 Because whenever we sin, we are saying this is better than what God says is good for me. 00:21:45.680 --> 00:21:50.559 Or as I like to think of it, I think of God's commands in the scriptures as guardrails. 00:21:50.799 --> 00:21:58.640 When you're driving on a highway and you see those guardrails on both ends of the highway, those are there for your protection and safety and the protection and safety of everyone around you. 00:21:58.799 --> 00:22:04.319 If you go outside, those Boundaries, you're going to damage your vehicle, somebody else's, and maybe even take someone's life or your own. 00:22:04.480 --> 00:22:07.519 As long as you stay within those guardrails, then you're doing a good thing. 00:22:07.680 --> 00:22:09.279 That's how I view God's commands. 00:22:09.440 --> 00:22:12.640 God is not out saying, I don't want anyone on earth to have any fun. 00:22:12.880 --> 00:22:14.480 I don't want you to have any fun or joy. 00:22:14.559 --> 00:22:17.039 So I'm going to give you a checklist of don't do this, don't do that. 00:22:17.119 --> 00:22:22.319 No, he's a loving father who wants you to enjoy fellowship with him with a clear conscience. 00:22:22.480 --> 00:22:26.319 And he says the way to do that is stay within the bounds of my love and grace. 00:22:26.480 --> 00:22:30.799 And as long as you do that, you will experience the fullness of my joy that I have given you. 00:22:30.960 --> 00:22:41.039 But once you cross those guardrails, you're going to bring pain into your life and my fatherly displeasure that will discipline you from a heart of love to bring you back within those guardrails. 00:22:41.599 --> 00:22:44.880 Sin has robbed God of his glory. 00:22:45.039 --> 00:22:51.440 And when I say that, I don't mean like God is like pacing back and forth in heaven saying, Oh man, I just really need people to help me get glorified. 00:22:51.599 --> 00:22:54.960 No, God can get glory from the rocks outside this building. 00:22:55.200 --> 00:23:01.359 What I mean is everyone on this earth was made in God's image and it was made to worship God. 00:23:01.519 --> 00:23:07.599 Therefore, those who are not worshiping God are not giving him the glory due to his name. 00:23:08.000 --> 00:23:10.480 Henry Scrooge said this plainly. 00:23:25.839 --> 00:23:28.000 Similar to what Jesus said, isn't it? 00:23:28.240 --> 00:23:30.319 You love what you treasure, right? 00:23:30.640 --> 00:23:35.839 You either treasure sin and your own glory or you treasure God and his glory. 00:23:36.079 --> 00:23:46.319 That's why Jesus and John can def in the Gospel of John can define eternal life not simply as escaping judgment, escaping hell in the wrath of God, but as knowing God. 00:23:46.559 --> 00:23:52.160 One of the greatest things we could ever know of ourselves is that God knows us and we know Him. 00:23:52.559 --> 00:24:04.400 Sin is devastating because it cuts us off from knowing God, from enjoying God, and worshiping the one who we were made to worship and enjoy for all eternity. 00:24:04.880 --> 00:24:07.440 So sin is a serious issue. 00:24:07.680 --> 00:24:11.519 This is where the storyline of Scripture helps us see the bigger picture. 00:24:11.759 --> 00:24:16.559 So if I could summarize the meta-narrative of Scripture, what is the Bible about? 00:24:16.799 --> 00:24:21.440 You could summarize it as creation, fall, redemption, new creation. 00:24:21.599 --> 00:24:26.400 So as you're reading your Bible, if you ever, I mean, it's the new year, some of you might have started a Bible reading plan. 00:24:26.559 --> 00:24:28.720 May God be with you to stay committed to that. 00:24:29.039 --> 00:24:30.240 But if you fail, there's grace. 00:24:30.400 --> 00:24:31.599 Pick up where you left off. 00:24:31.759 --> 00:24:38.640 But the entire Bible can be summarized as creation, fall, redemption, new creation. 00:24:39.279 --> 00:24:41.200 Let me just briefly walk through that. 00:24:41.519 --> 00:24:46.240 God creates the world in the opening pages of Genesis, and everything is good. 00:24:46.799 --> 00:24:51.839 Humanity is made to know God, to enjoy God, and reflect his glory. 00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:58.480 As a matter of fact, fact check me, but the very first command from God given to man is one of love. 00:24:58.720 --> 00:25:07.440 And uh when God tells Adam and Eve to pretty much he creates the garden, and he pretty much tells them in the new Cam Urban Translation, all of this is for y'all. 00:25:07.599 --> 00:25:09.039 It's all for your good. 00:25:09.279 --> 00:25:10.319 Enjoy it. 00:25:10.559 --> 00:25:12.640 Just don't eat of this one tree. 00:25:12.880 --> 00:25:18.960 So the first command from God to man is one of enjoy everything I have made for your enjoyment. 00:25:19.519 --> 00:25:21.119 It's a command of love. 00:25:21.440 --> 00:25:29.680 So in the beginning, God created the world for man to enjoy, not just to enjoy the world, but primarily to enjoy God Himself. 00:25:29.920 --> 00:25:38.319 We can't even fathom that because all of us were born in sin, and we only know living a life and following God with a sinful nature. 00:25:38.480 --> 00:25:47.039 We don't know what it's like to be like Adam and Eve, where there was no sin, and you had full communion with God with no barrier of sin to hinder the relationship. 00:25:47.279 --> 00:25:48.880 That's the deal they got. 00:25:49.200 --> 00:25:50.799 But then comes the fall. 00:25:51.039 --> 00:25:55.200 Humanity rebels against God, and we are born in sin. 00:25:55.359 --> 00:26:06.880 We distrust God's word, we reject his authority, and we redirect our glory to our the God's glory we redirect to ourselves and we worship created things rather than the creator. 00:26:07.039 --> 00:26:14.319 Like Adam and Eve, we hide, we suppress the truth, as Romans 1 says, and our worship is corrupted. 00:26:14.640 --> 00:26:20.720 But praise be to God, the story doesn't end there because the very first missionary in the Bible is God the Father Himself. 00:26:20.880 --> 00:26:29.039 The proto-evangelion, for those of you who are familiar with that phrase, when God proclaims to Adam and Eve, I will fix what you have done. 00:26:29.200 --> 00:26:33.920 From the line of the woman will come someone who will crush the serpent's head. 00:26:34.079 --> 00:26:40.000 That is God saying, a Savior will come who will undo what you have done. 00:26:40.319 --> 00:26:44.720 God does not wait for sinners to find him, he goes after them. 00:26:44.960 --> 00:26:53.920 Before Adam and Eve even had a concept of redemption or a blood sacrifice, God initiates redemption, a plan for redemption before them. 00:26:54.240 --> 00:26:56.240 He is the first missionary. 00:26:56.480 --> 00:27:01.359 He promises that someone will come and make all things new. 00:27:01.599 --> 00:27:07.839 But then we we go a little further into the story in the Old Testament and he calls then Abram in Genesis 12. 00:27:08.000 --> 00:27:11.680 Do y'all know what Abraham slash Abram was doing before God called him? 00:27:11.920 --> 00:27:14.160 He was a pagan moon worshiper. 00:27:14.480 --> 00:27:16.240 He wasn't worshiping Yahweh. 00:27:16.400 --> 00:27:19.359 He was worshiping a false pagan God. 00:27:19.680 --> 00:27:25.759 But God calls him sovereignly and promises that through him all the nations of the earth will be blessed. 00:27:25.839 --> 00:27:28.960 If you're a Christian this morning, that text is talking about you. 00:27:29.440 --> 00:27:33.680 Through Abraham, all the nations of the earth will be blessed. 00:27:33.839 --> 00:27:38.000 And in the fullness of time, God comes in the person of Jesus Christ. 00:27:38.079 --> 00:27:41.759 The missionary that God sends is his son, Jesus Christ. 00:27:41.839 --> 00:27:51.359 And through his life, death, and resurrection, grace, mercy, and salvation are secured for his people, the church, who repent of their sins and trust in Christ. 00:27:51.599 --> 00:27:53.200 But the story doesn't end there. 00:27:53.359 --> 00:27:54.720 There's new creation. 00:27:55.039 --> 00:28:09.599 The story ends with redeemed sinners from every tribe, tongue, and nation worshiping God as their king forever, glory being restored to the Father, our worship renewed, and our joy made complete. 00:28:10.160 --> 00:28:12.480 That is the story of Scripture. 00:28:12.720 --> 00:28:21.519 66 books, all telling one story: God reconciling sinners to himself through the person and work of Jesus Christ. 00:28:21.680 --> 00:28:26.160 From beginning to end, the Bible tells one unified story. 00:28:26.319 --> 00:28:28.720 This is important to know as you're studying your Bible. 00:28:28.880 --> 00:28:35.119 If you understand that that whole Bible is telling one unified story, you better appreciate each book of the Bible. 00:28:35.359 --> 00:28:43.119 So when you're in Ephesians or 1 Kings, you're asking yourself, where are we in the meta-narrative of the story of redemption? 00:28:43.599 --> 00:28:50.079 God is seeking to redeem sinners, restore worship, and reclaim his glory to Christ. 00:28:50.480 --> 00:28:53.759 Now that brings me to 2 Corinthians chapter 4. 00:28:54.240 --> 00:28:56.400 God spreads, here's my thesis. 00:28:56.640 --> 00:29:07.359 God spreads his glory by spreading his grace, and he spreads his grace through the costly witness of his people to save sinners and restore worship. 00:29:07.599 --> 00:29:15.680 Which brings me to 2 Corinthians chapter 4, 7 through 18, which I believe Paul captures the heartbeat of missions. 00:29:15.920 --> 00:29:29.359 So if you turn back to 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verses 7 through 18, we see Paul, just to get some context here, Paul had the privilege of planting the church in Corinth. 00:29:29.599 --> 00:29:32.880 We see this in Acts chapter 18. 00:29:33.039 --> 00:29:40.480 He planted the church, he went into the Jewish synagogue, started preaching the gospel, the Corinthians started coming to faith in Christ, and the church was planted. 00:29:40.559 --> 00:29:41.599 That's missions. 00:29:41.759 --> 00:29:45.839 And he stayed and ministered there for about a year and a half. 00:29:46.079 --> 00:29:52.480 But the storyline of scripture I just gave, keep in mind, Paul knew that meta-narrative himself. 00:29:52.640 --> 00:30:04.799 And Paul's life and suffering, when you understand the meta narrative, the meta-narrative of scripture, you better understand and appreciate Paul's missionary journey and what motivated his mission's work. 00:30:05.279 --> 00:30:09.119 Paul knows where he is in the story of redemption. 00:30:09.440 --> 00:30:15.519 He understands the meta-narrative of creation, fall, redemption, and the coming new creation. 00:30:15.759 --> 00:30:22.720 And he knows that his ministry fits inside God's larger ministry, not alongside of it. 00:30:23.200 --> 00:30:27.599 Let's look back at 2 Corinthians 4 real quick, starting at verse 7. 00:30:27.839 --> 00:30:31.519 So I know sometimes we look at this text and we focus on suffering. 00:30:31.680 --> 00:30:37.680 And Paul and his gospel partners in the ministry are certainly suffering, but there's some questions we need to ask here. 00:30:37.839 --> 00:30:46.400 Verse 7, he says, Now we have this treasure in cla in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us. 00:30:46.640 --> 00:30:49.039 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed. 00:30:49.200 --> 00:30:51.519 We are perplexed, but not in despair. 00:30:51.680 --> 00:30:53.839 We are persecuted but not abandoned. 00:30:54.000 --> 00:30:56.400 We are struck down, but not destroyed. 00:30:56.720 --> 00:31:04.160 We always carry the death of Jesus in our bodies so that the life of Jesus may also be displayed in our body. 00:31:04.640 --> 00:31:06.400 But jump down to verse 15. 00:31:07.119 --> 00:31:19.680 He says, Indeed, everything is for your benefit, so that as grace extends to more and more people, it may cause thanksgiving to increase to the glory of God. 00:31:20.480 --> 00:31:23.119 Therefore, therefore is always important in the Bible. 00:31:23.200 --> 00:31:26.240 When you see that, you should ask what came before, what comes after. 00:31:26.480 --> 00:31:29.680 Therefore, we do not give up. 00:31:30.559 --> 00:31:44.160 Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day, for our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. 00:31:44.559 --> 00:31:48.559 So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. 00:31:49.039 --> 00:31:54.559 For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 00:31:55.359 --> 00:31:59.119 Friends, the context here is twofold. 00:31:59.440 --> 00:32:08.240 Paul had the privilege of pursuing a missionary endeavor in Corinth and being used by the Lord to proclaim the gospel in a place where they have not yet heard it. 00:32:08.480 --> 00:32:10.319 People came to faith in Jesus Christ. 00:32:10.480 --> 00:32:16.799 A church was planted in Corinth, but those same church members were actually questioning Paul's apostolic ministry. 00:32:17.039 --> 00:32:22.799 They were questioning if he was like a legit apostle and he was giving a defense for his uh his apostleship. 00:32:23.039 --> 00:32:25.359 But he is so think about that. 00:32:25.599 --> 00:32:28.000 The Lord used you to help plant a church. 00:32:28.240 --> 00:32:35.599 That church is questioning whether you're even like a legit apostle, if you're truly gifted to do what you say God has set you apart to do. 00:32:35.920 --> 00:32:42.480 But at the same time, you got that going on among the people that you are ministering to for over a year and a half to help them grow in their walk with Christ. 00:32:42.640 --> 00:32:47.200 But at the same time, you're being persecuted for the very ministry of proclaiming the gospel. 00:32:47.440 --> 00:32:55.039 You are physically being beaten, you are imprisoned, you and your ministry partners, and yet Paul still talks like this. 00:32:56.319 --> 00:32:59.599 Paul understood Habakkuk 2.14. 00:32:59.920 --> 00:33:06.160 For the earth, it says, will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord's glory as the waters cover the sea. 00:33:06.960 --> 00:33:08.480 Paul understood this text. 00:33:08.640 --> 00:33:11.599 For the earth will be, that is a promise. 00:33:11.839 --> 00:33:18.240 The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord's glory as the waters cover the sea. 00:33:18.480 --> 00:33:25.680 What I'm getting at is Paul understands the worth of the glory of God amongst the nations. 00:33:26.000 --> 00:33:34.079 He knows that God's glory is not a side issue, it is the ultimate reality, it is the penultimate emphasis of all missions. 00:33:34.319 --> 00:33:41.440 And because he understands the value of God's glory, he's willing to suffer to see that glory exalted. 00:33:41.920 --> 00:33:43.119 Think about that. 00:33:44.079 --> 00:33:45.680 He's willing to suffer. 00:33:45.759 --> 00:33:46.160 Why? 00:33:46.400 --> 00:33:50.319 Because Paul understood realities that we face even today. 00:33:50.640 --> 00:33:59.920 According to the Joshua Project, some of you are familiar with them, nearly 7,124 people groups are considered unreached. 00:34:00.640 --> 00:34:09.760 Which represents about three, listen to this, 3.57 billion people in the world who do not know the name of Jesus Christ. 00:34:10.079 --> 00:34:11.519 Let that sink in. 00:34:12.480 --> 00:34:14.719 Unreached does not mean lost people. 00:34:14.880 --> 00:34:16.239 I think sometimes that gets confused. 00:34:16.320 --> 00:34:17.119 People say unreached. 00:34:17.199 --> 00:34:19.199 There's a lot of unreached people in Greensboro. 00:34:19.360 --> 00:34:20.159 Not necessarily. 00:34:20.239 --> 00:34:24.880 There's a lot of lost people in Greensboro, but a lot of people in our city have heard of Jesus. 00:34:25.039 --> 00:34:26.079 They've heard of the gospel. 00:34:26.159 --> 00:34:27.440 They have access to a church. 00:34:27.519 --> 00:34:30.960 They have access to a Bible or someone who might be a Christian. 00:34:31.119 --> 00:34:44.960 But unreached people or unreached people groups means an entire people group with no access to the gospel, no Bible in their own language, and no gospel preaching church among them. 00:34:45.199 --> 00:34:50.639 That's why Paul was committed to go to places specifically where Christ has not been named. 00:34:50.880 --> 00:34:52.320 Paul was motivated. 00:34:52.639 --> 00:34:59.360 I want to go to places who have never heard the name of Jesus Christ, and I want to preach to them. 00:34:59.840 --> 00:35:05.360 So he comes into Corinth, he preaches the gospel of Jesus Christ faithfully in a hostile environment. 00:35:05.599 --> 00:35:10.719 People come to faith, a faith, a church is birthed, he's persecuted for the faith. 00:35:10.880 --> 00:35:16.559 He's afflicted, he's pressed, he's persecuted and struck down, he says, but he does not lose heart. 00:35:16.800 --> 00:35:17.440 Why? 00:35:17.760 --> 00:35:21.519 Because he understands that God's glory is at stake. 00:35:22.320 --> 00:35:30.400 He sees with his own eyes, God's grace and glory is spreading because people have responded to the gospel and are coming to faith. 00:35:30.639 --> 00:35:35.599 Worship is increasing, and to him, that is worth the cost. 00:35:37.519 --> 00:35:43.760 Paul's suffering is not accidental, it is a byproduct of his commitment to biblical missions. 00:35:44.320 --> 00:35:51.920 God often places treasures in jars of clay so that his glory is unmistakable. 00:35:52.800 --> 00:35:53.679 This is not me. 00:35:53.760 --> 00:35:54.800 I want to be clear. 00:35:55.599 --> 00:36:03.679 I'm making the argument that the chief aim of all of missions is the exaltation of God's glory, and I'm confident I'm correct in that. 00:36:03.920 --> 00:36:07.440 But I'm not saying that other aims and missions are unimportant. 00:36:07.679 --> 00:36:14.320 I'm not saying it's not important to see churches planted or people come to faith in Christ or to do or to go and strengthen other churches. 00:36:14.400 --> 00:36:25.360 Those are vitally important, but they're done well and best when the people committed to that work have a conviction in their heart, I'm doing this primarily to the glory of God. 00:36:26.159 --> 00:36:28.960 Because look at look at verse 15 again. 00:36:29.920 --> 00:36:32.960 Indeed, everything is for your benefit. 00:36:33.280 --> 00:36:35.039 That is a very humble man. 00:36:35.599 --> 00:36:54.880 If someone is questioning the integrity of your ministry, if someone is questioning your gifts as a church leader and whether you are even called to do what you're called to do, would you be willing, with God's help, to continue to go forward because you were convinced that you are doing this for their benefit? 00:36:55.199 --> 00:37:02.719 Because so that as grace extends to more and more people, it may cause Thanksgiving to increase to the glory of God. 00:37:02.880 --> 00:37:11.599 This is one of my favorite texts of scripture in the New Testament and what shapes just even some of my understanding of ministry, not just as a pastor, just as a Christian, as a Christ follower. 00:37:11.920 --> 00:37:18.000 We pursue ministry for the sake of God's grace being extended to more and more people. 00:37:18.159 --> 00:37:20.159 Because here's the domino effect. 00:37:20.400 --> 00:37:28.559 When I open my mouth and I proclaim the gospel to someone, and they come to faith in Jesus Christ, that grace in Christ was extended to them. 00:37:28.719 --> 00:37:30.800 They respond in repentance and faith. 00:37:30.960 --> 00:37:33.679 Now they give praise and thanksgiving to God. 00:37:33.840 --> 00:37:36.719 God's glory gets exalted through one more individual. 00:37:36.880 --> 00:37:40.159 We train them to make a disciple just how they were discipled. 00:37:40.239 --> 00:37:42.639 And then it just goes on and on and on. 00:37:42.719 --> 00:37:47.840 And as grace spreads, thanksgiving increases, God's glory is magnified. 00:37:47.920 --> 00:37:49.199 What a mechanism. 00:37:49.519 --> 00:37:52.000 This is the beauty of the local church. 00:37:52.559 --> 00:37:58.800 But grace spreading also produces worship, and worship magnifies God's glory. 00:37:58.960 --> 00:38:07.760 As I just read, Paul says it plainly: as grace extends to more and more people, it may cause thanksgiving to increase to the glory of God. 00:38:07.920 --> 00:38:10.719 This is what we are seeking to do as a local church. 00:38:10.880 --> 00:38:31.440 Whether it's in edifying and helping mature members of this church or reaching those who have yet to come to faith in Jesus Christ in our surrounding city or across the nation, we want to see grace extend to more and more people because we believe, like Paul, that it may cause thanksgiving to increase to the glory of God. 00:38:31.760 --> 00:38:35.760 But friends, grace does not end with the forgiveness of sins. 00:38:36.159 --> 00:38:39.280 Grace produces something in us, doesn't it? 00:38:39.519 --> 00:38:44.320 It produces gratitude, thanksgiving, as Paul says. 00:38:44.559 --> 00:38:47.440 And gratitude erupts in worship. 00:38:47.679 --> 00:38:50.239 And worship magnifies God's glory. 00:38:50.400 --> 00:38:52.960 That's why we love when we sing certain songs. 00:38:53.119 --> 00:38:58.559 We want songs to be rich with biblical truth that remind us of the gospel and God's word. 00:38:58.880 --> 00:39:07.760 And that's why I love sometimes when I when I'm around some of you and I know you might be going through something, or you're just reflecting on God's grace and who you were before he saved you. 00:39:07.840 --> 00:39:10.880 And certain lyrics and certain songs just do something to your heart. 00:39:11.119 --> 00:39:13.119 You start shedding tears, you get emotional. 00:39:13.199 --> 00:39:13.599 Why? 00:39:13.760 --> 00:39:22.480 Well, because what Paul said, as grace extends to more and more people, it may cause thanksgiving to increase to the glory of God. 00:39:23.360 --> 00:39:25.920 This is why missions exist. 00:39:27.039 --> 00:39:34.559 God is most visibly glorified when redeemed sinners joyfully worship him. 00:39:35.360 --> 00:39:40.800 Missions is about the restoration of worship where sin has silenced it. 00:39:41.599 --> 00:39:55.199 Saint Augustine said this because the face of God is so lovely, my brothers and sisters, so beautiful, once you have seen it, nothing else can give you pleasure. 00:39:56.000 --> 00:40:01.519 It will give insatiable satisfaction of which we will never tire. 00:40:02.159 --> 00:40:07.599