Dr Greg Bahnsen - The Christian Mission: God's Impossible Mission (Part 4)

Missions, or if you will, the way I like to put it, is the Christian mission. What God has called us to do as his people in this world. We began yesterday on the Lord's Day with what I think is really the foundation of all Christian missions, and that's the indisputable existence of God. We can't be sure that God exists. Then everything else we're talking about can be written off as wishful thinking. And so we need as Christians, not to forget that beginning step of our Christian mission. And that's we have a defense of the faith which we believe to be not only adequate, to convince us and make us feel in our heart of hearts that there is a God. We have a defense of the faith which is unanswerable by the world. We believe that those who are living in the world and who deny the existence of God are denying what they know very well in their heart of hearts. They are suppressing the truth and unrighteousness. And I tried to give to you a method of demonstrating to people that at the very point they try to argue against the existence of God, they must also presuppose the existence of God to make their argument meaningful. So there's the foundation of our Christian mission to this world, the indisputable existence of God. And then we considered as well yesterday in the Lord's Day, what the message of the Christian mission is. And the Christian is bound to proclaim, if he understands the gospel at all, the incredible mercy of God. I still. I have tears come to my eyes when I think about the way in which the Bible presents in the simplest of terms and yet too profound and incomprehensible for any theologian to get to the bottom of. But that message of how God is ready to forgive those who don't deserve it at all and how he did that in my life, it just really. I wouldn't be a Christian, I wouldn't have a mission in this world if I didn't have that message, the message of God's saving grace. And then last evening we considered what the standard of the Christian mission is. And that is God's inconvenient word. The reason why, I think Christian missions in the narrow sense and also the Christian mission in the broader sense are suffering in our days because those who are the messengers of that mission have compromised. They have learned to make their message tailored to the desires and the preconceived notions of their hearers. Which is to say, we're making the message of Christianity more worldly all the time because People who live in the world, you see, are going to want to get along with the world, and we don't have many micaiahs in our day who will say whatever the Lord speaks, that is what I will utter. And so we have the indisputable foundation of God's existence, the incredible mercy of God as our message and that inconvenient word of God. That is the standard of what we should be doing. But now, finally, this evening, we have to ask, what is the mission? What has God called us to do? And I'd like to set before you this evening, in the time that we have God's impossible mission, what he has laid upon us. Turn with me in your Bibles, please, for our Old Testament reading to the second chapter of Daniel Daniel 2, and I'd like to begin reading at the 31st verse. Daniel chapter 2 at verse 31. Hear this, as it is God's own word. Daniel, speaking to Nebuchadnezzar, says, thou, O king, sawest and behold a great image. This image, which was mighty, and whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee, and the aspect thereof was terrible. And as for this image, its head was of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of brass, its legs of iron, its feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut without hands, which smote the image upon its feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them in pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold broken in pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors, and the wind carried them away, so that no place was found for them. And the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. This is the dream, and we will tell the interpretation thereof. Before the king. Thou, O king, art king of kings, unto whom the God of heaven hath given the kingdom, the power, and the strength, and the glory and wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, hath he given into thy hand, and hath made thee to rule over them all. Thou art the head of gold, and after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth and the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron, forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things and as iron that crusheth all things, shall it break in pieces and crush. And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes part of the potter's clay and part of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom, but there shall be in it of the strength of iron. Forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay, and as the toes of the feet were part of iron and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly broken. And whereas thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men, but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron doth not mingle with clay. And in the days of those kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed, nor shall the sovereignty thereof be left to another people. But it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces, the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold, the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter. And the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof is sure. And then turn in Daniel to the seventh chapter, verses 13 and 14. And we read, I saw in the night visions. And behold, there came with the clouds of heaven one like unto a son of man, and he came even to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him, and there was given him dominion and glory, and a kingdom that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom, that which shall not be destroyed. And our New Testament reading is found in the Gospel of Matthew, where we'll begin reading in the 13th chapter at verse 31. Matthew 13:30. First, speaking of the teaching of Jesus, Matthew writes another parable set he before them, saying, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is less than all seeds, but when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the heaven come and lodge in the branches thereof. Another parable spake he unto them, the kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened. And then turn to Matthew 28, verses 16 to 20. But the 11 disciples went into Galilee unto the mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him, they worshipped him. Yet some doubted. And Jesus came to them, and spake unto them, saying, all authority hath been given Unto me in heaven and on earth. Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age and thus far. The reading of God's word. I don't know whether you're fans of TV enough to remember a show that was on a number of years ago. It was very popular. It was called Mission Impossible. You may remember how at the beginning of each show, the head of some special team of really talented people would get a secret message off on a playground or in a locker from an airport or something on a tape that would destruct after. It would self destruct after he listened to it. And it was always something that the U.S. government, the CIA or whatever it may be wanted this team to do. However, because it was something they did not want to own up to, they said, you know, if you or your team gets caught, we'll disavow any knowledge of this, and so forth. It was really kind of a fascinating lead in, and it was a very popular show. But the interesting thing about that is the show was called Mission Impossible. And they never once failed to do what they were called to do. I mean, that seemed to make sense the first couple of weeks. You know, you get an impossible mission and wow, you just barely, you know, pull it off, and then you get another impossible mission and you just barely pull it off and so forth. And this show went on for a number of years and then it was revived and so forth. But I find that kind of interesting. We sometimes talk about a mission that is impossible, and yet we know very well that the mission can be performed. Just a matter that it doesn't seem very likely that it will be. And tonight I want to talk to you about God's impossible mission. To be perfectly honest, we should probably put the word impossible in scare quotes. However, we should say God's impossible mission, as many people will call it impossible. And I think they have a good reason to call it impossible. When we look at the word of God, the mission that God has given his people, both individually and the church, does appear to be enormously great. In fact, the Great Commission, if taken seriously, I think in our own human understanding, if we were to depend upon our own human resources, we'd have to say, it's too great. It's so great that it just cannot be done. I'd like to talk to you tonight about the Kingdom of God as it was prophesied in the Old Testament and comes to fulfillment in the new. And what it means for us to be members of that kingdom, to be called, to be subjects of the King, indeed children of the King, and then called upon to honor him in all that we do, both individually and corporately as the Church. What is the mission that we have here in this world? You may have noticed that when people become Christians, they don't just after they finally repent of their sin and have faith in Jesus, they aren't just taken up to heaven to be with God, to live with him for all eternity, they're left here on earth. I think in many ways, from a human perspective, God knows better. But in many ways, from a human perspective, we might wish that when we became Christians, we'd just go to be with the Lord right away. Take away a lot of questions, a lot of grief, a lot of suffering, persecution, and a lot of confusion about why did you leave us here? What are we supposed to be doing, Lord? What is my mission here? Since I'm a citizen of another kingdom now, I'm a citizen of Heaven, and you've kept me here in this place. What do you want me to do here? How do I represent you? Paul says that we are ambassadors for Christ. And so what's the ambassador supposed to do? What's the mission that we've been given? How would you like to be an ambassador for the United States, sent off to some far away land and the President of the United States and the State Department have nothing to tell you as to what to expect and what you should do? You're just supposed to be out there as an ambassador. What am I supposed to say? What interests am I supposed to protect? What are my priorities? What's the program here? And God has left us, even though we are citizens of his kingdom, citizens of another kingdom that doesn't even belong to this world. Citizens of heaven. God has left us here, belonging to him in our citizenship and yet living in a faraway land as his ambassadors. What does he want of us? What is our mission? If you look at Daniel's prophecy of the coming kingdom of the Messiah, I think we have some idea of the parameters of the program that God has laid down for us as his people in this world. We read in our scripture, reading from Daniel 2 and from Daniel 7. If you had the endurance and I had the strength, I'd like to preach to you the entire book of Daniel. It has a message all its own that would be really worthwhile. For us to consider. But I'm only going to have time to look at two brief portions about Daniel's revelation of the Messiah's divine kingdom. The first is found in chapter two. In chapter two, we began our reading coming upon Daniel being called before the emperor Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian emperor. Now, Nebuchadnezzar has been having some nightmares, and these disturb him greatly. And it turns out that the soothsayers and the pagan wizards and so forth, they can't tell him what the dream is. He's got an interesting test for whether they really are tuned in to the Almighty. He says, if you really are in touch with the supernatural, then I don't have to tell you the dream. And then you can go make up an interpretation. You tell me the dream. And then when they failed to do that, he goes, get out of here. You're wasting my time. And then Nebuchadnezzar is told, well, there's one of these prisoners from Jerusalem, one of these Jewish fellows. This young Jew boy is pretty smart. He thinks that he's in touch with God. And so Daniel's brought in, and Nebuchadnezzar plays the same game, goes through the same drill. Okay, Daniel, if you think you know what you're talking about, you really are in touch with God or the gods, then tell me, what did I dream? And that's where we came into the scripture reading. Daniel said, that's no problem. Nebuchadnezzar, here's what you dreamed. Now, this dream is a fairly complicated dream. I don't know about you. Often when I dream, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. That's part of my distress. In the morning, when I do remember my dreams, I sit there going, what is the connection between this and that? You know, something from my childhood showing up over here. And I know Freud would have a great time with me, I'm sure. But now Nebuchadnezzar is sitting there, and he's listening to Daniel tell him of this coherent story, detail by detail. That must have been pretty impressive. Nebuchadnezzar must have said, I'm glad we've got this guy to talk to. But now, the scary thing is, what does this dream mean? Nebuchadnezzar had seen a huge idol. In fact, it was terrible to him. It must have been awesome to him. He was frightened by it. It was so huge, so magnificent. Had a head of gold, had a torso of silver, had brass in its loins and thighs and then its lower Legs were made up of mixed material, the toes and the feet in particular. And then he saw that a stone that was not cut with human hands came off the mountains and rolled down and hit the idol right at its feet and toppled it and then crushed it to fine dust so that the dust blew away just like the threshing floor. And then that stone began to grow and grow and grow until it was filling the entire earth. Nebuchadnezzar wants to know what that's all about. Daniel said, I can interpret the dream for you. In the first place, this stone that is going to come and is going to change the course of world affairs is something divine. It's not a result of human effort. Nebuchadnezzar. Look at verse 34 in our text. Thou sawest hill that a stone was cut without hands, which smote the image upon its feet that were of iron and clay and brake them in pieces. That is to say, it wasn't by human devising, it wasn't by human effort and construction. This stone is a divine event, a divine kingdom that's going to come. And in verse 44, we read that God is going to establish his own divine kingdom. And in the days of those kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall the sovereignty thereof be left to another people. But it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. A divine kingdom is coming to be established by God himself. And yet, the interesting thing about Daniel's understanding of the coming Messianic kingdom is that this kingdom would be granted to a human king. That's why I had us read chapter seven in Daniel where we pick up this information. Daniel says, I saw in the night visions. Behold, there came with the clouds of heaven one like unto a son of man. That is to say, one who had the outward appearance of a human being. And he came this one who had the human form. He came to the ancient of days, very dignified, noble name for the eternal God. He came to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion and glory and a kingdom that all people should serve him. And so there's going to be a divine work in history. God is going to establish a kingdom by giving to a human king this dominion, which, according to chapter two, verse 44, will supplant the sovereignty of every other empire. Nebuchadnezzar, you're the head of gold. You're really something special, Nebuchadnezzar. But that Head of gold is going to fall too. And then the empire that succeeds you is going to fall as well. And then there'll be another and finally a mixed empire, which we know to be the Roman Empire, and it will fall. When God in His own time decides to establish his kingdom upon earth and grant his kingdom to his chosen one, then all these other kingdoms are going to be supplanted. You know, my friends, that's one of the most amazing things, and we don't often talk about it in apologetics, but I think it's worthy apologetical argument to point out that what Daniel said here has come to pass. Exactly. The Christian Church was established in the days of the Roman Empire. Rome is now gone. Despite the fact it had superior strength, superior resources, superior money, greater land mass, despite the fact that they had a methodology which you would have thought would have just crushed, the Christian Church made it into nothing. They had far more people. I mean, the Christian Church began with what, 11 men. And when you see the character of these men, you have to wonder what kind of chance, what would you have bet in those days on the Christian Church? And yet God set up his kingdom in that day, and it survived. The Roman Empire was supplanted. And guess what? The kingdom of Jesus Christ is still going strong, still spreading throughout the earth. And there has never ever been an empire on earth to compare with it. Even Marxist Leninist communism has never had the landmass and influence and so forth that the church of Jesus Christ has gained through the centuries. Daniel said all that many years ago to Nebuchadnezzar. He said, the day is coming. God's going to establish his kingdom. He's going to give it to his chosen king, and it's going to supplant the sovereignty of every other empire. And guess what? Nebuchadnezzar, its dominion will be indestructible. It, its dominion will be universal and its dominion will be everlasting. Look at verse 44 again in chapter 2. In the days of those kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall the sovereignty thereof be left to another. But it shall break in pieces and consume these kingdoms, and then stand forever. Verse 14 of chapter 7 that is reinforced for us. And there was given him dominion and glory in a kingdom that all the peoples, nations and languages should serve him. A universal kingdom. And his dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away. And his kingdom, that which shall not be destroyed. It's indestructible. It's everlasting and it is universal. And then I want to point out one other aspect of the kingdom before we turn to Matthew and consider what he says about this. We need to remember that according to Daniel, this kingdom, this mighty kingdom of the Messiah that God himself will establish, is going to be a growing kingdom. In Daniel 2:35, as Daniel has recounted the dream to Nebuchadnezzar, he says, then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver and the gold broken in pieces together, became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors. And the wind carried them away so that no place was found for them. But the stone that smote the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. At first you have this boulder that comes down and hits. You see the feet of this great idol and destroys it completely. But then the boulder starts growing and growing and growing until it eventually consumes the entire earth. And so we know that according to the Old Testament expectation, God's kingdom would come in the days of that fourth world empire. It would destroy that empire and supplant itself, would become universal, indestructible and everlasting, and would grow to those very dimensions. Let's turn now in our Bibles to Matthew's Gospel. It would be worthwhile to do a systematic New Testament study of the kingdom of God. But for our purposes tonight, we'll just look at what Matthew has to say about this kingdom of God that Daniel has prophesied. A growing kingdom that will be indestructible, universal and everlasting, given to the Messiah by God himself. Matthew reveals for us the divine and Messianic kings. And the entire Gospel of Matthew focuses upon Jesus as the king. And this one who is to become the king is described as a human yet divine figure. In the very opening chapter of Matthew's gospel, chapter one at verse 20, Joseph has thought about the things that are taking place with Mary, who was pregnant out of wedlock. And when he thought on these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit, and she shall bring forth a son. Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for it is he that shall save his people from their sins. Now all this is come to pass that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the Lord through the prophets, saying, behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which is being interpreted God with us. Daniel saw the ancient of days give this everlasting dominion to one who was like unto the Son of man. And so Matthew tells us that one is born into this world, one who is a son, a true human being, and yet is called Immanuel. God with us because he was conceived by the Holy Spirit. A divine yet human son is born. And the one who is born is conspicuously set forth in Matthew's Gospel as the King of the Jews. We turn to chapter two, and we read when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the King. Behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem saying, where is he that is born king of the Jews? A son is born, a divine human figure. And the first thing we learn about him is that he is the King of the Jews. And of all things, the Gentiles know that, you see that God brings men from the east, inquiring about this one who is the King of the Jews. At the very end of Matthew's account of Jesus, the stress is placed somewhat ironically and painfully but truthfully, on the fact that he is King of the Jews as well. If you turn quickly to Matthew 27:11, we read how Jesus stood before the governor. He stood before Pilate, and the governor asked him, saying, art thou the King of the Jews? And Jesus said, you have said it. Look at the nobility, the confidence, the brevity and certainty of that. Jesus says, that's right, you've said it. I am the King of the Jews. It is the case. Verses 28 and 29 we see that when the soldiers stripped him and put on him a scarlet robe to make fun of him, they platted a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and put a reed in his right hand in the place of a scepter, and kneeled down before him and mocked him, saying, hail, King of the Jews. In verse 37, they set up over his head his accusation, this is Jesus, the King of the Jews. And in verse 42, those who mocked him, he saved, others himself he cannot save he is the King of Israel. Let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe on him. And although Jesus was mocked as the King of the Jews, Matthew makes the point again that a Gentile sees the truth. Verse 54. Now the Centurion and they that were with him, watching Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were done, feared exceedingly, saying, truly this was the Son of God. And so you see how Matthew's Gospel is almost bracketed with this. The Beginning of the story. One is born who is king of the Jews, the son of God. God the Son. And yet it's Gentiles who recognize him as the King of the Jews. And then at the end of the story, almost what you have is again the declaration that he's the King of the Jews. And it's the Gentile who recognizes that he is truly the son of God and who he said that he was. Matthew's whole Gospel, from beginning to end, you see, is the gospel, the good news, that Jesus has come as the king. He has brought the kingdom. He is truly God's own son. Remember how Daniel had said that one would come with the clouds to the Ancient of Days, and the Ancient of Days would honor him with this title. It's no surprise then, that Matthew goes on in chapter three of Matthew's Gospel to tell of the baptism of Jesus. And in verse 17 of chapter chapter three, we read low a voice out of the heavens saying, this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. The Ancient of days speaks from the heavens and honors his son. When Jesus goes out in chapter four, into the wilderness, there to be tempted by Satan. Satan knows that this is what's at stake, the kingdom of God. And So in verses 8 to 10, we read again. The devil takes him to an exceeding high mountain and shows him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them. And he said unto him, all these things will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, get thee hence, Satan. For it is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. And then the devil left him. You see, Satan had finally built up to the ultimate temptation, that Jesus would depart from the path of obedience and try to gain the kingdoms of the world through a shortcut of idolatrous worship of Satan himself. Satan is a horrible person, a very subtle liar. But you see, he knew what was at stake here. He knew that this one that the Ancient of Days had honored from heaven, this is my beloved Son. He knew that he had come to take the kingdoms of this world. So, Satan. Well, I'll step in and see if I can't shortchange this whole thing. I'll see if I can get Jesus to take the easier way. And he will not, of course, do that. The Bible tells us in Matthew's Gospel that when Jesus came, he came to establish God's kingdom. In chapter three, verses one and two, the forerunner of Jesus, the Messiah, is John the Baptist. In Those days comes John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, repent. Why? For the kingdom of heaven is at hand. It's near, so close you can smell it. You'd better get your life in order, because the King is coming. And in chapter four, verses 17 and 23, we see that this is the substance of Jesus teaching. From that time began Jesus to preach and to say, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Verse 23. And Jesus went about in all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, the good news about the kingdom of God. And so in the Sermon on the Mount, the best known preaching section of the entire Bible, you notice how Jesus begins the Sermon on the Mount. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. We can't look at all the evidence that is found in Matthew's Gospel. Let's jump ahead, though, to chapter 12, verse 28. Let me set the stage for you. Jesus has just cast out some demons. You might think that would convince his opponents. It's a pretty marvelous work. But instead, those whose hearts have not been changed by the Holy Spirit, they come up with a charge against Jesus, which is blasphemous. They say, you know how he does it. He uses the power of Satan to do this. That's how he does it. And Jesus says in verse 28, if I, by the Spirit of God, cast out demons, then is the kingdom of God come upon you. He said, I don't do this by Satan, because then a house is divided against itself. I'm doing this by the Spirit of God. And then he adds this interesting commentary. And if that's what's going on, if I, by the power of God's spirit, am destroying the house of Satan, then you know something. The kingdom's been established. The kingdom of God has come upon you. Please notice this, brothers and sisters, because there are plenty of our friends who are Christians in this world that have yet to understand that as clear as it is in Matthew's Gospel, they think somehow the kingdom of God has been postponed to the future. They believe that somehow God has been thrown off track in terms of his plans for human history. And so we now live in what is often called a parenthesis in God's plan. Or at best, we now are on Plan B while God's kind of regrouped and set up for Plan A to finally come through again. Now, I realize that when you look at it in terms of its baldest characterization, it seems ridiculous for any Christian to say that we live in a day and an age where the people who believe that would tell you that what you're hearing from the pulpit tonight. Heresy. They will tell you that people who teach the opposite of this, who teach that the kingdom is now established, are involved in something like a kingdom now. Heresy. And they shouldn't be trusted. And they vilify us for saying these sorts of things. And all I can say is, again, the inconvenient word of God is my standard. You read it right in front of you. What did Jesus say? If I'm casting out demons by the spirit of God, and of course, that's what he's just done, he says, the kingdom of God has come upon you. He is the king, honored from heaven as such, born as such, given that title, recognized by the Gentiles as such, he has come to establish the kingdom of God. And so he taught people about his kingdom in chapter 13, as we read in verse 11. And he answered and said unto them, unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. Jesus has been teaching in parables, and he's asked why? And he says, because God has granted to you to understand the mysteries of the kingdom. And what would you like to know about the kingdom? We can't expound all the parables. I've chosen two tonight to look at. First of all, in verse 32, when Jesus teaches about this kingdom that his Father is giving him, that he has come to establish, he says, the kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field, which, although it is the smallest of all seeds, when it grows up, becomes larger than the herbs, and is a tree that the birds of heaven come and lodge in. Jesus said, I'll tell you one of the mysteries of the kingdom. This is something that will blow people's minds. They won't understand. This kingdom is going to start so small as to be hardly noticeable. Like a grain of mustard seed. Any of you ever grown mustard? Do you know what Jesus is talking about? I mean, Jesus was a great teacher, great illustrations. If you haven't, for your sake and for your children's sake, buy a package of mustard seed sometime, pour it out on the table and show it to them. Say, that little speck right there doesn't amount to anything. You wouldn't think it could do hardly anything. But, you know, you plant that mustard seed and you let it grow, it's going to become bigger than all the other kitchen herbs that you use and will become a tree that the birds of heaven can come flock to. Jesus said, here's something about the kingdom you probably wouldn't have guessed on your own. It's going to be a growing kingdom, from very insignificant beginnings to a massive close. And then he tells another parable. He says, and the parable of the kingdom is likened unto leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until all of it was leavened. You're women who bake bread. You know what Jesus is talking about. I'm from a city upbringing. I didn't see much of that in my childhood. I only had to hear about it. But you know, there's amazing chemical transaction that takes place there. When you put leaven in the dough, you wouldn't think it could make that much difference. I mean, all this gooey, yucky, mucky dough, you put a little bit of leaven in it, and when you stick that into the oven, all of a sudden things start to grow. Eventually the leaven chemically permeates the entire lump of dough. Jesus said, there's another mystery of the kingdom. It's going to be like that. It may not seem very significant to you, but it's going to eventually leaven the entire dough. It's going to permeate everything. And so Jesus taught that he was the king. He had come to establish the kingdom. God the Father had honored him. He did not need to bow to Satan. He would be given the kingdoms of this world apart from that, that his kingdom, as insignificant as it may seem at the beginning, would grow very large and permeate all of the world's affairs. And I'll tell you something else about the kingdom that Jesus taught in a parable in chapter 25. He taught that the king expects personal increase in our own individual lives if we are part of his kingdom. Time doesn't really allow me to read the entire story. Let me just kind of summarize it for you. Then you may remember that there was a man who went into a faraway country and was planning to do so. And so he called his servants to him and he delivered to them his goods. And he gave various amounts of money to each one, to one five talents, to another two, and to another one each according to his ability. Then he went away on his trip, and when he came back, he made a reckoning. And you remember how the one who had five talents had doubled and the one that had two talents had doubled the investment, and the one that had only one had not taken care of that had not invested, it had not made any increase or maturation of the investment. And the Lord is very wroth with that servant. In fact, we find out that he is an unprofitable servant who is cast into the outer darkness where there is weeping and the gnashing of teeth. I'll tell you something about preachers. You know, they often feel uncomfortable with the word of God, and so they don't tell you everything that's in a text. And I don't know how many sermons I have heard about this text that has stressed rightly enough, as far as it goes, that what God expects for us is to invest our talents, the money that which he has given us, and so forth, to make increase for his kingdom. And then somehow they can even get so far as to say that the Lord is unhappy with the one who doesn't do so. But they won't tell you the last verse, because the last verse tells you that those who do not grow in the Christian life are not Christians at all. And they are cast into the outer darkness where there is weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. You know, it would be so much easier if we had a gospel that said, look, everyone can gain entrance to heaven, and once you get there, if you want to grow, that's great. If you don't want to grow, the point is you're inside the line of the kingdom and you won't have to go to hell, and that's okay too. So you can just kind of, you know, veg out kind of plateau as a Christian, you don't have to grow. It's as though you could be born into this world, but you don't have to have any nourishment or any growth or what have you. That is the kind of Christianity, that's the kind of weak, wearisome, wimpish Christianity that is taught in our day. And I know it would please people if we could say that, say, look, you just have this easy belief. You just have faith in Jesus, you just sign the little decision card, you come down and walk the aisle, and that'll be good enough. God will never send you to hell after that. This parable tells you just what a lie that is, my friends. And I'm not going to be your friend, and I'm not going to do any good for you if I don't tell you the truth. If you are not growing as a Christian, then you ought to think about what your ultimate destination is really going to be. You see, Jesus is a very glorious and A gracious and a good king. He's compassionate and loving and patient and ready to forgive. He is so gracious and good to us all. But Jesus, as the king, expects that we're going to grow, that there's going to be some kind of maturation take place, that we're going to see personal increase in our lives. That's part of the mission he has given you. So that you take the gifts and the resources and the opportunities that he's put at your disposal and you invest them for the sake of the growth of his kingdom, not only in your life, but in the world as well. Now, we're going through Matthew's gospel. I've already told you, we're only touching down at significant places. We have to come to the end of the gospel eventually. And this, in a sense, is maybe the most significant place to look for. What is the Christian mission? Because Jesus has come into this world as the prophet of God. He's declared God's will. He comes into this world as the high priest of God's people and he lays down his life, the sacrifice for sin, so that our sins are atoned. He comes into this world as the king and declares that he's established the kingdom and he expects us to follow him in whatsoever he says. But now that he's accomplished salvation, what would you expect him to do? You know, Jesus told the women to tell the other disciples to go ahead into Galilee and eventually on this mount where Jesus would ascend. Have you ever thought about this? I wonder if maybe the disciples, when they went ahead to that mountain, were expecting that at that time Jesus was finally going to start exercising his prerogatives as king. They know we've been waiting for a while for this. Maybe this is going to be the time. And they were right. That's exactly what he did. But he didn't do it the way they expected. I'll bet. They may have thought this was going to be like a little conclave to plan out how we're going to go out there, Jesus and us, and we'll show those Romans who crucified our leader. But Jesus has other plans. He's going to leave them. He's not going to leave them alone. He already told them in the upper room, I won't leave you as orphans. I will come to you. I will send the Holy Spirit. In fact, that's to your advantage. He said that I will do that because I've done great works. And you're going to do even greater because I'm going to Send the Spirit to you. That's pretty hard to believe, but that's what Jesus said. They didn't understand it. They went to the mount. And we know that Jesus is going to ascend. And as Jesus did ascend, I can't help but believe that some of them thought, well, certainly he's going to take us with him. The we belong to him. There's just a small little chosen band of people. This world is such a wretched place, we don't want to call this our home. So, Jesus, if you're leaving to go back to heaven, then we're right with you. There goes Jesus. Only later, I think probably it took till the day of Pentecost to finally realize what was really going on here. Jesus said, I am leaving you, but here are your marching orders. Before I leave, you want to know what I expect of you in this world while I'm gone. It goes like this, verse 18. Jesus came spake to them, saying, all authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore, make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. By his resurrection, Jesus has been vindicated as the Son of God. By his resurrection, God has declared he is the Son of God with power. By his resurrection, he shows that he does occupy the Davidic throne and that he will rule over all of his enemies and that his kingdom will be the one Daniel talked about that becomes everlasting and universal and indestructible. The Bible tells us that the ascension of Jesus was really an act of enthronement for him. If you look at the book of Hebrews chapter one, we read that when Jesus made purification for sins, he then sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. You see, he went to be enthroned at the right hand of God. In chapter 10 of Hebrews verses 12 and 13, the author of Hebrews tells us that he sat down at God's right hand thereafter, expecting his enemies to be made the footstool of his feet. The amazing thing to me is that dispensationalists teach us that Jesus left this earth a defeated king, putting off his kingdom until he would come again and finally take military might and conquer this world. The Bible tells us just the contrast, that Jesus left this world an enthroned king. He left this world to take his seat at God's right hand and from that position of. Of ultimate, universal, indestructible authority to have all his enemies subdued. And it makes all the difference in the world to your Christian life and to your attitude toward Jesus and what you do about your mission in this world. Whether you see him leaving this world a defeated king, hoping someday he can do a better job when he comes back, or leaving this world as one who has accomplished the Father's will and is vindicated by the Father and is now enthroned next to the Father at the right hand there to govern all things. And what is the mission that is defined by the King? What should we be doing as Christians? No one has the right to define that mission except Jesus himself. No one has the right to tell us what our Christian lives should be all about or what the normal Christian life is or anything like that. That doesn't go to the definition that the King himself has given. And in this great commission that Jesus leaves at the end of Matthew's Gospel, chapter 28, I want you to notice that the mission of the Christian is first of all, not narrowly individualistic. Jesus does not send us into this world simply to tell people that Jesus cares for individuals and that you need to be saved. We must certainly say that that's true. But it's not only that. Jesus doesn't say, go out there and find a few individuals that will believe the Gospel and be saved. In fact, though we believe that individuals must come one by one into the kingdom, we don't believe it because of this passage. Because this passage doesn't say any of that. This passage says, go make the nations my disciples. Jesus at this point doesn't stop to deal with the one by one. He deals with the larger units. He says, you make the Gentiles my disciples. It's not narrowly individualistic. And what we go to proclaim as part of our Christian mission is not simply that Jesus is our Savior. Truly he is. And if he isn't our Savior, he isn't genuinely going to be our Lord either. Not in any blessed sense. But the fact of the matter is that Jesus sends his disciples into this world to make other disciples of the nations and to teach them to observe whatever he has commanded. Jesus is to be proclaimed as Lord over heaven and earth. You read the Book of Acts and you just ask yourself in summary form, what did the apostles proclaim? You're not going to find very much the apostles saying, come to Jesus as your Savior. You will hear them proclaim, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou Shalt be saved. See, we've got it all backwards in the way we presented it in modern American evangelicalism. We want to present this idea that Jesus is pleading with you meekly and mildly and earnestly. Please give me a chance. Let me be your Savior. The apostles declared, jesus is your Lord. If you submit to him in faith, he'll save you. You see, it's the lordship of Jesus Christ that the Great Commission stresses. Make them my disciples. Jesus doesn't declare here that he simply has authority over the Church. The kingdom of Jesus Christ focuses on the Church because the keys of the kingdom are placed in the hands of the Church. To be sure, that is its focus, but that is not its scope. The kingdom of Jesus Christ is the entire world. He doesn't rule simply over the church. He says, all authority has been given to me in heaven and upon earth. All authority. Jesus has greater authority than your boss. Jesus has greater authority than your teachers, and he has greater authority than your parents. He has greater authority than the President of the United States. He has greater authority than the head of the United Nations. Jesus has all authority in heaven and upon earth. The angels bow down to him. The angels must serve him, and so must everyone on earth. That's what he declares. He said, I have been vindicated as God's son. I've been raised from the dead. I have all authority in heaven, on earth. I'm going to heaven to rule so that all my enemies will be put under my feet. Now, you go make disciples of the nations. You proclaim that I am the Lord. You show them that they must follow me, be disciples to me, and obey everything that I have taught you. And the kingdom of Jesus Christ is not simply future. According to this text. He doesn't say, someday I'm coming back to be the king. He doesn't say, eventually, I'm going to get things worked out where I'm going to rule on earth. He says, I already do rule on earth. This world belongs to me now. By the way, there are people who will tell you that those of us who are proclaiming the gospel in this way have it somehow in our heads that it's our job to go about setting up the kingdom of God on earth. Now, there are a lot of slurs and slanders that we have to deal with if we're going to be faithful to the word of God. But that's one of the worst and most painful for me to hear. There's nobody I know who believes the way I do. I certainly don't believe in any sense that I am going to set up the kingdom of God on earth in the first place. I don't believe that because in all honesty, I know myself well enough. I don't have the ability to do that. I don't think God would be so foolish as to expect me to be able to do that. I can't do that. I'm not trying to do that. And guess what? I don't need to do that because it's been done. Jesus already established his own kingdom. Daniel said the Ancient of days would give dominion to the Son of Man. God did it through Jesus coming into this world. Jesus doesn't say, the day will come when I have authority on earth, just like I do in heaven right now. He says, all authority on heaven and on earth is mine. And it's on that basis that he gives us the commission. He doesn't say, go out there and see if you can make my authority stick somewhere. He says, I've already got it. So here's the job you need to do. It's not future, it's present. It's already established. And Jesus doesn't tell us, you should be satisfied to simply make a witness to people. That's the fundamentalist, dispensationalist version of the Great Commission. We need to go out there and make sure the word of God has been proclaimed so that Jesus can come back again. How many sermons have I heard where that said, just go make a witness for Jesus, then he can come back. Jesus can't come back until everyone's heard it. And so we've got to get out there and at least witness the people. And once every tribe has heard it, the witness has been heard, then Jesus can come. What a terrible perversion of what Jesus said. He didn't say, go make a witness for him. He said, make him my disciples. The Greek could actually be translated having gone, disciple the nations, not attempt to disciple the nations, not make efforts in that direction. Not simply witness to me, but disciple them, bring them under my control. And Jesus doesn't say that we should teach simply a portion of his commandments. This idea that God is happy if we just teach people about inward personal piety, or God is happy if we teach people they should pray in their families or they should come to church. So we teach those commandments of Jesus for the church and for ourselves and for our families. He says, teach them whatsoever I have commanded you, whatsoever. Everything that I've given. Does the church do that? Is the church true to its calling to declare the whole Counsel of God. Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, which we know was declaring the kingdom of God, said that not one jot or tittle of the Old Testament would pass away till heaven and earth passed away. And therefore anyone who breaks the least of these commandments or teaches men so shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven. Go teach them whatsoever I've commanded you. And what I've commanded you is every jot and tittle of the Old Covenant as well. So you go teach them the whole Bible. You teach them to see everything from the perspective of God's word. Because God says that His Word is to be written on the forehead and on the hand so that the way we see things and the way we act in this world is governed by Him. And you teach them to see this whole world is mine. All power in heaven and earth is mine. You have them obey everything that I've taught in every area of their lives. This applies to education, this applies to economics. This applies to the arts. This applies to the sciences. This applies to politics, as well as to your family and your churches and everything else. Teach them whatsoever I have commanded you. So very simply, my friends, if we study the Bible, and I haven't had time to go very deep, but just what little we've seen already tonight would tell us that the Scripture sets before us an all encompassing program as our Christian mission. And I would suggest to you that it has these three parts to it if you want to outline. First of all, God has, through His Son, bid us to work toward the building up of the Church. Go make disciples of the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Jesus makes that a first priority. People need to submit to and become members of the church of Jesus Christ. They need to join themselves to him, be part of his body. They need to undergo the sacrament of baptism to show that covenantally they belong to, they belong to God, that He owns them. We are to build up the church. In Matthew the 16th chapter, Jesus assured Peter that the gates of hell would not prevail against his church as it goes out into this world. Hell, you see, is on the retreat in our day. Well, I wish we wrote books like that. Hell on the retreat. Rather than the Church waiting to be raptured, Jesus says, you build up the church, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Secondly, this all encompassing program calls for individual conversion and individual growth. Obviously, we don't see the nations become his disciples unless we see individual people become his disciples. They are the ones who are baptized. They are the ones who are taught to obey whatsoever he has commanded. And so we need to be converted and we need to grow, and we need to bid people to join us in that process. And thirdly, we need to work toward the establishment of a Christian civilization. Jesus has established his kingdom, but not everyone honors him as the king. And that's why we try to disciple the nations. We bring people to church to be baptized. We nourish them in the word of God and teach them whatsoever Jesus has taught so that they might learn then to obey God in everything. And what do you think is going to happen when people start obeying God and everything and the leaven of God's kingdom starts spreading throughout the entire lump? Then, of course, we're going to see Christian families, aren't we? We're going to see Christian influence become dominant in education and in the arts and in the sciences, and we're going to see that in politics and everything else. Indeed, what we're going to see is the church will be like salt in a rotting world and light in a dark place. The church will begin to exercise an influence that Jesus wanted his disciples to have in preserving this world from decay and scattering the darkness that is all about us. And so we see that our mission is an evangelistic mission. It's a vision for a Christian worldview to be developed and implemented. It's a vision for the completion of the cultural mandate when everything that is done in this world will be a subduing of the earth to the glory of God and obedience to Him. Well, that's the introduction to tonight's message. That's just the setup. And now I want to talk to you about it. Really, it's only going to take a few minutes. Can you bear with me? Because that honestly, was just so that you'd understand what I want to talk to you about tonight. And that's the impossibility of this mission. Look what I just talked about. Let's just be honest for a minute. In our human way of evaluating things, in our own expectations, in our own evaluation, you've got to look at it this way. All of the nations are supposed to be discipled. All of the nations are supposed to obey all that Jesus has said. You are good, loving, respectful people. But I'm sure there's somebody out there who's going to. Yeah, right. Look at this. Have you listened to the Evening news lately, Dr. Branson? Have you seen the horrible things going on in this world? Don't you know the struggle the church is going through. Yeah, I do. I go through that struggle too. And I'm not going to pretend this won't do you any good for me to pretend that I'm some kind of super Christian. And though I can preach this message, I don't have days when I'm not discouraged. There are days when I'm not discouraged. But when I am, that's my little faith. It's not because the Bible doesn't teach what I taught you. This mission that God has given us has got to seem impossible. Not only does it seem impossible, I know that when you declare this in many places I praise God. Not in this church tonight, but in many places where I say these sorts of things. People say you've got to be wrong. That can't happen. They reason from what is possible to what God could have said in His Word. I know that we're not going to see the nations become followers of Jesus Christ. I know we're not going to have a Christian civilization. I know this world's going to hell in a hand basket and there's nothing we can do about it. So I know you're wrong. And so I suppose what I should do in closing, and this is the point of my message tonight, is just to show you that it's not impossible. Now, am I going to prove that? Look at Matthew 28 again. I'm going to show you two ways in which you can be sure that this grand and glorious and all encompassing program is not impossible. That it's going to happen. First of all, we read Jesus came to them and spake unto them, saying, all authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth. Therefore, make disciples of the nations. Therefore, it's a good rule of biblical interpretation, whenever you see the word therefore, you should stop and ask, what's it there for? Why do you think that Matthew bothered with this connective? Why does he put the word there for there? Well, because I think when we look at the mission Jesus gives, we're going to be inclined to say there's no way we can do that. This world just isn't going to submit in that way. But you see, the mission of the church is predicated upon what Jesus being the sovereign, resurrected son of God who has all power in heaven and on earth. The Word in Greek, exousia, cannot be given an adequate English translation. It carries the sense of power, power as well as the sense of right and authority. Both are there. Jesus says, I have dominion over all the earth. I have the Power to control and I have the right to direct. I have all power and authority in heaven and on earth. And since I've got all power and authority, then you can do this and I'm telling you to get it done. The second thing you need to see is not just the indestructible universal power of Jesus, but also the promise of his presence. After he gets done giving the commission, he says, lo, pay attention to this. Listen up. Behold, lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. I'll tell you why this is not God's impossible mission. It's because Jesus has all power and authority in heaven, on earth, and he's with us and he's not going away. He's not going to abdicate this. He is going to empower, direct us and give us the victory. The presence of Christ and his power in the church will make it possible for this mission to be accomplished. Turn your bibles to Acts 18:10. Acts 18:10. Here, God wants to give encouragement to the Apostle Paul. If anyone had the occasion and the right to be discouraged, it would certainly be the Apostle Paul and all that he went through in suffering for the Christian faith and for his attempt to be a faithful servant of Christ. Verse 9 says, the Lord said unto Paul in the night by a vision, don't be afraid, but speak, don't hold your peace. Why? For I am with you. And no man shall set on thee to harm thee. For I have much people in this city. I can almost imagine Paul being so discouraged. He looks out there, he counts the numbers. He does his church growth, demographics. And he says, forget this place. We're moving on. But the Lord says, paul, because I'm with you, I don't want you to be quiet. I have many people in this city. You don't know that, but I do. I think of the story, the Old Testament, of how the king of Syria wanted to take Elisha. He was very angry with Elisha the Prophet. He sent his soldiers to surround the city where Elisha was. And that morning, Elisha's servant got up to draw water. And he goes out and he sees all of the Syrians surrounding the city. Runs back to his master Elisha, and he says, we're doomed. We've had it. We're surrounded. There's no way out. And Elisha says, no, those who are with us are more than those who are with them. I love that story. The servant must have said, elisha's finally lost it. What's wrong with this guy? I can count. There's him and me, and that's about it. And there's all these soldiers, enough to surround the city. What are you talking about? Elisha. And Elisha prays that God will open his eyes. And when he does, he sees what? That the city is surrounded by chariots of fire. God has sent his angelic host to escort Elisha out safely. Paul is told, don't you stop speaking, Paul, because I'm with you. And you may not be able to see it, but there are many people in the city that belong to me. The presence of Christ in His church assures us that this mission can be accomplished because he has all power and authority on heaven and earth to do it through us. The Holy Spirit is present in the church as well. Jesus had taught that he would not leave us orphans, that he would send His Spirit to us, and taught that we would do even greater things than he did because of that. Ezekiel, the 18th chapter, and first Timothy, the second chapter, tell us it is the Father's delight to see sinners converted. The Father loves to see that happen. The Spirit is with us that we might do even greater things than Jesus. And Jesus says, I have all authority and power in heaven and earth to do it. I'll be with you. In Romans 1:16, the apostle Paul calls the gospel the power of God unto salvation. I love that he doesn't just say, it's the message of God unto salvation. He says, it's the power of God unto salvation. First Corinthians, chapter 1. The apostle Paul says that the world looks upon our gospel as foolishness, but it is in fact the power of God unto salvation to those who believe. And we mustn't forget the power of prayer as well. Jesus taught us, and I don't think we take very seriously, that if we have faith the size of a mustard seed, that we can say to that mountain be cast into the sea. And it will be. When people tell me that this commission that Jesus has given is impossible, what they are telling me is that they are prayerless people. And what I confessed to you earlier about being discouraged some days I'm confessing that there are days that I'm not really dependent upon the power of prayer. In the end, there is tremendous power in going to the throne of God, throwing ourselves before him in worship and adoration, and beseeching him to do these things. In Psalm 2, we are told that Jehovah has set his anointed king upon his holy hill of Zion and then says, ask of me, and I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance in the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Ask of me, and I will give it. The Messiah simply needs to pray that the ancient of days will grant him this kind of worldwide, universal dominion. And he will grant it unto him. I'm going to ask you, friends, do you think, even though you are prayerless sometimes, and you are faithless sometimes, do you think Jesus has forgotten to pray that prayer? God says, ask me, and I'll give it to you. And I dare say the Lord Jesus Christ has asked for it. Hebrews 10 says, he has sat down at the right hand of God thereafter, expecting all his enemies to be made the footstool of his feet. Of course he's praying for it. He expects that's going to be the course of human history, that his enemies will be brought under his feet. We need so much to become like the church of Thyatira, the church of Philadelphia, as we read of them In Revelation chapters 2 and 3. To the church of Thyatira. In Revelation 2, the Lord Jesus declares, and he that overcomes, and he that keeps my works unto the end, to him will I give authority over the nations. And he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken in shivers, as I also have received of my Father. That is one of the most remarkable passages in the entire Bible. The reference is to the second Psalm and something that Jehovah will do for his Messianic Son. He will give him authority over the nations to rule them with a rod of iron. And. And Jesus says, if you're faithful to me and you overcome that's will I will grant to you, even as I have been given this of my Father, so you will share in that rule with me. In Revelation, chapter 3, Jesus promises to the church at Philadelphia. These things, saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that has the key of David, he that opens and none shall shut, and that shall shuts, and none open. I know thy works. Behold, I have set before thee a door opened which none can shut, that thou hast a little power. And didst keep my word, and didst not deny my name. It may appear to you and to the world that you have very little power. You may not be great in worldly accounting, but Jesus says, I have opened a door for you, and. And nobody's going to shut it. The only real question is whether we're going to go through that door now, as God's people, and obey this great commission that he's given us in view of the contours and parameters and requirements of that commission. And in view of the resources that have been given to us, the Father's delight and the Spirit's presence and Jesus universal authority and power and the power of the gospel and the power of prayer and an open door that no man can shut. In view of these sources, I dare say there is no reason why the Church should not expect success in granting God. Granting its success in the missionary enterprise, there's no reason why the Church ought not to expect that this mission is entirely possible. All we need to do is trust and obey, and when we pray for this, God's going to grant it. Let's begin now. Lord, we do pray to you that you would grant the promises of your gospel, that we might see more evident display of your kingdom growing in this world, and that you would make us more faithful servants of that kingdom. We pray that you would not allow us to pare back on the parameters of the program you've given us because we think it just isn't possible. We pray that you would not allow us to attune our thinking to worldly expectations. We pray that you would not allow us to be discouraged by the horrible things and the apparently discouraging news that we hear about in the world so often. We pray rather that you would set our eyes upon Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the Call Cross. Lord, we know that we live now in a period, in an age of joy because Jesus did endure that cross. And you vindicated him by raising him from the dead. And he is now ascended and enthroned at your right hand. And there he will know the joy of seeing every enemy subdued under his feet. We want to thank you again from the bottom of our hearts that you have subdued us because. Because we were your enemies. We know we were enemies. In our mind we were rebellious against you. We had hearts that were made out of stone. And yet you had the power and the grace to save us, to give us new hearts and to enlighten our eyes and to set our feet in the right path, to turn us around from our waywardness and unbelief and to make us kingdoms of your kingdom, subjects and your family, that we would belong to you. And Lord, we confess that if you had the power to do that with us as individuals, you certainly have the power to do that with anybody else that you wish to do it with. And so we do beseech you, even as the Lord Jesus Christ prays to you that you would make the kingdoms of this world the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ. We do beseech you that you would make us faithful to the commission that he has given, that we would grow individually in our faith. For we know that you expect that of us, that we would not bury our talents, that we would take every opportunity that you have given us, every gift, every resource and power that we exercise in this world. And we would use it for the sake of maturing in our faith and glorifying you in seeing your kingdom grow. We do pray for your church on earth that you would make it more faithful to your word, that it would evermore proclaim the sweetness of your grace and your mercy as it's found in the good news about Jesus Christ our King. We do pray that you would teach your church to be more disciplined, to be more faithful, to follow out the task of nurturing disciples in everything that Jesus has has taught. We pray that you would give us a greater vision of what it means to be a Christian. That we would develop a true world and life view where Jesus is honored in every place and you'd word and your law governs us in all that we do and say. We do pray that you would make us more prayerful and you take away those days of discouragement and despair. That you'd help us to keep our eyes on Jesus so that we might remember. Though we do not see everything yet subdued to him, we do see him unto whom all things shall be subdued. And in that glorious vision, we ask that you would send us into this world to keep the great commission that you have given us for the sake of the honor of your name. For it's in that blessed name we pray. Amen.