J.D. Greear - Unless We Are Sent - Romans 10:14-17

hey romans 10 if you guys got your Bibles and I hope that you do if you got them if you'll get them out and open them off or turn them on I guess how many of you just out of curiosity you got an actual paper Bible that has words in RK you got it all right how many of you are the new you got the you know you're on your phone or you're on your iPad or something like that that's actually a pretty good percentage the church that I pastor I feel like it's exactly in verse probably 90% of people to come and have a Bible have it on my pastor growing up used to say the sweetest sound he ever got to hear was the sound of the ruffling of the pages as people open their Bibles I never get to hear that I get to see the warm glow of God's Word on people's faces and I'll I'll take it but it's just not the same it's not the same Romans chapter tonight I want to repeat what what Ryan said I do love this school I have the privilege of being not once but twice a graduate here one of our greatest privileges now being in the community is to be a part of what is happening here and to be able to partner with those of you that God leads to our church or just the seminary in general you know just finish this read this book by Rodney stark his he's a historian church historian from Baylor and he said that the number one indicator the number one indicator the best correlated indicator of what a denominations future is is the number and the quality of the pastors and missionaries that are coming that are being produced by it and South Eastern is one of the leading institutions in doing that we are so grateful I'm grateful for my own legacy here you know when people ask me like what is what is it about South Eastern I mean all the southern baptist seminaries are faithful by God's grace but you know there's a few things at Southeastern that just really stand out one is this is a great Commission seminary that's more than just a slogan to them it was here that I learned how literally every single text of the Bible is pointing you into the Great Commission and that's something that if you've not been around you may not you may not appreciate you may take it for granted but this is a place that understands that the mission of God is is is why we exist now the other is just I don't know if these are the right words but I would just call it a humble orthodoxy here you're gonna find the faith that has been handed down once for all to the Saints given faithfully but it's like one of my mentors said here you can believe the doctrines of Christ but you can hold them with the spirit or the attitude of satan and that is not what happens here I was taught to just be a generous and and humble in the disposition and so I feel like in many ways the ministry that God has allowed me to be a part of now is just the fruition of things that were planted and cultivated in me here and so we take this role that we have with you all very very seriously in fact if I didn't Elmo's gonna do this but my Kahuna's down here he is a guy who directs administrate our church that just whether it's interns or apprentices and and helps us be able to play that role in them I know that he's here that lunch you heard about afterwards is one that he is is hosting Mike many years ago when I was a word of Life Bible Institute was a mentor ministry mentor in my life so it's our great joy to have him and his team and a number of our pastors that will be at that lunch and so we just love to meet a bunch of you and talk with you about what God is doing in your life and and your future so anyway I'm not sure if you realize this if you probably don't but it can be quite intimidating to preach at a seminary because you knew that everybody that you're talking to is a serious Bible student they are scholarly they many of them have out their Greek New Testaments and they're just waiting for an exegetical fallacy that they can swim the rest of the day talking about and so it is a little intimidating no matter how much you preached or how big your church is or I'm just telling you I was confiding all this to my wife earlier this morning I think she was trying to encourage me but she said you know she listened just whatever you do don't try to be intellectual or scholarly or witty or funny just just be yourself and I was not even sure how I'm supposed to take that so this is what this is what you get right here all right Romans chapter 10 I want to spend hope you found in your Bible by now if not you probably should go to remedial seminary I want to spend a few minutes discussing the heart of Christian mission by the way for those who never at our church this past weekend I apologize because we went that was similar we went through the exact same text I'll do a few different things with it but Scott hildreth the director of Great Commission studies here and who was the chairman of her elder board at the summit church told me I had to preach this on Sundays and you have to preach this on Thursday and being a man under Authority I am submitting to my chairman of my elder so here we go Romans 10 14 through 17 I want to spend a few minutes discussing the heart of Christian mission these four verses are the culmination of a 10 chapter case that the Apostle Paul has been laying out for the gospel for 10 chapters in Romans Paul has built a case premise by premise so solid that Harvard Law School used to use it as a case study for how to build a case premise by premise for why the gospel is the only hope for mankind now in chapter 10 Paul arrives at the inevitable implication that this has for the life of every serious follower of Jesus here's what he says verse 14 how then can they call on him they have not believed in and how can they believe without hearing about him and how can they hear without a preacher and how can they preach unless they are sent as it is written how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news so faith you see verse 17 comes by hearing and hearing through the word of Christ because there is only one way of salvation Paul reasons and that is faith in the finished work of Christ and because we the church are the ones who are entrusted with that Gospel message we owe it to those who have not heard he says to do whatever it takes to get the gospel to them that makes sense right right I mean if there's only one way to be saved and we're the only ones who know about it how could we be doing anything less if one of us had the cure for cancer we had discovered it and and and did not do everything we could to make the general population know about that what kind of person would we be but that brings up one of people outside of the church's primary problems with Christianity they say to Christians really believe that they have the only way of salvation I mean what about people who did not grow up familiar with Christianity and what about those who've never even heard of Jesus I've heard this objection raised in gospel conversations maybe the the primary one that I get whether whether those conversations are taking place on airplanes or on college campuses in my office even once in a Waffle House I had stopped one day at the Waffle House not far from here at a feast upon what I would now refer to I refer to affectionately as the cuisine of the Gods I just ordered my my hashbrowns scattered smothered covered chunked top diced and peppered with light dusting of jalapenos just the way that God intended when I'm about to dig in and I overhear this conversation that was taking place about two booths away from me between a guy and the waitress I caught on pretty quickly that they were having a discussion about God and so my ears naturally perked up and listen to them go back and forth for a while and then I hear the guy in the booth say to the waitress he said you know I just decided at this age at this point in my life that the most important question you can answer is who is God and whether you are right with him now thought well that sounds pretty good he said he continued he said but the problem is that there's all these different opinions out there about God and how are you supposed to know which one is right well I'm sitting there with my mouth full of hash browns speaking how you people are so in luck what a divine coincidence I have my master of divinity that makes me a certified expert on God right I'm a master divinity what a dumb name for a seminary degree by the way I've mastered the divine actually I actually put my hand up I put my hand out to booze away to try to get their attention and was starting to speak when the waitress jumps in and says yeah you're right that is an important question but you know who I hate I hate those born-again types whenever they come in here and you start talking about God they just take over the conversation telling you why they're right and you're wrong they don't care about you all they do is care about showing you that they're right and shoving what they believe down your throat then she looks over and sees my hand and she says honey can I help you and I said I need some more tea my glass is totally empty here can you fill that back up now the conversation actually turned out great I was able to really kind of explain to her that even though Christians and myself act like that a lot that Jesus wasn't like that that he really cared about people so much so that he was willing to tell them the truth but I shared that because that's how many people see Christians gallivanting about forcing our religious preferences and our perspectives on everybody else people say well what about those who haven't heard how is it fair for God to condemn somebody for what they haven't heard I mean surely God will allow people to come in other ways maybe they did the best with the religion that they had made not what some of the early church fathers even said and what their anonymous Christians is how I've heard it referred to they obey the Christ elements in their worldview and because of that God honors that right so what about that we'll remember that what Paul is saying in chapter 10 is built on 10 chapters of gospel logic so what I want to do is I want to review the logic as briefly as I can to get you into the weight of what he is saying in verse 14 because it's only on on it's only on the foundation of these ten chapters that you can really feel the the weight of what he's saying let me give it to you in a few premise ease premise 1 premise 1 all people Paul maintains have heard about God and rejected him all people not just people who've sat in churches verse 18 chapter 1 for God's wrath Paul explains is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people theologians tell you they're the two key words there to understand what Paul is going after is godlessness and unrighteousness godlessness refers to a corruption in our vertical relationship rather than being humble and believing and submissive we are proud and unbelieving and rebellious unrighteousness focuses on the horizontal corruption rather than being loving and truthful with each other we are selfish and manipulative and Paul says it is by this unrighteousness and by this godlessness this disposition of our heart that we suppress the truth now suppression you know is not the same thing as ignorance ignorance means you don't know about it suppression means the truth is in there but you kept yourself from acknowledging it it's like a beach ball trying to hold a beach ball under water it's always trying to pop to the surface and you're trying to hold it down Paul explains verse 19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them because God has shown it to them to places that Paul indicates God has revealed himself to every person the first is in them in their hearts who for example are longing for eternality through our our quest to find meaning and significance through through through the sense that we have that we are obligated to a moral lawgiver that we're going to give an account suit things that people in all places at all times have in common this yearning for something that just tells us we're not bag of chemicals that are the result of an accident but in them second places to them to them means from the creation from looking around there are are things that scream design and that show us that a being of unspeakable power has created all that there is Paul says that since the creation of the world his invisible attributes are clearly seen by everybody clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even his eternal power and Godhead so that they who is they base everybody so that all people are without excuse we may not ever have heard God's name Paul says but our hearts instinctively know that he is there well the best little stories I ever read on this just real quick um it comes from Annie Sullivan's biography who was the teacher of Helen Keller Helen Keller late 19th century born accident when she was a child she can't hear she can't see she lives essentially all her life in a dark quiet room because she has no contact with the outside world Annie Sullivan was the one who first taught her to communicate ran water overhand you probably heard the story spelled out water got her you know the concept of communication well Annie Sullivan was a very committed Christian and so she brought over a guy named Philip Brooks who was the local pastor to come in and teach Helen Keller about God Helen was about seventeen at this point and so the guy starts to explain her about God and Annie Sullivan's trying to communicate well after he explains to her about God Helen Keller gets very excited and says Oh with out what you call him I've always known he was there I just didn't know what his name was all people in all places have this sense that there is a God and they know what our hearts are so corrupt however Paul says that rather than submit ourselves to that knowledge and seek God we do one of three things we rebel against it we just disobey what we know in the second option is you distort it this is the fountain of all false religion you distort God into an image that you can manage and manipulate or you you you deny the truth about God altogether that would be atheism or agnosticism he said what about atheist I know an atheist genuinely believes there is no God Paul would say well yeah they may have intellectually convinced themselves there is no God but their hearts still know the truth and fact the reason their minds convinced them that there was no God is because that's what their hearts wanted to be true and their heart determined how they they classify the evidence Paul concludes all this in chapter 3 verse 10 as it is written there is none righteous not even one nobody anywhere ever there is no one who understands there is no one who seeks God all have turned away all alike have become worthless there is no one who does what is good and in case you don't know what the definition of no one is he that goes head and defines it for you not even one in other words the innocent native on a deserted island somewhere pure in heart and spirit friends that person just does not exist all have turned away all have become spiritually worthless there is none who does good none who has ever sought God not even one that's premise number one all people have heard and rejected God premise number two therefore Paul says God is rightfully condemned all Paul reasons that suppression of faith deserves the wrath of God right I mean if our hearts truly are so wicked that we suppress the knowledge of an all-powerful ruling God within surely that deserves God's wrath right I mean if you put your fist in God's face and you say no God I don't think you should be on the throne I think I should be on the throne that deserves the wrath of God Paul says that's exactly what the human race has said in unison to God you and I may never have uttered those exact words but how we live says that to God I want to live is to find the rule maker I want to live as if it's about my glory in my needs and not the creator's glory that means pay attention to this we're all guilty not because of what we have not heard we're guilty but because of what we have heard and rejected that is a crucial thing to understand about the gospel right God does not condemn people for not hearing about Jesus God does not condemn people for not being Christians God condemns them for suppressing distorting and rejecting the knowledge of God that they had which Paul says everybody's done all have turned away all have become spiritually worthless not a single one that's ever done good no one who saw God not even one premise number three God has made a way of salvation for all into this darkness and death Paul is going to explain it for several chapters God came he redeemed us Paul says chapter three from the curse of the law by living the life we were supposed to live dying to death we were condemned to die on the cross this was an act of unspeakable grace which means completely undeserved favor he now offers it freely to all who will receive it as a gift a gift that cost him but a gift that cost the recipient nothing premise number four now brings us back to Romans chapter 10 the premise says people have to hear the message to benefit from it Paul reasons verse 14 how can they call on the one they have not even believed and how can they believe in him and whom they have not heard in order to receive this gift Paul reason they have to hear about it I'm just like Martin Luther used to say it wouldn't matter if Jesus died a thousand times if nobody ever heard about it or Karloff h-henry that theologian he used to say he said the gospel means good news but technically it's only good news if it gets to somebody in time there's only good news if it gets to somebody in time you say well wait a minute what if somebody never heard about Jesus but they they respond to what they see of God in creation or in their conscience maybe the good and true parts of their religion and they're like god we're a great spirit in the sky or olaw or whatever whatever name we call you I don't know everything there is to know about you but I want to know you and serenity you hadn't that enough we can't remember Paul's conclusion none of us apart from the grace of God has ever responded that way and look at verse 17 see where verse 17 Paul says the only way for faith to grow up in the heart is to what hearing and here he comes from what the preached word of Christ as only through the preach word of Christ that faith without which is impossible to please God that's the only way it grows up in somebody's heart you see the preached Word of God has a strange life-giving power to it the Word of God tells you not only what you are to do the Word of God also gives you the power to do it we compare it to like for example the words of Jesus when he would speak to a lame man and he would say to a lame man rise take up your bed and walk that's a command but in the words of that command the power to obey the command you and I could tell a lay man all day long to get up and and and and he may understand the command but he can't obey it Jesus's words not only tell us what to do they give us the power to do it that's what gospel preaching is like Paul is saying it has the power in it to give the faith that requires D now is he often used with our churches imagine that you know come up behind a imagine one of you was standing on a top of a 30-story building and you are clinically insane okay and you think you're spider-man and you're like up there and you're about to jump cuz you just say you saw it in a movie and I'm like come up behind you and I'm like don't jump you will die you were not spider-man now I'll give you a free choice every single time because you think you're spider-man what are you gonna choose to do you're gonna do it right you're gonna jump because you think you're spider-man now let's just say that I came up behind you and I had a I know this is not how it works but I have like a little vial a needle and and it is sanity serum where I could you know give you your sanity back and so right before giving you that command I poke you with that needle and I put the sanity serum in and all of a sudden you become your self again and your right mind I offer you the same choice hey if you jump you can die if you come back down with me you can come to safety now what are you going to choose every single time it's not the invitation was different it's not that I was more persuasive it's just that your sanity had been restored what Paul is saying is the faith in order to please God the faith to grasp the offer of God is in the preached Word of God without the preached Word of God there can be no faith he said well what if somebody responds positively to what they see of God in nature I'm just I'm not ready to let that go what if they're like God I really want to know you interestingly in the book of Acts we actually have a story just like that Acts chapter 10 you stay there in Romans telling me walk you through this really quickly there was a certain man named Cornelius there's a Gentile he was a Centurion of the Italian regiment he was a devout man and one who feared God with all of his household who gave alms generously to the people he prayed to God always about the ninth hour about 3:00 in the afternoon he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him Cornelius and he observed him he was afraid and he said what is it Lord and he said to him your prayers and your arms have come up from memorial before God now sin for Peter he will tell you what to do mean Peters on the other side of the city of Joppa having his own dreams where bunch of unclean animals come down to blanket called his pigs in the blanket dream and he's confused about what it means and the angel says go find Cornelius and the two meet each other which is probably an awkward moment because Cornelius is like I think you got a message for me and Peter's like I saw pigs fall out of the sky and they stand and look at each other for a minute and then Peter starts explaining the gospel here's what's important okay at the end of his sermon at the end of his sermon Peter concludes a sermon to Cornelius by saying watch this to Jesus all the prophets give witness that everyone who believes in Him will receive receives forgiveness of sins through his name not hey Cornelius God has noticed that you're a really good guy and he's already accepted you because of how you responded to the good parts of what you know I'm here to announce to you that you are on an anonymous Christian and we're going to give you the official label you're already saved no he says what they always say you have to believe in Jesus and then you will receive the forgiveness of sins through his name what we take away from that friends is that it is necessary to hear the message of the gospel and believe it in order to get forgiveness but if there is somebody out there that God has enabled to respond in the right way to what they know well I think X indicates to you that God will raise up one of his people to get the rest of the message to him which leads me to premise number 5 Paul says we the church are the only ones who can preach that message how can they hear without a preacher and how can they preach unless they're sent here's something you should study through the book of Acts the gospel is only ever preached in the New Testament through a human instrument you won't find any other way search acts from start to finish it's always through a human mouth or a human writing even the angel that God sent to Cornelius didn't explain the gospel it wouldn't have been more efficient for the angel to be like hey let's not go get Peter let's just let me tell you about it right now here's the four spiritual laws pray the prayer you know hold up your I'm going thing we're done with it right it would have been a lot easier but even it's a I probably get in trouble for saying this but it's almost like it's against the rules it's like it's against the rules for the angel to share it's got to be a human instrument that does the gospel can only be proclaimed through a human instrument to see that leads me into this do you ever think that maybe the reason God is stirring in some of you here but the reason is because he is stirring in someone like Cornelius there I say that because when I left here at seminary and I went overseas I realized that God sent me into the homes and the lives of a few Cornelius as one in particular I made sure this story here before but the last conversation I had when it before I left Southeast Asia was with a guy who had been one of my best friends they I would say hid my best friend when I got to Southeast Asia South Eastern did a great job preparing me in the 2+2 program except when it came to language they dropped me off in Southeast Asia a hundred miles from the nearest English speaker I could say hi my name is JD where's your bathroom my house is on fire that was the extent of the knowledge that they gave me so this guy came out he was a best friend he just showed me the ropes you know I shared the gospel with him dozens maybe a hundred times um he was an Islamic youth pastor he volunteered with at-risk youth he was one of these one of the most humble generous gracious guys who genuinely loved people and I just shared the gospel with him and every time he would say oh JD my my brother you put his hand on my shoulder because I really touchy over there he's like JD my brother you are a great man of faith and I know you make your mom and dad so proud he said but but but the way that I see got us to Islam that's how I was born and and you seek Him as a Christian and that's just how it will be every single time that's what he said every time the week before I went home I drove a he at this point he'd lived about an hour away from me and I drove out to see him and I thought was the last time I'd ever see him y'all I fled with him I walked him through scripture after scripture and just said it smile I want you to be in heaven with me so badly I can't stand it but this book says he's the only way and you've got to come it's the only way and I just saw him pleading with you it's not just me it's it's that and he sat there for about an hour and listened and he I can sit he was a little uncomfortable but at the end of my presentation he kind of gathered himself again and he looked at me and he put his hand on my shoulder said oh you're a great man of faith and you your parents a problem and then I left and I thought that was the last I'd ever see him the day that I was coming home to the United States he showed up again on my front porch I was like Ishmael you guess I put on your he said yeah we need to talk so we go back to this whole back room and he said so after I left after you left the other day he said I just kind of tried to forget about it like I always do he said but your words were like a cup of Dom which in their language meant a weight it was like there's weight to just kept pulling me down he said I couldn't quit thinking about he said so that night when I went to sleep he said I had this really big he was this he called me pee which means like a dream or vision I just me pee he said it was I came out of mine not my front door and the porch all said me between my feet this this road went from earth to heaven it was the Jalan Lulu switch in their language means the straight and narrow way to have it but jalander loose and then his ass got really big and he said and you were on it though I was he was so surprised I was a little offended I was like yeah I've been trying to tell you that for two years and he said he said you were on it he said you get all the way up to heaven's gates and there was his huge brass doors and I thought oh that's where his journey ends he'll never go in there he said then all of a sudden somebody behind those gates they called your name they knew who you were he said the doors open and you went inside and the doors closed behind you and he said my heart broke because I wanted to go with you so badly he said then the doors open again and you came back out and you walked all the way down the jolanda loops he said I watched you you walked all the way down here and you reached out your hand for me and I wouldn't take your hand because I was afraid he said you reached out and you grabbed my arm and you pulled me onto your back and you carried me up into heaven with you now I am NOT a guy kid you not his next words were at first I think this was dream that come from eating strange fish he said that I've had many of these kinds of dreams that was this was dream from God and he said can you tell me what my dream means no y'all I went to southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary we did not have a class on dreams and the interpretation thereof when I was here but I'm happy to tell you that in that moment I knew exactly what to say I was like bro you were so in love dream interpretation is my spiritual gift I don't need a class on it and I sat there for the next y'all hour and I've walked into the gospel again and I would love to tell you that he became a believer but he did not and to my knowledge he has not I do know all of his family died in the tsunami that came through Southeast Asia in 2004 cuz he wrote me after that and went back looking for him and wasn't able to find him maybe about God's grace before he dies or I do I'll have a chance to see him come to faith in Christ but I share it because of what he said next he said I know that my dream at least means that you were sent here by God to show me the way of salvation he said veggetti you were going home this afternoon you were the only Christian that I've ever known do you understand that the reason that God does a great work in places like this is because he's also working or in Cornelius's over there and whenever God stirs in the corniest he stirs in a Peter and maybe the very reason that God has you here and maybe the reason you're having this enlarged vision and maybe the reason that you came to a great commissioned seminary is because God is right now at work in places like Southeast Asia and the Sudan and India and he is stirring Cornelius's who are responding like Cornelius did but they cannot gain forgiveness until a believer comes and finishes the message which leads me to premise number 6 the task is urgent y'all if all this is true if what Romans teaches us about the gospel is true what does that mean for your life at most at most a third of the people on earth claim to be Christians that means there are at least four and a half billion people on the planet who confess to not being a Christian the Joshua Project emissions research company estimates that about half of those they call them unengaged and unreached which means that as it stands right now about two and a half billion little less in doing that billion have no substantial chance to hear the gospel before they die they say that if you line these guys up file on these people up five across in a line they would circle the globe five times I want you to get your mind around for just a minute you who sits under gospel privileges every single weekend who could turn on the TV and the radio pick up a book at Walmart or in the airport who can subscribe to any number of podcasts I want you to get your mind around that kind of line circling the globe five times by the way don't turn that number into just a statistic 2.2 million people Joseph Stalin who I typically don't quote during sermons but Joseph Stalin said the death of one is a tragedy the death of a million is just a statistic because when you look into the face of one you realize that every single one of those people if somebody made in the image of God like you are they're not different they streets the range of emotions that you experience they know what it's like to be afraid they know what it's like to be lonely they love their children like you loved yours they are loved by their parents like you are loved by yours going to hell for them is every bit the tragedy that it would be for one of you we're leading the generation right now if a lot of college students come to our church and always tell them one of the greatest things about their generation is they care about suffering and oppression all of them are like yes we got to go you know dig wells in Africa and we got to help education reform and women's rights and Sudan and that's awesome I love that about this generation it's like Piper says you know that if you believe the gospel the greatest of all suffering is eternal suffering and you're not gonna hear about that in your college now here South Eastern but you're not here by the UNC Chapel Hill you're not gonna be they're not gonna do a CNN special on you for doing that but if you believe the gospel Paul says how could you not how could you not understand this or how could you understand this and give your life to seeing it change so to the church Paul says how will they call on him and whom they have not heard how coming here unless they're sent that's an echo by the way of what he said in Chapter 1 I am under obligation both the Greeks and the barbarians both of the wise and the ignorant you know the word that he uses there literally means debtor dead like you owe somebody money well the Greeks in the barbarians Paul never met them how does he feel like he's in debt to them well it's two ways you me and effort to somebody right you me and debt cuz you borrow money from them Ryan you owe them you can also be in debt because somebody gave you money for them right I mean it's if you were CEO of feed the children and somebody gives you a million dollars and you go put it in a bank account and do some upgrades in your house and pay off your school debt and get some new clothes what would people say about you they would say you're stealing that's not your money you owe it to those for whom it was given that's what Paul thinks about the Gospel message I was no more worthy than anybody else around the world no more of a God bless me with it and with the privilege of hearing the gospel comes the responsibility of spreading the gospel and to not do that Paul says is stealing believing the gospel comes with an obligation to the gospel that's Paul's conclusion with it so you said I'm talking about being called to it he said what are we talking about call we know what we're called to by the way it was this reality that God used when he called me I was at a school planning on going into law nothing wrong with that God leads some people to that but I was studying the book of Romans and suddenly all the logic of it made sense to me God had a right to condemn but he made a way and he revealed it to me not because I was more worthy or not because I was less simple but just in His grace and what's not fair was for me to get that and do nothing with it by the way in that moment it was a defining moment in my life I knew I had three options with this new kind of Romans logic number one I could deny it this was where that liberalism personally knocked it with my heart's door hey why don't you change a few of these things and make it more comfortable and you know I'm telling you that that door you're gonna encounter it in seminary it is so appealing and it just beckons you like hey it's easier to believe this but I knew that once you start down that road there's literally nowhere that you're ever gonna get off once you set yourself as the judge of the Bible then at that point God's not God your God Bible is not a salad bar when you take the parts you want you leave the parts you want and once you get on that path Rob Bell Jen Hatmaker there's no telling where you gonna end up I knew I could deny head but I didn't seem like an option out I knew I could ignore it which just seems like what most of the church in the West was doing missus pretend like it's not true let's sing songs and let's not really really let's not come face to face with what our gospel means or the third option was I could embrace it not good to say God here am I send me you know suddenly everything in my life looked different I've often compared it's like you're walking in downtown Raleigh and you're walking about some railroad tracks and you see a nine-year-old child is on the railroad tracks and he's hurt and as a train coming and he can't get up there's not a one of you in here that would be like you know we stop and pray about what God it's calling me to Lord just pray that you show me what your will is I'll put a piece in my heart of it you know we know what the will of God is pick the child up the Lord is not willing that any should perish but all should come to repentance and the only way they're gonna come to repentance is if they hear and they can't hear without us stop talking about finding the will of God it's not lost if you're called to lead a church if you're called to go into ministry this has to be part of what you're doing so let me conclude this really fast with just five practical steps for you before I get before I'll cut one out for time number one we need to pray that members and our churches will say yes to God we need to actively pray it starts with prayer that's what Jesus said pray the lord of the harvest send forth laborers into the harvest and our church were recognizing that these come in three varieties listen to this number one there are those who are called to leverage their careers for the glory of God and do it overseas I just got back from Southeast Asia where we got a whole team of people who are connected to the eye and B but the eye and B doesn't pay for one of them because they're there on jobs so-called secular jobs we just put the vision out they found the place they formed a team they are thriving there are a community where people have literally heard never heard about Jesus and I am over there visiting with people that they're leaving to faith in Christ it is amazing some will be called a leverage some will be called to leave I realized when I was over there that there's some people that could have very prosperous careers that God is not saying leverage your career he's telling you to leave it and go overseas we have to put that out there and then the third one which I think is especially true for you is lead I realized when I was over there again the strategic importance of what we call International Baptist churches we're putting this vision out there for our people to say hey some of you places like London and Kuala Lumpur Mumbai where you'll have a church actually in English but it will be a hub for a lot of other missionaries you're going to come and live and and begin to do work in some of those cities in fact some of you I would bet there's somebody in here that God's gonna put that on your heart he's gonna take you to one of these cities you thought you were gonna pastor and Birmingham but he said he's gonna take you to mumbai or kuala lumpur because this is a part of what's happening the number to lead churches to take sending seriously I know God hadn't called everybody to go but here's what I also know it's interesting when Paul says he doesn't say how will they hear unless I go how are they here unless were sent he recognises ascending is a whole church process here's what I understand is true about the summit church there ought to be to those of us who sinned ought to be every bit as committed to the task as those who go it's like John Piper says you got three choices go sinned or disobey and if you're gonna sinned it's not like the task is less for you William Carey told the English badness right before he left to go to India I'll dangle on the end of that road for you but you've got a promise to hold securely to the other side what's that mean it means giving radically every year we give away about one out of every five dollars that comes into the summit Church goes for Cindy we send out our best members we just sent out our 1200 member to leave our church and go live on one of these things overseas it means making it easy for our people to go short-term I borrow a line from David Clyde here and we challenge our people to tie their year want to give one just give one week a year that you can experience what God is doing around the world let me say it again those of us who helped sin should be every bit as committed of the work as those who go number three you got to be sent right now to the people in your life I don't know everything about what God's called you to but what I do know is but he has you in the jobs he has you in the places he has you for a reason and that's just how he does he sends people and you got to be faithful to that it is everyone's law here from God named George who lived across from me in college for two just two weeks he got kicked out of his apartment cuz he got in a fight mister dude was a mess they put him in across the hall from me for two weeks he and I stayed up late every night talking about the gospel he'd really never heard any of this he comes in my room one morning 3 a.m. 2nd Thursday he was there he wakes me up it's like JD you awake I'm like I am now he said he said I need to talk to you so we go in his room he's like I just I just I'm just so confused and I'm walking around I was walking around downtown and I was just like God what do you want from me and I turned a corner and there was a sign and a storefront said believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved he said I think God was trying to speak to me I said I do too any second he said he got down he prayed to receive Christ I thought that was the end of the story but he contact me about 4 years later said I think God's telling me to go into ministry I was like you sure about that because I remember you and easie yeah well I say he every 2 or 3 years he reaches back out to me to give me an update last I heard from him he was he's a Christian counselor now kind of help people that are every bit as screwed up he says is when he was in college and he's doing a great job two weeks it's all I got God has put people in your life and he needs you to be sent to them and he can't fail at your posts last one number 4 number 4 consider crossing a boundary this is big for you all listen well it's not a Long Point but it's an important one Paul knew that if this work was going to get done a bunch of us are going to have to intentionally cross Geographic and cultural boundaries I get it okay it's easier for any of us to minister in our home context it's easier for me to preach sermons in my home context it's easier to share Christ with coworkers and roommates and suite mates and people who share my own political disposition Paul says a bunch of us got to be willing to cross boundaries to other neighborhoods other parts of the city places around the world where they don't even speak our language Paul said that's what I got to do yes I'm much more effective in local Judean cities but I've got a goats turkey and I got to get to Africa and I got to get to all these places because they can't hear unless unless I go unless I'm said listen brothers and sisters the only reason that you and I are here is because some past generation of Christians did this faithfully for us I would bet not many of you here of Jewish origin the gospel didn't start in America they didn't start in the European bloc it didn't start in Africa didn't start in Hispanic culture it started with a group of people who said I'm gonna carry to the Gentile world and I'm gonna take it to Europe then we're gonna take it to Africa they were going to take it to the new world and it usually was at the cost of their blood and they will all much rather have stayed and just ministered to people locally you need to consider crossing a boundary and realize that God is going to put out on people's hearts if the Great Commission is going to be done I don't know what he's called you to but I would say all of us should be able to agree that there's four things ought to shape us right again number one number one if the task is urgent we need to pray that members and/or churchill's to say yes of God we need to lead churches and take sending seriously you got to be sent to the people in your life and you got to consider crossing a boundary father I pray I pray for this group and I'm trusting there right now there are people that you're stirring in their heart help me ask this real quick is our worship team comes up here I'm not asking you to make a commitment I'm just asking you to acknowledge something last two questions first of all if you can right now honestly say Lord it's a blank check literally wherever you tell me to go wherever you tell me to do I'm going right now to raise my hand and just testify I'm willing and I'm ready wherever just could you put your hand up you're not impressing anybody I'm not trying to figure out who's not got their hands raised okay just a minute I'm have you put them down just hold them up oh just keep holding on I'm why have you all put him down unless unless again you're not making a commitment but you think I think God might be calling me to cross a boundary I don't know for sure but I just want to say Lord I'm ready and I'm willing to put your hand down unless you're in that category keep it up I think God might be telling me to cross the boundary but I pray for every hand that is raised on both of them but especially the sucker would guide their steps reveal to them God send them into the harvest fields which are plenteous make them fishers of men we pray in Jesus name Amen

Channel: Southeastern Seminary

Views: 6,305

Rating: 4.7938147 out of 5

Keywords: Southeastern, Baptist, Theological, Seminary, Chapel, Message, Jesus, Preaching, God, North Carolina, Wake Forest, Gospel, Danny, Great Commission, Training, Education, Southern, Boyce, SBTS, Al, Mohler, Urban, Ministry, Ronjour, Locke, MWBTS, NOBTS, Jamie, Dew, Gateway, Universtiy, ERLC, Matt, Chandler, B21, IMB, NAMB, SBC, SBC19, SBC20, NCSU, ECU, UNC, Duke, Divinity, School, Platt, Greear, JD, David, Whos, Your, One, Midwestern, Akin, RDU, Conversations, That, Matter, New Orleans

Id: 9Fcg6mln6DY

Length: 42min 5sec (2525 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 29 2019