No Greater Call (2 Corinthians 5:20–21) | Pastor PJ Berner

well growing up I loved playing sports I love to play baseball and soccer and really anything that involved a ball where I could score or I can compete with somebody else and that's followed me into adulthood although I don't play much anymore and I'm more of a spectator now than a participant because I just am not good that was made clear when I had tripped over first base and broke my shoulder while I was playing softball with the the men's league here but it wasn't even the men's league it was the co-ed league actually that I tripped and fell so I watch sports now but growing up I played and in high school I decided that I was going to go out for the baseball team it had been a while and I was the kid in junior high that I got I got cut from the junior high basketball team and I walked away and I was the kid that was thinking you know what it's ok Michael Jordan got cut from his junior high basketball team as well I'm gonna bounce back if MJ can do it I can do it so I went out for out for baseball in in my freshman year of high school and I remember making the team and I was feeling pretty good about myself and about my abilities and my talents and my athletic prowess and my coach came and put his arm around my shoulder and he said Berner he goes you know what you may not be the most gifted kid out here the most talented kid athletically but every team needs a good encourage ur in the dugout aka and coach speak you're gonna be seeing a lot of the bench this season and I did so after baseball I said well maybe baseball is not it maybe God's calling on my life is soccer so I tried out for the soccer team and I made the soccer team the junior varsity team I played three years for for the junior varsity team but then my senior year I finally got to play for the varsity team and I was excited about that but I can tell you from personal experience that you cannot let her in soccer from the bench it's impossible I tried and you can't I spent a lot of time again in soccer on the bench and I came to be a great sideline presence but I didn't like being on the sidelines I wanted to be in the game I wanted to be on the field I wanted to be playing I wanted to be contributing I wanted to be where the action was where things were happening and not just on the sidelines and that's why for me Christianity is so encouraging because in Christianity there is no sideline there's no bench for a believer all of us have a role to play in God's plan God has a role and a job and a task for each and every one of us who are here this morning if we are here this morning saying you know Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior there's no sideline for us unfortunately some of us enjoy the sidelines in Christianity we like being in the background we like being anonymous when it comes to our faith we don't want to step out because we we don't want to risk the failure we don't want to risk a weakness being found out about us or we don't want to be put in a a vulnerable position where we're counted on and we may not measure up and so we like the sidelines we like to keep off to ourselves we like to look to other people and think that other people are more equipped or better at doing things than we are but what I hope us to see this morning from 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 and from what Paul is going to say to us this morning is that for believers in Jesus Christ God has a role for each and every one of us to play in reaching the lost that there is no bench there's no sidelines when it comes to God's plan for evangelizing the world that every single one of us has a role to play a part to play whether you're a brand-new Christian this is your your first time in the doors of a church or this is maybe your first time in the doors of a church for a long time or maybe you're a seasoned believer somebody who's been a believer for decades three four five decades you and and the the new believer both of you have the same role to play in God's plan to reach the lost with salvation every believer has a part to play in God's game plan to reach the lost that's what Paul is going to be addressing in second Corinthians chapter five if you have your Bibles go ahead and make your way there whether on your devices or if you have the books go ahead and open them up to second Corinthians chapter five written by the Apostle Paul and he's been addressing some significant truths in realities right before we get into our passage this morning which is going to be verses 20 and 21 but one of the most well known verses of 2nd corinthians has just occurred in verse 17 where paul says we know that in christ if anyone is in christ he is a new creation the old is gone the new has come and we love that verse and we think about that verse and we hold on to the verse and it's truth that it communicates that if I'm in Christ I'm a new creation that my sins are no more that my old man has been rendered powerless like Paul writes about in Romans chapter 6 that I have been declared righteous in Christ and there's so much joy there the concept of regeneration being born again being made new and we rejoice in that and that makes us excited and we say yes and amen to that but I wonder how often we've realized that that verse is given in the context of a call to go and reach the lost in other words you are a new creation in Christ in order that now God may use you to go out and see more people made new creations in Christ it's right there as he continues in verses 18 and 19 of 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 he says all of this all of this regeneration this being born again being made new all of this is from God who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the Ministry of reconciliation that were reconciled me is that before Christ we were separated from God that there was this infinite chasm between us and God that our sins had created that we couldn't be good enough that we couldn't overcome that we couldn't get from where we were back to God that there was hostility between us and that God sent Christ to deal with that hostility by dying on the cross for those sins that had driven that gap between us and that Christ gave his life for us so that we wouldn't have to and in dying on the cross he closed that gap and he brought us back to God he reconciled us to God and now it says in 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 that he has given us the Ministry of reconciliation as new creations in Christ to go and to see that others now would be reconciled to God verse 19 that is in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation and so that's our context as we get into two verses that we're gonna look at this morning verses 20 and 21 Paul says therefore therefore we are ambassadors for Christ God making his appeal through us we implore you on behalf of Christ be reconciled to God for our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God Paul begins therefore we therefore we are ambassadors for Christ as we read that we should ask the question who is the we in this is he talking about himself and his fellow apostles he's talking about himself in Timothy who's he talking about here no he's talking about every single believer well how do we know that when we look at the context we go back up to verse 17 where it says therefore if anyone if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation in Christ and now God is entrusted to us who are new creations in Christ the Ministry of reconciliation that message of the gospel that there is hope in Christ for you to be reconciled to him for your sins to be overcome through the cross and for you to be brought near to God he has given to us those who are new creations in Christ that message and entrusted to us that ministry therefore we Paul says our ambassadors for Christ so we when we read this verse we could read it as though Paul is pointing the fingers at us you Christian are an ambassador now for Christ an ambassador an ambassador it's a word that we still understand today because we still have ambassadors today and ambassadors one who is a messenger who is a representative of another somebody who's going forth with a message to somebody else to deliver that message on behalf of the one who has sent them on the behalf of the one who has commissioned them we see it early on in the Old Testament even with Jacob and Esau as Jacob and Esau are preparing to meet together again Jacobson's mess dangers ahead of him to Esau to try to smooth things over what's the purpose of our message that we've been entrusted with it's the purpose of that message of reconciliation that we've been talking about it's that message that we go with that we say we are ambassadors for Christ bringing the message of hope that you can be brought near to God that if you are here this morning and your sins have separated you from God and you are here this morning and you are thinking to yourself I don't deserve to have a relationship with God because what I've done you're here this morning and you're thinking to yourself you don't know the type of life that I've lived or the week that I've come off of the message that we bear as believers to you this morning is that there is hope for you that there is no sin that is too big for the cross that at the cross Jesus Christ died and satisfied God's wrath against every single sin past present and future for you and if you will repent from your sins and put your trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior you too can be reconciled that's the message that we've been entrusted with that's the purpose of our role as ambassadors for Christ and every believer has been called to this purpose in this role Paul writes about his own role as an ambassador elsewhere in Ephesians chapter 6 verses 18 through 20 Ephesians 6 18 through 20 Paul writes to that end keep alert with all perseverance making supplication prayers for all the saints and also for me that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador and chains that I may declare it boldly as I ought to speak this passage encourages me for a couple of reasons first it encourages me because Paul is asking for prayer for boldness to be God's ambassador and so if you're a believer out there who likes the sidelines Paul himself even said that he wished that people would pray for boldness for him so you're not alone in this and I would ask that you would echo Paul's prayers for yourself and pray for boldness for you to go out God's ambassador and encourage others to pray for you for boldness to open your mouth so that you may boldly proclaim the message of reconciliation the gospel of hope to others but it also encouraged me because notice where Paul is when he's describing himself as an ambassador Paul's in Chains he's in prison which reminds me that I am an ambassador for Christ no matter my circumstances that that is a core part of my identity in Christ I looked up recently what it takes to become an ambassador and it's quite a process you have to get your undergraduate degrees in International Studies or something along those lines and then you have to to learn a foreign language and become fluent in it and then you have to give you an entry-level position as an interpreter or a translator and then you have to get the right internship after that and then you have to take an exam called the Foreign Service officers exam and you have to pass that exam and even after passing that exam you're still not there because then you're just put into a pool of qualified people to serve as an ambassador and then it comes down to who you know it comes down to your connections so that you can become one who is appointed to the position of an ambassador there's a lot that it takes to become an ambassador but the good news is for us as believers in Christ as we already are ambassadors God has made us ambassadors when he saved us in Christ and he has made that a part of our core identity now point number one this morning is this own that identity own your identity as God's ambassador embrace it realize that it is part of who you are now in Christ as a new creation in Christ you now are an ambassador for God a messenger for God and all of us have a part to play in that maybe you've flown recently or you can think back to the last time you've flown and think about all the different people that are involved in getting you from point A to point B you show up at the airport and you check your bags and so there's that person there's the person behind the counter that takes your bag and and puts it on that conveyor belt and sends it off and you have no idea what happens to it after that you just pray then it gets to the destination that you wanted to get to but it's that person who gives you your ticket and then points you in the line of security and then there's security and you go through security and there's the people that work there that are making sure that you're going to be safe that nobody dangerous is going to get through and do any harm to you once you're on the other side and you get on the plane and then you get on to the other side and you go to your gate and there's the person that works behind the kiosk at the counter there who's checking everybody in who's getting on the the speaker and saying hey this flight is full and there's no room for your bags even though nobody's gotten on the plane yet and they they say hey if you want to check your bags we'll go ahead and do that for you and they make that announcement about a hundred times before you get on the plane just to make sure hey we're still needing people to check their bags right and then there's the person that goes in and stands behind the tiny counter which has the the scanner for your phone now and they pick up the microphone and they say okay we're gonna board in an orderly fashion according to your group number on your ticket which never works out because everybody just all flocks together and waits I got to get on the plane right now right and they're the ones that begin to call the groups and then they scan your ticket and you walk down the the the incredibly hot tarmac thing there that the case and you get onto the plane the aluminum deathtrap and you walk in and there's the flight attendants there that are smiling at you like you're not going to be cramped and uncomfortable for the next three hours and they're welcoming you on board and they're saying that they're here to help you and I and I love them and they're great except they're smiling at you and they know that they're not going to give you anything more than some tiny little peanuts and half a soda and if you ask for a full soda they're gonna look at you sideways when you do then and then of course there's the pilot and there's the co-pilot and they're important they're the ones that are flying you that are keeping that aluminum deathtrap up in the air and then bringing it down to the ground safely and then there's the person that drives the glorified forklift that pushes the plane back from the the gate and then there's the people with the orange flashlights that wave you to and from to get you out there and then there's air-traffic control that come on and they say well you're number 52 in line to take off this morning there's a lot that goes in to you getting from point A to point B is in there and every single person in that chain has to do their job for you to get from point A to point B safely to accomplish the goal well as believers every single one of us have to do our job when it comes to reaching the lost God has entrusted that responsibility to all of us not just to a few but to every single one of us maybe you protest against that and you say well I'm not really needed in that process there's other people who are better than that at that than I am there's other people who are more qualified or more gifted or know more than I do but I want to push back against that with this thought and that is that God has put you into a sphere of people who don't know Christ for the specific person of you bringing the gospel to them your neighbors your co-workers your family members those are all people that I don't know that the person sitting next to you this morning they don't know that they don't have access to them to bring the gospel to them but you do because God has saved you and made you a new creation in order to make you an ambassador to those people in your life every single one of you God has put into a unique mission field to reach the lost in your life for him to be that ambassador for him you go to the grocery store you wait in line at the checkout line they are people that God has put you in their lives to be an ambassador for Christ for them not to sit there and count to make sure that they don't have more than 15 items on the belt the waiter or waitress that you're gonna go out and interact with this afternoon when you go out to lunch that person is someone that God has put you in their life to be an ambassador for Christ to bring the message of the gospel the message of reconciliation to them maybe you still object though you say but you don't understand I'm not very good with my words you're in good company with that because there was another man in the Testament who protested when God said hey I'm gonna send you on a mission who said God I'm not very good with my words and who was that how's Moses Moses Moses Moses Charlton Heston right it was and Moses said God you don't understand you don't want me I'm not I'm not eloquent and God said what to Moses he said I will be your mouthpiece you will speak the words that I give you you remember when Jesus sent out the disciples and he said you know what you're gonna be brought before rulers and authorities but don't be nervous about what you will say for you will be given the words to speak we all we've been given the words to speak in the gospel we know the gospel that's what we need to speak and we need to be willing to go as God's messenger and if you're a Moses find and Aaron and bring an Aaron with you go out two by two just like Jesus sent out the disciples to reach the lost in your life maybe you say well I don't have the gift of evangelism that is a gift right people have the gift of evangelism I would say yes I love people with the gift of evangelism people that can't help but just share the gospel with every single person they come into contact with and I understand that that's not everybody's gift but everybody has fallen under the Great Commission of God yes Matthew 28 go and make disciples of all nations that wasn't given to people who only have the gift of evangelism that was given to all of us and again I would say there are people specifically who God has brought into your life who God has placed into your life that he wants you to go as his ambassador to reach them with the gospel maybe you say well I don't have any unbelieving friends I would say find some find some or come with our evangelism team that goes out to the spectrum you will find unbelievers there come with our college ministry we go out to two college campuses this year we're going to be going out to Saddleback College to IVC Irvine Valley and also to UCI and we're gonna be out there monthly and we're gonna be there to share the gospel with lost college students who need Jesus come with us if you don't have a sphere that you can think of right now maybe you say I just don't have time and here I want to challenge you that there is no greater use of your time that you could spend here on earth and to reach the lost with the gospel of Jesus Christ I want to ask you a question what is it that makes your existence to here here more useful to God than it would be for you to be in heaven with him right now the only thing that makes you more useful and more effective to God here on earth than you would be in heaven is to be his ambassador to go to the lost in your life that he has sovereignly placed in your life to go with the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ there's no greater call on your life here on earth and to serve Him as his ambassador that's the only thing that you can do here better than you will be able to do in heaven if you're a follower of Christ you're an ambassador for Christ this idea of being an ambassador social media has opened up at a brand-new kind of ambassador for us brand ambassadors it's most of the stories on Instagram as I'm clicking through here here drink this Fitness drink take this this pill over here do this exercise program do you buy this bag for your wife it's it's all over social media and some of you go out and do that and that's great I'm not saying that's a bad thing but what I am saying is is ask yourself why do you do that or why do people who are brand ambassadors why do they do that because they believe in the product and they believe in its benefits and so they're willing to go out there and they're willing to hit the streets on social media so to speak and and push that product I just want to encourage us that we are brand ambassadors for Christ and we need to be out there on the streets we need to be out there on social media we need to be out there on every platform that we have pushing Christ are you willing to get off the sidelines and be as ambassador there's one ambassador who caught my attention this week as I was preparing for this message and her name is Minh Macario doyle mcgee Macario doyle and she is the ambassador to the principality of monaco or from the principality of monaco in fact her official title is this the ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the principality of monaco to the united states that's a mouthful but miss Doyle I was thinking about her this week because the population of Monaco as of 2017 was 38,000 people and she has a seat at the table at the UN just to put that in perspective at least OVA know his population with the most recent census was just about 51,000 Laguna Hills 31,000 if you're at Mission Viejo you're the big winners this morning because you come from a city that's ninety six thousand as of the most recent population and that's small by our country standards yes and here's miss Doyle who's an ambassador from a Principality of 38,000 people can you imagine how that goes I don't know what happens at the UN they've never invited me but if they're sitting around the table and just kind of getting country updates hey France how's things going over there obviously you haven't started in two wars what else is going on in in your country Italy how are things going over there and in England in the United States and Russia and then you get to Monaco right okay Monaco what's going on with you well I know some of you are solving the world's problems and a lot of you are creating the world's problems we just had a pretty monumental thing happen with Monaco we decided to open a third Italian restaurant in our principality it was a tight vote but we decided that competition would be good so we passed it so yeah movers and shakers over in Monaco I don't know if I was at the the UN I you got to think that that miss Doyle may be condescended to a little bit right why because the the power of the Ambassador is in direct proportion to the power of the one they represent the clout they carry is proportionate to the one that they are representing the one who has sent them and so in that context I mean we know the world powers at the UN their ambassadors are gonna be the ones that carry the the loudest voices well look what Paul says about our ambassadorship the one that we represent in verse 20 therefore we are ambassadors for Christ God making his appeal through us we implore you on behalf of Christ be reconciled to God we are ambassadors for Christ let that sink in for a minute that blows every seat of the UN out of the water we are ambassadors for the King of Kings and the Lord of lords that's the one that we represent I love the description of Jesus from revelation 19 verses 11 through 16 he's the rider on the white horse the white war speed and he's depicted there in all of his brilliant glory and it says that he's wearing a robe that's been dipped in blood and his eyes are ablaze with fire and he's got a tongue that's a sword that's proceeding from his mouth and of course we know in that instance he's coming for the final judgment the last battle this rider on the white horse and it's a picture of power and it's a picture of authority and it's a picture that leaves us in awe and Paul says that you and I are his ambassadors the one who has the name written on his thigh king of kings and Lord of lords he's the one that we represent he's the one whose authority we bear there was an ancient Hebrew phrase about an ambassador that it said we are as the one who sent us I am as the one who sent me in other words it's as though he were here speaking to you through me and that's Austen Christ God making his appeal through us we sang it this morning the cornerstone Christ against all hell unshakable and he's the one that we represent God making his appeal through us the God of the universe the God of all creation is the one who's behind the message of salvation and reconciliation that you and I proclaim to the Lost listen to isaiah chapter 40 in the depiction of this god in verses 12 through 17 who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand or marked off the heavens with a span and closed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains and scales and the hills and a balance who has measured the Spirit of the Lord or what man shows him his counsel whom did he consult who made him understand who taught him the path of justice taught him knowledge and showed him the way of understanding behold the nations are like a drop from a bucket and are counted as the dust on the scales behold he takes up the coastlands like fine dust lebanon would not suffice for fuel nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering all the nations are as nothing before him they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness I hope this vision of God emboldened you that understanding that you are an ambassador for Christ the king of kings and Lord of lords the sovereign of sovereigns I hope that emboldened you that this is the God who is making his appeal through you it's like the Apostle Paul said in first Thessalonians 2:13 we thank God constantly for this that when you receive the Word of God which you heard from us you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is the Word of God which is at work in you believers as you go as an ambassador for Christ into this world you go bearing his message you go in the power of God to the Lost you go representing the King of Kings the Lord of lords the god of this universe and I pray and I hope that that emboldened you it's point number two for us this morning it's this be bold with God's message be bold with God's message sometimes my daughter will approach my son my daughter is my second-born and she'll go up to my son Joshua and she'll say to him hey you need to go do this you need to go get that over there or pick that up off the floor and he'll look at our like she's crazy right after all he's 10 she's seven there's a disparity there's a pecking order there's a seniority there no way is his response unless she tags something on the end of her request no no Josh you don't understand you need to go that do that because mom and dad told you you need to go do that now all of a sudden she's the ambassador she's the messenger for someone with much more power than she has and the power of mom and dad activate the message in Joshua's life and he listens to her now and he goes and does what she's asking not because of what she has asked but because what she's asking is what we have commissioned her to ask and as we go to this last world we don't go with a message that's our own we don't go with a message that is part of our wisdom or our invention or something that we've gotten together and said well yeah let's mix a little justification and then a little sanctification and let's introduce this thing like the cross and let's go out there and and see what we can do because like the Apostle Paul said this message is foolishness to the loss yes so if we were to have invented the gospel we would have not invented it the way that God has given it to us but as it is we go with his gospel with his message to the Lost we go with his terms of peace in fact that was often what a ambassador in ancient times was commissioned with a conquering king would send his ambassador messengers to the the foes that he had just overcome and the messenger would go with the terms of peace of the conquering king saying if you wish to have peace if you wish to bring an end to the hostilities this is what is required and as you think about that I imagine that those ambassadors would have gone with a boldness about them because they were going on behalf of the victorious King they were going on behalf of the the conquering ruler and so as they went with the terms of peace they didn't go with embarrassment or shame they didn't go apologizing for these terms of peace they didn't go with this mindset of well you know I know he's kind of strict and I wish there was another way but this is what we're gonna ask of you if you want peace they didn't go offering them a second way well you know there's many ways to peace with this king I'm just gonna suggest this one for your consideration I don't want to come across as arrogant like I have the corner on truth and so you live your truth guys but I'm gonna suggest that you live it this way and you embrace his terms of peace if you want peace with him know that ambassador went and said look you have been conquered unless you want to be wiped off the face of the planet these are the terms of peace and you need to accept them well as believers in Christ we've been sent with the terms of peace of a conquering and victorious King in the person of Jesus Christ yes he is the victorious King he is the conquering God and he's given us the terms of peace to go to the lost world the lost world who may still be resisting still be fighting and yet at the same time we know what the end of it will be and so we go to them and we go to them with the terms of peace that God has given us the gospel and we call for repentance and we call for faith from them so that there can be an end to the hostilities between the God that we serve and them we go boldly because of the one who's sent us and because our message is his message but we also go boldly with God's message because we know that God is the one who empowers it and affects change in the lives of the hearers of this message picture that person in your mind right now who you're hesitant to share the gospel with maybe it's been a while since you have because they rejected you the first time or maybe you've never shared the gospel with them because you assume you know what their answer is gonna be and so you're resistant to take the gospel to them again and and you're hesitant and you have that name and you have that face in your mind and maybe it's more than one and you assume you know it's gonna be fruitless for me to try to share the gospel with them because there's no way I don't remind you this morning of the story of Sarah and Abraham when God went to Abraham and he said to Abraham behold it this time next year I will visit you and your wife Sarah will give birth to a child and when Sarah heard that what did Sarah do she laughed she laughed why because Sarah said was was past childbearing age she had consigned herself to a life of barrenness and thought that is too wonderful for me that is impossible that will never happen in God responds because he calls her out to Abraham he says why did your wife laugh and he says this is anything too hard for God is anything too hard for God or in Isaiah chapter 59 verses 1 & 2 isaiah 59:1 and to Isaiah says behold the Lord's hand the Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save or his ear dole that it cannot hear but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear Isaiah was calling on the people to repent from their sins to return to the Lord calling on Israel to leave behind their idolatrous ways and return back to the faithfulness to God returned back to submission to the Covenant that they had made with the Lord and he's calling on them and what he's saying is he's saying look God's hand is not so short that it can't still reach and save you nor is his ear too dull to hear you when you cry and ask for repentance and I would say as that was true for Israel specifically Church it's still true for you and I and the lost in our lives today that person that you are picturing that I asked you to think about a moment ago God's hand is not too short that he cannot save them nor his ear dole that he cannot hear your prayers for them or hear their cries for repentance and faith if you will be a faithful ambassador to bring that message into their lives the thief on the cross the Apostle Paul Nicodemus I mean we think of these names and there's more that they were all as unlikely candidates for conversion as anyone else I mean think about Paul the one who is writing these things to us he was Saul before he was Paul the Pharisee a Pharisee of Pharisees a persecutor of the church in prison Aleve errs and families looking to wreak havoc as much as he possibly could on the Church of Christ going out even out on his way to Damascus to to terrorize the church further when what happened God whose hand was not too short to save him reached out and redeemed him and saved him and converted him and used him in a mighty way that person who's in your mind who you're thinking they're too far gone it may be that God wants to use you to reach them to do incredible phenomenal great things for him because his hand is not too short that it cannot save nor is ear to dole that it cannot hear you are an ambassador for a God who has declared that nothing is impossible for him are a Tory in his book the power of prayer says that the power of prayer has access to the omnipotence of God so as you think about that son or daughter who's walked away from Christ I don't encourage you this morning that they are not beyond the saving reach of God's arm as you think about that spouse that husband or wife who is not following God not following Christ I want to encourage you this morning that they are not beyond the saving reach of the arm of God the ear of God to hear the cries go to them again with the gospel the neighbor who's so cold and seems so shut off they are not beyond the saving reach of Jesus Christ this morning the co-worker who on Monday regales you with their debauchery over the weekend they are not beyond the saving reach of the gospel of Jesus Christ if you will be a faithful ambassador and proclaim the message of hope and reconciliation to them there's hope for every single person because the power of the message does not reside in us and the power of the message to change hearts does not reside in us either both belong to the God that we worship in the God that we serve and that God is the God of all creation the Lord of lords and King of Kings and even if you bring that message and you don't see immediate fruit I want to encourage you to remember what Paul said in first Corinthians chapter 3 as he said that some were lining up behind a Polish and others were lining up behind Paul and saying I follow Paul I follow Apollo's and what did Paul say he said who are we were nothing he said we're co-laborers he said we're simply planting and watering but God is the one who's gonna cause the growth so as you are an ambassador for Christ I want to encourage you that sharing the gospel is never a waste of breath because you will be planting or you will be watering and God is able to cause the growth in the blink of an eye and at a time that none of us know when that time will be so keep going keep sharing keep praying for the Lost in your life keep being bold with God's message because of this great reality there's so much freedom for us and sharing the gospel like the Apostle Paul says I didn't come to you with eloquence and lofty wisdom I came to you determined to know what nothing but Christ in Christ crucified because the power to change lives is there in in that message in the gospel of Jesus Christ and there's so much freedom for you and I now to go out and to share the gospel with people and to proclaim the message of truth with people and to call on people to be reconciled to God in fact to do what Paul says here to implore people I love that word I love the word implore because it's such an emotional word it's such a passion filled word he says this in verses 20 through 21 therefore we are ambassadors for Christ God making his appeal through us we implore you we implore you on behalf of Christ be reconciled to God for our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God I love the way verse 28 begins that we we implore you on behalf of Christ be reconciled to God this is more than asking okay this is more than sharing this is a call for a response this is an impassioned plea instead of begging and urging a pleading for somebody to be reconciled to God some of you are incredible salesman sales women you've built a career out of knowing how to close the deal right well when it comes to sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ we have to close the deal we have to call for the verdict call for the response too often we go and we share the gospel and then we get timid at the end and it's like well so now you know why don't you go ahead and chew on that for a while and maybe we can grab coffee again in the future and talk a little bit more about this if you want to well this is just what I believe and I would really love that you would think that this is true too but it's almost like we're apologetic for what we know to be the way the truth and the life right we are is his ambassadors and we need to be imploring we need to be calling for the response in fact Paul does this in second Corinthians chapter 6 he's writing the people in Corinth who needed to be reconciled to God that's why he's saying we implore you Corinthians who haven't been be reconciled to God and then he says this in chapter 6 verses 1 & 2 he says working together with him again working together with Christ his ambassadors making his appeal on his behalf then we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain in other words don't let this letter be wasted ink don't let the words that you're hearing just fall on deaf ears and be a waste of time for he says in a favorable time I listen to you and in a day of salvation I helped you behold now is the favorable time behold now is the day of salvation you know when we share the gospel we have got to say that today is the day of salvation make a decision for Christ today will you today repent from your sins and put your faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior what is it that we are employing the content this is why he includes verse 21 again he says in verse 21 for our sake God the Father made Christ the son to be sin arson my sin who knew no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God the great exchange he gets my sin I get his perfect righteousness at the cross it's such an amazing verse and so clear about the gospel and I think Paul puts it here to remind us of what it is we are to be imploring people to be reconciled to God in light of in light of what Christ has done be reconciled to God Isaiah describes this exchange in Isaiah chapter 53 verses 4 through 6 isaiah 53:4 through 6 surely he has borne our griefs my griefs carried our sorrows yet we esteemed him stricken we thought he was cursed smitten by God and afflicted but he was pierced for our transgressions crushed for our iniquities upon him was the chest chastisement that brought us peace and with his wounds we are healed all we like sheep have gone astray we have turned every one to his own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all the picture here is paying a bill that you could not pay maybe some of you have experienced that you've got a massive amount of debt that you have incurred and you know that you are responsible for that and somebody out of the kindness and love for you has come alongside it and they have paid that debt for you they've taken the debt that you deserve that you incurred and they owned it as their own and they paid the penalty that was due that's what Paul is describing here when he's saying that God made Christ to be sin who knew no sin so that we might become the righteousness of God he took our debt in fact he says it explicitly and in Colossians chapter 2 verses 13 through 14 that our debt was nailed to the cross it's amazing it's this reality the reality of the great exchange that should cause us to implore to urge to plead people to be reconciled to God that should cause us to get on the streets of our neighborhoods with our neighbors and in urge people to be reconciled to God at work around the water cooler to urge people to be reconciled to God and home with our family members to plead with them be reconciled to God before it's too late we have to call for the response it's point number three this morning it's this boldly call for a response to God's message boldly call for a response to God's message some of you may be lawyers and work in a court room others of you like me I've seen lawyers on TV and there's the scene right and it's it's the scene towards the end and the the lawyer stands up and gives his closing argument and he presents the facts of the case again to the jury in summation and he's presenting all the facts of the case that that support his client he's saying look this is the evidence remember here it is it's all been laid out to you and then at the end of that after he's done that what does he do but whatever you guys do what you want to do you know what jury live your truth your truth is your truth my truth is my truth his truth his history that you guys just decide whatever you want to do and and we'll be good with it now what does he do he calls for the verdict yes he says in light of the evidence now make the right decision do the right thing yo we got to do that as well when we share the gospel we present the evidence we lay out the facts and then we call for the verdict will you today just like Joshua just like Moses choose you this day whom you will serve will you today repent from your sins and put your faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and if they say no let me encourage you to ask a follow-up question can I ask you why not what is it that's keeping you today from putting your faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior are you willing to continue to talk about this with me the Apostle Paul is a great example to us here in Corinthians he's a great example to us also in the book of Acts is Pastor Mike is going to get into that series and in acts 26 Paul is there and he's standing before Agrippa and he's he's giving his testimony before Agrippa and fast this is there as well and Festus says Paul you're crazy you're out of your mind and Paul says you're right I am but I'm gonna keep going and he presses in harder with this and he's calling the verdict to the point that Agrippa even says to him Paul are you trying to make me a Christian in fact he says this he says in a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian me Agrippa to be a Christian and Paul says this whether short or long I would that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am except for these chains and in other words Paul saying Agrippa not just you but anybody in earshot everybody anybody repent today and put your faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior today is the day we need to boldly call for that response what does that look like first involves being clear being clear about that message in verse 21 that God has made Christ to be sin that that Christ has taken our sin on him that he was punished for our sin and that exchanged in exchange he gave us his righteousness yell it's important that you know the gospel it's important that you know your testimony and I would encourage you work on being able to share the gospel of somebody in three minutes or less that's not a hard and fast rule that you're not going to find that in the book of first opinions or anything else like that I'm just encouraging you to boil it down to three minutes because that's going to be about somebody's attention span that you're gonna have time with work on getting it there maybe you say well I don't even know how to do that meet with one of us meet with one of our pastors and starts will work on your testimony or talk to somebody on our evangelism team our evangelism ministry they've got a booth outside on the patio after all of our services there go up and talk to somebody say hey I want to get better at sharing the gospel watch people who do it well go on and watch Ray Comfort and what he does out there and get used to sharing the gospel practice sharing the gospel with people that you trust in your loved ones but then another way that to be good at being clear and being concise about how you share the gospel with people is to actually go out and share the gospel with people answer this call to be an ambassador be clear and second be passionate about it be passionate about it you want them to know that you are convicted about what you are proclaiming to them that you believe what you are proclaiming to them and you want to call for that response in their lives for them to repent from their sins and put their faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior think about the illustration that Pastor Mike so often uses of the sinking ship and you know where the lifeboats are and imagine going to the people that are in the part of the ship that's sinking and saying to them hey I know where the lifeboats are you need to be saved you need to know where the lifeboats are to and then just walking away from them you've done them no good you need to beckon to them what follow me to the lifeboats we're calling for the responses you share the gospel is you saying follow me to the lifeboats here's the way to salvation here's the way to deliverance decide today to put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior to fail to call for a response to the Kings message would have been malpractice on the part of the Ambassador and if you and I fail to call for a response to the message of our King it's likewise malpractice on our part as God's ambassadors this is the most significant truth that they could ever hear this is the most significant decision that they could ever come by this is more important than anything else that would hold us back whether it be the fear of man well I don't know how they're gonna respond to me this is more important than that then whether or not you you are thought of as a lunatic you're in good company they thought Paul was a lunatic this is more important than your fear of rejection this is more important than your fear of breaking off a relationship if there they don't want anything to do with you after this this is more important than any objection that you could put up because what's at stake here is the person's soul and eternity it's so many of us prefer the sidelines when it comes to this and we look at the lost in our lives and we crouch down behind the hedge of this doctrine of sovereignty and we think well I'm just gonna hide behind sovereignty and trust that if it's God's will that they're saved he's gonna bring somebody in their life to share the gospel with them and I do I just want to push back on you and say yes you have been put into your lie their lives to bring the gospel to them to see him save them and it is the most significant thing that you could do with your time on earth it's an amazing privilege to be used by god it's amazing privileged if there are no sidelines in Christianity that there's no sixth man award when we get to Eternity because we are all part of God's starting lineup when it comes to reaching the loss and so if you're a believer here this morning you would say yes Jesus Christ is my Lord my Savior I want to encourage you remind you exhort you that God has a part for you to play and reaching the lost in your life that he's put them in your life to be reached by you as his ambassador with the message of reconciliation the hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ and he said to you this morning go bring that message to them implore them today be reconciled to God so as we close I want to ask you who are those people in your life who will you this week pursue as God's ambassador now to encourage you don't delay don't even wait this week today who will you reach out to as God's ambassador will you boldly take his message to the lost in your life and allow God to make his appeal through you we boldly call for them plead with them implore them to respond to the greatest truth that they will ever hear that their salvation in Jesus Christ that's a call that's been placed on each and every one of us as God's children as God's followers and there is truly no greater call that we could respond to on this side of eternity let's pray together Heavenly Father we are so grateful thankful overwhelmed by this reality this truth that you use us you use us has fallen and imperfect as we are to bring the message of hope and reconciliation and salvation to the loss that are in our lives well what a glorious truth and reality that is Lord we thank you each and every one of us in this room God who are saved we thank you for the ambassador that you brought into our lives to bring the gospel to us to implore us to repent from our sins and to put our faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior God we are so thankful for them that they were faithful to answer this call God may we be found faithful to that what I pray for the brothers and sisters in this room who are timid to share their faith who are afraid to share their faith who are more ashamed or abashed to to speak up god I pray that you would embolden them that you would remind them that they are your ambassadors that they represent the king of kings and Lord of lords that there is no more powerful truth that can be proclaimed here on earth and the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ that there's nothing that can stand against you when you choose to regenerate somebody when you choose to give them the faith and repentance to believe God in the gospel no objection is stronger than that Lord God may we be an army of your servants of your ambassadors to go out and to make an impact god I want compass Bible Church to be known in this community as a church that is spreading the gospel far and wide because we want to blow the doors off this church by using people saved and transformed and brought here Lord multiply the ambassadors that are in this room for you I've got Philip this place for your glory your honor your name so that more and more and more might be saved to come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior God use us in a mighty way make your appeal through us we pray in Jesus Christ's name Amen

Channel: Compass Bible Church

Views: 244

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: compass bible church, compass church, compass aliso viejo, aliso viejo church, compass bible church aliso, expository preaching, expository preaching church, biblical christianity, evangelical christianity, compass church hill country, compass church Tustin, compass church Huntington Beach, compass church treasure valley

Id: 9eNsssjnOJg

Length: 57min 56sec (3476 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 05 2019