8 Non-negotiables of the Great Commission

Transcript

This transcript was generated automatically from the audio and may contain small errors.

If you have a Bible, and I hope you do, let me invite you to open with me to three texts, actually. Matthew chapter 28. So you might kind of, if you could hold them, all three. We're going to read them back to back to back. Matthew 28, Matthew 24, and Revelation chapter 7. Matthew 28, Matthew 24, in Revelation chapter seven. I am absolutely honored and humbled to be here. I have so much respect for Matt Carter and God's grace and that brother and others who have been listening to this conference. I have so much to learn. And I know that you are so overloaded with encouragement, challenge. My goal tonight is to try to in some sense, bring everything to a head, to a conclusion. What I wanna do is I wanna read these three texts and instead of doing an extended exposition on them, I think you know these texts pretty well. What I wanna do is I wanna just let these texts soak in

and from them bring this conference to a conclusion with eight non-negotiables in mobilizing the local church for the accomplishment of the Great Commission. So that's where we're going to head. Matthew chapter 28 verse 16. So let's just let the words that we know soak in by His Spirit. Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw Him they worshiped Him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age." Matthew chapter 24 verse 9 Jesus tells His disciples, Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, And you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake. Then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another, And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations. And then the end will come. Revelation chapter 7 speaking of the end. chapter 7 verse 9.

John writes, After this I looked, and behold a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice. belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. Three texts, eight non-negotiables in mobilizing the local church for the accomplishment of the Great Commission. And even phrasing it that way, I know that's kind of a long setup there, but there's two convictions that are driving the way I'm trying to set that up. Eight non-negotiables in mobilizing and local church for the accomplishment of the Great Commission. Two convictions that are underneath that. One is that the Great Commission can be accomplished. That there will be a day when this commission is complete.

That what we are talking about when we talk about the Great Commission is achievable. Not just can be accomplished, this Great Commission will be accomplished. God, in His sovereignty, knows exactly when it will be accomplished. He has guaranteed the success of what we are talking about at this conference. That's a very strong word of encouragement to us. We cannot fail when we give ourselves to this commission. And it's pretty humbling to just wonder,

what if we had the privilege of seeing it accomplished in our day? Not in some arrogant way that it's all dependent on us, it's on God's shoulders, but His people one day are gonna see it accomplished. I want to be counted among that people. And I wanna shepherd a local church that is living and longing to be counted among the people who see the accomplishment of the Great Commission. So that's one, so that's why mobilization of the local church for the accomplishment of the Great Commission, which leads to second conviction that's underlying that is that pastors and church leaders are mobilizers, equipers for people in the local church. So eight non-negotiables in mobilizing. I am convinced that it is the job of every pastor, church leader to shepherd every local church

for the accomplishment of global mission. Now, as soon as I say that, I wanna offer a thousand qualifications. When I say global mission, when we talk about the nations in just a moment, that is not saying that we need to neglect local ministry or local mission. That's the first smokescreen people often throw up. Well, what about local? Well, yes, yes, local. There are people in our churches, local ministry who are hurting, there are marriages that are struggling, there are people walking through cancer and tumors and all kinds of different things and church here part of the church I pastor and we need to do local ministry and we need to do local mission. There are people in the community where you live who need the gospel, who are lost and if we're gonna make disciples then naturally we're gonna most consistently make disciples in the context of where we live.

So local ministry, local mission, totally necessary, but global missions tragically neglected. Say, what do you mean? Well, I was near Yemen a few months ago. Yemen, a country of eight million people. That's the population of Alabama, where I passed her in Mississippi combined. Eight million people. Do you know, that's just in Northern Yemen, sorry. Northern Yemen, eight million people, population of Alabama and Mississippi combined. Do you know how many followers of Jesus there are in Northern Yemen? Out of eight million people, they estimate that there are somewhere between 20 and 30 followers of Jesus. That's more people in your missional community than in all of Northern Yemen, who know Christ. That's a problem. and it's not a problem for mission organizations to solve. It is a problem for local churches to solve. George Pentecost said 100 years ago, it is to the pastor belongs the privilege

and responsibility of the missionary problem. And I believe he's right. He said there's a place for mission organizations to help in the accomplishment of this alongside local churches and pastors who want to shepherd the people of God locally for the global purpose of God. So mobilization of the local church for the accomplishment of the Great Commission. We love people in our local churches and in our local communities to the end that, so we're looking at the end, to the end that all people groups in the world come to know the gospel of Jesus Christ. So with that foundation then, eight non-negotiables in mobilizing the local church for the accomplishment of the Great Commission. Number one.

a God-centered God. First, non-negotiable. If we're gonna mobilize the local churches that we're a part of for the accomplishment of the Great Commission, we must give the people we lead a glimpse of a God-centered God. A God who lives to exalt himself. Now to some that rubs people wrong, God's self-centered, God lives to exalt himself. If that rubs you wrong, I would ask the follow-up question, who else would you have him exalt? You?

As if you or I were at the center of God's universe, you're not at the center of God's universe. I'm not at the center of God's universe. God is at the center of his universe. And everything he does ultimately revolves around himself. And if he were to exalt someone or something else, he would no longer be the God who is worthy of all exaltation, and he is. And we see this passion for his own glory in the nations from cover to cover in scripture, right? From Genesis 12, Abraham I'll bless you so that you will be a blessing and you will make my goodness, my grace, my glory known among all the peoples of the earth. reiterated to his son Isaac in Genesis 26:4, to his son Jacob in Genesis 28:14. It's a whole story of the patriarchs that we see unfold there. It's the whole picture that it unfolds as God leads his people out of slavery in Egypt in Exodus 14:4. He says, I'm doing this to gain glory for myself.

That's why I'm parting, splitting the Red Sea in half and driving you through in the middle. And you look in your rearview mirrors, the water comes crashing down on those Egyptians. The reason I'm doing that, Exodus 14:4, to gain glory for myself, the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord." It's story of him leading his people into the Promised Land. It's Joshua 5 and 6, first major battle in the Promised Land. City of Jericho, massive walls all the way around it. Joshua, Joshua chapter 5 verse 13, he's off by himself wondering, are this the first major battle they've been training for 40 years plus? How are we going to take the city? He had five military options available to him to take a city with these walls. Number one, they can go over the walls. Number two, they can go under the walls. Number three, they could try to break through the walls. Number four, they could send a decoy

in kind of like a Trojan horse type thing. Number five, they could starve the people inside the walls, make them come out. So he's got five options, over, under, through, send the decoy in, starve and make them come out. God comes to him and says, here's the battle plans. Joshua's thinking, over, under, through, decoy, starve. God says, get your music guys. Trump players,

pull out sheet music and you guys play some tunes for a couple days and here's the kicker, like once you played some songs for a few days and everybody at the same time is gonna shout, the walls will come down. If you are Joshua, you're wanting a second opinion at that point. Can you imagine going back to an army that's been ready to battle for 40 plus years be like, guys, we're giving this to the music guys. They're there. They've been working hard too, and we're gonna give it to them. Why? Why did God design that battle plan for the first major city in the promised land? He's doing what he does all throughout scripture. He's orchestrating the events of his people so that in the end, only he gets the glory for what happens. Let me tell you what you don't see in Joshua chapter six, when they take the city exactly like God said to take the city. You don't see all the Israelites

going up to the trumpet players, telling them what an incredible job they did that day. Harry, I've never heard you play that well. Ralph, you hit the high C, it was awesome. We weren't running in. No, you see the people on their faces saying only God could have done that. God is making a great name for himself. And so it's the reason behind, motivation behind all the stories in the Old Testament. Why Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego thrown into a fiery furnace? So that when they come out on the other side without a drop of sweat on their brow, a pagan king would give glory to God for the way he saves his people. That's why God led his servant Daniel to be thrown into a lion's den in Daniel 6. So that when he gets delivered out the next morning alive, a pagan king yet again says throughout the land, the sovereign God of Daniel is worthy of praise. It's the whole story behind the Psalms, right?

The Lord is my, what? Shepherd, I shall not want. He leads me. He guides me in paths of righteousness. Why? For his name. Why does God guide you? For the sake of his name. May God be gracious to us, Psalm 67. us, make his face shine upon us, so that, why be gracious to us? God, why show us such mercy so that his ways may be known on earth and his salvation among all the nations. It's the driving force behind the prophets. It's God's mercy in the prophets for his glory. Isaiah 43, there's beautiful words from God to his people, fear not, I've redeemed you, I've called you by name, you're mine. When you pass through the rivers, I've passed through the waters, I will be with you. You pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned because I am the Lord your God and you are precious and honored in my sight and I love you." What

wonderful words. Then you get to verse 7 he says, you're the people whom I've created for my glory. It says in Ezekiel chapter 36 verse 22, listen to this, God is recounting what he has done and what he's going to do among his people and he says, it is not for your sake O house of Israel that I'm going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name which you have profaned among the nations where you've gone. I will show the holiness of my great name, the name you have profaned among the nations, then the nations will know that I am the Lord declares the sovereign Lord, when I show myself holy through you before their eyes, God literally tells His people, when I bless you, it's not for your sake, it's for my sake. Among the nations, it's not just Old Testament. We know it concludes every gospel picture we have in the New Testament. Go and make disciples of all the nations.

Tell everyone and all the nations about me. Mark 16, 15, go and preach the good news to all creation. Luke 24, 47 through 49, repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in all nations. It's the core of Acts 1, verse 8. You oversee power when the Holy Spirit comes in. You talk about grace, God's put a spirit in us. Just blows you away in your seat when you think about it, doesn't it? That God's spirit is in you? Why would He give a spirit in you so that you and I would be witnesses to the ends of the earth? It's the whole story of what's driving Paul, New Testament church, spread of the gospel from Jerusalem to Judea, to the ends of the earth, all culminating in what we read just second Revelation chapter 7, there's coming a day when every nation, tribe, people, and language will gather around the throne and give him the praise that he is due. Salvation belongs to our God and

the Lamb who sits on the throne. From cover to cover in Scripture, God lives to exalt himself. He is a God-centered God. Now here's why this is so important and why we as leaders in the church must give the people we lead a glimpse of a God-centered God. One, because he's worthy of our worship, let's show them a God who is better than bigger houses and nicer possessions, and all the pursuits and all the pleasures and all the plaudits of this world put together. Our God is better. And we in following Him have laid down all of these things to follow Him. He's worthy of our worship. We have sacrificed the right to determine the direction of our lives. He's worthy of our worship, but not just worthy of our worship. God in Christ is worthy of all of their worship. And this is what drives everything in mission, here and around the world. This is what drives us, right?

Why do we go into the communities we go into? Why do we go into North America? Why do we want to spread the gospel of North America? Because there's over a couple hundred million people in North America who are apart from Christ right now. And God in Christ deserves every single one of their glory. That's what drives us to go to North America. And it's why we don't stop here. It's why we go to Africa. Because there's 3,000 animistic tribes in Africa that are following animistic religions and gods and spirits. And those gods and spirits are not worthy of their glory. Jesus alone is worthy of every single one of their glory. That's why we go to Africa. That's why we go to Japan and Laos and Vietnam. Because there's over 350 million Buddhists who are following Buddha's rules and Buddha's regulations. And Buddha is not worthy of their glory. Jesus alone is worthy of their glory.

That's why we go to India and Bangladesh Sri Lanka and Maldives, because there's 950 million Hindus who are following more gods than you or I can even fathom. And there's only one God who's worthy of their glory. And His name is Jesus. That's why we go to China and North Korea, Cuba, because there's over a billion people in these communistic nations that have grown up in atheistic philosophies that completely deny the existence of God. And there is a God. And His name is Jesus and He's worthy of their praise. And it's why we go to Central Asia and the Middle East and North Africa, some of the toughest places in the world, because there's over 1.5 billion Muslims who are fasting and giving alms and making holy pilgrimages to Mecca and pray five times a day to a false God. And Jesus has died on the cross, He's risen from the grave, exalted on high, and He is the only one who deserves their glory.

And people, people who believe that will give their lives making His glory known to the ends of the earth. Give them a glimpse of the greatness of God. God centered God Second we got to move on we got to do this separate a word saturated ministry This flows from the first a word saturated ministry. Sorry. I don't have cool video stuff Just simple. All right, a word saturate. How do we give them a glimpse of his glory? We give them a glimpse of his glory through his word not your jokes, not your counsel or advice, not even your stories. You give them a glimpse of the glory of God by giving them the Word of God. This Word reveals the glory of God, opens our eyes to the glory of God. Psalm 19, Psalm 119, we see His glory in His Word, so give them heavy Word. From cover to cover in this book, God is showing his passion for his glory in all nations, supremely manifested in Christ and the gospel.

So saturate people with this word. It's the only thing that will drive them into mission. At least it will sustain them. Think about it. What is going to drive the people you lead to lay down their lives amongst difficult people groups groups in the world who want to kill them because you said it'd be a good idea. The only thing that will drive them there is because God said, go. You know, I think about, think about times, one particular time sitting with a wealthy doctor in our faith family who sat down with me when we walked through tough texts and he sat down and he said, David, I just needed to set up an appointment to let you know I think that you are crazy for some of the things that you are trying to lead us to do. He was like, yes sir, and he looks at me and tears begin to flow down in his face and he says, but you're only saying what God's saying.

So I guess we need to do these things. And he begins to talk about how his whole lifestyle is turning upside down, selling possessions and considering going to unreached peoples. And He said, sometimes I think I'm crazy too. But He said, You taught us to stand on the Word and I'm just going to believe that His Word is true. Yes. It's the only thing that will drive Him and it's the only thing that will sustain Him. When I think about brothers and sisters from our midst who have sold their homes in suburbia and moved into low income, very high crime area of our city with the spread of the gospel, whose kids are sleeping tonight with gunshots outside their homes. They're walking through really difficult times. What sustains them at that point is not some story or council advice. The only thing that will sustain them at that point is the word of God. And these brothers and sisters who are going out

into difficult places around the world where they have hardly any believers around them and they're struggling and on the front lines of battle and the adversary's coming at them from every side. The only thing that will sustain them is the sword of the spirit. So give them heavy word. True biblical theology drives urgent missiology. If we believe God is great, if we believe man is lost, we believe Christ is necessary, put it together, we're urgently going. You say, well, no, I teach the Bible, they are still not going. That leads to third, third non-negotiable. A life changing gospel. A life changing gospel. I don't have a lot of time on here, this one, so I want to cut to the chase. Maybe one of the reasons so many people in the church aren't making disciples of all nations is because they are not really disciples in the first place. You think about Jesus and his disciples from the very beginning to the very end, making

disciples was in the DNA of this thing, right? To be a disciple involves making disciples. Follow me, Matthew 4, and I will, what? Will make you fishers of men. Very end. Go. Make disciples of all nations. As those disciples were standing on that mountaintop, do you think that they had to be cajoled into going? No. And Jesus had to reign them in. The last thing we need is you guys out there alone. Just wait for the Spirit. Peter, you'll blow this thing from the start. Wait.

Let him come down and then everything will be good. These guys ready to go. Making disciples is the natural, or maybe better yet, supernatural overflow of being a disciple. Proclaiming the love of Christ is the overflow of sharing in the life of Christ. And I'm convinced many people in our churches are just simply missing the life of Christ. And a lot of it has to do with what we've sold them as the gospel, i.e. pray this prayer, accept Jesus into your heart, invite Christ into your life. Should it not concern us that there is no such superstitious prayer in the New Testament? Should it not concern us that the Bible never uses the phrases, accept Jesus into your heart or invite Christ into your life? It's not the gospel we see bring priest. It's modern evangelism built on sinking sand, and it runs the risk of disillusioning millions of souls. It's a very dangerous thing to lead people to think

that they are a Christian when they have not biblically responded to the gospel. If we're not careful, we will take the gospel, the lifeblood out of Christianity and put Kool-Aid in its place so that it will taste better to the crowds. It's not just dangerous, it's just damning. And then when we think about making disciples, we think, well, it's just about going out and getting people to pray the prayer. We spread that. No, let's give them full picture of the gospel.

Let's show people the greatness of God. Yes, He is a Father who loves us. He's a loving Father who will save us, but He is also a wrathful judge who may damn us. And this is exactly what we deserve in our sin. We are hopelessly lost. We are dead in our sin. And when Ephesians two uses that word, you were dead in your sin. In the original Greek, the word dead means dead. Not just kinda, sorta. Dead. Unable to come to life unless someone from outside acted upon your heart. Lostness of a man. Do we really believe this? I mean, even when we're talking about unreached, this is huge, right? I think most of the people that are in our churches believe that people have never heard the gospel. Well, certainly they'll get a pass in the end, right? Certainly they'll be okay in the end. Precisely because they've never heard the gospel. If that's true, then what's the worst thing we could do?

Like take the gospel to Him. We just increase their chances of condemnation. We get to Him, share the gospel. They're thinking, thanks for your bird's conference. You guys never would have come here. We had a free pass, but now that you shared this with us, there's a chance we're going to hell. We ask questions like, what about the innocent guy who's never heard the name of Jesus? In Africa, what's going to happen to him? Well, here's the deal. The innocent guy in Africa who's never heard the name of Jesus, when he dies, will absolutely go to heaven. No question. The only problem is, that guy doesn't exist. There are no innocent guys in Africa just waiting to hear the gospel, waiting to hear the name of Jesus. There's guilty people all over Africa, and that's why they need to hear the gospel. Not just Africa, but Asia, North America, and everywhere in between.

This is what drives us, right? Understanding this. People don't understand this because they don't realize it in a biblical presentation of the gospel. Well, gut mission. Give him a picture of God, the lostness of man, supremacy of Christ. He has lived the life we couldn't live. He's died the death we deserve to die. And he's conquered the enemy we could not conquer.

Tell him about his life and his death and his resurrection. and then call them. Now here's some biblical words to repent. Jesus is not a poor puny savior looking for anyone's acceptance. He is a sovereign Lord and King who is worthy of everyone's praise. Repent and trusted Christ is Savior and Lord. When that happens in somebody's life, life-changing gospel, everything changes in their heart. And when that has happened, then people don't have to be cajoled into mission. But they are compelled into mission. So let's give them a life-changing gospel. Fourth, all of that leading to, okay, they got life-changing gospel. And fourth, non-negotiable, a spirit-empowered church. So obviously, we know from the Great Commission, everything in this hinges, everything in Matthew 28 and 19 hinges on Matthew 28 and 20. I will be with you always to the end of the age hinges on the spirit of God in us as we were talking about earlier

Enabling us to accomplish this mission and here's the danger just real and pretty thing. I See my own life We are part of a church culture that has created a whole host of means and methods For doing ministry that in the end require little if any help at all from the Holy Spirit of God There's so much of what we do that we can go through the motions and without dependence on and desperation for the Spirit of God. Could it be that one of the greatest hindrances to the advancement of the gospel in the world today is not pagan idolatry and sinful sexual immorality of the culture and cultures around the world? What if one of the greatest hindrances to the advancement of the gospel today is the attempt of the church of God to do the work of God apart from the power of the Spirit of God? You know I remember when I was coming to the church that I pastor. And I was praying through that process

and I remember saying to people, you know what, what if this church, these people, gifts, resources, money, talent, skill, if this people could get behind a global mission, this church could shake the nations for the glory of God. That's what I would say. And I was so wrong. I was missing it completely. The reality is, this people, no matter how many of them there are, no matter how many resources, money, how much money they have, no matter how many gifts, skills they have, apart from the power of the Holy Spirit of God, this church will do nothing to shake nations for His glory. In fact, the opposite is true. This church could have the least number of people, the least gifted people, the least talented people, the least amount of money and resources, and that church under the power of the Holy Spirit of God can shake the nations for His glory. Do we believe this?

So we believe we can accomplish more in the next year under the power of the Holy Spirit than we could in the next 100 years in our own power. The next month for that matter. So let us be a people who are desperate for the Spirit and let's lead our people to be desperate for the Spirit. We are in a spiritual war that requires spiritual weapons. Which means if we are going to lead people on the front lines in our communities and the other side of the world, we've got to lead them to be steadfast and disciplined.

Yes, yes, yes, let us trumpet the call for every member of ministry, every member of ministry, from the day someone is saved, they are equipped with the power of the Spirit of God to go. So let's send them out. Let's figure out how to get them going from the very minute, At the same time, along the way, let's teach them how to how to pray and to fast and to study this word. To grow deeply in Christ along the way, we're going to send them out of the front lines. We want to equip them. And in discipline, walking with the spirit and dependence and desperation for the spirit. Non-negotiable number five, we'll go through this one very quickly, because it's been the theme of this whole conference. No, no, no, no, it's number five, a Christ driven strategy, a Christ driven strategy. So it's been said numerous times, numerous ways. God has already given us the strategy,

go and make disciples of all the nations. Command is clear, go make disciples of all nations. Command has been compromised. We say, come be baptized, sit in one location. And it's, we've got to turn that around and put this command central. So how can we most effectively in the context where we live, make disciples. We give ourselves to that plan, we are assured success. Christ-driven strategy. Alright, number six, and this is where I want us to camp out for a few minutes. A people's focused goal. People's focused goal. Peoples. Ethné. Matthew 28, 8, 19. Go and make disciples of all nations. Pontetah, Ethné. Matthew 24 14 the gospel the kingdom will be proclaimed as a testimony to all nations tah ethne pon tah tah ethne all the nations and So the picture that Jesus says is here Here's what command is go and make disciples among all the nations There's a day when the gospel will be preached in all the nations and they will come now

We know that when Jesus says nations, he's not talking about nations like we think of nations today, correct? we think of nations we think of geopolitical nations, about 200 of them in the world today. But the reality is, United States was non-existent in the first century. As much as we think the world revolves around us, it does not. So Jesus wasn't saying, make disciples of all the nations like we think of nations today. Instead, this word, ethnae, ethno-linguistic groups, ethnic groups, groups of people. That's why we use the term people groups. That's why anthropological, missional, biblical scholars come together and said, all right, how can we best understand people groups in Scripture? Because we see this, peoples, tribes, clans, nations, languages, what does that mean? And basically, these scholars have identified, and there's varying numbers. So at least 11,500 or so people groups in the world,

much more than 200. And it makes sense, you got a country like India, India's one country with all kinds of different people groups, with different cultural backgrounds, languages, different distinctives in each of those. And so you got 11,500 or so people groups at least around the world. And Jesus has said, make disciples among all of them. So just like we see in the Old Testament thing, Amorites, Hittites, Canaanites, parasites, all those ites. And then now get the Berber, the Hui, the Han, the Baloch, numerous different people groups. So Jesus says, "'Go and make disciples among all the people groups.'" There's a day when the gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed as a testimony to all the people groups. So don't miss this, this is huge. The Great Commission is not a command, a general command to just make disciples among as many people as possible. The Great Commission is a specific command

to make disciples among all the peoples of the world. That is huge to understand. It's not just make disciples wherever you go. It's not what Jesus said. He said, make disciples among every people group, which begs the question, how are we doing? And the reality is, out of 11,500 plus people groups, they estimate that over 6,500 of those people groups are still unreached with the Gospel. And that term unreached means less than 2% evangelical Christian. Unreached. Now when we say unreached, we are not talking about, this is so big. Terms here we know, terms are important. Unreached doesn't mean lost. Well, certainly yes, they're lost because they've not heard the gospel, but it's more than that. It's not just talking about losses, it's just talking about access.

It's talking about people that don't have access to the gospel. Sometimes people say to me, well, Pastor, you know, we got unreached people right here in Birmingham. No, we got lost people in Birmingham, but they have access to the gospel all around them because you know them. They got churches everywhere. They got gospel on radio and TV. It's accessible to them. They're not unreached, they're just lost. When we're talking about unreached, we're talking about people group. The best way to put it practically is if you were born into an unreached people group, the likelihood is that you would be born, live, and die without ever hearing the gospel. It's what it means to be in an unreached people group. Six thousand, five hundred, plus of them. And Jesus has given us a specific command to go to every single one of them. one of them. Clearly, this is not acceptable for us. This is where I want to say to every

pastor, every leader of local church represented in this room, that if we are not mobilizing our people to go to unreached peoples, then we are not being obedient to the Great Commission. And put it another way, if we are not mobilizing people in our churches to go to unreached peoples around the world, then our obedience to the Great Commission is incomplete. Jesus has said specifically, command, make disciples among all the people, groups. The ethnae has given us a promise. One day they will all know. So commitment to the Great Commission necessarily involves working to get the Gospel to unreached peoples. Now as soon as I say that, I want to make clear, admittedly, these terms that we're using, unreached and how we're defining people groups, how we're defining whether or not they're reached or not, we don't know for sure if we got the right terms.

Some people would take Matthew 24, 14 then and say, well, are you saying then that Jesus couldn't come back tomorrow because there's still 6,500 people groups that are still not reached yet. The reality is our definition of people groups could be totally off and so could our definition of reached. Absolutely, Jesus could come back tomorrow. Pray that He would come quickly. But this is where I can't improve on the words of George Ladd who said Matthew 24 14 is the most important single verse in the Word of God for the people of God today. George Ladd said this, God alone knows the definition of terms. I cannot precisely define who all the nations are, but I do not need to know. I know only one thing. Christ is not yet returned. Therefore, the task is not yet done. When it is done, Christ will come. Our responsibility is not to insist on defining the terms.

Our responsibility is to complete the task. So as long as Christ does not return, our work is undone. Let us get busy and complete our mission. So to put it bluntly, we are not completely missional if we are not engaging in missions to unreached people groups. We're missing the Great Commission if this is not a part of what is driving us. Non-negotiable then, a people's focused goal. Number 7, a multi-faceted approach. I'm not going to spend a lot of time here on a multi-faceted approach. I would just say this, and for those who are doing the post-conference tomorrow, I'll unpack this in more detail, but let's not take both ands and turn them into either ors, i.e. local and global. So let's do ministry, mission locally and globally. We don't have to choose between the two. I have to choose between the two. Spiritual need and physical need. Both and. Right?

Yes, our primary goal, proclaim the gospel of the Kingdom as a testimony to all nations. Addressing spiritual need. We proclaim the gospel. We must keep that at the center of what we do. But if we're actually going to do that among the nations, we're going to come alongside some people who are starving and they don't have any water. And it will be good to help them get water. That's not bad. It's not compromising the gospel. It's adorning the gospel. And when we engage all nations, we're going to come alongside some people who are being trafficked and sold into slavery. And it's good to work against that as we proclaim the gospel. We're going to come alongside millions upon millions of women in the world and in our culture who are struggling with the potential of abortion and it's good for us to bring the Word of God to bear on that and encourage women in those circumstances and men and others

who are around that pregnant woman. But at the middle of it, we're proclaiming the Gospel, spiritual and physical need. We don't have to choose between the two. We pray and we give and we go. We go short term and mid term and long term in different ways. It looks at multiplicity of different ways. We go and all kinds of that. Now people say, well, why do we have to go? Why don't we just let the locals do it over there? Why don't we just send our money and let the locals do it? That's the point.

There are no locals, unreached. You don't have locals. Yes, if there are locals, let's come alongside and equip and encourage and empower. But if there's no locals, then God help us not to sit back, send our money so that other people can lose their lives accomplishing this commission while we sit back on our couches, watch TV and get fat. Leads to the last non-negotiable, a death, define, commit. Right before Jesus says that incredible promise In verse 14 of Matthew 24, he says, they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death. And you will be hated by all nations for my namesake. Many will fall away, betray,

be led astray, love of many will grow cold, one who endures the end will be saved. Let's bring this in. If we in our churches are going to be serious about engaging unreached peoples around the world with the Gospel, it will be costly. And it makes sense, doesn't it? And Satan must have Matthew 24, 14 plastered all over the walls of hell. Because he knows that when all the nations have heard the Gospel, the end will come and the end is not good news for him. The end is very bad news for him. And so He is dead set against the spread of the gospel among all the people groups of the world. In fact, this is where I'm convinced that He is in a sense, in a sense, just fine with us spending all of our resources and all of our time and all of our money on reaching people right in front of us while we turn a deaf ear to these un-reached people groups. But when you, in my life, family, we in our churches, begin to engage the spread

For the gospel to unreach people groups, we can be sure that we will be met with all the force of hell in the process. And the question for us is, are we willing to pay the price? Are we willing to redesign church budgets and family budgets? We are willing to let go of programs and preferences, willing to lead people, shepherd people, and say to them, this may cost you everything. We must not gloss over the cost. At the same time, we must not forget the rewards. there is coming a day when the trumpet will sound, Christ will return to receive the reward He is due. And every nation and tribe and tongue and people, all the peoples of the earth, not just 5,000 or 6,000, all 11,000 or whatever God defines Every single one of them will be represented around the throne, Revelation 7, and they will cry out, salvation belongs to our God and to the Lamb who sits on the throne.

And people who long for that day, people who are gripped with a passion for that day, do not see letting go of the things of this world as sacrifice. It just makes sense, because He's worth it. Do we believe he's worth it? Will we shepherd people to see him as worth it? God, may we have the privilege of seeing that day in our lifetime. Will you bow your heads with me? We are going to close our time tonight with praise before a God-centered God. And in light of His Word in Matthew 28, Matthew 24, Revelation 7, as well as everything else from the last couple of days, I want to invite you to behold His glory, and as you behold His glory, to lay down your life and your leadership. Say whether standing and seeing or on your knees before the Lord I want

My life to count to the spread of the gospel To all peoples want to be a part of the accomplishment of the Great Commission To use me however you will and use the church that I lead in however you will use the missional community that I lead However, you will we want in because we long for the day when we will see your face. And you will receive the glory that you will do. Father, I pray that over the next few moments you would be honored and glorified and worshiped in this room through our lives and through our lives that you would, by your spirit, raise up some from within this room in this room who will go to unreached people groups and stay. Lord, for any who You're moving in that way in their hearts tonight, I pray that You give them grace, Your mercy to respond and say yes. We pray for all of us that You would give us grace to put a blank check on the table before You tonight.

With no strings attached. And our lives use us for the accomplishment of the Great Commission. And in the churches we're a part of, there's blank check with our church. Whatever you want to do, turn the budget upside down, major changes here or there, little changes here or there, whatever you want us to do in our churches, we will do it because we want in. We want to see disciples made in every nation. So here's blank check on our lives and our churches. Use us, we pray, and pray that as we lay that before you, by your grace, you would take it and you would lead us for your glory. So we give this time to you, we pray that you'd help us. Help us to see you for who you are and to respond according to what your spirit is saying to us in this room.