Ready or Not (Matthew 24:36-25:30)
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Transcription by CastingWords Well, good morning. My name is Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. I'm glad to be with you all this morning. If you'll grab your Bibles, go to Matthew chapter 24. We are working through the Gospel of Matthew.
We went all the way through chapter 24 last week. I don't know if your brain hurt at the end of that, but mine did. And we went through, it's a dense passage where Jesus is answering the question about future events. He was answering the question about the destruction of the temple, which was future to them, past to us, and his return and the end of the age. And so he answers through and gives some signs and some things to look for. And it's easy for us to want to spend a lot of time trying to really understand exactly what each of those signs means and exactly what he's pointing towards.
But Jesus, in his answer, gets to the end and he starts saying, you don't know when I will return, so be ready. And that's his primary point. And so I think it is worth studying and trying to figure out what exactly he means and exactly what sign lines up with what and what historical event. But Jesus' conclusion is wrong. You guessed wrong. You're not going to know exactly.
His conclusion isn't wrong, just to be clear in my sentence there. He tells us that we ultimately aren't going to narrow it down and make it perfect and know exactly when he's returning and exactly what lines up with what. He says we can know the season, we can look for the signs, but ultimately we need to be ready. And then he tells three parables back to back to the effect that we would be ready. And that's what we're going to look at today. So this is where he goes in verse 36 of chapter 4.
He says, But concerning that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven nor the Son, but the Father only. And then verse 44 as he keeps talking about it, he says, Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. And so then he tells three parables to help press that into our mind. So the parable is a story that has one primary point to help us understand exactly what he's talking about, to help us picture it. And we're going to run through those parables this morning. We'll spend less time on the first one because we read it last week, but we're going to keep working through those.
And we ought to be ready. We ought to be ready to meet the Lord. He says he will return at a time we do not expect, meaning that we ought to be ready for his return. We believe in a literal, physical death of Jesus, a literal, physical resurrection of Christ, that he ascended into heaven, and we believe in a literal, physical return of Christ, at which point time ends, and all of our choices in how we respond to Jesus is set. It is final, and we ought to be ready. But if you do not make it to the return of Christ, you will make it to your death.
And I was looking at the statistics, and the most recent stats show that 100% of people die, and that was before COVID, so I'm sure it's worse now. That ultimately all of us will meet the Lord, and we ought to be ready. And so the question for us today is, what does readiness look like? When he says you need to be ready, what does he have in mind? Is there a certain sort of clothes we're supposed to wear? Should we sell all of our stuff?
Wear white? Sit on a mountain? Stare at the clouds? What does he want us to do? What does readiness look like? And so as we look through these, we're going to see what readiness ought to look like.
We're going to see some temptations towards being unprepared. And finally, as we finish up today, we'll talk through the consequences of either. The results of being ready, or the results of being found unprepared. And so let's pray for our time this morning, and then we'll move into the main portion of the text we're going to look at. God, we ask for your grace. Pray that you would help us as we study your word, that no one in this room, that no one who is watching online, would be found unprepared.
That we would make it to the end. That we would stand before you ready, clothed in the righteousness of Christ, joyfully awaiting the day of your return. And not in that moment begin to beg for more time, or for a second chance. We ask by your grace that we would hear this. In Jesus' name, amen. This is Jesus' final discourse in Matthew.
He talks some more, but this is the final section where he's really teaching, and it's aggressive. It's heavy. Because what is at stake, that Jesus felt so important that he would come and die for it, is our literal, eternal state. And so Jesus wants us to be ready for his return. Verse 45. Chapter 24, verse 45.
He says, Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant, whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. So the first picture Jesus gives is, as a master leaves, he puts one of his servants in charge of the other servants, to care for them, to give them their food at the proper time. And he says, That servant will be blessed. It will be good and glorious and joyful, if when the master returns, that servant is doing what he's supposed to.
And so the first picture of readiness, is that you want to be found doing what he called you to do, when he returns. You want to be found following through with what he's called you to. To be found faithfully at work. But then verse 48, he says, But if that wicked servant says to himself, My master is delayed, and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him, and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
So he says, He'll be blessed if he's found working, but he says, But if he thinks, I got time, he's not coming yet, and begins to abuse the position he's put in. And the two kind of abuses he shows, is one is abuse of his fellow servants, that he's beating them. He was there, his authority given to this servant, was for the good of his fellow servants. He was to feed them at the proper time, he was to care for them, to make sure that they were well taken care of. And what happens is, in this position of authority, he begins to use it, he begins to Lord it over them, he begins to oppress them, and then he eats and drinks with gluttons and drunkards.
He begins to party. And those are two temptations, that would lead us from being ready, from the return of Christ. One is, a desire for power, a desire to have other people serve us, for things to work out well for us, at the expense of others. Have y'all ever noticed, how quickly, a small amount of power, can go to somebody's head? Like, petty amounts of power, can go to people's heads. You can put a child in the front of a line, and it's arbitrary, but they're the front of the line, and all of a sudden, it's like, I'm captain of the world.
And that, we don't grow out of that. We do this in, homeowners associations, and PTAs. We can do it in, in Bible studies, where somebody has a little bit of authority, and they Lord it over other people. They're no longer there to serve, they're no longer there to, to help others do better, to, to give up of themselves, for the sake of others, but they're there for others, to make things better for them, and that's a real danger, that we would at some point, lose the fact, that we have a master, who will return, and we can actually begin to live, in such a way that, we just want the power, to benefit us.
Inside of, the US, there are some different power imbalances. Inside your household, there may be some different power imbalances. Globally, there's some different power imbalances. Just being a citizen of the United States, puts us in a relative position of power, with relative wealth, security. And do we allow, every situation, where we have some, some authority, to just benefit us, or do we see and look, and go, okay, where can I use this, to the benefit of others? And blessed will we be, if we're following through, with what the master's called us to do, and if we're giving up, and serving others, when he comes.
The second one is this, that he begins to drink, and party, celebrate. That he thinks that, part of the, the good life for him, is that the master's not going to come, so I can just do what I want. He, he Acts as if it all belongs to him, and that his point is, the point of life, and goodness is indulgence. And that's a real temptation. To just spend life, trying to enjoy, the good things that are around us, the good food that is around us, the good drink that is around us. I, I don't mean to brag, but I, I manage a firework store, twice a year.
So, yeah, I'm a bit of a businessman. And, there was a guy, who was working for me, and he, he was 19, somewhere around in there, and he was going into, I think his sophomore year, at USC. And I was just talking to him, he was working, he lived in Aiken, and he was home for the summer, and then he was coming up, to go here. And I said, hey, when you, when you get up to school, come, come by and hang out with us, and I'd love for you to, you know, join our church, and be around at least, you know, check it out. And he said, he's like, yeah, man, I, I mean, my family's Christians and stuff, and I know, like I know that Jesus is God, and I need to follow him, and I know he died for us, but I just, right now, just want to have some fun.
I just don't, he said, I'm young, I got time, and when I get a little bit older, I'll, I'll get it together, you know, I'll follow him, and I'll do all that stuff, but right now, I just don't want to, I just, I'm going to try to join a fraternity, and that's really what I want to do. He's confused about a few things. One, if he thinks a fraternity is better than Jesus, he's very confused, both about fraternities and Jesus. He's also confused about how much time he has, because that is not certain. And this is a real temptation for us to feel like, now's my best opportunity to have, quote unquote, fun, and I'll, I'll follow Jesus later.
But the point of this parable is that, later comes upon us very quickly. It can catch up with us when we don't expect it. Jesus actually says, that's what it will happen. So that's the first parable. That we might be found working when he comes, that we might use what authority we have, to follow through with what he has called us to do, which is to serve others, and that we might not be led astray, into self-indulgence, and sin, tricking ourselves into thinking, we have plenty of time. Chapter 25, verse 1.
Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins, who took their lamps, and went to meet the bridegroom. There's a, there's a country song, by Kenny Chesney. One of the lines is, that one of the things that's good in life, is the way that she looks, with rice in her hair. And when you hear that song, it takes a second, you go, oh, okay, what does wife look like, when they got married? The way that she looked, with rice in her hair. Got it.
They threw rice, that's in her hair. Got it. That's the way this statement works, for not us. If you didn't know, that people threw rice, at the end of weddings, the way that she looks, with rice in her hair, is a really weird sentence. One of the good things in life, is how your wife looks, with rice in her hair. Okay, buddy.
Sounds good. That's what this sentence works like. Then the kingdom of heaven, will be like ten virgins, who took their lamps, and went to meet the bridegroom. Okay, what is going on? Well, virgins here, means unmarried, women. This is, all the single ladies.
And they're going to meet the bridegroom, they're not the bride. The bride, the bridegroom has left, to go get the bride. They would have had, a small ceremony there, and he's coming back, and when he comes back, the party starts. There's a ceremony, people join him, to walk, and to march, and people yell in the streets, and there's a big ceremony, and depending on how well off, this groom is, it'll be a party, that lasts for a day. It could be a party, that lasts for a week. And so they're awaiting, the party, and they love the groom.
They know the groom, they're part of his hometown, his family, so he goes to marry the bride, but they're awaiting the groom, they're excited to celebrate with him. And, I just want to point out, it's a beautiful marriage illustration. Happy Valentine's Day. We did it. You thought we were just working through Matthew, but we intentionally put, no, okay, anyway, sorry. So they're waiting, for the bridegroom to come, and then it says, five of them were foolish, and five were wise.
So that's the distinction here, we're about to find out, what makes one foolish, and what makes one wise. It says, for when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil, with their lamps. Okay. Their lamps, had a little hole in the top, you put oil in, it had a wick, that would go down this little tube. If you picture like, Aladdin lamp, kind of what it looked like, and then they would light this section, of the wick, that would soak up the oil. The foolish ones, grabbed their lamp, hit the door.
The wise ones, grabbed their lamp, and extra oil, and hit the door. The wise ones assuming, this may take longer, than I think. The foolish, thinking the groom will return, at a time, that is convenient for me. As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy, and slept. So they're waiting for the party to start, he's taking forever, and so they just, are sitting and waiting, and waiting, and waiting, and eventually they fall asleep.
All of them, both wise and foolish, fall asleep. So sleeping here, isn't foolish. It's normal. They're just tired. Verse 6. But at midnight, there was a cry, here's the bridegroom, come out to meet him.
So the party's starting, at midnight. Some of y'all, you're like, yeah, that's a good party. Others of you are like, I would not be attending, that party. Good party start at 6, end at 8.30. Alright. So the party's starting, at midnight.
Come out to meet him. Then all those virgins, rose and trimmed their lamps, and the foolish said to the wise, give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out. But the wise answered, saying, since there will not be enough for us, and for you, go rather to the dealers, and buy for yourself. And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready, went in with him, to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. Afterward, the other virgins came, also saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered, truly I say to you, I do not know you.
Watch therefore, for you know neither the day, nor the hour. Verse 13 tells us the main point of that parable. To watch, to be ready, to be wise in our preparation, because we know neither the day, nor the hour. But there are a few things that are helpful to learn, from this parable, as he's beginning to push on us still, that what you want to do, is be ready when he returns, and you will not know, so you have to stay ready. You need to be ready today, and you need to be ready tomorrow, and you have to stay ready, because you do not know. And being unprepared, when he returns, is terrible.
And so there are a few things that I think are worth noting from this passage. One, in this parable, all of them had lamps. All of them were waiting the groom. All of them were together. But when he showed up, only some of them, had oil.
I think this is a helpful thing for us to picture. I don't think it's the main point of this, but I think it's helpful for us to see this. Just because you have the appearance, of faithfulness, does not mean you have, true faith. Just because they looked good on the outside, they were not actually, true on the inside. They had the appearance of godliness, but denied its power. They had the form, but no substance.
They were around a local church, but they did not belong to the church. They were in a community group, but they weren't in Christ. And being near faithful people, will not count. The point of this, when they ask to share oil, is not that you should be selfish. The point of this, is that that's not how it works. That when Jesus returns, you cannot lean into the faithfulness, of those around you, to make you okay.
You will seek in vain, for faith, for repentance, in that day, and it will not be found. And so just because you're around believers, just because your parents were believers, just because you grew up in a church, just because you're in a community group, just because you're best friend, just because just being near somebody, who belongs to Jesus, does not make you belong to Jesus. And the question is, do you truly have him at work in you? Secondly, a thing that I think is helpful, to learn from this parable, is this is a call to endurance. Christians endure. We trust that the Lord, by his grace, will bring us to the finish line.
But that means that Christians, take the steps necessary to endure. Leaning into the fact, that we believe that Jesus, will get us to the finish line, so that we do none of the things, to get us to the finish line, is a good indication, that we don't belong to Jesus. But some of us right now, are saying we belong to Jesus, and have taken none of the simple steps, it takes to help us, make it to the end. Like daily reading our Bibles. Some of you, are just busting out into the world. Walking in the flesh, trusting your own wisdom, to get you to the end.
I don't have enough sense for that. I don't trust myself enough for that. And for us to lean into our flesh, and to think we don't need the scriptures, and we don't need the daily empowerment of the spirit, and we don't need to walk in prayer, but we'll just make it to the end, we'll just endure, is like grabbing a lamp, and thinking, this will be enough to get me there. To not be in community, with people who know you, that you share sin struggles, and weaknesses with, that know the things that you're running from, and running to, to help guard rail around you. I'm not saying fake community, where you have some friends, who know the amount of stuff, that you're willing to tell them, but people who actually know you, that you confess sin, that you walk in life with, that are going to help you get to the end.
I was reminded of the importance, of being prepared to endure this week, as I was reading reports about Robbie Zacharias. Robbie Zacharias was a powerful speaker, evangelist, apologist, very well known, had a large organization. When he died in 2020, people spoke about how he was a good example, of faithfulness and endurance. And then, lady after lady came forward, with abuse, and allegations, and it turns out he'd been lying, and using his position of power, for his own personal gain, for some time. And if I'm to think, that I'm somehow better than Robbie Zacharias, that I'm on a trajectory, that will get me to 74, and utter faithfulness, without ever investigating, the little things, that I'm starting to let grow now, without ever repenting, without putting the things around me, that will help me make to the end, I'm grabbing a lamp, and walking outside, and hoping for the best.
And I'm hoping that he returns, in a timeline that suits me, and it's foolish. And some of you right now, are in a little spurt, of good faithfulness, and if he shows up, in a good timeline, then it might work out for you. But Christianity is endurance, and walking in faithfulness, daily, not little spurts of energy, and we need to put the things in place, that help us to endure. Because we do not know, when he will come. Third parable. Verse 14.
For it will be like a man, going on a journey. Hold on one second. Some of you right now, have things in place, that if they continue to grow, you will not love Jesus, 10 years from now. 20 years from now. Some of you right now, have things that are small, that you are allowing to grow, and if they continue to grow, you will not be here, you will not belong to the Lord, and you will not be prepared. And it is important, and weighty, that we make decisions now, that help us make it long term.
And that is repenting of certain things, getting rid of certain things, changing some of our lifestyle, so that we do not think, that I'm okay right now, but I'm on the edge, and that we would let something, continue to grow, that would lead us astray. Verse 14. For it will be like a man, going on a journey, who called his servants, and entrusted to them, his property. So he calls his servants, and he hands over to them, his stuff. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability, then he went away. Okay, so talents, is not the English word talent.
Like if someone plays the violin, you're like, wow, they're really talented. It's a weight. It'd be like saying, he gave one five pounds, another 15 pounds, whatever. Like it's just a weight. But, this passage, is where we get the English word, talent. Because it was a gift, given to them, based off of their ability.
And so we use the English word, talent, because of this. It informed our definition, of this word. To not just be a weight, but to be understood, as things that God gives you. Like Shaquille O'Neal, is talented. Because he can dunk the ball, without jumping. He can.
He can stand under it, and dunk. And I probably could have done okay, in the NBA, if I could do that. But I have to jump, and not very high. He's talented. He was gifted something, that he then used. And so that's where we get that word.
But in this picture, just at the beginning, don't use that. Just understand that he had servants. One was good. One was okay. One not so much. And he gave them, weights of gold.
Bags of weighted gold. We find out it's gold later. It's an insane amount of money, that he gives them. And he says, hey, I'm going on a journey. Tend to my stuff well. And he disperses it among them, and he leaves.
He who had received, the five talents, went at once, and traded with them. And he made, five talents more. So also, he who had the two talents, made two talents more. But he who had received, the one talent, went and dug in the ground, and hid his master's money. Okay. So the first two guys, the one who was solid, one pretty solid, one not so much.
First two guys, immediately go, and go, I've got to get to work. I've got to put this money to work. I've got to make some trades. I've got to make some business deals. I've got to do some stuff. They get to work with it, and they both double the investment, the master gave them.
The third guy goes, I've got to dig a hole. And probably draw a map. That's my plan. So the third guy does. Goes, digs a hole, buries it. I'm guessing, draws a treasure map.
That was his plan. Okay. Verse 19. Now, after a long time, do y'all see this? Do y'all pick up on this? There's a long time here.
The groom was delayed last time. He's telling us, be ready. You don't know, but be ready for a long time. Be ready to endure. Now, after a long time, the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, Master, you delivered to me five talents.
Here, I have made five talents more. His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little. I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master. And he also, who had two talents, came forward, saying, Master, you delivered to me two talents.
Here, I have made two talents more. And his master said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little. I will set you over much. enter into the joy of your master. He also who had received the one talent came forward saying, Master, I knew you to be a hard man reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. So I was afraid and I went and hid your talent in the ground.
Here, have what is yours. Okay. First guy comes back and he's got this gold measured out. So he brings in five talents worth of gold and then five talents more and he says, here's the five talents, here's five talents more. It's a significant amount of gold that he lays out in front of him. The second guy comes in with two talents and two talents more.
The third guy walks in with a really dirty bag. Have y'all ever dug something up that's been buried for a long time? It's gross. He just plops it down. He says, here, have what's yours. I don't think very highly of you.
That's really what he says. You're a hard man. You reap where you don't sow. I just buried your stuff. There, get off my back. He says, but his master answered in verse 26, you wicked and slothful servant.
Slothful means lazy. You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scatter no seed. Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers. And at my coming, I should have received what was my own with interest. I like to imagine this guy going, a bank. Oh, a bank would have made way more sense.
Wouldn't have even had to dig. Verse 28, So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away and cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Jesus will return and we will be as those who have to give an account for things that did not belong to us.
I don't know if you understand this, but you live and move and breathe at his discretion. You have the intelligence you have, you have the wealth you have as a steward. You have the energy you have, the physical ability you have, the mental ability you have as a steward. A steward means this does not belong to you. It belongs to the master. And he returns, he'll have questions about how you handled it and what you did with it.
Your mama ever give you some money and send you to the store? Did you return with a Nintendo or the milk she asked you to buy? You understood that money didn't belong to you. You were a steward. And the reality is that's how our money, our intelligence, our physical ability, everything that we have is on loan to us from the Lord and when he returns we will give an account. Did we love him?
Did we work as if we were laboring for his kingdom and his name and his glory? You see, these are servants. If they lose the money, they're on the hook for it. If they gain money, they don't get to keep it. They just hand it over to the master and the first two servants are faithful and they get invited into the joy of the master and it reads as if he enjoys them and they enjoy him and they longed for his return. They wanted to please him.
The third servant does not seem to like the master very much. Doesn't think very highly of him. Wants to do exactly what he needs to do to get the master to leave him alone. And he's confused about how that works. Look, I'll do my thing, you do your thing. Leave me alone.
And the master says, that's not how it works. And when Jesus returns, if we have sat and thought that we can just do what we want and that he, when he returns, will leave us alone, he will ultimately do that. But to be cast out of his presence into outer darkness is not a place of joy and hope and delight. It's a place of utter destruction. C.S. Lewis is a theologian who always said that people get what they want.
If you want Jesus, you'll get him. And if you don't want him, if you want to stand on your own, if you want to be held accountable for your own stuff, if you want to be king over your own little world, you'll get that. But that is hell. And I think it's fair to see that this steward, this servant, misunderstood what was going to happen when he gave an account. Jesus, Jesus, the gracious, loving Jesus, the son of God who came to die in place for sinners to redeem them, wants you to be ready. Hear that.
They say, when are you going to return? And he says, be ready. When matters less, be ready. I want you to see the pictures of what happens when he returns and they're ready. The first one, he says this, verse 45, chapter 24, it's on screen. He says, who then is the faithful and wise servant whom his master has set over his household to give them their food at the proper time?
Blessed is the servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Oh, it will be joyous and good. Can you imagine that? The servant's at work, the master shows up, see him and do exactly what he's supposed to do. The smile that cracks over his face, the joy that the servant feels that, yes, I was doing what I was supposed to do and also, yes, the master's back. Life is better now.
He's blessed. Or in verse 10, it says, those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast and the door was shut. Can you imagine that day? When the groom comes and the party starts and we get to go into the feast, picture it's midnight, it's pitch black. The door opens, smells, music, light, warmth, all pour out into the dark night. And they walk in, smiles on every face, dancing, singing, delight, pleasure, and the door shuts.
And oh, we should long for the day when the door is shut behind us. Oh, praise Jesus that one day the door will be shut behind us. One day we'll be so secure and so kept and so warm and in such delight and there will be no ability for us to mess it up. Oh, praise Jesus that he shuts the door. And for those who are ready and longing for his return that we walk into a feast. or in the third parable, well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little.
I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master. Greater responsibility, greater weight, and greater joy. Come to light with the master. The results of being ready at the return of Christ are glorious just as the consequences are grave for those who are unready when he returns. 51, chapter 24, it says, we'll cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites.
In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Or in chapter, verse 10, chapter 24, those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast and the door was shut. Afterward, the other virgins came also saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered, truly I say to you, I do not know you. When the door shuts, all the joy, all the light, all the music is shut out and it's just darkness. And there will be those on the other side of the door who are banging on the door and saying, let us in.
And he shifts. He does this a lot in his parables where he's telling the story and then he shifts into a bigger picture and they're saying, Lord, Lord. And he says, depart from me, I do not know you. You see, it matters that Christ knows us, that he indwells us, that we are in him. Not just that we know him or know about him but that he knows us. And the question is, do you belong to Christ or do you just know about him?
Have you surrendered to Christ or do you just know about him? Have you just heard about him or the people around you know Christ? Do you know Christ? And more importantly, does he know you? Verse 30 of chapter 25, it says, And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
We do not like to hear about hell. We do not like to talk about hell. We've been told, if you've grown up in the church, that we ought to talk about nice things. We ought to talk about loving things. We ought to talk about gracious things. We ought to tell people how much Jesus loves them, not how horrible hell is.
But the reality is, Jesus loves us enough to tell us how horrible hell is. This is the sixth time in the Gospel of Matthew that he says there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And I want you to picture that. You ever watch a courtroom scene? When they walk back in to give the verdict and everybody holds their breath. And they say, will you find the defendant guilty?
And people scream. And people flop on the ground. People yell, no! And that there's sorrow. And there's mourning with broken weeping. Or there's gnashing of teeth in pain and hurt and anger and fury.
And Jesus says over and over again, six times, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
And I think there's some of us who still haven't pictured that. The utter despair and brokenness of an eternity without Christ. That we might on that day be found unprepared. and we might at that moment begin begging, Lord, more time and time's up. That there will be people around us who do not know Christ, that on that day the door will shut in their face and those who should have been telling them about Christ will wish that we had had more time or that we had handled our time better. The door will be closed in their face. That some of you in here, the door will be closed in your face and you will be cast into outer darkness in a place where there is eternal torment, weeping and gnashing of teeth.
And that is the result of all those who have a Christless eternity. And here's what you need to know. Jesus loves you so much that he does not want that for you, that he came to save you from that. And he came to die for you that you might have hope. 2 Peter says this. He says, in the future they will say, where is the promise of his coming?
For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation. Peter says people are going to start saying, Jesus isn't coming back. Everything's the same. And Peter says in verse 8, do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years is one day. All right, that math doesn't work.
At least on our side, it's like we can't be both, Peter. It's not a, that's not a, you can't carry that out. But what Peter's saying is, time doesn't work the same for him. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you. Not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. Oh, he's not slow.
He's kind. He's not slow. He's patient. He wants you to reach repentance. He wants you to see your sin and hate it. He wants you to see him as a risen savior.
He wants you to be redeemed by his blood. He came that he might die, that we might have life. He wants you. He gets no joy from the people that he has to cast out. He wants to say welcome, come into the joy of the master. He wants as many to fill his house and to close the door and to celebrate.
And he wants you to reach repentance. Praise God he's patient. I saw a stat that said, in the last 150 years, more people have placed faith in Christ than in the first 1800 after Christ. Praise God he's patient. Oh, he's filling up his banquet hall. Oh, he's gathering more that will belong to him that will celebrate his glory.
So are you ready? That's the only question. When is he coming back? Are you ready? John 6, 28 says, they said to him, what must we do to be doing the works of God? And Jesus answered them, this is the work of God that you believe in him whom he sent.
Do you belong to Christ? Have you repented? Have you surrendered? Because if you haven't, if we do not await his coming with eager joy, consistent faithfulness, filled by his spirit and carried to that last day, we will not be ready. And God have mercy. Wait a little longer. that we might be ready.
The band's going to come back up. And you need to ask this question. Are you ready? Are you ready to stand before him? Have you been living in such a way that you might endure? Do you have the form of faithfulness but no substance?
Are you just around those who believe but are not prepared for his coming? It matters. The consequences are great. He has done all that he needs to do that you might be redeemed. He has paid for your sin with his own blood. He is not calling you to be good.
He is calling you to repent. He's calling you to surrender. He's calling you to life. This is not a call to come and make yourself perfect and beautiful. He does that through his own grace and his own work on your behalf. That's why the work that is given to us is that we might believe in him and therefore we might love him.
That's why we long for his return because he is so good. And he brings joy and delight and forgiveness and love and life with him. May we be ready on that day. Do not leave this place if you have that and need doubt in your mind as to whether or not you're ready. It's utter foolishness that you would leave something as weighty as eternity up to chance. He's gracious to bring you here.
He's gracious to have waited this long. He desires your repentance. Please turn from your sin and trust in Jesus. Let's pray. Lord, may we be wise. Lord, may we see your love poured out for us on the cross and may we be ready.
Lord, would you lead us by your grace to repentance that we might have hope and life in you and we might hate our sin and love your sacrifice. And Lord, for the Christians in this room, for those who say they belong to you, but that are on a trajectory that will lead them far from you. May we take the simple steps now to be ready then. We ask this in your name, by your grace, and through your spirit. Amen.
Around the Throne
Transcript
How are we doing this morning? My name's Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. We're finishing up. Today is the last week of our Home Sweet Home series where we've been looking at the church and how the church ought to organize, how the church ought to act in some ways, what makes for a healthy church. And so we're going to be in the book of Revelation today.
And in the book of Revelation, we're getting a picture. It's where we're going to be reading. And in a lot of the book of Revelation, we're getting a picture of future events. We're getting a picture of some things that haven't happened yet that are going to happen. And I got to thinking about it as we were going to study this passage today. I got to thinking about that this is real.
Like this is our actual future for the church. This is a real picture of what's going to happen in the future. And I just got to thinking about how that ought to affect us. And so you ever watch a movie where it shows a clip of the ending at the beginning of the movie? So it's like the heroes walking out of a building.
It's blowing up behind them. They're smoking a cigarette. And it's like they're scuffed up, but they're still like good looking. Like I don't know how they did it, but it's like something dramatic has happened, but they're okay. And then it'll be like, it'll just change. And they'll be at an office at their desk at their computer wearing glasses.
They weren't wearing glasses a second ago. Somehow over the past couple of weeks, whatever, their eyesight got better or the future weeks, whatever. And it says like two weeks earlier. And it's like, so, you know, what I just saw was a picture of the end. And now what I'm looking at is pre-adventure version of this, this person. And so I got to thinking about like, what if in life you had a moment?
I don't know how it worked. I don't know how you got to see this, but you got to see three weeks from now. This is you. You're smoking the cigarette. You're walking out of the exploding building. Like, what have you got to see that?
And you knew this is how this ends up. And then when this adventure starts, like when this thing happens, when you get called by the CIA, they pick you up in a limo. And they're like, we need you to quit working at your desk and to come on a secret mission. Like you would think, okay, I saw the end of this. Like I know, like, and I got to think about how that would make you act, like how that would make me act. So my first thought was that would make me excessively, aggressively lazy.
Because I would think, I don't, I don't really have to do anything. The building blows up. I still have my cigarette. We're going to be okay. Like I know how this ends. Like I would think it doesn't really matter how all this plays out because I know how the end, like that was my first thought.
And then I got to thinking about it. And I really got to thinking about it. And I think actually, knowing that that's how the story ended, it would have the exact opposite effect on me. I would do the craziest stuff I could come up with. Because I knew two weeks from now, I'm still standing. I got, I got a two week window where all of the action hero stuff works.
That's what I would think. So when the CIA said, we need you on a mission, I would have said, because I'd just be so absolutely confident. Usually I'd be freaking out, but I'm so absolutely confident because I know the end, I'd be like, you came to the right guy. Like I would try to do, I would go buy sunglasses and cigarettes. I don't smoke, but I'd have to smoke for the next two weeks because I've got to have a cigarette at the end of the explosion. Like the biggest, baddest dude would come walking out.
Like he, he would look like the Russian that Rocky had to fight in Rocky four. And I'd be like, I got this. And the reason was I saw my face. It wasn't smashed in. I was still walking. I don't know how this is going to go down, but I know I'm going to walk away from it.
I'd be like, don't, don't even worry about it. And I'd just walk out and I'd be like, I don't know what's going to happen, but it's going to be great. I might would start the fight just by kicking his shin. Cause I can. I might say something derogatory about his family members on my way over there because I can. Like I know how this is going to work out.
There would be times where I probably would have just been, everyone would be hiding and I'll be like, I'll handle this. And they'd be like, do you need a gun? And I'll be like, no, just to freak them out. Cause I don't need a gun. Cause I know how it ends up. Like I get to walk out of the exploding building.
Like this is what I got to thinking about. And I spent way too much time thinking about it. As you can tell, I got really excited. That's the picture we're getting today of the church. We're getting this picture of where we end up. We're getting this picture of the church walking out of the exploding building, uh, still intact.
We're getting this picture in the book of Revelation of where we're headed. And it is a real reality in the future for us. And I think we're going to go through the same process, which is at first we're going to think, oh, this will make me excessively aggressively lazy. But I think it's meant to have the opposite effect that God gave us this picture to have the exact opposite effect on our hearts and our souls. It's to help us see this is where it's going to end up. So you can have the bravery, the courage, the energy to, to accept the call that Jesus has placed on his church.
So let's go to Revelation five. Now, uh, there, if you've been around the church for a while and you hear we're going to be in the book of Revelation, maybe you've read the Bible. So maybe, you know, very little about the Bible, but there's a little bit of like, oh, Revelation, like this is about to get interesting. There's going to be a lot of crazy things. And in some ways there are, there are some things in the book of Revelation that are hard to understand. The book of Revelation is the Revelation of Jesus Christ.
So you've had people walk through the book of Revelation and they want to talk about all the crazy imagery and the pictures we were met with in the book. Uh, but it's, it's the, the point of the book is to reveal Christ to point to Jesus. And so, uh, what we have in the book of Revelation is John, the apostle. So who followed Jesus around, he's been exiled to the isle of Patmos. He's worshiping God and Jesus shows up and basically is like, I'm going to show you some things. And then John writes them down through the leadership of the Holy spirit.
John pins the book of Revelation. And I think, uh, it's very helpful for us that this was funneled through John, that John has shown these images. And he writes them down as best he can, because John's going to explain them to us in a way we can kind of understand. There are places in the book of Revelation where John says things like, uh, he said this and his voice sounded like a waterfall. And it's because John was doing his best to describe. It's like if a waterfall could talk, that's what it sounded like.
There's times where he's like explaining these pictures and he's just writing down as best he can. This is what it was like. And, and instead of having all the right words for it, I think he has all the words that God designed to be right for us to be able to understand. So there are some parts in this passage that we're going to read where it's like, what does that mean? I don't know. But we're going to apply a pastor named John Piper.
He has a rule that he calls the law of least meaning, which means when you come to a text in the scriptures, there are times where you're not going to understand completely what it's saying. But if you can understand something that it's saying, then that was worth understanding. Like that was good. And so what we're going to do is there's some stuff that's really crystal clear in this passage. And there's some stuff that's really confusing. We're going to kind of just go past the confusing parts because we want to see the part that's crystal clear.
And that's the part we're going to, we're going to take out of this. And so as we get to look at this picture of future us, I just, I'm going to pray that God would reveal himself to us in it and that he would use it to embolden us as a church and as his people. So let's pray real quick. God, we thank you for the images that we have in the book of Revelation. We thank you for you giving us this glimpse into your presence, into eternity, into the future of your people. We pray, God, that you would use it to equip us and embolden us today to accept the mission you've called us on.
We love you and we praise you in Jesus' name. Amen. Revelation chapter 5 is on page 665 if your Bible looks like this. If you don't own a Bible, this is our gift to you. Take it home with you. Then I saw, so this is John, he's writing down this vision that he's seeing.
Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne, a scroll written within and on the back and sealed with seven seals. Okay. He's in heaven. He sees someone sitting on a throne. Kings sit on thrones. That's God.
So he sees God and in God's right hand, he's holding a scroll. It's rolled up parchment written all over it. So it's not just parchment that would be written in the middle part. It's written all over it and it's sealed with seven seals, meaning that this is a very important parchment. This is a very important scroll. We find out as we continue to read that this scroll contains the end of human history.
It contains how the earth plays out. It contains some of God's wrath and God's judgment on the earth as they begin to undo these seals. So what we see, we're met with this picture of God sitting on a throne, holding human history in his hand. That's what John is seeing and writes it down. Verse 2. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?
So this angel asks, who can ascend to the throne of God and take something from his hand? Who can come up here? Who has the audacity? Who has the worthiness? Who has the glory to walk up to the throne of God and remove something from his hand? Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?
And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or look into it. And I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. This angel stands beside the throne of God where God holds human history in his hand. And he says, who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals? And there is dead silence. No one in heaven.
No one on earth. No one under the earth. No one. No one. No one. No one.
No one. No one. Worthy. And the silence is broken by the loud weeping of John, whose heart and soul have just been crushed. As he stands before the throne of God and realizes no one's worthy. No one can ascend to God.
No one. No one can open the scroll. No one has the glory or the weight or the value. No one. You just made a cameo in the story. I'm going to read it to you again.
No one. No one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or look into it. I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or look into it. You're going to be in one of those three places when this call rings out in eternity. You're going to be in heaven, on earth, or under it. You didn't pipe up.
No one's worthy. That's all of human history. No one's worthy. That's every king, every astronaut, every scientist. That's every loving, gracious, wonderful person you've ever met. No one gets to say, I can walk up to the throne.
No one gets to say, I can walk up to the throne. No one gets to say, I can walk up to the throne. And in this moment, John's heart breaks. Because we have nothing to offer. Humanity has no ability to approach God. And it's crushing.
And John, I love that John says it this way. And I began to weep loudly. John didn't write. And tears began to roll down my face. John said, I was a blubbery, snotty mess by the throne of God. Because I had no worthiness.
And no one else did. I couldn't catch my breath. I was doing the... Like, I made a scene in heaven. An angel, a mighty angel spoke. There's dead silence.
And then I went... Like crying, embarrassing, sobbing in front of the throne of God. Because nobody can approach Him. And one of the elders said to me... These are some men, elders that are around the throne. Weep no more.
Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered so that He can open the scroll and its seven seals. That's reference to Old Testament prophecy. The lion of the tribe of Judah and the root of David are talking about the same person. And that's Jesus who came in the line of David the king. Who came out of the tribe of Judah. Who was the lion of the tribe of Judah.
And He has conquered. He is worthy to open the scroll. So an elder looks at John and says, you don't have to weep. You don't have to be heartbroken. You don't have to be crushed by this. I want you to hear that as declared to all of us who were found unworthy.
He says, you don't have to be crushed. There is someone who is worthy. There's someone who can go in our place to the throne. There's someone who can walk to God on our behalf. He doesn't just say, yeah, you should keep crying, but this guy is worthy. No, He says that His worthiness lets your weeping stop.
His worthiness unbreaks our heart. And between the throne and the four living creatures. Those are some big scary angels around God's throne. And among the elders, I saw a lamb standing as though it had been slain. John's told to look at the lion of the tribe of Judah. And he says, I looked for a lion and I saw a lamb.
I looked for the one who's conquered. And I saw someone who looked like they had been conquered. I looked for the one that has the glory and the worthiness. And I see a lamb who's been crushed. I see a lamb who's been slain. Jesus Christ went to the cross so that our unworthiness, so that our weeping can stop.
Jesus was slain. And in His death on the cross became ultimately worthy to ascend to the throne of God. In His sacrifice for His people, He bought our worthiness and represents us to the King. That's our hope that we have this morning. I saw a lamb standing as though it had been slain with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. And He went and took the scroll from the right hand of Him who was seated on the throne.
I want you to see that. God of the universe holds the human history in His hand. And Jesus Christ walks up as a lamb who was slain, as the root of David, as the lion of the tribe of Judah. And on humans' behalf, on all of heaven and all of earth and everything under the earth, He walks up and He takes history from God's hand. Because He's worthy. Because He was slain.
And when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the lamb, each holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals. For you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God, from every tribe and language and people and nation. And you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth. They said, By your blood you have ransomed. We don't use that word ransomed as much as they did in their culture.
We still use it. It still means the same thing. Recently ISIS captured a journalist, and they asked for $132 million in ransom. Ransom is a price paid to retrieve a hostage, or to retrieve a slave. And they say, Jesus is worthy because by his blood he's ransomed a people for God. The church was held hostage to sin.
The church was in slavery to our enemy, was in slavery to our sin, and Jesus, by his blood, bought us. By his blood he ransomed a people for God. And it says he ransomed them from every tribe and language and people and nation. And you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth. When Jesus walked to the throne, and he grabbed history out of the hand of God, because he was worthy, he was worthy through his sacrifice on the cross, and he was worthy on behalf of all the people he's ransomed. He was worthy on behalf of the church.
That's why John can stop weeping. That's why you don't have to be crushed by your sin and your unworthiness. Because we have one who ascends the throne on our behalf. Flip over a page. I want us to see the picture of what he's accomplished for us. I want us to get to see this clearly.
So I just, we're going to spend some time here, and I want us to clearly see. We're in chapter 7 on page 666. We're going to look at verses 9 and 10. So some more things begin to unfold in this moment in heaven. The seals begin to be opened. There begins to be wrath and judgment poured out on the earth.
It begins to be the unfolding, the unraveling of human history. And then John says this. Verse 9. That's a celebration of purity. None of those people wear those outside of Jesus' sacrifice. They get to enter heaven dressed in white because Jesus entered heaven dressed in blood.
Clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands. And crying out with a loud voice, salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. Salvation doesn't belong to good work. Salvation doesn't belong to our effort. Salvation belongs to God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. So we're wrapping up our series on what the church is, on who the church is.
We started the series by saying the church is the people made the people of God by Jesus. That's the church. The people throughout all time and history, all space, all geography, all nations, all borders. It's the people made the people of God by Jesus. And then we walked through and said, okay, what happens to a person when Jesus makes you one of his people? What happens to you when he becomes king?
We said, what does a church look like? How do we organize? What are some practices we ought to have? Like we walked through this and now we're finishing up. Last week we said that Jesus told the church, go make disciples of all nations. Go make disciples of all ethnicities.
It's ethne in the Greek. Go make disciples that aren't Jewish is what he was saying to them. That's one of the ways they would have heard it because he had been working and discipling Jewish men who had the Old Testament and understood these prophecies and these promises. And then he says, go make disciples that aren't Jewish. How many Jewish brothers and sisters do we have in this room right now? Thank you, Jesus.
That it wasn't to a certain type of people, that it wasn't to a certain type of language, that it was, that he fulfilled this promise that they listened to him and did what he said, which was to take the gospel to people who weren't Jewish. So I was, with this picture in mind of us getting to see what heaven looks like, I just want to point out a few things to us. I was hanging out with my cousin, Bumi. My grandparents were missionaries to Nigeria, West Africa. They adopted my uncle, Abel. He married my aunt, Abike.
I have three first-generation Nigerian-American cousins. My uncle's been in the family as long as my mom has. He is blood to me, even though not really. And I was hanging out with my cousin, Bumi. This is last year around 4th of July because he comes down a lot and helps us sell fireworks. That doesn't have anything to do other than that's why he was here.
I help run a firework store. So if y'all like to buy some fireworks, Aiken, South Carolina. I'm just kidding. So he was down helping us do that and he and I went. He loves local, good restaurants. I took him to Rivera's Food, which is a very good Mexican food place over here in West Columbia.
And I took him over there and we were eating. I was introducing him to some different things there that I really like there. While I was there, I ordered horchata, which is delicious. It is cinnamon rice milk. And I ordered one and I'm used to, like when you order like a milkshake, you get that one. So I'm sitting there, we're talking, hanging out.
The guy walks by with a pitcher and goes, more horchata? And like I just stared at him because fuses had blown in my brain because I did not realize I could just have them give me more. I drank like three giant glasses of horchata. Now, I'm going to advise you on something. Rice milk is different from milk milk. I found this out later in the day when I had like a sloshy bowling ball in my stomach.
I was like, I feel terrible. It was worth it. I can't move. I'm going to die. After we ate there, we went by, I was showing him another place I like, which is a Mexican bakery. And I won't try to say the word that's listed on the front, even though I really want to because I would butcher it and I might just say a different Spanish word.
But it's a Mexican bakery. They don't speak English. You have to, you just got to, you know, fumble through at the end. I walked in. I was looking stuff up on how to say things in Spanish and I was like, point at ones because, you know, they might have cream inside and I had to figure out how to say, con crema. And she'd say, you know, no, whatever.
And I'd say, okay, okay, like I want this one or whatever. So we order. I'm eating a churro. Then we walk over to the little, like Tienda place, like store there and got aloe drink. Did y'all know you can drink aloe? Like I only had ever rubbed it on my pasty skin after sun had assaulted me.
It's the only thing I'd ever used aloe for. I saw this thing and it was like aloe. It looked about the same. It was just a little more liquidy. And I thought, I'm not sure you can drink that. But you can.
It's apparently an edible thing. Maybe y'all knew that. I didn't know this. And so I was hanging out with my cousin and we were talking about stuff. And then it just dawned on me as I was eating this churro and drinking aloe drink, which again, should not have been chasing a gallon of horchata. But I went for it.
And I looked at him and I said, dude, my version of heaven has been really racist. And I didn't know it. Whenever I had pictured heaven, I had known that it would be this fulfillment of God's glory on earth. So I was just transferring a bunch of white things there. Like I know biscuits are in heaven. I know barbecue is in heaven.
Like I know they're there. I knew that. I was eating a churro. I had just drank horchata. I'm hanging out with my first generation Nigerian African-American cousin and I'm thinking, this stuff's there too. Horchata is there.
My aunt and uncle's achara is there. Like it's going to be there because look at this picture. John's looking in heaven and what does he see? 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. we don't become some sort of generic human form in heaven. He sees tribes, ethnicities, languages and peoples before the throne. He sees everybody makes it.
That declaration that the angel's saying in Revelation 5 which is he's ransomed by his blood people from every tribe and language and nation. John turns around and in two chapters says, I saw them and they still came from that tribe and they still had that language and they still had that nation and they all gathered before the throne of God to praise his name because God is the God of all humanity and he made all the peoples and in every culture there's stuff that lines up with what God designed it to be in every culture there's stuff that is absolutely sinful and broken and there is no right culture before God because all of the cultures belong to him. And I had inadvertently made America some form of heaven. There will be some stuff from the U.S. there.
I mentioned a few biscuits is one of them. but it's going to be so much more miraculously beautiful than that. There's going to be so much more depth and richness than that and I know in my limited human version God had to meet me on my love language which was food particularly that day things made out of cinnamon to tell me that he had much more in store not only for then but for now. I want us to see something here and I want us to talk about this. I got on Joshua Project the International Mission Board has some different statistics but both of them kind of reveal the same thing. Joshua Project studies people groups so does the IMB International Mission Board.
To tell me that he had much more in store not only for then but for now. I want us to see something here and I want us to talk about this. I got on Joshua Project the International Mission Board has some different statistics but both of them kind of reveal the same thing. Joshua Project studies people groups so does the IMB International Mission Board. Joshua Project though we're going to just look at their statistics Joshua Project
Says that there are 16,510 people groups so this is languages this is locations 16,510 different types of people groups unreached people groups meaning people from them there's no significant amount of Jesus followers among them sometimes it means nobody as far as we know has even made it to them no Bible has been translated no gospel has been preached in their language they may have never
Even heard the name of Jesus 6,672 people groups no gospel no followers of Jesus that means about 40% of the people groups on earth no gospel no Bible no proclamation of the hope that we have they don't have an elder looking at them and saying weep no more just sin just brokenness no hope
Let me do it by population because you might would say as I would say hearing that statistic yeah but I'm sure a lot of those people groups are really small there's about 7.29 billion people on earth according to the Joshua Project population of unreached people is 3.07 billion that puts about 42%
Of the humans on the globe no gospel no Bible no Jesus no hope no weep no more now I want us to with crystal clear vision see that the angels said Jesus had ransomed from every tribe from every
People from every language from every nation people for his own possession Jesus has bought them and I want us to see with crystal clear vision that John says they make it John
Says I saw before the throne people from every tribe and every language and every nation praising Jesus we know the cross happened we know that Jesus has purchased by his blood worthiness on behalf of his
People and we know that there's this moment in time where an angel stands up and says who is worthy and Jesus with audacity walks to the throne of God and we get to weep no longer and there's a time when we stand before
The throne of God among our brothers and sisters proclaiming that Jesus owns salvation and that it belongs to the God who sits on the throne and we're placed in the middle with a call that says proclaim the gospel how does
God count people groups how does God count languages and tribes and nations is it the same way that Joshua Project does I doubt it Joshua Project and IMB don't even do it the same Jesus
Hasn't come back yet the job is not finished so we don't have to get caught up in that I don't care if they're off by a miraculously high number and it's only two billion people the job isn't
Finished we're still sent I want to push us here for a second and this may feel like I just want us to see something in heaven your family includes people that don't look like you in the eternity
As a Christian that you will spend before the throne of God your brothers and sisters aren't going to have the same skin tone same language same background same social economic standing right now
And if statistically in the US I think it's 90 ish percent nine out of ten of your friendships for everybody are same race generally same look the same as you same background
Same race I just want to push us here a little bit if that is the case for you that all of your relationships friendships look exactly like you do I'm not saying you're wrong it may have to do with the job
You work the neighborhood you're in I'm saying you might be wrong because it may have to do with the fact that that's easier because you think about things the same your backgrounds the same you talk about
Things the same it's an easier connection I know that within 10 10 minute drive of this building there's 70,000 people you got in your car anywhere you could drive in 10 minutes some of
You are like I drove 20 to get here yes there's a lot more people in that circle 10 minutes 56% of them are white 31% of them are black 8% of them are Hispanic 4% of them are Asian and Pacific
Islander but for some people that means you live in an apartment complex I know one family in our church family lives in an apartment complex that about one third of them are from India just in their apartment complex
I know of an apartment complex that we try to do stuff on a regular basis that's 50% Hispanic even though they make up only 8% of that 70,000 and God's told the church go to everybody
I'm not I'm not fussing at us I don't mean that at all I think in a lot of ways our church is very open to everybody I am saying that going to everybody will take more intentionality than going to the
People it's easiest to talk to and I am saying that this is what the church has been tasked with and I am saying that one
Day it's realized and we get to participate in that now we get to make our church look and feel as much like heaven as Jesus will allow us right now that's one of the reasons
We repent of sin it's one of the reasons we do all the things we do it's why we gather and sing to Jesus we've only read two bits of chapters they sang a lot already we get to gather
Around his throne and make much of Jesus and we get to as intentionally as we can be as a church family go out of our way to build relationships with everybody in your neighborhood at your office at your Job where you work
In your school in your classes we know the crosses happen we know this moment in history happened and rather than looking at that and going oh they all make it I don't have to do anything I think the more
We see this moment the more it has the opposite effect on us which is they all make it we get to go for it there are unreached people groups part of the reason they're unreached is because they're very hard to get to and when
You get to them they don't like you that's one of the reasons they're unreached if you can't if you just hop on a plane walk over there and they were like oh Americans we love you those people
Are reached the reason a lot of these Numbers are so high is that when you show up they kill you but here's the promise that's been given to the church we can keep going and they can keep killing us somebody's coming out we can keep going
They can keep killing us and at some point somebody from that tribe from that language from that people group will stand next to you by the throne and proclaim as loud and as violently as they can
Salvation belongs to him who sits on the throne and to the lamb we can keep going because we're going to make it you can right now go home pick a people group off of the Joshua
Project look at heaven and tell Jesus I'll go to them if you want me to and I'll die if you want me to because I know for a rock solid certainty that one day somebody
From that unreached people group will be there and they'll be my brother or my sister because you've bought them and I don't know if it'll have anything to do with me but I know you've called us and I
Know they'll be there and if I get to get that started I'll go some of you that's what you're supposed to do you're supposed to have us bring you up on stage and say we're going to
Lay hands on this sister we're going to lay hands on this brother and we're not telling you where they're going because you can't know where they're going because the people they're going to can't know they're coming and we're
Going to pray for them we're going to ask God to use them and if they get to come back praise Jesus and if we don't ever see them again praise Jesus because at no point was that not worth
It and at some point we'll stand before a throne and as loud and as violently as we can declare we'll say salvation belongs to our God and to the Lamb
Some of you you're supposed to go plant a church in a place that still speaks English you're supposed to go with a team we're going to take you to our
Pastor training process you're going to go to Atlanta you're going to New York where Chris Romalia says there's unreached people groups in New York
We're going to bring you up on stage we're going to pray for you we're going to stand and say a lot of you need
To leave and go with them they're moving to Atlanta you need to move to Atlanta and go with them they're moving to San
Diego you need to go with them some of you need to stay because staying is your version of going because God has already
Sent you you live in an apartment complex with an unreached people group some of you are going to stay in apartment complex in
South Carolina even though you want to get a house because 96% of the people in apartment complexes in South Carolina are not a
Part of a church 96% of people in an apartment complex in South Carolina are not a part of a church and God has
Already sent you you live there because God said I want my church here because I want that person around my throne some of
You are in the class you're in because Jesus has blood bought people in that class and he has infiltrated that class with you
Some of you picked the major you picked you prayed about it and you were like I guess just this one I don't know
Randomly some of you that was the worst interview I ever had they at the end they said we'll call you if we've decided
We're going to consider you for the Job and I responded I'll call you for the consideration of the and then I just trailed off
Because that sentence didn't make any sense and I walked out and I'm crying in my car and you got the Job because God
Has blood bought people at that Job and he sent you I don't know where you're supposed to go I don't know to whom
You're supposed to go I know you're supposed to go and I know I know that wherever God sends you your destination is with
Every tribe and language and people and nation around a glorious throne staring at a glorious king and as loud as we can proclaim
It salvation belongs to our God and to the lamb there's cards in front of you and there are cards on the seat beside you if
You're in the front row I want you to grab one and I think there are enough pins to go around if not I
Want you to share it's very heavenly and I just want you to for a second I want you to if you're a Christian
I want you to prayerfully ask where and who I want you to sit and listen who has God put you around already who
Has God let you not quit thinking about who has he just brought to your mind right now you've never even heard of I
Want you to ask where and I want you to ask who and I want you to sit for a second I want you
To sit and listen I want you to write down what you think and if you think something and you think no that's crazy
I want you to write it down I'm going to pray for us as we do this God we know that your son has purchased a people
You've ransomed them from sin some of them are still held hostage we know God that you've bought people from every tribe and language
And nation God I pray that right now through your Holy Spirit you would lead Christians to write down names to write down places
To write down businesses to write down schools to write down friends to write down neighbors and neighborhoods to write down nations and peoples
That you might begin something today with one of your followers that there might be more followers of you I ask for you to
Speak I want you to take very seriously whatever the Lord led you to write down band's going to come back up here we're going to spend
Some time singing as we will one day do as brothers and sisters around the throne of our king and I pray for us
That God will forever keep us situated fully between the cross and the throne so that we'll never forget what matters I pray that he will sear in our
Minds this image of us as his people with his people before his throne so that we will forever have the courage and the boldness to have awkward conversations to fight
Through friendships that shouldn't have been friendships but we wouldn't go away to to go to places that no one in their right mind should go to carry a message that no one in their right mind can believe
Outside of the gracious power and presence of the king through his holy spirit redeeming and calling people to himself I pray that among our
Church there will be more church plants there will be more missionaries there will be those who are found worthy to bleed and sweat
And cry and die for the king I pray that there would be so many people who live their life as if a cross
To a throne to gather as many people as they possibly can to one day stand beside and with everything we have to declare
Salvation belongs to him who sits on the throne and to the lamb let's pray God I pray that you would give us courage
And boldness to accept your call that as we see what the end looks like we would be able to say yes to the
Mission now that you would use this church to take very seriously sin and the gospel that this would be a group of people
Who believe and know for a certainty that we have no worthiness outside of the lamb that you've ransomed us by your blood and
That you're going to bring all your people there we love you and we praise you in Jesus name amen