God's Commitment To His Mission

God is totally, eternally committed to bringing glory to Himself by bringing people to Jesus.

God’s first concern is His own glory. It has to be, because God is not an idol worship, and God is the only being in the universe for whom this is not idol worship. The best news, the Gospel news, is that God’s is glorified on Earth primarily by the salvation of sinners, that’s you and me. Remember in John 17:1 Jesus prays ‘father glorify your son that your son may glorify you.’ That is, send me to the cross, that the whole world may look to me an be saved, and as they are saved they will glorify you.

Since this is the story of God, and the story of the church, we should expect it to be the story of the Bible. And it is. From Genesis to Revelation we find a God bringing glory to Himself by bringing a people to Jesus. It’s a lifetimes’ study to unpack all of this, so we’re going to land in four different places this evening, Genesis 3:9, 2 Samuel 7:13, Habbakuk 2:14, and of course, Matthew 28.

Look at Genesis 3:9. The Lord called out to Adam and Eve. He came looking for them. He knew what they had done and He knew they were hiding, but it didn’t stop Him. He came out looking for them. And so must we. He came looking for them in their sin, He came looking for us in our sin, now He sends us to look for others.

In 2 Samuel 7:13 we read ‘He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of His kingdom forever.’ What’s happening here? David wanted to build a temple for the Lord, but God told Him that He was going to do something instead. And what was that something? One of David’s sons would sit on David’s throne forever. Who is this son? Jesus! That’s why Mathew’s Gospel starts with a long list of names, so that we know who Jesus is. David’s Son who sits on the throne. And if He sits on the throne as our King, shouldn’t the greatest ambition of our lives be to serve Him and honour Him and extend His kingdom? We are ambassadors of the King, we have to tell people that He reigns!

And this King really will reign over all the Earth. Look at Habakkuk 2:14. ‘For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters fill the seas.’ Habakkuk was depressed and confused about God’s plan, and how did God remedy that? By showing Him a glorious vision of the future. God’s glory filling the whole earth, as the waters fill all the sea. This is why in Revelation 21 we learn that the Heavenly city is 12,000 stadia cubed, that was the size of the known world back then. Jesus says something similar in Matthew 24:14, this Gospel will be preached to all kingdoms of earth, and then the end will come. So the challenge is, get involved in the great commission, or waste your life. There’s no need to wait and see which team will come out on top and then join in. the church comes out on top. So join in!
And that brings us to Matthew 28:18-20.

What is Jesus calling us to? To be a witness. To tell people about Him. We all know how to witness. In a few weeks the parents among us will be witnessing about new class schedules and morning routines, by the end of the month, the college football fans among us will be witnessing about that pass, or that catch, or that tackle. Psalm 45:1 teaches us that our hearts will overflow with whatever our hearts find pleasing. Lets hope it’s Jesus most of the time.

Where does Jesus tell us to go? Everywhere! Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria and the outermost part. Across the street, across the state, across the world. Acts ends when the Gospel had reached Rome, the outermost part in those days, the world will end when the Gospel reaches the outermost part of this planet.
And why should we go? It’s scary isn’t it? Moreso to cross the street that to cross the state sometimes. But look at the two promises Jesus makes to us. Firstly, He has all authority in Heaven and on Earth, so we’re never on enemy territory, or even neutral territory, and secondly because He’ll be with us as we gfo. He’ll be with us as we preach, disciple and baptize.

The Great Promise

I love the great promise of Matthew 24:14. This Gospel will be preached to all nations, and then the end will come. Is there a sweeter 'and then' in all the Bible?

Jesus doesn't say the Gospel should be preached, or might be preached, or could be preached, He says it will be preached to all nations, and then the end will come. And we know Jesus is coming, we know the end is coming, so we know that the Gospel will fill the Earth as the waters fill the sea.

Nations doesn't mean Canada, Mexico and Brazil, but language groups or ethnic groups. The Gospel will be preached in and to every language, and then Jesus will return. So there's no fence sitting in the Christian life. There's no waiting around to see who wins, and then jumping in, we commit to pray, participate and proclaim.

We commit to pray. Jesus told us to. When He looked at the fields white for harvest, He didn't tell us to go, he told us to pray. How we pray for the end is how we gauge our passion for Jesus return. We don't prepare for His return with rapture wallcharts and collecting tinned food. Neither do we prepare for His return by doing nothing about it. We pray, maranatha, come Lord Jesus.

As we pray, we participate. We take part in the life of our local church, we commit our time and our treasure and our talents to what our church is doing. We share our faith with our friends, we let them know that we have found a feast in the wilderness, we ask them to come with us, because we will do them good, we tell them of our beloved and invite them to enjoy Him with us. We pray and we participate.

And we proclaim. The Gospel isn't true because it works, but it does work because it is true. It changes people, and so, because know the Gospel overcomes, we share the truth of it with people. We're not worried about being slurred because we believe in one God and one way to Him, we go and we lay down our lives to share the Gospel, like the millions before us have.

Is the great promise of Matthew 24:14 making a difference in your life? Are you praying? Are you participating? Are you proclaiming?

Opposing Jesus

The more people you meet in the Bible, the more you come to realise that people never change.

In Matthew 2, the wise men approach Herod and ask 'where is He who has been born King of the Jews?' Well, Herod's not supposed to know these things, so he assembles the chief priests and they tell him 'in Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophets...' The wise men then take off with their gifts, and go and worship God incarnate.

But Matthew 2 also tells us that when Herod was asked this question, 'he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him...' He was troubled by Jesus. He was the King, he ran this town, he ruled the Jews, if someone was going to be 'born' king of the Jews, that was going to upset him, and, Matthew seems to suggest, a lot of Jerusalem as well.

This is one reason that people oppose Jesus, that Jesus troubles people. They've got too much to lose. If the Gospel is true, their whole life will have to be different. The way they spend their money and their time, the way they relate to people. People are troubled by Christmas, and troubled by Christians. I was here once upon a time. I started going to church semi regularly about six months before i was saved and it bothered me. It bothered me that otherwise normal, sensible people would worship Jesus. It bothered me even more that i liked these people. Providentially, in Year 9 i was awful at maths, and ended up in the bottom set for my GCSE maths. That class was taught by my school's chaplain. He was a great guy (except he made me learn maths) and it bothered me that he was a Christian. What's he seeing that i'm not? I've got too much to lose if the Gospel's true. Too much invested in me. I, like Herod and like Jerusalem, and like people today, was troubled by Christmas, and Christians.

Sometimes people who don't know Jesus are like the second group we meet in Matthew 2. Sometimes people who do know Jesus are too. Herod calls the religious experts, the ones who never miss church and know their Bibles inside out, the moralistic attenders, if you like. Their response? 'The Messiah? Oh yeh, in Nazareth, any rookie Pharisee knows that...' Matthew doesn't tell us they were troubled by the wise men's news, in fact they weren't even that bothered by it. They just carried on with what they were doing.

This is a danger for people outside the church. The business of Christmas gets in the way, gifts, family and food, and they never consider the meaning behind it. Maybe, if we're doing our job, they get invited to a carol service, or a Christmas program, but they're too busy, too much living to do. This is what CS Lewis refers to as the gentle slope to Hell. No danger signs, no sudden cliffs, just an easy, gentle descent.

But inside the church we face the same danger. We can be too caught up in carol services, Christmas programs,  and church meetings themselves that we're just too busy to stop and reflect. 'Oh yeh, God Himself born of a virgin, now let's keep moving.' This is a danger for everyone in the church, for everyone who loves Jesus. With good, right and pure motives, we can forget about what we're supposed to be celebrating. Jesus.

Both these dangers are clear and present. We should expect people outside the church to oppose, or misunderstand Christmas, we all once did, and but for the grace of God, there go we still. But let's not make the same mistake. Let's stop. Let's sit down with the Bible and ask God to give us ears to hear. Let's not miss Christmas but focusing in Christmas, let's celebrate Christmas by celebrating Jesus.

The Sign of Jonah (Jonah 1:17-2:10)

Last time we saw how Jonah is about more than a man and a big fish. We see more of this idea when we read Matthew 12:40, as Jesus, in typical meek and mild style tells His listeners that evil and adulterous people look for a sign, no sign will be given them apart from the sign of Jonah. Jesus will be three days and nights in the earth, just as Jonah was three days and nights in the belly of the fish. What's the sign of Jonah? A man rising from the dead. This sign should be enough to rest our faith on.

So how does the rest of Jonah 2 point us towards the sign of Jonah?

When we pray, God hears.


Sometimes we can think that we need to be 'doing well,' with the Lord to pray effectively. Now, it's true that when we're mired in sin our prayers will lack the clarity and passion that they will otherwise, but does Christ ignore the prayers of the sinful heart? of course not! He'd have to ignore every prayer if He ignored any prayer. Christ's name is the signature on our crumpled dirty cheques. If He hears Jonah in the fish, he hears you and me, no matter how far we feel from Him. Why? Because of the sign of Jonah, because He died and rose for us, Our sins are dealt with, we can pray freely.

All things for good, even fish.


Jonah doesn't pray to be saved from the fish. He's praying because he's been saved by the fish! Romans 8:28 reminds us that God works all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. So? So, when Jonah get's swallowed by a fish, he still knows that God hasn't forsaken him. And no matter where you end up, God is working it together for good, and you will again look upon His holy temple. This has to be tyre iron that holds up the bruised reed of our faith. Our faith goes beyond our circumstances. Why? Because of the sign of Jonah. If God didn't hold back His Son, how will He not also graciously give us all things that we need? Can you see the logic? God did the hard thing, He gave us Christ. Jesus died and rose, and now that means good things, in all circumstances, forever.

Salvation belongs to the Lord.


In some ways Jonah is just like Israel. Called to be a canal, but decides to be a puddle. He doesn't want those people getting saved, so he's off to Tarshish. But he realises that salvation isn't his to dole out as he pleases, it belongs to the Lord. It takes him a while to work out all the implications of that, chapter 4 stops rather than finishes. It's almost like Jonah turns to us and says 'and how about you...?' Do we share our faith with the confidence that salvation is the Lord's not ours? Do we take risks for the risen Christ as we step out and witness? When we grasp that salvation belongs to the Lord, we become liberal sowers of the seed, flinging it left and right, knowing it will find good soil. Why? You guessed it, because of the sign of Jonah! Because Jesus died and rose again, carried sins to the watery depths, so we can share our faith in confidence, knowing the results are in the hands of the sovereign Lord.

Barabbus and Our Hearts

I read Matthew 27 today, Jesus and Barabbus. Barabbus is a type of you and me isn't he? The first man who could say, 'Jesus died in my place.' Jesus died in my place too, and just like Barabbus, i'm a guilty criminal, hopeless and rightly condemned unless Jesus shows up.

Today, Christian, you and I face exactly the same problem of the crowd in Matthew 27 did. Will we choose Jesus, or a cheap substitute. Will our hearts go after the real joy, real pleasure and deep holiness that we find only in Him, or for the sake of the crowd and convenience and sin choose something else?

Our hearts are naturally, sinfully, turned to Barabbus, only the gracious work of God in Christ can turn them to Jesus. So ask that your heart might be turned to Jesus today. Ask that, come what may, your heart might choose Him and prefer Him. The thing about choosing Jesus over sin is that it's never easy, and it gets easier all the time. It's never easy to go for deferred pleasure is it? Sin is shiny, sin looks good, feels good and everyone is doing it. But Jesus stands there and calls. He calls to those who are weary and heavy laden, promising rest, He calls to the tempted, promising them that they will see God for their pure hearts. He calls the tax collectors, sinners and losers, and gives them a home with Him.

Today, let's train our hears not to listen to the old master. It's never easy, because sin is all around us, and sin still fights a guerilla war in our hearts. But it gets easier all the time, as street by street, building by building, the enemy is driven out of our hearts, and the King takes His place. So listen to the King today. Not the one who cries 'Do this, do that!' but to Jesus who holds out His hand, and tells us 'it's done, come and rest.' Turn your heart towards Jesus today, accept no substitutes...

I'll Be With You

Horatio Nelson's last breath is stored in a jar in a museum in London. I'm not sure how they got it, i imagine a guy standing over him saying 'is that it, is that it?' But the way things end are important aren't they? How did Jesus end things? He told us that he'll never leave us.

Not in the valley, not on the mountain, not on the good days, not on the bad days. Not when we sin, not when we pray. Never leave us. Jesus last words included a strategy to reach the whole world. Jesus last words included a deep theological treatise, but all of Jesus last words speak of relationship.

In John's Gospel Jesus spends His last night teaching His disciples about the Trinity, the very nature of God. What is the nature of God? Relationship, love, giving and spreading and outgoing goodness. What is the nature of God? A commitment to never leave His people.

Jesus was not primarily a teacher, although He did teach. I loved (most) of my teachers, but none of them came into my finals with me. I expect they had better things to do for three hours on cup final Saturday (not bitter!). They taught, and sent us off on our way. Jesus wasn't primarily a religious leader, although He did organize a religion and institute the Church. I love the men that lead my church, and have led the churches i've been part of. But they can't do my devotions for me, can't be sanctified for me.

Jesus comes to save. Jesus comes to create and confirm a relationship with His people, His bride. And He'll never leave us, because He loves us, He is committed, He has died and risen again. He goes into every exam and every devotion...every situation with me. And you.

So, whatever you face today, or tomorrow, know that Jesus faces it with you. Know that as you go, bu the power of the Holy Spirit, He goes with you. In fact, know that it is better that Jesus isn't physically present so that He can be with us by the Holy Spirit. What a great promise from Jesus!