Listen to this from Bruce Hunt in The Church and Missions. The work of the church is missions. That is, the work of the church is not primarily self-preservation, the perfection of organization and equipment, the improvement of the membership, or several other firsts that people might propose. That first and foremost, the church is about missions. Before the church is about anything else, the church is about missions. That's why we exist. That's who we are. We are a people on mission. How do we define this? I went back and I wanted to look at Webster's 1828 and see what they said about these words. First of all, mission. One, ascending or being sent. Usually the latter. Being sent or delegated by authority. It comes from a Latin root. It means to be sent. To be sent as a delegate. Two, persons sent, any number of persons appointed by authority to perform any service, particularly the persons sent to propagate religion or evangelize the heathen. You can tell this is an old source when they use the word heathen in there. What about missionary? A missionary is one who is sent to propagate religion. So when we talk about missions, We talk about the propagation of religion or the propagation of the gospel. We talk about the proclamation of the gospel to all peoples in all places. We will not inculcate mission-mindedness into our churches and families unless we first become convicted that the Bible teaches, encourages, and equips us for missions. And so, let's look at what the Bible says. And usually when we think about looking at what the Bible says about missions, our first thought is to go, where? Matthew 28, the Great Commission, right? We think about missions as this very sort of New Testament idea. And we think about missions as something that only came about in the New Testament. But what we're going to start with is missions in the Old Testament. Something that, for many Christians, we don't even... I mean, we think that's an oxymoron. Missions in the Old Testament? But why don't we see this? Well first, our fixation on the Great Commission. It's so automatic that immediately we think to talk about missions is to talk about the Great Commission. That's the first place we go, that's the first place we think. And we believe that that was the inauguration of missions. a lack of familiarity with the Old Testament in general. And we've been talking about that as we have dealt with each of the Old Testament books through which we have preached here, whether it be Genesis or Ruth or Daniel or now Exodus, whatever. We're just not familiar with the Old Testament. And part of that is a result of our dispensational bias. Most of us have come from dispensational backgrounds and have been inculcated with a dispensational bias that sees a very hard line of division and distinction between Old Covenant, New Covenant, between Israel and the Church. and this idea that basically plan A was Israel and then when plan A didn't go according to plan, plan B was the church. But the church is only a parenthetical pause as God is going to then rapture the church out of the world and then go back to plan A and finish plan A with Israel. And so we have this sort of dispensational bias, this dispensational understanding, and not a covenantal understanding of the continuity of God's plan and purpose. We have to understand that God has one people, not two peoples. God has one people, not two peoples, okay? So, the great clue. There is a great clue that missions is not new or exclusive to the New Testament. Matthew 23, 15. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. Now, they might not have been going about things the right way, but the Pharisees would go across land and sea to make converts. Folks, that's mission. The Pharisees were mission-minded. Okay? But why would they have been mission-minded? Again, our understanding is that this is a New Testament concept. It's not a concept for Israel. Israel was God's chosen people and it was all about, you know, Israel and nothing else and no one else. First, the Dominion Mandate. Genesis 128, God blessed them and God said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth. In the Dominion Mandate we have the idea of mission. There is a mission. Adam and Eve are appointed to a mission and this mission is to subdue the earth. This mission is to spread the image of God abroad throughout the earth. This mission is about cultivating. And so this mission is not just about their lives as people, as individuals, but it's also about the culture that they cultivate. Culture or cultivate come from the same root. They're etymologically connected. The Abrahamic covenant. Now the Lord said to Abraham, go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you and I will make of you a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and him who dishonors you I will curse and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. That's mission. The Abrahamic covenant was not just about God blessing Israel as a people. there is inherent in this idea God blessing all the nations of the earth and God using Abraham and his seed to be a blessing to all the nations of the earth. Folks, the Old Testament was never about Israel being blessed and sitting on their blessing while the rest of the world rotted. Gentiles were not an afterthought Gentiles are being spoken of here. Think about this for a moment. There's Abraham and his offspring. And so this blessing to Abraham is this blessing to the Jewish people, but it's also a blessing through the Jewish people. All the nations of the earth who are not Israel are Gentiles. So the idea of God including and incorporating the Gentiles is not an afterthought. It is inherent in the Abrahamic covenant that God will bless Gentiles and Jews. The purpose of the plagues, just to go back to what we've talked about here since we've been dealing with Exodus. For this time, I will send all my plagues on you yourself and on your servants and your people, so that they may know that there is none like me in all the earth. For by now, I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth. For this purpose I have raised you up. Why? To show you my power so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. In all the earth. The purpose of the plagues were not just so that Israel, God's elect nation, could go and exist in peace and quiet by themselves in isolation. God's goal and His purpose in Israel, with Israel, and through Israel was that His name would be proclaimed in all the earth. What about Israel's place among the nations? Deuteronomy 28 10 and all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord and they shall be afraid of you. 1st Samuel 17 46 this day the Lord will deliver you into my hand and I will strike you down and cut off your head and I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines, this is David by the way with Goliath, this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. Why is it happening? So that the earth will know. What about Israel's worship? First Chronicles 1631 let the heavens be glad let the earth rejoice and let them say among the nations the lord reigns among the let them say among the nations the lord reigns how about the temple second chronicles 6 32 and 33 Likewise, when a foreigner who is not of your people Israel comes from a far country for the sake of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm, when he comes and prays toward this house, hear from heaven your dwelling place and do according To all for which the foreigner calls to you in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you as do your people Israel and That they may know that this house that I have built is called by your name so in building the temple there is the understanding that this temple is not just about Israel this temple is about a witness to the nations that the nations might come and seek God and know God and that God might be worshipped among the nations in the Psalms the Messianic Psalms listen to this sorry Psalm 27 I will tell of the decree, the Lord said to me, you are my son, today I have begotten you, ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage and the ends of the earth your possession. Now remember, the Psalms, this is what Israel sang, this is what God's people sang in worship. So when they worshiped God, they made proclamations and declarations like this. I will make the nations your heritage and the ends of the earth your possession. Singing about the Messiah. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Now therefore, O kings, be wise. Be warned, O rulers of the earth. Psalm 22, 27 and 28. all the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord and all the families of the nations shall worship before you for kingship belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations again the ends of the earth the ends of the earth all the families of nations not just being defeated by the Messiah but worshiping the Messiah And in the divine declaration, Psalm 46, 10, be still and know that I am God. We know that part, right? But what comes after that? I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth. I will be. I will be. It's going to happen among the nations. Again, not an afterthought. The Gentiles are not an afterthought. The gospel going to the Gentiles is not an afterthought. the psalmist's desire, Psalm 72. May he have dominion from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth. May desert tribes bow down before him and his enemies lick the dust. May his name endure forever. His fame continue as long as the sun. May people be blessed in him. All nations call him blessed. Bless the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things. Bless his glorious name forever. May the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and amen. The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended. So again, in the Psalms, we see very clearly this picture of mission, this global sense of mission. What about the prophets? Isaiah 2, 3. And many people, many peoples shall come and say, come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths. For out of Zion shall go the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. Many peoples, not many people, many peoples These are tribes, language, kindred, tongues. These are ethnic groups. These are nations. So the prophets are prophesying that many nations are going to come and be blessed. Isaiah 24, 16, from the ends of the earth, we hear songs of praise, of glory to the righteous one from the ends of the earth. So now there's a picture of all over the earth, God being praised. We're the fulfillment of that, by the way. Isaiah 60 verse 3, and nations shall come to your light and kings to the brightness of your rising. Jeremiah 317, at that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord and all nations shall gather to it, to the presence of the Lord in Jerusalem and they shall no more stubbornly follow their own evil heart. Jeremiah 16, 19, Oh Lord, my strength and my stronghold, my refuge in the day of trouble, to you shall the nations come from the ends of the earth and say, our fathers have inherited nothing but lies, worthless things in which there is no profit. So these nations are coming to the truth. Micah 4-2, And many nations shall come and say, Come, let us go to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways, and that we may walk in his paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. Micah 5, 4, and he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God, and they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. Habakkuk 2 14 for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters Cover the sea. Are you beginning to see a pattern folks? Zephaniah 2 11 the Lord will be awesome against them For he will famish all the gods of the earth and to him shall bow down each in its place all the land of the nations Zechariah 2 11 and many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day and shall be my people Do you catch that? Who's God's people and the Old Testament Israel Let me read that again This is this is Zechariah the prophet the Old Testament And he says, and many nations, when we talk about many nations, we're always talking about whom? Gentiles, right? Many nations. All the other nations are the nations of the Gentiles. Many nations, or Gentiles, shall join themselves to the Lord in that day and shall be my people. Where we get this idea that the Gentiles are an afterthought, I don't know. It is obvious when you read the Old Testament that God's plan from the beginning was to be a blessing to all the nations through Israel. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. Malachi 111, from the rising of the sun to the setting of the same, he will be great among the nations. and in every place incense will be offered to my name and a pure offering for my name will be great among the nation says the Lord of hosts folks this is why and we talked about this when we were in Romans This is why when you read in the New Testament and when you read the epistles and particularly when you read the Pauline epistles, Paul understands the coming of the Gentiles not as God doing something new and something different. He understands it as a fulfillment of what God has said all along. He sees himself as being right in the midst of watching God do what he said he was going to do. Okay? And we've seen that so far. What about in the New Testament? Again, when we talk about missions in the New Testament, here's the great irony. We talk about missions in general, and as we've said, our immediate thought is the Great Commission. That's the beginning of missions, right? And so because of that, we don't think about the Old Testament in terms of missions. I hope we've dismissed that. Amen? But there's a second reality. We think about the Great Commission, and not only do we dismiss the Old Testament, we actually dismiss the rest of the New Testament as well. and we think about missions just beginning at that place. Listen to this in Matthew 6, 9 to 10. We know this, right? Pray then like this, our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Interestingly enough, when you look at the catechisms and they break down the Lord's Prayer into these various petitions, You see something very interesting. Question, what is the first petition? Hallowed be thy name. That's the first petition. Question, what do we pray for in the first petition? Answer, that God's name may be honored by us and all men. That's missions. That's missions. What is the second petition? Thy kingdom come. What do we pray for in the second petition? That the gospel may be preached in all the world and believed and obeyed by us and all men. That would be? That would be? Right? What is the third petition? That will be done on earth as it is in heaven. What do we pray for in the third petition? That men on earth may serve God as the angels in heaven. That would be? Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. And then doing what? Teaching them to observe all things that I've commanded you. That's what we pray for. And so we see in the first three petitions of the Lord's Prayer that even the Lord's Prayer is a missionary prayer. In the Gospels, Matthew 10, 18, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. Matthew 24, 14. and people of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations and then the end will come again based on what we've read this is not at all new is it this is very consistent with what we've read in the Old Testament Mark 11 17 and he was teaching them and saying to them is it not written my house shall be called a house of prayer Next phrase, for all the nations, but you have made it a den of robbers. Tell the truth. We forget that second phrase, don't we? We forget that second prayer, you know? We always say, well, my house should be called a house of prayer. God says his house should be called a house of prayer. No, he said his house should be called a house of prayer for all the nations. And this was in reference to the temple. This was in reference to the place where Israel went to worship. Again, this explodes that myth that missions is just a New Testament idea and that it didn't have anything to do with Israel and their understanding of their relationship with God. Luke 2, 30 to 32. For my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel. Again, speaking of Christ and his coming. Luke 10 too. And he said to them, the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. His mission. John 12, 32. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. His mission. Now, we get to the Great Commission. After all of this, and now we look at it in that context, go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. It begins, however, with all power in heaven and earth being given to Christ. Mark 16, 15, he said to them, go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Acts 1, 8, you'll receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria to the ends of the earth. I'll just have to admit, I don't do this as much anymore. Of course, I don't have as many of these conversations anymore, but there are some of those people who are of the Pentecostal persuasion and believe that you're not really saved unless and until you've had, and I quote, the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. And so there are people who wait for that and they say, again, you're not saved unless and until that happens. And in some churches, they even have a place up the front for people to come and they used to call it a tarrying bench. You come there to tarry or to wait. Tarry is an old southern word. You come there to tarry and to wait. Wait for what? Wait for the Holy Spirit and wait for speaking in tongues because that's the evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, right? And so there would be people and you know, especially my younger days You run across a lot of people from these circles and you know Have you had the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues? My response was always nope, but I've had the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of being a witness Because the text says You'll receive power When the Holy Spirit comes upon you What's the purpose of the power? What's the purpose of the power? That's the purpose of the power, folks. Here's the other great irony. What was the purpose of tongues? Witness. The purpose of tongues was witness. And so when the Holy Spirit falls on the day of Pentecost, and we see tongues, which is languages, people, languages, These people speak in tongues and they speak in tongues and the miracle is People hear them in their own language. So the gospel goes to the gentiles. There are all these gentile nations Represented there, right? Why are they there? Why are they already there? This is one of the three times a year that jews from all over the world come to the temple This is one of those three times a year when you come Pentecost is one of those three times a year that you come So because Israel was mission minded already There are people from all over the earth Coming to the temple They're there from all different language groups and they've come to the temple and so at Pentecost The spirit falls on them and they speak and the gospel goes to all of these nations that have already been reached by God's people, Israel. That's why they're at the temple, right? And so the great irony is that even tongues, even tongues had a missionary purpose. By the way, when do you see tongues? And again, this is not a message on tongues. But ironically, this is the thesis statement and the outline of the book of Acts, basically. So for the rest of the book of Acts, what we do is we see the gospel breaking these barriers in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and in the remotest parts of the world. You see tongues in the book of Acts when one of these barriers is broken. So when the gospel goes from all Judea to Samaria, You see tongues. And when you see it going to the remotest parts of the world, you see tongues. When you see this, you know, among Cornelius, you see tongues. You don't see tongues every time somebody comes to faith in the book of Acts. You see tongues when one of these barriers is broken, as though God were giving evidence that this barrier has been broken and the gospel has gone to another area. and had an even further reach. Which means that even then, it's connected to mission. It's connected to mission. This idea of tongues for the purpose of self-edification is a very new and recent idea. Okay? Every spiritual gift, for example, in Romans chapter 12 and 1 Corinthians chapter 12 is given for what? For the edification of what? Of whom? the body, every spiritual gift in those lists. And those lists are introduced as gifts that are given for the edification of the body. But he who speaks in a tongue builds up himself. If you're speaking in tongues and it's not for the purpose of communicating linguistically, it's building up yourself, which means it negates the very purpose for which every spiritual gift was given. Facts 1347. For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth. Again, when we've read those passages in the Old Testament, that's so familiar. It's not new. Romans 1, 5. Through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations. Romans 10 Beginning at 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek For the same Lord is Lord of all bestowing his riches on all who call on him For everyone who calls in the name of the Lord will be saved. That's a radical statement, by the way That's a that's a radical statement that there's no distinction between Jew and Greek. That's huge. I How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? There's the idea of missions. There's the idea of missions. Nobody ever goes on mission. People are only sent on mission. People are only sent on mission. As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel, who preach the good news. Yeah, you're right. They have to be sent on missions. And we're all sent, right? No. No, we're not all sent. Only those who are acknowledged and recognized and sent by the church are sent to mission. This is the pattern that we see in the book of Acts. You don't see people in the book of Acts just going all willing. Paul is an apostle, and yet he is appointed for his missions. He does not just up and say, I'm gonna do this. He is sent by the church. You must be sent by the church. You don't just up and go and do whatever you feel like doing. We are sent by the church because we represent the church and because we're accountable to the church in what we do. This is incredibly important. We must be sent. Galatians 3.8. and the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, And you shall all the nations be blessed." So, Paul is pointing them back to the Abrahamic Covenant, saying, Hey, this is not new, guys. He was preaching the gospel beforehand, right? He was letting us know beforehand that this would go to the Gentiles. And it's very important because what's going on in Galatians? The Judaizing controversy. Anybody know what the Judaizing controversy was about? What? Yeah, about whether or not you need to become a Jew before you can be a Christian, right? Do the Gentiles have to be circumcised first before we can count them as Christians? By the way, this is why tongues were so important in the book of Acts, because basically that answered the whole question about the Judaizing controversy. He answered it preemptively. Well, and that's why Peter says, hey, how do we withhold water baptism from somebody who's been baptized in the Holy Spirit already, right? God is answering the question. He answers the Judaizing controversy by giving the same gift to these Gentiles that he had given to the Jews on the day of Pentecost, okay? And so, in Galatians, Paul's dealing with this Judaizing controversy with these people who are saying, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. They've got to become Jews before they can become Christians. And so this is when he goes back and his argument is, folks, you don't even understand the Abrahamic covenant. If you understand the Abrahamic covenant, you understand that it's for them as much as it is for us. Okay? So context there makes that very clear. Verse 14, so that in Christ Jesus, the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles so that we might receive the promised spirit through faith. in the Revelation, Revelation 5-9, 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 we know from the pattern in Revelation, we'll test you here. Remember those numbers that are important in Revelation? One of those numbers that's important in Revelation is the number four. Why is the number four important? Yes, the four directions of the earth. So whenever you get this number four, we're talking about the totality of the earth. So these four references refer to the totality of the earth, the peoples on all the earth. Revelation 7, 9. After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes, and peoples, and languages, standing before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands. So what's the takeaway? One, God has always been on mission. God has always been on mission. And his mission was never just Israel. That was never the totality of God's mission. Never, ever, ever. So this whole dispensational idea, you know, that you had, you know, the Jews as plan A, the Gentiles as plan B, then we're gonna go back and finish plan A, that whole, no. No, that's inconsistent with what we find in the totality of scripture. Two, God has always called, taught, expected his people to be on mission. Always, always, always. In other words, this was never the idea. The idea was never, okay, the world needs to be reached with the gospel. So here's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna take a few guys, say the apostles, and then the apostles are going to go everywhere. And as the apostles go everywhere, they're going to establish churches, and these churches are only gonna think about themselves. They don't have to worry about the mission, because they are an end in themselves. And then these apostles, they're going to continue to go, and they're going to continue to carry. What's the problem with that? There's several problems with that. Tell me a few. OK, go to the ends of the earth. And? Come on. And? Why? Exactly. The apostles can only go so far. Even if that were today and they had, you know, modern transportation, you know, and you fly all over the world, that limited number of apostles, you're not going to be able to establish churches throughout the world with that limited number of apostles. So just from a logistical perspective, that doesn't work. Why else doesn't it work? Right, yeah, the apostles are gonna die So then there would be an intermission with the end of the Apostles why else doesn't it work hmm Languages explain They didn't speak all the languages of the world, thank you, but they had tongues I That's one of the arguments for cessationism. That gift ceased. That gift ceased. It definitely ceased at the end of the apostolic age, but even before the end of the apostolic age, you don't see that gift being employed in missions. You just don't. It wasn't the norm that the apostles would go places and just speak people's language. That was not the norm. And so we saw that at the beginning of the Apostolic Age, but toward the end of the Apostolic Age, we didn't see it anymore. And again, there are people now who try to adjust their theology on this, but in the Azusa Street Revivals, you know, in the early part of the last century, or the middle part of the last century, when there was a revival of Pentecostalism, they were reading the text more honestly and understanding that these are talking about languages. So when they saw this sort of revival of tongue speaking, you know, in their movement, they sent people to be missionaries without training them in languages. And of course, that fell absolutely flat, right? because they did not have that New Testament gift. And so then there came a reinterpretation of what it meant to speak in tongues. So yeah, that people speaking in different languages means that you have to multiply people on mission. What else? What about all of us? Yeah, yeah. I mean, still to this day, that goes back to what we heard earlier about the apostles die. The mission's got to carry on. It's been thousands of years now, right? But there's something else, and that is this. As we read the scriptures, this is communicated to the body of Christ perpetually. Right? This is the mission of the church. So, you know, we can't then come and say, all right, well, once a church is established somewhere, those parts of the scriptures that have to do with the mission of the church no longer apply. The whole of biblical revelation is missional in nature and scope. You can't read the Bible without reading mission. You can't understand the text of the Old or the New Testament without understanding mission, without understanding that Christianity is a global movement. This is significant for us in a number of ways. It's uniquely significant to us in a number of ways. First, I don't know if you were even aware of this. I wasn't aware of this until several months ago, looking at some stuff in the airport or something. I don't even know where I was. But Houston, according to some estimations, is the most ethnically diverse city in America. Think about that for a moment. More ethnically diverse than New York, Los Angeles, than Chicago, Houston. The most ethnically diverse city in America. What that means, at least in part, is that the nations have come to us. There are nearly 70 foreign consulates in Houston. Who knew that? You didn't know that, did you? Nearly 70. I think the number is 67 or 68 foreign consulates here in Houston. I mean, there are people from all over the world who are here in Houston. A large numbers of those people go back to where they are in the world. A large number of those people are from places in the world where it would be illegal to preach the gospel. And yet when they're here, they're fair game. And then they go back. Tremendous. Tremendous. We talked at our annual meeting about the Igubnevs and how on Sunday afternoons they go to a Russian church, to a Russian-speaking church, Russian language church, and help and aid that church that's trying to reach the Russian-speaking community here in Houston. I talked about how Alexander and I met, you know, because he was a little concerned about, you know, moving in and being a deacon and, you know, his thinking was, you know, I'm going to be a deacon and I won't be here, you know, be able to stay for prayer meeting and I'll be gone and I'm also going to be helping another church and this and that and the other. I'm sitting there going, you know, I see that the exact opposite way. I see that as more of a qualification because when you look at the deacons in the New Testament, they were on mission. They were on mission. You got Stephen preaching until they stoned him to death. You got Philip preaching to the Ethiopian eunuch. I mean, these guys were on mission. And so it's exciting to think that there are people in this church, and over the last six to nine months, if I'm not mistaken, God has sent us people from somewhere between six or nine different language groups to this church. I'm not talking about people whose great great great grandparents were from somewhere else. I'm talking about people who themselves were born in another nation and speak another language and are part of another people group. I don't think that's by accident. You know that we prayed from the beginning of the establishment of GFBC. that God would send us people from and those of you who've been here for a long time and I'm seeing a couple of faces of people who've been here for a long time. One of our goals has always been that we would have an impact and perhaps even plant churches among various people and language groups right here in Houston and we prayed about it and you know we it used to be highlighted a whole lot more And then, you know, after seven years of God not sending anybody, we didn't highlight it as much. And if we're honest, we probably became a little discouraged, because it was something that we're passionate about. And yet it just wasn't happening. We couldn't figure out how to do it. What do we do? What do we do? What do we do? And now all of a sudden, we just kind of look up, you know? And one day, Richard Marcus will remember this. It's about, I guess it's about a month ago. And we had come back. from Zambia we've been back for several weeks and I'm over here and there was a conversation and you know we had our Russian family in the middle of a conversation with our Chinese grad student and his German wife and then in the middle of that conversation a Frenchman walks up and they start speaking French to each other the Frenchman's wife and sister from South Korea. I turn around and I'm walking over here and I look and there was a couple from India who just became members, a guy from the Philippines, a guy from Central America, a guy from Taiwan, and I forget who else it was right there, you know, before I walked off and then I start walking toward the door and I walk outside the door and there's Alex and his family from Nigeria. And so, you know, I pulled Richard to the side and I said Richard. We need to talk, man. I just run into Russian, Filipino, South Korean, French, German, Chinese, Thai. And I ran off like nine different nationalities. I said, we're being overrun, man. You need to go get us some more Mexicans. But the fact of the matter is, why is God doing that? We don't know. It's not anything that we've done. Right? It's something that we prayed for for eight years before anything, you know, began to happen. There are things that we've done actively. I mean, at one point we were working very actively with some folks to try to plant a Spanish-speaking church because there needs to be a reformed, solidly reformed Baptist Spanish-speaking church Here in Houston, and we had some people come in and try to work it and it didn't happen never materialized Does this mean that all of a sudden all of our dreams are gonna come true and all of these things are we gonna? No, not necessarily We don't know why God's beginning to do what he's doing in that regard, but I do know this We've always prayed to God would send us to the nations and Amen. We're grateful. We're grateful that God is doing that. And we want to be open and sensitive to how God is going to leverage that for his glory. Because God's glory is far too significant for us to be satisfied with it being limited to us here and now. Do you have questions? We've got a couple of minutes. Yes. Well, that's a great question. The question is regarding a man being sent. Would it be enough that a man was ordained by the church and they could go and do whatever or would there need to be a sending by that body? Yes and no. When you ordain a man to the gospel ministry, you do ordain him to go and do his gospel ministry. But at the same time, that man is submitted to the church and to its eldership. And so there does need to be both of those things happening. There does need to be a man exercising his gift, you know, to the degree that he has opportunity. But there also needs to always be a man submitting the exercise of that gift to those under whose authority he ministers. So it's about then. It's not just, hey man, I'm ordained. That means I get to go do whatever. Because again, Paul's an apostle, right? He can go do whatever. But there was still a sense of a calling and of bringing that before the other apostles and the laying on hands for him to be sent for the various things that he did. But, you know, Paul's on his second missionary journey, a third missionary journey, and he goes from Thessalonica to Athens. He didn't have to go back and say, hey man, did this work in Thessalonica, door kind of closed there, is getting ready to go to Athens, is that okay? The world at that time wouldn't even have allowed that. But what he was doing was consistent with the ministry for which he had been sent. Does that make sense? Yeah. Other questions? Yes. No, for anything. No, that's different. That's not mission. That's apologetics, evangelism, you know, having a conversation with somebody is different than, again, the conversation here specifically is about mission. This is about us establishing the work of the church. This is about us establishing the ministry of the church. That's not the same as having conversations with people in everyday life. We're obligated to do that as Christians. You know, Peter in 1 Peter 3.15, always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks you the reason for the hope that is in you. That's our obligation as believers. But that same person is on the campus and wants to start a campus ministry, that's different than having a conversation. That you would need to be sent for. Yes. In what context are you talking about what I just talked about the establishment of that of that ministry well it To me it seems pretty simple if I'm having a conversation with somebody I'm not establishing a you know a ministry of any kind but if I say I want to do ABC XYZ ministry to reach this campus, I'm now establishing something. It's purposeful. It's organized. No, no. Yeah. Yeah, and for that, you need to be sent. One of the biggest problems we have today is this idea of parachurch ministries that are not submitted to or under the authority of any local church. Because today, when people see something, they want to do something. We have this churchless mentality, you know? This mentality that says, I'm a free agent and I do whatever I'm led to do, right? And so there needs to be this over here, I'm gonna go establish it and do it or whatever. And I only come to the church if I feel like I need some money, I'll come raise some money or whatever, but I'm sending myself. That's the, by far, that's the mentality that we have and not a mentality that says, if I'm going to preach, I need to be sent. If I want to do this work, I need to be sent. So I need to submit myself to those who are in leadership over me and at least get wise counsel about whether and how I should be doing what I'm doing here. Yes. Great question. The question is, you know, today there are a lot of people being sent as missionaries who are not ordained elders or pastors. And, you know, do I think that only ordained elders or pastors should be sent as missionaries? Absolutely not. Absolutely not. The mission involves far more than just ordained elders and pastors. When we sent the group to Conroe, to plant the church in Conroe, everybody who went was sent. Only two of them were elders. Right? But all of them went on mission. They had various tasks that they were doing there as part of that mission, but all of them were sent on that mission. So no, you don't necessarily have to be an ordained elder or pastor to be part of a mission or work like that. But notice what else happened. These people were sent with ordained elders and pastors to do that mission. Not necessarily Not necessarily and I'll give you a prime example a prime example is there are a lot of places There are a lot of countries where you can't send a pastor But you can send a doctor Right You send a pastor, they'll be turned back at the airport, right? Passport doesn't get stamped. You go home, sir. But you can send a physician. And you can connect that physician to maybe some other work that's going on in that place that's unofficial or whatever. So no, it wouldn't necessarily have to be an ordained pastor. Yes. In the Gospel according to Mark, a sovereign religious woman begs Jesus to heal her daughter and her king. And he says, you know, it's not right for the dogs to have to pray for the children. And she says, believe me, the dogs get crumbs, and he heals the daughter. Can you just speak to how that would align with covenant theology and its great mission? Because you have, first, Jesus coming with Jews, and then the world. Yeah. The question is about Jesus first coming to the Jews and then to the world. And that's absolutely the case. That when Jesus comes, he comes as a Jew and he comes to the Jews. And it would make sense for a number of reasons. Number one, because, you know, from Genesis 3.15 on, there is a line that the promised seed will come through, right? That's a Jewish line. And so Jesus comes to and through that Jewish line. So first and foremost, that's his context. when it comes to the law that he fulfilled perfectly in all righteousness, in order for him to do that, he has to do that in a Jewish context. Otherwise, you know, he's not going to do that. He's not going to be part of a community that would even know or, you know, have anything to do with that law. Thirdly, as he does this, and he's fulfilling these prophecies, he's doing it among the people to whom these prophecies have been given. Okay? So he's doing it there. But even in that, in his own lineage, there are non-Jews. In his own lineage. Okay? You know, it's Tamar, Rahab. These are non-Jews, right? So yes, it's absolutely true that this is where Jesus came, because that's what was foretold. That's the fulfillment of the prophecy of the coming of this Messiah. That's how you know where to look. Yeah, so. That's absolutely true, but it has nothing to do with, you know, sort of a priority of, you know, these particular individuals as it relates to God's plan. And it has nothing to do with the idea that, you know, his goal here is to offer the kingdom to the Jews and if they're going to receive it, then everything's done. That you don't find. Yeah. Right Right, right. This is the only nation that yeah has a one true God And so if he's again, that's kind of the point of if he's gonna fulfill the law, you know He's gonna be a child in submission to his parents for example Well, if he's a child in submission to his parents and his parents are pagans then as a child he's going to practice pagan worship and he's going to violate the first four commandments and That's, that's not okay. You know, that's not okay. Yeah. All right. Yes. It's really kind of God to give us that, that hope and doubt. Because missionaries in New York, too often they get burnt out within a year or two. And so, you know, they're not just seeking financial support from the church, but since now they're also seeking a curse for it. They've heard of it, they've had the faith, it's helped them a lot. They're weary, but still, I mean, that's a war field. Yeah, and the other thing too, she's talking about the missionaries and how difficult it is for missionaries in the field on the ground. This is very true and there are a lot of reasons for that, not least of which is that a lot of them aren't even connected to a church. You know, those ordinary means are important. And so, you know, you leave here and you go to, you know, some, some part of the world, um, and you're not connected to, to brothers and sisters in Christ. Um, and man, that's, that's hard. It's not always possible either. You know, um, Yeah, but that's hard. That's really hard. That's really difficult. We weren't built for that kind of isolation. So that's why those connections, you know, become all the more important. Connecting with people within their region, you know, or their area or whatever. You know, if they're going to a place that doesn't have any established work, especially among that language group. That's why that becomes very important. all of the other connections that they could possibly have become critical and essential. Yes? To what degree do you think the churches kind of focusing on their own thing, like you mentioned earlier, has kind of impacted basically the explosion of rogue missionaries? Yeah. Yeah, the question is, to what degree does the idea of churches focusing on their own thing, to what degree has that contributed to the kind of explosion of rogue missionaries and other mission organizations and things like that out there? I think it's kind of one of those, what came first, the chicken or the egg things. Because the fact of the matter is, in the mindset of the modern American Christian, if you see a need, Go fill it. The idea is not if you see a need, go to the church. The idea is if you see a need, fill it. And so, you know, everybody's starting a ministry, you know? Everybody's starting a ministry, everybody's doing it through their church. And it doesn't even dawn on us that we would do that. It's just not even a part, it's not a part of our makeup. It's not a part of the way we even consider things. Well, is it because of a lack of attention from the local church to those things, or is the lack of attention from the local church to those things due to this mentality? I think it's both and, you know? And I think what that's done is it's created on the one hand the idea and atmosphere at the church that says, we're going to concentrate on nickels and noses, you know, and what happens between these four walls. And if something out there is supposed to happen, God will call somebody and they'll go do it. And if they need some money, they'll come ask us. You know, you have that from the standpoint of the church, and then from the standpoint of people out there, you know, who have a passion, it's, I have a passion, I'm gonna go do this. One of the things that that's done is there's been a proliferation of ministries that have nothing to do with the mission. And so now you've got people out there who say they're missionaries, who say they're in ministry, and they're doing stuff that has absolutely nothing to do with the mission. And there may be some mercy involved. There may be some other things involved. But you've got people running off in 1,000 different directions. They have no qualifications. They have no accountability. They just have the ability to raise funds. And they think that's their validation. Because if God didn't want me to do it, then he wouldn't have let me raise funds. you know, um, and so it's really, it's, it's really a mess. It really is a mess. All right. Well, that's our time. Um, next week we'll, we'll look at, uh, Next week we'll look at another aspect of missions, and then one more following that, just to kind of get us to thinking rightly about this issue. It is an issue, to say that it's an issue of utmost importance is really to understate the importance of the issue. It's not an issue of utmost importance. It is the issue that makes us who we are. It is the issue for members of the body of Christ. So, let's pray.