Please turn with me to Psalm 310. Reading from verse 1. The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies your footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of your strength out of Zion, through in the midst of your enemies. Your people shall be volunteers in the day of your power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning. You have the due of your youth. The Lord has borne and will not relent. You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. The Lord is at your right hand. He shall execute kings in the day of his wrath. He shall judge among the nations. He shall fill the places with dead bodies. He shall execute the heads of many countries. He shall drink of the brook by the wayside. Therefore he shall lift up the head. Another passage is Matthew chapter 9 from which we will be speaking. Matthew chapter 9 Matthew 9 reading from verse 35 to the end of the chapter Matthew chapter 9 starting from verse 35 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages teaching in their synagogues, preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered like sheep having no shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, The harvest truly is plentiful. But the labourers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest. Let us pray. Almighty God, we bow our hearts before you in thanksgiving and praise again for your goodness to us and undeserving people. You call us out of darkness into the kingdom of your marvellous light. We thank you for the gift of your son Jesus Christ who came to this world. to take on human nature without sin, to live that perfectly righteous life that we all have failed to live. We thank you again for His death on the cross of Calvary by which we were reconciled unto you. We thank you for the work of the Holy Spirit applying the saving benefits of Christ to our lives. We are so glad that tonight you might continue to work in our hearts. Help us that our eyes will be opened to see the wondrous things contained in your word. Refresh us spiritually. Draw us close unto yourself. Lift up our eyes to heaven. Help us that we may capture the fresh vision of your glory. So hear us, O God. Deal graciously with your people here tonight. For we pray all this in Jesus Christ's name. Amen. The Divine Urgency and Human Need of Church Planting. That is the title of tonight's message and I begin by asking you the question where is the Great Commission found? All of us I believe will have no problem in saying that it is found in Matthew chapter 28 verse 18 to verse 20 Now that passage is the fullest account of the Great Commission. But we must remember it is not the full account. There are three passages in the Gospel. They are parallel passages which record this commission given by our Lord when he was risen from the dead just before he was taken up to heaven. Now the other two passages are Matthew chapter 16 verse 15 to verse 18 and Luke chapter 24 verse 44 to verse 49. These are parallel passages. They record the great command given by our Lord to his 12 apostles. or rather to his 11 apostles, Judas having dropped out. Now later another apostle was appointed but let us take note that he was given to the apostles and therefore meant for the churches to be planted after that. Now we know that by comparing scripture with scripture we will get a better understanding, we will get a correct understanding of the passage concerned. By comparing Matthew 28 with the other two accounts we will get a correct and fuller picture of what the Lord intend. But we must remember that whatever is unique to the office of the Apostle is not meant to be normative, not meant to be for us today. If we were to look at Mark's Gospel, chapter 16, we see the record of the Great Commission given there. Now it begins from verse 15 and goes on to verse 18. But let us take note that verse 17 and verse 18 record the sign of the apostles the marks of the apostles which are not meant for us today. Those are clearly the unique, the special marks of the apostles of Jesus Christ. We must not therefore take these verses and this promise of signs there to be meant for us today. Now we must understand that that passage in context shows to us that when the Lord was risen, verse 9, then they were unbelieving concerning the news of the risen Lord. In verse 11 we are told, when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe. Then in verse 12 verse 13 we are told, and they went and told it to the rest but they did not believe them either. Then in verse 14 we are told, later he appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table and he rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart because they did not believe those who had seen him after he had risen. And it was in that context, that situation, that the Great Commission was given And the Great Commission therefore is strictly speaking verse 15 and verse 16. It is the commission to the Church in the subsequent age. And then verse 17 and verse 18 is a reference to those 11 apostles. They were told that they should not be unbelieving but they should begin to carry out that Great Commission. So what is meant for the apostles at that time? It is not meant is not meant for us. So we do not therefore say that by comparing scripture with scripture we come to have a fuller understanding of the Great Commission which therefore includes these signs and wonders. That would be the wrong way of comparing scripture with scripture to get the right understanding of the Bible. Now having said that, we must remember that of the three accounts of the Great Commission, the fullest account is to be found in Matthew chapter 28. Nevertheless, to get a full account, the fullest account is found in Matthew 28, but to get a full account of the Great Commission, we need to look at the other passages. Then that way we have a more complete picture of what happened and what the Lord was trying to say. Now we must remember that After the giving of the Great Commission on that occasion, the Lord then met with the disciples in Jerusalem and was taken up into heaven before their eyes. And the Great Commission was again repeated in their hearing. And we read in Acts chapter 1 verse 8, But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. So what we are saying is that with these additional passages we come to have a clearer understanding of what the Lord intended for the apostles and therefore for the churches in the subsequent generations. So there was the giving of the Great Commission. Then we have looked at the amplification of it in Acts chapter 1. But remember that even before the giving of the Great Commission, after the Lord was risen, the Lord had already mentioned about the time when the Great Commission will be given. And that is where we come to Matthew chapter 9. Now when we come to Matthew chapter 9 and we look at verse 37, we see that the Lord before his death and resurrection had already referred to the time when the disciples should go forth to preach the gospel. And in verse 37 he said to the disciples, The harvest truly is plentiful, but the labourers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest. Clearly this is part of the Great Commission. We have to pray for labourers to go forth to bring in the harvest. Now we remind ourselves that this was spoken to the apostles. And as we have already learnt, what was given to the apostles were meant for the churches in the subsequent generations. That is why today preachers, whenever they come to this passage, will apply it directly to the churches today. We have to pray for labourers to be raised up, to be transported, to bring in the harvest. Now, because this is a foreshadowing or initial instalment of the Great Commission, we would want to treat it as part of it. because it amplifies on and helps us to understand better the Great Commission as given when the Lord was risen from the dead. Now from this passage we want to draw out a few lessons. Now the first thing to take note of is that the Great Commission has a temporal and a spatial aspect. Now there is a spatial aspect to the Commission There is also a temporal aspect to the commission. When the Lord Jesus Christ on this occasion in Matthew chapter 9 saw the great multitudes before him, he was moved with compassion for them because they were weary and scattered like sheep having no shepherd. It was in that situation that he told his apostles that the harvest truly is plentiful. but the labourers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest." Now you see now that the Lord was not just seeing the multitude before his eyes. He saw them of course, but he saw more than the multitude immediately before his eyes. Now why do we say that? What are we trying to say? When the Lord saw that multitude, He was actually saying the multitudes across the whole globe. And He was also saying the multitudes down the centuries, in the future. Now, if the Lord were just referring to the multitudes immediately before Him, and no more, He could easily have said to His twelve apostles, go now, preach to them. let them hear the gospel and be saved, the harvest would have been gathered in. Or the Lord could have by his divine power just spoke the word and all of them before his eyes would have been converted. There would have been no need for the Lord to tell the twelve apostles that the harvest is plentiful prayer for labourers to be sent forth. So what we are saying then is that the multitude before his eyes was a microcosm of the multitude are found across the world and they are a microcosm, a small representation of the multitudes of people who are to be saved down the ages. Now, I believe that that is how we should see it. There is the spatial aspect to the Great Commission and there is also the temporal aspect. Now, we are to take the Gospel to people who are everywhere, not just those near to us. As long as there are people, wherever there are people, the gospel must be taken to them. And there are people also not only in this generation, but there will be people down the centuries, in the next generation, and the next, and the next, and the next, until Christ comes again. And the gospel must be taken to the future generations as well, and not just to those of this generation. Now the spatial aspect of the Great Commission is often noticed by Christians, but the temporal aspect is often neglected. Now we must take note that both belong together. Remember that in the fullest account of the Great Commission, namely Matthew chapter 28, we are told to go into the world, make disciples of all the nations. So the spatial aspect is easily noticed. We are to go all to the world to make disciples of all the nations. But remember that that Great Commission applies to all time, not just to the time of the apostles. Because it goes on to say, to end with the words, and lo, I shall be with you until the end of the age. So the Lord is saying then that it is not in just the generation of the Apostle that the Gospel has to be taken to the nation but in the subsequent generations the same thing has to be done. So Gospel work is not meant for just people elsewhere but it is also for people in the future generation. Now how do you understand that? It is not only that we take the Gospel to a place further away where there are people. And then once that place is covered, in a subsequent generation, we go to another place and we push further and further geographically to where people are. And once a certain geographical location has been covered, there is no need for us to go to that place in the future. Now that, I believe, would be the wrong understanding of the Great Commission. When we look at the spatial aspect, we must see that it covers everywhere in the world. When we look at the temporal aspect, we must remember also it covers everywhere in the world, including where the Gospel has first been preached. Now, to further emphasise this point, we turn to Acts 2. Now this is a passage. that has been controverted and often we are diverted from gaining the rich teaching that is found in it because of the controversy. But tonight we want to lift aside the controversy and come to Acts chapter 2 beginning from verse 38. It says, Then Peter said to them, Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call. Now take note that the promise of the Holy Spirit, the promise of salvation, is to you, those who are immediately before me, and to your children, and remember children doesn't mean immediate children, The Bible often uses the word children to refer to the subsequent generation, not just your immediate children. So it is to you and to the subsequent generation as well as to all who are afar off. And these three categories of people, those immediately before me and your children in the future and those who are far off, all these three categories of people, are then qualified with this closing clause, as many as the Lord our God will call. This applies to you now, if only you would repent, trust in the Lord, you shall receive the promise of salvation. Now the same thing applies to the future generation and the same thing applies to people who are elsewhere and not just here. So you see now that there is special aspect to the Great Commission and there is also the temporal aspect to the Great Commission. And here the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew chapter 9, back to Matthew chapter 9, is referring to this. He is pointing out to his apostles and therefore to us today that there is this spatial aspect which is not to be ignored but there is also the temporal aspect that is not to be ignored. Now, this is perhaps the right time also, the right place to consider. Up to when will this end? Up to when has this to be done, to be carried out? Now, will it end with the coming of Christ? Yes, we know that it will end with the coming of Christ. But when will that happen? When will Christ come? When will the Great Commission be not needed anymore? When will it be not necessary to preach to people who are far off as well as people of the next generation? Now there have been people who say that as we preach to more and more nations then the fulfilment of the promise of Matthew 24 verse 14 will get closer and closer. In Matthew 24 verse 14 we read and this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations and then the end will come. Now, on face value, this verse seems to teach that as one nation after another Christianizes, has representatives saved, then the hope will come. But we know that it is a hazardous thing to build a doctrine on just a single verse and we must compare scripture with scripture and as we compare scripture with scripture we come to realise that it can't be an indication of when the Lord is coming and there is something wrong here with our understanding of this verse like this. Now we are forgetting the objective of the Great Commission with the scope of the Great Commission. Now the scope of the Great Commission is that the gospel should be brought to all, all nations, not just to the Jews, not just people in Jerusalem, but to people everywhere. Not just people of that generation, but people of all generations until the time Christ comes. The objective of the Great Commission is therefore the calling out of the elect from the world. It is the salvation of God's people. So by confusing the objective of the Great Commission with the scope of the Great Commission, we have built up a teaching that if all the nations of the world were to be converted, then we will be nearer the coming of Christ. Now this has been an incentive, a way of motivating Christians to be more urgent in preaching the Gospel. But my contention is that because there is a wrong understanding of that passage, it follows therefore that it is the wrong way of motivating us to be more urgent preaching the gospel. So what then should we say about this passage? How should we understand it? Because all the passages of the Bible indicate that not one single one of God's elect will be lost. All of them, without exception, will be saved. And the objective for the Great Commission is the salvation of the elect and not just the mere spreading of the gospel to all nations. We can say therefore that it is consistent with the understanding that no one will know when exactly Christ comes. We know that as the days pass by, the years go on, we will be getting nearer and nearer to the coming of Christ. But no one will ever know the exact hour when Christ will come. But if you have the understanding that as more and more nations are converted, then we will be nearer and nearer the time when Christ comes. Then you discover that you will be able to measure and know when exactly Christ will come. You will know that, well, there are still a few nations in the world who have not heard the gospel and you can begin to number them on your fingers. But of course there is the practical difficulty. What does the word nation mean? Nation there is not a reference to political entities. but it is a reference to ethnic groups. But then how do you classify ethnic groups? We all after all descended from Noah and therefore from Adam. And the boundary line between one ethnic group and another gets blurred as you examine the various people in the world. Then we use the method of language and we classify people according to languages. But then as you examine closer you discover that the boundary line between one language and another gets blurred and then one dialect and a sub-dialect becomes a matter of contention. Actually we have been using human standards to determine what constitutes a language group and therefore a nation. Now we have forgotten that the purpose of the Great Commission is for us to bring the Gospel to all without exception. We must not be limited to any one group, not to the Jews only, not to that time only, and not to that place only. But the purpose is simply to reach out to all people because all are descended from Adam, all are in sin, all need to hear the Gospel to be saved. So then, if the Great Commission is to be understood in that sense, that there is a special aspect in which we are to go to all people, everywhere and then there is the temporal aspect, we have to preach the gospel to all people of the future generation. What are the practical implications to us? Now for one thing, we should never be satisfied with just one or two groups of people being saved. We should not be satisfied with just building up our church numbers and having people around our locality being saved. But we must always be thinking of others who have not heard the gospel. And for another thing, we must remember that when a nation or a community or a tribe has been Christianized, when there are people there, even hordes of them, the whole community have been converted, the next generation also needs to hear the gospel. Or put it another way, America needs the gospel. missionaries must be sent to America, and so also to England. Even these so-called Christianised countries need to hear the Gospel. The reason is because when one generation of people have been converted, the next generation are not automatically saved. Their parents and their churches should be preaching the Gospel, but often it is that decline sets in after the second or third generation. And we see this happening everywhere in the mission field. In the eastern part of Malaysia, on the island of Borneo, the hill tribes have been converted. There were two waves of revival, one in the 1960s, the other in the 1970s. Villagers, one village after another was converted. Whole longhouse would be converted. One longhouse after another would be converted. And one tribe would be converted. converted, and then a related tribe will be converted, and another related tribe will be converted. The highland tribes were all converted. And there were genuine convictions of sin. There were people who turned from their sins to trust in Christ. Their lives were changed, and as a result of their changed lives, there came also a change in their lifestyles, so that they began to be more hygienic and more hardworking, and their health was better, and their second generation their children were taller, 2 or 3 inches taller than their parents. And all these were the good effects of the gospel. But the sad thing is that after the second generation, we are now facing the third generation and the fourth generation growing up as well. Many of them would call themselves Christian. But they are actually not converted. And they are just Christians in name. And these people need to hear the gospel. The ground needs to be re-ploughed. The seed needs to be sown again. And we must not lose sight of this aspect of the Gospel. There is the spatial aspect but there is also the temporal aspect. So that then is the first main point to be drawn out from Matthew chapter 9. Now the second main point is that the Great Commission is infused with its own urgency. See how the Lord looked upon the crowd. We are told there that the Lord had compassion upon the people. He saw the multitude. He was moved with compassion for them. Now the compassion of the Lord is something that we should not miss. In various parts of the Bible we see him preaching in an authoritative manner. We see him overturning the tables of the money lenders in the temple area. We see him rebuking the hypocritical religious leaders. But we must not overlook the fact that the Lord had a heart of compassion for people. And it is significant that in so many passages we see this mentioned. And how is it that we can miss that? Just look at some examples. Now let us look at Mark's Gospel chapter 1. In Mark's Gospel chapter 1 verse 41, we are told, Then Jesus moved with compassion, stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, I am willing to be cleansed. Then you look at Matthew chapter 6, you look at verse 34, We are told there and Jesus when he came out saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them. Then you look at chapter 8 of Mark's gospel verse 2. I have compassion on the multitude because they have now continued with me three days and have nothing to eat. Now the Lord had this quality about him that he saw people as people, he saw them in their need. and he is constantly moved with compassion for the people in their need. But then we must remember also that the compassion of the Lord must not be confused with just mere sentimentalism. Now the Lord had a love for the lost because of knowing their true state. He knew the full consequence of what it means to be in sin. And he was not just merely concerned about their being handicapped or their being poor. Remember the occasion when Lazarus, his good friend, died and he wept? Now, look up any good commentary and you'll discover that all are in agreement that the Lord Jesus Christ was not just moved simply because a close friend had died, but rather he was seeing the effect of sin. The ravages of sin upon the human race and he was moved. No doubt Lazarus was his close friend but the Lord's heart was not only tender towards close friend and his sisters but his heart was that of the Son of God. He knew the terrible effect of sin upon the human race such that he was moved to want to do something about it. He actually came to this world in order to deal with the sin that is found in man. And so when we come to see in this passage the Lord being moved with compassion for the people, we must remember that he was looking deeper than what is just merely sin on the outside. Here the Lord is realising that whatever the condition of the people outwardly, there is deep in them the problem of sin. And with sin is the effect of consequences, the effects of their estrangement from God. When they are in sin it follows therefore that the Holy God must deal with them. And when they are in sin it means that in due time they will be confined to eternal hell. They will be under the judgment of God. And so we come to talk a little about the judgment of God. Now, the love of God and the good news of salvation must never ever be separated from judgment. It must never be separated from sin and the consequences of sin. And ultimately, the judgment of God would be because of sin. And there is something about sin that we must notice. Now sin is not the mere action performed, not the mere breaking of God's law at this point and that point. We must come to realize that it is due to the sinful nature that the person commits all these acts of sin. So something has to be done to that sinful nature without which we will never be saved. And so the inability of the person to save himself is to be noted that the Lord understood that it was impossible, impossible for man of himself to be saved. And he realised also that left as they were, The people before him and all people throughout the world and all generations will ultimately be judged by God. Now, what is the judgment of God? God is the Holy One and He is just. Just as He is love and He is full of compassion, He nevertheless is a Holy God who is just and must therefore deal with sin. And since He is the infinite God who has been offended by his preachers, the infinite God must pour forth his holy wrath upon those who have sinned against him. Now the sin of the human race must be looked upon as something that adds up and then adds up and adds up more and more until the time comes when the full force of God's wrath must be poured out. Now this truth It's taught right very early in the Bible. Now you turn with me to Genesis chapter 15. Genesis chapter 15. When God first gave the promise to Abraham of great possessions and the land and many descendants. He said in verse 16 of Genesis 15. But in the fourth generation, they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete." Now why was it that the promise to Abraham could not be fulfilled immediately? Was it because God had no power to straight away give to Abraham the promises, including the land? It wasn't because of that. But there is something which we call the divine economy. God has his own way of dealing with things such that all things will work out consistent with his character. God never contradicts himself. Now he was going to give the land, the promised land to the descendants of Abraham and they will receive the land in due time. And it will be because God has freely given it to them. It will not be because the the descendants of Abraham have deserved it. It will be all by the grace of God. It is simply because God freely chose to give that land to them. But it will be such that that will be the time when the Amorites are ready for judgment. The Amorites have been sinning against God. For generations they have been sinning against God and God here was revealing to Abraham that their sins are not yet complete. The time will come when their sins have reached its full point, when God's wrath must be fought out, otherwise he would be contradicting his own character, his justice and his holiness will be impinged again. So you see now God has his way, his promise will be fulfilled at the time when the Emirates sin, call out for judgment and in that way God will never be accused of being unjust or unfair. It is simply because the Amorites have deserved judgment of God. Now we know the same thing happened to the human race up to the time of Noah. The human race was sinning, sinning against God and the time came when God's wrath had to be poured out brought down upon the human race. And so you know the story, the human race was destroyed except for Noah and his family. Now we see the same thing happening to Sodom and Gomorrah. Sodom and Gomorrah had sinned against God, sinned against God and sinned against God. Now each individual deserves to be just by God but all the individuals were sinning against God and the cumulative effect of sin is such that God's wrath could not be contained anymore and the time came when God fought forth his judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah. Now Sodom and Gomorrah is actually a picture of judgment, the day of judgment to come. In many places in the New Testament Sodom and Gomorrah is mentioned in connection with Judgement Day. Therefore it is not wrong for us to look at the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah as containing lessons on what will happen in the time to come. So what we want to take note of here is that Judgement is certain to come upon the human race. Why? Simply because there are always humans who are sinners and who continue to sin against God. Now the point is this. As time moves on, as the years fly by, we will have more and more people in this world. With more and more people means that there are more and more sinners in the world. And with more sinners in the world it means that we are sinning more and more and more. So the human race is actually accumulating the sin we are owing to God, that debt of sin. And the time will come when God's holy anger will be burst forth upon the human race. Judgment is certain because the human race goes on sinning against God. The teaching on judgment is very clear and very frightening. I refer you to a familiar passage, Revelation chapter 6. Now there, although Revelation is a prophetic book and in symbolic language, it describes what will happen on that day. But nevertheless, the reality of the terror of that day cannot be missed. Starting from verse 12, we can read on, I looked when he opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood, and the stars of heaven fell to the earth as a thick tree drops its late peaks when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a sprawl when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of his wrath has come, and who is able to stand? Now we do not want to miss the terror of Judgment Day. Now the Lord was fully conscious of the fact that the multitude will face this judgment. Now the teaching of judgment is given in the Bible for various purposes. Firstly, it is to comfort Christians who are in trial. They will be delivered from that judgment of the human race to come. And then it is meant to warn the ungodly so that there may be those who will repent and turned to the Lord for salvation. But it is also given, the teaching is also given in order to spur Christians to evangelize the Lord. Remember in Ezekiel chapter 33? Ezekiel was told that he was set as a watchman over Israel and he had to warn the nation of Israel. God was certain to judge the nation because The nation had been sinning against God for so many, many years. And Ezekiel, although knowing that the judgment of God was to come upon that sinful nation, was nevertheless told to warn them. And in verse 8 of Ezekiel 33 we are told, When I say to the wicked, O wicked man, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand." Now there is this responsibility placed upon God's people to bring the gospel to the lost. It is not for us to determine who will be saved and who will be lost. God has never revealed to us who the elect His chosen people are, until they are saved. So the Gospel is to be preached to all without exception. It is not for us to determine whether that person appears to be the elect or not, or whether he is responsive to the Gospel or not. We have to preach the Gospel to all without exception. And it is as the Gospel is proclaimed, that the Holy Spirit uses the preached word. to bring about regeneration in the heart of God's people. And then when they repent and turn, trust in Jesus Christ, then we know Ah is one of God's elect. So you see here that there is that responsibility for us to preach because we know that otherwise people will be judged. Now where then is the urgency in gospel preaching? Now the certainty of judgment because of the accumulation of sins of the human race should cause us to want to preach the gospel. And connected with the judgment of the ungodly, we must also remember that side by side with that is the salvation of the elect. Now God's wrath cannot be brought down upon the human race until all God's elect are saved. We do not know when that will happen, but we know that as the gospel is preached, God's elect will be called out of this world. Now we referred to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah earlier. Now in that passage there is a significant verse, Genesis chapter 19 verse 22. Now the three, the angels who went to one lot of the destruction, told him and his family to move out of the city quickly and we are told there that Lord lingered and the angel therefore dragged the family out of the city and we are told in verse 22, hurry escape there for I cannot do anything until you arrive there. Now why couldn't the angel do anything? It's simply because Lord and his family were not meant to be destroyed. They were meant to be saved. But then the city had to be destroyed. But God wanted to time it such that with the saving of the elect, the judgement of the ungodly will take place. And here again, we see the divine economy. There is no wastage of moves, as we would say. You know, sometimes people do boxing, Some people are not good and therefore they box and punch into the air. Paul uses that illustration. We do not want to hit the air. Now all those are wasted moves. But God is sovereign. He is in control of all things. Nothing catches Him by surprise. And He is in such control that it will work out such that nobody can accuse Him of anything. So it is the ungodly who have themselves to be blamed when they are judged. And the elect, those who are chosen by God to be saved, have all the glory to give to their God for saving them. So you see that the elect will be saved by grace, by grace alone. And the ungodly will be judged because they deserve the judgment. And so you see here that built into the Great Commission is its own urgency. We do not know when the Lord is coming, but we know that up to the time that he comes, the gospel is to be preached. And the reason is because the world is definitely heading for judgment. Judgment is a terrible thing. We know that people in the world have been sinning for generations. And as the world goes on, as time flies by, we come to realize that there are more and more people being born into the world. And at any one moment, there are more people born into the world than there are those born into the Kingdom of God. Now with more people means that more people will be sinning. And the sin of the human race cries out for judgment. And because we are so certain that the human race must be judged, that we are so certain that it will be judged, and we will deserve that. We are therefore concerned to want to bring the gospel to the lost. Otherwise, God holds us responsible for not preaching to them. But at the same time, we know that the elect will be called out of the world, without which the judgment of God cannot be brought down. And so you see here this holy tension involved. The elect must be called out by the preaching of the gospel. There is the certainty of judgement of the ungodly. And we who are saved want to follow the command of the Lord. We have the heart of God in us. We want to see that the gospel is proclaimed in order that the elect will be saved and they are saved out of the way. and then the wrath of God will be poured out on the ungodly. Now let us be sure that no elect will be destroyed on Judgment Day. Not one, not a single one of God's chosen ones will be lost. The teaching of Scripture on this is clear. Now if you were to turn with me to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, 1 Thessalonians 4, again a familiar passage. Look at verse 17. Now this is concerning the coming of the Lord. And verse 17 says, when then, starting from verse 16, for the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first, Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. Now take note that there are only two groups of people referred to who are saved. Those who have already passed away, their souls were in heaven, Christ would bring along with them. Then those who are his people, who are believers, they will be caught up into the air. to be together with the Lord. Now there is no such thing as elects who are not yet saved. There is no indication of that. And we know that all God's elect will be saved only by the hearing of God's Word. That is the normal way by which people are saved. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. We do not know about elect infants and those who are mentally handicapped We know that if there are elect among them, God in His mercy will save them without the hearing of the gospel. But nevertheless we know that it will be because Christ has died for them. Now what we do not know, we do not want to delve into too much. But what God has clearly revealed, we want to fathom and understand. And here, God has revealed to us, very clearly in His Word, that under normal circumstances, those who are to be saved will be saved only by the hearing of God's Word. And therefore it is our duty to proclaim the Word of God to everyone, everywhere, in all generations, so that all God's elect will be saved. And then when all God's elect are saved, then will come the judgment. So the urgency involved is in the salvation of the elect at the same time that the judgment of God will fall upon the ungodly. Now having dealt with that, we come to the third point. We have dealt with the point that the Great Commission has a temporal and spatial aspect. Then we have dealt with the point that the Great Commission is infused with its own urgency. Then, thirdly, the Great Commission is equipped with its own manner of execution. Now, we know that as the world continues and as time moves on, more and more people are being born into the world. we hear of population explosion. Here and there we see the decline of population, perhaps through war, through a plague, through disease. But as a general rule, the population in the world keeps growing. And with the growing number of people, you see that firstly there is the increase in the number. Then there is the condition of that two groups of people, those who are going to be left for destruction and those who are chosen by God to be saved. So with more people in the world in that condition or that state of sin, we know that there will be more sin committed and the sin of the human race will accumulate more and more and it will be crying out for judgment from God. And as the world goes on, as time flies past, our concern is that that sin, that debt of sin against God accumulating and it's accumulating and we know that judgement is just at any time now. Then at the same time we know that just as God's wrath is going to burst down upon the human race, there are the elect to be called and they can be called only by the hearing of God's word. And therefore we want to speed forward the spread of the gospel. We want to proclaim the gospel in order that the elect may be saved. And because we are not given to know who are the elect until they are saved, we therefore preach to all. And our compassion for lost souls like that of the Lord Jesus Christ is also because of knowing that there is such a thing as judgment. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. And we therefore proclaim the gospel. Now we will be driven to despair. as to how we are to fulfil the Great Commission if it were a mere matter of one individual doing it. We will be driven to despair also if it were a mere matter of all the Reformed Baptist Churches doing it, and even all the Christians in the world doing it. We know that our resources are limited, opportunities are many of course, but we are limited by our own human frailty. And we know that very soon our life will be over. Now who is going to carry on the work of the Gospel to the end of the age? It has to be the next generation of Christians. Now where is this next generation of Christians going to come from? How or in what situation are they going to be nurtured so that they are effective preachers of the Gospel? The Great Commission, as we have noticed, as we have learnt already, It's a command to local churches to plan other local churches. And in the genius of the command lies the method of its own fulfilment. Just like when we say that there are rules of interpreting scripture, but we summarise and round up by saying that the scripture is its own interpreter. So also the Great Commission contains within itself, built within itself, is its own best way of fulfilling it. So you see now that the Great Commission is equipped with its own manner of execution. Local churches spread the Gospel, and when people are converted, local churches are formed. And in those local churches, believers are nurtured in the faith, and they in turn will preach the Gospel. to those far away, those who are near, to those in the next generation. So this work is going to go on and to go on and to go on until Christ comes again. Now we see this truth also supported by various other teachings in the Bible. We see it in the Great Commission itself as given in Matthew 28, that when disciples are made, they are to be baptized. And we know that there is a meaning of baptism, there is also the purpose of baptism, the purpose of which is to incorporate the new disciples into the membership of the church. It is in the context of the life of the local church that the disciples are taught all the Lord's commands. And we read in 1 Timothy 3, verse 15, the Apostle Paul reminding Timothy that the local church, the household of God, is the pillar and the foundation of the truth. Now the pillar is there to hold up the roof high. You chop away the pillar, the roof will collapse. The purpose of a pillar is to hold something up high. The pillar is there to hold the truth high. Why must it be held high? It is because the world is in spiritual darkness. And as we hold the gospel high, People are drawn to the light, which is Jesus Christ. And when people are converted, what do we do with them? Their faith is to be built up, and the church is the foundation of the truth. So believers are brought in, and in the church they are built up in the faith. And so this will go on. As the believers are built up in the faith, the church is more able to reach out to others, and when others are converted, they are added into the church. And as one generation of Christians passes away, another generation will rise to take its place. And the whole process will continue until the coming of Christ. Now just think, if you are still adamant and refuse to follow the right way of carrying out the Great Commission, you choose only the part of the Great Commission that you like and you want to do things your own way in God's name. You claim you are carrying out the Great Commission, but you are doing it your way. You do not want to follow what is taught, namely that local churches must plant other local churches. Now, you do it your way, you discover that when disciples are made, what happens to them? Oh, you can give them follow-up material, you can meet with them a few times and after that they are on their own. But even if that person were to remain in the faith until he dies, is not lost. Still, the work just ends there. All your hard work is lost once that person is over. And I actually know of a reformed man who went to Malaya, which today is known as Malaysia, who travelled up and down the country preaching the gospel. And I was told there was an Indian man, a Tamil speaking man, living in the area where I lived for many years. And he said that that man was converted in the 1950s and the British were still in Malaya. Try and find out if there is a Christian, a family who are Christian. Now how do you expect me to find such a Christian in that Indian community, that Hindu community? I asked around. I couldn't determine whether there was a family who was converted during the time when that missionary visited. Now, thank God if there was really a family that was converted and continued on in the faith. But you see, much greater work could have been done. If that family were to be taught properly, other families are converted and they are covenanted together as a local church and the work continued, then it wouldn't need BS4 to, by the grace of God, found the first Reformed Baptist Church in Malaysia in 1983. There would have been a reformed Baptist church there in the 1950s. So what we are saying is that all our works are not put to good use. We have not been good stewards of the gifts that God has given us if we do not do God's work in God's way. So then, we see the need for us to do God's work in God's way. The Great Commission requires that we plant churches. Now we read Psalm 110 earlier. Now Psalm 110 is a messianic psalm. It prophesies the coming of the days of our Lord and His reign. It is a reference to this Gospel age and it uses an imagery that we can all quite clearly understand. The Messiah is presented as a king who goes conquering and subdues other kings. The king of course has an army and because this is prophetic, it prophesies concerning the reign of Christ in this gospel age. We therefore have to understand that the conquest of the king is by the means of the thought of the spirit. It is not by the means of literal thoughts or by the means of guns and cannons. It is not by physical force. It is the spirit changing the lives of people as his word is proclaimed. Now of interest is verse 3. The certainty of His crime of the king's crime is mentioned towards the end of that psalm. He shall drink of the brook by the wayside, therefore he shall lift up the head. Now lift up the head means lift up in crime. He will win over all opposition in the world. But of interest to us is verse 3. Your people shall be volunteers in the day of your power. In the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning you have the view of your youth. Now here the Lord is portrayed as the king having an army. And that army is constantly fresh and vigorous in the freshness of youth. And the people will be volunteers in the day of his power. As the gospel goes forth, as it is preached, it is as though this first line of soldiers have moved forward and done the conquest. And if any were to be cut down, or if they were to grow old and are no more able to go out for battle, there will be another line of the army raised up and it will push forward with the conquest. And so it will go on, it will go on and it will go on. There is never a break in that army that is marching constantly forward. Now, it's not your heart thrilled by this thought that the church like an army marching forward and there is no fear that the rank of the marching army will be broken and no enemy of the Gospel will be able to destroy the Church of Jesus Christ. The gates of Hades will not prevail against the Church of Jesus Christ. And so it is with this thought that we come to close this message, the divine urgency and human need of church planting. Now there is one final thought found in verse 38 of Matthew chapter 9. Now we have said that what was given to the apostles were meant for the churches in the subsequent generations. We are told in verse 38, Therefore pray the Lord of the harvests to send out labourers into his harvest. If you were to be invited to my house and my wife's My wife cooked a nice meal and we enjoyed the meal together. At the end of that meal, we would be left with many dishes to wash. Now, in our country, we still do not use the dish washing machine too much. So we have to wash the dishes manually. After eating, we are contented and happy and I say to you, now it's time to wash the dishes. And I stand up to want to bring the dishes to be washed. Now are you going to sit there and do nothing? As a guest in my house, I perhaps would not say anything to you. But I think you would know that I am rightly not so happy. When the Lord said to the apostle, Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his Did he intend the apostles to just pray that others may be sent out? The Lord was saying, beginning with you, you must go forth to do the work. And that is how it happened. The apostles took up the task of going forth to plant churches and the subsequent generations of Christians are to follow. So by way of application, Are you considering ministerial service? Missionary service? Or are you just praying for others to go forth to do the harvest thing? So may God raise up many preachers this generation. May God give us that divine urgency to want to plant churches. Let's pray. Our Father in Heaven, we bow our hearts again in thanksgiving and praise, for you are a great God, you are a holy God, you are the God of love, you have shown your great compassion upon an undeserving people. We, as people who have tasted of your goodness, bow ourselves before you tonight to praise you, O God, to worship you. to lift up your holy name, to say, Lord, we love you. And we pray, Father, that you may take hold of us and draw us near unto yourself. Continue to work in us a mighty work by the power of your Holy Spirit. Help us that our eyes will be enlightened, be open to see the wondrous truths that are contained in your word. We pray, Father, that we may constantly be students of your word. that we will never come to the point when we say that we have arrived. We pray, Father, that you may help us to remain humble, you may keep us close to you, you may not allow us to go astray, whether in life or in doctrine. Help us, Father, that we may have that vision to see your work carried out until the end. And we pray, Father, that even in this generation and in our midst here, you may raise up preachers of the Word. Grandfather, that your work will continue to prosper. That Jesus Christ's name will be greatly magnified. Forgive us our many sins. Deal graciously with us. For we pray all these in Jesus Christ's name. Amen.