Please get your Bibles tonight and let's turn together to the Book of Acts again this evening, a final time this evening to the 13th chapter. And our text this evening is just going to be one verse, verse 47. I will read from verse 44 down to verse 47, so that the context will be set. This will serve as our text tonight as we look at the subject of the Great Commission of the Old Testament. The Great Commission of the Old Testament. Maybe it would be good to remind us all, what is the Great Commission? Well, the Great Commission is when Jesus met with his disciples after he had risen from the dead on that mountain. And he said there, it's recorded at the end of Matthew, that all authority in heaven and on earth had been given to him, and therefore they were to go and to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them, or teaching them to observe all that he had commanded and baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. That's the Great Commission. But there is a Great Commission in the Old Testament as well. And we're gonna look at that very briefly this evening, but let's give our careful attention first here to the reading of the word, beginning in verse 44 of Acts chapter 13. And again, I'm gonna end the reading at verse 47. The next Sabbath, almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. But when the Jews saw the crowd, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul reviling him. And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, it was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrusted aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. 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. Let's bow just briefly in prayer, seeking the Lord's blessing. Father, we do look to you now and ask that you would add your blessing to our time in your word and that you would use it in our lives tonight. And so we need the working of the spirit of Jesus. May he work by and with his word. impressing it into our lives, challenging us, bringing us to repentance this evening. We ask this in Christ's name, amen. There are a lot of things that could be said and spoken on from this one verse that will serve as our text tonight. It's in fact mostly a quote from the book of Isaiah. Paul and Barnabas quote Isaiah chapter 49 verse 6 here. But tonight I just want two things. My hope is that you might be confronted this evening with two things that would weigh heavy on your heart, not in a depressing way, but I hope in a convicting way. Because there's some things here that I think are very helpful to us. And this verse has some important matters. to teach us. The first of those two is what I'm going to call the imperative of the promise, the imperative of the promise. Paul and Barnabas, and this is, we wanna see this really interesting thing that goes on here in this verse because Paul and Barnabas claim that that verse back in Isaiah chapter 49 contains the Lord's command to them to turn away from preaching just to the Jews and begin now preaching the gospel to the Gentiles as well. But here's the thing, that passage back in Isaiah that they are quoting here, again, as the Lord's command to them, was actually speaking of the suffering servant, the Messiah, Jesus Christ himself. Look in the passage a moment, look at this verse, verse 47 here, and notice, look at the quote first. And I want you to see a change in the pronoun that's here, even in the English. I have made you, and by the way, that is a singular person that it's speaking of. I have made you, not you guys, I have made you a light for the Gentiles that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth. But then look at the beginning of the verse. For so the Lord has commanded us. We have a change from a singular you To a plural, us. I am terrible at illustrations, and I've pretty much gone my whole ministry by not using my children in illustrations. And tonight, I'm not really using my, I'm gonna use Izzy, but it's not, has anything to do with his life, really. It's just for hypothetical sake. But it could be something like this. What if years ago, and I never did this, so it's just mythical and ridiculous. But what if years ago I said to Izzy, you will be the barbecue lighter in our home. You'll be the barbecue lighter. So every time we have a cookout, you'll light the barbecue. You're going to be the barbecue lighter. But then sometime next week, some of his friends show up and they say, we're here and we're going to light the barbecue because we've been commanded to light it. And we ask, well, when were you commanded to light it? And they say, well, when you promised Izzy that he would be the barbecue lighter. What's going on here? A promise to one becomes a command to many. A promise to one becomes a command to many. Again, what's going on here? Well, actually a very important principle for understanding and applying the Bible is going on here. And that principle is this, every truth in the Bible implies a response on our part. Let me say it again, every single truth in the Bible implies a response on our part. In other words, even God's promises have what we might call an imperatival or a commanding nature to them. Even God's promises have an imperatival force, a commanding force to them. Let's think about this just briefly together. and reveals to us the truth, and he does, that he is the one living and true God who has made all things. We are not at liberty to just sort of yawn and go, oh, that's a nice truth. What does the truth that God is the one living and true God require of us? Well, it requires that we bow down and we worship him. It requires that we live our lives in light of Him who is the one living and true God, living for His glory. And when God says, by a prophetic word in the Old Testament, to His own Son, to His own servant, the Messiah, that He is going to make Him, He's gonna make Jesus, a light for the nations, and that His salvation is to reach the ends of the earth, there is a lasting imperative or a lasting command to us to make sure that that truth is proclaimed to all nations, so that that salvation will reach the ends of the earth. This is called a necessary inference. Something that is absolutely necessary being inferred from something that is true. Just like we said a second ago, if there's one living and true God, what's inferred from that? What's the necessary inference that we are to draw from that? Well, then we are to worship him. We are to glorify him. or to bow down to him. But let me draw, and we're gonna look at this a little bit further in a second here, but let me draw an application from this for us even at this point. And that application is that we need to think on and we need to meditate on the truths that are revealed in scripture and prayerfully consider what they require of us. In other words, when you're reading the Bible, We're not to just pass over things or look at a truth and go, yep, that's true, that's good. But rather, as we read the word, as we're confronted with truth from the word, what should be in our hearts and minds is, Lord, what do you want of me in response to that beautiful truth? How should I respond to this promise that you have made? When I say that, I mean, this is an application. These are the truths of God. Every truth in the Bible implies a response on our part. When I say that, that doesn't mean it's going to be easy all the time to know what the answer to that is, to say, Lord, how should I respond to this? You know what it's gonna take? It's gonna take all of us slowing down in our Bible reading. It's going to take a greater patience as we read the Word and as we think on, in other words, meditate on the truths of Scripture. We're not called to just rip through the Scriptures as if we're trying to finish a novel by the end of the year or something like that. But rather, these words are truth in life. These are the very words of life. And as we read them, it's going to take time. It's going to take patience. It's going to take meditation to really glean, Lord, what do you require of me? How should I respond in light of these truths? Think again with me just very briefly. This is a regular principle throughout the scriptures. Let me just jog your memory on those. God is love. Here's a statement of truth. Well, what's then required of us that we also love? God is holy. Therefore, you also must be holy. God is gracious. Well, we also must be gracious then. If he's gracious, God desires the salvation of the world. Well, we should then work for and desire the salvation of the world. So there is an imperative in every truth. There is an implied command even in the promises of God. But I want us to look secondly and briefly this evening at then this missionary mandate of that promise that was given there in Isaiah chapter 49. This verse that Paul and Barnabas quote is their command. They say this is our command to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. It's actually been called, I heard it referenced as it's often referred to as the Great Commission of the Old Testament. I went looking for that and I can't find it, at least not often. I couldn't even find it one time if someone said that in passing, but I think it's true. I think this really is, this passage here could be rightly seen as the Great Commission of the Old Testament. Let me read actually the whole verse because it's important to hear what God is saying back in Isaiah chapter 49. So listen just for a second to the whole verse. The Lord says, I think this is so beautiful. It is too light of a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel. I will make you as a light to the nations that my salvation may reach the end of the earth. In other words, and in essence, what God is saying about Jesus is He is just simply too grand to be the Savior of just one ethnic people. Jesus is just too great and perfect and sufficient to be the Savior of one nation. That's too light of a thing. He's going to be the light to the whole world so that salvation could come to every nation. And this verse from Isaiah is then either cited or alluded to throughout the whole New Testament. It's amazing. And guess who cites it first? Who's the first one to reference this verse in light of Jesus? It's Simeon. the old man at the temple, when he holds the infant Jesus in his hands and he blesses God saying, Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace according to your word. 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. Simeon begins by identifying this is the one. Here is that servant who will be the light to the Gentiles. And then Jesus himself identifies himself as that light. I am the light of the world. He claims and walks right into the fulfillment of that promise. Paul will preach, if we had time I would have you turn there, Paul will preach in chapter 26 that Jesus has risen from the dead, and then here's the quote, to proclaim light to both the Jews and to the Gentiles. And therefore, the early church, as we see here with Paul and Barnabas, the early church considered this promise This promise of Jesus being the light of the world, they considered that to be a mandate laid upon them to proclaim him, therefore, throughout the whole earth. This was truly the great commission of the Old Testament that was then repeated and further enforced by Jesus in the great New Testament commission that we find there at the end of the gospel of Matthew. And because that commission is implied, and as we hear Paul and Barnabas recognize it, that's a promise that we hear as a command to us. I want to end this evening by putting the challenge upon you tonight. The church has been given the mandate to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. We have been commissioned to make sure that the light of the world, Jesus, is known by every tribe, tongue, and nation. If you are part of the church, you are under that commission. And it's not a new one as we see tonight. It started in the Old Testament. But this commission is laid upon all of us as his church. And so here's the question. for you. What are you doing in light of that command upon you? What are you doing in light of the Great Commission? What's your part? As you sit here tonight, I want you to think, what am I doing? What is my part in the fulfillment of this Great Commission which is found in both the Old and New Testaments and which contains a command or a mandate to me. Some of you need to really pray about and think about a call to the ministry or to the mission field. How do people actually go into the ministry? How do people get onto the mission field and go out so that that light might be spread? Well, they become convinced that this mandate is upon them. That Jesus was raised up to be a light to the world, and they need to make sure that that light is spread throughout the world. And so their hearts well up with, I need to be involved in that. And some of them, some people, I'm one, felt the mandate that you need to become a proclaimer of that good news. Felt that call very distinctly. But that's not a call for everyone. So let me ask you about this. How often, if you're not going, how often are you even praying for the ministry in the church or for the mission fields that we're involved with or that you know of? Are you praying? That is a way that every single one of us sitting here tonight can be involved in this great commission. Are we praying for the spread of the gospel throughout the world? Or have you not been praying about that at all? Some of you are able to actually support people in missions. Have you thought about that? I don't sense the call to go, but I can be a sender. That'll be my place in the Great Commission. I'm going to back and help support missions work. Again, so that this light might go out so that salvation will come to the ends of the earth. And some of you need to be a whole lot more bold in your Christian witness just where you are in your life. When was the last time you even told someone the gospel? That you shared the gospel? The glory of Jesus, the light of the world? When was the last time we spoke of our own salvation to others? Our part of the commission, longing to see others who are in darkness being led to the light. That is something that every one of us can be involved with, even if we're not good at talking. Moses had that excuse, and God said, I made your mouth. I can give you the ability to talk, to share a little. Think of the woman at the well. Think of the man born blind. Not a real extensive presentation. All they said is, I met a man who told me everything I ever did. Come and hear him. Or, I don't know. I was blind, now I see. a very simple witness to Christ. The command, the mandate, the commission, it is not an option. You are not able, as one of the people of God, to walk out of here tonight and say, that has nothing to do with me. That requires nothing of me. No, the mandate, the command is not an option. And so again, What are you doing? What is your part? What is your place in light of this great commission that we are all under as his people? Let's pray together. Our Lord and our God and our Savior, we thank you that you did not leave us in darkness but that you were so gracious that you would arrange and purpose that the light of the glory of your son Jesus would reach us. Some of us, you gave that light when we heard the word preach. Some of us saw that light when a friend shared your gospel with us. Some of us were raised in homes where that light was put before us regularly. Lord, we pray that you would help us to think through and to discern and to begin to function in accord with the part that you've called us to in this great commission of seeing the light of Christ spread throughout the whole earth. What a God you are and what a Savior Jesus is, too light of a thing to be just the Savior of Israel. You purposed that he would be the Savior of the whole world. Father, help us to be more faithful to this commission that you have granted the church, given us, called us to, and enabled us to participate in. And so convict us tonight, but lead us in paths of new obedience, Teach us how to respond rightly to all your truth, all the glorious things of you, of your son, of your spirit. We ask these things in Jesus' name, amen.