Roman 15:8-12

And a good morning to you all. It's very good to see you here on this day.

I ask that you open up your copy of God's Word.

I hope you have it with you this day.

Paul's letter to the Romans chapter 15.

Romans 15 · chapter mention

We're going to look together this morning at verses 8 through 12.

Romans chapter 15 verses 8 through 12.

Romans 15:8–12

For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness

in order to confirm the promise given to the patriarchs

and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy.

As it is written,

Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles and sing to your name.

And again it is said,

Rejoice Gentiles with His people.

And again, praise the Lord all you Gentiles

and let all the peoples extol Him.

And again Isaiah says,

The root of Jesse will come,

even he who arises to the rule Gentiles,

in him with the Gentiles hope.

Now I hope this morning that we're all a little more prepared

than I was for Aletheia Way.

But certainly we need God's blessing on the preaching of His word.

So let's join together in prayer and ask for that.

Father God, we praise you this morning for the good things you've done for us in Christ.

And one of those things is you've given us your precious word,

a great tool, an asset to us to live the Christian life,

to see how it is that we ought to serve and worship and honor you.

And we plead with you this morning, Lord, by your Spirit.

Speak through me.

Minister to all of our hearts.

Soften them where they need softening.

Harden them where they need hardening.

That we might boldly proclaim your gospel to this world.

That we might display the goodness of it in our own lives.

That your name will be honored to all peoples.

We pray this in Christ's name.

Amen.

So as we've continued through Romans,

Paul has come and began to narrow the scope,

the outworkings of the gospel,

which he's presented to us in the first 11 chapters.

He's beginning to show us how then,

in light of these great gospel truths, we should live.

And he does that through 12, 13, 14.

And in 14, he really begins to talk about

the gray areas of Christian life.

The things that the scriptures don't speak to directly.

What we should and shouldn't do in those gray realms.

And he talks about how we ought to have unity in those things.

And in the beginning of 15,

he uses Christ as the example.

You see in verse 7,

Therefore, welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you.

And in response to that,

then he then broadens the scope once again.

He then takes a step back up.

And it seems like every time Paul talks about Jesus Christ,

he doesn't narrow down.

He goes bigger.

He says,

I just said the name Jesus Christ.

I've got to proclaim something huge and massive and true

about our glorious Savior and Lord.

I imagine him being moved back towards

what we sometimes call the high theology

as he speaks of Christ and his work for us.

So in response to him talking about Christ welcoming us,

he expounds upon that a bit for us.

And we see this here.

And the teaching is fairly simple.

We find it in verse 8 and the first part of 9

with support, with Old Testament scriptural support.

And here's what he's trying to say to us.

Christ became a servant to the Jews,

to the circumcised,

to show God's truthfulness,

to accomplish two things.

Number one,

in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs

in the proof of God being true.

And secondly,

so that in order that the Gentiles

would glorify God for his mercy.

The point he's making to us,

as Christ became a servant,

verse 3 of chapter 15,

For Christ did not please himself,

but he pleased God with his action,

with his sacrifice on our behalf.

And he did these things

in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs

and to cause the Gentiles to glorify him for his mercy.

So we're going to look together at these Old Testament proofs,

and I'm going to expand upon them a bit

to show you God's global purpose,

what he has always intended from the very beginning of time,

the way in which he intended to glorify himself,

the way in which he chose to expose his very character to the world.

Well, let's begin with this first little phrase,

the first part of chapter, or verse 8.

Christ became a servant to the circumcised

to show God's truthfulness.

At this point, you may ask a question,

but didn't Christ come to serve the world?

Here the text says he became a servant to the circumcised,

and my response to that would be both yes and no.

Take, for example, Matthew chapter 15, verse 24.

Matthew 15:24

We see a Canaanite woman come to him

who's been oppressed by a demon,

and she's coming to him for healing.

And he responds to her in verse 24 of chapter 15,

I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

So Christ was sent to serve Israel,

to serve the Jews, his kin,

the nation that he was born from.

He was sent to serve them.

But then what do we see her response to that being?

She has this great measure of faith.

As he says to her,

I didn't come to serve the Canaanites,

I came to serve the Jews.

And she said,

but even the dogs get scraps from the table.

Your mercy surely extends beyond just those seated at the table.

And he then rewards her for her great faith.

So he expands then his mercy and his gospel beyond.

So my answer to that is both yes and no.

But Jesus was in fact sent to serve the Jews

in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs,

in order to prove God faithful,

to fulfill all of the promises given to the patriarchs.

Speaking expressly of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

We see in Matthew chapter 5, verse 17,

Matthew 5:17

Jesus' Sermon on the Mount.

He says,

Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.

I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.

He fulfilled the law by upholding it,

its sacredness, reestablishing its truth.

He expounded upon what it meant.

That's what the Sermon on the Mount is all about.

It's about showing people what the law was originally intended for.

He fulfilled the law by keeping it perfectly.

Without flaw, Jesus Christ kept the law.

But beyond that, He came to verify the whole revealed truth of God.

2 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 20,

2 Corinthians 1:20

reads,

For all the promises of God, all of them,

find their yes in Jesus Christ.

That is why it is through Him that we utter our amen to God for His glory.

All the promises of God are yes in Jesus Christ.

And so as Paul is writing to an audience that was both Jew and Gentile,

and he's coming off this treatise on the way we ought to live together in harmony.

And the Jews were strict adherers to the Old Testament law,

and many of them hadn't quite let go of the liberty that they now had in Christ.

Still were very dogmatic about the things that they would and wouldn't eat.

As an example, you'll see throughout chapter 14, right?

I believe he's speaking here specifically to the Jews,

to show them that the gospel was always meant to expand beyond their borders.

The Jews' very calling, their very purpose from the beginning,

the reason that they were called out as a people set apart for God,

was to reach the Gentiles for His glory.

The very purpose that they were created for.

Which brings us to the second point, the thing he's trying to establish here, right?

Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness.

Secondly, in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy.

In order that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy.

Now, when we read this phrase rendered this way in the ESV,

you see that word might?

And for us, that raises question.

We would read it maybe, in order that the Gentiles could possibly glorify God.

In order that the Gentiles could have the potential of glorifying God.

But that's not what the original language means at all, right?

The language used here is actually something that has already been accomplished.

I won't get into all the details of that this morning.

But, what really he's saying is, in order that the Gentiles would,

in order that they necessarily did glorify God for His mercy,

was something that was accomplished by Christ coming,

serving the circumcised, and fulfilling,

showing God's truthfulness to be true, accurate.

Dependable, all right?

And it's entirely consistent with the promises given to the patriarchs, okay?

Paul's been working on establishing that for us this far.

That, in fact, the gospel of grace was not meant just for the Jews,

but meant for the world.

That's that language we use.

Paul's using the term Gentiles here so often,

you could replace with that the nations, the world, peoples, okay?

Gentiles is what the Jewish readers would have understood to be everyone but them, all right?

So, recognize that it just expands to everyone, not including them, all the other people of the world.

And that's the point he's making here.

Flip with me back to the beginning of Romans.

We're going to do a quick little tour through,

just to show you the consistency of his argument here.

Keep in mind that this would have been read all at one time, right?

So, hopefully this would have been fresh on the original readers' minds as they came to this spot.

I've been tempted so many times, rather than preaching a sermon,

just to read you a whole book of the Bible,

because that's what would have been done in the historical church.

They would have received a letter from Paul,

and they would have just stood up and read it,

because the context is so important.

I'll probably never do it, but maybe someday.

We'll see.

All right.

So, Romans chapter 1, verses 4 and 5.

Romans 1:4

Let's start there.

He says,

So, he starts it very quickly here in his prologue in Romans.

Now, turn to, well, you don't probably have to turn.

Verse 13 through 16 of chapter 1.

I want you to know, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you,

but thus far have been prevented,

in order that I may reap some harvest among you,

as well as among the rest of the Gentiles.

I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians,

both to the wise and to the foolish.

So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also, who are in Rome.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel,

for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes,

to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

So there we see it again.

Chapter 2, verse 24.

Stated here in the negative, speaking of Israel.

It says,

For as it is written,

The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.

Because of the Jewish rejection of God and his ways.

The name was blasphemed among the Gentiles.

It was intended to not be.

It was intended to be honored among the Gentiles.

But because of their disobedience, it was blasphemed.

Chapter 3, verse 29 and 30.

Or is God the God of Jews only?

Is he not the God of Gentiles also?

Yes, of Gentiles also.

Since God is one who would justify the circumcised by faith,

and the uncircumcised through faith.

Chapter 10, verse 12 and 13.

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 on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Praise God.

Chapter 11, right?

Which is all about Israel and what will finally happen to Israel.

And we talked at length about this.

And I think at the end of it all, I really said, I don't know.

I had a guess at what the outcome of it would be.

But chapter 11, verses 11 and 12 and 25.

So I asked, did they stumble in order that they might fall?

By no means.

Rather, through their trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles.

So as to make Israel jealous.

Now if their trespass means riches for the world,

and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles,

how much more will their full inclusion mean?

In verse 25.

Lest you be wise in your own sight,

I want you to understand this mystery, brothers.

A partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.

He's making the point pretty emphatically throughout the book of Romans so far.

Now recognize that this has been canonized as scripture.

The church has recognized Paul's letter to the Romans as inspired by the Spirit.

And we have included it, canonized it into our scriptures.

We see this as the word of God.

And I fully believe that it is.

I'm not so sure that as Paul was writing,

he knew that's what was going to happen.

He constantly references back.

Constantly.

I think it's 84 times in the book of Romans.

He references the scriptures.

What we would call the Old Testament.

We talked last week about the great value of the Old Testament.

How poorly neglected it is.

But here, as he continues to make this point,

as he's really trying to drive it home for us,

that the gospel was not just for the Jews,

but it was for the Gentiles.

Praise God for that,

because I think we're all included in that number.

The Gentiles.

All those who are not of Jewish descent.

He, again,

hearkens back to the Old Testament to prove his point.

He quotes the Old Testament scriptures.

We get four of them here,

beginning in the last half of 9 through 12.

We see four of them,

and I want to read to you the original text,

what he's actually quoting from,

and you can look at it here in your own copy of the word.

So the first one is from 2 Samuel 22, 50.

For this I will praise you, O Lord,

among the nations,

and sing praises to your name.

The second one, Deuteronomy 32, 43.

Rejoice with him, O heavens.

Bow down to him, all gods.

The third one, Psalm 117, 1.

Praise the Lord, all nations.

Extol him, all peoples.

And the fourth, Isaiah 11, verse 10.

Isaiah 11:10

In that day, the root of Jesse, being Christ,

who shall stand as a signal for the peoples,

of him shall the nations inquire,

and his resting place shall be glorious.

Now you may note, I hope you did,

the reason I read them to you that way,

is that Paul's quotes of these Old Testament texts aren't exact, are they?

I'm reading the Old Testament English,

right, the English translation in ESV,

and it doesn't match up perfectly, does it?

And the reason for that,

is that in this day,

culturally,

rabbis were permitted to take some liberties with the scriptures.

They were allowed to quote them in such a way

to give greater understanding to the scripture itself.

So take, for example,

he replaces the nations with the word Gentiles.

Speaking to a Jewish audience

who wouldn't really have thought of

all the nations of the world,

but would have thought of them and everyone else.

That's the term he's using here for Gentiles.

You've got the Jews and everyone else.

So he takes the liberty in this case to do this.

Recognize also that this was written,

this was dictated for him.

I imagine him pacing around a room

and putting out these scriptures from memory.

Just toss them out there.

Oh, and another thing.

Pin this one down.

And another thing.

In 2 Samuel.

Oh, and another place in Deuteronomy.

Oh, and by the way, in Psalm.

It's scholars that have gone back

and matched it up and found.

What is he referencing to?

Also know that the punctuation that we have

in our English language

didn't exist in the original language as well.

So we see it as these quotes.

We've got the quotation marks.

We've got clear punctuation.

We've got, and it says, comma, right?

And so for us, we immediately,

especially those of you who are in college right now,

want to quickly go to our citation rules

and figure out how in the world

Paul didn't get kicked out of school

for misquoting and not citing it properly.

Right?

We do all those things.

It was acceptable for him

to use the scriptures in this way.

And beyond all that, okay?

So that's in one hand, right?

More importantly, in this hand,

this is inspired by the Spirit of God.

So if he changes it just a little bit,

praise God that he was trying to give us

a better understanding.

Help us really, it's the commentary

of the Old Testament text

to see that this was God's eternal purpose.

Right?

I want you to notice the types of quotations

he uses here.

Right?

The first one is from one of the books of history,

2 Samuel.

The second, from Deuteronomy,

is a book of the law.

The third, being from Psalm,

is a book of poetry.

And the fourth, being from Isaiah,

is one of the books of the prophets.

Paul used one of the,

each of the four types of literary books

in the Old Testament to make his point.

And what he's trying to say to his readers

and what he's saying to us this morning

is that all of the Old Testament

is consistent.

The theme of this thing,

of God coming to earth,

condescending,

in order to make himself known,

to glorify himself to all peoples,

is consistent in the Scriptures.

It didn't start with Paul.

Certainly Paul's ministry.

He was an apostle sent to the Gentiles.

Right?

But it didn't start with them.

A great example of that would be Nineveh.

Jonah was sent to a people

that were not of Jewish descent.

Right?

To preach repentance.

A good example of this.

It's consistent.

And I want to broaden.

I hope that Paul's argument is enough for you.

It should be.

It should be enough.

He's showing you this theme here.

But let me pull it up a little bit more.

Let's look at a few more examples.

And let's do the same thing he did.

Let's look at a book of the law,

history, poetry, and a prophet

from the Old Testament.

And then we'll look at a few

New Testament examples as well.

I'm going to Bible drill you

a little bit this morning.

So get ready for it.

Let's go to Exodus chapter 9.

Exodus 9 · chapter mention

And we'll go in order.

Okay?

Is that moment when you worry

that your neighbor

is going to judge you

for not knowing exactly

where some books of the Bible are?

Okay?

I cheated.

I marked mine this morning.

Exodus chapter 9,

Exodus 9:13–16

verses 13 through 16.

Showing us the twofold purpose

of the Exodus.

The very reason that God

delivered his people from Egypt.

Then the Lord said to Moses,

Rise up early in the morning

and present yourself before Pharaoh

and say to him,

Thus says the Lord,

the God of the Hebrews,

Let my people go,

firstly,

that they may serve me.

Verse 14.

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.

But for this purpose,

I have raised you up

to show you my power

so that my name

may be proclaimed

in all the earth.

That's quoted in Romans 9,

Romans 9:17

verse 17,

isn't it?

So the twofold purpose

of God bringing the people out

of Egypt

was that they would serve him,

honor him,

glorify him,

and that all the peoples

of the world

might know of this God,

might sing his praises

one day.

Book of History,

Joshua,

Joshua 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4.

Just a couple of books over.

This is the point

that most papers

usually tell you

the page number

that they're on.

I think they're doing that

to get you to buy

the same Bible they have.

I'm not really sure.

Page 180,

if you're using

the same one I'm using.

ESV Thinline,

in case you needed to know.

Joshua, chapter 4,

Joshua 4:19–24

verses 19 through 24.

This is the purpose

of the people crossing

the Jordan

into the Promised Land.

They crossed on dry land

just like they crossed

the Red Sea

to escape from Pharaoh's army.

They crossed the Jordan

on dry land.

And here's the stated purpose

for that very thing.

Chapter 4, verse 19,

we'll read through 24.

The people came up

out of the Jordan

on the tenth day

of the first month

and they encamped

at Gilgal

on the east border

of Jericho.

And those twelve stones

which they took out

of the Jordan,

Joshua set up

at Gilgal.

And he said

to the people of Israel,

when your children

ask their fathers

in times to come,

what do these stones mean?

Then you shall let

your children know

Israel passed over

this Jordan

on dry ground.

For the Lord your God

dried up the waters

of the Jordan

for you until you

passed over

as the Lord your God

did to the Red Sea

which you dried up

for us

until we passed over

so that all the peoples

of the earth

may know

that the hand

of the Lord

is mighty

that you may fear

the Lord your God

forever.

So here we see it again

verse 24.

So that,

why?

Why did all these

things happen?

So that all the peoples

of the earth

may know

that the hand

of the Lord

is mighty.

Book of poetry.

Turn to the book

of Psalm.

Smack dab in the middle.

You can find it.

Over a hundred times

in the Psalms

this very point

is made.

We're going to look

at three real quick.

We're doing three

because they're so good.

Psalm chapter 2

Psalms 2:8

verse 8.

This is a record

of God

speaking to Christ.

That's important here.

God speaking to Christ

says,

Ask of me

and I will make

the nations

your heritage

and the ends

of the earth

your possession.

He says to Christ,

Ask of me

and I will give it all

to you.

Psalm 46.

Verse 10.

Be still

and know

that I am God.

I will be exalted

among the nations.

I will be exalted

in the earth.

A promise.

This will in fact

come to pass.

And Psalm 67.

Psalm 67.

The entire Psalm.

This is so good.

May God be gracious

to us

and bless us

and make his face

to shine upon us.

Why?

That your way

may be known

on earth.

Your saving power

among all nations.

Let the peoples

praise you,

O God.

Let all the peoples

praise you.

Let the nations

be glad

and sing for joy

for you judge

the peoples

with equity

and guide the nations

upon earth.

Let the peoples

praise you,

O God.

Let all the peoples

praise you.

The earth has yielded

its increase.

God,

our God,

shall bless us.

God shall bless us.

Let all the ends

of the earth

fear him.

A prophet.

Ready for it?

Zephaniah.

Zephaniah.

You're going to find

Zephaniah

between Habakkuk

and Haggai

if that helps you.

See how you're flipping?

If you're sitting

judging your neighbor

right now,

these are hard

because they're little.

So don't be too hard

on people.

Don't be too hard

on people.

Don't be too hard

on people.

chapter 2,

verse 11.

If you're not there yet,

just listen.

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 lands

of the nations.

There it is again

from a minor prophet.

Let's look in the New Testament

together now.

Notice I'm doing

the very same thing

Paul did.

Now I get the advantage

of the New Testament.

Paul didn't have that

at his disposal

in this time.

Letting the Scripture

speak for itself.

Notice the theme.

Let's look at a Gospel.

John,

John 3:16

chapter 3,

verse 16.

And I use this one

specifically to show you

that the theme

carries on.

Okay?

For God so loved the world

that he gave his only Son

that whoever believes in him

should not perish

but have eternal life.

For God did not send his Son

into the world

to condemn the world

but in order that the world

might be saved

through him.

Whoever believes in him

is not condemned.

Whoever does not believe

is condemned already

because he has not believed

in the name

of the only Son of God.

The point of the text being

the point of it being

Jesus here is recorded

talking to a Jewish audience

and he's saying

this salvation

the Son of Man

did not come just for you.

He came for all the nations.

Stop thinking you're so special Israel.

It goes beyond your borders.

This is what Jesus is saying

in this text.

It's beautiful

and it's precious

because in this

is our salvation.

Right?

It expands beyond

just the Jews.

Me as a

I don't even know

where I'm from.

I think maybe England.

I'm guessing.

Maybe I'm of like

Norman descent.

Dad would probably tell you

exactly where we're from.

Not now, Dad.

I don't know.

But it doesn't really matter.

I'm not of Jewish descent.

Okay?

But the promises of God

are yes to me

in Christ.

Right?

And let's look at

some New Testament prophecy.

Let's turn to the book

of Revelation.

See how this all works out

in the end.

Revelation chapter 5.

Revelation 5 · chapter mention

Verse 9 and 10.

John gets to peer into heaven

at the end of things.

And this is what he observes.

Chapter 9 of chapter 5.

Excuse me.

Verse 9 of chapter 5.

And they sang a new song

saying,

Worthy are you

to take the scroll

and to open its seals.

For you were slain

and by your blood

you ransomed people for God

from every tribe

and language

and people

and nation.

And you have made them

a kingdom

and priests

to our God

and they shall reign

on the earth.

And then again,

chapter 7

verses 9 and 10.

Verse 9 of chapter 5.

Verse 9 of chapter 5.

Verse 9 of chapter 5.

And then again,

So it's accomplished.

From the beginning

this was God's intent.

And in the end

it's accomplished.

Now people have debated

throughout time

what is meant

by these different things,

the tribes,

the nations.

What is meant by this?

And I really,

honestly,

don't know.

We tend as Baptists

to believe

that this will represent

there will be

those named in heaven

amongst every people group.

Every tribe,

nation,

language.

But you know

what's the really important thing?

Really important thing

is that Christ hasn't returned

so it's not done yet.

We can bank on that.

We know we're not finished yet.

God's mission in this world

is still being carried out

because Christ hasn't returned.

When it's finished

he'll come back.

We're guaranteed that.

So we're still

to be about the work

however it's defined.

We're still meant

to be advancing

the gospel

in this world.

So

back in

Romans chapter 15

Romans 15 · chapter mention

the important question

for you to ask

and not in an irreverent way

is so what?

Why?

Why is the case

being made to us?

What are we meant

to do

with this information?

Why have I spent

all this time

sharing it with you?

Proving the point.

Hopefully pressing it

through your mind

into your heart.

There's two things

at least two things

that we ought to be doing

with this kind of info.

First

we need to be

praising God

for his goodness

to us

in Christ.

Praising God

for his goodness

to us

in Christ.

This is the gospel

ladies and gentlemen.

The fact that God

has chosen

to make himself known

to display

his mercy

to us

verse 9

in this way

is such

a blessing.

That God

as he's zealous

for his own glory

to make himself

look more like he is

to show himself

to this world

has chosen

to let us

be the benefactors

of it

is such

a blessing.

The gospel

is not

first and foremost

primarily

about us.

It's firstly

about God

and we get

to benefit.

Praise God

that he decided

to work this out

in this way.

That he chose

to show mercy

to us

so that we'll

sing to his name.

Do you

praise God

the way the

saints in Revelation

praise God?

God.

Notice the

emotion

that we

poured into that.

We read that

kind of stuff

so boring

sometimes.

I hope I

didn't just

do the

very thing

I'm

accusing us

of doing.

Emotionless.

It's a great

passion poured

into the praise

of God

because of

what he's

accomplished

on our behalf.

So firstly,

we ought to

praise God

for his goodness

to us

in Christ.

Today,

now,

sitting in your

seat,

you ought to

be praising God

for his goodness

to you

in Christ.

You,

a Gentile.

You,

one of the

peoples

of the

earth.

Secondly,

we need to

recognize that

we are the

tools by

which God

accomplishes

this task.

This task,

making himself

known to all

the peoples

of the world.

See,

this to be

accomplished

in the book

of Revelation.

How is it

that he does

that?

He uses

his church

to accomplish

this.

He uses

his church.

I like to

think of it

like this.

And somebody

said this.

I can't

remember who.

Somebody smarter

than me

said,

God has not

given a

mission to

the church,

but rather

he's given

the church

to his

mission.

Got a cool

way of thinking

about it?

God didn't

have a church

that said,

now,

I've got to

get them

busy doing

something.

Oh,

proclaiming

my goodness

to the world.

That's the

task I'm

going to

put him

to.

He's about

proclaiming

his goodness

to the world.

He's about

making himself

known amongst

all peoples,

and he

called us

together,

he formed

the church

so that

we could be

the tool

by which

that's

accomplished.

Every time

I say this,

I'm also

going to say,

God does

not need

us.

He could

do it

another way.

He could

do it

on his

own,

but he's

chosen

to use

us because

he loves

us.

He's chosen

to let

us get

caught up

with him

in accomplishing

this thing,

to experience

him in

this way

because

he loves

us.

Romans

Romans 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10.

You can

flip back

a little

bit here.

Verse 14,

how then will

they call

on him

in whom

they have

not

believed?

And how

are they

to believe

in him

of whom

they have

never

heard?

And how

are they

to hear

without

someone

preaching?

And how

are they

to preach

unless

they are

sent?

As it

is written,

how beautiful

are the feet

of those

who preach

the good

news?

God is

zealous

for his

own glory.

And in the

same way,

as children

of the

Most High,

those who

have been

delivered,

welcomed

by Christ,

we're just

talking about

the beginning

of chapter

15,

we also

ought to

be zealous

for his

name to

be proclaimed

amongst

the nations.

Do we

go to

peoples,

our neighbors,

our co-workers,

those we sit

in class

with,

and those

at the

very furthest

possible place

we can

imagine

in the

earth

because

we love

them?

Absolutely.

But the

lesser

includes

the

greater,

the greater

being

that we're

zealous

for God's

name to

be proclaimed

among

all peoples.

We serve

a great

and a

glorious

God,

and we

want,

I hope

I can

say this

with confidence,

we want

his name

to be

proclaimed

everywhere.

We want

people to

serve him

and bow

in adoration

of him

and speak

the truth

of the

gospel.

Our

vision statement

for our

church,

Christ's

family

church

exists

to glorify

God

by

experiencing,

proclaiming,

and displaying

the supremacy

of Jesus

Christ

in all

things

to all

peoples.

We want

that to be

true of our

own lives.

We want

to be

truly

regenerate

believers.

We want

to experience

the supremacy

of Christ

in our

own

living.

We want

it to

affect

how we

respond to

things.

We want

to affect

how we

feel.

We want

it to

affect

what we

hold to

in this

world.

But not

just that.

It can't

just be

for us.

It needs

to be

for everybody.

So we

want to

proclaim

it.

We want

to speak

the truth

of the

gospel.

The

gospel is

necessary

to be

heard,

for a

heart

to be

pricked

to believe.

We want

to speak

the gospel.

We want

to proclaim

it.

And we

want to

display

it with

acts

of mercy.

We want

to carry

the gospel

in our

actions to

the world

around us.

In all

things.

To all

peoples.

It's a

great website

I'll encourage

you to go

to.

There may

be a

better one,

but I've

used one

called

Joshua

Project.

You can

Google

Joshua

Project.

And according

to Joshua

Project,

in the world

right now,

there are

16,594

people groups.

Of those,

7,162

are unreached.

Now the way

the Joshua

Project defines

unreached is

that less

than 2%

of the

population are

confessing

Christians.

And even

at that

point we

could say,

are they

really

Christians?

They've

confessed it,

are they

regenerate,

are they

bearing fruit?

But that's

the way they

do it.

They had to

pick a

number.

So less

than 2%

are unreached.

That's

43.2%

of the

people groups

in the

world.

You break

it down

by population,

and again,

we're talking

about

those who

confess to

be Christian,

60%

of the

world's

population.

It's a

huge,

huge number.

And it

can be so

staggering at

times that it

cripples us.

We don't even

know.

How do we

get that

accomplished?

You know what

the great

thing is?

It's God's

mission.

God's

accomplishing it,

and he just

wants to

use you

in some

way to

accomplish

that.

It doesn't

mean that

you're

necessarily

going to

be called

to go

to a

people

group

that's

unreached.

But it

could,

and I

really hope

that you're

opening yourself

up and being

available for

that.

You being

obedient to

God's

call in your

life could

mean that

you live

right here

in Dahlonega,

and you're

a valuable

member of

our church,

and you

work a

job,

and you

create

money,

and you

have a

family,

and you

raise

them up

in the

way of

God,

all those

things are

a huge

possibility

for your

life.

Absolutely.

That may

be exactly

what God

wants for

you.

But he

also may,

on the

other end

of the

spectrum,

want you

to go and

spend your

life on

the mission

field.

He may

want you

to go and

be martyred

in a place

that's

dangerous,

that the

gospel has

yet to be

proclaimed.

We're

excited about

it.

In

verse 20

of

chapter 15,

Paul says,

And thus I

make it my

ambition to

preach the

gospel,

not where

Christ has

already been

named,

lest I

build on

someone else's

foundation,

but as it

is written,

those who

have never

been told of

him will

see,

and those

who have

never heard

will understand.

Paul was

zealous for

the name of

Christ to

be named

amongst the

Gentiles.

That's why

he went,

look in the

appendix of

your Bible,

there's probably

a little

cool map of

his

missionary

journeys.

That's why

he traveled

far and

wide to

share this

gospel.

So God

may call

you to

do that

very thing,

to go to

an unreached

people somewhere

in the world.

I learned of

a new one.

I try to

keep my

mind into

unreached

peoples.

I try to

pray for

them.

I try to

kind of

have a

global

mindset.

As God

has a

global

mindset,

it's really

easy for

us to

get our

little

small

box,

Dahlonega

slash

Gainesville,

Georgia,

and not

think about

God's

eternal

purposes for

the world.

So I

try to

read about

this,

and I

found,

I get a

couple of

magazines that

help me with

this,

but this one

I found in

The Bathroom

Reader.

You guys are

familiar with

that?

It's a great

book,

The Bathroom

Reader.

It's just

interesting

facts,

and we keep

it in the

bathroom.

But I learned

about a people

group in The

Bathroom Reader

called the

Sentinelese.

They live on

an island in

the Bay of

Bengal,

which is off

the eastern

coast of

India,

and I'm

going to say

it wrong,

Burma.

I know it's

called something

else now.

Thank you.

Okay.

Off the

western coast

of Myanmar.

That's right.

Thank you,

guys.

There's a

little island

there.

And The Bathroom

Reader, of

course, wasn't

speaking from a

missionary

perspective,

but talked

about this

people group

that have

been encountered

in a very

small way

by the rest

of the world.

A very, very

small way.

In fact, the

only real

western

interaction

they've had

is the

British,

back in the

1800s,

there was a

visiting family

from this

island on a

neighboring

island,

and they

captured them.

And the

hope was that

they were

going to make

them like

them and

send them

back to

their people.

But in

the meantime,

the two

parents died

of sickness,

western

diseases that

they weren't,

ready for.

And so they

took the

kids and

dropped them

off in the

bay and

let the

kids swim

to shore.

And that's

been about

it.

The Indian

nation for

a while was

working on

trying to

build some

rapport with

them and

connect with

them and

see what

they could

accomplish.

And so

they sent

throughout the

80s and

90s,

they sent

out boats

regularly who

just simply

went into

the little

bay and

threw

things overboard

for them

to wash

up on

shore.

Because if

they went

on shore,

they were

likely to be

killed.

So this is

people that

have been

accessed in

such a

limited way.

How are

they going to

believe in

the gospel

if someone

doesn't preach

it to them?

They won't.

The gospel

needs to be

carried to

this people

group.

people who

really have

been isolated

for the

last thousands

of years

will probably

die as

neighboring

tribes have

died on

other islands

if they're

exposed to

western

diseases.

And now

India has

seen it

fruitless.

Somebody just

one day said,

why are we

trying to

do this?

These are

tribal people

living on

this island.

Why are we

trying to be

friends with

them exactly?

This is

costing a lot

of money.

We're throwing

a lot of

coconuts

into their

bay for no

reason.

What are we

doing?

So they

just stopped

and in fact

now they

enforce a

three mile

radius with

planes and

boats.

They enforce

a radius

around the

island so

that people

can't touch

it.

So they

can't get

there.

How does

the gospel

of God

get to the

Sentinelese

on North

Sentinel Island

in the Bay

of Bengal?

I don't

know.

I actually

for fun have

been trying

to rack my

brain about

how in the

world you

would even

get there

and how

you would

accomplish

people who

probably speak

a language

that no

one

else in

this world

knows.

How do

you do

this type

of work?

And you've

got a nation

India actually

enforcing it

keeping you

away from

it.

How is the

gospel going

to be carried?

And I don't

know but praise

God we serve

a sovereign

God who is

in control of

these things.

He knows

right?

And he knows

that maybe

someone in

this room is

going to go

to the

Sentinelese

and find a

way to

preach the

gospel there.

There are

countless

others

7162

as qualified

by the

Joshua Project

people who

have never

heard the

gospel of

Christ.

God has

not given

a mission

to the

church but

rather the

church to

his mission.

And whether

we stay

here or go

there,

we're all

called to be

caught up in

this, to be

zealous for

Christ's name

to be

proclaimed

everywhere.

So don't

think that if

you're not

called to

foreign missions

that you're

in a different

category.

The term

missionary was