Mission - For the praise of God’s glory

We're going to read some sections in Acts of how the gospel spread to and from Antioch.

And we're going to start in Acts 11, starting in verse 19, going to verse 26, and then we'll read a couple in Acts 13.

Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen,

travelled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews.

But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus.

And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord.

The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.

When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose.

For he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.

And a great many people were added to the Lord.

So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch.

For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people.

And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.

Now we'll read from Acts 13, 1-3.

Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon, who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manan, a lifelong friend of Herod the Tetrarch, and Saul.

While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said,

Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.

Then after fasting and praying, they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

And now verses 47-49.

Well, the things Dave said to us earlier, wonderful principles, and yet they set the bar impossibly high, it seems to me.

Since the goal of mission is to create true worship.

That is to see people everywhere in our world discover true joy and gladness in the greatness and love of God.

Since that's part of mission.

And since the fuel of mission is worship.

That is, we can't commend that which we don't already cherish for ourselves.

And the third thing that Dave mentioned is that people aren't neutral.

The people we will speak to in their natural born state are hardwired to autonomy.

To rebellion against God.

Determined to pursue their own glory, not God's glory.

Determined to seek life apart from God, not in God.

Determined to seek life apart from God's glory.

Since those three things are already on the table, then the question we have to ask is,

Who on earth can have the confidence to do mission?

What people, what person, what community could think they could possibly do mission?

Why would we possibly think and proceed with confidence to make people see and do that which they neither want to see nor do?

In the moment, can we venture with confidence into this new partnership with Matt and Grace in a far away land?

Well, the answer, thankfully, this morning is a resounding yes.

We can have confidence.

And I want just briefly to reference the church in Antioch that Jess has just read to us about this morning as a model for our confidence.

And it works like this.

We get God's sovereign purpose in salvation dovetailing precisely with what the ordinary believers were doing on the ground.

The backstory of the church of Antioch catalogues a series of unremarkable people.

Unremarkable people who had been confronted by the gospel of Jesus, spoken to them by equally unremarkable people.

Some of them Jewish, some of them non-Jewish.

But in common, they were followers of Christ.

And they were all fleeing persecution.

And wherever they went, and particularly into the city of Antioch in Syria, they just naturally overflowed.

They gossiped the gospel.

We believe it was a relatively young church at this stage.

But when you flick to Acts 13, verse 1, we see immediately this church was quite ethnically and culturally diverse.

Acts 13:1

And in the day, that would have been a recipe for disaster and division.

But notably in this church, it was their new identity in Christ that dominated their thinking.

In Acts 11, verse 26, we're told that for the first time, they were united around the term Christian.

Acts 11:26

Each a servant of Jesus, each a believer, each a Christian, that trumped all other natural divisions, ethnically, culturally, and even gender terms.

And it was the basis, this new identity in Christ was the basis for a deep unity.

A unity of mind and purpose in a diverse community.

And we see that another thing about this church, therefore, because of their backstory,

they were actually deliberately and prayerfully missional in outlook.

What does that mean?

Well, it means very, very simply.

They were so excited by the gospel that they'd experienced themselves and so radically changed them from the inside out.

That, as Dave said, their excitement just overflowed.

And overflowed into a passionate desire to hand on the baton.

To be on mission for Jesus.

To see others experience the same thing that they themselves had experienced when the gospel came to them.

And the new delight in the Lord as their greatest treasure was not just expressed by a few individuals,

but it characterized the church.

The church got together and under the leading of the Holy Spirit,

determined to send out Paul and Barnabas.

To repeat the job that they had experienced for themselves in Antioch.

At a very, very practical level, I think we can say this,

that the believers in Antioch were passionate to do what they could do.

That is, pull the resources, pick suitable people,

and send them out to wherever they could go to speak about Jesus,

to speak about gospel.

Now, why did they do that?

Well, I think the other side of the story, the other side of the coin,

the dovetail part,

is that they did it because they were confident

that the Lord would do what only he could do.

The Lord would do what only he could do.

That is, change hearts.

Give new life to spiritually dead people.

And we're told in Acts chapter 11,

Acts 11 · chapter mention

that many were converted in Antioch

as God's purposes in salvation

and the efforts of the believers dovetailed.

That's Acts chapter 11.

Acts 11 · chapter mention

Then when we come to Acts chapter 13,

Acts 13 · chapter mention

we see the same thing happening down the track.

Acts chapter 13, verse 47, 48, and 49.

Acts 13:47

And as many as were appointed for eternal life believed.

Brothers and sisters, Matt and Grace,

these are the principles to hang our hats on.

These principles are still true today.

They're the only reason for confidence in a world,

as we speak the gospel,

into a world that doesn't want to hear it.

It's the reason we have confidence

to speak the gospel into our own families,

into our local community here,

and into a faraway land.

It's the confidence we have

underpinning this partnership

that we're still early days,

but we're growing into

and excited about with Matt and Grace.

It seems to us a very simple thing.

We are sending them out.

That's what we can do.

That's what they can do.

And our confidence is

that that will dovetail

with God's purposes in salvation,

with as many as are appointed to believe

in that particular part of the world.

We have a wonderful motivation

and unlimited opportunity.

The whole of the story of Acts,

especially Acts chapter 1,

Acts 1 · chapter mention

is about, as Dave's already highlighted,

our God is committed

to making his name great

in his own world.

He's a missionary God.

We see in Acts 1,

he's got big plans,

a big horizon,

his whole world,

the ends of the earth.

He will be worshipped.

He will be adored

by a vast multitude

of redeemed sinners or rebels.

He will,

as he tells us

in other parts of Scripture,

build a great resurrection community

called the church,

a community of died-for people,

each individually brought in

through the process of the gospel,

brought into the kingdom.

So, my friends,

our mission,

our engagement and mission,

must have the same big horizons.

We must be bold

and have the same big plans

to the ends of the earth.

Why?

Well, because it simply reflects

who we are in Christ.

God.

And it's a reflection

of our great God in us.

And as Dave said before,

as those who have experienced

the full extent

of God's saving grace,

even when we were lost,

even when we were

in full pursuit of autonomy

and not in the least interested

in worshipping the Lord,

for those who have experienced

God's grace in that situation,

well,

we would naturally,

we will naturally

overflow with desire

to see others in our world

experience exactly the same

rescue and renewal.

people.

So, my friends,

we ought never to think

about mission

primarily in terms of duty

or responsibility.

that just won't last.

that just won't last.

Mission is primarily

about ourselves

overflowing

in worship.

a particular expression

of that worship

is in our partnership

forming and growing

and deepening

with Matt and Grace.

And my friends,

it also means

that mission

is not just

for keen beings

for the people

who might just have

a particular bent

for mission

in the church.

Mission is

for all of God's people

because it's something

that should overflow

from each of us.

we shouldn't have

to drum up support.

We shouldn't have

to whip people

into ongoing

resilient

continuation

of this stuff.

It should be

bubbling up.

And we can be confident

in that situation

that God will gather

his people powerfully

through ordinary folk.

I just think

this is a beautiful

scenario here

in Antioch.

The believers,

and I remember

I said at the start

that they were unremarkable.

The unremarkable

believers

in Antioch,

in the church

of Antioch,

had every qualification

necessary

for mission.

What are those

qualifications?

Well, they themselves

had experienced

forgiveness

and renewal

in Christ.

they themselves

had experienced

the joy

of turning

to the Lord

in thankfulness

and new delight

for new life.

They spoke

out of the overflow

of their hearts.

They knew the gospel.

They knew

that it worked.

They felt resourced

and equipped

by Paul and Barnabas

in Acts chapter 11.

Acts 11 · chapter mention

They were there

and taught them

for a year.

It's not told

specifically what

they's taught,

but my guess is

that Paul and Barnabas

filled in the gaps

with,

well, now you're Christians.

Let's go back

and look at the back story

from the very start

from Genesis

and see God's plan

right the way through.

These guys now felt

resourced and equipped

having been instructed

in God's plan

of salvation

focused on the Lord

Jesus Christ.

We're told in Acts 13

Acts 13:2

verse 2

they were in tune

with the powerful

work of the Holy Spirit

within them

and leading them

as a church family.

They overflowed

in prayer

asking the Lord

to act for his own glory

by rescuing

and renewing

many others

through their efforts

to get the gospel

out far and wide.

Do you hear

what the qualifications were?

They wanted

what God wanted

and they used

the spiritual tools

that the Lord

had provided them.

That's not too complicated

is it?

Their excitement

and determination

to be on mission

for Jesus

dovetails

as I said before

with God's purpose

and plan of salvation.

Let me bring you back

to Acts 13

47 to 49 again.

And we see the scope

again

of mission

picking up

a quotation

from Isaiah.

I have made you

a light

for the Gentiles

that you may

bring salvation

to the ends

of the earth.

God's long time

plan

for salvation

God's big horizon

and when the Gentiles

heard this

they began rejoicing

and glorifying

the word of the Lord

and as many

as were appointed

to eternal life

believed

and the word

of the Lord

was spreading

throughout the whole region.

the church

in Antioch

pretty young

sent Paul

and Barnabas

out

to speak

the gospel

to long

that people

might experience

the same gospel

renewal

that they had

experienced

to be converted

to see new

resurrection

communities

or the church

birthed

and what do we see?

God graciously

used their efforts

to bring the gospel

to specific people

appointed to salvation

and eternal life.

the church's job

get people

to hear

about Jesus

that's something

we can do

the Lord's job

bring them

through Jesus

into the kingdom

forever

how good is that

Triss?

and so

we see

a repeat

the very thing

that they

themselves

had experienced

as these

rag tag people

coming into

Antioch

fleeing persecution

from down around

the Judean region

they just walked

into town

and suddenly

they were hearing

this guy

called Jesus

and suddenly

they were converted

and suddenly

there was a church

and then suddenly

the church

was taken up

by the Holy Spirit

and they wanted

to repeat it

and here it is

they're reproducing

themselves

as it were

and nothing

brings greater

glory to the Lord

that's Paul's

point repeatedly

in Ephesians

when he writes

to the believers

at Ephesus

particularly in

chapter 1

we see over

and over again

he says

all spiritual

blessings are

ours in Christ

to the praise

of God's glory

everything in the

world has been

made for the

sake of Christ

and the church

to the praise

of God's glory

and so it goes

on and on

over and over

again

every church

has formed

according to

Ephesians

that crosses

the natural

boundaries of

hostility and

division

and brings a

new unity

in identity

in Christ

in Christianity

for the praise

of his glory

Matt and

Grace

brothers and

sisters in

this church

family

we can

reach out

boldly

and with

confidence

with the

renewing

freeing

gospel of

Jesus

knowing very

well that our

world is not

interested in the

message it most

needs to hear

and most likely

will despise

when they first

hear it

why

well

because God

will go before

us

to create

his own

glory

we have

great motivation

we have

wonderful

opportunity

both in our

local community

and in a

distant land

now with

Matt and

Grace

we have all

the weapons

required

for the task

the living

word of God

the enabling

power of the

Holy Spirit

blasting

unbelief

out of hard

hearts

weapon of

prayer

so my

friends

let's

let's be

excited

let's be

bold

in our

commitment

commitment

to and

support of

Matt and

Grace

make no

mistake

it will

cost us

but in

my

experience

and I

presume in

your

experience

we don't

quibble

over the

cost of

things that

we're really

passionate about

there always

seems to be

money for

those things

doesn't

there

so that

means the

question is

what's our

passion

we

commend

that and

grace

to God's

goodness

and God's

keeping in

the next

weeks and

months

and we

urge them

to

pursue

faithfulness

rather than

success in

our world's

terms