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It’s often said, preach the gospel at all times. If necessary, use words. How in all

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the world could you or anyone else communicate the gospel without using words?

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Welcome to Open The Bible. With Pastor Colin Smith I’m David Pick, and Colin we’ve all

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heard that little quote many times, but you’re saying if we want people to understand the

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gospel we do need to use words.

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Yeah, and the problem with this, you know, preach the Christ at all times, if necessary,

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use words, is it betrays a misunderstanding of the gospel. It’s often said in the most

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well-intentioned way, but underneath it is this idea that, well, the gospel is what God

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loves, and therefore if we act in the loving way that we have thereby communicated the

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not an adequate definition of the gospel. At the heart of the gospel, 1 Corinthians

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in chapter 15, here’s what’s of first importance, Paul says, that Christ died for

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our sins, that He was buried and that He rose on the third day. I don’t know how in the

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world a person could communicate that without using words, which is why God has spoken to

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us, He has given us His word, and sure we have to express the love of Christ in every

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way we can, but at some point, if we want to communicate gospel, we’ve got to put it

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into words. And we’re going to do just that in today’s

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message. We’re looking at Isaiah and chapter 66, as we continue the message, Restore Worship.

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Here’s Colin. I want to offer five statements, five observations,

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five propositions if you like, that really frame a philosophy of missions, right from

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this strategic chapter Isaiah and chapter 66. Number 1 relates to missionary calling.

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God distinctly calls some people to serve him as cross-cultural missionaries.

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Now, that’s an important statement today. And I’m basing it on verse 19 where, God who

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gathers the community who see his glory, says, I will send some. I will send some.

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There’s a lot of debate today in mission circles about whether there is such a thing

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as a missionary call. There is a lot of debate in theological and pastoral circles as to

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whether there is such a thing as a calling to pastoral ministry. And that is an important

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discussion. Does God specifically call some people to become missionaries?

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Now, it’s often said, I remember this from my childhood, I remember in Sunday school

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it being said, you don’t need to go overseas in order to become a missionary. In fact,

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you can be a missionary right where you are. In fact, every Christian is a missionary.

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Now hands up, everyone who’s heard some version of that statement being that, come on, if

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you’ve been in church any length of time we’ve all heard that one. And we know what’s meant

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by that. We are all called to bear witness to Christ and to be light in the world. And

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this kind of line, you know, everybody’s a missionary, is very popular because it makes

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everybody feel affirmed.

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But here’s the problem with it. If we say that everyone is a missionary we lose sight

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of the distinct calling that God gives to some people to give their lives to cross-cultural

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mission.

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Candidly, I’ve been asked more than once, why do we make a big deal of these 50 people

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the back of the foyer? That shows a total lack of understanding that God distinctly

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calls some people to serve him in cross-cultural missions. And look at verse 19, will you please?

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God says I will send…what’s the next word? Some, not all, some, and one of them might

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be you. Proposition number 2, it’s about character.effective missionaries are gripped by the glory of God…sorry

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..they are worshipers gripped by the glory of God and they are survivors shaped by the

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discipline of God. I think we’ve seen the first thing already verse 18 that the missionaries

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come from a community of people who see Christ’s glory. So, here’s the first thing if you’re

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going to be effective in serving Jesus Christ whether it be here or somewhere else in the

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world. You want to be a person who is gripped by the glory of Jesus Christ. Keep that fresh

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in your soul. Nothing is more important than this if you’re to be effective in God’s work.

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Some years ago Pastor John Piper coined a memorable and very, very helpful phrase. It

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comes at the beginning of a book that he wrote on missions called, Let the Nations be Glad,

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and he says this, missions exist because worship doesn’t. In other words across the world there

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are many places where there are millions of people who do not see anything great in Jesus

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Christ, do not worship Him, and the purpose of God is that Jesus Christ will be worshipped

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by people from every tribe and nation. Because that is not the reality right now and that’s

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why we have mission. But you know thinking about this it has struck me that the opposite

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is also true. Missions exist because worship does. See think of this question. Why in all

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the world would a person leave the joys and comforts of the totality of our lives here

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and go to some remote place where people speak a different language? With all the pressures

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of that, what in all the world would motivate a person to go and do that and spend years?

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Well, there’s one thing that will motivate a person to do that. Being compelled by the

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glory of Jesus Christ. And you know that’s one thing that will sustain a person on the

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mission field too. Both these are true, missions exist because worship doesn’t. Missions

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exist because worship does. The people who go, effective missionaries are those who are

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gripped by the greatness of God and also those who have been shaped by the

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discipline of God. Look at verse 19. It’s a very striking phrase. God says, verse

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19, I will send some of those who survive. Survive. Now, because he’s talking

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immediately here about the exile when Jewish people went to Babylon. And then, in

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the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, they were brought back. The survivors came back

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from the exile and it’s out of that continuing community of God’s people

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that eventually, and we read about this in the New Testament, the gospel goes to

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the ends of the earth. But, I think there’s a broader application here that

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those who are most useful and effective in missionary enterprise will be people

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who have been marked by God’s discipline in their lives. They will be survivors,

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to use Isaiah’s word, who have learned what it is to run with perseverance,

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the race that is marked out for us, who know what it is to endure hardship

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like a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

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God uses the tough things in life to build the kind of character that makes a

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person useful in really tough situations. So, whether it be for someone who goes

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far or whether it be for us here, don’t despise the hardships of your life.

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Effective missionaries, those who are used by God in significant ways,

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will be worshipers who are gripped by the glory of God and they’ll be survivors,

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who are shaped by the discipline of God.

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Number three, here’s a proposition with regards to mission’s focus.

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Where are we to send folks?

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Now, I want to say from the scripture that unreached and

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unconverted people are the focus of God’s mission.

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Notice God says, verse 19, I will send some and then He speaks

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about the distant lands that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory,

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two descriptions of the people to whom God sends missionaries.

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He sends missionaries first to those who have not heard of His fame.

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We would call these today unreached peoples, people who have never heard.

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God sends missionaries.

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He says here that He will send missionaries to communities where there

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is no viable church, and it seems clear, therefore,

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that we should focus our mission’s effort on unreached peoples and give priority

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to those who have not heard.

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God specifically says that He will send, this is what God is doing and that’s

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therefore what we want to be doing, He will send people from communities

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that see His glory to those who have never heard of His fame.

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But I want you to notice that there’s a second description here.

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And sometimes you hear someone who says, you know, why don’t we just sweep

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everything away and just do unreached people?

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Well, I think there’s an answer to that here as to why that would not be a wise

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thing to do.

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Because he says not only those who have not heard, but also those who have

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not seen my glory.

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There are many people who have heard the gospel and not yet seen Christ’s glory.

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These are folks who have been reached but they have not been converted.

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So, I am suggesting from this scripture that unreached and unconverted people are

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the focus of God’s mission.

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Here is another phrase that there are a lot of phrases that get bandied around and they

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have some truth in them and they are helpful in some ways and not in others.

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Have you heard this one?

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Nobody has the right to hear the gospel twice until everybody has heard the gospel once.

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How many of us have heard that one?

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That has been bandied around.

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Yeah, it probably was a few years ago, I guess, from that little sample.

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But it was a popular phrase at one time.

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Now, what do you make of that?

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Nobody has the right to hear the gospel twice until everyone has heard the gospel once.

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How many people are converted after hearing the gospel once?

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Were you converted the first time you heard the gospel?

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Maybe very, very few of us were, but not most of us.

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And I think the point we can take to heart here is that God’s purpose is not only that

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the nations should be evangelized, but also that people from every nation should be converted

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— not just that the world should hear of His fame, but that people from every nation

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of the world should see His glory.

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Therefore I suggest that unreached and unconverted people are the focus of God’s mission, and

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therefore should be the focus of our mission’s ministry, our evangelism, compassion and outreach

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ministry as well.

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You’re listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith.

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Today’s message is, Restore Worship, part of our series Restore My Soul.

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If you’ve missed any of the series so far you can catch up or go back and listen again

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online.

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Come to our website OpentheBible.org.uk.

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Or you can find us as a podcast on your regular podcasting site.

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Search for Open the Bible UK.

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Back to the message now we’re in Isaiah and chapter 66.

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Yes, Colin.

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Here’s number four.

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Priority.

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Proclaiming Christ’s glory is central to our missionary task.

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Now, notice again, verse 19 is just packed full of this Old Testament mission’s mandate.

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God says about those who he sends, the missionaries who are sent, they will proclaim My glory.

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That’s what God says.

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He’s sending them from communities that see My glory, and here’s what they’re going to

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do.

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They will proclaim My glory.

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Now, looking at some phrases that get bandied around not always thoughtfully today.

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Here’s another one.

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You heard this one.

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It’s often said, preach the gospel at all times.

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If necessary, use words.

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Anyone seen a bumper sticker or a T-shirt?

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That one goes back a long way in the history of the church, to early centuries actually,

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and it is often trotted out, it is often quoted and usually by those who have an unclear view

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of the gospel.

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Let me ask you to think about it.

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Preach the gospel at all times if necessary.

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Use words.

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How in all the world could you, or anyone else, communicate the gospel without using

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words?

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See, I can communicate love without using words, but love is not the gospel.

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I can communicate hope without using words, but hope is not the gospel.

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What is the gospel?

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The gospel is that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came into the world, died on the cross

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for our sins, rose triumphant from the grave, and as ascended Lord offers forgiveness of

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sins, reconciliation with God the Father, and everlasting life to those who turn to

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him in repentance and faith, crowning him as Savior and Lord.

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How in all the world you could communicate that without words, I have no idea.

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So when people talk about the gospel without words, usually it means they’re not thinking

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very clearly about what the gospel actually is.

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Now here’s the application.

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Our missionaries around the world engage in a galaxy of different activities that are

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very, very important.

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Building bridges, gaining trust, establishing relationships, credibility are all very, very

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important, and it’s the same for us here.

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If you look at our ministry, we’re engaged in all kinds of different things.

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But whether it be here at home or around the world, we want as a church to invest in ministries

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that are committed in some way, shape, or form to proclaiming Christ’s glory, and that

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means putting the gospel of Jesus Christ in some way into words.

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Now I want us to see this priority clearly.

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What God says about the missionaries that He sends is, they will proclaim My glory

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among the nations.

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I just think about when I was out in India a few years ago, we went right out into the

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sticks and a health clinic to people who had absolutely no access to healthcare at all,

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were the nurse, we had a doctor, or a line of people.

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And we had an evangelist with a Bible sitting down and talking to all who were willing to

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listen about Jesus Christ while they waited.

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That’s marvelous.

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They proclaim deeds of service, but the words of the glory of Christ married together.

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Now, here is the very last thing, and it’s the most wonderful thing, and may it be a

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blessing to those who are serving far from us as well as those of us who are able to

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gather here today.

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The reward of missions.

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This great reward, this great joy of bringing people from all nations to Christ.

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This is Christ’s promise, and it will be our great, great, great joy.

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Look at verse 20 where God says, they will bring all of your brothers from all nations

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to my holy mountain in Jerusalem as an offering to the Lord.

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Now, who’s the they?

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It’s the missionaries.

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The whole passage is about those who are sent to proclaim Christ’s Glory by the community

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that sees Christ’s Glory.

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That’s why it’s such a privilege for us to be intimately involved in this work of global

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and cross-cultural mission.

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What a marvelous picture.

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People are going to be drawn from all the nations and they’re gathered before the Lord

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and people from different ethnic backgrounds have all now become brothers because they

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are united as one in Jesus Christ.

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God has gathered them and He has used those that have been sent and proclaimed the Gospel

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as the means by which He does this.

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Now, the New Testament takes up this theme of the nations being gathered or people from

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all the nations being gathered before our Lord Jesus Christ.

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You can read about it wonderfully in Revelation 21 and 22.

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In fact, in Revelation 21 and verse 26.

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The Lord says to John that the glory and honor of the nations are brought into the city of

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the New Jerusalem.

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That’s the ultimate fulfillment of what Isaiah is talking about right here.

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And I was trying to think – just sort of a picture for these last moments to grasp

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this.

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The glory of the nations being brought into the New Jerusalem.

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People who have been sent out as missionaries bringing in a harvest from the

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nations of the world in the presence of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

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And my mind just went to the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.

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Can you just try and picture that.

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And here are representatives of every nation participating in these games and athletes

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from each of these nations.

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Enter the arena.

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They come in groups and they walk around the stadium with cheers from this vast, vast audience

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that behold the glorious spectacle.

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And a special honor is given to the ones who carry the flag of their nation.

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Now, I think it’s something like that, that God is saying here through Isaiah on the last

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day when peoples from every nation in the planet will be gathered and the glory of the

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nations will be brought into the city of the new Jerusalem and all of Christ’s redeemed

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people will be gathered together.

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I sometimes sing about it in that song, when the saints go marching in, I want to be in

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that number when the saints go marching in.

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He gives to those who have taken the gospel the joy of bringing in the fruit and the harvest

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of the gospel from the nations in which they have invested their lives.

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I was moved just to think about that.

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That folks who have been sent out from this community, this church that see something

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of the glory of Jesus, and we ve sent them out will come as it were marching in with

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the redeemed of Albania, and the redeemed of Chad, and the redeemed of Germany and Honduras

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and Hungary and India and Indonesia and Japan and Kenya and the Lebanon and Mexico and the

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Middle East and the Philippines and South Africa, and Spain, and Srilanka, and Tanzania.

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Can you picture in your mind, the redeemed people of Christ being brought in, and the

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cheers of the observing angel audience in their thousands upon thousands and ten thousand

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upon ten thousand.

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And they have rejoiced over one sinner who came to Jesus in repentance, what will be

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their joy when they see the unveiling of the total harvest of God from all the nations,

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the people from every tribe and every nation.

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The nations bringing their glory into the city.

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Will it be that we will come in this way, seeing the harvest that demonstrates that

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the death of Jesus Christ, and the mission of His church has brought together the glory

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of this worshipping community from every tribe and nation and then when we are gathered,

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we will lay all our flags at the feet of our Lord Jesus Christ, and He will be crowned

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as Lord and Saviour and King of kings forever and ever by all His people from every tribe

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and nation and language.’

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You have been listening to Open The Bible with Pastor Colin Smith and our message today,

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Restore Worship. It was part of a series called Restore My Soul, based on the book of Isaiah

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and it’s nine heart cries for revival. If you have missed any of the series, come online

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and catch up or go back and listen again. That’s at openthebible.org.uk.

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Open The Bible is only able to remain on the air and on the internet because of the financial

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support of our listeners, people just like you and if that’s something you’d like to

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do, then we have an offer for you this month. For the whole of this month, if you are able

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to set up a new donation to the work of Open The Bible, in the amount of five pounds per

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month or more, we’d love to say thank you, by sending you a copy of C.H. Spurgeon’s book,

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Encouragement for the Depressed.

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Colin, can you give an example of Spurgeon’s encouragement?

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Well, the first part of this book is based on Zechariah 4, who has despised the Day of

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Small Things. When the temple was rebuilt after the exile, people who remembered the

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old temple, that was very grand, looked at the foundations and they said, is this it?

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It just looks so small and I think that speaks to us today that many who really labour in

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serving the Lord have the question, is this all that’s really coming from it, is this

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the extent of what we shall see God doing in our lifetime? Do not despise the Day of

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Small Things. Well, Spurgeon takes that verse and applies it to the discouragements we often

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feel when we look at our own lives and think that things are small, you know, I only have

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a little knowledge, I’m not as bright as other people, my faith seems very small and to that

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Spurgeon says, Do not mourn that your faith is small, thank God that you have any faith

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at all, I love that, thank God that you have this gift, it’s the most marvelous gift. He

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says, If you believe in Jesus, though your faith be small as a mustard seed, it will

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save you and over time it will grow. So I find that Spurgeon’s writing is just nourishing

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to my soul, when I feel down I often go to Spurgeon because I find that he picks me up

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and I think that’s what folks will find as they read this wonderful little book.

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Well the book is called Encouragement for the Depressed, it’s by C.H. Spurgeon and

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it’s our thank you gift to you for being able to support the work of Open

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the Bible Financially this month, in the amount of £5 per month or more. Full details or

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to give online come to our website openthebible.org.uk. For Open the Bible and Pastor Colin Smith,

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I’m David Pick and I hope you’ll be able to join us again next time on Open the Bible.

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The Bible says that in Heaven, the former things will not be

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remembered. Does this mean we’ll have no memory of this life? Find out next time

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on Open the Bible