Hope Church LV Sermons
The Gospel: The Mystery & The Mission wk 4
The Olympic flame has long been a symbol of the Olympic games. It started back in ancient Greece when the games were held in Olympia. They would begin the games with the lighting of the flame and the flame would burn throughout the entirety of the games. In 1928, a new tradition began. The games were held in 1928 in Amsterdam, and at the beginning of the games in Amsterdam, they decided to start something different. When all the way back to Olympia, Greece, and they had someone take a torch and light it, they're at the birthplace of the Olympic games. Over the next several weeks, there was a marathon that included hundreds, maybe even thousands of people that took that flame. They took that torch and they passed it from one person to the next person to the next person, and they carried it all the way to Amsterdam. And they reached the arena there to kick off the beginning of the 1928 Summer Olympics. They lit the torch there in Amsterdam as a symbol that the games had begun. And since 1928, every time the Olympics roll around, the same tradition, the same ceremony is carried out. They go to Olympia and they start there, and they light that flame, and from one torch bearer to another, that marathon continues until it reaches that grand climax, that opening ceremony at the Olympic games where they light that big flame, and so the Olympics begin. And if you research it online, it's really an unbelievable tradition. I mean, the length that they go to, they don't just have one person with a torch. They've got like four people carrying little cases, a backup flame, just in case somebody lets it go out along the way, so they don't go have to all the way back to the beginning and start over. They have this thing thought out all the way through, so they're carrying that literal flame all the way, and the honor when you're asked to participate and being one of those torch bearers, the honor that you are representing your country and you're representing this long history of the Olympics, and you're carrying that torch, the honor and the dignity and the opportunity to be able to participate, and then they select one person that gets to be that final step in the marathon. It's usually some dignitary or important sports hero from the host country that gets to be the last person to take that torch and literally light the Olympic flame and so the games begin. 2000 years ago, 2000 years ago on the cross of Jesus Christ, the gospel was fleshed out in time, 2000 years ago Jesus took all of our sin on himself, and on the cross Jesus Christ died for our sin, Jesus didn't stay dead, he rose again as a testimony that God had accepted his sacrifice for our sin, and now through Jesus Christ we're able, because of the gospel, to be forgiven of our sin and to begin a relationship with God and have our eternity forever settled once and for all in heaven. In the opening pages of the book of Acts, we read the story of this journey beginning, where the gospel like a torch was entrusted to a small group of people, and this small group of people received the gospel and their life was changed and they began to run. They began to run with that glorious truth of the gospel and from one person to another person for the last 2000 years, they have passed the torch, they have shared the gospel and entrusted that glorious gospel to the next person and the next person and the next generation and the next generation until we sit here today. And you and I are now carrying the torch. You and I have been entrusted with the gospel and we're talking about something that is much more than a symbol. We're talking about the life-changing message of the gospel. Now we have the privilege we have been entrusted to take the gospel and to pass it on to the next person and the next person and the next person who will then pass it on to the next person and one day, one day the mission will be completed. Let me show you what I mean, look on the screen, Matthew chapter 24 verse 14, listen what it says, "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations and then read this part out with me and then the end will come." The end of what? The end of the world as we know it. You see what the Bible teaches us is right now, you and I have been entrusted with the gospel. It's a message that we are sharing, it's a mission that we're completing and as we pass the gospel from one person to the next person and one generation to the next generation. Here's what the Bible says is going to happen, one day, one day I don't know where it's going to be, I don't know when it's going to be, but one day the very last soul is going to be born again into the kingdom of God. One day the very last soul is going to surrender their lives to the gospel and then the Bible says the Lord himself is going to descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God and then the dead in Christ are going to rise first and be caught up together with him and the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and then we will always be with the Lord. One day the mission will be completed and can I read you what the opening ceremony in heaven is going to look like? In Revelation chapter 5, listen to what the Bible says, look at it on the screen, Revelation chapter 5 verse 9, it says, and they sang a new song, now that makes some of you uncomfortable right there, right? There's going to be singing in heaven, why do we do all this singing down here? We're getting you ready. This is the scene of Jesus seated on the throne of all eternity, we're all gathered there with him. And they sang a new song saying, where are they, where they are you to take the book and to break its seals for you have purchased for God with your blood, men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God and they will reign upon the earth. Today, today in 2012, we have been entrusted with the gospel and our responsibility in our lifetime is to carry the torch and pass it on. I want you to take your Bible if you haven't open to the book of Colossians chapter 1. In Colossians chapter 1, Paul is writing to us about the gospel, the mystery of the gospel, the mission of the gospel. And if you're visiting with us, we are as a family of faith studying straight through the book of Colossians and we are finishing chapter 1 this morning. At the end of chapter 1, Paul begins to unpack some truth about the gospel. I want to read these verses for you and then we'll dive in this morning. Colossians chapter 1 verses 28-29, here's what it says. We proclaim him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom so that we may present every man complete in Christ. But this purpose also I labor, striving according to his power, which mightily works within me. Paul in these closing verses is giving us some insight to help shape our perspective towards the gospel. And last weekend, we began to look at these two verses by unpacking a big truth. And I said last weekend, we would look at that truth and then this weekend we'd look at the second of these two truths to close this chapter. Here's what we looked at last weekend. The gospel is a message to be shared. You remember that? The gospel's a message to be shared. And here's what we mean by that. We tend to look at the gospel only through the lenses of what the gospel does for me. The gospel allows me to be forgiven of my sin. The gospel allows me to have a relationship with God. The gospel allows me to experience reconciliation in my relationships. The gospel allows me to go to heaven when I die. All of those things are true and they are wonderful and we should celebrate them. But what we said last weekend is that the gospel is not just about me. That God gave us the gospel as a message to be shared with other people. And here's the life application that I gave you last week. I want to put it on the screen and I want to read it together as a way of review. Here we go. One, two, three. I am to live constantly looking for opportunities to wisely share the gospel with the people in my life. And last weekend we unpacked that reality that we are to constantly be looking for opportunities in the right way at the right time to share the gospel with the people in our lives. But here's the thing I want you to see this weekend. Not only is the gospel a message to be shared, the gospel is a mission to be completed. The gospel is a mission to be completed. Paul in verse number 28 says we proclaim him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom. Then he says this, so that. Anytime you see those two little words so that in the New Testament, you need to pay attention. Those two little words so that are representing a Greek phrase that literally means here's why or for this purpose. Paul says we proclaim him, but here's why we proclaim him. Paul begins to unpack our purpose or our mission. So I want to ask and answer three questions this morning. Here's the first one. What is our mission? What is our mission? Paul says we proclaim him so that we may present every man complete in Christ. Paul here is reminding us that there is a finish line. It's not just proclaiming the gospel for the sake of proclaiming the gospel, but Paul says we have a purpose, we have a mission. There's a reason why we proclaim the gospel and it is more than just buildings and budgets and church attendance numbers and ministry programs and books and conferences. Paul says we proclaim the gospel, we preach Jesus so that we can present every person complete in Christ. Now that sounds very good, right? I mean we proclaim the gospel so that we can present people complete in Christ, but it raises a question. What does it mean to be complete in Christ? Paul says that's the goal, that's the mission, that's our aim, but it's very important we understand what that means. The word complete is a word that literally means to be finished or to reach a desired end. You can also be translated with the words mature, some Bible translations say to present everyone mature in Christ. It can be translated to be full grown. What Paul is saying here is that we proclaim the gospel so that we can help people mature after coming to Christ, they mature in their walk with Jesus. Your mission is not just to proclaim the gospel and see people say that's wonderful, but Paul says beyond that our mission we proclaim him so that we can see people come to maturity in their walk with Jesus. Now that raises again another question. What does it mean to be mature in your walk with Jesus? What is this idea of maturity? Because when you talk about maturity spiritually, a lot of people use that word to mean a lot of different things. Some people when they talk about spiritual maturity or maturity in Christ, they're simply referring to how long somebody has been a Christian. Oh, that's a mature Christian. How do you know? Oh, they've been a Christian for 40 something years. I mean, that's a mature follower of Jesus, but the reality is I know some people who've been saved for 40 days that are as mature as some people that I know have been saved for 40 years, right? So a simple length of time is not what Paul is talking about when he's talking about being mature in Christ. Sometimes we tend to define or measure maturity by how much theology or Bible doctrine a person knows. Does somebody have all their doctrines lined up? Can they answer every question? How much, you know, oh, this person, they're very mature. You can ask them any question about the Bible and they can answer any question that you may have. Well, don't forget. It was the people who knew the theology the best in the New Testament that were the greatest enemies of Jesus and ultimately put him on the cross. Now I'm not diminishing the important need for us to know the Bible. You and I should be people of the book. We should be people that understand the truth of Scripture and know how it theologically applies into our lives. But simply knowing Bible doctrine is not what Paul means by being complete in Christ. Sometimes we define or measure maturity in Christ by how faithful somebody is to the service opportunities inside of their local church. Oh, that's a mature Christian. Man, they come to church all the time. I mean, we have three services every Sunday. They come to all three services. They are mature. Well, if you ever thought maybe they just didn't like being at home, I mean, it's not necessarily maturity in Christ. What does it mean to be mature in Christ? Let me give you a definition of this word complete that I hope will bring some clarity. To be complete is this. It's people who know Jesus and out of the overflow of their relationship with Him are making Him known to others. Let me say it again. To be complete is people who know Jesus and out of the overflow of their relationship with Him, they are making Him known to others. You see what Paul is emphasizing here is that we are to be passionate about making disciples who make disciples. We're to be passionate about making disciples who then make disciples. Here's the way John MacArthur said it. Look at it on the screen. Our aim is not merely to win people to Christ, but to bring them to spiritual maturity. They will then be able to reproduce their faith in others. Think about it in the context of the life cycle of a human being. I'm going to be extremely overly simplistic in what I'm about to say, but I think it will communicate. It's basically at its simplest form the life cycle of a human being. We're born. And then we move from the stage of being born into the stage of development that is a child through adolescence. And after development we reach a stage of maturity. And one of the definitions biologically of physical maturity as a human being is we now have the ability to reproduce and start the cycle all over again. There's birth, then there's development, and then there is reproduction. Now I want you to think about that in a spiritual context. Number one, we have to be born. Here's a definition of birth as it applies to maturity in Christ. Born again to a relationship with Jesus. That's step one. Part of our mission is to see people born again into a relationship with Jesus. You cannot mature in your walk with Christ until you first know Christ and you know Christ by being born again in response to the gospel. Here's what that means. A major emphasis in the mission of the Christian is to share the gospel with lost people. But that is not the end of the mission. That's not the end of the mission. It's merely the beginning when somebody's born again. If we're all focused on simply seeing people born again into a relationship with God and all we focus on is sharing the gospel and seeing lost people save, we've missed a major emphasis of the mission of the gospel. Parenting does not end when the child is born. Let me say that again. Parenting does not end when the child is born. I mean, you didn't go in the hospital and go, "Oh, glad that's over." No, when that baby was born, you looked at that baby and said, "Well, there's the next 30 years of my life right there, right?" I mean, you understood that parenting didn't end at birth. Parenting began at birth. That's when the process of maturity began to take place. As followers of Christ, simply sharing the gospel. As a church, it is imperative that we understand the totality of the mission of the gospel. The second stage is development. Let me give you a definition. Learning to abide intimately in Jesus. We're born again, every person who's here that's a Christian had a point in time when you were born again in a relationship with God, some were dramatic than others. But there was a point when we were lost and then we became a follower of Jesus. Then there's development where we learn to abide intimately in Jesus. Here's why you can't quantify maturity by simply time that somebody's been. Because this idea of learning to abide in intimacy with Jesus, it's a different timeline for all of us. Some people come to Christ and, man, it's like their growth curve is accelerated. It's like they're on spiritual steroids, man. They just grow through things and they just begin to understand following Jesus. They begin to live passionately with Jesus and they begin to abide in intimate fellowship with Jesus. And some of you were saved a long time before you began to understand some of those truths about intimacy with God and walking with Jesus personally. So this development thing can take time, but it challenges us to think about our sharing of the gospel in a way that goes beyond just simply seeing lost people, one, to Christ. Just seeing lost people, one to Christ, is not the whole issue or essence of the mission. We're to see them developed to maturity. That's why in verse 28, Paul uses these two words admonish and teach. The word admonish is a word that means to place in the mind. We talked about it last weekend. It's the idea of lovingly and gently challenging the thinking about the way somebody is living. It's the concept of accountability. When you think about it in this issue of maturity, aren't you thankful that along your spiritual journey, there have been some people in your life who admonished you, who challenged your thinking, who challenged your walk with God, who challenged you to intimacy with Jesus, who spoke truth into your life. Paul says that's exactly what we're to be about on mission with Jesus. We're to be people that are walking with others challenging them in their walk with Jesus, but then he uses the word teach. The word teach is a very relational word. It's a word that describes the investment of personal time by one believer or small group of believers in the life of another believer or small group of believers. The essence of what Paul is talking about here is making disciples. Then there's the third stage, reproduction. Let me give you a definition of that spiritually. Reproduction is sharing in the mission of Jesus. You see through an intimate relationship with Jesus that is growing us into Christ's likeness, disciples begin to develop a burden to produce what Christ has done in their lives in the lives of other people. Here's what happens. We're born again to a relationship with Jesus, then we begin to learn to abide in Jesus and live in fellowship with Jesus, and Christ begins to change us from the inside out. And what happens is as Christ begins to live His life in and through us, we begin to cultivate a burden to see other people come to Christ. We begin to understand what it is to be lost. We want to share Jesus with others, and we want to see people begin to be conformed into the image of Christ, and we want to see them grow in maturity. We want to see them understand the word of God, because we've seen the word of God come alive in our lives, and we've seen God change us, and we've seen how God's spoken into our lives. And we just want everybody else to know what we know, and we want to share the truth with them. That is what spiritual maturity begins to look like, and listen to me. What I'm describing for you is not some radical, extreme expression of Christianity, it is normal Christianity. The problem is, as Vance Havner said it, normal Christianity has become so subnormal that normal Christianity appears to be abnormal. Let me say it to you again. Normal Christianity has become so subnormal, that when we see somebody living normal Christianity, we think, wow, that's abnormal. Who's this radical? I mean, they're just telling everybody about you. Who's this person? They want to invest in the lives of young believers. They have a desire to see people grow in their relationship with Jesus. I mean, isn't that just for pastors and missionaries? Isn't my job just to come and sit and listen and serve a couple of hours a week or do something like that? Am I really supposed to listen? What Paul is describing here is what normal Christianity looks like. It's us engaging in the mission. The gospel is not just about me. The gospel is a mission to be completed, and that mission is seeing everyone complete in Christ. That's what Paul said to Timothy. In 2 Timothy, chapter 2, listen to what he said, "And the things which you have heard from me, and the presence of many witnesses, these in trust of faithful men also, or faithful men who will be able to teach others also." You hear it? Paul led Timothy to Christ, but he didn't just leave Timothy as a new Christian. Paul poured into Timothy's life. He taught him. He admonished him. He spoke truth. He confronted him. He shaped him spiritually, and then he said, "Timothy, now here's your mission. You're to take what I've entrusted into your life, and now you're to reproduce that in somebody else's life." Why? So that then they can take that and reproduce that in somebody else's life. Why? So then they can take that and reproduce that in somebody else's life. You see what's happening? They're taking the torch of the gospel, and they are passing it from person to person to person. Here we sit today 2,000 years from the cross, and you and I are followers of Jesus Christ because somebody faithfully passed us the torch. Now, let me show you the power of this mission. I hope what I'm about to put on the screen is for you a light bulb moment. All right? Let's just imagine that this year, you or me, one of us, takes two people, and we spend the next 12 months pouring into the lives of these two people. At the end of this year, you know what we'd have? Three disciples. Woo-hoo! Let's say in year two, each of those three took two people, led them to Christ, and walked along with them, pouring into them the gospel, pouring into them the truth of Jesus, teaching them what it is to abide in intimate fellowship with Christ, showing them how to love Jesus, how to pursue Jesus, how to spend time with Jesus at the end of year two. You know what we'd have? Nine. Nine disciples. Woo-hoo! Man, two years and nine. That's not very earth-shattering, pastor. Let's say we did it again in year three. All nine of us saw two people come to Christ. We poured into their lives. We walked along with them. We taught them what it is to abide in Jesus, to love Him, to pursue Him intimately. At the end of year three, we got twenty-seven. We're moving now, right? At the end of year four, we got eighty-one. At the end of year five, we'd have two hundred and forty-three. At the end of year six, we'd have seven hundred and twenty-nine. At the end of year seven, we'd have two thousand, one hundred and eighty-seven. Eight years from today, there could be six thousand, five hundred and sixty-one. Not people attending our church. Six thousand, five hundred and sixty-one followers of Jesus Christ who've been walked along with for a year. They've had the gospel poured into their lives. They understand what it is to live intimately with Jesus. They are walking with Jesus to the point that they want other people to know about Jesus and they are now passing the torch to someone else. You want to talk about impact. You extrapolate these numbers out to year fifteen. You know what happens in year fifteen? In year fifteen, there will be fourteen million, three hundred and forty-eight thousand, nine hundred and seven, not a tenders of a local church. Fourteen million, three hundred and forty-eight thousand, nine hundred and seven fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ who've wrapped their hearts around the gospel. They understand the mission and they are sharing the gospel with other people and they are walking along with them for twelve months to pass the gospel on to the next generation. Did you know that that number is larger than the total state population of Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Idaho combined? Fifteen years from today, you live this principle out. Fifteen years from today, there will be fourteen million followers of Jesus Christ. You say, "Well, I'm sure they're not going to all stick. I mean, even Jesus had one of his twelve that didn't." Okay, let's say two-thirds of them bail. I'll take four and a half million. Fifteen years, we could more than win the entire city of Las Vegas to faith in Jesus Christ. Do you see the mission? Do you see what Paul is talking about here? The mission is not just sharing the gospel. The mission is not just walking around with our tracks and just firing the gospel at people. Yes, that's a significant. We need to be sharing Jesus with lost people, but that is not the end of the mission. We need to be presenting men and women complete in Christ. And Paul answers the second question, "What's the scope of our mission?" Three times in verse 28 and 29, he mentions this phrase over and over again. It's this phrase, "Every man." Paul says, "We're to present every man complete in Christ." Look what Oliver Green said. Paul was trying to drive home to the Colossians. The glorious truth that Christ died for every man. He loves every man and he longs to save every man. Paul had a deep, undying interest in everyone, whatever his character or creed, every man on earth, regardless of his race or lineage, his heritage or his station in life, shared in the heartfelt sympathy, the burning desire of Paul to see all men saved and presented to Christ. That's our mission. Listen, you've been given the torch. It's your leg of the journey. What are you doing with it? That little group in the book of Acts that began to run, there was just 120 of them. Today, there are 700 million evangelical Christians on the earth, 120. Today the 700 million, they faithfully carried the torch in their generation and passed it on to the next generation. What are you and I doing? When Paul uses this phrase, "Every man," first of all, it speaks to the inclusive nature of the mission. It means every person everywhere. That's why at Hope we're always talking about Las Vegas, the West and the world. Can I just be real honest with you for a second? You all right with that? Can I be real honest with you all right with that? If you're one of those that thinks, "Why are we always talking about the nations at Hope?" Let me be real honest with you. You've got a wrong perspective about the gospel. If you think we talk too much about our city and our country and the world, you've become convinced the gospel is about you. Listen, the gospel is not about you and the gospel is not about me. The gospel is a message to be shared and a mission to be completed. And Paul gave us this text of Scripture to recalibrate our lives so that we understand it's not just about me. Every person on planet earth should be our passion to take the gospel to them. I said there's 700 million Christians now on planet earth. Did you know there's 7 billion people who live here? That means we're just barely 10% of the population of the world. You say, "Well, how do we ever think about reaching the world?" Hey, get this. If you take our numbers a few minutes ago and extrapolate them out to year 21, did you know that by year 21 you can reach the entire population of planet earth? You know what that means? If we got serious about carrying the torch, if you and I really wrapped our hearts around the gospel and weren't so self-absorbed with what the gospel does for me, and if we didn't see the gospel and its mission as an inconvenience in my American way of life, do you realize that in our lifetime, I understand the sovereignty of God, but do you know that in our lifetime we could see the mission completed? In our lifetime, we could hear the Lord descend from heaven with a shout with the voice. That could happen in my generation, and in your generation. Every man not only means the inclusive nature of the world, but it also speaks to the individual nature of every single person. My neighbor, my co-worker, my classmate, my family, and this should not come as a shock to us. You remember the last thing Jesus said before he ascended back to heaven? I think it went like this, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations." You see what we've done with the gospel? In our American way of life, we have taken the gospel and turned it into a self-help book for us instead of a radical mission to reach the nations for the glory of God and usher in the kingdom of God. Last question. Before I ask it, let me just say this. This is why at Hope we make such a big deal out of small groups. Why do we make such a big deal about small groups? We encourage every person in our church to connect in a small group. You know why? Because what we're talking about, this idea of being complete in Christ cannot happen if all we do is attend a weekend event. It just can't happen. It involves more relationship than that. There's more community that has to happen. You can slip in and slip out of a large gathering like this. It's admonishing or teaching or spending investing in your life. You're here in a preacher preach weekly, which we're supposed to do is what the Word of God says we're to do, but we need that life on life. Listen, if you call this your church family, let me strongly encourage you to connect in a small group where you can get in this pipeline of making disciples that make disciples. Last question Paul asks, or answers for us, how are we to accomplish this mission? Verse 29. He said, "For this purpose I labor, striving according to his power, which mightily works within me." Here's what Paul says, how we do it, not easy. If you signed up for this thing called Christianity, believing you were joining on a Christian celebrity cruise, you misread the brochure. The brochure said, "If you will deny yourself and take up your cross daily, then you can follow me. Deny yourself, take up your cross, follow me." Paul uses some words here that communicate the sacrifice this mission requires. He says, "For this purpose I labor." It's a word that means to work yourself to exhaustion. The gospel mission is no part-time side job that we do in our spare time. It's not a hobby. Paul says, "I'm wearying myself to exhaustion." He says, "I labor striving." The word striving here, we get an English word from it, it's the Greek word agonizomai. We get the word agony from it. It described a runner in the games who was using the last bit of effort they had to finish well. It's straining with every muscle in my body to cross the finish line or defeat the opponent in the game. Paul says, "This thing of the gospel mission is not for the weak of heart." Paul says, "We're to labor, we're to strive, but then I love what he says next." Striving according to, listen, his power, which mightily works within me. I am to labor for the gospel, but the mission of the gospel is the work of the Holy Spirit of God, Paul understood his inability and he threw himself daily on the ability of God. I know when we start talking about the mission of the gospel and sharing the gospel that is making, I know, I know, I know sitting here this morning, some of you are sitting there going, "Man, I am grossly inadequate for what you're talking about." Every weekend I stand up here and preach the gospel. You know what's in my mind? How grossly inadequate I am to do what I've been called by God to do every week. If you knew who I really was, if you knew my heart, if you knew the thoughts that you wouldn't come listen to me talk about nothing, you wouldn't. But I can't rely on my strength or my ability. It's Christ in me. God hasn't called you to carry out the mission. God's called you to surrender to him and let him carry out the mission through you. You're just a vessel. Hey, you're just holding the torch and passing it on to the next person. We do that and what I love about this is it takes us and it pushes us back to intimacy with Jesus. The mission is dependent upon my intimate fellowship with Jesus. It takes us right back to the relationship. Let me close with a verse of scripture that I think is very encouraging. It's 1 John chapter 3 verse 2. Look what it says on the screen. "Beloved, that's all of us. Now we are children of God." And that's a good place to say, "Amen, amen." Hey, good news. We've been born again, we are children, I'm not waiting to be, I am, a child of God. But I love what it says next. And it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. That's another good place for amen, right? Hey, I'm not a finished product. All that God has in store for me, you can't see it yet. I'm not done yet. I'm still in the oven. We're all still in some level in development. We don't finish in this life. But I love what he says, we know that when he appears, we shall be like him because we will see him just as he is. Until then, the gospel is a message to be shared and a mission to be completed. And our generation let us be faithful to run well with the torch. [BLANK_AUDIO]