sermon transcript
Introduction
Meditation on the Biblical Support of the Proposed Vision Statement
Ordinarily at this point, I say, “Turn in your Bibles to…” and then we turn to a text, but this morning we have an unusual task before us. And many of you have this blue sheet, and if you didn’t get one, please pick one up as you leave today. This morning, I felt led by the Lord and encouraged also by the Ministry staff to preach through the scriptural support for a proposed vision statement for our church.
God’s Self-Revelation: A Theme Throughout Scripture
Now, there was a time, and it’s important for us to realize this and meditate on it, often there was a time when nothing existed but God. It’s good to think about that, isn’t it? A time when nothing existed but God himself, and there was therefore no light, except one light. Because the scripture reveals that the unchanging God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. So there was a time that there was a spiritual light, namely God Himself, but there was no vision yet of that light because there were no created beings. And so God ordained that there be created beings, and His first word of creation was, “Let there be light,” and implied in that was an audience, vision, that there would be light receptors, those that could take in the light, meditate, think about it, reflect it, understand it. So when He said, “Let there be light,” He was anticipating that there would be some that would come along who would see that light, rejoice in it, delight in it, but it came from Himself. It was his own light. He was the light, even that physical light that was created came from His word, “Let there be light.”
And as you trace this right through to the end of scripture which Eric read for us earlier, there’s going to come a day that there will be a new Jerusalem, a new heaven, new earth, isn’t that glorious? And there’s going to be a city there which is transparent with streets of gold that are transparent, and I’ve thought often about that. What is transparent gold? Have you ever seen it? But there’s just this transparence to the Eternal City, isn’t there? And what is it for? Well, it’s because the only light in that city will be the glory of God, and Jesus Christ is the lamp of that glory. And so it’s going to be a radiant, glorious place.
And therefore we could say from the very beginning of creation right through to the new creation, the glory of God, the light of God’s self-revelation unifies the whole Bible. It is the grand theme of the Bible, the glory of God. And so as we think about who we’re called to be as a church, what are we called to be and to do, we could do no higher than to zero in on the issue of God’s glory and find out what we are to be in relation to the glory of God. Now, what is a vision statement? Well, it’s certainly not scripture. That’s at a lower level. It’s a human organization of doctrines, but I think it’s reasonable to assume that the Word of God is not merely those texts that we immediately find, but those things that can be logically deduced and reasoned from them – like the Trinity, for example. And so I think it’s reasonable to have a statement like this that organizes and pulls together this great theme of the glory of God and what we’re called to be. And so the statement runs like this, “We exist to delight in, display, and declare the glory of God equipping His people to spread that delight to all nations through Jesus Christ.” And so this morning, I just proposed to unpack it and show how each one of these phrases has a scriptural support, a back-up.
A Purposeful Vision Statement Derived from Scripture
Now, many Fortune 500 companies, Forbes companies, have vision statements, and they organize their year of business around that vision. But there’s a vast difference between the vision statement of IBM or Ford Motor Company, and by the way, Ford has talked about how they got away from their vision originally. Now they’re going to get back to the original vision. You’ve seen those ads. And so there’s a sense of what the vision of Ford Company is. Well, I think there’s a similarity to what a local church’s vision is, but it’s very different, too, isn’t it? Because ultimately, the vision is passively received. We just simply see what is and what is? Well, it’s the glory of God. And we see it, we receive it, we take it in, and we are absorbed by it. And so we have to take our vision statement also somewhat passively. We have to receive from scripture what God is saying that we should be as a people, as a church.
And it makes sense because the tabernacle, for example, when the time came to build the tabernacle, it didn’t come up out of the imagination of Moses, did it? But God called Moses up onto a mount, and he showed him a pattern of what the tabernacle should be. Many people don’t know that, but basically, God gave Moses a vision of the tabernacle. There was a pattern, and he said in Exodus 25:9, “make this tabernacle and its furnishings exactly like the pattern I show you.” And so also the church must make everything we do, all of the furnishings of First Durham should come exactly like the pattern that he has shown us. So all I’m making it now is a point that we must passively receive this vision from God. He is the light, the light comes out from him, and we see it, and we rejoice in it, that’s all. And also when the time came for the building of the physical temple, not the tent, the tabernacle that moved from place to place, but now they were established in the promised land, and there would be a place that all Israel would come to worship. And David had it in his heart that he would build a temple for the glory of God, and when the time came to build that temple, this is what David said to his son, Solomon. 1 Chronicles 28:19, he said, “‘All this,’ David said, ‘I have in writing from the hand of the Lord upon me, and he gave me understanding in all the details of the plan.'”
Isn’t that amazing? Did you know that God was an architect? That he gave David plans of the temple in writing? 1 Chronicles 28:19, look it up. And so it says in scripture that God is the architect and the builder of our faith. He is an architect, and so he gives us the plan. He gives us the vision statement. He tells us what we are to be, not the other way around. We receive it passively, and we delight in it, we rejoice in it.
But you know something, both the tabernacle and the temple were themselves just dim reflections of an Eternal City of God, right? The one that Abram was waiting for. He just saw it at a distance, and he confessed on this earth that he was just an alien and a stranger. And it says of that city in Hebrews 11:10, Abraham was “looking for a city which has foundations whose architect and builder is God.” Now, in this world, God is building that city. It’s a spiritual city. It is eternal, and he’s building it step by step according to his plan, according to his pattern, by his ways. We don’t come to God and say, “You know, I have a… I have an idea for the west wing of the temple. I think it would look good if we did it this way or that.” We don’t do that. Instead we receive from Him what He is doing, what He is building, and what is he building? He’s building the church of Jesus Christ. And He has plans for that church, just like He has plans… He had plans for the tabernacle in the wilderness and for the temple of Solomon. So he also has plans, certainly He does, for the eternal city of God. Now, this vision statement is merely to be, I think, a distilling of what God is calling, not just First Baptist, to be, but really any church. Not every church needs to put it in this kind of language, but this is really what we are for. We do in fact exist to delight in, to display, and to declare the glory of God and to equip his people to spread that delight to all nations through Jesus Christ.
“We exist to …”
We Exist With a Purpose
Let’s look at the first phrase, “We exist to… ” Let’s just stop there. What does that tell you? “We exist to…” There’s a reason we’re here. There’s a purpose behind First Baptist Durham. There’s a purpose behind any local church. We’re here for a reason. It makes sense. God is a purposeful being. He doesn’t do anything for no reason. He doesn’t waste his time. There is a purpose for this church. “We exist to… ” And even before that, we simply exist at His word. We exist because He said so. We exist because He created us. Revelation 4:11 puts it this way, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power.” Why? Well, You created all things and by Your will or for Your pleasure, they were created and have their being. You were created for the pleasure of God. You were created for the glory of God. You were created to reveal God’s glory. You were created also to enjoy it. You were created for that purpose, you individually, so also we collectively as a church.
And so we were created for a purpose, and we must live up to that purpose. Is there a purpose to the church? Absolutely. Ephesians 3:10,11 put it this way, “His intent,” “His intent,” that’s purpose, His purpose, “His intent was that now through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms according to His eternal purpose, which He accomplished in Christ Jesus, our Lord.” We are to be putting the wisdom of God on display. That’s what the church is for. We’re getting ahead of ourselves, but I’m just telling you, we’re here for a purpose. We were created for a reason. We exist, too. And I’ll tell you, ever since we began thinking about a vision statement, that’s really clarified some things for me, hasn’t it? We exist to do what? To be what? It begins to start to weed things out. Why are we here? What are we doing? We exist for a reason. Well, what do we exist to do? What do we exist to be?
“delight in … the glory of God”
God is Our First Delight
Well, first of all, we exist to delight in the glory of God. Well, what does this mean? Well, delight means to love, to rejoice in it, to celebrate it, to enjoy it. And I think what you really love, what you really enjoy, what you build your world around, that is your treasure, right? Where your treasure is, there your heart will be. Turn it around. What your heart is on, that’s your true treasure. Well, God should be our treasure, God himself, and that doesn’t happen lightly, does it? Naturally, do we enjoy God? Well, we already went through Romans 3 and says “there is no one who seeks God” naturally. We don’t naturally enjoy God, therefore we need a heart transformation so that we really can delight in the glory of God. We can really be changed so that we do delight in it. Jesus spoke of the Pharisees and the Sanhedrin, those that were in opposition to Him. He said, “These people worship Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” That’s the essence of hypocrisy. You come into the church, and you speak the words, you say the things you’re supposed to say, but your heart is not in it. That’s not why we’re here.
We exist to delight in the glory of God, to really enjoy it, and that means first and foremost delighting in God Himself. Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Have you seen that verse before? Did you ever think of it that, if I delight in the Lord, he’ll give me what I want, right? I’ve got a list of things that I have in mind, right? And if I delight in the Lord, and I do that delighting thing, then he will give me those five or six things I really want. It’s kind of like Christmas time, right? Alright, I’ll give you the delight, but you give me the desires of my heart. That’s not what it’s saying. If you delight in the Lord, what will be the desires of your heart? God and His things, right? That’s what that verse means. So delight yourself in God and your heart will change, is what it means. You’ll start delighting in new things. So we delight in God Himself, but more than that, we delight in God’s glory. What does that mean?
It’s the outward radiant manifestation of God. We’re excited that God doesn’t keep himself a secret. The best kept secret in the universe is God. No! He’s not in the business of keeping Himself a secret. The heavens declare the glory of God. He’s into self-declaration, self-glorification because He is God, and good thing because you get saved as a result, right? If God kept Himself secret, you wouldn’t get saved because we call on the name of the Lord to be saved, right? So we’re glad that God has a reputation around the world. He’s well known. Look at Rahab, what saved Rahab? God’s reputation saved Rahab. We’ve heard about what you did when you took your people out, God, through the Red Sea. We heard about that, and so we trembled. And I would like to be on your side. I would like to be saved.
We are Saved by God’s Reputation
God’s reputation saves people, and so we delight in God’s name. We delight in His reputation. Look at the next verse, Isaiah 26:8-9. “Yes, Lord… “ Oh, aren’t those two great words? Oh, that we learn to just say that. Yes, Lord. Yes, Lord, whatever you want. Yes, Lord, that’s what we want. “Yes Lord, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you. Your name and renown are the desires of our heart.” What is he saying there? “Your name and your fame.” Isn’t renowned, fame? He’s renowned. Your famousness is what we want. We want You to be widely known, God, and we delight when You are. It’s an exciting thing when an unreached people group comes to faith in Christ, isn’t it? That’s a delightful thing. And we delight in God displaying His glory. We’re excited about it. I’m excited about it. We delight in that, and not only that, but we delight in the way that God has gotten his glory out. He’s done it through certain channels, do you know that?
We Delight in How the Physical World Displays the Glory of God
He’s gotten His glory out, first of all, through physical creation. We need the rain, don’t we? Praise God for that. I guess we were in drought conditions, and so it’s a drizzly rainy day. Isn’t it good to be inside, nice and warm, protected. But we delight in the physical creation as it manifests God to us. We don’t look at the physical world the way a pagan does. We don’t worship created things rather than the Creator, rather we use the created things to worship the Creator, and so we delight in them. Psalm 104:24 and following says, “How many are your works, O Lord? In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of Your creatures… May the glory of the Lord endure forever. May the Lord be glad in His works.” That’s coming from the heart of the psalmist. I hope your glory lasts forever, God, and I hope you’re glad in the things you’ve made. And so we delight in the glory of God as revealed through creation.
We Delight in the Glory Presented in God’s Word
Secondly, we delight in the glory of God as revealed more clearly in the written word, in the Bible. I’ve found that this is a real key spiritual test. The Word of God is a challenge, isn’t it? Sometimes it says more than we want to hear. Does that say anything about the Word, or does it say something about what we want to hear? We must delight in the revelation of God off the pages of this Book, and not the God of our own fabrication – an idol, really. But the God as He has revealed Himself in this Book, God as revealed in scripture. We don’t come to God and say, “God, I like to think of you as… ” That doesn’t mean anything. It says a lot about you, but it doesn’t say anything about God. Rather, we say, “God, you tell me who You are, and I’ll worship You.” And he has. He’s revealed Himself in His Word in His written Word, and we’re to delight in that. We’re to enjoy the Word of God. It should be a pleasure to have the Word just unfolded to us. Jeremiah put it this way, in Jeremiah 15:16, “When Your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O Lord God Almighty.” If you bear the name of God, you will delight in His Words. You’ll enjoy them. That’s your pleasure. That’s what you live for. You want to hear the Words of God. Why? Not so much because it’s an exciting thing to go through grammar and syntax and all that. Why? Because God is revealed up off the words of these pages, right? “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. The whole earth is full of His glory.” And you say, “Amen. Oh, that I could have been there with Isaiah to see it.” That’s what the words do. And so we delight in the Word of God as it reveals God’s glory to us.
We Delight in Christ, Our Savior
And then third, and most clearly, we delight in the Living Word Jesus Christ, because He is God’s highest revelation of Himself. Lord, show us the Father, and it will be enough for us. “Don’t you know me, Phillip, after I’ve been with you all this time? Anyone who’s seen me has…” what? “…seen the Father.” Wow. Isn’t that exciting? You look at Jesus, you see the Father. “I and the Father are one,” said Jesus, Hebrews 1:3, put it this way, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word.” 2 Corinthians 4:6, “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness… ‘” That’s Genesis 1:3, “Let there be light.” The God who said, “‘Let there be light,'” “…made His light shine in our hearts… ” That’s salvation. “…made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God… “ Where? “In the face of Christ.” And so as we see Christ plainly, we see God, and He is the highest revelation. So we delight in the glory of God as revealed in nature, in the scripture, and in His Son Jesus Christ.
The Result? Worship!
And as a result of that, we’re going to worship, aren’t we? We’re just going to worship. We’re going to see the God of the universe, and we are going to worship Him, inside. In a minute, we’re going to declare, okay? But first we have to delight. If you don’t delight first, but declare, you’re a hypocrite. You’ve got to delight first, and then comes the declaration, the praise. And so we worship by the Spirit of God. Psalm 43:3,4 – my kids and I were talking about this as we drove in – it’s a beautiful text. It says, “Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me, let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell.” Send out your word God, and they’re going to bring me home. I am the way and the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me. They’re going to bring me home. Okay? To what end? Then will I go to the altar of God to God, my joy and my delight, I will praise you with the harp O God. And so, worship comes from this experience of the revelation of God.
“display … the glory of God”
Oaks of Righteousness
Secondly, we exist to display the glory of God. Okay, we delight in it at first, but now we’re going to display it. How are we going to do that? Well, we’re going to put out lights, you see. We’re going to put out – but it’s not our light, is it? It’s God’s light, it’s His glory. And so, we are going to be transformed. Our lives are going to be changed, transformed lives, putting God’s glory on display. Isaiah 61:3 puts it this way, “They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord…” Why? “…for the display of His splendor.” We’re going to put God’s splendor on display if we are oaks of righteousness.
Salvation is a Display of God’s Glory
Alright, well, how is God’s glory put on display in us? Number one, by saving sinners like you and me. Isn’t that wonderful? Look what the Apostle Paul said in 1 Timothy 1:15-17, “Christ, Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst.” Isn’t that a hopeful Verse? You may have come today feeling, you’re the worst of sinners. There’s no hope for you. There is hope. Why? Because the logic works this way, if God could save Saul of Tarsus, he can save you. He was full of murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples and boom, God saved him. And why, Paul, why did God save you? “But for that very reason, I was shown mercy so that…” why? “…in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe.” Isn’t that incredible? God took Paul, saved him and then put him on display. Say, Hey look, if He can save me, He can save you. And so, that’s how it works with us. You can say the same thing, Hey, if he can save me, he can save you. If you’re humble enough, you can put it this way, if He can save me, He’ll surely save you. Because I’m the worst of sinners, and he saved me. That’s about what Paul is saying. And he finishes up, “Now under the king, eternally mortal, invisible to the only God be glory and honor forever and ever.” That’s how it works, because I get saved, I just proclaim His glory. I’m excited about it. So our salvation puts God’s glory on display.
Imitating God’s Holiness is a Display of God’s Glory
Secondly, God’s glory is put on display, because he doesn’t leave you as the worst of sinners. He doesn’t leave you there, he’s going to sanctify you, he’s going to move you on. You’re not going to be at the same place after 30 years of being a Christian that you were when you started. You’re going to grow to be like Jesus more and more. He’s going to transform you from sinfulness to holiness. 1 Peter 1:15-16, “just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do, for it is written: ‘Be holy because I am holy.'” What does holiness mean? Separation, separation from sin and evil, separation from this world. And as we live that kind of life, we’re going to put God’s holiness on display. People are going to say, What is it with you? First Durham, you’re a holy church, why are you like this? Why are you separated from the world, why do you hate the things we love? Why? Because that’s the way God is. And so, we put God’s holiness on display. And not just His holiness, but all his communicable attributes, all those things that he gives to us, like His love and His mercy, and His patience and His justice, and His hatred of sin, and all of those things we put on display. It says in Ephesians 5:1, “Be imitators of God, therefore his dearly loved children and live a life of love.”
We Are Made Anew into the Light of the World
And so, we put God’s love on display, ultimately we put all of those attributes of God on display and how? By good works by leading a good life. It says in Matthew 5:14-16, “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden, neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.” That doesn’t make any sense. Why would you do that? “Instead, they put it on its stand and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father who’s in heaven.” That’s how it works. He puts himself on display through you by transforming you and your good deed show it. When we do a health fair and people take their time and they come in Saturday, and they’re there to serve as Jesus did, to minister to people’s physical and spiritual needs, we’re putting God on display aren’t we? We’re saying, “This is the God we love, this is the God we worship.” I’m putting Him on display.
“declare the glory of God”
Imitating Holiness Alone Cannot Bring People to Salvation
Well, when I originally – when we originally – worked on this statement that all it said is delighted and display, and we included evangelism and display, but it’s not good enough, is it? We need to be even clearer, so I added a phrase, and I think we all saw the validity to adding the phrase not only to delight in and to display, but to declare the glory of God. Why is that? Let me tell you something, I don’t mean to be insulting, but nobody’s going to get saved by watching your life. Do you realize that? I’m not, again, I’m not trying to be insulting. I think you are seeking to live like Jesus as much as you can, and you’re reading your little “What Would Jesus Do?” bracelet and all the time, you’re trying as best you can to be like Jesus. Praise God for that, but is that going to save anybody? Is anybody going to get saved that way? No. What has God ordained that is the power of salvation for people, the Gospel, the words of the Gospel, the word of life, an imperishable word. And so, we must verbally declare God’s glory in the gospel of Christ so that others may be saved.
We Exist to Verbally Declare the Glory of God
We declare the glory of God’s name. Isaiah 12:4-5, “Give thanks to the Lord, calling his name, make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that His name is exalted. Sing to the Lord, for He has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world.” We proclaim the glory of God’s name. We speak it. Jesus said to one of his disciples in Luke 9:60, but “…you go and proclaim the kingdom of God,” go talk about it. Speak about the kingdom of God, that God is king and he rules. We also, when we come together here on Sundays, we declare the praises of God to each other, we speak the praise of God, we sing it, we speak it, we talk it to each other, not just on Sundays, but all week long. We speak the praises of God to each other for mutual edification.
But we do more than that. We speak the praises of God to non-Christians so that they may be saved. Romans 1:16 says, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it, the gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.” And so, Romans 10, faith comes from what? “…from hearing.” Not from seeing, not from watching your life, from hearing the gospel. And so, we exist verbally to declare the glory of God.
We’re going to especially declare the glory of God in portraying Jesus Christ and him crucified. Galatians 3:1, “…before your very eyes, Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.” Colossians 1:28, “We proclaim Him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.” Well, that’s what we do, and that’s what we are.
“equipping His people”
Declarations are Not Enough; We Must Equip Each Other
We exist for this reason, we exist to delight in and to display by our lives and to declare with our mouths the glory of God, but that’s not enough. We have to reach out to others and say, What can I do for you? How can I equip you so that you can finish your life purpose too? It’s not enough for us individually to do those three things, we have to equip God’s people to do the same. You see how it works? And so, we are seeking to equip God. What does equip mean? Well, it means give them everything they need for growing in Godliness and fruitfulness.
Recognize God is the True Equipper
First of all, we have to recognize that the true equipper is God alone, God himself. Look at Hebrews 13:20-21, “May the God of peace, moving ahead, equip you with everything good for doing His will. And may he work in us, what is pleasing to Him through Jesus Christ in whom be glory for ever and ever.” May God equip you for doing everything good. May he do that equipping work. Who’s the equipper? It is God. Alright, what is the tool he uses to do the equipping? The word of God, the scripture. “All scripture is God-breathed,” right? And, “is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,” why? “So that the man of God may be,” what? “…thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
And so, God does the equipping through the word, but He also does it through the church, as we minister spiritual gifts to each other. Now we speak the Word, we take the word and we speak it to newborn infants, we’re going to see people coming to Christ, aren’t we? I look forward to that. I’m excited. It’s already happened last week, two people received Christ, pray for them. We’re excited, they’re newborns and as newborn babies, what should they be yearning for? What should they be craving? How can we equip them? The pure milk of the word. Right? Give them the word. Alright, what about the older, more mature, wiser Christians, what do they need? The word, maybe not milk now, maybe the meat of the word, but still the word. “But grow in grace, in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.” We need the word as we grow in grace in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. So God uses the scripture, and we have to take responsibility for each other’s lives.
The Church’s Role in Equipping
You know, we’re just so individual, aren’t we? Do you know anybody here in this church? I mean, really? Are we a body together, the way we need to be? We need to watch over one another in brotherly love. We need to equip each other. You know, you look around and each one of you are going to go out through these doors into warfare, aren’t you? You’re going to go out into battle, you’re going to be battling temptation, you’re going to be battling problems in the world. If you’re preaching the gospel, you’re going to be battling persecution, and you need help, you need equipping, don’t you? Because you’re going to get worn down. And we’re to be that for each other. We’re supposed to protect each other from sin. “See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful unbelieving heart,” Hebrews 3, “that turns away from the living God, but encourage one another daily as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” We need to protect each other from sin, and so, therefore we have to equip each other, say, brother, sister, I see this going on in your life, let me help you fight that battle with you, so that you’re not alone. And then positively, I want to help you do all those good works that God intended for you to do.
“Let us consider how we may provoke one another toward love and good deeds, not neglecting, meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day approaching.” So we’re negatively going to help each other, equip each other to fight the battle of sin, positively equip each other to be maximally fruitful for Jesus Christ. And all of this is done, I believe, as we spoke for a long time in Sunday evenings, through spiritual gifts, as the body of Christ does its work, it grows up as each part does its work. We’re going to equip each other for full maturity in Christ. Well, it’s a specific kind of equipping though, that we have in mind, we’re equipping people to complete the great commission. It says, to spread that delight to all nations. What delight? Well, delight in the glory of God, that’s getting saved, right? “The light of the knowledge of the glory of God …in face of Christ,” boom, glory of God.
“to spread that delight to all nations”
The Great Commission
And so, we want to spread the delight of God’s glory to all nations. Brothers and sisters, God’s vision is worldwide, isn’t it? And so should ours be. We are and should be a worldwide church. We should have a vision for the world. God has to some degree brought the world right to our doorstep, hasn’t he? And not only just the international students that come, and that’s true, but we are the fourth fastest growing metro region in the US. He’s bringing people, they’re pouring in, and we’ve got a world of ministry opportunities, intercity, right nearby us folks, we’re accountable. And medical community, those people need the Lord, they need Christ. Day after day, they’re working with sickness and death, they need Christ. And college students, whether they’re internationals or not, they come here for a little while. They should come here to have their lives transformed because some of them came to first Durham, right? So we exist for a world of opportunities, our vision should be worldwide.
It says in Isaiah 66:19, “they will proclaim my glory among the nations.” Psalm 96:2-3, “Sing to the Lord, praise His name, proclaim His salvation day after day, declare His glory among the nations.” Christ’s final orders to us. His final marching orders, we’re the great commission. “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me, therefore, go and make disciples of all nations.” What’s a disciple? Somebody fully equipped to do their work, a fully mature follower of Jesus Christ. Make disciples, not converts. Make fully mature followers of Christ, teaching them to obey everything I’ve commanded them. Baptizing them in name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything. And surely, I am with you always to the very end of the age. So God’s vision is worldwide, and so should ours be.
Helping the Work of Other Christians
One of the reasons that we put in here that we exist to equip God’s people and not just church members, is that our vision should be to help Christians finish their work, whether they’re members of our church or not. And so, there are some brothers and sisters, Southern Baptists and non-Southern Baptists that are on the front lines. They’re ministering, aren’t they? They’re taking the gospel to unreached people groups. We should care about that. We should be involved in it. We should be involved financially. I’m not going to read the Philippians quote, but basically in Philippians 4, Paul says, “Thank you for sharing financially in my ministry. Thank you for equipping me to do what I needed to do by sharing financially.” And so, by giving to the cooperative program, by giving to other missionaries, by being generous and sacrificial, we are equipping them to take the delight to the ends of the earth, and we also equip them through prayer. 2 Thessalonians 3:1-2, Paul says, “Finally, brothers, Pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored just as it was with you. And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not everyone has faith.” In other words, please pray that when I preach the Gospel, there will be fruit. And if you pray and take shares with me, take part in that, you are investing yourself in my ministry through prayer. We need to be doing that and we are, that’s exciting. We need to continue to do that.
“through Jesus Christ.”
Everything We are and Hope to Be is Only Through Jesus Christ
And the final phrase is in many ways the most important, through Jesus Christ. Now, obviously, the Glory of God includes Jesus Christ, but it’s good to say it directly, openly through Jesus Christ, our existence, our vision and achievements come through Jesus Christ alone. Amen. It’s only through Christ that we could even hope to do these things.
Look at Hebrews 13:20-21 again. We already saw it once, but look at it again. “May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead, our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, may He, the God of peace, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and look at this, may he work in us, what is pleasing to Him through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.” Isn’t that wonderful? May he work this vision statement, and it’s true, the scriptures we looked at, May he work it into us through Jesus Christ. And Jesus put it this way, I am the vine and you are the branches. Apart from me, you can do nothing, but if you’re in me, you will do what? Bear much fruit. So it’s all through Jesus Christ.
Now, this has been a little bit unusual morning, I prefer to just choose a text and move through it, but instead, we’ve gone across in a kind of a systematic theology way to what God could and I think is calling a local church to be. We exist to means we were created for a purpose, and so we must live up to that purpose. We exist to delight in the glory of God, speaks of a transformed heart, which delights in God Himself in His name, in his physical creation, in His word, and in His Son, how all of those revealed His glory. We exist to display the glory of God by having transformed lives, putting sin to death through holiness, putting his attributes, love and mercy and justice on display by our good deeds, and to declare the glory of God, to speak the words of the gospel to our neighbors so that they may be saved. And we exist to equip God’s people, to give them everything they need, to be disciplers, to disciple each other, to watch over one another in brotherly love, to help each other on the way, and not just us, but all of God’s people as they complete their missionary work through prayer, through financial giving, to spread that delight to all nations. We should have a nation, a worldwide vision for what God can do through our church, and all of this done only through Jesus Christ.
