Spread the Good News of the King of Glory throughout the Earth.

Sermon Transcript

“Christ alone can save the world, but Christ cannot save the world alone.” David Livingstone was a Scottish born missionary in the mid-1800’s. Despite having to work in the cotton fields as a child to help support his poor family, Livingstone put himself through medical school, became a doctor, and left his homeland behind to live and work as a missionary and physician in Africa. Livingstone gave his life to preaching the gospel, healing the sick, and fighting the slave trade, before dying of dysentery in what is now Zambia. Etched on Livingstone’s tomb in Westminster Abbey are the Lord Jesus Christ’s immortal words in John 10:16, “I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also.” Mary Slessor also grew up in the slums of Scotland. As a child she learned about Livingstone’s missionary work in Africa. She was 27 when Livingstone died and, inspired by his life and death, decided to follow in his footsteps. For fifteen years she lived among remote people-groups. By selflessly serving their physical needs, she was able to take the gospel to areas no other missionary in her day could. Mary died in Nigeria from a severe fever in 1915, having led hundreds to faith in Christ. 

 

What drove Livingstone and Slessor to give their lives to spread the good news that Jesus Christ died and rose for the forgiveness of sins? Well, Livingstone is the one who wrote those words I read a moment ago: “Christ alone can save the world, but Christ cannot save the world alone.” Livingstone wrote of his life spent for God’s glory in Africa, “Away with the word sacrifice. Say rather it is a privilege. Anxiety, sickness, suffering, or danger, now and then, with a foregoing of the common conveniences and charities of this life, may make us pause, and cause the spirit to waver, and the soul to sink; but let this only be for a moment. All these are nothing when compared with the glory which shall be revealed in and for us. I never made a sacrifice.” For her part, Mary Slessor once explained herself to an African tribe this way: “I have come to you because I love and worship Jesus Christ, the Great Physician and Saviour, the Son of the Father God who made all things. I want you to know this Father and to receive the eternal life which Jesus offers to all those with contrite and believing hearts.”

 

The life and death of David Livingstone, Mary Slessor, and countless unknown missionaries throughout the centuries testify to this one reality: Spreading the good news that the forgiveness of sins and eternal life is found in Christ alone is the greatest and most urgent cause in this world. But the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 14, how will they believe in Christ if they have never heard of him, how will they hear without preaching, and how will they preach if they’re not sent? Christ alone can save the world, but Christ has chosen not to save the world alone. Therefore, we have the privilege to give our lives to so much more than a decent job, a healthy family, adventurous or relaxing travel, and a comfortable retirement. You have the privilege to pray, to give, to send, and/or to go and spread the good news of the king of glory throughout the earth. As Psalm 24:1 says, “The earth is the LORD’S and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein.” And that brings us to the big idea of Psalm 24: spread the good news of the King of glory throughout the earth. Spread the good news of the King of glory throughout the earth. Psalm 24 provides three rock-solid reasons why we should pray, give, send, and/or go to spread the good news of the King of glory throughout the earth. I am indebted to the late biblical scholar Derek Kidner for these three reasons: 1. He is all-creating (vv.1-2) 2. He is all-holy (vv. 3-6) 3. He is all-victorious (vv. 7-10).

 

HE IS ALL-CREATING

 

Psalm 24:1 – The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein… The entire earth and especially every person who dwells in it, belongs to the LORD. Yahweh, the Lord, the covenant God of Israel, the God of the Bible is no mere tribal deity who rules over a small geographical area or group of people. Rather, the Lord is the owner of everything, but the emphasis in Psalm 24:1 is that he’s especially the owner of everyone. Everyone belongs to him and exists for his purpose. Why? Psalm 24:1-2 – The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers. He’s all-creating.

 

Everyone belongs to the King of glory because He is all-creating. Since the King of glory is the creator of all eight billion people on earth, every one of them exists, as the Westminster Shorter Catechism says, “to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” And that’s why we must spread the good news of the King of glory throughout the earth; He is all-creating, owns the whole earth and everyone in it, and He is worthy to receive more worship than he is currently receiving. As John Piper has famously written, “Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever.” From time-to-time an automotive company will issue a recall for one of their cars because that car model is not functioning according to the manufacturer’s original intent. Missions is the King of glory’s worldwide recall. The King of glory is not receiving the glory due to the One who is all-creating. That’s why we spread the good news of the king of glory throughout the earth.

 

A heart for the nations truly beats inside of a church when its members transition from merely giving the King of glory the worship that is rightly his, to being bothered and filled with a holy-discontent that the King of glory is not receiving more worship throughout the whole earth that He created. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. We pray, give, send, and go to spread the good news of the King of glory throughout the earth because the all-creating Lord is worthy of all worship from everyone on earth. 

 

The New Testament takes this a step forward, revealing that the Lord Jesus Christ is the the One through whom the Father not only created the world, but expresses his love for the world. As John 1:3 says about Jesus Christ, “All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.” The Father created the world through His Son and he expressed his love for the world by sending His Son. John 3:16 – For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.  Therefore, we must take our place in the greatest cause in the world; to spread the good news of the King of glory throughout the earth. He is all-creating. Secondly, we do this because… 

 

HE IS ALL-HOLY

 

Psalm 24 was originally written as a victory psalm to guide God’s people in praise and thanksgiving after a military victory. Try to imagine the scene: Israel’s army is returning from a victorious battle, King David is in the lead and the ark of the covenant, symbolizing the Lord’s presence with his people, is being carried home, up to the most holy place in the tabernacle or tent of meeting. Though the Lord is spatially everywhere, in the OT he specially dwelt among his people, in the tabernacle. But Psalm 24:3-6 raises a critical question: who can enter into the King of glory’s presence and return the ark? Who can stand before him without fear of judgment and worship Him? Psalm 24:3-6 – Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place? [4] He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. [5] He will receive blessing from the LORD and righteousness from the God of his salvation. [6] Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah 

 

Only the one whose actions are clean according to God’s law and whose intentions are totally pure can stand in the Lord’s holy presence. Only the one who never turns to anything besides the Lord for hope and happiness, significance and security. Only the one who never bears false-witness and doesn’t act or speak deceitfully. Only the one with clean hands and a pure heart can stand in the Lord’s presence because he is all-holy. In other words, only those who were cleansed by offering animal sacrifices for sins could stand in the Lord’s presence because He is all-holy. But we know from what we recently learned in our journey through Hebrews that the blood of animals never took away sins. The animal sacrifices were not permanent, they were preparatory. The people were made clean by looking forward by faith to the coming of the Messiah, the final sacrifice, Jesus Christ. Through faith in Him all nations can now draw near to the all-holy King of glory. Hebrews 10:19-22 – Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, [20] by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, [21] and since we have a great priest over the house of God, [22] let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. That’s why we spread the good news of the King of glory throughout the earth: The only way for anyone anywhere to approach God’s throne as a throne of grace and not a throne of judgment is through faith in Jesus Christ. The King of glory is all-holy. Sin separates us from him now and forever. Without faith in our Great High priest whose name is love and our final sacrifice whose blood washes us clean, everyone will come under eternal judgment for sins because the King of glory is all-holy.

 

Citylight – why is it so important to see that faith in Christ is the only way to draw near to the King of glory? Nothing quite kills the missionary spirit like the heretical belief that all religions and paths lead to the heavenly, eternal presence of the King of glory. Unfortunately, according to an extensive study conducted in 2022 by Ligonier Ministries and Lifeway Research, 56% of self-describing evangelical Christians polled strongly agree with the following statement: “God accepts the worship of all religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.” That kind of heresy kills the missionary spirit that brought the gospel of Jesus Christ to us and severs any hope for developing a heart for the nations. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; not one comes to the Father except by me.” We spread the good news of Christ to every people group and every nation, regardless of ethnicity or religion, because only through Christ can we ascend the hill to the all-holy King of glory. We pray, give, send, and go to spread the gospel throughout the earth because the King of glory is all-creating, all-holy, and thirdly, because…

 

HE IS ALL-VICTORIOUS

 

If I were to ask you why you don’t pray more, give more, send more, or go more to spread the gospel here and throughout the earth, what would you say? I suspect that most of our answers would have something to do with fear; fear of missing out, fear of not having what we want or think that we need, fear of missing or losing friends, fear of flaming out or being unfruitful, fear of being ridiculed or inconvenienced, or fear of losing your life. The only news glorious enough to silence our fears and send us into an exhilarating life of spreading the good news of the King of glory here at home and to the ends of the earth is that the mission will succeed: The King of glory is all-victorious. 

 

Psalm 24:7-10 – Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. [8] Who is this King of glory? The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD, mighty in battle! [9] Lift up your heads, O gates! And lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. [10] Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory! Selah. You can imagine King David arriving at the city gates to Jerusalem, his victorious army behind him. The King shouts to the gates, figuratively of course, “lift up gates, the victorious Lord, God, and King who fights for his people has arrived home!” Loss – exile – Christ…

 

And one day, the Lord and King Jesus Christ will return, win the final victory over the world, the flesh, and the Devil, and he will establish an eternal city with gates that never shut! Revelation 21:22-27 – And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. [23] And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. [24] By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, [25] and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. [26] They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. [27] But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.The King of glory is all-victorious, Jesus will build his church, and you have nothing to fear. As the great missionary Jim Elliot wrote, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain that which he cannot lose.”

 

So, what’s your next step? Perhaps it’s to come back on Tuesday evening and begin praying for the nations with your church. Perhaps it’s to attend the missions seminar on Saturday morning to learn how to pray, give, send, and go. Perhaps it’s to begin tithing, giving 10% of your income to the church since a % of every dollar given to Citylight is directed toward international missions. Perhaps most importantly, I am praying that the next step for five of you will be to be stirred up by the Holy Spirit to begin learning about how to be sent by Citylight to take the good news of the King of glory to the nations. You can indicate any of those next on your connect and the pastors will help you along with them. Give everyone a minute to respond quietly if time.

 

Citylight – let’s spread the good news of the King of glory throughout the earth because He is all-creating, all-holy, and all-victorious. Let’s pray with David Livingstone, “God, send me anywhere, only go with me. Lay any burden on me, only sustain me. And sever any tie in my heart except the tie that binds my heart to Yours.”