Well, as we kind of narrow our focus down to these two verses, in verses 46 and 47, you kind of get the flavor of the meeting. We're in a synagogue, we're in Antioch of Pisidia, and Paul has been proclaiming the gospel of Christ. When Paul and Barnabas finish their Declarations when Paul and Barnabas are drawing things to a close. Things look very good. There's a positive response in verses 42 and 43. There are people who follow Paul and Barnabas. They're begging that these things be spoken again. It's like every preacher's dream, right? After the sermon, people are just begging for more. Don't stop, just come back, please, if you would, next week. Well, they come back next week, and things don't go quite as well, do they? And the reason they don't go well is because there's a group of people known as the Jews who, as the text says, have repudiated the message of Paul and Barnabas, and they have judged themselves unworthy of eternal life. We need to pause here and note first, especially in verse 46, which sets up this statement in verse 47, or the command that's going to be given in verse 47 that's going to occupy the bulk of our attention. Verse 45 speaks of a group of people known as the Jews. And then in verse 46, it just refers to them as you. You repudiate this message. You judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life. And the you here are the Jews in verse 45. The designation of this group of men known as the Jews. is quite important for us if we're to make sense of what's happening here. This particular phrase, the Jews, is encountered no less than 52 times in the book of Acts alone. And interestingly, 34 of them. 34 of them are used specifically to point out a malevolent group that is standing in opposition to the advancement of the mission of Christ. Specifically, the advancement of the mission of Christ in the preaching of the Apostle Paul. This phrase does not occur in Acts regarding this opposition party other than one particular point in Acts chapter 12 verse three. It speaks of it in relation to James. Remember James who was put to death and then Herod arrests Peter wanting to put him to death too, but Peter escapes by the grace of Christ. But in every other occurrence of this phrase, the Jews, it is used to designate this group of men who are opposed to Paul in particular. Paul encounters them numerous times, and we're not going to turn to these texts, but if you're a note taker, you can just jot some things down and look these up later on. He encounters them in Acts chapter nine, verse 22, when he's preaching in Damascus. In Acts chapter 13 here, verse 45, he encounters them in Pisidi and Antioch. In Acts 14, verses one and two, still on his first missionary journey, he encounters them in Iconium. Acts 17.5, he finds them in Thessalonica. In Acts 18.12, he finds them in Achaia. In 23, he finds them in Greece. And in 2019, he finds them opposing him once again. Over and over, these men, the Jews, and we shouldn't think of it as just like the same five guys that are just following along the heels of the Apostle Paul that have nothing better to do with their time than dog him as he moves along through his missionary journeys. It's a group of people who are committed to their version of Judaism and their version of truth, and they want Paul to stop preaching the gospel. They want Paul and all those who hear him to be opposed. Just let that sink in. The very people, the very people the gospel was intentionally given to first, The very people that had the privileged position of hearing the gospel first, they don't want it. And not only do they not want it, they are so opposed to the gospel, they don't want anyone else to have it either. Perhaps you've read or heard Aesop's fable of the dog in the manger. The fable is told of a dog who makes his way into a barn one day and finds a pile of hay, and he lays down on that hay, and he's comfy there, and he's pretty happy there, and he doesn't really have much use for the hay, but then an ox comes along. The ox comes along, and the ox is looking for the hay. And the ox wants to eat the hay. And the ox looks at the dog, and he's like, move. Get up, that's my hay. And the dog's like, you can't have this hay. I'm laying here. But you don't even want the hay. You don't even wanna use the hay. You can just go somewhere else. And the dog is barking at him and the ox finally, I was gonna say the ox sheepishly goes away, but anyway, you get the picture. The ox goes off. He can't get the hay. It's known as the dog in the manger. Well, I came across that reading some comments on this particular passage in the book of Acts by F.F. Bruce, a scholar from the 20th century, and this is what Bruce has to say. Paul and Barnabas give a plain answer to their railing. It was right and proper they affirmed that Jews should have first opportunity of hearing and believing the good news. Had the Jews of Pisidian Antioch accepted it, they would have had the honor of evangelizing their Gentile neighbors in fulfillment of Israel's world mission outlined in the Book of Acts in passages like Isaiah, excuse me, in passages like Isaiah 49 that we had read for us a moment ago. But if they would not receive the light themselves, they could not be allowed to pursue a dog in the manger policy. The life of the age to come had been brought near to them here and now as God's free gift in Christ. If they showed themselves unworthy of it by refusing to accept it, there were others who would appreciate it. It would be offered directly to the Gentiles. Though they opposed the gospel going to anyone else, God would have none of that. God continued to mercifully come to them first over and over again. We can travel with Paul. We can travel with Paul in Acts chapter 13 when he comes to Salamis and he comes to the synagogue first. Or later in 13-14 when he comes there to Pisidia. Again, he goes to the synagogue first. In Acts chapter 14 verse 1, he goes to the synagogue first in Iconium. In 17.1, when he comes into the region of Greece, he goes to Thessalonica and he goes to the synagogue first. You might remember after Thessalonica, he goes to Berea. And in Acts 17.10, he goes to the synagogue first. That's where we find the Jews who were more noble-minded than the Thessalonians. Paul travels on to Corinth, just a little bit to the south. In Acts chapter 17, verse 17, he finds himself in Athens, and just very near there in Acts 18.4, he goes to Corinth. In both places, he goes to the synagogue first. In Acts 18-19 he finds himself in Ephesus, and in 19-8 he finds himself in Ephesus for three months, both times going to the synagogue first, the latter time continuing in the synagogue for three months, reasoning with the Jews. The gospel indeed is the power of God, first to the Jew. They had the privileged position of receiving the gospel first. By and large, they did not want this gospel. This was, Bruce calls it, a pattern of events that reproduced itself in almost every place to which Paul brought the gospel. The local Jews almost invariably refused as a body to believe it, and it was accordingly preached to the Gentiles, who embraced it in large numbers. One final text I want to show you about Paul going to the Jews is in Acts chapter 28. If you would turn there with me for a moment. In Acts chapter 28, we find in a final narrative, Paul going again to the Jews. He goes to them again first. It says in Acts chapter 28, beginning in verse 23, He's speaking to a group of Jewish people that reject the gospel. He quotes Isaiah chapter six, showing that this is the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy even. But then down in verse 28, therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles. They will listen. Just kind of Read those words slowly in your mind again over and over. They will listen. You, in fact, sitting here today are evidence that Gentiles have listened to the preaching of the gospel. This particular statement in verse 28, that he has gone to the Jews, but that they have rejected it. He even refers to them again in verse 29 as the Jews. When he had spoken these words, the Jews departed, having great dispute amongst themselves. Bruce notes again at this point, as before in Pisidian Antioch in Acts 13.46 and in Corinth in Acts 18.6, so here again with a note of solemn finality, he announces that henceforth the Gentiles will have priority in receiving the message of salvation. and that unlike the majority of the Jews, they will accept it. Let's just let our eyes roll over these texts. Look back in chapter 13. Keep your finger there on chapter 28. Acts 13, verse 46. Notice again the text that we read a moment ago. Since you repudiate it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. He doesn't mean we're turning absolutely to the Gentiles and we're never coming back to the Jews because we've already noticed several places whenever Paul goes into town, what does he do? The first thing he does is look for a synagogue. The only place I can think of right off the top of my head that he doesn't find a synagogue is when he goes to Philippi. Remember, he thinks he's gonna find a synagogue, but he doesn't, so he goes to the river thinking he's gonna find a place of prayer and finds a group of women that are gathered there praying. But here in Acts 13, verse 46, he says, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. Flip over to Acts 18. Acts 18, verse six. Acts 18 verse 6, but when they resisted in blaspheme, he shook out his garments and said to them, your blood be on your own heads. I am clean. Kind of like an Ezekiel prophetic moment where he's saying, look, my hands are innocent of the blood of all men. I've spoken to you with the truth. I've given it to you. You've led the horse to water, but you can't make him clean. So here he says, look, I've given the Jews the gospel. They've rejected it. I'm clean. I'm innocent of the blood of these men. He'll say this later on when he meets with the elders of Ephesus in Miletus. He'll say that night and day I admonished you for three years with tears. I'm innocent of the blood of all men. So he says at the end of 18.6, from now on I will go to the Gentiles. But again, it's not an absolute turning. He still continues to long for the Jews to be saved. But then we find that final phrase in Acts 28, verse 28. Let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles. Again, they will also listen. One writer from the early 20th century commented on this particular point in the book of Acts at the very end. He said, the narrative reaches a solemn climax rejection on the one side, unchecked success and hope on the other. So while it's a picture of great sorrow that the Jews categorically seem to reject the gospel over and over again, there's this element of hope as we come to the end of the book of Acts and look forward to the continuing mission of the church, they will listen. You might come to the end of the book of Acts and think, oh, it's over. It's done. But the very end of the book of Acts itself ought to leave you what? It ought to leave you looking forward. It ought to leave you with the hope and the expectation that this idea of the Gentile mission going to the far corners of the world indeed continues in the plan of God. And did not Jesus say that this mission would continue until the very end of the age? And he was with the church for that task. So with all this in mind, I think we're ready somewhat to come back to Acts 13 in verse 47. In Acts 13 verse 47, so turn there with me if you would. Notice again the text, in verse 47 he says, for so the Lord has commanded us, in light of this idea of turning to the Gentiles, I'm doing this because or for the Lord has commanded us to do so. Where, Paul, where is it that you find God commanding you to turn to the Gentiles? Well, I find it in the Bible. I just found it right there in the Scripture. He says, for so the Lord has commanded us, I have placed you as a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the end of the earth. Four things I'd like to note in this text. After the preacher has the long introduction and takes up half of his sermon time, here are the four things for the sermon. Number one is this. This command comes by divine origination, or notice, it's divine origin. Number two, I'll just give you the four things. It's divine origin, it's unlikely recipients, it's covenantal nature, and it's broad scope. its divine origin, its unlikely recipients, its covenantal nature, and its broad scope. We'll notice first the divine origin of the command. Paul sees here a command by God given to him and to Barnabas and the apostolic team, if you will, that they are to go to the nations of the world. The command to be light for the Gentiles and to bring salvation to the ends of the earth is for Paul and Barnabas full of divine authority. They find their commission in the Old Testament scriptures of Israel themselves. Specifically, they cite Isaiah 49, verse 6. This is probably in the very middle of the text I had Ryan read for us just a little while ago. Just a moment at the source of Paul's commission. If you've got your Bible, turn back there with me in Isaiah 49. Excuse me, Isaiah 49. Isaiah 49.6 is a part of a longer text spanning the first 13 verses of Isaiah 49. We mentioned earlier it is a servant song. Technically, it is the second of four servant songs. They are found in Isaiah 42, verses one to nine. Isaiah 49, verses one to 13. Isaiah 50, verses 4 through 11, and then probably the most well-known servant song, or servant hymn, Isaiah 52, 13, through all of chapter 53. This is the one where it talks about He was crushed for our iniquities, bruised, and the Lord has laid our iniquity on Him, and this is the one that we typically think of. when we think of the servant songs of Isaiah. So Isaiah 42, 1-9, 49, 1-13, 54-11, and 52-13 through 53-12. Each of these, each of these songs, points to the Lord Jesus in the New Testament as the servant of the Lord, or as he is often referred to as the suffering servant. If we had time, we could track these down and show where in the New Testament either the imagery or the direct quotation from these passages in Isaiah are applied in the New Testament to the Lord Jesus. It's Isaiah 49.6, though, that really occupies our attention here because it's the one that Paul is kind of laying hold of to give him this sense of divine commission for his work. In Isaiah 49.6, it is the Lord God who sets apart his servant for a specific task that is really a twofold task. Notice, if you will, with me in Isaiah 49 verse 5 and 6. Isaiah 49 verse 5 says, And now says the Lord, who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, so that Israel might be gathered to him. For I am honored in the sight of the Lord, and my God is my strength. He says, it is too small a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel. And here's our quotation. I will also make you a light of the nations so that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth. There is a twofold task here that is given to the servant of God. Number one, calling or bringing back to God Jacob and to regather Israel. If you can think of just the story of biblical history, by this particular point when Isaiah is prophesying to the southern kingdom of Judah, the northern kingdom of Israel has already been conquered. The northern kingdom of Israel has been conquered and hauled off by Assyria and 722 BC Samaria Falls. The southern kingdom of Judah doesn't fall for maybe like another 150 or so years, and we're still about 100 years from the ministry of Jeremiah. Some have described that Isaiah prophesies at 11 o'clock, and Jeremiah prophesies at the stroke of midnight. So in Isaiah, it's almost here. In Jeremiah, it's here. Jacob, the southern kingdom, Judah, is going to fall to Babylon. But Isaiah comes in this particular section of his book of Isaiah, in Isaiah 40 through about Isaiah 55, and gives a future vision of hope for the restoration of God's people through the work of the servant. So here, this idea of calling Jacob back, of regathering Israel, And the Old Testament prophets actually had a vision of the future where the southern kingdom and the northern kingdom were to be brought back together. We often refer to it as the restoration of Israel. I'm glad Ryan gave me the dispensational caveat at the beginning. I thought, what am I going to walk into today? You just never know. Because in dispensationalism, that restoration of Israel happens in a future millennium. And they are used then to evangelize the Gentile nations that are around them during that thousand year reign of Christ on earth. In a more covenantal view of the scripture, the restoration of Israel, the restoration of the Southern and Northern kingdoms coming back together happens at the time of the acts of the apostles. And they are restored as the gospel spreads from Jerusalem and Judea into Samaria, into the uttermost parts of the earth. And that restored Israel in that early New Testament period of Acts 1, maybe through Acts chapter 8, the gospel restores the southern and northern kingdom. The southern kingdom represented there by Jerusalem and Judea, the northern kingdom represented by Samaria. I wish we had time to kind of go off into all that, but the point being that the prophet is envisioning a day when Israel is restored. Notice what he says here in verse 5. The servant is not Jacob. The servant is not Israel. He is distinct from Israel. He is distinct from Jacob, and it is his job to bring Jacob back to God, that Israel might be gathered to him again. And this happens over and over in the book of Isaiah. But that's not enough. I mean, that'd be a wonderful thing, wouldn't it, if Jesus just came back and saved the Jews? I mean, that'd be great. That'd be gracious, and the rest of us just would have gotten what we deserved, right? And we'd have nothing to rightfully complain about. But thanks be to God, that's not all he does. Because the servant of the Lord does not just bring Jacob and Israel back. Notice what it says in verse 6. It's too small a thing. Some translations have, it's too light a thing. It's just not grand enough. It's not significant enough. It's not great enough just to bring back the tribes of Jacob and restore the preserved ones of Israel. That would be great, but it's not great enough. Remember, this is the salvation of God here. And the salvation of God of men is going to one day redound to the glory of God. I will also, he says, make you a light to the nations so that my salvation may reach what? The very ends of the earth. God has a vision of the future where men from every tribe and tongue and language and nation surround the throne of God to the glory of God and the joy of their souls forever. So it's a twofold task. Task of bringing Jacob back, a task of reaching the nations with the gospel, and Paul sees his commission, a divine commission, rooted in this kind of a text. Ananias in Acts chapter nine, verse 15, had been told that Paul was God's chosen instrument to bear his name before the Gentiles. The Holy Spirit had set both Paul and Barnabas apart in Acts chapter 13, verses one to three, for the work that he was going to give them to do. Paul himself had been confronted by the resurrected Christ on the road to Damascus in Acts chapter 9. He recounts the story and then also again two other places, one of which is in Acts chapter 26. In Acts chapter 26 verse 18, Paul recounts that he was being divinely sent to the Gentiles, listen to this statement, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in me." Thus, Paul is in no doubt of the divine origin of this command given him by God. When asked, why would you turn to the Gentiles? Because God has commanded me to go. It is as clear to Paul as his own calling. It is as clear to Paul as the authority of the Word of God itself. And this brings up a second point, a second point to note regarding this command. Paul and his fellow apostles are unlikely recipients of such a directive. I mean, why are we picking Paul? You know Paul. You probably know enough about Paul to realize that maybe Paul is an unlikely recipient. I mean, in some ways, Paul would be a likely recipient, But there is an unlikely transference of responsibility for the fulfilling of this command in light of the original when given the command in the Old Testament. Now, let me say that again. I want you to think on this for a moment. There is an unlikely transference of responsibility for the fulfilling of this command to Paul, in light of the original command or in light of the original ones that were given this command in the Old Testament. Now you might anticipate here that I'm going to say that the original one given this command in the Old Testament was that great Sunday school answer. Jesus, it was Jesus. Wasn't it Jesus? No, it was not Jesus. The original recipient of the command to be a light to the nations of the world as God's servant was not Jesus, but was Israel the nation herself. Isaiah makes clear that Israel had been called to be God's witness to the nations, to bear the light of his glory for all to see and to savor. We might look, for example, at Isaiah 43. So let's look back over there for just a moment. Isaiah 43, I'm gonna read in verse 10. Isaiah 43, beginning in verse 10. He says to Israel here in the broad context, you are my witnesses. He's not talking to a singular individual, he's talking to a plural community. You are my witnesses, declares the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen. so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am He. Before me there was no God formed, and there will be none after me. I, even I, am the Lord, and there is no Savior besides me. It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed, and there was no strange God among you. So you are my witnesses, declares the Lord, and I am God. Even from eternity I am He, and there is none who can deliver out of my hand. I act, and who can reverse it? So notice here in Isaiah 43, 10 to 13, we see that Israel is called to be the witnesses of God. They're called to be God's very servant. But to this task, Israel has miserably failed. In fact, we find her throughout this section in Isaiah 40, 41, and 42. She is complaining, she is full of fear, she is anxious, she has grown deaf to God's word, she has grown blind to God's glory, and she is disobedient to God's commands. And she did all of this. She did all of this as God's servant. Thus, in the words of one writer, our text in Isaiah 49, verse six, originally envisages Israel having a destiny as being that of a witness to God and to all the nations of the world. But she has, we might say, fallen short of this task. Now, she has fallen short, but God will have his glory, what? God will have his glory known. So it's not a question of, well, gee, I guess we just gotta fold up our bags and our toys and pack it up and go home, because obviously the job Isaiah said that Israel was given doesn't happen, and so it's just not gonna happen. No. God will have his glory known. John Oswalt, in his commentary on the book of Isaiah, makes this comment. He says, will God simply ignore the sin that projected Israel into slavery in the first place? How, he says, how will the blind, deaf, rebellious servant be any different just because Cyrus has sent them home? Remember at the end of their captivity, Cyrus commissions them to go back and to rebuild the temple there at the end of 2 Chronicles. You can read about that story. And Cyrus is kind of pictured as this great king and this great delivery sends them back home. But how is this really gonna help? I mean, we have the same ragtag bunch of people that left 70 years prior. The answer, Oswald says, is this. The servant, the ideal Israel, will give himself to be for and in Israel what Israel could never be in herself. God sends another Israel. God sends a true Israel. God sends a perfect Israel. God sends another servant, a singular servant, and it is the work of the faithful Israel, servant, that Luke and Paul pick up on in our text in Acts 13, verse 47. Though original Israel was unfaithful, Christ, as the true Israel, has fulfilled and now has passed along the responsibility of fulfilling the task to the new Israel, the church. Israel has failed, Christ has succeeded, and Christ is now commissioning Paul and Barnabas and the like to be his agents to carry forward his message to be a light to the nations. Bruce helpfully adds this comment, he says, Paul and Barnabas are able to fulfill this mission of being a light for the Gentiles and bringing salvation to the ends of the earth because of their identification with the perfect servant who enables his followers to carry out his mission. Or as one writer also adds, that Paul is a light to the Gentiles, quote, only in virtue of the Christ he preaches. Christ is a light to the Gentiles as he is preached to them by his servants. Just a note to keep in mind, look over in Acts 26. In Paul, going forward as a light to the nations of the world, Christ is not left behind. In Acts 26, we find an important note in Acts 26 verse 23, it says this, Acts 26, 23. I'm sorry if I'm going too fast. I do tend to talk fast. That the Christ was to suffer and that by reason of his resurrection from the dead, he, who is he? Christ, would be the first to proclaim light both to the Jewish people and to who? To the Gentiles. And we often speak of preaching as the means by which Christ comes to his people and speaks to them and exhorts them. Christ, through the proclamation of Paul and Barnabas and others of the like, is still coming to the Jews and still coming to the Gentiles to bring them to faith in him. And it is these unlikely recipients representing a restored Israel that come on to take the task forward. The true nature of the task is seen in a third observation. They have a divine commission. They are an unlikely band of men to be given such a weighty task. But I want you to think of the task itself, its covenantal nature. What is it exactly that they're doing when they go out to bring this message to the Gentiles? The text in Acts 13, 47 says again, I remind you, I have placed you as a light for the Gentiles that you may bring salvation to the end of the earth. And here we have to be brief. Notice again in this text in verse 47 of chapter 13, it says that God has placed them. I have placed you. Now, again, originally in Isaiah 49 verse 6, the ewe was the singular servant. But here in Acts chapter 13, 47, the ewe is not the singular servant, the Lord Jesus. It is the apostolic band of men that he has commissioned to go forth and carry the gospel. But he says something specific about them. He says he's placed them. This is not the way I place my keys down when I get home. You know, when I get home, I throw my keys somewhere. And if my kids get my keys, pity the thought, we will never get anywhere, because no one will know where they went, all right? I would say something about my wife throwing the keys, but she's not even here today, and so we won't do that, I'll confess later on. I have implied something negative, that she might lose keys, but surely that would never happen. And she'd probably say something like, it's because I'm thinking about things when I come in the house that you're not thinking about. You know, I'm thinking about nothing. She's thinking about the kids and dinner and everything else. Be that as it may, this is not that kind of placing. This is an intentional placement. I, God, have placed you. It says in Isaiah 49, verse six, that I have made you. It says in Isaiah 42 verse six, I have appointed you. These terms are very interesting. I've placed you, I've made you, I've appointed you. They're very official, very determined type terms. Placing is something very specific. Appointing is something very intentional. Making is something very personal. He has placed them, he has made them, he has appointed them to do what? To bring light to the nation. to the nations to bring salvation to the end, the end, I mean, out there of the earth. Notice what it is they're bringing to the people. Well, one further point, just to bring out in Isaiah 42, verse six, let me read this for you. Isaiah 42, six says this, I will appoint you as a covenant to the people. as a light to the nations. Making, being appointed, being placed is all framed in a covenantal context. The intention of God sending these men out to the nations of the world, making them, appointing them, placing them, is so that they might bear the message of the covenant of God's grace to the nations of the world that they might bring to them a message, listen, of salvation. This is what men need. This is what men are desperate for. This is not what they're really interested in, but this is what they need. We're interested in all kinds of things, aren't we? You know, fishing, clubs, getting together people to help us with our kids, you know, people to help us have better marriages or happier, fuller bank accounts, or fuller and happier bank accounts. We're interested in all those kinds of things. And so often the church does what? It turns to, responding to what people are interested in. But here the message that men need, that's what's of concern. What do you need? You need the forgiveness of sins. What do you need? You need the grace of Christ. What do you need? You need to know the God who made you. And here, these men are sent with the message of salvation to the ends of the earth. They can be saved from the wrath to come. They can be saved to know the Lord God through the Lord Jesus Christ. They can be saved and no longer lost, no longer under condemnation, no longer under wrath, but indeed rescued by the grace of Christ. One final point to note here that as they go with this covenantal framework or this covenantal understanding of bringing salvation to the ends of the earth, they need to understand that it is the very ends of the earth that they are to go to. There is a broad scope and purpose of this command. Back in Isaiah chapter 49, They had been told in verse six that this salvation is to be brought or taken to the very end of the earth. And back in chapter 49, it says that they're going to come eventually. God has this vision through the prophet here that he communicates. He says, behold, in verse 12 of chapter 49, Isaiah 49, 12, behold, these will come from afar. And lo, these will come from the north and from the west, and these from the land of Sinim. Shout for joy, O heavens, and rejoice, O earth. Break forth into joyful shouting, O mountains, for the Lord has comforted his people. He will have compassion on his afflicted. The vision of God for the reaching of the nations with the gospel of Christ is a vision that encompasses the very ends of the earth. Now, we live on a ball, right? All right, we live on a ball, so there's not like technically an end. What is the end here? The end is gathering men from every tribe and tongue and language and people and bringing them to know the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me leave you just a couple of things to think on. We have seen that this command is given with divine authority that this command has come to unlikely recipients, that this command carries a covenantal nature of declaring salvation. And it is so imperative that this message go out to the end of the world because it is indeed the only message by which men can be saved. So we've seen that it's to go to the very end, its scope is to go to the very end of the earth. What do we do with this kind of a command? I mean, I'm not Paul. I'm not even Apollos. I'm Jason. We've really gone down in significance, haven't we? And I should have put Ryan before me, sorry. And here we are. It's more like Larry Coate Larry Curley and Moe, is that what they are? Not Coe. And here we are. And we're supposed to be men who are leading churches and encouraging churches with such a command. Maybe four things to think about. The church must ever keep in mind as she goes forward to fulfill such command that she has absolutely unchanging, unquestionable authority for her task. She has the word of Christ. The same command by God that is of divine origination that compelled the apostles forward in their mission is the same commission that rests upon us as well. Ed Young in his commentary, I should say Edward J. Young, Ed Young, anyway, okay, sorry. Not that Ed, different Ed. Some of you are chuckling because you know. Edward J. Young, in his commentary on the book of Isaiah, has referred to Isaiah 49.6 as the Great Commission of the Old Testament, to be a light to the nations. bring salvation to the end of the earth. Doesn't it sound like Jesus in Matthew 28, all authority on heaven and earth has been what, given to me, therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them, teach them to obey everything, baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and teach them to obey everything I've commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, what, to the end of the age. The church must ever keep in mind today when she thinks about the mission to reach the nations with the gospel that she operates under absolute unquestionable divine authority. The church herself has no need to question the authority that she has to go forward. She goes forward in the authority of Christ. She responds to the command of Christ. He has commissioned her and called her to go. Secondly, the church must not only always keep in mind the authority she has for a task, the church needs to always keep in mind the privilege that is hers to fulfill the task. We are an unlikely lot, are we not, to fulfill the Great Commission. You know, when it says in 1 Corinthians that God chooses the things that are not, that he might nullify the things that are, that he chooses the nothings of the world, to nullify the somethings. When he chooses the foolish things in the eyes of the world to nullify the pomp and the arrogance of the wise, he's chosen us. Now, you know, I don't know y'all very well, so I can't really make fun of you, but just look at me. What can laugh about me? Who am I? We could talk about Dennis. He's a deacon. He's pretty solid. He can take it. We can talk about Ryan. Who are we? Who are we to be entrusted with such a privileged task of carrying the most precious thing in all of creation? Indeed, that goes outside of creation. We've been given this precious task of fulfilling the great commission of Christ. It is a great privilege for us to bear the message of Christ to the world. Thirdly, think just for a moment about the nature of this task. It is a covenantal task. When the church of Jesus Christ today goes to the nations of the world, we go principally for one reason, because men are lost and hell bound and under the wrath of God and they stand even now, what? Condemned. Jesus says if you don't believe, you're what? You're condemned already. We don't go to the nations of the world to humbly bow down before them and learn from them. I remember some of you might be old enough to remember the name of a scholar from the 20th century by the name of Clark Pennock. Clark Pennock started off as a strong, reform-minded brother, went to Arminianism, went to open theism, and I don't even know where he is now. He may have passed away. Clark Pennock had the comment that before the missionary goes to the tribal lands, he needs to make sure when he goes that before we talk to these people that we take off our shoes and realize that we're standing on holy ground because God was there before we were there, and we want to go and learn from them first. When I read Paul in Acts 26, that's not what I get. Paul is sent by God to the nations of the world to open their eyes so they may turn from darkness to light, from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive the forgiveness of sins and inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in me. That is what we are going to proclaim to the world. The world is desperately in need of the saving message of Jesus Christ. Now remember, we don't go in some kind of arrogance or some kind of loftiness. Why? Because remember the second point? We are what? We are unlikely recipients. We are nothing. What did Paul say of himself? I planted a pollis water, but God did what? God caused the growth. We are unlikely recipients, carrying, in many ways, an unlikely message to an unsuspecting people that will be the very thing that will transform all of life for them. We must keep in our mission the gospel at center. It need not be some peripheral message that we carry to the nations of the world. And one final thing, we've spoken much about the nations of the world. I want you to grasp with me something of the scope of this great task. Currently, the population of the world is almost 8 billion people. Just get that number, 8 billion people. 8, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 8 with nine zeros after it. Missiologists have broken these down for us into what they often refer to as people groups to help us in trying to get our mind around the scope of this great task. A people group has been defined as the largest group within which the gospel can spread as a church planting movement without encountering barriers of understanding or acceptance. Barriers are things like language or subdivisions based on dialect, cultural variations, economics, maybe a caste system or religious traditions. Many of the very things that Paul himself experienced as he sought to carry the gospel to other peoples. These people groups, missiologists have numbered at approximately 10,000. So that's good. Now we're down from 8 billion to 10,000. But I'm still trying to get my mind around 10,000 people. Excuse me, not 10,000, 18,000. About 3,000 of these, or 20% of them, have been significantly reached by the gospel. So if we take the whole world and think in terms of 18,000 people groups, about 20%, 3,000 of these, have been significantly reached by the gospel. Another 7,000, or less than 40% of the remaining ones, they tell us, have been varyingly reached. And they categorize this as partially reached, superficially reached, minimally reached, that still leaves us with about 42%. Over 7,000 additional people groups in the world are considered unreached. An unreached people group are, by this categorization, less than 2% of the people in an unreached people group qualify as evangelical. 2%. Just let that sink in a little bit. At this point, 2,000 years after Christ said we would be his witnesses to the remotest part of the earth, over three billion people, three billion people, about 42% of people on the planet still have practically no access to the gospel. No knowledge of Christ, no grasp and no access to the message of his saving work. Of these three billion, Two-thirds, or two billion, are classified as frontier people groups. Now, there's not gonna be a test later. I know we're throwing a lot of things your way, but think with me for a moment. Frontier people groups, two billion people, are living in areas of the world where less than .1% of the population know about Christ. That's a lot of people that don't have access to the gospel. Missiologists estimate that there are 4,984 foreign people groups in the world today, with a total population of 2,700,461,000. It represents about one-fourth of the world. You might think, well, man, there's a lot of statistics, and that's kind of overwhelming, and I still can't even process that. Well, I hope you don't say something like, what's the big deal? The big deal is the church remains under a divine commission. The big deal is that the church has the privileged task of carrying the message to souls that are lost. The big deal is that the church is the only institution in the world that's been given the message that can save their souls. The big deal here is that the church still faces an unfinished task of carrying the gospel of Christ, the light of the Gentiles, to them for their salvation. A hymn written in recent years says, facing a task unfinished that drives us to our knees, a need that undiminished rebukes our slothful ease, we who rejoice to know thee renew before thy throne the solemn pledge we owe thee to go and make thee known. Where other lords besides thee hold their unhindered sway, where forces that defied thee defy thee still today, with none to heed their cry for life and love and light, unnumbered souls are dying and pass into the night. We bear the torch that flaming fell from the hands of those who gave their lives proclaiming that Jesus died and rose. Ours is the same commission, the same glad message ours, fired by the same ambition to thee we yield our powers. O Father who sustained them, O Spirit who inspired, Savior whose love constrained them to toil with zeal untired, from cowardice defend us, from lethargy awake, forth on thine errands sends us to labor for thy sake. We go to all the world with kingdom hope unfurled. No other name has power to save but Jesus Christ. the Lord. I pray your heart would be encouraged to join in such a task, to see Christ's glory known among the nations of the world, that men from every tribe and tongue and language and nation might one day be found around the throne of God above, singing praise and glory and honor be unto him who sits on the throne and unto the Lamb. Let's pray together. Father, we bless your name. We thank you, O God, for your word, we thank you, O Lord, for its truth, and we pray, O God, that you would press these truths to our hearts, that we not just think of them as some distant study on the Apostle Paul and missions, but might we think of them as they press upon us as individuals, as churches, as our association, thinking in terms of the commitment that we need to carry the gospel to the very end of the world. And thank you, oh God, that Christ indeed is with us to the very end of the age. May you be praised. May you be pleased to press these truths upon us. We ask God in Jesus' name, amen.