Let's go ahead and take our Bibles and turn to the book of Revelation. Revelation 7, verses 9 and 10 will be our text. Would you stand with me as I read this out of respect for the reading of God's Word? Revelation 7, verses 9 and 10. After this I beheld And lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands, and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God, which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb." Let's pray. Our Father, we need your help today. I need your help. I echo the words of the brother who just spoke that we are so frail, so morally inadequate, and yet you chose to show yourself strong by using weak men. God, we have sins that are embedded in us by our nature, by our environment, by our culture, and we have no hope of loosing ourselves from them except through the power of the Gospel and the Spirit. So please give us hearts to understand. Give us ears to hear. Please remove from our minds any idolatrous thoughts that would place those deep-seated sins above what Your Word clearly teaches. Let Your Word be preeminent and Your name be glorified. For Christ's sake, Amen. Thank you for standing. You can be seated. This sermon is one that has been weighing on my heart for a few weeks now. And I hope it's not too controversial. I hope you submit yourself to what the Bible says. But in the culture, particularly in the area of the country in which we live, it will probably run up against some deep-seated ideas that we might have, that we might have been raised with, that we need to learn to let go of. Those who prognosticate professionally, those who make predictions based on polls and trends and things of this nature, tell us that by the year 2043, only 30 years from now, Caucasians will be a minority in the United States. And your reaction to that prognostication will reveal whether your identity is found in the gospel or in being white, in your race, in your cultural heritage or your ancestry. The Bible is clear that God receives glory and one of the primary ways in which He receives glory is by saving people of every background and every color and every culture and it says it so clearly right here in Revelation chapter 7 that we're going to one day be around the throne of God Worshipping with people who don't look just exactly like us. And probably don't sound just exactly like us. People from every nation and every kindred and tongue and people. So I want you to see this morning five ways in which God is glorified in racial diversity. racial diversity. For our first point, I want you to turn over to Acts chapter 17 with me. Acts chapter 17 and verses 26 and 27. This is what is being preached. He says that God made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth and have determined the times before appointed and the bounds of their habitation that they should seek the Lord if happily they might feel after Him and find Him though He be not far from every one of us. The first way in which God is glorified is by our recognition of diverse people groups, He is glorified as Creator. He is glorified as Creator. God created in Adam and then in Noah all the peoples and nations of the earth that then came from that. God created within man the ability, and not only the ability, but the necessity that through his ancestry, through his generations that came after him, there would be diversity. And God is glorified in diversity. He created so many, not only so many different types of animals, but then we see within the dogs, there's so many types of dogs. And within the cats, there's so many types of cats. And within the flowers, there's so many types of flowers. And God has created this incredible diversity in all His creation. And then it says that He made man in His own image. And that goes for red and yellow, black and white, as the Little Children's Song says. They are all created in His image. Racism has its roots deeply embedded in a humanistic and evolutionary worldview. Now, when I say racism, here's my definition of racism. Racism is any implicit or explicit belief or practice which quantitatively values one ethnicity above another. So anything that you do or you say which implies or directly states that you think that one ethnicity has some sort of qualitative value above another ethnicity, that's racism. And that comes from a worldview that doesn't see God created all the nations of the earth from one blood. It comes from a worldview that says One group is a little bit more evolved than another group. One group's a little bit further removed from monkeys than another group. It's a very humanistic, evolutionary mindset. And it has led to the atrocities of the transatlantic slave trade. It has led to the atrocities of the Holocaust. Millions, and those are the big examples, and little examples go on every day all across the globe. Here in this part of the country, we usually tend to think of it as black and white, or maybe Mexican and white. But it goes on in Africa, among different groups that are equally brown. And it grows on in Europe, among people groups that are equally lighter skinned. There's ethnic racism, and it's all over the world because it's a sin that is rooted in pride and hatred, and it's deeply rooted in our hearts. If we believe that we all share a common ancestor, not only 6,000 years ago in Adam, but 4,500 years ago in Noah, It's very hard to come up with a logical reason to stand behind our racist views. The point is not to be colorblind, but to rejoice in the uniqueness of each color tone and their accompanying strengths and weaknesses. To recognize that we don't have the corner on the market in being made in the image of God. But all humans are made in the image of God. And that we have things that we can learn from other skin tones and cultures and countries. There are ways in which they live and ways in which they interact in their relationships. There are ways in which we can learn from each other as we are all made in the image of God. And the sermon here this afternoon, I want to stress so strongly that I'm not preaching something cultural. I'm preaching about the glory of God and the Gospel. And the glory of God is taken away when we don't recognize Him as Creator by acting as though one culture has some sort of value that's higher than another culture, we take away from the glory of God in His diverse creation and His creativity as creator. So God is glorified as creator in our recognition of diverse people groups. But then we need to take it another step further. It's not simply what we recognize and what we We see in our minds, but it's then how that carries over into our actions. And the second way that God is glorified in racial diversity is that He is glorified as Redeemer in our preaching of the Gospel to diverse people groups. Turn over to Matthew 28. Such a familiar passage of Scripture to us. We've all heard it and quoted it a million times, and yet I'm afraid our practice is deficient. Matthew 28, verses 18-20, Jesus came and spake unto them saying, All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you all way, even unto the end of the world. Amen. I'm not only going to assume this morning that you believe in creation. I'm also going to assume, since we call this a sovereign grace pastors meeting, that you believe in the total depravity of man. And if you believe in the total depravity of man, then you are a hypocrite to be more uncomfortable speaking the gospel to someone with a dark skin tone and dreadlocks and a flat-billed hat than you are someone who has your skin tone and wearing a suit and tie. Because they equally are headed to hell and they equally need the gospel. And when we want to stay in our own little comfort zones, and only share the gospel with people that we're comfortable with, because people that we were raised with, and people whom we share so many traits with, you're a hypocrite to say you believe in total depravity, and only do that. If they equally need the gospel, and they're equally going to hell, Then that person whose ancestry is from Asia, who has the weird tattoos on their arms and the hair down in his eyes, needs the gospel too. Is Christ sufficient to save, or isn't He? Is that soul, an eternal soul, that will stand with you on the day of judgment and say, I worked in the same place you worked, or I lived in the same town you lived in, and you walked by me a dozen times, and you never told me the gospel, and now you stand here on judgment day and say, oh, I knew that men were totally depraved equally. But I was too uncomfortable to step outside my comfort zone and preach the Gospel to someone who didn't look just like me. Or sound just like me. If we're going to preach the Gospel to all nations, that doesn't just mean dropping money in the offering plate to support a missionary overseas. Though that's good. It also means preaching the gospel to all nations who live next door to you. Did you hear what I said when I opened up? This country is becoming an incredibly diverse country. We have Latinos and Europeans and Africans and Asians pouring into this country looking for opportunity and you and we have this incredible blessing that God is bringing all nations to our doorstep. Praise be to God that America still leads the way in the amount of dollars sent and the amount of people sent out as missionaries. Praise God for that. But we also have people who live in our neighborhoods. And we also have people who go to our schools and who work alongside us. that are from all over. I live in Florence, Alabama, which is the home to the University of North Alabama, UNA. Over 10% of the kids who go to school there are students who have come from another country. We have an incredible opportunity to share the Gospel with all nations right there in our little town. And we don't do it very often, not because we don't believe they're going to hell, but because that just hadn't motivated us enough yet. To step outside our comfort zone. The love of Christ hasn't constrained us quite enough just yet. So God is glorified as Redeemer in our preaching to diverse people groups. Not only that, but God is glorified as reconciler in our fellowshipping with diverse people groups. Turn over to the book of Ephesians, chapter 2. You see the progression here? Once you recognize that everyone's created in the image of God and has an eternal soul, then you have to preach the gospel to them. And once you preach the gospel to them, We know that God's Word doesn't return void. So we preach the Gospel to enough people. God will save some. His elect will be among them. They will believe. And then guess what? We've got to spend time with them. We've got to disciple them. We've got to stand alongside them and help break down those cultural boundaries that are still there. Ephesians chapter 2 and verses 11 through 19. Wherefore remember that ye, being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called on circumcision by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands, that at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenant of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. So Paul's addressing the church in Ephesus, those Gentile Christians, who were being dealt with as minorities. They didn't have the privileges that the Jews felt like they had. And so He said, you have to remember that you were once the minority as Gentiles. But now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For He is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us. having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances, for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace. And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby, and came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore, you are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God." To overcome the deep-seated pride and hatred that is racism, we have to have the power of the Gospel. We have to have the power of the Gospel. It's the only thing strong enough to break through that. And when we have the power of the Gospel, when we see that God loves to reconcile enemies, that's what He did with us. We who were at enmity with God were reconciled to Him through His Son. When we see that, then it should be, it ought to be, easier for us to be reconciled to our neighbor. to be reconciled to that One that looks a little different and acts a little different and sounds a little different than we do. Because we sure looked a lot different and sounded a lot different and acted a lot different than God. And He reconciled us to Himself. They come from a different background than we do. But the Gospel transcends that. The Gospel goes into every culture, and every nation, and equally says, you are condemned. A holy God said you need to live perfectly, and you haven't. But that God became man, and He lived in the flesh, and He died for your sins. And that message is the same for every culture. And once they have believed that, Once they bow their knee to King Jesus, the same as we bow our knee to King Jesus, we now have something that is stronger than skin tone, or accent, or country which you came from. We've both been reconciled to God. Through Jesus Christ. Through the cross. And because we've both been reconciled to God, we can be reconciled together as men at the foot of the cross. Oh, that we would get the reality of this vision. So we recognize these diverse people groups as eternal souls created in the image of God. We share the gospel with them. Now we have to start spending time discipling them and actually spending time with them and getting to know them. Well, then what happens? They come to church with us. What a blight it is on our country. That Sunday morning is the most segregated time in it. What a shame. Because you will spend eternity worshipping alongside those people. But we can't get over ourselves enough to do it for the few short years we're here. This is something that I have been praying to God for six months or more now about, I have been praying that God would show me how to do it, that God would make me the minister of reconciliation toward it, and that God would make our little congregation there in Florence, Alabama so much more racially diverse. Why? Because that shows the power of the Gospel to overcome those weaker, smaller elements. Because that is a picture of heaven to worship alongside people from every nation, and every tongue, and every culture. Again, we give to missions and soothe our conscience that we've done our duty, when you have a proper view of the glory of God, and you have a proper view of the Gospel, then it oughtn't be uncomfortable, but it ought to be a joy to you to have people from all backgrounds in your church. We have got to be proactive though in this. We have got to ask God to show us where can we go in the inner cities or to the universities or God show me areas in my little neighborhood, in my little town, in my city that I can be a minister of reconciliation, that I can go and be a messenger of the gospel. God would you send people to our congregations that would show your glory through racial diversity. Is that too uncomfortable for you? Is it too uncomfortable to you to have to sit next to them and sit across from lunch with them, to worship with them? Which then brings me to my last point, and this is probably the most controversial of them all. Turn over to Numbers chapter 12. What's the next logical step? We recognize all humans have eternal souls and are created in the image of God, so we preach the gospel to them. And they get saved and we have to actually disciple them and spend time with them. Then they want to come to church. Now we're sitting alongside them. One day, Johnny comes home. Says, hey Dad, I want you to meet this nice girl. Oh my! Oh my! Guess who's coming to dinner? Numbers 12, verse 1. And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married. For he had married an Ethiopian woman. Okay, now they're going to go into a diatribe here against Moses, and they're going to use all sorts of excuses as to why they're mad at him. But God told us why they're mad at him. Because he married an Ethiopian woman. John Piper wrote a poem called, My God, Moses, the Girl is Black. And it's about this story. I encourage you to go read it. Verse 2, And they said, Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? Hath he not spoken also by us? And the Lord heard it. Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth. And the Lord spake suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam, Come out, ye three, unto the tabernacle of the congregation. And they three came out. And the Lord came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forth. And he said, Hear now my words. If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches. And the similitude of the Lord shall he behold. Wherefore, then, were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses? And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them." He departed. And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle. This was such a big deal that God got angry and left the tabernacle. The cloud departed from off the tabernacle, and behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow." God says, you don't like that Moses married a black girl? I'll make you white. You think white's good? Struck her with leprosy. And Aaron looked upon Miriam, and behold, she was leprous. And Aaron said unto Moses, Alas, my Lord, I beseech thee, lay not the sin upon us wherein we have done foolishly and wherein we have sinned. Let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he cometh out of his mother's womb. And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee. And the Lord said unto Moses, If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days? Let her be shut out from the camp seven days. And after that, let her be received in again. And Miriam was shut out from the camp seven days, and the people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in again. And afterward, the people removed from Hazaroth and pitched in the wilderness of Paran." God deliberately put this story in the Bible. And God deliberately told us in verse 1 what it was that Miriam and Aaron were mad about. And they were mad that Moses had married outside of his kind. Married an Ethiopian. And they were mad. And they brought all sorts of accusations against him. And God judged them for it. God judged them for it. So what are you gonna do, pastor, when God answers your prayer? And he brings people into your congregation that don't look just like you, and don't sound just like you, and aren't from the same place you're from, and two godly young people in your congregation come to you and ask you to marry them. You gonna do it? You gonna allow God to be glorified by reconciling two people with some outward differences? because their hearts have both been changed? Or are you going to fight against that? I have to settle this for myself. Because if the prognosticators are right, and in 30 years Caucasians are the minority, my grandchildren are going to grow up in America as minorities. That's all they're going to know. So what happens? Here's the sad truth. Many people, in this part of the country would rather their children marry a respectable lost white man than a godly saved black man? Who's your king? Jesus or your skin color? Where do your allegiances lie? In the gospel? or in your ancestry. Because it's idolatry to allow something physical to overrule something spiritual. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 7. In 1 Corinthians chapter 7, Paul's writing to the church there, He's telling them how to deal with widows, and unbelieving husbands with believing wives, and unbelieving wives with believing husbands, and these virgins, and he's dealing with all of these marriage issues. And in verse 39 of 1 Corinthians chapter 7, he says, The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth. But if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will. Only in the Lord. The only stipulation that Paul gives the church there at Corinth is make sure this believing woman marries a believing man. And if he's from Ethiopia, or if he's from China, or if he's from Europe, if he's in the Lord, it's permissible. If he's in the Lord, let it happen. Marry him, Pastor. Give them the vows and let them do it. Now, in closing, many say, well, okay, I see what you're saying. I don't have a moral problem with it. But, people marrying from two different cultures, it just makes it too hard. It'll be too hard on the husband and wife, and it'll be too hard on the children. Maybe. Maybe not. Are you the prophet or the son of a prophet? Which of you know what lies in the future for that man and his wife? Which of you can tell me what's going to happen? Okay, then tell me this. Two people who look just alike get married. It's not going to be hard for them? Two people who look just alike have kids. Their kids will be trouble-free? You can prognosticate which family is going to have trouble, which family is going to be rejected by their family. I have family members who have rejected me because I believe in the doctrines of grace. I have family members who have rejected me because my parents chose to homeschool us. It's not easy following Christ. No one said it was. If they did, they lied to you. It's not always a bed of roses. Must I be carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease, while others fought to win the prize and sailed through bloody seas? Yeah, you're right. It might be difficult. So that godly young man and that godly young woman come to you, and one has a little bit more melatonin in his skin than the other, and want to be married, And you're not going to marry them because it will be hard for them and their children. If they have the same level of melatonin, guess what? Marriage is hard sometimes. And raising kids is hard sometimes. And the reward is worth it. And the glory of God is worth it. And the power of the Gospel to overcome physical barriers is worth it. Is it to you? Do you believe the gospel is that strong? Do you believe the glory of God is that critical? I hope so. Let's pray. Father, again we ask for your mercy. Give us eyes to see as Jesus saw. Give us love for our fellow man. Give us a submissive spirit to the kingship of Jesus Christ that rides above our national and racist loyalties. Oh God, I anticipate the day to stand before Your throne and see that You have redeemed men and women from every people and tribe and tongue and nation. Make that a reality in our churches today, that we may have a small taste of heaven here on earth. In Jesus' name, Amen.