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The Church and Its Mission Part 3 By Klass Runia

 Tonight we want to study, first of all, the New Testament Epistles.
The Epistles too are full of references to the Church and its mission.
This is in particular true of the Epistles of Paul.
We single him out because no New Testament writer has given so much thought to the doctrine of the Church as Paul.
It's true of all his writings, but in particular of the so-called Church letters, Ephesians and Colossians.
Now, when we study Paul's idea of the Church, we see that it is fully in line with that which we found in the Book of Acts.
Also, according to Paul, the Church is a pneumatic, pneumatological, Christological entity.
Christ himself, being present through the Spirit, constitutes the Church.
Perhaps the term Christocentric is not even the most appropriate.
Perhaps it would be preferable to speak of Theocentric or Trinitarian.
It is the whole Trinity who is involved in the Church.
You see that, for example, in the first chapter of the Epistle to Ephesians.
First of all, Paul says there that the Church is the work of God.
As a matter of fact, he often speaks of the Church as the Church of God.
In Ephesians 1, verses 3 to 6, he says that the Church owes its existence to God's election.
Especially in verse 4, even as he chose us in him that is in Jesus Christ,
before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him,
he destined us in love to be his sons through Jesus Christ according to the purpose of his will.
So the Church is the work of God the Father.
But at the same time, the Church is in Christ.
Especially in Ephesians, this expression in Christ returns again and again.
The Church owes its being to Christ, it has its being in Christ, who bought it with his blood.
Take, for example, verses 7 and 8 of that first chapter.
In him, that is Christ, we have redemption through his blood,
the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace, which he lovest upon us.
But then we must immediately add, through the Holy Spirit.
Paul's writings are bound with references to the relationship between the Spirit and the Church.
It's also mentioned in this first chapter.
In the verses 13 and 14, in him, that is Christ again,
you also who have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation,
and have believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
which is the guarantee of our inheritance, until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory.
Now this last text also points to the eschatological nature of the Church.
Here too, Paul agrees with the book of Acts.
The Church is the people of God living in the last days.
It is a community of the saints of the latter days.
Yet at the same time, Paul is also aware of the fact that the old age is still going on.
Therefore, there is a kind of duality in the nature of the Church.
There is the element of fulfilment.
In Jesus Christ, the new reality has come.
The Church has received the forgiveness of sins.
Yet at the same time, there is also the element of provisionality.
What we have is only an earnest.
It's only the beginning.
And this duality creates a strong tension in the life of the Church.
The Church is, to use Luther's phrase, simul paccator et justus, at the same time a sinner and righteous.
In itself, it is a sinner.
The Church is still on all sides influenced by this old world, by this old age.
But in Jesus Christ, it is righteous, for it is justified by him.
Now, in other New Testament epistles, you find the same conception.
For example, 1 Peter has the same Trinitarian conception of the Church.
You see that in the second verse of the first epistle, chapter 1, verse 2,
there you have the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit together.
Peter writes to the exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, so the Church of his time.
And then he says, chosen and destined by God the Father.
Again, the divine election is the ground of the Church, sanctified by the Spirit.
So it is due to the Spirit that there is holiness in the Church.
And then it is sanctified for obedience to Jesus Christ, and for sprinkling with his blood.
The Church is the community of people who are saved by the cross of Christ.
So now, we have studied actually all parts of the New Testament.
The Gospels, the Book of Acts, and the epistles, as far as the doctrine of the Church is concerned.
And I fully agree with R.N. Flue, when at the end of his study on Jesus and his Church,
he declares that the unanimity of the New Testament with regard to the nature of the Church is extraordinarily impressive.
Flue aptly summarizes the New Testament teaching in these words.
The Church is God's own creation.
It is not described as a certain number of individuals who have formed themselves into an association for a common purpose.
No, the ecclesia, the Church, is the people of God with a continuous life,
which goes back through the history of Israel, through prophets and martyrs of old, to the call of God to Abraham.
Yes, it is traced further back still to the purpose of God before the world began.
The origin of the ecclesia of the people of God lies in the will of God.
All that Israel had from God, the Church has through Christ.
A new era has been inaugurated by the Spirit as a result of the revelation of God in the work of Christ.
All who accept this revelation through Christ as a divine message enter immediately into the new Israel,
the one universal ecclesia of God which is manifest on the earth.
They are the inheritors of a glorious past and destined to a still more glorious future in the heavenly city,
the New Jerusalem, which is the home of the saints. So far the quotation.
Well, I think this is a very good summary indeed.
On only one point of criticism, one thing is missing in this summary.
There is nothing about the missionary aspect.
But as we have seen, this is essential to the Church in both the Gospels and the Book of Acts.
Now the same is true of the epistles. Take for example that epistle to the Ephesians again.
It is the epistle of the Church. Yes, but it is also the epistle of the mission of the Church.
In this epistle Paul speaks at great length of the breaking down of the wall of partition in chapter 2 verses 14 to 16.
For he that is Christ is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down the dividing wall of hostility
by abolishing in his flesh the law of commandments and ordinances,
that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,
and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby bringing the hostility to an end.
And in chapter 3 Paul comes back to it in verse 6.
That is how the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body and partakers of the promising Christ Jesus through the Gospel.
Now Paul does not deal with this as an isolated aspect, but he sees it as part of God's great plan for the whole world.
Time and again in this epistle to the Ephesians Paul touches on that great plan.
Already in chapter 1 verses 9 and 10.
For he has made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of his will,
according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time,
to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
And yet studying the Epistles one is struck by the remarkable fact that one finds hardly any direct and explicit exhortation to the congregations to engage in missionary activity.
Paul for example often speaks about his own being commissioned by the Lord.
Time and again he comes back to that, of course in particular in opposition to the enemies that try to rob him of his apostolic function and honour.
But there are only very few references to the missionary task of the congregation, direct references that is.
I have gone through all the Epistles of Paul and actually I found only three exhortations.
First in Colossians 4 the verses 5 and 6, where Paul says conduct yourselves wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time.
Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer every one.
Then Ephesians 6 verse 15, there it is mentioned as part of the Christian armour, the armour of God we all have to put on.
And then he says that we all have to shut our feet with the equipment of the gospel of peace.
And then finally there is a reference in Philippians 1 verse 27.
Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent,
I may hear of you that you stand firm in one spirit with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel and not frightened in anything by your opponents.
When you turn to the two Epistles of Peter you also find two references only.
In chapter 3 of the first Epistle, verse 15, Peter says always be prepared to make a defence to anyone who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence.
And then in chapter 4 verse 16, where he speaks of one suffering as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but under that name let him glorify God.
Now as far as I can see these are the only direct references.
It's also noteworthy that there is no explicit repetition of or reference to the Great Commission in the Epistles.
Now why is this so? What is the explanation?
Well I want to mention two things.
In the first place, this calling must have been so obvious to all in the early congregations that no repetition was needed.
Secondly, this calling must have been fulfilled in actual fact by the congregations.
This army did not need a marching order, for it was already on the march.
Now this is not a logical conclusion on my side, but in the Epistles themselves we do read that the congregations are praised for their missionary activity.
We read again the opening statements of several Epistles.
I want to draw your attention to one of the earliest Epistles, the first Epistle to the Thessalonians.
In chapter 1, verses 6 to 8, Paul writes,
The Greek word is echoed forth from you in Macedonia and Achae, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything.
Another example you find in the Epistle to the Philippians.
In the first chapter, in verse 5, Paul speaks of your partnership in the Gospel from the first day until now.
These people have always been missionaries, from the first day until now.
In verse 7 he says,
So these people must have had a real zeal for the Gospel.
That doesn't mean that they were perfect congregations.
On the contrary, there were many defects in these early congregations, especially in the moral sphere.
Take for example the congregation of Corinth.
If we today would have such a congregation, we would say it's a very poor congregation.
And yet it was a congregation in spite of all its weaknesses, a congregation full of missionary zeal.
All this means that Paul, and the other apostles as well, believe that mission work is the task not only of special office bearers,
apostles, evangelists, etc., but of every member of the congregation.
When we study Paul's Epistles, we see that he in particular sees a whole array of workers.
First of all, there are the apostles themselves.
And of course, within the context of his own Epistles, he emphasizes his own apostleship.
In 1 Thessalonians 2 he says,
we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the Gospel.
To the Galatians he writes, God was pleased to reveal his Son to me in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles.
To the Romans he writes, I'm called to be an apostle set apart for the Gospel.
So that's the first group, the apostles.
Then in the second place, there are other specialists.
Apart from Paul and the other apostles.
Paul singles out several people.
He mentions by name Timothy.
As a matter of fact, Timothy is mentioned four times in his Epistles, apart from the two Epistles that are addressed to Timothy.
Then Silvanus, Tychicus, Crescens, Titus, Mark, and Luke, the beloved physician.
Peter mentions also two of them, Silvanus and Mark.
Now these men had a special position.
They were in close personal contact with the apostles.
They were sent by them.
And yet at the same time, they were men with their own authority.
I think they may all be regarded as evangelists in the sense of Ephesians 4 verse 11.
They were men who had a special charisma.
That's why they are men with authority.
They have authority from Christ himself.
Then in the third place, there is in the congregations a group of persons who have, within the congregation itself, who have a special authority.
Paul speaks of them in 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 12.
He calls them those who labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you.
They are over you in the Lord.
The Greek word is prohistaminoi.
Probably at this early stage, this is not yet an indication of official office bearers.
But rather a gain of people in the congregation who had special charisma, and therefore a certain amount of authority.
According to 1 Corinthians 16, this was also related to mission work.
For there Paul admonishes the congregation to be subject to people like Stephanus,
whose households were the first converts in Achaea, and who have devoted themselves to the service of the saints.
So we have three special groups, the apostles, the evangelists, and some of the leaders in the congregation.
But then in the fourth place, we get the most important group of them all.
That is, the congregation itself.
All the members of the congregation are joining in the work.
Specialists do not exclude the ordinary members of the congregation, but rather they presuppose them.
They presuppose their cooperation.
In Paul's epistles for example, we see a very close relationship between himself and the various congregations.
Not only on the personal level, but especially with regard to his apostolate and his missionary work.
Paul tells them what is going on in other congregations to encourage them.
And they rejoice when they hear of the conversion of people in other places.
In his epistles, Paul again and again states that the congregations can actually help him, assist him in his missionary work.
How? Well mainly in two ways.
First of all, by praying for him.
To the Thessalonians he writes, brethren pray for us.
To the Colossians he writes, remember my feathers.
Now here in these two requests, the emphasis is on the person of Paul.
But of course it's not divorced from his work.
In other passages, he emphasizes his work.
For example in 2 Thessalonians 3, verse 1.
Finally brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord may speed on and triumph as it did among you.
In Colossians 4, verse 3.
And pray for us also that God may open to us a door for the word.
To declare the mystery of Christ on account of which I am in prison.
That I may make it clear as I ought to speak.
And then in Ephesians 6, verse 18 to 20, immediately after that section on the armor of God.
Pray at all times in the Spirit with all prayer and supplication.
To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints and also for me.
That utterance may be given me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the Gospel.
For which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly as I ought to speak.
In Romans 15 to 30, Paul calls this intercession a striving, a wrestling together with Paul.
I think this is very important for us today too.
Sometimes we may wonder what we can do for the work of mission.
Well, pray.
Pray for the missionaries.
But there is still a second way people can help Paul.
They can help him also by concrete acts of love.
Paul said in several passages that he expects to dispel his journey by the church.
That they will help him to move on.
Sometimes he mentions the names of several people who actually helped him.
Sometimes they helped him financially even after he had left them.
Again, this is an important point for us today.
We cannot all go out.
But you may remember what I quoted last night from Harold Linsell.
He said we all have a threefold task.
To go, to give and to pray.
Well, even if we cannot go, we still can pray and we still can give.
One of the remarkable features of Paul's epistles is that he so often mentions the names of ordinary church members
who are his co-workers in the great missionary enterprise.
I think one of the most beautiful chapters as far as this is concerned is Romans 16.
It may be a chapter you are inclined to skip when you come to it because so many names are mentioned there.
It's a long list of names.
Actually it's the names of people he greets in the church of Rome.
And at the end he mentions names of people on whose behalf he sends the greeting.
Now some of these people may have been office bearers.
But most of them I think were just ordinary church members.
Many of them were women. There are many names mentioned.
It starts in first one with Phoebe, a deaconess of the church.
So she was kind of office bearer.
Then in first three, Prisca and Aquila.
It's interesting, Prisca, she is the wife.
She is mentioned first.
Although don't become proud for in the two other places in the New Testament where they are mentioned, Aquila is mentioned first.
Then we have in first five, Epinetus, first six, Mary, first seven, Andronicus and Junius and so it goes on and on.
And you find it in other epistles as well.
At the end of the first epistle to the Corinthians, at the end of Ephesians, of Philippians, of Colossians, etc.
Now of most of these people we know next to nothing.
Most of them were just common Christians.
But God the Holy Spirit has recorded their names for the benefit of the church of all ages.
They were common.
Yes, but common not in our present sense of run of the mill Christians who do nothing.
But common in the sense of the early church.
That is fellow workers of the apostles in the great missionary task.
And so only one conclusion is possible.
These congregations were really mission minded.
Although they were still small, even the church at Rome must have been fairly small in Paul's days.
Paul can mention the names of many people who actively supported him in his missionary endeavors.
But how should a congregation itself do its missionary work?
We have seen how they can help the apostles.
But how should it do its work by itself?
Well the epistles give a twofold answer.
First of all, by its clear testimony.
And here I have to repeat the same three direct exhortations I mentioned before.
1 Peter 3, always be prepared to make a defense, an apologia, an apologetic speech, so to speak,
to anyone who calls you to account for the hope that is in you.
Yet do it with gentleness and reverence.
Colossians 4, let your speech be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer everyone.
Ephesians 6, having shot your feet with the equipment of the gospel of peace.
Now when you study these three exhortations, you will find that they are addressed to all members of the congregation.
Every time they occur in a context which is general and is addressed to the whole congregation.
How important this aspect of testimony, a direct open testimony,
how important this aspect has been for the expansion of the early church,
clearly appears from the following quotation from Schaff's history of the Christian church.
In the volume on the early church he writes, Christianity once established was its own best missionary.
While there were no professional missionaries, I think that's an overstatement,
it would be better to say why there were hardly any professional missionaries,
devoting their whole life to this specific word, every congregation was a missionary society.
And every Christian believer a missionary, inflamed by the love of Christ to convert his fellow men.
Justin Martyr, one of the apostolic fathers, was converted by a venerable old man whom he met walking on the shore of the sea.
Celsus, one of the strongest opponents of the Christian church in the early centuries,
scoffingly remarks that phulums and workers in wool and leather, rustic and ignorant people,
were the most zealous propagators of Christianity and brought it first to women and children.
Women and slaves introduced it into the home circle.
Origen informs us that the city churches send their missionaries to the villages.
The seed grew up while men slept and brought forth fruit, first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.
Every Christian told his neighbor, the laborer to his fellow laborer, the slave to his fellow slave,
the servant to his master and mistress, the story of his conversion as a mariner tells the story of the rescue from Shepra.
So far so.
But this is only one means of missionary activity, the clear open testimony.
There is still a second means, namely the Christian deed.
As a matter of fact, in the New Testament this receives the main emphasis.
According to Paul and the other apostles, Christian people are people who have been changed.
They have been touched by the Spirit, they are born again.
And now it is their duty to effectuate this change through their whole life and through every aspect of their life.
As Paul writes in Romans 12 verse 2, they must continually be transformed by the renewal of their mind.
But one can also say this means they have to live a sanctified life.
In Romans 12 verse 1, Paul says that they have to present their bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.
In 1 Peter we read, as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct.
Since it is written, you shall be holy for I am holy.
Now in both passages, in Romans 12 and 1 Peter 1, the Greek word used is the word hagios.
Now the word in its original meaning is a Celtic concept.
That's still the way it is used in the Old Testament.
Holiness in the Old Testament usually means separation.
They are set apart. That's why Israel received all the ceremonial laws from the Lord, so that it would be a separate people.
In the New Testament, there is still this element of the Celtic too.
Christian people are a separated people. They can't live as the world lives.
But the emphasis is on the ethical aspect.
In 1 Thessalonians 4 verse 3, Paul says this is the will of God, your sanctification.
That is the purpose of God with our new life, a holy, sanctified life.
And the sanctification has two sides. There is the negative aspect.
The believer must abstain from all evil practices, especially the practices that characterise the lives of the Gentiles,
such as immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire.
The apostle says to the Colossians, in these you once walked when you lived in them.
But now it's different. And then there is the positive side, a life of mutual love.
In 1 Peter 1 we read, having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere love of the brethren,
love one another earnestly from the heart.
Now this sanctified life is of great importance for missionary outreach.
As Christians we should always realise that the outside world is watching us.
In Romans 12 Paul says we are living in the sight of all.
And that's why we have to live a truly Christian life.
Paul works that out by using several adverbs in his Epistles.
We must live nobly, peaceably, wisely, with forbearance, deserving the respect of outsiders,
doing deeds that are excellent and profitable to men.
I think it's all summed up very well in 1 Peter 2 verse 12.
The first part of that verse contains a call to holy conduct, maintain good conduct among the Gentiles.
But then it's immediately followed by the purpose.
So that in case they speak against you as wrongdoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.
That means on the day that the Lord comes to them, to these Gentiles, to call them to.
On that day they will glorify God for what they have seen in the life of God's true children.
It's also implied in many texts in Paul's Epistles.
To the Colossians Paul says we have to live a life worthy of the Lord.
To the Philippians he writes a life worthy of the Gospel of Christ.
And again there are these two sides also with regard to the outsiders.
There is a negative side.
As Christians we should avoid everything that can give Gentiles, outsiders cause to discredit the Gospel.
Paul himself was always aware of this.
In the second Epistle to the Corinthians chapter 6 verse 3 he says,
We put no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry.
But as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way, through great endurance and afflictions,
hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, cumuls, labors, watching, hunger,
by purity, knowledge, forbearance, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love.
And so he goes on and on and on. So many things that should characterise the Christian life.
But we never should put an obstacle in anyone's way.
Only by a consistent Christian life we can put the opponent to shame, so that he has nothing evil to say of us.
If this is not done the result is terrible.
Then as Peter says, the way of truth will be revived.
But of course the negative is not the most important, the most important is the positive.
In Titus 2 verse 10 Paul says to slaves that their life must be such that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour.
In 1 Timothy 2 verse 9 and 10 he says to the women, adorn yourselves by good deeds.
In 1 Timothy 3 verse 7 he says of the bishop or the overseer, he must be well thought of by outsiders.
Now it's interesting to note that in Paul's epistles this positive aspect, this evangelism by a positive Christian life is enjoined in particular upon slaves and women.
Why? Well at that time they were often not in a position to proclaim the gospel by word of mouth.
It simply wouldn't be tolerated. Yet they too could be missionaries by their Christian conduct.
And I think this is very important for us today. We too may not always be in a position that we can speak openly.
People for example working in a factory, in an office, in the army, in the navy, sometimes in the university, especially with regard to people who are, so to speak, set above us.
But we can still preach the gospel, for we can live the Christian life before their eyes.
And I tell you they will see it. They will see it if it is a consistent Christian life. Of course they will also see it when it is inconsistent. That's worse.
Again only one conclusion is possible. The Christian life is of tremendous importance for the spreading of the gospel.
In fact the history of the church bears this out. We read that already in the New Testament itself in Acts 2 verses 44 to 47.
That's about the new church, the new spirit filled community.
Verse 44, And all who believed were together and had all things in common, and they sold their possessions and goods and distributed them to all as any had need.
And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their hopes, they partook of food with glad and generous hearts,
praising God and having favor with all the people, and the Lord added to their number, day by day, those who were being saved.
Now this is true of the early church in general. Henry Chatwick in his Pelican History of the Early Church says,
The practical application of charity was probably the most potent single cause of Christian success.
The pagan comment, see how these Christians love one another, reported by Tertullian, was not irony.
Christian charity expressed itself in care for the poor, for widows and orphans, in visits to brethren in prison or condemned to the living death in the mines,
and in social action in time of calamity like famine, earthquake, pestilence or war.
Now this is true not only of the early church, but it still applies to our time, both as to the negative and as to the positive side.
As to the negative side, I would like to give you a quotation from one of the books of Max Warren.
He says, the principal reason why the church is at the moment unable to proclaim its message intelligibly,
or to convince the world that it is intellectually right, or even to present the world with the compulsive demand for a moral decision one way or the other,
is that the church is not demonstrating its own gospel and teaching and cultures by a way of life which is noticeably different from that of the world.
The whole view of the New Testament I believe is beautifully summed up in 1 Peter 2. I would like you to turn to 1 Peter 2 verse 9.
First of all Peter tells us what the church is, the nature of the church. He says, but you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people.
Now all these terms, all these expressions are taken from the Old Testament, mainly from the book of Exodus.
In the Old Testament all these expressions were applied to Israel, the people chosen by God as his covenant partner and therefore set apart for special service.
But as we have seen Israel rejected the Messiah sent by God, and since that rejection these very same expressions are now applied to the New Testament congregation who did accept Jesus as the Messiah.
The new community is called a chosen race. There you have that secret of the election again, God's election behind it all.
It is a royal priesthood. The whole church is a priestly church. The whole church stands before God.
But of course at the same time this church stands before the world.
In the third place it is a holy nation. Now it's very interesting, the word used for nation is the word normally used for a Gentile version.
But the new church is a holy nation. The Gentile word and the word holiness are combined in this new community.
And then finally it is all topped off with the word God's own people. Literally a people for God's own possession.
What a wonderful description of the church, the people of God. That's a description of us mind you. That's what you are.
A chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people.
But why? What's the purpose of it all? Well the church does not exist for itself.
Peter says in the second part of the verse that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
The church does not exist for itself. First of all it exists for the sake of God.
To declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
But of course this at the same time implies the world. For it has to be declared to the world.
This declaration, this declaring of the glorious deeds of God is not to be done in the worship services only.
But the church has to reach out to the whole world and declare to the world the wonderful deeds of God.
The world has to hear about it. It has to hear that in Jesus Christ God has done a new work and created a new people for himself.
Dr. John Blau in his book on the mission of the church commenting on this very passage says the world must hear from the community of Christ that the new world has begun.
The chosen race, the royal priesthood, the holy nation, the people of God's own possession is itself the beginning of the new world.
And as long as it is day, this new community may and must proclaim the deeds of God and therewith in her turn call men out of darkness into light,
out of alienation into true fellowship with God and man, out of a twilight situation of mercilessness into the joy of mercy.
Now Dr. Blau used the words as long as it is day. This means of course that one day the mission, the task and the activity of the church will come to an end,
namely when the Lord returns and this leads us to the last aspect, missions and eschatology.
Our Lord himself has related these two matters in Matthew 24 verse 14 when he said in that long story about the signs of the times that precede his coming,
and this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations and then the end will come.
I think this is a very important text. In the first place, Christ chose us the outline of God's plan with the world.
God wants the gospel to go out to the whole world before the end can come, and it is obvious that this is the task of the church.
One Christian leader has said, if Christ should come today, then we would know that this prophecy has been fulfilled.
But since he has not come, we know that it has not yet been fulfilled, and it is ours to study all the unreached parts of the earth and get the gospel to them immediately.
In the second place, by adding this particular statement to his prophecy about the signs of the time, Jesus made the church itself a sign of his coming.
And this again means that the missionary task is indeed a permanent duty of the church,
for the signs of the time mentioned in Matthew 24 are not only referring to the last period of history, but they characterize every period since the resurrection and ascension of the Lord.
We are living today in the last days, and the signs are present at any time.
And therefore, Oscar Coleman is right when he says, this means that the missionary obligation covers the whole time which remains, right down to the unknown, final end,
and that each generation anew must proclaim the gospel to the heathen of their own time.
In every generation, the church must carry on the apostles' work and proclaim the gospel to all nations, so far as is humanly possible at any given time.
Now this whole process of the evangelization of the world does not mean that Christ is not yet King or Lord. That would be our own conclusion.
On the contrary, the whole New Testament assumes that he is King and Lord. He himself said, to me is given all authority in heaven and on earth.
Do you remember? That's why he can send out the church. That's why he can send out you, to claim the world for him.
Never, never think that Christ is not King today. He is the Lord on the throne.
But of course, in our day it is not yet feasible. It's not yet a matter of sight, but only of faith. But one day it will become manifest.
On that day, at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
On that day, the church will be complete and perfect. It is described in a wonderful way in the book of Revelation.
Would you please turn with me to Revelation 21.
In his vision, in Revelation 21 verse 2, John sees the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride, adorned for her husband.
Now, this picture does not mean that the church itself is the final purpose. Oh no, God's purpose is much wider.
In verse 1 of the same chapter, John speaks of a new heaven and a new earth.
I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
In other words, the whole creation is new now. The old separation of heaven and earth comes to an end.
Heaven and earth become one, as her stew indicates the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven.
And for three tells us, behold the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them.
Now three times, you read here the preposition, with. With men, with them, with them.
In other words, this is the ultimate fulfillment of the name of Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us.
And now with us, not only in grace, but in glory.
You should also note that John says God with men, not just with Christians, God with men, for there will no longer be a separate people of God.
The whole of humanity, the new humanity, has become church, and the church encompasses the whole of humanity.
We can also say the whole universe will be the city of God.
Of the city, John further says in the verses 24 to 26, by its light shall the nations walk, and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory into it,
and its gates shall never be shut by day, and there shall be no night there.
They shall bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations.
Interesting, you know, the word ethne, the word always used for Gentiles, even at this moment, they are still mentioned.
The nations are now in the city of God.
There is also a river, chapter 22, verse 1, the river of life.
It goes through the middle of the street of the city.
Also on either side of the river is the tree of life, with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month, that means throughout the whole year.
And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Again, the nations are mentioned.
Until the very end, the nations remain in the picture.
God's purpose will indeed be fulfilled entirely, completely.
The exhortations addressed to the nations in the Old Testament psalms will become true.
The nations will praise the Lord, the God of Israel.
They will clap their hands.
In two other visions in the same book, John sees it very clearly.
Turn to chapter 5 of the book of Revelation.
Chapter 5, the verses 9 and 10.
There we read of, in verse 8, first of the four living creatures representing the whole of creation, the four corners of the world, and the twenty-four elders representing the church.
And they sang a new song, saying, Wilt thou thou take the scroll and to open its seals?
For thou wast slain, and by thy blood didst ransom men for God from every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and hast made them a kingdom and priests to our God.
The same words used by Peter.
And they shall reign on earth.
And then finally turn to chapter 7, where we read, in verse 9, of that great multitude which no man could number,
from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb,
closed in wide robes with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, Salvation belongs to our God, who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb.
And then heaven and earth, church and world, join in the eschatological song of praise.
And all the angels stood round the throne and round the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, saying, Amen.
Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen.
That's the end of all things, the great doxology. Amen.