In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of having a mission in life, just like Jesus had a mission when he came into the world. The speaker mentions being a news junkie and feeling overwhelmed by the negative news, but highlights the message of grace and freedom that Jesus brings. The speaker also references a play in London where the audience was invited to join in presenting Jesus Christ to the world. The sermon emphasizes that Christ's mission is on schedule and that there is something to be gained from it. The speaker refers to Luke 14 and Matthew 28, where Jesus gives examples of counting the cost and directing what is important. The sermon concludes with the assurance that Jesus will complete the work he has started in our lives.

I almost said Daniel's gospel, but maybe it is the gospel according to Daniel. The book of Daniel is an incredible book, Daniel chapter 9, specifically verse 24. Daniel chapter 9 verse 24, in this great book, there is a prophetic layout that God has given that is so exact and so specific that when much of Daniel was fulfilled, the critics began to argue that Daniel was written after the historical fact took place. With such accuracy did the prophet Daniel speak. Now as you know, we are going through, in fact today is part 4 of a series entitled The Life and Times of Jesus Christ. But this morning we come now to his mission, the mission of Jesus Christ. And Daniel chapter 9 verse 24 is a very powerful verse, and we'll look at this in a moment, so I want you to hold your spot as you get there. But we look, or we turn, in part 4 of our series, Christ and his mission. In our previous studies, you know, if you were here, that we studied Christ in eternity, that Jesus never had a beginning. If you are a believer this morning, you understand that the Bible teaches that Christ has always been, Jesus was never born in the spiritual realm, he has always existed. The Bible says, in fact, that he is the creator of the spiritual realm, example, angels and the like, and also the physical realm, that Jesus Christ is the creator. In fact, if we do good Bible study and thorough Bible study, we come to understand that right there in Genesis chapter 1 verse 1, Jesus Christ is the very one at work. And we went through the passages of Scripture, the Bible, proving this very fact concerning Christ. Also, we saw in the following study, Christ and his first coming, that the Scripture told us that Jesus would have a first advent to the nation Jerusalem, to the city of, or the nation Israel, to the city of Jerusalem, and specifically, as you know, as you've studied with me, the Temple Mount specifically. And of course, Jesus fulfilled that in his first coming, not necessarily being born in Bethlehem, though that's very important, but his first coming actually took place on his Passion Week on Palm Sunday when Jesus introduced himself as King to the nation, fulfilling multiple Scriptures. And then finally, last week, we saw Christ, the Word made flesh, how we beheld the incarnation of Christ, and we looked at him in his physical advent, Jesus coming into Bethlehem, being born as the prophets foretold that he would. We consider this also, as we go through our study this morning, the life and times of Christ, yes, but also Christ and his mission, and of course, Colossians chapter 2 verse 9, where it says there, for in Christ all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in bodily form. So when we talk about mission, what do we mean by that? Mission is extremely important. You have a mission in this life. Let's say you work for DuPont, or you're a sales rep for DuPont. Believe me, DuPont wants to believe you have a mission, and that mission is to go about all the area representing DuPont as their ambassador, and you are paid a certain wage for doing that. But as Christians, we have a mission, and by the end of the service this morning, you'll see what our mission has to do with Christ and his very mission in this world around us. But of course, Colossians 2 verse 9 tells us, for in Christ all, all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in bodily form. This word mission, Christ and his mission, the term assumes something very interesting. If you have a mission, you have a task. You have a job to perform. That's built into the very word mission. The word mission also implies that there is something to be had. Listen carefully to this. If you have a mission, there's something to be gotten out of it. If you embark upon a mission, let's say it's a military venture. You are deployed on a mission. You have certain parameters. You have certain rules. You have certain things that you want to achieve. In fact, there are people, there are strategists who, before you're deployed, have gone through great lengths and studied various scenarios about the mission and its success. Why? Because you are to perform a certain task, and you're also to receive something out of it. You are to somehow come out of the mission having completed the objective. It's very important that that be the case. If you don't have a goal to your mission, you're never going to know if you've finished or have completed the mission. This is very important. Christ Jesus had his mission, and quite frankly, he's got one still, and it's still going now. But let me stress this, and I speak for you maybe. Obviously, the mission of Jesus Christ was to come to this world. In fact, the scriptures tell us plainly, clearly, Jesus said that for this cause I was born, for this reason have I come into the world. Now let me ask you something. Have you had the week that I've had looking at the news? Now I'm a news freak. I'm pathetic with news. I have CNN. I have MSNBC. I have ITN. I have BBC. I have news stations. I don't even know how to pronounce them. I'm a news junkie. I'm hooked. Pray for me. Why? I want to know what's going on in the world, and I love watching the news with my Bible open, but lately it's a little too close to home, don't you think? When somebody goes nuts, some possessed lunatic goes berserk on a Jewish center, that's a little close to home. Not that it was near or just not far of a driving distance from here, but do you know your Bible? Do you understand that when there's anti-Semitic movement against the Jewish people, that is a key end-time sign of satanic activity? Did you know that? Are you aware of that? That the very act of segregation or being... Oh, what's the word? It's escaping me. Very simple word. Help me. When you... Black, white, yellow. Discrimination. When you're prejudiced... Did you know Satan is an absolute lover of being prejudiced? Did you know he loves when nations vie against nations? Remember when Jesus says that kingdom against kingdom, nation against nation will be in the last days? You think Russia against America, don't you? When you see that word nation, that's sad because in the Greek it's ethnos versus ethnos. Ethnic people versus ethnic people. And when you've got a psycho, like we had this week in our region, go off on killing or trying to kill these Jewish people and children, or as he visited the Museum of Tolerance to scope out the area to blow that up, who turns his gun on a man who's a non-white federal employee and kills him dead? A man who lives very close to here. What in the world is going on? You can look at the news and be completely consumed with the depravity of the world, or you can say it won't be long until Christ returns, and until he does, Jesus said these days this world will grow worse and worse. I'm sorry to bum you out, people, but Jesus said there'd be days just like this, and evil is increasing. But yet he said, I have come into the world for this very purpose. What purpose? That Christ has a mission to deliver us, to deliver all those who trust in him from this world's fiery end. Jerry Dunphy. You know Jerry? He's been on the news broadcast since, I think, before I've been born, this guy. He's been around forever. From the desert to the sea. What is his little thing is, you know? He does his little spiel, and there's been this saying about there's more to life than news, weather, and sports. Well, that's true. It's called Jesus Christ. You can look around and form your opinion of the world and say, you know what? There's nothing worth living for. Yeah, there is. But you can be consumed with what you're seeing around you. The fact of the matter is, Jesus is real. Everything that's happening is according to the Scripture, and if you don't know your Bible, you're going to get consumed in depression over such things. Christ has come for a mission, and that mission, friend, is right on target, right on schedule, just right. God has his mission. The term implies there's something to be gained, and what might that be? In Luke's Gospel, chapter 14, Jesus gave us an example. He said, No man building a tower embarks upon the building of that tower without first counting the cost. He said that no king goes to war against another king without first taking inventory, checking to see if he has an arsenal fit for the battle, and if he doesn't, he sends overtures of peace before he goes to that war. He said if you go into a venture unprepared, he said people will mock you and make fun of you, counting the cost and knowing what the mission will entail. I don't know if you know this or not, but in a historical documentary, President FDR was summoned by William Churchill to meet him in the middle of the Atlantic in a clandestine meeting, a secret meeting. As England, as Europe was getting whipped by Germany, Churchill asked FDR to get America involved, and FDR lied to Congress. Nobody knew where he was. It was a very top secret mission, and in the middle of the night, FDR boarded a freighter and went out of the middle of the Atlantic to meet with Churchill to plan or to invite America into the invasion of Europe against Hitler, and nobody knew where FDR was at, and he mapped out this plan, and in one of those meetings, he said what is in it for America, and Churchill responded, a free Europe and a free world, and of course you know the rest is history. The United States joined the alliance and Hitler was defeated. What's in it for America? You ought to ask the question right now, with what you're talking about Jack, what's in it for me? You can go ahead and think that way if you're a non-Christian this morning. You might put your hand on your hip as a skeptic and say, what's in it for me? I want you to listen carefully because there's a lot in it for you. Jesus Christ had a mission, and the very need of the world that is around us right now is proof positive that his mission is viable. Are you with me? Look at the world, and what you see in the world, the Bible has predicted, and the Bible has predicted that scenario to tell you that there's a remedy for the world's problems, and that remedy is Jesus Christ. Very, very important. Christianity is the message by which God has sent his son Jesus Christ into the world with a mission that he might redeem all those who put their trust in him. It's not called religion, friend. It is Christianity. It is the following of Christ. It is the giving of your life to him. We talked about this passage, and we'll look at it now there in Daniel, Daniel chapter 9, verse 24. It says there, 490 years, or your Bible might read 77s. Don't let that confuse you. The word's 490 years. 490 years are determined for your people, that's the Jewish people, the message is given to Daniel, and for your holy city, that's Jerusalem, and this now unveils the most significant prophetic verse in all of the Bible. One, to finish the transgression. Two, to make an end of sin. Three, to make reconciliation for iniquity. Four, to bring in everlasting righteousness. Five, to seal up vision and prophecy, and six, to anoint the most holy. Three of those utterances there in Daniel 9, 24 were fulfilled at the coming of Christ. There are three remaining, three that are going to be fulfilled. To finish transgressions, that's the Messiah's introduction of himself to Israel. We'll hear more about this later. Jesus presented himself to Israel. Why? To finish the transgressions, God's Messiah had come. Secondly, to make an end of sin, Jesus Christ, according to the prophets, in his perfect life that he lived as God in human flesh, removed sin's dominion and power over mankind by fulfilling the law. Thirdly, to make reconciliation for iniquity is the death of Christ upon the cross, whereby Israel might be saved. Well, that's how you and I are saved, to look back at the cross, to trust what Christ has done on the cross. But the remaining three portions of scripture are still yet prophetic in Daniel 9, 24. To bring in everlasting righteousness, that's a reference to Christ and the coming of the Messiah for the millennium. Do you know what I mean by millennium? You mean the next couple of months? No. The next couple of months may or may not have any prophetic significance at all. We don't know. It's not the millennium we're talking about. The millennium is when Jesus Christ comes at the close of the Great Tribulation period and the Great Second Coming. He establishes his millennium. That is the bringing in of everlasting righteousness. Number five is the sealing up of vision and prophecy. Christ will consummate all the prophetic passages of scripture and bring them to a conclusion. When you read the book and the prophetic books of the Bible and come to Revelation, how exciting it is to read the back, the end of the book, and it says that we win. We win. Jesus is triumphal. And then finally, the sixth thing of Daniel 9, 24 is that Jesus will anoint the Most Holy. That is when he delivers the kingdom and all that there is into the presence of the Father. And the eternal state, or what is called the day of God, begins. That's going to be a tremendous time. The first thing we want to see this morning, though, regarding the mission of Jesus Christ, and again, it is wonderfully outlined for us there in Daniel 9, 24. What we want to see now, though, is our first point this morning, and it is this. It is the purpose of Christ's mission. The purpose. Somebody might ask you, when you share with people, they might say, why did Jesus come? What is the purpose of his coming? What was his mission? That's a great question. You and I ought to be able to make that clear to them. The first thing is that Jesus Christ fulfilled all that was written. His purpose was that he might fulfill all that was written. Now listen, this is an invitation for any of the skeptics that are here this morning. You might be sitting here saying, I don't think the Bible has the authority to rule over my life, which means I just gave a definition of a teenager. It does have the authority to rule over your life. See, the funny thing is, you may choose not to bow to its authority or not. That's the issue, okay? That's the thing. It has nothing to do with the validity of the Bible. It's perfect. It has no errors. It's absolutely without debate. You can concoct your argument, but you'll lose. God's Word is true. Jesus came to fulfill all that was written, and one of the very important things for him to perform is all that was written of him. Many times as you read in the Bible, especially Matthew's Gospel, why Matthew's Gospel? Because Matthew was a Jew. He was a Levite, and he's writing to his fellow Jews. That's why he says in there, and it was fulfilled as it was written by the prophet Isaiah saying, and there it is. And it was as it was written by the prophet Micah, and there it is. Why did he do this? Because Jesus Christ came to fulfill all that was written in the Bible. Muhammad didn't do that. He didn't even care. He didn't have a book written about him in advance to fulfill. Nobody has. So my friend, if you're a skeptic, stand back right now and take a scientific look at the validity of the Bible. Wow! It says this, and behold, this event took place. The Old Testament makes the announcements, and the New Testament is the record of its fulfillment. Isn't that ironic? That at this hour, the Jewish nation whom Jesus said, I have come to my own, but my own have not received me. That if they would just look to the New Testament, it is the bonafide account of what was promised in the old. But this even was foretold by the Lord himself. The invitation is to consider the mission. If you're a doubter this morning, and I hope you are. I can really relate to you. I want to see it. I want to touch it. I want to smell it before I'm going to believe it. I don't think God disparages that at all. I just think what he does hold us accountable for is that when he does show the facts, that we respond. Else we go away given information, but willfully rejecting Christ. That would not be good. Now, he was to fulfill all that was written, as the scripture says. It says in Luke chapter 7 verse 20, when the men had come to Jesus, they said to him, John the Baptist has sent us to you saying, are you the coming one, or do we look for another? And at that very hour, he cured many infirmities and afflictions and evil spirits. And to many, he healed their sight or opened their eyes. Then Jesus answered and said to them, go and tell John the things that you see and hear. That the blind see and the lame walk and lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear and the dead are raised and the poor have the gospel preached to them. Listen, he fulfilled all that was written. That was his point. John the Baptist, he was doubting. Doesn't that encourage you? John the Baptist, first of all, he was Jesus' cousin. Mary and Elizabeth were related. John and Jesus were cousins. Six months age difference between the two of them according to the Bible. And John was taken prison. He was in prison. And John says to his disciples, go and see how it's going with Jesus and ask him, is he the Messiah or what? Why did John ask that question? Because he was expecting Jesus to bring in the deliverance from the Roman Empire, to establish Israel as the prominent governmental ruling reign of the earth. That was not the mission of Jesus. He was first to come, as you saw in Daniel 9, 24, to give himself for the sins of the nation. That's why he came. There's a blasphemous book written, the Reluctant Messiah. It's a damnable heresy. In that book, it portrays that Jesus was caught up in the fervor of everybody laying on him titles. And he was somehow polluted by his own megalomania. And then the whole thing turned on him and he wound up getting killed. What a blasphemous book. What an ignorant author. When the Bible says of itself, all of these things have been decreed in advance. Jesus was to fulfill all that was written. So what does he tell John's disciples? Go back and tell John the things that you what? Hear and see. What was John supposed to do with that information? As soon as his disciples came running back, they said, John, this is what we see. This is what we hear. And that would have triggered immediately in John's mind, the book of Jeremiah, the book of Isaiah, the book of Micah. John would have known. Jesus came to fulfill that which was written of him. Luke chapter 24, the great passage regarding the Emmaus Road. Jesus, after his resurrection, traveling there on the Emmaus Road, he comes up to two disciples that are very depressed. You can just see them. Read Luke 24 later. It's kind of sad at first. They're walking along. They're so bummed. And they're saying, oh, you know, it's the third day. Nothing's happened. What a bummer. We follow Jesus in vain. And you can see them just kicking a can, going down the path. Boy, were we duped. I thought for sure he was the Messiah. And Jesus comes alongside them. Sounds almost mysterious. And it is. And he says, hi, why is your face so low, hanging down? And they said, what are you, a stranger in here? Don't you know what's transpired in these regions lately? Jesus Christ, who claimed to be the Son of God, did all these wonderful works and spoke about a kingdom. But they took him and crucified him. And after all, it's the third day. And Jesus said to them in Luke chapter 24, verse 25, he said to you foolish ones of heart and slow to believe, spiritually retarded, which is most of the world and maybe many in here today, spiritually retarded ones. You don't even know me. You claim to know me. You claim to have followed me. You've missed it. He says, didn't the Bible say about Christ how he ought to suffer and enter in to his glory? And beginning at Moses and all of the prophets, he expounded to them from the scriptures the things concerning himself. Luke 24, verse 31 says, and when their eyes were opened, they knew him and he vanished from their sight. And he said, and they said to one to another, did not our hearts burn within us as he talked to us on the road while he opened to us the scriptures? Wow. What did he do? Jesus pulled alongside them and he says, Hey, let's have an old Testament Bible study right here, right now. And from the scriptures, he opened to their understanding himself. Isn't that great? He performed all that was written of him. Secondly, he was to ransom Israel from their sins. That's very important. The purpose of his mission, yes, was to ransom Israel from their sins. I mentioned to you earlier that in John chapter one, verse 10, that there, it says in the scripture that Jesus came unto his own, but his own received him not. That was the Jewish people. They are the chosen people. They're the chosen people to this hour. They will always be the chosen people, no matter what lunatic calls the world to go against the Jewish people. In fact, that's just a little sign of the times and proof of the pudding. Well, Jack, if there is people, why so much pain in their lives? Why so much hardship? Know this, and it's sad to say this, but it is absolutely biblically accurate. The Old Testament told the nation that if they rejected the coming of the Messiah, that they would become a hissing and a byword and an outcast through all the nations of the world. Has that not happened? It's just that their homes will be pillaged. Their nation will be taken from them. Their wives would be ravaged and their children will be taken into slavery and captivity to all the nations of the world. And in the last thousand years, that has been so fulfilled. But in the last fifty years, you and I have been watching the rebirth of the nation Israel and the influx of those people coming back home. Isn't that amazing? Prophecy, Isaiah chapter 43, beginning at verse 1, happening as you and I breathe this hour. He was to come to his people. Why? The Jewish people had that same question. They began to strut around. Paul warned them. Paul was even at one time once strutting that he was of the tribe of Benjamin, the nation of Israel, and all this stuff. And Paul goes on later to say, wait a minute, God didn't pick us because we were more noble than any other nation. He picked us because we're a bunch of losers. God says this in the book of Isaiah and in Jeremiah in the Old Testament that he says, don't think that I've picked you because you're some spectacular thing. He says, I picked you because you need help. Isn't that funny? You say, well, well, glad you didn't say that about me. Oh, just wait. He said concerning you and I that he chose the foolish things of this world to confound the wise. That's why your boss or your neighbor thinks you're an idiot. Well, there they go. Look, Harriet, they got their Bibles. There they go. Look at them every Sunday. We are goofballs in the eyes of the world. That's okay. This earth's not our home. Aren't you glad? Man, we're not home yet. God always selects the underdog. The scriptures teach us that he came to the nation Israel. The Bible says in Matthew 22, Jesus is trafficking through the area and a Canaanite. Remember the book of Joshua? We studied about the Canaanites, a Canaanite woman cried out to him and said, Master son of David. What is she using that term for? She has no right to that term. Son of David have mercy on me. Help me. My daughter's possessed. She's a Canaanite and the disciples say, Master, send her away. She's bugging us. Great men of compassion that they were. Send her away. She's bugging us. Jesus, as she cries out, it says, does not answer her a word. And she keeps crying. And he says, and I'll paraphrase, I've come to bring food to the house of the lost sheep of Israel. And she says, yes, Lord, that's great. And I'm not rejecting that truth. Obviously you're Jewish. I'm a Canaanite, but I recognize that you have all the power. And I do believe, though I'm not a Jew, you are the son of David, that you are the Messiah. Please have mercy on me. And he says, but woman, it wouldn't be right for me to give the food that's dedicated to the nation, to the dogs. Now you and I, with that statement, might have said, well, you can keep your messiahship and walk away. Or she said to him, Lord, this is true, but even dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master's table. And Jesus got a huge, it doesn't say this in the Bible, it had to have happened though. It had to happen. Jesus got a huge smile on his face and he said, woman, I haven't seen this kind of faith anywhere. And he healed her daughter. What's the point? The Jews believed and believe today that Gentiles are fodder for hell. Did you know that? They believe that we Gentiles are fuel for the pit, for the flames of hell. That's why they believe, this is not in the Bible, this is in their traditions, that God made Gentiles to stoke the flames of hell and to pay retail. But this is what the traditions teach. When Jesus says it's not right that I give the food that's intended to be for the house, for the children, to the dogs, every Orthodox Jew would have said, boy, he sure told her off. Well, the word that he used, and you and I don't get it in the English, go to it in the Greek. He says, woman, those cuddly little puppies that hang around the table, they shouldn't get it first. I've come to the nation first. A cuddly, cute little puppy. Everybody loves a cuddly, cute little puppy. Jesus elevates this woman and then not only elevates by statement, but turns and blesses her with a miracle. He's come to the nation Israel first. Yes, true, but watch this, consider this. He's also come to liberate the Gentile nations. Hey, look at this. You and I, most of us are Gentiles right now. I am 25% Irish, 25% German, and 50% Portuguese. My mother was pure Portuguese. I am definitely a Gentile. I don't have a Jewish bone in my body, but God has saved me. You may not be a Jew, but what has he done with you? He has saved you. Is it biblical? Oh yeah, Isaiah chapter 11, God says, I will go to a nation, the nation of Gentiles, and they'll seek after me. Do you seek after Christ? His mission is to bring all the world to himself, even you and I. Isn't that awesome? Isn't it great that God is not exclusionary in his mission? Only those who have an income of 100,000 and over. Aren't you glad he didn't lay that as a requirement? All those who live in certain zip codes. Aren't you glad he didn't have that requirement? All those who will look unto me, he says, I will no wise cast out to liberate the Gentile nations. Peter, God had to just drive this into his head. Peter was in the town of Joppa, remember there, and he was hungry. And it says that he went on top of the roof and he fell asleep. Now that's something. I cannot sleep when I'm hungry, but Peter goes up on the roof and he falls asleep. He's starving. And they're downstairs, they're cooking, the meal's being done, the fish taco smell is coming up through the roof. Joppa's right on the beach. It's a great place. Peter's there sleeping, and it says while he's in the trance, and he's so hungry, the sheet comes down in his head. He's dreaming. He sees the sheet come down. And he says, he looks into the sheet, and all kinds of four-footed beast and unclean things are running around in the sheet. Can you imagine? So he looks over there, man, and there goes a lobster. You know, and there goes a pig. Peter's going, yes, unclean. And the Lord says, Peter, get up and kill and eat. Peter says, no way, Lord, which is an impossible thing to say. I'm a good Jewish boy. None of this stuff has ever touched my lips. God says, Peter, stand up and eat. Go after it. Get it. No, Lord. Three times. Ladies, be encouraged. Three times God had to tell Peter. Three times. It takes a while for us to get it. And Peter later in Acts, in the book of Acts, Peter later goes on to say, I have concluded from this that God has even provided salvation to the Gentiles. How is that? Because it all started with a bunch of little pigs running around in the sheet. And in a Jewish mind, God wants them to, yeah, to deliver a Gentile nation, us, all of us. This is wonderful. This is liberating. Jesus, the Bible tells us in a parable, two of them actually, Matthew 13, he says this, that the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. Get it carefully. Watch this. A treasure hidden in a field. Who, when a man comes, buys the whole field so he can extract the treasure. Very simply understood. The field is the world. The man who buys the earth is who? Jesus. What is the treasure in the field? You are. He buys the whole field for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever puts your name in there, there you go. Another parable, Matthew 13 again, verse 45. Jesus is again the kingdom of heaven is like this. A merchant seeking beautiful pearls who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold everything that he had and bought it. Who is the merchant? Jesus. Who is the pearl of great price? You are. He gave up everything on his mission to get you. That ought to clear up your self-esteem problem, don't you think? You are valuable to him. The second thing we see this morning is this. The scope of Christ's mission, and that is to provide a temporal liberation for mankind. The scope of his mission is this. When we say scope, we're talking about his far-reaching grasp of all that concerns us. In fact, a good verse to put with that is Matthew 9, 36. Where there it says in the Bible, when Jesus saw the multitude, he was moved with compassion for them because they were weary and scattered and they were like sheep having no shepherd. Are you lonely? Is your life just, are you hurting right now? It's not important. I know your problem. I probably can't do anything about it anyway. I can pray for you. But the very situation that you find yourself in right now, Christ knows about it. And he is saying this to you this morning. I see you weary, scattered, like a little lamb that has no shepherd. Maybe you're even a Christian and you wandered away from his wonderful pastoral care, which means shepherding care. The fact of the matter is, he has provided temporal liberation. When I say temporal, I mean on this earth now. Maybe you're sitting here as a non-Christian, you're saying, why should I come to Christ? Well, the first thing is, is because he offers to you temporal liberation. That means right now he can give you the peace of God and peace with God. All your life, you've been kicking against God, knowingly or unknowingly, and Jesus immediately offers temporal liberation. Peace now in the midst of a storm. He provides that. The scope of his mission is certainly to help us now. I love when people give their hearts to Jesus Christ. It's spectacular to watch. We'll pray together, and they'll pray, Lord, come into my life, and we pray. They come to the conclusion of their prayer, and you can almost put a stopwatch to it. They'll say, in Jesus' name, amen, and I'll say, welcome to the family. It's great to have you in the house. And you'll see them go, there's just peace, just peace. You see it happen in the lives of people. I've seen it happen in people here quite a long time ago. There was a man that used to always sit back in that area, right there against that wall over there, and he wasn't a Christian. And his wife would drag him here. She didn't drug him to get him here, but he was dragged. And finally, he gave his heart to Christ. It was a very exciting day. It was actually Sunday after a third service, and after a third service, I ran home, and I was mowing my lawn, or getting ready to mow my lawn. And so this guy pulls up to beat me up. I didn't know that. He had a mission all of his own. And it was to beat me up. He was fed up with the messages and why should I come to Christ and all this stuff. And so by the time he got to me, God had just kind of touched him a little bit, and God began to do one thing and the other. And to make a long story short, right on the front lawn underneath the trees there in my house, he accepts the Lord. And the first thing we get done praying, in Jesus' name, amen. You know what he said the first thing? Talk about peace. This might seem funny to you. But he went, oh man, great. Now I can go to the church picnic. I said, what? He'd been fighting the church picnic. Oh no, I gotta go. My wife's gonna drug me or drag me to get there. All these Christians, I can't stand them. Freedom. Jesus would have said, truly salvation has come to this man's home today. He gets to go to the picnic. Liberation, freedom. God does that. Jesus also provided physical relief. He went around healing all those who were sick, all those who were in pain. He offers that help now. He comforts your life. He will either do it miraculously or he'll do it, what I like to just say, naturally, supernaturally. Sometimes Jesus heals. We reported some tremendous news last Wednesday night, didn't we? About God's wonderful, incredible works this week. But sometimes God chooses natural means supernaturally. Maybe the storm that you're in stays with you, but there's a peace. And haven't you had this happen in your life? There's a peace that comes into your life and you almost feel guilty that you have so much peace in the midst of this problem. It's the strangest thing. Why aren't you worrying? I don't know. It's the Lord. Don't you realize what's going to happen? Yes. Panic with us. Make us feel better. I just don't know. I think God's going to do something. I'm getting this right now. I'm preaching to myself right now on this. We've got to break ground on the property. We've got to get going. It's going to take years to build this building and we're going to be out of a building. Our lease expires and the city won't renew our lease and we're going to be on the street. We're going to be homeless. Do you realize that? I say homeless in two years. There'll be 3000 of us begging on the streets. I'm supposed to start signing papers and I'm supposed to say, you know, dump it here and dig it. It's like, and I feel terrible. God, what am I doing? Am I stirring these people toward homelessness? I don't know. I just know that God knows what he's doing and he's bigger than me. Hallelujah. I don't know if that turns you on, but it sure turns me on. I just lay down and go to sleep while everyone else, all of you are worrying when we're going to put a shovel. He brings physical relief. He works in our lives now. He is so faithful to do that. He's so good. And also to provide eternal freedom, obviously. Don't you feel absolutely sometimes like you're in some little super covert top secret club that when you look at the news and look around the world and talk to your friends at work and share with people that you know something they don't know and it's an inside thing. Don't you feel like that? You know what? I sometimes I feel terrible about having that privilege. When somebody says, well, I think of this and I think of that and I think of the other and I'm sitting there thinking this poor guy doesn't know anything. The Bible says exactly what he needs to know or hear or do or whatever. When you hear Europe say we've got a brand new way of injecting implantable chips better than ever before, cashless society that's on the news. Watch it. That's there. You go, what? My Bible talks about that. That's right. And you go to work and your friends will say, hey, cool. Cashless system coming up. Great. Can't wait. I'm sick of this big wallet in the back of my pants or toting around my purse. If I just had a mark on my right hand or my forehead, things would be great. And you go, and it's like, what? What is this? You know, something they don't know. The Bible talks about this man coming and he's going to implement a cashless system with numbers and the prefix will be 666, which is www in Hebrew. W in Hebrew is the number six. Interesting. Why is it on the barcodes? And boy, I'm getting into Wednesday night now. Why in the barcodes on your items, it has the long six and the middle long six and the end long six. Why do they pick 666 on the barcodes of your products at home in your house? Why not 333? Why not 777? Isn't that weird? Anyway, moving on to the next point, we continue. We continue to the third and that is the execution of Christ's mission. The execution of Christ's mission. Him doing this. Him being real like that to manifest his execution of it all. Jesus, we are told in Luke chapter nine, verse 51, he's enjoying the wonderful and many of you have seen it. Many more of you, Lord willing, shall. The wonderful farmlands and regions, very fruitful regions of the Northern Galilee, where the Sea of Galilee is at. It's beautiful. Bananas and figs and oranges, papaya and guavas. It's all growing there. Jesus ministered and taught his disciples for three years up there before he headed to the hubbub of Jerusalem. And it says in Luke chapter nine, verse 51, it was at that time when it approached for him to be taken up into heaven, that he resolutely set his face toward Jerusalem. The word is with absolute determination. Nothing was going to sway Jesus from his executing the plan, the mission that God had given him. And that was to die for the sins of the world. How did he do this? Well, he did it by a couple of ways. Number one, that is that Jesus performed all that was necessary. Hallelujah for this. He did it all. Of course, you know, the passage Jesus is not one jot or one tittle, one little comma and one little curve of the scribe's pen concerning the writing of the Hebrew language. Not one of those little tiny dots will pass away without the word of God being completely fulfilled. He did all that was necessary. In Hebrews chapter 12, verse 2, the Bible says that we ought to look unto Jesus Christ, who is the author and the finisher of our faith. Isn't that great? How many of you are Christians in here this morning? Raise your hand. You're a Christian. You can put your hand down. Don't raise your hand now. Next person. But I said, don't raise your hand. That is, how many of you are considering becoming a Christian? Well, God knows about this. And if you're of any other persuasion, God knows that as well. But for those of us who raised our hand, God started a work in us. Did you know that? And he will not stop. Even though you might think he has, he hasn't. He will not stop until he's done. And when he's done, or I guess when he goes, mwah, or fini, or yeah, voila, or whatever you say. Voila. It's called death. What? Oh, yeah. Listen, get over it. Death is a disaster if you don't know Jesus. But if you know him, it's voila. It's when we leave this place that death is in place, and Jesus gets to behold the finished work. He has promised that he will complete that work that he has started in your life. He will finish the work. He's done all that is necessary. He will complete it. Jesus directed all that was important. He directed all that was important. In Matthew chapter 28, I'll go quickly. We're out of time. Jesus said this, Matthew chapter 28, this verse, this passage of scripture has had probably the greatest effect upon this church. God has spoken to my heart at more critical moments in Matthew chapter 28, verses 18 to 20 than the other passage. It means so much to me. Jesus directed all that was important. When Jesus said, speaking to them, he said, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And behold, I am with you always, even into the end of the age. Okay, those of you who graduated from logic class, listen. If Christ is going to be with you all the way, all the way to the end, what ought we to be doing? Going into all of the world, proclaiming the gospel, and making disciples worldwide, and baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, right? There's a built-in promise. You go, he goes with you. I'm going to say something. If you're visiting here at Calvary, you're privileged today, I guess. I'm going to say something I've never said before in this church. And I don't want to say it again. Jesus says in Matthew chapter 28, verse 19, go, go, go, go, go in the world. Go, get going, go. Those of us who raised our hands a moment ago, we're called Christians. We're supposed to go. We're supposed to go. If we can't go, we're supposed to send. We have got to stop spending our money so foolishly, and this is the part that I've never talked about in eight years as a church, or however long we've been a church. I don't talk about money. We need to start spending our money with some spiritual prayer and brains. We need to start investing in either churches that are going globally, or if this church meets your passion for going globally, then bless the missions ministry of this church. But if we're not going, then we had better be senders, or else we are robbing God. Read Malachi chapter 3, and see if this is not true. Those of us a moment ago who raised our hands, we are either going on short-term or long-term missions, or we are both going and sending, or third option, we are sending people. And let me ask you this, don't you dare respond to me, because I don't want to know, nor do I know, nor will I ever know. But are you tithing to God's work? Are you investing more in the kingdom of God than in this kingdom that is going to be toast momentarily? Jesus says, lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moth or rust or thieves don't come in and steal. Where are you investing? Jesus directed all that was important, all that was important. And finally this, Jesus imparted all that was needed. What does that mean? The person of the Holy Spirit. In John chapter 14, Jesus says that the Holy Spirit has been with you all this time, but He said, He will come upon you, and He shall be in you. Jesus said in John chapter 16, He says, it's better for you, can you imagine Him saying this to you, and I, it's better for you that I leave you and go away. Because if I do not go away, the Holy Spirit, He won't come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you. And He will teach you whatsoever I have commanded you, and He will bring all things to remembrance. And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age. Jesus said in His closing remarks, chapter 1, verse 8, He says, to go to Jerusalem and wait. He says, there you will receive power, the power of the Holy Spirit. He says, you shall be filled or baptized with the Holy Spirit, and you shall be witnesses, the word is martis, martyrs, for me, both in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, and the outermost parts of the world. For those of us who raised our hands a moment ago, that's what we do. Well, Jack, I thought you were going to go do it for us. No, I'll do it with you, but I'm supposed to train you up to help you go. How's the church going to grow? That's God's business. But we're supposed to be going short-term, long-term, or ascending, and here's the point, we're done. By doing so, we enter in as co-laborers with Christ into His what? Mission. The Great Commission. It's what He's asked us to do. You can close your Bible, we're done. I'm going to ask the worship leaders if they'll come forward and tell you of something. In London, about eight months ago, I was in London, a few months ago or so, we had a break on our outreaches and evangelistic outreaches there just off of Piccadilly Circus there in Leicester Square, and we went as a team, all of us, and several from the Calvary Chapel of Westminster, London, England there, we went and saw Les Miserables, the play in London. It had been going on in that same facility night after night for some 15 years. Did you know that the author of that play, and I don't know what they did to the movie, how they legally got around it, but did you know the author of that play demanded, he's gone now from what I understand, but did you know he demanded that at the close of that play the Gospel of Jesus Christ be presented? Did you know Les Miserables, if you've seen the play, it's all about Jesus Christ, did you know that? The law is pursuing the man who's guilty, but the grace of Christ comes in and sets the man free, and at the end of that wonderful play all of the players of the play come and stand and join arms hand in hand. In London, England we saw this, they lifted up their hands and they said, will you please, all of you here tonight, please join, and this was according to the author of that wonderful story, they said, will you please join us in presenting Jesus Christ to the world that he died for the sins of mankind and that he grants grace and favor to all those who put their trust in him. That's the mission. Praise the Lord for our Jesus who loves us so much. Amen?