The ultimate goal of salvation, and therefore mission, is that people would glorify God for his mercy.
Des says mission flows from two deep convictions:
first, a grief that people are robbing God of the glory he deserves;
second, a longing for them to see, enjoy, and share in that glory forever.
His challenge to Christian leaders is this: don’t let strategy be your fuel. Let your fire for mission be driven by the glory of God and keep that fire burning by fixing your eyes on Jesus, the radiance of God’s glory.
Des was the Senior Pastor at Trinity Church Adelaide and is now helping to plant Trinity Church Lockleys, where he now serves.
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TRANSCRIPT:
The following is an uncorrected transcript generated by a transcription service. Before quoting in print, please check the corresponding audio for accuracy.
We’re going to be reading from God’s Word, from Romans chapter 15, starting at verse 5.That’s Romans chapter 15 starting at verse 5.May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1:01
Accept one another then, just as Christ accepted you in order to bring praise to God.For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed, and moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy.
1:28
As it is written.Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles.I will sing the praises of your name.Again it says, Rejoice you Gentiles with his people, and again praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, let all the peoples extol him.
1:51
And again Isaiah says, the root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations.In him the Gentiles will put their hope.May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
2:20
Well, thanks so much, Julia.Let’s keep our Bibles open.Let’s pray.Loving Heavenly Father, we pray that you will give us such a passion for your glory that it will grieve us as it grieves you when you see a world ignoring you.
2:47
And yet it will also break our hearts as your heart breaks.And Father, we pray that many through Jesus might come to see your glory and because of that, share in it for eternity.We ask these things in Jesus name, Amen.
3:06
Well, I think we’d all agree, wouldn’t we, that it has absolutely been a fantastic two days, three if you came here on Monday.As we’ve gathered together to learn about and help each other in mission, we’ve had our eyes lifted to great truths.
3:23
That heaven and hell are real and that every single person on the planet is going to one of those two places.That Christ took the wrath of God on the cross so that everyone who puts their trust in Him will be saved, not damned.But now is the time to tell people this.
3:42
The soil is good.It just needs us to work it and God’s Spirit to grow it.And over at the church planting site, what that looks like in church planting, even when you’re 10 plus years in and you’re starting to feel tired, it’s still worth it.It still works.
3:58
And we’ve been given lots of tools in our plenaries and workshops to sharpen our thinking and practice as we try to work out these truths on the ground so more can be saved.It’s been a great two days.I really hope you’ve enjoyed it.And yet it’s still daunting, isn’t it?
4:20
Because there is so much to do.I mean, those goals we just heard from Scott and Derek, they’re big, aren’t they?300 churches, 750 plus church leaders.I mean, I can’t even get someone for the sound team, you know, How are we supposed to find 750 plus church leaders?
4:41
And how are they going to plant all of those churches and that daunted?That’s how we feel now.Is there any cosier place for a Christian leader in the country than here?While we’re at a conference with 1300 people, all of whom are like minded gospel workers?
5:01
How are you going to feel when you get home and you do the laundry and you get through Sunday and you get to Monday and you go, what next?You know, as Mike Tyson once said, everyone’s got a plan until they get punched in the face, The OFT quoted Mike Tyson.
5:26
So let me ask you, how are you going to go when you go home and get punched in the face, you know, by life and laundry and church and all the other things that keep us from these lofty goals?What will keep you going past Monday?
5:44
Well, all the things we’ve dwelt on this week.The fate of the lost, the price of the cross, good condition of the soil.Keeping all of these things front of mind and praying them into our lives and ministries will keep us going well past Monday by the power of the Spirit.
6:06
But there is one more piece of the puzzle that we’ve got to get in place.And if we don’t, our picture of mission will be incomplete.In fact, I want to argue that this is the ultimate reason for mission, and we’ve been talking about it all through this conference.
6:21
But now I want to bring it into crystalline focus.What is it?What is it all to keep us going in mission.What’s the glory of God?Why do we do mission for others good, but even more for God’s glory.
6:39
So that’s we’re going to be looking at tonight mission for God’s glory.You see, what is the point of our lives?Why did God make every single person on the planet?Well, of course it was to glorify Him.We are for his glory.
6:54
Listen to Isaiah 43.But now this is what the Lord says, He who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel, do not fear, for I have redeemed you.I have summoned you by name.You are mine.Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth.
7:13
Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, who I formed and made.He’s saying to the Israelites in exile in Babylon, I’m going to bring you back so you can do what you were always made to do.And what were you always made to do?
7:31
Be for my glory.Of course.That’s what every human being was made to do, Be for God’s glory.Israel was just the first step in getting us all back on track.Now, what does it mean for humans to be for God’s glory?
7:50
Well, it means to treat Him as the center of the universe that He is.It means building our lives around pleasing and enjoying Him and doing everything we do ultimately for Him.That’s why the Bible can say things like this one, Corinthians 10 verse 31.
8:07
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.Drink a can of Coke, do it for the glory of God, be a surgeon, do it for the glory of God, etcetera.What is the point of human life?What is the point of your life?That’s to glorify God.
8:25
But what did humanity do?Well, of course we stopped glorifying Him.The apostle Paul is talking about human beings, and he describes them like this Romans 121 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him.
8:47
But their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.We didn’t glorify God, rather we rebelled against Him and in our rebellion exchanged the glory of God, the very thing we were made for, for the glory of things, worshipping them rather than Him.
9:22
That’s sin.And it’s a big deal because it is taking something of infinite value, God, and worshipping a mere copy of Him, in fact, a copy of a copy.
9:41
Let me explain.Listen to verse 23 again.We exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.
9:58
You see, of course, as humans we are made in the image of God.We are, if you like, a copy of Him.So if we started worshipping a human, that would be bad.We would be exchanging the real thing for a copy, but God says we worship images made to look like humans.
10:21
A copy of a copy.And that’s a terrible exchange.Coming up on the screen is the Salvatore Mundi, painted by Leonardo da Vinci in about 1500.
10:37
Now, this is the most expensive painting ever sold.In November 2017, it’s sold for a whopping 450 million U.S. dollars.It’s a lot of cash.I think amazingly, I think it was bought by an airport like in in one of the Emirates.
10:57
I can just imagine the like the work experience kid being brought into the boss suck when you told me to buy a picture 4 150 million U.S. dollars.Now that’s the Salvatore Mindy.By contrast, this There we go.This is a copy of the Salvatore Mundi.
11:14
This is from firstartgallery.com.This bad boy is worth $376 plus postage and handling and comes in a variety of shapes and sizes.Now, let me ask you, if you owned the real Salvatore Mundi and someone offered you this copy for it in exchange, would you take that exchange?
11:34
No, of course you wouldn’t.That’d be a bad swap.But now imagine someone took a black and white photocopy of that, that copy worth $0.10 and offered you that in exchange for the Salvatore Mundi.
11:50
Would you take that?Not just a copy, but a copy of a copy?No, that would be absurd.Who makes that swap?We did.We had the glory of God to worship.
12:08
We exchanged it for people.A copy.We worshipped our family and friends.We exchanged it for images made to look like people.A copy of a copy.We glorified sex on a screen, a copy of a copy.
12:28
We glorified online fame, a copy of a copy.We took God and we swapped Him for $0.10.We glorified things rather than Him.That is wicked, and because it’s wicked, that deserves punishment.
12:51
God is jealous for His glory.Isaiah 42.I am the Lord, that is my name.I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols.And so He punishes those who won’t glorify Him.Revelation 16 The 4th Angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was allowed to scorch people with fire.
13:14
They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him.And yet, of course, what God has done is He saved us from that punishment.
13:33
Romans 3 verse 23, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.There’s that diagnosis again.Sin is a rebellious failure to glorify God.But what does God do?Romans 324 And all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
13:52
He makes an exchange.You see, redemption’s an exchange, isn’t it?If I, if I have a ticket, parking ticket, or a ticket for my coat and I redeem that ticket, I’m exchanging it for something, I’m getting something in exchange.So when we made an exchange, the glory of God for the glory of things, it looks like God made an exchange too.
14:18
But what did he exchange?The life of his Son.Verse 25.God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement through the shedding of his blood.You see, God took all the punishment that we deserve and he poured it out on Jesus so we wouldn’t have to take it.
14:44
We took the Salvatore Mundi and we exchanged it for a 10 cent copy.God took the actual Salvatore Mundi, the actual Saviour of the world, and he exchanged him for us.
15:02
And all we’ve got to do to get the benefit of that salvation is ask for it.Turns out God has a very open exchange policy.And why did he save us from that punishment?
15:21
Well, because He loves us passionately, but even more to be glorified come forward, right towards the end of Romans, where Paul is wrapping up his argument.He says this Romans 15 verse 8.
15:37
I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed, and moreover that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy.That’s God’s end goal in salvation.It’s to be glorified.
15:54
It’s why He does mission.Just a little bit further down in the passage he says the same thing.Verse 11.Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, let all the peoples extol you.That’s what God wants as a result of salvation for all peoples to glorify Him.
16:12
You see, what is the end goal of salvation for God?It’s for our benefit, yes, but even more it is for His glory.He saves us so we can get back on track with what we were always meant to do, glorify Him.
16:28
Why is God on mission for his glory?You can see that in how Romans brackets itself.So Paul is talking about his mission right at the very start of the letter and he says this Romans 1/5.
16:45
Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake.You see, it’s interesting, isn’t it?See, I think we often frame the gospel as an offer.
17:03
You know, if you trust Jesus, you will be saved.And Paul the apostle does that all the time too.But it’s not what he does here.Here he frames it as a command.When he preaches the gospel to the Gentiles, he’s calling them to obey something.
17:25
What’s he calling them to obey?Well, faith.The phrase here is literally the obedience of faith.Basically what he’s saying is you were always meant to trust God and relate to Him that way, recognizing that He is the all glorious 1 and you are the ones who are dependent on Him.
17:51
So now I’m just telling you to start doing that and saying that you can because of Jesus.He’s calling them to glorify God by trusting Him as they were always made to do, and they’re to do it.
18:06
Did you see?For His name’s sake, the letter ends in exactly the same way.Romans 16 verse 25.Now to him who was able to establish you in accordance with my gospel, the message I proclaim about Jesus Christ, so that all the Gentiles might come to the obedience that comes from faith to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ.
18:33
Amen.Why does God save us?For our good, yes, but even more for His glory.Now, before we go on, let me answer a brief objection or or possible question.
18:51
In all of this.You see, isn’t God glorified no matter what he does, whether he saves or condemns?So how can a passion for His glory drive him particularly towards salvation?
19:08
Surely he’s glorified whatever happens now, it is true that God is glorified in judgement, not just salvation.It’s not as if the existence of hell or the ongoing presence of unrepentant sinners even in eternity, lessens his power or glory.
19:28
God is not needy and so saves because that brings him glory.But judging doesn’t, and he he sort of needs a win.No, God is also glorified in judgement.Revelation 19.After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting Hallelujah.
19:50
Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for true and just are His judgements.He’s condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries.He has avenged on her the blood of his servants, and again they shouted Hallelujah.
20:07
The smoke from her goes up forever and ever.But as we know, glorifying Himself through judgement is God’s strange work.Isaiah 28.
20:24
He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked.Ezekiel 33.So that.So though it is true that God is glorified in judging unrepentant sinners, it’s not the glory He wants.If you like, what he wants is for people to glorify God for His mercy.
20:42
Romans 15 and as Roman 9 hints, in so far as God is glorified in punishing sinners, at least in part, and so we can show the riches of his mercy even more to those He saved.
20:59
So where are we?What drives God to save?It is our good, but even more, it’s His glory.It is God’s glory that ultimately drives salvation.And here was where the rubber hits the road for us.
21:19
Because if it’s the glory of God that drives salvation, it must also drive mission.Because mission is how people are saved.You see, God saved us, He’s forgiven us, and He’s put us back on track to do what we were always meant to do, glorify Him.
21:38
By His grace.He’s made His passion our passion.So what are people who now live for God’s glory meant to do in a world full of people who don’t?We’ll call on them to glorify God.Do mission.
21:56
The same passion for God’s glory that drives God to save people will drive us to see people saved because we want as many people as possible to glorify God.You see the logic, as John Piper puts it so succinctly.He says mission exists because worship doesn’t.
22:18
And I think this passion to see God glorified drives us to mission in two different ways.Firstly, because we now share God’s passion for his glory, it should grieve us when we see people not glorifying him.
22:40
You see, mission for Christians really is non negotiable because we can’t say that we want to see God glorified above all else if we’re still indifferent to other people reviling Him.Let me give you an example.
22:56
So I, I love my wife Suze.Really, I, I think she’s the best.She’s kind and funny and pretty and she loves Jesus and she’s incredibly intelligent and all the rest.To be honest, when people know both of us, she is always the favorite.
23:15
Like if you met me and you met her, you would go, yeah, I like her better.In fact, it’s got to the point where I just, I, I mean, I’m, I’m not bitter, but you know, honestly, people come up to me and they say, I just met your wife, Suze.
23:31
She’s great.And on the inside I say, well, I’m great too.But on the outside I say, isn’t she?I do because it’s true.She really is great and I love her.So imagine I was walking down the street with her one day and someone spat on her.
23:56
What would loving her in that situation look like?Well, I could just ignore that it happened and keep telling her I loved her and laughing at her jokes, but I don’t think that would convince her that I loved her.Because if I really loved her and thought she was worthy of respect, it wouldn’t be enough for me just to love and respect her myself.
24:19
I would also have to insist that others love and respect her too, at least to the point of not spitting on her.If I just ignored it and I said, well I know they spat on you, darling, but I still love you, she might reasonably wonder whether I really did love her at all.
24:37
Because if you love someone, you want others to love them too.It’s the same with God because we now know that He is worthy of praise.We will want as many people as possible to know He is worthy of praise too, and it will grieve us when we see them not praising Him.
24:59
We will be incensed because zeal for God’s house will consume us.We will want people to be saved so they can start glorifying God, and in our best moments we will be furious on His behalf until they do.
25:20
Is it’s perfectly right to offer the gospel to people, isn’t it?You know, tell them all the good things that will happen to them if they trust in Jesus.That is a totally biblical thing to do.But it is also totally biblical to command people to obey the gospel, to tell them that they are currently robbing God of glory and that if they don’t start giving it to him by trusting in Jesus, he will punish them.
25:42
That’s OK, too, to call people to the obedience of faith for His name’s sake.In fact, in an increasingly therapeutic age, it is vital that we do vary our preaching like that.Make it clear that God saves people for their good, but also for His glory.
26:04
In a church culture where increasingly sin is brokenness, hell is missing out, and salvation is finding your true identity, we’ve also got to preach that sin is rebellion, hell is God’s glory defending wrath, and salvation is being put back on track to serve someone other than yourself.
26:33
Now, of course, it’s not as if these two things are incompatible.God’s glory and our good.It’s not as if God looks at us and says well only one of us can be happy now, as John Piper says again, he says God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in Him and something to that isn’t there.
26:54
It’s just that if we only stress one and not the other, we will simply confirm in people the misunderstanding that got them in this mess in the 1st place, that the universe is all about them.And what will fuel us in that?
27:12
God copying grief that people refuse to glorify him.Look at your street, look at your local mall, Look at all the good things that God gives people.Sunlight, food, laughter, friends.
27:31
And yet they ignore Him.Shouldn’t that grieve us?Shouldn’t zeal for his house consume us when we see that?Not in a self-righteous way.I mean, we know in our natural state we’re just as God ignoring as the next person.
27:47
And the only reason we even sort of want to glorify God is because of his gracious work in our life.But if we really want God to be glorified, we will be grieved when people don’t glorify Him, and we will passionately want them to start glorifying Him by trusting in Jesus.
28:06
That’s the first way God’s glory drives us to mission.It incenses us when we see people not glorifying Him.But the second way it drives us to mission is positive.And it’s this because now we’ve been saved and we see how good it is to live for God’s glory.
28:29
We will want that for other people too.I mean, we all know how boring a convert is, don’t we?You know, someone who’s just recently got into something and now they they just really want to share it with absolutely everyone they meet.So now I’m at the point now where whenever I see a lean middle-aged man start walking towards me, I just know he’s going to want to start talking to me about cycling.
28:56
Clack, clack, clack.Oh, it’s made such a difference.I feel so much better.I’ve got so much more energy, blah blah blah.And have you, have you ever noticed, you know, mammals, middle-aged men in lycra?Have you ever noticed with these?
29:12
Have you ever noticed with these guys?They, they all, they’ve all met the same Slavic guy, Strava.Oh, he’s great.You should meet him.He follows me everywhere and posts the result on the Internet.Yeah.
29:28
No, mate, that’s not a friend, that’s a spy or, or that person they’ve just recently got into.They’ve really got into kombucha and and gut health.Oh, dears, I’m so glad I’ve caught you.
29:43
Would you like to talk with me about fermentation?Oh, I’d love to, but I’ve got to go and stand over there now.We all know there there is nothing more boring than a convert, is there?But on the other hand, we get it because they’ve just found something that’s really good for them and they want to share it with you.
30:04
Their joy in their new life just overflows in sharing.And it’s the same for us.God has saved us by His grace, and He’s got us back on track with glorifying Him, no matter how imperfectly.
30:20
And that life is so good we want it for others too.In fact, not just get us back glorifying Him.One day he says he will share his glory with us.It’s astonishing.I mean, listen to the way the New Testament describes salvation.
30:37
Romans 817 Now if we are children, then we are heirs, heirs of God and Co heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings, in order that we may also share in his glory. 2 Thessalonians 2 He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
30:58
One Peter 5 To the elders among you I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s suffering, who also will share in the glory to be revealed.It is true that God will not yield His glory to us if we try to steal it, but He will share it with us if we’ll trust Him and submit to Him.
31:23
Isn’t that just the best picture of salvation?God sharing his glory with us in eternity, but He will spend forever letting us in on how good and perfect and true He is.
31:45
See, I think a lot of people have a picture of the new creation where God will be kind of a side attraction, You know, the things they’re really looking forward to where, you know, all the other things, you know, being reunited with family and friends and beautiful vistas and mountains and cycling.
32:06
You know, God will still be there and, and sure that will be good, but he will be probably more incidental, you know, a bit like the owner of a theme park, you know, kind of wandering around his park greeting guests like a billionaire in a tracksuit.You know, it’s good to meet him, but we all know we’re really there for the roller coaster in the water slide.
32:24
But that is not what eternity will be like.God will not be a side attraction.He will be the attraction.His glory and us sharing in it will be the main event and it will be so good we will be able to spend eternity in its presence and not be bored for a moment.
32:49
Salvation is God sharing His glory with us and it is so good we want others to share it too.Why does God save people for His glory?So it will be His glory that motivates us in mission by a grief that people don’t glorify him and a longing that they might.
33:19
So how can you maintain your evangelistic zeal as you go home and Monday punches you in the face?Well, fill up on the glory of God.So that’s why all this stuff that we’ve been talking about, ecosystem thinking so important, isn’t it?
33:35
Because it shows how connected it all is.That mission is not separate from magnification.Mission comes from magnification.When mission runs out its front door, it comes from the home of magnification.So how will we keep our passion in mission ultimately?
33:52
Fill up on the glory of God.Fill up on it from the world.Go outside on a clear night.Watch the stars.The heavens declare the glory of God.Alpha Centauri is a preacher.
34:10
Orion is a preacher for Pleiades.Their sermon is general, but it is clear and constant.There is a God.He made me.He is powerful and good, and he is glorious.Friends, listen to the sermon of the winter tree, of the taste of coffee and the bark of a dog.
34:38
God is glorious.When you were feeling evangelistically flat and your drive to see glory God glorified his running low.Go outside and let the world remind you of who He is, that this is the God who they are rejecting, but who longs to share their His glory with them.
35:02
And then go back inside.Keep writing your talk or make that phone call.Fill up on the glory of God from the world, but much more, much more, fill up on the glory of God from Jesus.
35:23
He is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, the One who made the stars and for whom the dog barks.When you are feeling evangelistically flat, feed on Him, drink in him, Read the gospels, watch Jesus heal the blind man, hear him talk to the woman at the well, feel him calm the storm, see him raise the dead, and see him die on the cross for you in the world.
35:59
Creation hums the tune of the glory of God.Jesus sings it.The glory of God is in the face of Christ.So watch Christ, see in him the God who the world ignores, and feel your blood boil, but then see in him the God who wants to share his glory with that world and feel your heart melt.
36:30
Romans 11 O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable his judgements and his paths beyond tracing out who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counsellor?Who has ever given to God that God should repay him for from him and through him and for him are all things to him be the glory forever.
36:57
Amen.Let’s pray.God, we are an empty sleeve.Put your arm in US.
37:14
Fill us with a vision of your glory that makes us grieve when people don’t glorify you, and long that they will.And fill us with a thankfulness that You’ve shared your glory with us for your glory and for our good.
