The Key to Mission: We Are Chosen for Proclamation

Bible Reading

We’re in First Peter. Please turn there. We’re talking about our missional ambition.

Our brother did so well earlier this morning to set me up, so I’m going to try, with the Lord’s help and precision, not to touch what he spoke about, if I can, because he’s done the hard work for me.

1st Peter, chapter 2.
If you need the contents, just go to the contents. I still hear the papers rustling with mine. Chapter 2, verses 9 and 10.
It’s just two verses for our consideration, to really jolt, to energize. I’ve been praying that God will empower and strengthen you in our missional calling and ambition in the world. Let’s hear the Word of the Lord together:

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people. Once you had not received mercy, but now you’ve received mercy.” (1 Peter 2:9-10)

This is the Word of the Lord. Let’s bow and pray.

O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth, that every people, tribe, and tongue proclaim its boundless worth. Out of the mouth of little ones you have established praise, that thou may still thy enemy and swiftly end his days. We pray that you would help us turn our gaze once more to Jesus, to know and love him, and as his people to go into the world and serve him. In his name we pray. Amen.

The Great Commission

I really seek to focus on verses 9 and 10 of chapter 2, but I’ll be moving around, as all our brothers have been doing this week.
In their comprehensive book on biblical theology, which I first encountered at seminary when I was at school, Andreas Köstenberger and Peter O’Brien conclude, and I quote, “The Great Commission shows that mission is the primary task between Christ’s first coming and his return.” Amen? Close quote.

Now, not only do they serve the church by telling us the gospel again, they also point us to the words we know very well, don’t we? The words our Lord and Savior Jesus spoke. Do you remember these words? Matthew chapter 28, verses 19 and 20. I want to read them in your hearing.

Therefore, Jesus said, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey (observe) everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

There’s nothing new here. It’s surprising to me how people get PhDs to repeat what Jesus said, but we value them in each and every generation. We need people with PhDs and platforms to declare the gospel of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

This is the task given to the church. But if you think about it, I don’t know about your city. I don’t know about Kenya, Nairobi. I can only talk about Durban. Isn’t it true that so much of what passes as church mission today is exactly contrary to what Jesus said? Is exactly not what Jesus has expected his people to do? Are you with me?

So we hear of churches in Durban, not Kenya, not Kenya, in Durban, sucked in like a vacuum cleaner to assimilation, which is a fancy word for saying the church that seeks the respect of the world rather than the favour and respect of King Jesus.

We hear of churches seeking to be sinner-led instead of Saviour-led, and therefore we see in their practice of church this intoxicating humanism. It’s about man. It’s about us. We can do all. We think; therefore we are.

We hear of churches, not Kenya, in Durban gripped by fear: fear of being misunderstood, fear of being mocked, fear of being murdered, sadly.
We hear of churches ambitious for cultural relevance—cool—saying things like, “We need to be like them in order to reach them.”
We hear of churches who are distracted—oh, distraction – with everything under the sun, busy, flourishing in that sense, not contrary to what my brother said earlier, but busy with everything good under the sun except the gospel of Jesus Christ.

At this juncture of this conference, it should be no surprise to everyone in the room that abandoning the gospel will weaken the church. Can I get an amen? Amen. Is that something new to you? You’ve been here for a while. You’ve been coming. That should be no surprise to you.

And yet, and yet, there are brothers and sisters here who are part of church families who are abandoning the gospel, who are not stating the gospel, who are not ambitious for the gospel.

It’s kind of like putting—I don’t know if you have them here; we have them in my city, in Umhlanga by the beach, where Ken and his wife were, where Aleta was with us. Do you remember the views, brother? Yes. Come back. We need you.
And there are these electric cars. It’s kind of like taking gas and putting it into an electric vehicle. It makes no sense. It doesn’t connect. When a church abandons the gospel truth, it may look impressive from the outside. Don’t be fooled by looks. You should not be fooled by looks. But on the inside, it’s going nowhere, according to the Lord Jesus Christ.

The question on the table is very simple, and the organizers have given us this question, for which I’m grateful: How does the gospel yield missional ambition in us, the people of God? Did you get the question? How does the gospel yield, empower, energize, and strengthen missional ambition in the people of God?

And I think the authorized apostle Peter would say very simply—and if you’re taking notes, here’s what I’m driving at: Whose we are defines who we are, which then directs or drives what we do for Jesus’ mission. Are you with that? Whose we are—who we belong to—defines who we are as the people of God, which then drives, it drives, Jesus’ mission on the ground for us.
I think the apostle Peter is driving at this.

Peter is the genuine article. He’s the bona fide, authorized spokesperson for Jesus. I say this because, on the continent we’re in, there are many unauthorized people—not in Kenya, in Durban—many people who are self-proclaimed apostles, who think they can speak for Jesus: a new word, a fresh word, a revelation, and altar calls and money in the pocket. That’s what we have in Africa.

So here’s the sermon beginning. I’m applying the Word of God right now: stop listening to them. Is that clear? Stop listening to the prosperity gospel, friends, and help your brothers and sisters, family at church, to stop listening to it. It’s poison. I hope you come tomorrow and fill the room—even the garden outside tomorrow—as we think through the work that has been done in that statement about the prosperity gospel. Would you come again? Even if this is terrible, We belong to the exalted Trinity.come, come for Jesus.

Stop listening to them.

Listen to this apostle. You see it: the apostle Peter. You might think there are only two apostles in the Bible because we’ve been thinking about the apostle Paul and Peter. Just to be clear, there are more apostles in the Bible. Let’s listen to this one.

We Belong To The Exalted Trinity

So first: whose are we? Whose are we as the people of God? Well, Peter says we belong to the exalted Trinity.
Writing to Christians in the early 60s, scattered around what is today modern-day Turkey, at the onset we discover he’s not the primary author. Did you see that? Come back to chapter 1, verses 1 and 2. He’s not the primary author. Cast your eyes there:
“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood.” (1 Peter 1:1-2)

Do you see that? God the Father. The Holy Spirit—he’s second, by the way. Second person of the Trinity—and then third, the Son. Do you see that? Am I reading my Bible well? That’s what he says.

The reader, when they receive this letter, they are immediately drawn to whom? God. That’s the gospel. It starts with God. You need God—Father, Holy Spirit, and the Son.

Let me remind you of orthodoxy this day. There is one God. The Father is God. The Son is God. You can say it with me. The Holy Spirit is God. The Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are distinct. The Father is personal. The Son is personal. The Holy Spirit is personal. The Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are not separate. The Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit cohere. Well done, class. That’s an exercise in orthodoxy this morning. We’ve just recounted hundreds of years in a few seconds.

That’s what the theologians have used to term the Trinity: three in one, and one is three. Do you get it? Do you believe it? Is it orthodox? Here’s the problem: Satan believes that. He agrees with you. I didn’t think you’d be quiet. Satan is with you.

It’s possible, is it not, to assent to orthodoxy but not yield your heart—to let that orthodoxy lead you from orthodoxy to doxology—which is exactly what Peter is doing. Can you not see the Bible? Read the Bible with me.

Peter opens this way not for the purpose of orthodoxy, though no less, but primarily for the purpose of praise—praising God, the heart moved to declare his praise.

What did God the Father do? He chose you, believer—selected you, picked you. What did the Holy Spirit do? He sanctified you positionally in the people of God. There’s also ongoing sanctification, but here in particular it’s the positional sanctification we’re talking about.
What did the Son do? Well, I need to obey the Son, that’s one, verse 1 and 2. And two, the Son sprinkles his blood and covers us, as our brother mentioned a little bit earlier this morning,

Believer, here is your God—verses 1 and 2. Do you see him? Are you looking for the most important person in the room? You know people come to conferences to look for the most important person in the room, to be a disciple of the most important person in the room.
Peter the apostle would say, “Go no further than verses 1 and 2 in front of you.” Did you see it? God the Father, the Holy Spirit, and the Son. Three—one. One—quickly takes us back to three. That’s who he is.

They needed to hear this. There they are in holy unity for salvation on behalf of these believers. There they are in holy unity, holy magnificence. Look at the words on the page, verses 1 and 2. They saved you. They saved these exiles.

Imagine walking into a room, a stadium—the biggest stadium in Kenya. Please shout it out. What’s it called? Thank you very much. I can’t say that like you can’t say my name. It’s pitch black. It’s dark. It’s the African story. And then the janitor switches on the lights, and right bang in the middle of the stadium, on the grass, on the pitch, there’s the unveiling. That’s what Peter is doing: God—Father, Holy Spirit, and Son.

Can you see the weakness of that illustration?

God is not bound by stadiums. Isaiah chapter 6—the whole earth. His glory fills the whole earth. Do you see the weakness of that? He’s the exalted Trinity. Peter wants these exiles, who are not at home, to see God—God who is Father, Holy Spirit, and Son, the exalted Trinity.
He rolls back the curtain in verses 1 and 2, as it were, and unveils God—not simply so that you can agree that he is Trinity, but so that you can praise the living God from the heart, circumcised by the Holy Spirit, declaring the eternal praise.

Praise for what? Do you see it? Do you see Peter’s prayer? “May grace and peace be multiplied to you,” believers. These are words to every believer in this room: grace and peace multiplied.

Let me just show you verse 3—the grace and peace for regeneration. I’ve come alive. I was dead. You see it at verse 3: a new birth. The grace, verse 12, granted by the Holy Spirit, that when we hear the Gospel, you heard the gospel for the first time, what did it do? It changed us. It transformed our hearts and minds. May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

But Peter’s not done. The purposes of this exalted Trinity are worked out, as we see in chapter 2, they are worked out in Jesus, the living stone, the cornerstone of the building project of God—the spiritual house. That’s where the action is. And therefore, anyone who has come to Jesus is where the action is. Do you get that?

I want you to see this for yourself. Chapter 2, verse 4:

“As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves, like living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:4)
If you have come to Jesus, you are part of the building project God is doing in the world.

Africans, let’s be careful of this cultural limitation. It’s not just in Africa; it’s the globe. I’ve been talking to a Scottish brother this week. He counts, although he doesn’t look like you and me. I spoke to an American brother. He doesn’t quite look like me, but he counts as well. He’s part of this. The temple God is building is global, right? Universal. That’s what Jesus is doing.

This comes from Isaiah chapter 28, Psalm 118, and Isaiah chapter 8, if you’re taking notes. This speaks of Jesus as the great stone, the King of the kingdom of God, whose building, who is set in place through his death, rejection, and then, as we heard this morning, his resurrection on the third day. He’s setting up a kingdom. He’s building little stones called Sinenhlahala Majola. Can you say it? Little stones called Ken Mbugua. Little stones called John Musyimi. You put your name in there. That’s what Jesus is doing. He’s building.

So if you’re a believer in Christ, I want to encourage you to behold your God. That’s where missional ambition starts, friends. There will be no missional ambition in you if you don’t know whose you are. In fact, you could argue that the churches struggling to proclaim the gospel are precisely because those who have forgotten whose they are—belonging to Father, Holy Spirit, and Son.

As we were descending into Nairobi International Airport, it was quite interesting. The pilot said, “Ladies and gentlemen, we’re about to descend,” and we were just about to kiss the clouds. Then he said, “If you just glance to your right, you’ll see there’s a peak over the clouds. That, ladies and gentlemen, is Mount Kilimanjaro.”

The moment he said it, I responded like an altar call. I said, “Praise the Lord,” out loud in the airplane. My neighbor was reading the paper. He looked at me like, “That’s a bit strange.” But there is a monument of the hand of God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Do you see that? The one whose glory fills the earth. That’s who you are. That’s who you belong to. The God and Father, the Holy Spirit, and the Son who moved toward you, who missioned to you. He missioned to you to save you. You belong to him.

We are God’s holy people.

The building is incomplete. It’s kind of like the building behind me, which is irritating me as I speak, because I can hear the bang, bang, bang. The church is like that building next door. It’s incomplete. But there is a divine decree for a completion date in glory, as we heard this morning, when Jesus will perfect us. All the squabbles, all the troubles, all the injustices—Jesus will glorify the people of God.

Peter starts with God in his missional ambition. Therefore, you should start with God in your missional ambition. This is your God.

Chapter 3, verse 18 of Peter: “For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might…”—can you read it with me?—“…bring you to church?
Can you read it again, sister? “That he might bring you…” To what? To the greatest strategic project in the world—missions? Sign up here?

Where might he bring you to? God.

Who is God? Father, Holy Spirit, Peter says, and Son—that you might be brought into relationship with the living God, for whom nothing is too hard. A God who, in his kindness, elected you, sanctified you, and covered you with the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Well, if you belong to God, it makes sense, doesn’t it? It’s rational, isn’t it, that if you belong to him, he gets to decide who you are? In other words, we don’t make up our identity as God’s people. The world may make up their identity—“I think, therefore I am.” No, no, no. We listen to the one whose we are, right? We are God’s; therefore, he dictates or defines our identity.

Our Elevated Identity

And that’s the second thing I want to show you: our elevated identity. We’ve seen the exalted Trinity. By the way, I really don’t care if you like the word “Trinity” or not. That’s not a hill I’m going to die on—and I can’t die in Kenya; I need to go back to my family. Whether you use the word or not—yes, John Calvin told us—but do you acknowledge what’s there in the text? What’s there in the Word of God? He’s Father. He’s Holy Spirit. He’s Son. He’s distinct. He’s clear. He’s separate, yet one God. That’s who you’ve come to—God.

Secondly, our elevated identity. The gospel tells the remarkable story of who we are. Take a look. It’s like going through a museum. That’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to take a look at our identity—who God has made us to be.

Have a look at chapter 2, verse 9. “But you are…” Say it with me. What are the first words? “A chosen race.” In my Bible, chapter 2, verse 9: “But you are a chosen race.” (1 Peter 2:9) The sovereign God has selected you and me.

This comes from Isaiah 43:19–21. Let me read it for us: “Look, I am about to do something new,” says the Lord. “Even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert. Wild animals—jackals and ostriches—will honor me, because I will provide water in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people I formed for myself to declare my praise.”

Do you see that? Isaiah 43:19-25. God is going to start again with the people of Israel. The old Israel failed, and he is determined to raise up a new kind of people—a chosen race—a new kind to declare his praises. How? Well, he’s going to forgive their sins. Verse 25 of Isaiah 43: “I am the one who sweeps away your transgressions for my own sake and remembers your sins no more.”

Now watch this. Peter, when we come to 1 Peter chapter 2, he takes that language and applies it to whom? You’re too quiet. The church. He takes that language and wears it, just like you got dressed this morning. He puts it onto his bride, the church. This is who you are—a chosen race.

Not only that, you are a royal priesthood. Verse 9. Do you see that? This is Exodus 19: “Now if you will carefully listen to me and keep my covenant, you will be my own possession out of all the peoples, although the whole earth is mine. You will be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” These are the words you are to say to the Israelites.” (Exodus 19:5-6)

A royal priesthood means, very simply, highly esteemed servants of the King—the stone that was rejected, honored by God, and raised on the third day.

Why are you a royal priesthood? Do you see it? Chapter 2, verse 5: to offer sacrifices acceptable to God. What sacrifices are acceptable to God, dear friends? the praise of his excellencies in word and in deed. That’s the sacrifice we offer.

I wonder if you view God’s people this way. Just look at the person next to you and say, “You are royal.”

Do you understand how this elevates the people of God? We’ve been elevated—a royal priesthood.

Thirdly, a holy nation. Exodus 19 again. We are brought to a holy God, and that governs, dear friends, the way we view the world and the way we interact with the world, so that we won’t do things or say things that defile our identity in Christ, who has made us holy, who has made us his. And when we do wrong, we will come back to Jesus—chapter 2, verse 5—and claim the blood that sprinkled us clean, so that we do not do it again.

And lastly, we are a people for his possession. Let it be clear: God owns everything, but in a special way we are the people of God, where God has set his delight. Deuteronomy chapter 14. He delights in each and every one of his children.

I don’t know how you’re feeling this day. I don’t know how you’ve come to Proclaim this day. What’s got you low? What’s causing weariness in you? You are a possession of his own, treasured. That’s who you are. So listen to God, not yourself.

We ought to remind ourselves of our elevated identity. We ought to relate to one another this way. As the series says, “This is us.” This is us. Verse 9. Do you see it? This is us.

The gospel unveils our God-defined identity. You do not have the right to make it up. You get the privilege to ride the wave. This is who I am. I’m royal.

Now I know when you look at me, you don’t see royalty. In fact, what Pumlela didn’t tell you is that we are both Zulu—which means we are part of the greatest nation Africa has ever seen.

Now, before you accuse me of any pride, I’ve been watching a series called Shaka iLembe on the television about the greatest nation the world has ever seen. How pathetic.

But as I speak, I can see a number of people who are living stones within the temple of God right in front of me, in Kenya even!

Here’s God, who’s already worked, who’s gone beyond us. He’s been doing this for centuries. Friends, we mustn’t act like the gospel has come to us and we’ve discovered it—therefore, we’ve discovered gospel ministry. How clever and how wise we are. No. This has been happening. We’re part of the structure.

Do you know where the structure began? From the foundation of the earth he chose you, promised the Holy Spirit, and then Jesus sealed you by his blood. Would you bask with me at the glory of who God has made you and me to be? Bask. Enjoy your Saviour.
How did he do it? He elevated us. Do you see it? Verse 9: “out of darkness into his marvelous light.” We were enslaved to the passions of the flesh, with no power to resist. John says in chapter 3 that we loved evil. That’s why I couldn’t hear the gospel – I loved evil and was facing the judgment of God. No revelation from God, no hope of relationship and eternity with the living God.

But what did Jesus do? Verse 9—what does it say? He called. Do you remember when Jesus called Lazarus? “Lazarus, come out.” It’s the same, the same calling. It was effective. Resurrection power for dead people—people heading for the wrath of God. He called them from darkness to light.

But how? Verse 10. Do you see it? Do you see verse 10 of chapter 2? “Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Peter 2:10)

The backdrop here is Hosea, where God calls Hosea to marry Gomer, who was practically a whore. This is not for dramatic preaching effect. This is communicating the status of the people of God at that time. Whores! Jeremiah talks about them going to every tree and prostituting themselves, giving themselves to this god and that god. Whores!

And God told Hosea to name his daughter “No Mercy,” Lo-Ruhamah, and one of his sons “Not My People,” Lo-Ammi. And yet in chapter 2, in his tender mercy and in Hosea’s care for his promiscuous wife, God says, (Chapter 2, verse 3) “I will sow her in the land for myself, and I will have mercy on Lo-Ruhamah. I will say to Lo-Ammi, ‘You are my people,’ and he will say, ‘You are my God.’” (Hosea 2:3)

That’s an anticipation in the Old Testament—can you imagine?—of the gospel. In the Old Testament. A promise that Jesus, the living and precious stone, fulfilled as he was rejected, went to the cross, brought the merciless to himself, and then rose on the third day.
Here’s 1 Peter 2:24: “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.” (Chapter 2:24)

So that we could live under the joyful lordship of Jesus the cornerstone, drawing our lifeblood from him, living in him—so that if he is alive, we live too, and if he reigns, we will reign on the earth too. That’s the promise: direct access to God, completely alive to God.

And brothers and sisters, you did not do anything for this. You were called. It happened to you. There’s no place for superiority in the people of God. Grace was conferred upon you. You were chosen.

Your nationality—being an African—is not a license to be proud. It’s just who you are. It’s important. It’s your flavour in the world. But it’s not an excuse to act like you’re something when you’re nothing. Who made you who you are? Who called you to himself? God the Father, the Holy Spirit, and the Son.

So God’s people humbly accept their elevated position because he had outstanding mercy on us, unmatched mercy on us, magnificent mercy on us.

When these exiles that Peter was writing to first heard these words, I can imagine the Holy Spirit filled them with joy inexpressible. They wouldn’t be looking like you right now. He would have filled their hearts with a joy you cannot explain, because God had moved toward them.
When a person comes to faith in Christ, God changes their identity. You come to Jesus, you’re part of the structure, the family. You’re part of the kingdom. You’re part of the temple.

And all I’ve been saying to you is very simple: whose we are defines who we are, which then directs our role in Jesus’ mission.

Our Excellent Calling

Lastly, number three: our excellent calling.

Why is your church where it is? Why has God put the people you congregate with—to worship the Lord Jesus, to hear from him—where he has put you? Why are you in a rural area, in the townships? He’s put me in an urban city, Durban. What’s the purpose of it all? Why are you in Scotland? Why are you in America? Why do you congregate with people there?

Have a look at verse 9. Can we read it together? “So that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:9)

Again, you cut Peter and he bleeds Old Testament. The language comes from Isaiah 43, where Isaiah says, “Wild animals—jackals and ostriches—will honor me because I provide water in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people. The people I formed for myself will declare my praises.” (Isaiah 43:20)

We are designed for worship—the worship of the living God. That’s why John Piper has famously and helpfully said to us, “Missions exist because worship is lacking.”

So the gospel, which brings us to God, defines our identity and our life together as the community of God’s people. But then the same gospel moves, fuels, injects, and empowers life into God’s people in the world, so that we get into Kenya—to the ends of the earth—and we tell, we put the world on notice. We say to the world, “One greater than the world is where?” In the church, in a special way. One greater than the world is in the church in a special way.

The word proclaim, in the original when transliterated, literally means to “out-announce.” Out-announce—proclaim—the namesake of this conference. Out-announce. We speak up. We speak out the excellencies of his Highness who saved us. That’s what we do. This is our spiritual and acceptable sacrifice to God.

But is it just words, brothers and sisters? No. If you look at verses 11 and 12—which I won’t touch on; we’ve had a talk on holiness—our lives speak up. Our lives speak out the excellencies of a God who can change a sinner and move him toward holiness.
And as that great theologian Spider-Man said, “With great privilege comes great responsibility.”

We are a privileged people of God. Wow. I flew all the way from Durban, South Africa, to tell you: we are a privileged people of God—elevated in identity, designed for worship in word and deed.

We speak God’s excellency as seen in the gospel: Jesus, who came and wore clothing for dead people, became a man. How excellent.

Jesus, who for the joy set before him endured the cross and ransomed the ungodly to make atonement for them. How excellent, we say.

Jesus, who conquered the grave, kicking death behind him so that we might live because of him, as we heard this morning. How excellent.

Jesus, who having returned to the right hand of authority of his Father, has promised to be with us to the end of the age as we endeavor to make disciples. How excellent.

Jesus, who left us the promised Helper, the Holy Spirit, to sanctify us, to shape our words and our lives. How excellent.

Jesus, who promised to return for his weary children, his tired children, his hurting children, his downcast children, his bogged-down children—we say, how excellent.

We have a great boast. And you see, friends, when we truly grasp that great boast—what God has done for us in Christ—we can’t help it. It bubbles over, right?

Do you remember when you first became a Christian? When you first came to Jesus? Do you remember how they couldn’t keep you quiet? Do you remember? I think that’s by design—to proclaim the excellencies. In my experience, my unbelieving family heard about it. My unbelieving friends heard about it. My unbelieving enemies heard about it, because I couldn’t be kept quiet.

Do you see what I’m saying to you? How does missional ambition work? You see God, God defines your identity, and then you speak. Verse 9—do you see it? “Proclaim his excellencies.” You can’t help it. No one has to tell you.

This is not a crash course in cultism. “Knock, knock. Can we tell you about Jesus Christ? We’ve got these tracts we want to give to you.” No, we’re not brainwashed. I had a message. It wasn’t perfect, as brother Ken said about me, but I spoke Jesus. I exclaimed Jesus to people, and lo and behold, God has got me here in Kenya speaking about Jesus. We get to talk about his excellency.

Here’s John Newton:
“Our pleasure and our duty,
Though opposite before;
Since we have seen his beauty, (I think Peter would say, “Since we have come to Jesus”)
Are now joined to part no more.
It is our highest pleasure,
No less than duty’s call,
to love him beyond measure and,
Serve (as a royal priesthood,) him with our all.”

Our speaking of his excellencies.

There’s a place where John sees the royal throne, and he is moved to declare praise.
Here’s Revelation 5:8: “When he took the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song.”
What did they say? “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slaughtered on the cross and purchased for God persons from every tribe…”

Kikuyu – is that right? Kiwi – sorry! Forgive me. I’m in an urban context. I can’t help it. Child of my context. Zulu. Scottish, Scottish, yeah right? Scottish.

“..to proclaim to purchase a people for God from every tribe, language and nation.”

That’s a great summary of the whole storyline of the Bible—God’s mission to purchase a people for God through Jesus’ sacrifice. That’s the Bible.

But how did it happen? Well, ordinary believers were so selected by the Father, so sanctified by the Holy Spirit, so sprinkled by the blood of Jesus, that they couldn’t help but see and savor God. And having seen and savored God, let that God define who they are—part of the structure, part of the building project that’s been going on long before you and I were here.

And then they started proclaiming his excellencies.

There’s a very curious phrase in the book of Acts where Luke says, “The word of God spread.” Do you remember? That phrase keeps coming up in Acts. “And the word of God spread”—as if the word of God is this character, it’s this person. Of course it is; it reflects the living God.
How did the word of God spread? As the apostolic band proclaimed his excellencies—and ordinary believers.

Listen to Acts chapter 11: “Now those who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, spreading the word only among Jews. Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus Christ.” And guess what happened? “The Lord’s hand was with them.” (Acts 11:19-21)

Ah—Matthew 28, I can hear you! “Lo and behold, I am with you.” In what project? Making disciples. Not your thing. Not our Anglican thing. God’s thing.

Yeah. But his thing—his project.

Practical Implications

So let’s ground this. Let’s land the plane. Okay? Descend. We’re coming into Kenya International Airport. Let’s descend.

There’s a massive implication here: we need to root our identity as God’s people not in our ethnicity, not in tribalism, not in our race—however we think about that—but as the people of God, the temple. That’s how we need to view each other. Brother Chopo alluded to this.

We see the church—whether big in size or small in size, big in finances or small in finances—we see them as the people of God, the temple stones being built together by the Cornerstone. That’s how we view each other, brothers and sisters.

There are thousands of applications and implications—I just don’t have time for them. You look like you need lunch.
God took the initiative and moved toward you and me. We take the initiative and move toward others and view them the way God views them: his building project.

So practically, we gather with them. We enjoy the gathering. We sing his praises. We sit under the word of the Stone. We commit—in this age of non-committalism—we commit to a local congregation so that we might be held accountable, encouraged, and have people walking alongside us. That’s what we do. We root ourselves—not because it’s a great idea to do that, but because God defines that for us.

It also means a non–gospel-speaking local church is out of step with who they are. A non–gospel-speaking local church is out of step with who they are. A non–gospel-speaking local church has forgotten the God who defines their identity. A flourishing church will be speaking the gospel—of his praise, of his grace.

So I wonder: how have your prayers gone this week? Have you been praying for your pastor this week—the person who will deliver the word to you on Sunday, that he would speak the gospel? Pray for him. Make it your boast to gather and hear that good old story, the gospel. For as Paul tells us in Epistle to the Romans, “it is the power of God for salvation to all who believe, first for the Jew and then for the Gentile.” (Romans 1:16)

It also means, very practically, help your fellow members be ready to give, as Peter says, a reason for the hope they have by setting Christ apart as Lord in their hearts. I think that’s chapter 4.

Our churches should be grounds where we help our brothers and sisters, where we encourage one another to be ready to give a reason for the hope we have—as we go to the office, as we go to the farmlands, wherever we go—to proclaim the excellencies of him who called us.
Now, my brother preached the rest of the sermon a little earlier, but on gospel partnerships—we’ve got Liam, my brother from Scotland. He works with Pillar. He gave an excellent talk for us speakers on how to think through gospel partnerships within our local congregations. Do chat to him.

Brother, just wave. He’s the white guy with the white hair—that’s not an insult; I’m just locating him. He has some wonderful things to say.

Brothers and sisters, let us learn to delight in hearing the good old story. Does the gospel make you delight in God? Rejoice in God? Is there anything better than hearing about the old, old rugged cross? Will you cherish the old rugged cross till your trophies at last you lay down? Will you cling to the old rugged cross and exchange it someday for a crown?

May God give you gospel antennae, a gospel sense, so that you delight in it, glory in it, and proclaim the praises of the living God.
I got up to say this: whose we are defines who we are, which then drives, energizes, and empowers our role in Jesus’ mission.

Come To Christ

I must close—lest I disqualify myself. I must close with this.

When I flew here, I took two flights: Durban to Johannesburg, Johannesburg to Nairobi. When I arrived in Johannesburg, it was all ready, the organization was done. I was a happy man. I got to the gate, Gate 16, and there was a lovely lady with some African attitude. She started saying to me, “Can I have your passport and boarding pass?” I produced everything she asked for.
Then she said to me, “Sir, I’m sorry—you’re not going to fly.”
I said, “Why?”
“You don’t have your yellow fever card.”
Ah. I started dreaming about all your faces. Ah! I can’t go? I said, “Is there anything you can do? Can you check my passport?” Normally I put my yellow card in my passport and leave it there.

And lo and behold, she was absolutely right. It wasn’t there. It was not there at all. It was back home—six hours’ drive or one hour’s flight away. And at home, my wife was at work. I couldn’t even call my son—he doesn’t have a cellphone. He’s three years old.

So let me tell you, so l I tried to beg. Then the lady in the plane, the management of the plane, started calling the gate to say: “What’s the holdup? Let these people in—we need to go, we need to get to Kenya.”

That’s how they are. Attitude. They’re South Africans, guys. Okay?

And then, eventually she called and said, “No, It’s fine because he’s a South African citizen, it’s absolutely fine, he can fly to Kenya.”
I was not alone. There were two other South Africans and one other non–South African. And I remember feeling so bad—not for myself, but when the news came through that non South African; all the money he had spent—and he couldn’t fly to Kenya. He missed business, perhaps or family.

I say that to say, brothers and sisters: if you haven’t come to Christ, today is a wonderful day to get a citizenship—to belong to the temple, to belong to the Stone. Today is a great day for you to say, “I’m laying my defenses down. I’m coming to your throne. I submit to you as Lord and Savior of my life. And be lead by you, part of your building project, so that I may proclaim your praises.”

It’s a wonderful day to do that. Say to the Lord, “I’m sorry. Would you forgive me and accept me on the basis of what Jesus has done?”
Would you bow with me as we pray?

“O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth. Let every people, tribe, and language proclaim its boundless worth. Out of the mouths of little ones you have established praise, that you may silence the enemy and swiftly end his days.” (Psalm 8

Heavenly Father, we pray that we would know whose we are and therefore who we are—and that this would drive our proclaiming of your excellencies in word and deed, particularly in word, as we take the gospel to our congregations, to our communities, and perhaps across the globe if you would grant this to us. We thank you for the food you have provided. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.”