Divine Sovereignty: The Fuel of Death-Defying Missions

This is the sixth post with my sermon notes from the Together for the Gospel Conference (T4G) that was held from April 10-12 in Louisville, KY. To see my other sermon notes from T4G, click here. More sermon notes to come.

Speaker: David Platt                                           Key text: Revelation 5:1-14

Listen to the full sermon: Audio || Video

A high view of God’s sovereignty fuels death-defying devotion to global missions. Local ministry and missions are totally necessary, but global missions are tragically neglected. Confidence in God’s sovereignty makes missions a privilege and responsibility for believers.     

Four Theological Truths

1. Our sovereign God holds the destiny of the world in his hand (v. 1)
   God creates, sustains, knows, and owns all things. God doesn’t need help from Christians in global missions; he chooses to use human begins to carry his gospel to the ends of the earth. God involves us in his mission not because he needs us but because he loves us.
2. The state of man before God apart from Christ is utterly hopeless (v. 2-4)
   The silence of heaven in the passage testifies to the sinfulness of men. The way many Christians talk about hell shows that they don’t take it seriously. There are over 2 billion people in the world today whose knowledge of God damns them. They know of God (Romans 1:18), but have rejected him and stand guilty before God. They are hopelessly lost without the gospel.
3. The slaughtered Lamb of God stands as the King over all (v. 5-7)
   God only shares the spotlight with himself. The consummation of God’s Kingdom comes through the crucifixion of God’s Son.
4. The atonement of Christ is gloriously, globally, and graciously particular (v. 8)
   God purposed to save you if you are a Christian. God hasn’t just purchased you, but also people from all nations. The mission of Christians isn’t just to make disciples, but to make disciples of all nations. Guilt doesn’t drive missions; God’s glory drives missions.

Four Implications

1. Pray with confidence for the spread of the gospel to all nations– God has sovereignly ordained the prayers of his people to motivate missions.
2. Give sacrificially– God has willed the American Church to be wealthy in this day in age in order to increase his worship in the world.
3. Go intentionally- Do missions with sharing the gospel as the main goal. Build everything else around that.
4. Die willingly– People can do nothing to Christians apart from what God allows them to do. Satan’s attempts to stop the gospel only advance it.

-Lawson
Learn It. Love It. Live It.

Notable Tweets

“A high view of God’s sovereignty fuels death-defying devotion to global missions.” -@plattdavid #T4G12

— Lawson Hembree (@LawsonHembree) April 12, 2012

“Guilt doesn’t drive missions. God’s glory drives missions.” -@plattdavid #T4G12

— Lawson Hembree (@LawsonHembree) April 12, 2012

“People can do nothing to us apart from what God allows them to do.” -@plattdavid #T4G12

— Lawson Hembree (@LawsonHembree) April 12, 2012