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You Were Made For A Mission Psalm 87
The fifth and final purpose—you were made for a mission. How are we doing with this purpose? If you had to guess, which country do you think sends out the most missionaries? If you guessed the U.S., you are correct. But which country would be second behind us? Did you guess South Korea? S. Korea is second only to the U.S. in total numbers of missionaries sent out, but if you go by percentage of the population, then S. Korea is number one in the world. How could such a small country be engaged in such an amazing missionary endeavor? The country itself is no larger than the State of Wisconsin with 45 million people. In terms of total penetration of the gospel, it is probably the single most effective mission field ever. As of 1960 there were only one million believers in S. Korea but today about 15 million people in S. Korea are born-again believers. Protestant missionaries did not even enter Korea until 1884. Christianity has been the foundation of our country ever since settlers arrived 400 years ago. Compared to the U.S., Korea’s Christian history has been very brief. But despite their late start, the decades-long revival has been astounding. The capital city of Seoul boasts the largest church in the world with 700,000 members. Out of the 11 largest churches in the entire world, ten of those are right in Seoul. And out of the 50 largest churches in the world, 23 are in S. Korea. How does this incredible growth compare to the U.S.? In the past 40 years when the S. Korean church grew from 1 million to 15 million, church attendance in the U.S. has dropped from 47% to 42%. We don’t have any churches the size of those in Seoul, but we do have some large churches. As a matter of fact, perhaps the largest church in the U.S. is located in Houston TX with attendance of almost 30,000. The problem is that they seem to be growing for all the wrong reasons. The vision statement for the church is: Discover the champion in you! Pretty scary. Some people say the church in the U.S. is doomed and dying. I don’t agree. There are many indications of a healthy church in our country. However, compared to S. Korea we look pretty feeble. How do you think Rick Warren’s 5th purpose would sound in S. Korea? “Hey you Korean Christians, did you know you were made for a mission?” “Tell me something I don’t know!” would be their reply. So why has the S. Korean church seen such great success when we are hardly maintaining the status quo? What are we missing? If we were committed as they could we see fantastic numbers of people coming to Christ? Could there be another Great Awakening or massive revival in our country—or are we destined to merely survive instead of thrive? This morning I want to look for answers to these questions in a Psalm that may not be very familiar to many of you. Please turn to Psalm 87. This is a missions Psalm which will show that we serve a missionary God. 1 He has set his foundation on the holy mountain; 2 the Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. 3 Glorious things are said of you, O city of God: Selah 4 “I will record Rahab and Babylon among those who acknowledge me— Philistia too, and Tyre, along with Cush— and will say, ‘This one was born in Zion.’” 5 Indeed, of Zion it will be said, “This one and that one were born in her, and the Most High himself will establish her.” 6 The Lord will write in the register of the peoples: “This one was born in Zion.” Selah 7 As they make music they will sing, “All my fountains are in you.”
A vision of Heaven. Verse two says, the Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. In the Old Testament, Zion is another name for the city of Jerusalem. But in the OT and especially the new, Zion also represents the new Jerusalem, which is Heaven. So why does the Lord love Zion most of all? Because he has chosen it as his eternal home. Heaven is so great simply because God is so great. The greatness of Zion is due to the presence of God. So in these first three verses of this Psalm we have a vision of the glorious heaven.
This is the first reason why this is a missions psalm—it gives us a vision of Heaven. Many churches today no longer preach on hell. I think this is a terrible mistake. The reality of everlasting punishment in hell is a necessary part of the gospel message. But if it a mistake to leave hell out of our preaching, it is an equal mistake to leave out Heaven. For those who trust in Christ, Heaven is our true home, therefore we should greatly desire to go there. But many Christians’ only vision of Heaven is one where we sit on clouds and play boring harp music all day. Unless your passion is harp music, that is not a very attractive vision of Heaven.
As I said before, the best thing about Heaven is the presence of God. Jesus promised us that he would never leave us or forsake us. We have that promise of the spiritual presence of Jesus at all times. But in Heaven we will be in the physical presence of Christ. The Savior will embrace us in the most wonderful, loving bear hug you have ever had. When children are tired or sick the only thing they want to do is to have their mom or dad’s arms wrapped around them in warmth and security. When you meet Jesus that is the kind of embrace you will receive from him. Believers and non-believers alike need to have the most beautiful vision of Heaven possible.
Another misconception about Heaven is that it will be somewhat ethereal. This image of floating in the clouds gives us the mistaken impression that Heaven isn’t a real, physical place. But that is completely wrong—Heaven, the gates of Zion, will be a real, physical creation that will be, if you can imagine this, even more real than this created realm. The book of Hebrews teaches us that the original Temple including the Most Holy Place where God dwelt on the ark of the covenant, was just a shadow of the real temple in Heaven. I am convinced this is true of all of creation. I hope that you are an admirer of the beauty of creation. Psalm 19 says, The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” But as beautiful as this creation is, it is still a mere shadow of the creation to come.
What is the most beautiful place you have ever been? For me it was a lake setting in Guatemala. Imagine that scene in your mind. The sun is bright, the breeze is cool, the colors are vibrant and alive. Now take that entire scene and imagine it as a mere shadow. It suddenly becomes dark and dull by comparison to the original. This is the way it will be in Heaven. The most beautiful place on earth will seem like a dark, lifeless shadow compared to the beauty awaiting us there. The beauty, colors, experiences and feelings will all be infinitely more intense than the greatest beauty you have ever seen. The Grand Canyon will become a ditch. The Rocky Mountains like a dirt mound. The vast oceans as a rain puddle. Vision of my rest…camping/sleeping
The inhabitants of Heaven. The next few verses of this psalm give us a glimpse into who will inhabit heaven with us. Look again at v. 4, “I will record Rahab and Babylon among those who acknowledge me— Philistia too, and Tyre, along with Cush— and will say, ‘This one was born in Zion.’” Five countries are listed as those who will acknowledge the Lord. Let’s make sure we understand the significance of these five. Rahab: This is another name for Egypt. Of course Egypt held God’s people is slavery for four hundred years. Over 50 times God refers to himself as the Lord who brought you out of Egypt. This was a defining moment in Israel’s history. Babylon: This was Israel’s chief enemy for two hundred years and the one’s who carried them into captivity for 70 years. Philistia: The Philistines were another enemy that plagued Israel for hundreds of years. Tyre: This city was a godless city to the north of Israel that was severely judged by God Cush: this is referring to Ethiopia, which from Israel’s perspective would be the farthest reaches of the known world.
If you were to read the Bible from cover to cover, these are the last five nations you would list as belonging to God. Followers of Yahweh from Babylon? Impossible. Egyptian idol worshippers who humble themselves before God? No way! These were all Israel’s chief enemies. They did everything in their power to destroy Israel: enslaved them, deported them, confiscated their property, persecuted them, tortured them, slaughtered them, burned their cities, destroyed their temple, raped their women and profaned their God. These people are not worshippers of the One True God. Yet here they are. God said that they were “among those who acknowledge me’ and of people from each nation it will be said, “this one was born in Zion”—or to use Jesus’ words, this one was “born again”.
You see—our God is a missionary God. He has promised that the gospel would not only be preached to every nation, but that representatives from every nation, tribe, people and language will walk through the gates of Zion. Do you know some people who you think could never come to Christ? Do you anyone who is so antagonistic to the message of the gospel that it seems impossible that they could ever repent and turn to God? We probably all know many people like this—you know why? Because we used to be one of them. Yet God has said of us: this one was born of Zion. On the day you surrendered to Jesus Christ, God recorded it in the registers and wrote: this one was born of Zion. God has determined that one day it will be said of even the most impossible people: this one was born—born again in Zion. This is what happened in S. Korea. God determined that the names of millions of Koreans would be written in the registers of Heaven. God carried out his plan through five missionaries who entered Korea in 1884. Most of us have heard of William Carey and Hudson Taylor but how many have heard the name Horace Allen? In September of 1884, Dr. Allen arrived in the Korean capital, thereby becoming the first Western missionary to enter Korea. Soon after Dr. Allen arrived in Korea, a significant event took place which would have a profound impact on the missionary work in Korea. There was an uprising which left a member of the Korean royal family, Prince Min near death when he was brutally attacked. Dr. Allen was called in when Min was near death and his meticulous care over three months saved the prince' s life. God sovereignly used this incident to give the missionaries unprecedented influence. Over the next 75 years Korea experienced 35 brutal years of Japanese occupation and 3 years of civil war. Despite their persecution and suffering, those first converts grew from zero to one million. Pastor Ki Sung Kim, who pastors the Methodist church in town, told me that Korean Christians believe that the prayers of persecuted Christians not only fueled the growth of the church during the persecution, but was the foundation for revival which saw the church grow to 15 million. This remarkable work of God can be traced back to the work of 5 people who went to Korea as missionaries only 130 years ago. Five people plus the Holy Spirit dramatically changed the culture of S. Korea and added huge numbers to the inhabitants of Heaven. So why is the church in the U.S. plateaued and declining? What prevents us from being a S. Korea type church? What prevents us from being like the church in China where it is estimated that there is a new convert every 4 seconds? What could five people plus the Holy Spirit do in Viroqua? Listen to what God said to the apostle Paul when he was in the city of Corinth. “For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.” (Acts 18:10) Is God done with Viroqua—are there no more converts to be made? Or do you believe that God has “many people in this city”? Think of all the unbelievers in your life. How many of them would God want to say, “This one was born in Zion”?
So what holds us back from revival? I asked Pastor Ki Sung Kim why he thought the U.S. has not seen revival like S. Korea. He gave me three reasons, which, if we had time, could be completely backed up with Scripture. First, American Christians are too individualistic. This means that we think and act like we really don’t need one another. Because we are such a prosperous and wealthy nation, this is true in many ways. We don’t need each other to get by. Yes, in times of crisis we find that we need to depend on one another, but the majority of the time the prevailing thought is “every man for himself”.
Second, Pastor Kim said we are not good givers compared to the Korean church. He told me of one church of 200 people who had a budget of $600,000. He said these were not rich people, but that they all had ordinary jobs. For our church of 100, that would equal an annual budget of $300,000, compared to our current budget of $85,000. That would mean that a family of five would be giving $15,000 per year. Before you get heaped up with guilt, understand that I certainly do not give to that level and I have never heard of another church that does. But certainly you can see what might happen if all churches inched closer to that goal. Two things would happen. First there would be millions if not billions more dollars released for ministry in this nation. Second, you can’t give away that much money without millions of hearts being changed. Question, which comes first—the act of giving more or the desire to give more? I think most often the desire to give comes after the act of giving. We may give with a bit of fear and trembling, but when we see how wonderful giving can be, then our hearts are increased with the desire to give.
Finally Pastor Kim said the Korean Christians are a people of prayer. It has been clearly shown that in every major revival and movement of God that prayer has been the common denominator. All revivals have been preceded and fueled by prayer.
Do you want more mission? Then what we need is more prayer, more giving, more interdependence. I would add to this list: more repentance, more obedience, more passion for God’s glory. Does God need these things in order to complete his mission? Jesus said this in Matthew 24, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” God is the all-powerful King of the universe. Do not think that he must have your extra money and prayers to accomplish his purposes. He can do it without you and I—but he wants our money and prayers and passion and obedience because he knows this is what we need. These things are good for us, and as we grow, God uses them to make his Kingdom grow.
The music of Heaven. A few places in Scripture give us a rare glimpse into the music of Heaven. Verse 7 of this Psalm gives us such a glimpse. 7 As they make music they will sing, “All my fountains are in you.” My source is in you, Lord. My life is in you, Lord. It acknowledges that I was born in Zion and that God was the mover of my heart. If you have surrendered your life to Christ, God says of you, “This one was born in Zion and I am your source of life.” God took five Zion-born people under the power of the Holy Spirit and forever changed S. Korea and the number of singers in Heaven. What can God do with five people in Viroqua empowered by the Holy Spirit? Will you be one of these?
Rich Maurer March 28, 2004 |