The Heart of God: To Be Known and Worshipped Among All Nations

0:00 And that's not the end of the story. I mean, he came, I mean, he just, he's changed everything in our church. I mean, he came in and says, man, this is great. You know, you have this vision statement to give everyone in your city an accurate picture of God, but, you know, the world's bigger than Simi Valley. and he goes nothing in your mission statement even includes the rest of the world the gospel you know getting to the ends of the earth and i was like yeah you're totally right i was just so focused on my one city and um it really opened my eyes to so much and we've had talks over the years of just how can i be most effective um at that that year when i saw him at the camp i i told him i I'm shocked right now. Like, I'm ready, you know?

0:53 Can I go? And he's like, I don't know. I don't think you're called to go. And here I am, ready to surrender and going, man, I'm good. I can go. I don't even want to be in America. Like, let's go. Let's do this. He goes, I think you're too old. And that was like 15, 20 years ago. and what's insane is just a few minutes ago i'm going frat gosh i'm restless like where he goes you're still too old obviously you know but i'm just like no that can't be i i want because and in fact uh six seven years ago some of you guys know this story i mean my family and i packed up and and i just said i can't do this anymore like there's such a there's and and and that was a weird time in my life that's right when social media was on the rise and everyone's got their opinion saying this and that and and everyone just going oh you're crazy you're this you're that and i just thought you know maybe i am maybe i just don't belong here in america you know because this isn't the way Christians think in other parts of the world. It's really unique to us.

2:13 So I just thought maybe I don't belong. And so we just packed up and we sold everything. I said, we're just going to Asia. I'm sure I just belong there. I've heard of the underground church. You know, let's just go. We'll go to India. We'll go to China. We'll go to Thailand. And we're just going to stop somewhere and live there. I mean, that was the decision we made as my wife was pregnant with our fifth kid and and it was it was great we just took the kids and my wife was sick the whole time throwing up in every country um and it was that was the best season of our lives but my whole family wanted to stay in thailand in this orphanage and and we loved it as a family We have never been happier as a family than when we were there in Thailand. But here was my struggle.

3:08 I'm like, what are we accomplishing? Like, it feels great for us, but really I'm building a playground, which was so fun. I've never built a playground, you know, for all these orphan kids, and I got to work with my hands, and we're trying to find pipes and this and that. We built this killer zip line from this giant tree. and I mean it was just it was it was great but at the end of the day I go I could have paid someone a hundred bucks to do this I don't speak Thai you know my Mandarin is ridiculous you know when I went to China and India I don't speak it I don't know what they speak but I don't speak it and you just realize man I if I'm really thinking about the kingdom like where am i going to be effective and that's why i'm so grateful for this because i think there's a lot of people not a lot but there are groups of people that are like me i'm like a people group and uh you know where you're here and and you're in america and you're reading the scripture and you're so frustrated because there's such a gap between this and what you're experiencing and so you just feel like you're going to go nuts because your flesh wants to just gravitate towards saving your life anyways and then everyone in the church is telling you to save your life and give you all these reasons why it's okay and why we need more people right here but everything you're reading you're going there are things going on around the world I've got to get out of here and I think there are people who think that way feel that way and they may go out like I did years ago and get out there and realize, okay, what do I do now?

5:02 And it feels good. It's like, oh, I got out of that fog, that American fog, that materialistic, you know, comfortable, nice Christian family feel. I got out of that. And that feels so good. It's almost like a drug just to get away. and it's like, oh, I escaped that. But then the second question is, okay, what do I do now? And how effective am I really? And now they need to hire a translator just so that I know what's going on. And now am I really contributing to the kingdom or am I taking away from it? And then you start thinking, man, if I go back home, I can actually at least send people. You know, for me and where I was and where I am now, I kind of feel stuck here. And I just think, man, you have this opportunity.

5:59 And I'm so grateful for this. So grateful for Radius and to be a part of it. And if I could just be one more voice, one of the few voices in your life, begging you to just stay on this track.

6:20 you know, I'm turning 50 this year, and, you know, you look back at life, and you see more and more of your friends dying, and, you know, any day you're going to wake up with some pain in your gut, and find out it's terminal, you know, it's just, it's just, that's just the way it goes, and you just start looking back, and go, man, did I miss it when I was younger, did I this, that, and, And who knows, at this point, I just want to be one more voice saying, do not save your life. You're going to lose it anyways, one way or another. And spend it. I am so grateful to be here to encourage you.

7:06 I was given this topic for my talk. the heart of our God is to be known and worshipped among all nations. The heart of our God is to be known and worshipped among all nations. I know that's not normally a title of a Francis Chan talk. It's usually like, just go somewhere.

7:34 Obviously, I didn't write that title. But I am grateful for it. And the text I'm going to use this morning is, as I just exegeted that title, the text that came to my mind as I prayed about it was Malachi 1.11, where God says this, For from the rising of the sun to its setting, my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name and a pure offering for my name will be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts. Love that verse. You know, God just saying from the rising of the sun to its, my name's going to be great. God's name is going to be great among the nations.

8:30 I love that promise. you know before I go further in this you know can we just take a moment to to humble ourselves before God I've been convicted about this lately where Lord I I have a real hard time speaking and being humble while I am speaking.

9:05 Yeah, I was filming something a few weeks ago, and I just cut it and said, you guys, I'm having a really hard time being in front of a camera and being humble at the same time. And so can we just cut this until I figure it out?

9:25 And in Isaiah 57, verse 15, it says, For thus says the one who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is holy, I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit. but just meditating on that when you read the scriptures you see these people do these amazing things and unbelievable things you know like like joseph and it says you know whatever he did succeeded why because God was with him God is with him that that's all that matters like if God is with me right now that that's got to be central like I can just get up here and and and this is what I've done so many times where I get up and I and I say the right things but I do it in the flesh and we've all done it and there's so many warnings in scripture about God opposing the proud by giving grace to the humble and but what i love about that that verse in isaiah he says this is the one who is high and lifted up he's the one who says this the one who listen to this race who inhabits eternity The one who inhabits eternity, what does that even mean?

11:05 I really don't think our minds can comprehend what that means. That there's a being in heaven who is high and lifted up and inhabits eternity. and he says, I dwell in a high and holy place.

11:31 I don't get where he dwells. I don't understand inhabiting eternity. like there's a being who's so different from us his existence is different from us we are it's beyond our understanding that's what he's transcendent he's beyond our thinking whatever i say about him that that one of the whatever i say about him today is going to be lesser than what he really is because i don't get him he's revealed some things about him and i'm getting this little portion of him but he's so far he dwells in a high and holy place inhabits eternity like that's where he dwells but then he says and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit that somehow the God who inhabits eternity, whose name is unspeakable, he would somehow also dwell with me if I'm of a lowly and contrite spirit.

12:50 Man, I just want that. What else do you want in life? And so I... I just want to, I guess I've never been, I've been preaching like 30 years, and I've never been this cautious.

13:22 You know, you look back in life and you realize, gosh, I said some really stupid things, things that belittled who God is. And it's not funny. It's embarrassing. I look back at things I did and taught and I'm embarrassed and not at everything but you know what I mean you weren't thinking about who he is and who you are and you just got up there and you just started talking you weren't of a contrite and lowly spirit and and you thought a lot about people and what they thought about you, and you cared about their opinions, more than you cared about his, and, you know, sometimes you just feel so much pressure from people. My son-in-law was sharing the gospel with some people in San Francisco the other day.

14:24 not like the down and outs but he was like in the financial district off on Barcadero and he I love this guy um and uh one of the people he's sharing with kind of listened and goes oh yeah I saw God the other week and you know which is a very San Francisco thing oh I'm spiritual I saw God I talked to God and so you know my natural inclination is to you know kind of appease the guy but that's not my son-in-law he just goes no you didn't and the guy's like no i i saw god last week and he goes you didn't he goes the god of the bible he goes yeah the god of the bible because you didn't and the guy's like who are you to tell me i didn't see god how do you know i didn't see god he goes because if you saw god your face would have melted off your skull you know he goes who do you think we're talking about here and just goes in and the guy just shut up and he just i'm like wow i love you you married my daughter like this it's just awesome you know but i think sometimes we forget who we're talking about and it's like gosh do we understand this and and how many times i've walked on a stage and just you get into it and you just forget wait someone is literally watching right now who inhabits eternity and it's true we couldn't look on his face right now and survive you don't look at god and live and every heartbeat is just man it's up to him there's someone like that that we can't even describe that we don't even get who's beyond our understanding.

16:24 And yet He says, somehow He'll dwell with us, those of us who are lowly, contrite in spirit. And as I was praying yesterday, take this, well, I'll just take it however you take it.

16:45 I'm not real charismatic, or whatever, but just a little phrase came into my head as I was praying even about what to speak on here and just my struggle with speaking lately. And this phrase came to my mind, whether it's of God or not, it's just speak less, tremble more. and you know whenever you think you might have gotten a thought from the Lord you test the spirits right and you just go okay is this biblical and Isaiah 66 2 this is the one to whom I will look he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word There it is again.

17:48 This is the one to whom I will look, he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word. And I just want to confess to you guys, I... I've been way too quick to speak. and often read the word of God to put together a message or to tell someone else what I learned, and I don't tremble that much at his word.

18:34 I don't just read the scriptures and sit there and go, wow, he literally said that. We live in a time where everyone is pretty quick to speak and teach. And I'm meeting very few people who tremble at His word. They just want to teach it better than the last guy. And I've certainly fallen into that trap. I just want to get out of it. Can we just pray? Father, would you just help us?

19:35 Please just pour out your mercy on us now. Help us to be aware of your presence. aware of who you are. Thank you for your forgiveness for all the times we were so careless.

20:13 And speaking of you, God, I feel so sick about the times when I just talk about you. like you're nothing God help us. Help us care about your heart. Because we just keep gravitating to ourselves and what we want. God help me to make the most of this time. Please guard my lips.

21:17 I'm saying anything inaccurate. or discouraging, belittling. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. The heart of our God is to be known and worshipped among the nations.

22:13 The heart of our God is to be known. I spent years as a Christian and as a pastor. I was thinking about this when I got this title. I thought, man, I spent years, I mean years, as a Christian and as a pastor without ever thinking about God's heart and what he wanted.

22:45 I mean, when I was a teenager and I... ask Jesus to come into my life, it's because I didn't want to go to hell. Right? That's a lot of our stories. But then I got right into sharing with all my friends at my high school. I mean, I, you know, I'm calling friends, telling them about the change in my life, sharing the gospel. My youth pastor used to pick me up in the church bus just to get all my friends to youth group. I mean, literally, the church bus. Me and my buddy Kenny, we brought 50 visitors one night. I mean, that was me. Why? I didn't want them to go to hell.

23:33 You know, as a junior in high school, I'm calling all the seniors I know in the yearbook, you know, just right down the line. Why? Why? Because I didn't want them to go to hell. And then I go into ministry. And I start a church. I start preaching. Because I'm thinking, man, this is amazing. I could, in 30 minutes, preach a message and see people pass from death to life. This is awesome. Start a church. Man, I want to save this city. I want everyone in this city to go to heaven. If it's possible.

24:14 And this is all good. I'm not saying, oh, that was so evil of me. No, that's good. That's all good stuff. It's just very incomplete. I didn't stop. Do you understand? I didn't want to go to hell. I didn't want my friends to go to hell. I didn't want my city to go to hell. That's fine, but when did I ever stop to think about the heart of God?

24:40 Everything was I, I, I. What does he really want? and sure, that's a part of it. That's why he came to save us, but there's just more to it. But all I'm saying is I didn't think, okay, what does he want? What does he want? What is the heart of God? In fact, I think the first time it really hit me was I was about to, it was probably 10 years into the church, and I'm getting ready to preach the book of Colossians because we just went verse by verse through books of the Bible, and I get to Colossians 1.1 and it talks about Paul being an apostle you know by the will of God and I remember reading that phrase the will of God I'm studying it and it it was just like basically what God wants so God wanted Paul to be an apostle that was God's desire that that was his you know and then I start thinking gosh God's will we kind of throw that around that's another Christian term that we throw oh I don't know God's will I don't know about God's will on this and and i never really thought about even that phrase god's will like he has desires like i have desires like i mean obviously different but he he wants certain things and i thought gosh what does god want he wanted this of paul what does he want what does he literally want of me like if god had complete control of this body where would he want it to go what would he want it to say like what's his will what's his desires created by him and for him so if i if if up to him okay god here's this body here's this this voice what do you want it where do you want it to go what do you want it to say what would he tell me Thank you.

26:31 and as I started thinking about the will of God, I just got scared. I thought, God, I don't know if I really want to know your will. I'm kind of afraid to know your will. I kind of like controlling my life, and then maybe occasionally being open to your will momentarily, but just to really know what you want, and I just started doing this tailspin. I started asking my friends. I'm like, hey, let me ask you something. Like, do you really want to know the will of God? And I remember this one friend, Chris, was just very honest. He goes, no way.

27:19 I go, exactly, because you're afraid of that. You want to come to the end of your life and go, well, I didn't know that's what you wanted, right? He goes, yeah, I kind of don't want to know because I'm probably being really disobedient right now. And I just got up that Sunday as I was going to preach. I go, you guys, I can't be your pastor right now. I can't. I just realized I'm afraid of the will of God. I don't want to know his will for my life. And this isn't about being a pastor. It's about being a Christian. and I said, I'm just going to take off, and I said, I don't know if I'm coming back, but I can't be a pastor that doesn't want the will of God and what he desires, because then I'm just leading a group of people like that, and I ended up being gone for two, three months, I think like three months, and coming back, and okay, okay, I'm good, you know, I got this like I'm okay I do want to know the heart of God I do want to know the will of God I mean it's just crazy that I I think I went that whole time probably 20 years not thinking about the heart of God and the will of the Lord just kind of went with the flow and for years did what I wanted and what people expected of me and part of it is like I think of some of you I'm like some of you I think in this room there are probably a lot of doers that are so frustrated with people that sit around and talk and think and let's have a meeting and think together some more let's have a meeting to talk about what we've discovered and talk and talk and talk and talk and talk some more and you get so frustrated it's like i'm just gonna go do something and so you just go and you just start doing things and which please don't stop that i'm just saying as we're doing as we're

29:26 running as we're moving let's think along the way and and go okay i'm gonna move i mean you can you can do a lot of things while you think you can be running a marathon and thinking at the same time you don't have to be sitting at a coffee shop talking to another christian like you can be doing stuff and and thinking it through and and i just never took the time to think deeply about the heart of God. And I think that will be the weakness for some of us who are doers. And I'm begging you, please don't stop doing. Don't even slow down to think. Just keep moving and think while you're moving.

30:08 Anyways, back to the topic and the passage. Malachi 1. I mean, the truth is, is that passage in Malachi, the context of it is people who were doing things, but not really thinking about him. Like I can be preaching right now and doing it, not really even being aware of his heart and what he wants me to say and how he wants me to say it. That doesn't mean I stop preaching. It's just as you're preaching, really be thinking about these things. I mean, the context of this is Malachi 1.6, where he says a son honors his father, a servant his master. If I'm a father, where's my honor? If I'm a master, where's my fear, says the Lord of hosts to you, O priest who despise my name.

31:03 He goes, look, a son honors his father and a servant his master. He goes, you guys are calling me father, you're calling me master, but you're not honoring me like a son would and you're not following me like a servant would. and this is exactly what we do. We get to pray and go, Lord, Lord, would you do this for me? Lord, would you do that for me? Lord, will you help me with this? like we're using this word even, Master. Master, would you do this for me? Would you do that for me? And praise God, we have a God who's saying, no, bring your request to me. At the same time, let's just think about what we're saying. I mean, we say that word, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, all the time in our prayers.

31:58 and he's just stopping the priest, saying, if you're going to call me Lord, would you treat me like that? Because when a servant calls his master Lord, I mean, there's something to that. There's an action. There's a respect. There's an honor that comes along with that. He says, O priests who despise my name. But they say, Have we despised my name? By offering polluted food on my altar. You say, Have we polluted you? By saying that the Lord's table may be despised. When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? When you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor. Will he accept you or show you favor, says the Lord of hosts? and now entreat the favor of God that he may be gracious to us? With such a gift from your hand, will he show favor to any of you, says the Lord of hosts?

32:57 Oh, that there were one among you who would shut the doors that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain. I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts. I will accept no offering from your hand. And here's our verse. for from the rising of the sun to its setting, my name will be great among the nations. And in every place, incense will be offered to my name and a pure offering for my name will be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts.

33:33 But you profane it when you say that the Lord's table is polluted and its fruit that its food may be despised. but you say what a weariness this is and you snort at it says the lord of hosts you bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick and this you bring as your offering shall i accept that from your hand says the lord cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock and vows it and yet sacrifices to the lord what is blemished for i am a great king says the lord of hosts and my name will be feared among the nations. that's the context of this verse, is people that were still offering, they were bringing something to the altar, and God says, I wish someone would just shut the doors to that temple.

34:30 I wish someone would just shut it down, because you guys are doing this uselessly. You're doing it as a burden to you. You're saying this is a burden, and gosh, I'm always convinced because I'm thinking... am I looking at this as a burden? Oh man, I've got to study, I've got to figure out what this title even means, I've got to think this all through, am I looking at this as, oh, let me get this over with. I mean, there are times when I'm speaking and I'm dreading.

35:09 And it does become tiresome. Oh my God, I don't want that, I don't want to be that guy, I don't want to beat this. I don't want you to say, okay, Francis, if this is such a burden to you, then just shut up and go. Go surf. Go do this. Go do whatever you want to do. Man, I don't want to be that. and it's like you you could give him your best but you don't i mean that's the context of of a god who says look i'm a great god and my name will be great among the nations okay it's going to happen and and and and and i would actually add a word to this title the heart of our god is to be known and worshiped rightly or reverently among the nations like there's a it's not just saying, okay, we know Jesus, and oh, we sang some songs because there was a good band. That's not what we're talking about.

36:02 We're talking about the heart of this, where God sees Himself as His Almighty God and says, that's all you're going to give me? You know, just shut the doors. It's embarrassing. I'd rather you not worship me at all than you worship me like that. Because I'm a great God, and if you don't worship me, someone else will. And he's telling us, well, look, my name will be great among the nations. Understand, this is not a get-together saying, gosh, if you don't go, who will go? Okay? Someone's going to go. God's going to make sure that someone goes. And so if you've got better things to do, go do them.

36:49 Okay? God's going to send someone. and i'm reading this and it's just like you know what no this is going to happen this is the fulfillment he says no this it's gonna he goes i'm gonna make sure because i'm a great god and it's my heart to be worshipped rightly in every place that doesn't mean that there's gonna be millions of americans gathering at one place with all their hearts and going to the he goes i'm just saying there's going to be a pocket of people that that worship me in the right way and So if you're going to bring your half-hearted, three-legged sheep to me, you know what, just don't bother. You know, I'm going to, my name is great. I'm a great king. And I will be worshipped among the nations. when I was in Africa earlier this year,

37:45 gosh, it was the first time, was it this year or last year? No, I think it was this year. It was the first time I've ever been with an unreached people group watching, well, first time I've actually been in like a tribe. I mean, you know, we'd fly to Ethiopia, take a helicopter like two and a half hours, like, you know, Bora Kenyan. I mean, just nothing. And just naked people everywhere, you know, and just going in this mud hut, just miserable. And I see this white guy, you know, out there just speaking like he's just one of the people, you know. And he was a fireman and, you know, had studied the language and everything else, just gave everything. and just listening to him explaining Adam and Eve and going, whoa, this is crazy.

38:42 This is awesome. You know, just listening to this guy. His wife was giving birth. She had to go into the city. They had to fly her out. But he was just staying there. I mean, it was powerful. It was like, wow, he's doing it. He's doing it. and so then I fly back to the main city, and was talking to one of the leaders there, and I go, man, now we flew to this, this, this, and it's this group of people, and he goes, oh, you went to them? He goes, wow, you know, start telling me about this tribe, and some of the dangers, and this and that, but then he says, gosh, I know them, this is an Ethiopian man, he goes, I know them, and he goes because I went to one of the neighboring tribes. He goes I found this group and he says as I studied them, as I got to know them I realized there were only 20 to 25 families left that spoke this certain language.

39:51 And he goes and I found out, he goes it's not a dialect, it's an actual language. But he goes every time they'd go to get water they would get eaten by the crocodiles or they would die of unclean water and and he goes man i i i got back from you know and i i studied i realized wait a second he goes according to revelation 7 like god wants to be worshiped by every language group he goes this is a language group that's that's never that's never heard the gospel they've never heard about jesus And he goes, I just began to panic.

40:27 He goes, I got mosquitoes in that as fast as I could. I got a well dug as fast as I could to keep those 20 families alive who still spoke that language because God hasn't been worshipped in that language yet. And the way he was just describing just his urgency and his concern, you know, like I've got to just keep them alive first. I've got to make sure I keep them alive. If those 20 families die, God will never be worshipped in that language.

41:03 And I'm just listening to this man with this conviction. He wakes up every day thinking, what does he want? what's the desire of God? Hey God, I'm reading this and I'm going, gosh, it's a language group and they're not going to worship you in it and they're about to die. Okay, God, I've got to go do something. That's not the way I wake up. That's not the way I think. I wake up and I think about me. I don't wake up and think about the heart of God. and his desire to be known and worshipped rightly among the nations. And this man who's a medical doctor, whose wife is also a professor, man, they give their lives.

42:00 I mean, they just work tirelessly to somehow figure out how do we get to these people. And that's why I say, look, God's going to say, look, if we're too busy, if we've got better things to do, there'll be people like Dr. Hinek. His name will be great among the nation. So this is not, oh, God desperately needs you. Otherwise, it won't get done. You know, I read this passage, I go, okay, it's going to get done. And there's going to be people like my friend in Ethiopia, like that kid that's with that tribe, there are people that are going to get it done because his name will be great among the nations. And so if I'm going to, he's just telling these people, he's telling Israel, look, if you want to just keep giving me these half-hearted services, first of all, I don't even want it.

42:55 I'd rather you shut the doors, but don't feel like I need you. My name's going to be great among the nations. I don't need you to worship me. You know, if you're only going to worship me if a certain band shows up or a certain speaker, you know what, don't bother. my name is going to be great among the nations. And if you want to save your life and protect it, go for it. You know? But my name is going to be great among the nations.

43:23 And some of us are here in the States, and... it is just a battle because there's such a gravitational pull that appeals to our flesh that says just stay here it's okay you don't have to give it all you can live comfortably here and my wife and I we just have this talk every few months like okay did we get sucked back into it again We just had this talk last week. We got sucked in again. Okay, let's just go through the house. Let's just start getting rid of stuff. We've got to think eternally. I mean, this isn't... Two nights ago, we had a family of 10 living in an RV that came over for dinner. It's like, ah, what are we doing?

44:21 You know? They're just trying to live as missionally as they can while they're here. And that sense of urgency, we can just lose it. And so... Let me just share one last thought with you guys. as we're going out and doing what we do I'm telling you the last month I don't think I've repented this much in years God just keeps opening my eyes to how flippantly I've done certain things. you know we've been going through uh we've got a group of pastors in san francisco we do these house churches we've got like 15 churches now and 30 lay pastors and i train these pastors and we've been going through the attributes of god by tozer and and uh one of the sections on his transcendence just stopped me in my tracks and just made me realize how I just speak too quickly and reading about Augustine who was just like oh gosh I don't want to talk because I'm better off silent because whatever I say is not going to be good enough but someone has to talk you know when Tozer was saying the same thing it's like gosh at age 63 he goes gosh I'm more afraid to preach now but someone has to talk I've got to say something but I don't want to say anything because my silence would actually be more accurate and it's like gosh I don't think of God that way and then they start talking about the mysteries of God and and I start thinking about Ephesians 5 how many times I've preached that passage you know in in marriages and made it all about

46:28 marriage and yet at the end he says he goes this is a profound mystery this is a profound mystery he goes and i'm talking about christ and the church it's a profound mystery god i haven't treated it as this profound mystery i i tell people this is what church is this is what it should be this is it but and this is who god is this is what he's like and i'm leaving out the fact that there's there's mystery to it and in fact in um first corinthians 4 uh paul says let men regard us as servants of God and stewards of the mysteries of God. Stewards of the mysteries of God.

47:27 I mean, it's a mystery, Christ and the church. I mean, it's a mystery because it's not a mystery how a man and a woman become one flesh, but it's a mystery that Almighty God who dwells in unapproachable light, who, yes, Justin was right. If I looked at him, my face would burn off of my skull. And to say that somehow we are members of his body, and he nourishes and cherishes us like we do the members of our body. How is that possible? When's the last time you just meditated on that and dwelt on that? Like, how am I a member of your body? how do you let me become a member of your body that's like saying you know maybe i can stand on the sun maybe there's a way i get close enough to the sun and actually attach myself to the sun it's impossible we know that well what about the god who shines brighter than the sun what about the creator of that who dwells in an unapproachable light like do i really have i really sat down and just thought about the mystery of wait through christ somehow i become a member i'm a member and you're you're using that analogy and saying that you nourish and cherish me every bit as i care about a member of my own body when's the last time i just said and i go Thank you.

49:04 You've got to be kidding me. You've got to be kidding me. How is this possible? How can you and I be one? How is there this tremendous mystery of me being part of God? And now you're saying your heart is to be known among the nations and I'm connected as a part of your body. You're actually going to use me for that purpose. Like we don't meditate. and dwell on the mysteries.

49:37 And I've been convicted about that because I haven't led people to stare at the mystery. I haven't been a good steward of the mysteries of God. and that's what some of you have the incredible privilege of doing, is you get to be a steward of the mysteries of God, where you yourself stare at those mysteries long enough and go, I can't believe it. How? How can I be attached to him right now? a God I only understand this much of and I'm fascinated and overwhelmed by a God who inhabits eternity whatever that means and who dwells in this high and lofty place and yet will dwell with the lowly and contrite and make them a member of his body somehow the cross was that powerful that effective that it could take a body like this and join it to become a member of His.

50:58 Like the cross was that powerful. That is insanely good news. And now I can go tell people about this and help them to get it. People who were chosen before the foundation of the world. and make his name great among the nations. It's going to happen.

51:32 It's just the question is, do I have better things to do? And if so, he says, I'll send people. I'll do it. My name's going to be great among the nations. So if you've got better things to do, you do it. and for the rest of us knowing that's his heart knowing that's his plan knowing that's the future are we going to give our best toward it that's what Radius is about that's why I'm grateful to be a part of it and that's why I'm grateful that Brad just constantly reminds me of that and that's why I just want to be one more voice saying do not save your life it flies by. It just flies by. And you look back and you'll go, why? Why did I try to say this?

52:29 While others were out giving their best and making his name known and worshipped among the nations. Let me pray for us. Father. We believe you could do anything. You can literally raise the dead. I believe it. It's not beyond you that's just as easy to you to raise a dead body. Just as easy as curing a cold.

53:24 Your power is limitless. I forgot I'm asking. for the miracle of raising up people in this country, myself included, who live with a sense of urgency, with an eternal perspective, who wake up and think about your heart. God, because I still don't. God I just pray for that miracle please God we just get so caught up people in our own churches try to talk us out of it our own flesh tries to talk us out of it God by the power of your spirit Thank you.

54:27 Just bring our hearts into an alliance with yours, alignment with you. God, thank you so much for what you've started here.

54:48 God, I pray for the young people in this room that are planning on going. God, as they hear so many messages. so many people telling them to save their lives God I pray that they wouldn't listen they really would lose their lives to find it please Lord that we thank you for the promise that your name will be great among the nations.

55:25 God, we just want to be those people who see that as a worthy cause to give our lives to. So God help us to just kick out all the thoughts that come from the enemy. In Jesus' name.