Shepherds Conference - 2025 - To the Ends of the Earth

Abner Chou

General Session 1: To the Ends of the Earth

Acts 1:8 “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

— Paul gathered the collection for the beleaguered saints in Jerusalem (1 Cor 16:1-4; 2 Cor 9-9; Rom 15:25-27)

— He gathered money from Macedonia and even Corinth

— This collection was used to help those undergoing famine in Israel

— This would have stunned the world at the time; How did this happen?

— Jews and Gentiles never get along; like oil and water

— They have rules and regulations against each other

— They had rules, they built walls

— Now the greatest benefactor to the Jewish Christian is Gentiles?

— What would account for that? The Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ

— That is what is sufficient to transform the heart such that the ramifications reverberate around the earth

— When we engage in missions is that we testify that brothers and sisters around the earth are our brothers and sisters and we testify that there is a singular gospel to save every man and tribe

We need to review WHY we go

False reasons for why we go

— Guilt trip people so that they feel so bad that they give money

— Emotional manipulation - they pull out the pictures and you pull out your wallet

— False incentives that people give to engage in missions - bring people to church to get a pizza party! (like Tom’s church)

— Go on a Mission’s Trip: It’s a vacation with a spiritual emphasis

— Go on a Mission’s Trip: It’s an adventure with a theological twist

— Go on a Mission’s Trip: You might find a wife

— Many false motivations but none of them are theologically sound

— We have to recover why the bible says we go

— The phrase “to ends of the earth” is used in the OT exclusively with Messianic prophecy concerning

— The Reign of Christ

— His Redemption

— His Reward

— The apostles understood that because the phrase is still used in the NT with those same things

— Understood the same way

— Used with the same OT passages (Pss 22:27, 46:9, 48:10, 59:13, 65:5, 67:7; Is 45:22, 49:6, 52:10; Jer 10:13 )

Reason #1: Because of the greatness of Christ’s Redemption

Isaiah 49:6 “He says, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

— Is 49 is in context one of the suffering servant songs

— Is 42 introduces us to the servant

— Is 50 celebrates his righteousness for us

— Is 53 celebrates his suffering on our behalf

— Is 49 celebrates the success/victory of his salvation

— Is 7:14 tells us that Christ is exceptional

Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.”

— The phrase “one would conceive and give birth” is used exclusively when God would intervene in the life of a barren women

— God makes the impossible happen like

— Sarah (Gen 18:10-14, 21:1-3); God promised Abraham and Sarah would have a son, despite her old age

— Rebekah (Gen 25:21-26); Rebekah was unable to conceive and Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife

— Rachel (Gen 30:1-2, 22-24); Rachel was barren and envied her sister Leah. Rachel prayed and gave birth to Joseph

— Hanna (1 Sam 1:2-20); Hanna fervently prayed to God at the tabernacle and vowed to dedicate her child to the Lord and bore Samuel

— Samson’s Mother (Judges 13:2-24); Barren and an angel of the Lord appeared and told her she would bear a son he would be set apart as a Nazirite at birth; Samson became a mighty Judge of Israel

— God had to intervene and in so doing he designated that their offspring was significant

— Is 7 takes that phrase to a new level because it doesn’t say a barren women would conceive but rather a virgin women would bear a son

— With a barren women God makes the improbable happen

— With the virgin women God makes the impossible happen

— Jesus is not just one among many significant individuals in the plan of God

— Jesus is in a category all his own

— There is no one who has ever walked the earth that could ever match the Lord Jesus Christ

— It is proved by His birth

— He is exhaustive in his work (Is 9:6) and puts and end to darkness and death and the government is on his shoulders

— He is the end of all things (Is 11) He restores the branch of Jesse but also he restores the nations and creation (the lion and the lamb)

— There will be no more zoos which are the result of the fall

— There will be a day when all of creation will resolve around the son

— Why is His redemption so great?

— It is endorsed by God (Is 49:1,5) he was called by God in the womb

— Jeremiah was known in the womb (Jer 1:5)

— Paul was set apart in the womb (Gal 1:15)

— But none of them were ever called in the womb

— He made his name to be remembered

“From the body of my mother he made my name to be remembered” (Is 49:1 LSB)

— Friend of foe, will tremble forever at the name of Jesus Christ

— That is what the Father does for the Son

— And that kind of endorsement is unparalleled and no one has endorsement like the Lord Jesus Christ

— It is effective (49:2)

Isaiah 49:2 “He has made My mouth like a sharp sword, In the shadow of His hand He has concealed Me; And He has also made Me a select arrow, He has hidden Me in His quiver.”

— He overcomes everything his tongue is like a sharp sword

— God’s secret weapon who is used at the prime moment

— He is a select arrow and he is hidden in God’s quiver

— He is reserved for the fullness of time (Gal 4:4)

— When Christ came the world it was one way, when He left it was forever changed

— That is the effectiveness of the Lord Jesus Christ

— It is that He is exalted (49:3)

Isaiah 49:3 “He said to Me, “You are My Servant, Israel, In Whom I will show My glory.”

— There is a term for glory that overpowers all, His weightiness

—But this term for glory represents the majestic nature of his glory

— He makes things that are ugly, twisted and perverted beautiful — the wonder of his redemption and salvation

— It requires much exertion (49:4)

Isaiah 49:4 “But I said, “I have toiled in vain, I have spent My strength for nothing and vanity; Yet surely the justice due to Me is with the Lord, And My reward with My God.””

— Jesus labored in His humanity to the point where it seemed to ask the question - is it even worth it?

— He exerted everything on our behalf

— Salvation must be amazing because it required all that exertion

This begs the question:

— What do you give to someone who:

— is so exceptional

— is so exhaustive

— is the end of all things

— to his work that is so endorsed

— so effective

— so exalted

— required all of his exertion

Here is what you do: nothing short of the end of the earth

Isaiah 49:6 “He says, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

— He says that it is too small a thing

— God knew that to give the Messiah just Isreal would not do justice to who His Son is

— It was too small a thing

— That would not match the value of all that he accomplished and exerted

— God wants his gospel to go to the ends of the earth because of the worthiness of the Lord Jesus Christ

— The fundamental of missions has to be the worthiness and Glory of Christ

— Give them Christ:

— in his exceptionalism, make them convinced that there is no one in this world past or present that can match the Lord Jesus

— in his exhaustiveness, make our people understand that all history is predicated on his shoulders

— make them understand that He is the end of all things; all things will be focused around Him so we must focus on Him now

— by His endorsement by God because He is God Himself

— in His effectiveness, make them understand He is the secret weapon of God, the hinge and linchpin of all redemptive history

— in His exaltedness, that He is not only powerful but able to make all things beautiful

— in His exertion for us, crush our people with the reality that He was crushed for us

— Give them Christ until they can no longer contain themselves and they are so captured and all of their affections are bound to Him and they say, “Give me this world or I die”

— Our people don’t need to be manipulated or given cheap tricks

Reason #2: The Greatness of His Reign (Ps 72:8)

Psalm 72:8 “May he also rule from sea to sea And from the River to the ends of the earth.”

— This is the climax of all of David’s prayers

— What will it look like when the Messiah reigns ultimately

Psalm 72:1 “Give the king Your judgments, O God, And Your righteousness to the king’s son.”

— One day the Messiah will have a faithful reign

— Today we settle for a modicum of righteousness and justice in our society

— In that day the complete divine justice of God will reign

Psalm 72:2 “May he judge Your people with righteousness And Your afflicted with justice.”

— A day when the good guys always win

— A day will come when good will always triumph over evil

Psalm 72:3 “Let the mountains bring peace to the people, And the hills, in righteousness.”

— We have never seen this world as God originally intended

— We will see the world as God intended it — full or righteousness and peace

— That will be a fruitful reign of Christ

Psalm 72:4 “May he vindicate the afflicted of the people, Save the children of the needy And crush the oppressor.”

— People are what ruin the world

— But Christ will give justice to people and crush the wicked

Psalm 72:5 “Let them fear You while the sun endures, And as long as the moon, throughout all generations.”

— A fearsome reign

— The world will fear Christ

— Unceasing and constant

Psalm 72:6 “May he come down like rain upon the mown grass, Like showers that water the earth.”

— He wouldn’t be fearful because He is wrathful

— Instead, He will be the greatest blessing

— He will be rejuvenating and healing

Psalm 72:9 “Let the nomads of the desert bow before him, And his enemies lick the dust.”

— A reign of fulfillment

— Where have we heard about serpents licking dust? (Gen 3:15)

— This reign will fulfill all the promises of God

— This reign will overcome evil, sin and death

— This is the rule of the final Adam (72:8)

Psalm 72:8 “May he also rule from sea to sea And from the River to the ends of the earth.”

— He will have dominion, rule

— Dominion was originally used for Adam and now it is elusively used for the Messiah

— Balaam and his talking Donkey, Balaam says that star that rises from Jacob will have dominion (Numbers 24:17-19)

— And in the Messianic Psalm, the Lord says sit at my right hand and have dominion over your enemies (Ps 110:1-2)

— Here in this Messianic psalm the Lord has dominion — the kind that Adam had

— Adam ruled over the earth and this psalm says “he will rule from the River to the ends of the earth”

We go everywhere Christ Rules

— We declare Christ everywhere He rules

— His authority backs our mission and authorizes us to talk to people

— Who sets the topic of the discussion? The King

— We are simply announcing for the King and he sets the agenda

— The activity that the King has commissioned is not conversion but declaration

Reason #3: The Greatness of the Reward for Him (Ps 22)

Psalm 22:27 “All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, And all the families of the nations will worship before You.”

— This is a psalm of suffering of our Lord

— My God my God, why have you forsaken me (22:1)

— Total shame and isolation (22:11-13)

Psalm 22:14 “I am poured out like water, And all my bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; It is melted within me.”

— With that question why, Jesus expresses what no words can ever convey his suffering

— He expresses unparalleled agony and at the same time, questions what is the purpose and goal

— We often forget the second part of the psalm that answers this question

Psalm 22:22 “I will tell of Your name to my brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.”

— Interpretative tip #1: When you are executed you die

— Interpretative tip #2: When you are still talking, you are not dead!

— Jesus is executed but he’s still talking — this moment is looking at his resurrection

— Looking at the future (eschatological)

— The afflicted will eat and be satisfied (22:26)

—All those who go down to the dust will bow before him (22:29)

— All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD (22:27)

— Not just Israel surrounding the Lord, but people from every tongue and nation

— We are the answer to the question, “why have you forsaken me”

— We go because that is His redemption, His reward, His reign, His honor goes to the ends of the earth - so we go

Reason #4: The Results are Decided (Is 49; Ps 22; 72)

— The outcome has been decided

— We do not rest until Christ is proclaimed to the end of the earth

References

Chou, A. (2025, March 5). To the Ends of the Earth: The Glory of Christ and the Great Commission [Conference session]. General Session 1: To the Ends of the Earth, Shepherd’s Conference 2025, Grace Community Church. [Sermons]. https://www.gracechurch.org/sermons/23391