Every Tribe, Tongue, & Nation

Opening

Shalom aleichem (שלום עלכם)

-“Peace be with you” This is a Hebrew phrase spoken by Jesus himself

Or here is a blessing in Greek, the language of the New Testament - Χριστός ἐν μέσῳ ἡμῶν" (Christos en meso humon) - “Christ is in our midst”

One more - my German heritage and the language of the Reformation - “Lieber Gott, sei mit uns” - ‘Dear God, be with us”

Tonight we celebrate that the kingdom of God is made up of people from every tribe, tongue (or language), and nation

The Apostle John described part of his vision in Revelation 7:9. A picture of what is to come. He said . . .

Revelation 7:9 NIV

After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb [Jesus].

You see . . . in the end, a countless crowd of true believers in Christ . . . made up of individuals from diverse backgrounds . . . will be present with Jesus for eternity.

John caught vision of this, but we are privileged to see more reality of it this side of heaven than John ever did in his lifetime.

Even this gathering is a small sample of the kingdom of heaven

But there is more to come

I wonder where God is calling you even tonight to continue making this vision a reality

As we consider every tribe, tongue and nation there are two truths that I want to emphasize tonight. First . . .

Though lines are drawn on maps and nations of the world all have distinguished land markers to separate people groups

1. God’s Love has no borders

God has always been a God of the nations

It has been His desire that all of creation would choose to worship Him and Him alone

Of course people in every generation have turned to their own pursuits

Did you know that In ancient times, shortly after the flood of Noah, there was just one nation and one language for a period of time?

But sin was rampant

Some of you know the story of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11

The people wanted to glorify themselves and build a tower to the heavens

They were heading in a direction that mirrored the sin leading up to Noah’s flood.

So God confused their language and scattered the people over the whole earth.

Was this God being mean? No!

This was an act of mercy! Some of us know about God’s mercy. He has shown it countless times in our lives. Hasn’t He?

Here in Genesis, God was not writing off mankind. In fact, very quickly God would begin his work to save the world

In the next chapter we see the call of Abraham. God would work through a family to not only bless one nation, but the whole earth.

Speaking to Abram, God said . .

Genesis 12:3 NIV

I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth (not all people - individuals will choose to reject Him) will be blessed through you.”

God continued to clarify through whom he would bring this covenant. Genesis specifies it would be through Abraham’s son, Isaac; and then Isaac’s son, Jacob (who was renamed Israel)

But this was never just for the Hebrew people.

Israel was called to be a light for the nations. They were blessed to be a blessings

Psalm 67:1–2 NIV

May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us— so that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.

As the story continued to unfold we learned it was through the tribe of Judah and family line of King David that the Messiah or promised deliverer would come. About Jesus it was prophesied . . .

Isaiah 49:6 NIV

… I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, (not just the Jewish people, but every tribe, tongue, and nation) that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”

When Jesus came, he demonstrated that God’s love has no borders

Even as a child, Magi or foreign kings from the East came to worship Him and bring gifts

Jesus ministered to the Jews, to the Samaritans, a Roman Centurion, Canaanite women and others

When speaking to Nicodemus, John 3:16 records Jesus saying

For God so love the whole world (not just the Jews) that he gave his only one and only Son, that whoever believes in him (people from every tribe tongue and nation) shall not perish but have eternal life.

God loves the nations.

Jesus gave His life for the nations. You are included in that. Jesus willingly died on a Roman cross to pay for your sins and mine. . .

And brothers & sisters who have and will say yes to Jesus in Cuba, China, Russia & Ukraine, Iran, Afghanistan, Israel all throughout the countryside, into Gaza and the West Bank.

He didn’t have to do it, but he loved you enough to do the only thing possible for us to receive total forgiveness from God.

He purchased us back from death so we could have life. And his empty tomb proves his power over death and sin.

We are saved by grace through Jesus Christ. It is the very costly gift from God.

Those being baptized tonight are testifying that they have freely received it!

God’s love has no borders

Here is the second truth I want to emphasize tonight.

For those who put their faith in Jesus

2. Our mission takes us beyond all borders

What is our mission? Believe, Belong, Become. But where does that come from?

After dying on the cross and raising from the grave, Jesus gave the great commission to all his disciples - us included

Matthew 28:18–20 NIV

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (we get to witness a part of that tonight), and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

If our mission is to make disciples of all nations, we must model God in loving the nations. I want to challenge us tonight to work on loving all people. Those who look different than us, who have different values, who currently have different beliefs. Pray for them, have compassion for them, and as God opens doors share the Gospel.

Make disciples of whoever is willing to respond!

God wants to use you to carry out his mission beyond all borders

Earlier I mentioned the story of Babel when languages were confused and people were dispersed. Now God has given us one message that unites us all.

Acts 2 records the God of every tribe, tongue, and nation pouring out his Spirit on the church. When the Holy Spirit came down the people began to speak in other tongues (or languages) as the Spirit enabled them.

Here is wasn’t strange languages. See what it says in Acts 2:5-11

Acts 2:5–11 NIV

Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!”

God empowered that first generation of Christians to begin the work of bringing the Gospel to the nations, reversing the consequences of Babel.

Today God is calling a new generation to love every tribe, to bring the gospel in every tongue, and to glorify Jesus among the nations.

God’s Love has no borders

Our mission takes us beyond all borders

Closing

Where is God calling you?

Maybe you’ve not personally received Christ. Tonight, I invite you to say “Lord count me among your people you’ve called out of the nations.” We have prayer partners who would love to lead you in prayer to give your life to Christ tonight! Don’t delay. Why hesitate on the best decision you can ever make?

Maybe God is stirring within you a call to the missions field. Receive prayer for that.

For most of us our mission field this season is in Southern California, but our prayer life can be global. Let’s direct our prayer toward a world in need.

During the next couple of songs we are going to take some time to pray. If you’d like to receive prayer from one of our pastors or prayer partners, I’d like to invite you to either come forward or head back to the lobby where it is a little bit quieter to pray.

If you want to pray from your seat during this time, please do that

If you are comfortable praying with a person or a couple people near you, please do that. You can even invite someone to join you in prayer.

And then you are ready to continue worshipping through song, go ahead an sing.

This is a time for us to go to the LORD.

Prayer