Pray for All Future Saints and All Who Proclaim the Gospel

Ephesians 6:18b-20
April 12, 2020
Abraham Hong

Sermon Script

Dear church, as we wait for the return of Jesus, let us remember the big picture. And it is this. Jesus loves you. Jesus saves you. And this is his gospel.

Jesus lived so that you could be credited with his righteousness. Jesus died so that you could be forgiven of your sins. Jesus rose again so that you could have eternal life. Jesus won the war so that you could go home.

Dear brother, dear sister, this is your big picture. This is your gospel. This is Jesus’ love and Jesus’ salvation… for you. And there is nothing better than this.

This is why we pray for all the saints of the future. And this is why we pray for all who proclaim the gospel. Because there is nothing better than the love and the salvation of Jesus Christ.

Dear Highland, please pray for all the saints of the future. Pray for all of God’s people who have not yet repented of their sins and believed in Jesus. So pray for your current non-Christian friends. And pray for your future grandchildren. Some of the saints of the future - you know them already. Other saints of the future - you have not yet met them. This is so cool and so exciting. Pray for all the saints of the future. Ask God to show them grace and give them faith. Cry and plead to the Lord for their souls. Weep and ask earnestly to the Lord for their salvation. Pray for all the saints of the future.

This is so profound. Please listen very carefully to what I am going to say next - but at the same time please do not over-think what I am going to say next. While it is completely true that you are only saved because of the sovereign election and loving grace of God, I tell you another truth: the only reason why you are a Christian… is because someone prayed for you.

Maybe it was your parents. Maybe it was your grandmother. Maybe it was a friend or a church member or a pastor. Maybe it was someone you don’t even know. Maybe it was everyone.

Highland, please do not forget this. You are a Christian because someone prayed for you. Because someone prayed that the mystery of the gospel of Christ would be proclaimed to you. You are a Christian because someone kept alert. Because someone persevered. Because someone stood firm in the armor of God. Because someone prayed. For you.

This is the glory and the drama and the victory of prayer. It began with the prayers of Christ. It ends with the prayers of you. So keep prayer going. Don’t let it die on your watch. And remember that when you pray, the devil trembles in remembrance of Christ. He’s seen this before. Because Jesus prayed. Jesus prayed for us. And now we pray too. Now we pray for others - for the future saints of God. This is the war that we are in. And this is the war that we will win.

But let us not only pray for all the future saints of God. Let us also pray for all who proclaim the gospel of Christ. Don’t just pray for those who receive. Pray also for those who give. For those who are sharing the good news of Jesus.

The Apostle Paul asked the church in Ephesus to pray for him. And his prayer request is humble and wonderful. He didn’t ask them to pray that God would free him from his chains of imprisonment. He asked them to pray that God would give him words and boldness when he proclaimed the gospel of Christ to others. This is what Paul wanted. He was thinking about the salvation of all the future saints.

And anyone who proclaims the gospel can relate to Paul. Anyone - pastors or missionaries, church members young and old. Anyone who wants to share the good news about Jesus with others can totally relate.

And the reason is simply this. We are not very bold when it comes to evangelism and proclaim the gospel to others. We are actually quite scared. We are not very good at speaking God’s given word because we tend to use and depend upon our own words. And we forget who we are… that we are ambassadors. We don’t think that we’re the ones to do it.

This is why we need to pray as we proclaim the gospel of Jesus.

Brothers and sisters, pray that God would give us his words when we proclaim his gospel. Words about the big picture, about the life and death and resurrection of Jesus, about our sin and suffering and the death and hell that we deserve, about the righteousness and the grace and the forgiveness and the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. God, please give us your words.

Brothers and sisters, pray that God would give us boldness when we proclaim his gospel. That we would courageous for the Lord and not ashamed of his good news. That we would have confidence and conviction about what we are saying. That we would endure suffering and persecution and ridicule when it comes. God, please give us boldness.

Brothers and sisters, pray that God would help us remember that we are his ambassadors when we proclaim his gospel. We are not people who are working remotely from home. This world is not our home. We belong to a better country. We represent a heavenly kingdom. We are a part of the new creation of the heavens and new earth. This place is not where our citizenship is. This place is not where our hearts are. We are on mission. This is who we are. This is what we do. God, please help us remember that we are your ambassadors.

There is nothing quite like the proclamation of the gospel. If you’ve ever done it yourself, then I’m sure you would agree with me that it is both exciting and nerve-racking at the same time.

I remember being on mission trips to Haiti and the Dominican Republic and preaching at night to hundreds of people in the countryside. So thrilling. I remember preaching a sermon from the book of Jonah to a bunch of kids in a summer VBS and seeing their faces locked on Jesus. So rewarding.

But I also remember trying to comfort and encourage a family in a hospital preparing for a loved one to die. It was a moment of great weakness and dependence on God. And I also remember talking with my father after dinner and suddenly talking about deep stuff about God and the meaning of life. I remember my body trembling and my voice shaking as I spoke of the mystery of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

There is nothing quite like the proclamation of the gospel. It is an act that is supernatural and extraordinary. It is an act of love. It is an act of war. This this why we need to pray about it. This is why we need to pray for all who proclaim the gospel of Christ.

Highland, what an awesome command from our Lord today. Let us answer the call. Let us pray for all who proclaim the gospel of Christ.

Soli Deo Gloria