# Powerful Missions Sermon



## Tripel (Apr 16, 2012)

I highly recommend the following sermon preached by David Platt as part of this year's Together for the Gospel conference.

Divine Sovereignty: The Fuel of Death-Defying Missions




> God involves us in His mission not because He needs us but because He loves us, and in His mercy He has invited us to be involved in His sovereign design for the spread of the gospel to the ends of the earth.


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## sevenzedek (Apr 16, 2012)

I was there and when I got home I went and talked to my neighbor the very next day.

I walked by Platt's book entitled "Radical" countless times. I ordered it online today.

My first question to my friends after hearing the sermon was, "How do I get from where I am with my dull affections to a white hot passion for Christ and the lost like Platt?" I will be listening to that sermon again.


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## Marrow Man (Apr 16, 2012)

The sermon was good, but there were some things that bothered me. Not the least (and not all Platt's fault) was the "pep rally" feel near the end, combined with the standing ovation at the end (I did not stand). To stand and applaud such a sermon took away from the message and gave glory to the messenger and not God. It was perhaps the low point of the whole conference.

After the conference, I considered blogging about "What I Did Not Like about David Platt's Message." Certainly there was much to like. He stressed the significance of God's sovereignty in missions, and that's of course important. But at what cost? I did not get a sense that the ministry of the local church was held up as being very important, unless everyone in your congregation is training to be a missionary. At one point in the message, he mentioned that the Lord raises up "Paul's" and "Timothy's" -- missionaries and local church pastors. Fair enough. But when he spoke about the ministry of the local church pastor, he only said it was because there were hurting/broken people in the local church. Nothing was said about the ministry of the word and prayer. I'm sure he did not intend it to sound that way, but it did bother me.

Platt talked about himself a lot in the sermon. He talked about how many mission trips he went on and how hard it was. It made me think about how much time he was away from his congregation. It also made me wonder about why if missions were so important, why he wasn't a full time missionary.

_Radical_ has some concerns as well, but that's a topic for another day. I've probably already said too much.


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## Tripel (Apr 16, 2012)

Marrow Man said:


> Certainly there was much to like. He stressed the significance of God's sovereignty in missions, and that's of course important. But at what cost? I did not get a sense that the ministry of the local church was held up as being very important, unless everyone in your congregation is training to be a missionary.



I don't understand your complaint with this since his goal was to preach on global missions, something he stated is tragically neglected. I thought he made a clear and appropriate disclaimer that his choice to emphasize global missions was in no way meant to undermine the importance of local ministry.


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## Marrow Man (Apr 16, 2012)

Tripel said:


> I don't understand your complaint with this since his goal was to preach on global missions, something he stated is tragically neglected. I thought he made a clear and appropriate disclaimer that his choice to emphasize global missions was in no way meant to undermine the importance of local ministry.



My complaint was that he never mentioned the ministry of the word and prayer, the very things that Paul emphasizes to Timothy with regard to the ministry of the local church.

There are other factors as well. I'm not sure how well Platt can relate to small churches. He does not pastor a small church. A small church would find it difficult to have the members or support the ministries that he mentions in the sermon. I certainly don't think one of the Anglo widows in our congregation living on a fixed income is going to volunteer for mission work in north Yemen anytime soon. His buddy J.D. Grear (whom he mentions in the sermon as a fellow-worker on these mission trips) once described a church of 600 which he pastored as "a small dying church."

But it was the standing ovation that soured me the most. That put the whole thing in a bad light in my opinion. Instead of repentance, we have supposedly Reformed folks standing and applauding. The tragedy of the American church is not so much that we neglect missions (although no one is arguing that greater missions work is not needed) but that when given the opportunity we worship celebrites. That was on full display at T4G 2012.


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## Tripel (Apr 16, 2012)

I wasn't there, so my opinion was not swayed by standing ovations. It's too bad that happened, but like you said, Platt is not responsible for other people applauding. 

I know very little about the guy or the church he pastors, but I appreciated this particular sermon. I'm sure Platt has plenty of flaws, but being someone who has heard far too few sermons on global missions, I was greatly encouraged by his passion for evangelism and his repeated emphasis on God's sovereignty and glory.


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## Marrow Man (Apr 16, 2012)

I'm glad you were encouraged (considering the endeavor the Lord has raised you up for), so the message of God's sovereignty, in particular, is a very appropriate one. Last summer/fall I preached through Acts 13-14 specifically because I wanted to focus the congregation on the subject of missions.

Incidentally, I think Ligon Duncan's message from 1 Kings 19 was best at T4G. But it had a particular focus that would appeal to pastors (its intent). It was very good, and because of the lessons gleaned from Elijah's ministry, I am going to begin preaching through his life, beginning with 1 Kings 17 this coming Lord's Day.


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## JML (Apr 16, 2012)

I know David fairly well. We attended seminary at the same time. He is a humble, godly man and I appreciate his ministry. I would be surprised if he did not feel awkward with the ovation. 

By the way Tim, he is a huge UGA fan.


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## Marrow Man (Apr 16, 2012)

John Lanier said:


> By the way Tim, he is a huge UGA fan.



Well, I knew he was a smart fellow.


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