Embassadors for the King — Darrell Champlin

Now listen to the chapel platform coming to you from Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina. Throughout the years God's servants have shared treasures from the scriptures in the chapel and worship services here.

Listen to this humbling biblical message by a missionary who spent years on the field in Africa and in Suriname, South America. Our speaker is presently from Greensboro, North Carolina. Dr. Daryl Champlin.

Some comments in this message are current as of the date that he spoke on Tuesday, July 25th 1989 at a university chapel service. His text is 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 verse 20. We may not know how many millions have been lost for eternity, but God does.

He has used missionaries here and abroad to get the message of salvation to a lost world That can only be released from their sins by the grace of God. This is only had through Christ. Dr. Champlin shares with us that reality is that which lasts forever.

We have the privilege as humbled royalty to obey God by reaching and winning the lost sinful world with the salvation of God. Let's listen to Dr. Champlin's imploring challenge titled ambassadors for the king.

Joy to be with you here this morning.

The Unreached Need for the Gospel

We were In the hill country of North Carolina on an occasion. In a tiny church, I would imagine not much. Larger than a quarter of this room certainly not larger than a third. One of our dear southern friends Ann Duckworth Stood to sing in her inimitable Southern voice.

Oh, tell me that name again. Glorious name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Matchless blessed glorious name. Oh, tell me that name again. How many of us have gone down the road? Singing to our Lord my Jesus.

I love thee. I know thou art mine for thee all the folly of sin. I resign well beloved. Do we exalt the glorious name of the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, do we extol that name? Well, do we extol and proclaim and declaim the matchless glorious name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

When our eyes lift up to him we cry out to him. Oh thou Jesus sweetest name I know Jesus fairest Lord Jesus. Well, do we extol? And proclaim that glorious name. But I was reminded that night beloved as she was singing.

Oh, tell me that name again of the three billion across this world Who are crying out? Oh, tell me that name just one just one three billion beloved Who have never in their lifetime So much has heard the name of Jesus Christ preached to them in the glorious gospel of this book three billion.

Now how many is a billion? Well, the mathematician would say it's a thousand million. But how do we get our minds around a thousand million? Perhaps there's a better way if by some magical process We could begin turning back the pages of history Turning back the calendar of the years of our lives.

Just push those pages back 86 85 84 83 down into the 70s 72 71 70 down into the 60s. Keep rolling those pages back 65 64 63 push the calendar back into 1950 55 54 beloved. When we turn the calendar back to 1953 we would have turned the calendar back 1 billion seconds.

For it takes 36 years to accumulate 1 billion seconds. And that means beloved in terms of souls Who have yet for the first time? To hear the blessed name of Jesus Christ in the gospel. We have the equivalent of lost souls across this world to a hundred and eight years the scripture says Where there is no vision the people Parish and I want to spend the next few moments this morning Asking you and asking myself What do we see All beloved What are we seeing?

Missionary Sacrifice in Mali

It was a late night in the Country of Mali. It was so dark there in Africa So dark that the black velvet of the sky Even though hung with the chandeliers of the stars Was not illumined enough so that you could tell where the rising sand dunes Met the descending sky and in that dark night a little wooden boat Carrying a missionary family was wending its way up that desert river in Niger in Mali pardon me.

Midnight passed one o 'clock two o 'clock. Until early in the morning. At last that little wooden boat Went aground there on the bank of the river and they had arrived. Suddenly against that sky stood the form of an Arab and flowing robes began descending that sand dune carrying a Carousing lantern before him until at last he stood at the edge of the river and by that little boat and leaning over.

He illumined the faces of those missionaries with that lantern and when he saw they were Americans. And when he saw they were missionaries he screamed in their faces. What are you doing here? We don't need you here.

We don't want you here get out. And that beloved was their introduction to their mission field. They climbed that sand dune and found a place to stay and the next morning They began going through the little town.

That would be their home. And soon they were wiping from themselves the spittle of those fanatic Muslims that were spitting on them at every opportunity and mopping their brow of their moisture. And then through the crowd they heard the strange sound a demented voice screaming.

They moved through the crowd until they could see a young man standing on the street corner crying out in this crazed voice. And they said who is that? And they were told that's the first person to attempt to become a Christian in our village.

And our leadership took him and they buried him in the sand to his head and they poured honey over his head. And the ants began to gather first by the score and then the hundred then by the thousands and by the uncounted Multitudes until his head was nothing but a writhing ball of ants and they were pouring through his Ears and up into his nostrils and forcing themselves under his eyelids and into his mouth and they drove him insane.

And now he stands on the street corners through the day screaming out. Screaming out in that demented voice the only thing he has left in his mind those precious Bible verses. Then in a few days of the joy of his salvation he crowded into his heart.

All beloved who can reach people like that who can preach the gospel in a place where there are more Missionary graves and there are converts to the Lord Jesus Christ, you know as well as I do We call the missionaries.

Ambassadors for Christ in 2 Corinthians 5

We call them Ambassadors Ambassadors for the king of the universe. And I want to take you this morning to 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 20 now then We are ambassadors For Christ as Though God did beseech you by us We pray you in Christ dead.

Be ye reconciled to God now then We are ambassadors. Beloved I find it Shall I say passing strange that we have some Christians that believe that ambassadorship Comes with the territory Comes with salvation.

It's part of the package. I Try not. I don't think beloved that God sells his service so cheaply and I believe that subject is spoken to here by the Apostle Paul. Why now then? Now then We are ambassadors now then of course is one of the signposts of Scripture wherefore therefore because of and so forth for as much as now then a Signpost of Scripture beloved indicating that something has been said before this to state this declaration That bears upon the declaration prerequisites for Ambassadorship and as I studied through the passage I found there is a particular word Not being a Greek scholar, but understanding a little enough to discover some of these things I found there's a particular word the Greek word oida o i d a That is used both in chapter 4 and chapter 5 sometimes as to know and Other times translated to see and I pondered that how is it possible that a single word can be translated to know and To see until it dawned on me that the word simply means to know.

Because you have seen it as an eyewitness Seen it as an eyewitness. You cannot be disabused of it. You cannot be disillusioned of it. You cannot be dissuaded of it. You have seen it as an eyewitness. I saw it and I know it.

And beloved there are a number of things in this passage that we could bring to your attention this morning. But I'd like quickly to bring four things to your attention four things that by the Spirit of God we must see as eyewitnesses or We will never indeed Be ambassadors for the Lord Jesus Christ.

Seeing Heavenly Time

Now then when you have seen heavenly time. Now then when you have seen this earthly tent. Now then when you have looked upon as an eyewitness that heavenly tribunal to come. Now then when you have looked upon the love of Jesus Christ and been transformed in the reality of your life.

Now then I invite you to become an ambassador now then When we have seen Eternal time look at verse 18 of chapter 4 why we look not at the things which are seen But of the things which are not seen but for the things the things which are seen are Temporal but the things which are not seen Are eternal.

How is it possible that we should see things that are not seen? Well, it's evident of course that we're talking here about two kinds of sight. We're talking a physical sight Looking upon those things which are temporal and we're talking beloved of the eyes of the Spirit Which gaze upon the things of eternity and beloved.

I call upon you this morning to gaze upon the things of eternity With the eyes of your spirit and to you know. Because you are an eyewitness. What is reality. It's not often that Scientists and philosophers get together in agreement, but in this case they have scientists and philosophers have concluded that reality and Stability are integrally connected Indivisible.

In fact Scientists and philosophers have agreed that unless it lasts It is not real. And I find beloved that the Word of God Teaches us that very same thing. What is reality? The God of heaven. What is reality the love and power and grace and might of God?

What is reality the character of the Mysterium Tremendum of the universe? What is reality. God's Word? God's Church. God's message. God's people. God's mission. Eternal things the things of the reality of the God of heaven in fact beloved.

I believe that the Bible if taken as a dictionary of God would define reality. Is this that which lasts Forever that should we look in the dictionary of God we would find that which lasts forever is Reality and unless it lasts forever God says it is not real.

A missionary trained here at Bob Jones University. Little Korean fellow not taking unfortunately the position of Bob Jones University at this time I'm still preaching the gospel. I Listened to him one day as he preached, and he said you know I used to enjoy having folks call me that warm-hearted little Korean preacher until I looked up in the Korean dictionary the definition of warm and Found that it said Not so hot.

I submit to you beloved that the reality Upon which God would have us gaze are the things of Of eternity and That he defines all else as not. So hot you say well how in the world would God do such a thing.

Think just for a moment upon our God. Which way is north here? The hut behind me it's usually behind me for some reason you look up in the northern sky. You notice that there's a huge blank spot up there with no stars.

For years man has trained the most powerful telescopes of earth upon those that sight the great 200 inch telescopes of Palomar Mount Wilson. And they have strained to catch even the slightest glimmer of light and I've been unable to do so.

But somehow the electronic ears upon these instruments Can hear and there are explanations. We won't take time for this morning Can hear emanating from that dark vastness of space the singing of the stars.

That is out there. The stars are out there so far away. That light speeding from those stars at a hundred and eighty six thousand two hundred eighty miles per second has yet to reach the view of the most powerful telescopes on earth.

And Beloved this God Who can take a single step across the Milky Way when it takes light a hundred thousand years to take the same span this eternal Majestic God is out there beyond those stars and here at the very same moment.

Is it any wonder that he should define reality as that which lasts? For eternity. And I submit beloved until we begin to measure The life that we have in the service of the God of heaven by the yardstick of the eternal.

The Earthly Tent and the Hope of Heaven

We will never indeed be ambassadors of the Lord Jesus Christ. The second thing we must see. Is that earthly tent? And I'm going to have to hurry let's go back to that desert. Go back to the desert. It's daytime now.

Look look look way back there against the horizon. You see it looks almost like a trail of of and. And that's disappeared it now they're coming closer that those are their camels those it's the Berbers those nomads of the of the desert.

They've disappeared again. Now. They're they must be coming our way. Yes. Look there. They are In plain view now why it looks as though they're going to make camp for the evening. Look at that woman. She's getting down off her camel.

She's opening a bag why she's pulling an old old ragged cloth out of that bag. She's spreading that old ragged cloth on that thorn bush. I Can't believe it. I can't believe it that that old ragged cloth spread over that thorn bush.

Is her home? That's all the house. She's ever known. She was born under an old ragged cloth spread over a thorn bush. She's had her children under cloth like that. She'll die there somewhere on the desert.

Under her house just an old ragged cloth. Spread over a thorn bush. Do you see that if you do beloved you see chapter 5 and verse 1 for we know. For we see as eyewitnesses. That if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved.

We have a building of God and house not made with hands eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan Earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house, which is from heaven. Can you believe that for we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved what's God saying?

He is saying that this earthly life is nothing But a tent. I don't believe it and neither do you. I Think it's impossible for an American to believe that this life is nothing but a tent. Nothing, but an old ragged cloth spread over a thorn bush.

We have some beautiful tents. Beautiful tents. I remember speaking for Ed Johnson up in Minnesota. Rosemount, Minnesota one Sunday, they put us in this newly refurbished colonial in. Walking, you know this the smell of newness.

Walked in there deep carpets opened our door. Why? Carpet that thick they had drapes on the walls, but the drapes were covered with lace. I Tell you beloved if you took your shoes off left on that carpet didn't mark where you put you're about to lose a pair of shoes.

And we arrive at these tents so-called chariots of steel rubber and glass aluminum plastic powered by the finest of v6 turbocharged engines. Silky smooth automatic transmissions surrounded by quadraphonic sound of the finest state-of-the-art digital stereophonic music.

Arriving at our tent to all of the fine appliances and luxuries that we enjoy here in America and we we are actually to believe and Understand to see as eyewitnesses that this American life is nothing but a tent.

Nothing, but an old ragged cloth spread over a thorn bush. Impossible. And God knew that and so we read in verse 2. But he said about to help us for we in this we groan Earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house, which is from heaven if so be that being clothed.

We shall not be found naked for we that are in this tent do groan. We that are in this tabernacle do groan being burdened not for that We would be unclothed but clothed upon that mortality might be swallowed up of life.

Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God who hath also given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. You see how he went to help us with the Baptism of the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ and with the new birth of the Holy Spirit into the family of God.

He also beloved placed the Holy Spirit within our very being to teach us as one of his ministries to grow. To grow for the things of eternity. To groan for a real house to groan for real clothing to groan for real profit.

To groan for the souls of men. To groan for his purpose to groan for his mission to groan for his glory. To groan for eternity. And because of that someday he's going to call us to account. Because we're going to meet that Heavenly tribunal as we read in verse 10 for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.

That everyone may receive the things done in his body according to that he hath done whether it be good or bad. Seeing as eyewitnesses therefore the terror of the Lord we persuade men. Beloved you and I are going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ one day.

And I believe a major part of that judgment is going to be the turning of the blazing fiery scintillating pulsating gaze of a fiery God. Upon my life and upon your life to determine whether or not we groan for the things of eternity and the Holy Spirit of God healing in our hearts.

Ministering to us to cause us to groan. Causes us to see beloved that this tent is not worth pursuing not worth coveting. Simply because by the definition of the reality of God because it does not last for eternity.

It is not real. It's a will of the wisp it's a waste of your life. It's a waste of the opportunity God has given us by his grace to reach three billion. Who have never? Once heard the gospel of Jesus Christ now some will deny that and they'll pray the yuppies prayer.

Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray my case in art to keep. Pray my stocks are on the rise and my analyst is wise. That all the wine I sip is white and that my hot tubs water tight. The racquetball won't get too tough that all my sushi's fresh enough.

I Pray my cordless phone still works and my career won't lose its perks. I pray my microwave won't radiate and my condo won't depreciate. I pray my health club doesn't close and that my money market grows and if I go broke before I wait God forbid.

I pray my Volvo they won't take. The tent. The tent and the yuppie would have it because he fails to recognize that it's nothing but an old ragged cloth. Spread over a thorn bud. I can't preach the whole message to you.

The Love of Christ That Constrains and Transforms

Time's gone, but let me give you the last point. For if the love of Christ constraineth us. Because we thus judge. That if one died for all. Then we're all dead. All beloved when we see that love. We're transformed heavenly time earthly tent.

Heavenly tribunal and the reality transformation that comes from seeing his love that word constrained is a wrestling term. When I was a boy in Salt Lake City, Utah growing up there was a family down the road from us named computo.

Caputo a an Italian family. They had a big brother. He was huge. In fact, we called him big lard. There's a little brother the same shape, but our size we called him little lard. Now my dad was a professional boxer before he was married.

He said if he had a man with good right hand. He didn't go down to go around behind you and see what's holding him up. He taught me to box in the living room to my mother's horror with big gloves on now son.

I'm 12 now son. I'm gonna faint with a left. I think with this lesson coming with the right cross. See here we go. Boom, I'm in the corner. The world's dead the whole the world's just nothing but starting now get up son.

Let me show you. Let's go through that again. Don't watch my fist watch my chest. You'll see that telegraphed right here. Watch my chest. Here we go. Didn't have any trouble with bullies when I was a boy.

Not even with a little lard until we wrestled he got me down. He weighed 50 pounds more than I did. He's sitting on my chest. He's wagging his finger in my face. Say uncle say uncle. Temple never says uncle off.

He goes on he comes off. He goes on he comes finally beloved. I'm dead absolutely dead. See uncle one time my life I looked up I said uncle Beloved if we ever meet again, there's gonna be a rematch even today.

But you know what happens when we see our Lord. When I see him torn bruised and broken upon Calvary's cross. When I see his back torn to ribbons when we see his face so beaten that Isaiah proclaims he did not even appear to be human.

When we cry out with a songwriter man of sorrows. What a name for the Son of God who came ruined sinners to reclaim. Hallelujah, what a save. Then he puts his arms around us and gets us in a great godly bear hug and he crushes us until we cry out uncle Lord uncle Lord anywhere to anyone uncle Lord and then all things old passed away and Everything becomes new.

Living as Ambassadors for the King

Heavenly time beloved if we measure not our lives by the yardstick of what is eternal. We've wasted our lives. No matter what degree you have an earthly tent beloved nothing. But an old ragged cloth spread over a thorn bush not to be coveted not to be pursued.

Not the something upon which we will devote our lives. And the glorious opportunity we have to live for God. Forget the tent a heavenly tribunal that's going to test the groaning. By the Spirit of God that helps us to put the tent in its proper place.

And the bear hug of the love of Jesus that has his crying uncle Lord. Uncle now I invite you to be an ambassador for Jesus Christ father. Bless now this portion of thy word to our hearts for Jesus sake.

You've just heard the chapel platform. If you would like a copy of today's message, please write and tell us the speaker dr Darrell Champlin the title of his message ambassadors for the king and also be sure to mention today's date.

Along with this and a check for five dollars and thirteen cents to campus store Bob Jones University Greenville South Carolina. The zip code is two nine six one four. Join us again next time for the chapel platform sponsored by Bob Jones University.

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