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July 4, 2025 10:45 pm

2070. Serve God For the Joy of the Nations

The Daily Platform / Bob Jones University

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July 4, 2025 10:45 pm

The Lord's reign over the earth is a message of joy and celebration, but it can also be a source of frustration and resistance. Dr. Sam Horn explores the implications of God's sovereignty and how it can transform our lives, encouraging listeners to surrender their bodies and lives to God's will and purpose.

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Welcome to The Daily Platform from Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina. Our message today will be preached by Dr. Sam Horn, who is a BJU Seminary professor and is also pastor at Palmetto Baptist Church in Piedmont, South Carolina. I'm going to ask you to turn in your Bible to the 97th Psalm.

And as you're turning there, I have a question I would like to ask you. And that is this. What would be such happy news, such good news, that it would actually make you physically jump for joy? You ever see somebody get good news and it is such good news that they can't contain themselves? They jump and if they're a girl, they start screaming. And if they're a guy, they start high-fiving each other.

And you're like, what in the world? And they got good news. What would be the kind of good news that could come to your inbox during chapel that you were praying for, you were hoping for, and it would be such good news that you would just ask the Lord to forgive you while you checked your inbox because you have been praying for this all semester. Maybe you're a senior and you've really been anxious and you really wanted to get into a particular med school and you've been praying about this. You've recruited everybody because if two or three are gathered together, you know the Lord has to get you the med school you want.

So you've recruited eight or ten people just to be sure. And your inbox dings and you are looking down very carefully because it's chapel and you're like, oh, this is it. This is the news and I can't wait. God, I know.

Please forgive me. I'm not. This is a very rare occasion and you check your inbox and sure enough, you got in. And it was so overwhelming to you that right in the middle of chapel, you jumped up and just shouted in the middle of chapel.

Or maybe it was a job that you really wanted. Or maybe you had such good news when you came back from summer vacation and you couldn't wait to share that. What would be such happy and good news for you personally that would cause you to jump for joy?

Let's expand it out. What would be news that would be so good and so happy that if you heard it from this pulpit, all of you would stand up and just jump for joy. You wouldn't just clap. You wouldn't just start, oh, this is great.

You would actually jump out of your seat and shout for joy. What would cause a whole city to do that? You know, that actually happened on Wednesday, November 15th, 2017, where a whole city stood to their feet at the same time and jumped for joy and caused an entire city to have an earthquake. The city was Lima, Peru. Any of you from Peru? Do we have any Peruvians in the room?

Do any of you know what happened that caused the entire city to jump for joy and set off all the seismic machinery and trigger an earthquake warning and actually later find out that an earthquake, a small earthquake, shook Lima, Peru because everybody stood up and shouted and jumped at the same time. 1982 was the last time that Lima, Peru was in the World Cup. Most of you, you know, some of you really do follow the World Cup and some of you really are into that, but if you're from Peru, it's been a long, long time since Peru was in the World Cup.

The last time they were in the World Cup prior to this was in 1982. They were in the running to come into the World Cup and they had a game on November 15th, 2017, and they were playing a team called, well, they were playing the team from New Zealand. That's a very special team to me because I was born in New Zealand. Matthew Weathers is married to somebody who was born in New Zealand. We're very special people.

The Lord loves us in a special way because we are all from Hobbitland. Some of us descended from hobbits, some of us descended from orcs, and so I'll let you decide which line was mine, but New Zealand and Peru were playing together and Peru beat New Zealand on Wednesday, November 15th, 2017, and when that score went in the net, everybody was so excited. They all jumped up all around the city, all in the stadium. They all shouted at the same time, and when everybody landed, it really did set off an earthquake in Lima, Peru.

That's stunning to me. What kind of news would do that to the entire earth? I mean, if somebody winning a game that would put them in the running, they went on to play Russia that year in the World Cup and lost, but if some news like that were to come, what would be the kind of news that would cause the entire earth to respond that way? And that kind of news is laid out for us in Psalm 97, verse 1, and the psalmist says this, the Lord reigns. The Lord reigns. Let the earth rejoice. Let the multitudes of isles be glad thereof. The Lord reigns. That is the news that God wants the nations to know, and it is the kind of news that has such great implication for the world that the entire earth, if they really understood what that meant, if they really understood the implications of that, the entire earth would explode in exuberant joy.

The entire earth would rejoice. You know, if you're like me and you really don't follow World Cup soccer and you hear a story like I just told you, it's an interesting story. Oh, that's interesting.

A whole city jumping out of their chairs, I would like to see that. I've never heard of such a thing. That's a very interesting fact. I'm going to jot that down, because if I'm ever speaking publicly somewhere, I might want a story like that, and so that's an interesting fact, but it really didn't move you.

But if you are passionate about World Cup and World League soccer, if you are passionate about Peru especially, then a news like that has an entirely different connotation for you. And when somebody gets up and says, the Lord reigns, and we just sit there, and it's another theological fact that we're going to file away somewhere, because the Bible tells us that, and it really doesn't move us, we really haven't understood the implications of that for us. And the psalmist is saying, if you understood what I just said to you, I mean, if you really understood what it means when I said, the Lord reigns, it would change everything for you. Your whole day would change. Your whole perspective would change.

Everything about your life would change. And instead of rejoicing, Psalm 2 reminds us that when God announced that He reigns, and He's appointed somebody to sit over Jerusalem and reign over the nations of the world, Psalm 2 says that the nations are raging at this. This is not good news. The idea that God has a king, and He's going to put that king over our kingdoms, there is absolutely no way we want to submit to that kingdom. And when God says to us, kiss the Son, lest He be angry, that's the last thing we want to do. And I would suggest to you that in a very real way, you have a kingdom, and I have a kingdom. And sometimes when we are reminded that God reigns in that kingdom, it is not an occasion for joy. And so to help us understand how joyful it is, God selected out a nation in the Old Testament named Israel, and He gave to them a good, gracious Torah, a good wisdom. And He said to them, the wisdom that I'm giving to you is going to be your wisdom in the sight of the nations. And when the nations see you, and they see the wisdom that I've given you, they are going to marvel at you, and they're going to wonder, how in the world do you get what you always get? How do you always get rain?

How do you always have crops? How do you always get what you get? And your answer to them is this, the Lord reigns. And He reigns over us.

And He's enthroned on our praise. You know, the greatest thing you could give your life to, wherever God chooses to spend it, you're spending a great deal of time here investing properly in the vocational calling that God has assigned to you. All of us are in ministry.

We just have different platforms. And the greatest thing you could ever do with your life is tell the world that God reigns. That's the greatest thing you could do with your life. You could do it as an accountant. You could do it as a doctor. You could do it as a lawyer. You could do it as a politician. You could do it across an ocean.

You could do it in the busiest cities or in the smallest cities of the world. You could go anywhere in the world and give this message, and it would be the best news you could ever give. The Lord reigns. It's interesting, isn't it, that worship matters? We serve God for the joy of the nations.

That's what we're talking about here. At the end of the Psalm, verse 9, Israel says, Thou, Lord, art high above all the earth. Thou art exalted above all the gods. While all the rest of the world is trying to figure out why in the world we're so happy that God reigns, the psalmist says in verse 12, Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness. Even if the rest of the world hasn't figured out why this news is so marvelous, you and I have every reason to understand it because we've experienced it. And we serve the nations best when we joy in the Lord.

And we spend our lives taking that joy to the nations. You know, in Romans, chapter 15, we are reminded there that we serve God for the salvation of the nations. The only way the nations are ever going to see the news that the psalmist said, the Lord reigns as good news, is when they have come into a personal relationship with the God you know.

And that's exactly what we find the apostle Paul doing. He has come to understand that God reigns. God reigns over Israel. God reigns over Paul. God reigns over the nations. And in Romans, chapter 15, the apostle Paul has this to say.

Let me read that text to you. He says this in Romans, chapter 15, verse 14. Paul says, I am persuaded of something about you, my brothers. I am persuaded that you are full of goodness, and you are filled with knowledge, and you are able to admonish one another. And I have written them more boldly unto you, putting you in mind because of the grace that was given to me by God. And by the way, that same grace, whatever it is Paul is about to tell us, that same grace has been given to you.

That same grace has been given to me. So what is the grace, verse 16, that I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles? What is your priestly ministry, Paul?

It is the ministry of the gospel of God. Paul said, listen, I have a priestly ministry related to the gospel, and that ministry is to bring an offering to God. And the offering that I'm bringing to God are Gentiles that have been sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Gentiles who have come to understand that God reigns and have embraced their son, his son.

That's what he says here, that the offering up the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost. We serve God for the joy of the nations, but we also serve God for the salvation of the nations. God said, let the earth rejoice. I reign.

And as we noted earlier for most of the world, that's not good news. And they rage against that. But everywhere on the planet, God has called people like you and people like me, and he has so changed the way we think, and he has so changed the way we have our understanding shaped by his word that we actually rejoice because God rules. God rules. God is in charge of every part of your life. Everything that happens in your world, God is in charge of. God is in charge of what medical school you get into. God is in charge of what law firm you sign up with.

God is in charge of how fast your career advances, and God is in charge of where you end up serving. God is in charge, and God rules, and he isn't going to waste your life. You might be frustrated because you have a different agenda with your life than God has. God has an agenda for your life, and God's agenda is I want you to go everywhere in the world, and I'm specifically going to place you in certain spots because I want you to be the living display and the public announcer that I reign. And when you tell people that I reign, I want your life to be so filled with joy and so excited about that, people are starting to wonder what's so good about God reigning? And if your agenda is I want to get to this salary level or I want to get to this job, you're going to be frustrated when God is at work doing his agenda with your life. But if you kiss the sun, and you rejoice in the fact that you serve a God who reigns, you will have the right of your life when he puts you in some of the most amazing places. And when you get to the end of your life, you're going to look back and you're going to say, God, I am so thankful that you reigned over my life. So how do I get to that place where I'm willing to do that? Because I have a kingdom, and you have a kingdom, and that kingdom is really sometimes really very important to me.

How do I get to that place? And that's the text that I want us to kind of go to, and that's the text in Romans chapter 12. And you've known this text your whole life.

That's why I didn't start here. I wanted to start with the fact that God reigns and the earth is supposed to rejoice, and they're never going to rejoice because they don't understand what that looks like. And until they see someone rejoicing because God reigns over their life, they're never going to understand the beauty of God reigning.

They're always going to rage against it. And God has brought you to the place at this stage in your life, most of you, where you've said to the Lord, Lord, you reign. You're my Lord.

And it's a beautiful life. But how do you get there? Well, you get there, like Paul did, you get there to Romans 12. You know, God tells us in John, doesn't he, that he is seeking worshippers? The Father Jesus said to the woman at the well, God is seeking true worshippers, and you know from Luke that God sent his son to redeem those worshippers, and you know from Romans 15 that the Spirit of God is calling those worshippers, drawing those worshippers, and sanctifying those worshippers, and then people like you and me are supposed to go and find them. We're supposed to go with the wonderful news that God reigns, and he wants to reign in your heart. But the only way we're going to do that is when we respond to the appeal that Paul puts in front of us.

We serve God by sacrificing for the good of the nations. Notice the appeal. I appeal to you, brothers. In Romans chapter 12, I beseech you. The idea there is appeal.

It is a very strong appeal. This is not a gracious asking or a suggestion. This is the apostle Paul, and he is saying something like this. I want to exhort you. I want to exhort you corporately. I want to exhort you individually, and here's what I want you to know. I want to exhort you. I beseech you, brothers. The appeal is given to us.

This is not a general appeal to the nations. This is an appeal to people like Paul who have come to understand the glorious reality that God reigns. And Paul says, I want to make an appeal to you. What do you want me to do, Paul? Well, here's the objective. I want you to discern and do the will of God.

You see it at the end, right? I beseech you. Therefore, brethren, what are you asking? That you prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Paul says, listen, I want you to spend your life identifying and doing and living in the good and perfect will of God, the will of God that is beneficial to you and others. It is good.

It is tove. That word good is the word that shows up in Genesis chapter one. And after every creative day, God saw what he did and he saw that it was good.

It was exactly the way he wanted it. And Paul says, I want you to find God's will and I want you to live it because that is how you live a life exactly the way God wants it. It is a good will. It is morally right and spiritually proper.

It is acceptable. This is sacrifice terminology. It's when an Old Testament Israelite would come into the presence of God and he would bring an animal and that animal had to be clean. It had to be richly pure and that was the word acceptable and God says, listen, I want you to take your life and I want you to do with your life the good and the acceptable will of God and I want you to do it completely.

That's the idea of perfect. I want your life to be lived in an alignment with God's great purpose and you know what God's great purpose is? I want you to tell the world the Lord reigns.

I want you to go to the world and I want you to say to them, kiss the Son. And in order to do that, you're going to need a different kind of life. You're going to need a renewed mind.

You're going to need a different kind of an enablement. You're going to need the Holy Spirit. It is only God who can do this work in you which is why it is so beautiful. This is not something that you screw up your courage and you crank up your effort meter and you're like, okay, this time I'm really going to go at it.

Last time I almost got there and I flopped at the end and now I'm going to ratchet it up. I've been working out and I'm going to just go for it and this time I'm really going to do the will of God. That is not what Paul is talking about here. He is talking about something entirely different. He is talking about the good and the acceptable and the complete will that God does in you.

It is God who causes you to will and to do of this good pleasure. This is not something you decide to do. This is not something that you work hard to do. This is not something that you make seven decisions about.

This is not something you do at the end of camp when you throw a little fire or stick in the fire and you're like, okay, now I'm really going to do this. This is not what happens after a revival meeting where like, okay, now I'm really in this. I mean, all of us have had those moments and those are incredibly important moments in our life but that's not what Paul's talking about here. He's not talking about the will of God that you determined to do. He is talking about God using your life to do His will and when God uses your life that way, it's always good.

It's always perfect and it is always acceptable. And that brings me to this. There is something you have to do for that to happen and that is this. You have to take your body and you have to present it.

You have to go to the Lord and you have to say, Lord, here is my life. Here is my physical body. And I want you to take this physical body and I want you to put it in the very center of your will. I want you to send it anywhere you want to send it.

I want you to put it in any city of the world you want to put it in for as long as you want to leave it there. I want you to use it in whatever vocation you decide to use it in. I'm not going to choose my vocation.

I want you to choose it for me. I'm going to take this earthly body that you purchased. One of the greatest mistakes you can make as a Christian is think your body doesn't matter. It's just your earth suit that you wear that is so contrary to what the scripture teaches. Your body matters to God and it should matter to you. And the reason it should matter to you, it is the tool that you have to give to God by which He does this very thing that we're talking about. How is the nation, how are the nations going to know that God reigns and rejoice in it because you're going to take your body and let God do something with it. You're going to let God send it somewhere. You're going to let God place it somewhere. You're going to take your body and say to God, God, use this as your living sacrifice, one that is intentionally and consistently devoted to God.

And if we're going to do that, there is a prescribed means for that. That means this, I've got to change the way I think about life. If I'm ever going to get to the place where I'm willing to say to God, here is my body. It's the one thing that I have. I came into the world in a body and I'm going to exit the world in a body and one day you're going to raise up that body. It's the one thing I have that's going to last forever and I want to give it to you. And I want you to do whatever you want to do with this body.

I'm giving it to you for my entire life. It is a living sacrifice. And the only way you and I ever get there is when God renews our mind. Because people in the world don't think this way. People who live in the world that you're about to go into they do not rejoice because God reigns.

Instead they rejoice when they reign and they want to use their body however they want to use it. And all of a sudden you come in and you think a very different way about your body, about your life. And the only way that you're going to think that way is when the Holy Spirit of God transforms your mind through God's word. That's what Romans 12 2 says, being transformed by the renewing of our mind so that by testing we may discern what is the will of God, what is good and what is acceptable and what is perfect. That's why being in a school like Bob's University is so important for you. That's why the biblical worldview that you're getting here is so stunningly important. It isn't just because you read the Bible in your dorm room and we have chapel and we have classes where our teachers open up the word of God.

That's not, that's wonderful. But the real biblical worldview that you're getting here is what's changing the DNA of your thinking. And until our minds change about how we see life and how we see our bodies, until we truly get a worldview that is God's, we will never be able to come to Him and say, God, here's my body. And you know how we can do that? Paul says, let me tell you how you can do that.

There's a motivation for that. And it's found in the first 11 chapters of Romans. It's all about what God has done. And when Paul tried to think of a word to describe 11 chapters of some of the most amazing truth in the scripture, the only word he'd come up with was this, mercies. When you read the book of Romans, the first 11 chapters, you can sum up in one word, mercies. And those mercies are yours and they're mine. And that's why we can take our body joyfully and say to God, God, what are you doing? What do you want to do with this body?

Well, let me end because we have to close. Let me ask you three questions and I'll pray. And I'm going to include myself in these questions. Are you and I willing to let God do whatever he pleases with my life? Or is it more important that I get my kingdom? Am I willing to live a life of unreserved, unrestrained devotion to the God who extended such great mercy?

And here's the hard question. Are you and I willing to let God do to our body what Jesus was willing to let God do to his body to bring the gospel to others? I'm good with question number one and I'm good with question number two.

But when you put question number three on the table, I'm not good with that. And the only way I'm going to get good with that is when the Spirit of God renews my thinking. Are you and I willing to let God do to our body what Jesus was willing to let God do to his body to bring the gospel to others? Lord, we thank you for your Word. We're thankful for its power and its beauty and its impact on our lives. And I pray that what we have heard today from your Word that you reign would cause great joy in our life. In Jesus' name, Amen. You've been listening to a sermon preached by Dr. Sam Horn. Thanks for listening and join us again next time as we study God's Word together, with speakers from Chapel Services and Bob Jones University.
Whisper: medium.en / 2024-07-06 00:37:16 / 2024-07-06 00:48:22 / 11

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