March 26, 2025 • 19 mins
The fact that over 3 billion people in the world are unreached—meaning they have little or no access to the gospel—highlights the scope and the urgency of the church’s mission. It’s a mission in which every follower of Christ has a role to play, and God has provided unprecedented opportunities for the church to spread the gospel today. Yet, as David Platt reminds us in this message from the book of Acts, prayer is crucial to the accomplishment of this mission, for it is only by the power of the Holy Spirit that the church can be faithful and effective in the task of making disciples of all nations. This message was given at the Gather 25 conference in Kuala Lumpur.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You are listening to Radical with David Platt, a
weekly podcast with sermons andmessages from pastor, author and
teacher David Platt.
In the few minutes I have, Iwant to share two realities that
call for one response.
So we're just going to diveright in Two realities.
Number one we live in a day ofurgent need.
(00:24):
One we live in a day of urgentneed.
Over three billion people todayare still unreached by the
gospel.
And just to make sure we'reusing the same definition for
that term unreached doesn't justmean lost, doesn't just mean
apart from God in sin.
Unreached means lost and you'venever heard the good news of
(00:50):
how you can be saved from yoursin and you likely don't have a
Christian around you or a churchnear you who can share that
good news with you.
So sometimes people say well, Idon't know why we talk about
unreached people around theworld.
I mean, there's unreachedpeople in my office or there's
unreached people in myneighborhood, but those people
(01:12):
are not unreached.
You say how do you know?
Well, because they're in youroffice or your neighborhood,
they have access to the gospel.
You're right.
We're talking about people who,practically today, are being
born and living and dying andgoing to eternal judgment for
sin without ever even hearingthe good news of how Jesus came
(01:40):
to save them from sin.
Over three billion peopleunreached, which means so follow
this.
There are more unreached peopletoday than ever before in
history.
The world population isexponentially expanding,
including among unreached peoplegroups.
(02:02):
That means what's happening onour watch today is more people
being born, living and dyingwithout ever even hearing the
gospel than ever before inhistory.
We're living in a day of urgentneed.
Second reality we live in a dayof unprecedented opportunity,
(02:28):
meaning we have moreopportunities to reach people
with the gospel today than everbefore in history.
The church in the New Testamentnever could have imagined the
opportunities that are availableto you and me.
How long would it take Paul totravel from one city to the next
(02:49):
by foot or by boat, and itdidn't always work out very well
.
To think that just a couple ofdays ago, I was with my wife and
our six kids in MetroWashington DC and then a machine
picked me up, transported methrough the air, set me down on
(03:12):
literally the other side of theworld in about 24 hours, with
snacks along the way.
Paul never could have fathomedthis.
He would have loved SingaporeAirlines.
Or just think how long it tookPaul to write a letter in weeks,
(03:34):
months to get it sent todifferent people in different
cities, in weeks and months toget a reply back.
He never could have fathomedbeing able to communicate around
the world in real time inmultiple languages through a
device we carry around in ourpockets.
This is amazing Traveltechnology.
(03:58):
The globalization of today'smarketplace.
I just spent the last couple ofdays with leaders in tech and
business and investing andentrepreneurs in Singapore who
have opportunities to go to thenations through their work.
Do we realize God has designedthe globalization of today's
(04:20):
marketplace for the spread ofhis glory among the nations?
He has the whole thing riggedthe globalization of the
marketplace, the migration ofpeoples, the movement of peoples
to different places.
Here in Malaysia, so manydifferent people, groups
represented.
(04:40):
The Uber I took right before Iflew over here was with a man
from Pakistan who had neverheard the gospel until we were
in an Uber together.
God's brought people from thenations to us.
What a unique day we live inwhen it comes to the
urbanization of the world.
(05:01):
Early 1800s, 3% of the worldlived in cities.
Today that's more than 50%, andmost estimates are that by 2050
, over 70% of the world willlive in cities, god bringing the
peoples to the cities to bereached with the gospel.
You put all of that together,you realize.
(05:22):
And then, on top of thecollaboration opportunities we
have in the global church,exemplified by what's happening
right now, with brothers andsisters gathered together around
the world, seeking God togetherin worship and prayer, hearing
from the Word together, we havemore opportunities to spread the
(05:48):
gospel to the nations than everbefore in history.
This is Esther-like for such atime as this.
What a time that you and I getto be alive with the greatest
news in the world.
But something has to change.
For far too long, traditionalmethods for making Jesus known
(06:14):
in the world have been woefullyinadequate.
Traditional missionary sendinghas relegated the task of
spreading the gospel among allthe nations to a select group of
missionaries and missionorganizations.
But just look at the data.
(06:36):
As one example, almost 50 yearsago, at the initial Luzon
Congress, there was a man namedRalph Winter who highlighted the
reality of unreached people,talked about unreached people
groups, called missionorganizations to focus on
unreached people groups and inthe 50 years since then, mission
(06:59):
organizations have talked aboutunreached people, researched
unreached people, heldconferences on unreached people,
turned entire missionorganizations upside down to
focus on sending missionaries tounreached people.
And 50 years later, there aremore unreached people in the
world than when that started.
Why?
(07:21):
Well, it's not because allthose things were bad.
All those things were reallygood.
The problem is, while all ofthose things were happening, the
majority of Christians havestill been sitting on the
sidelines expecting missionariesand mission organizations to do
what we are all made to do.
Spreading God's glory among allthe nations is not a program for
(07:44):
a few people.
Spreading God's glory among allthe nations is not a program
for a few people.
Spreading God's glory among allthe nations is the purpose for
which we have breath.
With over three billionunreached people in the world,
we don't just need a few hundredor even a few thousand more
missionaries living to reachthem.
We need hundreds of thousandsand millions upon millions of
(08:05):
Christians living to reach them.
This is the need in our dayMillions of men and women in
whom the spirit of Jesus dwells,living and working and
leveraging.
Travel, technology,urbanization of the world,
globalization of the marketplace.
Migration of peoples,accumulation of wealth,
(08:25):
collaboration of the globalchurch all together for the
spread of the world.
Globalization of themarketplace, migration of
peoples, accumulation of wealth,collaboration of the global
church all together for thespread of the gospel to every
single person in the world,which leads to the response.
So how is Jesus calling us torespond to this urgent need with
this unprecedented opportunitytoday?
The same way he responded whenhe saw the need in his day.
(08:51):
It's where Mark began us withthis time in Asia, in Matthew,
chapter 9.
It's been mentioned already.
Gathered in North AmericaMatthew 9, 37 through 38,.
He said to his disciples we'vealready said the harvest is
plentiful but the laborers arefew.
Therefore, do what?
(09:13):
Pray earnestly to the Lord ofthe harvest to send out laborers
into his harvest.
Here is the response to urgentneed and unprecedented
opportunity in our day.
As the church, we must bedesperate for spirit-given power
(09:35):
and devoted to spirit-ledprayer.
Jesus said start here, pray forthe harvest field, then go.
Then he said the exact samething in Acts, chapter one.
After rising from the dead, hegathered his disciples, told
them you will receive power whenthe Holy Spirit has come upon
(09:57):
you and you will be my witnessesin Jerusalem and in all Judea
and Samaria and to the ends ofthe earth.
Now I'm guessing that verse isfamiliar to many of us.
A good friend of mine namedVance helped shed light on this
scene for me.
So just imagine it.
Jesus is gathered with hisdisciples on this mountain
outside Jerusalem.
They're still overwhelmed thatJesus died and is now alive,
(10:20):
again risen from the grave.
They're pretty excited andJesus says all right, guys,
here's the plan.
He says we're going to go startback in Jerusalem.
But think about that.
What just happened in Jerusalem?
They just killed Jesus there.
Like, if you're a follower ofJesus, the last place you want
to go is back to Jerusalem.
Right now they hate you there.
(10:41):
So Jesus says that's where we'regoing to start, where they hate
you.
But then that's not where we'regonna stop.
He says we're gonna go fromthere to Judea and Samaria and
as soon as they hear that, like,put yourself in these
disciples' shoes, because Jewishpeople hated the Samaritans.
So Jesus just said all right,guys, here's the plan.
We're gonna start where theyhate you and then we're gonna go
(11:04):
where you hate them, and thenwe're not gonna stop there.
Then next, we're gonna go toplaces in the world you don't
even know exist, ends of theearth, places you don't even
know how to get to.
So Jesus says we're gonna startwhere they hate you.
We're gonna go where you hatethem, then head to places you
don't know how to get to.
You hate them, then head toplaces you don't know how to get
(11:26):
to.
And then, as soon as he saysthis, all of a sudden he starts
floating up to heaven and thatlevitation a few inches off the
ground.
We're talking a flight up tothe sky a cloud totally takes
him out of their sight.
And these guys have no ideawhat to do at this point.
(11:46):
They're all alone.
So they look up into heaven andthe whole scene plays out as
all of a sudden, a guy isstanding next to them and they
jump back and say who are you?
And they say this Jesus, whowent up to heaven, is telling
you to go and do what he toldyou to do.
(12:06):
And what did he tell them to do?
He told them to go, you to goand do what he told you to do.
And what did he tell him to do?
He told him to go back intoJerusalem and do what and pray.
And that's exactly what Acts1.14 tells us All these, with
one accord, were devotingthemselves to prayer.
Notice it does not say.
All these with one accord weredevoting themselves to
(12:26):
strategizing.
All these with one accord weredevoting themselves to
whiteboarding a plan.
Don't miss it.
By this time, this 120disciples.
They knew that what Jesus hadtold them to do was so big there
was no chance they could do iton their own.
They were common, uneducated,ordinary men and women who had
(12:49):
just been given a charge tochange the world, and they knew
they needed the power of God,which then led them to Acts,
chapter 2.
So imagine this scene.
Imagine, like you've neverheard it before.
Imagine it was happening inthis room or wherever you're
gathered right now.
When the day of Pentecostarrived, they were all together
in one place.
Suddenly, there came fromheaven a sound like a mighty
(13:15):
rushing wind, and it filled theentire house where they were
sitting.
So let's just picture that.
And what does that sound like?
So it's not an actual wind likeblowing through your hair, it's
just the sound of a mightyrushing wind.
Let's do this On the count ofthree.
Let's make whatever sound youthink.
That is Okay, that's what we'regonna do.
Wait, wait, on the count ofthree.
You're so eager?
Okay, here we go.
(13:35):
You ready, all right?
One, two, three, all right, Idon't know if that's what it
says.
That's kind of eerie, and wegot some owls over here.
I don't know what's going on,so anyway, okay, so you've got
this sound like all of a sudden.
Just imagine this happening inthis room, this sound of a
(13:57):
mighty rushing wind, likemassive wind, and then verse
three says divided tongues as offire appeared to them and
rested on each one of them.
What does that mean?
Like a tongue as of fire?
What does a fire tongue looklike?
Resting on?
(14:18):
Like?
Look at the person next to youand picture a fire tongue on top
of them.
Like what do you do?
Like fire tongues resting oneach of them, and they were all
filled with the Holy Spirit.
Whoa, wait a minute.
All Like?
(14:38):
You think Old Testament that alot of people have the Holy
Spirit on them, or just a fewpeople?
Just a few people?
No, prophets like Isaiah,jeremiah.
Holy Spirit came upon them andthey spoke.
Now it's a totally different.
It's everybody.
All of them were filled withthe Holy Spirit and they began
to speak in other tongues as theSpirit gave them utterance.
That word tongues.
There is languages.
(14:58):
Can you imagine that?
Like I know, ai is helping usout right now.
What if we didn't need AI?
Like, just shout out loud, ifyou could speak one other
language all of a sudden, whatwould you speak?
What would you say?
Just think of differentlanguages.
Imagine right now, in this room,everybody's speaking the
wonders of God in differentlanguages, wherever you're
(15:19):
gathered.
If we were all able just tospeak the word of God in all
these different languages.
Now imagine this whole scene,minding rushing wind, fire,
tongues on each other speakingthe wonders of God in all these
different languages, and thenstep back and realize the exact
same Holy Spirit who did that onthat day is the same Holy
Spirit who's living inside ofyou right now.
(15:41):
Like that will knock you out ofyour seat if you really think
about it.
Like that will knock you out ofyour seat if you really think
about it.
And that's kind of the point.
You have this Holy Spiritinside of you, not so that you
can sit still and stay stagnantin a world of urgent need, with
unprecedented opportunity.
You have this Holy Spiritinside of you to go to your
(16:03):
neighborhoods and to the nationsfilled with Spirit-given power
and devoted to spirit-led prayer.
This is the whole story of thechurch in Acts.
You look, if we had time we'dgo through it.
Every major advance of thegospel in the book of Acts comes
specifically in response tospirit-led prayer.
(16:23):
Every single time we see thegospel going forward it's a
result of prayer.
It's the story of the church inActs.
It's the story of the church inAsia.
Just think about the KoreanPeninsula, many of you know 1900
, korean Peninsula less than 1%Christian.
Then, 1907, pyongyang Revival.
(16:46):
A small group of church leaders, missionaries comes together to
pray and as they're gathered inthe settings just like we're
gathered right now they startpraying and confessing sin in a
way nobody had planned.
People start confessing theirsins against each other, falling
(17:09):
on their faces, weeping overtheir sin Lasted well into the
night, like many people areexperiencing right now.
And then the marks of Koreanrevival were born Earnest,
passionate prayer, devotion toGod's word and spreading the
gospel in the world.
They scattered from that place.
(17:30):
People started praying everymorning for two, three hours at
a time.
They'd get together on Fridaynight to pray late into the
night, or all night into thenext morning and over the next
100 years.
Less than 1% Christian in 1900,by 2000,.
Over 10 million followers ofJesus in South Korea alone, not
(17:54):
even counting our brothers andsisters in underground locations
in North Korea, and not just 10million Christians, but sending
out missionaries around theworld.
Can you imagine that today?
Picture a country that's lessthan 1% Christian right now.
Picture Afghanistan.
Can you imagine, 100 years fromnow, 10 million followers of
(18:17):
Jesus in Afghanistan and Afghanssending out missionaries all
around the world, missionariesall around the world.
Do you believe God can do that?
Absolutely, god can do that.
Our God can do that and our God, our God, will do that when his
(18:39):
people pray.
So let us lay asideprayerlessness and the pride
that it shows.
Prayerlessness is pride.
If we're not praying, it'sbecause we're full of pride,
it's because we've convincedourselves we can do it on our
own.
What if one of the greatesthindrances to the spread of the
gospel in our day is not theself-indulgent immorality of the
(19:02):
culture, but theself-sufficient mentality of the
church?
But the self-sufficientmentality of the church, what
happens when we fall on ourfaces and we plead for God to do
what only God can do in ourlives, in our families and in
the church and among the nations?
We will see God do what we seehim do all over the book of Acts
(19:28):
.
It will be the story of thechurch in Asia, the story of the
church in North America andeverywhere in between.
We hope you've enjoyed thisweek's episode of Radical with
David Platt.
For more resources from DavidPlatt, we invite you to visit
radicalnet.
You are listening to Radical with David Platt, a
weekly podcast with sermons andmessages from pastor, author and
teacher David Platt.
In the few minutes I have, Iwant to share two realities that
call for one response.
So we're just going to diveright in Two realities.
Number one we live in a day ofurgent need.
(00:24):
One we live in a day of urgentneed.
Over three billion people todayare still unreached by the
gospel.
And just to make sure we'reusing the same definition for
that term unreached doesn't justmean lost, doesn't just mean
apart from God in sin.
Unreached means lost and you'venever heard the good news of
(00:50):
how you can be saved from yoursin and you likely don't have a
Christian around you or a churchnear you who can share that
good news with you.
So sometimes people say well, Idon't know why we talk about
unreached people around theworld.
I mean, there's unreachedpeople in my office or there's
unreached people in myneighborhood, but those people
(01:12):
are not unreached.
You say how do you know?
Well, because they're in youroffice or your neighborhood,
they have access to the gospel.
You're right.
We're talking about people who,practically today, are being
born and living and dying andgoing to eternal judgment for
sin without ever even hearingthe good news of how Jesus came
(01:40):
to save them from sin.
Over three billion peopleunreached, which means so follow
this.
There are more unreached peopletoday than ever before in
history.
The world population isexponentially expanding,
including among unreached peoplegroups.
(02:02):
That means what's happening onour watch today is more people
being born, living and dyingwithout ever even hearing the
gospel than ever before inhistory.
We're living in a day of urgentneed.
Second reality we live in a dayof unprecedented opportunity,
(02:28):
meaning we have moreopportunities to reach people
with the gospel today than everbefore in history.
The church in the New Testamentnever could have imagined the
opportunities that are availableto you and me.
How long would it take Paul totravel from one city to the next
(02:49):
by foot or by boat, and itdidn't always work out very well
.
To think that just a couple ofdays ago, I was with my wife and
our six kids in MetroWashington DC and then a machine
picked me up, transported methrough the air, set me down on
(03:12):
literally the other side of theworld in about 24 hours, with
snacks along the way.
Paul never could have fathomedthis.
He would have loved SingaporeAirlines.
Or just think how long it tookPaul to write a letter in weeks,
(03:34):
months to get it sent todifferent people in different
cities, in weeks and months toget a reply back.
He never could have fathomedbeing able to communicate around
the world in real time inmultiple languages through a
device we carry around in ourpockets.
This is amazing Traveltechnology.
(03:58):
The globalization of today'smarketplace.
I just spent the last couple ofdays with leaders in tech and
business and investing andentrepreneurs in Singapore who
have opportunities to go to thenations through their work.
Do we realize God has designedthe globalization of today's
(04:20):
marketplace for the spread ofhis glory among the nations?
He has the whole thing riggedthe globalization of the
marketplace, the migration ofpeoples, the movement of peoples
to different places.
Here in Malaysia, so manydifferent people, groups
represented.
(04:40):
The Uber I took right before Iflew over here was with a man
from Pakistan who had neverheard the gospel until we were
in an Uber together.
God's brought people from thenations to us.
What a unique day we live inwhen it comes to the
urbanization of the world.
(05:01):
Early 1800s, 3% of the worldlived in cities.
Today that's more than 50%, andmost estimates are that by 2050
, over 70% of the world willlive in cities, god bringing the
peoples to the cities to bereached with the gospel.
You put all of that together,you realize.
(05:22):
And then, on top of thecollaboration opportunities we
have in the global church,exemplified by what's happening
right now, with brothers andsisters gathered together around
the world, seeking God togetherin worship and prayer, hearing
from the Word together, we havemore opportunities to spread the
(05:48):
gospel to the nations than everbefore in history.
This is Esther-like for such atime as this.
What a time that you and I getto be alive with the greatest
news in the world.
But something has to change.
For far too long, traditionalmethods for making Jesus known
(06:14):
in the world have been woefullyinadequate.
Traditional missionary sendinghas relegated the task of
spreading the gospel among allthe nations to a select group of
missionaries and missionorganizations.
But just look at the data.
(06:36):
As one example, almost 50 yearsago, at the initial Luzon
Congress, there was a man namedRalph Winter who highlighted the
reality of unreached people,talked about unreached people
groups, called missionorganizations to focus on
unreached people groups and inthe 50 years since then, mission
(06:59):
organizations have talked aboutunreached people, researched
unreached people, heldconferences on unreached people,
turned entire missionorganizations upside down to
focus on sending missionaries tounreached people.
And 50 years later, there aremore unreached people in the
world than when that started.
Why?
(07:21):
Well, it's not because allthose things were bad.
All those things were reallygood.
The problem is, while all ofthose things were happening, the
majority of Christians havestill been sitting on the
sidelines expecting missionariesand mission organizations to do
what we are all made to do.
Spreading God's glory among allthe nations is not a program for
(07:44):
a few people.
Spreading God's glory among allthe nations is not a program
for a few people.
Spreading God's glory among allthe nations is the purpose for
which we have breath.
With over three billionunreached people in the world,
we don't just need a few hundredor even a few thousand more
missionaries living to reachthem.
We need hundreds of thousandsand millions upon millions of
(08:05):
Christians living to reach them.
This is the need in our dayMillions of men and women in
whom the spirit of Jesus dwells,living and working and
leveraging.
Travel, technology,urbanization of the world,
globalization of the marketplace.
Migration of peoples,accumulation of wealth,
(08:25):
collaboration of the globalchurch all together for the
spread of the world.
Globalization of themarketplace, migration of
peoples, accumulation of wealth,collaboration of the global
church all together for thespread of the gospel to every
single person in the world,which leads to the response.
So how is Jesus calling us torespond to this urgent need with
this unprecedented opportunitytoday?
The same way he responded whenhe saw the need in his day.
(08:51):
It's where Mark began us withthis time in Asia, in Matthew,
chapter 9.
It's been mentioned already.
Gathered in North AmericaMatthew 9, 37 through 38,.
He said to his disciples we'vealready said the harvest is
plentiful but the laborers arefew.
Therefore, do what?
(09:13):
Pray earnestly to the Lord ofthe harvest to send out laborers
into his harvest.
Here is the response to urgentneed and unprecedented
opportunity in our day.
As the church, we must bedesperate for spirit-given power
(09:35):
and devoted to spirit-ledprayer.
Jesus said start here, pray forthe harvest field, then go.
Then he said the exact samething in Acts, chapter one.
After rising from the dead, hegathered his disciples, told
them you will receive power whenthe Holy Spirit has come upon
(09:57):
you and you will be my witnessesin Jerusalem and in all Judea
and Samaria and to the ends ofthe earth.
Now I'm guessing that verse isfamiliar to many of us.
A good friend of mine namedVance helped shed light on this
scene for me.
So just imagine it.
Jesus is gathered with hisdisciples on this mountain
outside Jerusalem.
They're still overwhelmed thatJesus died and is now alive,
(10:20):
again risen from the grave.
They're pretty excited andJesus says all right, guys,
here's the plan.
He says we're going to go startback in Jerusalem.
But think about that.
What just happened in Jerusalem?
They just killed Jesus there.
Like, if you're a follower ofJesus, the last place you want
to go is back to Jerusalem.
Right now they hate you there.
(10:41):
So Jesus says that's where we'regoing to start, where they hate
you.
But then that's not where we'regonna stop.
He says we're gonna go fromthere to Judea and Samaria and
as soon as they hear that, like,put yourself in these
disciples' shoes, because Jewishpeople hated the Samaritans.
So Jesus just said all right,guys, here's the plan.
We're gonna start where theyhate you and then we're gonna go
(11:04):
where you hate them, and thenwe're not gonna stop there.
Then next, we're gonna go toplaces in the world you don't
even know exist, ends of theearth, places you don't even
know how to get to.
So Jesus says we're gonna startwhere they hate you.
We're gonna go where you hatethem, then head to places you
don't know how to get to.
You hate them, then head toplaces you don't know how to get
(11:26):
to.
And then, as soon as he saysthis, all of a sudden he starts
floating up to heaven and thatlevitation a few inches off the
ground.
We're talking a flight up tothe sky a cloud totally takes
him out of their sight.
And these guys have no ideawhat to do at this point.
(11:46):
They're all alone.
So they look up into heaven andthe whole scene plays out as
all of a sudden, a guy isstanding next to them and they
jump back and say who are you?
And they say this Jesus, whowent up to heaven, is telling
you to go and do what he toldyou to do.
(12:06):
And what did he tell them to do?
He told them to go, you to goand do what he told you to do.
And what did he tell him to do?
He told him to go back intoJerusalem and do what and pray.
And that's exactly what Acts1.14 tells us All these, with
one accord, were devotingthemselves to prayer.
Notice it does not say.
All these with one accord weredevoting themselves to
(12:26):
strategizing.
All these with one accord weredevoting themselves to
whiteboarding a plan.
Don't miss it.
By this time, this 120disciples.
They knew that what Jesus hadtold them to do was so big there
was no chance they could do iton their own.
They were common, uneducated,ordinary men and women who had
(12:49):
just been given a charge tochange the world, and they knew
they needed the power of God,which then led them to Acts,
chapter 2.
So imagine this scene.
Imagine, like you've neverheard it before.
Imagine it was happening inthis room or wherever you're
gathered right now.
When the day of Pentecostarrived, they were all together
in one place.
Suddenly, there came fromheaven a sound like a mighty
(13:15):
rushing wind, and it filled theentire house where they were
sitting.
So let's just picture that.
And what does that sound like?
So it's not an actual wind likeblowing through your hair, it's
just the sound of a mightyrushing wind.
Let's do this On the count ofthree.
Let's make whatever sound youthink.
That is Okay, that's what we'regonna do.
Wait, wait, on the count ofthree.
You're so eager?
Okay, here we go.
(13:35):
You ready, all right?
One, two, three, all right, Idon't know if that's what it
says.
That's kind of eerie, and wegot some owls over here.
I don't know what's going on,so anyway, okay, so you've got
this sound like all of a sudden.
Just imagine this happening inthis room, this sound of a
(13:57):
mighty rushing wind, likemassive wind, and then verse
three says divided tongues as offire appeared to them and
rested on each one of them.
What does that mean?
Like a tongue as of fire?
What does a fire tongue looklike?
Resting on?
(14:18):
Like?
Look at the person next to youand picture a fire tongue on top
of them.
Like what do you do?
Like fire tongues resting oneach of them, and they were all
filled with the Holy Spirit.
Whoa, wait a minute.
All Like?
(14:38):
You think Old Testament that alot of people have the Holy
Spirit on them, or just a fewpeople?
Just a few people?
No, prophets like Isaiah,jeremiah.
Holy Spirit came upon them andthey spoke.
Now it's a totally different.
It's everybody.
All of them were filled withthe Holy Spirit and they began
to speak in other tongues as theSpirit gave them utterance.
That word tongues.
There is languages.
(14:58):
Can you imagine that?
Like I know, ai is helping usout right now.
What if we didn't need AI?
Like, just shout out loud, ifyou could speak one other
language all of a sudden, whatwould you speak?
What would you say?
Just think of differentlanguages.
Imagine right now, in this room,everybody's speaking the
wonders of God in differentlanguages, wherever you're
(15:19):
gathered.
If we were all able just tospeak the word of God in all
these different languages.
Now imagine this whole scene,minding rushing wind, fire,
tongues on each other speakingthe wonders of God in all these
different languages, and thenstep back and realize the exact
same Holy Spirit who did that onthat day is the same Holy
Spirit who's living inside ofyou right now.
(15:41):
Like that will knock you out ofyour seat if you really think
about it.
Like that will knock you out ofyour seat if you really think
about it.
And that's kind of the point.
You have this Holy Spiritinside of you, not so that you
can sit still and stay stagnantin a world of urgent need, with
unprecedented opportunity.
You have this Holy Spiritinside of you to go to your
(16:03):
neighborhoods and to the nationsfilled with Spirit-given power
and devoted to spirit-led prayer.
This is the whole story of thechurch in Acts.
You look, if we had time we'dgo through it.
Every major advance of thegospel in the book of Acts comes
specifically in response tospirit-led prayer.
(16:23):
Every single time we see thegospel going forward it's a
result of prayer.
It's the story of the church inActs.
It's the story of the church inAsia.
Just think about the KoreanPeninsula, many of you know 1900
, korean Peninsula less than 1%Christian.
Then, 1907, pyongyang Revival.
(16:46):
A small group of church leaders, missionaries comes together to
pray and as they're gathered inthe settings just like we're
gathered right now they startpraying and confessing sin in a
way nobody had planned.
People start confessing theirsins against each other, falling
(17:09):
on their faces, weeping overtheir sin Lasted well into the
night, like many people areexperiencing right now.
And then the marks of Koreanrevival were born Earnest,
passionate prayer, devotion toGod's word and spreading the
gospel in the world.
They scattered from that place.
(17:30):
People started praying everymorning for two, three hours at
a time.
They'd get together on Fridaynight to pray late into the
night, or all night into thenext morning and over the next
100 years.
Less than 1% Christian in 1900,by 2000,.
Over 10 million followers ofJesus in South Korea alone, not
(17:54):
even counting our brothers andsisters in underground locations
in North Korea, and not just 10million Christians, but sending
out missionaries around theworld.
Can you imagine that today?
Picture a country that's lessthan 1% Christian right now.
Picture Afghanistan.
Can you imagine, 100 years fromnow, 10 million followers of
(18:17):
Jesus in Afghanistan and Afghanssending out missionaries all
around the world, missionariesall around the world.
Do you believe God can do that?
Absolutely, god can do that.
Our God can do that and our God, our God, will do that when his
(18:39):
people pray.
So let us lay asideprayerlessness and the pride
that it shows.
Prayerlessness is pride.
If we're not praying, it'sbecause we're full of pride,
it's because we've convincedourselves we can do it on our
own.
What if one of the greatesthindrances to the spread of the
gospel in our day is not theself-indulgent immorality of the
(19:02):
culture, but theself-sufficient mentality of the
church?
But the self-sufficientmentality of the church, what
happens when we fall on ourfaces and we plead for God to do
what only God can do in ourlives, in our families and in
the church and among the nations?
We will see God do what we seehim do all over the book of Acts
(19:28):
.
It will be the story of thechurch in Asia, the story of the
church in North America andeverywhere in between.
We hope you've enjoyed thisweek's episode of Radical with
David Platt.
For more resources from DavidPlatt, we invite you to visit
radicalnet.
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