March 19, 2025 • 31 mins
What are you here for? What is your purpose in life? Despite what our culture tells us, we were not created to “live for the moment” or to pursue health, wealth, and fulfillment in this life only. In this message from Psalm 67, David Platt challenges us to consider the ultimate goal for which we were created—to seek and enjoy God—and the ultimate mission that Christians and churches have been given—to spread and exalt the glory of God among all nations. The question all of us need to ask is, What might it look like for me to leverage my life and my vocation in light of these glorious realities? This sermon was given at the Sunday Service for the South by Southwest conference.
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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.
Why are you here?
I'm guessing you can see thaton the screen.
I ask this question, not whyare you here at Sunday service,
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or why are you here at South bySouthwest like deeper than that.
Why are you here on the planet?
How would you answer thatquestion?
If someone asks you why are youhere, what would you say?
(00:49):
In the next few minutes, I wantto show you the answer to this
question that your creator, whomade you, gives, and I want to
encourage you to settle fornothing less than what he's made
you for and why he says you'rehere.
So I've been praying about whatGod wants to say to us this
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morning and I just I did nothave clarity until my time alone
with the Lord in the morning.
This last week took me on ajourney.
I've been in Deuteronomy andthe psalms in my bible reading
and I just so happened to be atone point this week in psalm 67
and as soon as I read it, it waslike god said as clearly as he
(01:37):
could.
This is what I want to say topeople in this gathering on this
morning.
I I love this chapter in theBible and specifically the first
two verses.
I'll never forget the firsttime someone showed me these
verses and how they answer thisquestion of why I'm here, why
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you're here, and I remember itlike it was yesterday.
The trajectory of my lifetotally changed from that moment
on, not because this person wasa great speaker, it was just
the power of God's word.
And my life changed because ofthese two verses.
So let me show them to you.
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Psalm 67, verses one and two.
In fact, let's read themtogether.
This is the word of God.
Let's read it out loud togetherMay God be gracious to us and
bless us and make his face toshine upon us, that your way may
be known on earth, your savingpower among all nations.
(02:46):
Oh, that is so good.
So in those two verses, I wantto show you the twofold reason
why you're here, according toGod, and here's how I would put
it using language from these twoverses.
So one you are here to seek andenjoy the face of God in your
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life.
That's what you're made for,first and foremost, above
everything else To seek andenjoy the look at the language,
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the grace and blessing and theface of God shining upon you.
So I started meditating on thisand let me just take you down
some of the journey.
I went on in my time with theLord and this was just me just
soaking this one in.
So my mind immediately went toa video that I watched a long
time ago, based on one of themost well-known psychological
studies about babies andcaregivers that's been published
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over the last 50 years.
Some of you may have heard ofit.
It's called the still faceexperiment, where this
developmental psychologistshowed that a caregiver's facial
response to a child is criticalto that child's brain
development positive developmentfrom the first days they are
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alive.
I get really grateful because,ironically, that research was
released in 1978.
It was the same year I was bornto a mom and a dad who gave me
that kind of facial interactionfrom the moment I was born.
So I'm really grateful.
And then I'm really sad when Ithink about kids who don't have,
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or people, maybe even in thisroom who didn't have don't have,
or people, maybe even in thisroom, who didn't have that kind
of interaction at that point intheir lives.
And science has shown thelong-term effects in somebody's
life of a lack of facialengagement like this in the
early days of life, and this isreally personal to me.
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My wife and I have six children, four of whom were adopted and
some of whom did not receivethis kind of facial interaction
during their first years.
The point is, we have beencreated from the very beginning
to find fulfillment inface-to-face interaction with
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relationships, and Psalm 67 isstunning because the Bible is
saying here that God has madeyou and me for face-to-face
interaction with him.
That's stunning, which thenleads me to something okay.
So now I was in Deuteronomy thisweek talking about Moses, and I
(05:51):
come to this verse talkingabout Moses when he died.
Look at this Deuteronomy 34.10.
There has not arisen a prophetsince in Israel like Moses, whom
the Lord knew.
What Face-to-face.
What a statement to summarizeyour life at the end.
Wouldn't that be a greatcommentary?
Looking back, he knew the Lordface to face, which goes back to
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language earlier of Moses inExodus, chapter 33, verse 11,
where the Bible says the Lordused to speak to Moses.
What Face to face, as a manspeaks with his friend.
Is this not amazing language?
We're talking about the God whois sovereign, ruler, creator
over everything.
About speaking to God face toface as a friend and then.
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So then I come back to thePsalms and I see this in Psalm
67, then I start looking atdifferent places Psalm 89, 15.
Blessed are the people who knowthe festal shout, who walk, o
Lord, in the light of your what?
Your face.
What a way to walk, what a wayto live in light of God's face
shining on you, to wake up inthe morning and walk throughout
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the day, you looking at God, godlooking at you, not a mom or a
dad.
We're talking about this kindof interaction with god himself.
And then so I dove in morecheck this out.
So one of my favorite verses inthe psalms is psalm chapter 16,
verse 11.
It says you make known to methe path of life.
In your presence, there isfullness of joy at your right
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hand, our pleasures forevermore.
And I start diving in.
You know what I found?
The word here for presence isthe exact same Hebrew word.
That's translated face, inPsalm 67 and 89.
So this verse is literallysaying in your face, o Lord,
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there is fullness of joy.
Oh, you just picture that videofrom earlier, the way that baby
lit up with the face of a momlooking.
This is where fullness of joyis found for you, right where
you're sitting in the face ofGod.
And then keep going.
Psalm 21, verse six you makehim most blessed forever.
You make him glad with the joyof your presence.
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You'll never guess what thatword is it's face.
You have gladness in this worldwhen you look at the face of
God.
So one more place.
Then I go to Psalm, chapter 27.
Verse four says one thing I'veasked the Lord Like one thing.
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This is the one thing thatmatters most in my life, over
and above everything else.
One thing that I will seekafter.
Think about all the differentthings we could seek after in
this world, all the differentthings you could seek after, all
the different things thatpeople all around us right now
are seeking after.
One thing I will seek, afterthat I may dwell and house the
lord all the days of my life,just to gaze, to look upon the
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beauty of the lord and toinquire in his temple.
I just want to gaze on, I justwant to look at your face and
all your beauty.
That's the one thing I want,the one thing I'm seeking after.
And then you get to verse 8,psalm 27,.
Verse 8, you read you have saidtalking to God, seek my face.
My heart says to you your face,lord, do I seek what?
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That's a command.
That's a command from God Seekmy face.
God is commanding you to dothis, and this is a really good
command.
Why?
Because it's in his face thatwe find fullness of joy.
Are you seeing this?
Yes, of course your face, oLord, do I seek.
God has made you for this.
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Now, obviously, god is spirit,and so well, how do I speak to
God face to face?
He's spirit, like I can't seehis face?
Well, I'm glad you asked thatquestion, because the beauty is
God has shown himself to us.
He has shown his face in who?
In Jesus.
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Look at 2 Corinthians 4, versesix, for God, who said let light
shine out of darkness, hasshown in our hearts to give the
light of the knowledge of theglory of God in the what, in the
face of Jesus Christ.
Yes, god has shown his face tous in Jesus.
This is the greatest news inthe world.
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I gotta tell you this story.
I was flying out of town earlyone morning.
I had to leave my house inMetro DC at about 3 am, which I
was not thrilled about, so Igroggily get into this Uber
Within about five minutes.
The guy who's driving it's aman from the Middle East and
he's very talkative, which I wasless than talkative at that
moment.
But he asked me what I do.
So I tell him I'm a pastor andhe says I got to tell you a
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story I can't believe.
You're in my car right now andhe starts telling me.
So this man is Muslim andMuslims believe that Jesus was a
good man, he was a prophet, butnot God in the flesh.
They think it's preposterousthat God would be born a baby.
Well, he starts telling me inthe end his dream one night of a
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little baby who was talking tohim as clearly as an adult.
The baby looked at him straightin the eyes, face to face, and
said do not underestimate whatGod can do.
And the driver basically saysto me do you know what this
dream means?
And I'm like, uh, I don't't.
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I don't normally do dreaminterpretation.
Inside I'm thinking my middlename is Joseph, but that I don't
think that.
So anyway, I said I, I don'tnormally do dream interpretation
, but I actually know what thisone means.
I I said man, god loves you andGod has done the unthinkable.
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He has come to not just us.
He's come to you in the personof Jesus, to pay the price for
your sins on a cross.
Now, keep in mind, muslimsdon't believe Jesus died on a
cross, but there's no holdingback at this point.
We're just going for it.
So I said Jesus is God in theflesh, who came, lived a sinless
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life and then, even though hehad no sin for which to die, he
chose to die on a cross to paythe price for our sins, so that
you, when you trust in Jesus forforgiveness of your sins, god
will forgive you of all yoursins and restore you to
relationship with him forever,to walk with him, enjoy him for
all of eternity.
And he's tearing up, he's crying.
He's like I'm so sorry.
(12:33):
I'm like it's totally fine, aslong as you keep your eyes on
the road man, we are good.
I'm crying back here too.
I'm sharing the gospel, justmore and more explaining
different things.
He's like this is unreal.
I'm like, yes, this is unreal.
I think this is not an Uberanymore.
This is like an Ethiopianchariot and we gotta look for
water on the side.
I don't know what's going on,and by the time we get to the
airport.
I just said do you believe thisman, do you believe that Jesus
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is God in the flesh, who came topay the price for your sins so
that you can have life with Godforever?
He looks back at me.
He says yes, I believe this, Iwanna follow Jesus.
This is not amazing.
It's the greatest news in theworld.
God has come to us, he hasrevealed himself to us in the
face of Jesus, and God has madeyou to experience life and
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face-to-face relationship withhim.
Just let that soak in whenyou're sitting, where you're
standing.
This is what you are made for,and I obviously don't know
everybody here.
I assume many of you arefollowers of Jesus.
But I would just ask everysingle one of you have you come
face to face with God throughfaith in Jesus as your Savior,
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as your Lord, as your God, asyour life?
And if not, then trust that youare not here by accident today,
that God has orchestrated thedetails of your life to bring
you to this moment where, rightnow, he is saying to you I want
you to seek my face and findfullness of joy forever.
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It's what you're made for andit's possible through faith in
Jesus and for all who do havefaith in Jesus.
God is saying live in this.
This is what you're made for.
To seek and enjoy my face inyour life, to daily get alone
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with him, face to face with him,be with him, to believe he is
better than anything else youcould seek after.
He is better than money.
He is better than fame.
He is better than notoriety.
He is better than prosperity.
He is better than all thesuccess everybody else is
running after.
You are made to find fullnessof joy and pleasures forevermore
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, simply alone with god on adaily basis.
This is what you're made for.
So let's live like this andthen.
So now check this out.
Back to psalm 67.
The bible doesn't say may godbe gracious to us, bless us,
make his face to shine upon us,period, and then kind of move on
(15:10):
.
Now they're actually.
When you look in the scripture,it has this word selah, which
is like a pause, like a musicalpause, like let that soak in,
but don't stop there.
That's a comma and it'sfollowed by a word that tells us
there's another purpose here.
So that purpose clause so Godis gracious to us, bless us,
(15:36):
makes his face to shine upon usfor a reason.
So it's not intended to stopwith us.
It's intended to, something'sintended to happen through us
here so that your way may beknown on earth and your saving
power known among all thenations.
(15:56):
So there's a reason.
God's face shines upon you andthat reason doesn't stop with
you.
So here's the purpose of God'sface shining upon you You're
here to seek and enjoy the faceof God in your life, and that's
not all.
And you are here to spread andexalt the glory of God among all
(16:20):
the nations.
That's straight from God.
And things just went to a wholeother level here, because
apparently God has made you witha global purpose in mind, like
all the nations, that's, thewhole world and all the earth,
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and this is not just here inPsalm 67.
If we had time, we could go allover the Bible saying this.
But for the sake of time wecould go all over the Bible
seeing this.
But for the sake of time I'lljust jump to the end of the
story.
So where is all of historyheaded?
Look at Revelation, chapterseven, verse nine.
After this, I looked and beholda great multitude that no one
could number, from every nation,from all tribes and peoples and
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languages, standing before thethrone and for the Lamb Jesus,
clothed in white robes, withpalm branches in their hands,
crying out with a loud voicesalvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne, and tothe Lamb.
And all the angels werestanding around the throne and
around the elders and the fourliving creatures.
They all fell on their facesbefore the throne and worshiped
God, saying amen, blessing andglory and wisdom and
(17:29):
thanksgiving and honor and powerand might be to our God forever
and ever.
Amen.
This is the destination towardwhich the train of history is
headed day, countless men andwomen from every nation, every
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tribe, every people group andevery language in the world
going to be represented aroundthis scene, gathered around the
throne of God, with Jesus at thecenter, giving him glory as we
seek his face, exalting himamong all the nations.
(18:15):
So here's the deal.
If this is the destinationtoward which God is conducting
the train of history, and if youhave the spirit of this God
inside of you, then what are youhere for?
And if you have the spirit ofthis God inside of you, then
what are you here for?
You are here to spread andexalt the glory of God among all
the nations.
(18:35):
You're here to see Revelation,chapter seven, happen.
But here's the problem we don'trealize this, or at least we
don't live like this.
You know what we've done withthis picture in Psalm 67 and
Revelation, chapter 7, this ideaof spreading and exalting the
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glory of God among all thenations.
We've heard that kind oflanguage and be like oh, yeah,
yeah, okay, that's formissionaries, that's what they
do, and we have turned the grandpurpose of God in all of
history into a small program onthe side over here for a few
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people in the church, and theresults have been disastrous,
devastating.
Look at this map with me.
Three colors on this map.
The green areas of this maprepresent places in the world
where people have access to thegospel.
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Obviously, it doesn't mean thateverybody in green areas is a
follower of Jesus or even hasheard the gospel, but what it
does mean is that for people wholive in green areas of the map,
the likelihood is they have aChristian around them or a
church around them who can sharethe gospel with them.
And then we have yellow areason this map where there is less
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access to the gospel, whichmeans there are some Christians,
some churches in those places,but a lot less than in green
areas.
So you have less likelihood ofhearing the gospel, knowing a
Christian or having a churchnear you that can share the good
news of God's love with you inJesus.
And then you have the red areasthat are classified as unreached
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by the gospel.
It means there is very littleand in some of those places,
zero access to the good news ofGod's love in Jesus.
Means that the likelihood is,if you live in one of these red
areas, the likelihood is youwill be born, you'll live and
you'll die, and you will neverencounter, have an interaction
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with someone who can share thetruth about who jesus is, about
how he has died on the cross sothat you could be forgiven of
your sins, have eternal life.
They're considered unreachedand and this is really important
that's no-transcript.
Talking about unreached peoplearound the world.
I mean there's unreached peoplein my office or there's
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unreached people in myneighborhood.
It's not true.
Those people are not unreached.
You say how do you know?
Because they're in your officeor your neighborhood.
They have access to the gospel.
You're it.
We're talking about people whodon't have somebody around and
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estimates are there'sapproximately 3.2 billion men,
women and children in the worldwho are currently unreached by
the gospel.
Just let this soak in for amoment, because the gospel is
the good news that salvation isfound in no one else, for there
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is no other name under heaven bywhich we can be forgiven of our
sins and restored to God.
But if people never hear thatnews, then how can they be
forgiven of their sin, restoreda relationship with God for all
of eternity?
This is the whole point of thebook of Romans.
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They can't believe in someonethey've not heard of, and the
only way they can be saved fromtheir sin is if they hear and
believe.
Faith comes by hearing, andhearing by the word of Christ.
In other words, there's 3.2billion people right now in the
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world on a road that leads toeternity without Jesus, and
they've never even heard fromsomebody else in this world the
good news of how much Jesusloves them and what he has done
for them so they can haveeternal life with him, them and
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what he has done for them sothey can have eternal life with
him.
And we've said, okay, let's geta few missionaries to solve
that.
Like no, what are we?
What are we thinking?
Like there are more people.
This number is higher right nowthan ever before in history.
Let this soak in.
There are more people becausethe world population, we know,
exponentially increasing,including the population in the
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red, which means on our watch,there are more people than ever
before in history who are dying,going into eternity without
ever having even heard the goodnews of God's love for them in
Jesus.
That's happening on them, inJesus.
That's happening on our watchtoday and yet at the same time.
So now, let this soak in.
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We have more opportunities toreach them with this good news
than ever before in history inour day, on our watch.
You just think about it.
Think about, well, paul, howlong would it take him to travel
from once a walk from one cityto the next?
Over weeks, months, to go byboat, and it didn't always work
out very well, like he nevercould have fathomed a machine
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that can pick you up in the airtransport.
You just about anywhere in theworld in a day, set you down
with some snacks along the way,like that's amazing, air travel
is amazing.
Or how long would it take himto write a letter and get it
sent off to someone over weeks,months, weeks, months to get a
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reply back?
He never could have fathomedthe opportunity to communicate
with people around the world inreal time in multiple languages
through a device we carry aroundin our pocket.
This is amazing Traveltechnology, the globalization of
the marketplace, the fact thatthere are people from 100 plus
countries at this gathering thisweek in Austin, the fact that
there are opportunities forpeople from this gathering in
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Austin, texas, to go all acrossthe world through tech, through
film, through arts.
This is why I'm so glad to behere at South by Southwest
Brothers and sisters in whom thespirit of God dwells, brothers
and sisters who know that lifeis found in seeking and enjoying
the face of God, who areleading in film, arts,
(25:14):
entrepreneurs, tech, becausethis map is not going to change
when a few hundred or even a fewthousand followers leave their
jobs to become missionaries.
It's going to change whenmultitudes of followers of Jesus
start leveraging their jobs tospread and exalt the glory of
God among all the earth, amongall the nations.
(25:35):
And this is where I just wantto speak into your life, brother
or sister.
In film, in art, in business,in tech.
God has blessed you, he's beengracious to you, he has caused
his face to shine upon you inunique ways First in your
(25:56):
salvation and then in the uniqueskills and education and
experiences he's given you.
And he has done it for a reasonbecause you have a unique part
to play in the spread of hisglory in the world.
He has done it that you mightmake his way known on the earth
(26:17):
and his saving power known amongall the nations.
This is why you are here.
It's what God is saying In thismoment.
You are here to seek and enjoythe face of God as your life and
you're here to spread and exaltthe glory of God among the
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nations.
And just in case you're notconvinced yet, look at this.
This will bring it home.
It's the last chapter in theBible, revelation, chapter 22,
verse 1.
Then the angel showed me theriver of the water of life,
bright as crystal, flowing fromthe throne of God and of the
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Lamb through the middle of thestreet of the city.
All the nations experiencinghealing, no longer anything
cursed, but the throne of Godand of the Lamb will be in it
and his servants will worshiphim, and they will.
What?
It's the five most beautifulwords in the Bible.
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It's coming.
One day our faith is going tobe sight.
One day we are going to see hisface, free from sin, free from
sorrow, free from all thefallenness of this world.
We're going to be free fromdeath and we're going to see his
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face and drink from the riversof his delight, fullness of joy,
forever and ever, with peoplefrom every nation.
So why would you settle forliving for anything less than
this right now?
This is what you're made for.
(28:19):
I just want to urge you todaydon't settle for anything less
than seeking and enjoying theface of God over and above
everything else in this world.
Do not let let this be awake-up call for some of you.
Do not let busyness, bottomlines or anything else keep you
(28:42):
from this one thing the high andholy privilege of seeking and
enjoying the face of god on amoment by moment, day by day
basis in your life.
You're made for this and then,as you too, live and work and
strategize and plan and dreamand leverage all the grace God
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gives you so that, through yourlife, his ways will be made
known on earth and his savingpower will be made known among
all the nations.
And you will get to this dayand you will not regret living
to seek and enjoy his face andspread and exalt his glory in
(29:29):
the world.
So will you bow your heads withme?
I want to give you a moment.
We prayed, god.
Help us to hear and help us torespond.
I just want to give you a momentwith the face of God.
For some of you, for some ofyou right now, for the first
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time, say yes, I was made forthis.
I want to find fullness of joyforever through faith in Jesus.
I want to seek your face, ohGod, through faith in Jesus, for
the first time in my life.
Others, maybe for the firsttime in a long time, to return,
to come back, seeking the faceof God over and above Just what
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have you been seeking, over andabove God?
And repent of those things.
Leave those things behind rightnow.
Leave them behind.
They're lesser.
He's greater and to pray God.
Use my life to make your waysknown on the earth and your
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saving power known among thenations.
How is my life gonna get thegospel, the good news of your
glory in the face of jesus, tothe world?
Starting right around me,spreading out wherever you might
lead me?
Let me just give you a momentto seek god's face, and that'll
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lead us back into seeking God'sface together in a worship, just
praising Him, and you respondright now, just in your own
heart, to what he's saying toyour life.
We hope you've enjoyed thisweek's episode of Radical with
David Platt.
For more resources from DavidPlatt, we invite you to visit
(31:19):
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.
Why are you here?
I'm guessing you can see thaton the screen.
I ask this question, not whyare you here at Sunday service,
(00:24):
or why are you here at South bySouthwest like deeper than that.
Why are you here on the planet?
How would you answer thatquestion?
If someone asks you why are youhere, what would you say?
(00:49):
In the next few minutes, I wantto show you the answer to this
question that your creator, whomade you, gives, and I want to
encourage you to settle fornothing less than what he's made
you for and why he says you'rehere.
So I've been praying about whatGod wants to say to us this
(01:13):
morning and I just I did nothave clarity until my time alone
with the Lord in the morning.
This last week took me on ajourney.
I've been in Deuteronomy andthe psalms in my bible reading
and I just so happened to be atone point this week in psalm 67
and as soon as I read it, it waslike god said as clearly as he
(01:37):
could.
This is what I want to say topeople in this gathering on this
morning.
I I love this chapter in theBible and specifically the first
two verses.
I'll never forget the firsttime someone showed me these
verses and how they answer thisquestion of why I'm here, why
(02:01):
you're here, and I remember itlike it was yesterday.
The trajectory of my lifetotally changed from that moment
on, not because this person wasa great speaker, it was just
the power of God's word.
And my life changed because ofthese two verses.
So let me show them to you.
(02:22):
Psalm 67, verses one and two.
In fact, let's read themtogether.
This is the word of God.
Let's read it out loud togetherMay God be gracious to us and
bless us and make his face toshine upon us, that your way may
be known on earth, your savingpower among all nations.
(02:46):
Oh, that is so good.
So in those two verses, I wantto show you the twofold reason
why you're here, according toGod, and here's how I would put
it using language from these twoverses.
So one you are here to seek andenjoy the face of God in your
(03:12):
life.
That's what you're made for,first and foremost, above
everything else To seek andenjoy the look at the language,
(03:32):
the grace and blessing and theface of God shining upon you.
So I started meditating on thisand let me just take you down
some of the journey.
I went on in my time with theLord and this was just me just
soaking this one in.
So my mind immediately went toa video that I watched a long
time ago, based on one of themost well-known psychological
studies about babies andcaregivers that's been published
(03:55):
over the last 50 years.
Some of you may have heard ofit.
It's called the still faceexperiment, where this
developmental psychologistshowed that a caregiver's facial
response to a child is criticalto that child's brain
development positive developmentfrom the first days they are
(04:17):
alive.
I get really grateful because,ironically, that research was
released in 1978.
It was the same year I was bornto a mom and a dad who gave me
that kind of facial interactionfrom the moment I was born.
So I'm really grateful.
And then I'm really sad when Ithink about kids who don't have,
(04:40):
or people, maybe even in thisroom who didn't have don't have,
or people, maybe even in thisroom, who didn't have that kind
of interaction at that point intheir lives.
And science has shown thelong-term effects in somebody's
life of a lack of facialengagement like this in the
early days of life, and this isreally personal to me.
(05:03):
My wife and I have six children, four of whom were adopted and
some of whom did not receivethis kind of facial interaction
during their first years.
The point is, we have beencreated from the very beginning
to find fulfillment inface-to-face interaction with
(05:28):
relationships, and Psalm 67 isstunning because the Bible is
saying here that God has madeyou and me for face-to-face
interaction with him.
That's stunning, which thenleads me to something okay.
So now I was in Deuteronomy thisweek talking about Moses, and I
(05:51):
come to this verse talkingabout Moses when he died.
Look at this Deuteronomy 34.10.
There has not arisen a prophetsince in Israel like Moses, whom
the Lord knew.
What Face-to-face.
What a statement to summarizeyour life at the end.
Wouldn't that be a greatcommentary?
Looking back, he knew the Lordface to face, which goes back to
(06:15):
language earlier of Moses inExodus, chapter 33, verse 11,
where the Bible says the Lordused to speak to Moses.
What Face to face, as a manspeaks with his friend.
Is this not amazing language?
We're talking about the God whois sovereign, ruler, creator
over everything.
About speaking to God face toface as a friend and then.
(06:37):
So then I come back to thePsalms and I see this in Psalm
67, then I start looking atdifferent places Psalm 89, 15.
Blessed are the people who knowthe festal shout, who walk, o
Lord, in the light of your what?
Your face.
What a way to walk, what a wayto live in light of God's face
shining on you, to wake up inthe morning and walk throughout
(07:00):
the day, you looking at God, godlooking at you, not a mom or a
dad.
We're talking about this kindof interaction with god himself.
And then so I dove in morecheck this out.
So one of my favorite verses inthe psalms is psalm chapter 16,
verse 11.
It says you make known to methe path of life.
In your presence, there isfullness of joy at your right
(07:21):
hand, our pleasures forevermore.
And I start diving in.
You know what I found?
The word here for presence isthe exact same Hebrew word.
That's translated face, inPsalm 67 and 89.
So this verse is literallysaying in your face, o Lord,
(07:43):
there is fullness of joy.
Oh, you just picture that videofrom earlier, the way that baby
lit up with the face of a momlooking.
This is where fullness of joyis found for you, right where
you're sitting in the face ofGod.
And then keep going.
Psalm 21, verse six you makehim most blessed forever.
You make him glad with the joyof your presence.
(08:06):
You'll never guess what thatword is it's face.
You have gladness in this worldwhen you look at the face of
God.
So one more place.
Then I go to Psalm, chapter 27.
Verse four says one thing I'veasked the Lord Like one thing.
(08:28):
This is the one thing thatmatters most in my life, over
and above everything else.
One thing that I will seekafter.
Think about all the differentthings we could seek after in
this world, all the differentthings you could seek after, all
the different things thatpeople all around us right now
are seeking after.
One thing I will seek, afterthat I may dwell and house the
lord all the days of my life,just to gaze, to look upon the
(08:52):
beauty of the lord and toinquire in his temple.
I just want to gaze on, I justwant to look at your face and
all your beauty.
That's the one thing I want,the one thing I'm seeking after.
And then you get to verse 8,psalm 27,.
Verse 8, you read you have saidtalking to God, seek my face.
My heart says to you your face,lord, do I seek what?
(09:16):
That's a command.
That's a command from God Seekmy face.
God is commanding you to dothis, and this is a really good
command.
Why?
Because it's in his face thatwe find fullness of joy.
Are you seeing this?
Yes, of course your face, oLord, do I seek.
God has made you for this.
(09:38):
Now, obviously, god is spirit,and so well, how do I speak to
God face to face?
He's spirit, like I can't seehis face?
Well, I'm glad you asked thatquestion, because the beauty is
God has shown himself to us.
He has shown his face in who?
In Jesus.
(10:00):
Look at 2 Corinthians 4, versesix, for God, who said let light
shine out of darkness, hasshown in our hearts to give the
light of the knowledge of theglory of God in the what, in the
face of Jesus Christ.
Yes, god has shown his face tous in Jesus.
This is the greatest news inthe world.
(10:23):
I gotta tell you this story.
I was flying out of town earlyone morning.
I had to leave my house inMetro DC at about 3 am, which I
was not thrilled about, so Igroggily get into this Uber
Within about five minutes.
The guy who's driving it's aman from the Middle East and
he's very talkative, which I wasless than talkative at that
moment.
But he asked me what I do.
So I tell him I'm a pastor andhe says I got to tell you a
(10:47):
story I can't believe.
You're in my car right now andhe starts telling me.
So this man is Muslim andMuslims believe that Jesus was a
good man, he was a prophet, butnot God in the flesh.
They think it's preposterousthat God would be born a baby.
Well, he starts telling me inthe end his dream one night of a
(11:07):
little baby who was talking tohim as clearly as an adult.
The baby looked at him straightin the eyes, face to face, and
said do not underestimate whatGod can do.
And the driver basically saysto me do you know what this
dream means?
And I'm like, uh, I don't't.
(11:31):
I don't normally do dreaminterpretation.
Inside I'm thinking my middlename is Joseph, but that I don't
think that.
So anyway, I said I, I don'tnormally do dream interpretation
, but I actually know what thisone means.
I I said man, god loves you andGod has done the unthinkable.
(11:52):
He has come to not just us.
He's come to you in the personof Jesus, to pay the price for
your sins on a cross.
Now, keep in mind, muslimsdon't believe Jesus died on a
cross, but there's no holdingback at this point.
We're just going for it.
So I said Jesus is God in theflesh, who came, lived a sinless
(12:12):
life and then, even though hehad no sin for which to die, he
chose to die on a cross to paythe price for our sins, so that
you, when you trust in Jesus forforgiveness of your sins, god
will forgive you of all yoursins and restore you to
relationship with him forever,to walk with him, enjoy him for
all of eternity.
And he's tearing up, he's crying.
He's like I'm so sorry.
(12:33):
I'm like it's totally fine, aslong as you keep your eyes on
the road man, we are good.
I'm crying back here too.
I'm sharing the gospel, justmore and more explaining
different things.
He's like this is unreal.
I'm like, yes, this is unreal.
I think this is not an Uberanymore.
This is like an Ethiopianchariot and we gotta look for
water on the side.
I don't know what's going on,and by the time we get to the
airport.
I just said do you believe thisman, do you believe that Jesus
(12:57):
is God in the flesh, who came topay the price for your sins so
that you can have life with Godforever?
He looks back at me.
He says yes, I believe this, Iwanna follow Jesus.
This is not amazing.
It's the greatest news in theworld.
God has come to us, he hasrevealed himself to us in the
face of Jesus, and God has madeyou to experience life and
(13:19):
face-to-face relationship withhim.
Just let that soak in whenyou're sitting, where you're
standing.
This is what you are made for,and I obviously don't know
everybody here.
I assume many of you arefollowers of Jesus.
But I would just ask everysingle one of you have you come
face to face with God throughfaith in Jesus as your Savior,
(13:43):
as your Lord, as your God, asyour life?
And if not, then trust that youare not here by accident today,
that God has orchestrated thedetails of your life to bring
you to this moment where, rightnow, he is saying to you I want
you to seek my face and findfullness of joy forever.
(14:03):
It's what you're made for andit's possible through faith in
Jesus and for all who do havefaith in Jesus.
God is saying live in this.
This is what you're made for.
To seek and enjoy my face inyour life, to daily get alone
(14:27):
with him, face to face with him,be with him, to believe he is
better than anything else youcould seek after.
He is better than money.
He is better than fame.
He is better than notoriety.
He is better than prosperity.
He is better than all thesuccess everybody else is
running after.
You are made to find fullnessof joy and pleasures forevermore
(14:49):
, simply alone with god on adaily basis.
This is what you're made for.
So let's live like this andthen.
So now check this out.
Back to psalm 67.
The bible doesn't say may godbe gracious to us, bless us,
make his face to shine upon us,period, and then kind of move on
(15:10):
.
Now they're actually.
When you look in the scripture,it has this word selah, which
is like a pause, like a musicalpause, like let that soak in,
but don't stop there.
That's a comma and it'sfollowed by a word that tells us
there's another purpose here.
So that purpose clause so Godis gracious to us, bless us,
(15:36):
makes his face to shine upon usfor a reason.
So it's not intended to stopwith us.
It's intended to, something'sintended to happen through us
here so that your way may beknown on earth and your saving
power known among all thenations.
(15:56):
So there's a reason.
God's face shines upon you andthat reason doesn't stop with
you.
So here's the purpose of God'sface shining upon you You're
here to seek and enjoy the faceof God in your life, and that's
not all.
And you are here to spread andexalt the glory of God among all
(16:20):
the nations.
That's straight from God.
And things just went to a wholeother level here, because
apparently God has made you witha global purpose in mind, like
all the nations, that's, thewhole world and all the earth,
(16:43):
and this is not just here inPsalm 67.
If we had time, we could go allover the Bible saying this.
But for the sake of time wecould go all over the Bible
seeing this.
But for the sake of time I'lljust jump to the end of the
story.
So where is all of historyheaded?
Look at Revelation, chapterseven, verse nine.
After this, I looked and beholda great multitude that no one
could number, from every nation,from all tribes and peoples and
(17:05):
languages, standing before thethrone and for the Lamb Jesus,
clothed in white robes, withpalm branches in their hands,
crying out with a loud voicesalvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne, and tothe Lamb.
And all the angels werestanding around the throne and
around the elders and the fourliving creatures.
They all fell on their facesbefore the throne and worshiped
God, saying amen, blessing andglory and wisdom and
(17:29):
thanksgiving and honor and powerand might be to our God forever
and ever.
Amen.
This is the destination towardwhich the train of history is
headed day, countless men andwomen from every nation, every
(17:52):
tribe, every people group andevery language in the world
going to be represented aroundthis scene, gathered around the
throne of God, with Jesus at thecenter, giving him glory as we
seek his face, exalting himamong all the nations.
(18:15):
So here's the deal.
If this is the destinationtoward which God is conducting
the train of history, and if youhave the spirit of this God
inside of you, then what are youhere for?
And if you have the spirit ofthis God inside of you, then
what are you here for?
You are here to spread andexalt the glory of God among all
the nations.
(18:35):
You're here to see Revelation,chapter seven, happen.
But here's the problem we don'trealize this, or at least we
don't live like this.
You know what we've done withthis picture in Psalm 67 and
Revelation, chapter 7, this ideaof spreading and exalting the
(18:55):
glory of God among all thenations.
We've heard that kind oflanguage and be like oh, yeah,
yeah, okay, that's formissionaries, that's what they
do, and we have turned the grandpurpose of God in all of
history into a small program onthe side over here for a few
(19:19):
people in the church, and theresults have been disastrous,
devastating.
Look at this map with me.
Three colors on this map.
The green areas of this maprepresent places in the world
where people have access to thegospel.
(19:39):
Obviously, it doesn't mean thateverybody in green areas is a
follower of Jesus or even hasheard the gospel, but what it
does mean is that for people wholive in green areas of the map,
the likelihood is they have aChristian around them or a
church around them who can sharethe gospel with them.
And then we have yellow areason this map where there is less
(20:01):
access to the gospel, whichmeans there are some Christians,
some churches in those places,but a lot less than in green
areas.
So you have less likelihood ofhearing the gospel, knowing a
Christian or having a churchnear you that can share the good
news of God's love with you inJesus.
And then you have the red areasthat are classified as unreached
(20:24):
by the gospel.
It means there is very littleand in some of those places,
zero access to the good news ofGod's love in Jesus.
Means that the likelihood is,if you live in one of these red
areas, the likelihood is youwill be born, you'll live and
you'll die, and you will neverencounter, have an interaction
(20:50):
with someone who can share thetruth about who jesus is, about
how he has died on the cross sothat you could be forgiven of
your sins, have eternal life.
They're considered unreachedand and this is really important
that's no-transcript.
Talking about unreached peoplearound the world.
I mean there's unreached peoplein my office or there's
(21:12):
unreached people in myneighborhood.
It's not true.
Those people are not unreached.
You say how do you know?
Because they're in your officeor your neighborhood.
They have access to the gospel.
You're it.
We're talking about people whodon't have somebody around and
(21:34):
estimates are there'sapproximately 3.2 billion men,
women and children in the worldwho are currently unreached by
the gospel.
Just let this soak in for amoment, because the gospel is
the good news that salvation isfound in no one else, for there
(21:55):
is no other name under heaven bywhich we can be forgiven of our
sins and restored to God.
But if people never hear thatnews, then how can they be
forgiven of their sin, restoreda relationship with God for all
of eternity?
This is the whole point of thebook of Romans.
(22:16):
They can't believe in someonethey've not heard of, and the
only way they can be saved fromtheir sin is if they hear and
believe.
Faith comes by hearing, andhearing by the word of Christ.
In other words, there's 3.2billion people right now in the
(22:39):
world on a road that leads toeternity without Jesus, and
they've never even heard fromsomebody else in this world the
good news of how much Jesusloves them and what he has done
for them so they can haveeternal life with him, them and
(23:02):
what he has done for them sothey can have eternal life with
him.
And we've said, okay, let's geta few missionaries to solve
that.
Like no, what are we?
What are we thinking?
Like there are more people.
This number is higher right nowthan ever before in history.
Let this soak in.
There are more people becausethe world population, we know,
exponentially increasing,including the population in the
(23:24):
red, which means on our watch,there are more people than ever
before in history who are dying,going into eternity without
ever having even heard the goodnews of God's love for them in
Jesus.
That's happening on them, inJesus.
That's happening on our watchtoday and yet at the same time.
So now, let this soak in.
(23:46):
We have more opportunities toreach them with this good news
than ever before in history inour day, on our watch.
You just think about it.
Think about, well, paul, howlong would it take him to travel
from once a walk from one cityto the next?
Over weeks, months, to go byboat, and it didn't always work
out very well, like he nevercould have fathomed a machine
(24:08):
that can pick you up in the airtransport.
You just about anywhere in theworld in a day, set you down
with some snacks along the way,like that's amazing, air travel
is amazing.
Or how long would it take himto write a letter and get it
sent off to someone over weeks,months, weeks, months to get a
(24:30):
reply back?
He never could have fathomedthe opportunity to communicate
with people around the world inreal time in multiple languages
through a device we carry aroundin our pocket.
This is amazing Traveltechnology, the globalization of
the marketplace, the fact thatthere are people from 100 plus
countries at this gathering thisweek in Austin, the fact that
there are opportunities forpeople from this gathering in
(24:53):
Austin, texas, to go all acrossthe world through tech, through
film, through arts.
This is why I'm so glad to behere at South by Southwest
Brothers and sisters in whom thespirit of God dwells, brothers
and sisters who know that lifeis found in seeking and enjoying
the face of God, who areleading in film, arts,
(25:14):
entrepreneurs, tech, becausethis map is not going to change
when a few hundred or even a fewthousand followers leave their
jobs to become missionaries.
It's going to change whenmultitudes of followers of Jesus
start leveraging their jobs tospread and exalt the glory of
God among all the earth, amongall the nations.
(25:35):
And this is where I just wantto speak into your life, brother
or sister.
In film, in art, in business,in tech.
God has blessed you, he's beengracious to you, he has caused
his face to shine upon you inunique ways First in your
(25:56):
salvation and then in the uniqueskills and education and
experiences he's given you.
And he has done it for a reasonbecause you have a unique part
to play in the spread of hisglory in the world.
He has done it that you mightmake his way known on the earth
(26:17):
and his saving power known amongall the nations.
This is why you are here.
It's what God is saying In thismoment.
You are here to seek and enjoythe face of God as your life and
you're here to spread and exaltthe glory of God among the
(26:37):
nations.
And just in case you're notconvinced yet, look at this.
This will bring it home.
It's the last chapter in theBible, revelation, chapter 22,
verse 1.
Then the angel showed me theriver of the water of life,
bright as crystal, flowing fromthe throne of God and of the
(27:08):
Lamb through the middle of thestreet of the city.
All the nations experiencinghealing, no longer anything
cursed, but the throne of Godand of the Lamb will be in it
and his servants will worshiphim, and they will.
What?
It's the five most beautifulwords in the Bible.
(27:35):
It's coming.
One day our faith is going tobe sight.
One day we are going to see hisface, free from sin, free from
sorrow, free from all thefallenness of this world.
We're going to be free fromdeath and we're going to see his
(27:58):
face and drink from the riversof his delight, fullness of joy,
forever and ever, with peoplefrom every nation.
So why would you settle forliving for anything less than
this right now?
This is what you're made for.
(28:19):
I just want to urge you todaydon't settle for anything less
than seeking and enjoying theface of God over and above
everything else in this world.
Do not let let this be awake-up call for some of you.
Do not let busyness, bottomlines or anything else keep you
(28:42):
from this one thing the high andholy privilege of seeking and
enjoying the face of god on amoment by moment, day by day
basis in your life.
You're made for this and then,as you too, live and work and
strategize and plan and dreamand leverage all the grace God
(29:06):
gives you so that, through yourlife, his ways will be made
known on earth and his savingpower will be made known among
all the nations.
And you will get to this dayand you will not regret living
to seek and enjoy his face andspread and exalt his glory in
(29:29):
the world.
So will you bow your heads withme?
I want to give you a moment.
We prayed, god.
Help us to hear and help us torespond.
I just want to give you a momentwith the face of God.
For some of you, for some ofyou right now, for the first
(29:50):
time, say yes, I was made forthis.
I want to find fullness of joyforever through faith in Jesus.
I want to seek your face, ohGod, through faith in Jesus, for
the first time in my life.
Others, maybe for the firsttime in a long time, to return,
to come back, seeking the faceof God over and above Just what
(30:12):
have you been seeking, over andabove God?
And repent of those things.
Leave those things behind rightnow.
Leave them behind.
They're lesser.
He's greater and to pray God.
Use my life to make your waysknown on the earth and your
(30:36):
saving power known among thenations.
How is my life gonna get thegospel, the good news of your
glory in the face of jesus, tothe world?
Starting right around me,spreading out wherever you might
lead me?
Let me just give you a momentto seek god's face, and that'll
(30:57):
lead us back into seeking God'sface together in a worship, just
praising Him, and you respondright now, just in your own
heart, to what he's saying toyour life.
We hope you've enjoyed thisweek's episode of Radical with
David Platt.
For more resources from DavidPlatt, we invite you to visit
(31:19):
Radical with David Platt.
For more resources from DavidPlatt, we invite you to visit
radicalnet.
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