Until All Have Heard

Pastor Dan Walker, PhD, MDiv

Introduction: Until All Have Heard and Why We’re Here

Our message this morning is Until All Have Heard. God created and saved us for a purpose greater than comfort, security or success. Our true purpose is enteral. To spread God’s truth and help populate heaven.

Bu too often, we are tempted to drift from that calling. We get absorbed in what’s temporary and forget what lasts forever. The result is a church full of activity but short on urgency. When believers forget why we’re here, eternity loses its pull, and the nations remain unreached.

Yet God, in His mercy, invites us again into His mission. To live sent by God, to give generously, and to care about what heaven celebrates most. Lost people coming home to Jesus. Nothing else we do will matter in eternity, but that.

Let’s begin back in Genesis and we’ll end in Revelation, so buckle up. Before the flood came, Noah was not just a builder, he was a preacher.

2 Peter 2:5 (ESV) [God] preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly,

Day after day as Noah and his family built the ark, he was announcing grace to a world that didn’t want to hear it. For years, the door of the ark stayed open. The ark had room, the invitation was clear. Yet, in the end, only Noah’s family entered and were saved from the judgement of the flood.

The door of the ark, open and waiting is a picture of God’s heart today. The ark points to Christ, the refuge for anyone who will come in. Like Noah, we have been entrusted with both the building of Christ’s church and the invitation.

Our world is different, but the mission is the same. The coming storm of judgement is real, but God’s patience is still holding the door open.

Hebrews 11:7 (ESV) “By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.”

By faith Noah listened to God’s warning, by faith Noah obeyed God’s command to build the ark and by faith Noah warned his generation. The ark represents Christ and His church, the body of Christ. Those who are in the ark, in the true church today as followers of Jesus will be saved from the coming judgement. Those who are not in Christ and His church will spend eternity in hell.

Those who enter the ark of Christ and His church will spend eternity with Him in the new heavens and new earth. All of our friends and relatives who are not followers of Jesus, who are not part of the true church are not going to heaven, as everyone assumes. God’s judgement in Noah’s day was by water, the coming judgment is by the fire of hell. Believing in God does not save a person, the Bible tells us that demons believe in God.

Being a good person does not save someone, the Bibles says there are none who are good. We need to stop hoping those around us are saved because they’re nice people. If they’re not following Jesus and actively part of a biblical church, they’re not saved. Our purpose then is not just to wait for heaven, but to fill heaven.

O make sure every tribe, tongues and nation hears the invitation before the door closes forever. That’s why we give, why we send, why we go. Because Christ’s ark of salvation still has room, and the world still needs to know the only way in, which is through Jesus.

Just as Noah built the ark in obedience, we build God’s church in faith. We give, pray and send, not to earn God’s favor, but to extend His invitation.

Live Blessed to be a Blessing

Genesis 12:2–3 (ESV) “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

These verses further on in Gensis are God speaking to Abraham. Because Abraham believed God, because he had faith, God was going to bless him. God was going to bless Abraham so that he would be a blessing to others. God’s grand vision is that through those of faith, all the families of the earth would be blessed.

God’s heart is for all the nations of the world should hear the Gospel. And that can only happen through believers in His church.

Psalm 67:1–2 (ESV) “May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations.”

Yes we should pray for God’s grace, blessing and face to shine upon us. But to what end? Is God’s blessing just for us? No, we are blessed so that God’s way would be known on earth and His salvation among all nations.

God’s heart from Genesis through Revelation was for the nations to hear the Gospel. For believers to find the ark of Christ from across the face of the globe.

Isaiah 49:6 (ESV) “I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

The light of Christ in us is to be a light for the nations. God’s vision is for his salvation to reach to the end of the earth. God desires to use us to spread His truth until all have heard and had a chance to follow Jesus.

Application: Live Blessed to Bless the Nations

God’s blessing on His people always has the destination of the nations. We are not meant to be reservoirs but rivers of living water. Pray daily, Lord who can I bless today so that they might know you?

As Pastor John preached last Sunday, our first responsibility is right here in St Louis. View your finances, time and talents as tools for both local and global impact. As a church, give thanks for God’s blessing, then send it forward.

Ask God to grip your heart with the vision to spread God’s truth to everyone, both near and far. Pray that God would give you His heart for the nations. That His blessing on your life would extend around the world. Live blessed to be a blessing.

Go Because Jesus Sends You

Matthew 28:19–20 (ESV) “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations … teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

This great commission is at the heart of both local and world-wide missions. The task is to make disciples of all nations in the world. We are to make disciples and train those disciples to make more disciples. In that way, the church multiplies exponentially.

Jesus is the one giving this commission to every believer, every Christ follower. And to make this possible, Jesus promises His presence with us in the mission.

John 20:21 (ESV) “Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.’”

Jesus said that He came into the world to seek and save the lost. Iin this verse, Jesus is sending every follower of His on the same mission. This mission is not optional, it is what followers of Jesus do, it is their passion. Jesus sends us to reach the entire planet with the gospel.

When the gospel has been preached to every nation, when all have heard. Then Jesus will return and the door into the ark of Chris will be forever closed. Only those in the body of Christ, part of God’s kingdom will be saved.

Acts 1:8 (ESV) “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

To accomplish the mission both locally and globally we need the power of the Holy Spirit. This is not automatic; Jesus’ disciples were instructed to wait and pray for this power to fall upon them. Without the power of the Spirit, we cannot be effective witnesses. We cannot make disciples of Jesus.

Jesus didn’t just invite us to follow Him, He sent us to represent Him. The same Spirit that empowered the first disciples empowers us today. Missions is not a department, it’s our identity as Spirit-filled people.

Application: Live Sent in the Spirit’s Power

Pray to receive the power of the Spirit to be a bold witness for Jesus. Let’s look at the geography mentioned in Acts 1:8. First there was Jerusalem, the city in which they were living. Then there was Judea, which was like their state or country.

Then there was Samaria which was like their neighboring state or country. Finally, they were to go to the end of the earth, that’s everything beyond. Let’s apply this to ourselves. What is your Jerusalem, your immediate circle?

We begin our local missions right here in St Louis with those we already know. Then we ask God to broaden our circles of influence for the Gospel. Pray for boldness to live sent every day, wherever God places you. Go because Jesus Sends You.

Send So the World Can Hear

Romans 10:14–15 (ESV) “How are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? …

God’s desire is for everyone on earth to have the opportunity to hear the Gospel and accept or reject Jesus. In most cases, people need to hear the Gospel in order to make a decision. To hear the Gospel, someone has to preach the Gospel. The Gospel can be preached in person, by the printed page or digitally.

It takes people going to start churches and train disciples to multiply. For people to go, they must be sent. What does sending mean? To send someone, we call them missionaries, they are trained, approved and supported financially to reach the world.

We see this example in the New Testament, both in the ministry of Jesus and in the early church.

Philippians 4:15–17 (ESV) “And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel … no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit.”

Paul, probably the greatest missionary who has every lived, was supported by local churches. In this Scripture the church at Philippi. As they supported Pau financially, the ministry bore fruit in souls saved and the church was blessed for it, both in this life and in eternity.

3 John 5–8 (ESV) “Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God.”

Another example of a church supporting the ministry of evangelists reaching the lost beyond the area of the church. Not only are we sent to our area, but God calls on us to send others so the ends of the earth can here.

Application: Fuel the Mission Through Sending and Giving

Let’s talk about the Assemblies of God fellowship we are part of. The Assemblies of God fellowship was begun in 1914 in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Their vision statement was as follows. God has raised up this Fellowship to be the greatest evangelistic and missionary force the world has ever known.

In the last century, the Assemblies of God has become the largest missionary church-planting movement the world has ever seen. Through an indigenous missions’ model — raising up local pastors who plant local churches — the AG has grown from a handful of believers to more than 450,000 churches worldwide with 450,000 pastors. Presently there are 160,000 Bible school students around the world training to be pastors. The Assemblies is in 155 countries, almost every country in the world.

Each country has their national Assemblies of God organization with the same beliefs around the world. These are all coordinated through the World Assemblies of God Fellowship. The number of members in our world-wide churches is 90 million.

Every 17 seconds a new believer is added to an AG church somewhere in the world.
Every 68 minutes a new church is planted somewhere in the world. Through giving to Assembly of God missions, we can help reach the ends of the earth. I encourage you to make missions giving part of your regular worship. All this worldwide missions’ growth was supported by local churches.

We help send thousands of missionaries to the ends of the earth through our financial giving. The first 10% of you income, the tithe goes to the local church. Without local churches there would be no missions. Giving to local missions last year was $250 million.

A starting point for missions giving would be a tithe of your tithe. Give 10% to the church and an additional 1% to missions. Next Sunday, we will have Stan Welch, our AG Network Missions Directory here for Faith Promise Sunday. On the Faith Promise Sunday, we make faith promises of what God is calling for us to give in 2026.

With your missions giving, we support AG World missions, US missions and our local missions. In our bulletin is a pledge card and a brochure about Faith Promises for you to pray over for next Sunday. We send so the world can hear.

See the Nations Gathered in Glory

Revelation 7:9–10 (ESV) “… a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, … crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’”

Heaven’s final vision shows the fulfillment of God’s global heart. Every people group represented, every tongue declaring Christ’s salvation. This is the destination, the goal of missions: the worship of the nations. We live, give, and send with this picture before our eyes.

Psalm 22:27 (ESV) All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.

This psalm written by David prophetically gives us a vision of what the book of Revelation declares. This does not mean that everyone will be saved. Jesus clearly taught that the majority will not accept the Gospel. However, our goal is to give everyone an opportunity to learn about and follow Jesus.

Romans 15:20–21 (ESV) “Thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named … but as it is written, ‘Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.’”

These words of the apostle Paul show his heart for worldwide missions. He continued to press forward into regions and countries that had never heard of Jesus. The current AGWM priority is to reach Buddhists and Hindus which are over 2 billion people who have never heard the Gospel. They can only be reached as local churches pray and send support for those God calls as missionaries.

Application: Keep Heaven’s Multitude in View

How can you be involved in global missions? Let the vision of heaven we read about in Revelation 7 guide your daily decisions. How can you add one more to that great multitude in heaven? As you reach out to those around you for Jesus, don’t lose God’s global vision.

As we have missionaries speak to us every other month, pray for those called to go. Support our local church with your tithes 10% and give a minimum of a tithe of a tithe (1%) to our missions fund. Pray, Lord let my life contribute to that multitude in heaven.

Conclusion: Live, Give, and Send Until All Have Heard

Let’s reflect back on Noah’s story. It’s not about judgement first, it’s about mercy waiting. For years, the door of the ark stood open, and God’s patience held back the flood. In the same way, His patience holds back the final day of judgement now.

Not because He’s slow, but because He’s merciful. God is giving the world more time to hear, more time to come to Him. Your purpose in life is to build what lasts and bring people in before the door closes. Every prayer you pray, every dollar you give, every missionary we support, is a plank in the ark, the only place of refuge found in Christ.

The story continued with Abraham being blessed to be a blessing to the nations. The command to make disciples to the ends of the earth was given by Jesus to all His followers, including you. Every person you witness to, every person you pray for, every dollar you give to our local church and world missions will one day end in heaven’s chorus. On that day, you’ll see faces you’ve never met before.

People who found salvation because your faith reached beyond your sight. God blesses and sends His people so that the whole world may hear the Gospel. That they have an opportunity to find refuge in Christ and join the family of heaven before the door of grace closes when Jesus returns.

📘 Continue the Journey

Reflect deeper and apply this week’s message with the Message Study Guide — perfect for personal devotions, family discussion, or your Life Group.

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