Miss for Children's Church. Selena, that's you this morning. And if you would take your Bibles and turn to second Corinthians chapter five. Second Corinthians chapter five. We're going to start in verse 17.

First Corinthians five, I mean, second, sorry, second Corinthians five. We'll begin reading in verse 17 in just a second. So I spoke with, brother Caleb back almost two year and a half ago, I think. And I asked him to come to missions conference last year and he couldn't come then. So he's gonna come this year and we got our wires crossed and wasn't able to work that out.

And so, he had this date open to come down to Florida and to make the trek from North Carolina, which he's about three hours south of where my parents are in Virginia. So I know what that trip is like. And so they drove down yesterday from North Carolina so they could be with us today. I kept confusing his name. I told Barbara, I think I told Barbara, a couple other people, his name was David Kehiwat.

And I found out while we were eating last night why I was confusing his name because his dad's name is David, and his dad was in evangelism. And I had heard I didn't know his dad, but I had heard of his dad from other pastors and evangelists. And so that I think is what confused me. So but his name is Caleb and Chris and his wife were so glad that they could join us. We had a good time last night fellowshipping and look at look forward to that today.

He will be speaking again in the evening service. So, please come back and join us in the evening service tonight and if you have any further questions, you maybe can ask him then or you can see him back at their their table back there. So, if you would after the service. So, let's get to the message this morning. It just it kind of fell that it was missions related adjacent here this morning as we are looking at the benefits of salvation.

Psalm one zero three two says, bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not all his benefits. Let's go to the Lord in prayer once more. Lord, thank you for this day. Thank you for the opportunity to stand here today and proclaim your good news. We thank you Lord for Jesus Christ, our savior, for the opportunity and privileges that are ours in Christ, not that we have earned but that you earned for us and gave to us graciously and mercy and we thank you Lord for that and the opportunity to be here today and to praise your name.

Pray Lord that you would work mightily in our hearts, guide our steps, and use us Lord to bring glory to your name today. In Jesus' name, amen. So the benefits of salvation. We've looked at several from Ephesians chapter one. What are the benefits?

Our forgiveness of our sins, redemption, and justification from sin, all earned for us by Christ. Eternal life being welcomed into the family of God as his children and to our eternal inheritance, which is awaiting us in heaven. The Holy Spirit that He has given to us, who has regenerated and sealed us, who guides us and empowers us in Christ's service, who is our partner in this journey from the day of our salvation to the day we stand before God in heaven. The privilege of prayer, the privilege of belonging to church, the privilege of one another, the fellowship that we have with each other in Christ Jesus. We talked about that last week.

And this week, the great privilege and honor to be ambassadors for Christ and of the gospel. Look if you would in first second Corinthians chapter five, second Corinthians five, and we'll start in verse 17. Second Corinthians five seventeen, therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new.

And all things are of God who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation, to wit that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ. As though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. In this passage, Paul shares with the Corinthians his burden, his passion, his zeal to bring the lost to Christ by the preaching of the gospel, which he calls here the word of reconciliation.

The message, the word, the gospel, the good news that Jesus Christ has come and died and rose again through which we and they could by faith be restored in our relationship with God, which was broken by sin. We are told many times throughout scripture that our sin has separated us from our God. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is what? Eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. When sin came into the world, it drove us apart from God.

But Christ came to bring us what? Back together. To reconcile that relationship that was destroyed by sin as only Christ could do. Paul refers to himself here as an ambassador for Christ. Paul did not die for us or them.

Paul does not have the power to save. Christ is the one who died. Christ is the one who has that power. But Christ is in heaven and has given us all the ministry of reconciliation and called us all as ambassadors for Christ in this world. What is an ambassador?

An ambassador is one who, while being the citizen of one land, is sent to another land for a time to represent the interests of their homeland, to represent their king or Lord or government, One who is a mouthpiece for their country and their king in the ears of the place to which they were sent. That's what an ambassador does. It's a very privileged and honored position to be called to be an ambassador for The United States, to go to another country and to speak for the president and to speak for the people of this nation in the years of other nations, to relay the message that comes from the governor, president, king to the leader of that land. One who, while caring for the people in the place of his current residence, represents primarily the interests of his homeland. One who has responsibilities to his homeland and a commission which he must not ignore.

How privileged it is to be called ambassador to go to another country, how sad it would be to go there and then completely forget why you're there and the responsibilities that you have. Hopefully, that doesn't happen. I'm sure there are some cases in which it does. One who by his words and actions represents his king and homeland, who demonstrates who his people are, what they believe and what they value by their actions to reflect well upon their people, their homeland, their king. We're told in my Matthew five sixteen, let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father, which is in heaven.

An ambassador is one who is a messenger with a message, not his or her message, but the message of the one who sent them and commissioned them to go. So an ambassador has sent a representative from our country to another with a message for another dignitary and governor in another land, and they are trusted with that message to speak in behalf of the ones that they represent. That is the honor and privilege of an ambassador. We are ambassadors. We are citizens of another kingdom in place.

We serve the king of kings and the Lord of lords. And we have been sent with a what? We've been sent with a message to deliver. What is that message? Well, that message is the gospel.

We have been sent to proclaim the word of the king, The gospel of the good news of salvation in who? In Christ Jesus, our Lord, the one who has sent us. The one who came from heaven. He left heaven and he came to earth. In the beginning, the word was with God and the word was God.

And the word became what? Flesh and dwelt among us that we might see the glory of God, the only begotten of the father. Jesus Christ came from heaven. He died for us. He paid the price for your sins and mine on the cross.

He he paid our penalty. He took our punishment. And he did it willingly. And he did it out of love and mercy and grace to purchase redemption for us and justification and forgiveness for our sins that we talked about a few weeks ago. He now sits, having risen again from the dead at the right hand of the father where he intercedes in behalf of all of those who come to him in faith.

The pain of the price for sin was finished when Jesus cried, it is finished on the cross, but the work of Christ continues this very day at the right hand of the father as he receives and intercedes for all those who come to him in faith to accept him as Lord and savior and his sacrifice as payment for their sins. It is Christ who by grace will exchange our filthy rags of sin for his righteousness so that we can be forever welcomed into the presence of God in heaven. One of my favorite verses is verse 21. For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. There's a parable Jesus tells in the gospels about a ruler who was celebrating the wedding of his son.

And he called all the noble people and such to the wedding banquet and they refused to come. How sad. And so he sent his messengers out into the the highways and the byways and he said, invite them all. Those who were invited were not found worthy. So whoever you come across, invite them to the wedding of my my son.

That's that's the gospel in a metaphor. He came unto his own and his own received him not, but to those who will receive him, to them who received to them gave he power to become the children of God even to them that believe on his name. But there was one who came to the banquet but wasn't in the wedding attire. And the host of the banquet said, cast him out. Well, what is the wedding attire?

It is the righteousness of who? It is the righteousness of Jesus Christ with which we are clothed who have received him as Lord and savior. It is only in the righteousness of Christ that we can approach boldly the throne of grace. It is only in the righteousness of Christ that we are invited into his family. It's only in the righteousness of Christ that we are reconciled with our maker in heaven and will one day spend eternity with him.

He died on that cross to take our filthy rags and to give us in return a robe of righteousness so that we can be welcomed into the presence of the holy and righteous living God. That's what Christ has done for all of us, that we might be citizens of his forever kingdom. We have been entrusted to take that message to the world. We have been entrusted with that message. Mark sixteen fifteen, and he said unto them, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every preacher.

First Corinthians 15. What is the message? Well, here is the gospel. You know what the gospel is? Well, Paul just summarizes it very quickly here at the beginning of this chapter.

Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you by also by which also also you have received and wherein you stand, that is stand before God in his presence by which also you're saved. You keep in memory what I preached unto you unless you have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures and that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. Watch the good news. The good news is this, Jesus came from heaven.

He died on a cross for our sins. He paid the price that we couldn't pay. He offers us salvation because of his sacrifice to exchange our rags of sin for his robe of righteousness to make us new creatures in Christ. If we will receive him who has risen again from the dead as savior. If we will believe, you will receive everlasting life from Jesus Christ.

And that I received when I was nine years old in a building not too dissimilar from this one. But the building wasn't the important part. The preacher preaching wasn't the most important part. But the savior who called me that night and saved my soul when I responded in faith and received God's gift of everlasting life in him. But I am thankful for the messenger who shared the message that I might be saved.

Who is the king and who are the messengers, the ambassadors? Well, the king is the risen savior, Jesus Christ. He is the one who has commissioned his servants, the citizens of his kingdom who are alive on this earth to make disciples of all nations of all peoples. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. The word teach there could also be translated make disciples, make converts of all peoples.

Go into all the world, preach the gospel and those who receive it by faith, they will become Christ's disciples, believers, children, and then baptize them in the name of the Lord. And then teach them all things that I have commanded you. Jesus Christ is the king. Our citizenship is in heaven, but you're still here. Why didn't he just take you to heaven?

Heaven, I'm told, is a wonderful place. It's much better than this place. But God has left us here. Why? That we might represent him in this world, that we might share his message with others, that we might be salt and light and bring glory to his name as his ambassadors, to represent him and his interests.

Matthew five sixteen, I quoted a few minutes ago, Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven. Yes, we are here to enjoy the pleasures and the bounty of all that God has made for us. Yes, we are here to work and to provide for our families. Yes, we are here to produce good things for other people, things they need to live in houses and food and technology. But we are also, and most importantly here, as ambassadors of heaven to represent the interests of heaven on earth, to glorify our father through what we say and what we do, and to share the message how privileged indeed we are for we are ambassadors of Christ, entrusted with such an important ministry and mission.

Those who have been redeemed by the blood of the lamb are now privileged to be the mouthpiece of who? Of Jesus Christ. We are his mouthpiece to all who will hear his words, his good news, his gospel preserved for us that we in the power of his spirit might read it and learn it and then turn around and watch, share it. Share it with others. Share his word.

Share it in our word. Share it in our deeds as we represent the king of kings. Acts chapter one verse eight says, but ye shall receive power after the Holy Ghost has come upon you and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Just before Jesus went back to heaven, he told his disciples to go back to Jerusalem to wait for the Holy Spirit and then in his power and his guidance to carry the news into what? Into all the world.

That means all. Starting where you are now. In Jerusalem was where they were. They were called to be his witnesses, to be his representatives on earth as he went back where? To heaven.

As he went back to represent me and you in heaven before the throne of grace, we have the opportunity to represent him on earth as ambassadors for Christ. He is doing his part. He asks that we do what? That we do our part. That we not forget amidst all the other wonderful things that life brings, that we still represent him and heaven most of all.

We too are called and greatly honored to be the ones Christ has chosen and has sent. We think of the disciples as being privileged and honored to be called, but we are privileged and honored also. For we too have been called to be salt and light and to be witnesses and messengers and ambassadors for Christ. Ambassadors to our family members and to our neighbors, our friends, and our coworkers, at the bus stop, or on our our daily walk or run, those to those who serve us in a restaurant, to tell the kids in our Sunday school class for some of us, or on our bus route, or a youth group, or the class you teach at school, you're to be salt and light there as well. To those who come to church, to some that are on the other side of the world, even a place called Japan, to show the world one person at a time, The love and righteousness of God as we interact with those around us to represent him.

Paul wrote in first Corinthians ten thirty one, whether therefore ye eat or drink or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. Always keep in mind wherever you are, whatever you're doing, you are a representative of the king of kings. You are an ambassador of heaven. You are a messenger of Jesus Christ. Always keep that in mind so that what you do and all you say, you might bring glory to him and point others to Jesus.

It's not just a responsibility, it is a glorious and wonderful privilege and honor and one that I do not deserve, but nonetheless has been given me. And in your realm of ministry, whatever that may be has also been given you. You can be his hands and feet and mouth to help others, to lift them up, to tell them of Jesus, to show them his love, to exemplify his holiness and grace, his righteousness and power. You can be his messenger to share the word that can change their life forever. Paul who wrote this did not have the power in himself to change anyone, least their eternity.

But he knew someone who could, to whom he could introduce them, to whose message he could share with them, who would change their life forever. Thus, Paul wrote in Romans one sixteen, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Because the gospel carries with it the power of God, of the God who is behind it, the God whose son who died to purchase it and to purchase you and to redeem you from sin and hell. We must not be ashamed of it. We must not forget about it.

We must remember that we are ambassadors of Jesus Christ and we have a message. Again, I mentioned earlier, I appreciate all of those that folded all those tracks and got them ready. Take the ones that are on the table, we'll restock them and restock them and restock them. Because it's not just in the printing and the folding, it's in the distribution and it's in the prayer that God will take those His word and will change hearts and lives forever. We must not be ashamed to share it.

Least we can do is start with a track or ask somebody if we can pray for them or tell them what God is doing in our own life and then what God can do for them. You can be his ambassador to represent the interests of heaven on earth by bringing glory to the savior and souls to the kingdom. Yes, even you. Even me. Paul wrote in first Corinthians one, for you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called, but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty and base things the world and things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, and the things which are not to bring to naught things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence.

Why has God chosen me? I can think of a lot of other people that God could have chosen to do this, but God chose me. Why has God chosen you? Why has God chosen us? Why not the rich and the wealthy and the the geniuses of the world?

God has called and chosen us and commissioned us so that we might point men not to us, but to but to him. That others might see the power and the glory of God in our life as he enables and empowers us to do things that in the flesh we are not capable of, but he is, that he might receive the glory as he should for all that is done. His first four disciples, who did he choose? Did he choose the academics? Did he choose the most educated?

Did he choose the nobles, the governors? No. He chose he chose four fishermen on the Sea Of Galilee that he might be magnified in them, and boy, he was. For God is great. And he came through for them, and guess what?

He will come through for you. He chose me and if you're a child of God, he's chosen you too. Maybe not to go to Japan, though maybe he did or could. Maybe not to be pastor, but you are called to be an ambassador in your home, your church, your neighborhood, workplace. He has chosen and he has called you and will help you to fulfill that calling, your place of ministry, if you will allow, if you will recognize the great privilege that is that is yours and the great power that has been given to help you to fulfill that, you will be able to say as Paul, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

To be that in your home, your workplace, your neighborhood, your school, wherever it is God has you to be. Will you? Will you accept the honor bestowed upon you? Grasp a hold of the mission and not forget that you are an ambassador for Jesus Christ. And if you're here today and you have yet to receive by faith the invitation that Jesus is giving, receive by faith the one who came to this earth and died for you and rose again.

I plead with you this morning, become a child of God. Receive his invitation and put your faith in the one who can save your soul, change your life, and make you an ambassador of Jesus Christ. For whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Let's pray. Dear heavenly father, thank you, Lord, for your word, the reminder today from Paul of his calling that is our calling in some manner and form also.

We are all called to represent you. And Lord, please help us not to forget that. Please help us, Lord, not to take it for granted. We only have so much time here. Our our our our time as ambassadors for Christ is is closing.

Lord, may we may you we see the need all around us. May you grant us passion and power to do something about it by just showing others who Jesus is, by telling others the good news of the gospel, by being your mouthpiece and your messengers. And Lord, we pray if there's one here today that is yet to receive Christ, that they would not leave this place today until they have settled that once and for all. In Jesus' precious name we pray. Amen.