Today we have an important missions question from a listener named Zach, Hello Pastor John,

a friend and I have been reading your book, Let the Nations Be Glad. It has been a blessing

to both of us as we each pursue our roles and missions. So thank you for that book.

I've been wondering if Christians will have to reach every unreach people group, or at

least every unengaged unreach people group, before Jesus returns. It seems to me that

disciples lived as though they believed Jesus would return any day. And the Bible certainly

speaks of Jesus coming at any moment. Also looking at Revelation 146, I wonder if that passage

is saying that if Jesus returns before we as Christians have accomplished the task to reach

all the unreached, the angel will take care of the rest, so to speak. Pastor John, what do you think?

Let me preface what I'm going to say with the statement that I am so willing to be corrected

on this. And I'll say more about that maybe as we go along. So please don't hear me having the

level of forcefulness in this as I might with other teachings that I find to be clearer, but I do

have convictions and I'll tell you what they are. The way I would express my understanding of the

Bible is that Jesus clearly commanded us to make disciples of all the people's tribes, languages

of the world. Matthew 28, 19, Revelation 5, 9, he gave us his Holy Spirit and power to that end,

Acts 1, 8. He promised to be with us to the end of the age for that purpose, Matthew 28, 20. And

he said that the end would come, that is, he would come when this task of witnessing to all the

nations is complete. Yes, I did say that in the book. I'm saying it now. I don't want to claim

that I can define precisely the work of world evangelization. So down to the detail that I

will know the day and the hour when it is complete. I'm not even close. So there is significant

ambiguity. Hear me? There's significant ambiguity. It may sound like, oh, when the nations are

reached, he's coming. Well, the nations being reached is not defined in the Bible with any

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