I have an extremely short walk to work. Traveling to work is probably the last concern I have during the day. The only times travel is a concern to me is when a moose pops out of the church bushes with a baby calf. Thankfully, that’s only happened once so far. While my walk to work has been comfortable and unhindered, I haven’t had such a pleasurable experience with traveling out of state or internationally in the last 13 months. You’ve probably experienced this as well. From travel restrictions, covid tests, nervous passengers on airplanes, to flights being re-directed or canceled, travel has been stressful and sometimes completely halted. While restrictions seem to be lessening, there is endless chatter of future virus strains that can shut it all down again. This poses a concern to many things in life. The uncertainty of travel frustrates our comfort and security, especially when it comes to tracking the delivery dates of Amazon orders. But a much more significant concern is threatened by the uncertainty of travel: Missions. 

Consider the essential role of travel in the Great Commission given by the Lord Jesus, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:19-20). While Zoom is a helpful tool and resource, the Lord makes it clear that travel is an essential element of the Great Commission. So, if traveling is one of the essential elements of missions, does this mean that missions are at risk of failing when the world shuts down? Can the Great Commission fail? 

There’s great news: The Great Commission cannot fail. It is impossible for it to fail. But the reason why may be shocking. The reason why the Great Commission cannot fail is because it’s not our mission. The Great Commission is not our mission. It’s a mission that belongs to Christ, and it is a mission that He alone will finish. We are witnesses to Him and His mission (Acts 1:8), and we obediently carry out the task of missions because it is His mission. 

What is His mission? His mission is to bring Himself glory. Notice the purpose statement in this Psalm, “Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us, and atone for our sins, for your name’s sake!” (Psalm 79:9) As the Psalmist explains, the driving force of redemptive history from delivering Israel out of Egypt to Christ dying on the cross for sins is for His own glory. His mission is His own glory, and He will finish His mission because He is the Hero of the story. We have the privilege to participate in the story, but we must remember that the success of missions depends on one Person: The Lord Jesus Christ. 

Isn’t it encouraging to know that “missions” do not depend on our ability, but rather hinges on Christ’s ability to finish His mission. So, does Christ finish His mission and how does He do it? In Revelation 11:15-19, John looks to the future and highlights how Christ finishes the great task of missions in two breathtaking scenes. 

Scene 1: The Announcement that Christ is about to finish His Mission (11:15) 

The first scene commences with a trumpet blown by an angel alerting the listeners and readers to pay attention to the momentous message that is about to be announced.

Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever” (Rev. 11:15) 

In the book of Revelation, there are many fascinating prophecies that involve angels blowing trumpets (Rev. 8:6 – 11:15), bowl judgments of God’s great wrath (Rev. 16), and a front-row seat to the second coming of Christ (Rev. 19). These verses feature the last of seven trumpets. The earlier trumpets prophesied God’s wrath on the world involving catastrophic plagues and judgments such as horrific fail and firestorms, meteors that poison a third of the water on Earth and kill a third of the living creatures. Each of these judgments will be initiated by an angel blowing a trumpet. Revelation 8:13 then warns the listeners of an even more dangerous trumpet to follow. Revelation 11:15 is this final trumpet that surpasses all the judgments in gravity that can be felt. 

What is this incredible event that is more impressive than meteors and firestorms? It’s an announcement. That’s right, a proclamation. The trumpet announces the future reign of Christ on earth. When the trumpet is blown, it will announce that Christ is near and that He is about to finish His finish. 

Scene Two: The Purpose of His Mission (11:16-18) 

That Christ will reign on the Earth may not be a new concept to you. But have you thought about why He will reign on Earth? Let’s ask it another way. For what purpose or reason will He literally reign on the Earth? A short answer is that this is how God has always planned to bring glory to His name. In Genesis 3:15, the world perfectly created by God to bring Him glory fell because of the sin of Adam. In Revelation, Christ comes to reign on the Earth and over this world in order to restore it to perfection. In doing this, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the LORD. Like a good mission statement, the apostle John provides a literal battle plan for how Christ will accomplish this task. 

And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign. The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.” 

Our greatest motivation in persevering in missions should be in looking forward to this sure promise of the One who will finish the task of missions. So, go and be involved in missions. Give, pray, host a missionary, ask the missions team here at church how you can be involved. Pray if the Lord has given you a calling into the mission field. Should you ever feel discouraged in the impossible task of missions remember that the task is impossible. This is why Christ is the one who will complete the task. You are tasked with faithfulness to missions. He will complete the missionary task, and until then He will be with us always even until the end of the age (Mt. 28:20).