2 Corinthians 5:20 (KJV) Now then we are ambassadors for Christ …

Proverbs 13:17 (KJV) A wicked messenger falleth into mischief: but a faithful ambassador is health.

America entered into World War 2 because of an grievous act of betrayal. Ambassadors from Japan Saburō Kurusu and Kichisaburō Nomura had been meeting with Secretary of State Cordell Hull. On December 7^th 1941 the Ambassadors ended their last meeting with Secretary Hull saying “The immutable policy of Japan is to promote world peace.” As those words were being said Japanese Squadrons bombed Pearl Harbor, causing the deaths of 2,403 Americans and wounding 1,178. The only greater betrayal of the U.S. life was when 19 hijackers crashed aircraft into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001 (2996 died that day).

Following the attack on Pearl Harbor then President of the United States Franklin Delano Roosevelt addressed Congress, saying “Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. The United States was at peace with that nation, and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its government and its emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific. Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in the American island of Oahu, the Japanese ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to our secretary of state a formal reply to a recent American message. While this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or armed attack.”

The Ambassadors were blamed by Roosevelt because of the underhanded way they did what they did. Yet they were – dishonest as it was – working in collusion with their Emperor and their government to – they thought – ambush the United States and render us incapable of fighting back. It did not work. In fact, the deceit and dishonorable actions of merely inflamed America, and roused us to come together and defeat the enemies of freedom.

With that introduction I want to talk tonight about Ambassadors. Not about deceitful Ambassadors from Japan, nor ineffective political Ambassadors, but about Ambassadors from Heaven.

Every believer in Jesus Christ is an Ambassador from Heaven.

In our two texts today we read:

2 Corinthians 5:20 (KJV) Now then we are ambassadors for Christ …

Proverbs 13:17 (KJV) A wicked messenger falleth into mischief: but a faithful ambassador is health.

When God saved you through faith in Christ He could have taken you to Heaven. Yet He did not. Why? It was so that we could be His Ambassadors on this earth. We do not belong to this earth. I want to say that again, for this is a great truth.

An Ambassador Is A Person From One Country Sent To Another Country
To Represent His Or Her SENDING Country.

If you are a Christian, saved by the Blood of the Lamb, then you are a new creature. You are not like the Child of Adam, but you are now a Child of God. When Jesus prayed for His Church He prayed … listen to His Words now …

John 17:15-17 (KJV) “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. {16} They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. {17} Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. {18} As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.”

An Ambassador is SENT. Jesus was SENT from Heaven to tell us of the Father’s Will. Jesus came not representing Himself but the Father. He said “If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father”. A good Ambassador is SENT to REPRESENT the desires of His Country’s leaders. Jesus said “as You (Father) have sent Me, I send them”. We are Ambassadors of Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

A wicked messenger falleth into mischief, but a faithful Ambassador is health

If God left you on this earth as His Ambassador (and the Scripture seems to teach this) then you will be in health to be an Ambassador as long as you are faithfully being an Ambassador. Do you want long life? Represent Him. Magnify Him. Lift Him up. Be a good Ambassador.

An Ambassador Doesn’t Create His Own Message,
But Carries His Country’s Message To Another Country

What is the message we carry? Our text tells us:

2 Corinthians 5:18-19 (KJV) And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 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.

We are CITIZENS TOGETHER of a Heavenly Kingdom because we are reconciled to God. We were reconciled to God by Jesus Christ. What did Jesus do for this fallen world? He died for this world. He died for this world so that this world might live. There is no life in denominations. There is no life in works. There is no life in the keeping of the Law. Wherein is life? It is in Christ alone. The Bible says:

Romans 3:23-24 (KJV) For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

We are justified – made upright – by the grace of God that is available in Christ Jesus.

Romans 8:1-4 (KJV)1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

We are uncondemned by God because we follow after Christ and are in Christ. Salvation is all of faith in Christ. Jesus Christ is the …

1 John 2:2 (KJV) ….. propitiation (covering) for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

As good Ambassadors we do not add to nor remove from the message we have been given. God so loved the world that He gave His Only Begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:16). We as Ambassadors represent the Kingdom of God, and we others to come into this Kingdom while there is time. They must come by Christ.

Ambassadors Do Not Appoint Themselves. They Are Appointed By The King.

No person just decides to be an Ambassador. The Ambassador is appointed. We as Ambassadors are appointed by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords Jesus Christ. Jesus tells us:

Matthew 28:18-20 (KJV) “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. {19} Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: {20} Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

Before Jesus appointed His Ambassadors He proffered His credentials. “All power is given unto Me in Heaven and in earth”. Who gave Jesus “all power”? The Father. The Heavenly Father. Jesus Christ is the head of all principality and power (Colossians 2:10). Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing. (Revelation 5:12). The Father has given all judgment into the Son’s hand (John 5:22).

Jesus Christ is to the Father as Joseph was to the King of Egypt. He is the Possessor of all Authority, and He sends us His Ambassadors into the world with His message. His is a message of Reconciliation. His is a message of Love. His is a word of acceptance – if those we encounter would but hear His Word.

As Ambassadors, We Carry A Message Of Unconditional Surrender

2 Corinthians 5:14-15 (KJV)14 For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: 15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.

The way of life of the world is dead.

Proverbs 14:12 (KJV) There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

The way of the world is the way of selfishness, lovelessness, and death. There is no life in this world, but there is life in Christ. Jesus was very clear when He said:

John 10:8-11  “ALL THAT EVER CAME BEFORE ME ARE THIEVES AND ROBBERS: but the sheep did not hear them. {9} I AM THE DOOR: BY ME IF ANY MAN ENTER IN, HE SHALL BE SAVED, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. {10} The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. {11} I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD: THE GOOD SHEPHERD GIVETH HIS LIFE FOR THE SHEEP.”

The only way to life is through Christ. This is the message we carry. It is not a popular message. The Apostle Paul asked the Church at Ephesus to PRAY for him, saying:

Ephesians 6:20 (KJV) For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

He was an ambassador in BONDS – in chains – for preaching the Gospel. There is a temptation as Ambassadors to modify the message, to minimize His Word, to hide rather than boldly proclaim. Persecution bothers us all. Yet as good Ambassadors we must NOT bend nor compromise. We do not belong to this world, but to Another. We are not citizens of this country permanently, just temporarily. We are “strangers and pilgrims” (1 Peter 2:11; Hebrews 11:13) on this present earth.

My heav’nly home is bright and fair,
I feel like traveling on;
Nor pain nor death can enter there,
I feel like traveling on.
Yes, I feel like traveling on,
I feel like traveling on;
My heav’nly home is bright and fair,
I feel like traveling on.

I’m kind of homesick for a country
To which I’ve never been before.
No sad goodbyes will there be spoken
For time won’t matter anymore.
Beulah Land (Beulah Land)
I’m longing for you (I’m longing for you)
And some day (And some day)
on thee I’ll stand (Someday we will stand)
There my home (There my home)
hall be eternal (Eternal)
Beulah Land, sweet Beulah Land
I’m looking now,
just across the river
To where my faith,
shall end in sight (Shall end in sight)
There’s just a few more days to labor.
Then I will take my heavenly flight.

We are here as long as God needs us here to be His Ambassadors. As Ambassadors we speak for Him and for our only Home. The Bible says:

Philippians 3:20 (KJV) “For our {citizenship} is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:”

As Ambassadors We Promote Peace – But
We Cannot Make Anyone Receive The Word We Carry

Jesus Christ offers peace with God to whosoever will receive Him on His terms. In the world “peace” is often viewed as a negative. In other words, “peace” is the absence of war. John MacArthur notes that:

“… the Quechua Indians in Ecuador and Bolivia use a word for peace that literally translates, “to sit down in one’s heart.” For them peace is the opposite of running around in the midst of constant anxieties. The Chol Indians of Mexico define peace as “a quiet heart.” Those may be beautiful ways to put it, but they still seem to leave us with only the negative idea that peace is the absence of trouble.”

When Jesus said in John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” He wasn’t saying that we would have trouble free lives, but God controlled lives. God saves His Ambassadors. God sends His Ambassadors. God walks with His Ambassadors. God is not at war with His Children, but at peace. And we are at peace with Him. We may be attacked by the world. The world may reject the message of salvation and peace that we offer. Yet God is in control.

Ambassadors Are Required To Obey The Laws Of The Land They Are Dispatched To, As Long As Those Laws Do Not Conflict With The Laws Of Our King.

The Pharisees came to Jesus one day to try and entrap Him. They asked:

Matthew 22:17-21 (KJV) “Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? {18} But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? {19} Show me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny. {20} And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? {21} They say unto him, Caesar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.”

No Christian has the right to break the Law of the land he is in unless the law of the land is contrary to God’s Law. We obey God first. We as Ambassadors represent God first. The Apostle wrote:

Romans 13:1-4 (KJV) Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. {2} Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. {3} For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: {4} For he is the minister of God to thee for good.

The Ambassador Works For The Approval Of The One Who Sent Him

Again in our text we read:

2 Corinthians 5:9-10 (KJV) Wherefore we labor, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

As Ambassadors we will never stand before that terrible Great White Throne of Revelation 20.

Revelation 20:11 (KJV) And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

The Great White Throne is a place where TERROR will reign. People will run from the Judge on that Throne. Another name for the Great White Throne is “The Terror of the Lord”. We see that in …

2 Corinthians 5:11 (KJV) Knowing therefore the TERROR OF THE LORD, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.

The Great White Throne is a place where people go who have rejected the Ambassador’s Message in this life. It is a terrible place. It is a place where JUSTICE and LAW without grace rule. One day we who are Ambassadors will stand before our King at the Judgment Seat of Christ. On that day He will grade us on how well we performed our duties for Him. Were we good Ambassadors? Did we tell others? Did we carry the message we were given. Did we live on this earth as Citizens of the Kingdom of God? If so, we will receive crowns. If not, we will suffer loss, but we will yet be saved.

Praise Him that He is faithful even when we are not!

Ambassadors Eventually Return To Their Sending Nation

In our text we read:

2 Corinthians 5:6-8 (KJV) Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: 7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) 8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

There will come a time when God will call His Ambassadors home. No Ambassador stays forever in the place he is sent. There will come a time when we – each and every one of us who are His – will go into yonder glory. If we live until the Time God will remove all His Ambassadors at once from this earth in an event we call “The Rapture”. When all Ambassadors are removed from a country it is tantamount to a declaration of war. Our removal will start the Great Tribulation, the Great Purging of the earth.

But until that day we honor our God by serving as faithful Ambassadors. We are to always remember the words of our Lord:

John 16:33 (KJV) “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

Jesus Christ has and will overcome the world. Be His Ambassador. Live for Him. Let Him live through You. Pray. Read His Word. Do good. Love. Share. His. Gospel.

May God touch your hearts with His Word.