“And they sang a new song saying, ‘Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.'”
– Revelation 5:9
There it is. That is why continually on this podcast and continually in our lives, we must pray for unreached people groups, tribes, languages, nations where the gospel has not yet gone, where there are few, if any, followers of Jesus. Why? Because Jesus has purchased people for God, ransomed men and women from all of them. He has made salvation possible for all of them. And Jesus has commanded us, right, the Great Commission, to go and make disciples among all of them, among all the nations. When we hear that word nations, we don’t need to think just geopolitical entities, like 200 or so united nations today. The word there is ethni: Ethnic groups, people groups, tribes, languages, peoples, nations. That’s the language the Bible gives us of all kinds of different groups of people in the world who Jesus died to save.
Every People Group Praising the Lord
God’s goal is for every tribe, language, people, and nation to praise Him. Is this our goal? Lord, may it be so.
He didn’t just die to save this type of people, this color of people, this language of people. No, he died to bring salvation to all of them, to all kinds of people. And there are still over six… some estimate over 7,000 groups of people that have little to no knowledge of the gospel, where his salvation is hardly even known. Many of them have never even heard the name of Jesus. That seems incomprehensible, but I’ve met them. I’ve met them in remote villages, different places in the world, when you go to them and you say, “What do you know about Jesus?” and they say, “Who’s that?” They’ve never even heard his name.
Revelation 5:9 Puts the Spread of the Gospel as Our Main Goal
And so we pray. We pray and we live and we work in our lives. We give and we go however God leads us in our lives and our churches to get the gospel to those who’ve never heard it. Why? Because this is where all of history is headed. The goal of God according to what the Bible is teaching here is him receiving praise from every tribe, language and people and nation.
So that’s God’s goal. So I would just ask the question, is that your goal? Is that your goal in your life, to see every tribe, language, people and nation praising God? Is that your goal? Because it is God’s goal. So if it’s not your goal, well, then whose goal needs to change? I want to exhort, encourage, urge you to change your goal in your life to be God’s goal for your life, God’s goal in the world, to use your life as a part of His plan to make His glory known among every tribe and language and people and nation.
Revelation 5:9 Prays for Those Who Are Unreached
So God, we pray. We pray right now for the spread of your gospel, your grace and your glory to every tribe and language and people and nation in the world. God, we are praying for what we know is your purpose in the world, your goal in all of history. We are asking you to bring it about. Jesus, you have ransomed people from every tribe and language and people and nation. So in light of the fact that you have purchased them with your blood, we pray that you would claim that which you’ve purchased. You’re bringing about their salvation.
God, we pray specifically today for the Turkish-speaking Kurds in Turkey, 6.2 million of them, very few who have ever put their faith in you. Very few. It says 0.0% here on the Joshua Project app, but, God, maybe a couple, maybe a few? You know. But God, we pray that multitudes of Turkish-speaking Kurds would come to know you. You love them, God. You have paid the price, Jesus, for their salvation. So bring about their salvation, and please use our prayers right now, our giving toward this end, our going.
Please send some of your people, many of your people to the Turkish-speaking Kurds of Turkey. Please, oh God, we pray. We plead for their salvation. We pray that you would use our lives, our churches. Don’t let us rest content until every tribe and language and people and nation knows and worships Jesus. Make this the goal of our lives and our churches we pray, because we know it’s your goal. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
