This is an article transcribed from a sermon by Pastor Trevor Marshall the Teaching Elder of the Protestant Reformed Church in Brisbane South, Australia and Moderator of Presbytery.

By Trevor Marshall

At the meeting of Presbytery hosted by the Epping Congregation in April 2003, the incoming Moderator Trevor Marshall, addressed those assembled with the reminder that as Christians we are `ambassadors for Christ', to whom has been committed the `ministry of reconciliation'. In commenting on 2 Corinthians 5:12-21, he pointed out the importance of all Christians, and especially those holding office in the church, to live as those who represent their King - Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Introduction Could you ever imagine George W. Bush and Saddam Hussein becoming very close friends? The very idea seems totally improbable. The gulf of hatred between them is too great to bridge.

b) The goal of the Emperor's Ambas­sador was to win the hearts and minds of men, so that the Roman Empire could be extended. It was their task to persuade men who were enemies of the Roman Empire to swear allegiance to him. Those who did so became free citizens of Rome. Christ's Ambassadors must urge men and women to be reconciled to God through the Lord Jesus Christ. All those reconciled to God are adopted as sons and made coheirs with Christ Jesus. At the heart of their calling to be an am­bassador of Christ is the task of urging sinners to be reconciled to God. The Apostle Paul emphasizes this very strongly in 2 Corinthians 5:20, `Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us; we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God'. What urgency there is in the Apostle's voice. What importance he attaches to the role given to ambassadors of Christ.

c) There is not a more responsible position on earth than that of being an ambassador of the High King of Heaven. If you belong to Christ, God has called and appointed you as an ambassador. The responsibility He places in your hands is enormous. As an ambassador your life in word and deed must represent your King. To help us understand our function as ambassadors we need to consider some qualifications.

{ i } An ambassador of Australia is an Australian in a foreign country. The Australian Ambassador in Japan spends his life among people who speak a different language, who have a different culture, a different way of life. The ambassador of Christ is always like that. He lives in the world, but is a citizen of heaven. He partakes in the life and work of the world, but is not of the world. He will live a life that makes him different. His glorious King sets his goals, priorities, pleasures and standards. This world is not the Chris­tian's home. We will always be strangers in this world and must expect the world to treat us as strangers.

{ii} An ambassador speaks for his own country. When the Australian Ambassador speaks, his voice is the voice of Australia. You and I are com­missioned to speak on Christ's behalf. You and I bring the message of Christ to the world which is at war with Christ. When we speak, much of what we say will fall on hostile ears. Some of our brothers who laboured as ambassa­dors felt the hatred of this world towards their King and Lord. Listen to George Foxe's telling of how his words were received at Tickhill. `I found the priest and the most of the chief of the parish together in the chancel. So I went up to them and began to speak, but immediately they fell upon me; the clerk took up the Bible as I was speaking, and struck me on the face with it, so it gushed out with blood, and I bled exceedingly in the steeple-house. Then the people cried, "Let us have him out of the Church"; and when they had got me out they beat me exceed­ingly, and threw me down over a hedge; and afterwards they dragged me through a house into the street, stoning and beating me as they drew me along, so that I was besmeared all over with blood and dirt... Yet when I was got upon my legs again I declared to them the word of life and shewed them the fruits of their teachers, how they dishonored Christianity.' What a sense of faithful duty and determination this ambassador of Christ displayed in the face of hostility. He had a message from his King and he was prepared to die delivering that message. John Wesley tells us of his experience in Wednesbury where a mob attacked him. 'To attempt speak­ing was vain; for the noise on every side was like the roaring sea. So they dragged me along till we came to the town; when, seeing the door of a large house open. I attempted to go in; but a man, catching me by the hair, pulled me back into the middle of the crowd. They made no more stop till they had carried me through the main street, from one end of the town to the other.' We are ambassadors living in a hostile world. Opposition to the truth of the Gospel is to be expected.

{iii} The honour of the country is in its ambassador's hands. The ambassador lives his life under the spotlight. People listen to his words, they mark his actions and conclude that his words and behaviour are approved by his King. The Apostle Paul in Colossians 1:9-10 says, `For this reason we also since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God'. William Hendriksen commented, `The Apostle and those who are with him pray that the Colossians may `walk' or conduct themselves in harmony with the responsibilities which their new relationship to God imposes and with the blessings which the new relationship brings. There must be nothing half-hearted about the manner of life. On the contrary, it must be to (his) complete delight, and a conscious striving to please God in everything'. When I was first set apart to the ministry, I was warned that, in the ministry one never makes small mistakes - others make sure that every mistake is a big mistake. Paul warned Ambassadors of Christ like Timothy, `take heed to yourself and to the doctrine'. Our lives need to reflect the glory of the Saviour. Bishop Lightfoot said in an ordination address, `The Ambassador, while acting, acts not only as an agent, but as a representative of his sovereign.... The Ambassador's duty is not only to deliver a definite message, to carry out a definite policy; but he is obliged to watch for opportunities, study characters, to cast about for expedients, so that he may place it before his hearers in its most attractive form.' It ought to be obvious that the ambassador needs to know his King well, and clearly understand his policy. For this reason all believers ought to be wres­tling with the Word of God and themselves. Jim Elliot, who was martyred by the Auca Indians in Ecuador in 1956, once said this; `I find I must drive myself to study, following the "ought" of conscience to gain anything at all from Scripture, lacking any desire at times. It is important to learn respect and obedience to the "inner must" if godliness is to be a state of soul with me. I may no longer rely on pleasant impulses to bring me before the Lord. I must rather respond to principles I know to be right, whether I feel them enjoyable or not.' Every ambassador of Christ is to live according to principles rather than feelings.

2) Do you consider yourself someone with a calling'? Every believer is called by God to salvation in Christ Jesus, and also called to live a new life as an ambassador. The word calling is a very particular word, with very important meanings attached. This calling flows out of the work of God in making them a new creation. As Paul Helm says, `A conversion is not like radical brain­surgery. John Smith when he is con­verted is still John Smith. He does not literally become another person, nor is he transformed to some earthly paradise, or to a community of angels or to heaven itself. He continues to live at the old address, he works at the same office or factory and has the same relationships and acquaintances. He suffers from the same aches and pains and from the same peculiarities of character'. The great difference is that he lives in the situation and circumstance of his old life as a new man called to be Christ's ambassador. You must be an ambassador of Christ to your family, friends, work colleagues, neighbours and strangers you encounter in your daily life. The network of relationships God's providence developed for you before your conversion, now becomes your sphere of service as an ambassador. You need to accept that God in His sovereign providential rule has placed you exactly where He wants you to serve Him. It is God's will that you be an ambassador to those He has brought into your life. Do you wake up in the morning and ever think about being an ambassador of Christ, and do you live your life deliberately to convey the glory of your Lord and Saviour?

commissioned.' Jesus warned us `the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me'. Our calling is a high calling, for it comes directly from the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.