[0:00] Acts chapter 16, one more time. Acts chapter 16, one more time. We've been talking about the billions with no name.
[0:11] We don't know their names, but there's billions of people out there who need to know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. We've been talking about people with no name or people whose names we do not know.
[0:22] That's probably a better way to put it. They have a name, but we don't know what it is. And we've been talking about here in chapter 16. Paul's on one of his missionary journeys.
[0:35] And he goes, first of all, to Derbe and Lystra, picks up Timothy to go on the journey with them. They try to go to a couple of different places in Asia.
[0:46] God says no. He tries to go to another place in Asia. God says no. And then in verse 9, a vision appeared to Paul in the night. There stood a man of Macedonia and prayed to him, saying, come over into Macedonia and help us.
[1:02] And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavored to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them.
[1:14] Let's have a word of prayer. Father, help us this morning once again to focus on this idea that you have given us a calling. The calling we have is to take the gospel to those around us.
[1:31] Take the gospel to those around the world. Lord, that's why we support our missionaries to go out. Just like Paul went out here and took the gospel wherever he went, in different parts of the world.
[1:43] Lord, we have people who are willing to do that. And we support them and we help them. Lord, because our goal is for the entire world to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ.
[1:56] Lord, our goal is to see them come to know you as Savior. So, Lord, help us as we continue to look at this passage this morning. Lord, we be reminded there's a world, there are billions, whose names we do not know, but they need to hear the gospel.
[2:15] Lord, use us, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Just as a quick review, we talked about the fact that God knows us.
[2:27] He knows everything about us. We talked about he knows the birds of the air. He knows the hairs on our head. He knows everything about us. He knows who in this world is heading to heaven and who is not.
[2:40] He knows who needs to hear the message of the gospel and who has already heard it. And our job is to go out and to give it to those who have not heard. Why would we do that?
[2:51] Because God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. So he loved the world. He wanted the world to be saved. In 2 Corinthians 5.15. And that he died for all.
[3:02] 1 Timothy 2.4. Who would have all men to be saved? 2 Peter 3.9. Lord, the Lord not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
[3:15] So God says, I don't want any to perish. So they need to hear the gospel of Christ. God committed his love toward us and while we were yet sinners.
[3:29] Before we even knew about God. Before we even knew about Jesus. Jesus had already come to give his life so we could. He says, the problem is, in Matthew 9.37, the harvest is truly plenteous, but the laborers are few.
[3:44] So he says, we're not doing our job. We're not taking the gospel to those around us. The laborers are few. So we talked about the fact that Paul gets this vision.
[3:56] So there was a plea he received. A plea he received. The man from Macedonia calls and says, come over to Macedonia. Come and help us. Paul took that to mean they need to hear the gospel.
[4:10] Because we talked about Mark 16.15. Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. It says, Paul saw this vision.
[4:22] The man was there. He prayed. Come over. So, letter A was we had a need for missions. There's a need for missions. Paul talks about that in 1 Corinthians 15.
[4:38] Verse 1, he says, moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel, which I preached unto you, which also ye received, and wherein ye stand. He said, I came to preach the gospel. What is the gospel?
[4:49] Verses 3 and 4 says, 1 Corinthians 15, says, Christ died for our sins according to Scripture, that he was buried, and he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. So, he says, here's the gospel message in a nutshell.
[5:04] Christ came, he died, he was buried, he rose again the third day, so that we might have forgiveness of sins and have salvation. And how do we get that?
[5:16] By believing that. Romans 10, 13, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Verse 14, though, is the key to that. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
[5:27] Great. Problem. Verse 14, how then shall they call on him on whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe on him on whom they have not heard?
[5:37] And how shall they hear without a preacher? Somebody has to take a message to them. Guess whose job that is? That's our job.
[5:49] Where to take it? And he equates it with sowing seed. We talked about that. You know, we can take the seed out. You got to plant the seed. You got to get it out there. That's what we do is we take the message of the gospel.
[6:01] We preach it. And we're sowing the seed. So that they can hear what they need to do in order to be saved. Problem is, Haggai 2.19, remember? Haggai 2.19 says, is the seed yet in the barn?
[6:16] The gospel is in the Bible. But we have to get it out of the Bible to others. Well, the gospel is preached from the Bible here to you guys.
[6:27] I've just mentioned it three or four times in this short time I've been talking. You got to take it from here, though. You're all saved. So you've accepted the message of the gospel.
[6:40] But how does that help the people out there? Unless we take it. Say, well, okay, I'll take it with me when I go out. Got it right there. And I know exactly what it is.
[6:52] But if it stays there, if it doesn't come out here, what good does it do for the people out there? So he says, they need to hear, don't leave the seed in the barn.
[7:04] Make sure it gets out and gets sown. And that's where the necessity of men. God chose to use us. God chose to use us to take the gospel.
[7:18] He says in Luke 1940, he says, look. He answered and said unto them, I tell you that if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.
[7:36] He says, if men are not going to do it, he says, I have other ways to do it. But I have chosen men to take the gospel. I have chosen you to share the gospel with people. Why is that?
[7:47] Think about that for a second. I mean, if I had a bird telling me or written in the sky or stones, you know, I might pay attention. Stones are talking to me.
[7:58] I'm paying attention. Or I'm running the other way, one or the other. I'm doing one of the other. But you think about anything you want to know about.
[8:10] We see advertisements. I probably will mention this in the morning service, I think, too. We see advertisements. We see all kinds of things, you know. But what's the best way to advertise? Word of mouth.
[8:22] Yep. Word of mouth. He says, I want you. Tell them what the difference is. How Jesus made a difference in your life. I want you to tell them how you knew that you needed to be saved.
[8:35] I want you to tell them the gospel so that they have the opportunity. We talked about the fact that in Ezekiel's time, Ezekiel wrote, I sought for a man among them that should make up the head and stand in the gap before me in the land, that I should not destroy it.
[8:59] But I found none. I searched for somebody. But I didn't find any. I said, we'd rather be like Isaiah. Isaiah 6, 8 says, also, I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send and who will go for us?
[9:13] And I said, here am I. Send me. God says, who's going to go? Isaiah goes, I'll go. I'll do it. Which brings us to the second point, the prompt response.
[9:25] The prompt response. Did you notice in Acts 16 there, verse 10? After he had seen the vision, immediately, immediately, we endeavored to go into Macedonia.
[9:41] We talked about the fact that Paul was surrendered. He had a surrendered purpose. Paul recognized that it wasn't just the voice of this man from Macedonia who's calling to him.
[9:53] God was giving them a call. I want you to go. I want you to take the message to these people. You know, a lot of things we live for are short-lived.
[10:05] You know, I want to get a new house. I want to get a new car. I want to get a new this. I want to get a new that. I want a better this, a better that, something. Paul's desire. Romans 10, 1.
[10:16] Remember that one? Romans 10, 1. Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. He says, that's what I want.
[10:28] I want to see people getting saved. Is our purpose bigger than something that applies to us?
[10:39] A whole world out there that needs to know Jesus Christ. And again, remember Jesus that night before the cross? Not my will, but thine be done.
[10:52] I want to do the Father's will. And if we're going to do that, we're going to fulfill our purpose. We have to have a plan, a strategic plan.
[11:04] Verse 10 there, again. Immediately, we endeavored. Endeavored. We endeavored. When I hear the word endeavored, I think more than we just went.
[11:16] We had a plan of how we were going to go, how we were going to get there, what we were going to do when we get there. We endeavored to go. And we spent time talking about how we spend our 70 years.
[11:33] We did that last week. But God says, I want you to go. And when God says, I want you to go, 1 John 5, 3 says, For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.
[11:47] And his commandments are not grievous. We talked about the fact that God doesn't give us hard commands. He says, go and tell people the gospel. Go tell them what happened to you.
[11:58] Go tell them how I changed your life by going to the cross, being buried, rising again. How did I change your life? He says, go do that.
[12:10] And he says, be not conformed to this world, Romans 12, 2. But be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. I want to do the perfect will of God.
[12:20] What is that? Take the message of the gospel to those around us. Which brings us to today. The third thing. There is a preaching requirement. A preaching requirement.
[12:32] You know, the gospel, as I've already said, is God's calling to all of us. We're to take the gospel, go into all the world, and preach the gospel on every creature.
[12:48] You know, it's interesting, too, because when you become a Christian, one of the things that happens is the Holy Spirit comes into you. Okay, so now I have God's spirit, Christ's spirit, so that I can give the gospel out.
[13:01] And then, not only that, he says, I'm going to give you some armor to wear. You know, the breastplate of righteousness, helmet of salvation, all those different things. Among those, Ephesians 6, 15 says, And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.
[13:18] Everywhere you go, everywhere your foot touches down, he says, you're taking the gospel with you. So everywhere we go, we're supposed to be taking the gospel with us, and we're supposed to be sharing that gospel with those around us.
[13:32] He says, your feet are shod with it. So every step, taking the gospel. Okay, if we're going to do that, if there's a preaching requirement for us, and we're going to take the gospel wherever we go, there's some things that we need to have.
[13:47] First thing we need to have is a messenger. A messenger. That's supposed to be you and I. You know, if I say a preaching requirement, you're all going, uh, no, no, I don't preach.
[14:04] All you ladies are going, huh, sorry, the Bible says I can't do that. I got an out. No, you don't. When I say preaching a crime, I mean telling people the gospel.
[14:16] I don't mean you have to stand up behind a pulpit and do it. I mean you just take the gospel with you wherever you go and tell people. And you say, but I don't speak to people well.
[14:27] I don't, you know, I know I get up here every Sunday and I do this and Wednesdays and stuff and I do this. But I am really a very, um, sort of one.
[14:40] Thank you. That's the one I was looking for. Introvert. I'm not an outgoing people person a lot. I, you know, when we have fellowships here, you know, I make myself go out and talk to people and spend time with people and things and stuff.
[14:54] If I were left to my own, I would just sit back in the corner and just watch people and say, hi, how you doing? That would be it. But I make myself do it because I'm an introvert.
[15:05] See, God is not looking for your ability, but your availability. He's not looking for your ability to do it on your own. He's just saying, are you willing to do what I asked you to do?
[15:18] And I will give you what you need. No ability, but availability. Yeah, that's a title they use, a sermon issue.
[15:28] The way you live your life should be an example. But we can't just say, I'm going to live like a Christian in front of people. Now you've got to have words come out of your mouth, too. Huh?
[15:41] Put your money where your mouth is. That's right. See, think about it. God has honored us. You never think about this this way. But God has honored us by giving us the ability to take the gospel to those around us.
[15:57] See? And again, it's not that you have to be known. Your name has to get out there. But you have a great honor. If I were to ask you, name me an ambassador of the United States to any country, who would you say?
[16:21] I don't think so. I can name one. Right now, Mike Huckabee. You've probably all heard his name at one time or another.
[16:33] Yep. Mike Huckabee is the ambassador to Israel right now. How would you like his job today? I don't think so. But he's there representing the United States in what our position is going to be on this whole thing taking place over there between Israel and Iran.
[16:51] Well, you know what? God says that you and I, according to 2 Corinthians 5.20, 2 Corinthians 5.20 says this. Now, then, we are ambassadors for Christ.
[17:06] As though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in God's stead, be ye reconciled to God. You are ambassadors for Christ. What's the message?
[17:17] Be ye reconciled to God. See, that's what we have an important job. Nobody may know our name, but we have a very important job. We represent the Lord Jesus Christ.
[17:29] We're an ambassador for him. It all comes back to faith. He calls you, but also you will do it. That's right. He never gives us something to do. He gives us credit. That's right.
[17:41] He says, I want you to be my ambassador. So what am I doing? I'm representing him. So what am I going to say to people? I'm going to say whatever God tells me to say. And one of the things he told me to say is the gospel.
[17:54] Give out the gospel to those that are around you. See, we're not the message. We're just the messengers. I always think of it as conduit.
[18:06] The Lord Jesus Christ is flowing through me. It's his work. Think of John the Baptist. John the Baptist, we all know who he was.
[18:17] But what was his job? According to John 1.23, he said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaiah.
[18:30] I'm a voice crying. Make straight the way of the Lord. Be ready for the Messiah. He is coming. That's my job. I am nothing. Remember Fracky said, I must decrease and he must increase?
[18:43] He said, I'm nothing. But here's the message you need to hear. Even in our cities, the water pipes become corroded or full of things so the water can't flow.
[18:55] And that is one of the reasons why we need to keep a clear conscience of God. Right. Because sin is like a plaque that collects in our arteries. It diminishes our effectiveness.
[19:09] Yep. So yeah, we need to keep ourselves clean. Paul knew that he was nothing. He was just to deliver a message.
[19:23] 2 Corinthians 4.5. 2 Corinthians 4.5 says this. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.
[19:36] We don't preach ourselves. I'm not talking about, you know, Paul is one of the greatest Christians ever. And he says, it's not about me. He says, I'm here to preach Jesus Christ to you.
[19:49] So we need to keep short, keep focused on the fact we're merely messengers. We are not the message. So we're messengers. Second thing, there's a method.
[20:00] There's a method. It's interesting. We're using this and we're saying we need to preach. There's a preaching requirement. The method is preach.
[20:12] What does that mean? Proclaim. Herald. Get the message out. In one way or another. So, some people get called to full-time ministry.
[20:25] Some people stand up behind the pulpit and deliver the message like I do. But we're all called to proclaim the message of the gospel.
[20:38] And that method is by preaching. What are we preaching to them? The gospel message. Romans 10 and 17.
[20:50] So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. We're taking the word of God and telling them what the word of God says. Paul's like, you know, I'm going to preach to these Macedonian people.
[21:01] If they want me to come over and help, I'm taking the message of the gospel to them. Look at the last part of verse 10 there. He says, Assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them.
[21:17] I'm supposed to go to Macedonia. What am I going to do there? I'm going to proclaim. I'm going to herald the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's what I'm going to do when I get there.
[21:29] And you think about the way he's going to do it. Preaching. You know, there are Sundays I get up and I get ready and I, you know, I go over the morning message before I come.
[21:43] And I think about it. I'm going to stand up there and I'm going to talk. And people are going to listen to me.
[21:55] Why? Why? Here's what Paul said about 1 Corinthians 121. He says this. For after that, for after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God.
[22:13] It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Paul, one of the greatest preachers ever says, you know what?
[22:25] This is probably foolishness. Me getting up and talking. But God asked me to do it. And so therefore, I'm going to do it. God says, go take the message of the gospel.
[22:40] Preach it to those around. Share it with those around. Again, you may not be behind the pulpit, but God, as we've been learning through this whole series of lessons, loves to use common, unnamed sometimes people to get his work done.
[22:58] Think of the unnamed people we have shared so far and the things that were accomplished by these unnamed people to do what God had asked them to do. You know, one of the things about sharing the gospel with people, if I had asked you, how do you want people to know you?
[23:17] How do you want people to, when they think of you, how do you want them to think of you? Proverbs 11.30 says this, the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he that winneth souls is wise.
[23:34] Wise. Anybody here that doesn't want to be known as wise? Oh, I'd love to be known as wise. People think I'm wise. He says those that win souls are wise.
[23:46] Those that share the gospel are wise. Those that give the gospel to those and proclaim it and preach it, those are wise people. They know what they're supposed to do. You know, Daniel.
[23:59] We've been talking about Daniel in our men's Bible study. Daniel chapter 12, verse 3. They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever.
[24:16] He says, look, the wise, those that winneth souls are wise. The wise, he says, shine like the brightness of the heavens.
[24:29] And he says, those that turn many to righteousness, those who share the gospel message and see people come to know Christ as Savior, he says, you're going to be like the stars of heaven. The clearing of the gospel is not just a thing God tells us to do with no rewards.
[24:46] He says, no, they're going to be rewards. You're going to shine like the stars of heaven. Think about that. Third thing. Okay, we've got a messenger. We've got a method. What about the message?
[24:59] So we're not the message, we said. We're the messengers. So what is the message that we're taking? Again, that's part of verse 10 there. It says, called us for to preach the gospel.
[25:12] And I've gone over and over what the gospel is. But we need to proclaim it to a world that's around us. We need to share it. And by having the spirit of God living in us, that should be the most natural thing for us to do.
[25:26] It is the spirit that quickeneth, John 6, 63. It is the spirit of God that quickeneth. The flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.
[25:37] He says, you want to have God's spirit living with you? You want to have life now and forevermore? He says, take the words that I speak unto you and share them.
[25:51] You know, you ever talk to people, and you keep talking to people and nothing changes, and they're always putting up on resistance, and it's always, I can think of some that have been through the doors here and been in, and you talk to them and talk to them and talk to them, and they're just, Jared has a guy, calls him on the phone a couple times a week, spends two or three hours with him on the phone.
[26:16] Jared's very patient. And he's just constantly saying basically the same things over and over and over why he can't believe in God. He believes in Jesus, but he doesn't believe in God.
[26:28] Figure that one out. I haven't figured that one out yet. But anyway, that conversation, had this conversation, had this conversation. And we're like, oh, man, let's give up on this guy.
[26:41] Isaiah 55, verses 10 and 11. It says, He says, Whether it's like the rain coming down from heaven, which immediately saturates everything and just soaks right into the ground and gives the things that they need right then, or if it's like the snow.
[27:29] Comes down, sits there for a while, warms up a little bit, just a little bit going in here, a little bit there, a little bit here, a little bit there, as the snow melts.
[27:42] He says, However it comes in, the water's going to get there. He says, It doesn't return to me void. Hmm? Mom, I'm sorry.
[27:53] Oh, no, no, no, no. She's going to talk about you. You're a guy like Jared. All I can say is keep on. I know it's annoying. I know it's frustrating. And I know you're not seeing anything.
[28:04] Mom prayed for her whole family for 10 years. What did we do? Mock her. Laugh at her. Make fun of her. Most of us are believers now because of mom.
[28:15] Because she kept me in the snow and the rain and the forgiveness she gave us. Yes. So, all I can say to you and Jared is keep praying for the guy and keep preaching.
[28:27] Let me give you one. Bonnie's mom, she got saved about six months before she passed away at the age of 90. We've been working on her for a long time.
[28:39] Praying for her for a long time. Six months before she gets saved. It's amazing. God says, You just keep doing it. He says, It won't return void. It's almost like I named God.
[28:53] I said, Come on, God. Do your job. Do your work. Let's see something happen. Yep. Yep. But I keep on. You know. Yep. So. Good.
[29:06] Okay. So, Jesus has given us our marching orders. Take the message of the gospel. Preach it. Wherever you go. Whether it be for individual Christians, keep on keeping on like you were just talking about.
[29:21] Or if it's for church, don't give up. Keep on keeping on. Keep going. Matthew 28. You know these verses. Verses 18 through 20.
[29:32] And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.
[29:47] And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. You know, I look at that verse, and we always look at verse 19 and 20. Go ye into all the world, preach the gospel.
[29:58] You know, teaching them to observe all things. How do we do that? Go back to verse 18. All power is given unto me in heaven and earth.
[30:12] We have the Lord Jesus Christ. We have his power. We have his plan. We have his purpose. We have his message. Just go out and do it.
[30:24] And he says, watch what happens. Just like when a baby was born. A baby was born. And he just said, boom, the baby's born.
[30:34] Walk away. When Jesus tells us to preach the gospel, he expects us to disciple people because they can't grow unless they do that.
[30:47] Yep. Yep. The baby will die without nourishment and care. And a new Christian is a baby. And that's a good point. A lot of times, people will take the gospel and they'll give it to people and people will say, I want that.
[31:00] I want it. And they'll pray and ask Jesus to come into their life. But then they just get left. Nobody follows up with them. Nobody helps them to learn what things of the Bible.
[31:12] We need to make sure we do that. What happens to me when I was nine and ten to the home and fell in the early back to the church and absolutely, absolutely not one single person in that church help me or help me but also I was too young and we know I was too young.
[31:36] Hmm. Fred? My daughter-in-law, April, we were talking about Oklahoma.
[31:49] She's been on her grandmother's case about God. Finally, she got Grandma to admit that God was there and it was for her.
[32:02] The next morning, after she got the message through, Grandma called out madder, madder, madder. I was supposed to die last night and I didn't see God.
[32:15] Okay. He may not be there when you want him, but he's going to be there when he gets his time to get it. But it was just odd. The woman accepted it and then not necessarily rejected it, but she was angry because it didn't happen right now.
[32:34] I was supposed to die last night, but I didn't see God. Well, be thankful. You're still here. So, okay.
[32:45] After I got saved, a lady volunteered to do little discipleship classes with me. Just a little lesson found in the grass paper.
[32:57] And this week, she passed away. I hadn't seen her. I have not seen her for over 50 years. But that woman, taking the time she did with me, made the difference in me being able to walk through the things I did.
[33:12] because she just, all she did was just ask if I had questions about the lesson, but she was there for me. And sometimes, I think we minimize that.
[33:24] We don't realize how that initial feeding, the milk of the Word, somebody caring enough, what a difference that can make that I can still be able to walk faithfully in the Lord with the sheep planted the seeds.
[33:38] Yep. Okay. Not past time. So let's wrap it up there. Next week, we'll be talking about the widow with the two mites.
[33:49] The widow with the two mites. Let's have a word prayer. Father, thank you.