The Promise, Power, and Purpose of God

[0:00] That's a good reminder, you know, we need the Lord when things are going good. We need the Lord as we go through trials and struggles of life. And you need the Lord even when it's ho-hum.

[0:12] All in between, amen? But we're honored today to have one of our missionaries that we've supported for I think about seven or eight years now, if I remember correctly.

[0:23] And the craze here, Eric and Lisa, to the country of the Netherlands. You know, and the Netherlands is one of those countries that you wouldn't think would have much need of the gospel when you look at history.

[0:37] But, you know, it's one of those things that if you let down and you let things slide, you end up with a place that rejects God. And they have serving over there in the Netherlands.

[0:50] We're excited to have Brother Craig come. He's going to preach for us this morning. And then stick around for Sunday school. He's going to give us an update of what's going on in the Netherlands and all the things there.

[1:00] And so make sure to stick around for that. But Brother, why don't you come and share with us this morning what God has put upon your heart here. All again, it has been a while. It's been since I think 2017 we were here on Resurrection Sunday.

[1:13] I was telling Pastor I remember going, walking down to the park and doing the sunrise service. I remember my outline for that day. So I'm not preaching that one today. That was a, some of you are probably here and you remember those kind of things.

[1:26] But today, they say, oh, you preached that one before. Even my wife is like, don't preach the same message you preached last Sunday. I was like, yeah, but that was in Ohio. So nobody would ever know.

[1:36] But the Internet, the Internet kind of ruins it for move on preachers. So I'm going to go to Philippians this morning if you follow with me. In the Netherlands, one of the things I have to do is I don't want to give my opinion.

[1:48] I want to give what the Bible says. So keep your fingers limber and loose. We're going to go to a lot of places in the scriptures. I'm going to start off on three or four verses in Philippians.

[1:59] And then I'm going to get into my outline. My outline today is the promise of God, the power of God, and the purpose of God. As a church, we have a purpose. And it's the propagation of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ everywhere.

[2:12] But we also have the beginning part of it is that we have the promise of God, and that's that he offers salvation to all men. Without that, there's no point of getting the gospel everywhere. So just read four verses here in Philippians.

[2:26] Philippians chapter 1, verse 6. I can't read the whole book of Philippians, so I'm going to give you an overview. Paul's writing this towards the end of his ministry. He's in prison, actually. And he gives them a lot of this passage is about the whole book of Philippians is about joy, rejoicing.

[2:43] And we can have that in the Lord. And I know it doesn't seem like that in the world today. At least you can rejoice over, I don't get political too much, but you can rejoice over Tuesday, so you can rejoice over that, so you can rejoice over the Lord Jesus Christ and what he's done for you.

[2:58] Philippians chapter 1, verse 6. The Bible says there, Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.

[3:09] He started something in each and every one of us when he got saved. So if you're not saved this morning, today could be the day. Just be obedient to the Spirit of God. Go to Philippians chapter 2, verse 13.

[3:20] That would be my first point of going to the promise. But 2, verse 13, the Bible says there, For it is God, it is God which worketh in you. God does the work, both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

[3:37] Once you get saved, you're a servant of Jesus Christ. You stop being a servant of yourself. So we'll get to another verse and then I'll get into Philippians chapter 3.

[3:48] I want to look at verse 9 and 10. I love the sound of pages turning. I don't know about you, Pastor, but I could do this all day. Maybe I, no, I'm not going to do it all day. Philippians chapter 3, verse 9, the Bible says there, See, we like that part, but then it comes with a little disclaimer after this.

[4:20] And it says, and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death. So that's the work God wants to do in us. We want the power of his resurrection, but it comes with a cost.

[4:32] It's the fellowship of his sufferings in the flesh. And then one more, and I'll get into my message. Philippians 4, verse 13. And here's another one of those promises and his purpose.

[4:45] He says, I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me. I preached another message about, for the love of Christ, constraineth us.

[4:56] That's why I got that messed up a little bit. I can do all things, all things. And that's the purpose. He has something he wants us to do, and he wants us to know that we can do it. And Paul, he can write this passage because he had done a lot of things, and he had done a lot of suffering.

[5:11] You can go to 2 Corinthians, you can see all the suffering, the shipwreck, the beaten with rods. You can see everything that Paul suffered. And at the end of this, he can say that I can do all things through Christ that strengtheneth me.

[5:22] And that idea of strengtheneth me is a continual strengthening to fulfill the purpose of God in you. So let's pray, and we'll get into the message.

[5:33] Father, I love you, and just thanks so much for the reading of your word. If nothing else, God, your word has power. Romans 10, 17 says that for faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the word of God, that if the message is no good, I know it is because it's your word, but if it just falls on deaf ears this morning, that at least hearing those passages could be a blessing to someone, an encouragement to someone.

[5:54] Help in the message. I pray that it's your will and in your way today. In Jesus' name we ask it. Amen. So we're going to go to some other verses. We have a promise. We have a promise, and that promise is redemption of sinners by a Savior.

[6:08] And that promise starts way back in Genesis. So we're really going to do some Bible gymnastics this morning. We're going to really get into places. Genesis chapter 3, 15, we know that Satan attempted Adam and Eve in the garden.

[6:20] Eve ate the fruit, and then Adam came alongside and voluntarily ate the fruit, which is a wonderful picture of the Lord Jesus Christ taking sin for us. He steps in front of his bride, the bride of Christ, to take the sin debt.

[6:32] But then there's a promise here. The promise of God is in chapter 3, verse 15. He says there that I will put enmity. I will put enmity between thee and the woman.

[6:44] He's talking to the devil. He's talking to Satan. He said, I'm going to put enmity. I'm going to put something in between you and that woman. And we know that's a promise of the Messiah to come. Someday this Messiah is going to come, and he's going to put that separation in between the devil and the bride.

[6:59] And that's Jesus Christ. That's the gospel. And he goes on, and I want to look at this word enmity for a minute. Enmity means enemy or ill will or hatred.

[7:10] And we know the devil hates us. We know that in 2 Peter chapter 3, it says, or 1 Peter chapter 5, verse 6, it says your enemy, your adversary, the devil, prowls as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

[7:23] So the devil is after you. He doesn't have to seek after his own children. He doesn't have to seek after lost people. Well, he's coming after saved people. So he's our enemy.

[7:33] The Bible says he's our adversary. He prowls as a roaring lion. Because there's that enmity, he hates us. He hates people. He wants to keep people lost. But we have a promise of God.

[7:44] And that promise of God is the good news. It's that Savior that was to come. Go to Romans chapter 5. Romans chapter 5. If you bear with me, I get excited when I get to preaching.

[7:55] And sometimes I lose my train of thought. And I'm going to take a breath. And I'm going to get there. We have an enemy. But we have a promise. The promise of God is salvation.

[8:08] It's eternal life through Jesus Christ. And Romans chapter 5, verse 12, adds on to this thought from Romans 5. It says, wherefore, by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin.

[8:20] And so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. You say, well, I was a baby. I didn't sin. Well, you're born under that sin nature. In Genesis chapter 5, it says that we're born in Adam's image.

[8:31] We're born under the condemnation of the law. Not everyone is a child of God until they get saved. I know the world says we're all children of God. Well, Genesis 5 says something different.

[8:41] It says we're children of Adam. Until we come under the gospel message and we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, the Bible says, and thou shalt be saved. John chapter 1, verse 12 says, but as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.

[8:57] Without Jesus Christ, you're not a child of God. John 8, verse 44 says you're a child of the devil. And the lust of your father you will do. So we have a choice that we have to make. Are we going to accept that promise of God, of a Messiah that was to come, a Savior to come?

[9:09] Or are you just going to stay under that lost condition that we were in or you are in today? He says there's a promise of a Messiah, a promise of a Savior. And it goes all the way back to Genesis.

[9:22] But the problem is most people don't believe that. And we were trying to witness to some people this week and they're saying, oh, I'm good. I'm a good person. I'm not interested in that. Well, they should be because that's the only hope that they have is that promise of a Messiah.

[9:36] But we're under that condemnation until we get saved. Go to Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2. I didn't mark my pages. So you guys could beat me there if you really try.

[9:47] So I like putting that challenge on there. You can do it. I use a lot of Bible. I have to in the Netherlands because they're very logical and they're very educated people. So if I can't take them to the verse, they're not going to listen to anything I have to say.

[10:00] So this is just kind of how I do things over there. So you get a taste of what our church gets every week except for I'm nicer to you. You can ask them. If they're watching right now, they say, why aren't you that nice to us, Pastor? Why aren't you that nice to us?

[10:10] Ephesians chapter 2 verse 14. The Bible says, for he is our peace. Right? When you're in the world, we really, when you were lost, there was really no peace. That's what the world, you try to manufacture peace.

[10:23] That's why people go to drugs. That's why people go to alcohol. That's why people go to all the lusts of the flesh. They're trying to make peace in their life, and there is no peace without Jesus Christ.

[10:33] It says there, for he is our peace, who hath made both one and hath broken down the middle wall of partitions between us. Now remember in Genesis that idea of enmity, enemy, ill will.

[10:47] It says, for he is our peace. And then verse 15, have it abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances, for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace.

[11:03] Right? So he's taken down that idea that we're enemies. Right? We cannot be our flesh. We're always going to be an enemy of God. Right? Because we're wicked by nature.

[11:15] That's just what we do. That old man that we dwell in, it does bad things. But that wall is taken away in Christ. He is our peace. We're not an enemy of God anymore when we get saved spiritually.

[11:28] We are now a child of God. We can be at peace with God, and we can have rest. Go to Matthew chapter 11 for just a second. Matthew chapter 11.

[11:41] It's more like a Bible study than preaching. My people say I'm a, what do they call that? It's not really, I can't remember. But they combine the words. It does make sense if you go one way, but it does the other.

[11:52] He says in Matthew chapter 28, this promise that we can come. There's no one that can't come to Jesus.

[12:03] So we get that idea that somebody's too bad, or somebody shouldn't be saved. Somebody's too wicked to be saved. God doesn't think that way. God thinks that all men need to be saved.

[12:17] 2 Peter chapter 3. Don't turn there. I'll get to this Matthew 11 a second. 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 9 says, God's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

[12:28] All, right? That's not all the chosen. That's all people. 1 John chapter 2 verse 1 said, he became not a propitiation of our sins only, but the sins of the whole world.

[12:39] Jesus Christ died for the sins of the world. Whether somebody receives that or not becomes the problem. You need to receive the Savior with repentance and faith.

[12:49] And we'll get to that in a minute, but maybe in about 15 minutes. That'll be towards the end. I'll get there. I promise you. Matthew chapter 11 verse 28, Jesus says, this promise, he says, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden.

[13:04] We're heavy laden with sin. Sin weighs us down. Even as a saved person, your sin will keep you from being effective for the Lord Jesus Christ.

[13:16] It's very difficult to give a gospel testimony to somebody, telling somebody about the promise of God, if you're living like the world. It's nearly impossible, because they're going to mock you. Remember Lot?

[13:27] Lot was in a horrible city, and he was chosen of God, right? He was under the righteousness of God. In Hebrews, it says that righteous Lot. What?

[13:39] But yet, when he went to give a testimony to his son-in-law to get out of the city, they thought he was mocking. They thought he was making fun of them, because he was living like Sodom and Gomorrah. We shouldn't be that way.

[13:50] He tells us to be holy. So I can't be holy. Then why does he tell us to be holy? He says, be holy, for I am holy. We can do it, if you're willing to put in the effort.

[14:02] He gives us that ability. That's one of the promises of God. He says, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. He says, it's a promise.

[14:12] He'll give you rest. He'll give you peace, and he'll give you rest. He says, take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and lowly in heart. And he shall find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

[14:23] And we look at the Lord's burden. He say, how can he think that it's light? He bore the sins of the world to Calvary's cross. And he says it was light. Go to Hebrews chapter 12. And it gets even stranger, in my mind, as thinking as a human thinks, and thank goodness God doesn't.

[14:41] I mean, he came down here so he would understand. That's why Jesus had to come, that he could understand what mankind was going through. Right? He says, he became sin that knew no sin, that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

[14:53] He experienced the temptation, but yet he did not sin. Right? So when he goes to Hebrews chapter 12, it says there, oh man, I still love that sound of those pages turning.

[15:06] You guys are doing so good. I'm sure your pastor makes you do the same thing. It says, wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that does so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.

[15:22] And then it says, looking unto Jesus. Now, let's remember that we should never take our eyes off of Jesus, because he is our leader.

[15:34] And we've been talking military there for a little bit. He's the captain. He's the general. The pastor is the drill sergeant. He's the one that's trying to drive you to do the right thing.

[15:45] Amen? But it says, looking unto Jesus, looking unto the general, the author and finisher of our faith. Look at this. Who for the joy, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

[16:04] He went to Calvary. Everything that he did, he did it with joy. He did it with joy in such a sense that he knew you. He knew what you were. He knew what your condition was.

[16:15] He knew that you were lost. And as he walked through Calvary's cross, as he was hanging on that cross, he was doing that just for you. Whether you're saved or lost, he did it for you. If you're not saved this morning, accept it.

[16:25] If you are saved, appreciate it. And then follow. Because you have that promise. The promise is that once you trust Jesus Christ, you're always his. The Bible says in Ephesians that you're sealed by the Holy Spirit until the day of redemption.

[16:40] You cannot lose that. No matter what you think. No matter what no Pentecostal preacher told you. No matter what no Catholic told you. No matter what anybody told you. If you're truly born again child of God, you will always truly be a born again child of God.

[16:54] Nobody can take that away from you. The Bible says that you're part of his hand. Go to John chapter 10. Go there for a second. This is... Some of these verses just amaze me how God works some of these things out.

[17:06] He makes it so clear in the scripture. I don't know why we get confused. The only reason that we can get confused is because we don't know what the Bible says. John chapter 10. Take another breath.

[17:18] Verse 26. It says there, John 10, 26. It says, But ye believe not because ye are not my sheep as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish.

[17:30] Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. And that's a very amazing thing. And then it goes, And my Father which hath given them me is greater than all. And no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.

[17:42] There's no way that you can be plucked out of the hand of God. I know sometimes we take 1 Corinthians chapter 12, 13. It says, For by one spirit we're all baptized into one body.

[17:52] But that's also water baptism into the church. But it's also a spiritual baptism into the body of Christ. So when we're part of the body of Christ, when he says that no man could pluck you out of his hand, it's because you're part of his hand.

[18:05] You're in the body of Christ. No man can pull you out of there. That means Jesus Christ will be crucified again. The promise was he was only going to die once. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

[18:21] He was going to sacrifice his Son, the Lamb of God, one time forever. He's not going to do it again. And if you're in Christ, you're not going to be plucked out of him. That's a promise.

[18:34] So do we think that God's a liar or are we going to be confident, being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it into the day of Jesus Christ.

[18:45] You're going, when the trump and the shout comes, if you're a child of God, you are going up. That's good news. And that's a promise of God. I like God's promises.

[18:57] He's broken down that we're not enemies of God anymore. He's separated that. He's taken that wall out of the way. That law was what made us the enemy of God. Go to John chapter 1 for a second. John chapter 1.

[19:08] How do you mean the law is taken out of the way? Well, Jesus Christ fulfilled the law. He fulfilled the law on every point. And when he died, we know in Galatians chapter 3, it says the law for the law is a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ.

[19:22] Right? So we see the commandments and we see all those ceremonial laws in the Old Testament. We say, we're in trouble. We can't fulfill those things.

[19:33] Not all of them. You can try to be a good person and do some of them, but you can't fulfill all of them. And in James it says, if you're guilty of one, you're guilty of all. So that's that wall, that partition that makes us the enemies of God.

[19:47] In John chapter 1 verse 17, the Bible says there, for the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. He was the one. He came in and took the place, your place, in the law.

[20:01] And then we get put into Christ. Part of us becomes sinless. That part on the inside, the soul, it's cleansed. It's sanctified unto God.

[20:12] Now, if you're not saved this morning, it can be. I'm not saying you're not saved. I don't know. You know and God knows. And then the devil knows because he's the one who's going to tell you this guy's talking a bunch of nonsense.

[20:26] But it's scripture. Go to Colossians chapter 2. Colossians chapter 2. This is my first point, so you're going to have to listen fast. The promise is that, and I'm going to say this a few more times, that salvation is for anyone.

[20:46] I mean, we gave some tracts this week to some people that probably walk in the door and you'd be shocked that they'd even walk in the door of a church. You know what we want more than anything? We want people to be saved.

[20:57] No matter what they look like, no matter what people think of them, they need to be saved. We wonder what's going to change the world. It's the gospel. Only the gospel of Jesus Christ is going to change anything.

[21:10] We look at how crazy things are getting in the world. You know why they're crazy? Because we've failed in our duty to get the gospel to the world. It's true. Lost people do what lost people do, no matter where they are in the world.

[21:23] And saved people, unfortunately, we see what lost people do and we like it more than what God wants us to do. And he calls us to be different. He calls us to be separate.

[21:34] He says, be not conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. I praise God you're here. But don't walk out the same as you came in. Take some of these passages.

[21:46] Colossians chapter 2, verse 13, the Bible says there, It says, And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses.

[22:02] When you got saved, he forgave you of all trespasses. You're not guilty as far as your eternity. Your slate is clean. It says in Isaiah 116, it says, Though your sins be as scarlet, they are washed as white as snow.

[22:18] You're clean in the eyes of God, but your daily life should match your position in heaven. He calls us to be ambassadors for Christ.

[22:30] And that's what we try to be in the Netherlands. We try to be an ambassador. We actually have three citizenship in a sense. We have our citizenship in heaven as a child of God.

[22:40] We have our U.S. citizenship. And then we have residents in the Netherlands. So we're an ambassador for Christ everywhere that we go. And why do we have that? Because that's his purpose for us.

[22:52] One, because he's given us a promise. And that promise is eternal life. Page 2. But then also the promise is the ability to do the work. Go to John chapter 16.

[23:04] John chapter 16. John chapter 16 verse 13. I got ahead of myself a little bit. So I'm trying to bring it back together in my mind.

[23:15] But hopefully it's making sense to you. Sometimes Lisa, she tells me after I get done, it's like, Where were you going with that message? I don't know.

[23:25] I don't know. I knew where I was going when I started. But I didn't know where halfway through. John 16 verse 13. It says, How be it when he, the spirit of truth, has come. This is the promise of the comforter.

[23:36] Right? He says, If I go, I'll send the comforter unto you. And he'll lead you. Right? It says, How be it when he, the spirit of truth, has come. He will guide you into all truth. For he shall not speak of himself.

[23:48] But whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak. And he will show you things to come. So he, Jesus Christ, when he said, when I go, I'm going to send the Holy Ghost. I'm going to send the comforter.

[23:59] And he's going to lead you into truth. And that means, if he's going to lead you into truth, there's something else there. There's always the opposite. He'll lead you into truth through the scriptures.

[24:09] But the devil will lead you all over the place. He'll lead you into error. He'll lead you into sin. But the spirit of God will never do that. He'll lead you. He'll give you a purpose. And then he will give you the power to complete the purpose.

[24:23] So the promise, eternal life through Jesus Christ. The promise to a saved person, he'll send the Holy Ghost unto you. And he will lead you into truth. And he will give you the power to complete the work.

[24:36] Go to Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8. You can beat me there. I know you can. Come on. You can do it. Go, go, go. Bible drill. Romans chapter 8. Verse 15.

[24:47] Romans 8. 15. So we have the promise. Eternal life. You can never lose it. And as a saved person, you have confidence in Jesus Christ. And he'll show you his will through the Holy Spirit.

[25:00] Now, the promise of his power, if you look at Romans chapter 8, verse 15. For that which I do, I... Oh, that's 7. Never mind. We don't want to go there. We don't talk about all that sin that you're stuck in.

[25:11] No, no, no. Romans 8, verse 15. We know that we need to be holy. So we don't need to go there. For you have not received the spirit of bondage, again, to fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

[25:25] The spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. So now we have this heavenly father, and we have that fellowship relationship with him. Abba is the idea of a really close relationship.

[25:38] It's the idea of daddy. You know, not disrespectful way, but it's that loving relationship. But it comes when we receive Christ. We become into the family of God, and then he gives us the power to serve him, because you trust him.

[25:54] My dad, I love my dad, and one time he says, son, I'm going to teach you how to swim. And he's out in the pool, and he says, jump in. And I trusted my dad.

[26:04] I thought, okay, he's going to help me out. I jump into the pool, and he doesn't catch me. And it's deep, and I'm little, so I sink right to the bottom. But I had that trust, and I still did after that.

[26:16] It worked out. I thought I could doggy paddle a little bit to the top. But God's never going to do that. He's never going to tell you to jump in a pool and not catch you. That's the trust that you can have in your heavenly father.

[26:27] That's the promise that he has given you through the power of the Holy Spirit leading you in the direction that you should go. Go to Romans chapter 6 for a second.

[26:39] Romans chapter 6, verse 11. Well, one of the things about understanding the power of God and having God as your heavenly father and following him as you need to put off yourself.

[26:57] Jesus Christ calls us to be servants. Your pastor is a servant, and he's trying to teach you to be servant because that's what Jesus Christ wants of each and every one of us.

[27:08] He wants us to serve one another. Romans chapter 6, verse 11, it says, Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

[27:22] So we're dead to sin. We don't want to do it anymore. I know we get to Romans 7. Paul talks about that battle of those things that I want to do, those things that I don't want to do, those things I do, a wretched man that I am, right?

[27:35] But he's not making an excuse for his sin. And he's saying, I don't want to do those things. So we're dead to sin, alive unto God, so we can fulfill his purpose in his power.

[27:50] Die to ourselves. Galatians chapter 2, Galatians chapter 2, Galatians chapter 2, verse 20. I love this verse. I use this verse a lot. Galatians, I love the whole Bible, but there's some verses that God really is like, pow, and they just blow off the page every time I turn to a Galatians.

[28:05] I see this verse, I'm like, hallelujah. I am crucified with Christ. You say, well, why do you go hallelujah to that one? He's bore my sin debt.

[28:16] When he went to the cross and I accepted him as my Lord and Savior, he paid the debt. I'm crucified with him. I owe it to him. First Corinthians chapter 6 says, what know you not that your body is a temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which you have of God, and you're not your own, for you are bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body.

[28:34] Glorify God. That's what God wants each of every one of us to do, and we have the power to do it because the Spirit of God dwells in us. And we can follow his leadership to do whatever he calls us to do in his power.

[28:49] He gives us a purpose, then he gives us the power to do it, then he rewards us for doing it. What a Savior. Where did I tell you to go? Galatians 2.20. For I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

[29:10] He gave himself for me. He gave himself for you. He gave himself for all the sin of the world, and he gives us the power to achieve the goal.

[29:21] But then we have a purpose. Our purpose is the gospel. Our purpose is as a local church to train for the gospel to go to the world.

[29:37] But then I was looking at some things, and I was saying, what about the gospel? Who is to go? One, save people, right? Go to John chapter 20.

[29:48] I got a who, what, when, where, and how of the gospel. A sermon inside of a sermon. So actually I had like eight points, but I almost tricked you into thinking it was less.

[30:00] Matthew, John chapter 20, verse 21. So who, who? One, save folks. In Jesus, he gives a, 20, verse 21.

[30:13] The purpose of God is for you individually and as a church to go. John chapter 20, verse 21 said, It's almost like one of those tag, you're it things.

[30:39] You ever play that when you were a kid? You run around, tag, you're it. You go run around. I'm going to go tag each and every one of you. That's what Jesus Christ is doing to his disciples. You're it. And you look at the context, he's talking to his disciples.

[30:52] And so, so then you have to ask, what makes a disciple? Go to John chapter eight. And we, we know that they were the followers of Jesus at that time. He had the 12. But if you look at John chapter eight, verse 31, I see a very significant application to us today.

[31:07] What makes a disciple of Jesus Christ? One, you're saved. Two, you have the power of the Holy Spirit in your life. And three, you have a purpose.

[31:17] So what, what is the purpose? In 831, John 831, it says, Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed.

[31:30] See, there's something that we have to do to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, to be effective to get the gospel to the world. We have to be daily in his word. What does that mean? It means you have to be reading the Bible outside of church on Sunday morning.

[31:42] It means that you need to be at church every time the doors are open to hear the preaching of the word of God. God thinks that preaching is pretty amazing. That's what he uses today to convict his people of sin.

[31:55] As the Holy Ghost goes out and he convicts the word of sin and righteousness and judgment, and he wants to use us for the propagation of the gospel all over the world. That's his purpose.

[32:06] But you have to be disciples of Jesus Christ. You have to be daily in the word. And then go to Romans chapter 10. This is just the who. And if you're not saved, you need to start there.

[32:19] You say, well, I'm not going to get saved just because I don't want to do that. Then you are very carnal. You are deceived by the devil. When you do get saved, if you're not saved this morning, you will want to do that.

[32:33] You will realize what Jesus Christ did for you and that weight that will be lifted off your shoulders and the joy that will come. You won't be able to restrain yourself from going to tell everybody that you possibly can about Jesus Christ.

[32:46] Romans chapter 10, verse 13 to 15, it says, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Anybody can be saved, right? And then it says, how then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?

[32:58] And how shall they believe in him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And that's not necessarily just a pastor. A preacher, preaching is telling truth.

[33:10] So technically, in the smallest sense, when you tell somebody the gospel, you're preaching to them. You're preaching the word of God to them that they can be saved. Don't be afraid to tell people about Jesus.

[33:22] Because you are a child of God. And how shall they preach except they be sent? As is written, how beautiful are the feet of them which preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things. You are members of a church.

[33:33] You have gospel tracts on the back rack. I saw them. I took some. And then you are to go out and to preach the gospel by giving tracts. It's the word of God.

[33:43] So what are we supposed to tell them? Go to Luke chapter 24. Listen fast. We're running down here. Luke chapter 24. Luke 24. So what are we supposed to tell them? We have the who.

[33:55] It's all of us. Every single one of us. Every saved person is to preach the gospel in some way. What are we supposed to tell them? Luke chapter 24, verse 4 to 6.

[34:06] This is Jesus' own words here. So don't say, that's not what we're supposed to tell them. Well, Jesus is telling his disciples this is part of what you're supposed to do. Luke chapter 24, verse 46 and 47.

[34:17] It says there, Jesus tells them, and he said unto them, thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day.

[34:28] There's the gospel. He died and he was buried and he resurrected on the third day. And that repentance and remission of sin should be preached in the name of Jesus among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

[34:39] And that goes right along with Acts chapter 1, verse 8. But you shall receive power after the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and Judea and in Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth.

[34:50] To be a witness. That's the what? Take the gospel. The death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. Repentance. Acts 20, 21 says we have testifying both to Jews and to the Greeks, the repentance unto God and faith towards the Lord Jesus Christ.

[35:04] He's saying put off everything else you're trusting to be a child of God and turn to Jesus. Repentance, turning from, turning to. Everything else, you're trying to be a good person, church membership for salvation, a good works for salvation, baptism for salvation.

[35:19] You turn from all that stuff and turn to Jesus Christ. He paid the price. You didn't. You just got to believe what he did. That's the what? The gospel.

[35:30] He's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. All people need the gospel. And where? Where do we go? Where do we preach the gospel? Matthew chapter 28. I'm getting into common territory here.

[35:42] You know where I'm going with all these. We have a specific location. You say, well, it's pretty big. Yeah, it is. Matthew chapter 28.

[35:53] If you look at verse 19 and 20. He tells us to go. Go ye. All of us. Go. Go ye therefore. And teach all nations.

[36:03] Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things. Whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you all the way even to the end of the world.

[36:17] Amen. Go ye to all nations. Not just local. Local is good. You don't have a good program if you don't have local missions. You don't go pass out tracts and be a witness in your neighborhood.

[36:29] That's the command. Jerusalem. That's where he tells them to go. And the promise is here that he says, lo, I am with you always. Always. Even to the end of the world. That's the promise of the power.

[36:42] See where that's coming from? The promise, the power, and the purpose. It's all in that commission. Go to Mark chapter 16. Mark chapter 16. At the end there, he has to say it a couple times.

[36:53] I mean, this is the way that Mark wrote it down. In verse 15. And he said unto them, go ye into all the world. And preach the gospel to every creature.

[37:07] To everyone. Everywhere. And if you look at Acts chapter 1 again, we won't go there. But it's in his power. It says, you shall receive power after the Holy Ghost has come upon you.

[37:20] Save people. Taking the gospel and the power of Jesus Christ. He says, lo, I am with you always. He says, he'll never leave us nor forsake us. He's not going to leave us alone as we go to get the gospel out.

[37:31] Sometimes you might think, I'm not going to give the gospel tract to them. They'll probably kill me. Jesus says, lo, I'm with you always. Even to the end of the world. Amen. So what are we afraid of?

[37:42] I think sometimes fear overtakes us. But he doesn't give us the spirit of fear. But he gives us the power of a strong mind. Love and of a strong mind. That's what he wants to give us. But we have to be disciples.

[37:54] We have to be in his word to understand these things. You have to be in church and hear the preaching of God's word to understand these things. So we have the who, the what, the where, and what's the when.

[38:04] 2 Corinthians chapter 6. And we'll finish up this morning. 2 Corinthians chapter 6. It's urgent. I believe getting the gospel is more urgent now than ever.

[38:17] The rapture of the church is one day closer today than it was yesterday. It's 30 seconds. Since we started going into this verse, it's 30 seconds later than it could have happened.

[38:29] It's imminent. It's going to happen soon. So what's the urgency? 2 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 2. And we then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.

[38:44] For he saith, I have heard thee in an accepted time, and in the day of salvation have I secured thee. Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation.

[38:56] So when is it important to get the gospel out? Now. Don't wait. You probably have some family members you've never talked to about the gospel.

[39:08] Today would be a good day to get on the phone and say, Hey, I'm worried about you. I care about you. Jesus wants you to come unto him. He wants you to be saved.

[39:19] And then tell him the gospel. Tell him the life change that you've had because of Jesus Christ. But if you haven't had that change, don't wait. Now is the acceptable time of salvation for you.

[39:34] It's a simple thing. Repentance towards God and faith towards the Lord Jesus Christ. I mentioned it already. Christ died for our sins according to Scripture. And that he was buried. And that he rose again the third day.

[39:44] Jesus Christ told the same thing to his disciples over and over again. But then he tells it to us specifically. Whether you're Jewish, whether you're Gentile, whatever you are. He wants you to come.

[39:56] And have eternal life. That's the promise of God. If you'll come to him his way, you'll have eternal life. And then he'll give you the power of God through the Holy Spirit to do the work that he set out. He'll give you the power to live a life that's pleasing in his sight.

[40:10] And then when you start doing that, you become a disciple of Jesus Christ. You get discipled in your local church. You become faithful to your local church. He'll have a purpose for you outside of that. And that's to go. And all we have to do is believe it.

[40:23] And do it. I never thought God would call us to do anything. I thought, you know what? I'll serve in my local church. Until the Lord comes back. And I think God saw the heart of that.

[40:35] And he said, you know what? I want to move you a little step forward. And I got to start teaching in some local ministries. And preaching at the rescue mission. And doing some things for God. Still serving in the local church.

[40:46] Still working out of our local church. And then I believe God said, you know what? I see you're faithful with that. I want to move you somewhere else. I never thought it would be 4,000 miles around the world. Never in a million years.

[40:57] But it all started with one day. August 20, 2006. When we walked an aisle. And trusted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. If you've never done that. Today is as good a day as any.

[41:09] Amen. If the Holy Spirit is dealing with you about something. Whether it's salvation or service. Would you be obedient to the Lord. And just see what he has for you in the future. Pastor, you want to come? Thank you all for being really quick with the pages.

[41:22] Thank you.