[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfredo, Georgia. It is our prayer that you will be blessed by the preaching of God's Word.
[0:14] Psalms will be in Psalm 74. I wanted to share with you all a little bit more of why we're going to Bosnia and what made us choose that country over so many others that so many in the world we could have chosen from.
[0:27] In Psalm 74 and verse 20, the Bible says, Have respect unto the covenant, for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty. Of course, this is written for Israel.
[0:39] It's written by someone in Israel. And they're talking. Okay, sorry. Okay. And it's written for the people of Israel. And they're talking about their covenant from God. But I want to focus on the last part.
[0:50] And Bosnia fits into this category. It says, For the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty. And Bosnia is a country that describes this in its own way.
[1:02] Bosnia is a country of about four million people. If you go to Bosnia, you'll find three main groups of people. You're going to find the Serbians, and they all claim to be Orthodox. You have the Croatians, and they're Catholic.
[1:14] And then you have the Bosniaks, which are all Muslim. And they keep themselves. They have their own political parties. They have the party of the Bosniaks, the party of the – there's actually more than 150 parties.
[1:26] But they're separated by their religion. And the country in 1991, it was all part of Yugoslavia, including other countries like Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, and Slovenia.
[1:38] They were all part of one country together. Each one of them, the Bosnians, the Muslims, they all have a form of religion. And they're all trying to work their own way to heaven.
[1:49] The Muslims, they go through their five pillars of the faith, and they're attempting to please God in their own way. The Serbians and the Catholics are almost the same. They're very similar in doctrine. If you go on and you read their doctrines page, they're almost going to be identical.
[2:03] One of the differences I found is Serbian Orthodox. They baptize by immersion, while Catholics sprinkle. But both of them, salvation – baptism is a part of salvation.
[2:14] And we know from the Bible that's not true. We know in John 14, 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but my we, but by me. Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven.
[2:26] And they're trying to get to heaven by their own works. And I could tell you many more facts about Bosnia, but today I wanted to talk to you and tell you a story about a young man that I've been learning.
[2:37] His name is Kenan. And when I read this story, I can't help but think and put myself in his shoes. When I read a story, I tend to put myself in the shoes of the writer, and I start to think like him.
[2:47] Also, when I was reading it, we found out we're having a son a few weeks ago – well, last week. And our son – and I think of him going through this and being the dad in the story. But today I want to talk about Kenan.
[2:59] Kenan was born in a city, and he lived in a city in northern Bosnia. And he grew up in the country of Yugoslavia. He had a mother and a father who were both Muslims. And he also had an older brother that would have been roughly 18 at the time.
[3:13] And during his life, he had grown up going to schools. And his teacher, one of his favorite teachers, is a guy by the name of Militin. And Militin was very close to him. And he was his best teacher.
[3:23] He was the hardest teacher in school, but he was closest to him. And he respected him the most. And he did everything. In the book, he talks about how much he tried to please that teacher. But the truth is – but shortly thereafter, in 1991, Yugoslavia started to break up.
[3:39] Started with Croatia, declared independence from Serbia, which started a war between Croatia and Serbia. And there started to be many killings. In March 1st, 1992, Bosnia declared independence.
[3:52] And from that day on, Kenan's life changed forever. Kenan was going – he had a regular life. But once they declared independence, his father knew that the same war that was going on in Croatia was about to start in Bosnia, where his child was.
[4:06] So he sent his two sons, and they went into the country. His two children did. Just a little bit out of the city was in to stay with his grandparents. Shortly thereafter, the Serbians came in with their army and their tanks.
[4:17] And they had rallied all the Serbians that lived in Bosnia to be on their side. And he was to go, and they took over the city that he had lived in. And in that city, there were many Muslims, and they started actually to kill them.
[4:32] They would shoot them and then put them on these trolley trucks and carry them out of town, where they would put them in mass graves. But the Bosnians started to flee the city. And as they were fleeing the city, the Serbians saw that they were running across this one bridge that led to Kenan's grandparents' house, where he was.
[4:50] And in the Serbian army, they put all these bombs on the bridge. And one night, while the Bosnians were running across it, they caused the bridge to blow up and kill many of them.
[5:01] The explosion was so great that Kenan's house that he was in shook, and part of his roof collapsed. And his dad called him home, and him and his brother, they went home, and they were to spend the rest of their time in Bosnia in their house.
[5:14] They weren't allowed to leave. His father had befriended a Serbian right as the conflict was starting to happen, and that Serbian protected their family from death. And he told his dad, he said, If you and your family leave this house at any point, you will be killed.
[5:27] They will shoot you in the street. So they stayed in their house. They lost their power. They lost all access to the outside world. And as they were in their house, they ran out of food because they only had a little bit.
[5:40] And their youngest son, which would have been Kenan, they sent him. They knew that the older two would have been recognized way better, so they sent Kenan. And Kenan actually goes. He goes across the street from the apartment that they lived in, and he walks into the market.
[5:54] He buys bread. And on his way back, he sees Moulton. And Moulton, his teacher from school, is in the street, and he has an AK-47, and now he's a Serbian soldier.
[6:05] And he sees him, and he thinks, Oh, I'm safe. Finally, I have a friend that's a Serbian, and he will help me. So he calls out to his old teacher, Moulton, and the guy looks at him.
[6:16] He grabs him by the side of his face, and he jerks him close. He knocks the bread out of his hand and basically calls him trash and says, You don't need any food. You're going to die. He shows his AK-47 up against the back of his head, and he pulls the trigger.
[6:31] But God saved Kenan's life that day, and he didn't die because the gun jammed. And Kenan was able to run away. He escaped. He ran home, and he was too afraid to even tell his family because he knew he was the only source of food for them.
[6:44] So he didn't even tell his family what had happened, and he kept it to himself. So shortly thereafter, his family, after five attempts, was able to come to the United States, and they actually have become citizens here, and they live in New York.
[6:57] But this family, they are Muslim, and throughout all of that, God spared them, and they're alive. But someday they will die, and they will face God. And before God, the doctrine that they believe is not enough, and it does not save them.
[7:11] So all the people that died in that war that were Muslim or Serbian or Croatian, most of them went to hell because of their beliefs, because they do not believe Christ, and they do not know the gospel.
[7:24] And that's what me and Catherine are going to Bosnia to do, is to share Christ with those that have survived the war. The war ended in 1995, and Bosnia is a peaceful country now.
[7:34] The Serbians, the Croatians, and the Bosnians, they all live together now. They work together again. But the war was between friends who turned enemies, and now they are trying to be friends again.
[7:45] But what they need more than anything is not peace on earth, but they need peace with God. And Catherine and I are going there to share gospel, the gospel with them, and to start churches in the country of Bosnia.
[7:55] So please pray for us as we're on deputation. Acts chapter number 17, starting in verse number 22, the Bible says, Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars Hill and said, You men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are too superstitious, for I passed by and beheld your devotions.
[8:12] I found an altar with this inscription to the unknown God, whom therefore ye ignorantly worship. Him declare I unto you, verse 24, God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands, neither is worship with men's hands as though he needeth anything, seeing he giveth to all life and breath and all things, and hath made of one blood all nations of men, for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed in the bounds of their habitation, that they should seek the Lord, if happily they meet, they might feel after him and find him, though he be not far from every one of us.
[8:49] I wish I could take you to Delhi, India. I wish I could take you and allow you to meet Sordish, and I wish I could show you different people, and as you saw in the film, Jesus isn't presented in a biblical way anywhere in India.
[9:01] We find Jesus, he is just one of many gods. He's just placed on the shelf with the other gods. There's a picture of Jesus, and he's the God of the sick, he's the God of the weak, and he is viewed with, and I say God loosely with a lower G, because of his representation there.
[9:16] I'm going to tell you something tonight, that there is a false view of who Jesus is in the country of India. As Paul is standing here in Mars Hill, and he's standing and he's preaching and he's proclaiming the truth of the gospel, he's saying, men and women, let me tell you something tonight.
[9:31] He is in men's hands, he is in men, or by the things that we can do, but he is the creator God. He is the God of heaven and earth. He is the God that has come to this earth and laid out his life for your sins, and he is not made with men's hands.
[9:44] And all across India, their hope and their faith is in things made with men's hands that cannot lift, things with eyes that cannot see, things with ears that cannot hear, things with mouth that cannot speak. But Paul says in 2 Corinthians chapter number 4, he says, if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost.
[10:04] I wish I could take you to the home of Mabina. And Mabina, I gave her the nickname that she was my adopted mother. And I would be out in the street, and I would be playing cricket with her kids, and we would be out having a good time, and she would bring me over water, she would bring me tea, she would cook me food, and she would bring it over to me.
[10:20] And I loved getting to sit and talk with her and her family. And they are such sweet people, and they remind me a lot of my family, just they cut up and have a good time with each other. But can I tell you something, every single day, Mabina and her family, they walk into a living room with a four-foot statue that was made with men's hands, that was painted in different colors, just like the ones that you see on our display table.
[10:43] And they bow down before it, bringing their hopes, their desires, their dreams, their ambitions, believing that if they can bring and please this God well enough, that that will please God.
[10:55] That by bringing their offerings, by bringing their sacrifices, by bringing the things that they can come up with, that will be enough. But it says in 1 Peter 1, verse 18, it says, For you are not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold received, fame repetitions received by traditions from your Father, but with the precious blood of Christ, as a lamb without blemish and without spot.
[11:18] I'm going to tell you something tonight, that the country of India, we've got to get the gospel to them. There's no other solution to their problems, because can I tell you, that when they're given the representation of who Jesus is, He's just another God.
[11:31] But can I tell you something tonight, friend, if you do not know who Jesus Christ is, Jesus is not a God, He is the God. He said in John chapter 14, verse number 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
[11:44] But for the majority of India, there's Ganesh, there's Saraswati, there's by having your body dumped into the banks of the Ganges River. But we have the word of God.
[11:57] And Paul says in that same passage, in 2 Corinthians chapter number 4, verse number 3, and he goes on in verse number 7, and he says, but we have this treasure. And God has given us the gospel, He's given us His Holy Spirit, He's given us salvation, He's given us everything that we need to do the work that He's called us to do.
[12:14] But would you pray with us? Because this is the type of things that we will face. These are the people that we will run into, that Jesus is just another God. But we want to go to India.
[12:24] We want to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, and not say that He is just a God, but He's the God. So would you pray with us? Amen. Amen. Turn in your Bibles with me, if you would, to Matthew chapter 9.
[12:38] Really enjoyed so far everything here at the conference. And I think I finally figured out what's going on. It's not the humidity that is causing the problems with my clothing. It's missions conference food.
[12:50] Amen. I'm not complaining. I'm not complaining. I can just go buy larger suits. There's no problem at all with that. Because we really enjoyed the food, enjoyed all the time here. But Matthew chapter 9 is probably one of my favorite passages, verses, well-known passage, of course, to all of us.
[13:05] But as I think about Bolivia, and the video that was taken there, I think I've explained here even before, that that was a video. That actually took place. That wasn't just something made up.
[13:16] Of course, the video we recreated, I guess you would say. But it was something that actually took place. And as we've stood on there, up in that, where that statue is at, many times overlooking the city, the only thing that I can think about, the verse or the passage that always comes to my mind, is Matthew chapter 9, verse 35, 36, and 37.
[13:35] And when I visit other places, and when I see so many places, that there's such a great need for the gospel, the only thing that comes to my mind, is what we see here in Matthew chapter 9. As Jesus said, especially there in verse 36, where he says, But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.
[14:00] Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few. We've heard that many times. But this verse and this passage becomes so real to us, as we stand and we look at a city of a million people, and we hear stories like this story, and we see so many people, and such a harvest that is ready, that is ready to be harvested.
[14:24] But the problem is the same wherever we go. The harvest is ready. The laborers, the laborers are few. And I really believe, just want to share just a few thoughts with you very quickly from this passage tonight, but I truly believe the only thing that will make a difference, and maybe allowing us to see more laborers sent out across the world, and all over the world, to reach this harvest that is truly plenteous, and truly ready, as if we begin to see the people as Jesus saw the people here.
[14:53] Because he says there in verse 36, it says, But when he saw the multitudes, Jesus saw the multitudes, he saw these people, but I think he saw them differently than you and I.
[15:04] Because we see the multitudes. We see the multitudes, all you have to do is drive up and down 400. You see multitudes, just multitudes of cars, stop. Wherever you go, you see multitudes of people.
[15:15] You see the videos, you see the pictures, you hear the stories about multitudes, and multitudes, and multitudes of people. But the question is, how do we really see those people when we see them?
[15:27] The Bible says Jesus saw the multitude, and I think we can see a couple things that he saw here. Number one, he saw the condition of these people. Look what he says in verse 36. When he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them.
[15:40] Because why? They fainted and were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd. He saw these people as lost, basically blind and not knowing the truth, not knowing where to go.
[15:53] They were lost and had no one to show them the way and where they were to go. I remember several years ago, we were parked on the side of one of the main streets there in Cochabamba, and I remember they have the public transportation and I didn't even realize where I was at, there close, what was close by, but I remember the bus stop right beside of us and this young girl, probably maybe 10, maybe 12, 13 years old, she got off of the bus, which I didn't think was anything strange about that, and she had her book bag, and she began to walk, and of course they have the curb that comes up, and when she got to the curb, she just completely stumbled.
[16:25] I mean, just kind of stumbled and like, and she just kept walking, but it's almost like she didn't even stop, and she came all the way over to the fence, and she put her hands on the fence like that, and I thought, what is going on? What is wrong with this girl?
[16:37] And she began to walk along the fence like this, and she walked a little ways over, and there was a door there, and when she got to the door, she opened the door, and she went in, and I began to look, and this place was a school for the blind, for the deaf and the blind, and I thought, wow, this young girl from her house gets on public transportation.
[16:58] I don't know how she knows where to get off. I guess the bus driver helps her. Maybe she's memorized it, but she gets off, and she finds her own way, and I thought, wow, how impressive, but how sad is that, and the only thing I could think about was how many other people, maybe they're not stumbling around, filling their way into the school, or filling their way the way they go, but I think about how many people are completely blinded by the lies that they face there in these countries, the religion that they face, the lies that they're taught, and they have no idea, no way of telling them the truth, and I see the condition of these people, and I just want to be honest with you, it motivates me to be more active, and to go out and reach these people with the gospel.
[17:35] When we see the people, do we truly see the condition of these people? When this took place, the video that you saw there, I can remember standing there as this young girl asked her grandmother what the verse said, John 14, 6, Jesus said to them, I am the way, the truth, and life, no man cometh unto the Father by me, and she asked, what does this verse mean?
[17:54] What a great opportunity to share the gospel with her, so clearly, and no doubt, she was seeking, she was wanting to know the answer, but unfortunately, her grandmother couldn't give her an answer, and the only thing I could think as I looked across the city of Cochabamba, you saw the front view of the city, but the city in reality goes almost 360 degrees around the statue from one side all the way to the other, a million people, and the only thing I could think about was how many more young girls like this young girl is asking that question day after day, how can I know Jesus?
[18:26] How can I go to heaven? Will someone tell me? And she gets the same answer, complete silence, because no one, no one can give her an answer. The question is, when we see the people, do we truly see the condition of these people?
[18:41] They're lost. It says, Jesus saw them as sheep with no shepherd, no one to show them the way, no one to tell them the truth, no one to give them the gospel and show them how they can go to heaven. Not only does he see the condition, but he saw the need.
[18:53] Verse 37, he says, verse we all know, probably by memory, he said unto his disciples, the harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers, the laborers are few. There's such a great need.
[19:04] Everywhere you hear about, you're going to hear about, there's so many people, there's so many people, and they're so lost without Jesus. And the exact same, the need is exactly the same wherever you go.
[19:16] There's a need for laborers. I've said it many times, I was speaking to Brother Jeffrey after lunch this morning, and I was just talking to him, we were talking about, you know, our ministry there, and I was talking about all the different things that we would, we see, when we stand and we see, and I travel around the city of Cochabamba, I go into many areas of the city, and we just ride around a lot of times and pray for the city, pray for the different areas, where there's no churches.
[19:40] We ride into the neighborhoods of 100, 150, 200,000 people, no gospel preaching church in that area, just area after area. I have probably 15, maybe even 20 places right now specifically picked out.
[19:53] I mean, I know the area, I could take you to the place where if I had a man ready, we would start a church there because there's no church there preaching the gospel of these people. Can you imagine, and I begin to tell you, have you ever faced a challenge?
[20:04] Have you ever had something that was just such a big challenge and you thought, I can't do this? There's no way that I can do this on my own. Well, that's the way we feel there on the mission field. We cannot do it on our own.
[20:15] We're praying that God would raise up laborers to go to Bolivia. We're praying that we won't have to go back to Bolivia by ourselves and be the only missionaries that are working in a city of a million people where we're going to have to start a multitude of churches and work and work and work.
[20:29] We'll never accomplish it in our lifetime. We need laborers to go. There's such a great need. Everywhere you go, there's such a great need. And a lot of times I ask the question, is it that God doesn't want laborers to go into the harvest?
[20:42] I think this passage probably shows us otherwise. Is it that He doesn't want laborers to go into the harvest? Or is it maybe that we're not listening to the call that He sent our way to go into the harvest and get that harvest, to reap that harvest that is so ready?
[20:58] We see the condition. We see the need. And of course, we see our responsibility. Then verse 38, it says, Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that He will send forth laborers unto His harvest.
[21:09] Would you pray that God, I know you do, would you continue to pray that God would send forth laborers into the harvest? Pray for Bolivia. Pray that God would raise up our prayer. We're just sharing this with you as our church and friends here that we're praying that we would see at least one family raised up during this year.
[21:26] We're here on furlough that will go to Bolivia and work with us and work in Bolivia at least helping us reach them with the gospel. We're praying that we would see many families raised up during this year. We're here preaching and visiting churches that would go to the mission field, go into this harvest because we need so many laborers and we need to pray that these laborers would go into the harvest.
[21:44] Would you pray? But if we're going to pray for laborers, it would probably be a little bit hypocritical if we weren't being a faithful laborer ourselves. Amen? We're being a faithful laborer ourselves.
[21:56] Lord, raise up laborers to go to the harvest but as long as it's not me, I'm fine. Right? That wouldn't be right. We need to pray first. God, would it be me? And that's the question that we have to ask. God, am I truly doing what your will is for my life?
[22:10] And I can remember a lot of people ask, you know, they say, how do I know God's will for my life? I just want to share, be honest with you, the first step is just saying, God, here's my life. I was 21 years old, out of church, you know, in college, and I realized my life had no purpose outside of serving God, living for Him.
[22:29] And I said, God, here's my life, take it and do with it whatever you would have me to do. And if we would make that decision, to be honest with you, the rest of it's pretty easy because He will guide us to the exact place where He would have us to serve.
[22:42] Pray for laborers that God would send forth laborers into His harvest. Amen. All right, it's great to be here tonight with y'all. I want to stop and just thank you for taking care of us for my church home away from Victory Baptist in Loganville, and we've been in about 140 churches now presenting our ministry, and I have to say that Vision Baptist Church is still the most missions-minded church I've been in in my entire life.
[23:09] And out of all these churches, I just want to thank y'all for taking care of us. We love you so much. We are headed to the country of Chile, a country of 18 million people down in South America.
[23:19] My wife and I were able to visit down there in July of last year right before we started deputation, and we noticed that in the capital city, now it's growing like crazy. In the area, there's 7.2 million people, so more people live there in that one area between two big mountains and the whole state of Tennessee combined.
[23:38] And while we were there, we noticed that there were very few gospel-preaching churches in the whole city. Every day in the country of Chile, 280 people die and go to an awful place called hell.
[23:51] Most of the vast majority of them never in their life hear a clear presentation of the gospel. While we were down there, we met a man named Vladimir, which y'all probably have heard from Brother Jason Holt's ministry, and he spent most of the 1990s in prison, and the Lord saved him, and now he's actually a pastor in one of those few churches down in the country, and now his son is in Bible college training to also go out and be in ministry for the Lord, and it's awesome how God can use anybody to do anything.
[24:28] You know, he usually wants to use those that think nothing of themselves so that when they do something for Christ, everybody knows it was God and Christ that did it and not them themselves, and I want to be the same way in my life.
[24:42] While we were there, we visited a mound. It's just a big hill in downtown Santiago there, and at the very top of that mound, it's a 73-foot-tall concrete statue of Mary, the mother of Jesus, with their arms out overlooking her city there, and I watched for about an hour on a cold day, about 40 degrees, as there was people after people, someone like candles, they would come to this concrete statue, and they would pray and just talk to this statue, and I watched as a mom and dad and three kids, like I have, three children, they all held hands, walked up these steps on a cold day, knelt down, and for about 15 minutes they prayed to this concrete statue as a family.
[25:23] The kids knew how serious it was. They didn't move. They prayed at this statue, and I began to think as I watched them say, God, I'm so blessed.
[25:38] I was born in a godly home, in a pastor's home that loved God, and it drug me to church, and by the way, I still love church. All right? Don't ever get a, love your church, and love Jesus, and thank the Lord for saving you, and I was saved when I was seven years old, and it's still good.
[25:56] By the way, some of the saddest people I see are sitting in churches today. They can't even get a smile on their face. They can't get excited about what God has done in their lives, and we're so blessed to hear the gospel, and I heard it every week of my life.
[26:10] When I was 15, I was called to preach. When I was 18, surrendered to the mission field, and here we are 14 years later on our way to the country of Chile. God is awesome. God is great, and I just started thanking God.
[26:22] You know, I could have been born in a country like Chile, a country where there is hardly any gospel witness whatsoever. More than likely, they never even walked by a gospel-preaching church in their whole lifetime, and much less ever able to darken the doors of a church, and here we are with churches, and you know, before I went to Mexico on that mission trip when I was 18, I thought everybody had churches all over the place.
[26:44] I was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, raised in Georgia since I was three, and I always went to church, and I remember seeing in Mexico and in Chile that there are hardly any churches, and I said, Lord, I know you want me to go do this, and I had a decent job of 14 years ever since I was 18, and working at that and still serving in my church, doing everything I could, and the whole time, missionaries would come to my church all the time, and I'd be sitting back there half the time crying knowing that God wanted me on the mission.
[27:21] And he's a good God. He's given me so much, and now I get to leave the United States of America and go to another country and tell people about Jesus.
[27:32] If I don't go, I know there might be hopefully hundreds, maybe even thousands of people that would never hear a clear presentation of the gospel in a country where 280 people every day and die and go to hell not knowing.
[27:46] So God has given me so much. I'm sure he's given you so much, and we should go on and tell everybody about him that we can, and I encourage everybody to do that. I thank the Lord my family saved, my wife saved, our two oldest daughters are saved, my mom and dad are saved, I have aunts and uncles that are saved and love God and serve God, and I want to go and tell other families about it.
[28:08] I'd like to go back and tell that one family I saw there praying to the statue of Mary one day to meet them and tell them about Jesus who can forgive all their sins. They never hear this story.
[28:20] They're not taught that Jesus is the only way to heaven and only through his shed blood is their forgiveness for sins. They're not teaching that in the Catholic churches down there in Chile, and we, it's our opportunity and privilege to go where the gospel is needed and go give our lives, so don't feel sorry for us.
[28:35] We're in the center of God's will doing exactly what God wants us to do with our lives, who I feel sorry for are those like me for 14 years that sat on a pew, sat in a chair, knowing where God wanted me to go to the mission field, and I sat there and spent so much of my life not being in the center of God's will for my life, so I encourage everybody, whatever it is, there's something for you to do.
[28:58] It might just be serving in your church here. I hope everybody, my dad always taught me that everybody needed a job down at the house of God. What are we doing? Hopefully you're doing something. Maybe you could do more and we should all be busy because God is good and there's people still right here in Alpharetta and Coming area that have never heard a clear presentation of the gospel.
[29:17] How are they going to hear unless the church gets serious about it and wants to tell everybody about it, especially our family, friends, and strangers that we've never met before. It's our job to spread the gospel all around the world.
[29:29] Thank you. You know, I keep a years ago we had a big old auditorium and a couple thousand people there and the young people turned all the lights off and lit one candle and they passed candles out and everybody started lighting candles about to lift the building on fire, but it gave the idea.
[29:45] I hope you understand that and that's what you're doing is taking the light to the world. I don't know of it, Brother Dean, come on this way. I don't know of a better man of God that I've ever known in my life than Dean Hamby. I love him. I respect him.
[29:56] I'm proud of him. I've been blessed by him and his ministry and you're hearing his message, but I know the man and I want you to listen tonight because I know God will use him and you'll listen.
[30:07] Thank you, Brother. Amen. It is good to see everybody here tonight. I was challenged by Brother Robert to tell a story about Brother Austin and I realized he's got more on me than I got on him, so I'm keeping my big fat mouth shut.
[30:23] Boy, what a great day it's been today and in the morning session, I did a thing called Jerky Maya. Some of you have probably seen it years past, but I've just about quit doing it because I've gotten so old and I'm afraid I'll have a heart attack and I don't want to, you know, I don't think I'll make a pretty corpse, you know, so I did it probably today for the last time I'll ever do it, but I had a good time and I play all the parts of David and Goliath and one of the parts is the beautiful princess and so I looked around the room.
[30:52] I spied the room, you know, you do that first and I looked at all the big guys in the room and I thought, ain't no way because what I was going to do is sit in one of their laps, so I picked the smallest guy in the crowd, so it was Ed, of course, you know, and after I got finished, I thought, you know what, he probably knew karate, he probably could have killed me quicker than any of these other guys.
[31:14] Not smart, okay, don't all, you know, just leave it alone, okay, don't go there. Go with me in your Bibles again to the book of Jeremiah, chapter number one and I sat with some boys at dinner tonight, supper, we're in the South, supper, and for others, dinner, but I sat at the boys, the little guys table, you know, 12 to nine years old and so I've got the list, I got the last names of the families right here with me and so I do take check, credit card, or cash because I ask inquiring questions of them and they've divulged all the family secrets, okay, just see me after service, no, I'm just kidding, I told them all our family secrets, I cannot keep my mouth shut, okay, and they said they're spellbound, wow, you know, wow, could that really happen to somebody, wow, anyway, we had a good time.
[32:04] Jeremiah chapter number one, thank you for the wonderful messages, I'm telling you, Brother Kevin White has just done a phenomenal job and one of the things we discussed today in the class was about culture and I guess it keys down on two things, food and language, that is the root of all the culture, of every culture actually and I just appreciate Brother Kevin that you are getting into our culture, the food, you know, I mean that means he's adapting really well to this American culture that we have here but I appreciate it, it is good but I appreciate the songs and I appreciate every message and I appreciate the tears and boy, it's just been good just to have part in God's work, this is God's work, I'm telling you, he's coming back and you know, one day we're going to see him face to face, what glory that will be to be able to see him face to face but let me tell you something even that will make it glorious is knowing that we had part in seeing somebody over there and I hope that you're being faithful to give and to go.
[33:03] Jeremiah chapter number one again, we're going to begin the reading in verse number seven and we'll begin, finish down at verse number ten, we're not going to be long tonight, would you stand with me if you're able and I would appreciate it so much, I know some of you are not able, old folks like the two on the front row down here, you notice the one is still sitting there.
[33:24] Verse number seven, take the glasses off, old man, there we go, but the Lord said unto me, say not I am a child for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak, be not afraid of their faces for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord.
[33:45] Then the Lord put forth his hand and touched my mouth and the Lord said unto me, behold I have put my words in thy mouth, see I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms to root out and to pull down and to destroy and to throw down to build and to plant.
[34:02] Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the privilege, what a privilege, what an opportunity, what a responsibility we have to be here tonight in the pews, in the pulpit, wherever our part is and our place is tonight to be able to hear God's word as it's been given to us and we've been challenged by what we've seen and heard and help us, we pray tonight, Lord, to let God do a work in our heart, a divine and a holy and an eternal work and Father, do it and help us to be faithful until Jesus comes and help us to realize we've done a lot but there's a lot that needs to be done still and help us to find our place and we'll thank you for what you do in Jesus' name we pray.
[34:40] Amen. And you may be seated. You know, as I opened up last night, I shared a little bit about it. Well, I shared a lot with you last night. 14 years of age was not a good night, not a good day for me and so I gotta be real careful.
[34:53] Tonight, I got on a light-colored pair of pants, okay, so I'm gonna, I'll probably stay more behind the pulpit tonight because you never know, okay, and I'll, you know, you just never know but, you know, we've all got a lot, you know, Miss Betty and I were talking, Karen, we were talking, we've all got our quirks.
[35:07] I told Miss Betty, I said, for me, it's not quirks, it's really traits, you know, those are my traits and for you, your quirks but I have another quirk, I have another, it's not a quirk, I have another thing about me that you already know it but you don't know you know it.
[35:22] I would imagine, actually, it happened to me this week. I've called a credit card company where you get a new credit card, you have to activate the card when they send you the new one and I will say probably 85% of the people that I talk to on the phone, they think I am a woman.
[35:42] Seriously. Honestly. And so, I talked to one, I talked to a lady on the phone going to activate my card but then, I had to call and make a doctor's appointment and so, the lady at the doctor's office, she said, now, is this for you or your husband?
[36:02] Seriously. You know, if I had Daniel's voice, I'm telling you, Daniel Sparks has got the voice. And here I am, you know, I'm just up here.
[36:18] Honestly, I can't play a piano, I can't say, if I had a gift, I'll tell you what it would be, Robert, I could, I sound like I'm sucking on a helium balloon, you know, that is my gift. Anywhere I go, I've even got the balloon, you know.
[36:32] So, you know, what we talked about last night how that God enabled Jeremiah. He fashioned him, he formed him to be what he wanted him to be.
[36:44] He knew him, I mean, intimately knew him, he sanctified him, he set him apart, he ordained him, in other words, he planted him, established him, made him a gift and God did everything.
[36:57] You think about an eternal God, time means nothing to God, but you think about this, God took the time to do for Jeremiah what needed to be done. Can I tell you tonight that God took the time, an eternal God, that time means nothing to God.
[37:12] He's the creator of time, but he took the time to make you, you. I mean, you're unique. There is not a person on planet earth like you.
[37:25] I've got to tell the story, Stephen, you may not know this story, but many, many years ago, Brother Austin, Miss Betty were at the airport, your dad had come down with Stephanie and we were talking, and we were seeing them off to go to the mission field.
[37:37] They were going to Peru and in the series of the conversation, I found out that Stephanie was a twin. Okay, here's Dean Ham, remember, I'm not smart, I'm good looking, I'm not chichita, okay, so I like to, I know I just love, you know, little kids, I just love to talk to them and so I asked Stephanie, how do you know which one you are?
[37:58] Okay, thinking that she has a twin sister, okay, so not too smart, okay, let's go on, but anyway, we're not all alike, even Stephanie and Stephen, okay, we're not all alike, God made us unique, God made me, me, and you will be foolish to even want to be me, okay, I have 10 grandkids, five girls, five boys, not one of my grandchildren want to look like me, not one, Noah, the middle of the five grandsons, Noah doesn't, he looks more like me than any of them, the other ones make fun of him, that's how bad it is at my house, you don't want to be me, but God made me, me, God made me and equipped me to be and do what I'm able to do, and so, if we would understand that God has taken the time, a God that time means nothing, he took the time to make you you and exactly the way you are to equip you, a God that is omnipotent, effort means nothing to God,
[39:02] God has never expended any effort, but you know what, he took the time and the effort to make you you, exactly who you are, exactly the way you are to be able to do what God wants you to do, so that's what we talked about last night, now, tonight, in these verses of scripture, of course, verse number six, we mentioned last night how he began to give excuses of why he could not, now you think about it, an eternal God who makes no mistake, think about it, an eternal God who makes zero mistake, he's never had a thought, well, did I really do, hey, God doesn't think about whether he did right or not, God does everything right to start with, to start with, and God made you the way God made you with time and effort on you, and he says, I can't do it, well, somebody's wrong, either God's wrong or Jeremiah's wrong, and I want you to know it's not Jeremiah, so here we sit tonight, and God made you the way God made you, some of you tonight,
[40:04] God has given you the ability for a lot of different things, some of you have the ability to make money, you know what, I couldn't sell a heater to a person that was freezing to death, I'm not a salesman, I know how to spend it, I just can't make it, okay, that's the way I am, but God has made you, you with the ability that God has given to you to be able to have money, well, what does God, God doesn't want you to live in some mansion down here somewhere, and hoard up all you got, you know what, God has made you and equipped you like you, so that you would be able to do what other people may not be able to do, to give more than anybody else can give, God made you, you, some people God has equipped, and there's so many things that God, you know, if you think about the human body and all the gazillion parts of the human body, God did all of that, and in the work of God, did you know, I'm persuaded to believe that God will put in a church exactly every member that needs to be there, if everybody will do what they're supposed to do, there won't be anybody having to worry about is somebody still on my job,
[41:13] I won't have to worry, if you do what you're supposed to do, it's going to work, and the function of this church will work as God brings, as God sends out missionaries, the money, the money will absolutely be there if we do our part, now here's the thing, God equipped him, he endured, God did everything for Jeremiah, now verse number seven, he is now going to engage him, let me ask you a question, has God ever engaged you, has God ever slipped in beside where you are, and say look what I've done for you, look what I have given to you, look at how I have made you, now what are you going to do with it, what are you going to do about it, you can call it conviction, you can call it whatever you want, but engagement, where God begins to engage us, and say are you going to sit here, it's like the three lepers, and they said are we going to sit here until we die, I mean there's food and we can go over here, that's what a lot of people are doing, they're going to sit there until they become an old woman or an old man, too old to do anything, their teeth are falling out, their hearing is gone, everything is, and they look back on their life and they find nothing, they haven't even so much as stirred up a little dust, anybody can stir a little, stir a little dust for Jesus sake, do something, glory to God, if he gave you a life, he gave you a life to use for his honor and glory, so he begins to engage him, say not that I'm a child, hey let me tell you something,
[42:50] God doesn't call children to his ministry, you know why, and I'm not talking about in age, I'm talking about little babies that are chucking on their thumb, God calls men and women because this is not a game, friend this is war, he calls us to fight to the battle, he says say not that I'm a child, God didn't make him to be a little, to be a baby all of his life, you're a man, I equipped you, I have made you what you are, and he begins to engage him, so in verse number five he gives him, we have four things that we find were how God enabled him to be what he was going to be, and what he could be, and what he needed to be, nothing lacking in all that he needed to be, everything was there, but from verse number seven down to verse number ten, we find that God now gives us, remember there the words were I, I, I, from verse number seven down to verse number ten we find five more I's that God is going to give to Jeremiah as he engages him, look at verse number seven, but the Lord said unto me, say not I am a child, thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, number one, did you know what, the ministry that he was going to have
[43:59] God gave it to him, would you look at verse number seven, he didn't say in that verse of scripture, go to the country that I will send you, that I will tell you, he didn't say go to a place, he said you go to the people, okay, and we all talk about our field, our field, my field is this, my field is that, you know what, the Lord Jesus, do you know how he defined the field, the field is the what, the world, the world, now listen, he went up to the temple and preached, he went down to the gate and preached, he went to the potter's house, he was all over the place, but all over the place where he was going were people, you know what God wants to give you, he wants to give you a people, that's what God wants to give you, and I appreciate, I appreciate the testimonies, and I also appreciate what I've seen tonight, in the presentations, I remember many, many, many years ago, there was a man that was going to go to a place, every picture, every picture, every single, back then it was slides, but every picture, there was not one single person in any picture, and I thought to myself, why in the world are you going there, there's nobody who lives there, you know, good night,
[45:11] God gave him a ministry, and the ministry was people, you know why, you know why we need God to give us our ministry, I don't know where, I don't know what God wants of me, you know, but I'm telling you, it is amazing how, when God puts you where God wants you, to the people God has sent you to, it is absolutely amazing how you fit, you know, all of a sudden, you don't feel out of place, it is amazing, they found me in a bowling alley, and I love bowling alleys now, but you know, I tell you, but it's, seriously, it is wonderful, when you get where God wants you to be, it is just amazing, number two, verse number, he says again, verse number eight, verse number seven again, he says, and whatsoever I command thee, thou shalt speak, second of all, he gave him the message, I'm so glad, I don't have to worry about what's going to be my message, I'm glad he's already given me the message, and you know the message, somebody said, if you can't think of anything to preach, you don't know what to preach, preach Jesus, that is the message, and he gave me the message,
[46:20] I don't have to worry about it, he's engaging him, I've equipped you, now here is the people I'm going to send you to, here is the message that you're going to preach, isn't it amazing, this message, and I think somebody said it today, this message, it's so simple, I think the brother Sam Wilson said it today, you know that, we don't have to be philosophers, we don't have to have doctor's degrees, we don't, all we got to know is, one day, I was a sinner, and one day, I bowed before him, and I received him as my savior, the greatest scholar in the word of God, the apostle Paul, hey, whether it was a prince or a pauper, same old story, he gave him the message, oh, can I tell you, Jeremiah, in this book, God tells Jeremiah what the word of God is, number one, he says the word of God, my word is a fire, matter of fact, in chapter number 20, I believe it is, he says that, my word in your mouth shall be as fire, and the people as wood, hmm, fire, isn't it amazing,
[47:27] I don't have to worry about what this book will do, if we'll let this book do its work, just preach this book, and it will do the job, I've seen this book transform, one of the most awesome privileges I ever had, was when I was in Taiwan a few years ago, Brother Keith Cullors had a ministry in a Buddhist boys detention home, and I got to preach, the government said, you gotta have more, you gotta have to have another class on religion, well, a lady from his church worked there in the kitchen, heard about this, she goes to the director, I know somebody that might be willing to come in and teach another religion, they get Keith Cullors, he goes in, and he's starting to win these kids to the Lord, it's a detention home, winning these kids to the Lord, I was in there, the room was just like this, along the back with these monks, all in their garb, and boy, if glares could kill, wow, but what an awesome privilege to preach, it's amazing what God's word will do, he gave him the ministry, he gave him the message, but can I tell you what else he did, he gave him the means, look at this, verse number eight, he says, be not afraid of their faces, for I am with thee to deliver thee, he goes on down in verse number nine, then the Lord put forth his hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said unto me, behold,
[48:38] I have put my words in thy mouth, see I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms to root out, to pull down, to destroy, to throw down, to build, and to plant, when I talk about he gave him his means, I'm not going to talk about money, I'm going to talk about power, you know what power is power, God's power, we got to have it for preaching, Dean Hamby ain't got enough power in his little finger, he ain't got enough power in his whole body to do what I got to do, this has to come from God, the means that we have to be able to get up and do an eternal work, can you think, do you realize that everybody, all of us here in this room, and everybody outside of this room, we're eternal beings, we have an eternal soul, and this eternal work, only God can do that, but I look at verse number, first of all, can I tell you, he says in that verse of scripture, verse number eight, did you know that when we go out and do God's will, we're protected by a holy God, and I believe that we're so divinely protected that until God is done with me on planet earth, I'm going to be able to do what God wants me to do,
[49:40] I mean you can't get any better protection than God's protection, but I want you to look, if you look on down to verse number 10, I'm going to skip over verse number nine for a second time, but look at verse number 10, look at this, see I have this day set over the nations, over the kingdoms to root out and to pull down, to destroy, to throw down and build and plant, you know what, he wasn't a farmer, he wasn't a carpenter, but this is the picture we get, he's out there in that place where it's got all kinds of scraggly bushes, and he's out there trying to pull up all this stuff because he's going to plant himself a field, and here's this old stuff out there, and he's got to tear it all down before he can build, but you know what he's doing?
[50:19] He's doing nothing but preaching. God equipped him, enabled him, and God gave him the means to go out and do what he wanted him to do if we'll just do it.
[50:31] Sitting down and doing nothing is not going to get the job done. When you finish the book of Jeremiah, you know, you come away a little bit thinking, you know what, he was a failure, failure.
[50:45] But when I look at the life of Jeremiah, I don't believe there's a failure. I want you to notice in these verses of Scripture, look at verse number five, the very last part of the verse. It says, and I ordained thee a prophet.
[50:56] Now give me the last three words. What's the last three words? Okay. I want you to look over again at verse number 10. See, I have this day set thee over the what?
[51:07] Nations. Did you know he didn't, he was a prophet to which nation? Can you tell me? Israel, Judah. Yeah, Israel, Judah. That's where he, he was a prophet to the nation of Judah.
[51:18] That's where he was. I asked myself, was he a failure? Did God, was God able to fulfill his word to Jeremiah? Now, when I think about success and failure, you know, here's my question.
[51:31] This is audience participation. Do you believe that Jeremiah had any converts? Do you think he did? Was it total failure for Jeremiah? What do you think? Yes or no? Do you have any?
[51:43] Here's, this is handbiology, leave it, take it or leave it if you want. Did you know Jeremiah was the last preacher there in Judah before the captivity? There were four men that we find over in the book of Daniel, okay?
[51:59] Daniel, Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego. Did you know that Jeremiah was their preacher? Now, I don't have it, I don't have the scripture for it, but could it be that these four men were his preacher boys?
[52:12] They were his converts that they, through his ministry, received Jehovah God? Could it be? Do you think about these four men in the book of Daniel? They preached to the kings of two world empires.
[52:28] Think about it. God said, I've made you a prophet to the nations. A prophet to the nations. Can I tell you with what God is equipping us with to do what we're doing, you know what? We can instill in others to be able to go maybe where God didn't call us to go.
[52:43] But can I tell you, I got a son named Jason Hamby and I got to lead him to the Lord. You know what he's doing? He's preaching God's word. He's winning people to God. I got some preacher boys over in Africa that I got to win to God.
[52:58] God called them to preach and they're preaching in Ivory Coast, West Africa. Can I tell you, can I tell you, God fulfilled his promise to Jeremiah. I truly believe. But let me give you a little bit more than that.
[53:10] There was a man in 1948, around that time, he was from Charlotte, North Carolina area. His passion was stock cars. He and his brother built them. They raced them.
[53:21] He had accidents. This dear man of God, he had had so many accidents. His back was broken. He walked just like this. If you ever saw him, he walked just like this.
[53:32] His name was Jack Hudson. 1948, Jack Hudson gets saved by the grace of God. He goes off to Tennessee Temple Bible School. He goes back after graduation to Charlotte, North Carolina.
[53:45] He starts a church called Northside Baptist Church. With 29 people, in 1954, he starts the church. Later on, a little bit later, they were able to buy a piece of property. Jack Hudson had claimed for his life verse, Jeremiah chapter 33 and verse number 3.
[54:05] Call unto me and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not. That was the verse of scripture that he claimed. When they bought this piece of property and if you go up Interstate 85, it's easier if you're on the southbound side.
[54:16] Just before you get to Interstate 77, you're on 85. Just before you get to there, you'll see and look over to the right, you're going to see the property that's there. He went to the city council. He asked him if he could name the street into the property Jeremiah Boulevard.
[54:30] They granted it. The address that they gave to the street there for the church was 333 Jeremiah Boulevard. His ministry grew from 29 people.
[54:42] When he retired, they were running 4,800 people. Bus ministry had a Christian school. Hundreds and hundreds of people had surrendered to full-time Christian ministry. Millions of dollars had been given to missions.
[54:57] Thousands of people and kids and people had come to know the Lord. Can I tell you, I believe Jeremiah's ministry was a success. Think about today how many preachers have preached out of the book of Jeremiah.
[55:09] How many people have been challenged from his tears and his faithfulness from the book of Jeremiah and from his life. I tell you tonight, he was a success. Why? Because here in chapter number one, God enabled him, God engaged him and he accepted the call and he went and did something for God.
[55:26] So you may not have a lot of visible success in this life, but can I tell you, God wants to use you to do something that will have eternal dividends. My mom, I didn't know, my mom and dad, they're mountain people from Tennessee, very private type people.
[55:44] This guy down here in the front row won't tell you, but he's from Tennessee too. But I didn't know much about my mom and dad until later on in life. Actually about three years ago, my mom was telling me this story and I didn't know this.
[55:56] My mom was a teenager from the mountains of Tennessee. She felt God was calling her to be a missionary to Alaska. I had never heard this story in my life. My granddad was the type that felt that any kind of school, he let them go to the elementary school that was near there, a little one room school that was there on the mountain.
[56:13] But other than that, they had to go off the mountain down to Tellico Plains, Tennessee in order to go to high school. Matter of fact, Mark Coffey has really, I think me and Mark Coffey probably can somehow, but he said, no, you're not going.
[56:29] My mom, her heart was crushed because she was a kid, couldn't go off the mountain, couldn't do anything. But here's what she did. She prayed and she said, Lord, if I cannot be a missionary, give me some preachers.
[56:43] Well, 1971, the first one was called to preach. Little, I guess it was just four or five years later, my brother was called to preach. And then a while later, I got a phone call from my son, Jason.
[56:56] He was 18 years old, just started Bible college and he said, Dad, how do you know when God's called me to preach? Well, I've got some good news a couple, I've got some good news a couple of weeks ago because as I mentioned, I led Jason to the Lord, but we were up in Quebec, Canada three years ago and Joshua came to me and he said, Papa, I want to be saved.
[57:15] He was 13 years old and I got to lead Joshua, Jason's oldest son to the Lord. But while we were up in Quebec filling in for Jason three weeks ago, we got a phone call from Joshua.
[57:29] And Joshua, 16 and a half years old, Jason was out pumping gas at a gas station and Joshua got out. Jason told me, he said he was acting funny because Joshua, he likes to be in the middle of the action but he crawled in the back seat of their vehicle.
[57:45] There had three seats. He crawled in the back by himself real quiet. And Jason was pumping gas and he got out and he said, Daddy, can I talk to you? He said, now? He said, yeah, now. He said, I just surrendered to preach in the back seat.
[57:57] Ain't that good? It's good. Can I tell you, you may not get to get out of Alpharetta or wherever you live, Georgia, but can I tell you, if you'll just let God engage your heart tonight and say, Lord, here I am.
[58:14] Whatever you want me to do, whatever you want me to be, here it is. In the eyes of men, it may not be much, but can I tell you, in the eyes of God, it'll be great because this is His work and not ours.
[58:27] Would you surrender all tonight? You got kids around your feet, surrender all for your kids' sake. Surrender all for Jesus' sake. And let's do something for the Lord until He comes.
[58:39] Amen. This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia.
[58:50] For more information, log on to www.visionbaptist.com where you can find our service times, location, contact information, and more audio and video recordings.
[59:02] Thank you. Thanks. All right. Lots of smoke of Jesus' sire at Mirnaud, thanks.
[59:24] Thanks.