[0:00] Take your Bibles, if you would, and open them to the book of Numbers. If you enjoyed that, say amen. And if you enjoyed the skit, say amen. I need no... That's not very good.
[0:14] I don't know about Samuel coming with a sword. The man of God came with his M16, and everybody's scared. I'm not sure about that part there, Sergei.
[0:25] I think you just like to play with a sword. Okay. Take your Bibles to go with me, if you would, to Numbers chapter 32. Numbers chapter 32. I think that had to be the craziest cow I've ever seen, too.
[0:37] Amen? Numbers chapter 32. This is actually a message I preached on deputation. Well, not deputation, I guess, on furlough.
[0:48] And we're to it in Numbers, and so that's an expanded version of the story. But the story here, I call it, if you want to write the title down, is sitting out the war. Sitting out the war.
[0:59] And I want to tell you the story of Numbers chapter 32. And you've got your Bible. You can follow along. I'll kind of give you the highlights as we go through it. But here's the story. Before I read with you or scan through the chapter with you, the story is that the nation of Israel has finally made it over to the Jordan River, and it's time to go across the river and begin taking the promised land.
[1:23] So it's time for the 12 tribes to cross into Israel, what will be Israel, into the promised land that God's given them, and it's time for them to take that land for them. And two and a half tribes, when they get close, they look around and say, man, we like this land right here.
[1:38] We really don't need what God's got for us. Honestly, this is good. There'll be more for you guys. We'll just stay on this side. And so we got the man of God. He gets flat angry with them.
[1:49] And he says, what in the world are you guys trying to pull off on me? He said, you're doing the same thing your wicked parents did 40 years ago. You're an increase of ungodly men.
[2:00] You're the kids of ungodly people, and you're just like them. I can't believe it. You're trying to discourage God's people from doing what God wants them to do. And they said, no, no, no, no.
[2:11] We will go over the river. We will fight with all of our brothers just like we're supposed to. But before we go, let us build some little corrals to take care of all of our animals.
[2:24] Let us build some houses and some fenced cities to take care of our wives and children so ours will be safe while everybody else is in danger. They didn't play that part, but that's what's going on. And we'll go across with you, and we'll fight with you, and we'll come back to our houses after everybody else gets their land.
[2:41] And he says, if you don't do that, you can be sure your sin will find you out. And they said, we give our word. He said, all right, you give your word, you keep your word, everything's going to be all right. And so here's a good comparison and a good parallel, because in the New Testament, we are given a job to do.
[2:57] We're given the job of taking the gospel to the entire world. This morning in Matthew chapter 28, 18 through 20, and I basically skipped that part because you've heard it enough, but the church of Jesus Christ was given the great commission.
[3:11] Take the gospel to the world. And so what ends up happening is most of us have found some land we really like. We really enjoy the land we see, and we'd like to build fenced cities and corrals and take care of our stuff and let other people go over to the other side and let them go into the war.
[3:29] And that's what we'd like to do if it's at all possible. And we try to come up with excuses and reasons that we shouldn't have to go to the mission field. We shouldn't have to serve God. We shouldn't be used of Him.
[3:40] And so we figure out a way to sit out the war. So let me scan through the chapter with you if you've got your Bibles, and I'll give you some things to write down maybe along the margin of the Bible, and then I think you'll have the real essence of this story.
[3:54] In chapter 32, the children of Reuben and Gad have found, underlined in verse 1, the place was a place for cattle. Underline that. They said, God, we know you've got a place, but this place is a good place for our cows.
[4:07] We'd like to take care of our cows. I mean, our cows are important to us. And then to go down, if you go down to verse 4, and it says, even the country which the Lord spoke before the congregation of Israel is a land for cattle, and we've got cows.
[4:21] Look at it. That's what it says in the verse. This is a place for cows, and we've got cows. And in verse 5 he said, Wherefore, let this land be given to thy servants for possession, and don't take us over to the other side of Jordan.
[4:34] And then you find in verse 6, circle Moses' name, and Moses says, What? Shall your brothers sit here? Shall your brothers go to war, and you sit here? Verse 7.
[4:45] Why are you discouraging the hearts of the children of Israel? You don't want them to go do what God wants them to do. Verse 8. That's what your daddy did. You're acting just like your daddy did. In verse 8. When I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to see the land, they went up and they came back in verse 9, and they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, so that they wouldn't go to where God gave them the land.
[5:07] Verse 10. And the Lord's anger was kindled. Verse 11. And none of the men that came out of Egypt from 20 years old and upward shall see the land, because they didn't really follow me with their whole heart, except, verse 12, Joshua and Caleb.
[5:21] Because they did follow Jesus with their whole heart. Verse 13. The Lord's anger was kindled, and he made them wander in the wilderness for 40 years, until all the congregation that had done evil was dead, consumed.
[5:34] And he said in verse 14, You are risen up in your father's state. You're just like your daddy. And now your daddy's dead. It's time to go in and do it. You're doing just like your daddy. You're the child of a sinful man.
[5:44] You're the increase of a sinful man. And here you are. Verse 15. And if you turn away from after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness. You don't want to do it God's way. God's going to abandon you, just like he's done before.
[5:57] Verse 16. They said, look at 16. We will build sheep foals here for our cows and cities for our little ones. You should mark that verse 16. Verse 16 sounds just like United States of America.
[6:10] We're going to build sheep foals for our cows, our sheep here, and cities for our little ones. Verse 17. But we will go ready armed until, circle until in verse 17, we have brought them to their place.
[6:23] We'll go over and we'll fight till we win. And our little ones, though, they'll stay here and dwell in the fenced cities. We'll see to it. Our little ones never know what it's like to get into war. Never know what it's like to trust you.
[6:34] Never know what it's like to watch you do big stuff. Verse 18. We will not return to our houses until, there's a word again, the children of Israel have inherited. Verse 19.
[6:45] We will not inherit with them on yonder side. We won't get anything over there. Verse 20. Moses said, if you will do this thing, if you will go armed before the Lord, and you will go out and fight until, verse 21, there's that word again.
[6:58] He's driven them out. Then verse 22. You can come back and be guiltless before the Lord. Verse 23. If you will not do so, if you do not do what you're saying you'll do, then you have sinned against the Lord.
[7:09] Lord, be sure your sin will find you out. Amazing. That verse is used to say if a teenager sneaks out and gets a beer, his sin will find him out. But that's not even what the context is about.
[7:21] Verse 24. Build your cities for your little ones. Look at it. Go ahead. Build a place for your little ones. Build a place to keep your sheep. Do everything you said you was going to do. Children of Gad and children of Reuben.
[7:32] And your servants will do as my Lord commands. He said, they said, Moses, we will do what God wants. Verse 26. But our little ones and our wives, our animals, they'll be here in the cities of Gilead.
[7:45] Verse 29. Moses said to them, if the children of Gad, the children of Reuben pass over every man armed, then, verse 29. You always look for if-thens in the Bible.
[7:56] Then I'll give you the land for possession. Verse 30. But if you don't, if you don't pass over with the arm, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.
[8:06] The children of Gad and Reuben answered. That's what we'll do. Verse 32. We will pass over and we will do what we said. And Moses said, okay, Gad, Reuben, and half the tribe. Verse 33.
[8:17] You can have this land on this side of the river. Now, what in the world did God put that story in the Bible for? What's the purpose of that story?
[8:28] In a certain sense, two and a half tribes find what they want as their inheritance and not what God has for them. As God said, I got a promised land for you. And two and a half tribes said, God, let's think about that a minute.
[8:40] We don't like what you got. We don't really want the gift you're giving us. We found something we like. Let's substitute what we like for what you like and we'll do what we like and not what you like. That's a bad story already.
[8:51] You're already on dangerous ground when you read that part of the story. In that sense, they were despising what God offered them. It was God's plan to give them the promised land. They saw what they liked and they decided to stay there.
[9:02] They did not want to go over into what God had prepared for them. My comparison on I was on deputation or furlough, and I'll say it to you the same thing. To me, it's like the Vietnam War.
[9:13] A lot of you probably don't know about the Vietnam War, but in the Vietnam War, the men who went were not treated like heroes. Our people were escaping to Canada to avoid the war. There were riots on our college campuses against the war.
[9:26] The veterans were often spit on. Very few would have been thanked for their service like today. World War II had been very different. Men wanted to be in that war to defend their country. You might not believe this, but check me out.
[9:37] When you get home, the youngest soldier was 12 years old. The youngest soldier in the military in World War II was 12. They found out he lied to get in, and so they kicked him out.
[9:47] But later on, they gave him a dishonorable discharge. But later on, they gave him his pension. They saved the world. Today, the church is in a war. Satan would damn everyone to hell.
[9:58] Satan is at work. God has called his people to go. But many would not go, but rather choose their own inheritance. They would stay here and sit out the war if they could.
[10:10] That's the lesson I want you to see tonight. Go with me, if you would, to verse 6. Number 1, write down the word duty. Verse 6, they had a duty to do. In verse 6, it said, Shall your brethren go to war, and you sit here?
[10:22] Why are you discouraging the hearts of the people? Well, that's just like what your dads did. Why are you doing that? None of them lived. God got upset. They didn't wholly follow me.
[10:33] They weren't genuinely doing what I wanted them to do. They were going to go to the land that God had promised them. They would have to conquer the land. God had given it to them, but they still had to fight.
[10:46] Once before, their families had discouraged God's people into not doing God's will. The people had suffered at the hands of their fathers who messed up everything. Twelve spies.
[10:57] Ten were bad, and two were good. Every kid sung that, but the whole point was, Ten said, We don't care what God says. We don't believe Him. We don't care what God says. We don't trust Him. God said He'd give us the land, and God said He'd do this stuff, and God gave His word, but you know you can't trust Him.
[11:14] And two stood up and said, Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. If God said it, that's the way it ought to be, and we'll trust God, and God will do the work. When you know God's will and don't do it, there are always consequences.
[11:29] Before I leave this story, I think it's interesting that they did exactly what their dads did. And as soon as they started rebelling, over 40 years later, Moses is like, Just like your daddy.
[11:41] That's the story. Read that. Moses backs it up. Just like your daddy. I'm not believing it. Increase of sinful men. That's what y'all are. Does that not ring so true, so deep in your heart, that you are influencing your children and how their attitude is going to be towards obeying God?
[11:59] I mean, it ought to sink in deep. My attitude is going to have a lot of influence on what my children do and what my kids do. I would like you to think we have a duty to do. I would like you to think with me about King David.
[12:12] 2 Samuel 11 and verse 1. Same story. Same kind of story. In 2 Samuel 11 and verse 1, David was supposed to go out to war. He's going to send his men out to war.
[12:23] In 2 Samuel 11 and verse 1, the Bible said, It came to pass after the year was expired at the time when kings go forth to battle. When it was time that the kings normally went out to battle, David sent Joab and his servants.
[12:36] And they went out and did the job. But David, instead of doing what he was supposed to be doing, stayed home. And he fell into a horrible sin that brings horrible consequences on his family.
[12:52] David's here. His men are there. David's at home. His men are out fighting the battles. David, the leader who had led his men into battle and seen thousands of people killed at the hands of God, stays home.
[13:04] In 2 Samuel 11, verse 11, we'll get there in just a second. Guess what happens? While they're gone, David's out walking on the rooftop of his house. He looks down and sees a beautiful woman taking a bath.
[13:16] And the next thing you know, the sin takes place that you all know about it. And in 2 Samuel 11, before I get to verse 11, he sends for Uriah. Uriah's one of his mighty men.
[13:28] There are only like 33 really close guys to David. They're like his maximum right-hand men. There's like 33 of them in the whole kingdom. And he calls Uriah to come home. And he's like, if I can get Uriah to go to his wife's house, everybody will think it's his baby.
[13:41] So I'll get out of this. And I won't look like I've been guilty. He calls him home. And Uriah comes. And in 2 Samuel 11, verse 11, Uriah said to David, The ark of Israel and Judah abide in tents.
[13:54] They're out in the field in the tents. And my Lord Joab, my general, he's out there. And the servants of my Lord, they're all out in the field. That's really kind of indicting for David.
[14:05] He said, shall I then go to my house? Shall I go get something to eat and drink and lie down with my wife? As thou livest and as thy soul liveth, I will not do this thing. I won't not be where I'm supposed to be.
[14:19] Oh, David, you know the story. He gets him drunk, gives him food, sends him home to his wife, hoping he'll go there. And he doesn't go. It's the same story.
[14:31] A job to be done, a duty to be done, and a way to try to get out of doing the job. Do you realize that blood-bought saints of God, we have a duty to do? A job to get the gospel to the world in our generation.
[14:45] Are you facing your duty? Or like David, do you want to send someone else to do your duty? In the story of David, that's how he gets in trouble, sending someone else. Isn't it amazing? The most godly country, the most prosperous country, the most blessed country in the world is really going downhill super fast because we're so worried about protecting our little ones and taking care of our cows, and we don't go to war.
[15:09] I don't know, you think that one through. So there was a duty to do. The second thing I wish you'd write down, you can go down to verse 16, but you write this word down, debtors.
[15:20] They were debtors to their brothers. They would be getting their inheritance first. They would be enjoying the good life. Now, I want you to understand what's going to happen. All these, probably a couple of million people have come up, and there's the promised land right across the river over there.
[15:37] But over there, you're going to have to fight to get your land. Over there, you've got to get past Jericho, that great walled city, and just past it, there's going to be the city of Ai. In fact, this is going to take years of fighting and years to get that, and a lot of people are going to end up dying, and everybody's going to take their wife with them.
[15:54] They're going to go to war with their wife. I mean, when they pull up to Jericho, mama's in the tent. When they get up to Jericho, mama's in the tent. When they get to Ai, mama's in the tent, and the kids are in the tent.
[16:06] I mean, they're right there on the mission field, buddy. They're on the battlefield now. And these guys, they don't have to do that, because they talk Moses into letting them stay on this side, and God says, I'll let you do it.
[16:17] So they build them a house, and they take sure that their wives are taken care of, and their children are taken care of, and their junk's taken care of. And then they go to war. So they're debtors, because they've been given a great gift.
[16:30] They have already inherited what's theirs. They already have their inheritance. And the question that he asks is this, will you sit here while your brothers go to war? Will you come here and take all this land while all the rest of them have got to go fighting?
[16:44] They're not going to know for chapters yet. They're not going to know for years yet what they own, and you're going to stay over here on this side? By the way, 36 men will die at Ai, and there will be other men to die.
[16:56] They're debtors. By the way, I'm a debtor. I'm a debtor. The Bible says in Numbers 32, verse 16, we will build sheepfolds here for our cattle, for our sheep, and cities for our little ones.
[17:12] We will go ready armed until we have brought them into their place, and our little ones shall dwell in fenced cities because the inhabitants of the land. Before we go to war, by the way, we've got to take care of our stuff.
[17:26] Two and a half tribes said before we go to war, we have to take care of our stuff and make sure it's safe. They've got to make sure their children will not be in any danger. Their children will never understand the stress of war, of camping, of moving from place to place.
[17:41] Their families will enjoy the good life while others fight the fight. They just need to make sure that their families were well taken care of. Verse 26, our little ones, our wives, our flocks, our cattle shall be there in the cities of Gilead.
[17:59] That's a funny word, by the way. You should mark it. I always look for words that are repeated, and it's our little ones, our wives, our cattle, our flocks, our, our, our, our, me, mine, and me, me, me, mine, and ours.
[18:13] That's what we got here. Their philosophy was, we get ours, and they will help them get theirs. Let me take care of number one, and later on, I'll work on others. Bad philosophy, not pleasing to the Lord, not what God wanted.
[18:27] They were sent to the promised land. They've taken second best. In Romans chapter one, and verse 14, by the way, we are debtors, and that very word's used for us. The Bible says, I am a debtor, Paul said, both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the wise and the unwise.
[18:42] I'm a debtor. I don't know when I first memorized John 3, 16. I have no idea. I think I must have known it when I barely could talk. I have no idea when I memorized the books of the Bible, I can say I'm forwards and backwards.
[18:53] I have no idea when I learned so many of these things, I was raised in a very godly home. I have been blessed. I've been blessed beyond measure, and that makes me a debtor. So many people around the world have no access to the gospel, nobody to preach to them, nobody to tell them about Jesus.
[19:08] I'm a debtor. The third word I wish you'd write down is defeat. Look, if you would, in 2 Samuel chapter 11 and verse 1 again, David's defeat will come from his not doing his part.
[19:21] It's the same story here, because in the story he says, shall your brothers go to war while you sit here? Shall your brothers go out to fight while you sit here?
[19:31] He says, he said, if you don't go and you don't fight, your sin will find you out. In 2 Samuel chapter 11 and verse 1, it was a time for kings to go forth to war.
[19:41] And you ought to underline in verse 1, David sent Joab. Joab is not a king. He sent Joab. And in verse 1, it says, and David tarried still at Jerusalem.
[19:53] And in verse 2, it says, and it came to pass in the evening, David wasn't tired enough to go to sleep. If you've been out fighting all day long with a sword, the sun beating down on you, the dry air of the battlefield, maybe the blood and the guts you've seen today, you're probably going to bed pretty exhausted.
[20:11] But it says David couldn't sleep, but he got up and walked around on the roof of his house. He looked down, and there was a woman taking a bath and she was beautiful to look at. And in verse 3, David sent and said, find out who that woman is. He said, verse 4, he said, send a getter and bring her up here.
[20:24] And then he lay with her because she was purified from her uncleanness. Then David sends to Joab and says, send me Uriah. Send me Uriah. And Uriah comes.
[20:34] He said, Uriah, go down to your house, buddy. Wash your feet and take a break. Get a little furlough from the war. Enjoy things. And he said, I will not do this thing. David stayed when he should have gone.
[20:47] David stole another man's wife because he had the chance. David's great failure and horrible consequences has come because he's not where he should be.
[20:58] I pause to say this. We lose our young people in America because Christianity has no challenge. because Christianity has basically come to church, listen to the same old stories all the rest of your life and sit in church until you die.
[21:16] There's no excitement. There's no need to pray. There's no need to get a hold of God. There's nothing challenging the way it's being done so many times. So when Moses is reminding them in Numbers 32, 23, he warns the two and a half tribes.
[21:30] He said, if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord. Be sure your sin will find you out. Be sure your sin will find you out in much the same way our not being fully into what God wants us to do causes our failure.
[21:52] I just want you to think about it. We get hung up on our money and on our comforts. We get stingy with our money. We want to control the work of God like a king that stays home.
[22:03] We want our children and our stuff safe and secure. We are so spiritually bored, sin finds us.
[22:20] It's amazing when you get up every morning and know, man, I got to go teach and preach all day long. I got to go win people to Christ. I got to go out here in the middle of this. You come home pretty tired. I can remember at the end of our first term, we came home.
[22:34] We were traveling around to churches and we got back to Peru. And when we got back to Peru, a bunch of the young men that I had led to Christ and gotten in ministry had all messed up. And I spent the next four years helping them get their lives back together and helping the churches get back on their feet.
[22:49] And four years flew by. I literally didn't know. I mean, I can remember going, wow, where did all that time go? Because you get so busy doing what God wants you to do.
[23:01] And I've watched so many. So many. So we had our duty and we're debtors. And then we saw David get defeated and the threat of them getting defeated.
[23:14] And number four, our attitude often discourages others. Verse seven, our attitude often discourages others. In Numbers 32, Moses said, why are you discouraged in the heart of the children of Israel from going over to the land which the Lord has given them?
[23:31] Look at the question. They come to Moses, the leaders from the two and a half tribes, and they walk in, they say, Moses, Moses, we got a plan. We got an idea. We want to stay here.
[23:41] We like this place. And Moses says, I cannot believe this. You're going to do it again. We got here one time before. And the last time we got here, it was your daddy telling me for us not to do what God wanted us to do.
[23:55] He's doing it again. You're fixing to discourage everybody else. Can't you imagine what could have happened at the river? When they looked around and they sat there for the two and a half tribes to build their corrals.
[24:09] Everybody just hanging around while the two and a half tribes are out there building corrals. And they're like, their kids aren't in danger. Their stuff's all secure. They got cable TV, bless God. They got a recliner.
[24:20] They got it really knocked. They got it going good. Look at them. They got life set up for them. And he's like, this is going to discourage the people if you're not careful. That's what your dads did.
[24:33] Verse 9, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel that they wouldn't go into the land that the Lord gave them. Now y'all don't want to go into the land the Lord gave you. And you remember, God got angry and none of those guys made it in because they didn't really do what I wanted them to do.
[24:47] And your attitude can discourage others. We do not like feeling guilty for not going to battle, not crossing the river. So we make it look like we're more right than the warriors.
[25:08] We often act like, you're going to be a missionary? Don't be ridiculous. You don't love your family? You don't respect your parents?
[25:22] What a waste! Because if they're going to be a missionary, it's going to make me feel bad I didn't do what I knew God wanted me to do. I'm going to hide after this.
[25:32] Y'all can wish Betty a happy birthday. I know you're going to want to stone me. I really think it's what the Bible story is about here. Like Vietnam, we find a way to belittle the servants. When I was a kid, and those who served in Vietnam will tell you, the newscaster said don't do it, the rock singer said don't do it, the college president said don't do it, and the young people ran for Canada.
[25:58] I happen to be reading a book right now about the guys that went to Vietnam. Vietnam veterans were often spit on and belittled. We see all the difficulties that exaggerate them trying to keep others from going.
[26:15] We even think that going to war is more like making me feel guilty for wanting to take care of my family. Staying becomes more the right way to do things than going, even though Jesus never said stay.
[26:28] I don't want to make you too mad, but if you touch the Bible over it, there's no staying verses. There's going verses. There's no sending verses, really. There's going verses.
[26:38] The Bible's written about goers. We mean well, but we discourage our own children from doing God's work. Our discouragement brings many horrible consequences in the lives of our own family.
[26:53] You'd be shocked at the number of young people I'm talking to and one of them will say to me, I want to be a sinner. I've got to make me a millionaire and I'm going to give money. I'm like, you ain't a millionaire now. You don't have a good job now, but what you want is God to make you a millionaire so you can be a giver.
[27:05] Sounds to me like a real selfish thing you're trying to pull off there. Move on. I guess I'll be looking for a new church, but I'm still going to preach the rest of the chapter.
[27:16] Go with me if you would to verse 16. It's time to take a dare. It's time to take a dare. And they came near unto him and said, We'll build our sheepfolds here for our cattle and cities for our little ones, but we ourselves will go ready armed before the children of Israel until we have brought them unto their place.
[27:34] And our little ones shall dwell in the fenced cities because the inhabitants of the land we will not return to our houses until. They make it clear. We will have the best of both worlds.
[27:45] We will let our families stay here, but we will go to war. They will go and fight until the battle is won, but they will build forts to take care of their little ones so that their little ones don't have to go to battle, but they will go to battle.
[27:59] But there, it's time to think of equal giving, equal sacrifice, and equal work. The example we see in World War II was rationing, everyone working, men as old as 65 and as young as 12 were in the war.
[28:20] There's a job to be done. We must get the gospel to the world. If we stay here, then let's evangelize here. We don't do what we want missionaries to do.
[28:31] We just want to give them five bucks and say, I'll go take care of my stuff. I'll go take care of my children. I won't knock on doors. I won't invite people. I won't. No, I won't. It's time for equal giving, equal sacrifice, and equal work.
[28:48] If we stay here, let's give till it hurts. If we stay here, let's train others to go. Let's step up to the challenge. If you'd have been here in World War II, and if you read any history, you know the whole world was at war.
[29:02] And our country was at war and those who stayed were at war trying to do what they could. And if we're going to send the soldiers, we should really get behind them. I believe you are, but this is what the chapter's about.
[29:14] I believe you are, but we ought to really be behind them. We ought to be behind them in our faith promise given. We ought to be behind them in our praying. We ought to be behind them in teaching and training them to go. We ought to be behind them in giving them an example by doing our part.
[29:29] It's time to make a decision. Look at verse 23. It's time to make a decision. If you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord and be sure your sin will find you out.
[29:44] If you do not do what you should, then there will be consequences. I look around and I see so many churches dying. I see young people not wanting to be in church.
[29:55] I see sin in the church and pastors and missionaries that should never even be named among Christians. It happens because we're not busy about our father's business.
[30:08] It happens, I think, because we're not about our father's business. We need to decide. I'm in the war. I'm here for him. I'm here to do his will.
[30:18] In verse 18, we need to get involved. They said, we will not return unto our houses until. The children of Israel have inherited every man his inheritance and we will go all of you armed over Jordan until, verse 21, before the Lord until he hath driven out his enemies from before him.
[30:41] Make a decision. Let's get involved in world evangelism. You can't read the Bible without knowing he wants the world to hear. The apostle Paul never even contemplated I'm not supposed to go. Everybody in the Bible knew let's get the gospel to the world.
[30:57] Last word. It's time to dream. Dream about what God can do with us. Deal Moody had heard that the world had yet to see what God could do with one man fully dedicated to him and Moody decided to be that man.
[31:11] Moody said, nobody's ever seen what God could do with one man fully dedicated to him so I will be that man. Moody had a third grade education maybe a fifth grade education and God used him to shake the world.
[31:24] Let's dream about getting the gospel to the world. Let's dream of God using us to see great things happen. Let's dream of the judgment seat of Christ and the rewards that will be ours. Let's dream of the day we'll cast our crowns at his feet.
[31:37] Let's find out what part we can play in getting the gospel to the world and let's do it. It's all about Jesus. It's all about Jesus. It's about getting him glory and we can do no better than to obey him and spread his truth to the world.
[31:51] Father in heaven, I pray that you wouldn't let us sit out the war. I pray you wouldn't let us be so concerned about our stuff and our children and our own lives and our own stuff.
[32:04] I pray God that Matthew 6.33 would become real. That we would seek first the kingdom of God. Not first our family. Not first our future. Not first our fame.
[32:14] Not first our fortune. But first seek you. I pray God you'd help your people not to give you leftovers. I pray you'd help us to give the best we have. To give our children. To give our lives.
[32:26] To give our money. To give our time. I pray you'd help us to let it be real that we are in a spiritual war and hungry to get your word out because that's what you want us to do.
[32:37] God please work. Please bring honor to your name. Please glorify yourself. And I'll give you praise. With your heads bowed and your eyes closed. I would just like to ask you to pray about and think about what part are you playing in doing what God wants you to do.
[32:54] How involved are you in getting the gospel to the world? Are you a giver? If you're not giving tonight you ought to say I'm going to start giving. I don't live over there. I don't go over there. I don't leave my family.
[33:05] I don't live that life so I'm going to start giving. You're not praying? Start praying. Start praying for these missionaries and knowing what's going on with them and being involved in their lives. You're not going out and knocking on doors and soul winning here.
[33:16] Start figuring out I'm going to give out gospel tracts. I'm going to invite people in my family to church. I'm going to share the gospel because that's what we're about. You're not reading the Bible and you're not walking with God.
[33:26] That's what we're about. We're in a war. Put on the whole armor and get in. Don't discourage others. Challenge and motivate others and help others to do what God has them do.
[33:38] Father, work in our lives. Magnify yourself. Bring honor to your name. This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia. 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.