[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia. It is our prayer that you will be blessed by the preaching of God's Word. Take your Bible if you would, go with me to the book of Matthew chapter 10. I'm excited that you get to read this passage of Scripture because God is sending out His apostles to do His will, to carry the gospel around the world.
[0:19] And He's really, right now, this is the beginning of the great world evangelism moment. The movement that's about to start that God is going to put in place. And so this is exciting.
[0:30] Not only did we see what the apostles were doing, but you'll learn what you can do and how you can be more involved in it. We've read Matthew chapter 10 verses 5 through 15. So go with me again to verse 5 and let's see how He sent out the apostles.
[0:44] Chapter 10 and verse 5. These 12 Jesus sent forth and commanded them saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not.
[0:57] Father, I pray now that as I open the Scripture with your family, with your children, that you would help me to do it wisely and to give honor to you and to let the Word of God speak.
[1:08] I thank you for every person that you brought here. And I pray you would grow us and mature us for your honor. And I pray, God, you'd help us be a world evangelism church where every ministry hinges on trying to get your gospel to the world like you want it done.
[1:23] And we'll praise you for all. In Jesus' name, amen. Now, if you've got your Bible open, chapter 10 and verse 5 is like a wild verse. I don't know if you notice what happens, but He said, Don't go see the gringos.
[1:35] Don't go see the Americans. Don't go see the Europeans. Don't go see the Samaritans. Just go to the house of Israel. Look at the verse. He said, Go not into the way of the Gentiles.
[1:47] Don't even go over where they are. Just leave them out. Don't go to see them. And don't go to the way of the Samaritans. Don't go there. And so, I'm going to walk you through why and how. So, I hope you take your Bible and an ink pen, piece of paper, maybe some notes in your Bible.
[2:02] And maybe when you go home, you'll have a little more meaning to it. But the Bible is talking about sending out the apostles. First thing, these are the apostles. Remember, He's talking to the apostles, not you.
[2:15] The original 12. We can learn principles from them, but we are not apostles. And our ministry is different today. We go forth based on what the Word of God says and not on hearing the actual voice of God.
[2:30] Now, I'd like to remind you that when the apostles went out, Jesus just looked at them and said, All right, guys. Boom, boom, boom. Go. They saw Him. They heard Him. He sent them. They knew it came from God.
[2:41] And so, now, you live in 2014, and you would like to know maybe, how do I know what God wants me to do? And I'd just like to clear up a few things and clarify a few things with Him.
[2:52] You should be careful not to even think in terms of hearing God speak. God will not be talking to you. If you hear a voice tonight and it says, Hey, this is God.
[3:04] Somebody's playing with you or you're dreaming. God doesn't speak to us that way. Anytime you believe God is talking to you, you need to be careful about what you're hearing is in agreement with the Word of God.
[3:16] I'll just say to you, today, you live in 2014. These were apostles, and He spoke to them directly. He speaks to us today through His Word. We get His direction, His guidance, through what the Bible says.
[3:28] And you can live in a pretty charismatic environment and feel like maybe God is going to say stuff to you. But what happens is they say God said something, but there's nothing there to confirm it.
[3:40] And so people do things saying, God told me to. God told me to. And it's based on a feeling, a prompting, thinking that God said it when it doesn't come out of the Word of God.
[3:52] And they don't know God said it. And then when it doesn't work out, it's like, man, God told me wrong. Well, God didn't tell you wrong. God doesn't tell people wrong. Say amen. You might have got it wrong, but don't be blaming God.
[4:04] So maybe I can help you if we can just back up a second and say, no, God didn't speak to me. I hear pastors. Man, they're the worst. Pastors are always, I mean, they'll make the hair on the back of your neck standing up telling you, ooh, God spoke to me.
[4:19] And you'll say, well, how do you do it? And they'll say, ooh. I mean, you almost hear Casper the Friendly Ghost flying around. That's not what's going on in the Bible. That's not how it happens.
[4:30] God has spoken. It is written. It is clear. Trust the Word of God. Now, I'd like you to look with me if you would. You can write it down here in the Mark of the Bible at Mark chapter 6 and verse 7.
[4:45] Now, when you study your Bible, you have what we call parallel passages. In other words, another story told by another author or another writer that tells the same story, but it's going to give you more insight.
[4:56] It's like if we had two witnesses and we call one and he told you one thing and we called another and he told you something else. And they both give you some different details. So this is a parallel passage. The Bible says in Mark 6, 7, and he called unto him the 12.
[5:10] And he began to send them forth two by two. And he gave them power over unclean spirits. Now, if you did open your Bible there, underline that he sent them out two by two.
[5:23] So in Matthew chapter 10, he's sending the disciples out, but he's going to send them out two by two. We know that from Mark chapter 6 and verse 7. And that's a good way to do God's work.
[5:35] That's a good way to go out and witness and a good way to do the work of God because being lonely and tempted and fearful is a lot easier to be overcome when you don't have a friend. You don't have anybody to encourage you when you're alone.
[5:48] So when we go invite people and knock on doors and share the gospel, good to have a partner with you. That will also free you up from some false accusations. They are sent on a mission.
[6:00] They have been given an assignment that we will discuss a little bit later on. Today, you are sent on a mission. We as a church, Vision Baptist Church, is on a mission.
[6:13] We are here for a specific purpose. And it's not because we are good friends, though we are. And it's not because we enjoy talking to each other and seeing each other and hugging each other and missing each other when we're not here.
[6:26] And all that is true. And I'm very glad we feel that. But we need to know the church is on a mission. God gave the church a mission. The church belongs to him.
[6:37] So Matthew chapter 28, end of this book, we'll be finishing up with the apostles by that time. And they'll still be around in the book of Acts. And they'll do some things in the book of Acts.
[6:48] But these guys are on their way out. But we're on our way in. And in Matthew chapter 28, verse 18, Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
[7:01] Go ye therefore and teach all nations. Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. And teach them to observe all things, whichever I have commanded you.
[7:12] And lo, I'm with you always, even to the end of the world. Now, I want you to look this way and listen. We need to know that world evangelism and getting the gospel to the world was not a job given to the apostles.
[7:25] It's not over. It's not done. It's still in existence today. It is still God's will for the church today. And you might need some more verses. I'll give you those in just a second.
[7:37] But in Matthew 28, he said, I've died, I've been buried, and I've risen again. I have all authority and all power. I can say anything I want to say. And here's what I want to say. He says, I own the church.
[7:47] I bought you with my blood. You belong to me. I'm your king. You're following me. Take the gospel to the entire world. But he also said that if you'll open your Bible.
[7:58] He said that in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 34. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 34, awake to righteousness and sin not.
[8:09] For some have not the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame. Now, look here just a second. I want to show you something. The church at Corinth is not an apostle.
[8:19] It's a church. Like the church at Alpharetta is the church in Corinth. The church at Corinth. And they got a message. And get this. He said, there's some people that don't know God.
[8:31] Shame on you. There's some people that don't know God. Shame on you. And here's the wild thing. He didn't write that to the Roman church. He didn't write that to the Galatian church or the Philippian church.
[8:43] He wrote that to the Corinthian church. This is in the same letter where this church is eat up with problems. They got church members taking each other to court and suing each other.
[8:54] They got a church member who is actually having intercourse with his daddy's wife. It's a church full of the nastiest problems. And he says, hey, guys, don't forget what your job is.
[9:05] I want the world to know Jesus died on the cross of Calvary. Can you say amen? If that applies to them, it sure applies to us. The weakest church that Paul wrote a letter to got that. Not only did he get that, look at 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 18.
[9:19] He wrote them again in another letter. And he said, And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given us the ministry of reconciliation, to wit that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, and not impugning their trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
[9:43] Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ. As though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ's stead, be you reconciled to God.
[9:53] Two times he said, I give you, Corinthian church, the responsibility of being an ambassador, of carrying the gospel, of telling the world about Jesus. That's exactly where our church is.
[10:05] Maybe sometimes you would wonder, why in the world do we talk about world evangelism so much? Why was there a video from Travis today? Why do we give so much money every month and still meet in a warehouse with this?
[10:19] But the reason is because that's why he started a church. He started a church to be his body, to be his group of soldiers, to be his body on Christ, on earth, body of Christ on earth, to get the gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the world.
[10:36] And these guys in this chapter are being sent on a mission. Apostles, come here. We're fixing to send you out. And I want you to know he sends us out. I want you to know as a church, we are on a mission.
[10:50] There is responsibility that we have to get the gospel to the world. And I'm hoping you were wondering to yourself, well, how do I know where I fit in? How do I know if God wants me to go and take the gospel?
[11:02] So I'm going to give you a few things you can mark down right quickly before we go back to Matthew chapter 10. The first thing is God will give you a desire. There will be this desire, this burning desire, this hunger to do it.
[11:15] In Philippians chapter 2 and verse 13, the Bible says, It's God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. When I was a young kid, ever since I was little, man, I wanted to be in the ministry.
[11:28] I'll just be honest with you. I liked church. Boy, I just liked church. Let me be honest with you. I like church. My favorite place on the planet outside of the house is church. I like church.
[11:38] I always have like church. Like church people, like church, like you, like, I just like church. That's me. When I was a kid, favorite place to go, church. When I was dating Betty, took her all the time to church. You can say it's because she's a tightwad, probably a little bit of that.
[11:50] But I really like going to church. Always like to go to church. But when I was a young guy, I wanted to be in the ministry. I wanted to be in the ministry. Everybody thought I was going to be in the ministry. When I was a little boy, eight years old, walking around church, everybody rubbed me on top of the head and said, here's our little preacher.
[12:05] When I was 10 years old, everybody said, my pastor introduced me to me. Everybody came around and said, hey, this is Austin. He's our little preacher boy. When I was 12, everybody said, there's going to be a preacher right here. And I always said, I ain't going to be a preacher. I'm not going to be a preacher.
[12:16] I'm not a preacher. I am not going to be a preacher. I was scared to death to talk to people. I like church and I like the Bible. I like to talk about the Bible. I like to teach the Bible. I mean, I really was eating up with it, but I was terrified, scared to death.
[12:29] You'd eat me alive. Still am, by the way. I still deal with insecurities about all that, but I had this desire. And so I couldn't get called. And all those preachers, everybody that got up and talked about being in the ministry, they always said the wildest, craziest stuff.
[12:44] In my opinion, every preacher I knew said I was running from the call. I was like, I'm running to it. So I must not be called. Cause if you run, if you're called, you got to be running away from it.
[12:54] And I'd like to do it. I'm sitting over going, pick me, pick me, pick me, pick me. And everybody else is getting picked is running as fast as they go the other direction. So it must not be me. I must not be a good one. If I was good, I'd have to run the good ones run.
[13:06] And the bad ones want to do the ministry. So man, it took me forever. And then finally one guy showed me this verse. He said, also, why in the world, do you think you want to do something for God? Why in the world do you think you'd like to teach and preach?
[13:19] Do you think that's normal? Do you think normal people are like you? I didn't understand what he was saying was I wasn't normal, but that's what he was saying. Amen. But I wasn't normal. He said, he said, he said, it is God willeth in you that puts a desire in you that makes you want to.
[13:35] Is there anybody in this room and say, man, I really want God to use me. Man, I really wish I'd love to be a missionary. I'm just scared to death. I'd love to be a mystery. I'd love to do something great for God, but I don't know how to go about doing it.
[13:45] Maybe you've got a desire. First Timothy chapter three and verse one, the Bible says, this is a true saying. If a man, here's that key word. Look at it. Would you say the word with me? If a man, what?
[13:58] And here, you say it again. If a man desire, if a man desire the office of a bishop, that's a bishop, a pastor, an elder, a shepherd, if he desire, a missionary, if he desires that office, he desires a good work.
[14:12] The Bible says in Psalm 37, four, delight thyself also in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thy heart. I used to think when I was a boy at seven, Psalm 37, four meant I'd do a lot of really nice stuff for God.
[14:24] I used to go to church. I'd do a whole lot of really nice stuff. I mean, I'd be, I'd help old ladies across the street. I'd go out, you know, you know, we always had these added dish meals. That's what they used to call them. Potluck, added dish.
[14:36] Everybody brings some food. We all eat together. I'd go out to the car and I'd help all the old ladies. You know, there's real old, probably 40. I'd help all of them bring their food into the, help them bring their food into the, into the church. And then I'd go pray.
[14:46] And I said, do what you want. So it's your turn to do what I want. But I know what the verse means. What the verse means is God. As I fall in love with God, I start wanting what God wants.
[14:57] And my heart starts falling in line with what he desires and what he has. As you seek to love God and serve him, he puts his desires in you. He directs your heart.
[15:09] Your hunger to be used to God's not normal. It's divine. Your desire to be used to God is not normal. It's divine. It is normal for someone that's loving God, enjoying him to want to do something.
[15:22] But the more you walk with God, the more you're going to want to do something for him. So the first thing I'd just like to say, if you're here and you're reading about these apostles being sent out, and if I were you, and I've been reading about the apostles being sent out, I've been like, man, I'd like to be one of them.
[15:36] I can remember saying that a hundred times. I'd like to be one of them. I'd like to be one of those guys he sent out. I'd like to be one of the guys that Jesus said, go do something. That's a desire. But the second thing is others around you will be able to tell if God's got something going on in your life.
[15:51] Others around you will be able to say, that's why you need your church. As you get around other Christians, they'll start recognizing, boy, this guy's got something different. There's something about him, something he wants, something he hungers for, something that's going on inside of him.
[16:03] That's why you need it. It gets tested in the family, in the church. In 1 Timothy chapter 3, in Titus chapter 1, there's some qualifications to be a guy in the ministry.
[16:15] And the church is going to see and know if you have those, if it's happening. Your church family knows you. And then the last thing about being sent out is 1 Corinthians chapter 16 and verse 9.
[16:26] A great door, an effectual, is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries. God opens doors. God opens doors. I went to my first pastor.
[16:38] Betty and I got married, and the pastor's name was Billy Kitchens, and it was Fellowship Baptist Church in West Rome. And I went to him, and I said to him, I said, Brother Kitchens, I want to be in the ministry.
[16:52] I was 18. And I said, I want to be in the ministry. Brother Kitchens said, okay. And I said, Brother Kitchens, I want to be in the ministry. I told him all the time. I said, can I be a Sunday school teacher? Can I go on soul wedding visitation with you?
[17:04] Can I sweep the floor? What can I do? And the preacher kept putting me off and putting me off. I was so aggravated, so I'd ask him like a thousand times, let me do something. I want to do something.
[17:15] Don't make me always sit around. I don't have to be the pastor. I'm not asking for your job, but if you'll just let me clean a closet, I'll be happy. He wasn't really excited about me doing anything.
[17:27] So one day I walked up to him, and I had made up my mind, this is it. I'm out the door. I'm going to go to another church. And when I did, I walked up to him and said, Brother Kitchens, I've been asking you to help me for a long time and to get in the ministry, and you hadn't done anything.
[17:38] And he said, Austin, call this guy right here. He hands me a business card, and he says, that guy's going to let you work on his staff. Ever since you've been bugging me, I've been trying to find you a place. It just took a while. And that was my first open door.
[17:49] And I went to work at a little church. I want you to know, if God's dealing with you, there'll be a big, heavy desire. Man, I'd like to do it. You'll be crazy. Everybody else will know you're crazy. Everybody else will think, who wants to live on the other side of the world?
[18:04] Who wants to be a pastor? I mean, that's a ridiculous job. Who wants to do that? But there's that desire that comes to some of us. And then there's people around you knowing it, and then God opens doors. Those apostles were sent out to do a work.
[18:17] Go do his will with your life. By the way, can I just say this to all of you, every one of you? Maybe you're not going to go out like one of the apostles were sent out, but everybody in this room will be saying, hey, can I not have something to do here?
[18:29] Can I clean up a closet around here? Can I not be on this? Can I not do, can I not, can I not, because we ought to want to do something. Can you say amen? This is God's house, God's work. You ought to be faithful to everything, and you ought to be excited about being able to serve him.
[18:43] And that's the way, this is where you get to do that. Second thing. Verse five again. Jesus gives specific directions about where to go and where not to go. Verse five. These twelve, Jesus commanded saying, go not into the way of the Gentiles and into any city of the Samaritans.
[19:00] Enter ye not and go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. So let me explain some things to you here. Here's what happened. This is really a kind of a weird verse. And if you're not a regular Bible student, you might say, what in the world?
[19:13] So he didn't want the Samaritans to go to heaven, and he didn't want the Romans to go to heaven, and he didn't want the Greeks to go to heaven, and he didn't want all the other people around the world to go to heaven. All he wanted was take care of the Jews, take care of the Jews, and don't take care of anybody else.
[19:27] Here's what we got. We're in what's called a transitional book. You might write that down somewhere. We're in a transitional book. We're moving out of the Old Testament and into the New Testament. We're moving out of Israel being the people of God and use of God to the church being the people that God is going to use to get his message out.
[19:45] The nation of Israel will not be God's primary method of getting the gospel to the world anymore. He's starting something brand new, a church. You're a part of that most wonderful thing.
[19:58] You're alive in the days of the church, the church age, God's church. And Israel, they're God's people, but he set them aside, and right now he's not using them, and he's going to bring them back after our time's up.
[20:10] He's going to let them finish off the game and do a better job than we've ever done. But in these moments, we're in the church age when God says, I use Jews and Gentiles and everybody. The church, so you know, is made up of all saved people.
[20:25] It's made up of saved Jews. It's made up of saved Gentiles. And all of us together come together and form one body from all over the world. And that's what was happening. So God was saying, go talk to Israel.
[20:37] Why maybe? Why did he limit them? Well, you've got to remember, the Jews are God's special chosen people. They're where we got the gospel. In John chapter 4, verse 22, he said to them, salvation is of the Jews.
[20:53] God used Israel to give us all we have as his people. You know, you ought to always love Israel. You do know that. Are you ready for a wild one? You got your Bible from the Jews.
[21:04] You got your church from the Jews. You even got Jesus from the Jews. Had the Gentiles and the apostles gone to the Gentiles first, it might have caused the Jews to hate the church even lower.
[21:15] It would have built up more prejudice that was already deeply rooted in their culture. Even Peter, the apostle Peter, didn't want to talk to non-Jewish people.
[21:27] And in Acts chapter 10, there's this guy named Cornelius. He's going to get saved. And Cornelius is a Roman centurion. He commands a hundred Roman soldiers, fighting machine.
[21:38] This is a powerful man. He's a Roman. And the Spirit of God is speaking to Cornelius. And then the Holy Spirit comes over and he talks to Peter. And if you remember the story, Cornelius is like, I want to know how to know God.
[21:53] And the angel says, well, send over and get Peter to come. And Peter's over at his house. He's up on the roof. The ladies are fixing supper. And it's hot. It's hot. And he's sitting over there.
[22:04] And he drifts off to sleep like every fat preacher does on a Sunday afternoon. So he's taking him a nap. He's going to sleep. And while he's sleeping, this big old sheet comes down out of heaven. And it's got all kinds of animals in it.
[22:15] And in the dream, Peter hears rise and kill and eat. And Peter said, I don't eat that nasty stuff. I don't eat pigs. And I don't eat pork. And I don't eat shrimp. Praise Jesus. We're in the church age.
[22:26] Amen. And so he said, I don't eat bacon. And I don't eat bacon wrapped shrimp. I like both of those. Amen. And so third time it came. Somebody rang the doorbell downstairs.
[22:37] And they go to the door. And somebody's come from Cornelius' house. And they say, God told us to come get Peter to go to our house. And Peter gets up and goes, whew, that must be what that dream is about.
[22:47] Because he's kind of unclean. He's not the kind of guy I really like hanging around with. I guess God wants me to go talk to him. And he goes and talks to him. And man, God does this wonderful work in Acts chapter 10. He saves these guys.
[22:59] And the Holy Spirit came on them. And it was so obvious God was working. And so Peter baptizes them. And he gets back to the home church. And he meets with the deacons and the other pastors on the church staff.
[23:09] And they all said, What you doing baptizing them Romans? Peter said, I didn't want to do it either. I really didn't want to do it. But God came on them like he did on us. At the very beginning.
[23:20] I didn't know what to do. I just had to do it. So there was a prejudice against us. Against people that weren't Jewish. Also, It's probably a good thing to get started among their own people.
[23:31] If you're going to do ministry, You might be better off working here. If a guy told me he was going to be a missionary, I'd say, How many of your own kind have you led to Christ? How many people that speak English?
[23:42] If you're a redneck, How many other rednecks have you led to Christ? If you haven't led any rednecks to Christ, You might not be worried about Asian people. So you can do some winning of your own people.
[23:53] You know the culture. You know how to talk. You understand them. Cross-cultural evangelism is so much harder. Very likely, If you spread yourself too thin, You don't accomplish your purposes.
[24:04] And so if he had sent those 12 guys, And maybe the 70, And they'd have gone everywhere, Maybe they wouldn't have accomplished so much. So God had them concentrate and work. There'll be no strong ministry among our kind, Our people, Us non-Jewish people, Until the Apostle Paul comes on.
[24:22] There'll be some little works here and there, But no strong work, Until the Apostle Paul comes on the scene. Even Jesus limited his ministry, To mostly the nation of Israel.
[24:34] God loves Israel. He has not left them. He still has plans for them. And he will use them again in the future. If you know your Bible, If you understand your Bible, Let me tell you something real quickly, So you know, And you don't forget, And you don't get off track on this.
[24:48] God loves Israel, And he's going to use them again. He gave them great promises, And our God, If he made a promise to Israel, He'd keep that promise, As much as he'd keep a promise, He made us.
[24:59] And he made big promises to Israel. So God's going to keep his promises. We are not the new Israel. We are the church. And the church is a different group. Now, So he sent them out.
[25:10] You're being sent out. And he sent them out to a specific group of people. And you and I ought to be going out to reach people with the gospel. You should go out and invite people to Christ.
[25:21] You should share the gospel message with them. You should get involved in Sunday school. People need to know Jesus. And the third thing is he gave them their message that they were to preach. Look with me if you would at chapter 10 and verse 7.
[25:33] Chapter 10 and verse 7. As you go, preach, saying the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And you've got to understand this message is crazy.
[25:45] Because here's what's going on. All the Jews are looking for a rebel leader. They're looking for Paul Revere. They're looking for John Adams.
[25:56] They're looking for George Washington. They want somebody. They want John Hancock to stand up and say no to Roman rule. No to Roman rule. Boston Tea Party. We're not going to put up with you.
[26:07] That's what they were looking for. But his message was go tell them that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. I'm not here to get rid of the Romans or the Romans rule. I'm here so they will know I'm king.
[26:21] I'm here so they'll know that I'm king. That's who our king is. We serve Jesus. Can you say amen right there? He's our king. And he said, go tell them the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
[26:34] When we obey him and submit to him and believe him and are born again, he becomes our king. When I was a kid, we sang a song. This world is not my home. I'm just a passing through.
[26:46] My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue. And that is so true. That is so true. This is not your home. If you're a born-again Christian, don't get too settled in.
[26:57] We're going to heaven. We're going to spend eternity with God. When I was living in Peru, often you get mistreated because you're American.
[27:08] People don't always like it. I can remember walking down the street in Adiquipa. I was over on the north side of town. And I was walking down the street and passed out tracks. And these Spanish people were walking behind me.
[27:19] Peruvians were walking behind me. And they're hollering, Sia, Sia, Sia, Sia. I hadn't been in the country a year yet. And so I didn't. My Spanish wasn't that great. And I kept thinking in my mind, that doesn't sound like any word I've ever heard.
[27:29] That doesn't sound like any verb I've ever translated. And I could not understand why would they say Sia. So I walked over to one of the young men from my church. And I said, they're all hollering, Sia. What is Sia?
[27:40] I don't know that verb. And they said, it's not a verb. It's C-I-A. I said, they think I'm with a C-I-A? I look like I'm with a C-I-A. I cannot believe anybody thought I would.
[27:51] I have never shook hands with a governor. I don't even know if I've met a mayor. I know I've never met a president. The most important military man I know is Steve Venture, sitting right back here.
[28:02] And I didn't even know him back then. If you would have said, who do you know in the military? My brother's in the Navy. He knew how to swab the decks, you know. That's about all I knew. But they were hollering, Sia.
[28:14] And then I'd go into places, and they'd say, why are you a baby killer? Why are you a baby killer? Why are you doing all this war? I said, hey, man, you know, I'm just going to be honest. Bush was the president, I believe he was. I said, I'll just be honest with you.
[28:25] George hadn't called me lately. The next time George calls, I'm going to tell him I think he needs to reconsider some of his plans. And then I would say to them, let me explain something to you. I'm not American. This world is not my home.
[28:37] I am American. Don't get me wrong. But I'd say to them, you know, my mayor, my governor, and my king is Jesus. And my constitution is the Bible. And I'm here to share real truth, not American truth.
[28:50] I want you to know that's the key. You belong to another kingdom. You belong to another kingdom. We march to a different drummer. We're different. We belong to Jesus. We belong to Jesus.
[29:01] We manifest that attitude if you pray like he taught us to pray in Matthew 6, 9. Do you remember what it said? After this manner, therefore pray ye. Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
[29:14] Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done. In earth as it is in heaven. Don't just run through those words. You know what you're saying? Our Father, which art in heaven, let your name be magnified.
[29:26] Let your name be praised. Let you be lifted up. And Father, I want your kingdom to come. I want you to rule over earth. I want to get rid of the Democrats and the Republicans. And I want God to rule.
[29:38] God, I want you to take over. God, your kingdom come. That's what he was saying. That's what he was saying. And then he said, and God, I want your will to be done here on earth as it is in heaven. I want to obey you like I would if I was in heaven.
[29:49] And nothing else is going on. They were preaching the kingdom of heaven. We want him to rule over us. We joy at his being our Lord and King.
[30:00] We willingly submit to him in whatever he wants to do in our lives. We want to use our time and our talents and our money for him. That's the key.
[30:11] We want to do that for Jesus, the kingdom for the Lord Jesus. He saved us. He owns us. We love him. We owe him everything. And we take it all to him.
[30:22] So let me go back through with you. Those three things that we've looked at this morning. Check this out. He's sending out the apostles. He has given them a specific job to do and a specific message to preach.
[30:35] And let me say to you right now, he is sending us out. I really want to ask you to listen to this. I really want you to grab this in your heart. He's sending you out. You are never meant to just be a person who takes up space on the globe.
[30:50] You are never meant to be a person whose ministry in life is to hold down a chair. God wants you to make a difference. You have the gospel of Jesus Christ. You should share it with your family.
[31:02] You should share it with your neighbors. You should share it with other people. You should be interested in getting the gospel around the world. Some of you are going to get called to go into full-time ministry. And some of you are going to yield your lives and say, man, God wants me to be a missionary.
[31:16] God wants me to be a preacher. And you may be some weirdo like I was as a little kid. That's all my heart screamed. That's all my heart screamed. I lived for it.
[31:26] And I'll be honest with you. All these years later, I wouldn't change a bit of it. I'm so glad I'm doing what I'm doing. I'm so glad I'm serving God. I'm so glad I gave him my life. But he sent him out.
[31:37] But he sent all of us out. Every one of you count. Every one of you have an important job to do. Every one of you. Every one of you. You can't just say, well, he didn't call me to be a preacher.
[31:50] He didn't call me to be a missionary. So I'll just throw a couple of bucks in the plate and hope that helps somebody out. That's not the point. He's our king. How many of you know he's your king? Say amen. He's our king.
[32:02] He's our savior. He's our owner. The church belongs to him. My life is to be lived for him. I want to count for Jesus. So he sent him out.
[32:12] And he gave him a specific ministry. And he wants to give you a ministry. He has given you a ministry. He has blessed you. He's blessed you with talents and abilities others don't have. You have ability to talk to people others can't talk to.
[32:25] And by the way, menial jobs. You might say, well, it's not serving God, but I can cook. It's not serving God, but I can help clean. It's not serving God, but I can help build stuff. In the Bible, we've already seen the book of Exodus.
[32:37] That was a spirit-filled work that God gave them to do. Get involved. Get involved. But most of all, figure this out. He's the king. He's the king.
[32:49] I will submit to him. I will live for him. My money belongs to him. My time belongs to him. My heart belongs to him. My children belong to him. Everything about me belongs to him.
[33:01] It's about Jesus. And if it's not, you need to get it right today. If it's not, you need to get it right today. Father in heaven, I love you. I thank you for the opportunity to share your word.
[33:13] And I pray that you would bless and guide and work and honor yourself. And I pray that you would do great and mighty things in our midst. And I will give you praise and honor for what you do.
[33:25] I pray, God, you'd save somebody here that doesn't know you, that has come in here, and you are not their king. You are not their Lord. And I pray, God, you'd deal with their heart. And today, they might be saved. I pray, God, that Christians that haven't been living like you are king would today decide that you are king.
[33:41] And they would yield their lives to you. And they would follow you and honor you and obey you. I pray, God, you'd help our church to be more and more a world evangelism church that carries out your commission, your call on our lives.
[33:55] And I'll give you praise for it. 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.