[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. Thank you, Bibles. Open them again to the book of Romans, chapter 15. I am very greatly blessed and honored to be back at home again and to be back with you, to be back with the lady that I love so much, my wife, who I missed very much, and so good to be back with you today and excited also about getting to preach to you from the book of Romans, chapter 15.
[0:25] You've already had the reading of the passage, and I would just like to talk to you this morning about how to pray for spiritual leaders, how to pray for your pastor and how to pray for missionaries.
[0:37] I just returned from like 12 days. Actually, we were gone more like 14 days, but you're in the air at least four of those. I don't know how that works out. But anyway, I would like to talk to you from Romans, chapter 15, about how to pray for your spiritual leaders, how to pray for your pastor, how to pray for missionaries.
[0:54] Paul asked for prayer. And so as we go through Romans, chapter 15, I'd like to challenge you to learn this and put this into practice in our lives. Go with me first to Romans, chapter 15 and verse 19.
[1:07] Romans, chapter 15 and verse 19. This is one of those statements that jumps off the page at me and just really grabs me because it's my heart's desire and it's my desire for Vision Baptist Church both here and in Cobb County.
[1:21] Look what he said. He said, through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and roundabout, whatever that word is, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.
[1:37] Would you underline that? I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. Our message is the good news, the gospel of Jesus Christ, how lost people can be saved, how sinners can have salvation, how men can be forgiven.
[1:52] Gospel is good news. And I am excited that Paul said, and I have fully preached it, buddy. I've explained it, starting in Jerusalem and all the way to that other city mentioned there. He said, I've been telling people the good news of Jesus Christ.
[2:07] That was his goal. Then look down, if you would, at verse 20. Paul wanted to preach where nobody else had ever preached. In Romans, chapter 15 and verse 20, it says, Yea, so have I strived, I've tried to, I've worked at preaching the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation.
[2:26] Paul said, I want to preach where no one else has preached. I want to preach the gospel where no one else has preached. And that's an exciting thought. That's something that the Lord has allowed me to do in Peru and in other places.
[2:41] And that's what missions is about. And every week as you hear about our missionaries and as you see the pictures on the back wall, it's our goal that the name of Jesus be preached in all these places where it's never been preached before, where people don't know about Jesus, where people don't know the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ.
[2:59] And look with me, if you would, in verse 24. Paul fully expected God's people in the church to take care of him and the ministry that he was called to. Verse 24. Whereso, wheresoever I take my journey into Spain, I will come to you.
[3:14] For I trust to see you in my journey and to be brought on my way thitherward by you. If first I be somewhat filled with your company. Paul said, hey guys, I'm on my way to Spain, a place you'd never been to preach.
[3:27] And boy, when I was in Peru and teaching the Peruvians and as soon as they got their Bible and had an opportunity to open their Bible, they found that word Spain and they said, look at here, God was looking for Spanish people.
[3:39] God was on his way to get Spanish. They were excited about that. The brand new people, when they started reading the Bible, I can just remember them coming. But notice what Paul said. He said, on my way to Spain, I'm going to come by and see you guys and I'm going to have a lot of fun.
[3:52] I'll be filled with your company. We're going to sit up late at night, drink a lot of coffee, eat a lot of cake and have a lot of fellowship. We're going to talk about Jesus and talk about what he's done. But you're going to bring me on my way.
[4:04] You're going to pay the way to get me down to where I go. That's what we do in missions here. That's why you give $150,000 a year to get the gospel preached around the world. That's exactly what's going on.
[4:15] He expected that. Then in verse 27, he repeats another thing about that. They're taking a special offer to take it back to Jerusalem. And he said, it pleased them.
[4:26] It hath pleased them verily, and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things. I'll put that in real Tennessee hillbilly for a second.
[4:39] Basically, what he's saying is that when somebody delivers to you spiritual things, you'll take care of them by giving them carnal things or physical things. If the preacher stands up and shares the gospel with you, or if the Jews from Jerusalem shared the gospel with the Gentiles, it was time for the Gentiles to take up an offering to help take care of them.
[4:59] And so pastors and missionaries stand and preach the Bible, and as they stand and preach the Bible, church people will see to it, they get carnal things like shoes and socks and underwear and suits and food to eat that they would get involved in it and be taken care of.
[5:14] And Paul said, it's nothing surprising that if they preach spiritual things that you take care of their physical needs. Now go with me, if you would, down to verse 30, and now we're getting to where we're going to preach.
[5:25] And I'll give you five things to write down about how you can pray for me and for the guys on the pastoral staff here, for the 19 families that are listed on the back, for other missionaries that we don't currently support that we will be taking on or that are not members of our church.
[5:39] Verse 30 says, Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake and for the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in your prayers to God for me.
[5:53] Guys, I ask you on behalf of Jesus and what he's done for us on Calvary, and on the love of the Spirit, that you would strive together, that you would get in the battle with me, that you would help me to preach the gospel, help me to carry the gospel message of Jesus Christ around the world.
[6:11] God's people this morning all around the world are places preaching the Bible. They're behind enemy lines. They're in China this morning, in Dalian, China, one of our church members, and he's already had his service this morning, but he stood in a place where it's illegal to preach the Bible, and he opened the Bible and he shared the gospel message of Jesus Christ.
[6:32] He preached Jesus where Jesus isn't named, and he was right there preaching. Paul said, Man, get involved. Stand with me. Strive with me. This morning, the Sturwatt family traveled somewhere, the people we just visited, and they preached and shared the gospel message, in a land where Islam is creeping in, in a land where false doctrine is on every corner, in a land where there's danger to be preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.
[6:59] And they stood, and they need us to say, I will get in the battle with you, and I will pray with you, and I'll strive with you. So Paul asked for a prayer, and he asked his brothers in Christ to pray with him.
[7:11] That wasn't selfish. He said, For Jesus' sake, it was for the Spirit. And prayer is real work. Prayer is real work. You can have a major impact on what goes on.
[7:21] To be disciplined to pray regularly. To be dedicated enough to know what to pray. To be interested enough to stay in touch. To learn and really carry the burden of your laboring brother. Now go with me, if you would, to Romans 15, 31.
[7:35] Number one, if you write things down. Romans chapter 15, and verse 31. Pray for protection. Pray that God would protect your missionaries. The Bible says in Romans 15, 31, that I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judea.
[7:52] And that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be accepted of the saints. He said, Pray that I would be delivered from them that do not believe in Judea. Do you know that people that go overseas don't always go to countries that have all of the comfort that we have in America?
[8:09] They don't always have all the liberty that we have in America. And people can often be much more outspoken about their disinterest in the gospel. Their disinterest in the things of God. And there can be danger.
[8:21] One of the pastors was traveling from El Doret. And he was going out into the desert. One of the Kenyan pastors this week while we were there. And he was on a bus on his way to a church.
[8:31] And the bus, right in front of his bus. Four men with guns got and stopped that bus and killed the bus driver. And our preacher friend that we just met was in the bus behind them. And he got through.
[8:42] But people need to know. People need to be prayed for. Missionaries need prayer. Jason Holt was held up at Knife Point in Chile one time. Our daughter was raped while we were serving in Peru.
[8:56] There are tons of things that can go on. Number one, pray for protection. Would you write that down? Pray for protection. That you would pray that God would protect the preacher.
[9:07] That God would protect the preacher. Pray that God would protect the men that are carrying the gospel around the world. Pray that he would protect them. In 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 and verse 1. The Bible says, Finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified, even as it is with you.
[9:26] And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men. For all men have not the truth of the faith. For all men have not accepted the faith.
[9:36] Now look what happens here. There's a video that you'll be seeing soon about India. That we have a little bit of a part in. Vision Baptist Mission's brother, Trent Cornwell, mainly working on that with some other people.
[9:49] And then one of the guys in India makes a statement. He says, hey, he says, nobody cares if you believe in Jesus. It's fully okay to be a believer in Jesus Christ as long as you add him to your list of gods.
[10:01] You can believe in Jesus, but you've got to believe in everybody else. He said, now, if you say Jesus is right and all the rest are wrong, you can be in trouble. And there's a story told in there, a wild and courageous story about the suffering of a young family, a young girl that she goes through because she loves Jesus.
[10:18] We need to pray for protection. We need to pray believers for protection. Saeed Tifani in Morocco arrested, Tyler Masters with him arrested for preaching the gospel.
[10:30] There are people that do not want to hear the gospel and would stand against it, pray that they would be protected. That's what Paul asked for in Romans chapter 15 and verse 31. There are great dangers on the mission field.
[10:42] And what causes more trouble is the hatred towards a person because of the message and the person that they represent. Satanic attack and oppression is a real thing.
[10:54] Loneliness, isolation, strange customs, languages, etc. will only be part of the enemy's arsenal against God's man. When you're in another country, and you can't really understand this unless you've lived it, when you fly in for two weeks like we just did, you know you got your ticket back at the house.
[11:13] You know that you have your passport, and you know I'm leaving here. Usually when I land anywhere, no offense if the Sir Waltz are listening, but it doesn't matter where I travel to in America or anywhere else, I count the nights down until I get back home.
[11:27] I really do. I count the nights until I get back to bed. So I'll lay down the first night, and I'll go, all right, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Thursday. Seven days, and I'll be home. Next day I'll lay down in bed, and as soon as I get to bed, I'll go, okay, six days, and I'll be back home.
[11:39] Because I know I'm going home. They're not. Cut off from family. Do you have any idea what it's like these missionary children are being raised away from their grandparents, away from their uncles and their aunts and their family?
[11:53] In other words, he said, pray for protection. He said, what's that got to do with the family? Being alone is a hard thing. Being alone is a hard thing.
[12:05] Being away from family is a hard thing. Being away from people you know is a hard thing. And Satan attacks, and he attacks in the mind, and he attacks in the heart, and our mysteries deal with that.
[12:18] They feel lonely. There are strange customs. They do things differently in other places. And it's stuff that if you live there, it'd be normal. You know, I mean, eating grits is like a normal everyday thing.
[12:31] But when they bring out grits in their country, what they think of as grits, which is an everyday thing, sometimes I'm like, Lordy, Lordy, how do people eat this stuff? It's different. Pray for protection.
[12:43] The devil is attacking them. The Bible says in Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 10, we won't take the time to go there, that the man of God ought to put on the whole armor of God, and he ought to stand.
[12:54] And so you need to pray for our missionaries that they will be protected, that they can quench the fiery darts of Satan. Listen to this. I'll look this way just a second. This is a missions church.
[13:04] You are a wonderful missions people. But here's a very true statement. Not Bible, but it's true. Out of sight. Out of mind. Out of sight. Out of mind.
[13:15] And those missionaries are often on the other side of the world, and they know, they feel very soon, out of sight, out of mind. And the devil comes and he says, is it worth it?
[13:27] They don't think you're doing anything. They think you're just getting money. They think you got it easy. They think everything is great. They hear all your great stories. They hear all the things that happen. They don't care a bit about what you're doing.
[13:39] And they don't pray for you. Before I move to the next one, let me just tell you as a pastor, being a preacher, being a pastor, being a person who shares with other people is an emotional thing.
[13:52] It's taken all this time during the week to fill your heart with the Bible and to fill your heart with all these things. And then it's taken and just dumping that out on people and sharing the truth with them and loving them and wanting to see them change and wanting to see their lives change.
[14:07] And then the devil coming later and saying, you didn't do any good. You didn't connect. The people didn't listen. Lives weren't changed. You failed in every way. You should quit. You're a loser.
[14:17] Why don't you get a real job? You hear that in your head. All the time you say, who are you talking about? I'm talking about me. I'm talking about after 40-something years of preaching, I regularly think that.
[14:28] And it's an attack from Satan. Pray for protection. Number two. Second thing we could get out of this. Verse 31 again. Pray that the ministry will be an acceptable ministry.
[14:41] Look at Romans 15, 31. What did Paul ask for prayer for? He said that I may be delivered from them, from many that do not believe in Judea, and that my service, which I have for Jerusalem, may be accepted of the saints, that my ministry may be accepted of the saints.
[14:57] Now, I'm not sure if anybody can understand this, but I think you can a little bit. How many ladies have just worked and worked to prepare, or men, because I got in trouble one time when I said something about the ladies being the cooks around here, and some other guys said, well, my wife can't even cook.
[15:16] I'm the cook in this family. Amen. So, just to clarify, whoever, and you're preparing this special meal. You're preparing this thing, and you're so proud of it. And then you wonder, you watch as they go to eat it.
[15:27] You look out of the corner of your eye, you watch them to see. You want to see the delight in their face. You want to see the excitement. You want to see that what you prepared was accepted. Is that true or not? And you cooks, come on, be honest.
[15:40] Well, I can tell you this. I've been in more than one church service, but on the way home, my mother would come home, and she would make the comment, I noticed all my casserole was gone, but Sister Susie's was still there.
[15:54] And I think that's a sign of pride and arrogance that some of us have. But what does she want? I mean, if you come home and you say, nobody ate nothing we fixed. We'll be eating it for another week.
[16:06] What that means is everybody tasted one bite and said, don't like it, not accepted. Say amen. They were bringing food out to us this week to eat, and the pastors, and they put us always at the table where everybody can watch us eat.
[16:18] I just love that. Everybody else is sitting out there, and we've got a table. Hey, guys. And then they hand you some food, and you're like, hi, guys. Loving this. I'm going to give you a napkin. I like napkins.
[16:29] I like napkins. If I go anywhere, if I go to McDonald's, I pull out nine million napkins. I take them to my plate. I want napkins. I decide next time I go, I'll be like, prove, take a handkerchief. But you want your offering to be accepted.
[16:42] How many of you can say amen right there? How about gifts? Come Christmas time, do you ever get a gift for somebody, and you're excited, and you can't wait to see if they like it? Is that true or not? Guess what a preacher feels every time he says to preach?
[16:55] Guess what that missionary in Kenya is feeling on Sunday morning? Guess what that missionary in Morocco, guess what that missionary in Chile is feeling? Guess what that missionary in Argentina is feeling? Guess what that, every one of our guys are on deputation.
[17:07] They walk in, and their thought is, God, I hope they understand. Understand? I hope I make a difference. I hope the message is accepted. Paul said, guys, pray that I'll be protected, but pray that the saints will accept my ministry.
[17:22] I wake up. You would never understand. You really don't know the stress I feel. You probably look and say, he's relaxed and content and not worried about it, but I prepare messages, and the whole time I'm preparing, I'm tasting it like a cook would, and I'm thinking, is this good?
[17:40] Is it going to connect? Is it going to make a difference? Is it going to touch somebody's life? Is it going to be worth something? Is it going to be accepted? Would you pray for your missionaries that they're offering, or that they would be protected, and that their ministry would be accepted?
[17:54] And that's hard, by the way, oftentimes overseas, because things are very different. You've got to figure out not only what, you're going to say the same thing, but you've got to say it in a way that's not offensive.
[18:06] You've got to say it the right way. Number three, write this one down if you would about what he asked for prayer. Pray for success. Look at Ephesians chapter 15 and verse 32. That I may come unto you with joy by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed.
[18:22] We're drawing on the words with joy. That's success. I want you to look at this way and listen just a second. You don't understand this pressure. If you've not been a missionary, you don't understand this if you've not been a preacher.
[18:35] But what you want to do is you want to have joy by the ministry that you've been doing. You want to feel good about what you've been doing.
[18:47] You want to feel like you accomplished something with what you've been doing. So every one of our young missionaries, and they're all over the place this morning, they're preaching in different places all across. 19 missionaries, quite a few on the field, quite a few still here in the States that are traveling.
[19:01] And here's what they want to do. And they're standing in front of churches and saying, I'm going to go to the mission field, and I'm going to preach the gospel, and I'm going to see people get saved, and I'm going to start some churches, and I'm going to train some leaders.
[19:12] And boy, they're talking big. But now it's four years later. Now it's four years later. And read the verse, he said, that I may come to you with joy. When I come back, I want to come back saying, high five, man, I did it.
[19:25] High five, God used me. Boy, God used me. God blessed. But sometimes they come back, and what you might not understand is they walk in a room, and they know. And I didn't even get the language.
[19:38] And culture beat me up. And it was hard living just to live there. And people didn't get saved. You take a guy like Bo Carpenter, who's starting a church in Mableton, who goes out every day.
[19:54] He's knocking on doors, and he's praying, and he's agonizing, and he's begging God to bring new people in, and the church to get started. And come Thursday, maybe he gets an opportunity to share what God's done, and no new visitors were there, and nobody in the church even said thank you.
[20:11] And he visited long hours, and nobody else was knocking on those doors while he was. And he comes back in. He wants to come back with joy. I've seen so many missionaries come back from the field, their tail between their legs.
[20:25] They're discouraged. They're beaten. And Paul said, Pray, guys. Pray that I'll be protected. Pray that my ministry will be accepted. And pray that I'll accomplish something. Pray that something will happen while I'm out doing the ministry.
[20:39] God's called me to. Boy, this past week was exciting for me because often here at Vision, nobody accepts the Lord. And I mean, that just breaks my heart.
[20:50] Nobody gets saved in the services. We're not accomplishing much about that in my mind and my heart, and the devil beats me up with it. And I was preaching at the graduation, and there were a couple hundred people in the room and another 150 outside looking in the windows.
[21:04] And five or six people came forward, and three of them were in an Israelite Pentecostal cult. And they came forward at the end of the service, and maybe they got saved, they were dealt with. And I was sitting there thinking, Yes.
[21:17] Yes. And then I preached on Sunday morning, and three or four more people came forward and made a professional on the mission field. So there are new people that are listening. I'm just telling you, listen to what I'm telling you.
[21:28] Pray that you'll experience joy. It's a thankless job so many times. Let me put it to you this way. It's kind of like being the cook at the house.
[21:40] You go in, and especially if you live overseas. You know, here in America, maybe you undo the can, open the plastic, dump it in a bowl, and ten minutes later, you've got a meal ready. But you know, overseas, when you've got to do everything from scratch, Ms. Sturwall brought out cinnamon buns.
[21:57] And buddy, I mean, it took our friends, no opening a can, no opening a pack. I mean, made from scratch cinnamon buns. I mean, different.
[22:08] But you know, you know how it is? You spend hours, or John and, John, John and Jonathan Clapp, preparing roast, a pork roast for us at the last meeting, setting up 15 hours, and preparing the meal.
[22:20] And you know what happens, don't you? We are done in 15 minutes. 15 hours? Done in 15 minutes. Burp. Thank you.
[22:31] And it's done. The missionary needs to come home and say, boy, God used me. Pray for him to have some success. Pray that God will use him. In Acts chapter 14 and verse 25, the apostle Paul is returning back to the church at Antioch, and he said, and when they had preached the word in Perga, and went down in Italia, they then sailed to Antioch, their home church, from whence they'd been recommended to the grace of God for the work they had fulfilled, for the work they got done.
[23:01] And when they were come and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles, and they stayed a long time. You understand what happened? Listen to this. Listen.
[23:11] Paul walked into church. He said, guys, you're not going to believe it. I was down in Eldoret. I was preaching, and people were getting saved, and I was discipling some people, and they got saved, and I was over there, and boy, God was doing a great work.
[23:22] It was fantastic. I was having, man, God's good. I had a blast. But oftentimes, missionaries are in dark places. This morning, at some time, Aaron Bashore, and Tyler Masters, in closed countries, Morocco, and Tunisia, in closed countries, Muslim countries, Muslim countries, they went out, and they witnessed where every time they opened their mouth and mentioned Jesus, could have been arrested, and they invited people to church.
[23:56] Nobody came, and after all these years, they're just so excited. We're finally up to 20 believers, and they feel like, man, I should have 100 believers, or 200 believers.
[24:07] The truth is, God is doing a work, but the devil is constantly reminding them how worthless they are. Pray for protection. Pray their ministry will be accepted, and pray they'll have success.
[24:22] Number four. Open your Bibles to Colossians chapter 4, verses 3 through 4. Pray for open doors. This is another one of the places where Paul asks for prayer. Pray for open doors.
[24:34] In Colossians chapter 4, verses 3 and 4, the Bible says, With all praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds, that I may make it manifest as I ought to speak.
[24:52] Now look what he said. Pray for me, that God will open a door, where I can share the gospel. Now let me ask you a question. Look, this way just be honest with me, just a second.
[25:03] How many of you know, that we ought to be sharing the gospel with other people? Say amen. How many of you, how many of you really in your heart, want to see people saved? You want to share the gospel? Say amen. How many of you even pray, that God will open doors for you, and give you an opportunity to share the gospel?
[25:17] Say amen. And how many of you notice, it don't happen much? Say amen. Yeah, it's pretty hard. It's pretty hard. You know, you're sitting here talking to this guy, and he's talking about the president, and he's talking about the vice president, and he's talking about the weather, and he's talking about the Georgia game, and he's talking about everything else, and you're sitting there the whole time saying, I really need to witness to him about Jesus.
[25:36] He's talking about business, he's talking about everything. But when in the world do you bring up Jesus? And you want to talk about changing the conversation. You want to talk about changing the mood. Boy, was you watching that ball game?
[25:48] You know, Jesus died on the cross for you. That'll kill a conversation. Say amen. I mean, that'll break up a friendship.
[26:00] Say amen. Paul said, pray that God will open some doors. Pray that God will make it open, where I can clearly profess Jesus. I have been in places all around the world where I preached, and it was like preaching to concrete.
[26:16] It was like, my goodness, nobody listens. My goodness, I'm telling them the greatest news in the world. I'm telling them that Jesus died on the cross of Calvary for them. I'm telling them they can be made new, and they don't listen.
[26:29] I've been other places when I was even discouraged, beginning to wonder if they would preach, and all of a sudden I give the gospel, and boom, I was coming home one night. You probably heard this story.
[26:39] I was in the, I was in preaching for this one guy, and I'd preached all day long. I'd been, I'd probably been preaching 10 or 12 hours altogether, counting classes, and I just preached for this guy in his service that night, and I got in the car, and the taxi driver, that rented a taxi for me to get home, something was wrong, and buy a vehicle, and I got in the car and got ready to head towards the house, and the guy looks at me and said, what are you doing here?
[27:01] Because they can always spot you. You know, they're brown, and I'm white. They speak good Spanish, and I speak poor Spanish. I'm big as a broad-sided barn, and they're all little bitty people.
[27:14] I mean, if I could tell you if I'm one of my coats, I could make a suit for three families. I mean, you know, I mean, it's obvious I don't belong there, and we get in the car, and the guy said, what are you doing here? And I'm like, oh, drop dead.
[27:25] I'm tired, and I don't want to talk to you. And I said, I'll just teach the Bible. He said, well, you're teaching the Bible. I'm like, I just teach people how they can go to heaven, so they won't have to go to hell.
[27:38] How's that? I'm like, would you lay off? I really was. You say, you shouldn't have been like that. I know, but I was tired. And he said, well, what's the difference in your religion and my religion?
[27:48] And I said, Bible? He said, well, I'm a Christian. And so he said, he said, well, what's different? I said, the bishop is to be the husband of one wife.
[27:58] Is your bishop a husband of one wife? Nope. He said, that's not in our Bible. That's in your Bible. I said, it's in yours too. You just don't read it. Now, I didn't want to talk to him. He looked at me and said, I need some help with my family.
[28:10] I said, Lord, help me, buddy. I am tired. Get me to my house. You're driving too slow. So in all, most of my house, I said, if you really want, it was Saturday night. I had to preach on Sunday morning.
[28:20] I said, if you really want some counseling, show up at my office at 10 o'clock. And I gave him the church address. I knew he wouldn't come. 10 o'clock. He wasn't there. And I was like, ha ha. Got rid of him. Wasting my time.
[28:31] I'm tired anyway. 1030. He wasn't there. 1045. He wasn't there. And I went upstairs to my little office. And when I got upstairs, somebody ran up and said, there's a little short guy downstairs. He's a taxi driver.
[28:42] Says you told him he could have an appointment with you today. And I said, all right, tell him I got to preach. And we'll talk afterwards. So I preached. And I said, I'll come to your house tomorrow night and share the gospel with you. He said, good.
[28:52] So I drove to his house on Monday night. I got out of the car. And I went in. And I said, he said, I won't join your church. I said, you just can't join my church, buddy. You got to get saved first. And the Bible says, he said, did that yesterday.
[29:05] He said, that's what you talked about, wasn't it? He said, in that service, I just went ahead and done it. He said, I want to be a member. He's still going there 20 years later. I mean, you're like, come on.
[29:15] So pray that the Lord will open doors for them as they preach the gospel. Number five, last one. Pray that the word of God will have free course and be glorified.
[29:27] Look at your Bible. It's second Thessalonians chapter three, verses one and two. Second Thessalonians chapter three, verses one and two. Finally, brethren, pray for me or pray for us that the word of God may have free course and be glorified, even as it is with you.
[29:42] And that all that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men for all have not the faith, but underline this free course and be glorified.
[29:53] In other words, what the, what Paul said, he says, pray that the Bible will find open doors and a place to run. Find it. The Bible will have open doors and a place to run and pray that the Bible will be glorified.
[30:06] Pray that the word of God will be glorified. In other words, pray that people will get saved and lives will be changed. We saw evidence of that in Kenya. Everywhere we went, people are carrying Bibles in their hands.
[30:17] All these preachers, we are preachers meeting, 60 preachers meeting, 30 preachers meeting. They have 300 churches that run about 45,000 every Sunday morning. The word of God has found free course and it's run and people are being saved and lives are being changed.
[30:30] In Peru, I went down there and I remember preaching literally, literally begging God to let us break 10 in attendance. You say, well, that's not that many.
[30:41] It's really not that many when you figure out I had six in my family. I was just praying God to give us four people. I mean, we were getting two and three and we'd be on our way home. I'd say, Betty, how many we have today? She said, count us or not.
[30:53] I said, count us. Count dogs, count cats. You got anything you need to count. Count somebody. She said, we broke 10 today. I'm like, Lord of God, I am finally a preacher. Got 10 people going to my church and I prayed for 15 and I prayed for 20 and what you want is the Bible to take off.
[31:10] The Bible to just take off because this is the Word of God. Amen? It changes lives. It makes a difference. It changes families. How many of your families have been changed by the Word of God?
[31:20] Say amen. Man, we come to church. You people are weird. You get here and you sit in little circles and everybody talking over everybody else. But we're loving it because it's the Word of God.
[31:32] Say amen. And a guy sits in your circle with you and he says, that's what the Bible says. Just ignore Austin. He's too loud, but just ignore him. Because we're all trying to talk about the Bible.
[31:43] You know what I'm saying? It's great, isn't it? And some of you are getting involved in discipleship classes. Afterwards, you're meeting with people for breakfast. You're meeting with them for lunch. You're meeting with them for supper. You're meeting with different people and you're sharing.
[31:54] The Bible of the Word of God is running through our church and making differences. By the way, it's running all across this country. Our guys are preaching it. That's what you want to see happen in every country.
[32:05] Philip Basham led the scene here for five years. He is in Thailand. In Thailand, virtually no one knows about Jesus. What he does is so weird.
[32:20] He talks about Jesus. Jim Roberts in India. Paul Taubi on his way to India. Nobody knows. But you know what you're going to pray for? You're going to pray, God, let your book get free.
[32:33] Let it run. Let people get excited. Let lives be changed. Let things happen. Aaron Vance just landed in Columbia and he's going to try to start a ministry. He knows the Bible. It's not about Aaron.
[32:44] It's about the Bible getting free and running through people's lives. Paul said, pray that God will do something with us. Brethren, pray for us. Missionaries all over the world standing today and open in the Bible.
[32:57] Do you ever think about how different this is? In our part of the world, maybe people go to church and their part of the world, they've never heard of church. In our part of the world, we talk about Jesus and their part of the world, they don't even know the name of Jesus.
[33:11] Paul said, pray for us. Pray for us as we teach and we preach. And so this morning, I ask you to get involved in ministry of praying. Pray for protection.
[33:22] Pray that it'll be accepted. Pray they'll have joy. Pray that the Word of God can run and have free course. Pray that doors will be opened. Pray that for Vision Baptist Church.
[33:33] Pray that for Vision Baptist Church. This church ought to grow more. We ought to see more people saved. We ought to see more lives changed. You say, well Austin, if you'd get off your bohunkas and go to work, we'd have a growing church.
[33:44] But maybe if some of us got involved in prayer, maybe God would do more. Beg God for me that I'd preach better. Beg God that when I speak that lives would be changed. Beg God for Trent Cornwell who stood and preached all the time I was going.
[33:58] Beg God for our missionaries that they stand and preach. Pray. Pray for every Sunday school teacher here that God's Word would get free and do a work here. Man, pray for Mableton. Pray for Cobb County.
[34:11] You say, why aren't things taking off faster in Cobb County? I'll give you a hint. That's not our problem. Our problem is work as hard as we can and pray as hard as we can. Who's lifted that church in prayer recently?
[34:24] You say, I don't even know what to pray about. How about praying for protection as Bo drives back and forth as he goes off and alone? Bo is a massive man. You know, he's so big and so broad and so wide and when he's out knocking on doors by himself, you know, you don't have to worry about anybody beating him up.
[34:40] No, really. He's a scrawny little guy already bit by dogs. Amen. Pray for protection. Pray for him that as he witnesses and so many and he shares the gospel that they'll hear and accept. Pray that people will want to go to church there.
[34:54] Pray that God will use the families that are from our church, the voices and the swarts and the work they're doing. Pray. That's what Paul said. That's what Paul said. Let's get a hold of God in prayer. Maybe you should say today, I hadn't been praying but I'm going to start.
[35:09] I'm going to pray for the pastor and I'm going to pray for the staff. I'm going to pray for all of our missionaries. I'm going to pray that God's word will do its work. That's what Paul ends up the book of Romans with. We're not through it by any means but that's what he's saying.
[35:21] Pray for me. Pray for me. Let me give you a hint. If Paul needed prayer, you can mark this one down. Austin Gardner really needs prayer and Bo Carpenter really needs prayer and Trent and Robert and Brother Frick and every Sunday school teacher, we need prayer.
[35:39] It's God who does the work. Let's pray. Father God in heaven, I pray you'd work. I pray your name would be glorified. I pray lives would be changed. I pray you'd show yourself real and powerful. God, I pray you'd put a burden for prayer in our hearts and help us to pray right and I pray God that you'd help us to beg you to do work.
[35:58] God, I pray you would build a work. I pray for Bo Carpenter and the ministry down in Cobb County. I pray to God for every mission we have all around the world. Those we can't support yet and those that we do support, God, please, show your power.
[36:12] God, make it evident that you're working and we'll give you praise for it all. This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfredo, 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.