[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. All right. Glad to be in the house of God with you and excited about having Missions Conference.
[0:11] How many of you are excited about tonight? Say amen. Amen. All right. Looking forward to what God's going to do. You've got some very special people here with us this week just to have a very special time.
[0:24] We're going to start tonight with a member of our church that you would barely know. Yeah, it's probably been a year since he's been here. He lives in Arequipa, Peru, and he is in charge of the Bible College all down there.
[0:37] And so a great honor to have him here. And Jeff Bush will be translating. So you're going to get 10 minutes of the mission field, 10 minutes backwards. So Miguel Murillo, come and preach for us.
[0:49] Good evening to every one of y'all. It's a privilege being here with you. In this week of Missions Conference. Misiones es un asunto de prioridad para la iglesia.
[1:02] Missions is a priority for the church. La iglesia existe para aquellos que no pertenecen a ella. The church exists for those who do not belong to the church. Misiones es un asunto de obediencia.
[1:13] Missions is a point of obedience. Es un asunto de prioridad. It's about priorities. Hacer misiones es obedecer a Dios. Missions is obeying God.
[1:25] La persona que nos involucra en misiones simple y llanamente no está obedeciendo a Dios. The person that's not involved in missions is the person that's not obeying God. La obediencia a Dios produce satisfacción. Obeying God produces satisfaction.
[1:37] La obediencia a Dios produce felicidad verdadera. Obeying God produces joy in your heart. Necesitamos obedecer a Dios en cada cosa que Él nos pide. We need to obey God in every area of our lives.
[1:48] Y misiones es un área vital. In missions is a very vital area. Estamos orando, estamos yendo, estamos saliendo. We are going, we are going, and we are sending. ¿Cómo te vas a involucrar tú en misiones?
[1:59] How are you going to get involved in missions? Tal vez Dios está hablando a algunos de ustedes para salir al campo misionero. Maybe God is speaking to your heart to go to the mission field. Los que están yendo al campo misionero están obedeciendo el llamado de Dios.
[2:10] Those that are on the mission field are now obeying God. Ten por seguro que si Dios te llama, encontrarás satisfacción completa. And truly, if God calls you and you obey Him, you will find satisfaction.
[2:20] Si Dios te llama a quedarte en tu iglesia local. And if God calls you to stay in your local church. Ten por seguro que involucrarte, te va a llenar también de satisfacción. Then I can assure you as well, then you will find satisfaction where you obey God.
[2:31] Juan en su primer epístola nos habla de la obediencia. John in his first epistle, 1 John teaches about obedience. Y lo que produce la obediencia. And what obedience produces. La gente busca felicidad en el lugar equivocado.
[2:42] People usually look for joy in the wrong places. Lo primero que hay que hacer para encontrar la felicidad es dejar de buscarla. The first thing that we must do to find joy is to quit looking for joy.
[2:54] La felicidad verdadera es resultado de la obediencia. Joy is simply a result of obeying God. Hacemos lo que Dios quiere y al lado está la felicidad. We do what God wants us to do and right beside that we find the joy.
[3:06] Cumplimos con los mandatos de Dios y ahí está la satisfacción verdadera. We complete with God's obedience and God's commandments and that's where we find it. Varias personas aquí han obedecido al llamado de Dios al campo misionero.
[3:17] Many people right here have obeyed God going to the mission field. Y te pueden dar testimonio de la satisfacción que han tenido en todos esos años. And they can even give you testimony about the satisfaction they've had throughout the years.
[3:28] Solo obedece. Only obey God. Primera de Juan 1, 4. In 1 John chapter number 1 verse number 4. Léelo por favor. The Bible says and these things write we unto you, unto you that your joy may be full.
[3:40] Juan nos explica por qué nos escribes esta epístola. John he writes us and he tells us why he wrote this epistle. Por ejemplo en el capítulo 2 versículo 1 dice algo similar sobre la primera parte.
[3:50] For example in 1 John chapter number 2 verse number 1. My little children these things write unto you that ye sin not. Estas cosas os escribo. Te da la razón por la cual escribe Juan. This is the reason that he wrote.
[4:01] Pero en el versículo 4 dice te escribo para que tu gozo sea completo. But in verse number 4 he says this is the reason he wrote that your joy may be full. Quiere hablarnos del gozo Juan y de inmediato nos dice algo muy interesante en el versículo 5.
[4:15] He wants to tell us about the joy and he says something very interesting in verse number 5. Y nos dice en el versículo 5 que Dios es luz. And he says in verse number 5 that God is light. Está de moda hablar acerca de que Dios es amor.
[4:26] It's kind of the popular thing to do to talk about God is love. Pegan sticker en los autos donde dice Dios es amor. They give you a bumper sticker that says God is love. Pero has encontrado que diga Dios es luz.
[4:37] But have you ever seen a bumper sticker that said God is light. La excusa favorita de las personas que viven mal. The excuse for everybody who lives bad. Dicen Dios es amor. They say well God is love.
[4:48] Tú recuérdale a esa persona pero primero es luz. You remember but first God is light. Dios es amor. Primero en Juan 4. Of course God is love in verse 4. Pero tú dile Dios es luz.
[4:59] Primero en Juan capítulo 1. But to those people you must say God also is light in verse number 5. Va a hablar de la luz y dice que andamos en la luz cuando obedecemos. He says that we must walk in the light to obey him.
[5:10] Va a hablar de los mandamientos. El apóstol Juan. He's going to speak about the commandments. The apostle John is. Es imposible tener gozo y satisfacción verdadera sin obediencia.
[5:22] It's impossible to have the real joy and satisfaction without obeying God. Es imposible encontrar gozo y satisfacción sin santidad. It's impossible to find this joy and this satisfaction without holiness.
[5:33] Con la santidad habrá felicidad. With holiness comes joy. El mundo busca placer pero su placer es temporal. Ríen y luego lloran. The world looks for joy and satisfaction and they smile but they don't really have it.
[5:46] Pero si tan solo entendieran lo que el cristiano entiende. But if they would only understand what the Christian could understand. La obediencia produce gozo. Obedience produces joy. La obediencia produce felicidad, satisfacción.
[5:58] Obedience produces joy and satisfaction. Obedece al llamado de Dios. Obeying God's call. Sea yendo al campo misionero o apoyando misiones. Whether it's going to the field or whether it's supporting those that can go to the field.
[6:10] Viviendo en santidad ante la presencia de Dios. Living in holiness before God. Hay personas que están buscando moral y felicidad sin Dios. There are people that are looking for morality and satisfaction before God.
[6:24] Pero en el camino han perdido la moralidad, la felicidad y a Dios. But along the way they've lost God, they've lost that joy and satisfaction. Solo en hacer la voluntad de Dios habrá verdadera satisfacción. Only in doing God's will can you find that joy and satisfaction.
[6:35] Solo el que tiene hambre y sed de justicia estará satisfecho. Only those that have hunger and thirst for God can find that satisfaction. El que tiene hambre y sed de la persona de Dios y de agradarle.
[6:46] The person that has that hunger and thirst to please God. Tendrá satisfacción verdadera. Will have the truly satisfaction. Habla con el misionero que ha estado en el campo amando y sirviendo a Dios con todo su corazón.
[6:58] Talk to somebody who's overseas who's serving God and serving God year after year. Sus años en el campo fueron sus años más gozosos. His years on the field were probably his best years.
[7:09] Habla con el hermano generoso que da sacrificadamente para misiones. Talk to the person who is very generous in giving. Dice, tengo una razón para vivir. That person will tell you, I have a reason for living. Habla con la persona que vive para sí misma.
[7:21] Ask the person who only lives for himself. Que vive para sus deseos o para llenarse de regalos. That only lives for himself and his own desires. Y se siente vacío, se siente inútil. And that person feels an emptiness.
[7:32] Las cosas materiales que tiene después de un tiempo pierden el encanto, la atracción. Those material things that he have kind of, they just lose everything after a while. Pero tesoros en el cielo, eso jamás nos dejará sin satisfacción.
[7:45] They will never leave you without satisfaction. Hermano, solo obedece y encontrará la satisfacción verdadera. Dear brother, only obey God, you'll find the joy and satisfaction. Dios lo bendiga. God bless you. Brother Trask is in charge of the camp where we do a lot of our mission activities and stuff like that.
[8:00] We already support Miguel and we already support Brother Trask and the Sand Mountain Bible Camp. But I want you to get to know him. So he'll be here a couple of days, three days, I think, for you to get to know him. Amen.
[8:12] Well, I'm not as old as Patrick Henry, but I guess I'll do. I'm Philip Trask and I'm with Sand Mountain Bible Camp. I'm also pastor of Pleasant Grove Baptist Church, a church right there by the campground.
[8:23] Before I start tonight, how many of you have been to Sand Mountain Bible Camp? Would you raise your hand? Look at that. Well, I'm speaking to the home crowd tonight. It's great that you have been familiar with Sand Mountain Bible Camp.
[8:36] We've been there for three years now, going on our fourth year. And we are excited about what the Lord is doing. Let me say, first of all, thank you for your support.
[8:46] You've already started supporting the camp and we praise the Lord for that. And we thank you so much for that faithful support. Thank you also for the invitation to come and be here at your mission conference.
[8:57] We count it a joy to take part in this mission conference. This church is a mission-minded church. And we are excited to be with you. Also, I want to thank you for the friendship.
[9:09] For so many in the audience tonight, we've been friends for a long time. At supper tonight, somebody said, how long have you known Brother Gardner? And I said, well, I guess from his first year in missions when he came to Camp Macedonia.
[9:21] I was just a young boy then. But I was young. And they were headed out to Peru. And they were only there for one orientation because you got your support so quick.
[9:31] It was on the way. But we've been friends for a long time. Our church, Pastor Danilo Jay supported him. And we were excited about that. And so we've been good friends. And it's my joy to be here.
[9:42] I do need to apologize that my family's not with me. Brother Gardner was mad that my family wasn't with me. And some of the others, some of the girls tonight were a little upset that my girls weren't here. But I'm the father of five and a grandfather to one.
[9:58] My oldest just had a baby back in July. And Brother Gardner asked me, he said, isn't it true that grandfather is better than being a father? Well, the problem is I have a 21-month-old still, little Ryan.
[10:11] He's 21 months old. And so I'm still changing diapers with a 21-month-old. So a grandbaby is just another size of diapers is all that it is for us. But we are excited to be that.
[10:24] I'm really not that old to be a grandfather. But I do bring greetings from my family. And I'm sorry that they're not able to be with us. Have a look at Exodus chapter 13 and Exodus chapter 14.
[10:36] I preached a message here in this passage of Scripture several months ago at the church where I am now pastoring. And as I preached the message, I thought, you know, this is exactly where I am, what the nation of Israel was facing.
[10:49] I've been at Sand Mountain Bible Camp going on my fourth year now. And it has been an exciting four years. We have faced some exciting things. In fact, in the book of Exodus chapter 13, we find that the children of Israel have been led out of Egypt.
[11:04] God is leading them out of Egypt. He's taken them to the promised land. He's already given them the promise. He's already assured them that they are going to be in the promised land. And so they're headed to the promised land.
[11:15] But he takes them, first of all, on a detour. He doesn't take them the easy way to the promised land. He takes them on a detour because they're not ready yet. There are some things that they must grow up in, some things that they must mature in.
[11:28] And in my life at the camp ministry, I have faced some detours. We faced one major detour. In fact, it was, I believe, five days, brother, a gardener, before y'all were to be with us on a Wednesday.
[11:41] I woke up in the morning. And my wife had already gone to school. And the kids had gone to school. And I started reading a book because it was raining. I wasn't going to be able to work that day. And the wind was blowing really hard.
[11:51] And I looked out. And the hanging plants on my porch were blowing sideways. And I thought, well, that's odd. All of a sudden, they switched. And they started blowing the other direction. And I said, Philip, that's a tornado.
[12:02] And you're standing in a bay window. So I took a couple steps back and kept watching, which wasn't very smart. But I saw trees fall. That was at 830 in the morning. By the end of that day, there was three tornadoes that came over Sand Mountain Bible Camp.
[12:15] One was an EF4 tornado and completely demolished seven buildings, over 2,500 trees. And many of y'all were there. Brother Brett came, I guess, the next day, didn't he?
[12:26] He drove his truck up and began helping us. And I know Stephen, I got a picture of Stephen working with a chainsaw out there cutting trees. I mean, they were piled up. And others that were here, Brother Smithy came, oh, there you are, with a Tennessee tie.
[12:43] He came up, and they helped. And others came and helped the camp. And we have been rebuilding. But, you know, that seemed like a deter. In fact, it seemed almost like a dead end.
[12:53] The nation of Israel, after they left Egypt, they came to a dead end. And they came to the Red Sea. And when they got to the Red Sea, it looked like all was going to be lost. And they were wondering why God had brought them to that place.
[13:07] But then we find that there was a deliverance. There was a deter. There was a dead end. And then there was a deliverance. God delivered the nation of Israel. There's a verse of Scripture that really caught my attention.
[13:17] Look, if you would, at chapter 14 and verse number 15. And the Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward. That's a neat verse because oftentimes I find myself questioning what God wants to do.
[13:34] I wonder, well, the finances aren't there. I don't have the ability. And I don't know if I'm able to go where you want me to go or to do what you want me to do. And I believe the Lord says to me, Why are you praying?
[13:46] Why are you crying unto me? Why are you seeking my face? Go on. Move forward. And that's what I want to do at Sand Mountain Bible Camp. We have had problems. We've had dead ends.
[13:57] We've had detours. We've been rebuilding. But we want to move on for the Lord Jesus Christ. There are so many people that have been touched because of the ministry of Sand Mountain Bible Camp. In fact, many of the people on your wall surrendered to missions there at Sand Mountain Bible Camp.
[14:13] Even I know Brother Stephen was called to preach there at Sand Mountain Bible Camp. And everywhere we go, people's lives have been changed because the ministry of Sand Mountain Bible Camp, that keeps me wanting. I want to keep going on.
[14:24] Keep going on for the Lord Jesus Christ. Keep the ministry going on. And I'm glad that y'all are partnering with us this year, having two weeks there at the camp. And we are excited about that to see what God is able to do in the lives of his people.
[14:37] Thank you so much for the opportunity tonight. Our next preacher is Brendan Wong. He's maybe new to you. He hasn't been around here much. You don't know him. Mr. Sheridan of Morocco.
[14:48] Spent a long time with Aaron Bayshore and survived. And he has a button that says, I worked with Aaron Bayshore and I'm still alive. So he deserves your prayer.
[14:59] Amen. Brother Brendan. How are you all doing tonight? Good, good. Believe it or not, the first time I've had Brunswick stew, it was amazing. I'm just learning some new things about the South here, but I want to look at the Bible.
[15:13] If you would, turn with me to Matthew chapter 16. If you'll allow me to, I'd like to encourage you. And I'd also like to share about the ministry at the same time. Today we're going to look at the most important question that we could ever ask in missions.
[15:24] We're going to read Matthew chapter 16, verses 13 through 17. Do I have time? No, I don't. Okay. Here we go. Verse 13. When Jesus came to the coast of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?
[15:40] And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist, some Elias, and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets. And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
[15:53] And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. Tonight I want to look at three things as we get encouraged to ask the most important question, and that is we're going to look at the public opinion, the personal question, and the possible success.
[16:12] First of all, if you look in verse 13 through 14 here, Jesus comes to the coast of Caesarea Philippi, and he asks the public opinion, Who is the Son of Man?
[16:22] And what do they say? What do they say? They say, Well, you are, some say that you are John the Baptist. King Herod said that. Elias, or Jeremiah, one of the prophets. So, kind of like maybe the rich young ruler, John chapter 3, Nicodemus.
[16:35] You're just a teacher. You're a good man. If you were to ask a Muslim, I'm going to tell you a quick little story. Thank you, Lord. I'm going to tell you a quick little story. Can you turn the mic up just a little bit? Of a man, his name is Ahmed.
[16:46] You can't hear that. It's Ahmed. Ahmed, all right? He is a brother-in-law to a man named Marwan, who's studying to be in, who's training to be in the ministry. If you were to ask a Muslim, 99% of the time, you ask them, Who is Jesus?
[16:58] What do you think they're going to tell you? They're going to say, We love Jesus. He was a great man. He was a prophet of God. One night, I was with Ahmed, and it was late. It was right before the big feast, actually.
[17:09] In about a month from today, they're going to celebrate a big feast, and they're going to all go to the, not to the store. They don't have Walmart. They're going to go down into the market, and everyone's going to buy a sheep. Why? To sacrifice it and eat it for their family celebration.
[17:21] But why? Why are they going to buy a sheep? They have no idea. Okay? But anyways, it was the night before, and really, they don't have no idea who the Lamb of God is. I was talking with Ahmed for about four hours.
[17:31] My Arabic was terrible. But after four hours, two o'clock in the morning, we finally agreed on something. At first, I had asked him, You know, What do you think about Jesus Christ? He's like, We have the same God. We believe the same God. Everything.
[17:42] At the end of four hours, he looks at me, and he says, Brendan, we don't believe the same God. We don't worship the same God at all, because Jesus Christ did not die on the cross. He didn't rise again from the dead. He's not the Lord. And so, but Jesus asked a very public opinion.
[17:53] What do the people say? And for us, as we're looking at missions and people here, we have to be aware of what people say, of who Jesus Christ is. But Jesus doesn't stop there, does he? He doesn't stop at the public opinion.
[18:03] He asks a very personal question. The question he asks about the people is not the important question. The most important question we could ask is, if you'll look with me in verse 15. He doesn't stop there. He saith unto them, but whom say ye that I am?
[18:18] And Simon Peter answered and said, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And this is the most important question that Jesus could have asked. It's the most important question we can ask in our lives. First of all, for ourselves and also to others.
[18:29] For ourselves, if you haven't done that yet, who is Jesus to you? He died on the cross. He was buried and rose again for our sins, according to the Scriptures, for you. And he asks the most important question of his disciples.
[18:40] Peter gives a great answer. And really, we have to ask this question not just to ourselves, but to other people as well. Because if we don't do that, we're really not carrying out the Great Commission. And we're not listening to 2 Corinthians 5, which tells us if we're in Christ, we are what?
[18:53] New creatures. And we have this ministry of reconciliation where we are bringing people to Christ. And the gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. But let me give you an illustration and a quick little story.
[19:04] Illustration. How many of you know what this is? I'm going to go over here. I was over here last time. How many of you know what this is? You know what it is? Did I tell you? You know what it is? All right. For those of you that don't know, I'm going to tell you what this is.
[19:15] Are you ready? Are you ready? Let me tell you what this is. This is not a pineapple. Why are you saying that, Brandon? I'll get there in a second. This is not a car.
[19:26] This is not candy. This is not money. Do you know what this is now? No. Why not? Oh, I like that. Why not? Because there's a big difference between focusing on lies, fighting lies, and focusing on truth.
[19:37] There's a big difference between saying what is wrong and what is right. There's a big difference between what is wrong and what is right. And if we don't talk about Jesus Christ, then we're not talking about the gospel. If we never ask this most important question, we are not talking about the gospel.
[19:50] I'm going to share a story with you. His name is Simo. He's about 23 years old. And when we go out, we offer Bibles to people. And they request them online. There's a growing number. It's at 7,000. It's still growing. They request the Bible.
[20:01] And we go and meet them and give it to them. So we meet up with Simo. His name is Simo. He's a big dude. Twice my size. Both ways. We sit down for coffee with him, me and Marwan. And across from him, give him the Bible. And we ask him, you know, it's the first time you've got a Bible.
[20:14] No, I'm a Christian. You're a Christian. He's a Christian. Marwan, he's a Christian. Six months. I've been a believer. I've never met a Christian. Never been to church. Well, what do you do? Well, I just kind of sit down with Muslims, argue with them, and tell them why they're wrong.
[20:25] Kind of weird. I memorize their scripture. I tell them why they're wrong. So we asked him, so Simo, do you ever tell them who Jesus Christ is and the love of God? You ever talk about that? You know what his answer was? No.
[20:36] No. Why is that? Simo, well, it's because if I just prove to them that they're wrong, they're going to figure it out. They're going to figure out who Jesus is. Is that the way to do it? Is that what we are called to do? No, because there's a big difference between focusing on lies and focusing on Christ.
[20:50] And what we need to do is ask that most important question. Why do we need to ask this most important question that Jesus is here? He's revealing it to them because why? The answer. What is the answer that he gives us in verse 16? And Simon Peter answered and said, what?
[21:02] Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And this is our hope. This is what we hope people will be able to answer. This is why we ask the question. This is why we speak to them about Jesus Christ. It's because we want them to say, Jesus, you are the Christ.
[21:15] You are the Son of the living God. There is no other way for salvation. Because you know what a Muslim will tell you? They'll say, Jesus is great. He came to show us the way. But did Jesus Christ come to show us the way alone?
[21:27] Did he just come to show us the way? Did he come to show us the way? Or he says, I am the truth and the life. There's no way unto the Father except through Jesus Christ. So we need to ask this most important question.
[21:38] Because with our family, with our friends, with our neighbors, we can ask a lot of questions, right? This is good. Evangelism. We want to talk to people, ask questions. How's the weather? What do you like to do?
[21:50] And all that. But the most important question that we need to get to is, who is Jesus Christ to you? And we need to tell them the gospel. So I want to encourage you to do that wherever you are here on the mission field.
[22:00] And the third thing, if you look down in verse 17, not only does he talk about the public opinion, the personal question, but also the possible success in verse 17. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed unto thee, but who?
[22:16] My Father, which is in heaven. Now, so it's God. God that gives the increase. God that gives the growth. We can, we can, growth, growth. God that gives the growth. So we can sow.
[22:26] We can get out tracts, Mableton, everything around here. We can, we can do all of this in water and all of this. But where does the growth come from? The increase comes from the Lord. And Jesus Christ is affirming that and says, You're blessed, Simon, for it's not from flesh and blood, but it's my Father, which is in heaven.
[22:41] And so while you're serving here, Jesus is revealing to Peter and to his disciples, the King himself. But when we go out and you guys are, I love, I love you guys. I love you because you guys, number one, we're brothers and sisters in Christ, but you guys have such a heart for getting the gospel out to your friends and your relatives.
[22:58] And so I want to encourage you to do that when you're serving here with pastor. Everything that you do, do it for the Lord and realize that it's in his strength and be encouraged to know that it's the Lord that really does the hearts and the works of people. And so I want to encourage you with that to ask the most important question for yourself if you haven't accepted Christ today.
[23:13] Accept Christ as your Lord and Savior. And if any chance, any opportunity that you can get, ask the most important question. Who is Jesus Christ to you? In North Africa, there are nearly 120 million Muslims without the Bible, without churches, and without the gospel.
[23:27] Would you consider praying for me and with me for the nearly 120 million souls in North Africa? Brendan was born and raised in Hawaii. He is a Japanese Chinese descent.
[23:39] And he called a church. Oh, you got to get that microphone. That's why I'm taking this time. So you got to get moving there, buddy. He called somebody. Not to me.
[23:49] I don't need the mic. Man, he's from Hawaii. He don't know where he's going. Go take it to Patrick Henry. Patrick, you better wave your hand. He doesn't know you signed a declaration. But he called the pastor.
[24:03] And the pastor said, look, buddy, we don't support foreigners. We only support nationals, American nationals. And so Brendan said, sir, I'm a Hawaiian.
[24:14] I'm from the state of Hawaii. And the pastor said, yeah, I don't care what you got to say there. So anyway, I love this guy. Aaron Bayshore has invested many hours in him.
[24:25] We do not support him yet, but I hope you'll pray very much that God will raise the money and you'll be able to take him on as a missionary and help him get to Morocco.
[24:38] And also pray that between now and then, God shows him a wife. Everybody can say amen. Say amen right there. There has to be a girl somewhere that's blind.
[24:50] If you're ready, come on. And so if you can, we can get one maybe to help Brendan. This is Patrick Henry. I'm excited about Patrick Henry because I always liked that name.
[25:01] He's always one of my heroes. And I finally met him. I once preached for D.L. Moody. And that is the honest truth. I preached for D.L. Moody, not the original, but the copycat down in Atlanta.
[25:12] His name was D.L. Moody. But Patrick Henry is going to be starting a church in Atlanta. And I'm excited about that, excited about his church. He's out of Victory Baptist Church. And so you listen as Brother Patrick presents his burden.
[25:26] Thank you, Pastor, very much. My name is Patrick Henry. Like he said, I get things all the time wherever I go about that. Most of the time I hear all kind of things. It's amazing what people say.
[25:36] Of course, Patrick Henry said, give me liberty or give me death, right? Most of the time I hear, that's the guy that says the British are coming. And I used to correct him. I've heard this since I was a child.
[25:48] I used to correct people and say, no, no, no, no. I don't anymore. I say, very good, sir. That's wonderful. Yes, sir. But the worst I've ever heard is one time someone said, isn't that one of the guys on Stone Mountain?
[26:03] And that one I had to say, no. Not even the right war, sir. You're not even close. My name is Patrick and I'm out of the Victory Baptist Church in Loganville, Georgia. Take your Bibles and turn to Hebrews chapter 1.
[26:14] And I want to say just a few things quickly. I want to share my burden and talk to you about the field we're going to. Hebrews chapter 1. Verse 4.
[26:32] Verse 4.
[26:48] The book of Hebrews is what you'll hear most of the time. The theme of the book is that Jesus is better.
[27:01] Right? When I was down last year in Santiago and I was trying to lose a little bit of weight and I started looking at different foods and different things you can eat that are good for you, I found out that there's a whole list of superfoods.
[27:13] You ever heard of that? Superfoods? Anybody? One of the superfoods that seems to be on every list is blueberries. Blueberries are excellent for you. They have things called antioxidants in them and that stops cancer causing, cancer fighting agents.
[27:27] It's really good for you. But here's the deal about blueberries. If all you ever did is eat blueberries, your diet would be deficient. Blueberries are better than steak for you.
[27:38] Blueberries are better than milk for you. But blueberries in and of themselves, they're just not good enough. You will hurt. The theme of Hebrews is not that Jesus is just better.
[27:50] It's that Jesus is enough. Jesus is sufficient in and of Himself. These Jews want to say, yes, I want Jesus, but I want to hold on to the truth of the Old Testament.
[28:01] But the writer says, no. Jesus isn't just better than Moses. He's enough. And that's the message that we're supposed to carry. It's not that Jesus is better than Buddha. Jesus is enough.
[28:13] It's not that Jesus is better than growing and gaining things and possessions in our lives. It's that Jesus is enough. And that's the message we want to take to the people that we're trying to reach.
[28:26] We're planting a church in the inner city of Atlanta. It's estimated in 2014, that's just three months from now, there will be over 951,000 people living inside the perimeter of Atlanta.
[28:38] In 1970, there were over 170 Baptist churches that preached the gospel in Atlanta. What happened was, if you're not familiar, if I can be blunt and honest with you, the demographics started to change, and when that happened, people moved out.
[28:55] Churches had a choice. They could either reach the people that they were now around, or they could move out. The vast majority of them moved out. And those that have stayed, almost every one of them have compromised their doctrine.
[29:09] The fastest growing religion in Atlanta is not Christianity, it's Islam. It's Islam. I'm not talking about Morocco. I'm not talking about somewhere around the world where Islam is.
[29:20] I'm talking about 30 minutes down the road. The fastest growing religion is Islam. Islam. The other Sunday, my wife wanted a coffee, and when your wife wants a coffee, a good husband's going to go get her a coffee.
[29:32] We went down to Decatur. We live in Avondale, inside the perimeter. And I went down there to get a coffee, and they had the Decatur Book Festival, and I dropped her off and said, you go get your coffee.
[29:43] And I'll wait in the car, like a good husband. And so she went and got a coffee, and they had a big booth there, the Muslims did, and they were handing out free Korans. She started taking pictures and texting me.
[29:55] It was an incredible thing. There it is right there. There's the picture right there. What was going on, she said, though, that was so amazing, is that people were in line so far that she couldn't even get in there, and it was white Americans.
[30:08] They're doing a good job. They're reaching people we're not. And that's why we're called to go here. That's why we believe God is leading us, because no one else in the area we're trying to reach that we can find is there preaching the Bible.
[30:22] There we were trying to reach. If you've ever been to the varsity, would you raise your hand? As you can tell, I may have been there a few times too many. If you go two miles east or so, there's a neighborhood called Little Five Points.
[30:33] Are you familiar with that? Great little area. There's not one Bible-preaching church in the whole area. Not one. Now, wait a minute. There's a Baptist church. It's called the Druid Hills Baptist Church.
[30:43] Druid Hills Baptist Church, back in the 1900s, preached the gospel. I believe that. Back in the early 1900s, I believe that. We went there the other day. They were kicked out of the Southern Baptist Convention.
[30:55] It's pastored by a lady now. And now they celebrate the different sexual orientations of all people. It's not enough that it's okay. We celebrate it.
[31:05] We went there. The woman preached. It's a beautiful building. I want their building. I want God to take her out of the building and give it to me because I would be a better steward.
[31:17] I'd preach the gospel. But she's there, and that's what's going on. They had the Lord's Supper. And for sake of little ears, a woman with a partner.
[31:28] Are you familiar with what I'm trying to say here? It was serving the Lord's Supper. That's what's going on. Let me put it a step further. They had a Buddhist monk come and teach for them on a Sunday morning. So if someone came to Alpharetta and came to this church and heard the preaching and heard the music and got excited and everything was going well, and then God moves them to Atlanta, they say, well, you've got Vision Baptist Church.
[31:50] You've got Druid Hills Baptist Church. It's the same thing. That's the only option we can find. If you go back at my desk there, at my display there, we have an article from the AJC.
[32:01] It's about a pastor in Decatur, and it's called An Agent of Change. They were making him a hero as one who walked in the gay pride festivals for all those.
[32:12] He said that Jesus' table is much wider than we ever imagined. And he allows same-sex marriages. He actually performed a same-sex marriage not too long ago.
[32:24] You can find that in the article as well. Right here! Sure! And that's what's going on in our city. There is no gospel being preached in the area we're trying to reach. Now, there were four Baptist churches that we could find inside the perimeter.
[32:37] Four. One just closed its doors three weeks ago. Now there are three that we know of that we can find. I've talked to all three pastors, and the three pastors talked to the fourth one as well. They didn't know of any other churches anywhere either that were preaching the gospel, independent Baptist churches.
[32:51] churches, that's what's going on in our city. A city where everything, everything is okay. Nothing is preached against except the truth. Except the truth. I'm going to ask you to pray for me.
[33:03] We're excited about what God has for us. It's a mission field. It's a mission field. It's an area that's been neglected. What happened? We live down there. We live in Avondale.
[33:13] Well, it's the city with the largest population of homosexuals per capita of any city in the state. And believe you me, buddy, I see it.
[33:24] I shouldn't have to explain to my four-year-old daughter why those two women are holding hands over there. I shouldn't have to explain to my daughter why that guy looks like a girl, but he's obviously a guy.
[33:35] But I do. I do. Every church we've been into, except for one or two, I hear the same thing. Why are you going over there? Why are you doing that? You're wasting your time. Nothing's going to come of this.
[33:47] This is not worth it. One pastor even said it's cursed. It's cursed of God. Why are you doing this? And the answer I give every time is the answer I'm going to tell you because no one else is.
[33:57] No one else is getting the gospel to our city, to our Jerusalem. I believe God wants to make Himself known there. Amen? I believe that He wants His name praised by the people there.
[34:08] I ask you to please pray for us. I thank you for listening. We want to do everything we can to make sure that Jesus is not just known as better. I want everybody to know that we can find that Jesus is enough.
[34:21] Jesus is enough. We live in a townhouse complex. In our townhouse complex, we have two separate homosexual men that are not together. Two Jewish families. Two Catholic families.
[34:35] Two Jewish families. Two Catholic families. A Hindu family. We have a whole group of people in our complex. It's in our complex. I was talking to somebody before and they said, you could just put coexist right in front of your complex.
[34:48] It'd be good. And that's what's going on. And you say, what is that? I tell you what I think it is. I think it sounds like a good start of a church. You be praying for us. Thank you so much. Thank you, Pastor. Well, tonight we have the privilege of having with us Brother John O'Malley.
[35:01] He is the director of a mission board, Worldwide New Testament. Right, Brother? Yes, sir. Worldwide New Testament missions. And I'm excited about him. It took two years to get him here.
[35:12] And I'm, because he's so booked up and excited to have him. He's going to speak every night. You're going to enjoy this. Open your Bibles and follow along. Thanks, Pastor. Take your Bibles. Turn with me to Matthew chapter number four.
[35:23] It is my delight to be here. I've looked forward to coming. I'm grateful to be with you, these missionaries who have gathered as well. Matthew chapter number four. I'll ask you if you're physically able to stand with me for the respect of the public reading of the word of God in Matthew chapter four.
[35:38] I'm going to begin reading in verse number 12. Matthew chapter four, verse number 12. Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee.
[35:52] And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Naphtalem, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, The land of Zabulon, the land of Naphtalem, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.
[36:12] It's critical you understand that this placement of where Christ is going to be has direct relationship to what's going to happen next. By placing him there, one, it fulfills prophecy that Isaiah said.
[36:25] Two, it puts him in the place where he is going to enlist a group of men who would be part of his team. So this mobilization of God, of his son, Jesus Christ, puts him in the place where he's obeying prophecy, puts him also in the place where he's going to select some men.
[36:41] Men that would turn the world upside down. Men that would change the world. Which gives us great hope for in a place like this tonight, we can look around and say, in this very midst are a team of people who could go out and change the world.
[36:54] There are people here who could affect change for eternity. We are in the business of changing people's eternal address from hell to heaven. We are in the business of seeing lives change.
[37:06] It's God's business. And we're in that kind of work tonight. Notice as we follow along the message, verse 16. The people which sat in darkness saw great light.
[37:16] To them which sat in the region, a shadow of death light is sprung up. From that time, Jesus began to preach and to say, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
[37:27] And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon, called Peter and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers.
[37:38] And he saith unto them, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets and followed him. And going on from thence, he saw two other brethren, James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, in a ship with Zebedee, their father, mending their nets.
[37:54] And he called them. And they immediately left the ship and their father and followed him. Dear Father, I pray tonight that you'll fill me with your Holy Spirit. Thank you for this church. Thank you for the great work that is being done here.
[38:06] Father, help us tonight as we start this missions conference. May our hearts not just listen to preaching, but may we hear from you tonight. Spirit of God, I pray you'll fill both preacher and people.
[38:19] And you'll see done what you want done in our hearts and lives tonight, I pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you. You may be seated. What a moment it must have been. All of eternity had yearned for this moment.
[38:33] Christ begins his earthly ministry, leaving the aspect of temptation through which he went. And now he makes and his ministry is beginning to mobilize.
[38:43] And as he's coming along this way, he's headed out. While these fellows may have been fishing all night, and while these fellows may have been engaged in a day-to-day ordinary experience, I'm going to tell you, this is how God does things.
[38:57] One day he just shows up on what you would call an ordinary day. But it's part of his divine plan. And as it is part of his divine plan, God shows up. And we can't put God into a pattern by any means.
[39:10] But when God moves, you know this, there will always be a divine interruption. Where something occurs and God pushes pause on the pause button on your life and gets you to stop and see.
[39:24] Notice how he comes along. He's just walking along that seashore. And they're fishing. It's what they do every day. They're fishers. And one day he walks up and interrupts their lives.
[39:35] The second thing you'll see God do is he'll invite you. He'll express his intention. He'll show you what he wants to do with your life. These were just ordinary guys.
[39:45] You two fellas come help me right here. Blue shirt, blue shirt. Come. What's your name? What is it? Titus and your Philemon? No, what's your name? Santiago? Santiago? So you're now Peter and you're Andrew.
[39:59] Peter, Andrew, Peter, Andrew. Got it? Who are you? Peter. And you're? Santiago. No, you're Ant. Fish. Men nets. No. Fish.
[40:10] With nets. Men net. Please go sit down. You're an embarrassment to all fishers everywhere. What is your name? No, it isn't.
[40:20] Daniel Bennett? I knew that. And your name? Paul. Come. Are you guys Union fishermen? Like the last group? Cast nets.
[40:32] You see? This is what we're looking for. Try to do this in sync. It looks like you're fighting each other. That's what they're doing.
[40:44] God's going to change their life that day. All they did was they went to work. You're the biggest slackers. I turned and they stopped. Is that right? Lazy?
[40:56] God's going to stop their day. He'll interrupt them. And He'll say to them these words. God doesn't call the lazy boys. Follow me.
[41:07] And I will make you fishers of men. Now wait a minute. They're dragging in fish. They're mending nets. They're doing what they know to do. But just like God would do.
[41:20] You see? I know your Father. And I'm going to call your Father. And I'm going to tell Him exactly how unreliable you have become. Go be seated.
[41:33] You look... Never mind. Daniel and Paul, thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you. That's what God does. He just shows up on what seems like an ordinary day and says, I want you.
[41:46] Now the words that He used, follow me. It wasn't one of these things where He came up to them. But rather, He stood where He was. And His beckoning to them was for them to get behind Him.
[42:00] And walked where He walked. And go where He was going. And see what He was doing. This phrase, follow me. And I will make you a fisher of men.
[42:10] It's an open-ended invitation. Where mankind has an opportunity to go with God to see what God was going to do. Do you know what missions conference is?
[42:21] It's a follow me moment. It's a moment where God shows up at your church and says, Hey, there's something I've got for you to do. You say, well, I'm never one of those who... I couldn't go to the foreign city of Five Points.
[42:34] And that was a joke. Five Points is just over here. I could never go there. I couldn't go over here and do that. There is something God has for you.
[42:46] You have not been saved to be idle. You have been saved for some specific task. And there will be that moment in your life where you get to the place where you hear God say, This is what He wants me to do.
[42:59] I'll just start serving God faithfully. I said in jest earlier, but I do mean it sincerely. God does not call the lazy. He calls those who are earnest workers.
[43:11] God knows we have enough lazy people in the ministry today. What we need are folks who will absolutely work for our God. I look at this passage of Scripture. I see three things that are crystal clear to me.
[43:22] Number one, I see when He says these words, Follow me. Follow me was His plea. And giving them an opportunity to walk with Him.
[43:33] Oh, there is something sweet. When you get to walk with someone that you love. And when someone loves you. And you take that walk with them. And He or He was saying to them, Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.
[43:45] He was beckoning them. Would you just walk with me? Hey, little fellow right here. Come help me. What's your name? J.L.? Jerry L. I am John O'Malley. Good to meet you. How old are you?
[43:57] Are you married? No. Okay, alright. Just checking. No, I am going this way. You come with me. Do you have any? Just stand right here. No one has ever died in the illustration as far as I know. Do you ever have anybody pick on you?
[44:10] Yeah? Are they in this room? No. Remind them whenever they do. That you have a very large friend. And your interest is my interest. And I want to protect you. But you know, let's say you have two bullies here.
[44:23] Give me grimace. Look. You look the other way. You told me this was a good opportunity to come and preach. You didn't tell me the rough crowd I had to work with. So let's say these guys are the bad guys.
[44:35] You see those mean looks? There's something special. You know, your look doesn't change at all. There's something special when you realize that you're walking with someone who is bigger, more powerful, and has your best interest at heart.
[44:50] And he said to them, look, you may not know what's at the end of this road. While I am God and I know what's at the end of this road. You're alright, man. While I'm God and I know what's at the end of this road.
[45:04] You stick with me. Follow me. And I'll do things with you like you'll never believe. They would never get to see what God would do with dead raising and blind being made to see.
[45:17] They would never feel what it would be like to watch thousands fed with just loaves of bread and fishes. They would never get to experience seeing Lazarus called from the grave.
[45:29] They would never, ever get to see anything. If they stayed back in the boat. Work with me, not against me. Go and sit down. The idea is this. You're sitting here tonight and you're wondering, what could God do with me?
[45:44] Obey His call when He says, follow me. When listen to what He is saying. There's that moment of divine interruption where He comes in your life and He says, there's something I've got for you.
[45:54] You can either stay back here with stinky fish or you can walk with me and I'll show you great and mighty things. Follow me was a plea. It was an opportunity for them to walk with God.
[46:07] Number two. Notice what He says. Follow me and I will make you. Follow me was an opportunity for them to watch God. My wife, Kim, who will be here this weekend, she knows I love to cook.
[46:22] And so for Christmas, she gave me a gift. And that gift was to go and work with a White House, a former White House chef who gave good cooking classes.
[46:33] And I got to stand in his kitchen and work as far away as I am from you to him across a table. He would talk. I would cut. We would do these things.
[46:44] I watched Him work. Then He watched me work after He taught me. When Christ said, follow me, I will make you.
[46:57] I went into that chef's class and I just simply loved to cook. But I learned tips and things from Him just by watching Him work. And this is what God is saying to Vision Baptist Church.
[47:10] If you'll follow me, I'll take your rough, raw skills and I'll bring out of you what you don't even know is in you. And I can develop you and make you into something great.
[47:22] That's the benefit of following. If you don't follow, you'll never know those things. Following God is an opportunity to walk with Him. Following God is an opportunity to watch Him work.
[47:34] Brother Gardner, I watched that chef. I mean, the knife was just an extension of His hand. And it seems like the vegetables just fell apart as He sliced. And everything He touched was just amazing.
[47:45] And I sat there and I realized, this is what God wants us to do. This is our opportunity. God says, I want you to give, but I want you to go. And I want you to speak over here.
[47:55] And I want you to do with this one. And you say, I don't know that I could ever do it. He's walking with you. He's going to bring out of you what you didn't even know was in you. The word is the idea of the element of a tree is within a seed.
[48:12] God said, I'll bring that out of you. You might see yourself as just a little acorn, but I'm going to tell you something. There's a mighty oak in you that God can bring out. It only comes to those who follow, number three.
[48:24] Follow me is an opportunity to walk with God. It's an opportunity to watch God. But number three, notice what He said. Follow me, I will make you.
[48:35] What does it say next? Fishers of men. Follow me is an opportunity to work with God. I get the opportunity to walk with Him, to watch Him, and then Him turn over that work.
[48:50] Those fellows knew what fishing for fish was. But now they're going to learn something else. They're going to learn what fishing for men is. And God was going to take them and bring that out of them.
[49:01] Let me ask you a question. This year, this conference, this night, what is it that God's doing in your heart? If He says to you, give this, will you do it?
[49:12] If He says, go here, will you go? If He says to you, do this, will you do it? Say, Brother O'Malley, I'm kind of scared. I don't know exactly what will come out of it. I would far rather be scared and be with God than to have stayed back with some smelly fish and some lazy workers.
[49:30] Lazy workers, look this way. Yeah, exactly you. And miss what God had for me. Don't let the joy and beauty of missions be lost for just a few, to just a few.
[49:46] Say, I want in on that. I want in on whatever God is going to do. Missions, follow me. It's an opportunity to walk with God, to watch God, and to work with God.
[49:59] Your Father, I thank You for these moments we've spent together tonight. And I pray, dear Lord, that You will speak to hearts. Oh God, to realize that in this very room, the guys I kidded with and the young man who helped me, these could be the greatest missionaries this world has ever known, the greatest givers that have ever come.
[50:18] Oh God, I pray that there will be a church filled with people who will say, follow me. Yes, I will follow You, God, because it's my opportunity to watch You, to walk with You, and to work with You.
[50:31] 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.