Missions Conference: Witness 3

[0:00] You will be listening to the recording of our 2012 Witness Missions Conference.

[0:14] Amen. What a blessing. And the next time we have a bad day, boy, we should all remember that. Amen. What a blessing. We should serve Him in the good times and the bad times and all other because God is always good in every moment.

[0:27] But we are Jeff and Mindy Bush and our goal, our desire, our ministry is right here in Vision Baptist Church. We're working as director of Vision Baptist Missions. God has been very good to us.

[0:38] We are very thankful to be part of this church and part of this ministry. My children, my three oldest daughters were so pumped up about tonight. They came in their Argentine outfits and they put everything on. They were excited.

[0:52] One of my daughters, she had her Spanish Bible in there and she had her little purse that says Argentina. And she was all pumped up. And somebody walked by and said, are you all little gypsies?

[1:04] And praise the Lord, my daughters have no idea what gypsies are. Because I would have had to co-cock one of you all, right? But man, they are enjoying it and having a good time. And we praise the Lord for that.

[1:15] Let me just say just a few things about Vision Baptist Missions. You know what's going on, but I want to share this with you. And maybe just a reminder to some of us here at the church family.

[1:26] Vision Baptist Missions is the mission organization, the mission board, right underneath here of the Vision Baptist Church. Our history goes like this. The church was started in 2006. It was organized.

[1:37] Three years later, in 2009, the first man was prepared, was ready to go out to the mission field. That first person was Mark Tolson. And in January 2009, he was commissioned by the church.

[1:48] He was sent out of Vision Baptist Missions, ready to go to China. And today, thank the Lord, he's serving there. And Lord willing, at the end of this year, he'll be returning back. And we're looking forward to that.

[1:59] And since that time, just three short years later, God has added. And we have 17 families serving with Vision Baptist Missions. We praise the Lord for all that God has done, all that God is doing in this time.

[2:11] And we are looking forward to some wonderful things. Allow me to share with you just a few of our goals here at Vision Baptist Missions. First, our goal would be to, as we travel, as we go forward, specifically my family and I, is to raise up a new generation of missionaries.

[2:26] The church has different areas. The summit, the Our Generation Summit, the camp, the one-day mini-summits. And the Our Generation Training Center will be the funnel where everything will go through to prepare them so that they can go through.

[2:39] And finally, they can apply to be a missionary with Vision Baptist Missions. Not only that, but we desire to be a big family, a host of missionaries on every continent, in every country.

[2:51] That's our goal, so that we can have a light in absolutely everywhere. And the Lord Jesus Christ will be magnified. Our desire as a mission board would be to provide material. To provide encouragement.

[3:03] To provide that proven counsel and help that our missionaries need when they leave for the field. So that they can look back and know they're not forgotten. And they can continue receiving that material and the things that they need.

[3:15] And our last desire would be that any time anybody in any church hears the name Vision Baptist Missions, they realize it is a big family of missionaries who have a zeal and a knowledge to reach this world for the Lord Jesus Christ in our generation.

[3:31] But let me tell you as a church family, not only do we have these desires as a mission board, and not only are we desiring to go forward, and boy, the past has been wonderful, the future is even brighter. But let me tell you this, as a church family, you as a church family are the backbone of Vision Baptist Missions.

[3:48] You see, Vision Baptist Missions wouldn't be around if it wasn't without you. And as we go into the different churches, and as our missionaries on Sunday, tomorrow, the Lord's Day, as our missionaries are all over on deputation and in their churches on the field, churches and missionaries and people, lost people, will be hearing what God is doing, reflecting back, not just of a mission board, but reflecting back of what God is doing in the Vision Baptist Church.

[4:13] And just as Paul wrote that letter and he said, boy, I'm going to use the people of Macedonia as a wonderful example. You know, that's who you and I are in the Vision Baptist Church. And so I encourage you this week, as we hear from the missionaries, as we get ready to give tomorrow, we'll begin to pray about it.

[4:29] Begin to say, God, you have been so wonderful to allow us to be an example to the other parts of the world. And let's give, and let's pray, and let's go forward, and let's see God work. And this year, from right now, from this Sunday to the coming up year, in our missions program here at Vision Baptist Church.

[4:45] Preacher. Well, amen, and as always, it's good to be here and good to see everybody. Acts chapter number 10. Acts chapter number 10 tonight.

[4:55] And we're going to talk just for a few minutes about a man named Cornelius. And I'll just kind of tell the story real quick for the sake of time. But the Bible starts off here in chapter 10, verse 1, talking about the man of Cornelius. In verse 2, it even says that he was a devout man and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people and prayed to God always, or prayed to God basically every day.

[5:13] And the story goes on to say that he has this vision. And the angel of the Lord comes to Cornelius and says, listen, you need, because of your prayers and because of your alms and because of all you've done, you need to go down and search out a man named Simon Peter.

[5:25] And so he does that. And while Cornelius sends these guys to go to Simon Peter's house, at the same time, Simon Peter has this dreamer, has this vision. And God lets down this big sheet and all these animals come down and he says, arise, kill and eat.

[5:37] And Peter has this problem. He says, no, God, I can't do that. Those are unclean animals. Those are unclean beasts. And I'm a Jew and I follow all these rules. And finally he convinces him, no, this is right for you to do.

[5:48] And the Bible even says while he's doubting or while he's pondering all these things, these men come up to his house and knock on the door. So he goes down and asks why they're there. And the messengers tell them. And he lodges them there that night.

[5:58] And then they go off to Cornelius' house. And as they go into Cornelius' house, Cornelius begins to worship Peter. And Peter there in verse 26 says, but Peter took him up saying, stand up, I am a man.

[6:09] I'm also am a man. And then look at verse 28. He says, and he said unto them, you know, that is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company or come up into one another nation.

[6:22] But God hath showed me that I should not call any man common or unclean. And then Cornelius there in verse 30 tells how he had a vision and how four days ago these things happened. And he begins to talk about all the things and how he was told to send him or send for Peter.

[6:36] And then verse 33 says this. Immediately, therefore, I sent to thee. This is Cornelius talking to Peter. And thou hast done well. Or excuse me. And thou hast well done that thou art come.

[6:47] Now, therefore, are we all here present before God to hear all things that are commanded thee of God. I also share a thought with you tonight and wonder how many people in Columbia, South America right now are waiting on someone to get there.

[6:59] And they're praying. And they may even like the people over there in Acts on Mars Hill. They may even pray to an unknown God. They may not know who they're praying to. They may not know all the things that they should be doing.

[7:09] Just like Cornelius. The Bible says he was a faithful man. The Bible says he was a devout man. The Bible says he's prayed always to God. You may say, well, Wayne, if they've never heard the message, if they don't know Jesus Christ, if they haven't had a preacher, how do they know who to pray to?

[7:22] And I agree with you. And I don't know exactly maybe who he was praying to, if he was praying to Yahweh, if he was praying to the same God, the Jews, or if he was praying to one of his gods. But he was a very, very religious man. And even religion teaches us that people want to generally do right.

[7:36] Although we're all sinners, although we're all born in sin, generally there's something. I don't think if we took a poll of any group of people, no matter how backwards they are, no matter if they're in Africa, no matter if they're in the other most part of the world, as the Bible says, if we went to their nation and learned their language and learned their culture, and we stood up and said, how many of you people want to perish in hell?

[7:54] How many of you people want to follow a lie? How many of you in Egypt want to be duped by the wrong religion? I don't think very, very many people stand up and say, here, mark me on that list.

[8:04] I want to follow blindly into a pit of hell. I want to follow blindly some false religions. So everybody generally wants to do what's right, and everybody generally wants to know what the truth is.

[8:14] So this man, Cornelius, he's in that situation. And so he's praying. He's praying to God. I don't know what he's praying. Send somebody. Lord, help me find the truth. I really don't know. But he's praying every day. And so God gives him this vision.

[8:26] He says, listen, go find Peter. He's the one that has the message for you. And Peter comes down. But Peter has a problem with it, does he not? The first thing I want us to realize tonight is this. Is God is always preparing you for whatever he has for you.

[8:38] God is always preparing you. You know, Peter in his life as a fisherman, and all the things he went through in all of our life, you may say, God cannot use me because of my past. Oh, no, Christian, I want to tell you, God can use you because of your past.

[8:50] All those things, all those things that we want for the job, people. Oh, man, I wish no one knew my past. And I wish I could forget all those things. It's those very things that God will use. It's those very things. You know, Peter, if you study the Scriptures, he had a temper.

[9:02] He was a loud mouth. A lot of times he spoke, and then he thought. But yet God can use that for his honor and his glory. So Jesus Christ, Christian, has prepared you all the way to heaven right now, and he'll continue to prepare you for whatever task he has for you.

[9:16] But not only that, also look at the prejudice that he had to overcome. He had a dream. Part of the preparation was a dream. And God was telling him in the vision, listen, Peter, you can go and talk to these Gentiles. I know as a Jew you're not supposed to.

[9:26] And that's one of the things he said when he got there. He even told Cornelius, he said, listen, as a Jew, I'm not even supposed to talk to you. And I want to deny what prejudice do we need to overcome for missions. You know, a lot of times that's what's wrong with missions.

[9:39] That's what's even wrong with some missionaries that get to the field, and there's this prejudice of we're because we're American, we're white, we're all these things. We're better than the national. Or we're not even going to leave the American soil. Why? Because I'm prejudiced, and I don't want to lower myself to that.

[9:51] Or maybe here in Alpharetta, Georgia, it's not that. And, hey, we brag, we have an international church. And, hey, come look at all the people from all over the world. Be it we ourselves because we're better than someone else. And we won't turn this of our money.

[10:03] And we're prejudiced because, you know, let the ignorant guys go preach. And we'll pay the bills. Let the unlearned people go do God's work. But I'm too big and I'm too important.

[10:14] I'm better than all that. What prejudice do we need to overcome tonight to get the gospel to the world? But not only that, the most important thing, it's kind of elementary, but listen, it's to preach the gospel.

[10:25] It's to preach the word. He says this, Immediately, therefore, I sent to thee, and thou hast well done that thou art come. All may not listen to us. All may not say, we're glad you're here.

[10:35] But some of them may be able to say, I'm glad you got here. And I'm glad you brought the Bible. It says, I'm glad you're here. You've done well that you came. He says, now, therefore, are we all here present before God to hear all things that are commanded thee of God.

[10:50] It's the preaching of the word of God. And I have a question. I know it's been asked here many, many times. It's asked out of the Bible in Romans. How shall they hear without a preacher?

[11:01] How shall they hear? Young guys, God's preparing you. You may not see it. Others may see it. Others may not even see it. They may say, there's no way God can use him.

[11:12] There's no way God can use her. Hey, Wayne Cook. There's no way God can use Wayne Cook. But I know this, that even when I don't see it, but the letter of God has been preparing me the whole way. So realize we're being prepared.

[11:24] Number two, what prejudice, no matter if it's personal, no matter if it's socioeconomic or whatever, do we need to overcome? And then realize it's very simple. We need to go preach the word of God to all nations.

[11:34] Amen. 1 Timothy 1, verse 15. I've titled the message this evening, Pardoned by the King.

[11:46] 1 Timothy 1, verse 15. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.

[11:57] Paul was saying here that he was the very worst of sinners. But God still saved him. Paul said that he was so far from God that he never could have done anything at all of any worth for God whatsoever.

[12:09] But God still saved him. Paul said before he was a blasphemer, a persecutor, and injurious. That word injurious means he used the majority of his time to intentionally strike out at God Almighty himself.

[12:23] But God still saved him. Acts 9, verses 1-4 tells us that the account of Saul's testimony and how he was saved, and how he was yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and desired of him letters to Damascus, to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.

[12:43] And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus, and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven. And he fell to the earth and heard a voice saying, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? Can you picture this man Paul before his conversion?

[12:56] Can you imagine him coming into the service this evening and hauling off everyone who preaches the gospel, having a stone in the parking lot and then taking you off captive? That was this man before he was saved. Can you see this chief of sinners?

[13:11] Can you understand how God could save somebody like that? After Paul was saved, he gave this testimony of what had happened in 1 Timothy 1, verse 16. How be it for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.

[13:32] Paul knew he had been given something great. He knew that he had been pardoned by the king. Paul also knew something that we often forget. He was very aware that he had been pardoned for a reason, far greater than just his own comfort and salvation.

[13:46] Listen to his words again. How be it for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe.

[13:59] That's you and me. The grace of God turned this persecutor into a preacher, and this murderer into a missionary. Paul not only became a minister, but he also became an example. He is proof that the grace of God can save any sinner.

[14:13] So who are we to say that somebody is not ready for the gospel? That somebody can't receive the gospel because of their lost condition? As much as we admire Paul's story, the truth of it is we are all sinners.

[14:26] We've all come short of the glory of God. Therefore, is there really any rank? So what is Paul trying to say? What's he trying to tell Timothy? We all need a pardon from the king to be allowed into his kingdom.

[14:39] Aren't you glad the grace of God is able to cover all of your sin? Aren't you glad that the grace of God can reach down and save even the lowest of us? When we get saved, we become proof to those who don't believe.

[14:51] We are a living testament to God's saving power. The problem with a living sacrifice, though, is we like to crawl off the altar when the flames are turned up. But the fact of it is we should be the ones that are asking God to make things more difficult.

[15:03] We should be the ones that put ourselves on the line and ask God to use us in ways that we can't even understand. But the problem with a living sacrifice is that it has to be alive and it has to be mobile and it has to be ready for anything.

[15:20] Are you the living sacrifice that God has commanded you to be? We do this by living out our salvation the same way we've got it. The same way we received it. Do you remember that day? How we looked unto Christ and to Him alone?

[15:31] We trusted in Him and not our own works? Empty of self? Completely dependent upon Him? When was the last time you simply mentioned His name in public? When was the last time you gave praise to the great God of heaven for what He's done in your life?

[15:46] Are you unashamed to be numbered with the blood-bought children of the Almighty God? Or do you cower in fear? Worried about your reputation? Worried about what people will think? He promises to be with us as we go.

[15:59] We have nothing to fear. Matthew 10, 32 in fact says, Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.

[16:09] What a wonderful thing. That Jesus will take notice of us doing His work. So much so that things change in heaven. Isn't that what it says? I will confess Him also before my Father as He's confessing me.

[16:24] In case you might say, Well, that's just not enough proof. I just don't think personal one-on-one witnessing is my responsibility. Well, let's look at the first mention of the first church in the book of Acts. A church that was unashamed of their Savior.

[16:37] Found in Acts 2, verse 46. And by the way, every first mention in the Bible is of special significance. And this is the record that's given to us today to follow. And they continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread.

[16:52] I just want to stop there because I heard this verse a lot growing up. And often I would just picture the first church sitting around the temple talking and eating food and having a great time. Don't get me wrong, I love fried chicken, Brother Wayne.

[17:04] And I love cornbread and mashed potatoes. And I love getting along. And I love being able to get together with believers and talking about the Word of God. However, if we're not careful, we'll overlook the last part of that verse. Let's continue in verse 46.

[17:17] And they continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people.

[17:29] It is true that everyone was getting along. It's also true that the believers were meeting together and praising God. But there were many in the community that were being saved daily. Let's read verse 47.

[17:41] Praising God and having favor with all the people. I studied the Greek on this. And all the people, guess what it means? All the people. Even those outside the church.

[17:53] Especially those outside the church. The Christians still had lives. And I pictured them as being people that just came together into the house of God and just kind of camped out there. But they had been pardoned of their sin.

[18:05] And they, like the leper, had decided to turn from their endeavors and follow their Lord. Let's backing up to Acts chapter 2 verse 44. We read, And all that believed were together and had all things in common. And sold their possessions and goods and parted them to all men as every man had need.

[18:20] You might wonder, if this church is supposed to be a pattern then, am I supposed to sell everything like they did? Then, the command to specifically sell everything is never given.

[18:31] But the command is given found in Mark chapter 12 verse 30. Listen to the words of Christ. And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart. And with all thy soul.

[18:42] And with all thy mind. And with all thy strength. This is the first commandment. If there is anything in your life that's keeping you from serving God, then giving it up will only bring you joy.

[18:53] What distractions are keeping you from witnessing? Like God wants you to. Are there materialistic masters in your life that are holding you back? Are there things that you've set up in your life and made idols?

[19:05] Because an idol isn't just a golden statue. Maybe you're afraid if you become a witness, you might lose your job. You might lose a family member. You might lose your home.

[19:18] You might be called to a far away land. You might lose your reputation. You might lose that great American dream that you hold on to so tightly with clenched fists. Philippians 2 chapter 5 or chapter 2 verse 5 and 7 says, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.

[19:35] Verse 7, You may still say, Well, I still don't see. I see from the passage the importance of going to church. And I see the importance of praising God.

[19:46] But I just don't see how witnessing ties in. Just imagine with me, if you will, what it would be like if you took this message serious. And if you ask for prayer for your neighbors. If you ask for prayer for those who you know need the gospel.

[19:59] And then you went to them and you gave them the gospel. And then you've seen them get saved. Lo and behold, God's true to His word. And you actually see them accept Him. You get up the courage to go over. And they get saved.

[20:09] And then they come to church. And they decide they want to give testimony. And they want to say, I was lost before. And this man came over. And I had no hope. I was on the verge of death.

[20:20] And I had no direction. But I needed the gospel. He came over and presented it in such a way. And I felt God's presence. And I was saved. And praise God, I'm not the same person I was before. I have direction.

[20:31] I have purpose. And I know I'm loved. Do you think there would be a little bit of praising going on? And he gets called to preach. Then he surrenders to missions. By choosing to sell everything, the believers of the first church had more time on their hands.

[20:46] And they were only concerned with one thing. It's the singleness of heart spoken of. And that was praising God. One of the best ways we can praise God is by telling others what He's done for us. So let's praise God all the time.

[20:58] By the way, heaven is going to be filled with praise. We might as well get used to it. Amen. When we forsake our carnal distractions and wholly follow Him, it will cause people to marvel. Jesus cleansed ten lepers that day.

[21:11] How many turned and thanked the Lord? Does that mean the other nine were ungrateful? Only one showed his gratitude the right way. Do you think the other nine were unthankful that they could be with their families again?

[21:23] That they could be part of society once again? That they didn't have the constant threat of death at their back? I'm sure they were thankful. But Jesus said, it was the faith of that man that made him whole.

[21:37] It was God's good grace that made the other nine whole. If you would like to be like the nine and just continue on your merry way, God will let you.

[21:49] Using your pardon only for yourself. Will you be like that one and prove your faith by thanking the Lord with your actions, your words, and your life? Oh, you be like the nine and use your pardon for yourself.

[22:07] The final verse of 1 Timothy 1, verse 17 says, Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Notice that the attention was not on Paul.

[22:18] It was not on Timothy. Nor was it on the lost, or the church, or the great commission, or world evangelism. It was about him. Let's make it about him.

[22:29] Let's give him the praise he deserves. If you've been saved, you've been pardoned by the King. The question is, what are you doing with it? All right. How many of you have enjoyed the service so far? Say amen. All right.

[22:40] We're going to have two more missionaries, and they will be Brother Wes Gasway going to Egypt, and then Brother Travis Snow. You'll come up right after him, and I hope that you'll shake Brother Gasway's hand tonight.

[22:52] He will be traveling right after the service to another missions conference in the morning, and so will Brother Jonathan Marks be sure and shake their hand. I'm certainly glad to know that we are serving a victorious Lord and Savior.

[23:07] It's easy sometimes to feel like we're fighting for victory, when we've got to realize that we're fighting from victory. It's already been settled. The Lord Jesus Christ is victorious.

[23:18] And I'm excited to know that when I get depressed and I get discouraged about things that are going on, I can cling to Him. I'm so thankful to have been here during this time. I'll be honest with you.

[23:29] I feel like this church has prepared me and my wife much more than we've presented the field of Egypt. Coming here, I ask myself, what in the world can I say about missions or Egypt that many of you don't already know?

[23:40] And so with that in mind, I'd like you to turn back to Romans chapter 15 tonight. We're going to look at a quick thought. I don't think there's any missionary or anyone that studies evangelism in the New Testament that wouldn't agree that the Apostle Paul is certainly someone that would like to model our life after.

[24:03] And it's easy for us sometimes to get caught up in the miraculous when dealing with the Apostle Paul. I'd like to go back and think about the practical side of this Apostle.

[24:14] Because let's just face it, I don't think that I've ever met anybody that's got apostolic power. If a viper jumps up and bites me on the hand, I'm going to die probably. You say, oh no, Wes, they've got good antivenom.

[24:26] No, you don't understand. I'll have a heart attack and fall over dead. Antivenom probably ain't going to help me. So I try not to focus so much on the miraculous.

[24:37] And listen, it does excite me to read about things that happened while he was in jail and all the things that happened around the Apostle Paul and the many things that he saw. But the reality of it is that's not where most of us are going to live our lives.

[24:50] I'd like to think all the way back to when he was Saul of Tarsus. He was a man with power, with prestige, with persuasion, with possessions. And yet one moment in his life changed everything.

[25:06] We oftentimes look to the Damascus road at his time of conversion and what God was doing in his life as a shining example of becoming a new creature and old things being passed away.

[25:19] But can I tell you, there's a practical side to the Apostle Paul. And I think we can see that here in Romans chapter 15. Let's look now at verse 21. But as it is written, to whom he was not spoken of, they shall see.

[25:34] And they that have not heard shall understand for which cause also I have been much hindered from coming to you. Now here's the Apostle Paul and here's a man that was miraculously converted as one born out of due time.

[25:49] Here's someone that had saw the Lord Jesus Christ resurrected bodily. Yet in the Apostle Paul's life, he was coming to a moment, to a specific event where God again was changing his life.

[26:04] You see, he was no different than you or me. Ultimately, he was just a human being. God convicted him of a sin. God saved him from it by His grace. And God called him into the ministry just like many of you have been called.

[26:17] But I want you to notice something here that why he used something miraculous in the conversion of Paul. He used something very practical in the calling. of Paul. I meet people all over the country, many young people, sometimes older people that come up and they ask this question, why Egypt?

[26:35] How did you know that you were called to Egypt? And I want to tell them, me and my wife were having breakfast one morning and it was thundering and raining and all of a sudden lightning hit our front yard and it said Masar in the front yard.

[26:49] You know, the Arabic word for Egypt. But that's not how it happened. And today we're meeting people that are looking for something supernatural in answering the call of God.

[27:01] Can I say first of all, God's going to use your circumstances to affect your life. What do you mean by that? If young people, if you don't want to get married and you don't want to be a missionary, I probably wouldn't drink the water here.

[27:14] because there's a good chance somebody's trying to point you in both directions. Your circumstances are going to direct your life.

[27:25] And I'm thankful for places and people that are trying to train people. Trying, as Brother Stewart said, to develop a culture of missions, a culture of church.

[27:38] And how we've lost that today in our society. His circumstances. Can I say, the Holy Spirit will lead you. I'm proud as Baptists we teach soul liberty.

[27:51] We teach that every individual is a priest, believer, and has the ability to understand the will of God for their life. That we're able to come to the conclusion that I can be called to Egypt, He can be called to Colombia, you can be called to Japan, and you can be called to Fulton County.

[28:10] God is able to work with that in your life. But there's a third area that He uses and I think it today has become highly overlooked and that's the Scriptures.

[28:22] I believe personally that God's perfect Word given to us has all the answers of life that we need in it. You say, Wes, I haven't read about the formula for cold fusion within the Word of God.

[28:34] No, you're probably not going to find that, but if it's ever invented, I wouldn't doubt they wouldn't be inspired from the Word of God. It wouldn't surprise me a bit. But can I tell you there is a practical application to the Scriptures.

[28:46] God may have used the heavenly vision to convert Saul, but He called him with the Word of God. Why do you say that? Verse 21 says, But as written, to whom he was not spoken of, they shall see, and they had not heard shall understand.

[29:00] Where did He get that from? Turn in your Bible to Isaiah chapter 52. I want you to see this. We both know as a Pharisee, Paul was versed in what? The memorization of the Old Testament.

[29:12] But now, being a living being, being alive, being quickened by the Holy Spirit, Paul was able to see for the first time truth in his life. And so now, when he thought about Isaiah 52.15, So shall he sprinkle many nations, the king shall shut their mouths at him, for they which had not been told them they shall see, and they which they had not heard shall they consider.

[29:32] Paul was grabbing a hold of the Word of God to go out and fulfill a missionary call in his life. He wasn't looking to the miraculous. He was looking to the Word of God to sustain him in the dark, deep times.

[29:48] And for you and for I, that's where we're going to find comfort. Last night, we talked about having power of the Holy Spirit and we talked about the specific avenue of prayer. Can I also tell you that it's through the daily intake of the Word of God?

[30:02] And in that being said, flip back one more time to Isaiah chapter 19. Most of us, we live in the reality that out of sight is out of mind.

[30:13] How many of y'all have family that's very close to you yet you didn't talk to them this week? Or last week? Or the week before? Or the month before? So there's a good chance when me and my wife walk out tonight, many of y'all will not hear from us for some time.

[30:27] And a greater reality that you may not always remember to pray for us except when Egypt is burning to the ground on national television. So, and then you're like, oh yeah, we met somebody from there.

[30:39] Two couples. Praise the Lord. Let's pray for them. But, here's another practical way. Isaiah chapter 19. I'm going to ask you a couple of questions and then I'm going to jump all of this in Pastor Gardner's lap to explain later.

[30:52] And, and I think you'll enjoy it. Isaiah chapter 19 starting in verse 18. And that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan. What do they speak in the language?

[31:04] What is the language of Canaan, someone? What do they speak there? What does Israelite speak? Jewish people. Hebrew. Yeah, they speak Hebrew. And swear to the Lord, host, one shall be called the city of destructions.

[31:19] When has there been five cities in Egypt that spoke Hebrew? Can anybody tell me? There's never been a city in Egypt that spoke Hebrew by population.

[31:31] There was a place outside of a city one time where the Israelites dwelt, where they spoke it, but it was more like a territory given to them to raise sheep than it was a city. So if this verse has not been fulfilled, this would make this prophecy to what?

[31:44] To come. Now look down at verse 23. In that day there shall be a way out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians shall come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Syria and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians and that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria even a blessing in the midst of the land.

[32:03] Real quickly, he's talking about a geographical highway that will go from Egypt either through Israel or through Iran all the way through eastern Syria into southern Turkey.

[32:14] Can anybody tell me where that highway is today? It would be a straight shot if it wasn't for 14 walls and 16 landfills and several sets of tanks to get there.

[32:25] It doesn't exist. Now look at this because Egypt in many people's minds is a place of sin. Whom the Lord of hosts shall bless saying, Blessed be Egypt who? My people.

[32:37] And Assyria the work of my hands in Israel mine inheritance. There's a specific blessing in the Word of God concerning the people of Egypt. Now can I tell you that we're not claiming this during our ministry or even our lifetime I believe I know when this will be fulfilled.

[32:52] But can I tell you the work that's being done now will be honored in the future because the Word of God does not return what? Void. Every missionary going out to fill that's seeking to glorify God can rest assured that His will will be fulfilled.

[33:10] The problem is today with many of us is fear. We can't do like Paul did and let go of the persuasion the power the possessions and everything that surrounds it.

[33:22] Why? Because we're afraid. I was afraid for a long time. Afraid not knowing where the next paycheck was going to come from. But can I tell you that where fear does not reside courage will never have a chance to stand.

[33:35] God give us the grace to go to these people and tell them about the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[33:46] Appreciate that message. I just want to read a verse from Psalm 146. And you know whenever we go out to tell people about the Lord and to plant churches and even when you're trying to witness to your friends and family it can seem hard.

[34:02] And as I was preparing several years ago to go out as a missionary to Ireland I had heard a lot of negative things about the country. I'd heard a lot of people say it's a hard place and so I looked into God's word for encouragement and I read this verse one day and I wrote something that goes along with it in Psalm 146 verse 7 and the end of the verse says that the Lord looseth the prisoners and I want to read something tonight to try to help us think about the power of the Lord and the amazing thing that happens when someone gets freed from sin.

[34:43] I want you to imagine with me if you will a dungeon as we enter the castle where the dungeon is located we hear the large wooden gate shut solidly against its steel frame and the large lock clicked together with a loud thud around the corner is a set of winding stairs that we begin to descend as we round each corner it gets a little bit dimmer and blacker until the only light penetrating the darkness is the candle we hold finally we reach the floor far underground and we begin to invade the thick blackness as we proceed forward we are startled to see lights like eyes glaring back at us and we come upon a person there in the darkness this person is bound by heavy iron chains around each wrist and ankle and as we approach he cowers in the corner the heavy chains grate against the cold stone floor he's a wretched sight his clothes are disheveled his skin grimy his eyes look back at us with a helpless stare as if to declare the hopelessness of his condition the chains that bind him are connected by a large lock with an unusually shaped keyhole we set the candle down and rush to help him but as we yank and pull on the chains and lock we realize that all efforts to free him are futile with great sadness we pick up our candle and turn to leave but as we do we are startled to see down the adjoining tunnel there along each wall as far as the candle shines are more prisoners and with a horrible sinking feeling in our soul we proceed forward there are people of all ages races languages religions and nationalities there are men and women boys and girls teenagers and young adults widows elderly people and even children and each one is bound by something some are bound by chains or fetters some are locked in cages some are in stocks and bonds and others are in torturous positions others are handcuffed and so others are bound by ropes cords or shackles each bond is inscribed with a name things such as religion money alcohol good works pride greed fear ignorance immorality material possessions gambling selfishness church membership or baptism on their forehead the words condemned already are written occasionally a prisoner is carried away to a door called death and each person has an appointment when he must pass through that door to the waiting judgment and flames beyond some are knowledgeable of that appointment but most are ignorant of it strangely enough some are even enjoying their stay in this dungeon their cell walls are padded and very plush they have great liberty to go from one cell to the next but they can never leave the dungeon as time goes on they begin to get tired of being in the prison there are no new cells to explore and they begin to lose hope of ever being free they are brought into more severe bondage each day some begin to cry out for someone to come and set them free in answers to their cries all sorts of people try to attend to their needs but none have the key that sets them free these people assure them that they are on the right track and that they are already free but no amount of convincing and comforting can ultimately make them free no matter where they go that lock with the unusually shaped keyhole is binding them the sight of these pitiful creatures makes you glad that you have been set free from bondage you are so thankful for the one who came so long ago when you were bound by fetters and now you are free you can never be locked up again because the one who set you free has defeated the one who locked you up but as you begin to look more closely at their bonds you notice that each lock appears to have the same unusually shaped keyhole it's in the form of a cross it looks like yes it is the same keyhole on the lock that bound you so long ago

[38:44] and then you remember that all this time you have the key that can set each prisoner free it's the cross and with trembling voice and fumbling fingers you approach the first person you see and you tell him how he can be set free as you go to each one you ask them if they would like to be free some say yes others say later and many say no others do not understand or do not care and as you go from person to person you are amazed at the power of one key to open the lock of everyone who accepts the cross hundreds before have tried their key but there is only one key that fits the cross which represents the death the burial and the resurrection of Jesus Christ he is the one that sets you free and he is the one who has paid the price to release every prisoner he is the key he is the way to freedom not only does he set the prisoners free but he declares them to be justified no longer does the righteous judge see the crimes they have committed he only sees the perfect record of the only perfect man

[39:45] Jesus Christ you see the dungeon is not really a physical place it is however a spiritual place and millions upon millions of people are bound in a spiritual dungeon by spiritual bonds and the lock that binds them is sin there are many varying forms of bonds that are all sins and they have only one key Jesus who is the way the truth and the life nothing and no one else can ever set them free following their freedom from the dungeon many people go their own way and enjoy the wonderful blessings of being free but others cannot forget where they came from others cannot forget the love that set them free others cannot forget those still bound in sin others return to labor in the dungeon the thought of millions and billions groping in darkness trying to find their way out but sinking down in the mire all around them the thought of these lost souls ultimately being cast at a rate of 90 people a minute into the pit of fire and judgment that awaits all those who are condemned drives them to continue to labor to free them to make sure that each individual is offered freedom before he dies to the amazement of the onlookers the one who labors in the muck and mire delivering souls are the ones with great joy they sense their obligation their responsibility but more than that they understand the great love of the one who set them free and out of love want to serve him by laboring to free souls while they can but the corridors of imprisoned people reach on and on multitudes rush on to damnation before they can be freed won't you go help you see we have been set free won't we serve our redeemer out of love can't we see the bondage the world is in they need Jesus and the only Jesus they may ever see or know is the Jesus they see in us let's just have a word of prayer father in heaven we ask tonight that you would give us a vision of souls on their way to hell god I pray that we would get such a burden

[41:48] I pray god that you'd break our hearts and I pray god that you would stir us up to do all that we can to reach them with the gospel Jesus Christ in Jesus name we pray amen to carry the gospel and see people get saved how many of you have a desire to see people saved not go to hell say amen and I hope that will affect the way you'll give and everything else gentlemen if you'll get ready with the offering and first let's give out the faith promise card if you don't have one of the faith promise cards would you hold your hand up it's the card that says witness alright up here on the front Clifford doesn't have one anybody else doesn't have a card hold your hand up Philip doesn't have one so see if you can get those out real quickly and so you can be praying about what God would have you give let me remind you of some things about our faith promise offering very quickly up here on the front Clifford wanted one somebody first what is the first rule about our faith promise can anybody tell me what's the first rule Philip needs a card also guys what's the first rule about our faith promise there are no rules what's rule number two if anybody tells you there's a rule go back to rule number one say amen we give because we want to we give because we love

[42:58] Jesus we give because that's what's in our heart in second Corinthians chapter nine and verse seven the other night we saw this what kind of giver does the Lord Jesus love what is the God loves a what a cheerful giver God loves a cheerful giver we saw last night that the Bible says not as this they did not as we hoped but first gave their own selves to the Lord and undust by the will of God so people gave themselves the Lord it's not your money it's you that you ought to give to him now look at second Corinthians chapter eight and verse nine if you would I want to give you two verses tonight second Corinthians chapter eight verse nine for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich yet for your sakes he became poor that you through his poverty might be rich that is our example Jesus was rich we were poor Jesus had we didn't have Jesus gave that we could be saved it's all him giving to us now now you and I are rich everybody in this room is rich if you're a born again believer you are a rich person you are wealthy beyond imagination you have all of eternity secured by the grace of God God has blessed us not only financially but more than that he's blessed us spiritually he's blessed us in so many ways I hope you'll consider like the

[44:15] Lord that though you that that you'd have that same grace and give now here's your verse second Corinthians chapter eight verse twelve this is about your giving for if there be first a willing mind it is accepted to that a man half not according to the half not so if you got your Bible but how about underlining this as you give to missions over the next year here's the first thing in that verse a willing mind do you want to give do you have a heart that says man I want to get involved in God's work I want to help missionaries get around the world you know if you have a heart that wants to give it comes because the Holy Spirit gave it to you it's not our nature to be givers it's our nature to be takers our own nature our new nature we're givers and so he gives us a willing heart he gives us something that says man I'm a willing man I really want to be involved in what God's doing around the world and then I want you to look at the last part of that verse it says not according according to that man half not according to the half not you know what God understands fully where you are he knows how much money you have he knows if all you make is a five dollar a week allowance he knows that he knows if all you makes a 50 cent a week allowance he knows that he knows if you make a lot of money and here's what he says I want you to give from a willing mind I want you to give cheerfully I want you to give because you want to and I want you to realize it's according to what you have so don't anybody feel competition with anybody else there's no need for you to say well he can give a lot more than I give her she can give a lot more than I can give you just say this I want to please God so I hope you'll pray about what you'd give and you say God this is what you blessed me with I want to honor you I want to honor you first I want to honor you first with what we give to take care of our local church here and then I want to honor you God to get the gospel message around the world it ought to be what you want to do and you ought to give that way I hope that's how you give to get the gospel around the world father I love you and I praise you and I thank you and I magnify you for what you're doing I pray that you'd move tonight in the service and you already have I thank you very much for that and I pray God that tonight you would just keep cementing in our heart your will your work your way what you have in mind for us and

[46:21] I'll give you great praise for it we love you and thank you in Jesus name amen goodness pastor yes they want me to use this they turn the other one off the music's just been fantastic all week that's been something goodness goodness I have been most honored to be with you missionaries when you're an old missionary it's just it's just it's just great joy it really is to be with you guys and to know what's ahead of you and so we've just been honored Phyllis and I and and we have your prayer cards and you can know that we're going to pray for you you're at the hardest time of your ministry it really really is it's the hardest time but God's going to honor it he's going to bless it and so thank you from the bottom of our hearts thank you that we've been able to spend this time with you we leave in seven days eight days I don't know we leave on the 25th so we fly we fly back to

[47:37] Missouri tomorrow we have I guess eight days after that to finish the packing of the house and then we come back through Atlanta so we fly from Springfield Missouri to Atlanta Atlanta to to Amsterdam Amsterdam to Nairobi and so we're just about we're just about home we get in at eight we get in about 830 at night we're going to stay in Nairobi it's not safe to travel up country at night in Kenya so we'll stay the night and we've already got a couple of bands that will that will pick us up take us the six to seven hours up country and then we're going to be home and we're excited about it look with me in Acts chapter 11 I'm I'm not a very outgoing person I was laughing today and a little bit earlier I got a telephone call from a member here at the church and they said you know we've tried to find out about you and we can't find anything out about you they looked on the internet and they looked here and they they they looked there I just tell the pastor you know I changed my name every other week or every other year so that nobody can keep up with me I'm not a very outgoing person I mean you get me in my comfort zone and my comfort zone is missions but your pastor has a great way to pull things out of you and so and so he kind of put he kind of pulls things out of me my joy is to be with the people that God is that God has led us to but it's important that we understand again the job that we're doing and I'm going to speak because this is my last opportunity to be with the missionaries because most of them are going to be gone after tonight and tomorrow morning and and so I have an opportunity tomorrow if the pastor allows me again I never know because I might always say something that he doesn't like and he'll throw me out but if allowed I have some things really I'd like to share with the church tomorrow but we've been looking at missions this week there are two there are two men that are very important in the Bible in my life when I was here in January we we had a meeting with with a number of South

[50:36] American missionaries and we went downtown to a hotel and and I shared about Jonathan it's it's one of the most unique stories that you find in the Bible here's Jonathan David has just killed Goliath and here's Jonathan and when he sees him he tells him you're going to be the next king of Israel and I want how did he know well the only way was through the Holy Spirit and then Jonathan through the next for for as we read of Jonathan and David's relationship we begin to see that Jonathan is helping David prepare David to be king and that message is about that we are not we are not kingdom builders and I'm not talking about the kingdom of God that's going to come another time another day but but we are king makers we're king makers it's not about we always say it's not about us it's about him but in missions it's not about me it's about he that's what it's about well there's another character acts chapter night I'm sorry acts chapter 11 verse 19 and when they now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen traveled as far as Venice and Cyprus and

[52:16] Antioch preaching the word to none but under the Jews only and some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene which when they were come to Antioch spake unto the Grecians preaching the Lord Jesus and the hand of the Lord was upon them and a great number believed and turned to the Lord then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was at Jerusalem and and they sent forth Barnabas that he should go as far as Antioch who when he came he had seen the grace of God was glad and exhorted them and with purpose of heart that they would cleave unto the Lord for he was a good man and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith and much people were added unto the Lord then departed Barnabas to to Tarsus to seek Saul and when he had found him he brought him to Antioch and it came to pass that a whole year they assembled themselves together with the church and taught much people and the disciples were called

[53:29] Christian first in Antioch we are we are not kingdom builders we are king makers and in Barnabas life he is he has a life of making leaders and I want to talk to you about that for just a few moments if I could talk as fast as some of these other guys we get done in two and a half minutes but I I can't do that I don't quite understand it number one beloved if you're going to be a leader maker then you got to take a risk you've got to take a risk now here is here is Barnabas and he is sent by the church in Jerusalem the church has been scattered after the death of

[54:30] Stephen the Bible tells us that everyone left Jerusalem they all scattered from Jerusalem and that the apostles only were left they were the only ones now perhaps some came back because we see that Barnabas was sent from the church of Jerusalem but the scripture says that all of them were all were gone except the apostles and now Barnabas goes up to to Antioch he is sent there and Barnabas begins to see the work that's going on there and he's going to take a risk he decides to go to Tarsus and find this man Saul he had met him before Saul after his salvation had come to Jerusalem and everyone was afraid of him everyone everyone and none of the apostles would meet with him and the scripture tells us that it is Barnabas who met with him and then took him to the apostles we find out later he took him to Peter that's who he took him to if we are going to make leaders you've got to take a risk you've got to take a risk you've got to find someone and you've led him to Christ and you disciple him and you establish him and you begin to work with him in the church and you begin to lead him and you and and you don't know whether he's going to be a whether he's going to work out or not you have to take a risk

[56:18] Barnabas hadn't seen Saul in years he just heard he's up at Tarsus so Barnabas is going to take a risk he doesn't know whether Saul has continued faithful in the Lord or not he's going to take a risk you have to take a risk and beloved that taking a risk has to continue on because if one fails if one fails you're going to have to take a risk on someone else that's when it gets real hard I mean you can go into this now and and and take a risk on working with someone take a risk on turning a church over to them take a risk now with with with with them as as leaders and the first one that fails then you're going to be afraid to take a risk again

[57:28] Barnabas took a risk on a man by the name of Saul the second thing I want you to see is again in verse number 23 it says concerning Barnabas whom when he came he had seen the grace of God was glad and exhorted them all that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord the second thing missionaries you need you need to take a risk and the second thing you need is to have a good eye and a glad heart you need a good eye and a glad heart that's what Barnabas had I want you to once again now when he had seen the grace of God he had a good eye he could recognize the grace of God now he was happy about those that were saved now he had a good eye and then he was glad in his heart beloved we need to have a good eye and a glad heart now that's what we need if we're going to build leaders now we need to have a good eye we need to be looking for people we need to be constantly searching for someone we need to have a good eye see somebody with potential see somebody with faithfulness have a good eye now if we're going to build leadership we need to be able to see them and then beloved we need to have a glad heart when they begin to succeed we need to rejoice with God over it we need to praise His holy name we need to shout to the Lord for the success they have you can't have any jealousy you can't have any jealousy none at all now if you're going to train leaders if your business and missions is to train leaders you've got to have a good eye to be able to spot people you've got to have a glad heart that God's going to use them and that's what Barnabas did now look with me the third thing you've got to be humble and you've got to be selfless you've got to be humble and you've got to be selfless when you get into chapter number 12

[60:03] I'm sorry chapter number 13 it says now there was in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers Barnabas was first Barnabas was first his name is first in this list now it can all be by accident or we can believe that the Holy Spirit has a purpose in how he lists these names Barnabas is listed first and then you see that listed following is Simeon who's called Niger and we really like that because as those of us who have an African heart you know we get excited that an African had a part in that first church that was called Christian Niger means black in the Latin now I don't know why they would call him black for any other reason other than he was African now we absolutely know he has to be Gentile and I don't think

[61:09] I don't think you're going to convince us who have an African heart that he was anything but African there was Lucius of Cyrene if you go back to the old commentaries now the new one you know new commentaries have more enlightenment if you go back to the old commentaries a lot of people believe that this man from Cyrene was Simon from Cyrene that carried the cross of Jesus now that's what most of them think now the more enlightened they have a whole lot more question about it but you like the old commentaries that were written in the 1700s and the 1800s that's what they thought and then you see he goes on to say and then then there was Manon he was a man that was brought up with Herod there are a lot of Herod I mean you you had Herod the great we see another Herod a little bit here that Herod Antipas he was the one that that they said oh oh he must be a god and he accepted that and of course

[62:24] God let him die of worms well this is a different this was a different Herod this was the Herod that was the son of Herod the great and this man grew up in that household not uncommon they would bring you know again as you're training the next king and that they had others that were around him he grew up in that home then lastly there's a man by the name of Saul he's not second he's not third he's not fourth in the list he's fifth he's the last one on the list now watch now as you continue as you continue on it's Barnabas now verse number 30 as they began to go out on the first missionary journey nope is it 11 I don't know if I if I wrote my notes right it is Barnabas and Saul

[63:26] Barnabas and Saul the next four times one two three four in chapter in chapter 13 verse 7 we'll go there then again oh my goodness what did I do for the next four times that the two are mentioned together it is Barnabas and Saul Barnabas and Saul when they left the Holy Spirit that's where I want to go the Holy Spirit first says call out the Holy Spirit calls out Barnabas and Saul to do the work of which I have called them as they start the first missionary journey it is Barnabas and Saul now when they reach the country of Cyprus verse number 7 which which was with the deputy company

[64:27] Sergius Paulus a prudent man who called for Barnabas and Saul and desired to hear the word of God then look at verse 9 then Saul who is called Paul filled with the Holy Spirit set his eyes on him and from verse number 9 of chapter 13 thereafter it is referred to as Saul and Barnabas Saul and Barnabas look at verse number 13 now in chapter it says now when Paul and his company lose from Patmos Barnabas name isn't even mentioned here he's just one of the company beloved you have to be humble and you have to be selfless here is here is Barnabas he was the leader he was the leader he came to he came to the church at Antioch they invited him in now he he was excited about the things that he saw so he decided to go up and get

[65:43] Saul of Tarsus then and he brought him back and Barnabas continues in that leadership position then the Holy Spirit says I call out Barnabas and Saul I call them out it's Barnabas and Saul then they sailed to Cyprus and when they met the governor of Cyprus it was Barnabas and Saul then we see that it is now Saul who begins to take now the strength of the Lord is in Saul's hand he is filled with the Holy Spirit it says then Saul who is also called Paul filled with the Holy Spirit the same Holy Spirit that we saw back in chapter 12 that Barnabas was filled with and you know what

[66:44] Barnabas didn't look around and say man this isn't fair this isn't right I'm going to go home if you want to go on if the glory is in you now Paul you just go on I'm going to go home he didn't do that Barnabas was humble and he was selfless if you're going to build leadership on the mission field you have to be humble and you have to be selfless you have to be willing to take the back seat there comes a time when you're going to be when when there's a time now when you're leading and you're leading and you're leading now you have someone that's been trained and and that now maybe it's not time for you to leave but maybe it's time for you to step back and let him leave and you follow him for a while and see how he goes and how he does and that's exactly what

[67:48] Barnabas did he didn't go home when the story changed to Paul he didn't go home when Paul took the lead against this sorcerer and Paul began to preach against this sorcerer he didn't go home when now it says Paul and his company loose from from from Pampras and they came to Perga and Pampilia and John departed them and returned to Jerusalem Barnabas didn't go back with John he stepped back and he let Paul lead he didn't leave Paul he stayed with him but he stepped back and he let Paul lead and then fourth if you're going to build leadership you have to be patient with the failures of others you have to be patient with the failures of others if you're going to develop leadership because we just read that when they reached

[68:59] Perga now John Mark departed them and returned to Jerusalem now John Mark was the nephew of Barnabas Paul and Barnabas are now going to continue on that first missionary journey they're going to return to Antioch and they are going to spend some time with the disciples at Antioch and then one day Paul said well let's go on this journey again let's go back to those churches that have been established let's go again and Barnabas said man I'm ready and then Barnabas said let's take John Mark with us now I'm not going to talk about the dissension the Holy Ghost knows all about it and you know what I don't know enough about it to even speak on it because there's not enough in the scripture about it for us to make any kind of a conclusion about the dissension but what

[70:08] I see is Barnabas was patient with the failure of John Mark he was patient he wanted to take John Mark in and it turns out that Barnabas gets that opportunity and he takes John Mark under his wing and you know what's interesting that's the same wing he took Saul under the same one the same one it's the same wing he went up to Tarsus put his arm around Saul and said Saul come back to I want you to come with me and go to Antioch and then at Antioch Saul is listed as the last of those that were there and it was once again it is Barnabas who is loving him and guiding him and I'm sure continue teaching him it's

[71:17] Barnabas it's the same love that Barnabas had for Saul who was successful that he has now for John Mark who was a failure beloved we have to be patient with the failures of others he failed and isn't it exciting as we read in our scripture of the apostle Paul and as he writes to Timothy and he is in prison for the last time he has said my time is near I know now I have fought the good fight I know I have finished my course I know that there is a crown laid up in heaven for me and he says Timothy bring my cloak Timothy bring the parchments and Timothy bring

[72:21] John Mark for he is worthy you have to be patient with the failures of others and then last you have to be free from materialism you have to be free from materialism as we look at the life of Barnabas we see in Acts chapter 4 verses 34 through 36 we see the story of Barnabas we see Barnabas now who in the church of Jerusalem that he had a piece of property and he sold it and he brought it unto the disciples he brought the money that he gained from that and laid it at the disciples feet where's our love where is our love do we love money do we love the things of money are things and materials and that important we sat here in a circle the other day for the church members and we were talking and we said our water in Eldoret comes out of the tap about the color of the chair here now that's on a good day on a bad day it comes out very dark

[73:58] I mean this is a good day if the water coming out of the tap is this brown color here that's a good day there are many times Phyllis will say you know I don't know why I wash those clothes they're more dirty now than they were before I put them in the washing machine we don't go if it's typical Kenya and I doubt that anything's changed in the last year that we've been gone we'll be without electricity three four or five nights we went without electricity for a year at one time there was a drought our electricity is hydro electric and we went without electricity for a year it came on right about midnight went off about five o'clock in the morning I don't know what what you guys want to do between midnight and five o'clock but I usually had an idea what I wanted to do Phyllis would put clothes in the washing machine she'd fill the washing machine with water then by hand she would fill it with water she would she would turn it on so that when the electricity came on it would wash the clothes and then in the morning she'd take them out and go hang them up earlier we had a drought in Kenya then we had no water

[75:22] I mean we got down to the point where we were filling things at night the water would come on at night and we'd put a stopper in the bathtub and we would fill the bathtub with as much water because it just barely trinkled out when it finally did come on but we get enough to flush the toilets and enough to do some of the things around the house out of the bathtub and then everything just that was it there was nothing so we thought well we're going to have to go to Nairobi then and stay in Nairobi for a while and it just so happened that next day it rained that night so we ran out and we got 55 gallon drums we removed the spout that came down from the rain spout and let the water come directly into the drums and we put three of them around then and it would fill up I don't know so much in the bottom of it at night and again it was enough just to get us by and each night it began to rain a little more you know after a week and then we had you know after a rain we'd have a bit more in it and it would continue that way and after about a almost a month the pipes came back we had water in the pipes again but you know beloved we weren't there we we don't go to Kenya even even expecting we're going back in a week we don't go back to Kenya expecting to find clean water we don't we don't go back to Kenya expecting to have electricity 24 hours a day every day we don't those those things are nice they're very nice very very very nice

[77:20] I mean I mean Phyllis would dance such a dance if we got that if we had clean water when we got back and if we went a month without the electricity going off she would dance such a dance boy it'd be fun for me to watch but we didn't go to Kenya for water and we didn't go to Kenya for electricity we didn't go to Kenya for for any type of convenience of things we'd love to have those conveniences but we didn't go for those conveniences you guys that are going to third world countries you're going to have your stories you're going to have your stories you guys that are going to more modern countries God bless you I wouldn't want to go there for anything in the world I wouldn't want to fight the traffic in Tokyo I wouldn't want to see the million cars on the road in Cairo I wouldn't want to see that at all you guys can have it I'll take the dirty water and the and the short electricity you can't you you fight all that other stuff because it's not going to be a joy of roses for any of you you go to Spain you're going to have your stories they might not be stories about no electricity they might not be stories about dirty water but you're going to have your stories because that's missions that's what it's about but beloved

[78:56] Barnabas was free from materialism he didn't come home because there wasn't water he didn't come home because there wasn't electricity he didn't come home because the traffic was so bad that you sat in it for hours and hours and hours he didn't come home for that he didn't come home because it's too expensive to live in that city he didn't come home because the government is charging too much taxes he didn't come home because those material things didn't make any difference to him because what was important what was important to Barnabas was to build leadership to go find a man by the name of Saul bring him under his wing and take him down to Antioch and take him on that first missionary journey then on

[79:59] Barnabas second missionary journey put his arm around John Mark and say come on John Mark let's go you and I those were the things that were important to him let me close with this look in in in first Corinthians chapter nine verses verses four Paul says have we not power to eat and drink have we not power to lead about a sister or wife as well as other apostles and as the brethren of the Lord and Cephas or I only and Barnabas have we not we power to forbear working then look at verses 34 and 30 I'm sorry 19 and 23 he says for though I be free from all men yet have I made myself servant unto all that I might gain the more and verse 23 he says and I do this for the gospel sake

[81:08] I do this for the gospel sake but Peter Paul was writing and Paul was saying don't I have the right that other apostles have do I not have the right to have a salary isn't it right if you read all of those verses but because of time we didn't but Paul says don't I have the right you're not to muzzle the ox he's to he's to gain from the work don't I have that right but he never exercised it he never he never called it in that money wasn't important to him but he says what was important he says I do this for the gospel sake beloved when you get there that ought to be that ought to be what comes out of your mouth every time you get in a traffic jam I do this for the gospel sake if you're in a third world country and every time you get so aggravated because once again the electricity goes off you say I do it for the gospel sake when there's no water in the tap we say I do it for the gospel sake whatever the problem you're going to face and you all are going to face problems when those problems come what ought to come out of your mouth is not not oh man I hate this and oh man this is bad and oh man I wish I could go home what ought to come out of your mouth beloved is I do this for the gospel sake

[82:41] I do this for the gospel sake I have the right to live a better life I have a right to be with my ten grandchildren and my four children I have that right I've spent 35 years in Africa I have the right to come home but I'm not coming I do this for the gospel sake I do this for the gospel sake and every time something happens what comes out of our mouth is I do this for the gospel sake because nothing else matters I do this for the gospel sake if you're going to make leaders if you're going to make leaders you've got to take risk if you're going to make leaders you have to have a good eye and a glad heart if you're going to make leaders you've got to be humble and selfless if you're going to if you're going to if you're going to train leaders and make leaders you've got to be patient with their failures. And if you're going to make leaders, then you've got to stay no matter what. You've got to forget about all the pleasures of home. You've got to forget about everything else. And you've got to remember, I do this for the gospel sake. Let's pray.

[84:17] Father, thank you again that we can be together one last time with all of these young missionaries and how they've moved our heart and how we think about the future they have, how we think of souls that are going to be saved. But also, Father, I know, I know, I know, I know that they're going to have their problems. They're going to have their troubles. They're going to have their discouragement.

[84:42] But Father, right on their heart, I do this for the gospel sake. That's the only reason we don't go home. I do this for the gospel sake. Help us, Father, that that be what's in our heart and our mind.

[84:56] That we don't quit. That we don't go home. That we stay the course that you've called us to do. Because we do it for the gospel sake. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

[85:07] Thank you for listening to the recordings of our 2012 Witness Missions Conference. For more information, log on to www.visionbaptist.com.

[85:18] Thank you.