OG Summit Session #2

[0:00] Welcome to the Our Generation Summit 2011. It is our prayer that you will be challenged to take part in world evangelism in obedience to the King's command. Alright, we're going to have our first preacher of the evening.

[0:11] And I can't get a couple of you missionaries to help everybody find seats when they come in late, if you don't mind. They know where they can sit. They can always sit on the front row. We can always add another front row.

[0:23] People love front rows. Everybody likes front row, amen? And I hope you had a good time this afternoon meeting with the missionaries and had a good opportunity to talk to them and get to know them.

[0:35] And I hope that you'll take time during the next few days. I hope you'll find after this, people will be getting lunch or supper. Maybe you can go with somebody or you can sit in the lobby and find someone and ask questions and learn all you can.

[0:51] One of the biggest mistakes you make is not asking questions. If you get a chance, ask questions. You don't even have to agree with all the answers, but ask questions. I had a pastor friend in Peru a long time ago who said, don't make statements, ask questions.

[1:06] And that's a good lesson for all of us to learn. Well, the first preacher tonight is Brother Jim Roberts. If you'll come. Brother Roberts is a missionary to the country of India. And he has a love for God that is just a beautiful thing.

[1:20] He comes out of a good godly home. His dad's a pastor, which I'll hand up Pastor Roberts. And Pastor Roberts is a great man of God, privileged to have them here. And I hope that you'll listen.

[1:32] Jim has been so responsive to the Holy Spirit. He's been listening to him, get guidance and direction for his life. He's taken hard stands that prove that he wants to serve God. I hope you'll listen to what God has to say through him.

[1:43] Well, welcome everybody. I appreciate the opportunity just to be here. And I appreciate the opportunity just to be able to serve Jesus and do whatever he wants me to do. My topic for tonight is the king's leading into the unknown.

[1:56] As I was studying this and as I was thinking about this, I thought about how we're all led into the unknown. To be honest with you, I can't promise what's going to happen tomorrow.

[2:07] Neither can you. You can't promise what's going to happen next year. You can't promise where you're going to be during that time. But God leads us different ways and through different methods. And sometimes, to be honest with you, you just don't know what's going to happen.

[2:20] You don't know where you're going. You don't know what's going to happen when you get there. You're uncertain about so many things. But there is some things that we can be certain about when God leads us into the unknown. We're going to be in Acts chapter 20 and verses 22 through 24.

[2:34] Acts chapter 20 verses 22 and 24. If anybody was led into the unknown, it was Paul. Paul was led into the unknown quite a few times. We're going to look at one instance here.

[2:46] Acts chapter 20 verses 22 and 24. It says, See, Paul was going to Jerusalem.

[3:13] He said, Now, this wasn't the Holy Spirit that was binding his spirit. It was his own spirit. In Acts chapter 19 verse number 21, he says, I purposed in my spirit.

[3:26] He says, I purposed in the spirit to go Jerusalem. He said, And after that, I'm going to Rome also. I'm going to Rome. So he determined in his heart that he was going to go to these places. He was going to go to Jerusalem. He says, But one thing, I don't know what's going to happen to me when I get there.

[3:39] He says, I don't know. I have no idea what's going to happen when I get to Jerusalem. I know it could be very violent. I know there could be bonds and afflictions. As verse number 23 says, He says, Everywhere that I've been, He says, The Holy Spirit has either sent someone or something has happened to tell me that there's bonds and afflictions waiting for me.

[3:57] He says, I understand that. He says, That is my duty. That is my calling in life. I understand that. He says, But I'm willing to do it. I'm willing to go. Willing to go.

[4:08] Whether I know what the future may hold or not. He says, I'm willing to go regardless. Look at verse number 24. He says, None of these things move me. None of them. He says, Whether they take my life, Whether they lock me up in jail.

[4:20] He says, It does not matter. He says, I'm not steering from my course. I'm not taking a step off because it gets hard. I'm not taking another way through because I might get put in jail.

[4:35] He said, No, I'm going. I'm going regardless. See, Paul, In my mind, Paul was always looking for an open door. And many times, Paul's open doors were, As soon as you open the door, There was a prison.

[4:49] And there was afflictions. And there was beatings. And there was things like that. Paul's open doors weren't always easy. You see, We look for open doors. And we're like, Well, That's a closed country. We can't go to that.

[5:00] That's not an open door. That can't possibly be an open door. Hey, South America, We can't go there. They'll rob you at gunpoint. Hey, They'll point guns at your children and take your money. You can't go there.

[5:11] That's a closed door. No, Paul said, I don't care what happens. I know that possibly I will get put in jail. I'm not sure, But I'm pretty sure. I don't know though. He says, But I'm going anyway.

[5:24] Going regardless. He said, None of these things move me. He says, I'm not bothered by that. Man, That's shocking to me. Man, When I think about it, It kind of bothers me. But you know what?

[5:36] Look, Look at the reason why. And this is what I want to spend the most time on. He says, Neither count I my life, Dearing to myself. This was the reason that Paul could say, You know what?

[5:47] I don't care what else happens. I don't care whether I get put in jail. I don't care whether I die. I don't care about anything else. Because my life is not my own anymore. He says, I am not my own.

[5:58] I've been bought with a price. I don't get to choose whether I go to here or not. I'm just following what I feel like is the will of God. Whether it's known or whether it's unknown, No matter what it is, I am going to follow Christ.

[6:10] Because my life is not my own. If you're saved here tonight, Your life is not your own. You have been bought with a price. Christ died in your place, So that you may live. That's why His life meant nothing to Him.

[6:23] Because Christ had given him new life. Galatians chapter 2. Galatians chapter 2. In verse number 20 it says, I am crucified with Christ.

[6:34] Nevertheless, I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life with which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me.

[6:46] He said, God gave His life for me. So wherever He leads me, It doesn't really matter. Whether they take my life, Or whether they do whatever they have to do to me, I don't care.

[6:58] That is not what I'm thinking on. That is not what my mind goes to. He says, My mind goes to, God gave me the life that I now have. It wasn't mine before.

[7:10] He died for me, And now He has given me new life. And I get to live it for Him. And whatever He wants to do with my life, I trust Him. Because I know that His plan, And His purpose for my life, Is far more perfect, Than mine could ever be.

[7:25] So I will trust Him. The unknown didn't bother Paul. What was on Paul's mind was, I must serve Him, Because I am not my own anymore.

[7:36] He says, My life is not dear to me. Because it's His, And it's not mine. So I ask you, Are you looking for open doors?

[7:50] See, Paul wanted in any way that he could. He tried to jiggle the handle. He tried to, He tried to knock the doors. Now, He was looking for an open door. Many of us say, We want to serve Him, But are we looking for places to serve Him?

[8:04] Because there's plenty of them around. Are we looking for open doors? And who's in control of your life? Is your life dear unto you?

[8:18] Is your life dear unto you? Or has Christ bought your life? And you've given yourself to Him, And you say, Lord, I'll serve you. I'll give my life to you.

[8:31] I'll do whatever you'd have me to do. Just as long as I get to serve you. To Paul, Nothing else mattered. Following Him, And serving Him, And just getting to know Him, Like David said this morning, Was everything to Paul.

[8:48] And it didn't matter about anything else. That's why he could sing in jail, And that's why he could go back into Lystra, Because he loved Christ. His life was not his own.

[9:03] Appreciate it, Pastor David. Let's pray, dear God, Thank you for this evening. Dear God, I ask you that you would work in our lives, That we would not consider our life our own, That it would be yours, And that we could love you, And honor you with it.

[9:19] Dear God, I ask you to touch people's lives tonight, That we could find that we are complete in you, And you know exactly what is your good, And perfect, And acceptable will for our life. Thank you for all that you've done.

[9:30] And I pray. All right, Thank you very much. You can have a seat. We just had a birth, In our little team of missionaries, Brother Chris Way is a daddy, And their baby is here, If you didn't already know that.

[9:47] And that's why they're not here, And we're waiting on another one, With Robert and Kelly Canfield, And they're not here, And they're wanting to have a baby, So you can pray that thing, And we'll hurry up and get here, So they can get them a tax deduction, For this year, Amen?

[10:02] All right. And I am glad you're here. I hope you listen. I hope you listen to Brother Robert's message. Hope you paid attention.

[10:14] God deals with our hearts, Causes us to go places. It can be scary. But the truth of the matter is, If you focus on knowing the Lord, Like you heard from David this morning, Honestly, The scary is not really there.

[10:30] I remember when, I remember when I was getting ready, To get married, And I had found this beautiful young lady, That I wanted to marry. I didn't have enough sense, To be afraid.

[10:43] My daddy was worried for me, And my father-in-law was worried for me, And my mother and her mother were worried. But I knew, Hey, If you can marry a girl like Betty, It doesn't matter.

[10:54] Everything will work out. And you know what? It all worked out. My daddy sat me down and said, How do you plan on paying the bills? I said, Hey, I'll plant a garden. I grew up on a farm. I'll plant a garden.

[11:05] I'll raise my own food. You don't worry about it, Dad. I'll take care of it. You know what? And daddy said, Well, Son, That's a lot of work. I said, Dad, Don't you worry about it. You know, We've been married 38 years. I never did plant a garden.

[11:17] And you're afraid about where God wants you to go. But if you'd fall in love with Jesus and know Jesus, Honestly, You'd find he's so sweet that wherever you go, Be a wonderful place to be. I have yet to be anywhere in the world, Serving God with anybody who is truly in love with Jesus.

[11:31] And didn't think this is the most wonderful place I could ever be. Not because of the place and not because of the people, But because of the king. And that's the whole point. So I hope you've got that. Well, Now we're going to have one of our favorite preachers of all the guys that work on the team.

[11:46] A real man of God. A man who has paid a great price to serve God. God's using him in a great way in the church he's pastoring now. And I promise you, He'll be your favorite preacher of the whole time we're here.

[11:56] Brother Tony Howarth, Pastor of, What's the name of that church? Yeah. Newton Baptist Church. Abandoned Vision. There you go.

[12:07] Brother, amen. Love you. Oh, man. Submission. That's what I get to deal with. Yeah. Don't you love that one? Amen. My kids, I play tap out.

[12:18] You know? How many of y'all know tap out is? Amen. Put them in a headlock. Make them squirm. Face turns blue. They tap you on the shoulder. I used to play it with my wife, Miss Stacy, But she kept on winning.

[12:29] Amen. But sometimes our perspective of submission and doing God's will, Will this whole summit come down to a ring, an octagon, And God having to play tap out with you?

[12:44] Is that submission? Is submission about force? Is submission about power? Is God got to show His might? Because understand this, If you've been around any length of time, You understand that God is much more powerful than you are.

[12:58] And for you to look at God and say that God cannot make you do something, Well, that's just very unwise. God is very powerful. God can make you do anything God wants you to do. And so is true submission brought on by, Brother Horst, Is true submission brought on by force?

[13:14] Is true submission brought on by fear? I know that we get here and we're preaching on, It's a fearful thing to fall in the hands of a living God. And my face can turn red with anybody's face, And I can yell at you and be loud, But is that submission?

[13:30] I mean, is this whole conference going to be about us taking you, And jerking your arm up behind your back, And putting the fear of God in you, Bless God? Is that really, Is that submission? Is it manipulation?

[13:43] Is it me using my mental powers, Are the preachers using their mental powers, To gather you around a guitar strumming song, So that you would make a decision? Is it manipulation?

[13:54] Is it force? Is it fear? What is, What's submission all about? Turn your Bibles with me to an unusual passage, But 2 Samuel chapter 23, True submission to the king, What is true submission to the king?

[14:13] Some of you this week, Maybe yours will be bargaining, Is true submission bargaining? Will it be God, I will serve you and I will go, You want me to go if, And God's got to fill in that blank for you? What is true submission?

[14:28] The Bible says in 2 Samuel 23, And starting in verse 13, It says, Excuse me, And three of the thirty chief went down, And came to David in the harvest time, And to the cave of Adullam, And the troop of the Philistines pitched in the valley of Rephim, And David was then in a hold, And the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem, And David longed and said, Oh, That one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, Which is by the gate, And the three mighty men, And the three mighty men, Break through the host of the Philistines, And drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, That was by the gate, And took it, And brought it to David, Nevertheless, He, David, Would not drink thereof, But poured it out into the Lord, And he said, Be it far from me, O Lord, That I should do this, Is not this the blood of the men that were in jeopardy of their lives?

[15:16] Therefore he would not drink it, These things did these three mighty men, And I know you look at me, And you're like, Well, Brother Tony, Submission, What in the world is going on? I give you this, The key to true submission, David is there, His men come to where he is, I would encourage you, Have you come to where you can hear the king's voice?

[15:37] Are you at a point and place in your life, That when the king speaks tonight, Because the king will speak tonight, Will you be able to hear his voice? Are you at a point and place mentally, And physically, And spiritually, That when the king speaks, That you're hearing what he's saying?

[15:53] These men came to where David is, They came to where the king was, And many times we want God to come to where we are, We want God to change his plans, And we want God to center his whole will and kingdom, Around our timetable, And our desires, And our wishes, And our wants, Through submission to the king, Is not God coming to where you are, But you going to where God is, Will you go to his word?

[16:21] Will you go to prayer? Will this be a time where you will get to a place, Where you can, See this is what it's called, Submission, That I am so in love with the king, That when a king utters but a sigh, I am there to listen, And these men came to where David is, Look in your Bibles, There's these men came to where David is, Is there enemies?

[16:43] Yes. Is there danger? Yes. Is there opposition? Yes. You say, Well if I go to this field, There's going to be opposition. Brother if you go to Atlanta, Georgia, There's opposition. Somebody say amen. And if you've ever shopped at Kroger during Thanksgiving, There's opposition.

[16:58] Somebody say amen. Had to knock three old ladies out, To get a turkey for Thanksgiving. It was ugly. Amen. So no matter where you go, There's opposition.

[17:09] And these men, They broke through the opposition. They wanted to be where the king was. Because true submission is built on not fear, Not force, Manipulation, Bribery, Bargaining.

[17:20] That's not what it's based on. True submission is having myself so yielded, And so bent to the king's voice, That if he but whispers, I am ready to obey.

[17:31] Watch what it says right here. Look with me. He says right here, He says, David verse 14, Was then in a hold in the garrison of the Philistines, That was in Bethlehem. And David, What's the next word everybody?

[17:44] One, two, three. What is the word? All right. One more time all together. One, two, three. Hmm. David longed. What did he long for?

[17:55] What was that deep yearning desire within David's life? What was that longing for? Look at your Bibles. What was it for? Are you following me? We have opposition.

[18:06] We've got him surrounded. He's in Bethlehem. The Philistines are there. And the word of God says, David was there in the garrison of the Philistines. That was in Bethlehem. And David longed. And he said, Brother Justin, I do not believe he screamed it.

[18:20] I do not believe he yelled it. I do not believe he wrote it. I do not believe he proclaimed it. David is there. These men have come to where David is. These men are close enough to hear the sigh of the king.

[18:35] And as they're close enough to hear the sigh of the king, the king says these words. Oh. Oh, that I had a drink of water from the well that's by the gate there.

[18:50] I'm thirsty in my soul. I long for, but it's just a cup of water. But can I give you this? If you and I care not that the king wants a cup of water, would we care that he wants the world reached with the gospel?

[19:07] Right. And so as I get close to the king and the king sighs, Oh, but for a drink of water from the well. Oh, but for a drink of water from the well.

[19:18] These men, watch this. Were they commanded? Look at your Bibles. Were they commanded to go get the water? Were they screamed at to get the water? Were they paid to get the water? Were they, did they have to have a Sunday school campaign to go get the water?

[19:31] I mean, why do these men, now let's think what I mean. Why do these men, why do these men break through, risk their lives for water? See, I give you this this evening.

[19:46] I got about three minutes. Are you ready? I'll give it to you. I think in Christendom, we've made it fashionable where a lot of people like the king, but I don't know if we've come to a point in place where we love him.

[20:00] We like the idea of going to heaven and we like the idea of having our braces and we like the idea of our youth t-shirts and we like the idea of a fancy auditorium and we like the idea of a summit and we like the idea of good preaching and we like the idea of saying amen.

[20:12] We like the idea of a lot of things that deal with God, but I don't know if we've ever got to that passionate place where we're totally and entirely in love with him that we stay close enough because if he sighs, obedience is not the question.

[20:32] It's what he wants me to do. See, you come and you are wrestling with this tap-out mentality of whether or not you're going to obey God. Can I bring men from all over this room?

[20:47] Men that come from the field, the four corners of the earth to be here. These men come from all over the world and they get close to the king and if the king, Jesus, but whispers it tonight, let me tell you what Jason Holt's going to do.

[21:02] Let me tell you what Jeff Bush is going to do. Let me tell you what David Gardner's going to do. Let me tell you what Austin Gardner's going to do. Let me tell you what these men that are around you. If the king but sighs tonight, obedience is a given.

[21:17] And it was not commanded they go get the water. They were not paid to get the water. They would not have been talked to get the water. But the horse, the king is there and from his soul comes his longing and the men heard his longing and fulfilled his desires.

[21:32] And so if we were to squeeze this just a little tonight, could we hear the king's longing?

[21:48] Go you into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Go preach and teach, baptize, teach them all things whatsoever I commanded you.

[22:01] Can you hear him? I know you think it's funny, but have you been close enough you can hear him sigh when he says, I am not willing that any should perish but that all would come to repentance.

[22:12] Can you hear him sigh tonight? As my father hath sent me, even so send I you.

[22:25] And so it's not a matter that you've come to a meeting where we're going to tap out. Ma'am, it's a matter tonight that if you get close enough to hear the king's longing, is there such a passion and love for him that obedience is already done?

[22:42] Young man, is there within your heart and life tonight such a passion and love for the king that what you wait for is not to be twisted and doubled over and put in pain, but you wait for one thing during this summit?

[22:56] Speak, Lord. Just whisper your will because obedience is a given. And if it means my life to get a cup of water for the king, it's not that the water is worth it.

[23:14] It's that the king is. Amen. I hope that you will listen for the voice of the Lord as he speaks. I hope your heart's tender to what he wants.

[23:25] I think what Brother Tony just preached ought to have really driven into your heart. I think that if you love Jesus, you'll hear what he said. If you love Jesus, you'll want what Jesus wants. How many of you are married?

[23:37] Hold your hand up. If you have a happy marriage, you know what your partner wants. You listen to your partner. You feel your partner. Your partner doesn't have to say it without you already knowing it.

[23:50] We ought to be that close. If we're that close to our partner, we ought to be that much closer to Jesus. And what's important to him ought to be important to us every part of our life. I hope that you'll take that home.

[24:01] I hope that you will listen to him and what God would have you to do in your life. I want to ask seven guys that are going to come up right now. All seven of you can just get up here behind me. One of the things that our entire philosophy of ministry would be based on training men.

[24:17] We would start with a missionary ought to go to the field. And when he gets to the field, his whole goal ought to be to train men. So you start with nobody. You go out and you win some people to Christ.

[24:27] You get the first guy saved. And that first guy gets saved. You start training him. You train others. And before long, you start a team. And you start a team. The best team you can have is never an American team.

[24:38] Honestly, an American team is a second-rate team. The first team ought to be a team of nationals you lead to Christ. Jesus didn't bring seraphim and cherubs with him. He led people to Jesus. He started with...

[24:50] He used nationals. Say amen. And so you can take some seraphim with you and some cherubs and whatever else you can get out of the United States.

[25:01] But it sure would be good if you trained men. And that ought to be the goal. And every one of us ought to all be producing men. Every man ought to have a man that he's training in. So these are seven men that are in training.

[25:11] And I'm not even sure what order they go in. But they're going to preach to you a minute-long message. And I hope you'll listen and encourage them. All right. Today we're going to be in John 6, verse 33 through 35.

[25:25] For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world. Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life.

[25:37] He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. You see these Jews here in this passage, they were looking for a sign. They were talking earlier about Moses and the man that came down to heaven, and they were looking for a sign, something they could believe in.

[25:51] But Jesus goes to tell them, he says, for the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven. He's saying, I am the bread of life. He's telling them that I'm the one you need. You don't need some other sign.

[26:02] I am the one who's come down. You see there, and he says, Jesus says to them, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

[26:13] Jesus is the bread of life. Are you hungry today for eternal life? Jesus is the bread of life. Are you hungry for an abundant life? Jesus is the bread of life. John 8 verse 12, Jesus says, I am the light of the world.

[26:27] He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. Now in Jesus' day, the primary way that people got around was walking, and it's how they really did anything.

[26:38] And it may be a little bit hard for us to understand this, but to walk was to live. So when Jesus says, you will not walk in darkness, he's saying, you will not live a life in darkness. Jesus Christ, the light of the world, changes life.

[26:50] And it's also interesting to see that Jesus does not say, you will not walk in darkness, but you will walk in light. He says, you will not walk in darkness, but you will have the light of life. This means that following the light of the world, Jesus Christ, goes deeper than simply ceasing to do wrong and beginning to do right.

[27:07] Your very nature changes. Yes, yes, you will walk in the light. You will begin to do right, but only if, and only because, you now have the light of life, Jesus Christ.

[27:20] John 11, verse 25 says, Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. If you're like me, you went up to your hotel room, and if you're on my side of the hotel, you opened the window and looked outside and saw a big graveyard over here.

[27:35] But for a Christian that has believed in Jesus Christ, we know that that is not our eternal resting place, that we have a place in heaven and that we have hope of that. And that is our hope, eternal life, Titus said.

[27:47] And so, I just want to encourage you as we go into 2012, have you ever seen a man driven by hope? Maybe you've seen the end of a football game where it's lopsided, where a team's losing really bad. The team is not going to fight for the win because they know there's no hope.

[27:58] But a team that comes down to the last minute, two teams, and the team that's down gets the ball and there's a minute left, they fight for it with all that they have because they have hope. Well, I'm here to tell you today, we have hope in Jesus Christ and you have believed in Him, you have the hope of His eternal life.

[28:11] So as we obey the King's command, let's do it with force and aggression and knowing that we will live forever. John 10, I am come that they might have life, that they might have it more abundantly.

[28:27] I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. Jesus is saying, you are my sheep, but you are being destroyed.

[28:38] You are being killed by this monster called sin. I'm the good shepherd. I'm not going to leave you. I'm not going to run away. I'm not going to leave you hopeless. I'm going to come and give you life.

[28:50] But in order for me to give you life, I'm going to have to lay down my own life. I'm going to have to sacrifice my own life. Why? Why would the God of heaven, why would the King of glory sacrifice His life, lay down His life for us, for sheep that didn't deserve anything?

[29:06] The answer is found because I am the good shepherd and know my sheep. Jesus loves us because He knows us. He knows we're sinners. He knows what we are.

[29:17] He knows what we've done. He still loved us. Because He loved us, He sacrificed His life. What are you willing to do? What are you willing to sacrifice because of your love for Jesus Christ?

[29:28] I know there's only one way to God. The Bible says in John 14, 6, I am, Jesus says unto them, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

[29:38] No man cometh unto the Father but by me. I think that's enough said right there. I know we tell people all the time that there's only one way to God and they don't like that. It kind of has a bad connotation to it.

[29:50] They say they have their own ways to God. They also have their own false gods and they have that is not the real God. We have a real God and He is alive. Only salvation comes through Jesus Christ.

[30:01] He paved the way and He is the truth and He is the life. We only have salvation through Jesus Christ. Are you obeying God's command? Are you telling people about Jesus?

[30:12] Are you telling them like there is a God in the throne? Because you just need to understand, you need to know that only God saves people, not Buddhism or Islam or any other religion or anything that you can do but only Jesus.

[30:26] It's all about Jesus. He says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. Only by me you can only get to the Father. Jesus is the answer. Our great God has given us all these illustrations to show us His great love and to show us how we can love Him.

[30:44] This final illustration He gives us the vine in John 15, 15. I am the true vine and my Father is the husband. I am the vine, you are the branches. He that abided in me and I am Him. The same bringeth forth much fruit. Without me you can do nothing.

[30:56] Total dependence is what we see here and it's clear that the Christian gets all of his strength from the Lord. So often we forget that our strength comes from above and that we have to be totally dependent upon Him and Him alone.

[31:07] There are two types of Christians portrayed here. There are those that produce and those that produce much. There are the ones who are not on the vine and those who are. The productive vine is pruned for greater production while the non-productive vine is cut off.

[31:21] The key to producing fruit is one relationship to the vine to remain in the vine. Total commitment. You must make a daily decision to live for the King, to love Him, to give yourself to Him, to trust Him and to understand that all strength and every good thing comes down from above.

[31:37] We need to understand that we have to decide and make the choice to trust in Him and to understand that He loves us. There are always going to be artificial vines available in time of need. These vines will seem sufficient and will appear to have what it takes to get you through your problems.

[31:51] These vines will be things like drugs and alcohol, friends, family members, self-accomplishment or self-achievement. We must realize that He alone is able to give us what we need. He alone can satisfy our needs.

[32:02] He alone can help us in times of trouble. He alone loves us no matter what. He alone will never fail us. Put your trust in Him. one second. Let's have a word of prayer and I'm going to ask you to do something a little unusual.

[32:13] Father, I pray that you would really work here tonight. God, I want to see you move. I know that you are moving and I want to ask your people, Holy Spirit, for you to soften their hearts, to make them willing to listen to you and surrender and prepare them to do whatever it is that you have for them to do and I'll give you great honor and glory and praise for all that you do.

[32:35] In Jesus' precious name, Amen. I'm going to have Kristen play just a second and listen to what I want you to do. You might not do this. This may flop totally. But you know what I wish you would do?

[32:46] I want you to find somebody standing next to you, somebody else in the building that means something. I want you to shake their hand and I want you to say this, I do want His will for my life.

[32:57] I want you to find somebody that you can say, I do want His, I'll tell you this, I do want His will for my life. Whatever it is, wherever it is, what it costs, whatever has to happen, I want His will for my life.

[33:09] I mean, if you'll say that, say Amen. Then I want you to tell somebody that. How about doing that right quick? Shake two or three heads and tell them, I want His will and I'll be right back with you. All right, if you will, you can return to your seats.

[33:51] God bless you. Have a seat. I'm so glad you're here. And it all starts with wanting Him and wanting His will. So, really, serving Him is not a hard thing when you're very much in love with Him.

[34:06] When you're very much in love with Him and you like Him, it's not a hard thing at all because you're so much in love. You just love Jesus and it's fun doing whatever He would have you to do. And I can tell you this, after, after, I guess, what, 40-something years of being pretty much actively serving God and preaching, I can tell you that I wouldn't swap lives with anybody.

[34:29] I would tell you that I wouldn't want to go, and I've been through some hard times. I've had some pretty hard blows happen in my life and in my family. I've had some things that really took the wind out of my sails and I honestly wanted to die.

[34:41] But I'll tell you this, if I had it all to go back over again, I want to do what He wants me to do. When I was your age, I read biographies and I used to dream that someday I would be locked up in some Chinese prison camp for preaching.

[34:58] I used to dream that I'd be chained. I used to dream all kinds of wild things and because, and I would always, I would always, I can remember, I have this problem and my legs hurt almost all my life.

[35:10] They've hurt all my life. And I would, I can remember saying, God, I can't hold them still. And I'd read about people that suffered in China for the gospel way back under the, under the communists and I'd say, God, if it comes to it, I want to be one of those guys.

[35:24] I want to be one of those guys. I want to suffer for you if that's what it takes, whatever you want. And I believe if that'll be your heart, man, you won't have any problem about where should you go and what should you do and how much money should you give.

[35:38] Those things will not be an issue to you. And by the way, if you knew the missionary speaking to you and you knew the stories that I knew about them and what they've gone through and the things that have happened to them, if you knew that there are guys that will speak to you this week that have had knives put to their throat and robbed, people who've had family members raped, people that have had guns put to their heads and their wives hid, people that have had things happen to them and not a one of them want to back up, they love Jesus.

[36:10] And you know, you can do that. The truth is, I have a message I preach sometimes to people and I tell them, you know, the real risk in serving God is not what happens to you when you're on the field and it's not what happens to you when something goes wrong or bad.

[36:27] I can remember the day they beat us up and threw us off the Bible college land and I had to have 12 stitches and that blood had covered my face. I mean, it was like a great day. I can remember after I was all over saying, man, that was good.

[36:38] You say, that's crazy. You know, when the risky day was, it was the day I told Jesus, I'll go anywhere. That's the risky day. The risky day is today when you pull out your wallet and say, all the money's yours.

[36:51] The risky day is when you pull out your keys and say, everything I own is yours. Because when you face the battle, he comes in in some kind of grace that's unreal. In the middle of all that mess, it's like, I don't know how I can handle this, but I can because God is there in a great way.

[37:07] But when's the risky, scary time right here at the summit when God's saying, will you do that? Because when the real trial comes, I promise you, he will be there like you could never dream.

[37:20] He will be there in the middle of the mess. But the hard time is right now when it's all good and you're afraid to say, yes, Jesus, I trust you. there's a guy in Morocco named Saeed and he was arrested and Tyler Masters was arrested and they were taken in and he was gone for like, I don't know, it was pushing three days, I guess it was, he was locked up two days, I can't remember the exact numbers, he was locked up and the missionaries were all terrified.

[37:51] Will he turn his back on Jesus? Will he be discouraged? Will this make him not want to serve God? And when they got him out of there and he came out, here's what he said, man, these have been the most wonderful days of my life. I have had more fun preaching, they left him in a jail cell with hardened, wicked criminals who thought he was worse than them, than murderers and rapists, they thought he was worse than them but when he got out he said, man, I had a great time.

[38:15] You know why? Because God comes down in those times but this week's kind of risky, isn't it? Will I trust Jesus? Will I say, I'll do whatever you want? Will I surrender all?

[38:26] Will I let God have his way? That's the real question. Well, the next preacher that's coming is Brother Jeff Bush, missionary in Argentina and he has a heart for God like almost nobody you would ever meet.

[38:38] God's using him in a great way. I've known Jeff and Mindy, I knew them before they got married and I knew them when they were students in the school and I have watched God do great things.

[38:50] I know God has a plan for your life and I know that everything you see any of the guys doing tonight. God will do through you what you could never imagine. If you listen to him preach, think, could God use me?

[39:01] Yes, he can. Brother Jeff. Well, good evening to everybody. Amen. And what an opportunity, what a blessing it is to be here and I want to encourage you this week to open your heart, open your eyes, open your mind for what the Lord might have in your life.

[39:16] We all may believe that we have arrived to one certain specific area. Lord, now I know I'm doing your will but you know what? The Lord is always keeping us in an area of transition in our lives.

[39:28] He always wants a little bit more and a little bit different and we need to open our eyes. The subject that I want to speak about this evening is speaking to the King about prayer. You see, you and I as Christians, we have two ways to communicate with the Lord.

[39:43] Of course, He communicates with us through His Word, right? And we communicate with Him through prayer. What does prayer have to do with missions? Well, beyond that point, what does prayer have to do with our lives?

[39:54] You see, the Lord actually teaches and the Lord tells us to pray, right? In everything, He tells us to pray. 2 Corinthians 5, verse number 17, He tells us to pray but He also teaches us to pray.

[40:07] Matthew 6, John chapter number 17, He shows us the exact steps. He tells us and He also teaches us. But this evening, what I want to talk to you just for a couple minutes here are maybe some specific ways that you and I could be praying.

[40:19] Maybe some things, and I'm not talking about missions tonight or specifically to missionaries or to pastors but rather to all of us who love the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. All of us who love Him need to learn to speak a lot more, to pray a lot more in our lives.

[40:34] If you'd open your Bibles very quickly to the book of Philippians chapter number 4, the Bible says this, Philippians chapter number 4 and let's read verse number 6 if we can. Philippians chapter number 4, help me out here if everybody can look for it in your Bible.

[40:45] Philippians chapter number 4, verse number 6, we got it up here. If you don't have your Bible, the Bible says this, be careful for nothing. Has everybody found it there? Right. Philippians chapter number 4, there you go. If not up here, be careful for nothing but in, help me out here, be careful for nothing but in, what does the Bible say?

[41:01] In everything by prayer and supplication. Stop right there really quickly. Number one, we need to learn to speak to the King about everything. Absolutely everything.

[41:13] You know what? There's no big and there's no small for the Lord. We need to learn to take the big things. A lot of times when we're in the tight spots in our lives, we say, well Lord, I need to be praying about this. Lord says, when you're in good times, that's what you need to be praying as well.

[41:25] You see Christians, in every moment of our life, we need to be speaking to the King. One man said, all our failures are prayer failures because we don't take it before Him.

[41:36] We don't ask His advice. We don't seek His wisdom. All our failures are truly prayer failures. My dad is a very country man and my dad, for a while, my dad and I worked at the same spot.

[41:48] We worked in a big tractor factory making big old tires and then bricks as well. And I remember my dad would come to my work every once in a while and he'd pick up the tires, the big old tractor tires.

[41:59] My dad would pick them up and he would throw them on top and he'd say, son, can you do that? Well, I didn't want my dad showing me up, you know? So here I was, I was a strapping young man that I had to, still strapping, you see that one?

[42:10] Anyway, I was a strapping young man. I wasn't a joke for crying out loud. My wife thinks these are the, no, but anyway, I had these big old tires. I didn't want my dad to show me up so I grabbed the hold of the tire and I grabbed it with all my might and I thought, one, two, and I threw that up.

[42:24] Man about killed my back but I wasn't about to show my dad. I mean, I threw that and I couldn't get it all the way up there but I was like, I got it. Oh, that hurt. I got it. My dad said, watch this, son. And he'd get it and he'd roll it up and then he'd always suddenly kick his leg up and he would throw it up there.

[42:40] And then my dad said, son, learn to work smarter, not harder. Son, learn to use your head and not your back. And I said, boy, think about that.

[42:51] You know what, so many times in ministry I've killed myself trying to go out there so many hours and knock on doors and reach different people and visit different people and I've come back exhausted and of course we need to work hard but listen, as Christians, we must realize when we go, when we speak to the king about things, he can help us get a lot farther in a lot less time.

[43:10] We must learn to speak to him about everything. Not only speak to him about everything, but we must learn to speak to him with our family. With our family?

[43:21] Think about this very quickly. In Ephesians chapter number 3 verse number 12 and over in Hebrews chapter number 4 verse number 16, the Bible says we have direct access to the throne room. You see, this is very interesting to me because there's no positions, there are no big shots when it becomes, when it comes to talking to the king.

[43:39] Each and every one of us, our children, each and every one of us, there is no, the male can talk or the female can talk or the kids can, you know, it's all at the same level at the cross. We can all talk to the king and when we get in ministry, you know, any time in our life, but we must learn to work as a team and when we work as a team, we pray with our wife, we pray with our kids, you know, there's no real rule when you have to pray.

[44:02] With my daughters, we pray before it's time to eat just simply to recognize, James chapter number 1 verse number 17, that every good gift comes from above. Amen? We pray before we go to bed to remember that it's God who protects us through the night and gives us another day.

[44:16] We have certain times that we pray together, but listen, we must learn that we all pray as a team. Not too long ago in our life in the month of July, a few months back, my family and I were robbed in Argentina right before we come back to the United States and listen to this, as they come in our house, two men with guns, we at first thought it was a big joke.

[44:37] We had no idea what was going on. They walked in our, well, they ran into our house, my wife was closing the door, they grabbed ahold of the door and yanked it open and they ran into our house with guns and they said, get on the floor, get on the floor and they started yelling. They began to take our jewelry and the rings off our fingers and the computers and the money and everything they could find.

[44:52] They took me upstairs and we were nervous about what was going to happen. But listen to this, finally everything ended. They walked out the door and when they walked out the door, we all sit there trembling.

[45:03] We jumped up and I grabbed the door and I pulled it shut and I bolted the door. We have these doors in Argentina, we have bars on our doors and then we have big old doors that we can lock and so I grabbed the door and I shut it and we just sat there for a while.

[45:16] Before we go outside, I was scared to death what was going to happen. Listen to this, my daughter, who just turned 10 years old, come up to me. Listen, they just walked out of the house. We are crying.

[45:27] What in the world just happened to us? My daughter, nine years old at the time, walked up to us and said, Daddy, why don't we pray? You might think what you want to think, but I was almost crying.

[45:39] I thought, I'm the preacher here. That's what I'm supposed to say. And so all our family got on the floor and we opened the Bible and we read a psalm and we began to pray. And my little daughter, listen, you know, we speak to him about everything, but listen, we must learn to speak to him even with our family.

[45:56] Kids can pray just as well as us. Without leaving your place in Philippians chapter number four, let me speak to you about one other thing. Speak to him about labors. Matthew chapter number nine, verse number 36 says, the field, you know, we all know the need is great, but what are few?

[46:12] What does the Bible say? What is few? The labors, right? The labors are few. Before we went to Argentina in 2004, my wife and I, we were in language school in Peru, South America and we began to pray, Lord, please, please, please, please prepare the workers.

[46:28] Prepare those people where we're going to live and the people that are going to come to church. And you know, it might sound silly, but we're praying for these people that we never met when we arrived to Argentina. Now, our prayer suddenly began to change.

[46:39] And we said, God, would you please send those people whose hearts you've already prepared? You know, when we started, it was in an old paint building. It was all abandoned for seven, eight years and we cleaned it up and we passed out flyers and we came and just had a little bitty group.

[46:53] Listen to this. But you know what? Years have passed. The Lord has given us four churches, a Bible college, a radio ministry and the Lord is blessed in wonderful ways. Listen, I don't think anybody did anything right. You know what I do think?

[47:04] We prayed, he sent them. You know what, Christians, a lot of times we complain, God, I just need, you know what, many times I am guilty of saying, Lord, why don't I have?

[47:15] And the Lord is saying, you have not because you have not. Right. You see, Christians, we must learn to pray about everything. We must learn to pray with the family, but we must learn to even pray for labors.

[47:26] Let me go another step farther very quickly before we go back to Philippians chapter number four. We must learn to pray in spiritual warfare. Do you know, Ephesians chapter number six, verse number 12 says that we wrestle not against flesh and blood.

[47:37] In other words, we're not fighting against people. Rather against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world. We're fighting against the devil who is the prince of the power of this air. We're fighting, think about this, second Kings chapter number 19.

[47:51] Do you know that Elijah, the great man of God, had a wonderful day of victory and all of a sudden he got discouraged? Jonah chapter number four, Jonah got so upset and discouraged. Listen to this.

[48:02] He said he wanted to die. Preachers shouldn't say that. But listen, let me ask you, have you ever gotten discouraged? If you've ever gotten discouraged in your life, raise your hand. I think that the rest of y'all are liars.

[48:14] You know what? We've all been discouraged. We've all had somebody criticize us, no matter what your position is. We've all had somebody talk bad about us. We've all gotten our feelings hurt. But you know when we need to pray?

[48:26] Yeah, about everything, with the family, about labors, listen, we need to learn to pray and to speak to the king in spiritual warfare. Over in the book of 2 Corinthians, excuse me, 2 Corinthians, in chapter number 10, verse number four, the Bible says, for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal.

[48:43] In other words, it's not with things, you know, I can fix this situation, pull out your wallet and let's pay it. Or let me go to him and let me talk to him because there are some things that are in the spiritual world that you and I cannot see.

[48:55] You see, Christians, we need to learn to pray about them. Next time you're discouraged or before you ever even get discouraged, why don't you begin to pray? We've had people steal from us. Good friends, I thought. They don't exactly, they didn't end up being good friends afterwards.

[49:09] We had one guy leave. He wanted, he told the other, he got some of the people in our church, listen to this, and he told them to get on his team. He wanted to put me in jail. I thought, man, I'm not a good preacher, but for crying out loud, don't put me in jail.

[49:23] I mean, he criticized me, he said every different, you know, my feelings were hurt. But you know what the Lord teaches us? We need to pray in everything with our family, for labors. We need to pray in spiritual warfare.

[49:34] But go very quickly over to the book of Philippians chapter number four. We're already there. Philippians chapter number four, I want you to see one other thing. Philippians chapter number four, and check this out, verse number six, one more time. We have it up here, Philippians chapter number four, verse number six.

[49:44] Be careful for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, read the next two words. What does the Bible say? With? Here, help me out one more time. Philippians chapter number four, verse number six.

[49:55] Be careful for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with, what does the Bible say? Listen, Christians, we must learn to pray and speak to the Lord about everything.

[50:06] Speak to him with our family. Speak to him for labors and speak to him in the midst of the spiritual warfare when we're discouraged and when people are criticizing and when they're hard times. Listen, we must learn to pray and speak to the King with thanksgiving.

[50:20] You see, to be quite honest, we've almost come to the, and I'm very guilty, we've almost come to the point where prayer is, now ask, he's got to give. Lord, I want you to give me this, or Lord, I need this, or Lord, would you please, and the Lord said, whoa, whoa, whoa, can you start out here?

[50:38] In Psalm chapter number 100, verse number four says, enter in his presence with thanksgiving. You see, Christians, we must learn to speak to the King, yes, but we must learn to speak to the King with thanksgiving.

[50:51] Maybe we should change our prayer pattern, and I'm not talking just missions here, I'm talking about each and every one of us, whatever your position, whatever your age is, we must learn to pray differently speaking with thanksgiving.

[51:05] We're all alive here tonight, we're all breathing, we're all not in the hospital, we all at least have somewhere to live and lay our head at night, we all have our family, we all have many, so many blessings that other people do not have, yet we think we need a little bit more, yet we think he owes us something, and he says, why don't you come to me with thanksgiving?

[51:28] So my only plea to you this evening, listen, you know what about labors, you know what about missions, you know what about what God has for your life, listen, it all starts with a simple basis in your life called prayer.

[51:40] Christian, when was the last time you set aside time, maybe I'm preaching more to myself this evening than anybody else, when was the last time you just simply set aside time, you know what, when we finish here, I'm sure man, we're going to have, get with people, and then we're going to have fun, and then we're going to go do something, and then have the devotions, then we're going to go, and we're going to be tired, and then we're going to wake up the next morning, we're going so fast, but listen, we don't even take time to bow our knee and say, Father, what is your will for my life today?

[52:07] Lord, thank you so much for what you've given me today. When was the last time that you thanked the Lord for the family he has given you, for the health he has given you, for the friends he has given you?

[52:19] When was the last time you just stopped and said, thank you, Lord? And can I tell you one thing, when we go before him in prayer thanking him, all of a sudden all our burdens, they're not really so big, and all of a sudden we forget.

[52:32] One man said that when we go in and we go in with all our burdens, we begin to help somebody else and we begin to do other different things and occupy our mind. When we come back to pick up our burden, all of a sudden it's gone.

[52:44] Can I plead with you when we begin to pray and say, Lord, thank you so much for the salvation you've given me, a home in heaven, and Lord, thank you for the family, and Lord, thank you for all these things, and oh, I was going to talk to you about something, I just, man, I forgot.

[52:55] So thank you for everything, Lord. And all these little bad problems that we have all roll away. Christians, we must learn to speak to the king.

[53:08] Philippians chapter number three, or four, verse number 13, the Bible says that we can do everything with him, right? I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. Listen, John chapter number 15, verse number eight, says without him I could do nothing.

[53:23] So let's think about tonight. You know what ministry is? You know what the Christian life is? Either you go after him, speak to him, and have everything, or you try on your own side, and you get nothing.

[53:33] Father, I pray and I ask this evening, Lord, as we come to another preaching session, as we hear music, Lord, as we later go to the devotion time, and Lord, as we go throughout our life, and as we go throughout this conference, Lord, I pray that we would stop and thank you for all that you've given us.

[53:50] God, use this group in a special way. This is such a special group God that has set aside times from the holidays and their busy schedule just to come because they have interest in serving the King of Kings.

[54:03] But Lord, help us this evening. We all need help learning to speak to you more. We all need to grow another step, and Lord, I pray that we would. Lord, move in our hearts and move in our lives, and we thank you in a special way.

[54:15] God, use the rest of this evening. In Jesus' precious name we pray. Amen. If you would, take your Bibles and open them to Jonah chapter 1. Jonah chapter 1. And we're going to read in that, we're going to read in that chapter a little bit if you would.

[54:31] Jonah chapter 1. And I want to talk to you about rebelling against the King's command. Rebelling against the King's command. And I want you to mark some things in your Bible. I'll be honest with you, I think you already know what God wants you to do.

[54:45] I think most of us, you didn't come to a meeting like this without already knowing that God has a plan for your life. You didn't come to a meeting like this without knowing that God is the God of world evangelism.

[54:57] What is world evangelism? It's just telling everybody how great a God He is. What is world evangelism? It's just telling what God the Father did through the Son on the cross of Calvary. What is world evangelism?

[55:09] It's lifting the name of Jesus. What is church planning? Church planning is having other people learn how to worship God and lift up His name and sing praises to Him. What is leader training?

[55:20] It's telling people about Jesus and training other people to go tell people about Jesus. So tonight, I want to take the life of Jonah and I'll go through four chapters with you before the week is, before the weekend's over.

[55:32] And I just want you to go with me and read through that and I want you to make some applications to your life. Look at Jonah chapter one. Don't worry, not four chapters tonight, just one. And we can't read the whole chapter for the sake of time, but if you would take your Bible and maybe mark these or make a note.

[55:46] Jonah chapter one, in verse two, he starts off, the word of the Lord came in son of Jonah saying, arise and go. Would you put a circle around that? Arise and go.

[55:57] And then I want you to skip down to verse three. Now, you know, see God had this plan. Jonah, you're my man and I want to send you with a message to a people. I'm in charge. I'm God. I'm the king.

[56:07] I make decisions. You obey. But look at chapter three verse, the first two words, but Jonah. Why don't you put a circle around that? Arise, but arise and go, but Jonah.

[56:19] And by the way, you know what Jonah wanted to do? Jonah was like, I don't want to be around God. I don't want to be around God. If God wants me to do what I don't want to do, I don't want to be around God.

[56:31] You say, you can't say that. Well, I think if you read verse three, he arose to flee from Tarshish, unto Tarshish, from the presence of the Lord. And if you go down to right before verse four, it says he went unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

[56:45] He wanted to get away from God. And a lot of us kind of want to get away from God. We, we, the fact is we like comfortable churches and comfortable churches might even have a high moral standard and a lot of separation, but they don't challenge us to give our lives to do something that's uncomfortable to us.

[57:03] And world evangelism and complete surrender to God is like the most, most uncomfortable message you could possibly ever preach in a church. Look at verse four, if you would. In verse two, I got a rise to go.

[57:14] In verse three, I got, but John, in verse four, I got, but the Lord. And the Lord said, Jonah, I have a plan. I want you to go. And Jonah said, I don't want to go. And so God said, well, then I'm going to do a work in your life and I'm going to shake you up, wake you up because I am God.

[57:31] And somewhere along the way, I think some of us develop this attitude that we can kind of tell God to drop dead and we can kind of tell God, I don't care what your plan is for my life.

[57:41] But you know, Mr. Jonah is not going to get away with that. I think everybody in this room, you know the story as well as I do. Jonah says, I don't want to do what you want me to do. I'm leaving here. And so he takes off running.

[57:51] He paid the fare and ran into God anyway. He paid the fare to get out of town. And when he got out of town, God was waiting on him. Go down, if you would, to verse five and right in the middle of verse five, put a circle around, but Jonah.

[58:04] Verse five said, the mariners were afraid and cried every man unto his God and cast forth the wires that were in the ship into the sea to light it. But Jonah, there he is, but Jonah, he's down in the bottom of the ship and he is asleep.

[58:17] He is asleep. By the way, the guys, the guys finally wake him up and they say, what's going on here, Jonah? We're trying to figure out why in the world this storm has come on us. We don't think this is an act of nature.

[58:29] We believe that one of the gods is doing something. And in verse nine, they've asked him what his occupation was in verse eight. They threw lots, threw dice there, figured out it was Jonah. And in verse nine, Jonah says, I'm a Hebrew and I fear the Lord.

[58:43] And in verse 10, the men knew. He told them, this guy's like, I know what God wants me to do with my life, but I don't want to do it and I don't mind telling you guys. And now when everything's falling apart, all of a sudden, Mr. Jonah is going to be waked up.

[58:57] Verse 12, verse 12, he said, y'all throw me in the ocean because I know why this is happening. I know why this is happening. And by the way, you know, I don't, I don't preach those messages.

[59:10] I'll just be honest with you. I don't preach threatening messages. I don't tell you God's going to break your leg. I don't preach those messages, but some of you have been doing wrong and you know that God's at work in your life.

[59:20] Nobody has to tell you. Nobody had to say, Jonah, I believe God's trying to get you. Jonah said, no, I'm a Hebrew. I know exactly what's going on here. I knew what God wanted me to do.

[59:30] I didn't want to do what God wanted me to do. Now a storm's come. Just throw me in the ocean because I already know what's going on here. Y'all just get rid of me and everything will be all right. Throw me in the ocean. And he said, because it's against me.

[59:42] Look at if you would, in verse 13, in the last two words, it was against them because what happened was when the storm came, it was against those men even. In verse 16, the men feared the Lord.

[59:53] Verse 17, he prepared a fish. I just want to give you four or five words you might write down and I'll finish the message. Number one, Jonah was commanded to go. Jonah was commanded to go.

[60:04] In other words, God had a personal will for his life. God had a personal will for the life of Jonah. He had something that he wanted Jonah to do.

[60:15] And I just want to say this to you. I really don't know where you are and I don't know what's going on in your life, but I do know this. I know that as a young boy, as a young boy, I knew God had something he wanted me to do.

[60:28] I knew that I wasn't one of the regular guys. I knew I wasn't one of everybody else. I knew I wasn't like the kids that I went to school with. Most of them were lost. I knew I wasn't like everybody else that went to my church.

[60:38] I knew God wanted me to do something for him. And by the way, I think a whole bunch of you are just like me. I think you have known that God has a plan for your life.

[60:52] I think that just like Jonah, you do know that God does have a specific plan for your life. And some of you are in that plan. Some of us are in that plan.

[61:02] And some of you are rebelling against that plan. But can we just establish up front, and most of us have been going to church very long, we already figured out God is big and God has a plan and I'm part of it. If you know that, say amen.

[61:14] You know, that makes you uncomfortable, doesn't it? Especially when you're, you know, nobody wants to surrender to God and His will because we're like, I want to do whatever God wants me to do as long as whatever God wants me to do is what I want to do.

[61:25] So if God will get on my plan, we can get along real good. And I don't want to surrender. And I said a while ago, and by the way, Jeff's the guy I was talking about who got held up with guns, and Jason's guy was talking about who had a knife put to his throat.

[61:37] You could ask them the stories. There's a dozen other stories in this room. But you know what? Those weren't the scary days. Those weren't, that wasn't what was really the rough day because in those moments, a little girl steps up and says, Daddy, why don't we pray?

[61:50] You know why she said that? Because God was there saying, I'm taking care of my bush boys. Say amen. God was there. But you know what the hard day was? The hard day was the day that Jeff and Mindy said, God, we will do whatever you want us to do because that's a scary day because on that day, it's like, I just am not sure what will happen and I'm afraid, but you need to know God does have a will for your life.

[62:14] You need to come to face with that. You need to know that God has a plan and a will for your life. Number two, I see this in Jonah's life. He disobeyed God's clear direction. He disobeyed God's clear direction.

[62:28] And I, you know, as I traveled to some mystery, I ran into people all the time. It would say, when I was a kid, I knew God wanted to be a mystery, but I never did it. I met people in jail that knew God wanted to do stuff.

[62:39] I really have. At least they said that. I don't know. I wasn't around. I'm not, God didn't know if that happened. But see, some of you aren't doing God's will. Do you know that Jonah had good reasons for not obeying God?

[62:50] He was a racist like you. Let's just be honest up front. Amen. They're black in Africa.

[63:01] Jonah, we don't like them. We don't want to go win them to Christ. Their babies don't look like our babies. You say what you want to say, but that's racism. And that old Jonah, he's got a problem because in Nineveh, they're enemies of his country.

[63:15] By the way, let's don't get any of them Muslims. We don't like them ragheads. Want to come over and kill us? Blow up our places? I don't like them. So I don't care what God wants me to do. And if God wants to call me where it's comfortable and easy, maybe, but I don't want to go to those places.

[63:31] Jonah had plenty of good reasons just like you do. You know, they spoke a different language. They had different customs. They were wicked people. It was dangerous to go there. It was hard to reach them. He didn't know them.

[63:41] He didn't really have any reason to love them. In fact, as you'd be honest, you know when these missionaries come in here, they come to your church and they say, they've never even been there. They've never bought a passport yet in their own deputation.

[63:52] And they come into your church and they haven't got a passport and they say stuff like this, God's given me a love for those people. And you're sitting there saying a love. I know you don't even love them because you don't love your neighbor. You've never been across town.

[64:03] I don't see you around any other people like that. But yeah, I don't have that love and I'm not going to lie like you are. That's basically where old Jonah is. Jonah's like, I don't know them people. I don't like them people.

[64:13] If God wants to kill them, who needs to warn them? Just kill them, God. My message is anyway, the message you want me to give them is this, you're dead meat. He said, I don't need to, why should I have to travel just kill them?

[64:25] I'm all for it. That's basically Jonah's attitude. God had a plan. Jonah wasn't interested in God's plan. Some of us really do believe that we can run far enough away. Some of us believe that we can pull away and we draw away from God and it becomes a costly affair.

[64:43] He paid the fare to get away from God, but he ran into God. He, by the way, if he'd have gone as a mystery, God would have paid the fare. He wouldn't have had to. Say amen. If he'd have just gone as a mystery, God would have took care of the dues.

[64:55] If he'd have gone as a mystery, God would have got him there. Jonah thought that by just doing what he wanted to do, he could avoid God's will for his life. The real story doesn't start until we see God step in and begin to work in God's life.

[65:07] Now, I just want you to, two or three things about the story. One, God had a plan. I wish there was a way I could get you to be honest. How many of you at about 11 or 12 or 13 years old said one day you're just like, I just believe God wants to do something with me.

[65:22] How many of you ever thought, would you be honest? Man, I just went back and preached at the church I used to be a member of when I was from 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18. And a guy came back to, a guy came to hear me preach.

[65:35] He drove about 45 minutes. He didn't go to that church. He said he was my friend. I don't even remember from high school really. And he was, he was, he came to hear it and he said, I'll tell you why, because you was one of the weirdest kids in school.

[65:47] I was like, hey man, I knew I was weird. I didn't know I was all that weird. He said, nobody else at 14 knew what they were supposed to do with their whole life. But you did. You know, I think you do too, don't you?

[65:58] The facts are, you do know. You know, Betty and I, when God began dealing with my heart, Betty married me. Betty knew when she got married to me, she was marrying a weirdo. I mean, who could look at me and not know that?

[66:09] Betty knew something was wrong because I was a wild guy, was going to do something. I told Betty one day, I said, we're going to go be missionaries and Betty did not want to be a missionary. Betty didn't want to leave her house.

[66:20] Betty didn't want to leave her comfort. Betty didn't want to leave her family. Betty had all the excuses just like Jonah did. And by the way, I had all of them before Betty did. Even though I knew what I was supposed to do, any moment you think about doing something wild, it's scary.

[66:33] It's scary to think about living somewhere else. I mean, if you want to go down and live in, what do you call it, down there, Disney World. You want to go to Disney World, that's not scary. But I mean, if you want to go to Peru and there's a civil war going on and there's thousands of people being killed and bombs are going off and terrorists are there, nobody wants to go there.

[66:56] And I spoke to Betty and Betty didn't want to go and Betty didn't want to be involved in that. And that wasn't what Betty's plan was for life, just like it wasn't mine. But you know what, the day that Betty finally got out and said, God, I'll do whatever you want me to do, peace and joy came.

[67:09] The day I told Betty, I know God wants us to go back to America to start a church. My wife said to me, you better know for sure because I don't want to leave here. Because God does work.

[67:20] He has a plan for your life. And you have plenty of excuses. You have plenty of excuses. I'm going to miss my mama. I'm going to miss my daddy. I'm going to miss eating at McDonald's.

[67:31] I don't know what your excuse is, but I just want you to know that God is bigger than every excuse that you could ever offer, every excuse that you could ever have. Number three, if you would look at this, God intervenes.

[67:43] God intervenes. In verse four, but the Lord sent out a great wind. The Lord intervenes. Jonah apparently thinks that he has effectively gotten away from the presence of God, but God shows up in a storm.

[67:58] Jonah thinks he got away, but God shows up in a storm. Jonah's rebellion causes others to suffer. Jonah's rebellion causes others to suffer.

[68:09] First off, if you can go down in the bottom of the boat and go to sleep while the storm's going on, I don't know what's going on, but you must really think you got it all under control. Everybody else is panicking. They're throwing stuff off the ship and trying to lighten the load, and Jonah's down there asleep.

[68:23] They finally wake Jonah up, and Jonah comes up there. Jonah knows what's going on, but do you realize what happened? When you do wrong, others hurt. When you do wrong, others hurt. You can hurt your wife.

[68:34] You can hurt your husband. You can hurt your children. You can hurt your parents. God wants you to serve him. He has a plan for your life. You rebel. He intervenes.

[68:46] Let me just go ahead and tell you up front that most of us, if you decide to serve God, it's going to cost you. I'm just going to have to tell you that. I remember going in and telling my dad.

[68:57] I said to my dad, I wanted to tell my daddy we were going to resign before I told anybody else. And my dad and I were kind of close. My dad had moved from Tennessee down to Georgia. We were close in a way. We weren't close another way. He was always loving me in his weird way.

[69:10] And he had moved out to live in my town. He was a member of my church. And he was the biggest giver in the church. He was always kind to me. Except he would always tell me that I didn't understand the Bible. But anyway, you know some of that stuff?

[69:21] He's like, your daddy, you know. He's like a daddy. You know what that means. And so I sat down in the living room with him. And I had everybody else out of the room. And I said, Daddy, I want you to know that God's dealt my heart. We're going to go to a place called Idaquipa, Peru.

[69:33] And we're going to be missionaries. And my daddy said, doesn't surprise me. You never have been a good Christian. You haven't loved God.

[69:43] You haven't loved the church. You're not a good pastor. You're not even a good Christian. So why don't you leave? I mean, I was like, of everybody, I knew what he said. Now by the way, my dad before he died said he never said that.

[69:55] He was proud of me the whole time. But you see, it hurts to say I'm going. But I was so concerned even about what would happen with my wife and family.

[70:07] I knew God had a plan for my life. Do you know that God has a plan for your life? Others suffered. Everybody else is afraid and praying and Jonah's sleeping and sulking. Look at verse 10 if you would.

[70:19] Jonah even told them what he was going, what was going on in his life. It's amazing. The backslider knows what's going on. It's amazing. A backslider would say, I'm away from God and I'm not serving God, but I do worship him and he is my Lord and I am a Hebrew and I worship him and he wants me going as a missionary over to Nineveh, but I don't want to go to Nineveh and that's why I'm out here and that's why this ship's sinking.

[70:42] I mean, if I'd have been Jonah, I'd have simply said, I don't know what in the world's going on. I'm not a Hebrew. I don't serve. I wouldn't have mentioned any of that. And that's what really goes on in some of your lives. God is at work in your life and you don't want to say it to anybody, but deep down inside, you're like, I can't get away from it.

[71:00] God wants me to do something. God's at work in my life and he's rebellion. He still says he worships God and he knows why the storms happen and then God sends a fish. Let me give you three or four little lessons that I'm through.

[71:12] Number one, listen to this. God is going to accomplish his purpose. You can mark this one down. You cannot stop the will of God. You cannot stop the will of God.

[71:26] But I need to tell you quickly that that doesn't mean it'll always involve you. Sometimes, like with Jonah, God will do a work in your life so that you end up doing what God has for you. My wife didn't want to go to Peru.

[71:42] My wife cried for almost four years while we were on a mission field in Mexico and in Peru. I mean, seriously, she didn't enjoy it. It was tough for her to get used to.

[71:54] She had come out of a family. She had all this nice stuff. Then she married me and then I took her all the way down to the third world. And when we got to Peru, it was nothing like Peru is today. And Betty was down there rebelling.

[72:09] Language school, the teacher said, you didn't say that right. She said, yes, I did. The language school teacher was an American lady. She said, no, you didn't say it again. Betty said, I said it right the first time. I said, Betty, shut up.

[72:19] Just say the word. You ain't going to get away with it. This woman ain't going to let us alone. Betty didn't have a good time. But you know what happened over a few months and a few years? God began to work in her heart. And she became the mom to a whole bunch of little pastor boys, little preacher boys.

[72:34] And she became the mom to a bunch of missionaries that God began to bring forward. And she became like this godly example to everybody. And all of a sudden, Betty obeying God, getting past her selfishness and getting past what all of us deal with, God did great and mighty things with her.

[72:51] She became what a lot of guys in Peru and here would say, I mean, she's the greatest thing about our ministry and about me is Betty. And I'm just telling you that God's at work in your life.

[73:03] And he may have to shake up your world a little bit. But if he does, praise God. Because he might not. He didn't. Or there's a threat that he wouldn't with Esther.

[73:14] Do you remember the story of Esther? Don't have time to read all of it. But if you were to look at her, write it up for later. In Esther chapter 4 verses 13 and 14, a little more to Kyle says. Now God's going to do what he's going to get done.

[73:26] He's going to get it done. And Esther, don't you dare think that if you don't do what you ought to do that you can escape. But you can mark this one down. God will accomplish his will. God will bring deliverance. God will come out on top.

[73:37] God will win because he's God. But you might not get out of it. And your family may suffer because of it. I'll be honest with you. Betty and I are extremely blessed and excited that God allowed us to be missionaries in Peru.

[73:50] Betty and I are extremely excited that God allowed us to have a work in a lot of different people's lives. But here's where it starts. God has a will for my life. Sometimes I get a little selfish and rebellious. Haven't you? I have.

[74:01] I have many times and many times I didn't want to do it. But then God intervenes. And you need to know that right now God's working in your life. And some of you are going to be so rebellious and so stuck that a whale's not coming along.

[74:11] God's just going to bypass you and pick another guy to use. I certainly don't want God doing that in my life. I want to be where I ought to be to be used to God the way God wants me to be used.

[74:22] God has a plan and I want to see it happen. What plan does God have for your life? Where do you fit in? Has he made it clear to you? Are you progressing in that plan? I want to tell you I really believe this.

[74:32] You see on Betty's worst days Betty loved Jesus. On Betty's worst days she was a great wife. On Betty's worst days she was a great mom. On Betty's worst days she wanted to do what God wanted even though it was uncomfortable to her.

[74:43] But then Jesus did say if you want to come back to me take up your cross and follow me. He never did say I'm going to make you rich and make it easy. Say amen. You read the wrong Bible.

[74:54] Joel, the Joel of the Bible doesn't have an O for his last name. Hey, it ain't Joel Osteen it's Joel. And I'll just be honest with you serving God is not always the most comfortable thing in the world.

[75:06] And serving God sometimes takes you to the armpit of the world. And serving God sometimes makes you miss your grandkids. And serving God sometimes makes you have some things go wrong in your life that other people wouldn't understand. But you see Betty would tell you today it's been worth it all.

[75:19] Every place we've been and everything that's happened and every heartache we've had because God allowed us to be there. I am so glad God let me be that guy. I want to tell you something. I really believe that God had Jonah for Nineveh.

[75:32] I believe God had Austin for Idaquipa. I believe with all my heart when I stepped in Idaquipa I was God's man in God's place and God started doing all this stuff and things were happening in our ministry and it wasn't me.

[75:46] It wasn't me. It wasn't a dumb redneck from Tennessee. It wasn't me. It was God and God was doing all that stuff because God has a plan for your life. Because God wants to work in your life. And you're standing back.

[75:57] You're not hurting the cause of Christ because it will go forward. You're hurting you. God will. accomplish his plan. You can't run far enough way to get out of his presence.

[76:09] You can run but you can't hide. God is at work in your life. God does chastise. How's that one?

[76:25] If you belong to him he'll spank you. By the way going to the mission field is only your reasonable service if that's what he's called you to do. Those around a rebellious Christian do suffer in your discipline.

[76:47] If we are his we have a higher purpose for our lives than anybody else. Just a couple things I'll quit with you but 2 Corinthians 5 14 for the love of Christ constraineth us because we thus judge that if one died for all then we're all dead and that he died for all that they which live should not live for themselves but for him that died for them and rose again.

[77:12] You know what the strongest pull that God has on our lives is loving Jesus but more than that it's knowing Jesus loves me and knowing that he has a plan for my life.

[77:24] Why in the world would the God of all glory the creator God the God who has existed forever and will forever exist why would the God who can make everything my life is less than 2 hours and in any time span you can come up with I'm a nothing I'm a nobody I'm smaller than a flea I'm smaller than a fly why would God even consider me Psalms chapter 8 but he looks down and says hey little boy I got a plan for your life that's going to make you excited and blessed and an abundant life I got it laid out for you buddy step in and let me work.

[77:52] What in the world could you ever ask for like that? Why would God allow that to happen in my life? He loves me. He loves me. He loves you. He has a plan for you.

[78:04] You're special in his place. Why would he ever save us? Why would he ever let us be used of him? God is so good to us. What will it take to wake you from sleep in the middle of the storm that's caused by your rebellion?

[78:17] What will it take to wake you from sleep in the middle of the storm that's caused by your rebellion? Obedience is not about the need.

[78:28] It's not about the people. It's not about the job. It's about the God we serve. Is he worthy of our love and devotion and obedience? If you claim to worship him, how can you not obey him?

[78:41] If God is your God, how can you not give and dedicate all to him? Here's what I think Jonah chapter one teaches me. God had a plan for a man. That man didn't want God's plan.

[78:54] God intervened in that man's life. And that's where we, that's where it leaves it. The chapter just says, I got a whale waiting on you, buddy. You're fixing, you're fixing to, to suffer. You're fixing to pay the consequences.

[79:08] So I just want you to listen to this quickly. It's about God. God doesn't see color of skin. God doesn't see languages.

[79:19] God doesn't see national boundaries. God doesn't see hardship. You say, well, you know, we, we got it good in America and God would look down and say, I don't think so. My streets are gold.

[79:31] Yours are asphalt. Y'all got it bad down there, buddy. I mean, there's nothing. I mean, God doesn't look at us the time we'll send you to the backside of nowhere. God's like, no, I'm going to go with you to the backside of nowhere.

[79:42] I'm going to do some great things with you that ain't nobody ever seen before. I'm going to let you experience things that you don't deserve to experience. Every missionary and every preacher and every man that's been used in this room will tell you that there are things beyond our wildest dream.

[79:55] We can, we can honestly say, man, God has been good. If I drop dead tonight, I can tell you, I've lived the most rich, wonderful, fantastic life. I have seen more, done more, gone more places, had God do greater things.

[80:07] If I die right now, I'll die the richest guy you've ever known. And I'm not the only one in this room that can say that. God's been good to us. Are you going to rebel against the king's command? I don't know what it is in your life.

[80:20] Not everybody's supposed to go as a missionary. I realize that, but I bet everyone, I believe every one of us ought to say, I'm ready to go as a missionary. I believe you ought to come. You see, you know why you don't want to support missionaries? It's because you don't want to be one.

[80:32] You ought to come and say, God, I'm ready to be a missionary. God, I'm ready to go anywhere. I'll go, I'll go, I'll go to the, I'll go to the Muslim people of the world. They need to hear the gospel. That's like Nineveh. That's, that's about as bad a place as you could go in our day and time probably.

[80:44] And God wanted Nineveh to be saved. You say, the Muslims won't accept Christ. Oh, they will when God goes. They did when God went to Nineveh. Amen. God's, God's a pretty big God.

[80:55] I mean, God ain't up in heaven saying, I don't know if I can get people saved in that country. God is not up in heaven saying, I'm not sure what I can pull off here. Y'all don't try me too hard. God's up in heaven saying, bring it on. You step out, I'll be there.

[81:07] So why don't you say to him tonight, God, I'm going to quit rebelling. Why don't you say, God, I'm going to quit rebelling. That's not saying you're going to go to the mission field. It's just saying this, I'm going to listen. I want to know you.

[81:18] I want to let you guide me and direct me. Why don't you say, God, I'm yours. Do whatever you want with me. Father in heaven, would you please work in our hearts and lives? Thank you for how good you've been. Thank you for what you've done in our lives.

[81:29] God, help people tonight to just say, I will listen to the king. Help people tonight to just say, I will let Jesus guide my life. I love him and I want to serve him.

[81:41] Let people tonight revel in your love for them and trust that you'll only do the greatest thing for them. God, please help your people to know you love them.

[81:52] And to trust you. With your heads bowed and your eyes closed and you're just playing the piano for a second, maybe God would deal with your heart and maybe God would speak to you and you'd step out and you'd say, I'm here to do whatever God wants me to do.

[82:05] I'm just going to put my life on the altar. Would you come do that? Right now? If the Holy Spirit spoke to you, I love you. I'm not rebelling against the king's command. I'm not doing things my way.

[82:16] I'm not trying to run from his presence. I'm here to do whatever God wants me to do. To go wherever God wants me to go. To be God's man, God's woman. How about coming up and saying, I know you love me and I would never think you would ever do anything that would be for my best because you are more loving than any mom could ever be.

[82:34] You are more loving than any dad could ever be. You're the great God of heaven. Why don't you come and tell him? Say, God, I'll do whatever you want me to do. Why don't you come and say, I want to know you. I want to honor you.

[82:44] Why don't you come and say, I want to listen and hear what comes from your heart. Why don't you come and why don't you say to him, I'm here to pray and ask your will. Why don't you just come to him and say, God, I want you to direct my life. Why don't you just surrender?

[82:56] Why don't you just let God lead in your life wherever it is. I'm not asking you to pick a country. I'm not even asking you to say you'd be a mystery. I'm just asking you to say, I will do whatever God wants me to do.

[83:08] You can have my money. You can have my time. You can have my talents. You can have my future. But I want what God wants in my life. Is there anybody else? Father, would you deal with hearts?

[83:20] Help those that are praying in their seats and those that are praying at the altar and let decisions be made that bring honor to your name. I'll give you praise. With every head bowed, every eye closed, you stay where you are. Whenever you're finished, pray it in your seat or at the altar.

[83:32] You can stand and sing with David. Don't get in a hurry. Let's do business with God. I will never trust Him in His presence daily.

[84:05] I surrender all. I surrender all.

[84:19] All to Thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender all.

[84:32] All to Jesus I surrender How be at His feet I run Worldly pleasures All forsaken Take me, Jesus Take me there I surrender all I surrender all All to Thee, my blessed Savior I surrender all Thank you very much.

[85:27] You can have a seat. Brother Trent will be here in just a moment. Let me tell you something because I really want you to understand something. There's nothing special about Jeff Bush, Tony Howarth, Jim Roberts, Austin Gardner, the seven guys that sit up here.

[85:42] Everybody that you're going to meet all week long are just a bunch of peon nobodies. Their names won't be remembered in earthly history books. We won't have accomplished anything with our lives as far as what the world thinks about it.

[85:55] It's not us. It is Him. And He is worthy of it all. You could be sitting there saying, man, if I could be like those guys, I'd do something. You already are like them. You're a loser. And we're all losers.

[86:11] But Jim, when you get hooked up with a winner, things change. And you know what? Every one of us just came to him and said, hey, I am a nobody. I'll embarrass my buddy Jeff.

[86:22] I bet Jeff's only got in this room, did fourth grade three times or third grade four times. Where are you, Jeff? Which one was it? Thank you. Yes. I'll bet I was raised as redneck in this country as any of you and nobody from my hometown has ever even been out of town, you know?

[86:40] I mean, when they get to the county line, their car battery dies. Huh? I'm just telling you, none of us are anything. I'm telling you, none of us are anything. Because it's easy if you look at them and think there's something.

[86:51] If I took you to their ministry, if I took you to Argentina, since I picked on Jeff, if I took you to Argentina and started introducing you to dozens of people that love Jesus, four churches going, people getting saved, ministry blooming, you'd say, man, Jeff's a great guy.

[87:09] And I would tell you, I know Jeff. Not that great. But I know who's doing it through Jeff. And that means you got a chance.

[87:21] Let's jump in. This event is organized by Baptists Commit to World Evangelism, committed to training men and women to take part in the King's Command. For more information, log on to www.bcwe.org to find out how you can be involved in the King's Command.