God wants us, doesn't He, to give our life to Him, to be used as He sees fit. All right, we'll dismiss those that are going to the creche to go with Mrs. Shore. And the rest of us can open up to the end of the book of Matthew, Matthew chapter 28. Matthew chapter 28. Happy birthday, Matthew, by the way. Matthew 7. You're gonna stay in here now? Wow, that is cool. It's cool to stay in here. All right, Matthew chapter 28 and verses 16 through 20. I shared this last Sunday night, but some of you weren't here Sunday night. You might have seen this in the news last week. A Titanic locker key sold at auction for 80,000 pounds. And that's incredible. I mean, I think actually not 80,000 pounds, 85,000 pounds. And look at that. Wow. I mean, what made this key so valuable? But the thing is, it was the key that belonged to Sidney Siduneri. And Sidney was a third class mate, I guess, on this ship. And it was a key that was given to him as a sacred trust. And it's a key that he used when the Titanic was sinking. Sidney Siduneri was on F deck. And that key was the key to the locker that had all the life jackets. And Sidney Siduneri made his mission, while FDEC was flooding, to go and take the life jackets and give them to as many people as he could. 1,500 people perished when the Titanic sank. But there were less people that died because Sidney Sedunery took those life jackets to these people. And that key was found in the pocket of Sidney Sedunery when they found his body, having died to try to save others. John Hart said, he was another mate on the ship, I guess, that he said, Sidney frantically tried to save lives as the ship sank, heroically staying in the aft deck as it was flooding. according to evidence given to the British Inquiry into the disaster by another steward, John Hart." So, incredible, this guy gave his life trying to save others and the key that they found was the key that opened the locker that saved lives and he gave his life. And as I read that, I thought, wow, what a picture of salvation. It cost Jesus Christ his life to furnish the key. And it's a key that ought to be in the pocket of every believer, isn't it? A key that opens that locker to everlasting life, that saves souls from perishing in the fires of hell for all eternity. And so what a picture we have there in that precious trust, in that key that was given. You know, each one of us, as we've already read Matthew 28, each one of us has been given that sacred trust. There's a key that ought to be found in the pocket of every believer, it's the key of the Gospel. And it's that key that we get from our Lord. And here, Matthew chapter 28, is basically what you could picture of Sidney Sidney, as he entered into that office on whatever day that was, and whoever his captain or his officer was that handed him that key and said, Sidney, here's a sacred trust that I'm giving you today. This key is a key that saves lives if there's a disaster. If there's something that takes place on this ship, this key, guard it with your life. This key, always have in your pocket. This key, be ready because you never know when tragedy may strike. You think about how sober that responsibility was as that key was given to Sidney. And this morning, I trust God in our hearts will do the same sober work as he gives us that key. Our Lord gives us that key here in Matthew chapter 28. It's a priceless key. is a key that, again, ought to be in the hand of every believer to set people free. Let's pray and ask God to bless His Word to our hearts this morning. Father, it's our desire this morning to meet with You. And Father, as we come to this passage, I pray, give us that heart that burns to see lives saved. Father, there's some precious truth that we're going to consider, and I pray the Spirit of God would make this truth life-changing to our hearts. Lord, we can stand on top of the Bing and look at the city, the village of Lonehead. We can look at the city of Edinburgh. We can see Newton Grange. We can see Gore Bridge. We can see Bonnyrig. Father, we can look and we can see over towards Trinet. We can see over to our Preston Pans and Muscleboro. Father, we can see out towards Rosewell, we can see Roslyn, we can see Bilston. And Father, I pray that the Spirit of God will give us a burden for the work that's to be done. There's a lot to do. And I pray the Spirit of God gives grace as a church. We're not a big church, but I pray the Spirit of God gives grace as a church to do everything we can that someday we don't stand ashamed because of how many perished in our community because we are doing our part to reach them with the precious truth of the gospel. So I pray, help us as we come to the Word of God. May the Spirit of God, leading guide in this time, is in Christ's name we pray. Amen. the priceless key that God has given to us. It is a key that is given to disciples, first of all. So we're gonna look at it. The first point is the key is given, okay? But it's given to disciples, given to disciples. Verse 16 says, then the 11 disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. Jesus Christ has just died on the cross. Jesus Christ has just risen from the dead, and Mary has been told, and the others have been told by Jesus, look, go and tell the disciples, verse 10, then said Jesus unto them, be not afraid, go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me. And so they've gone to Galilee, to that place to meet with the Lord, but Jesus Christ has just accomplished the gospel. He's just died on the cross. He's the atonement. I was reading the Old Testament, and the Old Testament says that if you shed somebody's blood, your guilty blood will be shed for the innocent blood that you shed. The guilty blood has to be shed to pay for that crime, but here's what God did. Innocent blood, the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, was shed for our guilty blood. He died in our place. He paid the complete price for our sin. He was victorious over death. He rose from the dead so that he could give the gift of everlasting life. He could give the gift of eternal forgiveness and salvation to those that would trust in him. Now he goes to his disciples and he's gonna present them with this key, the key of the gospel and say, this is a sacred trust that I'm giving to you, but he can give it because he's paid for it with his life, as we already talked about. I wanna point out that that gospel key is given to disciples. You know, on the Titanic, I'm not sure how many people were on the Titanic, but there were very few people that had the key. There's loads of people on the Titanic, probably some good people. Probably some people that when the vessels started to sink, they wished they had a key. If there was a locker that was near them, a locker that housed the life jackets and it was locked and they had no way into it, they wish they had a key. If they had a key, they would have opened that. They would have given life jackets to their family. They would have given life jackets to their friends. They would have given life jackets to strangers. They would have done everything they could, but they couldn't do anything because they didn't have a key. You know, this morning, somebody could be a good person. Somebody could be a caring person. Somebody could love their family, love their friends and love strangers, but they can't do anything to rescue them for eternity in hell because they don't have a key. They don't have anything to offer to that loved one to say, look, this is the answer. This is the key that can set you free. This is the way your life can be saved so that you don't have to perish in the fires of hell because keys are only given to disciples. And so the disciples of the Lord are there and the key is given to them. And this morning, if you're saved, you've got the key. It's been given to you as a sacred trust. Sidney Sedunery, he was faithful unto death because of that sacred trust that he had been given. When perhaps he could have saved his life, he could have rescued his life, he risked his life to save others, and in risking his life, he gave his life. As believers, we have that sacred key that's been given to us. Others are not as valiant and as courageous as Sidney Siduneri. If you read last, what was it, two years ago now, three years ago, the Costa Concordia disaster, that Captain, Captain Schettino, he was found guilty of manslaughter on the 11th of February 2015 for killing 32 passengers. And he was sentenced to 16 years in prison. And it's not enough. That vessel sank because of the negligence of the captain. That vessel wasn't properly evacuated because instead of evacuating the vessel, the pilot evacuated himself. I mean, there's so many ways in which this man just damned those on board that died rather than seeking to save them. And we think this morning, we've got the key. What are we doing to try to get that message to the world? I mean, we've got the key. And the second thing that we see is that the key is given to us by King Jesus. It's given to us by the Lord. You think about the accountability that we have this morning to God for the key that's been entrusted to us because Jesus Christ is God. Verse 17, it says about our Lord, and when they saw him, They worshiped him. Here, Jesus Christ, he's just risen from the dead. It's just, you know, days past that event. He comes to his disciples and they, as Jesus Christ gets there, these are the disciples. These are not ignorant men. These are the elite chosen apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ. These are not ignorant men. And they bow down as Jesus Christ comes, and they worship Him. Why? Because Jesus Christ is God. Jesus is God. We've shared it before, but John in Revelation, in chapter 22, verse 9, he's in heaven, and there's an elder that is explaining things to him, and John mistakenly bows down to him, begins to worship this man, and the man says this, in Revelation 22 9, then said he unto me, see thou do it not for I'm thy fellow servant and of thy brethren, the prophets and of them, which keep the sayings of this book. Then he says, worship God. Jehovah's witnesses, if you talk to them, they say bowing down isn't worship. God's word says it is. John in Revelation bows down to a man, that's worship. And then they say, Jesus Christ isn't God, okay? John's told, get up. Who are you supposed to bow down to? Worship God. Who are the disciples bowing down to and worshiping? Jesus. Why? Because he's God. And I think about it this morning, Jesus Christ has given us a key. I mean, it's not just anybody that's given us a key, God has given us a key, and God, Jesus Christ, has all authority. Verse 18. says, And Jesus came, and he spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. And it's not power, and he does possess all power, he is almighty, but it's not speaking about that kind of power. That word power means authority. The one who has all authority in heaven and in earth has given this key to his servants. You know, humanism, thinks that they make the rules. They think that they're the ones that decide basically right and wrong. Humanism is basically the new gospel. I mentioned we thank the Lord we got citizenship this past Thursday. But the life in the UK test and the citizenship ceremony would prove to anybody in the United Kingdom that the new religion of the United Kingdom is humanism. It's that because they give you the five principles of, or values of British people. And I don't know who decided on these, but the five principles of the, of the British people, the most preeminent one is this tolerance of all faiths. That's interesting. When we went to our citizenship ceremony, as they gave us that oath, they, they challenged the group there to be tolerant of all faiths. I mean, it wasn't a long ceremony. 10 minutes long? It wasn't maybe two pages of notes that she read? But this chief virtue, this gospel, as it were, of our society is tolerance of all faiths. And it's against what we're talking about right here, and that is the gospel. It's against the authority of God to say salvation is by faith in Christ alone, that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by him. But the one who has all authority in heaven and in earth is the one that has given this gospel to us. You know what we need to do today and what we're gonna have to do is say what the disciples said. When the disciples started to preach about Jesus and to tell people about Jesus, they were taken, they were whipped, they were commanded not to preach anymore in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. But Peter and John answered and they said this in Acts 4, whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God judge ye. What's he saying? He's saying to them, you tell me, do you think God wants us to listen to you or to him? Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than to God judge ye. But then they said also in Acts chapter five, we ought to obey God rather than men. See, the world tries to intimidate us. They say, you can't use that key anymore. You can't, you can't be dog hit or bullheaded about it. You can't just continue to say Jesus Christ is the way. You can't say it. That's what the world says. And Christ goes, the Lord goes, I've given you the key. I have all authority in heaven and in earth. And he has given us this key. And so what is the key? The key is given to disciples, it's given to us by the Lord, by King Jesus. But the key is a command to go. Verse 19 says, go ye therefore. Here's a question. Can I sit at home and fulfill this command? No, it's go. I don't know if you've been down to the Scottish Parliament. We took my nieces and my sister-in-law, went down to the Scottish Parliament, went in there. And if you've been down around that area at all in the last two years, you've seen caravans and these Scottish flags and this independence camp that's set up there on the property of the Parliament. And it's been a big to-do in the news about the Parliament Terrians, I mean, they want Scottish independence, but they want this camp out of there. They want these guys out of there. And they said, no, we're going to stay here until Scotland becomes independent, which would be kind of funny if Scotland never became independent to me. You know, here these guys are 50 years from now, and they're rocking chairs sitting there still, right? But they've been commanded by the courts and said, you've got to vacate this property. The judge ruled against them and said, no, it's not OK that you're there. Okay, they're citing health concerns and things of that sort. It's not okay. You can't stay there. They appealed it. Well, they lost their appeal. And they've been told what? To go. How will we know when they obey? When we get down there someday and they're not there. Because they went. If God has said to us individually, He has said, go. And this might sound simple, and I kind of think of that story where C.H. Spurgeon got saved, and it was just a deacon in the church that was preaching, and there weren't many people there, and he was preaching on, look and live, my brother lived, and he's just saying, look, just look. Just look at the cross, look at what Jesus Christ did for you. Just look, and he just kept repeating that, and I mean, it's simple, isn't it? Just look, and this morning, it's simple, go. That's what the command is. Go. Don't stay, because that's not going. Go. Darlene Dibler-Rose and her husband, Russell, were missionaries to Papua New Guinea. And there's a great book. If you enjoy reading, I encourage you to read it. I'd have to get the title for you, because I always get it wrong. But I think it's something like More Precious Than Gold is what the title is. But the story of her life, Darlene Dibler-Rose, she and her husband, Russell, go to Papua New Guinea. Japan invades. And the war begins and they're put in prisoner of war camps. Her husband dies as a prisoner of war. But there before that took place in Papua New Guinea, they were taking the gospel into the interior of the country. And he had cat's claw boots that he wore into the interior, but he shredded them on the rocks and things that they were climbing over to get into where they're taking the gospel. And when he finally got back, his feet were lacerated and full of sores. And she had to bandage his feet and unbandage his feet every day. And it was really bothersome to her. And she thought of this first as she did change the bandages on her husband's feet. Isaiah 52, 7. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace, that bringeth good tidings of good, that publishes salvation, that saith unto Zion, thy God reigneth. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet. The feet, why? They brought the gospel there. Feet shod, what's the Bible say? With the preparation of the gospel of peace. The song the kids enjoy seeing at Christmas time, what? Go, tell it on the mountains, over the sea and everywhere, go. I mean, it's a simple thing. The gospel, I'm sure somebody's said this before me, but the gospel begins with go, doesn't it? We've got to go to take the gospel and the need is great. And so the key has been given. So it's a command to go, but secondly, it's a command for you to go. What's it say in our passage? It says, go ye. It's a command to all disciples. We know it's a command that continues on to us. And I understand you might say, well. Those were the 11. Those were the ones that were chosen. And so the Lord's come to them and given them the great commission. And yes, that's true. But notice what he's commanded them to do down in verse 20, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I've said unto you. And so what is he just said to them? Go ye, go. The command is to us. In the United States, when boys turn 18, they have to sign up for the draft. I'm not sure how it works here in Britain, but we have to, I remember very distinctly when I turned 18 years old, I got my letter in the post and I had to sign up for the draft so that if the, if the United States went to war and they had to draft soldiers into the military, that they would have my name as somebody that was enlisted in the drafts to ready to go. It's interesting. That's a sober thing, isn't it? The last time the United States had a draft was back in December 1972. But I mean, you got a draft letter, you had to go. Guess what? When we got saved, it's kind of like this. There's two ways to look at it. And in the day when the draft took place, there were some men that were anxious about going. They didn't have to be drafted. They wanted to go and fight for the freedoms of our nation. And so these men were heroes. They volunteered and said, I will go. Others were drafted and perhaps didn't want to go, but they had to go. You know, that way for us too as believers, we can either feel like, oh, I've got to go. I've got to go share the gospel. I have to do it because after all, I am a soldier. And that's what the Bible says, by the way, 2 Timothy 2.4, no man that woreth entangle with himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. God, when you got saved, he chose you to be a soldier. This key of the gospel has been given to you. And the Bible says, go ye, go ye. Well, God help us, that is our responsibility, isn't it? It's a command for you to go, but it's a command for you to go because he said so, because he said so. It says, go ye therefore. Now, whenever, and you probably heard this, but whenever you read the word therefore in the Bible, go back and see what it's there for. In other words, it bounces back to what has been previously said, doesn't it? Because therefore means based on this, go. Go ye therefore. So what is it based upon? It's based upon verse 18, when Jesus spake and said unto them, all power is given unto me in heaven and earth. So it's, I am the authority and I have commanded you, go. Go ye therefore. Moses. I love the calls of God in the Old Testament especially because they're recorded so well for us, but not everybody that got a call was really excited about it. You look at Gideon's call, you look at Joshua's call, there's a bit of fear Jeremiah's call in their hearts. I appreciate that about the Word of God, letting us know these men struggled as God came and said, look, I want you to do this. But Moses had a fearful call of God in Exodus 3, verse 2. The angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. And he looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside, see this great sight, why the bush is not burned. And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses. He said, here am I. He said, draw not nigh hither, put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place where I now stand is holy ground. Moreover, he said, now listen, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. And it says in Moses hit his face for he was afraid to look upon God. Okay. Moses, I, I, I view Moses as a pretty tough guy. He's the guy that he saw his, his brethren fighting and, uh, he, Intervened didn't he and he killed the Egyptian remember that story then he took off into the wilderness for 40 years. He's a shepherd He's gonna lead the child of Israel across the wilderness and take them into battle for the Lord I don't I don't view Moses as a weak man, but when he saw God he was afraid You know this morning The person that has given us a key is God It's a very sobering thing go ye because I said so. Because God has commanded us. We can't say this morning, but I'm scared to knock on doors. I'm scared to hand somebody a track. I'm scared to go as a missionary. I'm scared. I'm scared. Does it matter when God has said, go, he's commanded us to go. It's a command to go because he said so. It's a command for you to go because he said so and make disciples. It says, go ye therefore, then it says, and teach. all nations, baptizing them, and so on. But that teach, we read that and think, okay, teach, instruction, but teach actually there, it means to make a disciple. Go ye therefore and make disciples of Jesus. You know, the cults are very good at making disciples, and they were in Jesus' day as well. Matthew 23 says about the Pharisees in verse 15, Roll unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you encompass sea and land to make one proselyte, disciple. When he is made, you make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves." I mean, the Pharisees were diligent about doing everything they could to cultishly grab hold of people and make them disciples of their false teaching. You know, Jehovah's Witnesses, have you seen them? We were talking about this recently. I mean, in our area, Jehovah's Witnesses are rabid. I mean, they stand down on the corner for hours and praise God, not that many people stop to speak to them. But they go also into communities and knock on their doors and then they seek to follow up and seek to put their false teaching into these people's hearts and minds. They're working at it. The Mormons, they've gotta give, I don't know if it's every young man or every, I think it's every young man has to give two years of his life as a missionary. Wow. Every Mormon young man. I mean, they're busy about it. They're working hard at it. Islam, you think about Islam and the devotion of Islam, praying how many times a day, how dedicated are they to their false teaching? And then God says to us, go ye therefore and teach, make disciples. What are we doing? I mean, isn't that what God's told us to do? Hey, go make disciples. What are we doing to make disciples? How are we making disciples? What time are we spending making disciples? Because that's what God's given us to do, is to command this church. How's it going to grow? Reaching people to reach people to reach people to reach people to reach people. is that becoming a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. So it's a command to go and make disciples, but not just make disciples. It's a command for you to go, because he said so, and make disciples in all nations. See, the call to go doesn't end at the A720. It doesn't end at Bilston, it doesn't end at Roslyn, it doesn't end at the North Sea, it doesn't end at the border of England, it doesn't end at the Irish Sea or the Atlantic. It's an all nations call. I mean, that's daunting, isn't it? I mean, that's huge. God has said, to go ye therefore and teach all nations. Remember what they said about the early disciples, these that have turned the world upside down have come hither. Our burden as a church is not just, God, help us to reach Lone Head. I pray God helps us to get the gospel to this area powerfully. But our burden is Ireland, Leighton Kelly. Our burden is England, Britons. Our burden is other nations because that's what God's commanded. My church, let me give you an example. My church in the United States started in the 1970s. It was a church plan. It was some, Godly people, these people are sweet people. They're still living. They got burdened about having a church in their community. And so they started a Bible study. And from that Bible study, they started a church. That church is a church that I grew up in most of my years from about 10, 11 on to now. That's our sending church. We're still attached to that church as they're the ones that have sent us here to do what God's called us to do. Okay, that church, not a big church, about a hundred people. you know, different times, 120, something like that. It's not big. That church supported, you know, in my mind, I have to go back 10, 15 years because I haven't been there in that long, but last I was aware they supported 30 to 35 missionaries at a significant amount monthly, like $100 a month. Okay, I don't know if it's more than that now or where they're at. But you think about that, a church of 100, 120 people supporting 30 missionaries, $100 a month. I mean, these are missionaries in many countries. Our church has young people, I think, out of our church, young people that have grown up in our ministry that are in full-time ministry, the number's in the 30s. Again, it's not a big church. But you know your pastor here. I'm in Scotland. But I came out of that church. I'm part of that church's fulfillment of this, going to all nations. I've got a buddy of mine that I grew up with. He's in South Africa. Another buddy of mine from my youth group is a teacher in South Carolina. And in the summers, he teaches at a Christian university in the academy there. And he, in the summertime, goes to Alaska with his family to help run a Christian camp in Alaska. We've got Christian schoolteachers from our church in Hawaii. We've got Christian schoolteachers from our church in principle, my brother-in-law, in Illinois. We've got a principal also in Minnesota. Okay, just to give you an idea. Why? Because go ye therefore and teach all nations. Our church did that. Praise God, I grew up in a church that fulfilled this command. But as a church, that's what we're burdened about. It's that we've got to be thinking nationally, God help us to give the Gospel to Russia. God help us give the Gospel to South America. God help us to give the Gospel to Europe. That ought to be our vision. Now in our area, we've got to be burdened too. And so to fulfill that, what has to happen? Some need to go. We got young people growing up in our ministry. I pray someday we'll have the joy as a church saying, praise God, God has called this young person and his spouse or this young person and her husband to go to this mission field. And church, we're gonna get behind them. We're gonna support them as they do what God's called them to do. I hope we get that privilege. But all of us can give to missions. All of us can pray for missionaries because it's an all nations call that the key is. And then what does the key do? What does the key do? The key does bring new believers to identity with God. It says, go ye therefore and teach all nations. Then it says, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Now there's some, there's some false teachers that grab hold of verses like this and say, see, the gospel's baptism. See, go ye therefore teach all nations baptizing. Well, notice teaching comes first. What does teaching do? It makes disciples. Who is the disciple? Somebody that's accepted Jesus Christ as their personal savior. Okay. To go to a parallel passage, the same text in another gospel, Mark 16, 15, it says, he said unto them, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel. That's the good news about Jesus Christ, every creature. Okay, it didn't say in that case, in that passage, go ye into all the world and baptize. And then it says, he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned. But notice what it says, he that believeth and is baptized, that's what the word of God teaches, salvation, then baptism is saved. But he that believeth not is what? Not he that believeth not and is baptized not because baptism doesn't have to do with salvation. Baptism is obedience. It's identification. And so coming back to our text, it says they are to be baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost for identity. in his name. You know, we just, again, enjoyed getting our citizenship. We thank the Lord that we were able to do that. But you know who was there to give us our certificate of citizenship? Was the Queen's representative for Midlothian? I forget what his title was. Maybe you might remember. Pratt was his last name, and I know you know the family name. But what he was, he's not a soldier. He looked like a soldier. but he is a representative of the queen. So in the name of the monarch of Britain, we are given citizenship. When somebody gets saved, they are identifying not with a nation, they're identifying with a person, God. And so when we baptize, we baptize in his name. So we bring new believers into identification with Jesus Christ. But what else do we do? We bring them to maturity in God as well. Verse 20. says, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I've commanded you. Now those new believers here, the disciples are, they're saying, here, go ye therefore, teach all nations. And the Lord's leaving. So as they go to these different nations and they speak to them, and they're speaking about what Jesus Christ said, what Jesus Christ did, those that they're speaking to never had opportunity to hear Jesus Christ themselves. Their only opportunity to hear is from the lips of those that are telling them about Jesus Christ. Observe all things. You know, if you observe the speed limit, what does it mean? It means you respect it and you obey it. It's not just, oh, I know it. It's like, I know it and I follow it because I submit to it. You know, that's the same thing that we're seeking to instruct new believers in. Hey, we need to observe what God says, respect it, and we need to do it. We need to obey it. And so that's our responsibility as a church to encourage those that accept Jesus Christ, to disciple them and bring them into that place of obedience and maturity to the Lord. You know, as a church, we've been praying about these empty chairs. Why? Because empty chairs can't listen. Empty chairs can't observe. Empty chairs can't do what God's commanded them to do. And so we're burdened to see these chairs filled. Why? So that we can have the privilege of preaching the gospel and the truth about following Jesus Christ to people that can truly be disciples of God. And so that's our responsibility. That's what the gospel does. And so having thought about the key, we could look at it this morning and say, you know, it's a sober responsibility. There's eternity at stake. for everybody outside this place based upon what we do with what God's given to us this morning. What God did when he gave us the key when we got saved. And frankly, there's people going to hell because churches haven't done what they ought to do with that key. And because you and I haven't done what we ought to do with that key. That's a sober responsibility. And so the key includes, is the last point, God encourages us a bit. The key includes a promise of his presence, the presence of Jesus. Jesus is gonna go up to heaven, and yet he says to them, and lo, I'm with you always. Interesting. He's there saying, go ye therefore to all nations, this gospel, and I'm gonna be with you, but I'm going to heaven. But he is with us. Because tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high. When they're endued with power, they receive the spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ into them, God filled them. We don't have Jesus Christ bodily with us, but we have Jesus Christ spiritually, and it's as real as bodily with us. He said, I'm with you. Do I have to be afraid to knock on a door if Christ is with me? Do I have to be afraid to give somebody a track if Christ is with me? Do I have to be afraid to take a stand for God and say, no, here I stand. I'm going to honor God. I'm going to observe what the Word of God teaches about a disciple of Christ does. I'm going to observe that. I'm going to obey that because I'm going to live the gospel in front of you. I don't have to be afraid to do that if Christ is with me. A friend of ours, Dr. Tom Johnson, he's with our mission agency. When the tsunami took place in Sri Lanka, I think it's going back probably 10 years now, but you might remember the tsunami that took place, horrible tsunami. He's a medical doctor, and he's a preacher. And they went into Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is a very Muslim nation. They went into Sri Lanka to seek to speak to people about the Lord. He talked about meeting people who had lost their whole family. I mean, 30 some people, and they're it. They're the ones that's left. And the only hope they could give them is Christ and speak to them about the gospel and the key of salvation. So they're doing that. But obviously in a Muslim country, you're preaching Christ. You're not going to be loved. And their car was surrounded by a mob in the mob was, I mean, they thought they were going to die. And I heard Tom Johnson share this testimony, uh, again, seven, eight years ago. And he said, the verse that came to his mind is the angel of Lord. encampeth round about them that fear him. And he thought to himself, do I really fear God? Do I really fear God? The angel lord encampeth round about them that fear him. And he told this story, it was a neat story. But he said he was trusting God for his angel's presence. And he said angels in SWAT gear with guns rescued him. Because the SWAT team basically dropped in around their car, surrounded the car, calmed the people. A guy jumped in the car and drove them out of there. It's an incredible story, how God protected them. Lord, I'm with you always, even at the end of the world. We might not have a story as significant as that, but God's gonna protect us. I mean, what happened to the mouths of the lions when Daniel's lowered into the lion's den? The mouths were closed. What happened to the three human children when they walked into the fiery furnace? Guess what? Somebody was there, wasn't he? God was. And so, lo, I'm with you always, even unto the end of the world. Now, when you read that phrase, this is the way my mind works, even unto the end of the world, I think, the furthest extremities, that's not what it's speaking. It's not speaking about location, it's speaking about duration. It's not speaking about where you go, it's about time. The end of the world, to the end of the age. And so it's saying, here we are 2,000 years later, and the key is ours of the gospel, that this promise of the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ is as real for us today as it was in the day of the disciples when Jesus said, go ye therefore. It's the same. because it's to the end of the age. Joshua took over the leadership of the children of Israel, and I mentioned timidity in the part of those that had the call of God, and Joshua is an example of that, because several times when you read about Joshua's call, he's told, don't be afraid, don't be afraid, don't be afraid. One of the things that God encouraged him with in Joshua 3, 7, the Lord said to Joshua, this day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee. Do you know what we can say this morning because of the fact that Christ has promised his presence to those who go? As I was with Peter, so I'll be with thee. As I was with Philip, so I'll be with thee. As I was with Matthew, so I will be with thee. As I was with James and John, so I will be with thee. Why? Because, lo, I'm with you always, even unto the end of the world. Sidney Sidnourine had a priceless key in his pocket. What if he, that morning, got up and thought, you know, I'm sick of carrying this key around, it's such a pain, this big heavy key in my pocket, I'm just going to leave that today. What if he thought when everything was taking place, ah, my key's not that important. There's a lot of other people with lockers. There's a lot of other life jackets. You know, there's people doing that today. They take the key out of their pocket, go, you know, I'm just, I don't need to carry tracks today. I got a lot going on. You know, it's just such a bother to have to think about, you know, when I meet somebody about the fact that they're going to die without Christ. You know what, I just, I don't feel like putting that in my pocket today. They look at it and go, ah, pastor, there's a lot of people that can tell people about Christ. I'm not the best at it. Let them do it. There's plenty of other life jackets, plenty of other places that they can get the gospel. I'm just not going to make it my priority today. Praise God for the sake of those that were rescued by Sidney Sedunery. He put the key in his pocket and he did everything he could to save people. I hope there'll be people not in hell someday praising God because they look and go, you know, I'm just so thankful that that church didn't put the key away. They kept it. They took that sacred trust that God had given them, that they invested it and used it for the Lord. This key is given to disciples. If you're not saved, you can't rescue anybody. No. Sad, isn't it? I mean, you could love your family. You could care about your mother, your father, your child. You could care about your spouse. You could care about your neighbor. But you can't do anything to save their soul if you're not saved. But those of us that are saved have been given a key that we can say to them, look, this is the key that brings salvation. This is what sets you free. Look, the vessel is sinking. It's sinking. You need to be saved. We're commanded to do this because God's commanded us and it's in all nations trust. So what are we doing about it? See, we can have a service. We have a church service and we think, well, that's good. That's true. But when truth never makes it to my feet, it's vain. It's vain this morning. If we look at, yeah, you know, I need to get the gospel and I need to tell people about Christ, but I don't pick up any tracks. I don't open my mouth. I don't take opportunity to follow through. It's vain. It's vain. It is pointless for me this morning to know that I need to give the gospel if I don't give it. And so what do I have to do? I have to say, you know, God, you know, you're right. I need to give the gospel. So what am I going to do? I'm going to carry tracts. I'm going to have them with me. So, you know, I can hand somebody something and say, hey, you know, I just want to give you something that, you know, invitation to my church, church websites on there, and there's tons of opportunity. to speak to people and say, you know what, this verse, peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you. That's what God can do. God can give you peace. You know, this other verse on our other track that we use here, the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved is the power of God. Those simple things can change people's lives. It wasn't a big thing that Sidney was doing, was it? Here's a life jacket, here's a life jacket, here's a life jacket, here's a life jacket, put it on, put it on, put it on, put it on. I mean, is that something anybody can do? Yeah. So is the gospel. And so may God help us, Lord, to put that key in our pocket. Let's use it for the Lord. Let's pray. Father, I pray that the Spirit of God would break our hearts with the need to give the gospel. Father, we can't make excuse. We can't say, well, 90% of the church isn't witnessing it, so I'm just going to join that 90. How sad to comfort ourselves with the disobedience of others. Father, we have a responsibility. We have a sacred trust. It's been given to us by you, your God. And Father, I just pray that we'd feel the soberness, the responsibility that we have this morning, and that we'd be obedient to give the gospel, maybe to go. Lord, it might be a burden in somebody's heart about going, because it's an all nations call. And Father, unless you've called them to stay, they ought to consider going. So I pray, Spirit of God, you just work in our hearts in whatever way you see fit this morning.