Well, it's my privilege at this time to introduce our speaker for this session. Jim Tilson and his wife Peggy are here today and we're glad to be associated with them and their ministry, Source of Light Ministries. It's a fantastic ministry. So Jim, you come and share with us from the Word of God. This morning, if you will take your Bibles and we're going to turn to a very familiar passage, Matthew 28. That's going to be kind of a jumping off place. Matthew chapter 28. And we're going to start in verse number 16. Matthew chapter 8 verse number 16. Now I am not going to be as excitable as last night. If you were here, that is a hard act to follow and boy was that rich. Oh, that was good. We're talking about the believer's witness this morning. Shining the light, the believer's witness. And yes, that can be shown to the blind also in a totally different fashion. But in Matthew chapter 28, probably the most familiar passage concerning the Great Commission, beginning in verse 16, Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw Him, they worshipped Him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, Now let's stop there for a moment. How long had these disciples been with Jesus up to this point? This is just before He takes off to glory. How long? Come on, talk to me. About three, three and a half years depending on who you read and how you look at dates, etc. And they had been in seminary, if you please, for that amount of time. And yet it says, but some doubted. There was some doubts as to what all had taken place. And verse 18, And Jesus came, and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And, lo, I am with you always." I want us to look at the mandate of being a witness. There are two other places primarily in Scripture in the book of Mark and book of Acts where we see a portion of this Great Commission given in a little different fashion. But in this particular one, there is only one actual command verb. What is it? Go. The other verbs are participles. There is one command. And so first of all, in the mandate, we are given the mandate to go, to evangelize, baptize, and disciple. Now in most American churches, we are good at those first two. In most American churches, we are very poor at the last one. We slap a Bible in somebody's hand after they've come to know Christ as Savior. We pat them on the back and say, God bless you. This young man I was telling you about that had never been in church. Our pastor at that time took him aside, I don't know how many weeks, every Sunday and spent time with him, growing him in the Lord. If you were to meet him today, you would think he was 15, 20 years old in Christ. He has grown so much. Go, evangelize. Go, baptize. Go, disciple. But go over to Mark chapter 16. Mark chapter 16. We'll look the other command there, Mark chapter 16 and verse number 15, he says, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. We have two mandates here. We are to go to every nation, all the world, and we are to go to every individual. those nations, we have a mandate not just to reach our backyard, but we have a mandate to reach around the world. And then in Acts chapter 1 and verse 8, Acts chapter 1 and verse 8, the Gospel writer, Luke, records, but ye shall receive power after that, what? The Holy Ghost, or the Holy Spirit. Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, oh that was a no-no place, and unto the uttermost parts of the world. So we have a mandate here. It is a four-fold mandate. One single command. Go. Go evangelize, baptize disciples. Go to every nation. Go to every people and go in the power of the Holy Spirit. Sadly, sometimes we go outside of the power of the Holy Spirit. We go on our own. and we always get in trouble when that happens. But let's move on very quickly this morning to the motivation. Go back to Luke chapter 4, Luke chapter 4, the motivation. Luke chapter 4 verses 18 and 19, Luke 4, 18 and 19. Jesus is speaking here and He says, the Spirit of the Lord is upon Me. See, He even invoked the Spirit. The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me because He hath anointed Me to do what? The motivation here, to preach the gospel to the poor. He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and the recovering of sight to the blind, and to set at liberty them that are bruised." When we're looking at the motivation, I want us to look at what Christ saw. Because you see, we will not have the proper motivation unless we look through the eyes of our Lord Jesus Christ. Just like John used to tell me, Jim, if you're going to work in this department, you've got to think like a blind person. And if we are going to be a proper witness of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, we've got to and see like Christ saw when He was here on this earth. Go with me back to Isaiah chapter 42, Isaiah chapter 42. This is the passage that Jesus was quoting from there in Luke chapter 4 and verses 18 and 19. Isaiah 42 verses 5 through 7, Thus saith God the Lord, He that created the heavens and stretched them out, he that spread forth the earth, he that cometh out of it, he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein, I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people. for the light of the Gentiles, to open the eyes to the blind, or to open blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness, out of the prison. Jump over to verse 16. This is our verse for our department there at Source of Light. I will bring the blind by the way that they knew not. I will lead them in the paths that they have not known. I will make darkness light before them. and crooked things straight, these things will I do unto them, and not forsake them." We have a motivation to see the world like Christ saw. What do we see here in these verses? Not only what He quoted from these verses, but these verses. We see blindness. We see darkness. We see crookedness. And that is a picture of the world. That is a picture of where we came before we accepted Jesus Christ as Savior. So we must see the need of the world as Christ did. But secondly, we must have the same compassion that Christ did. Matthew 9, verse 36. Matthew 9, 36. In Matthew 9, 36, But when he saw the multitude, he was moved with concern. No. He was moved with compassion. He was moved with compassion because they fainted and were scattered as sheep having no shepherd." And then he goes on to say, the harvest truly is plenteous but the labors are few. He was moved with compassion His innermost being yearned for them, for their condition, for their present destination. He was moved with compassion because they were as a sheep without a shepherd. Jude 22, the book of Jude. And some have compassion doing what? Making a difference. You see, having a concern does not necessarily make a difference. But having the compassion of the Lord Jesus Christ for the souls of men will end up making a difference. And I'm so glad that Drew McIntyre had a co-worker who is now his wife, but she wouldn't date him because he wasn't a believer. He came to church because he wanted to be around her. came to know the Lord and Savior. I am so glad that Danielle had compassion for his soul. She didn't know what the end would be. But you know that's what it's all about. And thirdly, the motivation. We must have the love that Christ did. Second Corinthians. Second Corinthians 5. II Corinthians 5 verse 14, For the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge that if one died for all, then we're all dead. The love of Christ impressed upon us, drove us, gave us that desire to reach the world, whatever the world is for us. For me, it's the blind. Seeing the blind becoming pastors, becoming music directors, becoming Sunday school teachers of sighted people and having this effect on a world that they don't know. We must love as Christ did. But then thirdly, let's talk about the method. The mandate, very clear, go. The motivation, do things like Christ. Think like Christ when it comes to the souls of men. But now the method. Now the method is not going to be the Roman's road. The method is not going to be any other thing that we may use. The method is a single item. Acts chapter 2, we do not have time to go to all of these and read the entire story, but Acts chapter 2, the day of Pentecost. Peter did what? Peter, the Bible says, lifted up his voice. In Acts chapter 8, in Gaza, Philip preached unto him Jesus. That's what the Bible says. In Caesarea, Peter opened his mouth. Guess what the one thing that is our method. It's right here folks and this may just get us acquainted with an individual so that they will accept our testimony, accept our Gospel tract or whatever. Go with me to 2nd Timothy, 2nd Timothy. Paul speaking to the young preacher Timothy. And he says, I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who shall judge the quick and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom. What are the next three words? Say it together. Oh, come on, come on. Preach the Word. How do you preach the Word? 95% of it is right here. Now there are other ways that we can work into that word preach, but most of it is right here. You know, we don't have problems picking up our iPhone. Ouch! We don't have problems conversing about sports. We don't have problems talking about the weather and all God wants us to do is preach the Word. You say, oh, that's for preaching. No. Preaching is for all of us. Pastoring is for pastors. preaching is for all of us. It's just basically proclaiming the Word of God. I want to share with you this morning as we close a story. This is a little lengthy. I'm going to read it quickly. Pastor Dixon of the Crystal Palace Baptist Church in South London tells this story. At a church in South London as the service was closing, a stranger stood up in the back and asked the pastor if he could share his testimony. A few weeks ago I was visiting a relative in Sydney, Australia and was walking down George Street. A little white-haired man stepped outside the doorway of a shop, gave me a gospel tract, and asked me, Sir, are you saved? If you died tonight, would you go to heaven? It's pretty simple, isn't it? I was astonished at his words. Nobody had ever asked me such a thing. All the way back to England, I pondered his words. When I arrived, I called a friend and asked him about it. He was a Christian. He led me to Christ. And because of that, I want to fellowship here with you. That pastor, Pastor Dixon, flew to Adelaide, Australia the next week to speak at a conference at a church. A woman asked to speak with him and before he would hear her story he wanted to know if she had given her heart to Christ. She said, I was visiting some friends in Sydney doing some last minute shopping on George Street. And a little white haired man step out the doorway of a shop, handed me a gospel tract, and asked me, excuse me, madam, are you saved? If you died tonight, would you go to heaven? I was greatly disturbed by those words, and when I got back to Adelaide, I came to this church, sought out the pastor, and he led me to Christ. Twice in two weeks he heard about this little man on George Street. He then flew to Perth to speak in a church after the service. A leading member of the church took him out to eat and the pastor asked him how he came to Christ. He said, I grew up in the church and never really followed Christ, but because of my business ability, I was given a place of influence in the church. I was on a business outing in Sydney walking down George Street and a little white haired man stepped outside the doorway of the shop, handed me a tract and asked me, Are you saved? If you died tonight, would you go to heaven? I was infuriated. I told him I was an elder in the church. I flew home and told my pastor what had happened, thinking he would sympathize with me. And the pastor told me that he had been disturbed for years about my spiritual condition. My pastor led me to the Lord. Pastor Dixon flew home to London and was speaking at a conference in Keswick and shared the story of the little white-haired man. After the conference, four elderly pastors came up to him after the service and told him that they had gotten saved between 25 and 30 years ago, respectively. through a little man on George Street. He next was speaking at a convention in the Caribbean to a group of missionaries from his denomination and shared the story about the little white haired man. Three missionaries came up to him and said, we got saved through him 15 to 20 years ago respectively. He continued on to Atlanta, Georgia and spoke at the Naval Chaplain's Convention. After three days of speaking, the Chaplain General took him out for a meal. He asked him how he gave his life to Christ. He said, when I was a young sailor living a very sinful life, I was aboard a ship in the South Pacific and we stopped in Sydney Harbor for replenishments. I got blind drunk. got on the wrong bus, and in parentheses I'm going to say the right bus, and was dropped off, guess where? George Street. And a little white haired man stepped outside the doorway, handed me a track, and said, excuse me sir, are you saved? If you died tonight, which go to heaven. The fear of God shook me. I was shocked, sober, and went back to the battleship, sought out the chaplain, and he led me to the Lord." Six months later, the pastor flew to India to a convention for 5,000 indigenous Indian missionaries. The leader of the missionaries took him to his home for a meal and asked him, how did you as a Hindu come to Christ? He answered, I was in a very privileged position. I worked for the Indian diplomatic mission. I traveled the world. I am so thankful for Jesus and for the forgiveness of my sins. I would be very embarrassed if people knew how dark a life I was living. But one day I was in Sydney, Australia on George Street doing some last minute shopping. and a little white-haired man, stepped outside the doorway, handed me a gospel tract, and asked me, excuse me, sir, are you saved? If you died tonight, would you go to heaven? I was disturbed. And when I returned home, I sought out my Hindu priest. He told me to satisfy my curiosity, go talk to the Christian missionary. The missionary led me to Christ, I abandoned Hinduism and soon began to study for the ministry. Folks, the end of the story. I will push to the end very quickly here. The end of the story is just simply this. When Pastor Dixon was back in Sydney, He was speaking with a pastor friend and he said, do you know a little white haired man on George Street? He said, yes. Is he still alive? He said, yes. And they went to visit that man. He was no longer passing out gospel tracts because he was at the end of his life. He could hardly go. And Pastor Dixon said, I want to tell you what has transpired. And he began to tell him all of the stories. And the man broke down in tears. He said, for 40 years, I've been doing this, handing out a gospel tract and just asking the simple question, are you saved? And I've never known of anyone who's come to Christ as their Savior. until now. And Pastor Dixon said, I have taken all of these accounts and to the best of my knowledge, nearly 140,000 people have come to Christ because of your influence. And I shared this with the man yesterday, and I want to share it with you. And we're going to close. Jesus Christ calls us to be salt in this earth. You are the salt of the world. Folks, how good is this salt right here? Somebody? How good is this salt? It's not any good. Why? Because it's still in the bottle. Are you still in the bottle? Or are you like this little white-haired man, not worried about the end result and how many, but like this little white-haired man who passed out a gospel tract and just simply asked the question, are you saved? If you died tonight, would you go to heaven? You don't need to know the result. You just need, you and I just need to follow the mandate to be motivated like Christ and use the method that He gave us to use and that is to preach the Word. Father, thank you so much. for giving us an opportunity of sharing the gospel as somebody did with us. And before we sing tonight or this morning, let me just ask you with your heads bowed and eyes closed, how many of you would say this morning as you were speaking The Lord laid somebody on my heart that I should have said something to a long time ago. Or that I had given up on because I've said it to them many times. And I want you to pray for me that I will have the boldness to be salt that will get outside of the bottle. Is there anyone here? Just slip your hand up and write back. Yes, many. I need to be salt outside the bottle. Father, thank you for touching our hearts. Now, Lord, help us to tip the bottle over and get busy with the work that you've called us to in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you, Jim. Quite a challenge to us today, and the theme this morning in this session is shining the light. It's getting the light of the gospel out. And you've heard a very clear message from the Word of God. We have a mandate to go. Think about that little white-haired man on George Street. How far did he go? He stepped outside of his shop. Are you willing to go at least that far and see what the Lord might do through you and see the kind of influence you might have on reaching the lost for Christ? You could be that little white-haired man on George Street, that little white-haired woman on Georgia Street, that young, vibrant teenager on Main Street. And wherever the Lord has placed you, you're to shine the light and hold up the cross of Christ.