Amen. Powerful song, ain't it? Amen. Yes, sir. Brother Jack, you come on up here and share your burden, and we appreciate you. Amen. Thank you for your faithfulness, brother. Thank you, Pastor. I really appreciate you calling me a friend, brother. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. There are three things that should urge us to really become involved in missions. First of all is the cry of the world. Secondly is the call of God. And then thirdly, weighing the cost that it's going to take, the price that we're willing to pay to do the work of God. I think about the various cries that are coming. First of all, people fail to realize that all of creation is groaning and crying out today. Do you remember the Lord Jesus Christ said, even the rocks will cry out? Well, Roman chapter 8 tells us that the entire creation groans and prevails in pain, earnestly waiting the manifestation of the sons of God. Every way we look, there are storms, typhoons, tornadoes, earthquakes, all of these various things, and that is all of creation signaling and saying, hey, this thing's about to wind up. It's about to be over. And so we need to listen to all of the cries. I think about, I think those souls of men on the foreign field are crying, come over and help us. And I think about even from the fires of hell, there is that cry, send somebody to my brothers. You remember the rich man said, my brothers are just like I am. Their every step they take is like the the drums of death beating out of death march They're marching into this awful pit sends somebody send somebody now in the Word of God in Psalm 142 and verse 4 we hear the cry of the world Psalm 142 and verse 4 the psalmist said I Looked on my right hand And beheld there was no man. There was no man that would know me Refuge fail me no man cared for my soul That is the cry of a lost world No man cared for my soul. I told you about our experience Our experience in the country of Cambodia that we determined Cambodia was called the Killing Fields. Literally, they had mass graves. I remember one grave, 205 headless corpses. Another grave right beside it, there was 105 children Beside that grave there was a pine tree and all of the bark on one side had been torn off of that pine tree because they'd take the little babies and slam their head against the tree and then throw them into that common grave. Finally, the king said, don't unearth anymore. Their spirits are restless, so don't unearth anymore. That was a killing field. When the United Nations forces stepped into that country, they drove Palpat and the Khmer Rouge up into the mountains. And one unit after another began to surrender. I remember this one unit. The soldiers, they would take their entire family with them to the battlefield. And the children's job was to forge stuff from the jungle to get food out of the jungle to feed the soldiers that were fighting. And that was the job of their wives and their children. And this one company surrendered. They came, they took their rusty weapons, and laid them down. And so the government said, we'll give you a piece of land. Well, the piece of land, that was a wonderful gift, but it was not seed time and it was not harvest time. There was no way that they could plant anything at that particular season and it would grow. And here was this company of people. I went in there to preach to them. I didn't preach political correctness, but I preached on the love of God, how much God loves and gave his son. And I remember so well the people said, look at our children. Our children are like wild animals. Would you please start a school so that our children can be trained? And they begged us, come back. And I had a businessman with me, and the businessman said, Brother Jack, these people are starving to death. Could I give them five tons of rice or money for five tons of rice? And I said, sure, that would be wonderful. And so he gave the money, and I gave it to the leaders. Well, and I instructed them to make sure every family got rice. And so then a while, a few months later, I don't recall, but I was back there with another businessman. And I said, and he said, could I give these people five tons of rice? And I said, sure. because soon they'll have crops they've planted, but this would be a good time. And so it gave me the money. And I called the leaders out, and all of a sudden, a woman started screaming. She started screaming, don't give those wicked men that money. The last time you were here, you gave us money for rice, and all they gave us was a handful each. And then they took the rest of it for themselves and their families. And all of a sudden, it appeared that a riot was going to break out. I didn't know what was going to happen. They were screaming, don't give them the money. They gave us no rice. They won't give us any rice. And that day, as I reflected on that as I left, that day I thought, here we are in the United States. I mean, we've got to have our guns. We've got to have our boats. We've got to have our televisions. We've got to have everything to pamper this flesh. And there are countless souls around the world that are screaming, they had the bread of life, but they didn't give us the bread of life. And I wondered, is the day coming when we'll stand before God? And there will be people out there crying. They didn't give us the bread of life. They didn't give us the cry, the cry. You say, I don't believe it like that. How do you know it's any different? Because every man is going to give an account. Every man is going to give an account. You'll even give an account of every thought that has come through your mind. And that being the case, certainly, you're going to give an account for every dime that God has enabled you to get. You see, I watch people. Through these years of ministry, I've watched men spend their health to get their wealth. Boy, they burn the candle at both ends. They spend their health to get their wealth. And then along about 40, 45, they have a heart attack, and they start spending that wealth to regain their health. But it never does work. It never does work. They never come back to that same level. My friends, it is required, not requested, It is required of a steward that they be found faithful. So as we hear the cry of a hungry-hearted world that the Son of God, that the Son of God told us to take the bread of life to, as we hear that hungry-hearted cry, I looked on my right hand, beheld there was no man that would know me. Refuge failed me. No man cared for my soul. Who cares? God the Father cares. He so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son. God the Son cares. He said no man takes my life. I lay it down. God the Holy Spirit says I'll be insulted, I'll be rejected, but I'll still go and I'll convict Him. And if we're indwelt by that Holy Spirit, we ought to cry out, Lord God, Lord God, I care. You see, as we think about the places of the world, Psalm 74 and verse 20, the last part says, the dark places of the earth are habitations of cruelty. The dark places of the earth are habitations of cruelty. Men, men hoard for themselves and refuse to give to others. That causes the world to cry. Secondly, there is the call of God. Isaiah chapter 6 and verse 8 declares, also I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send and who will go for us? Can you imagine the eternal God of the universe looking for volunteers? Can you imagine the eternal God saying, I'd like to have somebody that will surrender. I'd like to have somebody that will hear the groans of the creation, the groans of the world, and the cries from hell, and the cries from the country of the world. I'd like to have somebody that would volunteer. You see, Isaiah 6.8, Whom shall I send and who will go for us? One of the young men here asked me, how do I know God's will? Number one, the sweet impressions of the Holy Spirit that come to your heart. That's the first thing, those sweet impressions of the Holy Spirit. And don't grieve the Spirit by pushing it aside. And then, number two, And knowing the will of God is the word of God. This is the will of God, your sanctification. This is. God is not willing that any should perish. So the will of God is not something that's difficult that we search for and find. It's obvious. This is the will of God. your sanctification. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your body a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service, and be not conformed to this world, but be you transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove That which is a good, acceptable, and perfect will of God. How do you know the will of God? By the word of God. How do you know the will of God? By the counsel of godly people. By the counsel of godly people. You see, you don't want to walk in the counsel of the ungodly. Thou shalt not follow a multitude who do evil, the Bible says. You see, you should seek the counsel of godly people. And then number four is the reoccurring circumstances that God brings into your life. You take those four points and you can rest assured you will be in the will of God. You see, the eternal God is looking for volunteers. I have preached youth meetings and so on and so forth, like I've always enjoyed. That's why I stay so young, is working with college kids. But they would say, well, Brother Jack, I don't have a call. I said, well, give me your cell phone number. And we'll see if we can get you a call, okay? Now listen, folks, God's looking for volunteers. The world is crying. Nobody cares. God is saying, I care. Will you volunteer? And then the third thing is being willing to pay the cost of surrender. In Luke chapter 9, verse 23, if you'll look at that, in Luke chapter 9, And verse 23, if you not think we'll have it yet, we have it right up here on the screen, if you don't have your Bible. And it says, and he said to them, unto them all, all. How that little word, all. God was not willing that any should perish, but all should come to repentance. Isn't that right? All. Come unto me all, all, you that labor. That little word, that strong word. He said to them all, if any man, any man, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will lose his life, whosoever will save his life shall lose it. But whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged if he gained the whole world and lose his own soul?" Somebody asked a millionaire down in Texas, well, how much land do you want? Do you want everything? He said, I don't want all the land. I just want my own land and every bit that joins it. You see, so many people, I think about people that buy land and it just grows briars and thorns. and what have you, but they've got all of that land. Listen, Jesus said, if you're going to be my disciple, here are my terms, here are the conditions of this contract. When you say, I hear the cry of the world, when you say, I submit to the call of God, God says, OK, here are the terms, here are the conditions if you're going to be my disciple. then you must deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me. Now, and I need to clarify this again. In the days of David, David left some men to guard the possessions, the spoils that they had taken in war. And he took 400 other men and they went and brought the family back that had been kidnapped and all of the possessions of the enemy. And so when they got back, those men that had gone out there to fight, they said, we're not sharing the spoils with these men that stayed here and guarded. And David said, not in my army. They that stay by the stuff and they that go to battle are going to share and share alike. You see, Jesus said, if you give a cup of water in the name of a prophet, a missionary, you get that missionary reward. Why? Because you went to that job. You worked that job. You gave your life to get that money. And so when you bring it and you support these missionaries that we've had this week and other missionaries, when you support them, You can rest assured you've given your life in order to get that money to support them. And Jesus is going to say to you, you're going to share in every soul that they led, that they led to the Lord. and you will share and share with them a life. That's why we ought to do everything we can to support these missionaries, isn't that right? And so to receive that missionary reward and to hear the well done, of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, I was in a church, there was a man, had his wife and seven children, and it was a Faith Promise Missions conference, it was his first one. Had a wife and seven children, lovely family, come in together. I was like a large family. My mom only gave birth to 10 hillbillies. That was quite a deal. She was a schoolteacher until the Lord gave her her own class, all of us kids. It was a wonderful time in that large family. This man, his wife, had seven children, and they wanted them to go to a Christian school because they recognized what is going on, even though dad and mom both had taught in public schools. But they wanted their seven kids in Christian school. And so in that missions conference, well, he and his wife, were faithful tithers, and they taught their children well. But he, in that first conference, he said, he and his wife said, you know, they talked about it, they said, let's start with $5 a week. That's not bad, because this was a few years back. That's not bad. $5 a week. But then they prayed, and they said, no, that's not enough. That's not an expression of faith. We can figure that out of the budget. And so they said, well, how about 10? Let's double that. Double, double, double. How about doubling that?" And so they prayed about it. No, no, that's not enough. And so they said, well, let's go to $15 a week. They prayed about it. No. Now we're getting in the area of faith now. And so finally, before the conference was over, they agreed. I don't know how they came up with it, but $29 a week. That was what God put on their hearts. A husband and wife agreed as to what they should do for missions, $29 a week over and above their tithe. Did you know he stood and gave testimony a few years later? He said, I want you to know God provided every time. He didn't fail. We gave. Sometimes we didn't. There were actually things that we needed, but we went ahead and gave. And then God provided what we needed. And all of my children have finished Christian school. And now my wife and I are secure. We're secure. Folks, true stories of God's working. Hey, let's not be a Pharisee and polish the sepulchres of those in time past and act like, oh, this is a wonderful children's story of how that God provided for somebody back there. God said, I am the Lord God. I change not. You see, when God makes a promise, it's better than any uncashed check from any billionaire in this world. When God makes a promise it will be exactly because the Bible says in whom cannot lie God cannot lie now folks It's the Bible says the just shall live by faith by faith It doesn't say the law just shall live by figuring it out of the budget It didn't say, the just shall live by feeling. It didn't say that. The Bible declares the just shall live by faith. Either this is the word of God, or we just well throw it out. Let me tell you something. As a young soldier on the way to combat area, I determined to put my soul, my life, in the hands of Jesus Christ, because I was getting the intelligence reports. And I knew what was happening, of all that were dying. And when I married Sherry, I said, Sherry, now we don't have a salary. And I didn't prepare for retirement. They didn't tell us. First church that I pastored, man, you talk about a payroll. I started a church up in Arkansas. And so the men got together and they said, How much are we going to give him? And a guy said, well, I think we ought to give him at least a dollar a day. That's $7 a week. And so another guy said, that's too much. Preachers are supposed to live by faith. I guess they were paying me for a quarter of my sermon because I would practice my sermons out on the farm. I built me a stone pulpit and I would practice and some pretty good sermons. But one day I was preaching and persimmon trees around and boy I was preaching on hail and the leaves began to tremble. It was the wind blowing but I thought it was deep conviction. And I started the invitation. Here came one of our old cows walking up. She just walked on by. I said, well go on by you old hypocrite. So maybe they were paying me according to my preaching, you know it? But the cost of surrender. You see, I told Terry, I said, Terry, we'll walk together for God and whatever God provides. And you cannot imagine how God, now next week you mentioned being here, like to But we're heading for Costa Rica for a pastor's conference. And God has provided. And that's the way we travel. But are you willing to pay the price? Willing to pay the price to either go or give? Now let me just close this because you're going to get a card here in just a little bit. All of you received this card, it was mailed, and you're going to take this card, I'll tell you again, but you're going to take it and you're going to tear it in two, and you're going to keep this in your Bible with the promises and the lessons as a marker so that when you read your Bible, You'll have those promises, but you're going to turn this card in just a little bit from seed time to harvest time We got the harvest up here. Okay from seed time to harvest time, but I Faced one time the greatest crisis And I faced a lot of crisis but my I was I was home on furlough from the mission field and And I drove in home, got in home about 1 or 2 o'clock in the morning, and so the next morning, my son had just started first grade at the school. Well, the next morning, he came in the bedroom, and I was asleep. He jumped up and sat on my stomach, and he started twisting my nose. And he said, wake up. And I said, how in the world do you think I can sleep with something like that going on, Steve? And we talked for a little bit. He said, Dad, you know, I'm going to school now. I said, yes, sir, I'm proud of you. And he said, Dad, I have a problem. What is it, Steve? He said, the other boys are telling me, their dad's telling them how to throw a baseball, how to pass a football, but said you're always gone. And he said, why can't you be like other daddies? And I said, well, buddy, I've got to go back to Texas for a revival meeting. And I'll tell you what I'll do. You tell me what time the recess is. and I'll come by the school and tell you goodbye. And after our furlough's over, we'll be back on the mission field together." And he said, okay. So that morning, in time, I got ready to go, drove out, up by the school, and I looked all over the field, the playground. I looked for Steve. He wasn't there. And I thought, now that's strange. He must have forgotten. had on a little old red sweater. And I looked and I looked. I couldn't see that little red sweater. So I thought, well, he's forgotten. So I turned. And as I turned, here was a chain link fence. And standing there in the corner, was that little old six-year-old boy. He'd worked his hand through that fence, and he was waiting for Daddy to come by. And like a Korean kid, they waved like this. And that's how he'd learned to wave in Korea, waving his hand. I saw that long little boy. And I said, oh, God, I can't take this. Drove out. I couldn't see the road. I was crying so much. And pulled off the side. God said, now, son, didn't I give my son for you? Will you give your son to me? Oh, Lord, I don't want to, but I will. So I drove on down to Texas for the revival. It was in that meeting, Dr. F.C. Leister surrendered. Under his ministry, over 100,000 South Koreans came to Christ as Savior. You say, that's wonderful, Brother Jay, but how about Steve? How about that little boy? We were sailing out across the Pacific Ocean on a freighter, having Bible Sunday time. Steve said, Dad, what does it mean? What does it mean to surrender all? I explained it to him. He said, can I do it right here? Yes, sir. He fell on his knees on that tossing ship, and he cried, oh, God, make me a man, just like Daddy. I yield my life. Steve and I, on a lonely island, he said, we're brothers, aren't we? And I said, yes. He said, we're going to work together all of our lives, aren't we? Yes. And so we worked together, and we started a church together, co-pastored. Then, of course, I got involved in Vietnam, Cambodia, in training missions, not as a military, but in training missions. Steve stayed right there, stayed right there, pastoring that church. became also a chaplain in a large jail there in Cobb County, Georgia, 2,600 inmates. I often said if I had a child that was going astray, I'd like for Steve to be the one that talked to him. He'd talk to him on death row. They'd cry out for God's mercy. Oh, Lex Luger, the one that beat Hulk Hogan, the world champion wrestler, Lex beat Hulk three times. Lex got in trouble sitting alone like a caged animal. Steve led him to Christ, trained him for the ministry, and Lex has preached the gospel worldwide. My friends, if you're going to give God anything, give Him your best. If you give God anything, He'll never forget it. And if you give God anything, He'll always give it back. He's not going to be a debtor to anybody. The proverb says, he that hath pity upon the poor lendeth to the Lord. That which he has given will he pay again. Do you hear the cry of the world? Do you sense the call of God? Are you willing to pay the cost of either going or helping sin?