Well, I'd like to ask everybody who came this morning to find the book of Acts, the Acts of the Apostles, which is the big book right after the book of John. Well, I'm so glad to be here at Bible Baptist Church this morning. Good crowd, in my opinion. I'm glad to see you. I mean, not only large, but I mean, you look like good people. How many of you would say, I think there are good people here today? Okay, great. Now, I'm not totally unfamiliar with Bible Baptist Church. I am familiar with you. I know Pastor Barker, who of course was here when I was here before. Some of you may remember me being here for one service. I certainly do remember it. The building is different. It is really nice. Don't you think the building is nice? Wow. Pastor Barker. Now I have met, I did meet before, but I got acquainted with yesterday and today, Pastor Karl Rubin. And I want to tell you, I'm impressed with him. I'm encouraged by him. I really see him as a leader for this church that is gonna be with you during some wonderful days in the next chapter of your life. And I am really excited about him and I'm glad to know Pastor Parker, Pastor Ruben. Now we're turning to the book of Acts chapter 26, okay. Then I walked across the back wall and looked at Mr. Reif, did you help? and pray for, and there I see familiar faces. Like Edgar Pagali. Oh, I know Edgar Pagali, the country church. I passed it for 34 years, supported Edgar as he went from the very beginning. I've been over there. I've been to Jordan for a conference to preach, and I've been to Iraq. Would you imagine that? Erbil up north. After I left, I'll tell you about it sometime maybe. I said, you know what, if I have a heart attack and kick the bucket after this week, my life was worth living to be there to help the Kurdish people up in the north and the new beginning of Christianity there. You know, the news doesn't tell you that, but Christianity is having a new birth in some of these countries. Then Ben Shore, maybe you don't remember who he is, I've been in his home in Scotland, been over there, and I'm very encouraged and I prayed for him on a regular basis. Then I have actually met Brother McGee. Would you believe that? I actually have met him. Let's use support for him. Don't look so credulous. Of course I met him. He's right here in the conference. And there he is. That's been a blessing to see our similarities or connections. And I want to tell you, if you're like me, if you're a visitor, at the Bible Baptist Church. You made one good decision today, and that's to come here to church. You know what we need? We need a Bible-teaching church. Not just one that says, we're an independent, fundamental, temperamental, radical, right-wing church. No, no, no, no. I mean a place where you go on Sunday, and what the man says up there is what you read here. difference between the two. We all need the Word of God. I'm glad that you came this morning. Hope you'll come for the missions conference. You might say, I'm not actually a member at Bible Baptist Church. Well, you ought to reconsider. But the other thing I want to tell you, this is going to be Bible teaching. And I'd like to ask you to come back for the evening service. I did that at Sunday school. And break the pattern you've been in and actually show up for something like this. Revival is going to be a big part of this year. Now listen, revival is what the world needs. That sounds like a phrase we all ought to use. But can I tell you, a revival of New Testament Christianity will meet the needs of this broken world. Broken and confused world. The most encouraging thing I know is there are Christians who are starting to believe in revival again. And that's usually the prelude. This is something great. So join us. I'd like you back so bad that if I could put you under arrest and make you come back, if I could sue you, if there was a way I could get you to court, because you didn't come back to me. But I can't, I've already checked, and there's nothing in the law book. But you just voluntarily come back, and I know what the preacher's preaching on tonight, and so I'm looking forward to what the minister is going to report, so let's all plan on coming back together this evening, and I'm really very glad to be here. Out on the table back there is the book I wrote when I was a pastor about revival, and see me about that book if you'd like to get it. Now, chapter 26, we'll go down to verse 13. These are remarkable words. Spoken by Paul the Apostle. At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journey with me. When we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And I said, who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus. whom thou persecutest. Verse 16, but rise and stand upon thy feet, for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness, both of these things which thou hast seen and of those things into which I will appear unto thee, delivering thee from the people and from the Gentiles unto whom I now send thee. to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith, it is in me. Verse 19, whereupon, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision, but showed first unto them of Damascus and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coast of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet or fitting for repentance. Now, this is a quote from a missionary. Now, you might say Paul was an apostle. That's what I said, a missionary. Did you know that the Greek language, in the Greek language, the word apostle means missionary? It means a sent one, and our English word, From the Latin, mission comes from the word sin. He was a missionary, and I'll explain this before I get done this morning, and an apostle, but he was an evangelist. He was the foremost evangelist in the first century, evangelist for the Christian faith. But he started out as a persecutor, Saul, a man who hated the name of Christ and the religion he called the way. He tried to destroy it. But now he was the persecuted. Now having been converted to Christ, spreading the gospel throughout the known world, he was under arrest, falsely accused. And the situation we see in chapter 26, you ought to read the whole chapter. It's quite astonishing and wonderful. Now he's the persecuted standing before King Herod Agrippa. You know, all the King Herods in the Bible were real bad. They were all related to each other. They were very bad men, including Harold Agrippa, who was there with his wife, Bernice. And also there was Governor Festus. The governors were those who followed Pontius Pilate into that office. So here's Governor Festus, king and queen, and Paul is there. in chains. Did you know it's good to use your imagination when you read the narratives of the Bible? There's nothing wrong with that. See it in your mind. He is there. And you know what? You ought to read the whole story. This is the one where the king ends up saying, almost thou persuadest me to be a good Christian. And you know what Paul says back? He says, oh king, I wish, this is my words, I wish that you were not only almost, but also altogether such as I am. except for this change. He was saying, I'm the happiest man in the room. The king, the governor, soldiers, all kinds of distinguished people, but I'm the happiest man in the room in my change. And he gives the reasons why. It's quite a phenomenal chapter for you to read, that's for sure. But he gave his testimony every chance he could. The Apostle Paul. gave his testimony. That is the story of how he came to know God through Jesus Christ and his defense. He's defending himself against false charges. Down there in verse 20, it says here that he said that he told people to repent and turn to God and to do works mean for repentance. Now don't let that verse throw you. You see, we are not saved by good works. That's not part of it. It's not repent. and turn to God and do works meet for repentance. And if you don't do enough works, you don't get to heaven. That's a false doctrine. But what he's doing is defending himself before the king and saying, what I have done in the world has not done harm, it's done good for society. You know why? He was a missionary. Dear Lord, help us to see what a missionary is. Help us, Lord, to desire for our own lives to matter. That's our prayer, we ask it in Jesus' name, amen. Now this is a missions conference. I don't know if you've been to one before, but if you understand what a missions conference is, you'll come to all these meetings, you really will. Are they gonna try to raise funds? Is this another fundraising? Is it Pastor Ruben sticking his hand in my pocket again? And no, no, no, no, it's a whole lot more than that. And I'd like to tell you about it, and I get a chance to do that tonight. But we're meeting missionaries who are special people, amazing people. My subject this morning is what missionaries are doing. What are they doing? From the words of one of the great missionaries, here's what they're doing. Number one, they're doing what Christians do. Now, Paul told them of his conversion to Christ. He was a Christian not because he was born to a Christian family or christened in a so-called Christian church. He was a Christian because he had personally met Jesus Christ in a transforming experience. How about you? Do you know Jesus Christ? Have you come to God through Jesus? Paul had. And you know what? He became a Christian. And he tells quite a story about a light, about a voice, you know, all of that. That story is also told in chapter nine, as well as verses 13 through 15. But there are, as they always are, there are essentials and incidentals. See, a bright light on the road to Damascus isn't what makes you saved. Hearing a voice isn't what makes you saved. They're always incidentals. I was sitting at home, I'm like, I'd say, I know people who could tell you about how they came forward one night in a revival meeting and what they felt, those were all incidents. The essentials of salvation in his story are these, a light, but not necessarily a bright light, but did you know that Jesus Christ is the light that lighted every man that came into the world? All your life, if you don't pay attention to it, God has been showing himself. And what you do with the light you give, that you get, determines how much more light you get. There's been something there to say there's something more that I can see with my eyes. Light, the pricks. I've already got one bottle down there. We'll go down there, thank you. They're taking care of me. Okay, now watch. It is hard for thee to keep against the pricks. You know what that is? We call it conviction. John chapter 15, when his spirit comes, he will reprove the world of sin, of righteousness and judgment to come. The pricks and then Jesus, he was beating Jesus. I've never seen Jesus Christ, but you know what? Those essentials, the light, the pricks, and there's Jesus, is what makes a person a Christian. They accept Jesus because they know they are justly condemned for their sins. Now, notice what he became as a Christian. Now he's saved. In John chapter 13, we are told this same basic thing, okay? And I should mention, since I've mentioned John 13, John chapter 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17 are extremely important chapters because they record the talk Jesus had with his disciples before he died. Tomorrow he's going to the cross. They don't know it. They're in the upper room and he says, here's what's gonna happen now. It's called the New Testament age. I'll tell you what, it shows you what revival is and what God is doing in our lives now. John 13. But here's what it's teaching us. It's teaching us that he makes us Did you see that? He made us a minister and a witness in verses 14, 15, 16, and 17. A minister and a witness, verse 16. In John chapter 13, he washed their feet. And part of what he talked about was this. If I am your Lord and master, and I have washed your feet, you will wash one another's feet. A ministry to other people. The Christian life is a life of service to others, particularly in your church. The one another aspect of the Christian life is lived in the church. Somebody says, you mean the local church? From my understanding of the Bible, the church is local. The church is not some broad, vague concept. It is actually a congregation of people. Like Bible Baptist Church. And God wants us to be washing one another's feet. Wow, a minister and a witness. In Acts 20, just before he went back to heaven, Jesus said, ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, New York City, and in all Judea, the Northeast, and in Samaria, the rest of the country, and in the outermost part of the earth. That's what he told them before he ascended up into heaven. We are to be witnesses for Jesus Christ. But then, the Bible teaches in First Corinthians chapter three, we're not only to be witnesses, but we're to have a ministry to the saints. Yeah, Paul said about himself, he says, you know what, I'm a farmer, that's evangelism, and also I'm a builder, I'm building a church. So, just to say this without going into detail, I'll have you turn to a lot of verses, this is all about what our life is. And you know what one thing we look for in life is fulfillment. And you know what fulfillment comes from? It's not just a feeling. It means I'm fulfilling why I'm here. You know, sometimes I'll meet people, I'll say, how was your day? And they'll say, boy, I was busy today. Good for you, that's a reason to be alive. If you weren't busy, maybe you're not needed and maybe you'll kick the bucket. You'll have your funeral. No, it's good to be busy because that means We're here for a reason, and we're here, folks, for two reasons. Book of Romans, which showed you how to be saved. Chapter 12 says, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. But read the rest of Romans 12. You know what your reasonable service is? Ministry in your local congregation. God has given every Christian a gift, which is the ability to minister to other people. You ought to read Romans 12 and see the list of gifts, because at least one of them is yours. So every morning I wake up with a gift and a duty. A gift is unusual or unique. If you read Romans 12, you see the gift teaching, or exhorting, or giving. That's my specialty. Tell you what, if I give myself to my gift, I am fulfilled. I wish I could take the time to tell you the stories of people in our country church who would see me years later, and when they're getting toward the end of their life, they remember that Sunday school class of boys. They remember singing in the choir, not so they could show everybody what good singers they were. Fulfillment! Fulfillment, giving. I knew people who had a gift to make money so they could give it to the work of the Lord. They would drive by our new Christian school building, and they weren't proud of it, but they were fulfilled by some sacrificial gifts they made from their profitable business. There it is, there. Oh, I'm gonna tell you, friends, I get to wake up in the morning with a gift and a duty. Now, there's a difference. My duty is to obey the command, preach the gospel to every creature. See, evangelism is duty, not gift. There are people right in this room, Pastor Rubin, who excuse themselves and actually try to cover up a sin by saying, it's not my gift to witness. You know what, Joe Blow, I'm the next row. Joe Blow, I'm the next row. That rhymes. Hey, wait. Joe Blow, he's the soul winner, but I'm no soul winner. I'm gonna tell you something, you ought to be disciples of Jesus Christ. We're told, follow me and I will make you become fishers of men. That's all of us, men, women, kids. If you're saved, you're to confess Jesus Christ, which includes witnessing to people. That's my duty. There's a difference between a gift and a duty. Don't let your gift being excused for not doing your duty. What is it when you don't do what Jesus commanded you? What do we call that? A three-letter word. When I disobey a commandment, it's out. I need to confess it, make it right, get help from God to obey the commandment. But your gift is unique. Romans 12 says, if you just surrender, God will show you your gift. Some of you know you're a gift. I can see by the look on your face. You're going like this to my ceremony. You know why? You know it's true. How fulfilled you are when you are fulfilling your gift in your church and your duty to the world. And that's everybody that's Christian being Christian. So Paul gets saved on the Damascus Road. He's got a gift. and he's got a duty. He right away starts witnessing Acts chapter nine. You'll see that. And you know what? What does a missionary do? He does what Christians do. That's what he does. And that means right here. Right here. We used to say we took some mission trips from the movement, and that is groups of people that went to a foreign country to help a missionary. I used to tell them, you know what? What you see over there ought to be what you see here. That puts a little pressure on the missionary. They ought to be doing what we're seeking to do, that's to get the gospel to everybody in our community. But it puts a lot of pressure on us, because often the missionaries are doing it and we're not. We think that a few bucks in the offering plate gets us off the hook, but it doesn't. So what do missionaries do? They do what Christians do. Number two, you know what they're doing? They're converting people to Jesus Christ. Look at verse 17. Delivering thee from the people, from the Gentiles to whom I now send thee, to open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light, from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them, which are sanctified by the faith, Jesus said, that is in me. Okay, what are you gonna do? I'm gonna open their eyes, I'm gonna turn them, that's a word for repentance, like in verse 20. I'll explain that in just a second. That they might receive forgiveness of sins and a chance to have an inheritance. See, we all who are Christians have an inheritance in the kingdom, but it also means rewards, eternal rewards. Well, that's what they do. They convert people. And that starts by opening eyes. Did you know a whole lot of people in this area are misled? They got the wrong idea in their mind. You know what you think they are? You think they're bad. When fundamentally what they are is ignorant. See, they're in darkness. I remember me and the Book of Luke. Luke wrote the Book of Acts. These two go together, volume one and volume two of a two-volume set. In Luke chapter 18, it talks about the guy we call the rich young ruler. You know what was wrong with him? He thought he was good. He opens up by calling him good master. Lord Jesus corrects him. He says nobody's good but God, but of course Jesus was God, but he was trying to get him into the subject here. Salvation is not in being good, and you're not good. There is none that doeth good. When you read that in Romans 3, it brings a question to your mind. None? What about my grandmother? What about me? So he says, there is none that doeth good. No, not one. As if he's replying to the reader. No, not one. There was my problem. Maybe yours. I thought it was good. And did you know the book of Luke and all the gospel makes no sense when you say you're good? Remember in Luke chapter 2, it tells us about how Jesus' birth was announced by the angels? And the angels said, unto you is born this day in the city of David a? A Savior. Why do we need a Savior? If I'm good enough to get me into heaven, I don't need anybody to save me. Luke chapter five, Jesus said, I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repent. Did you know you'll never be a Christian until you admit you're a sinner? Yeah, and that's the kind of way that some people do. Well, everybody sins, which is not a way of admitting that you're a sinner. Did you know the Bible teaches that all of us have broken God's law? all of us, and knowingly. I had a guy one time tell me, when I said, you know, everybody's a sinner, all have sinned, he said, well, I think I remember one time when I was about 12 years old. I might have exaggerated. Tell you what, that's not admitting that you're a sinner. According to the Bible, I have sinned knowingly, repeatedly, without excuse, It said, thou shalt not, but I did it anyway. Some of you this morning already. And it said, thou shalt, but I refused to do it. You know what? We are justly condemned. If we got exactly what we deserve, if we got justice, it wouldn't be, it would be. See, you have to, Come to God as a sinner. I've not come to call the righteous. Jesus said, I'm not starting a righteous club. I'm calling sinners to repentance. Open your eyes. See that you're not good and that you need a savior. See, you won't get saved until you know you need to be saved. See, and then turning them around. Turn them from darkness to light. See. What it takes is repentance. And what you get is forgiveness. You'll be saved if you repent. The word repent means to change your mind. Luke chapter 15, the famous stories about lost things. Lost sheep, lost coin, lost son. Remember what they did? The lost son came to himself. He said, I'm a fool. Changed his mind. I don't want to be away from my father. I want to go home. Take the chance you might receive me back. I'm gonna tell you, repentance is when you change your mind and realize that you're a sinner and you turn to Jesus. That's what that is. That's what it is. Now listen, somebody's gotta convert before people get converted. How many of you would say, I think I've been converted. I think I've been saved. Praise your name. Did anybody have anything to do with that? See, we were in, The city down there in Manhattan, way down there in June. My wife and I, when you see my card out there, you'll see my beautiful wife. She's not with me on this one. We were down there, and we were walking. I was hailing a cab. People in New York know how to hail a cab. I'm from Vassar, Michigan. Talk about Podunk. Matter of fact, Millington, Michigan is about seven miles away. It was founded in the 1850s. The name that was given to it was Podunk. I'm not kidding you. That was the original name. So I'm from, and I have to learn how to hail it. I don't know what to do. This looks like what to do. We're out front of where we were staying. And you know what happened? There was a guy walking down the street on a Sunday morning, giving out gospel tracts and talking and saying, you know what? You need to be born again. I don't know who you serve, but you need to be saved. You need a savior. His name was Jesus. walking down the street. I was kind of proud of that guy. You know what he was doing? Trying to convert people. You know what? So many ought to be doing that. People get converted. If they get to go to heaven instead of hell, somebody has to convert them. That's what a missionary does. I was converted, you would say, through a radio preacher. I had no interest in listening to a radio preacher. But I had a friend who said, our family's listening to this man. He'd make sense. I got listening to him. It took me more than a year. I got a thick head to come to the conclusion that it was a sinner. And then you know what I did? I wrote him a letter and I said, you got to help me out. I want to know more about the Bible. And he sent me a correspondence course in the book of John that led me to Jesus Christ. On day three of the course, I read John three and found out that I must be born again. And I said, Jesus, I've never been born again. Would you do that for me? I was converted because somebody converted me, and that ought to be done. Now, you know what? Maybe that person is me. This morning. Maybe you came into Bible Baptist Church without any peace and no assurance that you're going to heaven. You might not be a Christian yet, and it might be my job to convert you. I'm going to tell you something. Christ Jesus your best friend, came into the world to save sinners. Now if you're a sinner, Jesus will save you. And it says, if you believe in him, that means if you put your faith in him. Here's what that would be. If you said, you know what, I am a sinner, and I don't deserve to go to heaven, but Jesus died for my sins. So I'm gonna thank him for doing that. and asked him to save my soul. Did you know you wouldn't have to talk him into it? The Son of God came to earth for a person exactly like you and me. And he actually died for the privilege of forgiveness, you would say. And rose again from the dead so he's alive this Sunday morning to hear your cry. And whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. I'm gonna invite you to come and get some help. Somebody to lead you to Christ. I think that's the way to do it. You'll have questions. Now I'll tell you what, before there was any kind of altar call, you could get saved, sitting right where you are, if in your heart, you turn from darkness to light, and ask Jesus to save you, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved. Now I'm gonna move real fast now. What does a missionary do? They do what Christians do. They exercise their gift in some other place, and they witness in some other place, and they convert people to Jesus Christ. But you don't want missionaries to answer the call to be sent. Look for the word, verse 17, delivering thee from the people and from the Gentiles unto whom I now send thee. Sent, sent, the word send in the Latin is the root for the word missionary. Missions. Read the Apostle Paul's story. His history tells you about a man who was called, left home, and went to other places to convert people to Jesus Christ. What a life, what an interesting life. Did you know that his original name was Saul? How many of you, could anybody, I'll let you talk out loud. Could any of you tell me who the original Saul was? That's the one after all. His parents named Saul of Tarsus. Saul was who? Come on, to a Jew, who was the original Saul? First king of Israel. So they named him Saul after the king. Now, Saul became Paul when he got saved. No. Read the book of Acts. It was quite a while. Do you know when he became Paul? When he became a missionary. He went over to a foreign country to tell them the gospel of Jesus Christ. And then he took the name Paul. Paul is a Greek name. Saul is a Hebrew name. Paul is Greek for little one. He was apparently quite short. Now will you excuse me for saying this. Paul was his Gentile nickname. When he got out among non-Jews, Gentiles, Greek-speaking Gentiles, they would call him Paul. Sounds like Saul. And you know what the name means? Shorty! Shorty! Now, we don't use that word. I haven't even seen a new version that calls him the Apostle Shorty. But you know what? He accepted that name because that was his life. He answered the call to go somewhere. Acts chapter 13, we'll see this week, how he gets called to be a missionary. Maybe you're called to be a missionary. His gift was the gift of an evangelist. But a missionary is one who is sent away to exercise his gift. Now, right now today, a missionary is not a gift. A missionary tells you how he gets where he's supposed to go. I looked at the Bible, I see that ministers are either pastors or evangelists. Brother Lubman is a pastor. Most Baptist ministers are pastors. We need more ministers. We need more evangelists over there. The need is desperate if you ever figured out what an evangelist was. But mystery is a word that means how you get there. Why do you get there? Do you know this part? Okay, come on, stay with me just a minute. Romans 13, Romans 10, verse 13. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? How shall they hear without a preacher? How shall they preach except they be sent? See the progression, okay? Call, believe, hear, preach, send. Somebody gets saved today at Mogo Mogoland. I don't know where that is. I made it up. My wife said, don't say Mogo Mogoland. When your husband's a preacher, sometimes you can get sick and tired of him. But anyway. But here's the progression. Watch. Somebody gets saved in Mongolia. Here's what happened. Somebody in New York City got sent as a preacher. Then they preached. Mongolian people heard and believed and then they called and were saved. Do you know where it all starts in Siberia and Nigeria and Suriname and Iraq? It starts right here. Somebody is sent. Thank God for that. We are all to be a witness right here. but some will be sent elsewhere. Sent, preach, hear, believe, name and call. Yes. Wow, pretty important thing to be one of those. Now, I want to tell you something. At the missions conference, we should not just be willing to go. You know, sometimes we'll get this impression. Are you willing to go anywhere? Are you willing to be far away from home? Are you willing to endure whiskey jokes? and other treacherous insects? Are you willing to live in a hot climate or a cold climate? Are you willing to make a great sacrifice, which you always make? And you know what? Young people get the wrong idea. We go, oh. OK, I'm finally willing. It's going to be three or four nights before I'm willing. Oh, I'll do whatever. Oh, even if I hate it, I'll do. You know what? It's no risk to do something that the one who loves you the most and has more sense than you. But now watch, here's the way it ought to be. What a life. It ought to be, can I get to do that? I don't, but let's say it's you. I like working on cars, but I tell you what, working on people might be better. They are wow. We ought not just be willing, we ought to be excited about it. Amen, that's right. What if God sent me, amen, little old me, talk about having a life that would be worthwhile. Whoa, would I have a problem accepting that call? No way, I'm not an idiot. Oh yeah, a significant life. Then number four, what's the best shade? He's doing a whole lot of good, versus 18, 19, 20. I'll let you look at that again. He's opening eyes. People even in this city, the problem is they're blind. They have no clue. I don't know if I'm just getting myself in trouble, but maybe I will. LGBTQ, come on. Did you know all of that is deception and delusion? Sending people down a road that's gonna wreck their life. You know what, don't be mad at them. Bless their arms. Oh, here's somebody singing. Showing soldiers came out of the closet. But I hear what he said, I always go, that's too bad. Too bad, I'll tell you. Now, I'm not focusing on that. But I'm gonna tell you, you know what's wrong with everybody? They need their eyes opened. Can you get to do that? Turning men to God. Hiding a multitude of sins. Bringing people to a happy eternity. I had lots of funerals when I was pastor at Juilliard Baptist Church. Sometimes we had a funeral for a man or a woman, but we didn't know if they were saved or not. Hey, there's an element of that funeral. Tell you what, there's another element. When you get to say, you know, the man accepted Jesus Christ as his savior, Christian people, all their faces light up. I'll tell you what, even if you're not a Christian, you're happy for a loved one to go to heaven and not hell. and have a Bible reason to think they did. Well, make sure you do a whole lot of good. They bring people a happy eternity. Man, they're showing people a better life in every way. See, now what are you gonna do with your life? Now God put us on the earth for a reason. He knows what it is. I don't think we should just pick out our own life. But I still want to ask you before I get done this morning, what are you going to do with your life? Now you need to be safe. You go through life without knowing God. Talk about a waste. You know, unsaved people, when they die, they go to hell. But that's only one of the tragedies, and that's the pain of the fire. You know what the big tragedy is? A wasted life. God never made anyone go to hell. You read Matthew chapter 18, you'll find that every baby born in the world, red and yellow, black and white, everyone has an angel assigned to them. And the plan is that he'll find Jesus and get saved. God doesn't want any of them to perish. But you know, one of the reasons why it's good not to go to hell is because if you go to hell, your life is wasted. God had a place for you to serve, God gave you gifts for you to employ, God had a wonderful life for you, as well as eternity, and you blew it by not getting saved. We have no idea how important it is for you to accept Christ today. But what I'm asking is this, what are you gonna do with your life? Are you willing to do anything, including go someplace you've never heard of, speak a language you never knew, to tell people about Jesus who never heard him? Wouldn't you be willing about it? Wouldn't you be excited about it? Oh, man, if you let me do that, I ain't jumping the chance. And I'm gonna tell you something. This morning, every Christian here ought to tell him that at least. You may not know what God's will is for your life, But you ought to tell him, you ought to say, Jesus, whatever you want me to do, I'll do. And if you wanted me to be a missionary, I'd be excited about it. You actually ought to say it. Now, what I'm saying doesn't make sense. If you think that being a missionary would be a life sentence, like going to prison, well then don't tell him a lie. But if you can see that doing this would be a significant thing, And you can tell Jesus, Jesus, I want you to know that if you wanted me to do that, I'd be excited about doing it. Then you ought to do it. You ought to do that. You ought to tell Jesus Christ, I am willing and excited. Then, therefore, in a little bit, I believe our people on the moon who already know what God wants them to do. All you have to do to find God's will for your life is be willing. Some of you may have surrendered to Christ sometime back. He has shown you your role. The father of children who can serve God. A man with a gift at Bible Baptist Church. Or maybe somebody's here today and you already know you're supposed to be a missionary. So you know what you need to do before you go out that door? You need to obey him. Say, dear Lord, this is your plan for my life. I will. I will. I will. I will! What you've shown me, I will do. And that would be the climax of the morning at Bible Baptist Church today. Let's bow our heads. Who would say to me, I'd like to stab our heads in the back? Do you know what? God spoke to me today, Brother Flanders. God spoke to me today. Maybe in Sunday school, maybe in church, or maybe before you ever came on the property. God spoke to me today, and I'm hearing His voice right now. If that would be you, would you raise your hand? If that's you, would you raise your hand? Take your hands down. Who would say to me, Brother Flanders, I'm at Bible Baptist Church, and I believe the Bible, but I don't know if I'm saved. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, but I don't know for sure He's my Savior. I don't know that I've ever been converted, but I would let a man like you, a stranger, who is visiting our congregation today, pray for me, because I'm not sure I'm saved. And I'd appreciate you praying for me, if that would be you, and that's all. I'm not gonna trick you. I'm not gonna make you do anything you don't wanna do. But I'd like to pray for you, and if you'll let me, would you raise your hand? That hand going up means I don't know that I'm saved. somebody to pray for me. With our heads still bowed, now we're going to the bottom line. Brother Flanders, I need to tell Jesus something about my life. I need to tell him something. Right now after we've heard the truth from the great missionary Paul, I need to tell Jesus that I'm willing and excited or that I know what he wants me to do and I'll do it. Right now, he's spoken to me, so I need to speak to him. If that would be you, I'd like you to raise your hand and let me know. Hand going up, says, I need to tell the Lord Jesus something. I really do, before I leave. Yes. Let's all stand up with our heads bowed. If we can select the song, I'd like us to sing the song, Jesus Paid It Off. But with our heads bowed, we're not gonna sing yet. We're not gonna be here but another minute. But here's what I'd like to do. When she starts to play the song, when I give the signal, I'd like to ask those of you who have something serious to tell Jesus Christ, to forget about everybody else. Let somebody let you out. Walk to the front and find a place to sit down on your knee. Why would I ask you to do that? It's got to be a big deal. It can't be a little prayer you whisper. you're giving your life to him or you want help or something, I'd like you to step out from where you are right now, find a place in the front row or maybe in the steps in the front to either kneel or sit down and tell Jesus Christ, I am willing and excited for whatever you want to do for me. Or if you'd like to get some help in getting saved, let the preacher guide I'm sure I've called.