All right, if you do have any questions, please see us afterwards. I would be more than willing to talk to you about Eswatini. Let's go to Galatians chapter 2 this evening. Galatians 2, in light of what happened today with Brother Godet's homegoing, I believe even yesterday when we were on our way here and I had heard that things were not going great, I believe the Lord immediately had impressed my thinking and my heart with the reality that I may be speaking tonight in light of his passing. I didn't know if it would be that quick, but I believe the Lord was in this. And so today's message is with Brother Tom in mind. And I hope it'll be a comfort to you, at the same time, a challenge. I mean, I don't have to tell you. You know them better than me. But I don't have to tell you that he will challenge you, his very presence, and what God's used him to do will challenge you and me in what we're doing in life, and are we giving our all in being used of God? Let's pray. Father, thank you for the great testimony that Brother Gooday had before our eyes, the great example he was to us in every way, and I pray that you'd bless the Word tonight, as we open it, I pray that you give comfort and grace to family and friends and the church family in the time of human loss and yet a spiritual gain that has taken place, a home going, a graduation day. Father, bless the time and the word, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. Galatians 2.20, Paul said, I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, in the life which I now live in the flesh. I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Paul is a great human example of an evangelist, a missionary. I don't know what term you like to use here. Metropolitan? Either one works for me. But so if I say evangelist, missionary, you know what I'm talking about, right? And yet, that was Paul then. Sometimes we say, well, that was Bible times. But we have Brother Godet as a modern day example. You know, sometimes it's nice when God gives us modern day examples, something that we can see with our eyes and be like, you know, that's kind of like what Paul was doing. I remember the first time I met Brother Godet, it was around 2001 to somewhere up there in Grand Forks. He came by for a meeting, and I had only been saved a few years. I was just amazed at the vision this man had for reaching the world with his literature and what he was doing in Thailand. I was just amazed as a young Christian, and very much at the same time excited about missions. You know, it was an adventurous life and exciting and dangerous. And I know closed countries were involved. And I don't even know the half. I don't even know 1%, possibly, of all that was going on. When we were here in 2016-17, I don't remember which year we were here, he was telling about all he's doing and planning for digitally to accomplish in reaching the world. This guy don't quit. And I was just, wow. And there have been times in my life, and even he and I had a couple of email exchanges since we were here last, and I know one of the things he's been working on. And I've just always been impressed and thankful for the example he has set before me. But missions does come with a cost. But in reality, it's an investment. You know, here we see the decision to live for Christ. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. You know, God's not looking for us to die. He's looking for us to give up what we have in this world to live for Him. And there'll be, there'll be, it's not a loss. Yeah, there's a cost. But if we realize this cost is an investment, that's no loss. It's a gain. He says, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. And so missions and the idea of evangelizing and giving our lives for the Lord, yeah, there's a cost, but it's an investment. It's a good thing. Look at Matthew 6 with me. And so we got to make a decision as to whether we're going to live for Christ or not. I challenge everyone in the room with that thought this evening. What are you living for? Are you living for Christ? Brother Goodday clearly, clearly, clearly was a man who decided a long time ago, if I have my facts correct, since I was four years old, he's been in the ministry. All right, 1978, is that when you guys got started? Since I was four, and I'm Mkulu, remember? I'm the old man in Swaziland. That's a long time, and yet a short time. But obviously, there was a decision made a long time ago that he was going to live for Christ. What about you? A lot of young people here this evening. Are you going to live for yourself? Are you going to live for the world? Are you going to live for Christ? In Matthew chapter 6 verse 19, lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth where moth and rust doth corrupt and where thieves break through and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt and where thieves do not break through, nor steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." A decision was made to invest in the spiritual realm. How about you? Are you investing in the spiritual realm? Are you laying up treasures upon earth, or are you laying up treasures in heaven? You say, what's the difference? Well, if someone can steal it, it's an earthly treasure. If it can rust, if a moth can eat it, it's a vain thing. Now, I understand we've got to have some of those things in this life. I understand that. But what an empty thing. Some of the brethren in Swaziland don't have much of anything, but they're laying up treasures in heaven. And they love the Lord. Mindo, the beekeeper, I'm just amazed. It wasn't until this year I actually went to his house. And it is little 12 by 12 stick frame with mud in between the pieces of sticks to keep the wind out, so to speak. where he lives, and he's a beekeeper, got like 30 hives around his house, and he's making money selling honey. One of the other guys, George, is helping him doing the marketing, and I just love to see these guys going forward, but they love the Lord. Linda loves the Lord, and even though he doesn't have barely anything, as far as earthly treasure is concerned, he's a rich man. He's laying up treasures in heaven. Look at Luke 12. Luke 12. And so we've got to make decisions. Am I going to live for Christ? Am I going to invest my life in the spiritual realm? How about this thought in Luke 12? Jesus taught about covetousness and certainly in this day and age in our generation there's opportunities and there's pressure out there for us to be covetous, to live for self, and to amass earthly treasures. Jesus said here in Luke 12 15, and he said unto them, Take heed and beware of covetousness, for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. Amen. My life, your life, will never be defined by how many things you have. Interestingly, you know, there's one thing you'll never find in Swaziland, and that's storage units. Well, we came back to the States in 2019 for a few months. We moved out of our house, didn't want to rent a place while we weren't going to be there. And I wanted to find a storage unit. They don't exist. Ended up renting a shipping container and putting all my stuff in a shipping container. But you don't find storage units because people don't amass and have extra material things. And you know what? Their lives will never, ever, in the eyes of God, be lined up or categorized by how many things they possess, physically speaking. Jesus spake a parable in Thin Verse 16, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do? Because I have no room where to bestow my fruits. And he said, This will I do. I will pull down my barns, and will build greater. And there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years. Take thy knees, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee. Then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided? Watch verse 21. So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. At some point, we all will leave this world. Our soul will be required of us. And the question is, have we been rich toward ourselves or rich toward God? Good question. Sometimes we're very short-sighted, aren't we? We get focused on the here and now. Brother Gooday left us the testimony of a man for as long as I believe I've been alive and longer, he's invested his life for Christ, he's invested in the spirit realm, and he's invested and gotten rich in the things of the Lord, not in the things of the earth. With that said, think about these things. Consider the heart of an evangelist, of a missionary. A lot of times, go back to Galatians 2 for a moment, a lot of times missionaries, or we think that missionaries has to have a burden for a people, a specific people, and be locked into a certain geographic region. Do you know what I'm talking about? It's kind of a mold that independent Baptists have created. And you know, as one missionary said to me a long time ago, there's no Baptist pope to kind of direct how we look at things as Baptists. And so things just kind of develop and they are what they are, right or wrong. What I appreciate about Brother Gooday is he never felt trapped inside only ministering to one nation. I think I could say he had a sweet spot in his heart for Thailand. but that wasn't the only nation that he had a heart for. And I believe, and I don't know if he ever said this to me, but if I could nail down his heart, it's something along the lines of this, in Galatians 2.20, I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I know I live in the flesh. I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Here's a principle I want to speak on tonight. This principle, the reality is that in evangelizing, in missions, our love shouldn't be primarily for a specific people group. nor for people at large, like the whole world, but rather our love, our motivation, our everything ought to be upon Christ first. Sometimes we say, well I can't be a missionary because God's never given me a burden for that people group. Do you love Him? That ought to be the first question we ask ourselves tonight. Do I love God? And I believe this is a good way of testing or analyzing if I love God. And if I ever feel like my love for him is not what it ought to be, it's because I need to get a hold of his love for me first. Paul says there in Galatians 20, it says, the life I lived. In other words, I'm going to live for Christ. Here's why. He loved me first. You know, 1 John 4, we love him because he first loved us. And that's got to be the foundational point. Look at 2 Corinthians 5. If Paul was here, I mean, Paul didn't have a specific nation he was going to. Now, he had a love for his own people, the Jewish people. great love, a great burden, and wherever he went he wanted to reach his own people, but God would send him to various people groups, different Gentile nations and and people groups. He just wanted to be used of God because he loved God, and why did he love God? Because Paul knew God loved him. And if you walk away with anything tonight, I think we can say about Brother Goodday, and I hope it can be said about you and me as well, that we do what we do because we love God, and we love God because He loved us first. And so the first thing is, we've got to get a hold of God's love, so that we can love him in return, and then it's about loving people, and maybe God will give us a specific people group to minister to, if that's how he so chooses, or maybe it won't even be a specific people group, but that the world as a whole, or maybe, you know, God can do various things. There were times where God sent Paul here and there because God directed him, but he wasn't isolated or pinholed into just this city or just this people group because God was leading him. And that's one thing I do admire, how Brother Godet was willing to go wherever the Lord sent him. 2 Corinthians 5 14, Paul said this, "...for the love of Christ constraineth us." He's giving a glimpse into his heart as a missionary and evangelist. Paul is saying here, it's the love of Christ that just grips me and holds me together, because we thus judge that if one died for all, then we're all dead. And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose again. There it is. Paul, what's going on? He's constrained by Christ's love for him, and as a result, he's motivated to do something with it. I want to serve the Lord. I want to do, you know, if Christ died for me, then I can live for him. The least I can do is live for Christ. And you know what's exciting about it? It'll be the best thing you'd ever do with your life. I was sharing with, where's Ethan, where is he at? Hi, there he is, hey. I was telling him before, he hasn't moved. In fact, he's in the same spot he was before. I don't know why I'm looking over here, there he is. I was telling him before, he was asking what I studied at the university. I grew up in New York State, went to the University of North Dakota, and got saved there my first year of college. I went to school to study aviation. I want to be a commercial airline pilot, make six figures, and ski on my days off in Vermont. So far, none of that's happened, amen? But I can clearly say to you tonight that I am so thankful that God called me away from that, put me in the ministry, and has allowed me to serve Him in the States, in Africa. I never would have thought it. And what a privilege. What a privilege to take the love that God has for me. and love Him in return, and then in doing so, love other people, both at home and abroad. What a privilege! What an honor! There's no greater way to invest my life than in loving the Lord and serving the Lord. Nothing, nothing is greater. Look at 1 Corinthians 15. If he died for me, I can live for him. I want to live for him. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 10, Paul again giving a glimpse into his heart, he says, but by the grace of God, I am what I am. And his grace, which was bestowed upon me, was not in vain. But I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God, which was with me. And so God, it'll be God's grace that uses us in this world. And so if I have a heart for the Lord, he will equip me to serve people. But it's got, serving people, having a heart for people has got to be secondary to loving the Lord primarily. Over in Revelation, we won't go there for time's sake, as you go back to 2 Corinthians 5 with me, but over in Revelation 2, when the Lord had to rebuke the church at Ephesus, it was because they had left their first love. that's, I tell you what, for every church on the planet, that is something that we've got to, we've got to keep central and at the forefront of our hearts and ambitions, even when we get busy in ministry, it's got to stay primary and that our love for Christ, and when our love for Christ is dying away, it's time to not just manufacture it, but rather get a hold of His love for us, because our love to Him is responsive. He initiates, we respond. And when we get a hold of His love for us, it'll just return back a love for Him. He is committed to us, we can commit ourselves to Him. Let's not leave our first love so that we can continue as ambassadors. You go on there in 2 Corinthians 5, it says in verse number 20, now then we are ambassadors for Christ as though God did beseech you by us. We pray you in Christ's stead be reconciled to God. We get to be ambassadors. What an exciting thing that is. I've had the privilege of meeting a number of ambassadors already in the last six to eight years of my life, I've met a few of the ambassadors from Swaziland to the U.S., to the U.N. We have a new ambassador from Swaziland that is now in Washington, D.C., just arrived here a few months ago, a man I've known for many years, and I hope to see him soon. We've had lunch together a couple of times in Swaziland, and I'm excited for him. We got this promotion. But I can't wait to ask him something, and it's this. Can you imagine what it's like to be an ambassador? Where you've got to make decisions on behalf of your, in this case for him, your king. You make decisions, you influence things in America, and you're making decisions based upon what the king might think, or what you think he thinks. We have had, I've met one of our ambassadors from the U.S. to Swaziland. She's no longer there. It's a new lady that's a new ambassador. I've not met her yet. But the same will be true there. She is there representing the U.S., has to make decisions, implementing policies on behalf of the president and our nation. And so being an ambassador requires us then to have an absolute understanding of the heart and mind of the one that we represent. This ties together in the sense that if I'm going to be an effective ambassador for Christ, I've got to know Him. I've got to know what He loves. I've got to know what He thinks so that I can accurately represent Him in this world as an ambassador. And that's what we are. May we know the heart and mind of the King so we can serve Him with all of our heart. How about you? Can God use you as an ambassador? Can God use you as a missionary? Do you have a heart for people, but even greater, do you have a heart for the Lord? I can clearly tell you. We went initially in ministry to start a church in upstate New York, not far from where I grew up. And by the grace of God, that church was established. And then God called us across to Swaziland. Can I be honest with you for a minute? Will I do that? Can I speak the truth for a minute? I didn't want to go. Why do I want to leave serving God where I want to be, to serving God where I don't necessarily want to be, but at the same time, this is what God showed me. It's about loving Him. And when I made a decision, I'm going to obey the Lord regardless of what I want. And I went there. You know what God did? He gave me a love for the people. And by the way, I had no problem with the nation to begin with. I just didn't want to leave where I was. If God called me to Scotland, I'd have the same response. China and any nation, even Hawaii or the Bahamas. It would be the same. I don't want to go. I don't want to go. Why? Because I want to be where I am. I love the ministry that we had there. That's a heart, the heart of a missionary. Let me quickly run through a couple of ideas. I know we're already getting towards that time. The heart of an evangelist, the heart of a missionary, is what Brother Godet definitely displayed to us. I want to say this, too, about the health, the health of an evangelist or a missionary. Look at 2 Corinthians 11. There's a lot of calculated risks that a missionary faces in almost any nation. I mean, we have risks that we have inside of our own nation. But you know, when missionaries go to, especially the third world nations, there are a lot of unhealthy conditions that they face. I mean, I'm thankful in Swaziland, which is a third world nation, that we are able to, at a very reasonable price, be able to live in a house similar to what we have in the States, like what we know as normal and cheaper than New York prices, that's for sure. But sometimes I feel really bad because most people live in conditions that you and I would never do. Unsanitary conditions, unclean things. Sometimes missionaries face unsafe conditions in an unstable nation. Swaziland was a very calm and safe nation until June 29th last year when a political uprising began and they're roving mobs of people and we had gunshots on both sides of our house and things like that and we're like, what on earth is going on? And to this day there still is some turmoil, there are still, it's kind of like this, it's kind of like a volcano ready to explode in Swaziland. And there have been some lava flows beginning June 29th last year, and it continues. There's some lava flows, but at some point it's going to explode. And the brethren said, Preacher, you probably shouldn't be here when that happens. They can hide. I can't. And we don't know how things will go. There could be civil war. They want more democracy instead of an absolute monarchy. And it's a tough time for the people there. There's dangers when you go into a closed nation. There's persecution from unbelieving nations. There's a lot of risks that a missionary faces. even to the point of affecting their health. Sometimes it's physical health, sometimes it's mental health, and there's just a lot of things, and yet God is able. In 2 Corinthians 11, Paul talks about all that he faced of In verse 23, are they ministers of Christ? I speak as a fool, I am more, in labors more abundant, in stripes of unmeasured, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft of the Jews. Five times received I forty stripes, save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck. A night and a day I have been in the deep, in journeyings often, in perils of warders, in perils of robbers. perils by mine own countrymen, and perils by the heathen, and perils in the city, and perils in the wilderness, and perils in the sea, and perils among false brethren, and weariness, and painfulness, and watchings often, and hunger, and thirst, and fastings often, and cold and nakedness, and beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches." That's the heart of a missionary right there. I couldn't even begin to tell you, Mrs. Godet probably could, how much of this they've been through. They've been through, I know they've been through some things, some physical challenges, and they've faced things in third world nations. And I can guarantee you this right now for Brother Tom, it was worth it all. Right now. Right now it was worth it all. I know he's been in a lot of pain. I remember when we were here six years ago, how much pain he was in then. I can't even imagine what it's been like since then. And he didn't quit. He didn't stop. How about you? Are you willing to make those calculated risks and sacrifice things and potentially even your own health for the Lord's sake? Not for people's sake, for the Lord's sake, which then involves people. What about you? Here's the last thought, the home. the heart, the health, and the home of a missionary. Missionaries often don't have a permanent home. They're on the go. They're on the move from the initial deputation to moving around the field, moving fields. When you come back to the States, it's like coming home, except you're not home and you're traveling more. And yet back in Luke 9, we won't go there for time's sake, but the Lord Jesus set the example because he had no place to lay his head. And I think of that often. I'm thankful I have a pillow to lay my head on tonight. Is it home? No, it's not home. I haven't been home since they left Swaziland back in June. And I'm like, oh man, I'm going to be in 155 different beds by the time I get back to this bed. But I'm thankful to have a bed. It's a small, small, small thing. Some small inconvenience. It's really nothing. But a home. I believe that one of the reasons why God allows his servants to not have a home, per se, and really be settled in this world is that we'll keep our eyes on the Lord and our heavenly home. I've told my wife many times in the last five or six years, I want to go home. I just don't know where home is. There are times when things aren't going well in the field and you're struggling, you're discouraged, and it's like, I want to go home. Where's home? I don't know where home is. You get back into America, America's changed, especially post-COVID. I want to go home. I just don't know where home is. And then there's the Spirit of God in the back of my mind and heart saying, you'll be home one day. One day we'll be home. A missionary can have two homes. He can have a home on the field. He can have a home in the States. But in reality, home is to be with the Lord. Look at John 14. We'll close here. John 14. Verse one, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. My father's house are many mentions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am, there you may be also. And whether I go, you know, in the way you know. The missionary gets to go home one day. As Paul said, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. He got to go home. Brother Godet got to go home today. It's exciting. Yeah, there's a loss family-wise, church-wise. There's a loss. But you can't help but be excited for him. My dad went home back in August. Doesn't seem possible. but I'm excited for him. I'm excited for Brother Tom. You ever stop and think about how many people I already tell him, hey, I'm here because you witnessed to me. I wonder how many Thai people are there. One of my people in some other foreign country, God used his literature that he prepared. And the team, and it's not just him, he had a team. A team of people working with him for that. You know, in Philippians 3, Paul told us, let's, let's, forgetting those things that are behind, we've got to press on towards the mark. We've got to keep going. The race, the race is not finished. There's, there's more to do. Where it's home, it's with the Lord. Home is with the Lord. And I think a missionary needs to be thinking about that more and more. I think every Christian ought to be thinking about that more and more. Home, home is with the Lord. Let's not let this earth become too much of our home. lest we fail to focus on why He saved us and our purpose and existence in this world, to know the Lord and to love the Lord and to live for the Savior. And I do appreciate today's example for us, for the Martin as well. And there's many, many, many unsung heroes of missions. And a lot of people in the world may never hear about these men. But the Lord knows. May the Lord bless you as you continue. May God call more men from among you to go beyond, beyond the state, beyond the nation, around the world. That's why we're here. That's why we exist. Father, thank you for the day, thank you for the example of Paul, for the example of Brother Gooday, and may there be more people who step up to be exemplary to the next generation of having a heart for you and therefore for lost souls. I pray you bless.