I am so thankful for the opportunity to be here this weekend and for the blessing of hearing the gospel preached by good ministers of the Word and for your hospitality and kindness here at the church at Mayhew and continually have you all and your pastor in my prayers, but it's good to be here face to face with you. The 52nd chapter of the book of the prophet Isaiah The Lord writes, now therefore what have I here, saith the Lord, that my people is taken away for naught? They that rule over them make them to howl, saith the Lord, and my name continually every day is blasphemed. Therefore my people shall know my name, therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak. Behold, it is I. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace, that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation, that saith unto Zion, thy God reigneth. Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice. With the voice together shall they sing, for they shall see eye to eye when the Lord shall bring again Zion. Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem. For the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem. This is the message of the gospel. This is the message for today, for tomorrow, for every day. It's the message that was proclaimed by Jesus Christ when he preached his own everlasting word, the message for which the church of Jesus Christ was established, that this message would be proclaimed to all the earth. Thy God reigneth. Good tidings of good. Publishing salvation. These words, good tidings, that's what gospel means. Good tidings, that's what evangelism is. It's publishing, heralding good tidings. And this prophecy, you know, a lot of people talk about prophecy of the scripture, and they try to identify what it's speaking about, specifically when its fulfillment is. Well, this is one of those prophecies. The fulfillment is right now. It's every day in the history of the world. Why? Because God still reigns, and the enemy is still denying his power. The enemy is still blaspheming against him. Every day his name is blasphemed. But every day his heralds proclaim, Thy God reigneth. You know, the Apostle Peter, in the closing days of his life, wrote in his epistle and said, in the last days, scoffers are going to come. And they're going to say, where is the promise of his coming? They're going to question the promise of his coming. They're going to question the imminent return of the Lord. And he says, they're going to be scoffing when the Lord returns. So we have that promise. We have that expectation. But how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings. We can learn a lot about Old Testament Scripture and the New Testament Scripture by seeing how the New Testament uses the Old Testament. The Old Testament is quoted throughout the New Testament because, just like today, the ministers of the Gospel were dependent upon the Word of God. And the Apostle Paul, writing to the Roman Church in the 10th chapter that we made reference to yesterday, quotes this very Scripture, this very idea. He gives credit to the prophet Isaiah. As he writes regarding the gospel, verse 11 of chapter 10, the scripture saith, whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. There's no difference between Jew and Greek. The same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. This is the message of salvation that's heralded. How then 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? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things. how beautiful it is for the gospel to be preached. The preaching of the gospel is the heart of the New Testament Church. It's the heart of the Christian life. It's the heart of evangelism. It's the message that declares, thy God reigneth, in spite of all that seems to be against you, all the discouragement, all the fears, all that society seems to be doing that's wrong, the message is God is on his throne. His sovereign grace reigns. And He will declare His glory and how beautiful it is when men are called of God to rise up and to preach the gospel. And I fear sometimes we fail to appreciate that gift, that blessing. You know, the Lord Jesus Christ writes by inspiration. He says through the Apostle Paul that there are gifts given to men. And those gifts are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. God has given us a gift in the ministry of the Word. And we should desire those gifts. And we should advance those gifts. And we should do everything possible to promote the proclamation of His Word. The Apostle Paul writes here and he says, my desire for Israel is that they might be saved and the gospel must be preached. And the reality is the gospel was preached. And the promise of the gospel being preached is not that everyone is going to hear it, that everyone's going to receive it, but the promise is that his people will hear it. And that's what he said in Isaiah's prophecy. He said, my people shall know my name. My people shall hear it. So if we understand this truth, we understand that we should desire that the gospel be proclaimed. We should desire the best gifts. We should desire to promote the proclamation of the word. And the reality is the world, as in the day of Jesus Christ today, is ready to hear the message. There's a people prepared of God. He says, my people shall be willing in the day of my power. What day is his power? Today is the day of his power. Now is the day of salvation. When? Now. Today, tomorrow, forever. Jesus Christ sent forth his disciples to go and preach the gospel, to do the works that he had done, to speak the words that he had spoken. And immediately before that, in chapter 9 of Matthew's account, Jesus went about all the cities and villages, verse 35, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted and were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd." Jesus Christ was a minister of the word. He was a preacher of the gospel. And Jesus Christ was moved with compassion when he saw people who were walking in ignorance. You want to know what motivates a minister to preach the gospel? Seeing people who are in ignorance. Seeing people who don't know any better. And you don't have to look very far today to find a people who are walking in ignorance. In fact, you don't have to look any farther than the pews of your local primitive Baptist church. There's ignorance. There's people who don't understand the Word of God. And a minister of the Word has a desire to teach, to instruct, because there's a compassion that yearns for understanding, yearns to declare the Word of God. Jesus was moved with compassion because he saw that the people fainted and were scattered abroad. A couple of thoughts there. Fainted? What is that? That's to give up. That's to be discouraged. That's to lay down and be ready to die. That's what it is to faint. There's a lot of churches, a lot of people of God who are ready to faint. Because they're having no hope, they have no understanding, no expectation. And they give up. It's not our doctrine that is at fault. It's not the God that we serve nor the Word that He's written. But it's the lack of understanding that we have. The lack of hope, the lack of promise, the lack of trust in a sovereign God who actively rules and reigns. So the people fainted, and the people were scattered abroad. Everyone going to their own way, everyone doing their own thing, looking for hope and finding none, and seeking in all the wrong places. Well, where should we be turning? Where should we be looking? We should be looking to the God who reigns, looking to his word. It has all the answers. The psychologists of the world, they don't have the answers. The doctors of the world, they don't have the answers. The colleges and universities of the world, they don't have the answers. The answers are found right here in the Word of God. How beautiful are the feet of them which preach the gospel. They were like sheep having no shepherd. Being a sheep is a good thing. It's a whole lot better than being a goat if you read what the Word of God says about it. But there's a lot of sheep, there's a lot of sheep who are scattered. And thanks be to God, Jesus Christ says, my shepherds have fed themselves rather than the flock. My shepherds have allowed the sheep to be scattered abroad, but I'm the good shepherd. And he gives us a story of a shepherd who leaves 99 sheep, safe in the fold to go get one that has wandered astray. And the apostle Peter writes and says, we all, like sheep, have gone astray, but we're now returned to the shepherd and bishop of our souls. And Jesus Christ was moved with compassion. They had fainted and were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd. But notice what he says and what he does. Because this is Jesus Christ, the greatest preacher to ever live. And he turns to his disciples. In verse 37 he says to his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest. This is Jesus Christ, the Lord of all the earth, saying, there's more sheep that are scattered than I can reach with my voice. Think about that. He's looking, and he's moved with compassion, and he's the greatest preacher to ever live. And he says to his disciples, the harvest is plenteous. And one man, though he is God, is not going to do the work alone. Now we understand sovereignty and we understand power and omniscience and omnipotence, and Jesus Christ, if it were His will, could reach everyone and impart all truth immediately. But that's not the ordained means, and it's not what He says He's going to do. In fact, Jesus Christ wouldn't have had to take a single step in his ministry if he had chosen to communicate to every heart and every mind the gospel. But Jesus Christ went and he preached the gospel. And the Word of God tells us it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. And here Jesus says to his disciples, Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest. And I don't know how much we pray that the Lord would send forth laborers into his harvest. As a matter of fact, among many Christians, among many believers, there's kind of this idea that the harvest isn't really so plenteous anymore. There's people whose eschatology has evolved to the point, they say, there just really aren't that many children of God out there to reach. So therefore, we don't need to reach them. There's people who have said, well, the Lord sends his ministry, and if the Lord's not sending me, I don't need to go. But they begin by saying the Lord's not sending them. And if the Lord's not sending them, you know what we need to do? We need to pray that He will send them. And the church today is not as full of preachers as it used to be. So sometimes people think, well, presence of ministers, that's an evidence of the Lord's blessings on the church, so we're going to ordain a bunch of ministers. Recently I've been convicted that I need to be praying the Lord would call some of the ordained ministers to preach. Because we got a lot of preachers or a lot of ministers who are ordained and called elder who are not preachers. But we need the Lord to call those men to preach, to give them a burden, to give them a desire, an understanding, and a willingness to go. And we need the Lord to send forth laborers into His harvest. That's the command He gave. Jesus said, go to all the world, preach the gospel, teaching them all things whatsoever I've commanded you. Here's a command of the Lord. Here's a command of the Lord. Pray ye the Lord of the harvest. He'll send forth laborers into His harvest. The other thing we get from this is, He's the Lord of the harvest. The harvest isn't our work, it's not our desire, it's not our plan, our will, our way. He's the Lord of the harvest. Pray the Lord of the harvest that he'll send forth laborers into his harvest. We need the gospel to be preached and we need called men of God to preach it. We need that in our churches, we need that in our world today. And a church that's filled with people who have no willingness or desire to go is not a church that the Lord is going to bless. It's not an evidence of God's blessing in His church. So what does the church look like? Paul writes to Titus by inspiration, and he references his work he's already done. He says in verse 5, And he then lists out the qualifications of the elder. The qualification of the elder includes that he must be able to teach, that he must be a good man, must be a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate, holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught. that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and convince the gainsayers." Titus was sent to make up the things that were lacking. He was sent to set in order the things that were wanting in the churches of Crete, and one of the things he was sent to do was ordain elders in every city. Well, the problem with that is it's not a simple matter of going and taking a vote of who the most popular man in the church is. You see, these elders had to be called of God. They had to be apt to teach. They had to be men who displayed the work of God in their life and understood and knew what sound doctrine was. Who had a willingness and ability to convince gainsayers to, by sound doctrine, exhort. They had to be men called of God. And the church needs men who are called of God. The church needs to be seeking out those men and encouraging those men. Yesterday, Brother Jeff talked about encouraging young men in the ministry, bringing them up, mentoring them, teaching them, identifying them early and encouraging them. And I'll tell you, that's not done by sending them to school. It's not done by giving them books to read. It's not done by recruiting them into a profession. It's done by giving them an example of sound teaching. It's done by communicating with them and interacting with them. Brother Jeff talked yesterday about an 11-year-old boy that he met a long time ago. That was me. And he talked to me. And I can't tell you as a young child what that meant for a minister of the gospel to take the time to talk to me. To discuss the Word of God with me. To let me sit and listen while he was talking with others. To encourage and invite. That's what it takes to mentor in the ministry. And God works in the heart. It works on both ends. There wasn't a large group of us that were desiring to talk to Brother Jeff, but there were a couple of us. And he heard us. He received us. He encouraged us. And others did as well. And that's the nature of the bringing up of ministers in the Word. And older men who come to a belief in the truth, who come to understanding, who come to the church, need to be welcomed and received. And there's no family heritage required. There's no years of service required. This was a new church in Crete. These were people who were recent, new believers. But they embraced the truth, and they believed the truth, and they gave themselves to it. And don't miss this one qualification. They were lovers of good men. They loved the people of God. And that meant they extended themselves to Him at their own expense, their own cost. They gave themselves to the work of the ministry. And that's what God has appointed in the church. To build up the church, to edify the church, to cause the church to edify itself in love. Where there's a passion for the Word of God, there's going to be men who are passionate about the Word of God. And the church is going to produce men who are fit for the ministry. And the church is going to pray the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into the harvest. And you know what? Those people passionate for the word are going to find themselves going and doing the very things that we're talking about. They can't hold back. The best image, I think, in scripture of what it is to be a God-called minister of the gospel is found in the prophet Jeremiah, who was called of God at a young age and told, you're going to be sent to preach, and they're not going to hear you. and you're going to root up and you're going to tear down and you're going to destroy for my namesake. You're going to declare my name." And when he began to face the resistance, Jeremiah said, I determined I was no more going to speak in the name of the Lord. I wasn't willing to do it any longer. There's discouragement that comes in the ministry. It gets discouraging. And sometimes every one of us has thought, it's just not worth it, I'm not going to keep doing it, at least not this way. And sometimes men turn aside from the doctrines of truth because they say it's just not working and they get discouraged. But Jeremiah said, I'll no more speak in the Lord's name. But it was a fire shut up in my bones and I could not stay. I couldn't stop. Why? Because God called him. God ordained him and God gave him a message to deliver and he was a lover of good men. And we see that in Jeremiah as he writes the book of Lamentations. Having seen all the destruction and everything he prophesied come to pass, he's sitting down in the city of Jerusalem and looking at the destroyed walls and the destroyed temple and he's mourning. because he loves the people to whom he's been preaching. Sometimes the message we deliver is a difficult message. But we deliver it faithfully. Why? Because we love the people of God. The second chapter of Titus gives us such a brilliant picture, a brilliant description, a word picture of what the ministry of the Word does. The closing verses of chapter 2. The apostle writes, for the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men. How's it appeared? It's appeared in the gospel, the preaching of the word. Why? Because laborers have been sent forth into the harvest. The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works." Just think about that for a moment. This, to me, is such a great scripture because it takes the preaching of the Word and it tells what it teaches us but then it ties it back to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He gave himself for us, but it takes the purpose of Christ on the cross and it brings it home. It's not just about heaven and immortal glory. And you know, so many people's view of salvation is such that they think it's all about who goes to heaven when they die. This doesn't say anything about that. This says Jesus Christ gave himself for us, that he might redeem us, or buy us back from all iniquity, and purify to himself a peculiar people zealous of good works. That is, change us right here, right now. So our sinful works are put away in exchange for good works, because we're zealous of good works. Jesus died to change our lives right here, right now. The salvation that is in Jesus Christ that the Word of God proclaims is a salvation that affects us every day because it delivers us from the reigning power of sin. and transfers us to that gracious reign of Jesus Christ. So, as Paul writes to the Galatians who were so confused about law and gospel, he says in the gospel of Jesus Christ, you're not free from the law, you're free to do the things that are written in the law. Not because the law is imposed externally, but because the Spirit of God has written them on your heart. It's an internal work of the Holy Spirit that is manifest and made possible by the Word that is proclaimed because you're no longer ignorant, you're no longer like sheep that are scattered, but you're focused by the Word of God on the works of Jesus Christ. A peculiar people, zealous of good works. These things speak and exhort and rebuke with all authority, let no man despise thee. These things preach. That will preach, because that's the word of Jesus Christ. These things speak and exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee." We live in a world where people are going to look down on the Word of God. They're going to laugh at the Word of God. They're going to say, it's foolishness. Well, that's not so much different from the Apostle Paul. What's he write to the Corinthians? To the Jews, it's foolishness. Or no, to the Greeks, it's foolish. To the Jews, it's a stumbling block. But to us, which are saved, it's the power of God. It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. So the prayer is that the gospel will be preached by men called of God, that God will send men forth into the ministry, that this harvest that's plenteous, these fields that are white, will be brought in. They'll be made manifest by the preaching of the Word of God. To what end? That Jesus Christ might be glorified Yesterday brother Jeff told us that story about that conference where he mistakenly said redemption was the point of the Word of God and the right answer was the glory of God I Was thinking about that and I think I May have gone where he did when I was as young as he was then today. My answer would have been Jesus Christ and I wonder how Mr. Adams would have responded to that I don't think he could have disagreed with it. He might have had to say, well, Jesus Christ is the glory of God, and that I would agree with. Because we see the glory of God where? Only in the face of Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ is appointed the preaching of the gospel. So when we talk about evangelism, we're talking about the whole message, but we're talking about the message delivered through the word of God, by inspiration, by direction of the Holy Spirit. by men who have a passionate love for the people of God. Understand, Jesus Christ was motivated in his ministry by a love for his people. And we see that in countless expressions that are recorded in the gospel. When he looks out over Jerusalem at a time when they've all turned away from him, he's down to just a few disciples left, and Jesus says, O Jerusalem, O Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them which are sent to thee, how oft would I have gathered thee together like a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and you would not. Jesus was moved with compassion even for a people who rejected him. And he sent forth his gospel. And I often think about that, those who rejected Jesus during his earthly ministry and then immediately after we see, of course, the day of Pentecost when the gospel was preached so powerfully. And Peter declares with authority that this same Jesus, this Jesus that was a man of prophecy, a man who was prophesied, this Jesus who is God himself, you with wicked hands have crucified and slain. And how many who rejected the earthly ministry of Jesus were there that day? And they cried out. Because on that day, the Word hit home. We need to understand that too. When we preach the gospel and it's rejected and people don't hear, it seems like the Word is falling on deaf ears. We don't know when the Lord may take that Word and may remind them of it, may bring it to bear. On that day of Pentecost, there were men who had heard Jesus Christ preach. And some of them are those who cried out, men and brethren, what shall we do? And it's never too late in the life of any child of God to cry out to Jesus Christ for deliverance, to say, what shall we do? And the ministry of the word needs to be there to say, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, because there is salvation in Jesus Christ. And that's what the word declares. Jesus was filled with compassion for his people. It was a compassion for those who had never heard. It was a compassion for those who had heard and had turned aside. Jesus speaks to Peter. He says, Peter, Peter, Simon, Simon, how oft Satan has sifted you. He's sifted you. He's sought to turn you aside. But I've prayed for you. When you're converted, you strengthen the brethren. And what does he say to Peter? He says, feed my sheep. Feed my sheep. Feed my sheep. The gospel is relevant today. The church of Jesus Christ is important today. The people of God matter today. Not to save them to heaven. That work is secure in Jesus Christ. But what is the purpose of the church? To glorify God in Christ Jesus. What's the purpose of the gospel? To declare His glory. What is the purpose of my life? It's to magnify Jesus Christ. What did Jesus say in the Sermon on the Mount there in the Beatitudes? Right after the Beatitudes, He says, you are the salt of the earth. You're what makes this earth worthwhile. You give it flavor and you preserve its very existence. But if you the salt have lost your savor, you're good for nothing. That's a convicting verse to me because I don't want to be good for nothing. I know I'm salt. I know I'm saved by the grace of a sovereign God, but I don't want to be wasted in the time that I spend here on earth. And as long as there's breath in my life, it's to glorify his name. And if I'm not doing that, I'm of no value. You're of no value. The gospel proclaims to all of us who profess to believe in Jesus Christ that we have a work to be about. We have a work to do in serving Him. And that's how we make ourselves useful. It's not about determining who is going to be in heaven and who's going to be in hell. There's a day coming when we'll all see that. There's going to be a separation. There's going to be sheep on this side. There's going to be goats over here. But, you know, it's interesting that on that day, nobody is there laying out their works and saying, look what I've done. No one is there even identifying their work saying, I know where I deserve to be. In fact, those that are on the left hand being cast into hell, they're saying, when didn't we do the things we were supposed to do? But more important to me, because I don't think I'm going to be on that left side, more important to me are those sheep. who say, Lord, when did we do these things? What are you talking about? I don't deserve your love. When did we do these things? But there's a work that we need to be doing, because there is a work to be done, because there is a field that has widened to harvest. And there are people of God who are scattered, people of God who are in ignorance, people of God who are useless in the kingdom. We need to be praying the Lord of the harvest that he'll send forth laborers into his harvest. But to make it a little more personal and applicable, we need to be praying the Lord of the harvest that he'll make me a laborer in his harvest. There's a difference between praying that someone else will do something and me pitching in and beginning to do the work. And it's important to note that a minister of the gospel trying to determine if he's called to preach trying to determine where to go and preach whatever the case may be He's never sitting there waiting for God to write a note on his pillow or pick him up and place him there. You know it's interesting, it seems like in the story of Philip and the eunuch, Philip was there laboring in Samaria and I don't see in the scripture that Philip was picked up and placed in the desert next to that eunuch. He's told go south, there's a man there. He travels there. Afterwards it seems like he's picked up and carried away. There's a work to go. And we need to be busy working, laboring, doing, and praying to the Lord every day, trusting Him to guide us in where we go and what we do. And He'll make that work known. You say, well, I don't know if I'm called to preach or not. Well, make yourself available. Start studying, doing the work of the ministry, and see if the Lord blesses it. Scripture says a gift will make room for itself. If you're called to preach, The Lord will manifest it, but not until you begin the work. And if you are not called to preach, you're still called to study His Word, you're still called to know His Word, to be a blessing to others. Because in the church of Jesus Christ, there's no labor in His kingdom that is of little value. There's no labor that is not a blessing to the church of Jesus Christ. So, as we've talked this weekend about evangelism, what it means, and how it works, And what its purpose is, we in the Church of Jesus Christ need to understand there's a burden upon every one of us to pray the Lord of the Harvest, to acknowledge His sovereignty, and to desire that His Word will do its work. Because we want God to be magnified today. We want everyone, everyone in all the nations to know, Thy God reigneth. Our Lord reigns. And that one phrase encompasses it all, because to reign is to have authority, to be sovereign. And our God is sovereign. Thank you for your attention this morning, Brother Jeff. You come ahead.