Jesus is our hope, isn't He? Amen. Wonderful to be here, and I'm glad for the opportunity. I look forward to getting to meet many of you through this week. I make you two promises, and I'm going to talk quick. You better put listening in fast gear, all right? Two promises. Number one, I will respect your time. Come every service. And I will respect your time. I will not preach long. I will not define what long is, but I won't preach long. But I make you this promise. I will have something prepared for and prayed over from the Word of God that can be a help to all of us. And so my prayer is that you'll commit yourself, be in every service, and allow God to speak to your heart. Take your Bible, would you please, in 2 Corinthians 10. 2 Corinthians chapter 10, I want to preach on this thought, beyond my world. Beyond my world. Notice with me in verse 14 of chapter 10, the book of 2 Corinthians. For we stretch not ourselves beyond our measure, as though we reached not unto you, For we are come as far as to you also in preaching the gospel of Christ, not boasting of things without our measure, that is, of other men's labors, but having hope when your faith is increased, that we shall be enlarged by you according to our rule abundantly, to preach the gospel in the regions beyond you. not to boast in another man's line of things made ready to our hand. But he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth. Father, help us. We pray, O Holy Spirit, that you would speak to our hearts. I pray, Lord, that you would, for those who are lost, speak to their heart about their need of being saved and your love for them. For those who are saved and need to be committed to your work, speak to our hearts about how we can be involved and bring glory to you. I pray in Jesus' name, amen. The world is immense, isn't it? I don't mean just geographically, it is a big place. But I mean, I'm told, and I don't know for sure, but I'm told there are eight billion people living on planet Earth. Man, I get lost after a hundred, so I can't conceive of eight billion people. But then when I think about those eight billion people and I think of the thousands of languages, the many different cultures, the colors, the countries, it is just the large, large immensity of the world that just startles me. And yet when I think of how large the world is and immense it is, I am reminded of this, that there is but one name by which every one of those eight billion people must come to the Lord and in the name of Jesus, trusting him can be saved. What a job. As big as the world is and as much as God loves every person, can I tell you the truth about myself? Sometimes my world just devolves to the three feet that surround me. I mean, if it impacts me that day, I care about it. If it touches my family that day, I care about it. Maybe if it gets in my way of my schedule, I care about it. But so often my world is lived so small when God's is so large. And one of the desires that every one of us ought to have is to live beyond the bubble of our own life. In the passage I just read, It's the Apostle Paul talking. And the Apostle Paul was a man who broke out of the bubble. The Apostle Paul was a man who lived beyond. He talks in this passage about living beyond his measure. He talks about going to the regions beyond. And then in another way he talks about faith being increased and going beyond, if you will, our means. And I'll talk about that and explain it in just a moment. But may God help us to be a group of people who look up with the eyes of the Lord and see the immensity of the need of this world and with God's help live beyond our world. Think about those things with me for just a few moments this morning. Living beyond our measure. Go back to verse 14. For we stretch not ourselves beyond our measure, as though we reached not unto you. Many times in the relationship between the Apostle Paul and the church at Corinth, there was kind of an adversarial relationship. They didn't like the authority that the Apostle Paul carried. They didn't like all the things that he told them that they ought to be doing. One of the things that they really kind of didn't like about the Apostle Paul was he kept talking to them about reaching other people for Christ and reaching beyond their city and being part of reaching the world for Jesus Christ. And there were some of them that would criticize his appearance, they'd criticize his preaching, they'd criticize his commands or his desires for them. And they even came to the place where they said, Paul, you're a dreamer. You keep talking about reaching the world. Paul, don't you understand we've got problems in Corinth? We've got needs in our lives. We've got things we've gotta take care of. Paul, you are dreaming. You are never going to reach the whole world. And I love Paul's answer. We reached you. You see, there's always a crowd of people that thinks this is too big. that thinks, no, we just need to concentrate here. We don't need to worry about the world. And that's where Corinth was. And Paul says, you know, since I've known the Lord, there were people who have said, you can't take the gospel beyond Jerusalem. But they did. They took it to Samaria, and Samaritans got saved. Well, maybe you could take it to Samaria. There's some history of Judaism there, and maybe they could receive it, but you could never take it to Gentiles, but they did. They took it to Antioch, and they took it to Asia, and Gentiles got saved. And by the way, there was a day when the apostle Paul was trying to go further into Asia. God kept closing doors, brought him down to a little city called Troas there on the Mediterranean Sea, gave him a vision that night. And in the vision that night, there was a Macedonian man saying, come over and help us. And the next morning, Paul got up, got on a boat, sailed across the sea, and for the first time, the gospel was preached on another continent. It was preached in Europe, and people got saved. And good news, the gospel jumped another ocean, and that's why we sit in this room today. Here's all I'm saying. There's no limit to where the gospel can be preached. There's no limit to what the gospel can do if we will simply obey what God has told us to do. If you look at Mike Edwards, he's never enough. I never know enough. I'm never powerful enough. But if you pour the Spirit of God in an obedient Mike Edwards, the gospel is unlimited. And Boiling Springs Baptist Church, you're not enough. But if you pour the Holy Spirit in an obedient spirit in this church, it's unbelievable what God can accomplish when we go beyond our own measure by the power of Almighty God. I'm simply saying we don't want to be part of that crowd that says it can't be done. Paul says not only that, I want to go beyond my borders. Look again at verse 16, to preach the gospel in the regions beyond you. One of the great political questions that our nation faces today is how do we deal with people that are coming into our nation both legally and illegally? And that's a question that needs to be answered. But it's not the question that is on our minds this morning. The question on our mind this morning is how many people are we getting out there to go to other countries to tell them about Jesus Christ? Paul got saved around 42 A.D. He spent some silent years in the desert being taught by others, being taught by the Lord himself. Around 46 A.D. he began traveling the world preaching the gospel. For the next 15 years, he traveled by foot and by ship. He was supported by others, but also when he needed it, he worked as a tent maker. He preached in cities and in villages. He preached both in season, out of season, and a whole lot out of season. He preached in Jerusalem, he preached in North Africa, he preached in Asia Minor, he preached in Greece, he preached in the islands of the Mediterranean, he preached in Italy, and he even preached in the capital city of the Roman Empire. He preached in Rome. I am convinced that if the Apostle Paul would have had a pickup truck, he could have gone to every nation on the planet. He couldn't have filled it up, but he could have gone. Just saying there's no border, there's no barrier that could keep him out if it was the Lord's will that he go in. He literally lived the Great Commission. When I was reading this passage and studying this message, I come to that phrase, the regions beyond. For Paul, that had great meaning. Man, he was reaching a world that no one could get to. What's that mean for us? We can get on an airplane and be in London in less than six, seven, eight hours. We can get on an airplane and be literally on the other side of the world in a day. We can circumvent the world in a full 24 hours or a little over. What are the regions beyond? And in one man that I was studying, he said this, for us today, the regions beyond is still further. Boy, I'll tell you that impacted me. I'm 73 years old. I know you thought I was 80. You know one of the greatest fears of my life? That there will be a point of my life where I think I've gone far enough. Where I come to the place where I think I've studied enough. Maybe where I come to the place where I've given enough, I've sacrificed enough, I've done enough and it's somebody else's turn. Hey, I never want to come to the place where I think my debt to the Lord is paid because it's never paid. Brother, where he found me and how he changed me and how he's blessed my life, deserves till my last dying breath, trying to glorify Him in my body and trying to serve Him with all I have. And God, guard me against that place in life where you can come where you say, I'm done. No, you're not. There's still further to go. There is still further in knowing this Word. There is still further in trying to tell others about Christ. There is still further and more that I can give, that I can do, that I can be, that will bring glory to Him. Oh God, give me the ability to go further. There's a great missionary named C.T. Studd. He was a great cricket player back in the 1800s. He made the decision to go to a Dwight Moody rally one time, and he got saved. And when he came out of that rally, he no longer wanted to give his life to cricket. Cricket bounces off us, but it was a big deal where he was from and in those days. Turned his back on that career, became a great missionary. Boy, he knew how to turn a phrase. He said this. Some want to live within the sound of a church or chapel bell. I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell. He said this, if Jesus Christ is God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for him. God, would you please give us that spirit? Would you please help us to purpose in our hearts that there is still further for us to go, whether we are seven or 70 or 90, there is still, as long as there's breath in these bodies, there is still further, more that you want to do through our lives, and God, give us the spirit to do it. That's the spirit Paul had. Not only did he go beyond his measure, Not only was He willing to go beyond His borders and still further, I want you to notice that He went beyond His means. If you look at verse 15 again, not boasting of things without our measure, that is of other man's labors, but having hope when your faith is increased, that we shall be enlarged by you according to our rule abundantly. You know what Paul was saying? Paul was saying, Church at Corinth, I'm praying for you. And I'm praying that your faith will be increased. Why, Paul? Now get this. Because we need to be enlarged by you abundantly. What was Paul saying? Paul was saying, I'm asking that your faith be increased because we need you to help us in the great work of getting the gospel throughout all this world. Remember how we came to you. Remember how Christ saved you. And now it is your turn, not to be the receivers, but the givers and to enlarge us, not so that we can be wealthy. I have people say to me, missionaries are always asking for money. It takes money to buy tickets. It just does. And by the way, I've been working with missionaries for 25 years. I am the treasurer of BIMI. I work with the money at BIMI. You know what, you want to hear my testimony? I ain't never met a rich missionary. They're not trying to enrich themselves. They're trying to get to where God called them so that they can preach the gospel. And that's what Paul was saying. Paul's not saying, I want a Mercedes. Paul's saying I just want to get to Spain. Paul's not saying I want to live in luxury. He's saying I just need to get to Rome. They're just people that have never heard and the last hope that they have is to hear the gospel. And I'm praying that God increases your faith so that the beans can get to London. And that's what this conference is about. It's about our faith being increased, not so that others can live in ease, but so that others can live in heaven someday instead of an eternity in hell. And so our goal this week is our faith to be increased. That's what faith promise is about. It's about us saying, God, I hear what you're saying. And Lord, though it's a difficult thing and though it's something I've got to have a priority about and consider, God, I want my faith increased. Can I give you what I think in the Bible is the greatest picture? of faith promise. I take you back to the Old Testament, don't turn there for the sake of time, but I take you to a man who is standing near the brook Cherith and the brook Cherith isn't running like it used to because he declared a drought. His name's Elijah. and the brook chair is drying up, and there used to be a raven that was bringing food on a regular basis, but that's about to end, and God speaks to his heart, and God says, Elijah, I want you to leave here and go to Zarephath, because in Zarephath, there's a widow who's going to sustain you. Now can I tell you something? Every red-blooded man in this room would hate what God just said. I don't want to be sustained by a widow. I want to sustain the widow. And Elijah, no doubt in my mind, looked up at God and said, you want me to go and live off of a widow? Don't you mean you want me to go and give her and help her live? No, I want you to go and be sustained by a widow. And that prophet makes the trip from Cherith to Zarephath. He goes up to Zarephath. He goes to the widow's house. He knocks on that door and says, hey, widow, God has sent me for you to sustain me. How do you say that as a man? And she says to him, this is the book of Edwards, You came on a bad day because you see I've got enough meal and enough oil that I was just going to go in and make a cake and I was going to eat one and my boy was going to eat one and we're going to die because there's no prospects of any more to eat because you declared a drought and there's no food and there's no hope and there's no bounty And Elijah says, God sent me to tell you, to trust him, to make me a cake. When it all seems so unreasonable, make me a cake. And the heroine of this story is not that prophet at the door. The hero of this story is that woman who hears the word of God and in the face of difficult circumstances, goes and takes the little bit of meal that she has left, and the little bit of oil that's left in that cruise, and fashions a cake, and sits it down in front of that prophet, and get this, that prophet pulls up a chair, and in front of that woman and in front of that boy, eats that cake. Go prepare more. There is no more. Go check. And that woman goes to that barrel. And you know what's in that barrel? Enough. Enough meal and enough oil for another day. And after she makes it for that day, she goes back to that barrel. And you know what's in that barrel? Enough. and she makes a meal for that day and the next day. Hey, at some point, knowing me, I'd have said, God, would you just fill the barrel up? But there's always enough. Because God says, when you obey me and you put others before yourself, I will take care of you. That's faith promise. We come to a time like this Inflation is high, preacher. Didn't you know that? Didn't you know we've been through terrible things out here? Yeah, I do. I do know that. But I also know God. And God says there's a world that needs to hear the gospel. And I need Boiling Springs Baptist to have their faith increased so that missionaries can be enlarged so that they can hear the word of God. That woman is a picture of a woman who said, man, I'm gonna live by faith. I'm not gonna live timidly. I'm gonna live by faith. And she takes the step across that line to find out that God is true to his word. One of our great fears ought to be that we live too timidly. We always calculate how we can make it. We calculate what is enough. My urging you this week is take a step of faith. In 1904, there was a man graduating from high school. His name was William Borden. His father was a very wealthy businessman. For those of you who are older enough like me, you remember Elsie the cow? Yeah, the Borden dairy. Well, this is that Borden. He's going to inherit the dairy. He was, on our scale today, he was a billionaire already then. For his high school graduation, his daddy said, I'm gonna send you on a worldwide tour so that you can see business throughout all the world so that it'll make you a better businessman. And so when he graduates from high school, he goes on this world tour and he goes and he does see a lot of business, but it's not the business that God speaks to his heart about. His mother had taught him how to know the Lord and had taught him the Word of God. And he's on this worldwide tour. And instead of being led to be a greater businessman, God speaks to his heart about missions. And God calls him to reach a certain people, the Kwanzaa people. They're Arabic speaking people who live in the area of Mongolia, China. He goes back and tells his father, hey, I'm not gonna take the business. I'm going to be a missionary. And his father is enraged. The Chicago newspapers say, wasted life. The choice of nonsense. His father says, well, we'll send you to university. Maybe you'll get that out of your heart. Maybe you'll start thinking right. He goes to Yale University. He wins everybody in his dorm to the Lord. He starts the New Haven mission and leads those that are down and out to the Lord. He literally is an evangelist in the city. He graduates from college and he's never given up on his idea. He's never given up on what God has called him to do. And he leaves and to learn the Arabic language, he has to first go to Cairo, Egypt, before he can ever get to China. He goes to Cairo, enlists in a language training school. He's learning Arabic. 30 days after, 25 days after he arrives in Cairo, he contracts spinal meningitis. Today, we've got antibiotics that can help and maybe heal that bad disease. In that day, there was no hope. 30 days after he contracted it, he dies in a filthy Cairo hospital. That's when the newspaper said, a life wasted. They later found his Bible, brought his Bible, and he was a journaler. And when they opened his Bible, there was one place with a shaky hand he had written this. No reserves, no retreats, no regrets. Boy, he had died in a hospital. He could have been a millionaire, a billionaire. But when he thought of his life, he was glad that he never reserved, never held back something from the Lord. He was glad that he never turned back on what God had spoken to him about. And now, even as he lays dying in that hospital, he has no regrets. And when he stands before the Lord, while the whole world thinks he wasted his life, the Lord will commend him for how he used his life. One of my greatest fears is that someday I stand before the Lord and wish. Did you know that no one is gonna stand before the Lord and say, man, I wish I'd have skipped Wednesday night. I sure wish I wouldn't have gotten involved in Sunday school. I sure do regret telling those people about the Lord. I wish I'd have taken that money that we gave the missionaries and done more Disney World. Nobody's going to say that. But there's going to be a lot of people who say, I wish I would have. Here's how the songwriter put it. By and by, when I look on his face, beautiful face, thorn-shadowed face, By and by, when I look on his face, I'll wish I had given him more. More, so much more. More of my life than I ever gave before. By and by. When I look on His face, I'll wish. I wish I'd have taken that step of faith. I wish I hadn't led so timid life in trusting God. I wish that I wouldn't have put everything else that disappears in front of that which lasts for eternity. That's the opportunity we have this week. That step of faith that says, God, I'm going to trust what you can do in my life and live beyond my measure. I'm going to have a vision for beyond my bubble that reaches to telling people about you across the globe. And God, by faith, not by foolishness, but by faith, I'm going to trust you to enlarge my faith, to give so that others can go. Would you pray with me? Father, we thank you for the few minutes we've had. And I pray in this first message of this conference, you would do a work. I pray, Lord, that you would speak to the hearts of those that are here. We want people to be saved across the globe, but there are people in this room, perhaps, that don't know for sure Jesus is their Savior. And oh God, would you through your Holy Spirit speak into their heart now and show them how much you love them, regardless of where they are, regardless of what they've done, you love them. and you will save them if they'll turn to you. People in this room could take a Bible, show them how to be saved, and I pray you'd accomplish that today. And Lord, beyond that, would you speak to the hearts of us believers? Would you help us to look beyond our troubles and look beyond our desires and look to a world that needs Jesus? And God, help us to courageously, not foolishly, but courageously take a step of faith, trusting you that the barrel will have enough when we put others before ourselves. I pray it in Jesus' name. Amen. Would you quietly stand to your feet? Our heads are bowed, our eyes are closed. We're gonna offer a verse of invitation. Here's the invitation. If you're not saved, come and let us take a Bible and show you how to be saved. Here's number two. Let's get serious about letting God lead us in this matter of what we do for missions. If God's spoken, why don't you take a moment,