Praise the Lord, what a wonderful week this has been. It's just been one of the greatest conferences that I've ever been involved in. It's not because of my involvement, but there are faces in this auditorium that I have seen at every service. And so that's what makes these kinds of conferences work when there's unity. within the body of Christ, and I thank the Lord for church leadership who has done such a great job in organizing the conferences. I commented on several times to Pastor Kevin Folger and Pastor Pete Folger about the quality of missionaries that are here this week, and I thank the Lord for getting to know them. I'm obligated now to pray for them, and to be involved in their ministry, however, Lord would have me to be involved. And our missionary families are throughout the campus ministering, but the Staley's are here. Brother and sister Staley, would you stand and just do a cute little twirly twirly so everybody can see you? Amen. And Brother Staley and his wife are working with the American military abroad. Make sure the displays are up in the fellowship hall. If you haven't been up there this week, please go up there. The missionaries will be there at their displays. Grab their prayer card. You know, we understand, as missionaries, we understand that not every church may be able to financially support us, but we know what each and every Christian, each and every pastor can do, and that's pray for us. We covet your prayers. You have to understand how roaring mad the devil is. because of people like the Staley's and the other missionaries that are here this week, and you for being involved in worldwide evangelism. If I understand correctly, Pastor Folger, that this church has given over half a million dollars for the last three years consecutively. That's just wonderful. It's the praise of Christ, but it's also an accolade to you for loving the Lord Jesus and loving the souls for which he died for. This is an easy place for me to preach to because I think you kind of like me just a little bit. And I like you too, amen, isn't that sweet? And so make sure you go up to the fellowship hall. The displays are all set up there. If you haven't been there, please go up there. And then Jason and Lori Holt and their family are veteran missionaries to the country of Chile. They're already doing the work. I think it's 14 years that they've been there. We met this week and they want me to come over, Brother Cherian, help them to reach gypsies, amen, in Chile. Brother Cherian has gypsies in his college, Preacher. He's invited me to come, amen. I believe in cloning only for the ministry. Amen? It's hard to be in two places at one time. And of course the Buford family, raised on the Navajo reservation. Can you believe that? This is missions. Raised on the Navajo reservation, going to the country of Uganda. You need to meet this precious, precious couple. I was so impressed with them. And Brother Pearlstein, he's a Jew. Did you know that preacher? He's Jewish. Yeah, thank God saved him. And now he's reaching, going to Seattle, Washington to establish churches. They need Jesus over there too, don't they? They need Jesus over there too, don't they? Amen. And then Brother and Sister Walls. Wow, they showed their presentation, I think it was at the banquet. Arrested in China. Arrested and then deported out of the country and are now in Taiwan. They already got the language and they're doing a great work in Taiwan. Please go up to the fellowship hall. I know the second closest thing to a Baptist heart and that's why I put a recipe in the back of my prayer card. I don't have one. It's Dolly's recipe for gypsy cabbage rolls. Don't tell the Hungarians that are here, but we stole it from the Hungarians. And if you decide to prepare them, don't bother calling us for Tums or Roll A's, they're a little spicy. And but lunch will wait. And matter of fact, if you linger long enough, you'll get a table quicker. So going up to the fellowship hall. And I know that there are those who feel like you've missed out, because whatever the case may be, you just couldn't make it to every service. I understand that. It's difficult. I wasn't always on this side of things. I used to be out there too. And I know what it's like to get home, get the kids dressed, prepare a meal, if you even have time to prepare a meal. and get off the church. Wednesday night was like a Sunday morning crowd. That's how well attended. Thursday night was like a Wednesday night crowd. And of course the gymnasium at the school, some of my gypsy people said there weren't any vacant chairs. It was just a packed out house. And of course a great attendance today. And so I'm so thankful for all that God is doing. But this Sunday is the culmination It's the climax. It's why we've done everything. It's why we've had the morning sessions. It's why the missionaries were brought in. Why the keynote speaker? Why the flags? Why the special music? And there's just so much I'll miss if I don't stop. But it's all put together for this specific purpose, for this faith promise card. I hope that each and every one of you understand how important this card is to Cleveland Baptists' involvement in worldwide evangelism. And I can venture to say, and I don't think I'd be mistaken, that the sun never sets upon the ministries of Cleveland Baptist Church. It's Easter in Eastern Europe right now, and they've already finished. They're done for the day. It's late in the evening there. They celebrate a different Easter than we do, a different Resurrection Sunday. But that means that there's ministries all over the world in every time zone. that Cleveland Baptist Church is involved in because of your faithfulness in giving through the Faith Promise Plan. And by the way, Roy Thompson didn't invent it. Kevin Folger didn't invent it. It was invented by God. It's in the Word of God. We touched a little bit on it at the banquet. Brother Cherion did a great job in the Sunday school talking about it. If you're not sure and you wanna study it a little bit before you bring your card tonight, 2 Corinthians chapter eight and nine, Philippians chapter four, put those three chapters together, you'll see the faith promise plan. Nobody's asking you to give the money now. It's a promise that you make to God. As you check a box on this card, you make a promise to God of how you're going to be involved for the year, the fiscal year. At the end of the year, we have to do it all over again. And Cleveland Baptist Church leadership will determine the budget, the mission's budget, based on these cards. As you give by faith, they will commit by faith. As they calculate the cards and we're praying, my prayer has been 100% participation of every member of Cleveland Baptist Church. That's been my prayer. Pastor Pete has already cast a vision that we'll be able to take on these five missionary families at $100 a month. That means that we'll need an additional $500 a month. Folks, that's not a lot of money. I think if you look in the cracks of your sofa, you could probably find enough coins there to make a part of that, amen? But it's not a lot. It's just going to take some people who's going to give more than they gave last year. or those who are going to start. And let me challenge you, start. Start any place. To be honest with you, the amount is irrelevant. The fact is that your heart is involved and you're touched by the call of God and the call of Christ to go into all the world and preach the gospel. I believe we're in the last days. Boy, it's quiet in here this morning. I believe we're in the last days. And as a result, there's an urgency. That's why we're so busy. I traveled 44,000 miles last year just by car. That's not counting air travel. When I get to places that are in 10 different time zones from here, they say, Brother Stevens, you're not jet lagged. I don't have time for jet lag, Brother Cherian, because there's a work to do. There's preachers to train, churches to build. We saw the vision of our dear friend here now for so many years, being so faithful. And thank you, preacher, for the honor of allowing me to transport him from the hotel to the church. It was an honor to be with you, Dr. Cherian. Really it is. He's worthy of double honor, the Bible says, because of his faithfulness. And so please take this card seriously. It determines the fate of the world. Help me, church. It determines the fate of the world. You say, well, Brother Cherian got up here and talked about 1.34 billion people. Preacher, are we responsible for 1.34 billion people? Are we responsible for almost eight billion people in the world today? Preacher, it's too enormous, it's too big. Where do I start? You know what you're responsible for? The five missionary families that are here this week. Help me, church, please. I've come prepared to do my own amenin if you don't want to help me, all right? So please take this card seriously. I just feel led of the Lord to do this. How many in the congregation this morning has never heard my salvation testimony? Raise your hand. Well, there are several, preacher. I'm just gonna take a moment, Pastor Pete. I'm not gonna take a whole lot of time. I'm a fourth-generation gypsy raised here in the United States. Now, we use the term gypsy. Back in the day, nobody knew the term Roma. It's politically correct, but you call me anything you want, just don't call me late for supper, amen? But I'm a fourth-generation Gypsy here in the United States. My wife, Dolly, who went home to be with the Lord, was also a fourth-generation Gypsy here in the United States. Our great-grandparents came from different parts of Europe. Mine came from Eastern Europe, no specific country. They were the Wanderers of Eastern Europe. Dolly's family came from Greece. We called her in the Gypsy language, Gurkaika, a Greek Gypsy. And our marriage was prearranged. There's no dating in the gypsy culture. Dolly was chosen for me by my parents. I was chosen for her by my parents, by her parents. I always say that my mom and dad did a great job, but I'm not sure about Dolly's parents. We were total strangers. We did not carry a conversation one with another until after the wedding reception. We were not allowed to talk. We were not allowed to talk directly to each other. We were not allowed to be in the same room alone. It was taboo. I was 16. She was 20. God put us together, and we set out on a course to become a successful gypsy couple by the standards of the gypsy people in America, and the standard of success amongst the gypsy people is materialism. My goal was to be a millionaire by the time I reached the age of 40. My wife, Dolly, was a fortune teller in southwest Ohio during the fall and winter months. In the spring and summer, I was a con man in a traveling carnival. At the age of 25, I was on my way to achieving my goal of becoming a millionaire. But I say this without exaggeration. One morning I woke up and there was a hole in my heart, an empty spot. I didn't know what it was, but it was strange. It was unusual. I was so disenchanted. I was so disillusioned with life. I had everything that heart could desire. Everything that the television set said that we needed to have to be happy. Beautiful wife, beautiful children, new car every year, beautiful home, money in the bank, but there was a vacancy, a vacuum, a void that I knew needed to be filled, but I didn't know how to fill it. And I tried everything that I thought of trying to fill it, and it didn't work. I would wake up every morning empty. You ever hear people say they found Jesus? You ever hear people say that? That's not biblical. Luke 19.10 says, the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. God was looking for me, and He let me know about the vacancy. And in the spring of 1980, we joined up at a traveling carnival, the Ride Company, out of Canton, Ohio. Dine and Amusement Company. And the owner had recently got saved. He was a horrible man on drugs and alcohol, literally beat his employees, had a terrible relationship with his wife. And Dolly and I wouldn't work with him. As lost as we were, we didn't want to be around that element. But Dolly and I had heard that he'd become a born-again Christian. We didn't know what that was, but we thought maybe religion had changed him and we could work with him. And so we hooked up with his traveling carnival in the spring of 1980. And as soon as we got together with him, we saw a dramatic change in his life. He was off of drugs and alcohol. had a good relationship with his employees and his marriage was in the healing process. He was a young Christian, just recently born again. He said three words to me, you need Jesus. And those words came from a person who was living a life as if he knew Jesus. And those three words rung around my head for six months until the end of the carnival circuit, which was October, first week of October, 1980. We were at the last festival of the year, Loudonville, Ohio, at the Loudonville Street Fair. Mr. Dine and I were going to separate, and I went to him and I said, you told me I need Jesus. How do I get Jesus? And he said, Walter, find this place to pray. Tell Jesus that you know that you're a sinner. Tell him that you believe that he was buried, died on the cross, buried and rose the third day and ask him to come into your heart. I went back to my travel trailer in broad daylight. It was parked in the parking lot of a funeral home downtown Loudonville. I knelt beside my bed and I prayed a prayer something like this. I said, Dear Lord Jesus, I don't understand the Bible. I said, Dear Lord Jesus, I don't understand Christianity. I said, dear Lord Jesus, I definitely don't understand the church. But what I do know, Lord Jesus, is that I'm a lost sinner. And I ask you to come into my heart and forgive me of my sins. I even closed the prayer with this phrase, Lord, take me to heaven when I die. And you know what God did at that very moment? He saved my wicked soul. He established my feet upon the rock, the Lord Jesus. I've never been the same since. Amen. I always say I got hit with the gospel. I believe in amen. Praise the Lord. I believe in a gospel that saves a man. I believe in a gospel that keeps a man saved. I believe in a gospel that keeps a man saved. But I also believe in a gospel that changes the way a man lives. And God began to make dramatic changes in my life. Our culture is a patriarchal culture. We're not much of stay-at-home dads or stay-at-home husbands. And usually when I came home off the carnival circuit, we came home with enough money that I could do whatever I wanted to do. And I wasn't much at home. But that fall, when I came home, I stayed home and I started washing dishes and changing diapers. And Dolly said to me, what happened to you? And I told my precious Dolly about Jesus. And she received Christ as her personal Savior. And now she's in the bosom of her Savior and Lord as she's going to heaven in two years in July. And the rest is history. I stand amazed. And God has taken this sixth grade educated gypsy, kind of like Jethro of the Beverly Hills, but he was in a hard industry around the world. And I thank God for it. Let's look into the Word of God this morning. Would you go with me, please, to the Gospel of John, Chapter 3? Can I challenge you to come back tonight? And for those of you, especially, who have not been here, couldn't be here throughout the week, if your schedule will allow you to, it's gonna be climactic tonight. If God allows me to preach the message that he's laid upon my heart, you will be challenged, you will be blessed, not because it's me, but because it's the word of God and the blessed Holy Spirit. And one thing's been evident, Pastor Pete, this week, that the Holy Spirit has been in charge here. And that's because we've given him liberty. We've asked him to take control. And that way you'll get to see the rest of the missionaries. They'll be in the auditorium, I'm sure. Tonight you'll get to meet them at their displays as you go up. John chapter three, before we read, this morning I came to the church at seven to pray with the men. And I'm so glad we did. We had such a sweet prayer time with Pastor Kevin Folger and Brother Luke Brown. And I had some errands to run last night. We travel so much, you run out of toiletries and the things you need. And I had to get some hairspray. I use a lot of hairspray. This doesn't happen by accident, all right? And so I had to get to Walmart to get some hairspray, but I couldn't get there last night. I was going to borrow some from Dr. Cherian until I saw him, and I figured he didn't have any. That's a joke, I wasn't. So after our prayer time, I took a run over to Walmart. Now, I don't know if you guys do this from the church, but I cheat and drive through the Sam's Club parking lot, all right? I don't know if it's legal or not. I hope we don't have any law enforcement in the auditorium. But I cheat and I go through Sam's Club to get to Walmart so I don't have to go to the light at Book Park. And so I ran in, got my few things. And there wasn't many people around. There wasn't many cars. It was very early. And as I was leaving, the same way I went in, I noticed a young man, probably in his mid-20s. I was leaving toward Sam's from Walmart. He was walking the opposite way. So it was in perfect vision. I could look right into his face. And he was weeping. Had a backpack on. He wasn't begging. He wasn't asking anybody for anything. But the Holy Spirit said, turn the car around. And I turned the car around. It's unusual when a stranger stops to talk to you, but I knew he was a little startled. I opened the window. I said, are you all right? And he says, no, I'm not all right. I said, I know you don't know me. Would you like to talk about it? And he was hesitant. He didn't say yes. So I told him who I was. I told him about Cleveland Baptist. He didn't know much about it, originally from Buffalo. And so as he saw that it was safe for him to be around me, I asked him if he would like to come into the car and we could talk. He said yes. He got into the car. I pulled into a parking space. began to tell me his story, and I won't go into the whole detail, but it's uncomfortable to tell a stranger your story, but the Holy Spirit was in charge. He said his life is falling apart. He has no hope. I saw a wedding band on his hand. He said him and his wife were separated. And I presented a simple plan of salvation. Do you know why I presented a simple plan of salvation? Because it's a simple plan of salvation. His name is Gunner. I've never met a Gunner before, have you? Van Hoff. Gunner Van Hoff. It's an Australian name. And there in the passenger seat of my car, Gunner Van Hoff received the Lord Jesus Christ as his personal Savior. He didn't ask for anything. I said, Gunner, what are you going to do? He says, I don't know what I'm going to do. I said, listen, I gotta go to work. And he knew what I meant by that, because I told him what I do. So I took him to the extended stay preacher. God gets the glory. I got him a room. I gave him money to eat. And I said, Gunnar, I'll be done probably sometime this afternoon. Here's my phone number. Anything else you need, you just let me know. And I prayed with him before we left, and he embraced me. He embraced me. The room was about $100. And we don't have $100 bills to throw around, do we, Brother Stacey? Most of my money is invested in my ministries. But as soon as I got to church preaching, you know what happened here this morning? Someone put a $100 bill in my hand. It's just the way God works. So you pray for Gunnar, would you please? Stand with me for the reading of God's Word, Gospel of John chapter 3. Very familiar passage of scripture. We're gonna start at the 14th verse of the Gospel of John, chapter three, verse 14. I'll read aloud as you follow in silence this morning. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is coming to the world, and men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. Let's pray. Our gracious Heavenly Father, I didn't know the day was going to start so productive, but we prayed for souls to be saved. I thought they were going to be saved here, and I'm hoping that they will be. But you started with already heaven rejoicing over Gunnar Von Hoff receiving your son as his Savior. Bless him and help him, Lord. Father, we have been so challenged this week by the missionaries and their presentation, and Brother Cherion and his presentation and his challenge in the Sunday school hour about giving. And Father, Sunday is the climax. This is the culmination of all that we've prayed and worked towards. And so God, I pray for the faith promise. I pray that Cleveland Baptist Church will do more in the 2019-2020 fiscal year than they've ever done in the history of their existence. I pray that these five families will be taken on for support and that we would begin to invest in their life in ministries. I pray for Dr. Cherion and his many works, Lord. Bless him, Father, for his faithfulness these many years. Now, Father, we believe that there's probably lost souls here today. and so the gospel's going to be presented. And blessed Holy Spirit of God, we believe that you're the active agent of the new birth and we believe that you're going to do your work and go to those who do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and convict them of their need of a savior and save them today. I pray, Father, for those who have become disenchanted with their faith. It's just not like it used to be or like it should be. I pray, Father, that you draw them unto yourself this morning with cords of love. I pray for the hurting Christian. There's a lot of hurting people, Lord, that you administer to the needs of those who are hurting, sick, or going through some trial or struggle. Then I pray for that one that's on the teeter-totter of decision about answering your call to full-time service. I'm asking you, God, for servants to come out of this conference. And Father, we'll be very careful to give you all the praise, all the glory, and all the honor. We ask these things in Jesus' name and all God's people said, amen. You may be seated. The title of the message this morning is The Heart of Missions. In John chapter 3 we see a very historical confrontation between our Lord and a very influential Jewish leader by the name of Nicodemus. The Bible says that he came to Jesus by night and he said that Jesus was a man that must be called of God because no man could do these miracles except God be with him. He was wrong in a couple areas that wasn't just the man that was God that he was in the presence of. And of course, as Brother Dr. Chirion mentioned in the Sunday school hour, he was challenged there by the Lord Jesus Christ, who didn't go into an explanation of the miracles, even though that's what Nicodemus was talking about. He abruptly, and I think boldly, said to him, you must be born again. And the doctrine of the new birth throughout scripture, but we find it there as well. We believe that this meeting changed Nicodemus forever. We believe that he became a believer, because he was one of two men who helped bury our Savior. If you're here today without the Lord Jesus Christ, the Bible teaches that you're on your way to hell. It's not God's will. It's not God's plan for your life. The Bible says that hell was prepared, created, designed, made for the devil and his angels. It's not meant for any soul of man or woman to go there. And so today you're going to hear the gospel. You're going to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. You're going to hear how much he loves you and how he died for you. We sing a song of the church that when Jesus was on the cross, I, you, we were on his mind. But this morning I want to focus in on the 16th verse. You say, Brother Stephens, John 3, 16? Are you serious? That's more for the junior church crowd, not the main auditorium crowd. May I remind you that in this one verse is the very heart and soul of God's Word. This one verse says it all. That's why we have memorized it and that's why we sing it. That's why we've cross-stitched it and hang it on our walls. We put it on specialty license plates and on t-shirts. We see it at hand-painted banners at sporting events. We see some have shaved it into their heads and others have tattooed it onto their biceps. I don't recommend the last two. But what makes John 3.16 so popular? What makes John 3.16 so powerful? What makes John 3.16 so palatable? And what makes John 3.16 so plagiarized? This one verse is so amazing because within it is the heart, mind, and plan of God concerning the mission of Jesus Christ. It's all there in one verse. Contained in this verse is the gospel, that's the message of God. Contained in this verse is evangelism, that's the method of God. Contained in this verse is missions, that's the manpower of God. Contained in these words is giving, that's the means of God. Of how we get the manpower to take the message, to satisfy the method of getting the gospel to the world. And so let us take a little time and dissect this one verse and draw some thoughts from here. When I was a younger man, I used to like to take things apart just to see how they worked. And that's okay if you can put them back together and don't have any extra parts. Amen. but today we're going this morning we're going to take this verse apart let's take it apart right from the beginning it says for god that's the source of missions for god god is the source of missions the source of missions is god and god alone for he is the source of all genesis chapter one verse one in the beginning God. God is the source of all. The plan of missions did not come from church fathers, but directly from the heart and mind of God himself. And we try to be obedient to the plan and purpose and design of God as he outlines in scripture. And if we'll be faithful to follow the pattern, if we'll be faithful to follow the plan, then God will bless His work. The very first verse I read this morning, it says, As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up. If you don't know your Old Testament, you won't know what that verse is all about. And I'm not going to teach it this morning. But we're supposed to lift up the finished work of Jesus. We're supposed to lift Him up. Virgin born, a sinless life, a miracle worker. We're supposed to lift him up and lift him up on the cross and buried and resurrected and then he'll draw all men to himself. It takes the pressure off the job as we lift up Christ and Christ does the work. This is the missions, the source of missions found in John 3 16 for God. Number two, the stimulus for missions found in John 3 16. For God so loved Love is the stimulus behind missions, but what else could flow from the heart of God? 1st John 4a, God is love. Jesus says as the father has loved me. So have I loved you continue ye in my love think about that How much does God the father love his own son the Lord Jesus you say there's no way I can understand that preacher How much God the father loves his son the Lord Jesus because Jesus said is the father's loved me And then he says so have I loved you and you'd say well, wait a minute preacher if I can't understand How much God the father loves his own son, then how am I supposed to understand how much Jesus loves me? Well, that's because we have a picture of that love. It's called Calvary And some say to me, when you preach the cross, you're too dramatic. Well, hello, it's a very dramatic story by the design of God. Jesus says, as the father has loved me, so have I loved you. Watch how he says, continue ye in my love. In order to continue in the love that God the father has for his son, and to continue the love that the son has for us, we need to continue in that love. Why? By keeping his commandments, that's what he says. And one of his commandments is to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. We have a responsibility because of the love of God, because of the love of Jesus. to take the good news of Jesus Christ. to the regions beyond. Love was the stimulus behind the amazing plan of God to send his son to die and save the souls of vile sinners. First John 410, here in his love, not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. A famous writer once said, the person you are, the person you have been, the person you will be, God declares beloved. God loves you here today. You say, wait a minute, he doesn't know what I've done. Yes, sure he knows what you have done, but he'd much rather love you than have his wrath and his anger poured out upon you. That's why you're here this morning. You may think that you're here because someone invited you and praise the Lord for that person who invited you, but it was no accident. that I entered Walmart through Sam's Club's parking lot. It was no accident that I needed hairspray and was supposed to get it last night. That was all designed by God. Why? So I can meet Gunnar Von Hoff. That's a sovereign God who loves everyone in this world and he loves you so much that he's brought you to this place here to hear this gypsy preacher tell you how much God loves you. And he's proved that love on the cross of Calvary. Oh, the unfathomable love of God surpasses human understanding. I speak for a living, but my tongue will fail me this morning to describe the awesome love of God. For those he's created. There's a chorus and a song. I wish I could sing it, but if we did that, everybody would leave the auditorium. It goes like this. Could we with ink the ocean fill? And were the skies of parchment made? where every stalk on earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade. To write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry, nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky. Oh, love of God, how rich and pure, how measureless and strong. It shall forevermore endure the saints' and angels' song. And those are great words and a great description of the love of God. It still falls short for us to describe the love of God. Part of that song was penciled in on the wall of an inmate's room at an insane asylum. Part of that phrase. You know what it tells me? Though this individual did not have the capacity to understand life, they could still comprehend the love of God. Love should be the believer stimulus, the gift of faith promise. Love is what should challenge you. Paul says to the church at Corinth about giving, he says, I speak not by commandment, but by the occasion of the affordance of others, watch out, to prove the sincerity of your love. Faith, promise, giving proves the sincerity of your love according to 2 Corinthians 8, verse 8. Number two is the stimulus that's found in John 3, 16, it's love. Number three, the subject of missions found in John 3, 16, for God so loved, The world. That's the subject. What does it mean by the word world? Does it mean this planet? It means the inhabitants of this world. And we've learned again a little more accurate this morning of how many people are in India. Those who worship the rat. Am I correct brother Jerry? They'll watch a man starve to death and won't give him to eat because he's paying for his karma. He's paying for his sins. But they won't kill an ant because it might be their reincarnated grandfather or grandmother. Mahatma Gandhi was a wise man. Was he not, Dr. Cherian? And he studied Christianity. I'll mess up this quote. You'll correct me afterwards. But he said something like this. I love the Jesus of Christianity. It's the Christians I have a problem with. Hello? Could you imagine Dr. Cherian of Mahatma Gandhi would have been converted? How your country would have been affected? The subject of missions is the inhabitants of this planet. Almost 8 billion people. God says in Ezekiel, behold all souls are mine. And I told you this week that some of God's souls have been kidnapped. And the missionary has been called to set the hostage free through the message of Jesus Christ. Because the Bible says if the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. It means about the lost sinners who haven't heard about Jesus Christ. Two-thirds of the world's population has not heard a clear-cut presentation of the gospel. You say, Preacher, I don't believe that statistic. Well, that's okay. You make any number you want. It's a lot of people who haven't heard about Jesus. Number four, the sacrifice for missions found in John 3.16. For God so loved the world that He, what? He gave. Love has action. Help me, church. You can say you love, love, love until you're blue in the face and not doing anything, nobody will believe it. Hello? God gets the glory. I'm not tooting my own horn here. I led Gunnar to Christ. What was I supposed to do? Open the door and say, have a good day? Help me, church. What was I supposed to say? Have a good day. It's raining. Just kick him out of the car, right, Brother Staley? No. Love said, take care of him. He's mine now. Hello? Hello? I remember when my mom was in the hospital at Fairview, she was there for a long time. And we were there every day. We would take turns, my sister, myself. And I usually took the late shift. And they had free valet parking at Fairview. And I got to get on the first name basis, brother, stay with the valet park. They called me reverend. They would fight who was going to go get my car. And one night it was raining, and there was a steak and shake just down the road. And I had brought all the valet guys. They had a snack pack or something. It was a burger fry and a drink for $2.50. And I think I bought six of them. And just took them and gave them to all the valet drivers. And one night, Tony came by. And he says, Reverend, I'll get your car. So Tony runs out. He gets in my car. It's raining. He opens my door. I get in. And then he runs around to the other passenger side and gets in the car with me. I said, what's up, Tony? He starts weeping. Starts telling me the burdens of his life. There, under the overhang at the entrance of Fairview Hospital, I led Tony to Christ. You know, the gospel goes a lot further when you give it with a cheeseburger. He gave love as action. The love of God caused him to give his life for lost sinning souls that he wants to save. The holiness of God demanded a blood sacrifice to redeem the world. Hebrews 9.22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood, and without the shedding of blood is no remission. There's a famous preacher. If I was to tell you his name, you'd know him. And he says that Jesus could have died of a heart attack and redeemed the world. Well, what did he do with Hebrews 9.22? The blood of Christ, there is no remission without the shedding of blood. So God gave, he gave us his best, and he gave sacrificially, Romans 8, 32. He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Faith, promise giving, is giving sacrificially, giving God your best. Faith promise giving is giving what you have, trusting God to supply your needs because of a heart of love for the Lord Jesus Christ and the sinners for which he died. I'm going to say something from this pulpit. You don't hear a lot from this pulpit. It's not about souls. Oh, it's quiet in here, preacher. It's about the worship of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, and souls are the byproduct. Help me. I heard Dr. Charles Keane says that he worships God from a platform of service. It's doing. being sacrificial with our lives and our time. 2 Corinthians 8, 12 says, for there first be a willing mind, it is accepted according to the man hath, and not according to that he hath not. It is unlike the character of God to expect you to give something that you do not have. But it is like the character of God to expect you to give that which you do have. And then what I do for my own needs, preacher, is trust God. That's a novel idea, isn't it? We expect these missionaries to live by faith. Jump out, Brother Cincinnati, by blind faith. Jump out there in the deep where you see the wonders of God. Don't you think God's people should step out by faith too? Quiet in here. 2 Corinthians 9. Verse six says, now he that ministers seed to the sower, both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteous giving, proves our love for Christ, it proves the sincerity of our love. Not only in John 3.16 do we find love and action, that sacrifice he gave, but we see the shining star of missions in John 3.16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. That's the shining star of missions. It's all about Jesus. Revelations 22, 16. I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David and the bright and morning star. It's all about Christ. So what about His glory? What did God give sacrificially? He gave us His best. He gave us His Son. He gave us the one of a kind, the unique, but the precious blood of Christ as a Lamb without blemish and without spot. John the Baptist said, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. The shining star of missions is God's only begotten son. Then the statement of missions in John 3, 16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. Watch the statement now. That whosoever believeth in him. Aren't you glad that we're whosoevers? To whom does this speak? It speaks to the whosoevers. It's all for you. If you're here this morning, you are here whosoever. The gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ was given to you. John 4, 14. But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst. John 11, 12. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. John 12, 46. I am come, a light of the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. Acts 2, 21. and it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved Acts 10 43 to him give all the prophets witness that through his name watch church whosoever believe in him shall receive remission of sins Romans 10 13 for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved 1 John 4 Verse 15, whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. In Revelations chapter 22, 17, as God is closing out the Bible. It's one of the last verses of the entire Word of God. Here's what God says. He's closing out the Bible. The Holy Spirit says to the Apostle John to put these words, and the spirit and the bride say come, and let him that hear it say come, and let him that is a thirst come. Watch church. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. In the midst of God's wrath, in the midst of the bowls, in the midst of the vials, in the midst of the trumpets, as God is closing out the Word of God, he says, John, put it one more time. Invite them one more time don't close this book without them knowing that I'm inviting them to drink the waters of eternal life and it's for the whosoever's And includes all of us The whosoever's that's the statement of missions the salvation of missions found in John 3 16 for God so loved the world and that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him, watch now, here's the salvation, should not perish. Should not perish. Those who believe will be saved. Saved from what? Saved from their sins, saved from death in the grave, saved from Satan, saved from hell, and saved to heaven. That's the salvation. And then the last thought. shall not perish but have everlasting life." That's the security of missions found in John 3.16. It's a little word, three letters, But have, thank God for that little word. That word but means nevertheless, notwithstanding, it's an objection, it's an exception, it's a restriction. Nay, rather, yea, moreover, forms a transition to the cardinal matter. Here's the transition to the cardinal matter. You ready? Should not perish but, should not perish but, should not perish but, have everlasting life. It would be enough for us not to perish. But then give us heaven too. What a great God we serve. That's the security of missions. Save to heaven, save to Christ, save to our loved ones who have gone to heaven ahead of us. I'm going to see my Dolly again. People try to encourage me, and they say, Brother Staley, well, when you see her, Brother Stephen, she's going to be new. She's going to be different. And you know what I say? I wasn't looking for a new model. I was satisfied with the one that I had. But she'll be new. And you know what's the best part about her newness? No more cancer. There's no hospitals in heaven. There's no doctors in heaven. I don't mean the doctors can't be saved. They're just not practicing medicine in heaven. Saved to our loved ones. What a mighty, powerful verse. Here's the question. What have you done with it? If it's so powerful, if it's so amazing, what have you done with it? Or better yet, what will you do with it? It has already been announced that if you're not going to be back tonight, and I wish you would, we're leaving tomorrow. Missionaries are leaving tomorrow. This is the last night you'll get to see them, ask them some questions. They love when you ask them questions about their field, because it's their life. Jesus said, out of the abundance of the heart, man speaks. You get around a banker, he talks about money. You get around an alcoholic, he talks about his booze. You get around a missionary, you know what he talks about? The work that God has called him to. I hope you come back. But, as has been announced by church leadership this morning, if you're not coming back tonight, then please put in your faith promise this morning. If you are coming back tonight, wait till tonight. Pray. This will prove the sincerity of your love. Heads about and eyes are closed.