do do We will begin our special ordination service this afternoon with the singing of the head number 627. Don't forget, or just forget about the number that's on the order of service there, and it's instead hymn number 627. Rejoice, believer in the Lord, who makes your cause his own, his own, the hope that built up on his word can there be overthrown. 627. I'd like to say that during the singing of the last verse, we'll ask the Reverend Adorno, Minister of our Barrie Church, to come to the pulpit to open in prayer. 627. We'll stand as we worship the Lord with our praise. in the Lord, who makes your hearts his own. The hope and thrill of all his work ♪ And he will lift your heart ♪ ♪ For your life is filled with Christ in God ♪ ♪ Beyond the breach of heart ♪ ♪ Yes, you are, you shall not fail ♪ ♪ For faith he shall not die ♪ ♪ For Jesus' strength and ev'ry strength with power fly ♪ O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? And surely, yet, He overcame and triumphed once for you. So surely, dear, that love His name shall triumph in you. And you may be seated. Reverend Aderno. Let's all bow in prayer and ask for the Lord's blessing this afternoon. Our gracious, loving Heavenly Father, we do rejoice for this occasion. We thank Thee that we're in Thy presence this afternoon, even to dedicate our brother, even unto the Lord's ministry. And our Father, we do thank Thee that we're coming this afternoon to a God that knows all things, even the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and our father we do rejoice especially Because thou has given us this a great task into going into the the world and preach the gospel and our father We do pray that that would equip our brother Milos We would ask of thee our father that thou would undertake for him in a special way in our father We pray that thou would commence a great work as our brother even in leaves this place and as he goes to the Czech Republic, we ask of Thee, our Father, that Thou would bless his family and that Thou would grant him, our Father, the very desires of his heart. We thank Thee that with God all things are possible. Our Father, Thou has given us the very gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank Thee that it is a hammer that does break the stony heart. And our Father, we would ask of Thee that even in that remote part of the earth, even our Father that European country, we ask our Father that even there, there would be the sound of abundance of rain, whereby thou would move in such a way where our brother would acknowledge even the living God in the midst of that country. And our Father, we also would remember others. This afternoon, we would ask of dear Father that thou would remember those that will be preaching this afternoon. We would ask of dear Father for this very service. We pray that if there's someone here without Christ, our Father, we pray that thou would make thyself known unto them. We do thank thee that all things are possible with God. And our Father, we pray that we would be able to remember this service this afternoon as a service even to be remembered. We also think of all our churches We would pray, Our Father, for Thy blessing upon all our churches, especially, Our Father, in these days where we do have to lift up that standard. We thank Thee that Thou has given us a great gospel. We thank Thee that we're preaching the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And, Our Father, we thank Thee that is also the gospel of God. There is no other gospel. And, Our Father, we do rejoice that we're not going in our own strength but even in the strength of the Lord. And so, our Father, we do pray that Thou would remember us, and especially our brother, as he administers the word in the Czech Republic. Be with us this morning. Bless each person here present, for we ask it all in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, now at this particular stage of this special service today, I'd like to extend to one and all a very warm and sincere word of welcome. It is, of course, a very special service, and the ordination service is. And we've been looking forward to this ordination of Mr. Schultz now for some time. So we welcome all who have come this afternoon, and we also give a special welcome to those who are watching on Sermon Audio, and especially our brothers' congregation in the Czech Republic. No doubt it's a very special day for them, and they're rejoicing in seeing their minister ordained, and so we rejoice that they also are able to join us for this service today. Now, we did receive a word of greeting. It was sent to your minister, Dr. Saunders, It's a greeting from the minister of my former congregation in Northern Ireland, Reverend Brian McClung, who's the minister of our church in Newton Abbey. And he sent this letter of greeting. I'll not read it all, but just a few paragraphs. And he did indicate that it was a result of a conversation that he had with Mr. Saunders, that he was determined to invite Mr. Schultz over to Ulster and to Newton Abbey to preach the word. And he says, then, I believe that I can speak for a number in Ulster who have come to know Milos, and especially those here in Newton Abbey. We look upon Milos as a brother beloved in Christ, and in the bonds of the gospel, since we have gotten to know him. As the Apostle Paul said to the believers in Philippi, I thank my God upon every remembrance of you for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now. It is our earnest prayer that the Lord will richly bless Melosh, Martina, and their family, and also bless and enrich those in the work of God that are seeking to pioneer in the Czech Republic. May the best days be yet ahead for the Lord's cause within the free Presbyterian family of churches wherever we are serving the Lord across the world. Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase. Job 8, And verse seven, yours in Christ's name and cause, the Reverend Brian McClung. I'm now going to call upon our deputy moderator of the North American Presbytery, Reverend Jeff Bannister, and minister of our church in Indianapolis, to come and bring greetings now from our North American Presbytery. Thank you, Reverend Cranston. It is my honor and privilege to stand before you today as the deputy moderator of the Free Presbyterian Church of North America. I must say that being the deputy moderator has been something of a blessing, I suppose, and the tasks committed to me haven't been all that many. And there's a good reason for that. Our current moderator is so faithful to attend and participate in services like this that it has made my role less called for, I suppose. But he'll be preaching to us in a little while, so I am happy to extend to you greetings from the Presbytery. It's worth noting that this service this afternoon is a Presbytery service. It is true that we're meeting here in Toronto Free Presbyterian Church, but this is not a Toronto Free Presbyterian Church service. The function of ordination is committed to the presbytery. That is something that the presbytery does. And in keeping with that presbytery function, our brother Milosz did come before the presbytery's examination committee this past week, and he was interviewed interrogated, he might feel, but he did very well, which came as no surprise. We've known our brother for a long time. We know he is of outstanding character, but still in days like these, you need to probe and you need to know God's will and you need to know who you are ordaining to go out under our auspices. And so we are very happy that our brother Milos is here for ordination today. And let me say on behalf of the Presbyterian, I know this has been conveyed already in the course of last week, but we are grateful for the treatment we have received at Toronto Free Presbyterian Church. I know, having hosted some weeks of prayer myself in Indianapolis, I know that the ministers get a lot of credit but it's the ladies who do the work. And I know that and I appreciate that. And to the ladies here, we so appreciate your work and your service. We know you have done this as unto the Lord and you have been a tremendous blessing to us. So we thank you for that. I did receive an email from our clerk, a Presbytery, I can't read it to you. I actually have it on my phone, which I deliberately left behind me. because of the paranoia I have of my phone going off in the middle of a service. But our brother David Mook, our clerk of Presbytery, does send along his greetings and his congratulations to our brother Milosz. He regrets that he could not be here today, but he is very definitely with us in spirit, and he does send his congratulations as well as his pledge for his prayer support to Milosz and Martina. and you know that our brother will be remembering you in prayers as will the Presbytery in the days ahead. We hope that you'll be able to join us at least semi-regularly at our Presbytery meetings, but in the meantime we will look forward to reports from you of the Lord's blessing upon your ministry and please be assured of our support and our prayers. I know that it can be a very lonely feeling being so isolated as you will be in the Czech Republic. And yet by the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, I trust that you'll know first and foremost Christ's presence, but that you'll also be able to sense that we are very much with you in spirit in the coming days. So Milos, we thank the Lord for you. And we do extend our greetings to all on behalf of the Free Presbyterian Church of North America. Thank you very much, Reverend Bannister. And now I'm going to call upon the minister of Toronto Free Presbyterian Church, Dr. Larry Saunders, to come now and read the Word of the Lord. We're going to turn to Ezekiel chapter 3. This is a portion of scripture that was chosen by our brother who's going to be ordained as it relates to his call into the ministry. While you're turning up there, this has been a very historic time for us, commented in our morning service that we've had the privilege of hosting the presbytery, the times of special prayer, but also we had an ordination service in the middle of the week as well. And the Lord has helped us in all of these details. And I think it's very special for us here in this church because for our brother, Milos, this is his home church, really sending church as he went out to serve God and his native land. and we have been prayerfully supporting him, and it's a great joy, hard to describe, really, of seeing this day come, and a great blessing for me personally, to my brother and his dear wife and their family. And so we continue to hold him up to the Lord. We commend him to each one of you in your prayers daily to remember as he serves God on that mission field in that pioneer work. Very important. Let me also leave you with one announcement, please. Well, really two. We're coming to, when this service concludes today, we invite everyone who would like to remain through for our evening service at 6.30. We're going to continue with that tonight, a time of testimony and praise. and our brother will be sharing the word tonight in the evening service, a devotional message, and we have a testimony and greetings from Jamaica at the same time. But there will be a light refreshment after this service in between. So if you can stay, we encourage you to do that. It's been a busy week and it's a busy day today, but it is a day of great blessing. Spending in the house of God, what greater joy could we have, and to be tired out in the service of the Lord is a good thing, and so we leave that with you at this time. Ezekiel chapter 3, we're reading the first 17 verses. Moreover, he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest, eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll. And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it, and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness. And he said unto me, Son of man, go get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them. For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language, but to the house of Israel. Not to many people of a strange speech and of an hard language, whose words thou canst not understand. Surely had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto thee. But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee, for they will not hearken unto me. for all the house of Israel are impudent and hard-hearted. Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads, as an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead. Fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house. Moreover, he said unto me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto thee, receive in thine heart, and hear with thine ears. And go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them, thus saith the Lord God, whether they will hear or whether they will forbear. Then the Spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of the Lord from his place. And I heard also the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels over against them, and the noise of a great rushing. And the Spirit lifted me up and took me away. And I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, but the hand of the Lord was strong upon me. Then I came to them of the captivity of Tel Aviv that dwelt by the river Kibar. And I sat where they sat and remained there astonished among them seven days. And it came to pass at the end of seven days that the word of the Lord came unto me saying, son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel. Therefore, hear the word at my mouth and give them warning from me. We know the Lord will bless his word for his name's sake. Thank you, Dr. Saunders. We're now going to sing a psalm. We're turning to the Psalter in the back of the hymnal to Psalm 62. Psalm 62, my soul with expectation doth depend on God indeed. My strength and my salvation do from him alone proceed. It's the Psalm 62, and we'll stand as we worship the Lord now with our praise. Expectation of, depend on God indeed. Thy strength and thy salvation do from Him alone proceed. He don't need thy salvation, His plan hides from prophecy. The only way is my sure defense, the truth I shall obey. Only, O God, do Thou my soul still patiently attend. Thy execration at my own, ♪ The only God's salvation is that my soul may see ♪ ♪ The only gift Christ for defense I shall honor in thee ♪ ♪ In God my glory place there is that my salvation shall be ♪ God of rock is of my strength, my refuge, my savior. Believe the grace of confidence in Him, and it will be. Before it pouring out your heart, God is of your strength. And you may be seated. We now come to the actual ordination of Mr. Schultz, and we ask him just to come to the front of the pulpit, and the prescribed questions will be put to the Minister-elect by the Reverend Bannister. We will now put to Milos Schultz the questions that have been assigned by the presbytery to be asked to everyone who comes for ordination. Milos Schultz, do you believe the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the verbally inspired word of God, the only infallible rule of faith and practice? I do. Do you confess the Lord Jehovah as one God in the trinity of his eternal persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and do you acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord? I do. Do you sincerely receive and believe the confession and constitution of this church as containing the system of doctrine and polity taught in the Word of God? I do. Are you firmly resolved through divine grace to adhere to the doctrine contained in these substandards and teach and defend it to the utmost of your power against all error? I am. The following are distinctive positions of the doctrine and practice of the Free Presbyterian Church of North America A, the Christ-centered exposition of the reformed faith with a strong commitment to evangelism. B, the centrality and all sufficiency of the person and work of Christ in the preaching of the gospel. C, the doctrine of God's free justification of sinners by grace alone through faith alone in the merits of Christ alone. D, Separation from the apostasy of the ecumenical movement, opposition to false charismatism, and steadfast adherence to the historic reformed and Protestant faith. E, the personal separation of believers from worldliness in holiness unto the Lord. F, the necessity of giving ourselves to earnest prayer for a mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit's power to make our service effective and glorifying to God and for genuine revival in our day. Do you sincerely embrace and will you faithfully maintain these distinctive positions? I do and I will. Are you now willing to assume the responsibilities of an ordained minister in this denomination, engaging to conduct yourself with exemplary piety and to be faithful and diligent in the exercise of all personal and private duties that become you as a Christian and a minister of the gospel, as well as in all the duties that pertain to your particular responsibilities? I am. Mr. Schultz will now sign the confessional substandards of the Free Presbyterian Church of North America under the following formula. I believe the confessional substandards of this church to be founded on and agreeable to the word of God, and as such, I subscribe them as a confession of my own faith. And I am asked by our clerk that when you date this, follow the pattern of the of the date and not the European method. Thank you. Mr. Moderator, Milas Schultz, has answered the prescribed questions and has subscribed by his signature to our standards and substandards and is now ready for ordination. All right, we're going to move down to the lower level and we'll ask all the ordained ministers and elders of our denomination to meet us here. All right, brother, you just kneel down there. Let's gather in. May the congregation please stand. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the great King and the only Head of the Church, we the presbytery of the Free Presbyterian Church of North America, According to the authority that Christ has vested in His Church for its edification and government, do hereby ordain you, Milos Schultz, to the ministry of the Free Presbyterian Church of North America, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen. Let's unite in prayer. Our Father, we come to Thee today with our praises for Thy great grace in the life of Thy servant Milosz. We thank Thee for this service of ordination. We thank Thee for causing him to hear the voice of God to preach the gospel in the Czech Republic. We thank Thee for the obedience that Thou has given him to follow that commission. We thank Thee for the years of preparation, both in His family, under the ministry of this church, under the training of our seminary, and we ask, O God, that Your grace will fill His heart today and each day as He goes forth to serve Thee. We pray for Him. We pray for His wife, His family. We pray for His congregation. We ask, O Lord, that thy good hand will be upon them for good. We ask that they will be a bright witness for the gospel of the Lord Jesus in their land and community. That as they get down to the hard labor of seeking to reach souls with the gospel, preaching Christ in all his fullness, in season and out of season, O Lord, we pray that Thy face will shine upon the labors of Thy servant. We pray that You will give much fruit, many souls to be added to the church, and that glory will be to Thy name. We ask that Thou will provide for Thy servant. We ask that Thou will give wisdom to him. And we pray that You'll come upon him in power to preach the Lord's word. We ask your blessing now and in the days ahead. And we therefore sent him forth in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen. May God bless you richly. Amen. Amen. All right. Before our moderator, the Reverend Gallagher, brings the charge to the newly ordained minister, we're going to sing the hymn number 585. 585, am I a soldier of the cross, a follower of the Lamb? And shall I fear to own his cause or blush to speak his name? 585 is the hymn number. Let's once again stand as we worship the Lord with our praise and let's sing with all of our hearts. And I, a soldier of the cross, a follower of the Lamb, and shall I fear to throw his cross, or must you speak his name? ♪ Must I be carried to the skies ♪ ♪ On bowery bands of ease ♪ ♪ While others walk to win the prize ♪ ♪ And sing to glories sweet ♪ ♪ Are there no foes for me to face ♪ ♪ Must I not stand afar ♪ Is this a world of dread to face? You help me up to the top. Sure, I must fight if I will make it. Increase my courage, Lord. I'll bear the toil and hurt and pain, supported by thy hand. You may be seated. It gives me great pleasure and an honor to share the pulpit today with our moderator, the Reverend Gallagher. And I'm going to ask him to come now and bring to us the word of the Lord. Thank you, Reverend Cranston and all our brethren who participated in this service to date. We're thankful for your help and assistance, and it is a joy to enter into this ordination service for the Reverend Schultz, and we rejoice in God's grace and goodness in bringing our brother to this point where he can now launch out full-time into the service of the Lord. Now, I'm not sure if afternoon services are a good idea. There is a Presbyterian tradition that everybody deserves a nap on a Sunday afternoon between services, but there is no between services today with the structure that we have morning, lunch, and then there's ordination service, and then another service to commence at 6.30. So I think we're going to have the battle right now as we get into God's Word and as I am called upon to bring the sermon, the charge, to the Reverend Schultz and to his congregation who are actually listening in via the webcast this afternoon. So I have certain things that I must say, but believe me, I'm not going to say one word more than must be said. So that might bring some encouragement and hope to those who are battling. Now, there are a few tricks to keep yourself awake during an afternoon service. If you find, you know, that John Nod is coming and you are feeling a little bit sleepy, you can always put one foot on top of the other. and you'll find that as you go off into dreamland that that one foot will fall down and waken you up. So that's one device. There's another one for the man and that is sit beside your wife and she will be sure to nudge you and to give you a good wake up call right there in your seat. So I pray that the Lord will give us all the victory as we come. I wonder if I can turn this way down there. No, that won't work. I'll just have to live with it here. All right, we're going to turn today to the book of Acts. Acts chapter 13, and this is a well-known missionary sending chapter in God's Word. We're going to look at some of these earlier verses, and so we will read together verse 1, right on down, well, at least to verse Let's go down to verse 13. Let's not cut God's word short. You can cut Ian's word short, but you can't cut God's word short. So let's begin at Acts chapter 13 and the verse 1. Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers as Barnabas and Simeon that was called Niger. and Lucius of Cyrene, and Menaen, which had been brought up with Herod the Tetrarch, and Saul. And they ministered to the Lord and fasted. The Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul, for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia, and from thence they sailed to Cyprus. And when they were at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews, and they had also John to their minister. And when they had gone through the Isle of Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Bar-Jesus. which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man who called for Barnabas and Saul and desired to hear the word of God. But Elymas, the sorcerer, for so was his name by interpretation, withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith. Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him and said, O fool of all subtlety and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord? And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness, and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand. And then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord. Now when Paul and his company lose from Paphos, they came to Perga and Pamphylia, and John, departing from them, returned to Jerusalem. Amen. May the Lord indeed bless His Word to your heart this afternoon. Shall we all stand, please, and we'll have a word of prayer. We'll ask for the Lord's help as we come to this time in His Word. Father, we thank Thee for this great occasion, this gathering of Your people, and for our brother, Thy servant, Milos Solz, his wife, Martina, We pray for them, we pray for their family back in the Czech Republic. We pray for the congregation. We ask your blessing upon them that they will be rejoiced together in the direction and the commitment of a man to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ in their midst. We ask, O Lord, that thou will teach us from thy word what it means to go forth to preach Christ in all its fullness. We pray that you'll guide our hearts into the truth. Lord, take away from us weariness and give us that grace that thrills our hearts when we think of a new chapter, a new beginning, and the onward march of the gospel in a new place in the world. So give us the Holy Spirit, Lord. Oh, breathe upon us. This is the hour we need thee. Lord, we need thee in the pew, and we need thee in the pulpit. We need thee, O God, to see the great picture of what is God's will for thy church and for thy servants. We ask for help, and we know thou hast promised us to give help in our time of need, and we're asking in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen. Amen. Most people think of missionary work as going overseas. That may be because of this key passage in Acts chapter 13, where in the early church, perhaps for the first time, The gospel was being carried across seas. And you can picture Paul, Barnabas, and John Mark in a boat going down the Orontes River from Antioch in Syria. And they were going down this river about 25 kilometers to the Mediterranean Sea. And then from that place at Seleucia, they would have boarded another probably larger vessel and headed across to the island of Cyprus, some 200 kilometers. And maybe you would like to do the calculation of how long that would take. That would depend on the wind and it might depend on the load on the ship. And it might depend on the current of the sea and a whole lot of factors. But I assure you, it was an arduous trip. And when they would have arrived there safely, they would have rejoiced. Now, if you were to go to the island of Cyprus and to arrive at that very place of Salamis, you could be put up at the five-star Salamis Bay Hotel. It would be very comfortable. it would be very beautiful. But I think we would have to estimate that these men, Paul Barnabas and John Mark, would have probably roughed it. Now, with the idea in our minds of three men in a boat going down a river, having been sent off by their congregation, we have the hope of the world. going forth to new places with the message of Christ and His cross. This is a true model of missionary work. Now, what you have in the New Testament and in the book of Acts is not merely the philosophy of missionary work, not just a lesson on missionary principles, but it is, show me. We have men actually doing it. And we learn of how they did it. And we learn of the challenges that they faced. And we learned of the grace of God that helped them and strengthened them along the way. Now this church at Antioch was a strong church. They had several ministers. They were growing, leaps and bounds, and God intervened. While they worshiped, God intervened and said, send me Paul and Barnabas. Now, how John Mark got into the picture was more of a family relation with Barnabas, and he was taken along as a servant. didn't totally work out because he didn't really do a whole lot and seems to have come back with a measure of disapproval. And so we learned that God's work is teamwork, and personalities matter, and opportunities matter. So I want you this afternoon, and I know we're fighting that battle. Put your foot up if you need to. or wives, you just get your elbow ready if you need to, and we will try to tackle some missionary principles of what is God's will in taking forth the gospel. First thing to notice here is that mission work is God's program. And it tells us in this passage that as the church worshiped, they were ministering the word. They were engaging in praise. They were offering prayer. They were entering into the fellowship of the saints. And while they did that, God spoke. God's word came loud and clear, and it was God's mind that Saul Barnabas leave that fellowship of the saints and go out into a completely new work sent by that church. And so we see here that the Lord of the harvest calls and sends. And this lifts the work of missions and evangelism onto the plane of God's sovereign will. It was God's good pleasure, and it is in keeping with the fact that God sovereignly elects and He ordains and He has His men appointed not only to personal eternal life, but to be the vessels to preach that eternal life to others. We also see here that when God decrees a soul to be saved, He decrees the means. by which they are going to hear the gospel. Now, I think you know that faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. And that's an unchangeable principle. And in 2,000 years, it has not changed an iota. Sinners need to hear. They need to hear the good news. And they need to be faced with the bad news, that God judges sin. God is a God of righteousness and holiness, and there is wrath for the unrepentant. There is hell and hellfire for the wicked who will not repent and turn to God. And Paul says, woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel, but also if this gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost. And so God ordains that men take this gospel forth. Now, in Corinth, Paul said to Paul, I have much people in this city. And here is one of the secrets of the missionary, that if God is calling the man and he's sending him to the place, there has to be a people. because that is the program of God, and He's going to raise up His fishers of men, but He will also lead them to the fishing grounds to catch those fish which God has ordained to eternal life. And in that way, the Lord Jesus makes us to be fishers of men. And I want to have a little word with the Reverend Schultz here at this point. Brother, you're not just going home. You're not just going to continue on. You have got a commission to fulfill. It is the greatest work on earth, and you need to have the confidence that the God who has called you, burdened you, and now brought you to the point of sending you, that he will have a people, that there will be those that need to hear. And as God enables you to preach this gospel, he will give you fruit. Now, this is what makes gospel work exciting. This is what lifts it up from the human level of, do I have the right program? Do I have the right gifts? Do I have the right personality? Do I have the right demeanor? Do I have a positive outlook? Do I see the glass more than half full or just half empty? Am I the right kind of person for this task? Well, God chooses the man and God sends the man. and in our limitations. Because we're not boasting of our greatness. We are resting in God's sovereign providence. And we pray that God will indeed give our brother a wonderful ministry. Now I thought about where Saul of Tarsus was born. We all have a burden for our homeland and for our own people, but we never read in the New Testament of a church at Tarsus. We never read of a congregation formed there. But here in Cyprus, this island, An island that is filled with people problems to this very day. The United Nations is still there today. There are Turks, Eastern Christians, and there's great division and great personality problem on that island. And yet, that's where God sent his missionaries. God Himself has a far better program than any mission board could come up with, but we must all be available to the Lord of the harvest and trust Him to do the work of sending. Now, there just might be some young man or even a woman, and God would call you to such a work. not necessarily in the Czech Republic. But there is a place, and there are a people, and God is speaking to you that they need to hear this gospel. Are you available? Someone said that the best ability is availability. And if you are available to God today, If you're willing to go through with him, he can use you as a chosen vessel to preach the gospel. So God has the program, and God has the men in mind. Also, I'd like you to notice that the one gospel is suited to all men, verse 4. So they being sent forth by the Holy Ghost departed on to Seleucia, and from thence they sailed to Cyprus." Cypriots and Gentiles, people of another tongue, people of another culture, people of another part of the world. In the early church, it took an awful lot to convince Jews that Gentiles were not just dogs, they were precious souls that needed to be saved. The New Testament is very clear that God has made of all one blood, all nations. Adam and Eve is the first parents of all peoples within the world. And we can say that Christianity is the most non-racist religion in all the world. It makes no difference where you were born. It makes no difference your nationality nor your culture. You need a savior because you're a sinner. And you need to know that Jesus saves. Rather, it is the evolutionist who creates racism. They tell us that we're all developing from whatever we were first into some new form at different rates, and there are superior peoples in the world. That's not what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches that we are all of one blood. And our Lord Jesus was born into the human race. He was Jewish by birth, but His gospel is for all nations. He was not born Canadian or Czech. He was born for mankind, not one kind of man. And as we know, the birth of Jesus was announced with goodwill toward men. And so this very difficult concept for some people, they make excuses for not going to people of another nationality or of another part of the world. But we know today that the gospel is as powerful in Europe, Africa, Asia, or any other part of the world as it is right here in Canada or North America. In fact, some would suggest that God is mightily working in South America at a rapid rate while our nations are growing more secular. But we need a vision for the people of the world. And we as a church and a denomination ought to be thankful to God, and indeed are, that we have a missionary in Europe. a man with a burden, and a man to preach this message. Another principle we learn from this account is the responsibility and the burden of the whole church to reach the world with the gospel. These men were to go despite local church growth. The church at Antioch was not an infant church. It was strong, it was growing leaps and bounds, and it was making an impact upon its community. In fact, it was here that Christians were first called Christians, and it was given as a nickname. And because these people were making an impact and being known in the city, that they were given that very name. God was working, and thus we see they had a powerful witness. But once God spoke to them of this program for foreign missions, they were all to move to support this missionary. And you can see that in verse 3, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. You will see the church at prayer. And they were fasting. They were serious in prayer. They meant business. And they pleaded with God for these men going out. And so this was not an independent approach. They didn't respond with, well, Paul and Barnabas, you've got a commission, off you go. No, this was a church mission. And indeed, we believe to this day in church missions. We believe that every church should be missionary-minded and that we should live up to our responsibilities in seeing men go forth by prayer and as we did today, by laying on of hands, by sending the missionaries off on their journey. And this is a very important principle. No man just goes off on his own. And so what you witnessed here today in this ordination service of a man going forth to his ministry in the Czech Republic is based on this model right here in Acts 13 of Paul and Barnabas being sent off by their own church at Antioch to go forth to preach the gospel in Cyprus. Now, there's another thing I need to get into here, and that is that the missionary church is called to overcome the barriers, barriers which may hinder men from hearing the gospel. Now, we have noted one already, and that is the barrier of distance. of Antioch in Syria, getting out to the coast of the Mediterranean, then taking ship and arriving there in a strange land, three men in a boat. But they overcame the barrier. The second barrier was to meet a strange people. Now, Barnabas was key because Barnabas was a native of Cyprus. If you look over in chapter 4 and 36, you will see that he was, in a sense, going home. And we're told in Joses, which by the apostles was surname Barnabas, which is being interpreted the son of consolation, a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus. Isn't this exciting? And doesn't the parallel line up wonderfully? that in the providence of God, God sends these two men to a country where Barnabas was well-versed. He could make all the introductions. He was key. And here we have a man going back to the Czech Republic, the land where he is key, to do a work that not another person in our presbytery could possibly do. And he's entering in with confidence to a land with a different language, different culture, and he's the man that God is sending here today. We can call him our Barnabas. He's our man. over there in the Czech Republic sent by God. Now, there was another key that they used, if you look at verse 5, that when they arrived on that island of Cyprus, they were on-boarded at Stalamus, verse 5, they preached the Word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. They sought out a favorable pulpit, an opportunity to preach the gospel. Now, these Jews in their diaspora were cast in various places of the world, so they were now already established. They had come together as a synagogue to worship, and here now was a place where there was an opportunity for Saul and Tarsus to go in and to preach. And what a wonderful opportunity it was, and they took it. We need to be praying that our brother will find such open doors. Now already, he has had opportunity in a university. And if I understand it right, that is how his ministry really got off the ground. by ministering to university students, inviting them to his home, and now that church is birthing out of that opportunity. And we need to pray for many more opportunities that God will give to our brother, a pulpit a people, and opportunities to go in and preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus. So there's the barrier of distance. There's the barrier of a strange people. God's overcome them. Now we're going to see in this passage that there's the barrier of Satan, the devil himself. And there's a man called Elymas. And his other name is Bar Jesus. And he was there to oppose the preaching of the gospel to Sergius Paulus. Now, Sergius Paulus is a Roman name. He's the Roman deputy on that island. He's the one sent there to keep law and order in the land. And in a marvelous providence, he invited Saul and Barnabas to come and preach to him." What an amazing thing. The key man of the island, and he wants to hear the gospel. And as they go to preach unto him, well, let's read verse 7 till we get this, which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man who called for Barnabas and Saul and desired to hear the Word of God. And then verse 8, but, but, Elimus, the agent of hell, sent by the devil himself, and he is there to oppose. Now, he's referred to here as the sorcerer, for so his name, by interpretation, withstood them. And you can see how he's getting right in their face, and he's saying, your fellows are not welcome here. There's no need for you. But Sergius Paulus has called for us, and he would pour cold water and seek to destroy that opportunity to turn away the deputy from the faith. And you know, the devil has played that game countless times. Perhaps it was true in your life. Perhaps when you first took an interest in the gospel, there came opposition, someone to pour cold water on your own excitement about the good news of the gospel, someone to put the brakes on and hold you back and turn you away from hearing what Christ can do for sinners. But marvelously, in this account, We find that Saul, who was filled with the Holy Ghost, was given discernment and given power to rebuke this elements. And as you read on right down to verse 12, you will see that the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed. What a victory. What a wonderful day for Paul and for Barnabas. leaving their home church, leaving their former comfortable arrangement, and to come to this foreign place, and now to see the key law figure in the island converted to the Lord Jesus. This was a day of victory and triumph for the gospel of the Lord Jesus. But it wasn't without the power of darkness opposing it. It wasn't without battles and struggles, and it certainly wasn't without much prayer. And we, in the Lord's work, need to always remember that we're called to put on the whole armor of God. And we have to encourage our brother that even though the devil fights and opposition arises, all in an effort to turn away people from hearing that the Lord will give the victory and that He will triumph through you. And we pray today that God will give to our brother many souls, whether they be the great figures of the country or the down and out, the least, the last, and the lost. They need the gospel. But it is by the power of the Holy Ghost that it's going to be accomplished. And that drives us all to our knees. And we need to be praying that God will create those great opportunities, restrain the powers of Satan, and give the victory. to the preaching of the gospel. Now, the book of Acts has been called the book of the acts of the Holy Ghost. It is really men doing what they're called to do in all their limitations, their weaknesses, and sometimes their fears, and then they just witness what God is pleased to do through them. And it is the record of God accomplishing His program through His servants. Did you ever notice that the book of Acts does not come to a proper conclusion? It's not really – there's no ending in the book of Acts. Have you ever wondered why? Because the work of missions is never over. We're all called to this ministry of preaching the gospel to the nations. And we are all called to experience the power of the Holy Spirit. He has not been withdrawn from the world. He has not been withdrawn from the church. And the program of saving the lost and building the Lord's church is still on, still on. and we therefore are entering into the labors of those who have gone before. The torch has been passed on to us in our own day and generation. My brother, Milos, you have spoken in the past about your grandfather's ministry, and what a day that must have been went out of the darkness of communism, out of all the lies of the devil, that the gospel was shining forth in your homeland through the power of the preaching of the Word of God. You've also spoken of your father's ministry in the past, even over there in the Czech Republic. But now it is evident that the torch is being passed on to you in this denomination, but the same gospel, the same Christ. And we look forward to a day when you will return to tell the story of the grace and the blessing of God in your own ministry. Now, I noted something here in Acts. If you go to the very end of chapter 14, when these men had concluded their missionary journey, and they came right back to their ascending church, right back to Antioch, look at chapter 14, verse 26, and thence seal to Antioch, from whence they had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled. And when they were come and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them. Boy, that must have been a long meeting. They rehearsed all that God had done with them. And what a story they had to tell. how He had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles. That is the model. And one day, brother and sister, you will come back to Canada or to our churches in North America, and you will tell the story of what God has done. But please keep it short. Don't follow this model of telling every single little detail. But we will rejoice with you and we will praise God at the open door and the turning of men from darkness to light. From the kingdom of the devil into the kingdom of God's dear son. And we assure you of our prayers and our ongoing interest and support and pray that God's hand will be upon you in grace and in blessing in the days before you. May God be your helper in days to come. Reverend Cranston. I thank our moderator for the word preached to us this afternoon. And at this stage of our service, we're going to call upon our newly ordained minister, the Reverend Schultz, and he'll pass on some remarks to us just now. As our brother, the moderator, said, I will keep it as short as possible. I thank the Lord for the charge for our brother in faithfully delivering that charge. And I recognize the solemnity of the occasion. There's a fear that I have of the responsibility before God It is a fear of God, and it is something that each believer, throughout their life, needs to know. You might think that it is easy for ministers to come up, and maybe if they're quite experienced, for many years in the pulpit, it's easy for them to bring the Lord's Word or various things in a service like this, greetings and so on. But that is a great danger if we think it's easy. And the Lord taught me early on in my work for God, when I thought it was maybe relatively easy, that it wasn't easy. And I'm very aware of that each time I come up to the pulpit, and I pray that the Lord would give me just the word and that he would help me. Even now, in these short few things that I wanted to lay before you, very briefly, again, first of all, I was thinking of this much. All the glory belongs to God for what he has done for me in the name of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who saved me and called me with a holy calling, as we read in the epistle of Timothy, Paul speaking to his younger brother, reminding him of his holy calling, and a calling not according to my works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given me in Christ Jesus before the world began. That is what the text of Scripture says, and we must be astonished at that truth. Before the world began, me, me, the Lord, called me with a holy purpose in Christ Jesus. The Lord knew me, knew my members, and knew everything about me long before I was formed in my mother's womb. I thank the Lord for what he has done for me, and I thank the Lord for giving me, secondly, a grandfather who was a mighty man of God, mighty in word and in deed, mighty in power, a great example to me, challenge in my life, he left a great shadow upon my life, and a father who followed in his footsteps. And then the Lord brought me in his providence in 1997, and that will be 22 years ago in September, to this ministry through the school. I was a teacher, I was hired by the school, and in that very first interview, I met some of the people here. Dr. Saunders, his wife Jill, Dr. Ruth Slade, and our brother Robinson sat in on that first interview. In that very first interview, I was very conscious of the fact that these people were kindred souls in the Lord's work. That these were people whose faith I recognized. It was a faith I was brought up in. And that was the beginning of a wonderful relationship whose depth only the Lord can measure. And all these years later, I am here, this very day, ordained into the ministry. I thank the Lord for Dr. McClellan, for his ministry in those early years, many years of his ministry, and the blessing of that to me, the instruction in the word of God and the things of God. The Lord used him mightily in my life, in my home, in my marriage. I were greatly indebted to that man of God. And then, of course, my dear brother and colleague, Dr. Saunders. We've known each other very closely for 22 years. He and his wife are dear friends in the Lord's work and in the ministry. He's your pastor here. and I pray that you would love him and support him. They've been great encouragers in the faith for us and encouragers in the Lord's work, great supporters, and we thank the Lord for their relationship, their friendship. May the Lord bless it and may it all be to his glory and honor. The word of God says to not lay hands suddenly on any man. And I was thinking of my own life, and in my case, you might almost wonder if the laying on of hands is not too late, but it is not too late. We thank God it is not too late. It is in His perfect time, and the timing is very strange in many ways. The Lord has brought me to this point in my life. I will be 47 this year, in a few months. in a mysterious way, and I marvel at his providence and his sovereignty. People have come and gone from this church, some dear friends. The church looks nothing like it looked those many years ago. But the word of God says to us, no man having put his hand on the plow, to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God. That's an exhortation to each one. And I pray that the Lord would help us to continue to go forward in what he has called us to in his work, that he would give us many souls for a higher. And we look to him for all things. One of my life's verses has been Psalm 62.5. My soul wait thou only upon God for my expectation is from him. My expectation is not for man or not from a church, not from a denomination, not from anything in this world, but it's from God. And I testify here that the Lord has done exceeding abundantly for me, for my wife, for our home. The Lord has blessed us immensely and richly. The Lord has been true to his word. And so I exhort you now, I ask you now to pray for us as we have crossed even this milestone in the ministry there. And as I said, the Lord brought many things together. This morning I preached in Port Hope, and that was the church where the call of God came to me in the year 2006, in October 2006. The very minister that brought the Word At that time is at the end of his ministry. He was a guest speaker. I'm being ordained today, a day that's very significant for him as well. And we read through the Bible. We use McShane's calendar. Robert Murray McShane's Bible reading calendar and the reading for today and tomorrow is the portion he preached on 13 years ago. Yesterday in my reading, there was the ordination of Joshua to lead Israel after Moses. That was a special blessing to me, knowing that this day, this ordination was coming up for me the day after. So the Lord, even in these things, they're special tokens for me. God is so good. He's so good. He's been so good to us. Blessed be His name. And may the Lord go before us and help us. to be faithful stewards, faithful servants in his work. For Jesus' sake, amen. We do indeed rejoice that a man of God was ordained here today and had the hands of the presbytery laid upon him. And he can be assured of the prayers of God's people, not only here, but throughout our denomination. And further, I feel that God will do great things for our brother in his ministry there in the Czech Republic. We're going to close our service now with the singing of the hymn number 576. It is a good hymn to finish off with. I say it's a good hymn, well, it's a Northern Ireland hymn, written, as you can see, by a man called Noel Grant, one half of an evangelistic team called Bolan and Grant. And this is indeed a tremendous hymn. Above thine own ambitions here, another voice is sounding clear. It is the call of God to thee. O leave thine awe and follow me. We'll sing all four verses, and during the singing of the last verse, we'll ask Dr. McClellan, Minister Emeritus of the congregation here, to come to the pulpit to close in prayer and pronounce the benediction. 576. We'll stand to sing, and let's sing with all of our hearts. Above thine own creation's hill, a louder voice is sounding clear. It is a call of love to thee, only thine own and follow we. ♪ Highlight of all the altar day ♪ ♪ The Holy Ghost in the grass ♪ ♪ And winter in the fairy dust ♪ ♪ When all of God disappear ♪ ♪ The treasures fall and all is clear ♪ ♪ Welcome home, homeward bound ♪ ♪ Oh, to thee, Lord, I must cling ♪ ♪ I lie upon the altar laid ♪ ♪ The Holy Ghost to thee amends ♪ ♪ Thy victory was very near ♪ ♪ His face to love so soon is gone ♪ ♪ He waits to see by satan's empty hand in me ♪ ♪ O truth with all thy doubts convey ♪ ♪ Thy life alone the altar lay ♪ Enjoying God's pleasure. Take our road with love to him, all through with love. All through with love, guide us today, guide, guide, oh God, we all through. Let's remain standing for prayer. Let's all bow together in prayer. Our Father in heaven, we come before thee tonight, the for the Creator and Sustainer of all things. And, Lord, Thou hast made this earth, and Thou hast made the people on it. And, Lord, as we read in Thy Word, and as we see in society round about us, and we see in our own hearts the sin of mankind, we marvel at the fact that Thou didst make this world, and that Thou didst redeem Thy people. And we thank Thee, our Father, that the Lord Jesus Christ is the great King and the only Head of the Church, and He is building His Church. And, Lord, we thank Thee, and we are amazed that Thou hast not called angels to minister the Word, but Thou hast called men. And we thank Thee, our Father, for the fact that Thou has called another man tonight to the ministry of Thy Word. And so we commend Miloš and Martina and their family to Thee. And we pray that Thou would bless them mightily and grant, O God, in that land where they live, where it is so difficult because of its political heritage, Our Father, we pray that Thou would bless him, that Thou would fill him with the Holy Spirit, and grant our God that they may see great things done. And we thank the Lord, too, for the two young men who came and were taken under the care of our presbytery for studies in the ministry. Lord, this is an encouragement, and we pray we'll see many, many more in the days to come. O God, we need to see Thee moving. We believe, Lord, it is time for Thee to work, because so many have made void Thy law. So be with us now, we pray, and bless us. And as we fellowship together, we pray that Thou would accept our thanks for the good things provided. And Lord, give us a sweet time together as those who know and love the Lord. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. Now, just before you go downstairs, and by the way, there are refreshments provided for everybody, and we invite you all to stay. All the ordained ministers and elders, if you would, before you go down, come and meet at the front because we want to get a photograph. So men, don't have us to go and look for you. Come immediately and get the photograph, and then we can go down and enjoy our fellowship. so so so so so so you you you th th th th You're going to have to all rise. Thank you. th th th th th th th th th th th th th Okay.