I have to say I was hopeful there before, I thought Pastor Luke was going to do a special number for us when he was talking about the sin that you'd never sung before because you know, it would have been pretty good. What are you laughing at? Yeah, yeah I better not speak. All right, The, one of the things I love about coming here and preaching here is the height of the pulpit. I don't have to look down far. It's good. Do you ever have short preachers? And they kind of, they kind of... Oh, well, yeah, true. There you go. Come up and stand. I want to see. Just the head? Yeah, okay. That must look pretty good. Just a head showing above. Alrighty, let's open our Bibles this evening to John chapter 1. John chapter 1. I'm just going to read one verse. John chapter 1 and verse 11. We got good sound? Yeah, we're good? Okay. John chapter 1 and verse number 11. John 1 verse 11, which reads, he came unto his own, and his own received him not. Let's pray. Father, thank you, Lord, for your grace, your mercy. Thank you, Lord, for being able to, Lord, just have a bit of a look this evening at global missions. At, Lord, at your will in respect of the Great Commission. And Father, I just do pray as we do so, Lord, that you would just let the Holy Spirit of God be with us, Lord, and help this feeble instrument, Lord, just to be saying what you would have me to say. And Lord, just Father, thank you for that. Lord, I thank you for these folk here, well, dear folk that had the blessing to know for a good number of years now. And so Father, I just do pray, Lord, be able just to hear from you this evening, and Father, I thank you for that, and ask and pray these things in Jesus' name, amen. Okay, so John chapter one, the first verse as we see in John chapter one, of course, the Lord is declared to be part of the Godhead, and therefore, being an equal part of the Godhead as we see in John chapter one, verse 10, he's the creator, he's the creator. And in verse 11, it shows he came unto his own, and his own received him not, as we've just read. So who is that referring to when it says he came unto his own? So the Lord Jesus Christ ministry, of course, was to the children of Israel, and he came as the Messiah that the children of Israel were looking for to restore the kingdom to Israel, which, as we know, with hindsight, was not going to happen at the first coming as they rejected him. And there are numerous places of prophecy that the children of Israel would look at in respect of the Messiah to come, for example, Ezekiel 37 verses 25 to 28, which we won't turn there now. And also Micah 5 verse 2, which reads, So over in John chapter 7, the people were debating whether Jesus was the very Christ, that is the Messiah, or no. some said shall Christ come out of Galilee hath not the scripture said that that Christ shall that that Christ shall cometh of the seed of David and out of the town of Bethlehem where David was and so they're referring to Micah 5 verse 2 so we can understand from these things that they understood the prophecy and they're looking for the Messiah for the Christ that is the Messiah and So, because the Lord Jesus did not fit their understanding of the Scriptures, they therefore rejected Him, apart from, of course, the Sanhedrin's envy of the Lord and jealousy. So, we know that there were obviously those that truly did believe on the Lord, for example, His disciples. We know that over in Luke chapter 10 verse 1, the Lord also sent out 72 by 2 and we can think of other people like Lazarus whom he raised from the dead and his sisters, Mary and Martha and Mary Magdalene, etc, etc. So we know that there were people that believed on him, but it was only the minority. So it's not clear how many actually believed on him during his ministry, but it was obviously, like I said, the minority. Otherwise, if it was the majority, things would have turned out a little bit differently. Now, I want to think about the Lord's focus during his ministry and what mindset that would have left his disciples in. And basically the overall subject tonight is bigger vision, bigger vision. So here was His disciples, they too were looking for the Messiah. And they knew that the Lord Jesus, even though they came to know that He's God the Son, they understood that by the end of it all. But in essence, they're looking just for the Messiah in the first instance, the Messiah that will restore the kingdom to Israel. And as we read through the gospel accounts of the Lord's ministry, we see that He taught the multitudes that came to hear Him all the time. He raised the dead. He healed the sick. He taught them many things. He did many miracles in their presence, including raising the dead, like I said. And so His ministry was almost exclusive to the children of Israel. And for those disciples he called to follow him, he said he would make them fishers of men, as they understood, to go to the children of Israel, who were the ones that the Lord almost exclusively did minister to. You know, we can think of the Samaritans that he went to, which were half-Jewish anyway. There's a couple of other instances, like the Centurion that came to him. So he ministered almost exclusively to the children of Israel. So for the three and a half odd years of the Lord's ministry, the disciples were focused on serving the Lord in His work there in Judea and in Galilee. For as their thinking went, you know, the Messiah was working towards the time where He would restore the kingdom. So therefore, Acts chapter 1 verse 6, in Acts chapter 1 verse 6, we see there the Lord Jesus has been to the cross, he's been buried, he rose again the third day and as we know there in Acts chapter 1 he's about to ascend, which the disciples, the Apostles at that time up there on the Mount of Olives, they didn't understand that and so in Acts chapter 1 verse 6 they said, Lord wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel. They're thinking local, they've got no vision outside of local, they're focused on what was happening there in Israel and what should happen for Israel. And that's all fine, that's all good. But the Lord's got much bigger vision. And so they weren't understanding that the Messiah restoring the kingdom was not going to happen at that time. And you know, when you think about their vision local, If the Lord at that time, as the Messiah, had restored the kingdom, they would have been thinking, okay, we've been trained here in Israel, in Judea, in Galilee, to serve the Lord. He'll reign from here in Jerusalem. And if you do a bit of research, you can even look online these days at different sites like, I hope I've pronounced it correctly, but it's shabad.org. It's a Jewish website. When they're looking for the Messiah to come back, restore the kingdom, but as a result thereof, he would bring in world peace. Now, you stop and put yourself back in the days of the apostles, they've been trained to minister, as their thinking goes, to their own people. And if the Lord is the Messiah, restores the kingdom, well then, the rest of the world is his business. not theirs, because the Lord will be the one to bring world peace. So there on the Mount of Olives, they're going, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? And let me say that again, with a bit of different emphasis. The Lord's been to the cross, which was something out of total left field for them. He's risen from the dead. And so with that thinking, they're going, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? That's what they're looking for. So there on the Mount of Olives at the last gasp of the Lord Jesus' time on this earth for his first coming, they were still focused on the local picture and did not understand the big picture that the Lord would open up to them, which, as said, the apostles didn't understand that. He was about to ascend to heaven and leave them after He gave them the Great Commission. Now let's think about that. Have a look in Acts chapter 1. Have a look there in Acts chapter 1 and verse number 8, which is where He gives them the Great Commission. And I want you to take notice of the emphasis that the Lord, you know, with how the Lord says this. In Acts chapter 1 verse 8, now understand, at this time there's only the Lord Jesus Christ and the apostles there. Nobody else. And he says to them there, but ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you. Now take note, and ye, who's he talking to? He's talking to the apostles. And ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Ye, you guys that are standing in front of me, you apostles, ye shall be witnesses unto me. And so that was directly commanded to the apostles standing there before the Lord. And yeah, we know the apostle Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles, but ultimately not just the apostle Paul, who would later be going to the uttermost, But as we'll think about later, as well, the apostles as well, the Jewish apostles as well. So picture it, again, just the Lord and the apostles, they're on that mountain and he goes, here's the last command. You shall be witnesses. And then he ascends. They're left with that. Now, I want to still think about their thinking. Think about them, they're going back from the Mount of Olives, they're talking about what the Lord has said and if you recall John chapter 4 when the Lord took them, they were on their way back to Galilee, they stopped there at the city of Sychar in Samaria and there's the woman by the well there that the Lord spoke to and revealed to her her own past and she understood that he was the Messiah and she ran off to the city and everyone came out to see this man that told her all things that she ever did So they're going, okay, Judea, Galilee, all right, so we're already doing that. We're already going to our own people. Samaria, yep, he did take us to Samaria, so okay, even though they despise Samaritans, they are half Jewish anyway, so, you know, yeah, we can get that. But then, you know, without the benefit of hindsight, they're thinking about it, they're trying to figure it out. So they thought about the Samaritans, even though they despised Samaritans. And then they go, okay, what about the uttermost? What do you reckon their mindset would have been? Okay, well, You know, they're talking as they're going along, and they go, well, you know, there's Jews, devout men out of every nation, you know, in every nation under heaven. And, you know, they're coming here for the Passover, and they're going to be here till the day of Pentecost and stuff. You know, they're gathered for the feasts. And it does show that in Acts chapter 2 verse 5, that there was in Jerusalem at that time on the day of Pentecost, there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men out of every nation under heaven. So what am I trying to get at here? They're thinking about it. They can equate with that. They go, okay, maybe the Lord just wants us to go out to all of the Jews around the globe. Because at that time, you know, Gentiles? No. For the Jews, no, that's not a thing. But the thing is, their worldview for missions was starting to expand. They still hadn't got the big picture, but it's starting to expand. And so the Lord had to put more steps in place for them to get the whole thing, for them to know the whole picture for the Great Commission to take place as the Lord knew it was to be. I want to think about those few steps here this evening and just see how the Lord set it up. And we can even see the pattern for ourselves in this day and age with, like for example, we've seen a couple of missionaries tonight about how it's done even today. So step number one, on the day of Pentecost, we know that there was approximately 3,000 that believed in the Lord, and they subsequently, as it says in verse about 42, continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. So they matured in their walk. This is all these new believers, they matured in their walk of faith greatly, as we can see in verses 43 to 47 of Acts chapter two. verse 47 it says, and the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. So they learned not only sound doctrine but they saw the local church there in Jerusalem established and grow and grow exponentially. They saw the ups and the downs of the local church. The ups, of course, seeing the souls added daily and they saw the unity or they experienced the unity amongst themselves. They saw God bless as they did the part that God expected of them in all ways in the local church. The downs, perhaps like instances like Ananias and Sapphira lying to God about their part, like Peter and John being hauled off by the high priest and his troops. But even with that, the Lord turned that around and they had a victory there. So what we see there is the hand of God working in the lives of the thousands of believers that were there. They not only understood how the local church worked, but were very much part of it being established. So when the persecution broke out, we know that in Acts chapter eight, the first place mentioned is Samaria, which is the natural progression. Now that's what the Lord said, both Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria. So that's the natural progression. So we also see in Acts chapter 11 verses 19 to 21, that those that fled the persecution went off to Cyprus, Phoenicia and Antioch. And in Antioch, these Jewish believers in the Lord Jesus reached out also to the Greeks, i.e., the Gentiles, like you and I. Now in the places all the Jewish Christians went, whether it be Samaria or Cyprus or Phoenicia or Antioch, wherever, what model, have a think about it, what model do you reckon they all used with the new believers in those places as they gathered to worship the Lord? Here's these Christians, they've already matured in their time in Jerusalem. They've seen the unity, they've sat under the disciples' teaching and doctrine, et cetera. They've been part of a very successful establishment of the local church there in Jerusalem. Persecution breaks out, and off they go. And as they go, they're not fearful. Obviously, they fled because they were fearful for their families, et cetera. But at the same time, it didn't stop them from sharing the gospel with those people they came across. So how many models do they have for what to do with those new believers in those places that they went? Just one, only one. That's what they've been taught in Jerusalem. And so you can understand very easily how As they went to those places, people got saved and they're going, okay, what do we do next? Well, we've got to get them together and teach them what we know. And so local churches sprung up in those places with that same model that they'd experienced in Jerusalem. So even though all these disciples that were then called Christians first in Antioch, in Acts 11, verse 26, even though they were fleeing the persecution, the Lord used them in reality to plant local churches where they went, and the Lord was using them to progress the Great Commission. being in reality, missionaries to those places that they went, whether they realized it or not. And you know what? The Lord's given you and I the blueprint here for what he wants us to do. We have the blueprint. God's given it to us. We have his God's inerrant word right in front of our eyes. And we can study these things, we can look at these things and say, you know, as God used these people to be part of planting churches in other places, God wants to use us too. Now, of course, we can't all go to these other places, but that's the idea of the missionaries. So consider this, God has a plan for every born again believer to be part in the Great Commission, not just in our Jerusalem and surrounds, not just in Samaria, but to the outermost. Now, step number two, Acts chapter 11, verses 22 to 26. Go to Acts chapter 11. Just have a bit of a look-see there. We'll get back to the apostles in a little bit. Acts chapter 11, verses 22 to 26. And here we see the work in Antioch come into being. Sorry, in verse number 20 we see that the Christians from the persecution, they preach to the Grecians there in verse number 20. Verse number 21, and the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned unto the Lord. Verse 22, tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church, which was in Jerusalem, and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch. So Barnabas, he's sent up by the church in Jerusalem to go and check it out. to put things in order, Barnabas as we know there in verse number 25 went to Tarsus to seek Saul or Paul as he became known as, verse 26 took him back to Antioch And they assembled together for the whole year with the people there in the church and taught much people. So by Acts chapter 13, we see that the church has been established and there's more people come in. If you look there in verse number one, now they were in the church that was at Antioch, certain prophets and teachers as Barnabas and Simeon, which is called Niger and Lucius of Cyrene and Mannan, which had been brought up with Herod the Tetrarch and Paul, and Saul, sorry. And so, The Lord's brought in the people. What are we seeing here? We're seeing the Lord using that same method, if you would, from Jerusalem. They're in Antioch. And of course, we know that from Antioch, then Paul was sent out. That was his sending church. And so, you know, I just want to think about a couple of things here. where we can see the same pattern that we use today. So Antioch was Paul's sending church. When we send out a missionary here in Australia and in America, we have our sending church, the church that we're out of and we recommend a missionary to the churches around the place and they go around and present anyway. And so Antioch was Paul's sending church. It's also interesting to note that at the end of each of Paul's missionary journeys, if you have a look there in Acts chapter 14, go over a couple of chapters, Acts 14 verses 26 and 27. In Acts 14 verses 26 and 27, we see there at the end of Paul's first missionary journey, it says, and thence sailed 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 and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles. And there they abode long time with the disciples. It sounds just like a missionary today coming back on the field for a furlough. He goes back to the home church, reports there. And then if you have a look there in verse chapter 15, If you look there in verse number three, Paul and Barnabas are on their way to Jerusalem. What do they do on their way to Jerusalem? It says, and being brought on their way by the church, they pass through Phoenicia and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles, and they cause great joy unto all the brethren. You know, it's great to hear the reports from these guys. It's great to hear what God is doing in their lives in serving the Lord in the places that he's put them. And when we give to missions in other places, we are actually being part of that work, as I'm sure you understand that. But it's a thing of rejoicing when you see what God is doing in their lives, when you understand that you've got a part in that, when you can be a part of that. In verse number four, and when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them. They reported there as well. That's what we do today. It's the same, what we do today is the same pattern that the Lord set down in the word of God for us to follow. It's the same pattern that they used, is what we do today. In Acts chapter 18, in verses 21 and 22, it's a bit of a briefer account here of what happened at the end of Paul's second journey, but it's the same thing. In Acts chapter 18, verse 21, 22, Paul is wanting to keep the feast that was coming up in Jerusalem. And verse 22, it says, and when he had landed at Caesarea and gone up, in other words, to the church in Jerusalem and saluted the church, he went down to Antioch. So he's reporting again at the end of that journey. The third journey, of course, was where he was aching for his own fellow countrymen, the Jews, and off he went. And so he went down to Jerusalem first before he went to Antioch, as he did in the second journey. He never made it to Antioch because we know he got grabbed and the Jews were trying to kill him and he ended up being a prisoner in Caesarea for two years before appealing to go before Caesar. But it's the same pattern. We can see here how the Lord developed the work of the Great Commission to the uttermost, to the uttermost. And we get the great blessing of being part of that work even today. But let's now return to the apostles that had walked literally with the Lord during his earthly ministry and that had that local vision. Remember what we thought about earlier The Lord said, and ye shall be witnesses under me. So did they, did the apostles end up just going, okay, well, we're going to go reach out to the Jews in other places. No, no. So the apostles themselves had developed the worldview, not just a local view for Jerusalem and Judea. Let's go to first Peter chapter one, verse one, first Peter chapter one, verse one. And here we see the apostle Peter. an apostle or a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ that a lot of us can relate to with his character. In 1 Peter 1 verse 1 we see Peter address this epistle to the strangers in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia. Now, when it says strangers there, it doesn't mean, Peter's not saying, to those people that I don't know in those places, and he's not saying that. The word strangers there means an alien. or resident foreigner. And so when you look there in verse number two, it follows on. Let's read one and two together. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ to the strangers, in other words, the aliens or resident foreigners, scattered throughout Pontius, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. The elect according to God, the foreknowledge of God the Father is us. If you're born again, then that's us. And we are aliens. We are temporary residents on this earth. That's what Peter's saying. He's saying to all you fellow temporary residents on this earth, to all you aliens out there that are the elect according to the full knowledge of God, I'm writing this to you. So he's writing the Christians. Now, In other words, Peter's got, he's having a part in those areas. Those five places, if you've got a Bible map, you can look at it later. Those five places that he names cover nearly all, if not all, of the main areas in what today is called Turkey. And those are the places, except for in the beginning, Asia, where the Holy Spirit forbade Paul to go to in the first instance, but later went. Those are all areas that Paul ministered in. Those are areas like, for example, Asia, where Paul did go later, for example, Ephesus, where there's great revival there, and the word of God went out into all Asia. Those are places that there were established churches, The gospel had gone there to the Gentiles. Remember, Peter knew that the Gentiles were included. Acts chapter 10 with Cornelius. Peter's involved in the work of God in other places with the Gentiles. He's not just local viewer, not just the Jews that are dispersed throughout all of the nations in the world. but he was being part of the big picture. He's got that bigger vision. He's realized that, hey, the Lord didn't just train us. He didn't just establish our local church there in Jerusalem just to minister to our own people in that local area, but the big picture is to be part of the big picture. Go over to, let me think, 1 Peter chapter five. 1 Peter chapter 5. 1 Peter chapter 5. Now, have a look towards the end of the chapter there, verse number 13. Peter writes there, he says, The church that is at Babylon elected together with you, saluteth you, and so doth Marcus my son. What's Peter saying there? Some people say that shows that Peter was actually ministering at Babylon, but at the very least, he was familiar with them and perhaps that's where he wrote it from. Peter's got the big picture. He's got the bigger vision. He's involved in not just ministering to his own people in his own local area, or in the areas that were Jewish there in Galilee and Judea. He's not just stuck there in Samaria, which by the way, when revival broke out there in Samaria, Peter and John went up there too to check it out and to help. But he's got the big picture. The Apostle John, the beloved Apostle, when he wrote the Revelation, who was Who was it that the Lord had him write that to? It's addressed to the seven churches in Asia. Again, primarily the work of Paul. And when he's written there, he's given all of the details of those seven churches. We know that God inspired John to write what he wrote. But at the same time, the Lord also used those peoples, those different men that wrote the books of the Bible, he used their knowledge, their experience with those people. You think about Paul's epistles to the churches. And history tells us, biblical history tells us, a church father by the name of Arrhenius, Arrhenius. He attested that Polycarp, who became the bishop in Smyrna, one of the seven churches, was ordained by John the Apostle. He was John the Apostle's disciple. John discipled him. So what are we seeing? We're seeing, it's also said that John was the Bishop of Ephesus, that's why Ephesus, it was the first place in Asia that really had that big revival and the word of God went out from there into all of Asia. It's also said that John was the Bishop of Ephesus. He's got the big picture. He's got bigger vision. Thomas is reported to have been martyred in India while ministering there. He had the bigger picture. The point is, yes, the apostles did in fact go out into all the world with the gospel, not just to the Jews. as he commanded them on the Mount of Olives, he said, ye shall be witnesses unto me. So their vision for God's work went from ministering amongst their own people in their own land to being part of God's work in all the world. In John chapter 4 verse 35, when the Lord took them to Samaria that time with the woman by the well, If you read there, he said, in John 435, he said, say not ye, there are four months, then cometh harvest. But I say unto you, lift up your eyes and look upon the fields, for they are white already to harvest. So it seems that as they walked along that morning, they must have seen a harvest field or some harvest field somewhere. and they've been commenting about how long it is until it was harvest time, because he said, say not ye. He's reminding them what they've been talking about. He's saying, but you know, you need to get a better vision, a bigger vision. And he was saying that John 435, as the people from the city of Sychar are coming out to see this man that told the woman all things that she ever did. That verse, John 4.35, is actually the first verse that the Lord called me to ministry on. And I won't go into that now, but the thing is, he said there, in there, he said, and look, lift up your eyes and look upon the field. No, he said, look on the fields, plural, plural, not just one field. We've got to have a bigger vision. We've got to have a balanced view. My mum was born in Winton, 1920. Grew up in the Great Depression out there. As I understand, my granddad was a boundary rider on properties and et cetera, et cetera. I'm a city boy, grew up in the city, born in the city, grew up in the city. But nonetheless, I love our sunburned country. And I love to see people in our country come to know Christ as their Lord and Savior. I mean, that's why the Lord put me in Bundaberg with my family. But as much as I love our sunburned country, as much as we love our sunburned country, The Lord saying, lift up your eyes and look upon the fields for they are white already to harvest. Let's pray. Father, thank you, Lord, for your grace, your mercy. Thank you, Lord, that it's not by our wisdom, it's not by our doing that we can get better vision, but Lord, I just pray, Father, that you'd help us to let the Holy Spirit of God work in our hearts, help us to have a bigger vision, perhaps in a way that we may not already have. Lord, the church here, as we do down in Bundy, Lord, we support foreign missions, but Lord, maybe you'd have us to have a bigger vision in some way, only you know what that is or how that would be. But Lord, I just do pray for each and every one of us here, me included, Lord, just to be open to your leading, to your working. And Father, I thank you for that. Lord, I commit these things to you and do ask and pray them in Jesus' name. Amen. Man.