You can be seated if you'll take your Bibles and turn with me to Acts chapter 13. It's where I will be today. Missionary Henry Martin once said, he said, the spirit of Christ is the spirit of missions. And the nearer we get to him, the more intensely missionary we must become. And I want you to listen to that statement one more time. I had to read it several times. And then the closing statement that he made just kind of solidified it completely for me. He said, the spirit of Christ is the spirit of missions. And the nearer that we get to Him, the more intensely missionary we become. You know up to this point as we come to Acts chapter 13 up to this point Jerusalem had been the center of ministry and Peter had been the key or the leading apostle. I mean it was on the shoulders of Peter up to this point in time working out of Jerusalem in the area of Judea. Peter had traveled around that particular area, but as far as being outside of that area, not much was taking place, not much was occurring until, of course, Paul comes on the scene and then things drastically change. Here in Acts chapter 13, we'll find this morning, the church confirms the calling of Paul and of Barnabas. And from this point on, what is going to occur, Antioch and Syria would become the new center and Paul would be leading the way from this point on. And if you're familiar with the nation of Israel at all, Jerusalem is down towards the southern part, Antioch and Syria is up toward the northern area. Matter of fact, it's in an area today that is known as Syria. And so that's where Antioch in Syria is, that's where Paul would be leaving out of, as Paul would be heading from there, of course, over to Cyprus and then on from there. If you've got your Bibles open to Acts chapter 13, I want you to notice verse 2, 3, and 4 with me, and I want you to notice what it says here. And as they were ministering to the Lord, And they were fasting. The Holy Spirit said, separate me or set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work that I have called them to. And of course, when they had fasted or when they'd finished fasting and praying, they laid their hands on them and they sent them away. But I want you to pay attention to verse four. And so being sent out by the Holy Ghost or the Holy Spirit, they departed to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus as they began their journey. And I just, I want to share some things from my heart with you today and some things that I think we need to go back to and look at the beginning days of the early church to see what happened. And let me share something with you. One of the things that I think we lose sight of sometimes, we think that all of this was just kind of happening and everything was just taking place and everything was fine during this time as the gospel was beginning to begin to move. But I want you to consider something with it. Things are in a state of change here. Not only as far as the world as they knew it were concerned under Roman Empire. But also as even governmental things were beginning to change, there were things definitely taking place and changing when it came to Judaism and the way of Christianity and of faith. Great persecution was coming all around. They were seeing it across the board. The Jews who were part of Judaism were beginning an uprising because of what was taking place with the way. So as you look at all of this and you look and see where Paul and Barnabas are at this point is they get ready to begin to start their first missionary journey. I think one of the things that we need to go back and we need to highlight and we need to understand is in verse number four. And it's the first part of verse number four. And so being sent forth by the Holy Spirit. sent forth by the Holy Spirit. And let me share something with you. Paul and Barnabas just, they just didn't sit down with a map and just put all these little points on there. Everything that Paul and Barnabas did was intentional and it was under the leading of the Holy Spirit of God. And I often wonder today, in light of where we find ourselves, is if we think that we've got this thing all together and we've basically come up with our own plan. And one of the things that as a church today, we got to make sure that we have is the greatest marketing strategy that's out there because we need to market what we offer here. My dear friend, my heart says differently today. We need to stop marketing and get back to allowing the Holy Spirit to lead us and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit and then find out what the Holy Spirit has for us versus trying to market what we're doing here. And you say, well, Brother Robert, hasn't that always been the case? Well, I want you to think about something with me as we look at Paul and Barnabas. It was the ministry of the Holy Spirit that Paul and Barnabas concentrated on. It was the ministry of the Holy Spirit that Paul and Barnabas were concerned about. Not what was going on around them, not whether or not what they were doing was going to be accepted by everybody around them. Their concentration was whether or not the Holy Spirit of God was pleased with what they were doing and whether or not the Holy Spirit was going before them and they were following the Holy Spirit. When you look at the book of Acts and we find as Paul begins his missionary journeys, one of the things that you find here, it was the ministry of the Holy Spirit and the leading of Paul and Barnabas working through the local church that was in Antioch. When you look at verse number one, and you see there, now they were in the church that was at Antioch. That's where they are. And so as they're in this church that's in Antioch, And they begin fasting and they begin praying and they begin waiting on the Holy Spirit of God. I wonder how often we get impatient and think, well, you know, we've got a deadline out here. This has to be done by this date and we've got to make sure it's out there because if it's not, we're going to miss the opportunity. Have we ever thought for a minute that maybe the Holy Spirit just knows a little bit better than we do? In light of where we are and what's taking place. Working through the local church. to equip and enlist believers to go forth and to serve. That's what the days of the early church were doing. They were finding ones that were being enlisted and then they were setting them apart and they were commissioned and sending them out to share the gospel and to spread the gospel. And Paul and Barnabas was going to lead the way throughout all of this process. Something that kind of really has been a deep burden on my heart is the numbers for the 2019 Southern Baptist Convention were just recently released and I got a listing of those in this release and I just want to share just I just want to share some of them with you. The Southern Baptist Convention has seen the highest loss of membership in 100 years. The highest loss of membership in 100 years. Even prior to the pandemic, now this is 2019 numbers, okay? On-campus worship attendance is down in all areas. Ready for this one? Baptisms are down. Matter of fact, below the 1938 total. Church starts are down for the fifth consecutive year to almost half of that of 2011. And here's one that really concerns me. Less than five baptisms per church. average now, less than five baptisms per church. So what do these numbers tell us as we look at them? And I know some have kind of brushed them off and said, well, they're just numbers. Well, they are, they're numbers. The accuracy of these numbers is plus or minus a certain percentage, but however, the numbers are still there. And I've come to the point that I'm concerned when I hear this type of conversation. Going and sharing the gospel just doesn't work anymore. God help us. Let me tell you what. I can tell you why the baptisms are down. I can tell you why church membership is down. I can tell you why we're seeing the type of numbers, but I'm gonna tell you something, because the church isn't going anymore like we used to. To find ones that understand the significance of the task that we've been given. And folks, let me share this with you this morning, okay? I hate to tell you this, but if you're a believer, if you're a born-again child of God, okay? You've been entrusted with the gospel. You've been entrusted with the gospel. And on top of that, we have a mandate. Not from man, not from the church, not from the pastors, not from the Southern Baptist Convention. We have a mandate directly from Jesus Christ himself. To do what? To share the gospel. To live out the gospel. to go. We're seeing fewer and fewer and fewer that are surrendering the call to go into full-time vocational missionary work or to go into full-time vocational ministry in any capacity. We're seeing those numbers steadily decline. Could we be headed in the wrong direction? Could we be headed in the wrong direction? You see, missionaries called by God, supported by a strong home congregation, can take the gospel anywhere and see people come to know Christ. Because I think one of the things that we have lost sight of is what Paul said in Romans chapter 1 in verse 16. I am not ashamed of the gospel. And the reason being is because it's the power of God unto salvation. To everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile. When Paul starts his missionary journey, he's still gonna go to the synagogue. He's still going to attempt to share the gospel with the Jews of Judaism. But he's gonna be rejected by them once again. And now the gospel is going to make a drastic change and it is now going to move from the Jews and Judaism in the synagogues to the Gentiles. We see that here in chapter 13. The world is beginning to change as far as faith is concerned. And my dear friend, let me share something with you from my heart this morning. We need to see a change in America today in our churches. We need to get back to the point. Let me tell you something. I'm afraid that we had come along and we'd been too comfortable for too long in the things that we were doing and we'd gotten very comfortable in what was taking place in our churches and we've been shaken up just a little bit. I don't know about you, but I have been. And one of the things I guess that I have noticed about all of this, okay, for the gospel to go out, God doesn't need this building. I'm just going to say that. God doesn't need this building. You know what God desires? God desires to work through you, not this building. This building is just a place where we can come congregationally and corporately and fellowship together. And my dear friend, let me share one of the things with you. This ought to be the place that believers come to for that of encouraging and challenging and exhorting and fellowshipping. and calling ones and placing our hands on and following the leading of the Holy Spirit and get back to the point to understand and realize it's not about marketing, it's about getting back to the Holy Spirit of God to do what the Holy Spirit of God intends for us to do. Let me tell you something. See what you don't understand, okay, for the last week, okay, this is, The load on my heart has been substantial. I've read the scripture. I've walked around. I've said, God, I just, okay, God, please just, and let me tell you what he did. Because I wasn't planning to go to Acts 13 today, but this is where he brought me because of verse number four. Because of verse four of Acts 13. and they being sent by the Holy Ghost, they being sent forth by the Holy Spirit of God. For is He in our lives and what we do today? But let me say this to you as well. Whenever the gospel, whenever the gospel is proclaimed, whenever the gospel is shared, One of the things that we need to do and we need to understand and we need to expect that there's going to be a mixed reaction to it. But just because there's a mixed reaction, does that mean that we don't take it, that we don't go? No. Matter of fact, let me tell you what it ought to do. It ought to encourage us to take it even further. To be and to do what God's called us to do. Look over at verse 48. Acts 13. They make their journey, and Paul stood up, and matter of fact, when they were in Antioch of Pisidia, they were in the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and they sat down in there and they were asked, does anyone here have something they would like to say? And of course, you should have known Paul was going to raise his hand. I do. And Paul stood up in that synagogue, and let me tell you what, he started from the beginning and he went all the way through to where things were at that moment in time. To both Jews and Gentiles that were listening to what was going on as Paul was speaking. So all the way from verse, really from verse, I guess probably 14, all the way over to verse 47. we see is things were shared by Paul. I'll tell you what, drop back up to verse 46. Or verse 44, let's go to verse 44, so you get the whole context, all right? So on the next Sabbath day, matter of fact, almost the whole city gathers to listen to Paul and to Barnabas. And let me tell you what they were doing when they came together. When you look at verse 45, you'll notice that the Jews were full. They were filled with envy or jealousy. As a matter of fact, one of the things that they started doing, they started blasphemy. Basically, what they were doing was contradicting the things that Paul was saying. Then you come down to verse 46. In verse 46, I think we find a key. And so what did Paul and Barnabas do? Did they back down? Did they kind of ease out, watching everybody? I want you to notice what it says. Paul and Barnabas, they did what? They waxed boldly or they spoke boldly. They spoke boldly and said, and I want you to notice what they said. It was necessary that the word of God should come to you first. It was necessary. Jesus Christ came to the lost house of Israel. And so Paul, still walking in that direction, brought the gospel to the synagogue and shared it with the Jews, but they still rejected it. So you come down to verse 47. And so, notice what it says, so the Lord commanded us, say, notice what it says, I have set you, I have placed you to be a light for the who? For the Gentiles. Oh, by the way, you ready for this? That's who we are, Gentiles. The direct focus now for the gospel to go to the Gentiles. Under the leadership of Paul and Barnabas to carry the gospel. All the missionary journeys now is churches are planted all across Asia Minor. under the direction of Paul and Barnabas, carrying the gospel, following the leadership of the Holy Spirit of God. And I'm going to tell you something. I just went through and looked at some of the journeys. There were a couple of occasions where Paul wanted to go to one direction, and the Holy Spirit would not allow them to go. So guess what? They didn't go. They decided to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit of God. And on every case when they followed the leading of the Holy Spirit of God, something tremendous happened. I wonder how often, and I wonder how much we've missed out on. Because we think we've just, we just got this thing figured out. Verse 48. And so when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad. They began to rejoice. And notice what else it says, they glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as were ordained or as many as were appointed to eternal life, guess what they did, they believed. My dear friend, let me share one other thing with you. It's time we get back to the Word of God. To the Word of God. From Sunday school all the way up through the worship services and all the teaching. My dear friend, listen to me. It doesn't matter what our opinions are. What matters is what the Word of God has to say, not us. What does the scripture say? Verse 49, and so the word of the Lord was published throughout all of the land or was spreading throughout all of the region, all of the land. Look at verse 50 though. But the Jews, they stirred up or they incited. They incited who? Notice who they incited. the devout and honorable or prominent women and the chief men of the city. And guess what else they did? They raised a persecution or they incited persecution against Paul and Barnabas. And basically, let me tell you what they did. They threw them out of the coast. They threw them out. Praise the Lord. How many times have we been thrown out for the gospel? Huh? Now, I'm not insinuating that we go out here, okay, and start looking to get thrown out because of the gospel. But my dear friend, when we realize and understand that when we take the gospel under the direction of the Holy Spirit of God and trust the Holy Spirit of God to take, listen, it's not our responsibility to determine whether or not they're going to listen to us or accept what we have to say. What our responsibility is to take the gospel and to share the gospel. Notice verse 51. Notice what Paul and Barnabas did. I like this part. So guess what they did. They shook the dust off of their feet. And they went on to Iconium. And then verse 52. And verse 52 was just another one of those things that just, it just, it pointed deeper to me to where we need to get back to. Verse 52, and the disciples were filled with joy. And that's an interesting phrase because if you actually look at the Greek phrase there, it means continually being filled with joy. Now, let me ask you a question. Do you find joy being thrown out for sharing the gospel? Let me tell you something. Probably not happy. but the joy that's there because we shared the gospel. You ever had a door slammed in your face? I have. Ever been chased by a dog? I have. Have I ever been called everything in the book before for sharing the gospel? I have. And that's not, listen, one of the things I want you, that is not, okay, that's not our desire because we share the gospel in love and humility, just trying to share the love of Jesus Christ. But folks, listen to me, some are going to believe, some are gonna reject the truth, and they're gonna turn away, and you can expect some kind of opposition from the enemy. He is not just gonna sit back and let it happen. Do we go underneath our own volition or do we go under the leading and the power of the Holy Spirit of God? Because Paul and Barnabas, guess what they did? They didn't cower down, they got bolder with the message of Jesus Christ. One of the things that needs to happen, the church today needs to get bolder with the message of Jesus Christ, not to cower down from it. Disciples of Christ, do what they do for His glory, not ours, for His glory. Not for our benefit. It's not for the benefit of us. It's for the glory and the honor of Jesus Christ himself. It's for the glory and honor of God the Father, undergoing and going with the undergirding of the Holy Spirit of God as we function and do what we've been called to do. And folks, listen to me. We must see Christ at the center of everything we do. Let me ask you a question. Do we? Do we? Listen, this message is just as much for me as it is for our whole entire church. For the church body as a whole, for the bride of Christ. It's only when our motives center on how best to please him. It's what I'm doing pleasing to him. It's what I'm involved in pleasing to him. And then it's only when we allow the Holy Spirit of God to fill us or to control us as He did Paul and Barnabas. The Spirit of Christ is the Spirit of missions. The nearer we get to Him, the more intensely missionary we become. My dear friend, it's only as we move closer to Him that we understand His heart. You know, one of the things that we're good at is talking about how thankful we are that God is long-suffering, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Well, my dear friend, somebody's got to carry the gospel to them. Somebody's got to be involved with what God's called us to do. and understand it's not a task for us naturally and physically, but it is for us supernaturally and under the power of the Holy Spirit of God. Oh that God, oh that God would give us a greater vision today. My concern is we've lost the vision. God help us to have a greater vision. to see him in all that we do and to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit of God. Amen. Here's what I want us to do this morning. Not even going to have any plate, not even going to have any music to dismiss it. Here's what I want you to do. I want you to just take a few moments and just pray. Just quiet here in the auditorium. No music, no nothing. Just us alone with God. And here's what I want us to pray. I want you to pray what is on your heart when it comes to where we are and what God's called us. Let me ask you a question. Do you belong to him? If you do, he's got a task for you. He's got a task for you. Are you busy about what he has for you? Or maybe you're not sure what that task is. Why don't you seek him and ask him what it is? As we pray together, here's what I want you to do. I want you to, right where you are, just pray. When you get finished, stand to your feet, and when you do, then we'll be dismissed this morning, right?