The Book of Mark, Chapter 16, please. Sort of like the song that Nathan just sang, I feel that way just almost every day. I'm amazed that I actually had the privilege of teaching at Ambassador Baptist College, for the glory of God. I'm equally amazed that I have the chance to preach in chapel today. So here we are. And we're going to try to do the best we can here, ourselves personally. But I'm asking the Lord to help me as well to get the message across that God has given to me. I think you're aware of the fact that this is the last chapter of the book of Mark, Mark 16. And you probably are aware that since I teach missions, that I'm probably going to say something about the Great Commission. And you're right, OK? But I think you'll see exactly where I'm going with this as we get on into it. But let's start reading here with verse 15. And he said unto them, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. And so that I might emphasize what that is saying, I want you to drop down to verse 19 now. And in verse 19 it says, So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth and preached, will you notice the next two words, everywhere. The Lord working with them and confirming the word with signs following, amen. Verse 15, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature Verse 20, and they went forth and preached everywhere. I'd like to bring a message today on the challenge of everywhere. Now, verse 20 is saying, they went forth and preached everywhere. Now, I'm gonna ask a very simple question. Do you believe that the Bible is verbally inspired? And I dare say that you do. Okay, so is this particular phrase, they went forth and preached everywhere, is that literal or is that figurative? Well, it's literal. God wasn't stumbling, Mark wasn't stumbling when he said that they went forth and preached everywhere. He really meant that. You see, the book of Mark was produced by John Mark. man that God used to give us this gospel. At the time that he wrote it, he was working alongside of the apostle Peter. And a lot of people had said to Peter, Peter, why don't you write down your remembrances of the Lord Jesus' life? And Peter said, well, okay, but I'm going to let Mark write that. And so Mark wrote that, Maybe not at the direct dictation, but at least a consultation with Peter. And the Gospel of Mark does read sort of like the personality of Peter, you know, and straightway they did this, and straightway they did that, they went here, they did this thing. That sort of sounds like Peter. Peter was a straightway type of a person. But I know that by that time, that already there had been much work that had been done by the apostles by the time that this was written. And so it was said that they went forth and preached everywhere. Mark would have known, Peter would have known how far the gospel had gone by the time that they were writing this particular verse. They went forth and preached everywhere. The first thing I'd like you to see is the truth of this statement. In the book of Romans chapter one when Paul was writing to the Romans he was saying you know hey I'm coming to see you here pretty soon. I am. I am. I've not had the opportunity to be with you but I'm looking forward to being with you. I'm so thankful for the work that you have done. and the fact that you believe on the gospel so he says in chapter 1 verse 8 first I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all and then notice this next statement that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world okay now again do we believe that this is what God meant to say here do we believe in the plenary inspiration of the Word of God, even down to the verbal, the very words of Scripture. If we believe that, then the faith that the Romans had existed, that had experienced, that faith that they'd accepted the Lord was something that was being spoken about throughout the whole world. Would you turn over to Colossians chapter 1? In Colossians chapter 1, Similarly, Paul is talking to the church at Colossae, and he's saying, okay, let's just begin with verse 3. 1 verse 3, We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which he hath to all the saints, for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, which is come unto you, so the gospel has come unto you, there in Colossae, which has come unto you, as it is in all the world, and bringeth forth fruit. He was saying that you people in Colossae, you accepted the gospel that was done primarily by the work of Epaphras. His other name is Epaphroditus. And you know that he was the one that had started that church and everything. But he's saying the word came to you as it has the rest of the world. It is there and bearing fruit among you. Look at 1 Thessalonians chapter one. In 1 Thessalonians chapter one, And I'll be there in a second. I'm going past it. You know how you do that when you're looking up a passage and you go like, boom, boom, both sides of it. You never can quite get right on it. I'm there now. 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. And you're reading down here about them as well. Verse 2. We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and patience of hope. in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of God and our father knowing brother beloved your election of God for our gospel came not unto you in word only but also in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance as you know what manner of men we were among you for your sake. And ye became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word with much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost. Now, verse 7. So that ye became in samples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia. So the testimony that was given there in Thessalonica, I mean, they had, the Thessalonians, they had really got the gospel. And they had begun to spread it. And so to the degree that they had spread it, a reputation had gone out from them that they had received the word. And that became an example to everybody else in two provinces, the province of Macedonia and in the province of Achaia. That would be like where we would talk Greece now, where Greece is. And it says in verse 8, for from you sounded out the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, But also in every place, in every place your faith to God is spread abroad so that we may not to speak anything. So Paul was saying like if I go to this place they say hey we heard about the Thessalonians. how that they accepted the Lord. Well, yeah, they did. And it doesn't matter where he went, the news was being spread among the churches that, you know, up there in Macedonia, they've now received the word. You see, that was the degree to which the word of God was going out in the first century. That was how fast the word of God was going out. that was the thoroughness with which the Word of God was going out so that Mark could say in just a few years after the first epistle of the Thessalonians had been written that it had gone everywhere I just have to tell you that's what the Bible says that they were they were going out to every nation and they were coming back to every nation. I mean, it was just they were going, they were going, they were preaching the word, they were going everywhere. Now, you say, are you sure about that? I mean, aren't you just talking here about like the Roman world or the Mediterranean? You're surely not talking about further than that. Well, yeah, I am. I am talking about further than that because the Bible says, everywhere and everywhere isn't just the Mediterranean world back to the book of Acts chapter 1 and we'll start from there and just take you through a little bit here but in Acts chapter 1 you have in verse 8 Jesus saying but ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you and ye shall be witnesses ye he was talking to the people right there right then He was talking to the apostles, but he's talking to the 120 that were gathered with them there, awaiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit. It said, ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you, 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. If that isn't a promise that those people Those people that he was talking to would go to the outermost parts of the earth. What is it? I mean, we kind of talk about it as being as though like, OK, well, they start out in Jerusalem. And then they kind of went on up to Samaria and Judea and Samaria. And yeah, some of them started sort of to head out to the outermost parts of the earth. But we're talking about the people that were there that day, that they were going to go to the outermost parts of the earth. See, that's something we don't often think of when we look at that passage. You say, well, how could that have been? Well, you come over to chapter two. When the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place, and suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as a fire, and it sat upon each of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. I make a big deal out of verse 5 in Intro to Missions class because I believe this was just as miraculous as the Holy Spirit coming, that there was gathered that day on the day of Pentecost, there was gathered in Jerusalem, probably many of them came for Passover and stayed through, but there was gathered that day As it says in verse 5, there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, look at the next phrase, out of every nation under heaven. Okay, I'll explain that in just a moment. But it's saying out of every, every, every nation under heaven. I think very uniquely that year, there were Jews that had come, probably could only come once in their lifetime, they felt the unction, to come to be at Jerusalem, not really knowing why, but the Holy Spirit directing them there, that they had gathered out that year in particular to take that once-in-a-lifetime type of a pilgrimage from far, far away to come into Jerusalem and to be there. And they so happened to be there when Jesus died on the cross, when he was resurrected, and then when the Holy Spirit came. Now, you say, well, out of every nation, you mean there were Jews living in other nations? Yes, that is exactly what I'm trying to say. And there's all kinds of evidence about that. The Jews were a mercantile people, and they went far and wide with their trading. They were that kind of a people. They had already been dispersed throughout the Persian Empire and the empire of Alexander the Great. So there was quite a contingent of Jews that lived in Asia, but they were in Africa as well, the caravan routes that went across Africa. And everywhere that vessels went, there was Jews that went along with them as well. I read an account about how many Jews there were in the Roman Empire itself. And it was generally considered that there was close to 7% of the population of the Roman Empire was Jewish. I mean, there were more Jews living in Alexandria than there were in all Judea. and that was in Egypt, but they were in Rome and they were in other cities all around there. 7% is a large majority, or I mean to say a minority, but it's a major type of a minority. I guess I can get out of being in trouble by saying it that way, right? Okay, anyway, we'll go on. But the thing is, think about that, 7%, that's why the Septuagint was being read by Gentiles all across the Roman Empire. It was the Hebrew translation into Greek, the Hebrew Old Testament being translated into Greek so that Greeks and other people could read it in their own language. It was a Bible translation There were proselytes then and people that were beginning to want to find out who this Messiah was. That was a preparation for the coming of the Lord at that time. Seven percent was big enough that the Jews had actually achieved the legal status in the Roman Empire to not be persecuted. They were a religio licita. They were a legal religion under Roman law. Christianity did not receive that classification for another 250 years or about. But anyway, it was that size of a population. And you say, well, you mean they actually even came to the New World? And the answer is, yes, they did. And you say, you got proof of that? And I say, yes, I do. And I like to mention this, this is going to sound like something I've said in some other classes, those of you who are students, but not everybody here has taken that class or, you know, there's live streaming and all that kind of thing. But a few years ago, I was just on Fox News and on Fox News, I like to go over to the science section and look up archaeology and other things scientific, particularly astronomy, it's sort of a hobby. And while I was on there, I saw the fact that it says, a Roman shipwreck located in harbor of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. And some underwater archaeologists have located and identified a Roman ship that wrecked there about 100 BC. OK, the Romans were going back and forth to the New World. There is so much evidence of contact between the New World and the Old World. and to the point that most everybody that's up on the subject realizes that probably America was visited by about 20 different civilizations from around the world. We kind of know about the Vikings, but there was the Irish, and there was a whole bunch of other people besides, down through the centuries. And so, you know, I mean, to say that there weren't, you know, kind of ships going back and forth between the Roman world and the New World, that's wrong. They were here. They were here and they were regular. And so what I'm trying to say is that you had these Jews that had showed up in Jerusalem that particular year out of every nation under heaven. And it says, now when this was noised abroad, verse 6, the multitude came together and were confounded because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marveled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue wherein we were born? And it gives a list here, and I dare say that this is not a comprehensive list, that this was some of the people that were there, but not all. But it mentions Parthians and Medes and Elamites and the dwellers in Mesopotamia and in Judea and Cappadocia and Pontus and Asia Phrygia and Pamphylia and Egypt and in parts of Libya around about Cyrene and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God and they were all amazed and were in doubt saying one to another, what meaneth this? Others said, well, you must be drunk. And then Peter preached and 3,000 of them got saved. Many of those people that got saved were people that were from Parthia and Media and Elam and Mesopotamia and Cappadocia and Pontus and these other places, who would have hung out with the Christians there in Jerusalem for a while and have gotten trained in who is Jesus and what do we need to know before they went back home. You see what I'm saying? I'm saying that God himself was so interested in every nation receiving the gospel that on the day of Pentecost, he made sure there were people that could be there that could hear the gospel and take it back home with them. That's what I'm trying to say. Okay, so when he's saying there in Mark chapter 16 and verse 20 that every nation, they went to every nation, that is really true. They went. Yes, they went. You got any other proof? Glad you asked. Yes, I do. Okay. Yes, I'm going to give you some quotations here and brother Hankey will be very proud of me because I've got all kinds of stuff that I wrote out here there He mentioned that the other day in chapel. You remember that right that I that I do that kind of stuff Yeah, I do that kind of stuff. Okay, okay Eusebius Well, I know Eusebius has some problems I understand that okay 325 AD he's writing a history of the early churches and Some of the things he says are fairly accurate. He does a lot of quotations, though, and he is, therefore, reliable in many instances. He is reliable in this one. This is from Book 2, Chapter 3. He is referring to the period of time from A.D. 32 to A.D. 49. So we're talking about the years in which the apostles were still alive. This is what he said. Under the influence of heavenly power and with the divine cooperation, the doctrine of the Savior, like the rays of the sun, quickly illumined the whole world. And straightway, in accordance with the divine scriptures, the voice of the inspired evangelists and apostles went forth through all the earth and their words to the end of the world. In every village and city, churches were quickly established, filled with multitudes of people like a replenished threshing floor. And that was spoken of the period of time that was the first 20 years of the life of the New Testament church. He was saying that already they had gone everywhere at that time. Everywhere, that's what we are told. I mean, it really is that way. We know that Paul and Barnabas, we know their journey because the book of Acts, the way we're told from Acts 13 and forward, the direction that they went. But we also have from church history where others went, Thomas and Bartholomew, they went Parthia, India, died in India. There is word that there were, you know, where he died in India was where there was a lot of trade going on, different boats that were going back and forth between India and Indonesia, so that Indonesia probably heard the gospel at that time from that location, and that was just, you know, Thomas. And it's funny, there is, I found this as something I wasn't really expecting to find, but, There is a small island that's off the coast of Yemen. Now you have to get your geography here. You've got Israel and then south of Israel you've got Saudi Arabia and then you got Yemen that's down on the coast of the Indian Ocean. If you come out from Israel and you come through and you get through into the Red Sea and you come out into the Indian Ocean right there at the Horn of Africa, there is a small island. That island today is controlled by Yemen. Okay, but when the first missionaries ever went there, those people were not predominantly Muslim. There was a tribal people that were there who have now been exterminated. They're not there any longer, but the missionaries indicated that, oh yeah, we've been Christians a long time. And then they said, well, who evangelized you? Oh, Thomas evangelized us on his way to India. That's what they said. And that makes sense because if he'd have taken boat at any time and gone that direction, that's the way that you go to go to India. He also went overland. So it tells me that he went back and forth a couple of times. But I mean, you know, that was Thomas. And I could go and talk about many of the other disciples. You know, Matthew died in Ethiopia. Simon the Zealot died in Britain. I mean, it's just like they just kept going and going and all that within the first 20 years that the church existed. Okay, now I found this the other day, and I think I've shared it in a couple of places, but this is something that just again, just my mind, I really couldn't handle this, and I got a confirmation on it as well. I was looking up in preparation for this sermon, I was looking up about Thomas, and as I was looking that up, this is just on Wikipedia of all places, And it had down there at the bottom, there is a tradition among some tribal people in Paraguay in South America that Thomas came to evangelize there. And I'm like, what? Well, I followed that up and I looked it up and I don't think it was the real Thomas, okay? But I think it's probably a guy by the name of Thomas. But anyway, let me tell you what I found. What was this particular group of people are the, I don't know if I can pronounce it, Girani tribe. Okay, the Girani tribe is the main original people of what is now Paraguay. And again, for geography, Paraguay is right next to Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Uruguay, right in that area, okay? And in fact, even today, your first language of Paraguay is Spanish, but your second language is the legal language is Girani. There are that many people that are still there to speak this language. Anyway, in the Girani tribe, they have this tradition that they were preached to by Thomas. It's like this. There was this Jesuit guy that showed up there, a Jesuit is a Catholic, and his name was Di Montoya, and he wrote this. In 1639, he wrote this. The Paraguayan tribes have this very curious tradition. They claim that a very holy man whom they call Pai Tomei, and Pai is their language for father, Pai Tomei, lived among them and preached to them the holy truth, wandering about and carrying a wooden cross on his back. And there was a German missionary that made contact with these people in 1784. His name was Dobrit Hofer. It sounded like a good German name, right? And he wrote this and give me an account. When he made first contact with this tribe, he said, the warlords said unto me, We don't need pastors because Father Thomas walked in our homeland himself and he taught us about the truth, praying for us in the name of Jesus Christ. Now, where did they get that? Okay, so I asked David Peach when he was here. David is quite historical, and this is during mission conference, and he's worked all around South America, and I said, do you know about this tribe in Paraguay that, and I couldn't even get it out, he said, oh, you mean about how they believe that Thomas, you know, carried a cross about and started preaching to everybody there? He said, I said, yeah, you know about that? He says, yeah, everybody in South America knows that, down in that area. He said, the tradition is that he didn't just work there in Paraguay, But he went over into Peru and into Chile as well. They all have that tradition about this guy carrying a cross and preaching about Jesus. I asked Rick Hurd, who used to be a missionary in Paraguay. He said, oh yeah, everybody there talks about this, that they had the gospel way back when. OK, you tell me. You tell me. We're talking about South America there, OK? You tell me. Was it Thomas? I don't think so. But anyway, I'm not sure. but I mean I think it's some guy named Thomas okay but he was one of those early Christians that showed up there preaching the Word of God and I take you back to Mark chapter 16 and verse 20 where it says they went everywhere I went everywhere what can I say I'm driving towards something in case you don't know okay they went everywhere A little bit more. In the 100s A.D., there was this guy by the name of Justin Martyr. Justin Martyr was an apologist. He defended Christianity. He'd been a philosopher before he'd gotten saved, and he defended Christianity before the emperor who was determined to persecute Christians. The emperor had a Jewish man who was his advisor. His advisor was named Trifo. So Trifo was trying to tell the emperor and to tell anybody that would listen to him that the Christians were not worthy to be considered. Justin defended, you know, Christianity in front of this man and wrote it all out. So we have what is a book called The Dialogue with Trifo that has come down to us. In his talking with Trifo, his challenge to Trifo in this debate is that there are places in this world where people of your nation, that would be the Jews, have never been. But, and here was his statement, there is not a single race of men, barbarian, Greeks, or by whatever name they may be called, not even among those who dwell in their wagons or in their tents, such as the Scythians and the Sarmatians, among whom prayers are not made to God the Father and to the Lord Jesus Christ. He mentions other peoples like the Britons, who were wild at that time, and the Dacians and the Germans, who were also wild at that time, and outside the fold of the Roman Empire. Justin Martyr was making a claim that Christianity had gone to every nation. There was a man by the name of Tertullian. He lived around 200 AD. And he also was a defender. He was a person who was standing up to the Roman world. He wrote in Latin. And he was trained as a lawyer. And he was defending Christianity to the Roman mind. And he said this, we are but yesterday. and yet we have filled all the places that belong to you. We have filled your cities, your islands, your forts, your towns, your exchanges, the military camps themselves, tribes, town councils, the palace itself, the Senate, and the marketplace. We have left you nothing but your pagan temples. It's quite a statement to make. but that was the type of Christianity you had that was functioning in the early church. They preached the gospel everywhere. There was a man that lived around 200 AD. He was a Syrian Christian, and he lived in Edessa and Mesopotamia. His name was Bar-de-San. Bar-de-San, as he was writing, gave this testimony, that there was a new race of men called Christians whom Christ planted in every nation. And he mentioned some of them in particular that weren't too far from where he lived. The Medes and the Persians, the Parthians and the Galanians. I don't even know where that is. And the Bactrians. I do know where that is. That's Afghanistan. Cody, that's Afghanistan. Okay. You've been there. And he said there's Christians in all those places because Christ planted Christians in every nation. I mean, I'm telling you, They went everywhere. The only thing I'm trying to do here is to prove the point from the scriptures and from history that they really, honestly did do it. Okay? Now, I have one more quote here for you, and this has to do with the how did they do it. In Eusebius, Book 3, Chapter 37, he lays it out. This is what he said the Christians did, okay? And they also, being illustrious disciples of such great men, built up the foundations of the churches which had been laid by the apostles in every place. Oh, I needed to stop and tell you. He is now in book three is telling the history of what happened after 49 AD up to around 80 AD. So we're still in the early the first century when you know John the bad John not John the bad the apostle John is still alive in this period of time when he's talking about it. Let me read it again. And they also be an illustrious disciples. This would be like the Timothy's and the Titus's people following after Paul you know like that. They also, being illustrious disciples of such great men, built up the foundations of the churches which had been laid by the apostles in every place, and preached the gospel more and more widely, and scattered the saving seeds of the kingdom of heaven far and near throughout the whole world. For indeed, most of the disciples at that time, listen to this, Most of the disciples at that time had already fulfilled the command of the Savior and had decided to follow the American dream. Oh wait, it doesn't say that. And had distributed their goods to the needy. Then starting out upon long journeys, they performed the office of evangelist, being filled with the desire to preach Christ to those who had not yet heard the word of faith. and to deliver to them the divine gospels. And when they had only laid the foundation of the faith in foreign lands, they appointed others as pastors and entrusted them with the nurture of those who had recently been brought in, while they themselves went on, went on again to other countries and nations with the grace and cooperation of God. so that at the first hearing, whole multitudes of men eagerly embraced the religion of the creator of the universe. That's how they did it. They just went. They just went. My last statement. This fact that they went everywhere challenges my soul. Because I believe I live in a time where we don't think that way. They thought that way then, we got to go everywhere. Jesus said, we got to go everywhere. We got to go everywhere. That's what they were thinking to themselves. And in the 1800s, we kind of got that vision a little bit to where we had the idea that we're supposed to go everywhere. And then in the 1900s, a lot of things hit us. You've heard me say this before if you've been in my class. The 1900s, we lost a lot of ground. I mean, we might think we did a pretty good job, but we actually, when it comes to preaching the gospel, we lost a lot of ground. I mean, what are you talking about? Well, there was World War I. World War I killed a lot of men, and it messed up a lot of opportunities that people would have had to take the gospel. And people kind of got afraid of going out and doing things like that. World War I was a big damper upon missionary work. And then we get into the roaring 20s, and everybody was trying to forget the war. And then we got into the Great Depression, and then there was no money to do anything. On top of all of that, then we entered into World War II. We got the atom bomb, and all the things that happened, all the destruction that happened. Then we entered into the Cold War, and the Iron Curtain coming over all of Asia, and a big part of Europe, and that kind of thing. And we just kind of got it in our mind that we couldn't do missions anymore, that we couldn't take it to every place, every nation. And on top of that, we were afraid to do it. And then we had all that stuff called liberalism that started coming along, and humanism coming along, and materialism coming along. And yes, did we do some missions? Yes, we did. Am I thankful that we did some? Yes, I am. Did the population of the world take off on us? You better believe it. It took off on us in a big way. In 1900, they were talking about, we only have 185 million more to go, and we'll have missions in every one of these countries. We can't say that today. We can't say that today at all. This statement challenges me that the early church was able, with none of the benefits that we have of travel and finances and health, they were able to go to every nation of the world and see multitudes of people saved and churches established everywhere. It challenges me about that. It really does. I think in the 1900s, we got into a mindset that we can go, are you ready for this? This is where I'm coming to, that we can go somewhere. I'm talking about us, Christians. I'm talking about us, fundamental Christians. that we got into our mind the concept of somewhere when if we would really get under the burden of what Jesus said in the Great Commission we would have the whole world on our heart and we would be trying to go everywhere individually and every church trying to get as much done as it possibly can to get it out everywhere. You see that we just had mission conference and praise God it was a wonderful mission conference. But this is a danger that happens with mission conferences, where we get and we talk about the need of the world, we see the need of the world, and we say to ourselves, well, maybe I can do something. But we don't really get under the burden like we need to get under the burden to do, going to sound crazy, but why not say it, everything. You see what I'm saying? Okay. Now, I know that none of you want to do nothing, and I know that you don't want to go but I think sometimes in our saying that I'll go somewhere, it is easy for us to slip back and go nowhere. You understand what I'm saying here? Y'all are getting really quiet. But you know, how many grads have we had that have gone on ahead and they've gone somewhere to preach the gospel? And they're being very faithful in it. I'm thankful for every one of them. I could start talking about them, and I mean, oh, it warms my heart to talk about them. But you know and I know that there are people that have come through here that heard the same messages, they have gotten the same challenges from Mission Conference, that they are going nowhere. And the reason why they're going nowhere is because once upon a time they said to themselves, well, I could go somewhere, but the somewhere later on with the way that the world works on you and entices you to do this and entices you to do that and to get at ease in Zion, you end up going nowhere. You see what I'm saying? I even think that going from nowhere to somewhere is a good step and I also like the step, the next step is to anywhere. I'm thankful for many of you that right now are saying, I'll go anywhere. Okay, I'm thankful for that. Don't get me wrong about what I'm about to say. But anywhere will get you somewhere. OK. But this sound like double talk here in some ways. Anywhere will get you somewhere if you are thinking I want to go anywhere. God wants me to go. But you know what will really keep your feet to the fire. You know what will really keep you on the path of obedience to the Great Commission. It is if you will take for your watchword. I want to go everywhere. I mean wasn't it John Wesley. I think he was the one that somebody told him, don't preach here, this isn't your parish. And that time England had, you know, was divided up into parishes with the Church of England. And he said to that man, the world is my parish. He had the world on his heart. How do you think, you know, J. Hudson Taylor was able to go into inland China, that when he finally wrote his book, which we were talking about in world religions class just a little bit ago, And when he wrote his book called A Retrospect, and at that time he had 800 missionaries that had followed his footsteps into China, how was it that he was able to inspire anybody to do that, to follow him into the unreached areas of inland China? It's because he had the world on his heart. Anybody that you look at and you see that they are doing something or have done something for God, if you'll analyze it, they were not a person that kind of like, do, do, do, do, do, do, do. Well, I'll see where God might lead me one of these days. Maybe I will go somewhere. like that. They were people that were saying, man, we got to go everywhere. That's what these early Christians did. They decided among themselves that the greatest task that was before them was to take the gospel and to go everywhere. Everywhere. The challenge of everywhere. So I ask you, as I have to ask myself, what are we going to do? What are you personally going to do if you desire to be New Testament, if you desire to follow in the steps of the apostles and the evangelists of that early day? What are you going to do with the challenge of everywhere? Dear Lord, please take this message and use it as you see fit. I ask in Jesus name.