Some of you know that every three years I and others travel to the world's largest missions conference which is held in St. Louis, Missouri. It is conducted by InterVarsity Fellowship and it is called Urbana. This year it was called Urbana 2018. Some people wonder why is it called Urbana. It's called Urbana because the conference used to be held in Urbana, Illinois, Champaign-Urbana at the University of Illinois but they moved it. over a decade ago over to St. Louis. So now it's held over there, but they retained the name Urbana. So at this gathering, you have over, usually around 20,000 Christian college students from over 30 different countries. Let me give you a little history about our organization, Missionaries to the Preborn and Urbana. We began Missionaries to the Preborn in 1990. It was the first Christian mission in America that targeted the pre-born child as its people group. I was a missions major back in college, had planned to go with Wycliffe Bible translators, but the Lord had different plans. The Lord awoke me to the injustice and slaughter of the pre-born while here in Milwaukee after taking my first pastorate. We were interposing at the death camps, literally placing our bodies between the abortionists and those they were hired to murder. We expected the church to arise and respond on behalf of their helpless neighbors, but instead the vast majority of Christians either remained indifferent towards the pre-born or else sat down to the glow of their word processors to write how they were biblically justified not to love their pre-born neighbor. We thought thousands would arise here in Milwaukee and we would have thousands outside the death camps here in Milwaukee every day as we all have different days off, but this did not happen. So I began to try and recruit those who had put all aside in their life and minister on a full-time basis for the pre-born. As I was doing this, I began to realize what we were doing was creating a mission. Remember, I was a missions major in college. I pulled Earl Parvin's book off the shelf from Moody entitled Missions USA. It was a premier book on missions in America at that time, when it was published in the mid-1980s, he pointed out that there were over 400 Christian missions operating in America. And as I looked over their targeted people groups, because he listed them all, all 400 and some missions, and their targeted people groups, I realized not one of them had targeted the pre-born children. I found this astounding, given the fact that Christianity has always affirmed the humanity of the pre-born child and given the fact that Christianity has always affirmed that abortion is the murder of a pre-born child. I was astounded that not one Christian mission in America had targeted the pre-born children as their people group. Thus was found missionaries to the pre-born. After starting the mission, we began to attend missions conferences, whether at churches or at large Christian gatherings. We began to attend these missions conferences by having a booth there as a mission to help Christians realize the humanity of these children as they were living in a culture that had dehumanized these children. I and others in the mission even spoke at some of these conferences. Back in the mid-90s, we applied to have a booth at Urbana as a mission. Missionaries to the pre-board met all their stated requirements to be viewed as a legitimate mission, how we were organized, our doctrinal beliefs, the number of missionaries, which at the time we had over a dozen. And on down the line, we met all the requirements to be present with a booth at the world's largest missions conference there at Urbana. Yet, they notified us to tell us we had been rejected to have a booth. They said they did not view us as a legitimate mission because of our targeted people group. They did not view a mission to the pre-born as legitimate. Even though Christianity has always affirmed the humanity of the pre-born child, it's always affirmed abortion to be murder, they viewed it as not legitimate. And we were stunned. We remonstrated with inner varsity numerous times, trying to get them to see why their position was flawed. to no avail. Two groups had booths whose ministry or mission or targeted people group was trees. They were allowed in at Urbana that year. We were not. The pre-born were rejected while trees were accepted as a legitimate people group. There has always been something about the pre-born, how they reveal the hearts of churchmen and of Christians. There's something about this matter of the killing of the that reveals hearts. It's astounding, the rejection of these little ones. The silver lining in all of this was that we decided we still needed to go and I did a little research and I found that if you have a booth in a conference, the experts estimate that about 35% of the people will ever come by your booth and see you. But if you're outside the conference, about 100% will see you. So what they meant for evil, God used for good. We went anyway to speak up for the pre-born and present to these thousands upon thousands of Christian college students who were interested in missions, the pre-born as a targeted people group, worthy of their love and ministry. And we've gone ever since. Every three years it's held. was actually canceled in 2000. Remember the big computer bug coming up? They actually canceled it that year for fears of what was coming, but they held it the next year after that. It's usually every three years. It's been three years since 2000. It was three years before that. Every three years. We don't go to Urbana to attack or condemn intervarsity. We do not. We go to reach the students. to put the pre-born and the great evil they are suffering on the student's radar screen. About 20,000 Christian college students from over 30 countries attend Urbana. And when we put our literature and display our signs, we run into a lot of what is truly one of man's most treasured virtues, namely, indifference. Of course, I say that sarcastically, as indifference is no virtue at all. Rather, it's a vice. It is a selfishness wrapped in phony, even at times phony, spiritual justifications for inaction. False piety, if you will, where we put one thing that's of God to excuse not doing another thing which is of God. Others, while we are there, actually despise us, say some pretty crazy things. I'm not going to go into those. Nevertheless, we don't go there to attack intervarsity. We try to point out to the students that it has been the action of missionaries down through the ages to confront great evils in the lands they bring the gospel. To confront great evils in the lands where they bring the gospel. That is a longstanding heritage of missionaries. The history of missionaries is one of confronting great evils they encounter in the lands where they have brought the gospel. Hence the title of my sermon, right? Missionaries Confronting Great Evils, The Great History of Missionary Work. Yes, there have been and are plenty of missionaries who are indifferent towards the great evil in the lands that they've come to bring the gospel. and who just therefore preach the gospel. They're indifferent to the great evils. We're just here to preach the gospel, period. But there has been this long history of missionaries who didn't see it as an either or. Either we just preach the gospel or we just confront the great evil. When I got involved as a minister, there were ministers who told me, you can't do both, Matt. You either have to quit being a minister and just fight abortion or quit fighting abortion and just be, you can't do both. I found it was an absolute lie that you can walk and chew gum at the same time, that you can be a minister and speak up for your pre-born neighbor and actually take action on their behalf. They told me that I'm getting off focus from preaching the gospel. I found that once I took action on behalf of the pre-born, it provided me with more opportunity than ever to preach the gospel, to point men to Christ. Even though there have been plenty of missionaries who are indifferent towards the great evil in the lands where they've gone and just preached the gospel, there has been this long history of missionaries who didn't see it as an either or. They saw it as their duty to do both, and they did not see the two as being in conflict with one another. How could they preach the gospel in good faith and conscience if they were indifferent to the great evil? Turning a blind eye to it, like the priest in the Levite did to the guy left for dead in the ditch. And on the other hand, how could they just confront the great evil but not point men to Christ by declaring his gospel? In fact, it was precisely because they did know Jesus that they felt compelled to both confront the great evil and tell men of him. It's not an either or. I could spend hours going through 2,000 years of Christian history where missionaries who when they went to other lands confronted the idols and tyrants, the great evils of the land. But I just want to give you a few examples this morning. For example, consider the early missionaries who went into the lands under the influence of the Druids, a bloodthirsty people that held human life in low regard and even practiced human sacrifice. How many of you have ever studied a little bit about the Druids? My nationality, part of it, has a history within the Druids. They did not see men as made in the image of God. Human life was held in low esteem, and it was bloody and cruel. One such missionary who went to the peoples under the influence of the Druids was Columba, who lived from 521 to 597. He boldly declared the truth of God's word amongst the Scots and the Picts. and won the king of the Picts, King Brutus, to Christ. The evil of the Druids was outlawed because of Columba's love for Jesus. The evil of the Druids was outlawed and driven underground and eventually eradicated. Columba was not indifferent towards this great evil, just preaching the gospel. Rather, he confronted it. He spoke out against it and took action to stop it even working with the magistrates to do so as he won men to Christ. Another example, English missionaries John and Alice Harris confronted the great evil they encountered when they went to the Congo in the early 1900s. In the early 1900s, colonialists used forced labor to extract rubber the Congo's jungles. And villagers who resisted were either castrated, burned, or had limbs cut off their bodies. The Harris's took photos of the injustices, secretly took them, photos of the injustices. They then traveled throughout the United States and Britain disseminating photos and giving lectures detailing the abuses. Whether long ago or not too long ago or currently, the history of missionaries is one in which they confronted the great evils they encountered in the lands where they brought the gospel. They were not indifferent towards it. What about the missionaries who went to India? They were instrumental in stopping the practice of sadi, widow burning. When a man died, his wife was burnt alongside of him, alive. Or she had to kill herself within 30 days in some other fashion. William Carey, who lived from 1761 to 1834, is known as the father of modern missions, modern Christian missions. He was a missionary to India. Once there, he encountered this practice of Saadi. He encountered this great evil. He reported 438 incidents of this practice in the year 1803, just in the 30 mile radius of Calcutta. Due to his influence and other missionaries, both teaching scripture and taking action, the practice of Saadi was outlawed and eventually died out completely. Do you see this as the long history of Christian missionaries to confront evil, not to be indifferent towards it under the guise of, we should just preach the gospel? And what about Amy Carmichael? Amy lived from 1867, born shortly after William Carey died, a few decades later. She lived from 1867 to 1951. She encountered the great evil of temple prostitution in India. She was a missionary to India. Young girls, children, were forced to be temple prostitutes at the Hindu temples in order to make money for the priests. Amy rescued them from this evil. Literally rescued them. Bought some, stole some away. Some of her supporters back in Ireland and England heard of these efforts Amy had begun and actually rebuked her for it, stating, quote, you should just preach the gospel and save souls, Amy, unquote, was their exhortation to her. She replied by saying, quote, souls are more or less attached to bodies, unquote. She didn't see it as an either or. Amy continued to teach God's word and to rescue young girls from this life. And finally, in 1948, three years before she died, India outlawed the practice of temple prostitution. This is the long history of Christian missions. And yet, the largest missions conference in the world is teaching these young people to be indifferent to the bloody, unjust, great evil of abortion. And what about the missionaries who stood with the Cherokees against the great injustice they suffered? Did you even know there were missionaries who were arrested and jailed for disobeying the unjust laws of men made against the Cherokees? One was Samuel Warsister, who lived from 1798 to 1859. He was a missionary to the Cherokees in Georgia. How many of you have ever been to their capital, New Ecota, there in Georgia? It's worth going to. It's actually run by the federal government now. And if you go in there, they have a whole section where it talks about the Christian missionaries who were jailed and arrested because they stood with the Cherokees against the injustice that was taking place against them by the state of Georgia. Gold was discovered on the Cherokee lands in the early 1830s, and greedy men wanted it. They passed numerous laws designed to make life miserable for the Cherokees, like they could not testify against white people, but white people could testify against them, laws to seize their property, and a host of other laws to make sure a great injustice could take place. A law was also passed that whites could not be in Cherokee territory unless licensed by the state to be there. This was not meant to make sure white men were protected against the Indians. Rather, it was meant to ensure that the missionaries were removed from the area so the injustice against the Cherokees could be carried out without the missionaries' resistance to the injustice or their being able to report eyewitness accounts of the injustice that was taking place. That's why that was made. And the missionaries understood that. We know that because you can read their writings, their letters. They knew exactly what this law was designed to do. And so some left, others didn't. 11 missionaries who did not leave were arrested and sentenced to four years hard labor. The 11 missionaries were chained together and forced to march to prison. And this included Samuel Warsister. In spite of the religious principles which forbade travel on Sunday, They were forced to march on Sunday and were refused religious services. When they finally reached the prison at Milledgeville, the 11 were offered a pardon in exchange for taking an oath to sustain the efforts of Georgia against the Cherokee or to abandon their missionary efforts and leave the state. they could get out of the predicament they were in. This was offered to us numerous times, those of us interposing at the doors of death camps, agreed that you'll never do it again and you won't have to spend the six months in jail. These guys are looking at four years, take an oath. What oath? You know, this is the oath that we want you to take, that you'll either help sustain the efforts of Georgia against the Cherokee or that you will abandon your missionary work and just leave, leave the state. Nine of the men took the pardon, nine of the 11. Samuel Worcester and Eliza Butler did not. Samuel Worcester confronted the great evil in his day where he was, and it was right here in America. And here in America, there is a great evil in our day. Abortion. Innocent blood filling our land. So we appeal to this. The history of missionaries is one of confronting great evils they encounter in the lands they have brought the gospel when we go to Urbana. We appeal to this. Abortion is a great evil, and it is not only legal in America, but in most of the countries of the world now. Western governments have exported it around the world. Missionaries must take a stand. They must interpose and speak and act on behalf of the pre-born. So we appeal to this history of missionaries confronting the great evils they encountered in the lands where they brought the gospel when we go to Urbana. It is not an either or. Missionaries have hazarded their lives in Buddhist countries. They've hazarded their lives in Muslim countries. They've hazarded their lives in atheistic countries. They've hazarded their lives in Hindu countries. They've even hazarded their lives in certain Catholic countries. Whether it be injustice or false teaching or both, they've hazarded their lives by confronting the great evils. Does the Lord want you to be a missionary? Have you ever considered missions? Do you read about current missionary efforts? Have you ever read about missionaries of old? What does the Lord have for you? Have you considered He may want you to reach an unreached people group? Do you proclaim the gospel in the area in which you now reside? If not, why not? Are you comfortable being indifferent towards the bloodshed of the helpless pre-born? Does it bother you at all that the governments of men are spitting in the face of Christ, legalizing sodomy and homosexual marriage, teaching it all to children? If not, why not? Do other injustices, and there's many, that you see or hear about bother you? Do you feel compelled to act when you see injustices? If not, why not? Do you want your life to count for Christ? If so, how so? Are you willing to hazard your life for Christ? In Acts chapter 15, verse 26, the scriptures are talking about Paul and Barnabas and the letters sent from the elders at Jerusalem regarding them and they say of Paul and Barnabas, men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Men who have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Have you considered before God that he may want you to hazard your life for him? whether here in America or whether in a foreign land. Our text, Acts chapter 1, verses 4 through 8, Christ calls upon us to take his word and gospel to all the nations of the earth, everywhere. Verse eight, you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. The early Christians took that seriously and considered before God, where do you want me to be? How can I best conduct my life to bring glory to you and point men to your law, word, and gospel. This is what we need to lay down in our bedrooms before the Lord, on our faces before him, and ask him, what do you have for me? What do you want me to do? And then get up and be faithful in it. May Christ be praised. Let's stand up and close in a word of prayer. Hallelujah, Father. Lord, we give thanks and we give praise to You that You have redeemed us, that You saved us from our sins and from Your wrath. And we thank You, O Lord, that You didn't just save us from that, but You also saved us for something, namely to live to bring glory to You, to live in obedience to You, to faithfully serve Him who died in our stead. And Lord, I just ask and pray that you would be upon each one here. You would overshadow each one in the days ahead. That you would visit each one, that they would see clearly and know solidly what you have for them, what you want them to do with their lives, oh God. May some even come to that conclusion, this is what I was born for, oh God. Lord, we give thanks and praise to you for your goodness to us that while we were yet your enemies, while we were yet sinners walking in darkness, you loved us. And by the power of your Holy Spirit, you regenerated us, transformed our lives, made us literally new creatures in Christ. And Lord, may we live our lives in service to him who died in our place. Be glorified in each home here, in each heart. Do a great work, O Lord. May we see that our days are short. With the myriad of voices from the world calling upon our time, our energies, our resources, may we set aside a time to seek you, to read your word, and to do those things which are dear to your heart. to hear your voice as to what you have for us, O God. Regardless of what the bulk of Christianity is saying, regardless of what the world is saying, may we hear from you. May we do right by you. Be glorified through each one here, I pray. And I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. May he be praised. You could be seated. We're going to take communion at this time, and you can take communion with us as long as you're a Christian. If you're not a Christian, refrain from the Lord's table, as the Lord's table is only for believers to participate in. You don't have to be a member of this church to partake at the Lord's table here, but you do have to be a believer in Jesus Christ to partake at his table here. And we observe his table every week at Mercy Seat. We do that in part because it was the pattern laid out for the early church. They always did this when they gathered each week. We do it first and foremost for this reason, because we need to be reminded of this great salvation. Because man in all his religiosity wants to always add to the finished work of Christ and think that his salvation has to do with him, when that's an absolute falsehood. salvation is found in Christ alone plus nothing and this time at his table reminds us of that because there's only two elements at the Lord's table the fruit of the vine representing Christ's blood and the bread representing Christ's body there's nothing else at this table nothing there isn't these two elements plus a list of all my good works there isn't these two elements plus a list of all my holy living It's Christ alone whereby we meet with the Father. In other words, we don't do good works and demonstrate holy living to try and obtain God's acceptance. Rather, we do so because we have obtained His acceptance. Amen? The good works, the holy living that we demonstrate, those things are the result of our saving faith in Christ, the fruit or the evidence of our saving faith in Christ. We do not do them. to be accepted of Him. We do them because we have been accepted of Him. He transforms our lives. Did you ever actually really want to read the Bible before you knew Jesus? Did you really want to tell others about Jesus? Did you really want to pray? No. And when you came to know Jesus, what happened? You wanted to pray. You wanted to read the Bible. You wanted others to know about Him. Even though you might be a little scaredy-cat to do so, you knew in here, I got to tell others about Him. Amen. He changes us by the power of His Spirit. And so this time at His table is important that we remember our soul approach to the Father. The soul means whereby He will meet with us is through Jesus, by Jesus, in Jesus, with Jesus. Amen? Plus nothing. And the Apostle Paul wrote of it in 1 Corinthians 11. He said, for I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, take, eat. This is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same manner, he also took the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. This do as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, You proclaim the Lord's death till he comes. We should have been put to death for our sins. Christ died in our place there at Calvary on the cross so that if we will turn from our sin and believe in him God will forgive us of our sin and transform our life. That's how simple this salvation is. And yet it's so hard for men to accept. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for this time at your table. We ask and pray, O God, that if any here does not know you, that by the power of your Holy Spirit they would come to know you, even this day. And Lord, we ask and pray that those of us who do know you would think well on this great salvation, that we would always be thankful for how you changed us, how you loved us. And Lord, I just ask and pray that we would be your faithful servants in the earth, your witnesses, your missionaries. Be glorified, O God, through the lives of those gathered here and even through the lives of those who listen later. And we ask these things in Jesus' holy name. Amen. Let's partake together. Hallelujah. Let's stand up and we'll worship him for a moment, and then I'll close in prayer.