Hello and welcome back to the Potter's House
Seminar Podcast. This is a special series from
our Prescott Conference that just recently occurred.
The theme of the conference was Into the Unknown
and the scripture for the theme was Romans 15,
20 -21. I have made it my aim to preach the gospel
to whom he was not announced. So this is a powerful
series of... sermons from leaders in our fellowship
to include Greg Mitchell, Joe Campbell, Richard
Ruby, Sergey Golubev, and others along with that.
So please enjoy and listen along to these powerful
sermons from leaders in our fellowship. Slavery
had to be fought. There had to be an aggression
about it. He tried to raise money. He tried to
influence politicians. Finally, He raised his
own army from among his sons. In years before
the Civil War in Kansas, an era called Bleeding
Kansas, he fought a battle, 1856, called the
Battle of Black Jack. He led his sons against
a pro -slavery force in Kansas that some people
have called, as you look back, they say that
was actually possibly the first battle. of the
Civil War. John Brown was an evangelical Christian,
and he said over and over, and I quote, I have
a sacred obligation to strike a death blow to
slavery. Eventually, after losing one son in
battle, another injured, he led an unsuccessful
raid against Harper's Ferry in Virginia. He failed.
He was captured by the state of Virginia, tried
for treason and hung, died as a martyr for the
cause of abolition and in the years preceding
the Civil War. But what's interesting is that
he was widely dismissed by both the North and
the South as a madman. They called him a lunatic.
He died as a martyr. But his enduring legacy
is that his mission to free those in bondage
just might have been the spark that actually
triggered the Civil War and the emancipation
of the slave in the United States. Now, the scripture
that we're going to read this morning is about
another man who very similarly was denounced
as a madman, died as a martyr. But as a missionary,
he changed the world. I want to preach this morning
a very simple message. I don't have any great
deep revelation, but I want to preach about the
madman and the martyr and the missionary. And
I hope if I can do my job, by the time I'm done,
maybe there's one person in here that you'd volunteer
to go and we'd send you out. And that's my aim.
Just so you know, that's what I'm aiming at.
So if you're feeling nervous already, just go
to the bathroom. Acts chapter 26, verse 19. Therefore,
King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly
vision, but declared first to those in Damascus
and in Jerusalem, throughout all the region of
Judea and then to the Gentiles, that they should
repent and do the works befitting repentance.
For these reasons the Jews seized me in the temple
and tried to kill me. Therefore, having obtained
help from God, to this day I stand witnessing
both to small and great, saying no other things
than those which the prophets and Moses said
would come, that the Christ would suffer, that
he would be the first to rise from the dead,
and he would proclaim light to the Jewish people
and to the Gentiles. Verse 24. Now as he thus
made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice,
Paul, you are beside yourself. Much learning
is making you mad. The madman, the martyr, and
the missionary. Let's talk first for a few minutes
about the madman. Now our scripture exposes what
the world thinks of missionaries and of missionary
movements and really of our fellowship. Here
is Festus, this famous outburst. Paul, you're
mad. You're out of your mind. He's accusing him
of being insane. But why? What is the statement?
Verse 19, he says, I was faithful to preach the
gospel to the Jews and to the Gentiles. Now,
we don't know because we can't cross -examine
Festus. But is it possible that the reason he
thought Paul was out of his mind was because
he made this public statement, I am going to
minister to people that are not my own. Because
we know the Jews in that day, they had no dealings
with foreigners. And now Paul says, I am going
to preach to the Gentiles. Is it possible that
that's why Festus thought he was a madman? It's
interesting, that's what happened to John Brown.
Most pro -slavery southerners simply could not
believe that a white man would fight for the
freedom of the slave. In their minds, they were
subhuman. They were little more than property.
And the idea that this white man would, they
couldn't comprehend it. That did not jive with
their view of the world. And so the only conclusion
they can come to, he's got to be insane. But
let's think about the world that we live in right
now. You know, our world talks a lot about compassion,
doesn't it? And that's essentially all it does
on the subject. We talk about it. People post
videos about it. We have seminars about it. We
live in a world where we talk, talk, talk about
compassion, and yet the basic societal ills get
worse every year, don't they? Because our world
talks about compassion, but it doesn't actually
have it. It's only a theory or an idea to them.
And so because of that, they can little comprehend
that you are willing to give up your life to
go minister to people that aren't like you. Every
pioneer in here and certainly every missionary,
you've had that conversation. You're telling
a workmate or someone that you're moving. What
are you going to do? I'm going to go start a
church. You're going to do a what? But why? Do
you know someone there? I don't know anyone there.
Why are you going? You're not the same color
as those people. You don't speak this. They can't
comprehend it because our world talks about compassion,
but they don't have it. And so when someone gets
up on Thursday night, when a young couple stands
up and says, I'm going to give my life for another
nation, the world says, you're insane. We cannot
comprehend what you're doing. So the world dismisses
us as madmen because they must. If we aren't
insane, then what we're saying might be right.
And just like the pro -slavery southerners, They
cannot comprehend that. That doesn't fit with
their worldview. So you have to be insane. But
it's not just the world, is it? It's the church
world too. The religious world sees the missionary
as a madman. You know, in any other movement.
Missionaries, they are, they're the weird ones.
Some of you have met missionaries before. You
know, they're the odd duck. You're like, oh.
Now, I understand as I'm saying that, there's
people going, it's you. Yes, I resemble that
remark. But in the church world, missionaries,
they are the fractional percentage, the marginalized
few. The missionaries never get on the stage
in the church world. They never show up at the
big events. All you get is the superstars because
that's not really what the church world is about.
You know what's fascinating about this man, John
Brown, is that even in the North, even among
many abolitionists, he was dismissed as a madman.
They would not accept his idea of aggressive
abolitionism. But why was that? Why is it that
even though they technically believed the same
thing, why did they dismiss him as a madman?
Because they talked about it and he did it. Right?
If you read the history, there's several fantastic
books written about the Civil War and the years
leading up to it. The Zealot and the Emancipator
is a very good one. But it's interesting. You
read about these northern politicians. They would
give speeches. We need to free the slave. And
someone's like, let's do it. And they're like,
whoa, whoa, whoa. I mean, you know. What I meant
was we need to talk about it. We need to vote
about it. And John Brown's there, let's do it.
So they said, okay, well, hold on there, buddy.
You know, maybe not now, maybe, you know, in
10 years or. And so, because he was doing what
they were talking about, he had to be dismissed
as a madman. Because if they didn't call him
a madman, what were they? They were cowards.
If John Brown was in his right mind, then the
rest were cowards. They weren't doing what needed
to be done. So he had to be dismissed. Listen,
that is just like how the church world regards
us, especially our fellowship, pioneers, missionaries,
any genuine evangelistic movement has to be dismissed
as madmen. We've got to be crazy people. What
do they call us? Radicals, fundamentalists. They
can't just call us Christians. The Bible that
I read teaches me that Christians will lay down
their life for the unsaved. But see, if that's
true, then what does that make the church world?
Cowards. Entitled cowards, as Pastor Torrey preached.
So they have to label us. We have to be mad men.
Did you hear about those crazy people? They sent
who into where? But you know, even within our
church, if you've pastored any number of years,
there are people inside our churches that really
don't care for what we do. There can be a despising
spirit. And every year, every six months, the
drumbeat of church planting, world evangelism.
There's people that they come to church, they
love Jesus, but they don't love what we love.
And it bothers them. It gets under their skin.
They get a little irritated when you get up to
take a world evangelism pledge. When conference
is over and you're raving, oh, you wouldn't believe.
Like, oh, pastor, seriously? We are just a little
bit crazy to them. So let's talk then about the
martyr. Listen, if you want to do anything for
the kingdom of God, you're going to have to give
up something. There's no other way around it.
In our church, one of the things I love is we
do an open question and answer session about
every second month. After a Sunday evening service
is over, we'll put out a box for people to put
anonymous questions in. It's for teenagers and
teens and 20s. So about every second month, I
will spend time. I'll spend one and a half, sometimes
two hours just answering. I got to tell you,
I love answering questions, just sitting with
people. And man, I get questions about everything,
doctrine, the Bible. issues in life. Our community
is filled with violence and abuse. We get deep
questions. Just a week ago Sunday, we had our
last Q &A, and one of the questions in there
was, Pastor, I want to preach the gospel, but
I also want to pursue my dreams. How do I balance
the two of those things? And the answer is, you
can't. Those two things don't get balanced. It's
one or the other. You're going to have to make
up your mind that you're willing to give up something
if you're going to do the will of God. Listen,
sacrifice is the fertilizer of every great thing
that ever grows in the kingdom of God. We don't
get it for nothing. It doesn't just show up magically.
understood this instinctively and he was willing
to give his life for the call. Acts 20, 22 to
24. And see, now I go bound in the spirit to
Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen
to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies
in every city, saying that chains and tribulation
await me, but none of this moves me, nor do I
count my life dear to myself. so that I may finish
my race. What is he saying? He says, I don't
care if it costs me everything. I just want to
do something for the kingdom of God. Isn't that
why we're here this week? Hallelujah. When John
Brown was on trial in Virginia, they tried him
for treason. against the Confederacy. He made
this statement. He said, now if it is deemed
necessary that I should forfeit my life for the
furtherance of the ends of justice and mingle
my blood further with the blood of my children
and with the blood of millions in this slave
country whose rights are disregarded by wicked,
cruel, and unjust enactments, I submit. so let
it be done. Now, while literal martyrdom is rarely
asked for these days, and I'm okay with that,
the spirit of the martyr is absolutely necessary.
Each and every one of us is going to have to
answer the question, What will you give for the
cause? What will you give for the cause? For
some, you're going to lay down your dreams, career
aspirations to pursue the higher calling of the
gospel of Jesus Christ. For some, you're going
to have to lay down established successful ministries
to go and pioneer again or to be a missionary
in another nation. Can we talk for a minute?
I've had the privilege. I am, you know, when
Pastor Torrey is talking about being born on
third base, I think I was born further than that.
I think God knew. Poor Heimberg, man. If I don't
help him, he's not going to get anywhere. I've
been so blessed in life. I was able to be a missionary
so far twice. We first went to India. I want
to be honest with you. That was very easy because
we were young. We had nothing. We had three small
children, which means if we move anywhere, it's
a package deal. They're with us. Let's go, kids.
Where are we going? Doesn't matter. Shut up and
get in the car. We're going to Burger King. Surprise,
it's India. Now, I in no way want to belittle
this. We need young couples that will go. Thank
God. We need young families. I'll go. You don't
even know what you're volunteering for. You just
stand up on Thursday. Yeah, it's me. I'll go.
Do it. We need it. But I want to tell you, that
was much easier. We were in India for two and
a half years, left a church there, came back.
We're in the U .S. for about 11 years. But, you
know, time goes on. We grow up. Our kids grow
up. We had more kids. Kids moved out, get married.
Our first grandchild was born, bought a house.
I was pastoring the church in Gallup, New Mexico,
which is a conference church. There's some kind
of dignity there, like position. I had a good
income, had a great life. People would call me
and invite me to preach for them. You know, when
I went to India, it was an upgrade. It was like,
yeah. I'm not working a job pastoring a church.
You want to be a full -time pastor just like
that? Sign me up. But see, it's a little different
going when you're a little older. My wife and
I, we're very blessed. We have five grandchildren.
And with the exception of six months, we have
never lived on even the same continent as our
grandchildren. See, it hits way different than
when we went the first time. Like I said, I don't
want to belittle the sacrifice of young pastors
that go, but you know, sometimes we need some
experienced ministers that would go. We will
be in trouble if we ever get to the place where
only the young respond. We need sometimes some
men and couples with experience, maybe to go
into a new nation or a new city and break some
ground. Some ministers that you've got some scars
and the wisdom that comes with it to go and pioneer
in a place that maybe a younger man may not be
able to. But the promise is that the spirit of
the martyr has the power to move people. You
know, everyone dies, right? But not all who die
are martyrs. It's how you live that determines
whether or not you die a martyr. John Brown,
when he had finished his trial and he had been
sentenced to hang, he wrote in one of his last
letters to his wife, I am quite cheerful. in
view of my approaching end, being fully persuaded
that I am worth inconceivably more to hang than
to any other purpose. But the reason is he had
a sense of the pulse of what was happening in
the nation, and he knew that one martyr's death
would trigger something. He knew that his death
could galvanize something in the nation. Listen,
when you have that kind of a spirit, you will
make impact not only where you go, but from where
you leave. On Thursday night, listen to me, every
missionary that stands on this stage on Thursday
night, we understand they're going to make impact
in the various nations they go into. But you
need to see there's another impact. When they
stand up and walk down the aisle, they're going
to have an impact here. There's going to be a
young man or a young woman, a convert, who looks
and identifies with them. And they're going to
say, I could do this. If they're going, I could
go. Or they're going to see that you went into
that nation and God will put something in their
mind or in their spirit. Listen, when you give
yourself to do the will of God, it's not just
what is accomplished in your hands, but it's
in the wake you leave, the influence that is
made. In this era when Brown made his reign on
Harper's Ferry, Henry David Thoreau, made this
statement. He said, It was the best news our
nation has ever heard. It has already quickened
the feeble pulse of the North and infused more
and more generous blood into her heart and veins
than any number of years of prosperity could.
I believe that one of the things that makes our
fellowship great, and of course there are many,
But I believe one of the things that makes our
fellowship so great is that it was built by men
and women who left some things to build some
things. Some of our heroes are couples who left
opportunities to go be missionaries. People who
left good churches. All the stories we've heard.
We've heard about Pastor Campbell leaving Chandler
to go to Malaysia. We know of Pastor Payne leaving
Gallup to go to Australia. We know all the stories,
Dwayne and Frostine Renz, when they left thriving
work in Las Vegas to go to South Africa. Even
Pastor Mitchell going to Beachboro twice. They
left, it wasn't like they're sitting around,
you know, listen, every conference pastor has
this experience. You're in conference and someone
comes to you, you just saw their last gold sheet.
You know, there's three people in church, but
they have a family of seven. And he's like, Pastor,
I just really feel I need to be a missionary.
Yeah. You're really feeling like you want a new
church. But see, our fellowship was built by
men that left good churches to go build something
new. It moves us. Because that spirit, it's inculcated
into us. It's in our DNA. If we could do a fellowship
blood test, you would find in there the spirit
of the martyr and that spirit of sacrificial
giving and leaving. So let's talk then finally
about the missionary. When you look at Paul's
life, it is tempting. to get his legacy wrong.
If you were to ask, you know, many Christians,
many disciples, you know, what was Paul's legacy?
We could come up with all kinds of ideas. He
wrote this many books of the Bible. His apologetic
defense of the gospel. He set out key doctrines,
the doctrine of male leadership in the church.
And we could go through all these things. That's
what Paul's legacy was. But if you were to ask
Paul himself what his legacy was, he would say
like he did in 2 Corinthians 3, verse 3. Clearly,
you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us.
Written not with ink, but by the spirit of the
living God. Not on tablets of stone, but on tablets
of flesh. That is of the heart. What he's actually
saying, what is my greatest epistle? People.
What's the greatest impact? Forget the letters
I wrote. Did you ever hear about Onesimus? Have
you met this guy? He'd bring him in. I want you
to meet my latest convert. See, in his mind,
the legacy was the people whose lives he's impact.
If you were to ask your missionary heroes, maybe
do it this week. Go talk to Pastor Olson or Pastor
Campbell or Pastor Greg. Ask these men, what
was your impact in the nations? I'd be willing
to bet you that none of these men would be like,
well, let me tell you about the building I built.
None of these men would be like, well, you know,
there was this many churches. I bet you if you
could catch them right, they'd get that far away
look in their eyes and they would start telling
you stories about people. Every disciple that's
come up in the Prescott Church in the last 20
years or so, we were raised on the stories of
Pastor Greg's. We weren't raised on stories of,
and I preached this amazing sermon. Now he would
tell us, did I ever tell you about Michael Jacobs?
Let me tell you the story when he came into the
church. Now I tell you the story about the guy
that showed up with the knife sticking out of
his head. Because that's still what matters,
isn't it? It's the people. I have a treasure
chest. full of treasured memories I've compiled
over the years, packed to the brim of names and
faces of people I've had the privilege to be
in contact with. Our church in El Dorado Park
runs a rehab, a drug rehab program. It's modeled
after what Pastor Sergei has been doing in Russia
for many years. And there's always guys coming
in. It's a one -year program, so whenever a man
completes his year, we have a graduation. Just
this past week, Monday night, we had our most
recent graduation. Three men were graduating.
There's always a revolving cast of characters
there. Morgan, Jason, and Sudesh. And when they
graduate, we have a dinner. We have them testify.
And Morgan is testifying about his life and the
insanity, the violence, all the chaos, telling
this story. And you know what's crazy? You know
how crazy someone's life is when they tell you
certain stories with a straight face. Some stories,
if I try, but he's like, yeah, so I was smoking
meth. And then we realized, well, we should sell
it. That makes sense. Okay, I have a half Jewish
father. I can get behind the business proposition.
Maybe she'd sell it. It makes way more sense.
Buy it wholesale. Your supply is cheaper. No,
this is, I'm getting off track. So we would go
once a month. We would buy our supply, go, blah,
blah, blah. Yeah, so one time we were going.
It was me and my three friends. We went. It was
a setup. They jumped us, killed my three friends
right in front of me. So I had to run away. Anyway.
And I always tell my wife, when we have the rehab
graduations, I always get emotional. It's just
like, here's this man. He's standing there. He
is sharp. He's got a vest and a tie on. He looks
like Pastor Ruby's about to preach, you know.
He's set, you know. And we do the whole thing.
Afterward, he comes up to me. He says, Pastor,
thank you. And he said, Pastor, you know what?
I think I'm called to preach. You know, this
week, I'll have been a pastor 20 years. And I
want to tell you. I would do it all over again
just for Morgan. I would do it all over again
for any one of these. I would do it again for
a Fabian or a Donovan, Brandon and Crystal. And
I could go on, I could spend all week talking
about the people. Listen, because that's what
matters. So we would deliver people from bondage.
I believe that we are in a precious moment in
church and fellowship history right now. There's
a season of prosperity in much of the Western
world. But at the same time, we see the hint
that some doors might be opening. You know, there's
a guy, his name escapes me at the moment, but
he keeps saying regime change. You know, regime
change in the Arab world right now. oh, what
a harvest field it could open. Hundreds of millions
of people. Listen, we are at a precious moment
where I believe we have the people, we have the
resources, we have the open doors. Africa, the
continent of Africa alone has 21 nations with
no fellowship church. We still have 82 nations
in the world. That's the unknown. We're talking
about into the unknown. It's those places. We
need men and women who will respond young and
old. We need fresh faces. We need weathered,
tried and true veterans who would go to their
pastor and say, I'm willing. I'll go anywhere.
Like Pastor Greg said last night, I'll sign the
bottom of the paper. You just put the destination
on it. I want to tell you, even if the world
forgets your name, heaven will never forget your
labor. Hallelujah. You know, most of the world
has no idea who John Brown is. It's a name lost
to history, even in the United States. If he
is remembered, it's a madman, a terrorist, or
just a footnote. And yet, the impact of his life
is still echoing on to this day. I want to just
kind of tell this story, if you'll give me a
moment. In 1856, three years before John Brown
had really come to notoriety, before he died,
William Steffi wrote a very simple song that
became popular in Methodist churches. In those
days, the Methodists were the ones that were
very... abolitionist -minded in the north. And
it was very popular in their camp meetings. It
was a very simple song. Two refrains and said,
say, brothers, will you meet us? Say, brothers,
will you meet us? Say, brothers, will you meet
us at Canaan's happy shore? And then they would
go back through again and it would say, glory,
glory, hallelujah, forever, evermore. Now this
became popular in the freedmen churches. These
were the freed slaves that made it to the north
because it painted this picture of the kingdom
of God as accepting everybody. Say brothers.
It doesn't talk about where you're born or what
color you are. And so this actually became an
anthem of the abolitionist movement. After John
Brown died, a curious thing happened. They began
to add verses to that song. And it became a popular
marching song for the northern soldiers. Verse
1 of that song goes like this. Old John Brown's
body lies moldering in the grave. While weep
the sons of bondage whom he ventured all to save.
But though he lost his life while struggling
for the slave, his soul is marching on. I want
you to imagine for a moment a company. of Union
soldiers, shoulder to shoulder, marching into
battle with this song on their lips. They would
sing the songs as the cadence to keep time in
their marches. Old John Brown's body lies a -moldering
in the grave while weep the sons of bondage.
Now, we also know that in the North, there were
freedmen companies. There would have been entire
companies. Of freed slaves, now northern soldiers
marching into battle singing that song. Because
John Brown was their hero. The first white man
that gave his life for them. The song goes on.
Verse 4. John Brown was John the Baptist of the
Christ we are to see. Christ who of the bondmen
shall the liberator be. And soon throughout the
sunny south. the slaves shall all be free, for
his soul is marching on. John Brown forgotten
by many, smeared by his enemies. I wonder if
you were a southern soldier for the Confederacy.
Maybe you were a Virginian soldier and you knew
Virginia hung John Brown. He's dead, but what
is that I hear? Are they saying John Brown? And
as they're echoing those voices across those
battlefields, and soon throughout the sunny south,
the slaves shall all be free. I wonder what that
would do in the hearts of these men. You know,
it's interesting to note that they didn't march
into battle singing about Abraham Lincoln. They
didn't march into battle singing about any of
their politicians or any of their generals. They
marched into battle singing about the one man
who had enough gall to lay his life down for
a cause. Then in November of 1861, there was
a small skirmish fought in the outskirts of Washington,
D .C. Julia Ward Howe heard the song and it moved
her. She realized this isn't just... a song about
the emancipation of the slave. This is a song
about the emancipation of mankind. And she wrote
a new set of lyrics. Mine eyes have seen the
glory of the coming of the Lord. He is trampling
out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are
stored. He has loosed the faithful lightning
of his terrible swift sword. His truth is marching
on. Glory, glory, hallelujah. And if you are
an American or if you follow, you pay attention
to America, you probably know a few more of these
verses, but I'll read just one more. In the beauty
of the lilies, Christ was born across the sea
with a glory in his bosom that transfigures you
and me. As he died to make men holy, Let us die
to make men free. Our God is marching on. We
call this the battle hymn of the Republic, and
we understand it's a song of liberation. Yes,
in context, the liberation of the slaves, but
actually it's the liberation of souls by Christ.
And while John Brown's name is lost to history,
I believe his blood still flows through our republic.
That spirit. I don't care if you call me a madman.
I don't care if I have to die as a martyr. I
have a mission. And I believe that something
very similar is true of our fellowship. Is that
there is a blood that courses through us. It's
the spirit of the madman, the martyr, the missionary.
I want to say to every missionary or missionary
to be, pioneer or pioneer to be, there is no
guarantee about anything. There's no guarantee
that your name will ever be in lights. If you
go this week, if you volunteer to go as a missionary,
there's no guarantee of a soft landing when you
come home. There's no guarantee that one day
people will sing your praises. There's no guarantee
of financial success, but there is one guarantee.
And that is that for every laborer that lays
their life down for the cause, you will make
impact. And one day, it might be said of you,
that while Christ died to make men holy, you
gave your life to make them free. Amen. That's
all I have. Let's welcome our pastor as he comes.