Well, good morning. Good morning. Turn this thing
on here. The past three days, Nancy and I have
been at a missionary convention called ICOM in
Atlanta, Georgia. There was Church of Christ
people there, Christian Church people there,
and it was a great experience. I love missions,
and I love missionaries. And so today I've named
this message, Called to Reach the Nations. And
I think that within this church here at Blairsville,
we find that we are doing that somewhat, not
that we can't do more, but it's a great opportunity
for us to do what God has called us to do, and
that is to reach the nations. There were people
from all over the world there in the Atlanta
Civic Center or Convention Center, and we met
friends that we hadn't seen for a long time.
It's just a great experience. Now, if you notice
the flags behind me, how many of you have been
outside of the United States? Okay, quite a few
hands. How many would like to be outside the
United States? Out of these flags back here,
I have been in about 40 of those countries. In
2003, I decided to go into full -time mission
work. Nancy was a school teacher, and the Lord
had been putting on my heart a lot about going
and doing mission work, because that's where
I felt my calling was. You know the first place
I did mission work? Hawaii. Isn't that horrible?
You know how I got there? I was doing my last
year of Bible college in Cincinnati. We were
living in Kentucky. And in February in Kentucky,
it's pretty cold. There are six inches of snow
on the ground. Nancy was working at a newspaper.
a place there in the little town we lived in,
and I was driving back and forth every day to
college. So she was expecting our first child,
and she saw in a Christian publication a minister
missionary needed in Haula Church of Christ,
Oahu, Hawaii. So unbeknownst to me, she writes
a resume for me. Now, you can imagine, I mean,
from her perspective, she's expecting a child.
She's not feeling good. Six inches of snow. It's
cold. What better place to do mission work than
Hawaii, right? And she didn't tell me. That's
the thing about it. She didn't tell me about
it. So anyway, two or three days after she did
that, she said, I need to tell you something.
The guilt was getting to her, you know. So she
said, I need to tell you something. She said,
I wrote a resume. to this church in Hawaii that's
looking for a minister missionary because it
wasn't a self -supporting church. You had to
get support. And I said, don't worry about it.
Nothing ever come from it. Well, it did come
from it. And her preacher found out about it
and called her and said, if y 'all want to go,
we'll support you. And so in May of that year,
I graduated from college. First child was born,
and in July of that year, we were flying to Hawaii,
and we did mission work there in Hawaii. And
it was quite an experience, too, because we had
all kinds of people in that church. We had some
white people. We had Koreans. We had Filipinos.
We had Japanese. It was quite a mixture of people
there in our congregation. Our neighbors across
the street were pure Hawaiian, pure Hawaiian.
Their little girl's name was Tuesday Kapiolani
Naki. She was born on Tuesday in the Kapiolani
Hospital, and her last name was Naki. So anyway,
that was our first mission experience. And then
we came home from Hawaii and did preaching work,
pastor work. But in 2003, I decided, you know
what, it's been on my heart a long time, and
I want to go into full -time mission work. And
so what I did was to join a mission agency and
from that point on I've been traveling around
the world into at least 40 of these countries
along with Nancy helping me out on the mission
work. So today I want to talk about a call to
reach the nations. And I believe this is pertinent
for us today, especially since I've been in Atlanta
for three days with missionaries. And missionaries
is the only thing that's on my head and heart.
Why not preach about it? So, do you have to point
this thing or how do we? Oh, I know. He told
me that one. There we go. Okay. Okay, so everybody
stand. What I want you to do is follow with me.
We're going to read this scripture out of Matthew
chapter 28 and verse 18. Just follow me. Then
Jesus came to them and said, All authority in
heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore,
go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to
obey everything I have commanded you. And surely
I am with you always to the very end of the age.
Thank you very much. You may be seated. Now this
is God's word. And he commissioned his disciples
to go into all the world. He died on the cross.
He was buried and rose from the dead on the third
day. And then he stayed and did all the evangelism
work. No, he didn't. He could have, right? He
could have stayed and done all the evangelism
work himself. Jesus was a great evangelist. He
had a heart for people. He stopped at the tree
where Zacchaeus was sitting up there. He could
have passed him by, but he didn't. He stopped
and said, Zacchaeus, you come now. Why? Because
that person was important to Jesus. He was an
evangelist sent from heaven, and he cared about
people. He met a woman at the well. a Samaritan,
and he cared about her, which eventually led
to the whole village coming out and talking to
him. Jesus was an evangelist, so when we read
this verse, we wonder, Jesus, why didn't you
stay here and you do the evangelism work? The
reason was because he wanted you and me and his
disciples, Peter, James, and John, and all the
rest of them, to do evangelistic work. And so
what he did before he left, this earth, and went
up into heaven, he commissioned them. Now what
is commission? It's authorization from somebody
to do a task or duty. And that's what Jesus did
before he went up into heaven and ascended up
into heaven. He gave authority to his disciples
to go into all the world and preach the gospel
to whoever it was they would be led to. Jesus.
The Lord Jesus that we know did not stay on this
earth. He did what he was supposed to do, and
that is to die and to redeem us, and then his
disciples, which he trained for three years,
would go out and preach the gospel. I read an
illustration one time about Jesus when he ascended
up into heaven. What happened up in heaven when
he got there? What do you think that would be
like when Jesus, who left heaven and came here
to this earth, born as a baby, and then grew
up, and then at 33 years of age was crucified
on the cross, and then that Jesus went up into
heaven where he came from? How would it be if
Jesus came into heaven? What would it be like
up there with all the angels, with God the Father?
Well, the illustration I was reading about, Said
entire heaven erupted with shouts of praise.
Can't you imagine that? The King of Kings and
the Lord of Lords is now back. One angel comes
up to Jesus and said, Jesus, we're so happy to
have you back. However, how are the people on
all the earth and the earth going to know about
you and your death? He said, well, I've trained
my disciples. I've trained James and Peter and
John and all of them to go out into the world
and tell about what I did on the cross. And the
angel says, but Lord, what if James and John
don't like this evangelism stuff? What if they
go back to fishing? And the angel said, what
about Matthew? Maybe he wants to go back to collecting
taxes. What then, Lord? And the Lord said, I
have no other plan. Folks, do you know another
plan that Jesus has got other than we who have
been commissioned as disciples going into all
the world? I don't know it. He has no other plan.
His disciples did what he told them to do. They
went out and preached the gospel. And great things
happened in the book of Acts as they preached
the word. And those people did what the Lord
wanted him to do. They were commissioned. Jesus
gave that commission to carry out the job, and
they did a wonderful job. You know, as we look
at these verses, he said, Therefore, go and make
disciples of all the nations, baptizing them
in the Father and Son and the Holy Spirit, and
teaching them to obey everything I have commanded
you. What if you and I fail? If you look at that
verse, it says, and surely I'm with you always
to the very end of the age. We know that it's
not just for those 12 disciples. We know it reaches
us because those disciples are now dead. So are
we expecting Peter or James to come and evangelize
our neighbor, our co -worker? Can we call on
Nathaniel or any of the other disciples and say,
now you come because Jesus commissioned you.
No, it's for us. Not only did he commission them,
he commissioned us to do the work of evangelism
because the end of the age when Jesus is coming
again has not happened yet. And so after those
disciples did their work, now it is upon us to
do the work of evangelism and carrying out the
Great Commission. The Apostle Paul, in the book
of Romans, Chapter 10 has some questions about
this. In chapter 10 and verse 13 of Romans, Paul
said, For everyone who calls on the name of the
Lord will be saved. Okay, Paul. We got that.
And then Paul in verse 14 has some questions.
And the question is, How then will they call
on him in whom they have not believed? Now think
about that question. How? How will they call
on him in whom they have not believed? In other
words, if they don't believe it, how can they
pray to the Lord Jesus about their problems,
about their difficulties, that they're sinners,
and give their lives to him? How can they do
that if nobody has ever told them about the Lord
Jesus and what he does and what he has done and
what he will do? How will they call on him? They
won't. They won't call on him. How do you expect
your neighbor or your co -worker or your students
you go to school with to call on Jesus if you've
never told them about Jesus? Next question Paul
has in verse 14 of Romans chapter 10. How would
they believe in whom they have not heard? Makes
sense, doesn't it? How would they believe in
him, in Jesus, whom they have not heard? If they
haven't heard about him, Then how can they believe
in it? It's like, let's say somebody's walking
down the street out there and we believe somebody
needs to be baptized to be saved. And we go out
there and we say, Tim, run out there and get
that guy. Go out there and bring him in here
and we're going to baptize him. Tim, go get that
guy. Tim says, you're crazy. I'm not going to
go get that guy. But you go out there and we
say, Jeremy, go get that guy. And he runs out
there and grabs that guy and that guy says, what
are you doing? He said, I'm going to baptize
you. You're crazy. What's baptism? He said, don't
worry about it. Come in here. And Jeremy takes
him in there and dumps him in the water. Now,
everything's good, right? He's been baptized.
How will they believe in him and whom they have
not heard? That guy didn't hear anything about
Jesus, about baptism, about whatever. So it doesn't
take. It's no good. That's why missionaries,
preachers, teachers are important in the kingdom.
That's why Jesus commissioned his disciples to
go into all the world and preach the gospel if
they preach it in Africa, if they preach it in
Brazil, if they preach it in Mexico. They hear.
Not all of them believe, but some do. And those
who do, those who come to Christ and give their
lives to the Lord Jesus are baptized into Christ
for the remission of sins. One time I was preaching
in Ukraine. And this woman came forward and wanted
to accept Jesus. We didn't have a portable baptistry.
We didn't have a baptistry like that back there.
We didn't have a stream or a creek or a river
out here. We didn't have a lake. What are we
going to do? How are we going to baptize her?
You know what they did? They filled up the bathtub.
They set her down in there, put her under the
water, and came back. She was baptized. Wherever
you are in the world, it's important that we
preach the gospel. Last question, Paul said in
Romans 14, how were they here? Without a preacher.
Faith comes by hearing it. Hearing by the word
of God. Who's going to preach it? If not you,
then who? Who's going to tell your neighbor,
is it up to me? To talk to your neighbor about
Christ? Is it up to you to come to Hiawassee
and talk to my neighbor about Christ if they
need it? Is it up to me to come to your place
of work and do what you need to do that Christ
has called you to do and commissioned you to
do? It's not up to me. It's up to you. And it's
not up to you to come and talk to my neighbors
or my ten people. It's up to me. God has commissioned
us to go into the world, to go into Blairsville,
to go wherever to do his will. Paul also, I mean,
in the scriptures, we read about being witnesses
for Jesus. Acts 1a, but you will receive power
when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you'll
be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judea, Samaria,
and the ends of the earth. We are witnesses for
Jesus. Sometimes when I see a Jehovah's Witness,
they call themselves JWs, I go up and say, hey,
I'm a JW. They say, yeah. I said, yeah, I'm a
Jesus witness. You know what it says here in
1 .8? Aren't we all JWs, Jesus witnesses? We
witness for the Lord Jesus Christ. And he said,
but you will receive power. The Holy Spirit came
down in the book of Acts. And those disciples
learned a language just like that because the
power of the Holy Spirit filled them. And in
Acts chapter 2, they started preaching and teaching.
And people heard them in their own language.
It was a marvelous thing. And so they were able
to witness for the Lord Jesus Christ through
his power. And God gave them specific situations
to do. He said that you'll be witnesses in Jerusalem.
That city knew who Jesus was. The people who
tried to shut them up, the Pharisees and the
others, said, you guys quit preaching. Quit teaching
this stuff. And they said, no, how can we? We
have God's word, and we're going to teach and
preach what God tells us to, not what man tells
us to. And they did preach and teach. So, Jerusalem,
Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth. This
is not a correct analogy, but I was thinking,
how does it work for us today? What would God
tell us to do? He would tell us to go into Blairsville.
When was this church started? In the 70s? 60s?
I don't know. I think Curtis had told me one
time, but I don't really remember exactly. But
nevertheless, it was started. And since that
time, you folks have been preaching and teaching
in Blairsville, right? And then you go from Blairsworth
to Union County and then to the state of Georgia
and then to the ends of the earth. So we don't
have Jerusalem that we need to witness to or
Judea or Samaria or the ends of the earth. I
did hear that the restoration preachers in the
beginning were wondering, where can we go and
preach the gospel? And they went to Jerusalem.
They didn't have much success there, but that's
where they went. But for us, we don't have to
go all the way to Jerusalem. We're in Blairsville,
Georgia, and that's where we need to spread the
word. You want this church to grow? Well, get
busy. This week, what I liked was to be able
to see people I hadn't seen for a while. I kept
running into them, and Nancy and I were going
to eat. They had some tables set up, so we're
eating. And there's another couple there, and
I said, where are you folks from? They said,
from Kentucky. And I said, I'm from Kentucky.
They said, where? I said, Harrison County. They
said, we're from Pendleton County. I said, I
went to Unity Church, and they said, man, that
church is really growing. Now, when I was a kid,
you know how many people that church had? About
90. You know what? He said, that church is really
on fire. You know how many they're growing now?
I said, how many? He said, 400. He said, they've
had 50 baptisms this year. Blasphemy. Church
of Christ, are we dead? When's the last time
we had a baptism here? When's the last time you've
seen anybody baptized into Christ here? I'm saying
if Jerusalem was their ministry they were called
to and they had 3 ,000, right? If we read it
in the book of Acts chapter 2, they went out
and preached, and 3 ,000 people were baptized
in Christ Jesus, and then they grew to 5 ,000,
and then the Bible just quit using numbers that
said multitudes, multitudes, multitudes. So my
home church of 90, when I was there as a kid,
now is running 450 baptisms this year. Don't
you get it? Go into all the world and preach
the gospel. We're called to reach the nations,
but we start here in Blairville. And then we
go to Georgia and to the ends of the earth. Don't
we have a young man from this congregation named
Jake, and where is he? Thailand, right? And we
support Alex over in Ghana. And Brother Terry
went over to Kenya two years ago and had 30 baptisms.
The ends of the earth. So not just here, but
to the ends of the earth. And it's a tremendous
thing that God has given us when he stirs in
the heart of somebody and says, Hey, we can do
this. We can see this church grow. We can see
things happen. It's a wonderful thing. to the
ends of the earth. I believe that God is calling
us to do his will. And maybe you say, well, I
can't go way over there. I understand that. I
understand God doesn't call everybody to be a
missionary, to hear their yawn. And he doesn't
call everybody to the same country. Some people
are called to South America. Some people call
to Africa. Some people call to Eastern Europe.
But the gospel can go, but it starts here. And
then it goes throughout all of the world. I just
received a request from the OUGIS Church of Christ
in OUGIS, Kenya, about a school that they want
to purchase behind the church. And it's a small
price. I bet we could get it right here. You
know what they want for that property? And it's
such an outreach for that church to get into
the community with the kids, and the kids bring
the parents. They only want $5 ,500 ,000. You
think we could do that? Don't we have a big God?
Folks, that's in Kenyan shillings. It's $44 ,000,
and that seemed like a big number, but you know
what? Nancy and I said, hey, we'll give $5 ,000
for it. Why? We had a church in Athens. They
would give $2 ,000 for it. Now we're down to
$37 ,000. Folks, I'm telling you, we can do it.
And the thing I loved about the convention, we
kept hearing positive things from preachers about
what they can do. Instead of, I can't do this,
we can't do this, blah, blah, blah. Let's see
what we can do. Because these verses in the Bible,
Jesus said, go to Jerusalem. We can't do that.
There's too many Pharisees there. There's too
many Sadducees. We can't go there. Well, then
go to Judea. Well, we can't do that either. Well,
go to Samaria. Nope, nope, nope. There's Samaritans.
We don't like them. We have to walk around. Jesus
went to Samaria, didn't he? Talked to the woman
at the well. Well, go to the ends of the earth
then. So what do we say here in Blairsville?
Let's go to Blairsville and bring our friends,
our relatives, our neighbors, and reach this
community and Georgia and all throughout the
world. Pray for Brother Jake. Pray for Brother
Alex. Pray for Brother Felix and Rachel and Kenya.
Pray, pray, pray, pray, pray that we might reach
the world because time is short. Many years ago,
I got to travel to Russia, and I was teaching
a class. This was after the Soviet Union fell
in 1991. There was a woman in my class named
Bella. And she had a lot of questions. Remember
that in the Soviet Union, they taught there was
no God, right? Remember that? If any of you grew
up during the Cold War, there is no God. Their
cosmonauts went up into space and said, we don't
see any God here. Our astronauts went up and
they read from the Bible, in the beginning, God
created the heavens and the earth. Two different
world views. But the Soviet Union fell. I got
to go over and preach and teach. So anyway, Bella,
after class through an interpreter, she said,
would you come over to our house with the interpreter,
and I want to ask some questions. And Bella had
a lot of questions. Resurrection, really? She'd
kind of gotten into New Age stuff about, you
know, this thing about what the Indians call
it. It's not resurrection. Yes. where they keep
going, you know, and you die, and you're born
into something else, and you die. They said,
oh, Buddha was 500 times. But anyway, we had
to go through all that because she had all these
cobwebs in her brain and talk about the Lord
Jesus and his resurrection, that he was real,
and talk about the Bible and who Jesus was. But
after a week of talking to her, guess what? You
know that guy out there in that river in Russia?
The Sur River. It's the coldest river, I think,
I've ever been in. The water I've ever been in
is really cold. But nevertheless, me and Bella
got out there and I baptized her into Christ
for the remission of her sins. Praise God. Because
I was willing to go there and preach and teach.
And there are many people in countries all around
the world who are preaching and teaching. And
some believe. and some gives their life to Christ
and are baptized into Christ, and one day those
people are going to resurrect when the Lord Jesus
comes back again. There was another girl named
Olga, good Russian name, who was our interpreter.
We were asking our interpreters, do you know
Jesus? And Olga raised her hand and said, There
were some people who came over, and they said,
if you want to accept Jesus, just raise your
hand. I said, Olga, did they talk to you about
being baptized into Christ for the forgiveness
of your sins? She said, no. I said, do you mind
if I talk to you? So on this same river, in a
high river bank, Olga and I were sitting, kind
of like that bank back there behind us, and it's
real sandy soil. We were sitting there, and I
was going through the book of Acts with different
scriptures about baptism and why she needed to
be baptized because if she believed in Jesus,
because believers are baptized, not unbelievers,
so she was a believer. And the bank gave way,
and I was sliding down towards the river, and
I thought I was going to be the one who was going
to be baptized, but thank God I stopped before
I got to the river, and we both had a good laugh.
But out of that, Olga accepted. what the scripture
said, and she was baptized into Christ. Folks,
that is the way it happens. In Acts chapter 1,
verse 9, After he said this, he was taken up
before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from
their sight. They were looking intently up into
the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men
dressed in white stood beside them. Men of Galilee,
they said, why do you stand here looking into
the sky? This same Jesus who has been taken from
you into heaven will come back in the same way
you have seen him go into heaven. Has he come
back yet? No, but he will. What Jesus is coming
back? Is it the Muslim Jesus? See, the Muslim
believed that Jesus was not crucified. No, it's
not that Jesus is coming back, because that Jesus
doesn't exist. What about the Jehovah's Witness
or Mormon Jesus? They do not believe that Jesus
was God in the flesh, like John 1 says, in the
beginning was the Word, the Word was with God,
and the Word was what? The Word was God, capital
G. They've changed their translation, the New
World translation, to say he was God, little
g. No, he is God. And that Jesus, the one who
was crucified, the one with the nail prints,
the one that had the spear put in his side, that
Jesus is coming back. Thomas, you don't believe
that I resurrected? Put your hands here, Thomas.
Here, Thomas, look here. When he comes back,
we will recognize him, we will know him, that
Jesus, this same Jesus, not a different Jesus.
He's coming back. He'll split the eastern sky.
We're going to look up and say, praise God, hallelujah.
So Jesus is coming back again. And it's going
to be a wonderful thing. You know, the Apostle
Paul in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 says that the
dead in Christ will rise first. And we who are
alive will meet him in the air. And he says we
will forever be with the Lord. This same Jesus
is coming back. Time is moving on. And he's saying,
get to work. Get to work. Any of you ever seen
a rocket launch in Florida? Nancy and I lived
in Florida near the Cape Canaveral area. So whenever
they would launch a... we would go down and watch
it. We could actually see it from the backyard.
But one time, the sky was so clear, the day was
so clear, and they shot that rocket up. I mean,
you could see it, and you didn't want to go in.
You could watch and watch and watch and watch
and watch and watch and watch and watch, and
then finally it disappeared. Can't you see these
disciples? They've never seen anybody fly before.
Have you seen anybody fly before other than Superman?
Here Jesus ascends up into heaven. And I can
imagine here they're standing watching Jesus
go up, up, and up. There goes the Lord Jesus.
We know who he is. We know he is crucified. We
know he resurrected. And now he's leaving us
and they're watching, watching, watching. And
then the angels appear and say, men of Galilee,
why stand you here gazing up into heaven? This
same Jesus, he's going to come again. Now what?
Get to work. Go into all the world. I've commissioned
you. Go talk to your neighbors. Go preach the
gospel. Send missionaries out. This is your calling.
This is your task. Because Jesus is coming. And
I'm looking forward to what a day that will be
when my Jesus I shall see. We will look at him
and see him face to face on that day he comes
back. Are you looking forward to heaven? I have
relatives there. I have friends there. I have
preachers who I've known over the years, and
they've ministered to me and people I have ministered
to. When I was in high school, we had a youth
worker, and she loved teenagers. Sometimes people
don't love teenagers. You know, they want to
get them to that stage and get on past that stage,
you know. But this woman actually acted like
she loved us. Not only did she act like it, she
did love us. She said, come on over. We're going
to have hot dogs and hamburgers. And she would
cook out for us. And she was just a really good
person and a good Christian woman. And she wanted
us to know the love of Christ because she loved
us as teenagers. Friday night, Sunday afternoon.
She really liked being around us, and we liked
being around her. When I graduated from college
with my master's degree, she wrote me a note,
and she said, congratulations on your graduation.
You've worked hard, and you deserve it. However,
the best graduation will be the graduation from
this earth with all its trials and tribulations.
To the eternal home in heaven. And then she wrote
these words. See you there. See you there. Will
we see you there? Will you be there when Jesus
comes and we get to go up to heaven? I know I
had a pretty sure I don't. I won't go along with
this, but my great, great, great, great, great
grandfather was a Methodist circuit riding preacher.
Everything about that man that he did was Christian.
And we have his will. And he gives praise to
God right in his will. And I cannot 100 % say
he's there, but I can almost be assuredly by
reading what he wrote. that he will be there.
Praise God that there are family members and
other people that have gone on that you will
see again. Folks, believe in the resurrection.
Jesus is your proof. If Jesus came forth from
the dead, what makes us think that we won't if
he said we will? Will you be there? You should
be. For God so loved the world that he gave his
one and only son that whoever believes in him
should not perish, but have eternal life. Why
won't you be there? God loves you. Is there something
in your life you're just keeping you bound and
you can't make that decision to let go and say,
Lord Jesus, come into my life, forgive me of
all my sins, every one of them, I give my life
over to you. I want to be baptized like the Ethiopian
eunuch when he was preached Jesus to by Philip.
He said, here is water. What hinders me to be
baptized? And he was baptized. Folks, today,
this is the message that we're called to reach
the nations. But let's just start right here.
Maybe there's somebody right here in this church.
Instead of going to all around the world, let's
start here. Who is here today? That if you died,
you'd stand before God and God said, I don't
know you. You've never given your life to me.
I don't know you. Depart from me. Why be in that
position for? Be in a position where you know
what to do and you've done it and then you are
able to lead others there. Folks, we're going
to stand and sing our hymn of invitation. If
you have not made that decision, you're welcome
to come forward. And if not today, talk to one
of our elders, talk to one of our members, talk
to me, that you might get right with God before
it's eternally too late. Let's just stand and
sing.