But anyhow, if you have your Bibles, we're gonna go to the book of Acts, and we'll start off there tonight in Acts chapter nine, a very familiar verse, and we're gonna stay with the theme. I know we're to say not there yet four months, and then cometh harvest, but lift up your eyes. And boy, the harvest is ripe. Man, I sometimes feel like we maybe are so slack that it's rottening, but nonetheless, I know that you know our country is in quite a shape, and we sure need some salt in the earth, amen? And we ought to be. doing everything that we can to make a difference. I believe our time is short, and I believe that the Lord is going to return soon, and I don't know about you, but when he comes back, I want to hear him say, well done. Amen. Thou good and faithful servant. There's not much I can do or be, but all of us can be faithful. Amen. And I may not be too fabulous, may not be too fitful, but we can be faithful. Amen. And so I trust that that's your desire. And I appreciate, again, Brother Bobby and Miss Brandy and appreciate you folks being here and your desire to want to help missionaries and support the work and harvest, if you will, as we sang about, our brother sang. I believe that the harvest is ripe. and we have an opportunity today to reach others for the cause of Christ, and we ought to do everything within our power to do so. I want to look, if you will, a very familiar passage of scripture, and we'll just read just one verse to start off with. Look in, I'm sorry, in Acts chapter nine, we'll get to Hebrews later, Lord willing, and nine, Hebrews nine, chapter six, and boy, I tell you, it's easy when you don't want to do something just to postpone it. And that's the reason, again, for, I believe, the topic, if you will, the direction that the Lord has given your pastor for this meeting and for this missions conference is to say not ye are yet four months, and then cometh harvest. The harvest is ripe. As a matter of fact, again, I think that a lot of times we don't realize just how near we are to the end. I certainly want to be found faithful when the Lord comes and doing my part. I know we can't do everything, but all of us can do something. Amen, every one of us can. And so if you have your Bibles there, we'll just read that verse. And I know you're familiar with the Apostle Paul having been confronted on the road to Damascus and that voice from heaven. Saul, Saul, how persecutest thou me? And notice if you will, verse number 5, we'll just read just a few verses there, and said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said unto him, or said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest. It is hard for thee to kick against the bricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do. The Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. We're going to leave off reading right there. We'll come back in just a little bit. And I know that you've probably heard many messages from this passage of Scripture. Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? You know, we're, most of us, very susceptible to trying to help somebody else figure out what they're supposed to do. And it seems like when we can get our eyes off of ourselves and what the Lord wants us to do, that we feel a little more comfortable. And just pointing the finger at somebody else, well, I know what Joe Blow needs to do, but hey, do we know what we're supposed to do? And I again know that you're familiar with the context of the Scripture and the Apostle Paul has seen that bright light on the road to Damascus and God's got his attention. And let me say this, I believe the Lord ought to have our attention in the day in which we're living today especially. Amen. Every one of us ought to realize that our time is short. And I believe the Lord's coming back soon. You say, Pritchard, you believe you'll have to go through the avenue of death? Well, I don't know, but I hope I get to go out in the rapture, amen? And I hope that you and I will just continue, ever how long the Lord allows us to serve, ever how long he allows us to be a part of what he's doing now, that we'll just be found faithful. Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And it's easy to, Ask the question, Lord, what do you have my brother to do, my sister? But, you know, when we really mean business with God, the Apostle Paul, I don't believe, had any idea of what was about to transpire and the direction his life was about to take. But I believe when we get serious with God, God will be sincere and serious with us. And this thing of missions is of utmost importance. And again, I'll try to add some shortening to this. Somebody says, two things help by shortening. biscuits and other sermons. So we'll add a little shortening and move on. All right, let's pray. Father, thank you for the opportunity to get to be here. And I pray that you'll bless now this time that we have together. Thank you, Lord, for the church. Thank you, Lord, for the folks that you've assembled together here. We thank you for their pastor and pastor's wife and the staff, all that goes on here. We thank you especially tonight for these missionaries. Lord, that are preparing to go to the field that you've called them to. And I pray that you'll help them, Lord, very speedily get what they need to get on the field. We do believe that our time is short. And so I pray you'll help them do that. And Lord, I pray that you'll just help this church and those that, Lord, have a desire to reach others for you, that you'll just help us, Lord, to be faithful and do our part. And we'll thank you and praise you for all that you do in Jesus' name. Amen. Now, again, I'm sure that you've heard several messages probably on this passage of Scripture, but the Lord, what will thou have me to do? And the Apostle Paul, I believe, he didn't have any idea of what was about to transpire and where the direction his life was about to take. And yet, we do see that he was willing to let the Lord be the Lord. Amen. And a lot of times we call Him Lord and we do not serve Him as Lord. And it's easy to say the word, but it's a little bit different for us to put into action what we're actually saying. and the Apostle Paul again is, Saul becoming the Apostle Paul, is willing to put his life on the line and everything else that he had been doing and persecuting Christians and all that he'd been doing. We won't have to get into that tonight, but we do want to get into just a few things and look at a few things and let's apply this personally. I know that God doesn't call everybody to go to a foreign mission field. But God does require in stewards that a man be found faithful. And there's a requirement placed on each one of us. With whatever God has given us, the Lord has provided us with assets. He's given us the ability to help those and be a part of what's going on. You know, the Lord could do all this by Himself, but He's chosen to use us. And I believe the Lord wants to use us, and I believe that it's a privilege to be used of God. And we ought to understand that when Paul is asking the question, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? He is saying, I'm open for your direction. By the way, after what he has seen and experienced, I can just imagine that he's ready to do things that he never thought he would do. And I know that the persecution that he brought on the church is about to be returned on him from those, again, that did not know the Lord and do not know the Lord. But just a few things we want to look at, and I believe that the Lord can help us to apply this. Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? Now, we can say, well, I don't know what the Lord will have the church to do, but how about let's just individualize this, let's get personalized with it, amen? And I know that the Apostle Paul, or Saul, is getting started here, but the Lord wants us to have the same attitude at whatever point in your life you are, your spiritual life you're in. It ought to be a common, if you will, request from the Lord. to give us direction about what He wants us to do. And I believe your church is a missions-minded church, and I believe that every one of us can do something. None of us can do everything, but all of us can do something. And it ought to be our desire, again, just to make a difference for the Lord, for the cause of Christ. And so, they say that There's several million people in the world and billion rather, I'm sorry, and over half of them have never heard the gospel not one time. There are at least three million or more villages worldwide without a gospel witness. Again, Paul asked, Lord, what would you have me to do? I tell you, when we recognize that the world is in desperate need, Those of you and just about probably everybody here knows for sure that you saved on your way to heaven. If you didn't, wouldn't you want somebody if they had to come across the ocean or whatever to get to you with the gospel? Every one of us would because of what we now know. But listen, there's a lot of folks that don't know what they need. And I believe again that the responsibility, if you will, the Lord has placed upon the church, He's placed upon us as Christians, we as believers. He says again, the Apostle Paul is with that bright light. I mean, there ought to be a light come on in our mind, our eyes and say, now because of the fact that we do know where we're going, And we do know what it takes to go to heaven, amen? And we do know that Jesus paid the price. We do know the gospel story. I'm not ashamed of the gospel Christ Paul said in Romans 1 16. He said, It is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first, also to the Greek. But God has given us a responsibility, and that is to carry the good news to others. And so we recognize, again, according to those figures, that there are a lot of people in need. And there are several things I believe that we ought to want to do. And Paul says, Lord, what wilt thou have me do? I believe that the Lord would have him and us to lift up our eyes and look on the fields, for they are white, already under harvest. And I know that Jesus told his disciples to lift up their eyes and look on the fields, they were white, and as we look at the fields across the world, Latino America and Europe, Africa, on and on we could go, India, just name any nation that you want to, and even right here at home, And we look at the fields and we realize that there is a great need, and that need, by the way, ought to be pressing on us because it is our desire. It ought to be our desire to reach the lost. Now, I know you can't go everywhere, but you can help send. to all those different places, amen? And all of us can do something, none of us can do everything, but we can all do something. And so, not only lift up your eyes and look and see that the field's white already under harvest, but we ought to lift up our heart and pray. In Matthew in chapter 9, I'm going to read just a couple of verses there, Matthew chapter 9, and we'll move right along and try to get you out of here pretty quick, and we'll add some shortening to this one. Matthew chapter 9, and let me see, verse number 36, I believe that's what I'm looking for. He said, but when he saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion on them because they fainted and were scattered abroad, and a sheep having no shepherd. Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few. Pray ye therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers into his field. And well, I tell you, you may not can go, but you can pray that God would send someone. And we can't be everywhere, but we can be somewhere. We can't do everything, but we can do something. And by the way, prayer is not something that's minor. It's not something that we take or leave. We must have prayer. And again, if the job's going to get done, we need some folk to understand the importance of prayer. And I believe that when we look and see the need, then it's going to motivate us to do something about it. And I know, church, that you know that we live in a world that is in desperate need of the Lord Jesus Christ. You know He's the best things ever happened to you? These are the best things that ever happened to me. I still remember the day when the Lord saved me, and I'm thankful again that not only He saved me, but listen to me, when you get born again in the family of God, there's something that comes over you, and if any man be in Christ, you know it, 2 Corinthians 5, 17, He is a new creature, old things are passed away and behold all things are become new. Now your life may not have changed as drastically as mine did, but I want to tell you something, there is always a definite change in a person's life their attitude, their desires, amen? And if you're sitting here tonight and nothing's ever changed in your life or when you made a profession of faith, I just would check up and say, hey, you know what? And by the way, the Apostle Paul, immediately, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? Amen? Now, it's a lot easier for us to ask the Lord, what are you going to have our neighbor to do? What are you going to have my friends to do? But I wonder if we could just tonight be honest and say, Lord, I know that you know where I am, what I've done, and what I need to do. And Lord, would you help me? And Lord, I'm afraid a lot of folk are real shy about saying, Lord, what will you have me to do? Anyway, we need to lift up our eyes and look and lift up your heart and pray. Matthew 9, verse 36, we ought to pray that God would send forth laborers into his field and empower them and use them to reach many souls for the cause of Christ. William Carey went to India and he said, I'll descend and dig, but you at home must hold the ropes. And many missionaries, I believe, have come off the field because we at home failed to hold the ropes. These missionaries that are here tonight and those that you support, Mois, it's a blessing to see all of the missionary letters and all the missionaries you support. But they need somebody that cares enough, by the way, not just to hang the letters up, go by and read them. and pray specifically for them. I love reading missionary letters. Something just comes over me whenever I see and hear that God's got somebody that I'm acquainted with, maybe just through a letter, and care enough about them to pray that God do something special for them. By the way, that's the greatest thing you could do. You may not be able to do much financially. You may not be able to do anything much physically, but you can pray. Amen. It doesn't take a whole lot of money to pray, any. It doesn't take a whole lot of physical strength. But it does take a lot of spiritual strength for you and I to get on our face before God and plead and beg God to do what needs to be done in the lives of not only our missionaries we support, but those that they're trying to reach. And so we need to lift up our eyes and look because there is a harvest. Say not there months and then cometh harvest. That's not what it says, is it? But lift up your eyes now and lift up your eyes and realize that the harvest time is now. And so, lift up your eyes and look and lift up your heart and pray and lift up your hands and give. You knew it was going to get there, didn't you? 2 Corinthians in chapter 9, if you have your Bibles there, let's look at those few verses and then we'll move right along. 2 Corinthians in chapter 9, I know you're familiar with these verses and somebody said, well, you don't preach, these are not necessarily applied to missions. No, it's applied to giving though and giving is a part of what you and I can participate in and being a blessing and a help to missionaries. We'll just read just a couple of verses. Look in verse number 6. The Bible said, but this I say, he which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly, and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly or necessity, for God loveth a cheerful giver. God is able to make all grace abound, verse number 8, toward you, that ye always having all sufficiency in all things may abound to every good work. Let me say there's not a greater work than reaching the lost. That's why we're here. That's why the Lord hasn't come back yet, taken us out of here, because there's a work for us to do. And we ought to want to abound again. in the grace of God and accomplish for Him what He has left us here to do. And so not only we're to lift up our eyes and look, lift up our heart and pray, lift up our hands and give. And we have an opportunity to give to the greatest cause, this side of heaven. And that certainly is, again, through, I'm glad that we have a local New Testament church that we can, that's monitored and is, if you will, organized and takes the initiative to have missionaries in, to support missionaries. And again, I thank the Lord for all the letters on your walls. And because they represent somebody that is doing for us. for the Lord and we get to partner with them financially and in prayer. I've been to the mission fields several times. I've been to the Philippines. I've been to Romania and we actually went to Israel. By the way, sometimes we forget what these missionaries are going through or we don't think about it. I've been to the airport several times with missionaries and their families. Well, you're talking about giving you a heart for missionaries. I don't know if you all know Kent LeBow was a blind preacher. He was my assistant when I was in another state or another church in Louisiana. But he's legally blind. I will say he can't see nothing. But my wife and I, he was kind of my assistant when I was at the church before I was when I was Livingston. And he Decided that the Lord wanted him to go to Israel as a missionary. That's considered a missionary's graveyard. But I thought, are you sure about that, Brother Kent? Here's a guy that can't say yet. Wife and I think three kids. He's got five kids. He had five when they went. I couldn't remember how many went. And so they asked my wife and I to take them to the airport. Boy, if you want a heart for missionaries, go with them to the airport when they're packed up and leaving their families. We were sitting there in the airport, but back then you could go up there to, I don't know what you call it, where they sit and wait on the tickets. You come in and you're already going through the gate. And so we was up there sitting with them. And so Brother Kent, because of his handicap, they said, Mr. LeBeau said, if you'll come, you can come first. And so anyway, he and his wife started toward the gate and had the kids with them. And one of the little girls, Ellie, broke away from Mama and come and grab my wife by the leg. Said, I don't want to go. And she was crying. The baby was crying. I was crying. Mom and Dad was crying. And after they finally got Ellie away from my wife and they went on in to load, we looked over there and there was a lady sitting beside us and she didn't know us or them from anybody in the world. She was just bawling, crying, watching us cry. So why aren't you saying that prayer? By the way, I've got a son-in-law and a daughter that went to the Philippines as missionaries. Brother Bobby's been over there. And, you know, you guys are my heroes. I think about some missionaries I know, and I just wish I was half as good a Christian as they are. The Lord hasn't called me go to a mission field. I sure have a heart for missionaries. And if you don't believe that, and I wouldn't want you to think I'm bragging in the least, but you can ask Miss Brandy, our secretary, if she paid any attention to the giving. participated in Faith Promise for years and years, and not bragging, but what some would consider sacrificially, even, because it's the least we could do. And you guys represent us, and mostly you represent the Lord, but what a privilege to help out a hero. And so we can all lift up our hands and give. We can lift up our eyes and look and realize there is a need, not just worldwide. The mission field has come to us here now. And America is a mission field now. And it seems like it's getting worse, but the darker the night, the brighter the light. That's the reason we need to keep shining. Keep loving the Lord. Keep being what we're supposed to be. Keep doing what we ought to do. Keep reaching out. Lift up your eyes and look. Lift up your heart and pray. Lift up your hands and give. I'm going to save this one for later. Second Corinthians, I know you're familiar. We've read the verses, but we'll preach from it later some. But look back in Mark chapter 16 real quickly with me. We'll read one more verse, and we'll save some for later. I want us to be mindful that, look in verse number 15, Mark 16, 15. This is the words of our Lord. He said unto them, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned. That's the reason for missions. That's the reason, by the way, for having a church that is evangelistic in ministry, reaching the community. All of us have a responsibility. It's not just for missionaries to preach the gospel. If you've received it, you've been commissioned to preach it. And if you've received it, you've been commissioned to send it. And all of us ought to want Where is getting the gospel loud on your list of priorities? I'm afraid that a lot of Christians, that's just way down here. I ain't fussing. I ain't trying to belittle anybody, but, oh, I tell you, it needs to be elevated, to lift up your eyes. Look on the fields. You realize all this is temporal. It's a beautiful building. One of these days, it's going to crater. If you look around you, you see there's boys and girls, men and women. There's boys and girls all over this community and all over this state, all over this country, all over this world, and men and women. Some have never heard what you have the privilege to get to hear weekly, perhaps daily. And for those that have never heard, We need to lift up our hands and give. And Mark 16, 15, go ye therefore and preach the gospel to every creature. You know what? The Lord didn't give us an option about that. It's a command. We all have responsibility to be a gospel witness, don't we? I'm thankful again for missionaries that will go across the country and out of the country. But how about us right here at home? You say, Preacher, well, I'm just not very vocal. Well, you know, you don't have to be very vocal to hand someone a Gospel tract. Because actually, we're all missionaries if you're saved. We all have the responsibility to preach the gospel and to present it in every way that we can. Just tonight, just kind of focus our attention on the fact that the Lord's given us the privilege of knowing for sure that heavens are home, knowing for sure that he paid our sin debt, our sins are forgiven. But don't get so used to it that we don't share it. By supporting missionaries, you're helping share the gospel. by being actively involved in your church and supporting your church, your pastor, your staff, your school. Oh, I tell you, I believe it's imperative that you and I. Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? I don't know what else he wants you to do, but I do know this. He wants you to lift up your eyes, look on the fields, realize that they are quite already under harvest. And that means not just to look, but for us to get busy and doing everything that we can because our time is short and because we will give an account one day. Amen. And I don't know about you, I don't want to stand before the Lord one day, you know our works are going to be tried by fire. Wood, hay, stubble, silver, gold, precious stone. And I know you know what happens to wood, hay, and stubble. That's things that didn't make any eternal difference. They're going to burn, nothing but ashes. But that silver, gold, precious stone, they just come through the fire more pure. And I don't know about you, but I want to have something to bring to my Savior and lay at His feet, not just a pile of ashes. Supporting missionaries, praying for missionaries. That's silver, gold, and precious stones. Being a witness at home is silver, gold, and precious stone. Supporting your pastor, your church, supporting, again, the ministries here, the school, that's silver, gold, and precious stone. You say, well, Preacher, I just don't know. There's a lot of hesitation it seems like today. One of the reasons that our country is suffering the way that it is, I'm afraid, is because churches are living in this Laodicean age. And it's apathetic. I'm not saying yours is, but it probably would be the obvious earmark of most Laodiceans, just going through the motions. I hope that tonight you'll say, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? You say, Preacher, I've been saved a long time. That's good, but you can still pray that prayer. I know Paul just got saved when he prayed it, but you and I can still pray it. Lord, what do you want me to do? We've come to a crossroads in our ministry and my ministry. I had some health issues. You know how I know God is not through with me? I can breathe on a mirror and still see my breath. I'm going to leave this old clay behind one day, and I'll be honest with you. I'm ready. Amen. I wish he'd come back tonight. It's not up to me. It's up to him, and he knows best. And my faith and trust is in him. I don't have faith in him, but I trust him. That old song, Not Good English, but he ain't never done me nothing but good, and he won't ever do anything but good. What a good God we serve. What a wonderful Savior we have. What a blessed Holy Spirit. What a wonderful Bible. You know, it deserves more than just collecting dust. It deserves, I hope if you looked in very far in the Bible, you'd find the tear stains. The older I get, the more I love this book. It's not just black ink on white paper. It's the eternal word of God. If I didn't believe that, I'd turn in my TITAC. But I'm convinced, and I know, and I know, and I know, we have a good God. He loves you tonight. He wants to be able to bless you, us. And you know the greatest blessings we ever get are in knowing that God is using me. You know, I pastored for 40 years altogether, something like that. I know that would never happen here, but anytime church members gave me problems, it was because they weren't doing anything. They weren't. You say, Preacher, were you perfect? Absolutely not. Still ain't. But I want to be useful to the Lord. I hope and pray tonight that this missions conference will go the direction that the Lord wants it to go and that we'll have a greater heart and desire. Not just to support financially, but to support in prayer and encouragement, writing letters, just look for opportunities to be a blessing and doing what we're supposed to do at home, keeping the home fires burning too. Amen. All right. Father, thank you, Lord, tonight.