Please be seated. And as you do so, turn with me to Acts and chapter 9. Acts and chapter 9. I will read to you in a moment the call of God to Paul, who at that time was Saul. So we'll commence reading from verse 1, but our text this evening is simply that final statement that God makes as He calls Saul, or Paul, to the work of ministry. So Acts chapter 9, and we begin with verse 1. But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now, as he went on his way, he approached Damascus. And suddenly, a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And he said, who are you, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do. The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. saw rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they laid him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank." Now, there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, Ananias. And he said, here I am, Lord. And the Lord said to him, rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas, look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. For behold, he is praying. And he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight. But Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name. But the Lord said to him, go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much He must suffer for the sake of my name." We end our reading there. It's been said a number of times already that this is quite a special day for Kabwada Baptist Church, and a number of reasons have been given. There's been the unusual number of people that have been baptized. It's not the highest. that we have managed. I think last year we had something like 26 on one occasion. But still, it's been special in that sense that we've had these number of baptisms. And also, they're setting apart on the same day. While I was preparing to come and preach, I counted the number of church planting missionaries that we have sent out thus far, and our brother Kelvin Mbewe is number 40. You're the 40th. church planting missionary that we have sent out as a church. And just that whole number itself is special. The Lord's been very gracious to us to see of so many individuals, not just across Lusaka, not just across Zambia, but indeed across the entire continent. Usually we set apart men to plant churches from the scratch, but sometimes it is when a church has not yet reached the place where it is self-governing and self-supporting, and yet there is a vacancy. we still then take the time to set apart somebody for that work. And with respect to John Lang, as you already heard, it was one of the first two churches we began planting sometime in the year 1992. And it's gone through quite a few hands. And the last one was a brother a German bander, and now we have Kelvin Mbewe coming to take over. Our prayer, those of you from John Lang listen, our prayer is that he'll be the last. We would like the church to be independent. A lot of other churches have come from behind and they've overtaken you. They are now sister churches functioning on their own pretty well. There's no reason why the first baby should still be in the house. There's no reason. You should now get out and marry and have your own children. You understand? Okay, so that's really our desire, that that should be the case, that you can be producing other churches and before long we'll fill Lusaka, we'll fill Zambia with solid Reformed Baptist churches. Now one of the reasons why we don't have as many men falling over each other to take over the work of missions and one reason why we rejoice when the Lord gives us a man like him is primarily or partly because the preaching ministry also is a call to suffer for Christ's name. And I hope we've seen this in the text that we have just read. The two go together. Yes, you are called to preach. There's no doubt about that. You are called to take the message as we saw from this text. Take the message before the Gentiles, before kings, before the people of Israel. But as the Lord quickly put in before he finished speaking here, I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name. And so that's the message that Ananias took to Saul on this occasion when he went to speak to him that the Lord was calling him to this ministry. And it's something that we must never hide or shun away from when we are thinking in terms of the call to ministry. If a person is not willing to suffer for the gospel, to suffer for the Lord Jesus Christ himself, then that person should take up many other possible responsibilities that are there in this world, and there are many. But when we start talking about giving ourselves to the work of ministry, and especially to that of being a preacher of the gospel, We need to bring into the equation the reality that such a person is preparing himself to go into the work of ministry and suffering will be part of that. Now to begin with, suffering is indeed part of the Christian life. It's something that all of us just have to take for granted that the Lord calls us to suffer. So if I just can quickly take you to 1 Peter and chapter 4, 1 Peter chapter 4, you will notice even in your own Bibles, at least if you've got the ESV, that from verse 12 it speaks about suffering as a Christian. Suffering as a Christian. My interest will be in the 15th and 16th verse. But before we get there, let me begin from verse 12. Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you. Now this is a letter written to Christians who were in the diaspora. They had spread out because they were running away from persecution. And he is saying, don't be surprised that this has happened in order to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's suffering, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed. Why? Because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. In other words, you are a marked man or woman. The glory of God rests upon you. The evil one sees it. and therefore comes hard after you. So do not be surprised, he is saying there. He goes on to say, Verse 15, but let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. The bottom line, therefore, is that that's what the Christian life is all about. Well, there are times of joy, when all seems to be going well, but the point that is being made by Peter here is that trials will come, suffering will come, never consider it to be something strange that is happening to you. And primarily because the Lord is testing the genuineness of your faith in Him. The genuineness. Even in chapter 1, this is what the Apostle Peter said. Let's go to chapter 1. And I begin reading from verse 6. Chapter 1 and verse 6. In this, you rejoice. What are you rejoicing in? This great salvation that is yours in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. You rejoice in this, but listen to this. Though now for a little while, if necessary, you've been grieved by various trials. And here it is, so that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. So there is a testing, and the testing is in order to prove the genuineness of your faith and love for the Lord. So all of us will undergo suffering. The point that is being made by the Lord Jesus Christ to Saul through Ananias is something further than that. It is something that is primarily related to the work of ministry. And what I want us to do very quickly here is to go to 2 Corinthians 11. and see the Apostle Paul now, having saved the Lord for a number of years, I want us to see him describing what his ministry was like. Second Corinthians chapter 11 and I begin reading from verse 23. And the Apostle Paul there is concerned to defend his ministry because individuals have arisen that are undermining his call. They are basically saying to the Corinthians that Paul is nothing really. He is not really an apostle of our Lord and so on. And so the apostle Paul now is coming and saying, look, I shouldn't be speaking like this because you yourselves are a fruit of my ministry. So strictly speaking, I should be defended by you. But because you are listening to these people who claim to be apostles but they are really nothing, you forced me. to come in and tell you about my apostleship and my ministry. And look at the way he puts it, beginning there in verse 23. He says, are they servants of Christ? I am a better one. And he says, I'm talking like a madman. But notice. with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the 40 lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. A night and a day I was adrift at sea on frequent journeys. in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers, in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without money, in cold and exposure. Now that's one aspect of the inevitable suffering that was happening here with the Apostle Paul. And I want us to notice a number of things. First of all, some of it is initiated by people who hate what he is teaching. And therefore, they find accusations against Paul so that they can so injure him physically that in the end, he abandons his work and goes on to do something else. It was meant in order to short circuit his ministry. And so he speaks about that. But let's also add to this the physical harm that was coming purely out of his own labors. He's talking in terms of being shipwrecked at sea. That's not individuals wanting to harm him. He speaks in terms of the kind of labors that were to do with frequent journeys. He speaks about dangers from gentiles and dangers in the city and danger in the wilderness and so on. Largely, simply because as he's going about ministry, he is exposing himself to so many dangers. while others are in the safety and security of their own homes. He throws that in as well. But also, it is the suffering that is purely emotional because of the state in which the people of God are. A typical example that I can give you there is in verse 28 and verse 29. It says there, and apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak? And I am not weak. Who is made to fall and I am not indignant? The pain, the emotional pain that he was going through because of the state of the churches. Is it the church in Corinth? or there was the fighting that was taking place among them over the leaders. There was the sexual immorality that was so bad that it says even outside the church it is so rare. There was the brethren who were suing one another to court. There were the disagreements among them that were threatening the welfare of the church because of food sacrificed to idols and how to handle that. There were issues to do with the Lord's Supper where some people were getting so drunk while others were going away hungry. There were issues that were to do with the spiritual gifts between those that were speaking in tongues and those that were involved in prophecy and so on. And again, the church was at sixes and sevens, as they say. There was the wrong doctrine related to the resurrection of the dead. And Paul was receiving this news and it was vexing his soul. Was it the churches in the province of Galatia? Same thing. He had already preached there. He had moved on. And then some Judaizers passed through, claiming that faith in Jesus Christ is not enough. That to be accepted by God, you must also be an individual who is circumcised. And again, it gets to Paul, and he is vexed to the depth of his being. And hence, he writes that letter to the Galatians, where he asks the question, what's the problem with you? Have you been bewitched? Now, that was obviously out of an emotional outburst. Well, we can add all this to our brother who's been set apart today as Pastor Mbewe, that the ministry is one that inevitably brings in suffering. It's inevitable. It's not a paid holiday. It's one that would demand a lot from you, especially in terms of the intensity of labor. The intensity of labor. Sadly, too many people enter into the work of ministry and basically the attitude is one of simply, pay me for doing next to nothing. That's really the attitude. At least I'm able to produce the same one on Sunday. You ought to be happy about that. And then they spend literally the rest of the week doing their own things. When you read this letter to the Corinthians, that's not what you are learning from the Apostle Paul. Paul was a man who was spending and being spent in the work of ministry. And as we've already said, there will be also the concern that people won't see, but it will be eating away at you on the inside. As Paul puts it here, the daily pressure on me because of my anxiety for all the churches. That's a weight that he speaks about that he describes as being weak when others are weak. He describes it as being indignant, being filled with a righteous indignation. when so many other people are failing to walk the Christian life. But I really need to also add here, in the midst of the many words that he has spoken about, he says, danger from false brothers. Danger from false brothers. In other words, you would think that the brethren in the Lord Because you are spending and being spent for them, that they will all be saying, Pastor Kelvin Mbewe, he's a jolly good fellow. But you are shocked to find that they are false brothers. Individuals who, yes, when you are there, they will pat you on the back. As soon as you are gone, they are trying to find ways to destroy you, to throw mud upon your name. And sadly, often this news does reach you, and it becomes part of your suffering, the way in which you suffer for the Lord. It was this that happened to the Apostle Paul on a number of occasions and left him quite distraught. It will, no doubt, happen to you as well. It's something you must be ready for. Why does the Lord make us pass through all these things? I mean, you are the servant of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, and now you should have your person and your name and your body and everything else dragged through the mud. Why? Well, there are a number of reasons, and let me just quickly give you one or two. First of all, it is a training. so that you might be able to minister to Christ's suffering people. Because as we already said, God's people suffer. Now generally speaking, it's you who gets to know the suffering that they are going through. While everybody else, they tend to keep it away from them. And as a result, if you are going to minister to them, you must know your own share of suffering as well. How can you counsel people with the Word of God if the Word of God has not ministered to you in your time of suffering? How? That's one way the Lord trains His people. to save him, it is through the fairness of affliction. As the Apostle Paul says at the beginning of 2 Corinthians, that it is so that we can comfort others, the same comfort that the Lord gives us in our time of suffering. So it is not that God hates you when he allows you to go through suffering. It is because you are a chosen instrument in His hands. But another is to keep you humble. And the Apostle Paul refers to this in chapter 12, 2 Corinthians and chapter 12. He says, I must go on boasting, though there is nothing to be gained by it. I will go on to visions, he says, and revelations of the Lord. I know a man in Christ who 14 years ago was caught up in the third heaven. And as you go on to see, he's referring to himself. Whether in the body or out of the body, I do not know. God knows. And I know that this man was caught up into paradise. Again, whether in the body or out of the body, I do not know. God knows. And he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. On behalf of this man, I will boast. But on my own behalf, I will not boast, except of my weakness. Though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me." So to keep me from becoming conceited, there it is, to keep me from becoming proud because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, A thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weakness, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. The point is, yes, to keep you humble, the church allows trials. Rather, God allows these trials in your life. Sadly, often, your own church, John Lang Reformed Baptist Church, will decide to help God a little bit in keeping you humble. And often, it's by making sure that your salary is next to zero. I'm telling you, pastor after pastor ends up resigning their job. for financial reasons. Yes, I would like to try and convince you that John Lange will look after you very well, but let's wait and see. Sadly, and I have to say this, sadly, too many church leaders say, Lord, we'll help you to keep him humble. and they tighten the screws on the financial end. What should you do? Hang in there. Hang in there. Hang in there, trusting that the Lord has allowed this for a purpose. At His own time, when I have learned my lesson, He will lift the situation and it will be better. Just as you have to go through persecution from those who hate your Simmons, just as you'll have to go through the pain of seeing Christians fall back or backslide. Just as you'll have to go through a season of even physical trials, lack of good health that brings you so low, you may also have to go through a season when the pocket is unusually empty. Unusually empty. Just know the Lord is doing all this that you might be trained to be the kind of servant that He will be pleased with. Let me quickly add a word of encouragement, and it is this. Remember the example of Jesus. Remember the example of Jesus who suffered many things because of his love for the church. His love for the church. Just keep your eyes on him. And remember, he went much further than you will ever go. He went all the way to the cross. as a servant serving up to the point where he lays down his life for the church. Keep that in mind. And also keep it in mind that as you suffer in the work of ministry, You are completing what was lacking in Christ's suffering for his body. Now that's a very strange statement, but it's in the Bible. So let me read it to you. Colossians chapter one and verse 24. Colossians one and verse 24. And with that, I must hurry to close. Colossians one and verse 24. The Apostle Paul says there, now I rejoice in my suffering. That's the encouragement I want to give you, brother. This man was suffering, but at the same time, he's rejoicing in that suffering. And there's a reason. Here it is. For your sake. And in my flesh, I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you to make the word of God fully known." And on and on he goes. Keep Christ in mind that he had his suffering which was foundational, the suffering of atonement. We can never add to it, never. But there is that suffering that goes to do with building the superstructure of the church. That one, he is seated in heaven. on a throne far above all rule and authority and any name that can ever be named. It is you laboring for Him that are now filling in those gaps. So keep your eyes on Christ and know that the suffering I am going through is to complete the work of redemption. The work of redemption. So, Pastor Kelvin Mbewe and any other aspiring pastors and those that are already in this job and are running around like headless chickens preaching God's Word and teaching God's Word. What have I got to say to you? Exactly what I said at the beginning, that the call to the work of ministry is a call also to suffering for the sake of Christ. Paul has said it here, that he is filling in what is lacking in Christ's afflictions. This is what has made the work of ministry, such as unstoppable work. This is what makes missionary work so unstoppable. I've just come from lecturing in Ethiopia on the African church history, and as we were reading account after account, of missionaries that crossed into this part of the world before Kuinine was discovered, and how soon after arriving they would get malaria and die. And as their bodies were being taken back, more missionaries were crossing the Atlantic and coming over. More were dying and being buried here. And information was going back saying, so and so who left two years ago has died, succumbed. At that time, they just used to call it fever. Succumbed to fever. More would say, send me. And they would cross over. There's a letter that I asked the students to read as I was lecturing. And I've never forgotten when one of the Ethiopian students began reading, halfway through, he stopped and began to wipe his tears. It's a letter I've read here before, but I'll read it again. From Adoniram Judson to his potential father-in-law, he's asking him if he could have his daughter's hand in marriage. Listen to his view of missionary work. Listen to it. And with that, I will hurry on to close. I have now to ask whether you can consent to part with your daughter early next spring to see her no more in this world. whether you can consent to her departure to a heathen land and her subjection to the hardships and sufferings of a missionary life. He just took it for granted. A missionary will suffer and suffer hardships. whether you can consent to our exposure to the dangers of the ocean, to the fatal influence of the southern climate of India, to every kind of want and distress, to degradation, insult, persecution, and perhaps a violent death. Can you consent to all this for the sake of him who left his heavenly home and died for her and for you? For the sake of perishing, immortal souls, for the sake of Zion and the glory of God? Can you consent to all this in hope of soon meeting your daughter? Listen, in the world of glory. with a crown of righteousness, brightened by the acclamations of praise, which shall resound to her Savior from heathens saved, through her means from eternal war and despair?" Well, the father said, yes, take her. The lady's name was Anne. And truly, she went through a lot of hardships. She had three pregnancies in the mission field. The first one ended as a miscarriage. The second one died at the age of eight months. The third one died after six months. That's it. And she herself died from smallpox. Adoniram Judson himself married three times. The first two wives died one after the other in the mission field. The third one survived him. I can go on. For me, the bit about Adoniram Jackson's story that always makes me weep was after he had been imprisoned. I think it was something like two years. I can't remember how long. And then he came out of prison, finally released, comes home. He can see the head of his wife on the bed, but he can't see anybody. Nobody. And he calls out her name. She's not answering. He assumes she's dead. So as he leans over her and starts crying, as his tears fall on her face, she opens her eyes. She was nothing but skin and bones. Skin and bones. Fast forward. When Judson died, he had saved for 12 years. with only 18 converts. However, today, the place where he labored has the third largest number of Baptists in the whole world. America is number one. India is number two, where William Carey labored. Number three is Burma, now called Myanmar. And there are 2.5 million evangelical Christians in that place. He laid a foundation. He suffered. He suffered. But you wait until we get to glory. and we see the fruit, we with righteous envy would be admiring the weight of glory that He will have. Amen.