We'll begin our time of worship as we sing together the hymn 318. Beneath the cross of Jesus, I fain would take my stand, the shadow of a mighty rock within a weary land. Let's rise to our feet. I pray you, take my soul, and shallow my heart with him and lead me there. Amen. and the fervor of the day. Oh, say can you see, by the dawn's early light, O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave and wine, and there between the stands the cross will lie. Thy face will seem like the washing ♪ Upon the cross of Jesus, my eyes have seen ♪ ♪ The very eye of the one who suffered there for me. ♪ of His glorious love, and my own worthless self. One verse. I, David. the sunshine of his face. Content in the world, O I, to know no pain nor loss. I say of self, my only shame, I know Let's read the Word of God, our psalm for today, which is the Psalm 88. O Lord God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before Thee. Let my prayer come before Thee. Incline Thine ear unto my cry. For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draweth nigh unto the grave. I am counted with them that go down into the pit. I am as a man that hath no strength. Free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more, and they are cut off from thy hand. Thou hast led me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps. Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves, Selah. Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me. Thou hast made me an abomination unto them. I am shut up, and I cannot come forth. Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction. Lord, I have called daily upon thee. I have stretched out my hands unto thee. Wilt thou show wonders to the dead? Shall the dead arise and praise thee, Selah? Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave, or thy faithfulness in destruction? Shall thy wonders be known in the dark, and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness? But unto thee have I cried, O Lord. And in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee, Lord, why castest thou off my soul? Why hidest thou thy face from me? I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up. While I suffer thy terrors, I am distracted. My fierce wrath goeth over me. Thy terrors have cut me off. They came round about me daily like water. They compassed me about together. lover and friend hast thou put far from me, and mine acquaintance into darkness." You know, this psalm is a song, and songs generally are happy, but there are a number of the psalms and they are sad. And some have reckoned that this one, Psalm 88, is the saddest song of all the Psalter. And I think as we read it together, we understand why when we think of the affliction of the one that is writing here by inspiration. We come to worship the Lord today. We come to pray just now. Very thankful that Sunday school got back underway. And this morning, a few still on holiday and not back as yet, but a good number there, four new ones this morning. That was a great delight to our hearts. and to our superintendent and teachers. Just before I came over this morning, I was thinking about God's work. I was thinking about this week of preparation for the mission and of course, next Lord's Day and the mission commencing. And there were two texts that came to my mind. The first one was that of Saul of Tarsus when the Lord confronted him on the road to Damascus And when he was challenged, that cry from his heart, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And I think that's a good prayer to make, not only at the commencement of your Christian life, but all the way through, what wilt thou have me to do? And then I thought of the other lady that we read about in Mark chapter 14, verse eight, where we're told she hath done what she could. The Lord never asked us to do that which we can't. but we ought to do that which we can, and this dear woman did. So we should come to pray, Lord, what will thou have me to do? I trust that the Lord will give us something to do, and we'll do what we can, even in the approach of the mission. Let's bow together in prayer, seek the Lord. Heavenly Father, it is to your house that we come for the worship of Almighty God. You have given the Sabbath to your people particularly. You have set aside this day that we might come collectively to the house of the Lord. We see the worship of God in such a way, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament and throughout church history. We know that it has ever been your mind and purpose for your people to assemble on the Sabbath day, that we might lift our praise and worship to Almighty God. We come to this house principally to meet with our God, to hear from Him and His Word later on. We come to adore our Savior and to make much of Him. We come to contemplate upon the great work of redemption and what Christ means to us as our Savior. Notice we've sung about the cross today. You have led us to Calvary. We have pondered these words as we have sung them together, and Lord, You've brought before our minds and our hearts afresh the great work of Christ, that which He accomplished for us when He was crucified for our sins. We would pray with the words of another hymn, Jesus, keep me near the cross. May that ever be so, not just on Sabbath days, but every day of the week. May we abide in the shadow of Calvary, and may we ever be thankful for all that Christ did for us in purchasing eternal salvation, in dealing with our sins once and for all. Oh, we thank you today that our sins were laid upon him, and he took them willingly, and he bore them, and he took the punishment that we deserved, And he came out victoriously. He was able to cry at the end of his suffering, it is finished. And Lord, we're glad that the work is done. It's completed. Nothing can be added to it. Nothing can be taken away from it. It's a finished work. This man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, he sat down at the right hand of God, signifying that the work was done. And so, Lord, we have entered into that mighty work of redemption. Our sins are gone, those of us that are saved here. We thank you, Lord, that we can read our titles clear to mansions in the sky. We know that this world is not our home. We're traveling through. We're going to the better country, to the city that hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. And Lord, you know the desire of our heart that others might come with us too, especially in our families and friendship circles, our neighbors and those around about. And for this purpose, you have given to us the gospel, the gospel that is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. Nor we thank you that from this pulpit, Sabbath by Sabbath, the gospel is preached. And then we have the special times of outreach, whether it's with the children or youth, or the open air work, or into the schools ministry, and missions such as will take place in the will of God in a very short time. We go through these doors that you've given us opportunities. We seek to be faithful to the Lord and to the souls of men unto whom we preach. And Father, we pray that this week will be owned of God as we prepare for the mission. And then come the two weeks in the high school, night by night, may there be a conscious sense of God's nearness. May His Word go forth with power. May His voice be heard. May a work for eternity be done in many a heart, young and old. We pray that it might please God to bring in even young people from the school there, as we have the opportunity to visit with them in the assemblies. Lord, we pray for words to say that just might create an interest in their heart to come. Lord, bring in our neighbors, bring in our families, save them at this time, especially those that have been long prayed for. Give us that desire of heart to say, as Saul of Tarsus did at the beginning of his Christian life, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And Lord, as you show us the things that need to be done, and we pray over these things, and Lord, you open a door for us. whether it's an outreach tomorrow night or Tuesday night, or in the place of prayer in the other nights of this week, or in our personal evangelism, or doing something at the mission time, bringing folks in, coming to the prayer meetings, whatever it is, Lord, what will Thou have us to do? And may we do it joyfully, and may we do what we can, just like the woman that we read about in the Scriptures. We thank you for the beginning of this new term, Sunday school starting back this morning, new children that were there, boys and girls that gathered in, getting into their new classes. Father, we pray for real blessing among the youth this term. We pray for Wesley and the teachers that you will guide them continually. May this be a great year from now until the end of December in the service of Christ in Sunday school. Remember the Bible class as well. Thank the four new ones there, and we pray for Mervyn as he takes this month, that you'll help him, and Aaron as he speaks next week. Lord, may our young people grow in grace and in the knowledge of God. Remember the sick of the church, we commit Nigel again to thee, and we think of Joanne, and we pray for Nedda today, and all the others that are on the prayer list. Know unto the Lord, name by name, you know their circumstances, you know their suffering, you know exactly what they're passing through. Indeed, Lord, you know exactly what every family here in the house of God is passing through. For Lord, you know the burdens that we carry, you know the trials that we go through, Well, we praise God that the Lord has promised to be with us when we go through the waters and when we go through the fire. His presence will carry us and uphold us and he will give grace to help in our times of need. Lord, hear our cry today. Answer the prayers of your people for Jesus' sake. Amen. 211, there is a story sweet to hear. I love to tell it too. It fills my heart with hope and cheer to his old yet ever new. That's all sound to sing. God bless America. I'm sure this truth is old never new. It's old, yet ever new. It's old, yet ever new. I know, I'm sure it's true. It's old, yet ever new. One verse. so wondrous and so free. Lord, at thy feet my self I cast, my all I give to thee. I'm sure it is true. As part of the service, we want to bid you welcome to the house of God as you come here to worship, each and every one, every family that is represented, and those that are part of the church online. Welcome in the Savior's name. Tonight is family night. The first Sunday of the month is family night when we concentrate on bringing our families in onto the sound of the Word. For us, it's a special night as a family because a little grace will be dedicated to the Lord this evening in the will of the Lord. That is Grace Elizabeth Jane Park, and we look forward to that. We thank God for the children that are born into our church. and we're happy to give them over to the Lord. The prayer meeting is at 6.30. Remember that. Come and pray. Without prayer, we will not see God work. God works through prayer. We know that. He moves the world through prayer, and he has given to us this wonderful blessing of intercession. Refreshments will be served tonight, and ladies, we're asking you to bring, if you can, half a loaf of sandwiches and a dozen buns. Really appreciate that. In the morning, the Hebron Tots recommences at 10 o'clock. So all those that have infant children, or if you know of others in the town that have infant children, send them out to our Tots group tomorrow morning. As we get off, we trust have a good start. This week is also preparation week for the mission, Monday through to Friday, every evening. The first two nights, Monday and Tuesday, are outreach nights. This is a leaflet drop. or a card drop because the invitation is in this little card. There's actually a few copies at the door if you want to take them for personal distribution. But we want to try and cover most of the town Monday night and Tuesday night, and we want as many as possible to come. Seven o'clock we're meeting at the church, and then we'll divide up and go to different areas and post them through the doors with the prayer. that they will be picked up, they will be read, and that many will come to the mission. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday are prayer meeting nights from 8 o'clock, and we need to come to pray. If you're free each night, we'd love to see you. Tuesday morning is the senior fellowship. It recommences now for the new term, and that is at 11 o'clock. If anyone wants to help with this, do let us know. You can let my wife know if you're free on a Tuesday morning. On Wednesday, we have the opportunity of going to the model. We've been asked to take the first assembly of the term, and that's in the afternoon at a quarter past one. So pray for us, please. Saturday is the open air in the center of the town at 11 o'clock. We encourage you to come and stand with us in the gospel. And Saturday also is a special Ukrainian church baptism service, and that will take place at White Rocks. at 12 noon, okay? Now, we did say to them, the ocean's very cold, but they said, they're Ukrainian. So, there you go. It'll be good to be a spectator on the day, but we trust that it'll be a blessed time. It's very special because Lyudmila is getting baptized, and there are four young people, Ukrainian young people from the Lisbon area, they're traveling up for baptism as well. So if you're able to go across to White Rocks for the event, I'm sure your presence will be an encouragement. Next Lord's Day, the prayer meeting, eight o'clock. Sunday school now recommenced, 10.30. The Bible class at a quarter to 11, and Aaron Johnson will be standing in, bringing the message to the young people next Lord's Day. Pray for Aaron, please. Worship service, 12 noon. I'll be hearing the will of the Lord to preach. Then the mission begins in the evening time. And the Reverend McRae was booked to come and sing, and we've asked him to do that opening service of the mission to preach as well. So remember him as he comes to preach. He's an evangelist in the church that has been used by the Lord. And the prayer meeting will be, I think, in the library, just like six years ago. There's a room set aside to pray, and that will be at 6.30. The invitations we've indicated are now available for distribution. We're asking you to remember that first week of the mission, there's two mornings when we will be in the high school to speak to the young people there. They have their junior and their senior assemblies. We will have the opportunity to speak to all the children of the school and invite them to the mission. I want to congratulate The Reverend David McCauley, on his ordination to the Christian ministry, David's here. And David, we congratulate you, we rejoice with you, Rachel and the family, circle on what happened on Friday night. And that took place in Mackerfelt Free Church. It was a great night. The Lord was there. These are the folks that took part. And two young men were ordained, one going to Uganda, God willing. That flight is booked for this day one month's time. I think it's the 1st of October that David and Rachel and their children will leave. And we picture the family as well. Remember John and Aline and the family as there is this time of saying farewell. And that will be in the very near future. We'll mention that in a moment. And we got a little one of the minister and the young reverend. On the 26th, that's Thursday night of this month, the special meeting will take place here in this church auditorium, sending forth. That's what they did in New Testament times when missionaries came forward and were called of God. They sent them forth with the prayers of the church. And that sending forth service will take place on the 26th of September, right here in the church. The Reverend McMillan, who is the chairman of the Uganda subcommittee, will be the speaker. Stephen, Ethan, and Anna will be singing. I want to congratulate those who celebrate very significant birthdays. And these are the ones, Galena, who celebrated a special birthday just Friday past, our sister from Ukraine. Sylvia, who is on holiday, celebrated her birthday yesterday. Tracy Moffat, who is on holiday, celebrates her significant birthday tomorrow. And Mervyn, it's going to be Wednesday. I'm not going to tell you what age the three ladies are, but Mervyn is going to be 60. just the same age as these other ones, you know, so that is a significant one. When you get to six decades, you join a fairly exclusive group. So we welcome you into the fold of the 60s and over. May the Lord bless you. And Rebecca, 21 yesterday, Rebecca Owens. So it used to be you had to get to 21 to be an adult, but then they brought it to 18. But 21 is still very significant, and you get the key of the house when you're 21, if you haven't got it already. May the Lord bless you. Remember all those that need the Lord's touch. And just there at the start, we've been remembering Nigel. As you know, we've been selling this before the church. Nigel needs your prayers. He needs the touch of the Lord. And just there at the end of the list, Robert Cotherwood, we're remembering him in prayer. We sent out the prayer request on the WhatsApp group of the church, so we trust that you'll pray earnestly for all these people and pray for the mission, pray for Ukraine, pray for Israel. These all are matters that we need to set before the Lord in these days. And we thank those who have responded to the shoebox appeal. We thank you in the Savior's name. We come to bring our tithes and offerings to the Lord as we worship Him in our giving. Let's also let the Bible speak envelopes in missionary covenant support. And as we give to the Lord, we sing together the missionary hymn 675. far, far away in heathen darkness dwelling, millions of souls forever may be lost, who will go salvation storytelling, looking to Jesus, minding not the cost. All the hymns today are to do with service, serving the Lord. As we think of the mission, as we think of the message that will be given in a very short time, let's really sing not just for the sake of singing, but really with meaning. And think of the words, and pray over the words, and remember in this hymn, all power is given to Christ, and that's the confidence that we have as God's servants. Keeping our seats as the offering is received. All power is given unto thee. All power is given unto thee. Though the empty, long world hath craves and lusts, though I am poor, I am with thee always. Oh for the gospel, break the chains of sin. All power is given unto me. All power is given unto me. For the angel of the Lord hath raised the gospel in all our ways. I, Mary, I, the voice of God is calling. I, Mary, I, re-echo in his name. Jesus, I, do say from death of mourning, All the power is given unto thee. All the power is given unto thee. You give to all who have preached the gospel. Just before we stand and sing the last verse of the hymn, we normally mention just very significant birthdays, but I got a little text that says, remember Elaine has her birthday today, but it says here she's not 60 yet. Far from it. So, this is a special day for Elaine, undoubtedly, and she'll get royal treatment today, I know. Let's stand and sing this final verse. God speed the day when those of every nation. God speed the day when those of every nation. Glory to God, triumphant we shall see. Rejoicing in salvation. Shout alleluia for the Lord is here. All power is given unto thee. All power is given unto thee. O ye in whom all the world hath As we come to the Word of God and to the study that we're doing in the Gospel of Mark, I'm not departing from the study because there's a suitable verse. in keeping with our mission, soon to start, that I can draw your attention to and make some very powerful application. It's a verse that deals with the gospel, the preaching of the gospel, and so we're turning to Mark chapter 13, it should be, and we're gonna read verses one to 10, and the 10th verse will be our text. As we think of David and Rachel going out to serve the Lord, we also welcome back Kirsty. She's been serving the Lord again with Crown College, and we continue to pray that the Lord will guide her and open up the doors according to His will in future days. Let's read the opening 10 verses of Mark chapter 13. And as he went out of the temple, one of the disciples saith unto him, Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here. And Jesus answering said unto him, seest thou all these great buildings? There shall not be left one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down. And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives over against the temple, Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew asked him privately, tell us, when shall these things be? And what should be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled? And Jesus answering them began to say, take heed lest any man deceive you. For many shall come in my name saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many. And when ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars, be ye not troubled, for such things must needs be, but the end shall not be yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be earthquakes in diverse places, and there shall be famines and troubles. These are the beginnings of sorrows, but take heed to yourselves. for they shall deliver you up to councils. And in the synagogues ye shall be beaten, and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them. And the gospel must first be published among all nations." There's that text, the gospel, says Jesus, must first be published among all nations. May the Lord be pleased to bless His Word to every heart. Let's pray. Almighty and gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you for the words of the Savior here. All these words, and especially this little text that we're going to look at for a little while this morning. And Lord, we're asking again just to settle us down before the presence of God. and give us a mind that is able to think upon these things, and give us a heart that is able to understand what God is saying, and help each one of us, the preacher and the congregation, to face up to our responsibilities as the Lord's people in the days in which we live. We just hand ourselves over to the Lord now in His Word. We pray earnestly for the ministry of the Spirit of God, who is the teacher, the one who will guide us into all truth. We're absolutely dependent upon him, both for power to be given in the pulpit and for understanding to be given in the pew, and for the challenge to come to our hearts the way that it ought to. Hear and answer our prayers. For Jesus' sake, amen. The title of the message is The Preaching of the Glorious Gospel, as we have it here in chapter 13 and verse 10. We're living in the last days, as you know. Indeed, it could rightly be said we're living in the last of the last days. We look around us in the world and we see the signs of the times rising to a climax things are happening before our very eyes. It's very interesting to note what the disciples predicted by way of inspiration. I'll direct your attention just quickly to two passages of Scripture, what the apostles said. Peter, first of all, and second, Peter 3 and verse 3 and 4. He said, knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? For since the Father sped asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation." So, as we come towards the coming of Christ, His return, there will be the scoffers in the world. There will be those who will look around and say, I don't see much change. If they're looking into the Bible and they're able to know what the Bible says about the end time, they ought to know there are changes and things are happening in the world that indicate that Jesus must be coming very soon, but they will scoff nonetheless. Where is this promise? I don't see anything happening. Where is this Jesus that you speak about? So let's look out for the scoffers. And then I think of the words of the Apostle Paul when he wrote to young Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 1. This know also that in the last days perilous times shall come. And then he gives a list of what to expect in these last times. Men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection. Don't we see that rising to a climax in the nation? And not just in our nation, but right throughout the world? truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God. Quite a list there. All these things are to be expected in the last days in which we live. Now, much of what we read here in Mark chapter 13 in our Lord's Sermon is all around us in these days. The last time we met together for our study two weeks ago, we spoke about deception in the church, which we have in verses 5 and 6. We spoke about the disturbance in the earth, which we have in verses 7 and 8. We spoke about defiance from the ungodly, verse 13, danger in the family, verse 12, and the declaration by the saved, which is our text here, verse 10. And we say that through it all, the gospel of Jesus Christ will be preached. No matter about the disturbances, the defiance, the danger, Christ and Him crucified as the only Savior will be presented to a lost and a perishing world. We must carry on the work appointed to us in the Great Commission irrespective of whatever opposition comes our way. The disciples to whom this sermon was first preached, they certainly went forward preaching the gospel despite the harsh treatment and the severe persecution. They were hated, they were opposed, they were beaten, they were imprisoned, they were put to death, but they went with the gospel message from Jerusalem to the uttermost parts as they were commanded to do. And we encouraged you in sight of our mission as we come to the high school just in a very short time to remember the gospel must first be published among all nations. This is our priority. And I want to come to this text very appropriately before we have this gospel mission. This is the chief mission of the church. This is God's ordained mission in a dark world. The gospel was the deep burden of Christ Himself when He was here upon the earth walking among men. This is the very first thing that the gospel writer Mark informs us that Jesus did. when he began his ministry after his baptism and after his temptation. Indeed, if you go back to the first chapter of the Gospel of Mark, chapter 1, note verse 14. Now, after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. Now, we know the Lord began His ministry that day when He was announced to the world by John the Baptist, standing at the banks of the Jordan, the Lord Jesus approaching in the distance. The great crowd that was there were told to behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. It was at that moment that John baptized Jesus in the River Jordan. And then immediately after such a blessing of baptism, when the heavens were opened and the Father's voice was heard to say, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased and the Spirit of God descended upon the Lord Jesus Christ visibly in the form of a dove, he was led immediately into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And so that's how the Lord began His public ministry, His baptism, His temptation. And now the first thing that Mark tells us is this, that He went forward preaching the gospel. This is the last instruction that Jesus gave to His disciples after His resurrection and before His ascension to glory. And we will come to it in due course, the great gospel text that we looked up at the early morning prayer meeting this morning, which is Mark 16, verse 15, where Jesus says, go ye into all the world. and preach the gospel to every creature. We cannot fail to see the importance, therefore, of gospel preaching in what I have just mentioned. Namely, this is the first thing that Jesus began to do in His ministry, and this is the last instruction that Jesus gave to His disciples before He ascended to glory. He wanted to make sure that when He left this earth, His great mission would be continued, that sinners would hear the gospel of saving grace and come to know Him as their Savior. There was a marvelous response, as we know, when these disciples went out after Pentecost, preaching the Word, and the thousands of people were converted to Christ. In His prophetic sermon about the last days, that period of time just before His return, Jesus declares these words in the text, and the gospel must first be published among all nations. May our church always be a gospel-preaching church. May we never lose sight of the divine mandate of preaching the gospel. to every creature. May we never grow cold or apathetic in this work and lose our vision or somehow lose our way. I think there are people losing their way today. Sadly, this has happened in some churches we know. I even hear this happening in professed evangelical churches, churches that once preached the gospel. If we fail in this, We entirely feel in the main business that has been committed to us as a church. I'm glad that here in Hebron we still believe in the Great Commission. I'm glad that we have a congregation that works to that end, that plans to that end, that invites people to come unto the sound of the Word. We're glad that we have a church that prays regarding the souls of men. and those who are faithful in their attendance of gospel meetings and gospel missions and bring others onto the sound of the Word. Every week we have our gospel service, every Sunday night. We want to make sure that we continue doing that. Every two weeks we have an open air ministry. We seek to maintain that by the grace of God going down into our town. And every year, we have our gospel mission, going to some place to preach Christ. And I say to the elders of this congregation, never get sidetracked. from this important business. Never, no matter who is here as the minister of the church in the coming days, never remove yourself from this important duty. It is the great commission given by Christ Himself, and He tells us that such a mission will be continued until He comes again. So let's think of the words of the Savior here as we have them in Mark chapter 13 and verse 10. Very simply, we have the message And the message is the gospel. We're not in the business of mere storytelling. If a story helps to illustrate the truth of the gospel well and good, Jesus used parables very often, but we're not in the business of just telling stories. Much more to the gospel than that. And we're not in the business of amusing and entertaining our congregations. That's not the purpose of the church. And we're not in the business of, if you take what the translation means when Paul wrote to Timothy, of tickling the ears of the congregation. In other words, pleasing messages, messages that will never trouble them, messages that will never stir their heart, messages that will always please. No, our first and our foremost obligation as a church is the gospel. We are a gospel-preaching church, and we seek to obey the Lord in this. Now, the gospel is the good news. That's what the word means. It's good news that you don't need to die and go to hell. Isn't that tremendous news? It's good news that you don't need to perish in the fires of a lost eternity forevermore. And the fires of hell burn this very day for lost souls. And those fires will receive them when they die and go out into eternity unprepared. But the message of the gospel is you don't need to die in your sin. You don't need to be lost in hell. You don't need to descend into the place of damnation forevermore. The good news of the gospel is that Christ has taken our place. He's stood in our stead. He has become the substitute, became our representative on earth as He lived the life of perfect obedience on our behalf. And He died upon the cross, bearing our punishment, taking the wrath of God that we deserved. That's the good news of the gospel. The good news of the gospel is that you can inherit eternal life and you can go to heaven. and be in heaven for all of God's eternity. The gospel is good news. And the gospel also centers around a person. It's the person and the work of Jesus Christ. It is summarized by the Apostle Paul writing to the Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians 11 verses 3 and 4. Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures and was buried and rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. He told the Corinthian church, for I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified," in 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 2. And when he wrote his second epistle, he reminded the same congregation of this great truth. We preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord in 2 Corinthians 4 verse 5. This is the message that the world around us needs to hear. The gospel is the good news. The gospel centers around a person. And the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. There's real power in the gospel to change men's lives. The real power is not in man's eloquence. The power is not in our skills or abilities. The power is not in our pleading and persuading. It's not even in our praying, and we ought to do these things. We ought to plead with sinners to get right with God, and we ought to pray over the lost. The power is in the gospel itself. I listened to a preacher this week who was telling about the conversion of a man by the name of Bob Campbell from Portadown. Bob Campbell, but I was just very interested in what the preacher was saying because he gave a little bit of background to this man's testimony. And he said he was a devout Roman Catholic and an alcoholic. He had ruined his life, he had lost his job, and he had broken his wife's heart. But one day, he heard a man. shout out a message in an open air in the center of Portadown that changed his life forever. Ye must be born again. And that great truth of the gospel gripped his heart, and sometime after that, through other influences in his life, Bob Campbell could see it, and his life was transformed. What was it? It was the power of the gospel. Andy Ackerman, I told you about Andy not so long ago, the tattooist from Oldham Broad, my first convert when I was a very young minister then. He was a man or a young fellow brought up with very little discipline. In his early teens, he started to get in trouble with the police. At the age of 14, he was sent to a remand home for riding motorbikes underage. The following year, he received a sentence up to three years in Curtis and Approved School in Suffolk for the same crime. He went on to be a hardened man, and he lived a life of crime. He thought nothing of lying, cheating, and stealing. He testifies that he became a bouncer at a speedy nightclub, and then he became the local tattooist of Oulton Broad. He would not set foot inside a church for any reason. Even though his wife had pleaded with him on a number of occasions, he would not go to church. After many years of marriage and the birth of a second child into their home after 17 years, when little Holly was born, he did come to see me. And, well, the rest is history. He was wanting his child baptized. They were unconverted people we talked to a little bit, and we agreed that we would dedicate little Holly, and he started to attend the church. It wasn't long before Andy Ackerman came to trust in Christ as Savior. I phoned him the other day, and he's still going on with the Lord. He's still going out every day with gospel literature. He's 75 years old now, but he loves the Lord and he serves the Lord. His life was changed. The gospel is the mighty power to transform lives. We need to know that. So that's the message. We also see the means. And I think it's there in the word published or preached. It's communicating the gospel. We believe in personal evangelism, witnessing to others on a one-to-one basis, and I trust that all of you do that if you're a child of God. It could be argued that even this private form of witnessing is preaching. Remember that little phrase, preach the word, that Paul told Timothy to do as a pastor. He had many responsibilities, but nothing could supersede this one. And the idea around the word preach here that's used is the word gossip. You know, you just gossip the Word. You just talk the Word to other people. However, public preaching would be God's main way to bring the message of the gospel to a perishing world. By all means, distribute gospel tracts, because that's publishing the Word. By all means, be a witness wherever you are and hold your conversations and communicate to others on that personal, private level the good news of the gospel. By all means, use the internet and social media to its fullest extent to be a witness for Christ. But the chief means of sharing the gospel according to Jesus is preaching. Jesus started His ministry preaching. His parting wish to the beloved disciples was regarding preaching. Mark tells us in chapter 16 and verse 20, they went forth and preached everywhere. That's what they did. And Peter on the day of Pentecost, he preached. even in the midst of severe opposition and persecution when they were scattered abroad, they refused to give up the mission, for they went everywhere, we're told, preaching the Word. Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and he preached Christ unto them. That was the public declaration. That was preaching to the multitudes, and he saw a city changed. And then Philip went to the Ethiopian. that he found in Gaza's desert, and we're told that he preached Jesus unto him, and that's the one-to-one kind of preaching. As soon as Saul of Tarsus was converted, we're told straightway, immediately, he preached Christ in the synagogue and from synagogues, and from that moment onward, for the next 30 years of his life, he continued to preach the gospel everywhere he went. And after many years of ministry, he wrote to the Corinthians and declared, Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved. It is the power of God. And then he proceeded to write, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe, and we preach Christ crucified. I will take the gospel wherever I go, and by whatever means God allows me, to present the glorious doctrines of the gospel. In a hospital ward, in a private home, on the doorstep, witnessing to others on a journey, wherever it might be, but I must never give up the public preaching of the gospel. It is the chief means. And so, my friends, Sunday night must be guarded in this church as the gospel meeting. Our missions must be ring-fenced. Always have the missions as the Lord enables us where the gospel is preached in that concentrated time. May our open airs be preserved as long as possible. May blessing rest upon the school's ministry as it's open to us, and may we value our children's work in the presentation of the gospel. I will cherish the invitations and the opportunities to preach elsewhere, at home and abroad. I will stand in a pulpit in Romania, I will stand in a gypsy camp, I will stand in a prison cell, wherever the opportunity is given to present Christ. And we look forward to our mission. I trust that you're excited about it, for we will go forward with the means that God has given to publish abroad the gospel to preach Christ. Notice thirdly, the mandatory obligation. I don't want to lose sight of this little word, must. Jesus says the gospel must be published. May God have mercy upon those pastors who today say, I no longer preach the gospel. I've heard that. Maybe they say that because they think that those that they preach to, all of them are saved. You don't know the heart. Some of them may not be. And if they have an internet ministry and the gospel is being broadcast, there could be many people listening in to listen to the gospel. May God have mercy. May God shut churches where the gospel light has gone out completely. May He change those pulpits who have a watered-down gospel and bring them back to where they ought to be. Pray for the fire of God. to revive our souls, plead for thee the coming of the rushing mighty wind, the Spirit of God to set the church ablaze. Oh, when the fire at Pentecost came and those men were all filled with the Holy Ghost, the Spirit gave them utterance and they went out into the streets of Jerusalem and they preached the gospel. They felt the obligation, the compulsion of heart. There was a must burning in their souls. May the word must not only be a mere prediction of Christ as it is here, or come as a mere command from His lips to you and I. But may this word must engender a feeling of compulsion and energy and zeal into our hearts so that we feel like Christ when He declared, I must work the works of Him that sent me while it is day, the night cometh when no man can work. I want to feel like this at our mission time. I really do. I want that word must to be burned into my heart. And not just at the mission time, I want to feel like this all the time. You pray for me, pray for your pastor, that I will feel this obligation and this compulsion in heart. And then you'll notice the mission field, and the mission field is all nations. Jesus Christ possessed a worldwide vision. He speaks about it here in the term, all nations. In the command of the Great Commission, he declares the same, go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel. At the final meeting with his dearly beloved disciples before his ascension, he told them, start at Jerusalem. But it wasn't to end there. You know that. It was to broaden out to Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost part of the world, or the earth. Come with me to heaven. See the Almighty seated upon the eternal throne of glory with his beloved Son at his side. And who are those that are gathered around the celestial throne? John gazed into glory, and he saw a great multitude that no man could number, out of all the nations, kindreds, and people, and tongues of the world. And how did they come to be there? While on earth, the gospel was preached to them. That's how God sent a Peter, he sent a John, he sent a Saul of Tarsus, who became the great apostle to the Gentile world. And through the centuries of time, he has sent missionaries, and ministers, and evangelists into the world to preach the gospel. Ballymoney is our number one mission field. But we have sent others to Spain and Uganda and India. We're sending David and Rachel in the very near future to Uganda. We have preached remotely in Pakistan and also in India. We travel to Romania, as you know. All nations, says Jesus. And so, brethren and sisters, lift up your eyes and look on the fields. They move with compassion. Go and do something. Invite others to come and hear the Word and pray. You have a work to do in your nation, in your family, in your community, in your workplace, in your school, Wherever God has placed you, great is your responsibility at this mission time. Don't be slack in the work. Don't be found wanting. Don't sit back. Don't feel or neglect your responsibility. Don't close your eyes. There's a mission field here. And then just as we close, there's the motivation, and that's Christ. These are His words. The commission is His command, it's His mind and will. And so hear Him today, not me, hear the Lord. Listen in your heart. It's the voice of your beloved that's speaking. It is the Redeemer of your souls. It is the one who has saved you from sin and rescued you from hell who was speaking. It is the Savior who died upon the cross for you. That's who's calling us. That is who ought to be our motivation. Let the dominant motivation for you be Christ. So what do you do? You think about His work that He came to do. You think about the sacrifice that He made at the cross. You think about His great eternal love towards you. Oh, may the love of Christ constrain us at this time, and may we be motivated by Him to do what we can in the proclamation of the gospel. Let us bow together in prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for these words of the Savior in his prophetic sermon, reminding us that he's coming again. But until that day, the gospel will be preached. And Lord, you'll be sending forth your people, the rank and file of the church, as well as preachers, and ministers, and pastors, and evangelists, and missionaries, and Sunday school teachers, and youth workers, and open air ministry workers. You'll be sending them out. to preach the gospel. Oh, may there be power in the presentation of the gospel in these days. And may we see lives changed. May we see a great work at the high school mission. We commit it to the Lord now again. Wilt thou not rend the heavens and come down and do thy wonders among us through the preaching of the glorious gospel of Christ? Hear this, our prayer, for Jesus' sake. Amen. I have only one life on this earth. And as you've listened to God's Word today and these words of Christ, let's remember we've just got this one life, and His vapor is passing away. We sang this this morning at the early time of prayer, and I reminded God's people, you don't have more than one life. The hymn writer said, over a thousand tongues to sing. And if you had a thousand tongues, you'd want to sing and praise God. And you might say, oh, for a thousand lives to live that you might serve God. But He's just given you one, one life, one tongue, and may we realize that our life is passing just like the vapor. So, we've only got one life to give, one life to live. Make it count for the Lord. Make it count for eternity. Let's think of the words. Now rise to sing. I will only look life on this earth. And as danger is passing away, I must labor for truth. I am free. I will never withhold it from God. Only one, I am free. I must not be afraid. and quiet on your knees. If compassion is waiting near you, this long life that I have I will lead. And an angel I will let be near, only one I could be. Only one life to live. A poor life's only offering and rest. Yet the world and the flesh often call. This, my answer, must be to resist. I'm not certain of a place than my own. Only one. We began by asking you to consider the question of Saul. Lord, what will they have me to do? May you give answer. May you give your life to him again afresh for this mission, this week, preparation week, the two weeks of the mission. Gracious God, we just hand ourselves over to the Lord now in his word. The voice of the preacher will be silent, but the spirit of God has spoken to us. And may he write the truths that we've listened to upon our minds and hearts that will not forget them, will act upon them. and that we'll seek to do what we can for the Lord in these days. Bless your people. Send revival. For any who do not know Christ in this service, Lord, may they see that in the gospel there is the answer for their sin. And the Lord is able to save them this very day from sin, from hell, from destruction, and bring them to heaven at the end of the journey. Lord, may that truth really be understood in the heart. for Christ's sake. Amen. Yeah. you Yeah.