you Good morning. Sunday after Sunday for thousands of years, the church has gathered for worship as she waits. And what is it that she's waiting for? But the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. The church gathers and sings praises about her Christ, but while her eyes are on songbooks, the spirit waits by faith. The church gathers to partake in baptism and communion following the commands of Christ, But while the elements are in hand, the heart waits by faith. The church continues discipling the ends of the earth with all that Christ has taught in them. In their discipleship with others, spiritual eyes are directed to the sky. How will the nations respond to the new king after he begins his reign on earth? Let's let scripture describe that for us. Our call to worship is in Psalm 72, 12 to 19. For he will deliver the needy when he cries for help, the afflicted also, and him who has no helper. He will have compassion on the poor and needy, and the lives of the needy he will save. He will rescue their life from oppression and violence, and their blood will be precious in his sight. So may he live, and may the gold of Sheba be given to him, and let them pray for him continually. Let them bless him all day long. May there be abundance of grain in the earth on top of the mountains. Its fruit will wave like the cedars of Lebanon. And may those from the city flourish like vegetation of the earth. May his name endure forever. May his name increase as long as the sun shines. And let men bless themselves by him. Let all nations call him blessed. Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who alone works wonders, and blessed be his glorious name forever, and may the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and amen. Well, good morning. How wonderful it is to be gathered with God's people and sing his praises together. Let's stand, if you're able, as we sing this morning. ♪ What shall reign where'er the sun ♪ ♪ Does its successive journeys run ♪ ♪ Its beacon spread from shore to shore ♪ ♪ Till moon shall last and rain no more ♪ ♪ For Him shall endless pain be made ♪ ♪ And endless praises crown His head ♪ ♪ His name like sweet perfume shall rise ♪ ♪ With every morning's sacrifice ♪ ♪ Realms of every tongue ♪ ♪ Dwell on his gospel sweet as his song ♪ ♪ And infant voices shall proclaim ♪ ♪ Their early blessings on his way ♪ Let every preacher rise and bring honor and glory to our King. Angels, we stand with songs darkened, The Lamb of God. O church, arise! Put your armor on! Hear the call of Christ, our Captain! For now we can say that they are strong, in the strength that God has given. With shield of faith and belt of truth, we'll stand against the devil's lies An army bold, whose battle cry is love, reaching out to those in darkness Our call to war, to love a captive soul, but to rage against a captor. And with the sword that makes a wounded whole, we will fight with faith and valour. When fate's big trials on every side, Rejoice! Rejoice! Rejoice! Rejoice! Rejoice! Rejoice! Rejoice! Come see the cross, where love and mercy meet, as the Son of God is triumphant. Then see His foes, and rush beneath His feet. And as the storm is rolled away, and Christ emerges from the grave, his victory march continues till the day every eye and heart shall see him. So in spirit come, whose strength in ev'ry strife, in praise for ev'ry hurdle, that we may run with faith to win the prize of a servant thy hath made whole. ♪ As saints of old still by the way ♪ ♪ We tell you triumphs of His grace ♪ ♪ We hear their calls, we come here for the day ♪ ♪ When with Christ we stand in glory ♪ Amen, please remain standing for prayer as Anthony comes to lead us. Good morning. For prayer today, a lot of the verses I will, well, I'm not gonna be doing a lot of verses. A couple verses I will be praying from come from Psalm 145, and it starts off like this. I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. So let's pray as we think about that. Our Father in heaven, we come before you and we praise you. We thank you because your greatness is unsearchable. When we look at this world, all that you have made, the universe, and how you uphold it, we cannot understand your power. When we see that you are in each one of our lives, directing us and leading us, Lord, we don't understand how you can be everywhere at once, but we thank you for your greatness. And Lord, we thank you that you are gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. Even though we fail, there's many times that we fail this week, Lord, we ask that you will forgive us, and we thank you that you have promised that you will forgive us if we come to you and repent and turn from these things. So we thank you for this steadfast love. Lord, you uphold all who are falling and raise up all who are bowed down. And so we also praise you, Lord, that when we are going through troubling times, when sickness is upon us, or pressures at work, or pressures in the world, and we're bowed down under these pressures, we know that you will raise us up. And we ask that you will do that to each one that is suffering in this way today in our congregation. Lord, the eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand, you satisfy the desire of every living thing. And Lord, we thank you so much that you do provide for us. Help us to separate our needs from our wants, our desires for this world, for our desires with you, so that we can follow and know that you provide for us in everything. Lord, you're righteous in all your ways and kind in all those works. The Lord, you are near to us who call on him, to all who call on you in truth. And that's what we do this day, Lord, as we worship with you to call on your name in truth. And so, Father, I pray that as we learn today from the message that's brought forward from those who teach in the Sunday schools and so forth, Lord, we pray that you will open our hearts, keep us mindful to apply the things that we learn into our lives this day ahead. Lord, we pray that you will be with the outreach in our community, that we will be a light in this community, that you will bless those who go out and go door to door and talk to you, Lord. We thank you, talk about you. We thank you, Lord, There are people responding, and we pray that you will continue to open their hearts and that they might come to a saving faith in you. And Lord, we pray for the outreach of this world. We pray that you will be with those missionaries and those churches around the world who gather today, that you will bless them as well. We thank you that we can hear from Alan Patterson, today, we pray, Lord, that you will bless the message that he gives as he teaches us more about the gospel and the world and the missions around. And so, Father, I pray that you will bless this time that we have together. In Jesus' name do we pray. Amen. You may be seated. Before our scripture reading, just a reminder that we have our special Harvest Old Church Picnic this Saturday at the home and farm of Toe and Nay. And they're getting everything ready. And so all the information is in your bulletin. But please sign up today if you haven't already so they know how to plan on food. If you haven't been there, it is just a wonderful time. A fellowship will have a Thanksgiving service at 11 o'clock. and then bring an appetite for all the food that we'll have and some other fun activities. Great for the whole family. And so we're looking forward to that time of fellowship on Saturday. We also wanted to report to you, a couple weeks ago we had some missionaries raising support to go to Chad, Africa. Obed and Lacy and their family. Thank you for your generosity. We were able to give them $5,800 just as a love offering that you as a congregation gave. You're welcome to give toward them, and we can send it on to their missions agency for their use as they continue to raise support. And our pastors and deacons have talked about their ministry, and we'd like to present them. Probably in a few weeks, we'll say more about that, but present them to you for a long-term partnership with the ministry. they have, but we're thankful for that opportunity that we had to get to know them. They're at the beginning stages of missions work, and today we have the privilege of having a couple who have been in missions ministry for many years. Much experience. Alan and Jan Patterson were missionaries in Japan for 17 years. In the last couple decades, they've been recruiting and training missionaries and assisting them on the mission field. So Alan is here. throughout the fall teaching a course on missions right here at Foundation Baptist College. And so they're with us for the fall. And when I found out that they were going to be here, I invited him to speak for us this morning. And so we're thankful to have you here and looking forward to how the Lord uses God's word in all of our hearts as Dr. Patterson speaks. Let's together do our scripture reading, and I'll ask you that you would join with the words in bold from 2 Timothy chapter 4. I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing in his kingdom. Preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching. But having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. for I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Henceforth, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who have loved his appearing. Amen. As we've just read together from the word about the importance of preaching the gospel in a world that wants teachers to suit its own passions, let's continue our time of singing together with our new song of the month and declare together that we will stand in the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is one gospel on which I stand for all eternity. It is my story, my Father's plan. The sun has risen in me. I stand in the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is one gospel to which I cling, one else I count as lost. For there, Her justice and mercy meet, we sit beyond the cross. No more I'm lost in what I can't bring, no more I death to life, I stand in the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is one gospel where hope is found, the empty tomb still speaks. For death would not leave my Savior's love, He lives and I am free. Now on my Savior I twist my eyes, my life is His and His hope is mine. For he has promised until he'll rise, I'll stand in the gospel of Jesus Christ. And in this gospel the church is born. We do not want the Lord. We have his spirit as we press on to lead us safely home. And when in glory still I will sing of this old story Praise to my Savior, the King of Light, I stand in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And when in glory still I will sing Of this old story that pressed near me, Praise to my Saviour the King of Light, I stand near the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Amen. Can it be that I should gain from this gospel? The word says in the book of 1 John, see what kind of love the Father has given to us that we should be called children of God. Please stand once again if you're able as we prepare our hearts to hear the message this morning and sing. Thank you. ♪ And let it be that I should gaze ♪ ♪ When interested the Savior's love ♪ ♪ Dying for me who lost his way ♪ ♪ For me who live to death pursue ♪ Amazing love, how can it be that now my God should die for me? Amazing love, how can it be that Thou, my God, shouldst guide for me. He lent His Father's throne above, So free, so infinite His praise. Empty Himself to show His love, And then for Adam's helpless praise His mercy all immense and free, For oh, my God, it cannot be! Amazing love, how can it be that Thou, Lord God, shouldst die for me? Long may it breeze, its healing flame, transpound in sin. ♪ And nature's kind ♪ ♪ Thine I diffused the blinding ray ♪ ♪ I woke the dampened flame with light ♪ ♪ My chains fell off, my heart was free ♪ ♪ I'm your host and lord and I'll hold thee ♪ Amazing love, how can it be? that Thou, my God, should die for me. No condemnation now I dread, Jesus and all in Him is mine. Alive in Him, my living Head, And hope in righteousness divine. O my approach, eternal flow, And win the prize, the prize I owe, Amazing love, how can it be that Thou, my God, should die for me? I know that my Redeemer lives, What hope this sweet assurance gives, That He who gave His life for me ♪ A rose with healing in its leaves ♪ ♪ He lives and to this end he's still ♪ ♪ Redemption's promise he fulfilled ♪ No condemnation now remains The stone of death is rolled away My Redeemer lives My Redeemer lives on heaven's throne And in my very soul I know that my Redeemer lives I know that my Redeemer lives, and all my life is bound to His. In realms above the interseas, my sinless Savior birthed is. No fear can follow where He guides, His constant presence is my light. No God on earth or heaven above can separate us from his love. My Redeemer lives. My Redeemer lives on heaven's throne, and in my very soul I know my Redeemer lives. I know that my Redeemer lives. In life and death I trust in Him. My soul's secure, my future's safe He'll not forsake me to the grave He lives and He will not delay My eyes will wait to find His skin And in my flesh I'll see His hand When Christ in glory comes again In memory I will sing instead When Christ in glory comes again My Redeemer lives My Redeemer lives On heaven's throne And in my very soul I know that my Redeemer lives My Redeemer lives. My Redeemer lives on heaven's throne. And in my very soul I know that my Redeemer lives. Amen. Thank you for your singing this morning. You may be seated. Well, good morning. It's good to see you here pretty early in this morning service. It's a delight for me and my wife to be here. We have somewhat long acquaintance with you. You might not know that, but Jan's brother, Bud Talbert, was a pastor in Calgary. And we made a visit up here when Pastor Tillotson was here. I think it had to do with considering starting Foundation Baptist College. So we came up with Bud back in those days. And the Lord has obviously prospered the ministry here, the church, and the college. So we've been back several times since then. The last time, I guess, was for Debbie Talbert's funeral, which was a blessing, really, in a lot of ways. But we appreciate the opportunity to be here again and to fellowship with you and to Um, just see God's God's blessing. Um, even your neighborhood is growing. Church is growing and neighborhoods growing. I guess eventually they'll get the construction finished. Right. Pastor Kevin. So I'd like to preach to you this morning from the book of acts. If you would turn to the book of acts chapter 26. We'll be looking at the Christians service or the Christians ministry in a dark world. Would you agree that we have a dark world out there seems to be getting darker, but the light's coming right. And we have the light as we're going to see. So what is your role? What is my role in a dark world? Well, the apostle Paul. explains that for us as he was explaining it to King Agrippa and Governor Festus. So here in Acts 26, we'll see how Paul explains his conversion and what he was supposed to do after that. And this really is the same thing that we're supposed to do after salvation. So beginning in Acts chapter 26 and verse 12, Paul says, in this connection I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priest. He was going to go, he was going after Christians. And really, he would be happy, you know, if they all died, and some of them did. At midday, O King, I saw on the way a light from heaven brighter than the sun that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads. And I said, who are you, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose. So that's what we want to know, what is our purpose? To appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles to whom I am sending you to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light. And from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me. So here we have an explanation of the Christian's ministry or the Christian service in a dark world. So first of all, I'd like for you to notice the command. for service or the command for ministry. What does God say to Saul? Look at verse 16. He says, rise and stand upon your feet. So basically, the first thing that God tells us about Christian service is that we need to stand up and do something. Do something with your salvation. Do something for the Lord and for the lost. Now that command implies a humbling, right? Stand up. Well, what does that imply? It means he was lying down. He had been humbled. And that's the first step to becoming a Christian. How is it with you? Has God humbled you and shown you what you really are? A sinner? in need of salvation, a person walking in darkness, a person, a person walking according to the flesh, according to the course of this world. Have you been humbled that way? That's the beginning. So God tells him, he says, look, if you have been enlightened and been saved and Paul had, he says, now get up and do something, do something for the Lord. This implies that he had been knocked down and now it implies that he's to use some effort getting out of his inactivity and doing something. So what kind of mandate has God given us? Well, we won't look at all these passages, but you know, I think most of you, the great commission. What does God tell us to do? Well, he says authority has been given to Christ and to us. So we're to go and make disciples. How do we do that? Well, it's easy to start thinking about those people over there, right? I've talked to pastor about his interaction with some of the Baptist mid missionaries, and we know many of those people and have worked with some of them. We have missionaries all around the world, but it starts right at home. How are you doing with discipling yourself? Reading God's word, praying, trying to learn, trying to obey what you know and what you're learning. How's it going in discipling your children? Now we can talk about discipling those in Japan, but what about your children? Are you discipling them? You say, well, You know, they come to Sunday school or they go to a Christian school. It's not the Christian school's responsibility to disciple your children. Are you discipling them? Are you teaching God's word? Are you starting with yourself to grow as a Christian? So we're to make disciples, it says, of all the nations. In the Gospel of Mark, we have this aspect of the Great commission, he says, very simply go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. You know, many of us live in a little bubble. We don't really think about the spiritual needs all around us, and we don't really give the gospel very often. When's the last time you were able to do that? Was it this week? Was it last month? Was it last year? We're to preach the gospel to every creature. And when we do that, Luke tells us in his version of the Great Commission that we're to preach repentance for forgiveness of sins. There is no forgiveness of sins without repentance. Have you repented? Have you turned your back on your sin? And then in John, it says, we are sent as God sent Jesus himself. Peace to you as the father has sent me, even so send I you. You say, well, that's for the missionaries. No, that's for all of us. And then in the book of Acts, it makes it simple. It says, you are to be my what? witnesses. What is a witness? It's someone who tells what they've known and seen and experienced. They don't talk about what they haven't seen or known or experienced. And you're to do this, he says, in Jerusalem. You're to do it in Judea. You're to do it in Samaria. You're to do it in Edmonton. You didn't know that was in the Bible, did you? And you're to do it to the ends of the earth. So we have the command for service rise and do something, stand up, do something with your salvation. Well, secondly, we have the preparation for ministry. It's interesting in this version. It's not as clear. But in the King James Version it says in verse 16, I have appeared to thee. It's singular. What does that tell us about preparation for ministry? Well, it tells us that God's preparation for us is very individualized. Are you like your neighbor? We're all different, right? And so God is preparing us. He prepared Paul in a special way. There's no one here that's like the Apostle Paul. There's no one here that's like Pastor Kevin. There's no one here that's like you. It is very individualized. So how is God working in your life? What is he doing? Maybe it's a particular opportunity he's giving you. Maybe it's a particular challenge or trial? How is God working? Are you attuned to that? Are you obedient to what he's calling you to do as a friend, as a father, as a mother, as a child? Notice that God says, he uses this terminology, I have appeared to you for what? It says for this purpose. God has a purpose for your life. He has a purpose for how you are to serve. A number of years ago, I was talking with several young men. I talk to people all the time about serving the Lord. And this young man was kind of a leader of other young men. And so the four of them would gather at our GFA office And they would get out maps and they were planning how they were going to reach Madagascar and that part of Africa. They really had a burden for this it seemed. And that young man was very enthusiastic. But that was probably 10, 15 years ago. And now. He's not. He's not following the Lord at all. That happens. Are you on track for God's purpose in your life? There are probably some here, this is a good group, who in the past, maybe a year ago, maybe 10 years ago, maybe 15, 20 years ago, you were zealous for service, for ministry, to serve the Lord who saved you. Are you still on track? Are you following through on what God has burdened you to do? Part of the follow through is to develop your relationship with the Lord. Look at what it says. God's appointed him as a servant. First of all, I talked about service. This word suggests a relationship in particular. How is your relationship with the Lord? Is it what it used to be? Is it close? Do you spend time deepening that relationship? Do you open God's word? Do you read? Do you pray? Do you get with God's people? Do you get with those who challenge you spiritually? And then he also says, appointed you as a witness. We start our witness with our life, right? How impressive is it when someone talks and their walk doesn't agree with their talk? How impressive is that? That's a real turnoff, isn't it? Well, how is it? How are you doing with that? How is your walk? We must walk the talk. But a testimony, a witness, most of the time, as understood to be with the lips. We must talk of what we have experienced in salvation. And in Paul's case, he says, you're to witness about things you have already seen. But what else does he say? And look at verse 16, the end of it to those things in which I will appear to you. There's some things I'm going to show you in the future. You're supposed to be growing as you grow. Paul, I want to show you new things. You're a witness to those things. So. There's an expectation that we will be growing in our understanding. So how is it with, with you in that regard? In the book of Hebrews, we have this disappointing statement about some of the believers in that time. It says, we have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because notice this translation the way it's very clear. This is very helpful. We have a lot to say to you. We want to show you some new things. This is Hebrews 511, but it's hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. You don't try anymore. In fact, though, by this time you ought to be teachers. You need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk. Not solid food. Anyone who lives on milk being still an infant. Are there infant Christians? Yes. Can a person be an infant Christian five years after salvation? Ten years? Yes. It can happen. So the preparation for ministry is to be growing. and not be like those in Hebrews chapter five, they now, they can't even take, they can barely take milk. Well, once we start ministry, what happens? Once we start serving God, what happens? There's opposition. Notice the opposition to ministry. God says to Paul. And verse 17 uses a word delivering you. Delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles. And he goes on and talks about Satan. And so we know that there is opposition to serving God. You get serious about this. What happens? There's, there's opposition. There's opposition. It says here from his own people and even from the Gentiles. So it may come from your family. Sometimes that happens. It could be, it could be even a husband or a wife. It could be a father or a mother. It could be other relatives. It could be friends. There's this opposition. to serving the Lord in Paul's case, it was opposition from the Jews. Verse 21, it talks about him being seized in the temple and are actually, um, yeah, verse 21. And he's, I has opposition from the Gentiles. Felix, the former governor before the one Festus here wanted money. He's going to say, I'm going to keep, I'm going to keep you in prison. I'm going to keep you chained up or jailed until you give a bribe. And so there's that kind of opposition. There's opposition from Festus here in our context who followed Felix in verse 26. There's this kind of opposition. Maybe you face this, look at verse 26. I'm sorry, verse 24, I think I was mistaken there. He says, Paul, you are out of your mind. Your great learning is driving out of your mind. You get saved. Some people are going to think you are out of your mind. You're crazy. You, you're different. There's going to be this kind of opposition. Some will just say, you know. You used to be this way and now you're very different and it's just doesn't make sense. There are many like that and they told Paul that very same thing. If you look in second Corinthians 11 you read that Paul faced all kinds of opposition. In fact from the Jews it says one time he was actually beaten five times. One time he got 39 stripes from the Jews and then it talks about danger from the Gentiles all kinds of things listed there. And finally, he had to be let down and escape in a basket from Damascus over through a window just to get out of town before they caught him and killed him. There is opposition because all of mankind is fundamentally opposed to God and his ways. There is how many righteous? None. none righteous. Mankind, man is fundamentally opposed to the light. We have opposition, but this is very instructive. Let's talk about the objects of service. Who are we to be serving? What are the objects of service? Well, Who was Paul delivered from? He was delivered from the Jews. He was delivered from the Gentiles. Who is he to minister to? Do you see where we're going? The objects of our compassion, the objects of our ministry are those who opposed and are still opposing. Do we understand that? We say, well, they're opposing us. Well, that's to be expected. Why do we, what do we think they're going to do? We used to oppose. We didn't believe. So the objects of ministry are the very people from whom we have. Then have to be delivered. Sometimes we're not delivered. There were a number of people who died. in the early church. I mean, talk about James and Paul himself, many martyrs. The objects of our ministry are the very people who are in opposition to God. Don't forget that. Don't be surprised by that. See, God's compassion. What did Paul do? He was going around, and apparently he had had the right, I guess you could say, to go into homes. How would you like that if someone in law enforcement around here had the right to come into your home and put you in chains and take you to jail? Because of what? You're a thief? No, because you're a Christian. Can that happen? It could. It does happen in some countries. Thankfully, we have liberty, but don't take that for granted. We know many places, we've been many places where that's not really the case. You have to go very carefully to Christian meetings. So the objects of ministry are the very ones that are opposing. But you know, sometimes they're like Paul, they get saved, right? You did, I did. So never give up on someone's salvation. You say they're opposing. Well, that's to be expected. Don't give up. Don't give up. You and I too were at one time in darkness, ignoring and resisting God. So as we serve, what are the goals? What are, what are we aiming at? What do we want to see? Well, Paul tells us our goals are the same as his. Verse 18 tells us what we are to aim at. It says, first of all, we are to open their eyes. I am sending you to open their eyes. So, you know, no doubt Paul thought about himself because he was blinded at first when he got saved and he couldn't see. He had spiritual blindness and he had physical blindness, but mankind is spiritually blind. They don't get it. We did not get it. I grew up going to church, but my eyes were not opened to the truth until one night I was actually in college. Well, I was a junior, I was a rising senior in college. This happened in the summertime and I was working in the engineering field in preparation to be an engineer. And on the weekends, I was working away from where I grew up, so on the weekends I would go visit a cousin of mine who lived a couple hours away, but it was closer than going home. And he was a student at a Bible college, and he had been a Christian since he was five years old. And so I would go there and at that church, I heard the gospel preached in my church where I'd grown up. The pastor didn't really seem to believe that people's eyes were dark. I went to see him one time as a young person. I was somewhat convicted about sin and talked to him and his response was to give me a book Maybe you've heard of this book, probably not. It was called, I'm OK, You're OK. Have you heard of that? Pastor Kevin, you ever heard of that book? It was very popular back in, this would have been 40 some years ago, I guess. No more than that. Anyway, I'm OK, You're OK, is that the gospel? That was why I went to see him. I wasn't OK. But that's the kind of preaching that I heard. So that was, unfortunately, not gospel preaching. But at my cousin's church, I heard the gospel preached very clearly. And one night after the service, one Sunday night, his sister, who was also a Christian, came up to me and just asked me very simply, are you saved? I don't want to offend you, she said, but are you saved? What do you think I said? Well, I said, yes, I am. I wasn't, but I didn't want to talk about it. I said, yes, I am, but I have a long ways to go. What does that mean? That means let's not talk about it. But on the way home that night, I was driving, and I used to listen to some pretty heavy rock music, and I used eight-track cassette tapes. You know what those are? There are a few here who know what that is. And so anyway, on the way home that night, I didn't stop the car. I really don't even... remember much about it, except in my soul, the lights came on. And it was like, okay. It was really a matter of pride in a lot of ways. It's like, okay, I don't care what anybody says. I'm going to follow Christ. I'm going to serve the Lord. I'm going to get saved. And so there was an immediate change. I wanted to get rid of all those eight track tapes. My mom didn't want me to, she kept those for many years, unfortunately. I never went back to that, but they stayed there in our basement for a long time. And I got saved, and I thought immediately, I really began to think immediately, wow, if I'm gonna be a Christian, I need to serve the Lord, so I guess I need to be a preacher. So I talked to them about not even finishing the engineering degree, and my parents didn't like that idea. So and they were right. So I'm glad I did. I finished that and then I went to Bob Jones University and got Bible training. And so God gave me open my eyes. But it took his work to open my eyes because I had been blind all that time. And also there's a matter of humbling us when you realize that you can't see. That's very humbling. And really, our brother Bud, Jan's brother Bud, that's one of his challenges right now. He can't see well enough to drive, so we drive him everywhere he goes, except a few other brothers take him places. So to open their eyes, that's the first thing we need to do. The second thing is we're trying to help people turn from darkness to light. Notice what else it says in verse 18. that they may turn from darkness to light." I don't know if you've ever been in a cavern where they turn the lights off and it's totally dark, but it's kind of an eerie feeling. But that's exactly how mankind is described. There are many references to this. It says, the Lord has commanded us, I have set you as a light to the Gentiles. This is back in Acts 13. In John, we have a number of references to this matter of man being in darkness. It says about Jesus, he is the true light coming into the world. In John chapter three, though, it says light came into the world. Well, that's nice. Everyone's going to flock to the light, just like the bugs, right? At night, the bugs flock to the light, no? Light came into the world, but the people loved darkness rather than light. How is it with you? Do you love the light? John chapter eight, Jesus said, I'm the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in darkness. Second Corinthians chapter four, he who said, let light shine out of darkness has shown in our hearts. Ephesians 5, 8. You were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. And then toward the end of our New Testament in Peter, 1 Peter 2, 9, it says, you have been called out of darkness into his marvelous light. I know what it's like. Bud's house has a lot of steps. I don't see as well as I used to and walking in darkness is dangerous. Don't walk in darkness. Maybe today you need to come and come to the light. That's dangerous to walk in darkness. Turn from darkness to light. And then the other, the other goal is to turn people from Satan's dominion to God's When you think about it, why would anyone want to be under Satan's control, his dominion? Why would anyone want to do that? He is always in active opposition to God, and he's active personally to us in our efforts to be holy and to serve God. He is called In the Old Testament, a word that means adversary. He's not a friend. He's an enemy. He's also called the devil. He's a slanderer. He's called the evil one and he's called the tempter. He is a real personality. This is not a figure of speech. He is very active. We want to turn people from Satan's dominion to God's dominion. That's a wonderful thing. We talk about addictions. By definition, that means under something else's control. And a lot of times, Satan's very much a part of that. Well, what's the result of serving God? There are two, at least two mentioned here. First of all, you have forgiveness of sins. We don't really understand the weight of sin. If you really think about the doctrine of hell, of eternity bearing the weight of sin, then you begin to get some idea of what it means to have forgiveness of sins. The forgiveness of sins is such a relief, such a relief. And the bearing the weight of sin is really an intolerable burden. So we're aiming to preach the gospel, give the witness, and people will have this wonderful forgiveness of sin. We need to stress this positive aspect more. We talk about salvation and that's great, but really what we're talking about is, first of all, forgiveness of sins. Without that, we're going to be crushed with the weight of our sins. But there's something else that's interesting, the phraseology here. We receive forgiveness of sins, I'm in verse 18 at the end, and a place, or some translations say an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me. So we have an inheritance. The beautiful thing about that is we don't have to earn it, right? We have an inheritance that we don't have to earn. It's given to us freely. Not only that, notice that it's an inheritance that we can actually share. You know, a lot of times in the world where there's an inheritance, what do you have? You have conflict about who's going to get how much. But here it says, we share this. We have an inheritance among those. among the other believers who are sanctified by faith in me." What does it mean to be sanctified? Well, another way to put that is one who's sanctified is a saint. Did you know that in the New Testament, you and I are described more frequently by the word saint or saints than we are by the word believers? The word saint is used a lot of times. What is a saint? Well, someone who works a miracle and then the church decides that, you know, you lived a good life, you worked miracles, you're a saint now. No, you're already a saint when you're a believer. Isn't that wonderful? We are saints when we believe. Sanctification by faith is another aspect of the ministry's results. A saint is not one baptized as an infant. A saint is not one recognized for doing a miracle. A saint is one recognized as being made holy, having Christ's righteousness. So, in conclusion, let me exhort you to serve God by rising and standing upon your feet and doing something for those who are still in darkness. What are you doing? Be a light, be a light to your wife, be a light to your husband, be a light to your children, be a light to your parents, be a light to your neighbor. What do they see? They see a bright light or a very dim light. Remember, they are the objects of our ministry. You say, well, they don't like it. They are opposed. Well, we pray. We keep trying. We have a next door neighbor. We have neighbors on both sides, actually, but they're not saved. But we have a next door neighbor named Josh. Keep praying for him every day. He's not saved yet, but he's still under the dominion of Satan, as far as we know. The adversary is doing everything he can. What are we doing? And maybe you are still in darkness. Has the light shown into your heart? You know, we need to be more passionate about our service than we are about politics. You ever known anybody that was passionate about politics? We need to be more passionate about our service for the Lord than we are about sports. You ever know anyone that was passionate about sports? We need to be more passionate about our ministry than we are about our work. And we need to be good, hard workers. We need to be more passionate about our ministry, our service for the Lord than we do, than we are about making money. A lot of people make decisions based on these other issues and not what is the best way for me to serve the Lord. Let's pray. Our Father, we ask now that you would work in our hearts. You've given us direction on what we're to do. As Christians, we're to stand up We're to rise up and stand and we're to serve. We're to be lights in a dark world. I pray for those. Maybe there's some here who are still in that darkness. They're part of that dark world. Would you open their eyes? Would you shine into their hearts even today? And then I pray for believers. Many here today. Help us. Help me. Help us to be passionate about serving the Lord. Help us to be fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. And we ask these things in Jesus' name, amen. Well, let's stand together and sing a closing hymn. God be the glory, great things He hath done, So loved He the world that He gave us His Son, Who yielded His life, and atoned for sin, And opened a light, King, that all may for Him Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the earth hear his voice. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the people rejoice. O come to the Father, through Jesus the Son, and give him the glory, great things he hath done. O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood, To every believer the promise of God, The mildest offender who truly believes, That moment from Jesus the Father receives, Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the earth hear his voice. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the people rejoice. O come, dear Father, through Jesus the Son, and give him the glory, great things he hath done. Relieve, dear God, the great things we have done, and great are rejoicing through Jesus the Son. But purer, higher, and greater will be Our wonder, our victory, when Jesus we see. Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Let the earth hear His voice. Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Let all people rejoice. Come dear Father, through Jesus the Son, and give him the glory, great things he hath done. And we certainly praise the Lord for our forgiveness and inheritance that we have in Christ. And if you don't have that forgiveness, we'd love to talk with you after this service or find a time this week to meet and to get that matter settled or to answer any questions that you have. As we think about this purpose that God has given to each one of us as saints, I leave you with these words from the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Amen. you